Oh Yeah Baby, Spank Me With that Great Big Ethics Board of Yours!

The Post-Gazette's Early Returns blog is reporting that a cyber-squatting firm has registered a web address using the name of Pittsburgh's interim mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, and is currently operating it as a porn portal. As "one of America's great newspapers", the Post-Gazette has a certain degree journalistic integrity. It also takes a sensible approach to the sensibilities of its ever-graying readership. While it may provide the story, it won't come out and provide the link. You can read all about this new website in the article, but they won't tell you how to get there yourself. So as a public service, I feel compelled to provide the link to Mr. Ravenstahl's latest venture, www.lukeravenstahl.com. myself.

And, since it seems likely that this address will be quickly purchased by the interim mayor's campaign (or, in all likelihood, by city taxpayers), here is a screen shot of what the site looks like today (click on the image to view it full-sized):

Then again, maybe Mr. Ravenstahl will be content to just allow this site to remain exactly as it is right now. After all, he's already slapped his name up in lights on the marquee of the north side porn theater. Perhaps it's only appropriate that someone looking to watch "Gay Movies Online" or who seeks to "Meet People Who Want Sex" would type his name into their web browser. And, after all the billboards and city-funded self-promotion, Mr. Ravenstahl's name and image already have a vaguely pornographic aura about them. The Garden Theater and this new website are just the next logical steps down what could become a quite lucrative path.

Come to think of it, maybe the city itself could get a little piece of this action. We've already paid for the porn theater and most of Mr. Ravenstahl's campaign literature. We're entitled to some kind of return on our investment. This could be the beginning of America's first municipally-funded pornographic conglomerate. If that won't solve the city's debt crisis, then nothing will.