JKane

Of course we all take a risk with our activities. I was saying it should be my choice whether or not to increase that risk by associating with somebody who's arrested/indicted for a serious crime and has good reason to be extraordinarily desperate. I'm all for privacy but I feel this board should, if necessary, rank ours above that of somebody who'd gone out of his way to be a 'superstar male escort' at the center of controversy and gossip at every chance he got. I don't pay particular attention to real names or put any effort into tracking who's really who but even I knew this escorts' real first name and had heard his last--despite no interest in him. In this particular case the info was out there and I just don't see the point in pretending it's not... leaving those well-connected with the warning and everybody else potentially exposed.

It would make sense for this thread to remain about the decision to post/censor and the new thread to be about the event itself, but that's already falling apart... My desire would be to see this board err on the side of the safety of clients, because isn't avoiding hustlers/robbers/assailants a primary use of a review site? Now, I agree that there was no danger to anybody at the point the original thread was censored. Given that he was in jail--apparently without bail--there was no urgency at that point and letting the situation firm up and become definite certainly has some merit. However, I would suggest that the previous arrest and conviction are another matter entirely. This was apparently fairly well known by the powers that be yet kept quiet. Granted, there are a fair number of people out there that take perverse pleasure in sullying a successful escort, but once it gets to the point that there's not just arrests but *convictions* I feel it can only help the client community to know that somebody is on a self-destructive spiral and to be wary. Even without those convictions, given the seriousness of the current charges and his 'infamy' in our community (the fact that he'd regularly insinuate himself into any gathering)... please consider this scenario: A well-known escort is arrested on serious charges, it's known by a few but kept quiet, he gets released but is facing a major trial and tough mandatory sentencing. As usual he shows up at some get-together, but something is very different because unbeknown to (most) everybody else he's got those charges hanging over him... -Possibility one: he is both desperate and has nothing left to loose, so he sees no downside to unsafe or criminal activities (burglary, blackmail, etc). -Two, he's desperately trying to get a plea and is going around trying to get anybody to say anything that cops listening on the other end of the wire could use to trump up a charge--big enough and it reduces his sentence. -Three, and not even of his doing, he's being watched and the place is raided, as Lurkerspeaks suggested... may well be that there's nothing especially criminal going on but the precious anonymity of a bunch of people gets shot to hell. It may well be different if the escort in question didn't choose to make himself a celebrity and strive to be at (the center of) any event. But the one in question did. My two cents anyway.

Here's some other good points on the granting of the award to Obama.

Levi's pretty stupid, granted, but the fact that the Governor in question is a batshit crazy hyper-religious zealot that backed 'abstinence only' education to the hilt is also an important part of the equation. At least the child they created can be the poster-child against abstinence only bullshit. Levi is kinda cute though. There's this pistachio (of all things) campaign that has an ad featuring him, the tagline is "now Levi does it with protection". After I saw it I wondered how long 'till he's doing porn... I'd look... but not sure I'd pay to.

I saw it, it's typical Moore: provocative, but may hurt it's cause as much as it helps. At least it gets people talking. It's kinda scatter-shot too... if it has any theme it's pro-labor unions. He makes a good case but something like The Corporation does what Love Story purports to do much better. It's not as good as Sicko.

I don't really see the point of a political subforum, especially when things are otherwise being consolidated to encourage conversation. Many threads wander in and out of politics, and it seems to me the 'other site' tried this--basically any thread that got a political post or two in it got dropped into the no-man's land of rantings and lunacy which almost nobody read.

In similar studies in the past it's been sex workers, often in the third-world. Or it sounds like in this case they did a big enough group of the general population (of people who will participate in medical studies...). There's plenty of information out there about how medical studies are conducted, it's fascinating and very important work. There have been instances of abuse but your assumptions that the people who work in the field are stupid and immoral is hard to understand.

Yeah, doctors tell people to go out and catch AIDS to see if it works... You give it to high risk group BEING CLEAR that it may not work, doesn't offer any protection against other diseases, and that they may have only gotten a placebo. Then you compare the rate of infection of the control (placebo) group to the ones that got the vaccine. Just like any other medical trial.

Didn't you hear??? Arnold's got the answer!!! Cut the taxes on all Californians making more that 1 million a year by over $100,000 dollars, that'll fix the state budget shortfall... (I wish I was kidding, this IS his latest proposal!)

Can't forget Libertarians!

But of course! They're both owned by Rupert Murdock!

