To best catch your husband, it will help to understand how prostitutes work.  First off, there are different types of prostitutes.  There are your street walkers, your escort agency hookers, the brothel prostitute, and your high-end escorts/companions.  

Let’s start with the street walkers.  A typical street walker is going to charge between $20 - $100 (typically $30 - $40), and usually perform the act while in a car.  Since even scumbag husbands have some level of self-preservation, there is likely to be condoms involved.  And that is your first clue.  Condom wrappers in the car is an obvious sign that something is up.  Also, odd charges on a bank card at a drug store of gas station could be condoms.  If you see a charge for gas, and then a separate charge for inside the gas station, you may want to check if they carry condoms, and how much they cost, so that you can compare that to the purchase.  Then ask your husband what he bought.  If what he says doesn’t match the charge, and the price of a pack of Trojans does, he’s busted.

Moving on to escort agencies, these places take credit cards.  Look for any charges for things like “Airport Services”, “Mobile Assistants”, “Hotel Services” or “Massage Service”  .  And if in doubt, call your credit card company and ask them what type of company made these charges.  Believe it or not, the credit card company will sometimes be able to tell if the company is an escort agency.  

Also keep in mind the typical charge for an escort agency via credit card is about $300 - $700.  If you see a suspicious charge from the same company twice in the same day, that could be an escort agency.  Escort agencies charge for having the girl show up to the room.  Once there, it’s up to the girl and the client what happens and the cost.  They will sometimes hit the card when the girl gets there, and then hit is again for the girls “tip”.  

Phone records are also a good indication.  If your husband has half a brain, he’s not going to call the agency from his mobile phone, knowing you could see the call.  So check with the hotel if any local calls were made from the room.  

Brothels are highly unusual, and not likely unless your husband has gone to Nevada, or out of the country.  Still, know these places take credit cards as well, and are not as stealthy as the escort agency at hiding the charges.  Look for charges of about $500 - $1000.

The independent escort is the more common approach these days.  Most advertise on the Web, allowing men to check out the goods through pictures first.  These escorts do not usually take credit cards, although some do use Paypal.  Usually these are cash transactions.  There is a common thought that anyone taking out hundreds of dollars from an ATM after midnight is up to no good.  Keep in mind that these girls typically charge around $300, because that’s what men can take out of an ATM at any time.  So look for late night withdrawals.  

And because these girls are often contacted through the Web, you can often find good evidence through your husbands computer.  Check his browser history, and his cache.  Search the machine for pictures.  Sites like eros-guide.com, or Craigslist.org are the most often paces where guys go shopping for hookers.  If your husband is traveling to a different state, check out the local Craigslist for that state on his computer.  You should be able to tell if he has clicked the links for the “erotic services” section.  

Keep in mind that when confronted, he will of course lie.  And when shown 100% proof, he will claim that it was his first and only time.  This will be a lie.  

Being a marketing consultant, I take some pleasure in watching the show from a business perspective.  The scene with the airline meeting was all too familiar.  I have been in those meetings where you have the deal lined up, and then your point of contact leaves the company, and you’re now a legacy vendor, or worse, a legacy near-vendor.  All you can do is smile and put your best foot forward, knowing you’re not getting this deal.

I started to think about the traits I may have in common with the people in the show.  I would love to think I’m just like Don Draper (played to perfection by Jon Hamm), but the truth be told, I’m not even close.

There are some things we have in common.  I too can get passionate about what I do, and on occasion, with the right client, get them pretty jazzed up about their marketing campaign.  Hell, if you can’t get them jazzed up, you are not the guy to market their product.  And of course we are both ruggedly handsome, with our Rock Hudson like good looks.  (everyone who knows me should stop laughing at that).

