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All-Female Ridesharing To Debut In Boston (qz.com)

HughPickens.com writes: Scores of women have reported assaults by Uber drivers... Now Jenni Avins reports at Quartz that a ride-sharing service that only uses women as drivers, Chariot for Women, is set to launch April 19 in Boston, featuring more stringent background checks and additional steps to ensure riders correctly match with their drivers.... "[U]nlike other services, Chariot for Women features a patent-pending technology that will provide both users and drivers with a code after a request is made that will need to be verified upon starting the ride," reports Glamour. But "whether it's legal or not is a different question," says Joseph L. Sulman. Quartz reports that "According to civil rights lawyers, Chariot for Women's female-only policies could put it squarely in the crosshairs of gender discrimination lawsuits, which would be difficult to win." Founder Michael Pelletz says he welcomes the legal challenge. "We want to show there's inequality in safety in our industry," says Pelletz. "We hope to go to the US Supreme Court to say that if there's safety involved, there's nothing wrong with providing a service for women."

584 comments

  1. This will be fun by rossz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can't wait until someone claims they identify as female and demand the right to rideshare with the all female service.

    --
    -- Will program for bandwidth
    1. Re:This will be fun by Fwipp · · Score: 1, Troll

      They explicitly say that they're inclusive of anyone who identifies as a woman, including trans women.

      As a trans woman, I'd really appreciate if dudes stopped trying to fuck stuff up for us.

    2. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      By the same token, female police officers are 5 times more likely to resort to using their firearm, and their partner is twice as likely to be hurt on the job. So can we ban female police officers?

    3. Re:This will be fun by zm · · Score: 1

      By the same token, female police officers are 5 times more likely to resort to using their firearm, and their partner is twice as likely to be hurt on the job.

      Source?

      --
      Sig ?
    4. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      You cut your dick off. Don't blame the rest of us who are sane.

    5. Re:This will be fun by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1, Funny

      As a trans woman, I'd really appreciate if dudes stopped trying to fuck stuff up for us.

      I'm sorry, but that's really all we know how to do. Well, that and scratch ourselves.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:This will be fun by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Source?

      You must be joking. You might as well have asked a golden retriever to solve a partial differential equation.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    7. Re:This will be fun by roman_mir · · Score: 5, Insightful

      OK, isn't it interesting though that the same type of service aimed only at white customers or only for a specific religion would cause a massive outcry and also would be illegal?

    8. Re: This will be fun by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      I though rules were generally phrased in terms of how you *identify*, not how you *claim to identify* ?

    9. Re:This will be fun by AnontheDestroyer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sorry for all the other Anonymous Cowards out there. This stuff is painful to read even as a cis-male (to use a term that will infuriate a few people).

      That said, even as a very liberal person, I've always wondered what mechanisms are in place to keep assholes from screwing it all up. E.g., I don't know if there is a way to verify whether an individual has started the process, or if there even should be. I'm very uneducated in this area.

    10. Re:This will be fun by Crashmarik · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some animals are more equal than others.

      On a more direct note, did you expect integrity or consistency from people that define merit as meaningless ?

    11. Re:This will be fun by x0ra · · Score: 1, Troll

      I need a cab... and I just happen to be a trans-woman as well ! Oh, and I'll have a leak in women's bathroom as well ! Profit !

    12. Re:This will be fun by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Your microaggressive comments are creating a toxic environment. Please stop.

    13. Re:This will be fun by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

      Well seeing as 0 is good for homogeneous differential equations, they have a fair shot.

    14. Re:This will be fun by x0ra · · Score: 1

      to re-use Canada PM answer... "because it's 2015 !".

    15. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah they're really fucking stuff up for you.. According to sjws, most dudes want nothing to do with trans 'women' anyway so why are you so worried?

    16. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How about government stop telling people which bathrooms they can use on private property?

      How about each restaurant, barber shop, and store decide on their own which customers they are willing to serve and which customers can use which bathroom?

      Have we learned nothing from slavery, segregation and Jim Crow laws, all government mandated discrimination? When will people realize that government shouldn't get involved in these issues?

    17. Re:This will be fun by rossz · · Score: 0

      I'd appreciate it if you would stop blaming us for all your problems.

      --
      -- Will program for bandwidth
    18. Re:This will be fun by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, for making this reasonable point, most of which includes actual information about the service in question, you'll get at least a few downmods. Probably by the same set of people who complain about "SJWs" downmodding on Slashdot and also the people who downmod people giving actual information about Donald Trump in the last three Trump threads.

    19. Re:This will be fun by ooloorie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I believe people who believe in that kind of social engineering are applying some advanced math. They start with categorizing people based on overlapping criteria, such as sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, etc. Based on these criteria, they classify people into "victims" and "oppressors". When people are both, they call that "intersectionality" and attempt to balance it out. Experts assign scores and weights. For example, white homosexual cis males have now apparently moved into the "oppressor" category.

      I blame New Math and the attempts at teaching abstract set theory to budding sociologists for this.

    20. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      OK, isn't it interesting though that the same type of service aimed only at white customers or only for a specific religion would cause a massive outcry ...

      For certain definitions of "massive outry", true. But it's hard for people to argue their own discriminatory actions "for security" (ie safety) and then simultaneously argue that a woman-only service is somehow not okay. So, the people left are those that (1) think women can and are as bad as men and/or (2) think fundamentally this is no real sort of solution to a more fundamental problem (a lack of adequate background checks at Uber) that basically degenerates into "men are expendable".

      ... and also would be illegal?

      And of course it's illegal. I hope they get slapped down fast and hard by the courts on this. Btw, I think it funny that impetus for this was a male Uber driver feeling threatened by a passenger. So, (1) we are now creating a service that makes it easier to target female drivers and (2) we're not even addressing the idea of background checks for passengers. So, entirely ass backwards.

    21. Re:This will be fun by Fwipp · · Score: 0

      Yeah; but I got more than enough karma.

    22. Re:This will be fun by LaurenCates · · Score: 5, Insightful

      From a medical standpoint - while acknowledging that being trans is NOT a disability - it should be illegal to ask.

      That having been said, people fuck shit up for other people all the time. My father was a diabetic and had a handicapped placard to hang from his rear-view mirror because of problems with his legs so he could take advantage of handicapped parking. Generally speaking, you'd never know just by looking at him, though to observe him moving, you might notice there's something wrong with him, but because he didn't have a cane or a wheelchair, wouldn't you know it that someone would come over and confront him about fraudulently using a placard like the one he had, and wouldn't quit harassing him about it, either.

      So, yeah, the problem here is the grey area that exists when either a lie could be told, for reasons good or bad, or people are untrusting enough to assume the worst and make accusations before understanding the gravity of the situation.

      But that requires a lot of inappropriate unpacking of personal information to complete strangers...which is why I think all-female ridesharing (unlike handicapped parking) is simply a bad idea. It just sets up a lot of unnecessary drama in an age where the lines of gender are blurry, but there seems to be a continuing assumption that a not insignificant number of men are potential predators. These two issues, when taken together, are a powder keg of potential conflict.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    23. Re:This will be fun by x0ra · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Btw, it is worth to mention that Jim Crow laws were passed by Democrats... just sayin'

    24. Re:This will be fun by x0ra · · Score: 1

      Which mechanism ? The same which ensure criminals don't commit crimes... oh.. wait....

    25. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this modded down?
      It's a legitimate question.

    26. Re:This will be fun by oakgrove · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      It's also worth mentioning that Jim Crow laws were "laws" because had the government not actually put them on the books, most businesses would never had followed them, because, you know, business is there to make money, not give a shit what color you are. Thanks, government!

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    27. Re:This will be fun by frovingslosh · · Score: 5, Interesting

      A quick scan of local on-line arrest records shows a majority of blacks committing violent crimes even though the black population is a minority. So the next logical step will be a white only version of Uber. Just for safety purposes, of course.

      --
      I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    28. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I guess maybe you should stop being prejudiced based on gender identity?

    29. Re:This will be fun by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      teaching abstract set theory to budding sociologists

      So.... it's kinda like statistics to them then?

    30. Re:This will be fun by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 0

      Remember: you are only hurt if your female "coworker" shoots twice as good as you!

      Or did you mean that other hurt?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    31. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's the fucking difference?

      If I claim to identify as a female, who the fuck are you to tell me I'm not?

    32. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think without those laws that southern business owners would not have been racist?
      Are you fucking retarded??

      Back then if your "store" allowed blacks then the whites would not shop there.
      Good luck staying in business and alive.

      But I understand why you would blame the govetment, it's part if that SJW bullshit about true racism being institutionalized, so only white cis men can be racist.

      Take your narrative elsewhere you piece of shit.

    33. Re:This will be fun by ewibble · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I know you disagree with this and so do I. I would like point out that blacks are more likely be arrested for the same crime, and given a harsher penalty.

      However I have heard similar statistics for males and violence. Men are more likely to be arrested for domestic violence even if they where the ones that called the police in the first place. I am sure that it is much less likely that a man would report violence against him committed by a woman. Women also have a tendency to pick men that stronger than them as partners, it is hard to physically intimidate a person stronger than you. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... in the US 76.8% murder victims are men, I pick murder because it is unlikely to go unreported. Although this could also be perpetrated by men, mens lives are clearly more dangerous.

      While we continue to assume men are somehow bad, and are so dangerous, it is fair to not even let them into the same car as a woman just because they are a man we will only alienate more men. This will only cause men to dislike women more. I am sure black people where considered somehow bad, or somehow somehow worse than white people. That was racism them and this is sexism now.

      If you want a "safer" uber service then you can have a service that does security checks on all its customers, and drivers. That way you are judged on your previous actions, not the genitals you where born with.

    34. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your rights end, where mine begin.

    35. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think without those laws that southern business owners would not have been racist?

      You ignorant jackass. The reason they were made into laws is because many business owners would not abide by them as unwritten rules so the government stepped in and made it against the law to not discriminate. This is historical fact. Read some fucking history you stupid piece of shit.

      But I understand why you would blame the govetment, it's part if that SJW bullshit about true racism being institutionalized, so only white cis men can be racist.

      What the fuck are you talking about, autist?

    36. Re: This will be fun by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      Sure, though it feels a little weird to put those in the same category - tucking takes less time than putting on your socks.

    37. Re:This will be fun by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

      By the same token, female police officers are 5 times more likely to resort to using their firearm, and their partner is twice as likely to be hurt on the job.

      Source?

      A quick Google search will bring up several citations that female cops are less likely to shoot. But I could only find one citation from Ann Coulter that women are "vastly more likely" to shoot. I suppose that counts as a negative citation, since if Ann Coulter claims something is true, it usually isn't.

    38. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From a medical perspective I think it is necessary to ask and get an accurate biological answer. Men and women are not the same physically, chemically or psychologically.

      It doesn't seem like gender is actually relevant to taxi service, so it seems wrong to ask. But then we're talking about an all female service because apparently men are rapists. Thet deserve whatever insanity they get.

    39. Re:This will be fun by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why can't small males avail themselves of the service but to female MMA fighters who could whip the males in a fight can? Small males get assaulted, bullied, and even raped as well.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    40. Re:This will be fun by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Real Christians who made a Christian-preaching cab service would probably prefer non-Christians.

      It's against what Jesus said to harm non-Christians. You are to lead by example of being kind. That's what most of these hardcore Christians don't seem to understand about theeir own religion.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    41. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Love it!

      What about when I temporarily identify as a woman, when I want to drive for Uber? Will I have to shave off my beard, or is it OK?

    42. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      As a trans woman, I'd really appreciate if dudes stopped trying to fuck stuff up for us.

      The feeling is very mutual.

    43. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because what someone does as a part of their morning routine has nothing to do with ride sharing.

    44. Re: This will be fun by LaurenCates · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is true, but in the name of liberty and personal privacy, it should, frankly, be none of anyone else's damn business.

      If you're transgender, good! Live your life! If you are happy, and you're not doing anything that hurts anyone, congrats, you're probably well ahead of at least half the human population.

      However, absolutely NO ONE should have the authority demand "papers, please" on that particular condition. Thus, it presents a problem when any male-presenting man asks for a ride in a female-only rideshare claiming to be a pre-transition MtoF and the woman driving says "hold on, prove it". How do you do that without creating a situation where the woman won't feel threatened (by a potential liar) and the man won't feel discriminated against?

      The answer's simple: don't create a situation where discrimination is implicit within the ground rules.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    45. Re:This will be fun by markdavis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >"That's what most of these hardcore Christians don't seem to understand about theeir own religion."

      That is because most so-called Christians really are not very Christian. They don't follow the teachings and examples of Jesus, but instead follow organized religion, dogma, and related politics. And they also tend to look at the mostly supplanted old testament for answers to questions that are more easily answered by that famous and simple saying "what would Jesus do?"

    46. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why are you assholes ruining this site? Go back to Reddit.

    47. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Arrest records show who is arrested, not who commits crimes

    48. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Go to hell, you reactionary cocksucker.

      You had better not be that faggot who freaks the fuck out when I walk into the men's room and tries to give me a hard time.

      You fucking hypocrite.

    49. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As a straight, white, born and gendered male, and human oriented person (compared to furies?), I'd really appreciate if ladies would stop going around putting the fear of men into everyone's heads. If you're concerned for your safety, take a martial arts class and learn some personal responsibility (don't expect someone to help you when you cry for help, you need to learn how to help yourself. In other words, stop being a victim and man up. By not punching that guy who grabbed your ass, you're choosing to stay a victim. The slight natural strength benefits of being male is nothing compared to a couple basic self defense classes, often offered for free to college women.) Segregating people like this only leads to more issues as people stop seeing others as people when they're always kept apart. They lose respect for each other. What this service tells me is that all the people using it are too emotionally weak to be around men regardless if that's true or not. I'm sure some of those creepy males will love this as they can now order a ride and know they will get a female driver. I suspect its far easier to kidnap someone when you're not the one doing the driving.

      Yes, I've had my ass randomly spanked and my nipples twisted. Differently not a common occurrence, but I also didn't ignore it.

      And please, no bullshit about how the media only portrays females as sex objects. Every kids show has ball smashing as something funny. All males in computer games are tight-muscled, super alpha males. Males are shown as bumbling idiots anytime a female is around. We're either a sexy crime lord or a fart loving failure at life. Etc... The media is simply for anything that triggers an emotion in its viewers.

    50. Re:This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 3, Funny

      There are some who deliberately go to bathrooms to rape people (though fewer of them than republican senators, even though there are far more trans people than republican senators).

      I thought that most of those who go to bathrooms to rape people were Republican senators.

    51. Re:This will be fun by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Indeed. While some businesses would still discriminate, I'm sure, it's expensive to have 4 sets of bathrooms vs 2, 2 counters instead of 1, and to do without the business that blacks could bring.

      Greed uber alles.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    52. Re:This will be fun by twistedcubic · · Score: 1

      A whites-only bathroom would cause such an outcry, and already has. A females-only bathroom does not. Your analogy is not perfect.

    53. Re:This will be fun by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      A quick scan of local on-line arrest records shows a majority of blacks committing violent crimes even though the black population is a minority. So the next logical step will be a white only version of Uber. Just for safety purposes, of course.

      I'd rephrase that - "a majority of blacks committing violent crimes" implies that MOST blacks commit violent crime. Our violence crime rate might be high, but it's not that high. I'd suggest 'a majority of violent crime is committed by blacks' instead.

      I once worked out that if you removed blacks from the US population, our murder rate dropped down to the high end of Europe's. IE it would still be 'problematic' by European standards, but no longer an outlier.

      Of course, the statistics even then don't show the whole picture - we have a few inner-city neighborhoods where the expected cause of death for a newborn black male is violence and the murder rate is worse than Somalia and such.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    54. Re:This will be fun by meet+the+squirrel · · Score: 0

      Why are you assholes ruining this site? Go back to Reddit.

      WTF. She is excellent. We've had hardly anyone on site making random death threats for ages. Take a beer, eat some popcorn. Be polite. Or don't.

    55. Re:This will be fun by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

      OK, isn't it interesting though that the same type of service aimed only at white customers or only for a specific religion would cause a massive outcry and also would be illegal?

      You mean outcry like say all the experts saying it's illegal.

      --
      Just another second banana
    56. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Because women are valuable, men are expendable. Didn't you get the memo?

    57. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is a mental illness.

    58. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Freak.

      Either cut it off or shut the fuck up.

    59. Re:This will be fun by dryeo · · Score: 2

      Considering that the blacks were quite poor, the best move was not to piss of your white customers. Too expensive to have extra bathrooms and counters? Just ban all blacks from your business,

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    60. Re:This will be fun by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Arrest records are not a record of people who commit crimes.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    61. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > black people were considered somehow
      > bad, or somehow worse than white people.
      > That was racism then

      "Were considered"? "Was racism"? You either drank up all the media kool-aid or you're writing from another country.

      Besides, background checks on drivers AND customers are impossible. Their entire business model is based on being cheaper than taxis, not outrageously more expensive.

      (Except when it's a holiday and there are no taxis around, then it's OK to be outrageously more expensive. Yay capitalism!)

    62. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Arrest records show who is arrested, not who commits crimes

      True. Because of plea bargaining (well, that, and how shitty the standard of proof is), the same is true of convictions, offender listings, etc.

    63. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would like point out that blacks are more likely be arrested for the same crime, and given a harsher penalty.

      Yes that is what happens when a demographic is more likely to commit a crime and more likely to re-offend. Why that happens is a worthy question, but the answer has no bearing over the premised facts that created it.

      Groups which commit more crimes get arrested more, spend more time in jail, get re-arrested more often and get harsher penalties. It doesn't matter what demographic that group is.

    64. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Make it simple then. Remove gender. If you have a penis you cannot use this service.

    65. Re:This will be fun by ChrisMaple · · Score: 0

      Perhaps your dad would have been better off in a state with open carry. Even an empty holster tends to make strangers polite.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    66. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because an equal amenity is made for men. There are no places where you can legally have a bathroom for women and not provide facilities for men.

    67. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or to make them shoot first. If you genuinely think someone is abusing handicapped privileges, it's not your job to take care of it. It's the police's. They can fine the person if fraudulent and it's done. Then again my friend with CP was once accused of being drunk in public by a police officer, until he found out my friend had CP at which point he inserted his foot into his mouth. There's no reason to be a dick, and there's no reason to threaten people, even if it's with an empty holster.

    68. Re:This will be fun by island_earth · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I can't comment on the legality of this, but there's no hypocrisy (as you seem to be implying). If statistically, a particular class of shared riders are being targeted for crime, and that class finds a way to protect themselves from being targeted, it seems reasonable to me.

      White customers or customers of any particular religion have yet to show that they've been targeted for crime as Uber users, so they don't need to take protective actions of any kind.

      Now, if it turns out to be illegal, we have two choices: ignore the law, because it's protecting a targeted class and does more good than harm (not my recommendation), or we use this as a way to draw attention to attacks on women customers and do something about it. I prefer that second solution.

      But claiming that there's something wrong with the idea that a targeted class would prefer not to be targets is just disingenuous crap. Better class of misogynists, please.

    69. Re:This will be fun by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      As a trans woman, I'd really appreciate if dudes stopped trying to fuck stuff up for us.

      Our efforts would be entirely superfluous.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    70. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Make it simple then. Remove gender. If you have a penis you cannot use this service.

      Err, that would mean unzipping is your ticket to ride, so to speak.

      So if you're a dude who can convincingly rock the tuck-under mangina, you get to use this service? But only after dropping your trousers, in public, for your taxi driver?

      Or do we have a Private Penis Patrol who comes to your home/office and rubber gloves your groin and grundle as a pre-check before you're allowed to sign up?

    71. Re:This will be fun by roman_mir · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But claiming that there's something wrong with the idea that a targeted class would prefer not to be targets is just disingenuous crap.

