I have to go to sleep but I've been asked my position on the legality of porn and prostitution.

I think prostitution should remain illegal and that pimps and johns should be punished pretty harshly. The prostitutes should be offered drug treatment and therapy but if they keep offending they should be punished for breaking the law and keeping an evil industry alive.

Porn should be judged by community standards as it is now. People like me can ignore the fact that some porn is out there that I think is repulsive, and others who want an "anything goes" atmosphere will have to live with community limits i.e. no child porn, no rape porn, no snuff films, etc.

The community standard is a good way to go because it's a living standard - someone is offended and actively decides to complain and the "offending" article is brought into the public for examination and judgement.

My standards are obviously pretty conservative - maybe yours are liberal, but together we make the community and together we can decide what is and isn't permitted.

I will come back tomorrow and read what you all have to say. My mind is open and I will consider your opinions, but I am firm in my belief that porn and prostitution are harmful and exploitative. That is the place from which all my positions on this topic eminate.

Goodnight

We too look at what might have been with disappointment. We had such high hopes for Spitzer. Still, this was an incredibly foolish risk for him to take. I can only hope he finds another way to contribute to society cause he has a lot to give.

PS Rusty, I think the deal is Mccain's cheating is not illegal, tho it may be deplorable. A more apt comparison is between Larry Craig and Elliot Spitzer - both broke the law yet one stays in office and the other resigns. Of course Spitzer's case is hobbled by the financial "structuring" issue.

So, she was abused and has been very poor - gee, how unusual.

I'm rolling my eyes at Glenn and the other Salon posters who are so certain that prostitution is all about empowerment and consent.

Do you recall a recent story about a 15-year-old girl who was locked in prison in Brazil with men who told her that in order to get food she had to have sex with them? Is that consentual? I mean, she had to choose to have sex with them. They didn't throw her down and attack her. They gave her a choice - technically.

When you have a poor woman who has been abused and offer her the money she needs to survive - if and only if she consents to sex - I say that it isn't really consent.

If you're really interested go read my letters from yesterday in which I specifically mention male sex workers and explotation.

This isn't life or death, this is just a bunch of people on soapboxes. It's meant for entertainment and sharing ideas, not for getting very upset. It's not worth all that angst. Take it easy or you'll give yourself heart disease.

"So adults who come from a poor background and have been abused can't consent or make choices for their own lives?"

Of course that's not what I mean. But according to many posters this person earning all this money for sex was not going to fit the "typical" profile of a hooker. Yet she does. She comes from a poor, abusive background. There is a reason why many sex workers have this in common - because prostitution is not a choice that most "healthy" people would make. Usually poverty, past abuse, or drug addiction are a big part of the equation. To deny that and pretend that the standard is "the happy hooker" is denying reality.

I need more than the word of one lawyer to buy this story. I'm not saying it's not true, but I think any lawyer representing an inmate/detainee/prisoner is going to make it sound as dire as possible to benefit the person they represent. That's their job.

I have never personally seen a major improvement in a carpet that was brought about by cleaning. Stains are stains - no amount of soap and machine scrubbing will change that. Most professional carpet cleaning is a scam anyway - it just doesn't work.

However, if you tell your landlord that you are willing to pay for new carpet, and give him/her the right to approve your selection, I am sure s/he will be thrilled to have you pay for that expense. Saves LL a pretty penny.

Ten dollars says you get no resitance whatsoever.

My lilly white son and his white friends call each other "nigga" sometimes.

"S'up nigga?"

"Nigga, please."

I tried to tell him he couldn't use that word but he laughed at me.

Then he started to bring around his biracial (black/white) friend. As a joke this kid always says, "I think that's racist." He'll see a burger commercial or point to a coffee mug and say it. He says it deadpan. It's kind of disturbing and funny at the same time.

They also joke about "kunta kinte". The first time they did it I almost fell off of my chair. They have no idea what "Roots" is - they said they know the name from the "Dave Chappell Show".

What does it all mean? Oh, and they all wear baggy pants.

I thought this piece was too boring to read through completely, but I am shocked by the targeted venom in the letters section. People seem angry that she's pretty and white. If the letters section was full of attacks on a writer for being ugly and black would that be tolerated?