Free Republic

LAS VEGAS — Strippers work three shifts at the Palomino Club: the 5, the 8 and the 10 p.m. New girls tend to work the 5, which means they sometimes sit around an empty club for hours, playing video games, buying themselves $11 whiskeys or $8 rum and Cokes, clicking up to the stage in high heels for a two-song show and getting naked for nobody but the D.J., a few other lonely strippers and their own reflections on the mirrored walls. The best shift is the 8. The club might be filling up by then, promising dancers the most...

Amidst all the doom and gloom about the economy these days, comes a ray of sunshine! The New York Times on Nov. 19 carried this headline: "Sex Museum Reports Profitability." The story begins, "In its first six weeks the Museum of Sex at 233 Fifth Avenue has drawn more than 15,000 visitors, well over the projections of the number needed to make a profit, reports Daniel Gluck, the founder and executive director." Doesn't that just warm your heart? It sure does mine. The story goes on to tell us that the big draw for these thousands of people is the...