Info on reporting sex crimes and exploitation of minors to DAS:

This information was Posted on Poor But Happy but as the posts there tend to get lost after a while, the poster sent me the information again. If anyone knows of similar numbers for other countries, especially child sex-tourism and human trafficking hotspots, please sent me this and i will post it here in a kind of directory. Cheers.

For Colombia...

Call the DAS with info at 4088000 ext. 3417
Let's do everything we can to prevent Colombia becoming another Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia or Costa Rica....

In Antioquia:

Medellín (Seccional)
Calle 19 No.80A 40
Tel: 340 22 01
email: secantadm@das.gov.co
Servicios: Asuntos Migratorios
Horario: 08:00 a las 11: 00 horas y de las 14:00a las 16:00 horas

Apartado (Puesto Operativo)
Calle 95 No.97-06
Tel: 828 20 30 / 8281394
Servicios: Identificación
Horario: 07:30 a las 12: 00 horas y 14:00 a 18:00 horas

Turbo (Puesto de Control Migratorio)
Wafe Naval Turbo
Tel: 8 27 38 15

Capurgana (Puesto de Control Migratorio)
Cabaña La Caprichosa
Tel: 824 38 38

Rionegro (Puesto de Control Migratorio)
Aeropuerto Jose Maria Córdoba
Tel: 562 29 03

Postive Mail this week:

A female poster on PBH wrote to me this week with a private message...

... Just had an eye on the discussion that´s been going around on your blog and on poorbuthappy, and just wanna tell you how well you are dealing with, I´m impressed by how calm you seem to be, having to cope with so much stupidity. I guess I shouldn´t be surprised over the fact that so many men react this way to your opinions, but still, it´s devastating that many of them keep the level so low and don't even try to understand. Haven´t read all of their stuff, but the parts I read are just depressing. But, what I wanna say, is just that you are handling the discussion so good, and that women like you are gives so much hope.

Thanks for that! It's always great to get something in my mailbox which doesn't involve the bitchy comments from my anti-fan club. :D

Essentially, we all hold different opinions about prostitution and morality.

Different opinions are the diversity we should celebrate during discussion.

The trouble is some of these guys don't want to discuss, having to discussing things may
involve having to use the brain, and many since arriving in Colombia, have had their thinking processes taken over by another, considerably smaller, part of their bodies. My comments were met though with a fair amount of linguistic violence - everything from offering to deal with my "sexual frustration", suggesting a gangbang, and telling me that they wanted to slit my throat for my "heretical remarks" (This from someone who accused me of "intolerance".)
Heretical?

Why stop at wanting to "slit my throat?".

Why not burning at the stake or stoningin the market place. There are time-honoured traditions of getting rid of troublesome women.

If asking for justice be heresy, then I must be careful with those matches.

I imply that American guys in Colombia are "all" paedophiles....

Mr Podrowski writes (and I'm trying hard not to role my eyes here).

[Carita writes ] some mumbo jumbo about having relative economic advantage or objectifying women or having certain 'motivations' that she knows about even though no one else seems to. For having accused (insinuated, implied) that folks here are committing serious crimes or the 'equivalent', I'd say it sounds like you don't get much hate mail at all.

Still on about the are we? Again, and again and again, I didn't accuse or imply anything of the sort. If I think that you are committing a serious crime, I will call interpol. People who commit serious crimes shouldn't approached by members of the public - on or off line. The proper course of action is to call the cops. Isn't that right?

At no point, ever, did I say, or imply, that any PBH member was a paedophile. What I said was that the practice of coming down to Colombia to seduce local women was a form of sex tourism, along with other forms of sex tourism, (such as paedophilia, and that if you wanted to be thought of as a good man, you shouldn't keep bad company. Obviously, in spite of having been told this many times by men, and several times by moderators at PBH Mr. Podrowski likes to repeat this ad nauseum - but its preferable for him to persist in this stupid, deliberate misrepresentation than to engage in proper debate.

As for mumbo jumbo: is he going to call into question the serious, neutral academic studies in the fields of anthropology, law and international development, the concerns of numerous independent NGOs such as Oxfam, Christian Aid, etc, Interpol, and even the Catholic Church. I'd like to say I was the first to point out this obvious, so frigging obvious, problem, but several thousand lawyers, scholars, international organisations, faith-based groups and government departments already got there before me.

