Gawker Slammed For Outing Exec

Via USA Today:

Gawker drew heavy criticism Friday from online readers after the news and gossip site ran a story about the CFO of Conde Nast allegedly soliciting sex from a gay porn star. David Geithner, a married father of three and brother of former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, denied the allegations. Gawker nevertheless reported that Geithner planned to go to Chicago to meet a gay porn star and escort and was prepared to pay $2,500 for the encounter. David Geithner cancelled the meet-up after the escort tried to get him to use his political connections to help with a housing dispute. Previously, the anonymous escort had asked Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for help with his housing dispute, the online article said.

I read the entire Gawker piece early this morning and I'm with Greenwald on this one.

UPDATE: Gawker founder Nick Denton says the post is coming down.

NEVADA: Legal Brothel Bans Josh Duggar

The owner of Nevada's famed Bunny Ranch is rather notorious for trying to inject himself into national stories by banning those making the headlines from his brothel. So here he is again. Via press release:

The world famous Moonlite Bunny Ranch, famed legal brothel that has been featured on HBO's smash hit series "Cathouse", has taken the extraordinary step of banning TLC's "19 And Counting" star Josh Duggar from entering any of their properties, citing concerns for the safety of the 500 legal prostitutes that are employed there. Duggar has recently become embattled in a firestorm of controversy over his admission that he sexually molested five girls, including two of his younger sisters, when he was 15. One of the sisters was 5 at the time that the assault occurred.

"My number one priority has got to be the safety of my girls," said Dennis Hof, owner of the world famous Bunny Ranch and six other Nevada brothels. "We employ 500 girls at any one time, and we've had tens of thousands of them come and go over the years. With the Duggars having 19 kids, it is just simple math that the odds are much greater than usual that one of their daughters might come work for us at some point. There's no way I would ever put them or any other girl in harm's way, should that brother of theirs come prowling around here. He's persona non grata, starting now."

"Those poor girls (the Duggar sisters) were propped up on television by their Bible thumping parents to make excuses for their brother, saying that their mother and father had protected them after they became aware of the molestations by putting locks on the girls' doors. We don't have locks on our girls' doors, because we've never needed them. Apparently the Bunny Ranch brothel is a safer place for young girls than the Duggar household."

You may recall that at the height of the Duck Dynasty controversy, Hof banned Phil Robertson from patronizing the Bunny Ranch. Today's press release notes that Hof's autobiography was released earlier this year to "critical acclaim." Judge for yourself. (Tipped by JMG reader Mike)

Former Escort Service Owner Pens Tell-All: Sen. Larry Craig Liked His Hookers Butch

Former DC escort service owner Henry Vinson pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges back in 1990 and served five years in a minimum security prison. Twenty years later he's penned a tell-all memoir in which he claims that then-Rep. Larry Craig preferred that his rent boys be "quite masculine."

Vinson employed up to 20 escorts on a given night in this “extremely lucrative” business. “The business was very successful.” Not wanting to pin down a number to his profits, Vinson did mention a frequent customer who would spend $20,000 a month on his escorts. “Of course, in the ’80s that was a lot of money.” Rich in the kind of sordid drama one might expect, Vinson’s book names names. Then-U.S. Rep. Larry Craig of Idaho, he writes, “became a frequent flier of my escort service” and “preferred escorts who were quite masculine.” Although he claims he received many threats of blackmail from many of his powerful clients, Vinson’s business was in full operation until the Secret Service raided his home, his sister’s home and his mother’s home in 1989. And the rest is history.

As you surely recall, in 2007 Larry Craig was busted for soliciting in the men's room of the Minneapolis airport. He did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2008 and is now a lobbyist for the oil industry. Last year Craig was ordered to repay over $240K in campaign funds that he had used in his soliciting defense. (Tipped by JMG reader Javier)

RELATED: Last month Henry Vinson penned an essay for the Advocate in which he mentions that his RICO defense attorney was current Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. According to Vinson, Van Susteren failed in her attempt to force the government to release the full list of his clients.