But where Don Draper and I separate is on an issue I really need a better grip on.  Draper is much more disciplined than I have ever been.  He has mastered the art of always being cool, no matter what the situation.  If Don Draper woke up with his bed on fire, he would walk to the bathroom to retrieve water with the same urgency and facial expression as if he had to pee.  If Don Draper won the lottery, he would smile about as wide as if he had found a good parking space.  Simply put, Don Draper is rock steady at all times.  He shows just enough emotion to not be confused with a mannequin.

And of course there is the ladies.  Just about every other episode could be titled, “Don Draper Gets Laid”.  Beyond the chain smoking and alcoholism, what makes Don Draper so damn cool?

Truth be told, when it comes to my personal life, I’m much more of a Roger Sterling (played equally well by John Slattery), and I may have a little Bert Cooper in there as well.  And I’m semi-okay with that.  Sterling and Cooper crack me up.  I have that flakey side like Cooper, and it just may be my life’s ambition to die in the arms of my 20 year old girlfriend, at least that’s the accusation from my current girlfriend.

But I do wish I had more Don Draper discipline.  I talk too much, and my emotions are far to manic.  I need to take things more in stride, and not get too high or low on issues that in the end don’t mean all that much.  So for the next month, I’m going to try being more Don Draper like.  It will have to start after this post, because there is no way Don Draper would ever admit to this level of weakness.

The current head of the Republican party, not counting our current lame duck administration, is Kentucky Senator, Mitch McConnell, who barely managed to hold on to his Senate seat this week.  But McConnell will be relatively lonely in Senate, now that Democrats control 57 seats. 

There is also the popular theory with ultra-conservatives that Sarah Palin is the future of the Republican party.  The idea of putting forward the biggest drag of the McCain campaign as the leader and next presidential hopeful is the exact type of thinking that will send the Republican party further into turmoil. 

I have a unique suggestion for the Republican party, get behind someone with actual popularity.  And push out the type of conservative ideals that will actually help the country, not just the evangelicals.  

There is only one person in the Republican party with the popularity and conservative views that could potentially take the White House in 2012, Congressman Ron Paul.  

For a short time Ron Paul trumped even President-elect Barack Obama in raising money online.  His grassroots support with the young rivaled Obama, and his conservative views would likely satiate the right-wing.  

I’m an independent, so I don’t have a dog in the race between Republican and Democrat, but it seems like the balance is important to maintain.  As rough as an election as this was, I feel cheated on the subject matter.  All the BS talk about terrorist connections, ministers and lapel pins, just left me wondering about the real issues.  I can’t remember a time before this that the economy would sink a Republican.  The fact that George W. Bush has done such a thorough job of sinking this country should not be solely blamed on the Republicans.  Let’s not forget that he had Democrats helping him along the way.

But it also could not be ignored that McCain did vote with the president 90% of the time.  If we wanted a true Maverick for the president, why didn’t we go with the guy the entire party tries to ignore?  Why not go with someone who can tell you in chilling detail about the change he wants to bring?  Why did the Republican party ignore their best chance at the White House, and why do they continue to do so?  

The fact is, there is no way for Barack Obama to live up to expectations.  I feel Obama will be an exceptional president, possibly one of the best in history.  But Democrats eat their own.  And Republicans will be watching everything very carefully.  By 2012, there will still be a call for change in this country, and that is not going to happen with Sarah Palin.  It just came out that she was not aware of which countries were part of NAFTA, and that she didn’t know that Africa was a continent, not a country.  So unless change means dumbing down the White House to the point where George Bush looks like Stephan Hawkings, she should be pushed back into the freak show of Alaska, along with her friend Ted Stevens.  

The Republican party needs to get back on the right track.  Push things like FairTax to President Obama.  Either he will listen and move forward, or he will ignore it, and you can lay claim to a better economic plan.  Either way, it’s a win.

Then of course there is the possibility that we may all get to vote online in 2012, click here to see who would have won the election, had we allowed people to vote online this year.

It’s yet another sign of the economic downturn when Arlen Texas’ most famous propane (God’s gas) salesman is let go.  Although I do remember clearly that Hank Hill was supporting George W. Bush, even though W. had a weak handshake.  