Mr Podrowski likes discussing political economy too - I am surprised that he came up with that, from a man who said that Prostitution (a different thing, of course) was purely economics. Of course its about compartive advantage, or you don't know your David Riccardo and Adam Smith. As for objectifying women, I submit to you, sir, that men have being objectifying women since Adam first saw Eve and said "Stand back, darling, I don't know how big this thing gets".

Why this blog exists...

Liza writes

All those arguments and looooooooooong posts....hummmm. I can only wonder???!!!

Well, I have reason. But you are right to wonder. Here's why.

I'm sorry if you find this post too long, but you should remember I am replying to several people at once. And not all are as reasonable as you, Liza.

Its like this. Since Pariah has outed himself I have no problem mentioning his name. He is by no means the first though.

He writes to me with several paragraphs of hate and one valid point worthy of discussion. He then turns off his PM facility. Now, its possible that his PM facility was turned off by accident, but, after reading that he wanted to personally slit my throat on principle I was somewhat disinclined to believe the best of him. So I answered his valid points - and SOME of his insults (omitting the throat slitting and a couple of other comments for neutrality's sake) on my blog and posted the link here. Publicly. And I invited my detractors to come and meet me, in public, but off site (since they clearly want to discuss things which are not on the topic of Colombia). Now he's here, whining because I placed a PM discussion in the public domain. Not my problem. His problem.

The best way to meet bullying is to come right out and tackle it. Cowardice, you see, being the order of the day. They throw down the gauntlet but I name the time and the place and they back out like the cowards that they are.

Now I'll give you an example of Rubito, who is not a coward. Rubito has disagreed with me many times here. But Rubito is a logical, rational, man, so he writes with an "I disagree with such and such of what you said" in private, and agrees that I can publish his comments on my blog if I want, being actually interested in a real discussion. Rubito and I may never see eye to eye on many points, but he has not sent me PM hate mail. He has sent me an argument. Its also clear from his emails he as actually read the substance of my argument properly: not just assumed. He's fairly perceptive, so we should have a good discussion – I'll post the highlights on the blog.

Finally, I don't want to repeat myself. One of the reason why when all this started was that because they continually ignored my arguments (too busy attacking the person) I made the mistake of repeating consistently held views on prostitution , sex tourism, and international marriage brokerage.

The best way is to write this once – my views don't change, and post a link. Those that are interested in discussing the argument or issues will read it. Those who are not will keep on trolling and flaming by PM: incidentally, so far, no more flames by PM. I wonder why THAT could be? Tell you what, I'm in generous mood. If anyone else receives hate mail from PBH posters, forward it to me and I'll pin it up in the hall of shame with my comments. They will stop. Eventually.

Essentially, I don't cast pearls before swine. Instead, lets see how many times the gentlemen sling ad nauseum the lables of leftist, feminazi, bitter man-hater around. So much more fun than actually applying the brain God gave them (I predict further abuse on grounds of religion very soon).

Prostitution Discussion

Rubito, moderator at ColombiaBlog and someone I frequently lock horns with on PBH, has sent me some rather respectful, thoughtful and insightful emails on the subject of Prostitution, which of course is seperate and distinct from International Marriage Brokerage and Sex Tourism (though it can be linked of course).

He writes:

The one big difference is that in those countries prostitution is illegal, which is what gives the pimps room to work. Legalizing it in Colombia and Brazil not only made the pimp obsolete, it changed the whole demographic of the prostitute as well, attracting a higher class of worker to the industry. It's the same with the drug game, the very illegality of it will attract all the scum of society to it, but no matter how illegal we make it we can't make it not lucrative, as a matter of fact we probably make it MORE lucrative because the illegality increases the risk and difficulty in doing business.

The Tao Teh Ching would say on issues like this to be completely flexible and yielding like water and acheive your goals though non-action and complete serenity and acceptance of the true nature of the universe 8) I dunno if that's too much for your very actively Catholic brain or not, I used to think the same way a good 12 years ago :P But at any rate I don't think your problem is with prostitution per se, it's with exploitation in general. Even if you could figure out an airtight way to prevent any people with a high potential to be exploited from EVER working in prostitution, you would not only still have prostitution, but those people would get exploited in other ways.

