Today's red-light district is online

Midafternoon on a workday, and what am I doing?

Surfing the Internet for hookers.

But it's not what it sounds like, I swear. The Eliot Spitzer scandal back East made me wonder how a lonely politician might get into trouble here in the land of milk and honey. So I'm with the vice squad at a downtown Los Angeles police station, tracking suspicious ads on Craigslist and other websites.

Yes, Craigslist, which offers much more these days than used sofas and 1997 Subarus.

"College Girl Available for Naughty Fun All Day And Night," says one ad.

"Independent Hottie," says another, one of hundreds in Los Angeles offering something for every conceivable gender and sexual preference.

"This is the new age of streetwalking," says Officer Manuel Ramirez, who answers the ads and sets up sting operations with his colleagues. "It's not as conspicuous as standing on a corner."

Jody "Babydol" Gibson, the Hollywood supermadam who served 22 months when her Hollywood operation was busted, told me the job she and Heidi Fleiss used to perform has been made obsolete. Her new book, "Sex on the Internet," is a guide to the websites the cops now peruse.

"There's no need for a madam or a brothel today," Gibson said.

Some of the ads on those sites are fairly discreet, while others let it all hang out, so to speak, complete with photos no mother or child should ever see.

"Hung Hot Guy" shows the proof, for instance.

"I want to give you some early morning satisfaction," says Jessica, who posed without her britches. She lists the price of a good time at $80 for 15 minutes, $120 for 30 minutes or $180 for an hour.

Some of the ads are a little more legally savvy and the prices can soar into Gov. Spitzer's high-roller territory. Take Alysha, for instance, who advertises on another popular website that she takes "donations" ranging from $500 for an hour to $3,000 for a "naughty night."

Some of the most expensive hookers in Southern California have been known to work the hotels near LAX, said LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith, where they might sidle up to traveling businessmen at a bar.

But there's no doubt, the vice cops tell me, that the bulk of sex industry business is now conducted on the Internet.

"I kind of think of Craigslist as the pimp," Capt. Jody Wakefield said when she walked into the vice room and saw her officers at work.