Robert Oscar Lopez: The Government Will Pay Reparations To Kids Of Gay Parents

"Over time, there is no doubt that there will be at least 100,000 citizens, probably well over 500,000, placed into same-sex homes entirely or predominantly because of the state’s response to demands for expanded marriage rights from gay lobbying organizations. These citizens will not have chosen to be deprived of a parent of one gender and subjected to the authority of an additional guardian of the other gender – these are citizens for whom the choice will have been made by the government (a government run by an older generation), when they were infants, or not even born yet, and had no way to consent to or understand what was being done to them. A sizable number of these citizens could come together and document losses, damages, or 'pain and suffering' incurred because they were forced to grow up in a same-sex parenting home as opposed to a home with a mother and father. If this ends in a reparations trial decades down the line, we can’t say there weren’t ample warning signs of what was to come." - Homocon horcrux Robert Oscar Lopez, in an American Thinker column comparing the children of gay parents to the Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: In April 2014 Lopez filed a SCOTUS brief in which he opposed same-sex marriage because gay people have been been mean to him. In March 2015 Lopez declared that gay activists are incentivizing home-wreckers. Also in March 2015 Lopez declared that gay parents like Elton John are disgusting terrorists. In December 2014 Lopez filed an amicus brief with the Eleventh Circuit Court in which he opposed Florida marriage because gays have been telling lies about him. In September 2014 Lopez compared the Human Rights Campaign to the Khmer Rouge. Also in September 2014 Lopez petitioned the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop gay marriage in Texas because he used to be a prostitute. In April 2014 Lopez filed an anti-gay amicus brief in support of Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage. In March 2014 Lopez declared that gay men are turning surrogate mothers into breeding slaves. In 2013, in addition to appearing on stage at an anti-gay Manif Pour Tous rally in France that was supported by neo-Nazis, Lopez testified against LGBT equality before several state legislatures and he co-signed an anti-gay homocon brief to the Supreme Court in support of DOMA. You really must read the Media Matters take on Lopez' trilogy of gay erotica.

Hookers 4 Hillary

Via the Daily Mail:

A group of Nevada sex workers have come out in favor of Democratic contender Hillary Clinton for president. The group, calling themselves Hookers For Hillary, all work at Dennis Hof's infamous Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Carson City. The legal brothel, which was the subject of HBO's Cathouse series, has drafted a four-point platform explaining their endorsement. According to their website, they’re supporting the former secretary of state because of her work on health care reform, foreign relation experience, tax reform and responsible government oversight on public health issues.

The endorsement has been headline heaven across Teabagistan.

Robert Oscar Lopez To Fifth Circuit: Stop Gay Marriage Because I Was A Prostitute

Homocon horcrux Robert Oscar Lopez has filed a deranged amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the ban on same-sex marriage in Texas. According to Lopez' brief, gay parents escape punishment for abusing their children because child welfare authorities fear appearing bigoted. The brief goes on to accuse Frontiers writer Karen Ocamb of "issuing an invitation for people to harass or even attack me physically" because Ocamb wrote a post which named his workplace, which is California State University-Northridge.

Lopez goes on whine about activists Jeremy Hooper, Wayne Besen, and Zack Ford for daring to describe him as "anti-gay." (Sadly, yours truly does not appear in the brief.) And then there's this recounting of Lopez' alleged days as a gay prostitute:

I believe it was around 1987 that I first had a man offer me payment in exchange for having sex in the back of his van. My first time being paid for sex brought me a mix of shame and further compulsion. I became a habitual sex worker by the age of sixteen in various cruising spots where older men told me I could find other customers; these included public parks, the bathrooms in 24-hour supermarkets, community sports centers, and certain spaces in Lockwood Library of the State University of New York at Buffalo, where I had sex with graduate students, janitors, and professors well over twice my age. The money I received for sex certainly helped me financially because it allowed me certain spending money beyond what I earned with my teenage jobs at a pizzeria and in my mother’s clinic. But the money was not as impactful as the fact that I needed to feel loved and wanted by an older male figure, even if for only as short as a half hour.