      - you are very clearly missing my entire point, which is - there shouldn't be any special protections by any government for any special group and with that in mind it must mean that if an individual wants to set up a company to serve only women, he or she should be able to do so. If an individual wants to set up a company to serve only white people, he or she must be able to do so. If an individual wants to set up a company to serve only Muslims, he or she must be able to do it, etc.

      Hypocrisy or not, it is illegal to set up a company to cater to a group defined by sex, religion, race, physical ability (to exclude certain types of disability), people go to court because of these ridiculous laws every day and it hurts the economy obviously, but most importantly it hurts the freedom of an individual to discriminate and everybody must be able to discriminate freely if they wish to do so and suffer any type of societal consequences (but not be prevented by any laws).

    72. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn right! You only need one male to impregnate many females. The male is very expendable, far more than the female. The female carries and delivers the future. They must be kept alive. Killing a female merits ten times the punishment meted out for killing a male.

    73. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Women are bad drivers too, so we need a male only driver list to ensure we have a safe experienced driver*.

      *As defined by their socio-economic class.

    74. Re:This will be fun by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      Agreed, which is why there may be appropriate lawsuits.

      The argument for this service is safety and the belief is that safety trumps civil rights. I'm not sure I'm buying it, but it's an interesting argument.

    75. Re:This will be fun by Goetterdaemmerung · · Score: 2

      Actually, the bathroom issue is also generating outrage. For an example a college in New York has removed all gender identification from bathroom doors.
      http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/29/gender-bathrooms-cooper-union-college-new-york

      My home bathroom is gender neutral.

    76. Re: This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      When you identify as a male to your wife and family, and identify as a female only at sports events, it's obvious that you don't identify as female, but are doing so at a point in time for some other reason. Nobody is telling you that you aren't properly identifying as something, but that when you do so inconsistently, you shouldn't be treated the same as someone that is consistent.

    77. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      As a "trans woman", you sir are the dude, and also the one who is fucked up.

    78. Re:This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      The reality is that the "unsolved crimes" are whites, and the convictions are Blacks. So offending rates are similar (almost equal, when adjusted), but Blacks are much more highly prosecuted (persecuted?) for any transgressions.

    79. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lookie there, an Internet Tough G----er, nevermind.

    80. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      "I'll have those niggers voting democrat for the next hundred years" -LBJ

    81. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      As a straight white man, I'd really appreciate it if you'd stay away from my children.

    82. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry to break it to you dude, but nobody thinks you're a woman. Quit kidding yourself.

    83. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i.e. in this case, don't allow people to create a situation where they feel safer

    84. Re: This will be fun by frovingslosh · · Score: 0

      Thanks for clearing that up. I now realize when I see all of the black people arrested for violent crimes along with a handful of white people that in reality it is whites that are committing all of the crimes and it is just that blacks are getting arrested for it.

      --
      I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    85. Re:This will be fun by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

      Do you really believe that? How do you determine that "rates are similar (almost equal" if in order to make that calculation you would have to know who committed all of the "unsolved" crimes? Could it be that you have a pigmentation issue that causes you to want to believe that? Or are you just a bleeding heart liberal?

      --
      I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    86. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      North Carolina called, and wants their no-outcry females-only bathrooms back.

    87. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I lived in San Francisco, there was this guy who was always hanging around a cafe near my house. He always wore an elegant, lacy white dress. His dresses were all like wedding gowns. But he had a big bushy beard, too, like a lumberjack.

      I say you can keep the beard, or you're being discriminated against. Women can have beards too.

    88. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes that is what happens when a demographic is more likely to commit a crime and more likely to re-offend.

      Ie, discrimination against a person is okay because that person belongs to a demographic.

      Why that happens is a worthy question, but the answer has no bearing over the premised facts that created it.

      Actually, it does a lot. If one demographic is consistently arrested more and punished harsher, then they have paradoxically less incentive to not commit crimes because, probably due in no small part to plea bargaining, they realize that it's only a matter of time before they're arrested and spend months or years in jail regardless of whether they commit a crime or not. Honestly, that sort of oppression breeds substantial contempt for claims of justice or much real desire to follow law and order.

      Groups which commit more crimes get arrested more, spend more time in jail, get re-arrested more often and get harsher penalties.

      Yet that's beside the point. The point of a justice system is to follow, in no small part, Hammurabi's Code: an eye for an eye. So, it matters not how many of a group A committing crime X, a, vs a group B committing crime X, b. The total time served for group A should be a*x, with an average of x days served per person just as the total time served for group B should be b*x with an average of x days served per person. When it's closer to a*x*1.2 and hence an average of x*1.2 for group A, there's clearly something wrong.

      And panning it under "re-arrested more often and get harsher penalties" fundamentally violates the concept of not only justice but double jeopardy. Of course, that's the point. Anything that puts group A in jail longer is something desired because group A is full of "bad" people, right?

      It doesn't matter what demographic that group is.

      You're wrong, obviously. Blacks are punished more and harsher than whites. Men are punished more and harsher than women. Try to slice the demographics is a lot of other ways, and you don't see the obvious disparages of rate of arrest::conviction or crime::time served. Feel free to prove me wrong, of course.

    89. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's actually pretty fucking interesting. Maybe I'm an idiot but I didn't think of that until you posted.

    90. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've stared at this comment for two minutes and I honestly can't tell if its satirical or not.

    91. Re: This will be fun by mspohr · · Score: 1

      How about people stop being so hung up about bathrooms. Just make one unisex bathroom. Go there and mind your own business. Be polite. Is that so hard?

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    92. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 0

      You seem to believe that transsexualism is a mental disorder. The American Psychiatric Association says otherwise, and you really should consider getting help for your delusion.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    93. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I though rules were generally phrased in terms of how you *identify*, not how you *claim to identify* ?

      There's no difference. Objectively these people are biologically either a male or female, so to say they are the opposite gender (or genderless, fluid, blah blah) is simply a subjective claim based on personal feelings. "I claim to identify" is a far more appropriate description than "I am".

    94. Re: This will be fun by arth1 · · Score: 1

      What's the fucking difference?

      Not everyone is out of the closet. I know people who identify as one gender, but appear to identify as a different gender. It's not that uncommon.

    95. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 2

      OMG We're supposed to wear socks?!? :-)

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    96. Re:This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I'm a bleeding heart realist. That reality disagrees with your opinion doesn't make reality wrong. I've had a number of white friends who have run from the cops. 0/10 for going to jail for running from the police. Had plenty of Black friends who spent a night in jail for walking while Black as well. When a white person shoplifts, they are taken home (often with a free ride by the police) and handed to their parents, with no charges or documentation. There are studies on this. Reality shows that if two kids steal gum, one goes to jail and one is let go without any record. That's why the numbers don't work. They are kept by the government. The same government that moves DUI from .15 to .05 then complains that DUI is on the rise. Nope. It's not on the rise. Blacks don't offend more. The numbers are provably wrong. The same government will count a dead person with BAC of 0.9 (lethal) who crashed into a wall at 200 MPH who left behind a suicide note as "alcohol related" and "speed related" "accident" with no mention of it being a deliberate suicide.

      The government has a vested interest in making sure the numbers are wrong. To appease the bigots who vote. And, based on Drumpf, there are hundreds of millions of them.

    97. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      blacks are more likely be arrested for the same crime, and given a harsher penalty.

      Correction: blacks be more arrested for da same crime, an dats harsh, yo.

    98. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Arrest records are not a record of people who commit crimes.

      He isn't claiming they are. Obviously not everyone who commits a crime gets caught, or convicted. But what he's claiming is that statistically speaking, blacks commit violent crime at a higher rate than whites. And this is a very large sample size, so for a statistical look at crime in the overall population is perfectly valid.

    99. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Just out of curiosity, how do you expect a trans woman, who no longer has either a functional penis or testicles, to rape someone? All these new bathroom laws seem to leave that part out? Am I missing something? :-)

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    100. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it so.

    101. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, it's illegal because you can't use statistics to discriminate against a class of people. That's why police profiling, etc are against the law. Far better to require a barrier between the front and back seats if you are that worried, or just a video record of everything going on. Or use a real taxi service that does its job without regards to sex, handicap, etc and won't refuse to pick up a woman if she's with a man.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    102. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 2

      How is this safe if a woman and her date/husband/son have to split up because it's women only?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    103. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 2

      Smell. A transsexual women smells like a woman once the hormones kick in. Testosterone and estrogen make men and women smell different. Even your dogs can tell the difference and behave differently once you start. Of course, postmenopausal women will run into problems ...

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    104. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      I do this all the time and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter on how to profit. I must be in Soviet Russia because here taxi profits from ME.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    105. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      It's a joke. Laugh. Not laughing at the joke is also considered a micro-aggression. BTW you're an idiot if you buy into the whole micro-aggression thing. Now please excuse me as I retreat to my safe place.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    106. Re:This will be fun by martinX · · Score: 1

      He hangs around with a dog, a jock and a couple of chicks and they go around solving mysteries and stuff. And compiling stats, too. Lots of that stuff.

      --
      When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
    107. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 0

      You think that women should man up? Do you have any idea how much more expensive it is to do an addadicktome on a woman than a lopitoffame to a man? And the vastly inferior results when it comes to sex?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    108. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So by your logic we could justify killing all black people. After all, they're more dangerous,statistically speaking.

      See how fucking evil you are?

    109. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    110. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back seat ramblings of someone who has never been in a mixed community. It is shocking how differently different cultures act. Complete indifference to following the fucking rules. I have no sympathy.

    111. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eh, my anecdotal experience is the opposite of yours. Shall we call it a draw ?

    112. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ie, discrimination against a person is okay because that person belongs to a demographic.

      Non-sequitur. GP cited an objective fact which is not discrimination by definition, since racial discrimination is defined as prejudice based on race and prejudice implies an irrational belief. It's not discrimination to say "blacks are more athletic than white" or "men are stronger than women".

      Actually, it does a lot. If one demographic is consistently arrested more and punished harsher, then they have paradoxically less incentive to not commit crimes because, probably due in no small part to plea bargaining, they realize that it's only a matter of time before they're arrested and spend months or years in jail regardless of whether they commit a crime or not. Honestly, that sort of oppression breeds substantial contempt for claims of justice or much real desire to follow law and order.

      Citation needed. Preferably not from a regressive clickbait rag such as Buzzfeed.

      Yet that's beside the point. The point of a justice system is to follow, in no small part, Hammurabi's Code: an eye for an eye. So, it matters not how many of a group A committing crime X, a, vs a group B committing crime X, b. The total time served for group A should be a*x, with an average of x days served per person just as the total time served for group B should be b*x with an average of x days served per person. When it's closer to a*x*1.2 and hence an average of x*1.2 for group A, there's clearly something wrong.

      Wrong. The length of the sentence is impacted by the severity of the crime, which may not be the same between A and B. The same crime can result in different sentences because one group on average commits a more severe form of X for example.

      And panning it under "re-arrested more often and get harsher penalties" fundamentally violates the concept of not only justice but double jeopardy.

      Wrong. Double jeopardy only applies to the same crime, not re-offending or being re-arrested if the accused wasn't tried the first time (eg released because of lack of evidence).

      Anything that puts group A in jail longer is something desired because group A is full of "bad" people, right?

      Presuming bad faith is a scummy arguing tactic. But of course, it's okay because group "B" is full of racists right?

      You're wrong, obviously. Blacks are punished more and harsher than whites. Men are punished more and harsher than women. Try to slice the demographics is a lot of other ways, and you don't see the obvious disparages of rate of arrest::conviction or crime::time served. Feel free to prove me wrong, of course.

      Your argument doesn't contradict GP's point. If $demographic commits more and worse crimes, it will receive longer and stronger sentences. This is not unjust because your life's circumstances does not justify violating the rules of society.

      If you want to argue that blacks are punished disproportionally for unjust reasons, you need to prove the existence and prevalence of said reasons. Since you are the one making a positive assertion, the burden of proof lies on you.

    113. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since the stats show the opposite of what you are saying, that in fact whites commit most violent crimes, I now realize that you are a fucking racist.

    114. Re:This will be fun by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Not all blacks were so poor, and there were a lot of poor white people too. Many of whom weren't repulsed by blacks using the same facilities, so something for the businesses of the time to figure out.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    115. Re:This will be fun by quantaman · · Score: 0, Troll

      OK, isn't it interesting though that the same type of service aimed only at white customers or only for a specific religion would cause a massive outcry and also would be illegal?

      The world isn't fair. I'm sorry if attempts to make it more fair are sometimes applied inconsistently.

      Discrimination against non-whites has been, and continues to be a massive problem in society.

      As such I have no hesitation about banning services that are for whites only.

      Discrimination by women has never been a problem except in the imagination of men's rights activists, on the other hand women being harassed or assaulted by men has also been a huge problem forever.

      I have no issue with a woman only service giving woman a ridesharing service where they feel safe from harassment.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    116. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In fact, trans is exactly what we are not trying to fuck.

    117. Re: This will be fun by quantaman · · Score: 0

      However, absolutely NO ONE should have the authority demand "papers, please" on that particular condition. Thus, it presents a problem when any male-presenting man asks for a ride in a female-only rideshare claiming to be a pre-transition MtoF and the woman driving says "hold on, prove it". How do you do that without creating a situation where the woman won't feel threatened (by a potential liar) and the man won't feel discriminated against?

      The answer's simple: don't create a situation where discrimination is implicit within the ground rules.

      So women can't have this service because of an extremely contrived example you just created?

      male-presenting man asks for a ride in a female-only rideshare claiming to be a pre-transition MtoF and the woman driving says "hold on, prove it"

      Your doomsday scenario is a guy claiming to be a woman so he can... sit in the backseat of a woman-only taxi? Maybe after he used a stall in a ladies room?

      I'm willing to bet 99% of the cab harassment isn't pre-planned attacks but drunk passengers or passengers/drivers who are just in the habit of saying/doing really inappropriate stuff. If a really weird predator manages to sneak in and the driver doesn't figure out in time to take counter-measures that sucks, but it's manageable.

      And as for actual trans-people or other women who look completely male I'm sure they're grown up enough to handle awkward situations.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    118. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If [...] you're not doing anything that hurts anyone, congrats, you're probably well ahead of at least half the human population.

      <joke> correct ! Males make up 50.4% of Earth's human population. </joke>

      Most of the world stays close to the 50/50 sex split. Interestingly, the largest deviations are all male-majority and all Islamic states. Examples:
      Qatar(76.5% male), United Arab Emirates(70.1% male), Oman(63.6% male), Bahrain(62.2% male), Kuwait(59.8% male), and Saudi Arabia(57.5% male)

      For comparison, Curaçao has the highest female/male ratio at 54.7% female,

    119. Re:This will be fun by quantaman · · Score: 1

      A quick scan of local on-line arrest records shows a majority of blacks committing violent crimes even though the black population is a minority. So the next logical step will be a white only version of Uber. Just for safety purposes, of course.

      I'm sure you meant to write "a majority of violent crimes were committed by blacks" but you may still be wrong. I don't know your locality but in the US more for almost every crime more whites are arrested.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    120. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes, some, but not all Republican senators.

    121. Re:This will be fun by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      The world isn't fair. I'm sorry if attempts to make it more fair are sometimes applied inconsistently.

      - there shouldn't be any attempts to 'make world more fair' in the first place, that's what leads to destruction of society by destroying the economy since it requires a huge collectivist State to take away individual freedoms.

    122. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think women can't rape?

      https://www.google.com/search?...

    123. Re:This will be fun by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      There are no places where you can legally have a bathroom for women and not provide facilities for men.

      Except in the non-public areas of women's dorms, the YWCA, etc.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    124. Re: This will be fun by x0ra · · Score: 1, Funny

      if she's a cute female-to-male trans with all the right stuff in place, I don't mind trying to convince her otherwise ;-)

    125. Re:This will be fun by Stickasylum · · Score: 1

      Yeah, no. "Making the world more fair" is ideally the whole point of government, no matter where you sit. Protecting individual freedoms is one of the mandates of government. Take away as much government as you seem to want to, and you'll find yourself with less freedoms, not more. And those marginalized individuals that you are so quick to throw under the bus? Their individual freedoms are infringed all the time!

    126. Re:This will be fun by x0ra · · Score: 1

      I'll gladly go to hell, torturing and being tortured for eternity... hummm! my dick just getting hard again !

    127. Re: This will be fun by jander · · Score: 1

      Some could consider this a troll, and I apologize to them since this is an honest question based on this statement, but with regards to abortion - Would killing a female fetus be even more egregious?

      --
      An ounce of perception is worth a pound of obscure
    128. Re: This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I'm not basing my opinion on my observations. My observations lead me to research. The research supported my observations. I've seen no research contradicting my observations. What independent research have you seen? Nothing, and you don't want to be proven wrong, so you have never challenged your opinion by attempting to verify it?

    129. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So do we get to undo all the stupid shit he did last year because it's no longer 2015?

    130. Re:This will be fun by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      I once worked out that if you removed blacks from the US population, our murder rate dropped down to the high end of Europe's. IE it would still be 'problematic' by European standards, but no longer an outlier.

      You might want to try the same statistics removing the poorest 10-20% of the population.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    131. Re:This will be fun by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Price of playing identity politics... live by the sword... die by the sword.

      Remember when it was deeply sexist to have all male clubs etc? Yeah... super sexist... new idea, lets do the same thing but it will not be sexist this time because... "reasons".

      Except it is unless the past situation wasn't sexist.

      Can't have it both ways.

      As to the trans thing. I love the trans movement. Its going to implode this whole stupid sex debate one way or another.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    132. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Including or excluding ill-gotten gains?

    133. Re:This will be fun by GoldenSalmon · · Score: 1

      You mean like with men's and women's bathrooms? Women just want to travel safely, without being attacked or harassed. It's not their fault society is unsafe for them. And when they try to set up a service where they can travel safely, it's deemed illegal? OK, so provide adequate safety for women. Can't? Then until it can be provided this should be allowed. Where I live, women are allowed to set up their own facilities - gyms, etc. It's great. And you know what, most men don't care, and the ones that do support it.

      On the one hand women are being attacked and killed, but society won't prevent it, but when women try to make a safe space, they are blocked. WTF more can they do?

    134. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Non-sequitur. GP cited an objective fact which is not discrimination by definition, since racial discrimination is defined as prejudice based on race and prejudice implies an irrational belief. It's not discrimination to say "blacks are more athletic than white" or "men are stronger than women".

      Really, you don't get it. The GP was citing an objective fact as a non-sequitur. The fact that blacks are more athletic than whites doesn't mean blacks should serve longer jail sentences. See the point?

      Wrong. The length of the sentence is impacted by the severity of the crime, which may not be the same between A and B. The same crime can result in different sentences because one group on average commits a more severe form of X for example.

      So you're assuming group A on average commits a more severe form of X? Even though X is "stole $100 worth of goods"? Perhaps you don't understand what "same crime" was meant by the GGP? Because you're coming up with great bullshit to justify your bias.

      Wrong. Double jeopardy only applies to the same crime, not re-offending or being re-arrested if the accused wasn't tried the first time (eg released because of lack of evidence).

      Fine, I'll grant you that. It's merely a violation of justice to convict a person harsher for re-offending*. I like how you throw in "re-arrested" though. That wasn't even part of the discussion nor something I'd even argue about precisely because I don't even know of any studies about re-arrests and their relationship to acquittal, harassment, and/or convictions.

      Presuming bad faith is a scummy arguing tactic. But of course, it's okay because group "B" is full of racists right?

      Black, kettle.

      Your argument doesn't contradict GP's point. If $demographic commits more and worse crimes, it will receive longer and stronger sentences. This is not unjust because your life's circumstances does not justify violating the rules of society.

      $demographic as a whole will. Unfortunately you presume "commits worse crimes" to justify the longer average per person sentencing because the whole point is the per person sentencing, not the total $demographic sentencing.

      If you want to argue that blacks are punished disproportionally for unjust reasons, you need to prove the existence and prevalence of said reasons.

