ethics & philosophy

ideals, breaches, disappointments and inspirations

Prostitution: regulation, exploitation and death

prostitution is literally killing women, by murder more than any other cause, and a whole heap of people simply don’t care.

No other industry with a comparable mortality rate is unregulated by the state, and in none of those industries would the workers be allowed to sign away their basic health and safety guarantees in order for more pay. Employers who try to coerce miners or firefighters to go into work without adequate safety measures are quite rightly prosecuted and socially condemned, yet the workplace death rate of those professions combined does not match just the homicide rate amongst prostitutes, let alone the death rate once drug overdoses are taken into account.

Hurrah for librarians

If you are restricting access to information, they will notice during the course of their normal duties, and they will let the world know, and then you will look like censoring buffoons. In February, in line with various other information-stifling… Read More ›

An alternative

I have issues with the common poster of the Quiverfull-practising and publicity-seeking Duggar family which uses a tag about a clown car. Inspired by a discussion about the poster in this Pandagon discussion thread (Amanda’s post is spot on, I… Read More ›

Shame file: Haven Backpackers Resort Hostel, Alice Springs

Hostel facing lawsuit after telling Aboriginal women to leave: the 16 women and children had travelled 300 kilometres from Yuendumu to Alice Springs to train as lifeguards for their community’s new swimming pool. They checked into the Haven Backpackers resort, but a short time later the manager told them that guests already staying there had complained of being scared.

White flight

That’s today’s big story in the SMH: the growing trend over the last decade, in NSW especially, whereby white parents choose not to send their kids to the local public school, particularly for high school education, meaning the public schools… Read More ›

About time

Today’s Australian: A NATIONAL system of registration for doctors is being finalised by federal, state and territory governments, which will help prevent cases such as that of Jayant Patel in Queensland and the “Butcher of Bega” in NSW. Federal Health… Read More ›

A bigot is dead

William F. Buckley, that is. I’m on the same page as most of the commentors over at Making Light, and this comment particularly summed it all up: I’m baffled by the backhanded complements of, “well, at least he was an… Read More ›