Well, well done Rubito, you've blown my "cover" : but please bare in mind that I don't agree with everything the Man in the White Dress says ok? I do have an independent mind...

You are absolutely right that my problem is with injustice: exploitation, of which the standard types of industrialised prostitution is a form. Basically, I few the kind of no-strings sex-on-tap culture to be wrong and damaging ...

...So my view is this. Its wrong, really wrong, for your average Scottish girl to get really drunk on a Friday night and have a one night stand with a complete stranger. If that complete stranger leaves £50 beside her bed as he leaves in the morning, or even if she asks for £50, its the same amount of "wrongness". Its not that "kind" of prostitution I have a problem with per se, (other than distaste for something nasty cold and callous). My problem is when prostitution becomes the only way out for poor women, or the only "feasible" way out. I told a pimp who offered me work sucking dicks as a student to go to hell. A couple of weeks later, facing eviction and an empty fridge, I probably would have said yes. And I lived - then - in the rich north. Now cut to the poor South.

But prostitution exists and will continue to exist - which is why I think we should have tolerance zones and (where needed ) drug rehab centres in the middle of them. Why, like you, I think that a well patrolled tolerance zone will do away with the need for pimps. It won't stop sex slavery or human trafficking - sex slavery is NOT prostitution, or not the same kind away, I prefer to use the word "slavery" or "bonded labour" to describe this. If anything, good tolerance zones will highlight the differences between bonded labour and prostitution.

Women who are bonded labourers are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. A slave is not a prostitute. Not really. But you should also remember that poverty can bind as much as iron.

Why Sex Tourism Sucks.

Mr Tobasco writes:

Let's differentiate two things. Sex slavery, under-age prostitution and the like are terrible and needs to be prevented for the girls and punished for the guys, period. However, it is a very different thing when you have thirty something housewives working as prepagos in Colombia or 25 year old girls working as factory workers by day and hooking by night in China, Vietnam etc. These girls come up to me and solicit me. I happen to know that there is a whole bunch of freelancers that pays a fee to more respectable clubs to allow them to come in and "hook up". Nobody is forcing them to do this. So let's please make the distinction about the two very different groups. That in fact gets to the point of the issue for me. Stop with the moralistic, judgmental crap you want to lay out there on every guy that has ever paid for it.

So here we ago again. For the nth and last time, I'll lay out why sex tourism sucks. As for being moralistic, dude, when you say human trafficking and child prostitution is wrong you're making a moral judgement. So am I. So bite me in the backside for that one. If what I say makes you - or anyone else uncomfortable (and it does) then good. I want them to think about what they are doing in other countries.

I originally posted on the subject of sex tourism (not prostitution, like you, I believe them to be distinct and separate, although of course, they are blurred at the edges). My objection to sex tourism, (you've not read my posts on this so I'll summarize) is not confined to any one nationality: its wrong to do it, no matter where you are from, and whether you are male or female (women do it too, but gringos are quite uncomfortable about this, so they perfer to say I am a man-hater).

I define Sex Tourism as someone from a relatively richer area/country travelling to a relatively poorer area/country, using their relative wealth, or the perception of wealth to procure cheep or free sexual services from local women, men, or children.

Types of sex tourism include:

• A man travelling to a developing country to seduce or "play" local women, who are not commercial sex workers. (The Male Player).
• A woman travelling to a developing country or a standard tourism destination (such as Spain or Greece) with the intention of having sex with local "exotic" men, who are not commercial sex workers. (The Female Player).
• A Paedophile who travels to a developing country because he has more access to vulnerable, poor children, is less likely to be caught, and if he is caught he has more of a chance of bribing his way out of trouble (The Travelling Paedophile).
• Male and female tourists who travel to other countries to use commercial sex workers of either gender.
  

Sex tourism is distinct from International Marriage brokerage, or mail order brides, although it can overlap. It is also distinct from people who start relationships, or even have sex, while they are travelling in other countries. The mens rea of sex tourism is that the intention - the reason for travelling - is to procure sex. Some forms of sex tourism are not as bad as others, but they all have two things in common: the leverage of relative wealth to procure sexual services, and a real or perceived lack of accountability. Its equally wrong to do it if you are male or female, but the consequences of sex tourism are particularly harsh for women and children in developing countries. This is why I hate it.

