Politics What must a citizen know? 3 Jan 2008 The previous Australian junta introduced a “citizenship test” for those wanting to become naturalised Aussies. It includes such gems as who Don Bradman was, who wrote a song that isn’t even officially our anthem (Waltzing Matilda – Tom Wait’s version is way better), and other fluff. About one in eight… Read More
Censorship How to tell if your country is illiberal 2 Jul 2009 When the People’s Republic of China is less censorial censorious than your own country, you might be living in an unfree country. Read More
Censorship The first casualty 26 Jul 2010 The increasing intention of western and non-western governments to censor the internet is usually put in terms of “child protection”, although it is very unlikely to be affected by censorship, merely by using uncensorable techniques like Torrents. But one has to wonder if the real reason is more to do… Read More
You mean the Mormon link? (NB: Anytime you see the word “Deseret” in connection with anything, think Mormon. Doesn’t mean it’s factually wrong; just means it’s coming from a Mormon source, to serve a Mormon agenda. Anyone who requires additional source material is encouraged to double-check everything.) The numbers look reasonable to me, as a godless American lefty, but that’s purely anecdotal.
As it stands, that is a genetic fallacy. I find Mormon sources often very good (for example, about evolution) except where it contradicts their basic doctrines. I can’t see how this would.
Ack, I keep forgetting that it’s wide-awake time where you are, instead of insomniac time where I am. It may be a genetic fallacy (and goodness knows how much I’ve been wrestling with fallacies and biases in an attempt to become a better skeptic). But there’s no primary sources on the numbers, and I’m still reeling from all the atheistic confirmation bias after reading all the glowing obits of that amazing writer, sloppy thinker, and confirmed misogynist, C. Hitchens. The article seems to be mostly about sex-trafficking. And it’s hard for me to take White Slavery seriously, considering the kind of baseless moral panic that gripped the US in the early 20th. c. What’s next? “Reliable” statistics on Baby Farms?
I know people in the sex industry, and I think that sex trafficking is real. It’s not about “white” slavery, though, but slavery. And it happens in Australia too. This is not really about good white girls being kidnapped and traced by Liam Neeson, but about poor and vulnerable women being exploited and coerced by criminals. This happens in the US, and elsewhere, and often these are ethnically subjected women. There is also forced labor of men, but mostly this is a problem with women and children. As to the lack of figures; it’s a newspaper report. They mention they get the figures from the UC Berkeley, the department of Justice, and an academic study published as a book. I would imagine it would not be hard to track those down.
I should get into the habit of putting a note under these images. Generally though, I don’t put up images that aren’t mine without a link to the source. It’s bad netiquette.
The Deseret/Mormon connection is well known, but I do not see how this article promotes the LDS agenda.
It’s not only Mormon newspapers that publish sex-slave hysteria. In the week before the last Super Bowl (in Dallas), the Dallas Morning News ran articles speculating about all the sex-slaves who were sure to be imported from other cities for the event. One article per day, for an entire week. It sells newspapers.