When I first talked to a Lebanese-Dutch coffeeshop owner back in, oh, 1997 when I was just visiting the Netherlands, he told me that even though coffeeshops are legal, kids won’t wave to their coffeeshop owner on the street when off shopping with their parents. In other words, they definitely are of a lesser breed, just like sex industry workers. Imagine some guy saying a casual ‘hello’ to his favourite ‘pro’ at the snack bar while grabbing a burger with his mates.
And now in 2009 Dutch banks are refusing to let sex industry businesses open bank accounts, with the excuse that they are responsible for the trafficking of women and money laundering. The VER association, which represents sex businesses, is really pissed at the banks, although oddly enough, if a business has a “neutral sounding name”, it can open a bank account without any problems. Some truth is out there, read the Dutch link below.
Trafficking of women and money laundering, you say? Sure there’s a chance, but it can’t possibly be that bad. And what, the idea of such terrible practices only popped into the banks’ head in 2009? Are they on drugs? Hey banks, didn’t you cause this crisis we’re in?
The world is going mad – stay tuned!
(Link: z24.nl)
The local government of Urk has banned all strippers from the fundamentalist Christian ex-island, RTL Nieuws reports. If a bar breaks the new law, it has to close shop temporarily.