The question for my detractors is this: why don't YOU hate it?
For evil to flourish its only necessary that good men (and women, for that matter) do nothing.

Here are just some of the reasons why sex tourism is bad:

• All countries which have a problem with sex tourism also have problems with industrialised prostitution and human trafficking. Though these are separate, they often feed into each other.
  
• To feed sex tourism, migrant women from rural parts of the developing world are often trafficked ans sold.
  
• It makes it hard for countries to build legitimate industries.
  
• It contributes to the persistent low status of women and girl-children.
  
• Women and girls find it hard to get properly paid employment in other, legitimate sectors.
  
• It damages vulnerable people psychologically.
  
• It creates the environments where under-age sex and child prostitution are more likely to occur.
  
• It makes things bloody difficult for travellers who are NOT sex - tourists. Decent tourists may avoid certain c0untries, making it harder for the country to market "ordinary" tourism.
  

Now the cry I get the most is "but its acceptable in the local culture!" or "the local men are worse". What then? Absolution because everyone else is doing it?

Tosh. If the age of consent was 12 years old, would these "decent men" who have the "odd shag" with a "consenting adult" have sex with 12 year olds in that country? One would hope not: they hold themselves to a higher moral standard. As foreigners, we have an extra responsibilities not to make a bad situation worse.

So that's what I think about that. Once bitten. Forever written.

Male Orders? Till Net Do Us Part: A neutral view on International Marriage Brokerage

International Marriage Brokerage is actually a much more complex phenomenon than the misnomer, "Mail Order Brides" would suggest. We all have the image of the kind of modern equivilant of the slave trader, picking a wife he can control and abuse from a catalogue of desperate women. While there are many abusive men who do participate in this kind of activity, I don't think the stereotype is fair on many men who are just looking to cast their net as wide as possible in search of a mate. So here are my views on marriage brokerage, and international marriages, set down for posterity to avoid me having to repeat myself. Many white men who feel defensive about their choice of foreign bride have opted to call me racist - a kind of white supremacist. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, but the truth often interferes with convenient images of "feminazi" complete with gas-chamber views on those to dare to "sully" the purity of the Caucasian race (yawn).

Essentially, men and women who use marriage brokering services are entering arranged marriages. They enter (if they do so in good faith) with the specific intention of marrying, and they choose from a range of suitable options. Most of teh time, the broker mearly arranges the introductions. While we automatically think of white men with relative wealth seeking women from Asia or Latin America who are less economically advantages, the reality is more complex. Marriage brokerage sites exist for those seeking a bride or groom from their religious or cultural background, such as www.twodoves.com, the Bahai marriage broker, www.avemariasingles.com for Catholics, or www. shadi.com: one of the many marriage brokerage sites for the global Indian community. On these sites, things such as social class, education, religious conviction and shared cultural values are more important than meeting someone open minded with a good sense of humour for "good times, possibly more". People who use marriage brokerage services do so in part because they want to connect with people who share the same intention - marriage - rather than risk the possibility of getting played by someone who is insincere. For this, of course, they pay the fee: the broker weeds out the not-so-serious and only the marriage minded connect. Well, that's the theory anyway.

There is no evidence to proof that arranged marriage do not work. For those that fall out of the western-style dating game (which I always thought of as rather shallow anyway) it's a good option, though of course no marriage should be entered into lightly. One of the best recipes for a miserable marriage - of any kind - is to marry for looks or money. You marry a person, not a bank account or a fantasy.

We are fast losing in our affluent western societies places to meet potential mates (or at least, we are fast losing imagination in looking for them). Can't meet a nice girl at the pub? Why not try your local place of worship? Ask your auntie Doris if she knows someone. Join a gym. Or my all time favourite, a sure fire way to make sure the male competition is much less, take dancing classes. I know some pretty ugly guys who were extremely successful with women because they knew how to dance... but I digress. Lets' say you just can't compete, and dating doesn't work for you (heck, it never worked for me. I'm marrying the guy who used to sit at the next table in a cafe in Korea where I studied between classes). An arranged marriage, through broker, might be just the ticket. But I'd watch out for two things (1) marrying your fantasy, not the real woman and two (2) treating a marriage-partner like a commodity that can be bought or replaced when he or she doesn't shape up to your expectations.