      Actually, I don't have to provide "reasons". I just have to provide evidence that they serve disproportionate sentences for the same crime. That you think they're not ACTUALLY the same crime and that blacks merely commit WORSE crimes requires YOU to prove that point.

      Since you are the one making a positive assertion, the burden of proof lies on you.

      See above.

      * Feel free to disagree on this point, but then personally I'd say you have a shitty idea of what justice is.

    135. Re:This will be fun by stealth_finger · · Score: 2

      You cut your dick off. Don't blame the rest of us who are sane.

      Men and women think different, that's an indisputable fact, our brains are just wired different. With all the myriad of things that can go wrong during child development is it really beyond the realms of belief that a female brain can develop in a male body. Nothing to do with sanity.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    136. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As a trans woman, I'd really appreciate if dudes stopped trying to fuck stuff up for us.

      Well good for you but as a man who doesn't go around sexually assaulting women I'd really appreciate it if people didn't discriminate against me on gender so it sounds like both of us can't always have what we want.

    137. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is more expensive. The reason some businesses did it was because they were not willing to be fully racist and deny service.

    138. Re: This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      That will be fun for all the women who end up developing PCOS because they are fat. It can drastically increase testosterone levels.

    139. Re:This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      Using current popular definitions, you should say "sex neutral", otherwise people who have no idea that gender is also a synonym for sex will get confused.

    140. Re: This will be fun by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Even your dogs can tell the difference

      What on earth do you mean "even your dogs"? Dogs have exceptionally sensitive noses and a remarkably large area of their brain dedicated to processing sent based information. Just because a dog can do it, does not mean it's easy.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    141. Re:This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      I would like point out that blacks are more likely be arrested for the same crime, and given a harsher penalty.

      One of the recent studies on the disparities had a number of issues when the data was looked at closely. It looked at Cook County.

      The lowest level felony (level 4) was where the most disparity was. Most arrests never went to jail, as they were dropped. They were dropped 45% of the time for nonwhites, and 40% of the time for whites. While white people were more likely to be sentenced to supervision or probation, they were also significantly less likely to be repeat offenders. Repeat offenders tend not to get supervision or probation.

      Another issue with the study is that it did not take into consideration gang affiliation, which can serve as a significant multiplier for punishment. White or black, if you come to the judge wearing a suit, expressing remorse, accepting the consequences and asking for leniency, having a history of being law abiding, you're probably not serving any serious time. If you come in with lots of tattoos and a bad attitude, you're going to have a problem.

      I personally have had the misfortune of dealing with the "justice" system. They threatened to kill me, lying to get a search warrant, and throwing the book at me when they didn't find what they wanted. I lawyered up and took the deal (for a crime I should never have been charged with), and I walked away. The record was expunged a few years later.

      Speaking with my attorney, as well as a number of other attorneys (and former prosecutors) in my criminal justice classes, one of the biggest disparities is that black defendants refuse to take the deal, and tend not to show remorse. I can't comment on whether or not they actually feel it at the same rate as whites, but several of the defence attorneys commented on how difficult it is for them to get the defendant to appear contrite. Many of them approach the entire system as if it exists to oppress them, and they have a chip on their shoulder.

      They may be right about it - I certainly would have loved to try to tell the court that I was threatened with death for saying no to a "voluntary" search. I'd love to see the officer pay for doing it. I'd love to, but it wasn't going to happen. There were only two ways for my case to go down - fight it, and serve a mandatory minimum of 5 years, or take the deal and walk away. With my defence attorney, his black clients tended to want to fight it, and wouldn't believe him when he told them what would happen.

    142. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      You promote restrictions on freedom of speech "in the name of liberty". Lol. Nice one.

      Don't conflate the demand for "papers, please", which has a particular historical meaning, with what you suggested - that "it should be illegal to ask" someone's sex or gender.

      Citizens have a right to free speech, of which asking questions (in the USA at least) are a protected form of free speech. You also have a right to silence in America. So if you'd like to retain you "personal privacy" you don't have to answer the question.

    143. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 2
    144. Re: This will be fun by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Damn right! You only need one male to impregnate many females.

      Yeah, but then what happens when all the related babies have babies? How many generations before you're just looking at retarded inbreds?

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    145. Re:This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      So you're assuming group A on average commits a more severe form of X? Even though X is "stole $100 worth of goods"? Perhaps you don't understand what "same crime" was meant by the GGP? Because you're coming up with great bullshit to justify your bias.

      For low level felonies, it's not so much the degree of severity, as the history. First time offenders are far more likely to get leniency. Gang offenders are much less likely.

      People considered less likely to reoffend tend to get probation and dropped charges. Generally, this means acting out of impulse (wealthy), rather than out of necessity (poor).

      Furthermore, one of the biggest (and least talked about) attributes is the ability to show remorse. Having gone through the system myself, as well as having friends who are attorneys, and working towards a potential career in the criminal justice system (which has provided opportunities to speak with former prosecutors and defence attorneys in a variety of situations), one of the biggest things anyone can do to get leniency is to accept responsibility, demonstrate what appears to be genuine remorse, and show a willingness to try to make amends.

      Attitude matters. A lot. If you talk to police officers, you will find that how you treat them affects how they treat you.

      Look at Sandra Bland - she managed to talk her way into a ticket, and had an disrespectful attitude. Belligerence turned into failure to comply with a lawful order, which turned into "assaulting a police officer". If you watch the video, you can see how it happens, and what she did. Had she been respectful, or faked it, she would have gotten off with a warning.

      This same attitude is seen all-too-often in the courts, with prosecutors, with judges, with victims. I can't speak as to whether it's a function of them resenting an oppressive system, difficulties in expressing empathy and emotion in a manner that is consistent with what the system expects, rebellion against what they perceive as attempts to control them, cultural differences, or an inability to feel the emotions themselves, but I've seen (as have a number of those I have spoken to over the years) that black individuals are less willing to feel (or at least pay lip service to) the system.

      The system does not respond well to disrespect, and that tends to result in punishment. One of the ways this happens is with plea deals, which black defendants are less likely to accept (for whatever reason). With mandatory minimums, three strikes laws, juries that automatically believe the police, and a ridiculous number of laws that one can break, this doesn't end well.

    146. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1
    147. Re:This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      You might want to try the same statistics removing the poorest 10-20% of the population.

      It helps a bit, but isn't quite as effective as removing the black population is at bringing the number down.

      If you look at the murder statistics, you can see that of the white offenders with known ethnicity, 532/1477 of the offenders were hispanic. Given that hispanics are around 17% of the population, their rate is significantly higher than for non-hispanic whites (but still lower than for blacks). They are also disproportionately poor (like blacks).

      Murder statistics are less biased than (for example) drug convictions, as the police are less likely to selectively enforce murder laws, and wealth is less likely to be able to get someone out of a conviction. Enough wealth will, but that applies to rich blacks as well as rich whites.

      This is consistent with the observation that crime rates for the hispanic population tend to be higher than for non-hispanic whites, but lower (in general) than blacks.

    148. Re:This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      I once worked out that if you removed blacks from the US population, our murder rate dropped down to the high end of Europe's. IE it would still be 'problematic' by European standards, but no longer an outlier.

      Try removing the hispanic population. For murders (for example), they represent 17% of the population, but 1/3 of the murder offenders. Back them out of the statistics, and the US murder rate is no longer on the high end of Europe's - almost like the US doesn't have a gun problem, it has a minority with guns problem.

    149. Re: This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 0

      Since the stats show the opposite of what you are saying, that in fact whites commit most violent crimes, I now realize that you are a fucking racist.

      In absolute numbers, sure. That's because whites are 77.35% of the population, and blacks are 14.3%.

      In terms of rate, blacks commit a disproportionately high number of violent crimes.

      With murder, the police don't just "let it slide" for white people. When 14.3% of the population is committing more than 43% of the murder in the country, there's a problem.

    150. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly. The problem with this is that it's blatantly sexist towards men.

      It assumes that the problem with assaults is 'men'. Never mind that female assault is common. Never mind that most cases of child abuse are committed by women. Never mind that most rape victims are male. The narrative of the white female victim class must be maintained. Even zillionaire Hillary Clinton is a victim in this wacky world we live in. Why? Because she's not president yet.

      Saying the problem with assaults is "men" is absolutely no different from saying the problem with robberies is 'black people'.

      Why can't a man use this service? Because men might be rapists that's why. And women don't feel safe with people who might be rapists.

      And black people might be criminals too. /sarc

      This is sexism.

      This is profiling.

      Plain and simple.

    151. Re:This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      Not for things like homicides. The police work to catch anyone who does it, and don't just "let it slide" because someone is white.

      When adjusted (for population size), the black crime offender rates are much, much higher. It's well documented that (for example), most murder of white people is done by white people, and murder of black people is done by black people.

      https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/c...

      If they were just not prosecuting white murderers, you wouldn't see 83.5% of murder convictions for white victims be against white offenders. 90% of the convictions for black victims are against black people.

      Even if we assume that the 6.5% difference between the two is solely a result of racism (so blacks and white pick their victims race at the same preferential rate), it still doesn't come close to explaining why 49.4% of solved murders are committed by a population that's roughly 14% of the population.

      If we accept that 1/3 of murders go unsolved, and assume the police are racists (and act in favour of whites, and against blacks), that is going to mean that murders of white people get priority and murders of black people do not. Given the huge bias in victim selection by whites and blacks, that only makes the numbers worse, as that means that black murderers are more likely to go free and white murderers are more likely to get caught.

      Put simply, the low number of black convictions for white murders means that it's impossible that they are simply being caught at higher numbers for those cases. They are 14% of the offenders for white murders, in line with their population representation. It can't be that the police are ignoring white murders and only solving black murders, as the clear rate on cases is too high.

      The only conclusion that can be drawn from the numbers is that blacks are significantly more likely to offend, not just more likely to be convicted.

    152. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Once saw an oversized white English woman abusing a small man in Cambodia. It was horrifying. People stopped to take pictures. She was slapping him around like a dog. He kept apologizing (for putting her suitcase down in a puddle) - she must have hit him 20-30 times until he fell down. Then she kicked him a couple times. When she saw people were watching she started saying "Don't touch me!", as if he had ever touched her.

    153. Re:This will be fun by houghi · · Score: 1

      It is for the protection of women. So I conclude that they seem to think that men are not worthy of protection and that is discimination.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    154. Re:This will be fun by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      So do we get to undo all the stupid shit he did last year because it's no longer 2015?

      No. He's going to tell us for the next 4 years how "2015 is best year."

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    155. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find that most people that differentiate between "real Christians" and "dogmatic Christians" don't really understand grace.

      We're all works in progress.

    156. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try this: Services for males only. No religion, race or cross-dressing issues needed. Ban females from accessing something and the world implodes. Flip it around and watch the tumble-weeds gentle roll by.

    157. Re: This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 5, Informative

      You seem to believe that transsexualism is a mental disorder.

      It is, and it shares a number of characteristics with Body Dysmorphic Disorder. It tends to describe symptoms (rather than a specific underlying etiology), though there is a reasonable amount of information that suggests that in some of the cases it's related to disruption of the prenatal testosterone washes in the womb, leading to desires for behaviour (and identification) often seen in the other sex. In animal models, this tends to manifest as behaviour such as male rats exhibiting female mating and nesting patterns.

      A conflict between one's brain and body will cause problems (something seen even in individuals in supportive environments), which makes it a disorder. Likewise, it's situated in the brain (as the body itself is generally in line with the chromosomes) - the brain improperly rejects the body in which it's housed. That's a mental disorder.

      The American Psychiatric Association

      Rather than pointing out that your argument is an argument from authority, I would point out that the APA does not get to define whether or not something is a disorder. Homosexuality (for example) didn't magically become "not a disorder" in 1973. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes political lobbying, and despite being a professional body, there is a lot of politics in play.

      There are a significant number of individuals pushed into transition unnecessarily (particularly in the butch lesbian community), and there are plenty of cases where people would have been better off without transitioning. It's a very high price to pay for many people, and while it may be worth it for some, that is not always the case. Rushing people into it with "it's not a disorder, it's all normal, and healthy, and right" is not a good thing. It's a serious process to be undertaken when the alternative is worse.

    158. Re: This will be fun by LaurenCates · · Score: 2

      Well, if you're going to tell me that women "can't" have this service (even though what I said is "it's not a good idea"), and then in your last statement say:

      "And as for actual trans-people or other women who look completely male I'm sure they're grown up enough to handle awkward situations."

      Well, women aren't grown-up enough to handle themselves? Where's the line supposed to be drawn here?

      And as for my example being "convenient", well, I'm a test engineer. I spend my paid time creating problems where systems are likely to fail and game out the consequences of those failures. Are they critical? Are they catastrophic?

      My question is, this is the sort of thing that we fight our first-world culture wars over in this day and age, that being, which is more important: the rights of personal information to remain completely private (that is to say, is it any of your business or authority to police me for what I say I am if to you it is completely irrelevant - in which case, any Catholic who doesn't believe homosexuals should be married should stay quiet on the grounds that no one is going to make them marry anyone gay) no matter how I present myself in the age of people being "genderqueer" (a concept which I have my problems with but I defer to my former point on the matter - you do you) or the rights of women to "feel safe", despite the fact that the concept of "feeling safe" cannot be quantified in any way, and therefore, the effects of which may impinge on the liberties of others (such as the integrity of personal information to remain confidential).

      If you don't see a problem here and dismiss a potential problem as a "convenient" example to disprove my point, well, all I can say is you must be a lawyer and a licking your lips over the influx of discrimination suits that will come your way when my "convenient" example is used by someone to fuck with someone else.

      And, lest you think no one would actually DO that to tweak the nose of the system, need I remind you, and readers of this site, that there was a story posted here not too long ago about a woman who went to court so that she could wear a colander on her head in her driver's license picture because she was an adherent to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

      Not that I think anyone SHOULD do that (I recall that I called this woman an idiot for doing that), but that does not by any stretch mean that no one WILL.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    159. Re: This will be fun by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      Are you saying a woman can't sexually assault (or rape, depending on your definition of rape) another woman? I know you're a misandrist, but I think your hate for men blind you completely of reality.

    160. Re: This will be fun by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      Where's the restriction on "freedom of speech" here? I think you're side-stepping the point.

      And as for the concept of "papers, please", well, I admit that I find the concept of gender fluidity confusing, but let's say I, a woman, am requested such a ride-share and a MtoF transgender appears as my fare. But she's claims that because she's in a rough neighborhood and finds that it's just easier to present as a man because she "feels safer" that way, am I then supposed to demand proof in the name of ME feeling safe?

      Whose feeling of safety should take priority?

      And what proof should be good enough? Probably, oh, I don't know, some sort of piece of paper?

      Now, I know what you're getting at, and I understand the implications of what I said; however, retaining the integrity of personal information, especially in the case of in-group and out-group dynamics, you have to admit there IS a slippery slope that can happen when pieces of information are retained by certain individuals to establish if they're in the "right" group.

      Or maybe I can put my need to "feel safe" aside, grow up a little, assume that someone who looks like a man isn't out to hurt me, and not pretend this is a matter of free speech.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    161. Re:This will be fun by William+Baric · · Score: 2

      Statistics show society is safer for women than for men.

    162. Re: This will be fun by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      Oh, I forgot, "free speech" does not excuse discrimination.

      I don't have to answer any question you may ask me, but it still doesn't give you the right to claim I'm NOT a transgender if I say I am.

      Thus, female-only ride-sharing in a time when we're all still trying to figure out gender fluidity is still a bad idea.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    163. Re:This will be fun by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      There was always effeminate men and tomboy women. But refusing any idea of being a man, to a point of removing one's own body part, certainly looks like mental illness.

    164. Re: This will be fun by danbert8 · · Score: 1

      Obviously because a woman is protected by any men she knows that are travelling with her right?

      Note: This is sarcasm because a woman is far more likely to be assaulted by someone she knows than she is by a stranger.

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    165. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no requirement for trans women to be on hormones.

      In some places, even getting hormones can require jumping through so many hoops that it becomes hopeless for all but the most determined.

    166. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And red certainly looks like green.
      - to color blind people.

      The difference is that color blind people have an actual defect, where as yours is simply ignorance.

    167. Re: This will be fun by Imrik · · Score: 1

      If the only people wanting to go into the bathroom were post-op trans women you'd have a point. When anyone can go into the women's restroom or locker room by claiming to be trans, or, in some arguments, without even claiming that they're trans, that can lead to problems.

    168. Re: This will be fun by Imrik · · Score: 1

      Harder with locker rooms.

    169. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a normal person, I'd really appreciate it if fags would stop trying to force their deviance on the normal world.

    170. Re: This will be fun by naughtynaughty · · Score: 1

      Rape need not involve a penis or testicles.

    171. Re: This will be fun by aquacrayfish · · Score: 1

      Statistics or not, the government or some other third party entity should be in charge of who people trust in cab rides. If we don't all us, the citizens, to be in control and trust who we share a cab with then it's just time to give up on society and remove free will from the equation.

    172. Re: This will be fun by aquacrayfish · · Score: 1

      God I can't read this morning, let me retry. Statistics or not, the government or some other third party entity should NOT be in charge of who people trust in cab rides. If we aren't allowed ourselves, the citizens, to be in control and trust who we share a cab with then it's just time to give up on society and remove free will from the equation.

    173. Re:This will be fun by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Waiting for a woman to sexually assault a woman.

    174. Re:This will be fun by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      So should a women that identifies as a male be excluded?

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    175. Re:This will be fun by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      That also ignores that a high population of blacks and hispanics are low-income families, and thus more tended to group socially with other low-income individuals of the same race. A low-income area of high racial concentration will form more effective gangs out of the races which group most effectively: if there are scattered whites and lots and *lots* of blacks in the ghetto, you'll get more black gangs and more black gang crime.

      Lots of confounding variables due to weird social factors. Things like the "us-versus-them" mentality that comes with wide racial perceptions--the perception that white people are all rich and blacks are all poor would drive blacks to feel the world is less-fair, thus more toward crime (most criminals believe their actions are justified). If you swap the races--the whole country is rich blacks and we have a media dialogue of all the minority white people being held down by all the blacks--you'd get docile blacks and violent whites.

      Race is a modulator. It gives us nice lines to draw. That doesn't mean we imagine race X is involved in more crime than race Y; it means race X gets to see more justifiable reason to involve itself in more crime than race Y, and behaves as a rational actor. Your source problem is social: economic and political factor feed a perception of unfairness and social isolation which creates blame, anger, and violence.

      Blurring the lines of poverty is one of the great advantages of strong economic policies: the social impact is a reduction in racial social pressures due to a stronger perception of fairness. Unfortunately, most people are more interested in class warfare--tax the rich instead of stabilizing the poor--so they want high taxes for high earners, and start screaming when you show them no such thing is necessary.

    176. Re:This will be fun by Not-a-Neg · · Score: 1

      Actually, Republican Senators go to bathrooms to find gay sex partners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      -==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
    177. Re:This will be fun by j-beda · · Score: 1

      Perhaps your dad would have been better off in a state with open carry. Even an empty holster tends to make strangers polite.

      The politeness effect was always my theory too, but I though I recently read a study that seems to suggest otherwise - that firearms tended to increase conflict. As I recall the sociolocial "story" was that without firearms, humans (like all socal primates) tend to unconsiously react to the social power structure, with weaker/less dominant individuals generally deferring to stronger/more dominant ones, and the level of strength/dominance being something that people generally evaluate relatively consistently. Thus, the "big guy" is deferred to gererally in little ways like interrupting him a lett less than average durring a conversation. When the "big poor guy" interacts with the "rich little guy", there is a bit of back and fort initially until one side or the other defers in that particular situation and the result might be different if the location is a bar compared to a board room.

      When a firearm or two is present, much of the subtle cues are less useful, the "little guy with a gun" does not defer in quite the way he "should" according to the instinctual part of the "big guy's" brain. So the "bug guy" thumps his chest a bit more than normal, even if his intelect knows there is a gun that should make the "little guy" more powerful.

