The Democratic National Convention is just eight days away, and the mile-high city of Denver is gearing up for four days of speechifying, glad-handing, and baby-kissing as Barack Obama officially accepts his party's nomination for the presidency. And while organizers are looking forward to a week of virtuous pronouncements, other groups are expecting the seedy side of the DNC to rear its ugly head.
News crews from CBS reportedly discovered a "concentration camp" that was built by local police to house all the protesters they expect to arrest during the convention. A warehouse on the north-east side of town was equipped with metal holding pens, fences topped with barbed wire, and a sign that warns of "electric stun devices used in this facility."
Meanwhile, an organization called Street's Hope is planning on reaching out to the 40,000 prostitutes they estimate will be in town to entertain the philandering delegates. The group aims to offer a way out for sex workers who want to leave their lives of prostitution, offering outreach, counseling, and lots of prayer. One can't help but wonder how many prostitutes they estimate the Republican convention will draw. Would they low-ball the figure to make the GOP look a bit more saintly?
In any case, if you're headed to Denver, be careful of where you protest and who you go to bed with, because plenty of sanctimonious moralists will be watching your every move.
The legendary Moonlite BunnyRanch brothel in Carson City, Nevada is offering customers a $15 "baggage rebate" in response to American Airlines' new fees. A press release posted on the brothel's website says:
The BunnyRanch will reimburse any customer $15 for their first bag at the brothel (upon receipt of baggage claim stub, we will credit your account).
We called up the BunnyRanch and spoke to their "sexy secretary" who told us that the offer isn't limited to clients who arrive the ranch via AA.
Dennis Hof, the BunnyRanch pimp and star of HBO's series "Cathouse," says he felt he had to act out against the injustice of excessive airline fees:
As long as the airlines keep sticking it to the consumer we feel obligated to help ... We're all about helping the little guy from the gougers in the air.
Hof's magnanimity makes sense: Prostitution is supposed to be a recession proof industry. Guess the rising cost of petroleum hasn't affected lubricant prices yet.
Exotic Flights is apparently a private jet service like any other, save for its old-school "sexy" flight attendants. According to his website, CEO Rudy Gonzalez has worked "logistics and security" for entertainers such as Mike Tyson and Christina Aguilera. We couldn't find much about them through Google, save this bit (fourth item down).
So, was this actually an SNL skit, or what? When we first found this commercial, we automatically assumed it was a mile-high call-girl service--maybe it had something to do with their "by the hour" rates and extensive "flight attendant" online picture gallery. After that, we figured it was a joke. Then we figured it was a real company's cheesy gimmick. Now we can't decide, but we're too scared to call them and find out.
[We have removed the image that was posted here. We sincerely apologize for the mistake.]
Looks like Brazil has its first blogging celebrity, and she's a prostitute. Rachel Pacheco, who went by the name Bruna on a blog documenting her days as a hooker in São Paulo, sold more than 100,000 copies of her autobiographical book after it came out last year. The book has caused a minor to-do in Brazil, but not because of the content of the book, which manages to be both explicit and tame: the author only refers to the first letter of body parts when things get graphic. The translators must have had a fun time with that one.
While we applaud the fact that the woman got a book deal out of being, um, a whore, isn't it odd that in many countries the first blogs to be turned into books are those written by hookers? Belle du Jour, even if she wasn't, you know, actually a hooker, did get a book deal, too. Maybe the Economist can update their Big Mac index to track how long it takes a hooker/blogger to get a book deal in each country to rate the relative levels of prosperity in each. Just a thought.