Much of the rest of the brief defends the debunked work of discredited researcher Mark Regnurus. Read the full brief in all its entertaining batshittery at Equality Case Files.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: In April 2014 Lopez filed an anti-gay amicus brief in support of Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage. Last March 2014 Lopez declared that gay men are turning surrogate mothers into breeding slaves. Last year, in addition to appearing on stage at an anti-gay Manif Pour Tous rally in France that was supported by neo-Nazis, Lopez testified against LGBT equality before several state legislatures and he co-signed an anti-gay homocon brief to the Supreme Court in support of DOMA. You really must read the Media Matters take on Lopez' trilogy of gay erotica. 

UK: Tory MP Resigns In Rent Boy Scandal

Conservative MP Mark Menzies resigned his position as a ministerial aide last night after a 19 year-old Brazilian male prostitute alleged that Menzies hired him for sex and asked him to procure drugs. Via the Independent:

Menzies, 42, the MP for Fylde in Lancashire, resigned his position as the parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the international development minister Alan Duncan, the first openly gay Conservative MP. Mr Menzies has never spoken publicly about his sexuality and does not mention his family life or relationships on his website, but he is said to have attended LGBTory events held in Parliament. In a statement issued on Saturday night he revealed he planned to dispute the claims, which appeared in a tabloid newspaper.

Via the Daily Mail:

In reports last night, Mr Santos, said to be 19, claimed the Tory MP had paid him to have sex and asked him to obtain methedrone. Texts on the Brazilian’s mobile phone apparently revealed messages asking him for full details about the quality of the drug and how much it cost. Mr Santos, who lives in the Brazilian city Sao Paulo, said: "I have been having sex with a Conservative MP for money. Mark asked me to buy methedrone. I have personal messages of him talking to me about drugs." Mr Santos also reportedly claimed he had overstayed on his student visa and was in the UK illegally, although it is understood Mr Menzies was unaware of his immigration status. The Brazilian maintained he was taken around Parliament by the MP and still has a ‘visitor’s permit’ but there was no suggestion Mr Menzies had broken any Commons rules.

Limbaugh: The First Lady Has A Fat Ass

"There is Michelle Obama and the $12,000 gown by Carolina Herrera, and the French president Hollande is in the middle, and there's Obama. You'll notice that this dress is bigger than the president of France. Here, let me make one more adjustment here and I'll show you this again. Take a look at that picture. The little guy in the middle is the socialist dictator -- well, not dictator. He's the socialist president of France. On the left, that's not Oprah. Don't confuse that. That's Michelle Obama. I saw a picture of this from the rear. That's why I thought it was Oprah. I did." - Rush Limbaugh, speaking today on his radio show.

RELATED: Limbaugh and the other baggers are also very upset that the Obamas are hosting a lavish state dinner while the president rails against income inequality. In fact, last night's was only the sixth state dinner of Obama's time in the White House.  Overlooked is the inconvenient fact that Ronald Reagan hosted 35 state dinners during his two terms. Bush I threw more than 20 in his single term.

OHIO: Gay Man Killed By Online Hook-Up, Body Found In Killer's Closet

Three weeks after a 22 year-old Ohio gay man was reported missing by his roommate, police have found his body in the closet of the man he arranged to meet online.

John R. Fox, 34 [PHOTO], of 1783 E. Main St., Franklin Township, has been charged with murder in conjunction with the death of Justin Tyler Earley, 22, three weeks after Earley was reported missing to Alliance police. The death is being investigated as "suspicious," said Thomas Decker, chief investigator with the Portage County Coroner's Office. He said Monday that he hasn't confirmed a preliminary cause of death. Officials continue to await the results of microscopic evidence taken by the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office. Portage County Sheriff David Doak said his investigation found that Fox and Earley apparently were not acquainted prior to last weekend.  The Review discovered two ads on the website backpage.com, which is commonly used for prostitution purposes.

Posted on Dec. 12, a man identifying himself as "Tyler," a college student, was looking for men to have a good time with. He placed an additional ad on Dec. 19, reiterating the message and offering "incalls" and "outcalls." An "incall" is when a "john" visits a prostitute, while an "outcall" is when the prostitute visits the "john." Both ads included photographs of "Tyler" and his phone number. Alliance police detective Lt. John Jenkins confirmed Monday that Earley was "Tyler." Police say Fox posted an ad on Craigslist.com on Dec. 29, the day before Earley's disappearance, soliciting a man to come to his residence. Craigslist removed the ad, but Fox apparently responded to the backpage.com ad. Doak declined to comment on the possibility that the online ads led to some kind of transaction between Earley and Fox.