      Thus we get a mismatch between what we think should happen - increased politeness - and what does happen - every being even more touchy.

    178. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blood test, all of the surgery and makeup in the world isn't going to change which chromosomes are in your bloodstream.

    179. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called special treatment. Most groups want special treatment while pretending they're fighting for equality. These peoope never understood the definition of equality from algebra.

      I could get angry... or just realize it's a biological imperative humans have to aide themselves and realize people lie to give themselves advantages... So I started doing the same reguarly.

      I stopped caring (and believing most these groups) long ago. I'd say post-feminist movement "feminists" did me in (ironically, this is yet another example of females wanting special treatment).

    180. Re:This will be fun by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      Yes and know, at some point as a Christian you are forced to deal with the meaning of kindness. Is it kind to enable an alcoholic for example? The drunk might call it a kindness if you drove them to liquor store to get more booze, so they don't have to risk drunk driving. Might it be a greater kindness to "misplace" their keys and let the sober up however? They certainly won't feel that way, at least not in the short term.

      I read a stupid post on facebook today by someone who does not get it. It said something like "Jesus associated with thieves and prostitutes but its against your religion to make someone a cake." The thing about that is Jesus was NOT helping or encouraging them to engage in prostitution or thieving, he had forgiven them for their past sins and was leading them to be better. If you believe that acting on homosexual desires is a sin, then yes baking them that cake to celebrate and validate their debauchery is against your religion. You should not be unkind, if you scream "get outa my bakery you disgusting fag!" at them that isn't being a good Christan. If on the other hand you calmly explain "I believe what you are seeking to do is immoral so I can't help you with that, but I would be happy to serve you in any other capacity" there is no problem there.

      This is the fundamental issue non-Christians don't get about "hardcore Christians" and since you don't believe it won't make sense. What you don't understand is that we can't be being "kind" to you by helping you do something that will further separate you from Christ. So it might seem like we are being nasty by refusing to bake you a cake but in our view its the same as taking the keys away from the drunk, its for your own good. Now where I draw the line is actively seeking to prevent you. While I would not bake your gay wedding cake, I won't stop you from trying to get one elsewhere, and I won't picket your wedding. I am going to remain where I am at trying to set a good example or go help someone who is asking for help.

      Real Christians who made a Christian-preaching cab service would probably prefer non-Christians.

      Prefer? I don't know about that; but I am sure we would be happy to give them a lift. We'd be even happier if they let us tell them the good news. If they are not ready to listen to that we would be glad they still got a chance to see who we are, that they might be more willing to listen later.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    181. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Statistically the world is more dangerous to men. It is part of the reason insurance is higher for men, they die younger.

    182. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A substantial fraction of trans females retain the ability to have erections. My girlfriend, for one, and most trans porn stars. You might take a look at WPATH's journal for outcome statistics, but it is by no means rare. Honestly, for being a transgender person, you have some pretty weird ideas about transgender persons.

    183. Re:This will be fun by RKThoadan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      However, Matthew 5:41 says "And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." [ESV]. This refers to the law at the time where a Roman soldier could require someone to carry their gear for 1 mile. Odds are very good that whatever that soldier was doing it probably qualified as sin. This seems to be a pretty clear case of assisting someone in sin. To me a possible distinction is whether the "sin" would happen without your assistance. In the case of the soldier and the gay wedding it's going to happen regardless of what you think, so I think the answer there is that you should bake 2 cakes.

    184. Re:This will be fun by jittles · · Score: 1

      And they also tend to look at the mostly supplanted old testament for answers to questions that are more easily answered by that famous and simple saying "what would Jesus do?"

      Come on dude, WWJD is sooo 34 AD or CE or whatever you want to use. In 2016 we've changed to "WWDD?" Or in other words "What would Drumpf Do?" Get with the times.

    185. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it isn't. You give everyone a stall with a locker and a shower head.

    186. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      You ask "Where's the restriction on "freedom of speech" here?"

      Right here when you wrote: "it should be illegal to ask."

      I'm not just sidestepping your previous points on gender, I don't care to address them in any way.

      I wanted to raise the point that you want to restrict free speech by making it illegal to ask certain questions.

      This is a matter of free speech when you want to restrict it.

    187. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      By free speech one can claim another is anything they like, as long as it doesn't cross the hate-speech line or incite violence against anyone. This is a right we all have.

      As the saying goes, "my free speech doesn't end when you're offended".

      Not all of us are "still trying to figure out gender fluidity".

    188. Re:This will be fun by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      WTF are you talking about? Trump is not a favorite of the Religious Right, he's not even religious himself, though he claims to be now in order to get votes. Did you forget that he couldn't even name his favorite bible verses when ask?

      Ted Cruz is the one who's a far-far-right Christian theocratist who's an adherent of Dominionism. Why liberals can't seem to understand this and keep attacking Trump, I have no idea. It's almost like they want to have Cruz as President by getting Trump out of the way and putting Cruz up against Hillary, while refusing to believe that Millenials won't bother showing up at the polls for Hillary. If you thought 8 years of W. was a horror show, you're in for horrors you can't even imagine with Cruz in the White House.

    189. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you really disparage someone else for not showing their research when you haven't done so either?

    190. Re:This will be fun by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      So what about if a Christian cake-baker gets asked by a customer to bake a cake for an interracial marriage? Do you think they should refuse to do that too? After all, just a few decades ago, and still today in Mississippi, Christians believed that interracial marriage was sinful.

    191. Re:This will be fun by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      What I want to know is: why do public single-person bathrooms have sex/gender identification at all? What exactly is the point? If only one person at a time can use that bathroom, why do you need to keep it sex-segregated? How is this different from race-segregated water fountains and bathrooms?

      Finally, this issue really shouldn't be that difficult. If the companies with multi-person public bathrooms stopped being cheap-asses and bought some proper partitions, it shouldn't matter too much who goes in there. By this, I mean stop buying those shitty partitions that leave a full 12 inches of open space at the floor so people can stick their feet under them, have huge wide gaps around the door panel, have shitty door latches, etc. I've seen nice bathrooms that have actual walls between each stall: build those instead. If someone can go in the stall, shut the door, lock it, and not have to worry about someone being able to easily come in or peep in while they do their business, then none of this should be an issue.

    192. Re:This will be fun by jittles · · Score: 1

      WTF are you talking about? Trump is not a favorite of the Religious Right, he's not even religious himself, though he claims to be now in order to get votes. Did you forget that he couldn't even name his favorite bible verses when ask?

      Uh I was just being ridiculous. I know Trump isn't religious. But he is very much an egoist and I believe that most outspoken of the supposedly hardcore Christians are all about 'doing what is right' by thinking of their own comfort instead of showing love and kindness to all like they're supposed to. So perhaps they have more in common with Trump than they realize.

      Ted Cruz is the one who's a far-far-right Christian theocratist who's an adherent of Dominionism. Why liberals can't seem to understand this and keep attacking Trump, I have no idea. It's almost like they want to have Cruz as President by getting Trump out of the way and putting Cruz up against Hillary, while refusing to believe that Millenials won't bother showing up at the polls for Hillary. If you thought 8 years of W. was a horror show, you're in for horrors you can't even imagine with Cruz in the White House.

      Lets be honest, they're all jackasses. In my living memory this is most certainly the best time for a candidate to run as a third party or independent and have a chance to win.

    193. Re: This will be fun by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      Well, maybe it depends on the climate? I know my rhymes-with-sock always gets chilly unless I'm wearing one.

    194. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My body wants me to eat french fries. My brain doesn't. I guess that's a disorder, eh?

    195. Re:This will be fun by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      And... crickets....

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    196. Re:This will be fun by gwjgwj · · Score: 1

      OK, isn't it interesting though that the same type of service aimed [...] only for a specific religion would cause a massive outcry and also would be illegal?

      You mean like... churches?

    197. Re:This will be fun by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Most people don't realize that WWJD would include making a scourge and chasing people, and overturning merchandise tables.

      He was also Kosher, kept the sabbath, and feasts ... all things that Christians refuse to do. So, even WWJD isn't really accurate.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    198. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No big deal. I was in a dorm in Canada in the early 90s, and due to the split in the number of men and women on the floor, one or two of the 4 bathrooms was designated as 'shared.' If you didn't like it, you could go to one of the men-only or women-only bathrooms. It wasn't a big deal.

    199. Re:This will be fun by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

      The world isn't fair. I'm sorry if attempts to make it more fair are sometimes applied inconsistently.

      Efforts to make the world fair, are by necessity also unfair. Thus, creating a greater imbalance than leaving it alone, as is.

      Discrimination against non-whites has been, and continues to be a massive problem in society.

      Discrimination says more about the person discriminating, than the person being discriminated against. Additionally, trying to make things "fair", creates its own sets of problems, which are equally unfair. Like when a 4.0 Asian student can't get into University, because we have to make room for a 3.5 student from the inner city, because white people are racist. But we don't ever talk about it in those terms.

      As such I have no hesitation about banning services that are for whites only.

      But you're okay discriminating against men? Asians admissions in university? Women who don't want men, pretending to be women into the women's bathroom?

      BTW, the best way to defeat discrimination is for you not to discriminate, period. You cannot control others, and attempts to do so will necessary discriminate against someone else.

      Take for instance, the Rooney Rule in Football. It was a very well intentioned effort to get more black people into coaching positions in the NFL. However, those efforts may in fact, be making things much worse for black coaches. Because it leads to cases were coaches are interviewed, repeatedly, and passed up and get stigmatized as "not head coaching material". The leads to coaches being hired and not being a good fit, and then having to leave after a very short tenure, reenforcing the idea that "blacks can't coach". Which is absurd. In the end, it doesn't help, and may actually be more harmful than natural course.

      Discrimination by women has never been a problem except in the imagination of men's rights activists,

      Except in Family Court, where the woman almost always wins, regardless of who the better parent is, who the kids want to be with etc. And there are other examples, we just chalk them up to "Patriarchal society" and "male privilege"

      I have no issue with a woman only service giving woman a ridesharing service where they feel safe from harassment.

      I have no issue with a whites only service giving whites a ridesharing service where they feel safe from blacks (jews, mexicans, muslims, Christians ...) .

      Of course you don't. You're just as bigoted as the KKK, you just don't realize it.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    200. Re:This will be fun by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Your home bathroom is single person usage (typically) and has a lock on the door (typically). Gender neutral is fine, if it is single person usage. "Shared" bathrooms are a different case all together.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    201. Re:This will be fun by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      mechanisms are in place to keep assholes from screwing it all up

      Assholes, by definition, will screw everything up, as they love to push things to the breaking edge. That is what makes them an asshole in the first place. You can't have anti-asshole laws, without screwing it up for everyone else.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    202. Re: This will be fun by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      What about the "Transgendered woman dragon"?

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem...

      Are they a "Dragon" because they "self identify" that way? Can I refuse to give them a ride because I don't allow animals in my taxi? Will they get a "Service animal" identification so that they can avoid that scenario?

      There is always going to be a case which breaks whatever rule you can think up. Which is why people's choices should be free from interference and they should suffer the consequences of those choices. That way, if you want to be a dragon lady, you can be, and I don't have to cater to your insanity.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    203. Re:This will be fun by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      You realize that crying "Microagression" is itself a "Microagression". You should stop yourself.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    204. Re:This will be fun by phorm · · Score: 1

      it is hard to physically intimidate a person stronger than you

      By sheer physically prowess, perhaps, but add a frying pan, sharp object etc and it's likely not all that hard. Also, if a much-smaller partner is taken to slapping you in the head/face, or more physical acts, many guys have limited options even in defending themselves as clocking him/her (the partner) out is still probably going to end up with you in the bar of the squad-car. Similarly, even holding somebody off can lead to bruising if they struggle, which again leads to the more "imposing" looking person ending up in trouble, even if that person was not the aggressor.

    205. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, when they say "Women only!" it actually reads "Anybody only!". That makes sense.

    206. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tootsie comes to mind.

    207. Re: This will be fun by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      Isn't this just the difference between high quality low volume and low quality high volume? Especially given the fact that in many cities in the south at the time of jim crow, blacks outnumbered whites, but had far less money?

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    208. Re: This will be fun by KenHansen · · Score: 1

      If the mind and the body are in conflict about one's gender, rarely does altering the body the suit the mental image one has rarely resolves the issue. Post-op trans, as I understand it, are much, much more likely to commit suicide, while a significant percentage seek reversing the operation.

    209. Re: This will be fun by Talderas · · Score: 1

      Probably the same way that any other woman would rape a woman.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    210. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a coworker of mine was beaten by his wife, she is smaller than he (in weight, not in height) and he simply did not defend himself, but after the first couple of punches came to his face, he tried to leave, and she threw things at him as he tried to get away.

      Later at the hostpital as they treated his multiple bruises, lacerations on the back of his head, and minor concussion, he called the cops and tried to lodge a complaint against her. They laughed at him. When he filed a motion (pro se) in court, the judge laughed at him and threw it out.

      A couple of weeks later, when he showed up in the emergency room with a broken nose, wrist, and couldn't see out of one eye, they listened. He got a restraining order against her. She got court ordered therapy and it turns out the psychiatrist (a female) believes this woman is a serious danger to men.

      BUT NOTE, the cops laughed him off and the judge laughed him off the first time...

      He slept on my couch for many weeks off an on because she'd get pissed off and go into a rage. Heaven help him when she'd have a drink before coming home. violence against men is frequently not reported because of the difference in how it is treated by the law.

    211. Re:This will be fun by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      To women, men are protectors and providers, otherwise expendable, and certainly not worthy of protection themselves.

    212. Re: This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 2

      If that causes you difficulty in functioning in society, or makes you want to amputate healthy tissue, then it would be.

    213. Re:This will be fun by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      I seriously doubt that women have been targeted for crime as Uber users either. Take a look at the statistics for crime in the US. Men are more likely to be targeted for all violent crimes, yes, even rape.

    214. Re:This will be fun by karmatic · · Score: 1

      That also ignores that a high population of blacks and hispanics are low-income families

      No, it doesn't. In fact, that's exactly why the statistics are like that. Black and hispanic individuals are more likely to be poor. They are more likely to be criminals. Comparing similarly situated populations of whites and blacks (economically speaking), the black population commits more crime. Between non-hispanic whites and hispanic whites, the hispanic whites commit more crime. Between black populations and hispanic populations, the blacks commit more crime.

      Poverty is also a factor, separate from race. So, when you remove blacks from the statistics, you get a decrease both because of the race, and because you eliminate a percentage of those in poverty. Likewise, when you remove those with the highest levels of poverty, you get a decrease in crime rates because of the poverty (for example, drug addicts of all race), as well as a decrease in crime rates because you also remove a disproportionately high rates of hispanic and black individuals. Because people in poverty (as a class), and white people (hispanic or not) as a class commit crimes at a lower rates than blacks (as a class), removing those in poverty will decrease rates, but not as high as simply removing black people.

      If you swap the races--the whole country is rich blacks and we have a media dialogue of all the minority white people being held down by all the blacks--you'd get docile blacks and violent whites.

      That doesn't mean we imagine race X is involved in more crime than race Y; it means race X gets to see more justifiable reason to involve itself in more crime than race Y, and behaves as a rational actor.

      When speaking of data, it does mean that race X is involved in more crime than race Y. Justification is a function of ethics, I'm talking about data. There are ways to massage the laws (for example) to criminalize behaviour more likely to be seen in blacks than whites. On the other hand, there are also situations where whites are more likely to respond to criminalizing something than blacks are, so a law that isn't unreasonable at all will still have a disparate impact.

    215. Re: This will be fun by Reziac · · Score: 1

      And such a barrier need not be expensive; you can get a dog barrier for about $65, which would suffice to keep the average perp in the back seat. Won't do much against someone with a serious weapon, but neither would anything short of floor-to-roof armor plate.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    216. Re:This will be fun by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      Making sure I am clear on this: I am an atheist, I don't see any reason whatsoever for any person to believe in anything supernatural, AFAIC there is no god, no soul, no hell, no heaven, no ghosts, no zombies (except for the ones falling for collectivist propaganda).

      Now, are churches discriminatory? Absolutely. Worse than that, religion permeates everything, our holidays are based on religious believes and I for one object to all religion based holidays. AFAIC there shouldn't be any national holidays whatsoever in the first place.

      Given that I still do not see what makes churches illegal under law, they are not denying you entry if you are of a different religion, or do they?

    217. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus would continue to lay there with his bones surrounded by compressed sand or air

    218. Re:This will be fun by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Justification is a function of ethics

      Justification is a function of perception; and perception is a complex behavior interpreting many factors. You seem to have skipped over this.

      The fact is we have a group which perceives itself as a group; perceives its group as disadvantaged; and perceives another group as being advantaged. That creates a perception that the advantaged group is some sort of enemy, and the members of its own group are some sort of kin. This creates a perception of justified action to establish fairness. Such a group will more readily respond to adverse conditions by physically remedying the perceived unfairness--and any societal rules are pushed aside.

      Any group which perceives itself as excluded from the benefits of society will inevitably begin to function as if it is less a part of society. If the group perceives itself as a part of a group which is very much included in society, it will perceive the situation as less-unfair, and attempt to integrate into the more-successful portion of the social structure. Poor blacks can't readily integrate with middle-class white folks due to an immediate perception of exclusion; poor whites can readily integrate with middle-class white folk, and often do form economically-disparate social groups.

      Again: the socioeconomic problems are a root cause. Solving them would reduce these disparities. The ideal of a colorblind society with full equality and a full understanding of the fairness of said society is a fantasy; the ideal of a less-broken society is not.

    219. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Real feminists won't have a problem opposing this, they can point it out as pandering to the notion that women need special protection.

      This is just somebody who wants to make a buck off of Uber-fear anyway.

    220. Re:This will be fun by gwjgwj · · Score: 1

      Given that I still do not see what makes churches illegal under law, they are not denying you entry if you are of a different religion, or do they?

      They will probably not deny me entry. But we are talking about services here - what about marriage or burial?

    221. Re:This will be fun by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      I don't think you need a church at all to get married or buried, you will likely not get a Muslim marriage if you are not a Muslim, you will not get a Christian pope or whatever they are for a burial if you are not a Christian.

      I don't know if that's legal or not actually, good question. They are a place of business, maybe by the laws they should be forced to do all that.

    222. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...but if you couldn't tell from his walking, and he didn't need a cane or a wheelchair, maybe he didn't NEED the handicapped placard in the first place.

    223. Re: This will be fun by torkus · · Score: 1

      Or (gasp) ask people to stop being so freaking hung up with basic nudity. Much of the rest of the DGAF. Oh wait, the US is 'special'.

      I can still accept the argument about locker rooms as reasonable. Other than the mens room usually having a shorter line I see no reason why bathrooms actually need to be separate. The argument of 'xyz might look/perv/etc' went out the window when we stopped crying about openly homosexual people using their gender's bathroom.

      --
      You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
    224. Re: This will be fun by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The woman with the colander was being a test engineer, a bit like you. She was looking for points where the legal system breaks down and testing it.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    225. Re: This will be fun by cstacy · · Score: 1

      Nobody is telling you that you aren't properly identifying as something, but that when you do so inconsistently, you shouldn't be treated the same as someone that is consistent.

      I Feel Pretty

    226. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fellow nerds:

      Let us not be distracted by the latest hysteric feminist hate-mongering outrage. It is nothing but clickbait for the bigmoney capitalist media. Instead -

      REMEMBER THE MURDER OF IAN MURDOCK, creator of Debian Linux and leading citizen of the Free Software community, killed Christmas 2015 by the notoriously corrupt San Francisco Police Department.

    227. Re:This will be fun by markdavis · · Score: 1

      >"Lets be honest, they're all jackasses. In my living memory this is most certainly the best time for a candidate to run as a third party or independent and have a chance to win."

