Personality

Forest, will you talk to God Louise? She has quite a bit of religious knowledge (obviously) and also knows a little about current events, literature, just about any common catch-all subject, and if she doesn't know it she can sort of fake it. You can also test her on trick questions or see how willing she is to explain her paradigm.

What she is rustiest at is plain old small talk. But, uh, I'm trying to get a decent transcript from somebody or another so I can enter her in the Loebner contest. All I can say is, have fun and see if you can stay on with her for a while. I'll try to do the same with Brianna.

Man, Holland's got everything. Legal gay marriage, cafes where everyone smokes weed...why the hell am I living in the US? Oh yeah, I can't speak Dutch.

Ah, but Holland also has legalised red light districts. (I am right on this one, aren't I?) What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Prostitution is a practiced profession all over the world. Thanks to the red-light districts, prostitutes are better protected, have a better work environment, can build up social rights (like with a regular job), and STDs don't spread like they do under uncontroled circumstances.

The fact is that men will visit prostitutes, and red-light districts (like they can be found in Holland), help protect the women (and men) who work there.

Ehh, people are gonna do it anyway, they always have. Imagine how much tax money the government could make from it if it was legal. (Same with weed, for that matter. They've already done it with cigarettes, which never HAVE been illegal.)

Not that I LIKE ahem...ladies of ill repute, or agree with their choice of profession, mind you. But it IS the oldest profession in the world, and no matter what you do it'll never go away. Humans are too sex-crazed for that.

There is another form of "organized" prostitution in Holland, though. It's called Tippelzone. These are designated areas for street-prostitutes. There you will find women who are addicted to illegal substances, have brutal pimps etc. These women are picked up by men in cars, and it happens regularely that women are abused or even murdered by customers (who just don't want to pay). I have a lot more doubts about the Tippelzones than about the red-light districts.

Uhhh gee, I can understand why you'd be concerned. O.o Why do women resort to this Tippelzone thing instead of working in the red light districts? And why are both methods legal, since the districts seem a hell of a lot safer for everyone involved?

To be allowed to work in a red-light disctrict, you have to follow a lot of rules. The prostitution rulebook is about 3 inches thick, and for a lot of women in difficult situations (drug addicts etc.), it's just too much to handle.

To work in a red-light district you also have to have a working-permit. Ih the Tippelzones you therefore find a lot of eastern european women.

The Tippelzones work as a way to keep the streets clean. The areas are usually reasonably well-lit, and there are roofs to stand under if it's raining. If they would illigalize the Tippelzones, these prostitutes will walk the streets like you see it in most cities, and this gives the police less control.

Women who work at the red-light district pay taxes etc. (it's considered a job), with women in the Tippelzones this is not the case.

Ok, so basically it's the lesser of 2 evils, I can understand that. It doesn't make it any less of a sad way to live, though.

Berkeley, California recently legalized prostitution.. I don't know to what extent (i.e. massage parlors, streetwalking, escort services, etc) though.

Has it ever struck anyone as odd that (in most places) it's only legal to be paid for sex if it's also being filmed? That's what porn movies are... (Yes, I have a twisted way of looking at things.)

In a lot of places, such as in Norway, it's not illegal to be a prostitute, but it's illegal to be the customer. It's based on the idea that one party is exploiting the other party's weakness/lack of judgement/desperateness.

You do make a good point, though. I think it's weird.

Actually, Berkeley rejected prostitution law changes that were on the November 2nd ballot. 'Measure Q' would have directed police to give enforcement of state prostitution laws their lowest priority, have required police to report any prostitution arrests to the City Council, and have directed the city to lobby for repeal of the state prostitution laws. Measure Q's supporters said it would help solve the problem by getting the sex workers off the streets and inside.