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2003-06-16 - 5:10 p.m. I'm reading: Wired I'm listening to: Tom Waits Quote O' The Day: Tom Waits: "Pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot." The Los Angeles Legislature is trying to pass a law to make lap dancing illegal at strip joints. Why this is fucked up: The clubs don't pay the dancers. The dancers pay the club to work there. And they pay the bartender, the disk jockey, the bouncers, the valet parking guy and I don't know who else. Since they don't get paid they make their money off tips. Now, a dancer is on the stage for two songs, exactly three minutes each. The customers sitting ringside don't have to tip, but etiquette is a one dollar tip. Those sitting at tables don't tip. I've always gone to strip clubs in the afternoon and I've never seen any more than ten men sitting ringside. That's ten bucks until her next onstage dance which is about an hour later. So the ladies make their money in private dances which are twenty bucks a pop. If private dances are excluded you can see they can't afford to work there, and the club can't stay open. Which is the point of the whole bill. There are LOTS of strip joints in L.A. which means lots of women will be out of work. This comes at a time when unemployment is high, the economy is bad, and people need more jobs, not less. When I was in art school, we drew naked people every day and night. So maybe it's just me that fails to see why nudity is wrong. � 
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