The arrested man is a registered sex offender following a 2004 conviction for having sex with a female minor. An Ohio affiliate of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has issued a press release.

“We in Ohio are concerned by a high number of homicides in the LGBTQ community related to all forms of violence. The homicide of Justin Earley marks the seventh homicide of LGBTQ individuals in Ohio alone that BRAVO has been aware of in 2013, the highest number of homicides of LGBTQ people since we started tracking LGBTQ Anti-Violence in Ohio.” said Aaron Eckhardt, Training and Technical Assistance Director of BRAVO. “BRAVO is saddened and outraged as our communities continue to be targeted. BRAVO remains steadfast in providing services to the LGBTQ communities of Ohio.” “We at BRAVO believe that this incident underscores the importance for focus and action on hate crimes and sexual violence against LGBTQ communities. Sadly, we know that hate crime violence in its many forms are intended to instill the message of hate and fear throughout the entire community. Hate motivated homicide has the potential instill terror throughout our communities; BRAVO seeks to interrupt that message with one of healing and hope,” said Gloria McCauley, Executive Director of BRAVO.

CANADA: Supreme Court Strikes Down Laws Against Prostitution And Brothels

The Canadian Supreme Court today issued a sweeping ruling which declares that laws banning prostitution and brothels are a violation of the federal constitution.

In striking down laws prohibiting brothels, living on the avails of prostitution and communicating in public with clients, the top court ruled Friday that the laws were over-broad and grossly disproportionate. "Parliament has the power to regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and lives of prostitutes," wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in the 9-0 decision that noted "it is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money." The ruling was in response to a court challenge by women with experience in the sex trade, Terri-Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott that had resulted in an Ontario court ruling that overturned the laws. The Ontario Court of Appeal later upheld the law against communicating in public, but sided with the lower court in overturning the provisions against living off the avails and keeping a common bawdy house or brothel.

The Court has stayed their ruling for one year to give Parliament a chance to react.

The ball is now back in the court of Justice Minister Peter MacKay, who needs to decide whether to adopt new prohibitions and if so, how to ensure those prohibitions do not fall afoul of the court. Mr. MacKay suggested in a statement that the government will continue to look at prohibiting prostitution in some fashion. The government is “exploring all possible options to ensure the criminal law continues to address the significant harms that flow from prostitution to communities, those engaged in prostitution, and vulnerable persons,” he said.

You know this was the inevitable result of gay marriage, right? Because that's what we're going to hear for the next few days.

Quote Of The Day - John Scarpa

"A sentence of 25 years to life is an incredibly long period of time, judge. Shouldn’t that be reserved for people who are guilty of killing certain classes of individuals? Who is the victim in this case? Is the victim a person in the higher end of the community? Amanda was engaged in a life of prostitution, life of drug use, HIV exposure. She was having sex with other individuals knowing she had the chance of spreading diseases." - Queens attorney John Scarpa, defending his client Rasheen Everett for the murder of transgender prostitute Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar.  The judge slammed Scarpa's comments then sentenced Everett to 29 years in prison.

The Anti-Violence Project has issued a statement:

AVP is calling for a public apology by Scarpa for this outrageous statement that says that transgender women and sex workers should be legally devalued by society. This type of speech is tantamount to hate speech and says that LGBT people, and particularly transgender women, are “other” and not worthy of protection. This hate speech is irresponsible and we are also calling on the Queens District Attorney’s office to issue a public condemnation of Scarpa’s dangerous and offensive remarks.

CONNECTICUT: Paper Reveals Escorting Profiles Linked To Late Yale Professor

Last weekend Yale professor Samuel See died in the custody of New Haven, Connecticut police after a scuffle following a dispute with his estranged husband. Both men had orders of protection filed against each other. Today the New Haven Register revealed that profiles linked to See are on four male escorting sites.