There is some discrepancy on the Fox announcement.  One minute Fox will tell us the fundamentals of the viewership are strong, only to freak out and cancel a bunch of their animated series, and then bring them back again.  Fax has cancelled Family Guy, Futurama, and even King of the Hill before, only to order up more shows.

The fact is, Fox has a hard time with actually filming television shows.  Besides House and 24, they can never seem to keep high quality shows going.  They like their easy hit reality shows and animated series.  The costs are low, and rating shares are solid.  

So it wouldn’t surprise me to see Mike Judge drawing up more episodes about Hank Hill and his “not right” son, Bobby.  And I hope he does, I love the show.

Be prepared to be shocked. I think the anxiousness of walking in to a haunted house alone can be frightening enough. Not to mention if it preys on one of your fears like clowns or claustrophobia. You obviously don’t want to wet your pants while walking through a haunted house so be prepared. Look around every corner before you walk in and look for anything that might move.

Follow the rules. Usually, before entering a haunted house, someone will explain the rules. They usually involve something like, “don’t touch anything/anyone and none of the inhabitants will touch you.” The rules can be hard to follow at times but that is why we have tip number four.

Stay calm. Do remember that you are in a haunted house and chances are pretty good that you will make it out alive. Just try and relax and enjoy the adventure.

Plan to do something afterwards. It can be quite frightening to go home alone after walking through a haunted house, so plan a nice dinner or movie with your friends after the scare-venture. You and your friends can reminisce on the haunted house and discuss your thoughts.

Haunted houses can be a rewarding experience to share with your family ad friends. Some may be too scary while others are not scary enough. The suspense alone of walking through a haunted house can cause some people to panic. Remember these tips when you plan your next Halloween inspired scare-fest at a haunted house.

Some of the biggest political arguments I have had come from people who say they support McCain, but really don’t do anything other than complain about Obama.  Much the same way they say they support the troops, but do nothing other than complain about Obama and argue why we should stay in Iraq.  And one of the latest ideas of this group is to call Obama supporters anti-Americans.  

It’s easy to see where this came from.  It started with “hockey mom” Sarah Palin mentioning she enjoys being in the “pro-American” part of the country.  Despite the sick nature of the comment, it became the talking point of the Republican Party, including Fox News, and somehow people in big cities, or coastal towns, or anyone who supported the Obama campaign became anti-American.  For some reason our tax dollars don’t count, and our service to our country didn’t count.  But I promise you that our votes will count.  And we will outnumber the right wing idiots.  

As offensive, and ironic, as the anti-American idea is, there is another part of this that really amazes me.  I didn’t just vote for Barack Obama, I contributed thousands of dollars to his campaign.  I helped man a phone bank, I have attended rallies and helped start campaign groups, I have the bumper sticker, I have the sign in my lawn, I write a blog that ranks for some key search terms to help educate people about Obama, my son delivered signs to peoples’ homes.  And I even volunteered to house an out of state member of the Barack Obama ground team through the election.  I truly support the Obama campaign.  

You might be thinking that I’m a big supporter of the Democratic party.  But the fact is, I have never bothered to vote in an election until now.  I loved Ronald Reagan, I despised Bill Clinton, and I even hoped for Bush to beat Gore in 2000.  

And I don’t love every policy of the Obama campaign.  I like the idea of FairTax, and I like the idea of a school voucher program to give me a choice where I send my child.  But I cannot support a war that we were tricked into, and is costing us the lives of soldiers everyday, not to mention $10 billion per month.  I cannot support the idea of yet another failed health care plan that works more for insurance carriers than for the people.  If you pay taxes in this country, you should have the right to reasonable health care.  I cannot support the decision to put a member of the Keating 5 in the White House when he attends on putting someone like Phil Gramm in charge of the economy.  And there is no way in hell I could support the idea of allowing one of the dumbest, closed minded people ever in politics to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Sarah Palin would destroy this country.

