.jpg "Why Facebook borrowed $100 million for servers")
Valleywag
"Did Eliot Spitzer get caught because he didn't spend enough on prostitutes?" Slate contributor Sudhir Venkatesh deserves credit for reporting that Spitzer's alleged $4,300 date was not premium pricing. But his generalizations are far too broad for such a diverse industry as Web-powered prostitution. Were I his editor, I'd have sent back these redlines:
- The Red Light District moving online didn't open up new markets. It gave existing businesses better infrastructure. Online escorting has gotten more sophisticated, but indoor prostitution isn't new. In modern times it has long made up the majority of transactional sex. Even some street-based prostitutes may advertise online and stay in touch with clients using cell phones.
- $2,500-$10,000/session rates do exist, but ... A "session" in this case is, on average, at least two hours long, and at most a week. An on-call girlfriend is what's being bought here, not seven days and seven nights of straight sex. $10K for 15 minutes, as Venkatesh claims? Possibly — in a long-term arrangement, where a client is already paying a set monthly fee high enough that an in-office quickie runs at Daddy Warbucks rates.
- 40 percent of clients don't want to fuck? Oh, come on. It does happen, but it's highly unusual for a regular client to never go all the way.
- An escort will wear your ring, but that doesn't make her like a second wife. A client once gave me a wedding ring so I could pretend to be his blushing new bride when we saw one another. It was sweet. But at the end of the night, what do you think? The ring came off.
- Physical abuse is not a necessary danger of working as a escort. The biggest fear all prostitutes share isn't their clients. It's rogue law enforcers.
(Back by popular demand, gratuitous photo of San Francisco-based Elise Vanderhof)
Comments
You go girl. While the rest of the orld on the "I" are trying to analyze the hypocrisy of this story you are getting right to the basics. Great break-fix-analysis.
johnmwillis.com
Spitzer's main mistake was going to an agency. The more people you let in on your secret, the more likely the secret gets out. Remember Linda Tripp? Plus, avoiding the pimps is just good common sense.
I agree with SFJoe but you have to go through quite a few levels of detail/preparation if you want to minimize your risk in such scenarios - almost to the point it isn't worth it.
I also think the media is being a bit hard on the Spitzer girl.
"...It's rogue law enforcers."
Does that mean cops on a personal mission to bring their own form of justice to prostitutes?
@sample032: ... or perhaps let off in exchange for free services?
They should just leave Spitzer alone. He did a lot of great things for NY and for Americans in general. Everyone does things they don't want to be public... and the legality of those things is unimportant.
So he wanted to spend some time with a pretty girl. So what? It is a witch hunt by the criminals who Spitzer put away in the first place.
He shouldn't have gone through the hoops that he did to hide the prostitution. He should have used a trusted friend or aide to arrange the meetings and done it under a false name. No airline trips with names on tickets. No hotels. Pay in cash. The list goes on and on.
Either way, leave Spitzer alone. He had a great career and it is a waste that something as stupid as this ruined it.
@Fidel on the Roof: agreed.
I was waiting for Melissa's commentary to come rolling in once they identified "Kristen" complete with MySpace page. Great response to the Slate article, keep it up.
Just curious, do you ask Elise Vanderhof, Mme. Carla, et al for permission before posting their photos/sites to a much wider audience?
[www.courtesanelise.com]
What are you talking about? He was tipped off because he was withdrawing large sums of cash. Concerning the February 13th tryst, it dovetailed perfectly with this scheduled testimony; he was supposed to be in DC.
his mistake was not dealing in cash. never leave a paper trail.
geez..he prosecuted prostitution rings while he was attorney general of ny..
ya think he would learn how to hide properly from the law from that experience
the cash withdrawal wasnt what tipped off the irs. it was large and frequent wire transfers to shell companies.
@westphalia: Escorts love the links. We love their photos. Everybody wins!
@Paul Boutin: not complaining :)
just really curious... even though they have their own public websites with photos, the expectation probably isn't that they'll receive viewership of valleywag-proportions. Presuming Melissa is in an empathetic position, I'm wondering if she checks with them first.
Paul... that just depends on where you're advertising. Valley is unique to many escorts located on the west coast but most of us advertise on free escort sites that sends us well over 10k/hits per month.
Lily S.
[lilyseymour.blogspot.com]
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