So, paying for a tug job is a felony in Texas now?

[Guest]

On 8/20/2021 at 9:28 PM, Loch Ness Monster said:

US locks up more of its citizens than any country in the world.

FREEDOM 

They're all innocent in there...

[SKJ 1,305]

On 8/22/2021 at 2:31 PM, Beau Vine said:

If God didn't want you to be a moron, he never would have sent you to Oklahoma.  Ever think of that?

So,  basically,  you're saying God is still that vengeful one from the first book? 

I sure hope not,  because if he is,  we're all fucked

[Neonmoon 38,127]

15 minutes ago, SKJ said:

So,  basically,  you're saying God is still that vengeful one from the first book? 

I sure hope not,  because if he is,  we're all fucked

If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention 

[RomaVicta 29,793]

I'm guessing this law is addressing the problem of trafficking. I believe the majority of prostitutes working in modeling and massage parlors are immigrants working without choice.

I don't know that higher penalties for the johns will do much to dent the business. 

Trafficking is an issue of rising attention and maybe importance to the state.

[Gil Bang 25,898]

4 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

I'm guessing this law is addressing the problem of trafficking. I believe the majority of prostitutes working in modeling and massage parlors are immigrants working without choice.

I don't know that higher penalties for the johns will do much to dent the business. 

Trafficking is an issue of rising attention and maybe importance to the state.

It very well may be "some", but I doubt it's the majority. 

[RomaVicta 29,793]

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

It very well may be "some", but I doubt it's the majority. 

Thanks for making me get off my lazy ass to do some cursory research:

USA Today:

Quote

The exact number of sex trafficking victims forced to work in illicit massage parlors is unknown. But reporting methods and analysis have improved in recent years, and advocates and researchers largely agree that the problem is growing, to as many as 9,000 illicit spas in the U.S. alone. 

US State Dept 2004:

Quote

Of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people trafficked across international borders annually, 80 percent of victims are female, and up to 50 percent are minors. Hundreds of thousands of these women and children are used in prostitution each year.

---

To fight human trafficking and promote equality for women, Sweden has aggressively prosecuted customers, pimps, and brothel owners since 1999. As a result, two years after the new policy, there was a 50 percent decrease in women prostituting and a 75 percent decrease in men buying sex. Trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation decreased as well.[6]  In contrast, where prostitution has been legalized or tolerated, there is an increase in the demand for sex slaves[7] and the number of victimized foreign women—many likely victims of human trafficking.[8]

Call-Girl rebuttal in Washington Post says the numbers are ill informed.

From Atlantic, also contra to the claim of trafficking:

Quote

At its heart, the reality of sex work is rather dull and pedestrian. The main reason that people go into sex work is neither because of predatory gangsters, nor to indulge some uncontrollable nymphomania: It's all about money. It's about the need to pay your rent, put gas in your car, and buy groceries. Like becoming a waitress, a store clerk, a plumber, or a mechanic, going into sex work is driven by the economics of everyday life. If we were start to think of it as being primarily about work instead of sex, the headlines would quickly become much less sensational. 

There were foundations to my claim about the majority being trafficked, but there are also questions raised about how these credible sources may have got it wrong. 

I'm for legalizing prostitution. That position was universally reinforced as a way to eliminate trafficking in whatever numbers it occurs. It's also a liberty issue. Who am I to peek in windows and call foul? Criminal statutes should relate to some kind of harm being done.

In a mutually consensual act involving money, I don't see crime at all.

[fattyflattie 4,636]

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

The exact number of sex trafficking victims forced to work in illicit massage parlors is unknown. But reporting methods and analysis have improved in recent years, and advocates and researchers largely agree that the problem is growing, to as many as 9,000 illicit spas in the U.S. alone. 

Shit.  9000 on 1960 alone. 

[Deej 76,568]

7 hours ago, SKJ said:

So,  basically,  you're saying God is still that vengeful one from the first book? 

I sure hope not,  because if he is,  we're all fucked

Read the second half of the Bible?

[Underdog 28,457]

NSFW... 

Spoiler

 

[SKJ 1,305]

11 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention 

 

4 hours ago, Deej said:

Read the second half of the Bible?

I've been assured by multiple experts in the field that he's the nice God now and that more importantly,  if I pray hard and have the right kind of faith I'll be rich. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,968]

On 8/29/2021 at 11:29 AM, RomaVicta said:

I'm guessing this law is addressing the problem of trafficking. I believe the majority of prostitutes working in modeling and massage parlors are immigrants working without choice.

I don't know that higher penalties for the johns will do much to dent the business. 

Trafficking is an issue of rising attention and maybe importance to the state.

On one level I believe you are correct, but there is a whole nother level that just disapproves of any sort of sex stuff because Texas. It would be nice to be able to get accurate stats about the effects of different laws instead of studies designed to support predertmined conclusions. 

[Gil Bang 25,898]

On 8/29/2021 at 10:57 AM, RomaVicta said:

Thanks for making me get off my lazy ass to do some cursory research:

USA Today:

US State Dept 2004:

Call-Girl rebuttal in Washington Post says the numbers are ill informed.

From Atlantic, also contra to the claim of trafficking:

There were foundations to my claim about the majority being trafficked, but there are also questions raised about how these credible sources may have got it wrong. 

I'm for legalizing prostitution. That position was universally reinforced as a way to eliminate trafficking in whatever numbers it occurs. It's also a liberty issue. Who am I to peek in windows and call foul? Criminal statutes should relate to some kind of harm being done.

In a mutually consensual act involving money, I don't see crime at all.

A few years back, my Real Estate office was in the same strip center as an asian massage joint.  I never went through the door, but I did watch the  women that worked there arrive for work.  IIRC, 1 drove a BMW, 1 a Lexus, and 1 a large SUV of some kind.  They didn't look like they were being forced to do anything. 

[RomaVicta 29,793]

13 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

A few years back, my Real Estate office was in the same strip center as an asian massage joint.  I never went through the door, but I did watch the  women that worked there arrive for work.  IIRC, 1 drove a BMW, 1 a Lexus, and 1 a large SUV of some kind.  They didn't look like they were being forced to do anything. 

I think the women than ran the place in Florida were similarly wealthy. I've read that those being trafficked (there are surely some, but who knows how many?) usually live at the brothel. In a film about trafficking, a few victims were interviewed. Their movements were controlled. They were captive.

Like I said, I'm glad you prompted me to look. I can't get a real fix on how much trafficking is going on.