      Which makes the chance about 0.0000001% instead of 0.000000001%?

      It is essentially impossible for any third party/independent to ever win large/important elections in this country with the current system. People will always resort to voting against the worst choice, in fear, rather than throwing their vote away. The only solution is instant runoff voting. And that, too, will never happen, because it would loosen the stranglehold the two major parties have on the country so neither will support it.

    228. Re:This will be fun by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      I think you're understating some of the issues.

      First, while it's possible for a medium-sized woman to beat me up, it isn't going to be from taking two martial arts or self-defense classes. It's going to take considerably more than that. I'm on the tall side for a man, and size is a big factor in fighting. I'm also male, which means I've probably got more practice fighting than a random woman does. The self-defense classes I'm aware of tend to be on how to get away from an attacker, not how to take the attacker down.

      Second, if a guy grabbed my ass, I wouldn't punch him. I'd deal with him verbally. I wouldn't recommend that the average woman get into a fight with someone bigger than her who has just committed a semi-violent crime against her, and who's probably more practiced and comfortable with violence than she is.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    229. Re:This will be fun by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      It's also worth mentioning that parties have shifted positions over time. The Republican party is not automatically the party of equal opportunity just because Lincoln and others freed the slaves.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    230. Re: This will be fun by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Is there a better way to find out what sex (if any) someone identifies with than listening to their claims?

      (I was at a Democrat State Senate District convention Saturday. Since I was annoyed at the gender balance rule, I was happy to help elect some people who identified as "non-binary".)

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    231. Re:This will be fun by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      Trans men are not women, and so should not use this service.

    232. Re: This will be fun by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      Is there a better way to find out what sex (if any) someone identifies with than listening to their claims?

      I think there is a better way that gives trans people a better deal than they get currently, and stops the silly hysteria about rapists claiming to be female to get into female restrooms &c.

      (1) Listen to the customer's claims
      (2) If the service provider doesn't believe the customer's claims, then decline service
      (3) If the customer feels that they were unfairly declined service, then sue the service provider on the grounds that the customer *does* identify as female, and the terms of service say that service will be granted to anyone who identifies as female.

      When it comes to court, the customer can win their case by proving that they identify as female; the service provider can win their case by proving that they don't. It'll be a civil case and so has "balance of probability" rules.

      How will it be proved? The definition of "identify as" is that it's a deeply held psychological certainty. Both sides will get expert psychological experts, and prior behavior evidence, and testimonies from folks surrounding them. Whoever persuades the judge or jury on balance of probability that they're right, will win. If it's the customer who wins, then the service provider will naturally adjust their practices.

      This will "just work" for most customers including most trans customers. For the minority who are refused service, it will be distressing, but will be a typical distress in a much wider sea of worse distresses.

    233. Re:This will be fun by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      You might want to try the same statistics removing the poorest 10-20% of the population.

      I would, but the FBI statistics I used weren't broken up by income level. Besides, I suspect that you'd want to use the income class they grew up in, rather than what they became.

      I also couldn't create a map by cutting out the worst neighborhoods for the same reason - I don't have access to that data.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    234. Re:This will be fun by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      The FBI statistics I used didn't break out Hispanics, so that would require me getting my hands on a more broken down dataset.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    235. Re:This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      When you correct for recidivism, Black offend quite a bit less than whites. The oppression of Blacks as children causes a life of crime. No, not the oppression of their parents, or their grandparents, but them, today, are still being greatly oppressed.

      You cherry pick murder. Go look at the crimes that are left unsolved in great numbers. I picked the gateway crimes. Many children of all colors shoplift. My own 7 year old shoplifted. He picked up something, put it in his pocket and didn't mention it until we were in the car. We had him walk it back in, hand it to the person behind the counter, and apologize. The shop owner could have called the police and pushed for prosecution, but obviously didn't (obviously because I'm white). I've heard similar stories where the child and parent ended up in jail (they were Black) because the shop owner thought they needed to be made an example of. Multiply that over the lifetimes of millions, and you end up with Black first-time offenders being much much more heavily prosecuted (though offending less), leading to a crime problem only because our justice system creates criminals, and Blacks are more heavily involved in that system because of our racism.

      I noted you didn't address my points, but created a murder strawman. I hear and understand your concession, even if you are unwilling to admit it here, or even to yourself. Go on, tell me how many murderers had a clean record, and break that down by race. I'll give you a hint. You'll find that more whites have a clean record. The truth is that if you are in a room with 100 white people without convictions, or a room of 100 Black people without convictions, you'll be safer with the Black people (statistically, when you open your mouth, all bets are off). The trick is that Blacks are more likely to have a record, even when they offend less.

    236. Re:This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      They don't mind raping a page while they are there. But then, being Republican, they are men going to the men's bathroom looking for man-sex.

    237. Re: This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I've done it, but I didn't document it thoroughly. It's a waste of my time to argue with someone who has already made up their mind. I've done mine. Have you?

    238. Re:This will be fun by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Wasn't there a movie about that in the 1980s where guys dressed up in drag for female jobs? Dustin Hoffman I think?
      Hey, if you fit the part.

      I was thinking the same thing when I read your first post. I'm sure that somehow this is different and males that identify as female can't do it. Always is when things aren't they way they want them.

    239. Re: This will be fun by quantaman · · Score: 1

      "And as for actual trans-people or other women who look completely male I'm sure they're grown up enough to handle awkward situations."

      Well, women aren't grown-up enough to handle themselves? Where's the line supposed to be drawn here?

      Women can handle themselves, but if they want a harassment free cab service they should be allowed.

      As for trans-people they're constantly dealing with and navigating around issues with gender assumptions. Once in a blue moon there will be an awkward situation, oh well.

      And as for my example being "convenient",

      Actually "contrived".

      well, I'm a test engineer.

      [...]

      If you don't see a problem here and dismiss a potential problem as a "convenient" example to disprove my point, well, all I can say is you must be a lawyer and a licking your lips over the influx of discrimination suits that will come your way when my "convenient" example is used by someone to fuck with someone else.

      [...]

      And, lest you think no one would actually DO that to tweak the nose of the system, need I remind you, and readers of this site, that there was a story posted here not too long ago about a woman who went to court so that she could wear a colander on her head in her driver's license picture because she was an adherent to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

      Actually I'm a software developer, and as a software developer I recognize why the software development mindset is a terrible thing to apply to law and the society.

      In software every edge case needs to be handled properly because the system doesn't care if if it's a contrived example, it just has to happen once and it will corrupt the db or let in an attacker.

      The real world doesn't work like that, there are infinite test cases and the solution isn't to handle all of them, it's to optimize the common path, address the major exceptions, and let individuals figure out the remaining edge cases on the fly.

      Once in a while someone gets screwed over, other times they claim a colander is religious apparel, and that's fine, society didn't get corrupted and we didn't have to reboot western civilization.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    240. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, why?
      If we are going to not identify people by sex, based upon universally agreed upon some agreed set of characteristics such and DNA presence of certain sexual organs, and instead go by your personally identified gender, which is fluid and entirely open to person interpretation; why cannot I change which of the many different gender options with which to identify from moment to moment?

    241. Re: This will be fun by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      In fact, trans is exactly what we are not trying to fuck.

      You would be surprised. Given the right circumstances.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    242. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With all the myriad of things that can go wrong during child development is it really beyond the realms of belief that a female brain can develop in a male body. Nothing to do with sanity.

      Having a messed up brain doesn't determine your genitalia. Every single person's brain works differently; you are arbritrarilising the issue. Brains don't have genitals, and the possibility that a man might be born with a brain that works more like a *typical* women's brain or vice-versa doesn't make that man a woman. Being delusional and/or being pressured by transgender cult groups doesn't make that man a woman either, but it can result in them making terrible life choices that will lead to misery and possibly to suicide.

    243. Re: This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Gender Fluid is a gender identity all its own. The issue is the people who lie about their gender identity to prove a point. They should be prosecuted for fraud. They only claim anything other than their primary when they use that to prove a point. The only point they prove is that they are liars.

    244. Re:This will be fun by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      So to make it equal we need a male only taxi service. Then both sexes have their ride service and everything is equal and fair. Or would the women complain about sexist and illegal actions if that came about?

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
    245. Re:This will be fun by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      I can't comment on the legality of this, but there's no hypocrisy (as you seem to be implying). If statistically, a particular class of shared riders are being targeted for crime, and that class finds a way to protect themselves from being targeted, it seems reasonable to me.

      The case of people getting a ride might be different from other crime statistics, but when you look at children that are abused and molested there are similar numbers of women involved in those crimes. The news shows one side more often and only one sex is dis-encouraged to be involved with children education or care, and it is not the female one. I would think they will still see similar problems involved with their attempt at making things safer since you didn't actually do anything of value. In a way you just guaranteed that the victims will be the weaker ones, so it is an easier target.

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
    246. Re:This will be fun by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Do you mean that a male that identifies as a female should not use this service or that a female that identifies as a male should not use that service?
      Frankly a female that identifies as a male is probably at a greater risk of violence than a male that identifies as a female.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    247. Re: This will be fun by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      That doesn't work for rest rooms, though, since even filing a case takes longer than the plaintiff's bladder will allow.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    248. Re:This will be fun by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      Google "trans man", I'm not your dictionary.

    249. Re:This will be fun by suutar · · Score: 1

      I think it's worth noting that this is "significantly more likely" in the sense that 0.0143% is 6.2 times as big as 0.00232%... it doesn't make it "likely" in absolute terms for a random individual. In 2013 the intentional homicide rate in the US was about 4 per 100k (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5); given that 49.4% figure you mention for solved murders, that means that there's pretty much 2 intentional homicides committed by blacks per 100k of US population and 2 by non-black, or 2 per 14000 blacks and 2 per 86000 non-blacks.

      I bring this up because "blacks are significantly more likely to offend" is easy to misinterpret.

    250. Re:This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would also say on the flip side of that, they probably wouldn't find it as disconcerting if society didn't make a big deal about effeminate men or tomboys. In which case, they may feel the only way to act how they wish is to transition. It's a bad situation all around.

    251. Re:This will be fun by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Since the definition of a woman is an adult human female and female has a specific biological definition that does not involve how one identifies you may want to be a little more polite with explaining these new definitions. I looked up trans-man in a dictionary and they had no definition for it. http://www.merriam-webster.com...

      I have now decided we should just use male and female and stick with the biological definition since that is without any human bias or interpretation.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    252. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should someone who is inconsistent be treated any differently then someone who is consistent? Who are you to tell someone they cannot change their gender identity as they please? Either gender is transient or it isn't... you cannot argue both positions.

      Your position is about as consistent as the "marriage equality" campaigners who oppose polygamy because it is politically convenient to do so.

    253. Re: This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Gender is transient and fluid. But that doesn't mean that everyone that claims a gender does so honestly. It's not about locking them down, but about evaluating honesty. Someone fraudulently claiming something for personal gain should be treated as a fraudster, whether the claim is gender or other reasons.

    254. Re: This will be fun by allo · · Score: 1

      And then there are people, who refuse to identify.

    255. Re:This will be fun by allo · · Score: 1

      There was a study about domestic violence in the public.
      While people always reacted when some man hit a woman in public, they often laughed about the man, when a woman hit him, even when it was a lot more serious.

    256. Re:This will be fun by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Please, point out what he said that was inaccurate. All of what he says lines up quite well with what I was taught in my Catholic Sunday School. Kind of like the turn the other cheek thing, and the be-attitudes.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    257. Re:This will be fun by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I want to know what ride service is being offered for men where they won't be accused of rape without reason, and where they aren't at risk of being raped by man or woman. Also, I particularly have issue with the implication that only men can rape, and apparently this service believes that all men are rapists, so can't be trusted to drive women around. What is to stop a woman from raping another woman anyways?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    258. Re:This will be fun by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Out of curiosity, and because I really don't know the answer;

      As a trans woman

      Does that mean that you were born with danglies and would prefer you weren't? I am never sure which way this terminology goes.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    259. Re: This will be fun by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      When you identify as a male to your wife and family, and identify as a female only at sports events

      That sounds backwards. I can't imagine why anyone would want to be female at a sporting event, after all, it is the male bathroom that has no lines!

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    260. Re: This will be fun by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Depends on the sporting event. I couldn't think up a good one, so I picked one that's joked about going the other way.

      What's amusing is that in many places, there was no problem using the other bathroom, until the anti-gay laws made an issue of it. Some of the south was quite specific because they had been specific previously with race, but why would a law be needed to make it illegal to use the other bathroom? It was never a problem. They might as well pass a law to make it illegal to refine plutonium in your garage with less than 7.12 mm of lead shielding. Sure, the law is better than someone violating it, but is there a problem with people violating it?

    261. Re: This will be fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *technically* everyone 'claims' their identity. So...

    262. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Not just that they can tell the difference - their behaviour changes due to the increased estrogen and reduced testoterone levels of their owners - for example, they become more protective.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    263. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      The wikipedia entry is seriously out of date, and outright wrong. Gender Identity Disorder no longer is listed in the current DSM, and Gender Dysphoria refers to the individual's reaction to their body parts not matching their brains perception, not transsexualism itself, which is now considered a physical state, not a mental disorder. Gender Identity Disorder, on the other hand, held that transsexualism itself was caused by a mental disorder, not a physical difference in the body/brain.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    264. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Doesn't replace the facts. The APA's definition of gender identity was that transsexualism was a mental disorder. Gender dysphoria, on the other hand, allows for (and pretty much mandates) that transsexualism has a physical origin, and that the RESULT is gender dysphoria - a distress about the mismatch of perceived and physical genders, same as you would have if you woke up tomorrow and some naughty bits were missing.

      Also, any article that cites John Money in it's first paragraph is seriously f*ckled up. Money was found to have faked ALL of his research. The second-to-last paragraph makes reference to work published in 1966. BTW, the statement "currently, the worldwide Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association continues his work, and helps to set standards of care for the treatment of transsexuals by the medical establishment." is an outright lie - WPATH has been in charge of setting the standards of care for a LONG time.

      Try to keep up, mkay?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    265. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1
      No, transsexualism itself is now accepted to be a combination of genetics and epigenetics. That's why Gender Identity Disorder had to be removed from the DSM - there was no support for a mental cause.

      Gender dysphoria is not just a replacement label - it refers to the discomfort that is the result of transsexualism, not transsexualism itself. Big difference.

      You conveniently ignore that the brains of transsexuals are themselves different. That is a physical, not mental, phenomena. And as for "all the political lobbying wrt homosexuality no longer being a disorder", the reality is that there was NO proof that being gay was a mental disorder, but that it still took a lot of lobbying for crusty old farts to either admit it or die off.

      The satisfaction rate of people who transition is at least 95%, and as high as 99%, so I don't get where you are getting off stating that there are "plenty of cases where people would have been better off withut transitioning". The only people still pushing these lies are religious fundamentalists, and they have their own agenda.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    266. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      I am absolutely NOT a misandrist. I think SJWs are stupid, that feminism is dying because it no longer meets the needs of women (or men) who don't want to see life as just a male-vs-female battle, and that political correctness sucks Stop with the stereotyping already.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    267. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Claiming you're trans means nothing. If you really are, you'll see a specialist because you NEED to transition. It's no big deal to ask for a letter documenting the fact that you are, indeed, a transsexual until you can get your documentation changed.

      Not that I've ever been questioned when going to the washroom, but some people obviously have been.

      So how about stopping with the irrational fear-mongering?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    268. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      But most of the time it does.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    269. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      You can bypass the gatekeepers by seeing an endocrinologist who specializes in dealing with transsexuals. Give the shrinks a fait accompli a few years down the line.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    270. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      And ignoring all the proof that it's actually not a mental problem doesn't make it a mental problem.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    271. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      There's a difference between "trans", eg. transgender, and transsexuals. There are plenty of transgenders (cross-dressers, for example) who want to keep their penis and testicles. Transsexuals want to get rid of them. If the need to get rid of them isn't there, they are not gender dysphoric, and as such by definition NOT transsexuals. They're transgender. Same as cross-dressers, agenders, gender fluid, gender queer, etc. None of those are transsexuals.

      There IS a big difference between the two.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    272. Re: This will be fun by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      You ask "Where's the restriction on "freedom of speech" here?"

      Right here when you wrote: "it should be illegal to ask."

      It shouldn't be necessary to ask at all. I can tell the difference between a male and a female usually just by looking and if a man tells me he's a woman I will happily think he's damaged goods.

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
    273. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      "Try to keep up, mkay?"

      Keep up with what? All I've done is listed someone else's research. I haven't said it's wrong. I haven't said it's right. You've made poor assumptions. Keep your words in mind while reading on.

      Your assertions don't match up with the DSM 5.

      In case you can't get to it here is a fact sheet.

      http://www.dsm5.org/documents/...

      The American Psychiatric Association say that GID was specifically renamed to Gender Dysphoria to remove stigma.

      You wrote "Gender dysphoria, on the other hand, allows for (and pretty much mandates) that transsexualism has a physical origin, and that the RESULT is gender dysphoria "

      The DSM 5 defines transsexualism quite simply: "Transsexual denotes an individual who seeks, or has undergone, a social transition from male to female or female to male, which in many, but not all, cases also involves a somatic transition by cross-sex hormone treatment and genital surgery (sex reassignment surgery)."

      This does not match your definition. Transsexualism quite specifically does not need "a somatic transition by cross-sex hormone treatment and genital surgery (sex reassignment surgery)."

      You wrote "gender dysphoria - a distress about the mismatch of perceived and physical genders".

      I believe you mean perceived gender and physical sex.

      The DSM 5 has 6 diagnostic criteria for adults for gender dysphoria of which the patient must have at least 2 criteria present:

      "1. A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics (or in young adolescents, the anticipated secondary sex characteristics).

      2. A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with one’s experienced/expressed gender (or in young adolescents, a desire to prevent the development of the anticipated secondary sex characteristics).

      3. A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender.

      4. A strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender).

      5. A strong desire to be treated as the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender).

      6. A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)."

      You are half way there. The last three criteria do not require any rejection or desire of sexual characteristics.

      In children you're quite off the mark, with 8 criteria, of which the child must have 6. Of the 8 criteria, there are 6 which don't refer to sexual characteristics, and 2 that do refer to sexual characteristics.

      You wrote "same as you would have if you woke up tomorrow and some naughty bits were missing".

      More assumptions. Sigh.

    274. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      That doesn't change the fact that transsexualism is now known to have a physical cause. You're confusing cause and effect. Gender dysphoria is the effect, not the cause, which kind of moots everything you wrote.

      Also, you;re linking to outdated info. From the link you DIDN'T include, but which is the source of your claims about diagnostic criteria:

      For the adult criteria, we propose, on a preliminary basis, the requirement of only 2 indicators.

      The recognized standards body is WPATH, and the current standards are laid out in SoC 7. WPATH recognizes that there is a difference between gender-non-conforming individuals and those with gender dysphoria. Physicians, even in the US, follow WPATH recommendations, not the APA, which was a late-comer to the process. As I said, try to keep up. :-)

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    275. Re: This will be fun by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      Sigh.

      "transsexualism is now known to have a physical cause".

      I provided the DSM 5 definition. Please stop trying to subvert it.

      "Also, you;re linking to outdated info."

      I provided information from the DSM 5. This is not preliminary information and it is most certainly not outdated. The information you found is a proposal for the DSM 5. You'll note that your link refers to it as the now deprecated Gender Identity Disorder (that's how old it is).

      Along those lines, how is newer information (the DSM 5 was published in 2013) outdated compared to the information you've provided (the last edit on that website was 2012, but I believe those proposals were floated around 2010)?

      Here's the DSM 5 text if you can view it: http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi...

      Go search for a "we propose" line, you won't find it.

      I have university access to the DSM. I quoted the information directly as a courtesy.

      Doctors, psychologists, and psychiaratrists use the DSM. They also use the SOC. Additionally they will use published peer reviewed journals. You switching to a new source of information is misdirection to save face. Why? Read on.