And this of course is the big danger with international marriage brokering. The girl, usually poorer and from a developing country has a fantasy about the rich white Prince Charming who will lift her ( and everyone she knows ) out of poverty and who will not subject her to the traditional abuses of the local men, and will not mind if she gets a job. The guy, well, he might be looking for a woman who doesn't mind the home-building, serve-your-man culture that she is trying to escape from, and he is trying to re-create in a post-feminism counter-culture backlash in his own home. She may be educated and middle class in her own country, looking for better career opportunities. He might be working class and unable to cope with having a career orientated wife. The fantasy will always kill you in the end.

Particularly distressing (for me, anyway) is the kind of marriage brokerage service such as barranquillasbest.com which leaves the same nasty taste in the mouth as those old civil war era "breeding books" which tell the slave owner how best to breed black slaves for manual work. Sites like this turn the women into commodities which, rather like cars, can be sold or traded "your latin wife" says the sites author "is the biggest investment you'll make". The site then goes on to offer tips on how to stop your new "acquisition" being corrupted by American "values". All it takes is one lesbian or feminist - the site cautions - to plant an "idea" (forgetting that she already has ideas of her own that you don't know about ) and American society will do the rest.

The irony here is that the American cultural value that these gentlemen are so anxious to avoid - the so-called transaction or money orientated view of marriage that has corrupted the true ideals of marriage: is the very thing that is being served by brokers such as this. The irony, of course, being lost in the fantasy of the little brown wife who will irony your socks, give sex on tap, and never answer back.

Man, if you only knew... real women, in any culture, aren't like that. An international marriage required much more hard work and compromise than a marriage to someone from your own culture. For the men and women who realise this, the hard work often pays off, and their marriages are richly, textured experiences. For the others. Well, they'll go on trading make and models, but in the end, if you marry a fanasty, not a person, it will end in tears. And alimony.

I have penis envy ...

Mr Tobasco writes:

She probably read a report on
Latin American prostitution,
stumbled across this site in her lonely hours,
and then started on her Joan of Arc bit.
Sounds a little like a crusader type
with penis envy perhaps, lol.


Well Mr Tobasco, I am not sure that I follow your reasoning here. Why would I be jealous of the fact you have a penis? Why would my views be indicative of this? Once again, no logic, but it sounds good. Since I have never had one, I really don't know what I'm missing (other than the inability to run both a brain and a penis at the same time, and have my sexual organs speak on my behalf...)

Mr Tobasco has not been as vitrolic as the others, but notice here the typical detraction, unfoudned in fact. For the ladies, here's the formula again:

Cross them, or speak out and they will

• Imply you are lonely or sexually frustrated (they never get tired of this one do they).
• Say you are somehow jealous of men (in this case, the fact that you do not have the Object of Worship.

Easier of course than meeting you in rational debate.

In Phallic religions, of which PBH was, until recently a prime example, it's men who worship the Sacred Penis. The women have better things to do.

Examples of Original Thinking on PBH.

Well, the announcement of this blog on PBH brought them out this brought them out of the woodwork, but, since some of them crave attention and control, not one has the guts to come and post here, never mind, here's my "hate mail selection" ...

So very sorry for CA behaviero

Helo persons of PBH soy CA's colombian boyfriend in Barq.. I so sorry for Ca acting like total bitch to you.... I have not paying alot of attention to mi blanca nena. Me thinks she is very sexauly mad becuase i no give her mi Churizo mucho. No worries i going to lay down law right now. She is my kitchen making arepas and cleaning house, i try and make her good colombian girlfriend soon, and learned to respect gringo man. No worries tonight i give her mucho Chorizo y eso va a cerrar su boca por fin....nos hablamos amigos

ps..jajajjajajaj

Against my best instincts, I'm going to reply...

after all, I've had a few drinks (as you obviously have also). Carita, I try to like you, but what is your problem? Is your BF not paying you enough attention.