I agree, I really doubt the state Dems are capable of nominating anybody exciting. I'm betting it'll be Diane Feinstein in the end... I'd sooner vote for a potted plant, myself. Who knows, the closest thing to excitement may be in the primaries! BUT who's to say the midterms would be any more exciting? At least with the gubernatorial there'll be people pissed about the (COMPLETE lack of) direction Arnold's set for the state...

You can pay the taxes due on $100,000 and realize how fortunate you are!

Fuck, even the great bloviator gets it. We live in a world where the average American is convinced they aren't average. We've been coddled and told we're special all our lives, so most of us can be easily tricked into railing against anything that could be seen to limit our potential options in the future. Sure, gov't healthcare is good enough for my parents--but what if I need House, M.D. one day??? My god, there's millions of sheep happily paying more in their own personal taxes because they backed the fight against the evil DEATH TAX that would never have affected them, their family, or anyone they knew (unless you count Hannity, O'Reilly, et. al. as people they know!).

There's so much already available, and available for free on the Internet that it's not hard to imagine the industry cratering once and for all. Especially the businesses that rely on people going to a store and buying $30-$50/ea new titles. But where will the porn stars go to make their money? SMB and Numbers are dead. I've maybe seen a couple more on Rentboy and the occasional retired gay pornstar on Craigslist... but not nearly enough to account for everybody who relied on Porn in the LA area. ----- There's a British series called The Dark Side of Porn, it's mostly about straight stuff but is still pretty interesting. The first one has Chris Eccleston narrating, it's hilarious to hear Dr. Who say "Split that Booty" again and again; they also go around the valley and talk to the woman behind AIM in detail. Chi Chi is also interviewed and has some good stuff to say in that episode, and you get a really slimy feeling for 'Max Hardcore' who I just found out is in jail for his actions. One of the later episodes, Me and My Slaves is all about this aging but still very good looking dom master who serves mostly gay guys. It's kinda touching--and bleak. I downloaded the series through Bit Torrent, it's worth trying to find if you can!

The lawmakers don't have the sack to take on anybody as the Bacchus bill shows. I will never understand why THE FUCK Obama didn't use his initial popularity to pass significant campaign finance reform--possibly with McCain's help. Think about how much easier Heathcare reform would be if the top donors to the FUD commercials had to be named personally instead of hiding behind BS PAC names. If Senators and Congressmen knew that their next campaign was going to rely on public funds and maybe a max of $250 from *individuals*. Hell, we could've even enacted real banking reform laws within A YEAR OF BANKS KILLING THE ECONOMY. /rant

"There's not a racist bone in my dad's body." Not even when Senator Craig had him bent over the sink in the congressional restroom?

Time Warner cablemodem, wish I had FIOS.

The argument for outing is that knowing there were gay 'prominent' guys in your town--not just the occasional stereotypical hairdresser whom everybody made fun of--would've made you feel a lot less isolated. Again, I'm not for outing (except for the Ted Haggard-type hypocrites) but I am finally seeing why people want as many as possible out of the closet.

Maybe that's what he was thinking--but man was he in for a disappointment. In its' glory days the only women at Numbers were older trannies and/or selling photos or rrrrroses. It wasn't a 'gay bar', it was a hustler bar, which seems to be pretty different. Not many women (who've always been women) at The Spotlight either. Speaking of which, now that it's practically the only game in town, has it picked up at all? Anybody been lately?

It's at least the third major time. I thought 'digits' was a fiasco, but Moz trying to use it to get girls has to take the cake. So very sad. Anybody got tabs on the sexy waiter/matre'D (never saw him at Moz's)? Now there's no place I know of in Hollywood to go to reliably find a working boy...

But all Brandon's boys drink for free and live with him!

Well, if you get fired there's Cobra--and thanks to Obama's recent actions it's actually affordable the first 9 months or so. But yeah, after that--or if you quit--you're fucked. But come on now, what's more important? Healthcare coverage for anybody who needs it or the profits of a private industry that didn't even exist 30 years ago?

Was it at least breaking even back when he 'tolerated' the bars' clientele or was going straight a desperate attempt to stay in business? It seemed fairly busy the couple nights we met there, but maybe not busy enough considering how much of each day it sat empty and how many people were on the payroll (especially useless people like the manager...). Maybe rentboy.com should buy it, Brandon seems to want to get back into hospitality management...

As usual, they're being massively hypocritical. It's good enough for their parents (Medicare) and for them (Senate heath plan) but would be horrible for everybody else...