I'm shocked. Shocked!

A U.S. District Court ruling on brothels is still making waves.

In July, the court struck down a state law that kept brothels from advertising in counties where prostitution is illegal, and since then we've had one of those truck-mounted billboards cruising near The Strip and brothel ads appearing in Las Vegas CityLife and the edition of the Review-Journal that is distributed in tourist areas.

So we've got advertising in Las Vegas for brothels, which are legal in many parts of Nevada but not in Clark County — which to me is like making marijuana legal everywhere in Oregon except for Portland and Eugene.

But what's really funny is watching people get their panties all twisted up over the prospect of seeing a brothel ad. The state attorney general has promised to appeal the decision, but I'm not liking his chances — the case is going to the 9th Circuit, which is the court that said "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance constitutes a religious endorsement. Still, the Supreme Court could help him out.

Until then, though, we'll have ads for brothels. In Las Vegas!

Holy shit!

People will know they can buy sex in Nevada!

Legally!

Seriously, that seems to be the concern of Larry Struve, who was quoted in the R-J as wondering whether Stephens Media (which owns the R-J and CityLife) was being a good corporate citizen:

"If these ads are in the largest newspaper in Nevada," Struve said, "people will have the impression that it is approved."

Uh, dude? These brothels are legal. That means they're already approved.

Then he said, "We want to create an image of the state as a family-friendly place."

Poor Larry. Family friendly? This place was built on being explicitly unfriendly to families - hell, downright hostile. Vegas is no place for the meek, the weak, or children.

To make this state family friendly, you'd have to get rid of the brothels, along with the casinos - which are everywhere, you know. On my daily commute, I go through at least two school zones that are right in front of casinos.

Then, of course, the neighborhood strip clubs and massage parlors have to go (where else are you going to find a massage place that's open 'til midnight right next to a Washington Mutual bank branch?). Also, the liquor stores, and the liquor aisles and slot machine rooms at the grocery stores, and pretty much all the entertainment in town - which will be gone anyway, because most of the shopping, bowling, dance clubs, live music venues and movie theaters are - guess what? - in the casinos!

And what will you have then? A dull version of Utah, that's what - except hotter, with less water and no skiing. Oh, and no tax revenue, either.

Yeah, that's a goal.