The jail cell death last weekend of Yale University professor Samuel See, known as a brilliant writer and rising star in academia, has shaken up the tight-knit college community. Now adding to the mystery of his unexpected death are apparent connections between the online profiles of See and several escort service websites that include a cache of sexually explicit photos. At least four websites advertising male escort services included a phone number connected to See. The website Ryan Cochran Escort Services includes the same phone number listed on an order of protection filed against See in September. A profile photo on the Ryan Cochran Escort Service website matches the profile photograph on a LinkedIn account purporting to be See’s. The website lists Cochran’s home city as New Haven. A Facebook page with pictures resembling See and listed under the name Ryan Cochran includes See’s home address.

One of the escorting profiles (not work safe) contains this description: "I'm a professional, well-educated, sexually limitless escort working out of New Haven. I'm versatile, love cum, party, and prefer to fuck raw. I can get into all kinds of sexual and social situations, so just name your pleasure."  As yet there is no evidence that See himself created the profiles.

See was found dead in his cell on Sunday morning after being treated for a facial cut sustained during his struggle with the arresting officers. New Haven police have launched an internal inquiry. It should go without saying that whether or not See was doing sex work is irrelevant to the issue of his death while in the custody of the police.

OHIO: Catholic Priest Charged With Soliciting Prostitution While HIV-Positive

Cleveland police have arrested a Catholic priest for soliciting prostitution in a public park. Father James McGonegal later revealed that he is HIV-positive, which brings additional charges.

In the incident report released today, an off-duty Cleveland Metroparks ranger said McGonegal offered the ranger $50 to help him “get off,” then exposed himself and masturbated, all while sitting inside his late-model Jeep SUV. The report said McGonegal had three sex devices in his Jeep when he was arrested around 12:45 p.m. The priest, 68, was released on personal bond from Cleveland City Jail this morning other media reports said. He has not been arraigned as the charges were not filed until around noon. McGonegal has been pastor at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, at Lorain Avenue and West Boulevard, since the mid-1980s. He has been a priest since 1971. At a mass this evening at the church, the only mention of the incident was at the start when a lector greeted the 140 people in attendance and said, "Today we pray for this parish, and our pastor." A priest in residence at St. Ignatius said the mass.

McGonegal was also charged with possessing "abusive harmful intoxicants." Apparently, he had poppers with him.

NOTE: While the police claim that the arresting officer was "off-duty," this sounds like yet another gay sex sting. Read the full story.

NYC Radio Star Mr. Cee Un-Resigns After Acknowledging Sex With Trans Prostitute

Yesterday New York City hip-hop radio star Mr. Cee acknowledged having sex with a transgender sex worker in a tearful 30-minute interview on his own station, which then published a statement accepting his resignation and wishing him well. But almost immediately, there was another development.

On Thursday afternoon, following the urging of Mr. Darden during the morning interview, Mister Cee had seemingly un-resigned. He was back in his noon timeslot, playing defiant songs interspersed with grateful ones — Jadakiss’s “The Champ Is Here,” Maino’s “Hi Hater,” AZ’s “I’m Back.” “Let me just live my life/ Just leave me alone,” he rapped along with one Cam’ron song. In between songs, he barked out the details of the clubs he’d be spinning at in the coming days. “The truth will set you free,” he said. “I know it now.”

Near the end of his hour, he switched from hip-hop to classic soul. “If you’re down and out, if you’re struggling, if you think you can’t overcome something, maybe this record may lift you up like it lifted me up last night when I listened to it,” he said before playing Sly and the Family Stone’s “You Can Make It If You Try.” He followed that with the group’s exuberant anthem “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again),” and Mister Cee’s message was clear. He had been supporting others for so long. Now, finally, he was the subject of his own tribute.

The New York Times evaluates:

Mister Cee’s confession comes in the middle of a stretch that has seen the gradual easing of hip-hop’s internalized homophobia. Over the last couple of years Frank Ocean, the soul singer and affiliate of the hip-hop crew Odd Future, openly discussed his love for a man; ASAP Rocky and Kanye West have loudly disavowed homophobia (though Rocky visibly struggled at the MTV Video Music Awards when put on stage next to the openly gay basketball player Jason Collins), and Jay Z voiced his support for marriage equality.