My, don't we have some original thinkers here: the first from a gentleman who periodically screams "she needs her pipes cleaned" at every opportunity, and the second, a Colombian gentlemen who tries hard to like me but again, can't get his head out of the bedroom. So lovely to be the centre of so many mens fantasies. What can I say.

These responses are prime exhibits, of course, to demonstrate the lack of original thinking which bitchy men who wish to undermine women who disagree with them:

For the ladies, this is how bitchy men undermine you:

• Accuse you of nagging, bitchiness, feminist/lesbian tendencies, etc etc (YAWN).
• Accuse you of being "on something" ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
  
• Undermine your appearance (in spite of the fact that this doesn't work online, they do it anyway, why change the habit of a lifetime. (YAWWWWWWN)
  
• Accuse you of being "sexually frustrated". (YAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWN)
  

They really really cannot think of anything else, poor dears.

Guys, can't come up with just ONE original response? For me?

Another gentleman has asked why I haven't put my picture on this blog. The implication is that this because I am ugly. This gentleman is the same who posted a warning about not having one's picture on the net, because people like him will manipulate it (gave some rather nice examples of it too). So, no, Mr Lochdhu, I don't want my beautiful face of an angel posted on top of the latest illustrations from your normal reading material, ok?

Kind sir, please remember that I remember what you write, even if you do not.

My rules...

OK, so I created this place to air the hate, and for you to get it all out of your systems.

I expect there to be some "tough talk" here, but please, aim it at me, not people who post comments, and try and attack the arguments. Any excessive or vulgar language that isn't on point and is just a flame gets deleted. But I am fair, so you can be as bitchy as you want about me here as long as you keep it out of the rest of cyberspace. We should be able to get some decent debates going, if you are interested.

Remember if you send hate-mail to my PM, I will respond here. So be careful what you write. I would prefer you not to send hate-mail, but since some of you can't resist, we may as well try and have a constructive debate about it. I will edit anything that you reveal personally about yourself that I think is unfair for me to post.

The rule is that you sign your comments with your nickname or a blogger ID, but if you have a Poor But Happy one too, please add it to your comments as a signature. This will help me keep this blog troll free, but still allow your tough talk. I've allowed Anonymous posting so you dont have to create an ID, but whatever handle you use here, keep it the same throughout. Don't uses someone else's handle.

I am an angry person, and judge unfairly those who are less fortunate than me.

Mr Angry also writes, regarding my comments on Sex tourism in Latin America:

Once you understand these reasons perhaps
they will not make you so angry, unless the
anger is from a religious (i.e. programmed)
nature.Instead of anger you should have
understanding and compassion for
people who are different from you,
less fortunate than you.

Programmed nature (there's an oxymoron), eh, we're really getting into the metaphysics here.

But I think you'll find that there is no primitive society which is naturally secular: rather it is secularism which is the invention - the programming - not religion. We are naturally spiritual, not naturally secular. In the same way that we are naturally sexual. But I digress.

If, by the term "less fortunate people" you mean those pathetic European and North American males who, unable to hack a real relationship in their own country, flock to the developing world to engage in sex tourism, then yeah, too right I'm angry, and too right I judge their behaviour to be reprehensible and damaging. Any decent person should be angry at that, because innocent people suffer.

The question is, Angry Man, why aren't YOU angry about it?

But since the man who uses hookers also harms himself, because he never learns to develop real relationships, yeah, we should feel sorry for him. But I would rather see him increase his strength and capasity to love, than continue using hookers.

If you had read my comments, you would not find a single word of judgement uttered against women who engage in prostitution. My bile is reserved for their miserable, and yes, pitiful clients. But my pity doesn't make their actions ok.

Prostitution is necessary because some men can't get laid (because they are ugly?).

Regarding the same Poor But Happy Sex Tourism debate:

Mr Angry, apart from being angry, actually has a point here, so here's my answer.

Here lies one of the differences
between men and women.
Once you understand these differences
then you will
have a better understanding of why
prostitution exists,
and why it is necessary. 

I am fair.

