Published on
October 28, 2009 in
Politics.
My current state representative, Joanne Giannini, has helped out our neighborhood greatly. She works with a neighborhood group with which I work (and also run their website). However, she has recently gone crazy with the fight against indoor prostitution. She has sponsored a bill to band indoor prostitution in Rhode Island, where it is currently legal only through a loophole. She wants the police to be able to arrest prostitutes and throw them in jail.
I don’t support prostitution. I don’t see a reason why anyone would want to pay for sex. However, I do support the right for people to pay for sex and for people to sell their bodies for sex. I understand that some people are forced into the business, some even brought here from overseas for the sole purpose of being used as prostitutes. I don’t support that. I don’t see a problem with people who are willingly doing this to continue to do so.
What the RI General Assembly should be doing is legitimizing the sex industry. Regulate where brothels are allowed through zoning laws. This will prevent them from opening in residential neighborhoods. Regulate the business with random visits by social workers and health inspectors. This will keep the business clean and allow the employees to come forward to someone other than a cop if they are being forced into prostitution.
Most of the prostitutes in Rhode Island are doing it because they need the money. They are supporting their families. In a state with one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country, it is horrifying to think that the General Assembly is so heartless to force hundreds more people into unemployment. And not only will they be forcing them into unemployment, they will be forcing them into a life of crime. Putting these people in jail will cost our state and communities more than leaving the law as it stands. However, if we regulate and tax the sex industry, we will be putting money in the state’s coffers… money that the state desperately needs.
Shame on your Rep Giannini. Shame on all the members of our General Assembly who are buying the garbage spewed by the likes of Donna Hughes, the URI Women’s Studies professor who has made the sex industry her #1 enemy. I will be voting against Rep Giannini (and possibly Senator Maryellen Goodwin, if she also votes in favor of this) in the next election, not because she has been a horrible representative, but because she is putting her own personal moral beliefs before the needs of the state, including the needs of my community.
I’m sitting here prepping some stuff for our as yet to be announced group costume (though if you follow me and the people I’m sharing the RV with, you can probably figure it out). I’ve got a lot going through my head for this weekend. Tomorrow is my last day of work until next Wednesday. I’m leaving Thursday morning for Indio, by way of Philly and Vegas. An awesome guy I follow on Twitter offered me a ride to the airport. I figured since this trip is all about Twitter, I’d take him up on the offer. You may have heard of him, or better yet… heard him. He’s Mike Sheridan of Traffic Net in Rhode Island. Yes, he’s a traffic reporter. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow him @TrafficMike. He’s saving me almost $30 in cab fare by doing this. So be nice to him.
Once I get to Vegas (the Philly stop is just a long layover), I’ll be meeting up with 6 other people I follow on Twitter. They’re all worth following: @UNOlker, @mdubno, @Grill_Meister, @coffeewithian, @mberde, and @MountainLaura. From Vegas we’ll be in the RV and on our way to Indio for the festival. The trip will be pretty epic. Based on what Phish has announced through their site and what I’ve heard through the grapevine, the band has quite a bit planned for us. If you’re interested, check out the following links.
Phish Festival 8 Official Site
Phish Festival 8 Halloween Cover Album Teaser [Jamtopia]
The Phish Festival 8 Poster Gallery [Jamtopia]
The site is supposed to have wifi available. Depending on how good it is or whether or not I can get an AT&T data connection through my iPhone for tethering, I’ll probably post a few updates from the site.
If you’re going to the festival, you should check out the past few episodes of This Week On Lot. They discuss the festival, rumors, and give tips on what to expect and bring with you.
Now back to preparations… like putting music on my iPhone for the flight.
The other night we visited with some friends. I brought over a couple bottles of beer to share with them. One of those was a bottle of Dogfish Head Theobroma from the first batch. The beer had originally been a bit drier with the chili pepper coming through a bit more in the back. The aged version had changed quite a bit. The heat from the pepper had subsided, though was still there just enough to give you a slight tingle. The beer had sweetened up quite a bit. I remember when we first tried it, someone suggested that it wouldn’t be a good one to age. I disagree. It was nice and malty with a hint of cocoa and that slight tingle from the pepper. If you have some bottles of this, I suggest aging one or 2 of them. It’s a great beer and I thought it was even better aged. Susan did not like it at all when it was fresh, but she loved it aged. Of course, she doesn’t like peppers or spicy things, which would explain that.
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