This reflects a generational shift in attitudes, a slight class shift in hip-hop’s mainstream, as well as a broadening of hip-hop’s fan base. Anti-gay sentiment has long played a part in hip-hop, but as hip-hop becomes more central to pop culture,its values are evolving. A decade ago this scenario would have probably been unthinkable. But there was Mr. Darden assuring Mister Cee, “There’s nothing wrong with being who you are,” and at one point encouraging him by exclaiming, “You’re free, Cee!”

Mister Cee has been arrested twice for sex with male prostitutes, most recently in May during an undercover sting conducted by the NYPD.

NEW YORK CITY: Popular Radio DJ Resigns Over Sex With Trans Prostitute

BET reports:

DJ Mister Cee was a guest on Hot 97 Thursday (Sept. 12) morning addressing the latest rounds of sex allegations, and admitted to being "in denial" about rumors that he solicited oral sex from men. "I never had actually sexual intercourse with another man, and vice versa," Cee said in the nearly 30-minute interview. But he did admit to accepting sexual "favors" from a "transsexual person." He also acknowledged the recorded encounter with Bimbo Winehouse, a male he reportedly picked up for a sexual exchange. Cee said the run-in with Winehouse went down last year. The BK native denied being gay but broke down in tears several times, exposing his fear of not being "looked at the same way," and shaming his West Indian family. "I just feel like I let a lot of people down," Cee explained, adding that he needs time to deal with "who," and "what" he is.

Mister Cee has been arrested twice for sex with male prostitutes, most recently in May during an undercover sting conducted by the NYPD.  Hot 97 has issued a statement:

"We feel that this is in the best interest of both HOT 97 and Cee’s personal well-being. While we do not endorse the alleged activities, he is clearly facing a personal dilemma that is for him and only him to comment on. We are saddened by his departure; his contributions here at HOT 97 were great and we know him as a friend, a caring individual and significant hip hop advocate. We wish Mr. Cee the best and will always consider him a family member of HOT 97."

(Tipped by JMG reader Tee Jay)

BOSTON: Archdiocese Official Busted With Prostitute Behind Church Cemetery

Boston Archdiocese Monsignor Arthur Coyle has been arrested after offering to pay a female prostitute $40 for a blowjob behind the Holy Trinity Polish Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Coyle, 62, of Lowell was arraigned this morning in Lowell District Court. Bail was set at $500 cash, and he was slated to return to court Sept. 16 for a pretrial conference, said Middlesex district attorney’s spokeswoman Stephanie Guyotte. In a statement released this afternoon, the archdiocese said Coyle had voluntarily taken a leave of absence from his post as episcopal vicar for the Merrimack Region, a post he has held since 2008. “While on administrative leave, Msgr. Coyle is prohibited from performing any public ministry,’’ the archdiocese said in the statement. “These restrictions will remain in place pending the outcome of the case. The steps taken today do not represent a determination of Msgr. Coyle’s guilt or innocence as it pertains to these charges.’’ The statement concluded with the sentence, “The Archdiocese asks for prayers for all impacted by this matter.’’

Police say that Coyle had been seen cruising a known prostitution area more than a dozen times in the past. During his arrest, Coyle reportedly told the police that he didn't even get the blowjob. Pity. A press release from the Archdiocese stresses that Coyle was arrested for sexual misconduct "involving an adult."

Spitzer Leads NYC Comptroller Poll

Last night, twenty minutes before the 11PM deadline, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer turned in nearly ten times the required petition signatures to make the ballot for New York City comptroller. Primarily on the strength of his name recognition (for better or worse) he's already leading in a favorability poll against Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer.

In the new poll, taken Monday and Tuesday, 67 percent of Democrats said he deserved a second chance, and 44 percent said he was a changed man. Nearly two-thirds said his scandal mattered little to the race, or not at all. He also enjoys a healthy favorability rating, with 46 percent of Democrats saying they had a positive opinion of him, compared to 40 percent saying the same of  Stringer. The poll of 536 registered Democrats has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Voters were asked which scandal -- Spitzer's or Weiner's -- was worse, and the responses were nearly evenly split. Thirty-one percent said Weiner sending lewd pictures over Twitter was more egregious, and 29 percent chose Spitzer's involvement in prostitution. Nineteen percent said the two scandals were equally reprehensible, while 13 percent said neither was offensive.  Stringer, who until this week seemed to have a lock on his party's nomination, has his own work to do. Forty-three percent of Democrats polled said that they'd never heard of him or were unsure what they thought of him.