Prostitution - having no string sex in return for payment is no more wrong (that is, damaging for the parties involved and society in general) than any other kind of no-strings sex. For this reason I advocate tolerance zones and health checks. Let's say I enjoy having sex with you, Mr Angry, but still make you pay for it. Does that make me any less of a whore? But it would, alas, make you less of a man. Substituting money for personality (not looks, as you seem to think) will do that. I know tonnes of ugly guys who are successful with the ladies. So what's your beef exactly?

What makes it worse is that it is often systematic and industrialised in many developing countries, and of course, because it is often combined with exploitation and the slave- trade: the worst form of bonded labour. And of course, sex-tourists, who hit Latin America and East Asia in droves. When men pay money for a prostitute, they finance the slavery and trafficking of women and children. Its more than just no-strings sex. It's evil. If I were a man, I would hold the same opinion.

Are you going to seriously argue that sexual slavery and human trafficking are ok? If so, then sorry Angry, you are one poor sick bandit who needs a shrink.

What your email does reveal to be is that you are jealous. If you as a man seduce a lot of women, you become some kind of demigod whose name is uttered barely above a whisper in male circles. If I seduce a lot of men, where's the glory in that?

Any girl with her own hair can do it.

I am ugly...

Regarding my general posting on the subject of sex tourism, slavery, and human trafficking, Mr Angry writes:

What is interesting to me (among other things) is that you are clearly not good looking (to most people). At least it is highly, highly unlikely. ... you are probably average looking or worse... Here lies one of the differences between men and women. Once you understand these differences then you will have a better understanding of why prostitution exists, and why it is necessary.

Er... I am not sure exactly what your point is with this, but it underscores why you cannot resort in trying to undermine a woman by commenting on her appearance ( something which bitchy men love to do in real life) online. Welcome to cyber-democracy. It just doesn't work here. Standards of beauty change man to man and culture to culture: what suits an American may not suit an African. Some men actually find Paris Hilton attractive. Geddit? I don't care, and neither should you, if you have any sense.

But for your information, though I am not Miss Universe (thank the Holy Virgin and all the Angels and Saints) my face doesn't break the mirror either. I'm pretty, but my real beauty is my strength of spirit and character, which is of course, why for some men, I am a Personification :D. But as I said, your neuroses are not my problem.

I love myself.

Regarding my comments on Poor But Happy Colombia regarding sex tourism in
Colombia and other developing countries, this Angry man felt compelled to write by private
message:

Mr Angry writes:

You do not just love yourself, but are
completely in love with yourself. Head over heels.
I see this more and more often these days.
It is like some mixture of extreme arrogance with being too
ignorant to know that you are ignorant. Also some naivety and just
being (relatively) young are in there as well.

But of course. To quote the wild Oscar, its the beginning of a life long romance. I do not have the big ego and the crippling low self esteem of which a big, fragile ego is a symptom. and I don't believe in putting myself (or others down). And if you don't love yourself, which means self-confidence and self-acceptance, then its gosh-darn hard to love others. But what you really mean is that confident women scare you, isn't that right?

Am I so ignorant that I do not know I am ignorant?

It's entirely possible. But only an educated man will be able to see the point I scored with that answer.

I am the personification of everything you hate about (western ) women.

My first selection from my Hail Mail back comes from a PBH Colombia regular whom I will identify here only as Angry Man. Regarding my comments on Poor But Happy Colombia regarding sex tourism in Colombia and other developing countries, he felt compelled to write by private message:

I was just reading your dumb arguments on
Proud Canadian's thread and they made me
quite angry. I think you are the
personification of most of the things
I hate about women, especially western women...

I've become a sacred avatar! A Personification, no less! A lot for just one girl from a lil town nobody's ever heard of. I'm flattered, but are you being illogical.

The term "western" is a bit of a broad brush. I am different from an English person or an American. Colombian women are western - much more so than Asian women.

But it is possibly true that I personify what you hate, namely:

• A confident woman
• An educated, intelligent woman
• A woman who is not afraid to speak her mind, call a spade a spade, and able to successfully defend herself against multiple attacks.
  
• Anyone (male or female) who dares to expose injustice, lies, and hypocrisy.
  
• A decent human being of any gender who loves justice
• A woman who can speak your language and thereby articulate her feelings.
  
• A woman who was raise with the same values of freedom, justice, and democracy as you.
  

But then, your irrational neuroses are really not my problem, are they?