New Sex Worker Rulings Unveiled Today
Time to put the spring in Springfield.
At 11 a.m. Monday, Ontario’s Appeal Court will determine whether Canada’s anti-prostitution laws are indeed constitutional.
The laws, which ban brothels, soliciting and living on the avails of sex work, have been struck down by a lower court judge for putting prostitutes at risk. The judge says these restrictions prevent sex workers from screening clients, hiring bodyguards and working indoors.
If these laws are indeed ruled as unconstitutional, as determined by Ontario’s lower court, prostitution-related prosecutions in Canada would effectively cease, pending approval from the Supreme Court of Canada.
Still, the government maintains that police need to control street prostitution and investigate pimping or controlling elements that affect this risque, and often dangerous economic choice.
The Queen Accepts a Commoner’s Wedding Invite; Shocks Couple
Image: Manchester Evening News
When I went to my cousin’s bar mitzvah in Florida in 1997, I remember seeing a framed RSVP card from then-President Bill Clinton. Well, it was hard not to see – it greeted you at the door. The card, of course, said the Clintons would be unable to attend the family’s celebration. It is customary for some to invite heads of state to their simchas, of which they usually politely decline. But, for this occasion in Manchester, the Queen – the mighty duck herself (surprisingly not wearing her trademark canary yellow) – attended the lovely wedding of a non-blue-blooded couple.
Newlyweds Frances and John Canning had booked the Manchester town hall for their civil wedding, only to learn they were sharing the venue with the Queen. After finding that out, they sent her a lighthearted invitation, which, to their surprise, she accepted.
The Queen made a detour from her original schedule to give the couple her best wishes in person. How delightful.
Obama’s New World Bank Leader Pick has History of Rap Battling, Dance-Fighting
U.S. President Obama’s pick to be the next leader of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, was a rapper in another life. Except, by another life, I mean last March, during his reign as President of Dartmouth College.
During a videotaped song-and-dance by the Dartmouth Gospel Choir during “Dartmouth Idol,” the 68-year-old Dr. Kim appeared partway through the live performance of the beloved, “Time of My Life,” to rap, do the robot, and sing part of the Black Eyed Peas remix. Dirty bit, indeed.
But really, what better way is there to prove your eligibility to lead one of the world’s most important global economic institutions? Hard to think of one. Seriously, he looks just like Will.I.Am. Check it out – two minutes in.
Though President Obama was not on-site for this momentous performance, it is hard to imagine an artistic display of this magnitude – or hilarity – would be left off his Google-screening for this top candidate. Amazing.
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Joanna Adams writes the Morning Cable, and lots more, for Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter at †@nowstarringTO.
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