      Lets go back a bit shall we... "You seem to believe that transsexualism is a mental disorder. The American Psychiatric Association says otherwise"

      That's you quoting the APA as the basis for your argument. Your whole argument was based on the APA. Now you're saying "Physicians, even in the US, follow WPATH recommendations, not the APA, which was a late-comer to the process" Lol. Please.

      By the way I have the SOC 7 right here. It's published in 2011, 2 years before the much newer DSM 5.

      "WPATH recognizes that there is a difference between gender-non-conforming individuals and those with gender dysphoria.

      And? Red-herring, you're redirecting away from your original point so you don't have to address it.

      "As I said, try to keep up. :-)"

      You're getting pretty boring. I doubt I'll engage in further conversation.

    276. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1
      Except that you're wrong because you fail to distinguish between transgendered people, such as cross-dressers, and transsexuals. Your girlfriend obviously values her functioning penis, which means there is no dysphoria between the body and the mind's perception of it, just a choice in public presentation, same as any other cross-dresser.

      Which means you're just 2 gay gays having a gay old time. Nothing wrong with that, but why not just admit it?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    277. Re: This will be fun by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      You know what's really funny? With all the bulloxing going on, anyone can claim that they're transgender. The term no longer has meaning, it has become so diluted.

      Someone who meets some of the criteria for gender dysphoria is not necessarily a transsexual, just transgendered, which is not the same thing.

      Just look at Virginia Prince (Arnold Lowman), who first applied the term transgendered to non-transsexuals.

      Prince’s idea of a "true transvestite" was clearly distinguished from both the homosexual and the transsexual, claiming that true transvestites are "exclusively heterosexual... The transvestite values his male organs, enjoys using them and does not desire them removed.

      A cross-dresser is transgendered, not transsexual. Their identity is firmly rooted in them being male, even while presenting themselves as female. Even today, crossdressers are considered part of the transgendered, but not transsexuals, and they would not be classified as transsexuals.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  2. If they call it Boober... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    2 Broke Girls should sue them...

    1. Re:If they call it Boober... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2 Broke Girls should sue them...

      And they should bring their cup.

  3. Legality by PeteJanda · · Score: 5, Insightful

    /sigh/ Discrimination with a noble intent is still... discrimination. Would love to know out a ride sharing service exclusively for white bros who want a safe space for off color jokes would be received.

    1. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Ironically, "mine is more important" is often at the heart of these issues.

    2. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Either sexual discrimination is okay or it isn't. Seems like you think it's okay?

    3. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It really does need a discrimination suit, just as we can't have men's only gyms or men's only anything else.

      It's time to either allow this for everyone, which would be my preference, or disallow it for everyone. There are no logical arguments otherwise. There are arguments, but none that make any sense at all.

    4. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ratzo you humorless asshole. I'm looking forward to your last post anywhere.

    5. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Discrimination with a noble intent is still... discrimination.

      There is nothing noble about it. This is straight up gender discrimination, using "security" as an excuse. The only difference is that the discrimination is against males. What's next, female only shopping malls because the sexist pigs might look at a glorious woman with lust?

      Would love to know out a ride sharing service exclusively for white bros who want a safe space for off color jokes would be received.

      You and I both know EXACTLY how that would be received. It would be shutdown the split second it was mentioned because of the screams of racism.
      Never mind that walking into a place SPECIFICALLY FOR THAT EXACT PURPOSE, and then complaining about it would be the definition of "asking for it."

      This is why I have nothing but utter contempt for these people. They preach "equality" and "fairness", but they are nothing short of the same bigotry and hatred as their oppressors. Now that society has taken their side in things, they want revenge, and have (or are becoming) the exact same ilk as their oppressors.

    6. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you're right... white's only cabs for everyone (white)

    7. Re:Legality by oakgrove · · Score: 1

      Jokes are a very good way to cut through bullshit and expose hypocrisy for what it is. The irony here is palpable.

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    8. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Discrimination with a noble intent is still... discrimination.

      There is nothing noble about it. This is straight up gender discrimination, using "security" as an excuse.

      I hope the company fights this all the way to the Supreme Court, like the company CEO says they will, and I hope the win.

      Then, it will be perfectly legal for my company to discriminate against anyone they want, on the grounds of "security". No more doing business with blacks (because they commit more than 50% of all violent crime in the U.S.) . . . and so on.

    9. Re:Legality by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Jokes are a very good way to cut through bullshit and expose hypocrisy for what it is.

      Especially the racist and sexist ones, amirite?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    10. Re:Legality by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      To SJWs, off-color jokes are a microaggression - they ARE an attack.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    11. Re:Legality by oakgrove · · Score: 3, Insightful

      See? You just made a joke. And it wasn't half-bad even for you. Learn from this experience.

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    12. Re:Legality by kheldan · · Score: 1

      This 'discrimination' is just a symptom of the larger problem: If humans didn't treat each other like shit, and act like animals instead of the sentient beings they pretend to be, then we indeed wouldn't need a ride-sharing service by women for women, now would we?

      --
      Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    13. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Totally agree.. if you want something 'safer' take a friend with you.. get a taser.. Discrimination is discrimination. The 9/11 attacks apparently had muslim's from Canada envolved with it. You can't just not allow muslims into your country and build a wall across the canadian border..

    14. Re:Legality by Solandri · · Score: 3, Insightful

      For those who don't/can't see it, basically these people are saying that because some men are guilty of assaulting women, they will generalize that stereotype to all men and prohibit them entirely. In one fell swoop they've legitimized stereotyping, discrimination based on stereotypes, and gender profiling.

      To me, the acid test for any potentially discriminatory practice is simple algebra. Instead of a race or gender or whatever, replace it with a variable. Then apply the same formula to all other situations you can think of. This eliminates any personal biases you may have. "A taxi service for women" becomes "a taxi service for x". Substitute anything else for x. x = men. x = wealthy. x = whites. x = blacks. If any of those seems discriminatory, then the entire concept is likely discriminatory.

      That is what you get when you apply the absolute binary standards of discrimination the PC crowd has advocated. If you apply (IMHO more sensible) looser standards which take into account real statistical differences (which may coincide with certain stereotypes), then services like this become allowable. If the rate of male on female assault in taxis greatly exceeds the rate of female on female assault, then there is justification for a service like this. But to get to this point, you first have to admit that men and women are different. Something the PC crowd has assiduously denied thus far. Otherwise you have no basis for generating separate statistics for men vs women in the first place.

    15. Re:Legality by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A better solution that doesn't involve any discrimination would be to simply vet the drivers better. Uber want to avoid doing that because it makes them look too much like a taxi company with employees, instead of just a pure ride sharing service that doesn't have to abide by the rules. The rules which were put in place to stop this sort of thing.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    16. Re:Legality by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Driver-less Google-like cars are probably the future for those who don't feel comfortable with random strangers.

    17. Re:Legality by John+Allsup · · Score: 1

      Discrimination need not necessarily be morally wrong. Law should respect morality, not define it. When there is genuine reason to discriminate (and places like medicine present the most obvious set of examples), it is morally ok, and should be legally ok to discriminate. When strict non-discrimination has undesirable side-effects, such as putting women at risk, again the morally right thing is to have a limited amount of discrimination, but no more than is reasonably necessary. The law probably doesn't work quite like this, but that is a failing of the law and the men who wrote it.

      --
      John_Chalisque
    18. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      rapping them,

      FINALLY! Someone who agrees with me that we need a taxi service that NEVER EVER plays rap!

    19. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seems reasonable, except for the rap music, that just seems cruel.

    20. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, let me try your method. "A tampon service for women"

      ... er... lemme try again...

      "Abortion clinics for women"

      ...

      Nope... your method is shit.

    21. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, your application is shit.
      Neither example is valid as they are already inclusive of the entire set.

    22. Re:Legality by Firethorn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One thing that taxi drivers don't want getting out is that for the most part:
      1. Assaults by taxi drivers are fairly common as well.
      2. Taxi drivers are often vetted about as well as Uber drivers - many of the companies use the same background check service Uber does.

      Now, I can't make universal statements because there's thousands of taxi companies, but I think Uber is getting a bad rap from sheer size and being a good target for news articles.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    23. Re:Legality by russotto · · Score: 5, Funny

      What's next, female only shopping malls because the sexist pigs might look at a glorious woman with lust?

      Now there's an idea.. "Honey, can you come shopping with me?"... "Sorry, the mall just went woman only, remember? Why don't you go with Helen instead?"

    24. Re:Legality by tsqr · · Score: 2

      You're not being discriminated against: there are plenty of ride-sharing services that you can use. Just not this one.

      Congratulations - you've re-discovered the principle of "separate but equal". Somewhere, Jim Crown us smiling.

    25. Re:Legality by Jiro · · Score: 1

      By your reasoning it would be fine to discriminate against blacks. They have a higher crime rate just like men do and I'm sure they can use one of the plenty of other ride-sharing services around, right?

    26. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm an SJW. I still think discrimination is discrimination. Equal rights does not mean more rights.

    27. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hi, I'm Johnny Cab!

    28. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Actually there are women only gyms. They've gone to court and been told they have to let men in. Look up Curves discrimination lawsuit. It's discrimination against members as well as workers.It's blatantly illegal and discrimination lawsuits have all sided against gender based facilities.

    29. Re:Legality by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Mel Brooks weeps for this generation... And I'm a proud Paddy McKraut.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    30. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If everyone treated each other nicely we wouldn't need law or the required violence to enforce them.

    31. Re:Legality by Zeroko · · Score: 1

      If someone with a Y chromosome is born with a functional vagina & uterus (which does happen occasionally), they could potentially make use of both of those services, yet there are those who insist the Y chromosome means they are a man.

    32. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clitoris circumcision is not an Islamic practise.

    33. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, black folk, just fuck off. There are plenty of bathrooms you can use, just not the white ones.

    34. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One thing that taxi drivers don't want getting out is that for the most part:
      1. Assaults by taxi drivers are fairly common as well.

      I only feel it fair to point out that assaults on taxi drivers are also fairly common as well...as evidenced by things like the local taxi companies here feeling the need to fit silent alarms to the cabs which warn the company, other taxi drivers and Police that a driver is in trouble and their current GPS location in an attempt to stop the number of assaults on the drivers (It worked, up to a point, however there are still 'no go' areas where they refuse to pick up from/deliver to)

      2. Taxi drivers are often vetted about as well as Uber drivers - many of the companies use the same background check service Uber does.

      Here's another thing, as our local taxi companies are run by crooks, a lot of their drivers are crooks and have criminal convictions. This is not atypical.

      Now, I can't make universal statements because there's thousands of taxi companies, but I think Uber is getting a bad rap from sheer size and being a good target for news articles.

      Too true, it's amusing that the media appears to be quite willing to paint Uber's operations and operatives as being somewhat 'shady', as if this was somehow any different than 'normal' cab firms..

      the irony of all this isn't lost on a lot of us.

      Some of us are getting the popcorn in for the day that Uber starts operations here and runs into our local equivalent of the The Piranha Brothers who run all the taxis (despite the apparent multiple liveries..)

    35. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't describe this as a noble intent. Segregation in the 1950s was justified as protecting whites from those violent, animalistic blacks. Would you describe that as noble?

    36. Re:Legality by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Oh that's funny. You thing this started because of a driver threatening a passenger, when really it was the other way round. Maybe we should vet you every time you want to jump in a Uber, cab, order a latte, step out of the front door, etc...

    37. Re: Legality by gnupun · · Score: 1

      To avoid a discrimination lawsuit, they (or another company) should create a male-only (just like we have male-only and female-only restrooms) ridesharing service. At that point, there would be no unfair discrimination and would be helpful to people who like traveling with their own gender.

    38. Re:Legality by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Indeed. You cannot use a wrong to make things right. This just makes the problem worse.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    39. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now there's a movie that could not be made today. :(

    40. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the rest of the entire world who are busy not trying to be killed by random Muslims or crazy Congolese militias rolls their eyes and says, "Cry me a fucking river."

    41. Re: Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember, two Wongs don't make a white.

    42. Re: Legality by naughtynaughty · · Score: 1

      They could call it Separate But Equal Taxi

    43. Re:Legality by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "/sigh/ Discrimination with a noble intent is still... discrimination."
      As a male I fail to see any noble intent. I have never raped anyone in my life and do not intend to so why should I be excluded from this ride sharing service?

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    44. Re:Legality by naughtynaughty · · Score: 1

      The "rules which were put in place to stop this sort of thing" haven't stopped that sort of thing (assaults by taxi drivers).

    45. Re:Legality by naughtynaughty · · Score: 1

      It's been quite some time since just men wrote the laws.

      Women are always at risk, as are men. They aren't at risk because of non-discrimination. Every woman (and man) is perfectly free to reject male Uber drivers and male baristas. The law does not require you to get in an Uber with a male driver or a white Uber driver or an Indian Uber driver, you are free to practice discrimination in who provides your services.

      The world isn't risk free. Using your fears as an excuse to discriminate is wrong.

    46. Re:Legality by Theaetetus · · Score: 1

      /sigh/ Discrimination with a noble intent is still... discrimination. Would love to know out a ride sharing service exclusively for white bros who want a safe space for off color jokes would be received.

      Easy solution - require a monthly membership fee of a few dollars. You can even reduce the per-ride rate as a result. But once it's a private club, discrimination is legal - as the white bros who run the country clubs well know.

    47. Re:Legality by kheldan · · Score: 1

      I don't even need people to treat each other 'nicely', just 'fairly' will do, and as you say that's the whole point.

      --
      Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    48. Re:Legality by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      "You can't just not allow enemy soldiers into your country" is what you're claiming. Read the Koran.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    49. Re:Legality by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      A person not seeing why such a service is necessary is a person who never thinks of assaulting women, That is not "part of the problem," it's not even related to the problem.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    50. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The best solution is to just lock the driver in the cockpit until the transaction is completed.

    51. Re:Legality by phorm · · Score: 1

      "Sorry, the mall just went woman only"

      What, they aren't already? :-)

      Around here, malls are pretty dead. Honestly I've always figured that if they added something like a small arcade, pub, or a couple of pool-tables they'd at least have better luck at getting mixed clientèle in...

    52. Re: Legality by hucker75 · · Score: 1

      Discrimination SHOULD be allowed. If I go to the trouble of buying and setting up a gym, then only I should be the one to choose who gets to use it. Could be only my friends and relatives, could be only men, could be only whites, it's really nobody's business but mine, I paid for the joint. You want a gym you're allowed in, find another one or buy your own.

    53. Re:Legality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mel brooks is a proud liberal.
      in case you missed that.

    54. Re:Legality by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Which just goes to show, those who claim to be "liberal" and push the "social justice" nonsense are not liberal at all; they are hard-core authoritarians, fascists. Mel Brooks is as far from an SJW as one can be.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    55. Re: Legality by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      And then we need a third ride sharing service. One that pairs men with women, for the people that don't want to ride with their own gender. The women drivers can only pick up men and the male drivers can only pick up women.

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  4. This is a loser by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    "where Safety is involved" would allow White Only businesses to claim blacks are more dangerous therefore.....
    Even Scalia would have shot this ignorance down.
    Ladies, carry a .380 instead of a claim of privilege

    1. Re:This is a loser by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that .380 will be really handy when they are taking a cab to the Republican national convention...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:This is a loser by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      BARK!!!
      Wonder if the VWRC will EVER get its story straight?

  5. Password patent pending? by Nkwe · · Score: 2

    Really? The driver and passenger are each given a password / secret code in order to verify each other? This certainly has never been done before.

    1. Re:Password patent pending? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Really? The driver and passenger are each given a password / secret code in order to verify each other? This certainly has never been done before.

      In taxi service? Probably not.

    2. Re:Password patent pending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? The driver and passenger are each given a password / secret code in order to verify each other? This certainly has never been done before.

      In taxi service? Probably not.

      Oh, that's ok then.

      And it's done on a computer.

      Over the internet.

      Totally patentable.

    3. Re:Password patent pending? by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Indeed. I had a 'secret word' as a kid - if any adult tried to pick me up who didn't have the code, that meant that they were a bad adult and I was to raise hell and escape by any means possible. Never needed it, but I still remember it even today.

      Note: I predate the helicopter parent era, I was allowed to walk to elementary school with my brother.

      I figure that the idea is that since the service isn't using livery marked cars, you need a way to verify that the driver(and passenger) are who they say they are.

      As for 'patent pending', they'd have a hard time, I think, showing that there isn't prior art with the military, which has a code/counter-code system.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    4. Re:Password patent pending? by martinX · · Score: 1

      Prior art for the code/counter-code system: Get Smart.

      --
      When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
    5. Re:Password patent pending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We've always used it when I've schedule a taxi.

      Me: Are you heading to the airport?
      Taxi Driver: Yes. Are you Mr AC?
      Me: Yes.
      There, secret handshake completed. Other taxi drivers wouldn't know my name and may be going to different locations.

      A slightly better version of the handshake would be to not provide any info but to instead ask where the driver was going. I did get scammed (one can claim kidnapped) once by a driver who pretended to be the guy I was supposed to meet Luckily the original driver called and I quickly got out of that situation. Be careful traveling to busy airports and picking up a cab scheduled for you by a 3rd party. Even better is to call and talk over the phone with guy right before you get into his/her car to verify that that actually is the correct person. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was scammed like that in NYC.

    6. Re:Password patent pending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe that in this case, the U.S. military would be ridiculous jerks to keep a patent from a service meant to protect the same citizens that it does.

      Is the military even subject to patents for things like this?

  6. So.... by ericdano · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So instead of regulating Uber and other "ride sharing" services......they just create another thing with potentially the same problems.

    Why not just cut the BS and just regulate Uber like we do Taxi companies.......like what should have happened a long time ago.

    --
    It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
    I moderate therefore I rule!
    --
    1. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every time ridesharing comes up, this magical "taxi style" regulation is raised. My experience with taxis and my experience with Uber have me wishing that they would institute Uber-style regulation on the taxis! That is where I've had drivers screaming into a cell phone the entire ride, breaking traffic laws, and constantly inches from killing pedestrians.

    2. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uhm, because the people doing this aren't the regulators? And because many people feel the taxis aren't safe enough either?

      I don't see how this will possibly pass legal scrutiny, but don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough applies to all kinds of places.

      Just to throw in my two cents, I don't think this _should_ pass legal scrutiny. There's no way to pass a law that lets this fly. My grandmother would have said, and honestly meant, that she'd have felt safer with a cab company that guaranteed her a white driver. That wouldn't have made setting one up OK. There's no good way I can imagine that lets you write a law that allows this.

    3. Re:So.... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Yes, because taxi drivers have never assaulted a customer. We only hear about the ride sharing drivers assaulting their customers because it's a fairly new service.

      We need a better way to get the bad drivers out of the industry whether they are driving a taxi or for a ride sharing service. What we don't need is a service specifically for woman, another specifically for the LGBT community, another for Muslims, ... because then we'll never ride to show up conveniently as any drivers will be so spread out.

    4. Re:So.... by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Because the Web Way is to organically explore alternative ways of doing bullshit.

    5. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about you cut the nanny-state "legislate all the things" lefty horseshit and let the market do what the market does best?

    6. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      regulate Uber like we do Taxi

      uber wouldn't exist if it had to follow all the rules and regulations of a legitimate taxi service, or pay the same licenses and fees and insurance required of one.

    7. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uber's just a bad idea, period. Call a company, some random stranger picks you up and you hope you don't get raped/assaulted. Nice business model.

      Actually it is a nice business model...because people are dumb enough to use it, and dumb enough pay cold hard cash to take the risk!

    8. Re:So.... by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      So instead of regulating Uber and other "ride sharing" services......they just create another thing with potentially the same problems.

      Why not just cut the BS and just regulate Uber like we do Taxi companies.......like what should have happened a long time ago.

      You do have a point. Some cities do require that taxis have partitions that protect the taxi driver.

