Unemployed German Prostitutes
I’m taking this story by Clare Chapman of the Daily Independent (h/t: Captain Ed, see also Michael Williams, Todd Zywicki, Donovan, Professor Bainbridge, John Weidner, Kip, Pejmanesque, Low Earth Orbit, Lawrence Auster, Ann Althouse and the Daily Pundit) with a very large grain of salt, as my sources on the ground have informed me that the lawyer involved, Mechthild Garweg (whose first name Chapman misspells “Merchthild”), is Germany’s answer to Gloria Allred. Here is a somewhat more informative article, albeit in German. I’ll translate the key provisions later if I get some spare time.
UPDATE: Done.
FINAL PENULTIMATE UPDATE: Snopes is reserving judgment, but I’m not. This story is officially bunk, with pieces of it cribbed from another story about an unemployed woman in Berlin who was inadvertently referred to a “bartending” job at a facility which, unbeknownst to the agency, was in fact a bordello. Unlike Clare Chapman and her rag of a newsper, the unemployment agency has already apologized for their error. Kudos to Amptoons for swatting this down early as well.
All further blogger speculation on this subject should end immediately, and if the Daily Telegraph wants to retain a shred of credibility, s should Clare Chapman’s career and that of her editor. Such “fake but inaccurate” sensationalism has no more of a legitimate place in the British media than Dan Rather and Mary Mapes have in ours. I’ve refiled this entry under Media Lameness, Morons and Urban Legends.
FINAL FINAL UPDATE: Snopes has upgraded/downgraded the status of this story from “undetermined” to “false.”
February 1st, 2005 at 6:19 pm
Ain’t No Thang?
Like many bloggers, yesterday I blogged about a story in the Daily Telegraph which indicated a possibility that German women might be forced to choose between prostitution and losing unemployment benefits. It looks like Alas, a Blog »this is fals…
February 1st, 2005 at 7:24 pm
THERE MAY BE A MERCIFUL HEAVEN AFTER ALL
This story appears to be a hoax. If so, I am relieved….
February 2nd, 2005 at 5:39 pm
So relieved it was but hoax — or intentional stupidity. I bought the story, and blogged an entry, feelin’ good & smart this morning; now I’ve retracted, and linked back to you, feelin’ like such a pathetic earthling. *sigh*:roll: And the day’s not over yet. …
Some of the nicknames & characterizations given you on the upper-left column seem mean or just wrong.
Permit me to award you this new title: Best Blogger of 2005, Thus Far. Cheers.
February 6th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Sadly, the Washington Times obviously is
It can’t be easy being an idiot, and writing an entire column based on an urban legend. Then again, if you’re the world’s foremost authority on Target, some things come pretty easily. Several days after a bunch of people (including…
February 8th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
Old Europe Becoming a Self-Parody
When people a couple of hundred years from now talk about the decline and fall of European civilization, I suspect some scholar will point to this moment as an important harbinger of the deluge to come:A 25-year-old waitress who turned
February 20th, 2005 at 7:03 pm
[...] . Also, a link from Volokh’s article quadrupled my daily visits. Thanks guys! From Xlrq lots more information on this. Apparently any scraps of truth were so twisted [...]