I should also add that I’m not a big fan of a lot of Democrats in office right.  People like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank have been making me remember why I can’t stand Democrats.  I certainly did not want Hillary Clinton to be president.  

I’m socially liberal.  I don’t care if gays marry, I can’t think of a place where the government belongs less than who can spend their lives together.  I think abortion is a choice that needs to be left between a women and her physician.  No one is pro-abortion, but pro-choice is the only sensible choice.  I think the death penalty is wrong.  We screw up too many cases, and it’s just not the company we want to keep in the world.  

But even with my social views, I doubt I could be viewed as a democrat.  Truth be told, I like Ron Paul a lot more than John McCain, and Ron Paul is a lot more conservative.  But I also think Ron Paul is a lot smart than John McCain, and has showed more character in his campaign.  

But my point to this all is that I’m supporting a candidate I believe to be the best for the country, not just my personal ideals.  I’m truly putting country first.  And the fact that Obama has so much more cash on hand than McCain, and so many volunteers on his ground team, shows that Obama supporters are as pro-American as you can get right now.  Where is McCain’s rush of contributions?  Where is McCain’s army of supporters?  The fact is, he is not change you can believe in.  Everyone knows he is the same as George Bush.  Saying your going to cut al earmarks is not enough of a difference.  

So before the next right wing redneck calls an Obama supporter “anti-American”, they should think about what they’re doing for their country.  And they should also look at the fact that they are getting their talking points from Sarah Palin!!!  

They were one of us, forming in college like so many failed bands. It was at Columbia Arts College of Chicago that singer/songwriter/guitarist Jim Ellison met bassist Ted Ansani. The two realized they had influences in common and began to play together. Ellison’s professor, Blake Levinson, still remembers this time: “When Jim had told me he was in a band, I didn’t think much about it because it wasn’t unusual for college kids to be in bands. I started to pay a little more attention when he said he was having problems re-negotiating a recording contract. And then, near the end of the semester, he invited me to attend one of his shows at a club on Belmont. Though I had attended similarly crowded and loud venues with other bands through the years, this one was very different for one reason–Material Issue was great, ‘professional big time’ great.”  By the time of that concert, Material Issue had, of course, found a drummer in Mike Zelenko. He was chosen after responding to an ad in the newspaper, and, while he claims they only chose him because he owned a van, he became an inextricable part of the band’s sound. 

The ordinariness of their lives, coupled with the genius of their music and live performances, made Material Issue gather a following quickly. Even before they were signed to a record label, they had fans comparing them to early U2, bragging to Chicago Tribune reporters about having seen over 100 shows, and circulating fan newsletters. Zelenko remembers a trio of three friends who followed them from show to show for several weeks one summer. Clearly, fans weren’t the only ones to think this was a band that got it. 

Liz Phair, a Chicago contemporary, recalls, “Material Issue was a kick-ass Chicago band. We all looked up to them.  Their songs were infectious and often deeply heartfelt. The chorus: ‘I want love, I want drugs, I want sex and affection; I want everybody in the room to look in my direction,’ from ‘What Girls Want’ is one of the most honest and encapsulating summaries of the twenty-something female mind that I have ever heard, and all the more shocking to have been written by a man.”  

Musician magazine, for the first (and apparently only) time, sent out a cassette of Material Issue’s conversations and music with one month’s issue.  In 1991, Musician’s associate publisher, Paul Sackman, told the Chicago Tribune that he “felt the band represented the majority of my struggling readers in the trade, guys who are in their 30s and wondering how much longer they can survive in an unsigned band. I thought their story and music were inspiring,” Phair echoes these sentiments, adding, “The band’s appeal was more than just what they aspired to be as a pop trio, it was also where they came from that made them special. To know their roots was to grow in appreciation of their talent.”

