dominatrix cleared of murder; ex-boyfriend forced to decline flogging

From CNN.com, link via Gawker:

During his closing argument to the jury, prosecutor Robert Nelson put on a black leather mask with a zippered mouth opening and re-enacted the bondage session.

With both hands, he reached back and clutched the top of a blackboard as if strapped to the rack. Then he hung his head as if dead.

Asher's lawyer objected, and the judge agreed.

"That's enough Mr. Nelson," Judge Charles Grabau said. "Thank you for your demonstration."

Who knew? Jurisprudence is kinky.

Somewhat relatedly, about eight months ago, my then-boyfriend went over to a friend's apartment to fix her electrical wiring. She was stuck in the dark, broke, and had some kind of situation in which getting help from the landlord or super was not an option. I was certainly not opposed to the boyfriend helping out -- the problem was that the friend, though broke, was a professional dominatrix, and offered him a flogging as barter for the repairs.

Now, the demands of monogamy aside, I find it interesting, economically speaking, that a flogging can have such a high cash value, yet be so far from a universal currency; it is not a miscible good. For instance, if you ran a home pie-baking or jewelry-making or French-language-lesson business, and you needed a cat-sitter, I'd say you'd run a pretty good chance of finding a cat-sitter willing to trade for pies or jewelry or French lessons. But if what you have to offer is a (fully professional) half-hour of electro-torture or ball-kicking -- although the cash value of those services is higher than that of the pies, jewelry or French lessons -- I'm not sure your search for a cat-sitter would go as well for you (or for the cat).

Update: In the comments, "B" left the following remark regarding CNN's headline "Dominatrix beats manslaughter rap":

Just add a comma, and it becomes a title for one of the best Hardcore Rap/S&M Club crossover albums, Dominatrix Beats, Manslaughter Rap.