Does anybody out there have any information on Turn Off The Blue Light?!

[Banjaxed]

https://www.escort-ireland.com/board...The-Blue-Light

Hmm...that was what I suspected myself. But while it was a great idea, it gives the gutter press and the opposition plenty of ammunition to use, especially in light of their recent coverage of this site, that people behind the cause simply have a profit motive as opposed to just altruism.

Now, of course, the opposition aren't doing it out of the good of their hearts either, given that they're part of the institutionalised professional NGO stable, but it still won't stop them from slinging mud.

[Patricia]

Deleted that thread, as it is way old and out of date, and might give wrong impression.

[Banjaxed]

Deleted that thread, as it is way old and out of date, and might give wrong impression.

Ruhama already had one of their pet journalists do a hatchet job on it already last year. As you say, I'm not sure what the situation is with TOTBL now, but the first rule of these type of heated, issued-related politics is never to be caught with your finger on the trigger.

[LaBelleThatcher]

Ruhama already had one of their pet journalists do a hatchet job on it already last year. As you say, I'm not sure what the situation is with TOTBL now, but the first rule of these type of heated, issued-related politics is never to be caught with your finger on the trigger.

Personally I am tired of blindly following Ruhama's pet journalists (HOW can they promote the Sunday World KNOWING how that paper bullies, harasses, and destroys sex workers and their families regularly? That is beyond the usual despicable)...so I intend to do some asking around more neutral and informed sources with a less pronounced aversion to facts to see what the real story is.

[Patricia]

Ruhama already had one of their pet journalists do a hatchet job on it already last year. As you say, I'm not sure what the situation is with TOTBL now, but the first rule of these type of heated, issued-related politics is never to be caught with your finger on the trigger.

Nobody has been "caught with their finger on the trigger". TOBL started out here, that is a fact that has never been denied by anybody. I'm only saying highlighting a thread about TOBL starting out here is not appropriate because TOBL was only here a few weeks before it moved on to be not associated with E-I.

[Banjaxed]

Nobody has been "caught with their finger on the trigger". TOBL started out here, that is a fact that has never been denied by anybody. I'm only saying highlighting a thread about TOBL starting out here is not appropriate because TOBL was only here a few weeks before it moved on to be not associated with E-I.

Thanks for the clarification on the background, Patricia. It's natural that an initiative such as TOTBL would start here in what is probably the present centre of sex worker internet activity but it was useful to hacks to paint it in a certain light to the public, who we must remember, probably don't know a lot about these issues (or at least I didn't till I joined here). Good campaigns on any controversial issue always get stung that way, and accused of being a "front" for something else by their mud slinging opponents.

[Patricia]

In fact TV3 contacted E-I and asked about the connection to TOBL and E-I provided a statement regards this, including confirming that TOBL did indeed start out on E-I. Of course TV3 didn't use this statement as the truth isn't scandelous enough. Instead they went and stood outside an empty building and claimed TOBL falsely claimed it was their HQ. Complete rubbish, the address on the TOBL website is a company called Mailboxes Etc which provides mail forwarding services to loads of individuals, small businesses, orgs etc.

[Banjaxed]

In fact TV3 contacted E-I and asked about the connection to TOBL and E-I provided a statement regards this, including confirming that TOBL did indeed start out on E-I. Of course TV3 didn't use this statement as the truth isn't scandelous enough. Instead they went and stood outside an empty building and claimed TOBL falsely claimed it was their HQ. Complete rubbish, the address on the TOBL website is a company called Mailboxes Etc which provides mail forwarding services to loads of individuals, small businesses, orgs etc.

Well, it's just what Eileen has been pointing out all along. It's a dort of "confirmation bias", anything inconsistent with their agenda or the image they wish to portray will be neatly overlooked. They never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, as has always been said.

Of course, a lot of groups and individuals use mail forwarding and virtual office services nowadays, thankfully long gone are the days when starting out require a huge amount of capital to rent an office or else you had to use your home address and have every Tom, Dick and Harry with an issue or agenda calling to your home.

[Patricia]

Another sad point is, companies like E-I can do something about it when the media attacks us. Most of the untrue things said about E-I in the media, the media doesn't actually say "Escort-Ireland.com", it says "escort ireland". This is so if our lawyers complain, they can say they weren't talking about Escort-Ireland.com, they were talking about one of the dozens of other websites that goes by that name. When the media has said untrue things about Escort-Ireland.com before, we have taken legal action and got retractions, appologies etc. The point I'm getting to is that TV3 etc do have to think twice before slandering E-I, as they know we are capable of holding them to account. But with a small sex workers association or collective, the media know they can say what they like without recourse, as what's the chances of the people involved having the money to hire lawyers to fight back, or wanting the exposure of their identities that would involve? I'm afraid small sex workers orgs are liable to get maulled in the the media very unfairly by people like Paul Connolly, cheap, unethical, gutter journalists.

[LaBelleThatcher]

In fact TV3 contacted E-I and asked about the connection to TOBL and E-I provided a statement regards this, including confirming that TOBL did indeed start out on E-I. Of course TV3 didn't use this statement as the truth isn't scandelous enough. Instead they went and stood outside an empty building and claimed TOBL falsely claimed it was their HQ. Complete rubbish, the address on the TOBL website is a company called Mailboxes Etc which provides mail forwarding services to loads of individuals, small businesses, orgs etc.

You couldn't dig out the actual statement at some point could you Pat?

(Mercifully, there is a bill in the senate that might be the writing on the wall for all this misuse and misattribution of photographs and names...)