Zelenko remembers the determined energy of these times, saying that the band played their first show only one week after he joined.  They were all in agreement that the best way to improve while building a name for themselves was to play as many shows as they could.  Zelenko remembers that first show, performed at the Exit in Chicago, saying they were probably “pretty terrible” but remembering it going pretty well. There was one snag, though: only Ellison was of legal drinking age, so Ansani and Zelenko had to wait in the car until showtime and leave immediately after the show was finished.  

Fortunately, the band improved and perfected their sound during the endless shows they played over the next few years. All three members shared confidence in the band’s abilities.  Asked if there were ever a moment when he doubted that Material Issue would be famous and influential, Zelenko instantly replies,  “No, never. The only thing that I had reservations about was that Jim couldn’t play very well.  I mean, in the beginning, his guitar playing was adequate enough to write the songs that were in his head. For a long time, he would hear something and he would actually ask Ted how to play it. He would hum it out and Ted would sort of show him how to play it.” Those growing pains were small, however, when compared to the growth itself, both of the band’s skills and notoriety. Ansani remembers Ellison’s songwriting skills maturing quickly: “As we got older, we weren’t trying to make music for 16 year olds anymore, we were trying to make music that sounded like what we were listening to. Trying to be aggressive, and trying to be fresh, and still allowing ourselves to mature.  That last record kind of pointed to that. There’s a couple ballads that were more mature and then there were songs that were much more aggressive.”

As great and timeless as the albums are, the live performance was the best way to experience the band and the smug charisma of Ellison’s stage presence. For all his ego, it was impossible not to be charmed. With his adolescent bowl-cut and skintight jeans, Ellison’s visual presence matched everything else about him. There was as much boyish innocence in his charisma as there was cocksure sex appeal. Levinson remembers Ellison as soft-spoken and sincere, yet confident enough to stay after class and attempt to argue his way into better grades.  He never lost that politeness.  In 2006, a woman named Lisa commented on an online Chicago Tribune article about Ellison: “Jim Ellison knocked over my motorcycle while parking in front of Phyllis’ Musical Inn. I was not the biggest fan at the time. He proceeded to give me the most heartfelt apology I have ever received from a stranger, and I just fell in love with the guy and proceeded to buy anything he recorded.” Phair too recalls how the band’s good nature and charm helped launch them: “Material Issue had loads of style and weren’t afraid to use it. In the no-nonsense Mid-West, that was basically asking for trouble. But their good attitude, lanky charismatic frontman and self-consciously retro riffs endeared them to the city and to the nation.”

For all his sincerity and charisma, however, Jim Ellison was not known for being easy to work with.  Ansani remembers this difficulty as Ellison’s desire for control: “Well, in some senses, he was the most dynamic force, yet he also could be the most destructive force. And it sometimes seemed that he would take the band three steps ahead but then he was taking us two steps backward because he was fighting battles he shouldn’t have been fighting. He wanted so much control. He didn’t always work so well with everybody, and because of that we would be burning bridges that we were standing on.” 

Asked to elaborate, Ansani remembers a standard course of events: “Specifically, at video shoots, we’d be in LA ready to shoot a video, and all of a sudden he’d decide he wanted to be the director of the video, and in doing so he would alienate the director the record company had hired. And in turn the record company’s video department got aggravated that they couldn’t do their work. And the same thing happened with the art department. After that happened a few times, people didn’t want to work with him because they didn’t want to deal with his ego.”

Ansani, reflecting on Ellison’s control issues, suspects that Ellison may have eventually been bothered by being on the outs with much of the music community: “I think in a sense, in hindsight, that kind of bothered him, he might have realized that, he wanted to be in control kind of hurt us. And, after, uh, what happened, I sometimes think that might have taken a toll on him.” 