Stringer already has the endorsements of virtually all of the city's major labor unions as well as most of the members of the Democratic delegations to Congress and the state legislature.

Today's New York Post

This morning I mentioned that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will be running for city comptroller. Not mentioned in my first post on this news is that one of Spitzer's opponents will be Kristin Davis, the madam that claims to have provided "Client Number Nine" with some of his hookers.

“I’ve been waiting for my day to face [Spitzer] for five years,” Davis said. “I sat ... in Rikers Island, I came out penniless and nothing happened to him. The hypocrisy there is huge.” Davis, who is running as a Libertarian, says her escort service supplied Spitzer prostitutes, a claim which has never been verified. On her campaign website, she describes herself as "a feminist, entrepreneur, and former Wall Street Hedge Fund Vice President" who has the "financial management and business experience to be an effective fiscal watchdog for the New York taxpayer." She also says she's the only candidate who supports the legalization and taxation of marijuana in order to close NYC's budget deficit.

Davis says this will be "the funnest campaign ever."  Anthony Weiner must be doing cartwheels.

ITALY: Police Investigate Claims Of Catholic Priests Hiring Rentboys In Rome

Italian police are investigating claims that a former policeman visited the area around a bar named Twink (seriously) to recruit rentboys for Catholic priests assigned to churches across Rome.

Don Patrizio Poggi, 46, told Italian authorities that a former Carabinieri pimped boys for nine clergymen. Poggi, who served a five-year sentence for abusing teenage boys while he was a parish priest at the San Filippo Neri church in Rome, said he made the allegations to "protect the Holy Church and the Christian community."

The boys were chosen because they were starving and desperate, he claimed, according to Il Messaggero newspaper. The former policeman used to recruit the boys, mostly eastern European immigrants, outside a gay bar named Twink near Rome's Termini train station. He reportedly sat in his Fiat Panda - marked "Emergency Blood" to avoid parking fines - to make his selection.

He was helped in the recruitment process by a friend who ran a modelling agency. He lured underage boys into prostitution through "false work offers for modelling and acting roles", Poggi said. The agent also looked for rentboys at gay discos, saunas and gyms across Rome. An accountant was also said to be involved. The boys were paid €150-€500 (£130-£425) to perform sex acts in church premises across the capital.

The informant also claims that the former cop stole consecrated communion wafers to sell to Satanists. According to the above-linked report, two senior members of the Vatican have "vouched" for the "documentary and photographic evidence" given to the police.  Stand by for Bill Donohue to scream, "But what about the RABBIS that are hiring rentboys!"

Long Island Cops Use Village Voice Site To Stage Massive Prostitution Sting

Using the Village Voice's Backpage.com site, cops in Nassau County lured in 104 men with prostitution offers from undercover male and female officers. The arrested men range in age from 17 to 79.

More than 100 johns — lawyers and doctors among them — were named and shamed in an aggressive Nassau County sting after soliciting sex from cops posing as prostitutes. The arrests were announced Monday after a month-long investigation dubbed “Operation Flush the Johns.” Not only did the 104 busts send shockwaves through marriages, law firms and medical offices, they also sent a strong message from law enforcement that people who pay for sex will be treated like common criminals in Nassau County. “This whole concept of looking at johns as victims — they’re not victims!” explained Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice. “They’re further exploiting and victimizing trafficked women and men.”

One of the ads for a male prostitute claimed that "Dylan" is a "down to earth guy who has a secret wild side."  A lawyer for one of the arrested men denounced the Nassau County prosecutor for creating the above poster with the faces and names of those charged: "To put out a poster to humiliate these men and their families is outrageous. It was nothing short of outrageous for the prosecutor to try to humiliate these men." 

And following that quote, the Daily News posted its own embedded scrollable list of the names, ages, and home towns of those arrested.  The majority of the commenters on the above-linked article are outraged.

RELATED: After losing major advertisers, last year Village Voice Media legally separated itself from Backpage.com, which has long been the target of state attorneys general and religious groups. According to Wikipedia, Backpage.com is now owned by two major Voice shareholders.