      That being said, you're not reading between the lines. If that startup only wants to give rides to women, then it means that they're really afraid of customers assaulting/harassing the drivers, not the other way around. I know Uber women drivers and the main reason they don't like working at night, or in certain neighborhoods, is because of their personal safety.

      Uber drivers assaulting passengers does happen, but it actually happens much less than Taxi drivers assaulting passengers, and of course it happens much-much less than passengers assaulting drivers. With the over abundance of Uber drivers in the US right now, all it takes is one or two negative one star reviews, and the Uber system automatically blacklists those drivers from being able to get fares. But if we're talking about a customer who harasses a driver, there is no system for rating or blacklisting that passenger.

      Also another reason Uber drivers are more afraid is because they can't easily discriminate. If they accept a fare, they have to pick them up, otherwise the system penalizes them. On the other hand, if a taxi accepts the request of a pick up, and sees the customer acting sketchy, or throwing up on the sidewalk, he probably won't pick that person up. That's not exactly legal, but that's the reality of the taxi system right now.

    9. Re:So.... by Intron · · Score: 1

      How about you cut the nanny-state "legislate all the things" lefty horseshit and let the market do what the market does best?

      What's that? Dump mercury in the rivers? Make you sign agreements that say you can't sue when they sell you a defective product? Lie about the dangers of tobacco?

      --
      Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
    10. Re: So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know Uber women drivers and the main reason they don't like working at night, or in certain neighborhoods, is because of their personal safety.

      I doubt the male drivers like it much either, but that's OK, they should just put up with it because men only exist to save women from having to do unpleasant things, right?

    11. Re:So.... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      So instead of regulating Uber and other "ride sharing" services......they just create another thing with potentially the same problems.

      Why not just cut the BS and just regulate Uber like we do Taxi companies.......like what should have happened a long time ago.

      Before reaching that logical conclusion you better tell us what you hope to achieve by regulation.

  7. Much better arguments by Etherwalk · · Score: 2

    There are some better arguments for allowing discrimination here than in most other cases, but ultimately those arguments will fail. While there is danger in taking an Uber, there is danger in *walking*, and the danger of taking an Uber is not very high. They are a "common carrier" and make themselves available to the public; they will not be permitted to discriminate in either employment (sex of drivers) or in who they are willing to transport.

    1. Re:Much better arguments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are some better arguments for allowing discrimination here than in most other cases

      Allowing discrimination, no matter how noble the purpose, is a dangerously slippery slope. It strikes against the rule of law, equal protection under the law, the belief that the law is impartial and justice blind and finally in the cohesiveness of the society itself. With extremely narrow exceptions, restrooms and the like, discrimination by gender is not something that we Americans ought to be allowing in public life.

  8. Implies an all male service... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...would be legit.

    Except that we know damned well that it would violate several laws, regulation, etc.

  9. This is just what we needed by guises · · Score: 1

    This country has a stellar history with segregated public transportation, something like this can only work for good. Yes not everyone can use it, but there are separate equivalent ride-sharing services available for those people.

    1. Re:This is just what we needed by Blue+Stone · · Score: 2

      Well the insteresting dilemma is - is it ok to say you, as a female, don't feel safe being driven by a male, given that some males may pose a threat, while it's genrally thought not ok to say you don't feel safe being driven by a person of a certain race/religion (eg. black/muslim)?

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    2. Re:This is just what we needed by blindseer · · Score: 1

      I think the sarcasm in the GPP was lost on you. Or perhaps I read more into it than was there. Separate but equal was shown to be a failure. Segregated buses are what brought about the beginning of the end of this separate but equal nonsense.

      I'm reminded of when I got a new dentist. I called a local dentist office for an appointment and I was asked if it was okay with be to be seen by a female dentist. I didn't think much of it at the time but imagine if I was asked what I thought if my dentist was black, or gay, or Muslim, or married, or whatever.

      If it's socially acceptable to ask if I prefer a male or female dentist then I'd think it would be acceptable to ask if I prefer a female or male driver.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    3. Re:This is just what we needed by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      "Separate but equal" failed because services were demonstrably NOT equal. Desegregation was seen as the only effective means of making equal services available to everyone, even if busing kids miles out of there way was a side effect.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  10. Nice solution there... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Scores of women have reported assaults by Uber drivers

    Good thing that a woman could never assault another woman.

    1. Re:Nice solution there... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if lesbian drivers are prohibited?

  11. As if... by x0ra · · Score: 4, Insightful

    women on women rape/sexual assault didn't exist...

    1. Re: As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Only in the really good videos

    2. Re: As if... by jklovanc · · Score: 2

      Or in real life

    3. Re:As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's true. For many legislations, rape requires penetration.

    4. Re: As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or in feminist literature, depicted as something good and wholesome. (The "Coochie Snorcher" scene, which depicts a 24-year-old woman getting a teenage girl drunk in order to have sex with her.)

    5. Re:As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      The problem is that some number of the so-called transgender/transsexuals that identify as female are sexual predators. Some people might have legitimate needs for sexual reassignment surgery (such as inter-sexed people), but there's some number of people with other mental problems that want to dress up as women or become them.

      If some of those people become drivers, there could be problems.

    6. Re:As if... by x0ra · · Score: 1

      well... dildos, fingers, tongue... there is plenty of possibility to get stuff in there !

    7. Re:As if... by Jamu · · Score: 1

      In the UK it requires a penis too.

      --
      Who ordered that?
    8. Re:As if... by meet+the+squirrel · · Score: 1

      The problem is that some number of the so-called transgender/transsexuals that identify as female are sexual predators. Some people might have legitimate needs for sexual reassignment surgery (such as inter-sexed people), but there's some number of people with other mental problems that want to dress up as women or become them.

      If some of those people become drivers, there could be problems.

      There are also a number of born females who are sexual predators. The actual safety in any scheme like this comes from appropriate background checks and monitoring which work the same independently of the sex and gender of the people involved. Any incidents of assault will normally be rare enough to just ignore, especially compared to real concerns like traffic accidents. This scheme is all about perception.

    9. Re:As if... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Can you cite any specific cases of male to female trans people being sexual predators, or are you just making shit up again?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    10. Re:As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the UK it requires a penis too.

      And it's a microagression (if it's under 2inches).

    11. Re:As if... by karmatic · · Score: 1

      Here's one.

      sexual assault of child, indecency with child

      Here's another.

      Christopher Hambrook — who claimed to be a transgender woman named Jessica — has attacked four vulnerable females between the ages of five and 53 in Montreal and Toronto over the past 12 years.

      Hambrook, 37, pleaded guilty in February 2013 to two counts of sexual assault and one count of criminal harassment involving two women — a deaf and homeless Quebec woman and a Toronto survivor of domestic violence — while he was living at a Dundas St. W. shelter and the Fred Victor women’s shelter in January and February 2012.

      Another

      Maddison began hormone treatment while in prison, and was transferred to a women's prison (Mulawa Correctional Centre) in 1999. She underwent sex reassignment surgery while in prison in 2003. At Mulawa, it was alleged that Hall had sexual relations with several female prisoners, allegations that resulted in Hall being returned to a male prison after 3 months. Hall was charged with rape in relation to one incident, but the charge was dropped due to the victim having left the country upon being released from prison in fear of her safety.

      Another

      Richard Masbruch brutally raped and tortured a Fresno woman in 1991. Today, in a case that may be the first of its kind, he lives in a women’s prison.

      Masbruch, who was reclassified by prison officials as a woman after he castrated himself, is the focus of an inmate complaint that says Masbruch is a danger to other prisoners at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. (Fresno Bee)

      Another

      A JURY has been told a woman alleged to have been raped by a transgender man was found with 49 separate injuries.

      Nadine Williams, also known as Dean, 39, is on trial at Swansea Crown Court after denying one count of rape and two of assault by penetration.

      I can keep going if you would like.

    12. Re:As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it does not. Stop with the bullshit. UK females can and do go to prison for raping other females. If you spent less time making shit up to look kewl, you'd have seen a very famous case recently where even consensual sex ultimately lead to a rape charge after the victim discovered her boyfriend was actually female.

    13. Re: As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, rape requires sex without consent. If certain types of rape are legal in your jurisdiction then it means you have shitty laws, not that the rape didn't happen.

    14. Re:As if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, you could do some searching and reading on your own before being all condescending towards others.

  12. i dont understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    can you imagine the screams of complaints if there was an all male ride sharing service?

    1. Re:i dont understand by Crashmarik · · Score: 2

      can you imagine the screams of complaints if there was an all male ride sharing service?

      Especially if there was sexual assault going on.

    2. Re:i dont understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is Boston. An all female driver service puts them *more* at risk of sexual harassment, but less likely to complain about it to avoid discrediting the sisterhood. They'll just insist that the assailant was born the wrong gender and insist on classifying them as male.

      Think I'm kidding? Did you *see* the sexual harassment policy at the Arisia science fiction convention last year? 4 pages of info in the handouts, *6* pages of harassment policy, which you had to sign in front of a witness, type so small you couldn't read it, and the worst harasser last year was *still* a female-male trans-sexual woman. Changing gender doesn't mean you're not a !@#$, even if it's been stitched on.

  13. For Ladies only: Share my cock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Two can ride for the price of one.

  14. Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This is totally illegal. The founder openly hopes that it will go to the Supreme Court and they will make an exception based on "safety". With that precedent, you could TRIVIALLY open an "all white" service too, or simply chose any factor that statistically results in "greater safety". It would also openly legalize discrimination in a much broader way than is legalized today.

    Hopefully he gets shut down early, and appeals denied early, and we won't have to hear about this bullshit again. If this does go to the Supreme Court and / or is tolerated, you'll be creating a situation entirely indefensible by principle.

    The sheer number of these sexual / racial discriminators being cheerled by the left is doing so much damage to our mostly-unified country that I am worried for the end results. While the right made serious progress on this issue (but is still of concern), watching the left fall into the same fucking pit at full speed (complete with logically useless arguments!) has me pretty scared.

    1. Re:Totally illegal by magarity · · Score: 3, Informative

      You're kidding, right? There are plenty of women only businesses. Isn't there even a chain of gyms called Curves? That's women only, but I don't think too many women get molested at gyms.

    2. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      The funny thing about safety is that probably these women will be less safe by getting into a vehicle driven by a woman.

    3. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think too many women get molested at gyms.

      at least not the paranoid, anxious, self-important fatties at curves who openly promote discrimination.

    4. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I am not a personal trainer, but there is a distinct and real difference between male and female bodies on a physiological level that may or may not require different exercise schedules and regiments.

      A facility which focuses on one gender in this aspect has a function in society.

      However the need to move from A to B is a universal need across genders.

    5. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's one of the few ones that actually makes sense.

      That club doesn't exist because of rape or sexual assault at regular gyms, it occurs because women don't get treated well at normal gyms. Some of that is just the testosterone and the lack of skin covering clothes, but a lot of that is from women being jerks to each other whenever another woman is getting attention.

      I was very briefly employed at a gym years back and even the female CEO of the chain told us to not talk to the women and to go find somebody that was visibly older and or unattractive so that the other women wouldn't complain about beautiful women being given too much attention.

      It was rather sickening, but it wasn't surprising, women can be real cunts when it comes to better looking women or the perception that looks get anything.

    6. Re: Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have no issue with women only gyms. My issue is with women who would deny me the peace and lack of drama in a male only gym, while still defending the need for female only gyms.

    7. Re:Totally illegal by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The court will look at if there is a reasonable, non-discriminatory reason for a women only gym. Personally I'd say that there probably isn't in most cases. A taxi service seems like an even greater stretch, given that there are many alternative and highly effective solutions like properly vetting drivers. Oh, but that would break their business model. Well, too bad.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:Totally illegal by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

      so much damage to our mostly-unified country

      Yeah.. that unified country. You're getting high off your own supply if you think this country doesn't have unity problems since the whole two towers attack.

      --
      Just another second banana
    9. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your post is misinformative.

      First and most importantly: Curves *employs* men. Second and also important: anywhere they are challenged, they allow men.

      http://www.curvesforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3519

      Even if the latter part involving customers wasn't true, the bigger part about employment positions is true everywhere.

      Also? The Curves thing is fucked up too.

    10. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You should google your claim. Curves was sued and lost. They cannot gender discriminate in membership or workforce.

    11. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is legal to run a private members only club. As long as you are not open to the public you can restrict your membership to a specific class of people. However, you cannot discriminate on an employment basis, only membership. It is also important to note that there are restrictions on clubs that take public money.

    12. Re:Totally illegal by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      IANAL. But as I understand it...

      Discrimination cases must also show an injury--you are somehow being injured by this discrimination. If you cannot show injury, you don't really have a case.

      For example, as others have pointed out, gyms like "Curves" (which don't allow men) are discriminating. However--at least where I live--there's a "Curves" about a mile from my house, an "LA Fitness" about 2 miles from my house, a "24-Hour Fitness" about 2 miles from my house, and approximately 20 other gyms of some sort within a 5 mile radius.

      It would be really tough for me to show that this discrimination has somehow made my life more difficult. It's not like going to another gym would somehow create a hardship for me.

      However, let's say that there was a "Curves" about a mile from my house and the nearest other gym was 20 miles away. I could probably make a reasonable claim that the I am being injured through their discriminatory practices. And I'm sure the judge would order that particular "Curves" to accept me.

      So I could see this ride-share service not having a problem for the same reason. If this is "Uber for Women Only," the argument would go, "Why don't you just call Uber or Lyft or a cab?" Now if there were no Uber, Lyft, or cab that can pick you up, you might have a legitimate discrimination case.

    13. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    14. Re:Totally illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You misunderstand law then. If your interpretation was true then separate but equal would be the law of the land.

      Discrimination based upon race/sex is illegal in public establishments and businesses. Just because you can find someone else or some other service that may preform the same task is moot. If I ran a restaurant and refused to serve women there would be hell to pay. Even if there is a Mickey D's right next door.

    15. Re:Totally illegal by DontTrustWhatIType · · Score: 1

      Women only gyms still employ men as trainers and the like. This proposes to only employ women as drivers. It will be a tough legal sell.

  15. Doesn't help the issue. by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    A rapist need merely register as a trans and is guaranteed a woman is delivered promptly to his location.

    They say they do "extra screening' but how much more can they practically do than Uber already does?

    Also they mention no surge pricing - without surge pricing you aren't going to find many drivers working at times or places you want to go anywhere. Surge pricing may be annoying but it also attracts far more drivers.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Doesn't help the issue. by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      without surge pricing you aren't going to find many drivers working at times or places you want to go anywhere. Surge pricing may be annoying but it also attracts far more drivers.

      This just shows that the "surged" price is a fair price for the drivers, and that the "regular" fares are too low for most drivers to be economical. That's one of the reasons Uber can be cheaper than taxis: they seriously exploit their drivers, especially at the quiet hours, when demand is low. Driving for Uber at non-surge prices means you can barely cover the cost of your car (gas, maintenance, insurance, etc). It's just that there are too many gullible people that forget their car costs more than the fuel it uses...

    2. Re:Doesn't help the issue. by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      There literally can be no exploration when Uber drivers are free to drive or not as they please. If an Uber driver finds a daytime rate too low, they can choose to drive only at peak times; the fact they do not plainly shows you are wrong and Uber drivers do not find normal Uber rates exploitive.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  16. Now you will have complaints by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    coming from the drivers instead.

  17. Hypocrisy 101 by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 0

    > Demands equality in the workplace and the home

    > Creates all-female ridesharing service

    Now lets create an all male ridesharing service and see how that goes over.

  18. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 0

    If it's MY car I can decide who and what sex, color and/or what part of town I operate(period) Just as I can decide whether or not to work with a taxi service that discriminates. You can't fix stupid.

    - that should be the case, but it's not. The collectivists in government backed by the mob have collectively decided that an individual running a business on his or her own private property must lose his or her rights to discriminate because they run a business now, though they had this right as individual. The moment you start selling cakes from your place is the moment you lose your rights, that's what the government is telling you.

    I am 100% certain they will tell you that your car is a 'place of business' and because of that you lost your natural right to discriminate.

    At the same time the actual real problem of discrimination, racism, slavery originates in the government and gets government protections. People forget, but slavery was legal, it was lawful, Slave Codes weren't just an idea, they were laws.

  19. Why not by qbast · · Score: 0

    Such a great idea. Let's have white-only services as well. It could be even defended using the same 'security' argument since crime statistics clearly show that blacks are more likely to commit a violent crime.

    1. Re:Why not by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      and what about a bus service where the blacks have to sit in the back and give up seats to white people when needed?

    2. Re: Why not by qbast · · Score: 1

      Another fine idea. I am sure creators of this 'female only' service would all for this.

    3. Re:Why not by Frigga's+Ring · · Score: 1

      Oh man, I don't want to blow your mind, but we have something like that in Boston already - yoga for non-white people only. POC Yoga

  20. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 2

    Wrong. Under the commerce Clause and the various Acts of Congress in support thereof, Congress absolutely has the power to regulate business between the states (even if it is just a mailed check).
    Well settled, discrimination in employment, public accommodation, housing or services is simply illegal.
    Notice that Universities are not public accommodations.

  21. Some animals are more equal than others by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    Preventing discrimination is SUPER important...well, unless it's helpful, right?

    --
    -Styopa
  22. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by x0ra · · Score: 1

    FWIW, I *do* have problem with male/female restroom separation, nobody see what happen behind a closed door...

  23. Why not just show the driver gender? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is stupid. You could just provide the gender to the rider and avoid the whole issue all together. That was, women who feel more comfortable with women drivers are free to do so and the same can be said for men. Drivers could also be given this info, and if the match making is done well enough, the system would be more flexible while providing the same result to both genders. Say a male driver might feel more comfortable driving only males to avoid said issue.

    1. Re:Why not just show the driver gender? by mutantSushi · · Score: 1

      great idea. it'd also be easy to filter for driver race, religion, ethnicity/surname... who could possibly object? and hey, if pesky employment non-discrimination law kicks in... just pull an Uber and call it independent subcontracting. who needs legal community standards, when the future beckons, of atomized piece-work slaves subject to irrational hatreds and fears? maybe serve up some waterboarding with that, since "safety" trumps all, right? or you know, if women are just walking victims-in-becoming, and every male is critical threat that must be avoided, perhaps we can just prevent women from mingling with unknown men completely, outside of the protection of a male family member? just makes sense, right? because safety.

    2. Re:Why not just show the driver gender? by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

      This is stupid. You could just provide the gender to the rider and avoid the whole issue all together. That was, women who feel more comfortable with women drivers are free to do so and the same can be said for men. Drivers could also be given this info, and if the match making is done well enough, the system would be more flexible while providing the same result to both genders. Say a male driver might feel more comfortable driving only males to avoid said issue.

      This is business not dating. That'd be like having a taxi service where you could reject a drive for being a "towelhead". That slides into "Eww she's black I don't want her" territory that we see on things like AirBnb. It doesn't solve the issue it just creates new ones.

      --
      Just another second banana
  24. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by spire3661 · · Score: 1

    "A company having female drivers and catering only to female riders just makes common sense. "

    It might make sense (to you), but it doesnt make it LEGAL.

    --
    Good-bye
  25. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by dumky2 · · Score: 1

    Yes, people discriminate all the time when choose who to associate with. In most cases it's a good thing. You don't want to marry a stupid jerk (rational discrimination) or hire an incompetent employee. Being discriminating is a quality, which is sadly now being confused with being a bigot.
    Attempts to legislate irrational discrimination (bigotry such as not hiring perfectly competent workers because of their skin color or gender) may have good intentions, but they make the situation worse (raise the stakes, force association, paints a target on the back of rational discrimination).
    The best thing you can do with bigots is avoid them and associate with higher quality folks. That's also why such discrimination by the government is a different matter (it's a monopoly).

    --
    These comments are mine; I do not speak for my employer.
  26. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by jklovanc · · Score: 1

    I am 100% certain they will tell you that your car is a 'place of business' and because of that you lost your natural right to discriminate.