The “what happened” in Ansani’s words is a glaring euphemism. In 1996, the band had recorded their third album, “Telecommando Americano,” but had been dropped by Mercury Records and was currently unsigned, a situation that seemed to liberate Ellison rather than trouble him.  Though some cite the career struggles and many cite a recent romantic disappointment, no one really knows what made Ellison take his own life on June 20, 1996.  

While the premature loss of other musical legends such as Kurt Cobain, Elliott Smith, and Ian Curtis was never really mitigated by each one’s troubled mental history, at least the friends, fans, and family of those men knew what demons existed for each. There were no indicators of Ellison’s mental state, even in the last few songs he wrote. Ellison, like any songwriter, had lyrics that could be decontextualized as warning signs. There is definitely a sadness to moments on “Telecommando Americano,” released after Jim’s death. “Carousel, I thought you knew me well, I guess you couldn’t tell I’d fallen down again,” is striking in hindsight, but Ellison’s friends and bandmates maintain such moments are more coincidental than prescient.  

After the shock of Ellison’s death, there was profound grief among those who knew him. For his Material Issue bandmates, however, there was still final music to be made. With the news only a few days old, they had to go to the studio to finish mixing “Telecommando Americano.” Asked about the difficulty of finishing without Ellison, Ansani says the hardest part was “just hearing his voice and knowing those were the last ideas that he had recorded. It wasn’t polished the way we would have liked to release it but that’s the way it was recorded. There were scratched vocal tracks and scratched guitar tracks, but it’s all we had and we had to do patchwork around it. Mike and I just wanted to finish it up and put it out there for the fans.  It was emotionally hard. The mixing wasn’t hard.”

Despite Material Issue’s all too brief reign in the pop kingdom, their legacy is large. For some, that legacy unfortunately focuses on Ellison’s suicide rather than the upbeat music that preceded it. Asked how he feels about Ellison being inevitably grouped with other musicians who died young, Zelenko asserts that a tragic death is not a point of communion: “I don’t know how to explain it other than they just happened to do that stuff for a living and they were talented artists, but there’s a lot of talented artists that don’t die and grow old.” In 1996, a few short months after Ellison’s death, Zelenko, in a Chicago Tribune interview, explained Ellison’s true legacy: “If any good comes out of this, maybe people who shrugged off his artistic ability as just silly girl songs will realize that he was going way deeper than that.  He made observations about people’s everyday lives that were pretty keen.”

Liz Phair also remembers Ellison far more for his cheerful demeanor: “Jim Ellison was a leader in life as well as in his band. Whenever I saw him out, he always had the most up-beat attitude and was a very supportive friend. His unflappable spirit was what I admired most about him and it was hard not to have a good time when he was around. That may seem ironic, given the tragic circumstances if his death, but anyone who knew Jim personally knew what it was to be touched by the light of his star and I will always think of him as a strong and inspiring presence.”

Fans still remember concerts vividly, clearly touched by the performance.  Mike Meyer, a Portland-based journalist remembers a unique Material Issue show he attended: “In ‘94, I think, they played a free morning show at the China Club in Chicago, with the Indians and Matthew Sweet. It was a silly radio station promotion by WKQX — the show started at something like 3 a.m. By the time Material Issue played, it was dawn, and everyone was beat. But Ellison didn’t notice any of this. He was full-on. Two of my friends were literally sleeping. Yet when Material Issue finished their set, Ellison shouted at maximum volume: ‘Thank you! And good morning!’” 

Material Issue was also a band’s band, leaving their mark on many musicians. The way the band mixed retro sounds with a more punk-inspired three-chord structure expanded possibilities for all musicians wanting to straddle genres and generations into music that was familiar but new.  No wonder their presence has lingered as a muse for other artists. Their most obvious legacy is perhaps in contributing the name to the International Pop Overthrow Festival, organized by David Nash, who has fond memories of seeing Material Issue open for another Illinois band, Shoes. “I think it was in April of 90, or earlier, maybe earlier in the year. They played a club called Bogart’s at Long Beach. I didn’t know who they were. I remember them coming on stage, and seeing these three guys come on stage, and they had this punk attitude. But I did really feel like they had a lot of potential, maybe because of Jim and the charisma that he exuded onstage. When I first decided to name the festival International Pop Overthrow, it was in large part in tribute to Jim and to Material Issue, and I wasn’t sure how the members of the band would take it. I got an email from Mike and he was flattered by it,” Nash says, adding that Ansani and Zelenko have both played the festival with other bands.

