15 June 06 in Found
I stumbled across a few images from this soccer-themed series on a Belgian site and later found the complete collection on a Chinese-language site. Yes, I know, I’m quite the international internet explorer. I can’t really tell you what this is all about—just trust in the Laughing Man and follow the links at the end for more soccer-hottie goodness. (Update: If I’m reading the watermarks correctly, these appear to be from the Chinese Esquire.)
Continue reading “Chinese Soccer Babes”...
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(4)
8 June 06 in Media
The U.S. Government is pressuring Germany to halt the flow of sex workers arriving for the World Cup. The administration is attempting to conflate legal prostitution with the international sex slave trade in much the same manner that it conflates legal pornography with the exploitation of minors here in the States.
A U.S. congressman and other anti-trafficking advocates estimate that thousands of foreign women, many from Eastern Europe, will be forced into sex work during the four-week tournament that begins June 9.
At a briefing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced “the sordid trade in human beings” and said the fight against trafficking is “a great moral calling of our time.”
The first problem with the State Department’s argument is that Germany has what is probably the world’s most heavily-regulated flesh trade.
Prostitution is legal in Germany, with about 400,000 registered sex workers who pay taxes and receive social benefits. However, the government says forced prostitution is not tolerated and it denies Smith’s claim that it is helping build brothels.
[T]he 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report gave Germany its highest overall rating for compliance with efforts to stop trafficking, and noted German efforts to combat exploitation during the World Cup.
“Nonetheless, due to the sheer size of the event, the potential for increased human trafficking during the games remains a concern,” the report said.
The second problem is that the State Department’s estimate of the size of the international sex slave trade amounts to a wild-assed guess.
Continue reading “Sex Trafficking and Bad Data”...
More: World Cup,
German,
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Racial Bias
5 June 06 in Media
Well, not really. But Togo did take home a far more important prize, at least as far as ethnorotica is concerned. Beauty queen Edwige Madze Badakou, current Miss Togo, was recently crowned Miss World Cup. Frankly, I didn’t even know there was a Miss World Cup beauty pageant until the winner was announced. I’d dare say the real winners here are the judges who got to spend some face time with these lovely international babes.
A little internet sleuthing reveals two sites stocked with more photos of the various contestants, but, for glaringly obvious reasons, I’m rather partial to the photo above.
[Via BBC]
More: Photography,
Babes,
African,
Multi-Ethnic,
World Cup
