[-] Hillock@kbin.social 34 points 1 year ago

Because one of the biggest issues with sex work, human trafficking, gets worse with legalization. Studies across Europe have shown that countries that outlaw prostitution see a decrease in human trafficking victims while countries that legalized or decriminalized it see an increase.

Unlike with drugs, you don't just create a way to increase the supply. A very small minority of women actually want to engage in sex work. And the few who do, usually envision the high class escort lifestyle. But working in a brothel charging $100 per client isn't something many want to do.

But legalizing prostitution increases demand. Which makes it more profitable for criminals to utilize human trafficking to fill that demand.

https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-prostitution-increase-human-trafficking/

One source of it.

It also doesn't help at all with protecting victims of human trafficking. Victims of human trafficking are already protected. But they don't step forward because of threats against their own well being and that of their families. Something that doesn't change just because their work technically is legal now.

Which leaves a small percentage of people who fall into financial hardship and consider prostitution as a method of overcoming said hardship. For them that might slightly improve their situation. But that still means exploiting vulnerable people and isn't people engaging in sex work because they want to. And it's even questionable if people in these scenarios would follow the legal way.

So while initially it might seem like legalizing it solves a lot of issues, it is more difficult than that.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 74 points 1 year ago

A lot of people seem to mistake carjacking for car theft. Especially mentioning that the person who shot the 13 year old was a security officer gives a wrong impression on what happened.

Carjacking is when the robber(s) take control of a car with a person inside the car. This is what happened here, with the security guard being inside the car. Under these circumstances it's perfectly reasonable to consider shooting the robbers and it's unreasonable to expect the security guard being able to identify the robber as a 13-year old harmless child. There is significant plausible risk to the person inside the car to warrent lethal force during self-defense.

Car theft is stealing an empty car. Shooting someone would be entirely unreasonable during a car theft.

The article doesn't mention wether the car had window tint and the two kids where unaware of the person inside or if they intentionally tried to rob the person. That information might change what can be considered reasonable response.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 47 points 1 year ago

Bush was the worse president, Trump is the worse person.

I can see a lot of potential presidents in 2001 act the same way as Bush did, especially any other Republican. Even Gore would have gone to war in Afghanistan. Unless of course we go down the rabbit hole of could he have prevented the 9/11 attacks. The Iraq war probably would have been avoided under Gore.

But I don't see any other president doing the same damages that Trump did. While the current status of the Republican Party has many people just as bad as Trump, I don't think they would have the same traction today without Trump.

And let's not forget the worst of Trump was prevented. If his coup would have succeeded, he would even be the worse president.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 60 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's ridiculous how the crime of using the VPN is just a 200 yuan fine. But the income is considered illegal because of it and they can just seize his entire salary earned, which amounted to just over 1 million yuan.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 44 points 1 year ago

Considering how many people live near the coast it would still be a huge step forward. Right now even for most coastal cities desalination isn't cost effective and they have to import water from inland.

And by not having to deliver as much water from inland to the coast that water can be distributed more for people living inland.

Yes, it's not going to make inhospitable areas liveable but it's not just "cool".

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 51 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

For anyone who doesn't read the article but gets upset at the title because climate friendly meat actually exist. It's about a new label for meat that says "Environmental Friendly". Similar to the certificate for "Organic" or "GMO-FREE".

And the certificate is bullshit. Even in it's strictest form you only need a 10% reduction in CO2 production to the industry standard to qualify. Which is nothing.

But it gets worse, the rating is done by third party companies who have leeway in setting the industry standard. One company even has the industry standard set higher than the actual industry average.

So overall the certificate is bullshit that makes people feel better but doesn't actually do anything.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 66 points 1 year ago

The big clubs are all an organized crime syndicate. How bad the situation will be mostly depend on your exact location. Especially with the Hell's Angels the involvement in organized crime depends a lot on the exact charter. Some just do illegal gambling, some light narcotics and gun trades while others are also involved in human trafficking and forced prostitution.

In most of the western world organized crime usually stays away from regular citizens. That's why many people here say if you don't approach them they will leave you be. But crime always affects regular people. And there is basically nothing you can do. It's just up to luck whether you specifically get affected or not.

When the Hell's Angels started to move into Europe most politicians just ignored it. But a war between locals clubs, the Hell's Angles and then the Banditos (who also moved into Europe) broke out almost immediately. Some people even got killed. But politicians only stepped in when a civilian got killed or severely injured because some gang member shot a rocket into a rivaling gang's bar. Then shit moved back into the shadows.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 37 points 1 year ago

France banned basically all religious symbols in public schools. This includes crosses or the Jewish kippah. It's now expanded to include the abaya dresses. Veils and headscarves were already banned.

I think it's stupid since the dress isn't necessarily religious. It's just commonly worn by Muslims. Might as well ban white buttoning down shirts at this point because that's what some christians wear, especially to church.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 43 points 1 year ago

Gaming laptops aren't a scam, they fill a niche. For people like me they are the best option available. I travel frequently and then stay there for usually a few months before having to travel again. So a desktop doesn't work for me at all. I need a decent computer for work. Most business laptop that fill my needs are also on the heavier side. The ones that are portable usually have integraded gpu's, which just doesn't work for me. So the step from business laptop that fills my needs to gaming laptop is minimal.

All of the drawbacks of a gaming laptop are barely affecting me. And while this seems like an edgecase, there are a lot more people who have needs that a gaming laptop fulfills and can't be met by other devices.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 91 points 1 year ago

I am going to assume you have a cellar spider. Removing part of the web isn't going to directly harm them. They don't recycle their web so you aren't even removing nutrients from them.

The only way it's going to affect them is by reducing their chances of catching prey. Cellar spiders don't have a sticky web and rather rely on prey brushing up against their web, then rushing there and killing it with a bite. So you are reducing the area they are covering.

They also usually just gradually increase the size of their web. So it's unlikely it will try to rebuild everything you removed at once. Meaning it's not going to waste too much energy.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 52 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes it's possible. Their version of Google Drive (Pan Baidu) is basically a paradise for piracy. But it's a bit of a pain in the ass for foreigners to get access. And obviously everything is in Chinese.

China doesn't care about foreign held copyright. So anything that isn't owned by a Chinese company is fair game. As long as it isn't considered banned material of course.

[-] Hillock@kbin.social 34 points 1 year ago

I don't think it crossed his mind a lot. Dogs don't deal with starvation nearly as good as humans do. Things already get life-threatening for them after 5-7 days with no food. Humans can go 10x as much. So the fact the dog made it 3 months means they had somewhat regular access to food.

If you add that the companionship the dog gave was probably invaluable. And keeping down raw dog meat is another level from raw fish. I don't think eating the dog was much on his mind.

Water, sun, and drowning were probably a much bigger threat on their lives than starvation.

view more: next ›

Hillock

joined 1 year ago