Ansani and Zelenko continue to be musically active in the Chicago area. In fact, they are currently playing together again, supporting singer/songwriter Darren Robbins.    Musicians farther removed also continue to make music inspired by Material Issue. The Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba told Mike Meyer that Material Issue helped inspire the band’s latest release, “Agony and Irony.” The Tragically Hip wrote a song, “Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin’ Man” about Ellison. 

In perhaps the most concise tribute to the band, Hole once performed “Valerie Loves Me” during a Chicago performance. After the final chord faded, Courtney Love, legs stretched wide below her low-slung guitar, cigarette aimed at the sky like an offering, screamed “Give it up for that boy!” 

Clearly, like the rest of us, she was still more than a little bit smitten. 

Article by Erin Lyndal Martin, Some Photos by Paul Natkin. Special thanks to Ted Ansani, Blake Levinson, Liz Phair, Mike Meyer, Dave Nash and Mike Zelenko for their time.

There has been talk about this being Dirty Harry 6, but this move is really about a guy named Walt Kowalski who lives alone in a part of the city that has gone to crap, his kids are trying to put him a retirement home, and he has a new Asian family living next door.

The action comes when an Asian gang tries to recruit the teenage neighbor, and a friendship begins when Eastwood intervenes on the boy’s behalf.  

The name Gran Torino is from Walt’s classic 70’s car, which he appears to keep very tidy.  It’s the kind of ride Harry Callahan would have enjoyed.  

The film also stars Gossip Girl’s Dreama Walker, presumably as Walt’s granddaughter Ashley Kowalski.  

After watching the trailer at Apple, I have to say that I’m glad this is not Dirty Harry 6.  Gran Torino looks a lot better than any Dirty Harry film I could have imagined.  The intensity of each of the scenes in the trailer make this look a lot more intelligent than a typical vigilante movie has ever been.  It looks to go beyond the typical “average guy pushed to far”, and more about a complexed character who has always been a bit of a bad ass, on his final years.  It’s weird to hear Clint Eastwood actually say “Get off my lawn!”

To quote Jon Stewart, when Clint Eastwood appeared on his show to promote The Changling, “You don’t do crap”. I agree with that statement 100%.  Eastwood as a director has become a brand.  Each of his films have a feel that shows rare care and craftsmanship.  My favorite so far is still A Perfect World, although I haven’t seen The Changling  or Gran Torino yet.

Gran Torino has a release date of December 17, 2008.  After that Eastwood is releasing The Human Factor, a film about Nelson Mandela after his release.  It stars Matt Damon, and Morgan Freeman, presumably as Mandela (this already smells like an Oscar).  How does one guy pump out such great films?

Check out the trailer here.

I heard mention today that San Francisco was considering legalizing prostitution.  I have long thought this should be done, especially in Las Vegas.  But it ends up that’s not exactly the case.  As a matter of fact, after looking at their plan, it seems like a really bad idea.  

It turns out that San Francisco is not talking about legalizing prostitution, they actually can’t because of state laws.  But they are looking at decriminalizing it.  What’s the difference?  Well, they are not saying it’s legal, they are just telling the police to let it slide.

Why do this?  It seems that some genius has done the math and figured out that this will free up $11 million in resources for the police department to chase down “real criminals” and follow up on more serious issues.

But taking the step to decriminalize prostitution instead of legalizing it causes a few issues that the citizens of San Francisco, and the rest of the world, need to be concerned about.  

First, if you legalize prostitution, not only do pull cops off wasting their time on this, but you also can tax the profession.  This could lead to a significant amount of revenue that could be funneled to the city, and even directly to the police department.  By just decriminalizing prostitution, the city doesn’t really profit from the business.

Second, legalizing prostitution means being able to regulate prostitution.   Rhode Island for example permits prostitution behind closed doors, between two consenting adults.  But it maintains laws against street walking prostitutes.  I think most can agree that we don’t care if some guy goes online to meet a girl on Craigslist for sex, even if he is paying for it.  But we don’t want half-naked women walking up and down the streets in front of our kids.  And we sure don’t want our teenage daughters getting hit up by weird guys in cars.

The regulation of prostitutes also means mandatory testing like they do in Nevada.  Requiring the prostitutes to undergo monthly STD examinations, helps lower the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.  

Sex Slave Trafficking in San Francisco

There is the other big issue in San Francisco, and that has to do with the amount of sex slaves within the city, primarily in the massage parlors.  Young girls are sold into slavery and forced to have sex with countless men, all within one of the biggest cities in the country.  The last I heard, the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, had made a pretty big commitment to drive this evil out of the city.  

This measure, known as Proposition K, will pretty much kill those efforts.  It will also force the local police to turn down federal funds to help fight against sex trafficking in the city of San Francisco.  That is unacceptable.  

This measure is supported by the San Francisco Democratic Party, which just shows the group ignorance of some local democratic party officials.  

I get the idea of the measure; it’s to protect prostitutes from being victimized and not being able to go to police.  And it’s to save tax payers money on not busting hookers.  But the fact is people do not want hookers walking the streets in their neighborhood. 

I’m all for legalizing prostitution, but keep it off the streets,  regulate it, and tax it.  Legalizing prostitution is a great idea, but we cannot just ignore the people being enslaved within our country.  This is America.  It would be good for San Francisco Democrats to remember that.  

People of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome is a good man, and hardly a prude.  I hope that you support him in kicking this ridiculous measure to the curb, where there should not be a hooker.

APN caught the incident on video, which showed some McCain supporters handing out bumper stickers with Obama’s name and his Change slogan, but Change was accented to the Islamic crescent, and the Russian sickle.  To drive the point home, they shouted out anti-Mohammed messages and claimed that Barack Obama has ties with Islamic fundamentalist.  

When questions by the video journalist about what proof he had to support his claims, the racist had no real reply.  At one point a Muslim women let it be known that she is a McCain supporter and that she found the man’s rhetoric disrespectful.  

This is when Daniel Zubairi stepped in and became a voice of intelligence and reason for John McCain.  He informed the video journalist, the muslim supporter, the racist and everyone else, that he is with the campaign, and that the racist were not.  He further stated that John McCain does not endorse this type of racist behavior, and even suggested that the offenders need to read up on the U.S. constitution.  

Zubairi also mentioned that he is a Muslim, and John McCain supported his Congressional run!  

Within a few seconds of screen time from Zubairi, I was back to liking John McCain (not Sarah Palin) as a person.  It’s hard to think a man anti-Muslim, when he supported one for Congress.  

I did a little checking in Zubairi and found the website from his Congressional run at chosedan.com  His Issues page are a little vague, so I don’t know if I would support Daniel for Congress, but I can say that from the little I saw of him, he seemed like the kind of campaigner McCain should want.  

So how does the McCain act when a man of intelligence and reason is asked to speak with CNN about the McCain campaign?  He is stifled.  There could be other reasons, but I have to say that deep down it feels almost like McCain is so far down the Obama = Muslim road, it’s hard to push the idea of letting a Muslim speak for him campaign.  

Daniel Zubairi seems to understand that all it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.  John McCain may want to make a note of that.  I don’t think John McCain is evil, but he is doing nothing when he sees it.  

I would strongly suggest that the people of Maryland take a second look at Zubairi when congressional elections come around again.