    When you do busines in your car , IE taking money for transporting someone, it does become a place of business.

    Slave Codes weren't just an idea, they were laws.

    It was also lawful to beat one's wife with a stick no thicker than a man's thumb. It is call social progress. Just because it was done in the past does not mean it is valid now.
    What happens if all taxi services decide to discriminate against one class of people? That is the problem with laws; it is almost impossible to write a law that allows some discrimination.

  27. Re:YOU FAIL IT.1.. by x0ra · · Score: 1

    did you mean http://goatse.info/ ?

  28. Smell my vagina! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    inhale that funky zuckersnatch

  29. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 0

    What happens if all taxi services decide to discriminate against one class of people? That is the problem with laws; it is almost impossible to write a law that allows some discrimination.

    - in today's society for ALL cabs to decide to discriminate requires an interesting turn of events, the only way for that to happen would be with massive support from most of the entire population, and when you have that type of support that means the laws are about to be written to that effect.

    My point is: on your property you must be able to discriminate whether you are doing any business or not, you shouldn't be losing any rights at all just because you are selling something, you are still an individual dealing with other individuals. Laws that divide people into groups and apply differently to those groups are not good laws, those are horrible laws that lead to destruction of society.

  30. Don't know about you... by denzacar · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...but to me this sounds like a "service" that paints a big giant "I'm so afraid of being assaulted I'll do anything" sign on its customers.
    And on ANY female customers of other "rideshare" services, who happen to be driven by female drivers.

    Basically, if you're a violent criminal and see a woman coming out of a car driven by a woman - you're seeing easy prey.
    Regardless of YOUR gender.

    Bonus points if you're a female criminal with a big, threatening boyfriend.
    You just stop that gullible female who only trusts females and start up a conversation - while your big threatening boyfriend sneaks up from behind.
    Same goes if you're the big threatening boyfriend whose girlfriend is up for playing bait.
    Whoever the woman coming out of a car driven by a woman is - at least she has a mobile phone on her.
    And she is SO AFRAID of being assaulted, she can't even stand to sit next to strange men.
    Easy prey.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    1. Re:Don't know about you... by denzacar · · Score: 0

      ...but to me this sounds like a "service" that paints a big giant "I'm so afraid of being assaulted I'll do anything" sign on its customers.
      And on ANY female customers of other "rideshare" services, who happen to be driven by female drivers.

      Basically, if you're a violent criminal and see a woman coming out of a car driven by a woman - you're seeing easy prey.
      Regardless of YOUR gender.

      Bonus points if you're a female criminal with a big, threatening boyfriend.
      You just stop that gullible female who only trusts females and start up a conversation - while your big threatening boyfriend sneaks up from behind.
      Same goes if you're the big threatening boyfriend whose girlfriend is up for playing bait.
      Whoever the woman coming out of a car driven by a woman is - at least she has a mobile phone on her.
      And she is SO AFRAID of being assaulted, she can't even stand to sit next to strange men.
      Easy prey.

       

       

       
      And a special "Well hello there!" to my down-moderator for voicing his/her disagreement with reality by down modding my original post above.
      We can keep on going like this until you run out of mod points or I run out of copy/paste.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    2. Re:Don't know about you... by denzacar · · Score: 1

      ...but to me this sounds like a "service" that paints a big giant "I'm so afraid of being assaulted I'll do anything" sign on its customers.
      And on ANY female customers of other "rideshare" services, who happen to be driven by female drivers.

      Basically, if you're a violent criminal and see a woman coming out of a car driven by a woman - you're seeing easy prey.
      Regardless of YOUR gender.

      Bonus points if you're a female criminal with a big, threatening boyfriend.
      You just stop that gullible female who only trusts females and start up a conversation - while your big threatening boyfriend sneaks up from behind.
      Same goes if you're the big threatening boyfriend whose girlfriend is up for playing bait.
      Whoever the woman coming out of a car driven by a woman is - at least she has a mobile phone on her.
      And she is SO AFRAID of being assaulted, she can't even stand to sit next to strange men.
      Easy prey.

      And a special "Well hello there - AGAIN!" to my down-moderator for voicing his/her disagreement with reality by down modding my original post above.
      We can keep on going like this until you run out of mod points or I run out of copy/paste. Plenty more where that came from.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  31. insurance? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Will they cover drives on the clock but are open / looking for a fair?
    In route to a fair?

    1. Re:insurance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or even a fare.

  32. This is really a bold business move by thecombatwombat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is not the first company to try this, what they don't say at least up front, is how tricky this business would be.

    According to one in NY, She Taxis only 2% of drivers right now are women.

    Will a lot more women flock to this job if they feel it's safer? It seems from a business point of view, these people are really banking on that being true. All law aside, it's an interesting experiment. I mean this dynamic comes up all the time in most conversations about gender disparity. "If we just got rid of all the harassment, there'd be far more women coders" is something I've heard plenty of times before. This is the closest thing to a controlled experiment we're ever going to see.

    1. Re:This is really a bold business move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Driving a car is a hard job that requires spacial awareness. So men will still be the bulk of the drivers and this startup will never fly.
      Women will be filling the role of the driver right after driving vehicles will be done by software and will require an emergency operator with a big "stop" button and a small "go" button. To point how right I am by bringing facts to the fight I want to mention that vast majority of city train/tram drivers in Russia are women because the UI is basically as i mentioned before.

    2. Re:This is really a bold business move by thejynxed · · Score: 1

      I once worked in a place that had zero, and I mean zero discrimination/harassment or tolerance for it (government rules for contracts, and all of that, monitored and enforced). We had four female employees. Four. Out of sixty at that particular location. They tried for three years to bring in more female coders and mainframe operators but it just wasn't happening. All of their potential recruits kept going into jobs involving child care, HR, PR, health care, teaching, etc. When they actually took a survey of some of these potential recruits, the most common answers as to why they didn't want to get into coding or operations involved even after having completed the precursory requirements at university/college, "The math is too hard.", "The work environment is too demanding and sterile." "Not enough personal interaction."

      Mind you, their observations were true: the math used was/is difficult, and the work environment was sterile, relatively speaking, and demanded that you do your job extremely well, and on time, for ten hours per day, sometimes sitting by yourself at the other end of the building in order to feed a specific batch of tapes into a lone AS/400 parked into the back corner and run the batch scripts it needed to do the job (even programmers and site supervisors got stuck doing this bit of it, nobody got out of it, when it needed to be done, it got done).

      We didn't have any sort of issue recruiting and retaining male employees from everywhere - Lithuania, Vietnam, Ukraine, USA, etc. even including older males who had retired from the traditional workforce but still wanted to work/contribute instead of wasting away in some Florida retirement community.

      What this says or doesn't say about the state of a good chunk of the professional computing world and the applicants it gets or doesn't get, I am not going to speculate on, this was just my observation (and this anecdote from my perspective was true across several jobs/jobsites in the tech sector since the early/mid 1990's until today).

      --
      @Mindless Drivel: 100% of Twitter posts ever Tweeted.
  33. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "A company having white drivers and catering only to white riders just makes common sense. Trying to legislate against common sense is stupid."

  34. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Having male and female public rest/locker-rooms just makes common sense.

    It is common, but it is not common sense. Having unisex bathrooms would make more sense. And yes, I've been to public unisex bathrooms with urinals too, and no, I didn't feel particularly bothered by women walking around behind my back while I was peeing.

  35. Pop some corn, this will be fun to watch by blindseer · · Score: 1

    The legal back and forth on this will be interesting. I think I'll grab a beer and some popcorn and watch the carnage unfold.

    As someone that leans heavily towards leaving the government out of my business and letting the market decide I will say that this is a brilliant business move and the government should just leave this alone.

    I'm reminded of a an incident in my own personal experience. Due to a failing on my part to renew my license to drive in a timely manner I was required to take a driving test to get my license back. I scheduled a time for the test and went for a walk until it was my time. The "test" included a female DOT agent taking a ride in my car with me while I drove around the block. I had to make a proper lane change, follow signage and lights, and generally not screw up for maybe 15 minutes of driving. Now I was alone with this person and excepting that they had my name and address on file I wondered just how much they actually knew about me. Did they run a criminal background check? I mean convicted rapists get licenses to drive after getting out of prison. My test was near the end of the day and so if I just drove off with her in my car would they even notice until the next day?

    I didn't even think of this until I had the woman in my rear view mirror. While driving I was more concerned about keeping both hands on the wheel at 3 and 9 while not screwing up to the point I wouldn't get my license. I also had to wonder if the woman even considered the threat of taking a ride in a stranger's car. I did think that if I had asked her this after my test just how creepy that might have sounded.

    As a male in reasonably good physical condition, at 6' 5" tall, and about 200 pounds, I realize that I have much less to fear in the world than the typical female. I also realize how imposing I may appear to others. If a woman doesn't want to share a car ride with me then whatever, I'm fairly certain that someone will come in to make up for it since that is how a free market works.

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    1. Re:Pop some corn, this will be fun to watch by silas_moeckel · · Score: 1

      Yes that is how the free market works, but if your going to allow one you have to allow the other. The all men golf clubs etc etc etc it's a binary. Modern femisim has turned into equal + sore more "rights".

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    2. Re:Pop some corn, this will be fun to watch by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      I wondered why apartment managers always took my drivers license and stuck it in a locked drawer in the office before showing me an apartment, until I realized: almost always women showing the apartment, I'm a strange male, and by definition they would be alone in the apartment with me. Sadly, it wouldn't actually prevent an attack, but it would assist in tracking down the perpetrator after the fact.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  36. And if we did this for men... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Women would be all up in arms against us, saying it's sexist and what not. But it's totally ok when women do it because they have a vagina isn't it.

  37. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "It was also lawful to beat one's wife with a stick no thicker than a man's thumb."

    And anything you may have said is rendered completely moot because you just repeated the most commonly debunked bullshit statement of all time. Seriously, you quote that, have you been living under a rock for the last three decades? Not, it was never lawful. I can provide many sources if you'd like indicating that it was never lawful, can you provide any source stating it was other than the boondock saints?

  38. Safety Issues? by KermodeBear · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "We want to show there's inequality in safety in our industry,

    Want to fix your safety inequality because males tend to be stronger and more aggressive? Start carrying a pistol. Will it solve all problems? No, but being armed can prevent a bad situation from escalating to a Very Bad situation.

    --
    Love sees no species.
    1. Re:Safety Issues? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, but being armed can prevent a bad situation from escalating to a Very Bad situation.

      Yes, gun is a magic self-aiming upgrade. You don't need to train to use one and there is no concern that the attacker can take your gun away.
       

      Look, I am pro-gun, but it is stupid to assume that without thorough training a gun is going to be useful. Personally, I wouldn't know how to disengage safety on a gun...

    2. Re:Safety Issues? by russotto · · Score: 1

      Yes, gun is a magic self-aiming upgrade.

      Not quite, but many are "point and shoot".

      there is no concern that the attacker can take your gun away.

      Happens vanishingly rarely to those carrying concealed.

    3. Re:Safety Issues? by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      On the otherhand, if more rapists were shot I wouldn't shed any tears.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    4. Re:Safety Issues? by Snufu · · Score: 2

      and the presence of guns can turn a Very Bad situation into a lethal one.

    5. Re:Safety Issues? by blindseer · · Score: 2

      That's not a bug, it's a feature. A very bad situation is a women getting raped, the scum getting away, and the woman reporting the attack to the police. A lethal situation is the woman reporting the death of that scum to the police. While I will not wish death upon anyone I hope God may forgive me if I don't shed a tear for one more rapist killed.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    6. Re:Safety Issues? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      No, a gun isn't magic, but it is an equalizer that gives a much smaller, weaker person a fighting chance against a larger, strong aggressor... usually just be brandishing the weapon. That being said, I would like there to be much more stringent requirements for training and demonstrated proficiency before giving people concealed carry permits.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    7. Re:Safety Issues? by Snufu · · Score: 1

      What if the rapist brought a gun, but didn't plan to use it until the victim showed hers? Now she's dead.

    8. Re:Safety Issues? by blindseer · · Score: 1

      What if the rapist brought a gun, but didn't plan to use it until the victim showed hers? Now she's dead.

      I hear this a lot, the criminal will just kill you, or take your gun and use it against you, or give them what they want and they won't hurt you.

      So, we tell women to disarm themselves because like you say the thug will only rape them and let them live. Then what is to stop them? What kind of world would that be? We know what that world is like, Jamaica. Jamaica has some very strict gun control laws. I recall reading a story about life in Jamaica and there are crime stats to back it up. In some parts of Jamaica half of the population does not know who their father is because rape is so rampant. That story I read is that if a woman was not raped at least once in their teens then they'd be called a "mule", a reference to a mule being unable to reproduce and being unattractive. That idea that a woman would just end up dead if they carry a gun is asinine. If the thugs know that a woman cannot fight back then they have no fear. Put a little fear in their hearts and they are much less likely to commit crimes. Also, if a thug waits until a woman shows a gun before they use their own then they must rely on the fact that they are faster on the trigger every time, it takes only one woman to get a good shot in first to end this one thug.

      Also, a disarmed woman is relying on the mercy of the thug to let them live. They don't know if the thug will kill them or not. Anyone that is assaulting a woman like that should face potentially lethal force from the woman.

      So give them what they want and they won't hurt you, but isn't getting raped rather hurtful? If they know a particular woman will not fight back and submit every time then what is to stop that woman from getting raped repeatedly?

      You are one sadistic fucker if you think that a woman should not carry a gun and just allow themselves to get raped.

      Oh, and Jamaica has a serious murder problem too. Gun control will do that. So you have some sick in the head thugs out there that get their jollies by raping, murdering, and thieving, and they do so in relative safety because few people own guns. Because so few people learn how to properly use a gun at a young age they have to import police officers because the locals can't hit the side of barn from the inside.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    9. Re:Safety Issues? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (...as can the absence of guns.)

    10. Re:Safety Issues? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Weapons can be taken by an attacker. By the time you recognize someone as a real threat they might be too close for you to pull and use a weapon. Martial arts and self defense skills are far better. They can never be taken from you, can't be turned against you, are cheaper and easier to learn, its far harder to accidentally injure a bystander, and legal everywhere.

    11. Re:Safety Issues? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Yes but only if the stronger person doesn't have a gun.

      I'm glad all the the solution to the gun problem is more gun psychos are bunched together in one country.

    12. Re: Safety Issues? by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

      Guns are also capable of escalating a situation from nothing to a murder. Google some fuckwad named George Zimmerman if you want an example.

    13. Re: Safety Issues? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol....Jamaica.

      What the fuck is wrong with you low achieving hillbilly gun nut retards ??

      You actually managed to save up a few hundred bucks for a few days in Jamaica from your burger flipping job ?

      Wow, you must be the most well travelled and cosmopolitan redneck in your local biker bar !

      Maybe if you violent dumbfucks stopped trying to rape everything in sight then American women wouldn't need to have guns ??

    14. Re:Safety Issues? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So long as I'm the one carrying, that is acceptable.

    15. Re: Safety Issues? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent debate technique. Insult the debater instead of addressing the argument.

    16. Re:Safety Issues? by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      If they know a particular woman will not fight back and submit every time then what is to stop that woman from getting raped repeatedly?

      If they submit willingly, then it isn't rape, right? See everything works out fine if nobody has a gun! [/sarcasm tag]

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  39. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Actually, the 'beat your wife with a stick' law is a myth , at least for the US. However, it's condoned, even encouraged in other parts of the world. Interestingly enough, the US is bending over backwards to be tolerant of those parts of the world where wife-beating is the norm...

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  40. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    How about a local taxi company that does NOT cross State lines? Like one focused on a single city - say Boston?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  41. I blame my math degree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and 10 years in digital logic hardware design as the source of most of my modern angst and confusion.

  42. "Ridesharing" or taxi? by pereric · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Both Uber and this service seems to provide a service where you order someone to drive you somewhere, without that person actually having any errand of their own to that place. To me that's not "ridesharing", it's taxi. "Ridesharing" to me is when you intend to drive somewhere, and check if someone else wish to ride along. And share expenses like fuel and perhaps vehicle depreciation, but nothing more.

    Just having drivers being independent contractors instead of employed doesn't make a big difference end-user-wise to me (well except a lack of quality control, as shown by Uber) - it's still functionally a taxi service. This service (with good intentions) seems to make it even more like regular taxi operations by also emphasizing background checks and such.

    Have I misunderstood "ridesharing", or are the "ridesharing" companies just trying to change the word to use for their "sure-not-a-taxi" taxi service?

    1. Re: "Ridesharing" or taxi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it even matter if a service is a taxi or ride sharing service? Saying it is a ride sharing service doesn't mean it can't be regulated.

    2. Re:"Ridesharing" or taxi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, round these parts Uber is now equivalent to a limousine service. The government did this by de-regulating limousine services and dropping the registration fee. So like limousine drivers Uber drivers can take bookings but can't pick from cab ranks. So, not a taxi, but definitely not ride-sharing either.

      As to the main article, I'd be surprised if this was found to be any more discriminatory than male and female toilets are.

    3. Re:"Ridesharing" or taxi? by thejynxed · · Score: 1

      They are taxi services trying to skirt around the rules, costs, and regulations of being an actual taxi service - most notably the rules, costs, and regulations associated with employees and their vehicles.

      --
      @Mindless Drivel: 100% of Twitter posts ever Tweeted.
    4. Re:"Ridesharing" or taxi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it started out as ride sharing, like somebody said "Hey, I'm already going on that side of town, why don't I make an app to see if anybody else nearby wants to go with me?"

      But then it turned out that the number of people already going to some place that somebody wanted to go was fairly small, however the number of people willing to drive anywhere for money was fairly large. So ride sharing turned into a taxi server, but they still call it ride sharing because somebody could only drive people to places they're already going.

      dom

  43. Discrimination is fine unless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In my experience, it generally seems that discrimination in some form is acceptable unless it's a straight white male or his organization doing the discriminating.

  44. Hidden Agenda? by khz6955 · · Score: 1

    It would be interesting to know who made these complaints to Uber and who leaked the Uber’s Zendesk screenshots. It would also be interesting to know why they leaked to BuzzFeed News instead of the police sexual assault unit. Might a good suspect reside at "Chariot for Women".

  45. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'Collectivist' is just a right wing whine word for 'somebody wants to tell me to behave and I don't like it'. It loses all actual dictionary meaning when you use it like that, but at least I know I'll never have a rational discussion with you.

    For everyone else paying attention I'd ask this: when is it ok? I'm standing in a hotel cab line and a female driver doesn't want to drive me even though I'm next in line. Is that ok? What if it's because I'm black? (I'm not, but I know they already have to put up with crap like this). What if it's a male driver and he doesn't want to drive me because the next customer in line is a hot female? When does this become not ok, or when does it become such a pain in the ass that nobody gets anywhere because we're all waiting for the perfect algorithmically matched stranger we'll never see again to drive us 5 miles?

    One can say we carry anti discrimination laws too far too. I think we have in some cases, and not far enough in others. That's a fair debate. Some kinds of discrimination are indeed rational.

    One would think a right wing libertarian type would rejoice at the opportunity here to prove what a reverse-discriminatory farce some of our laws have been twisted into. Instead we just get more of the myth that your public business is somehow nobody else's business at all because you personally are a rational saint who'd never do anything wrong and everyone else in the fantasy world libertarians live in is exactly the same way.

  46. Japan by fulldecent · · Score: 1

    Would anybody like to comment on other countries where culture and law may make this more palatable?

    The first that comes to mind for me is Japan and the women-only subway cars. I would like to ask if anyone knows more about the culture there and whether that rule could be extended in this way.

    --

    -- I was raised on the command line, bitch

    1. Re:Japan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Germany is doing the same, but then again, German politicians have been doing everything wrong for the past few years.

  47. So is it now okay to have men only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    services and places?

    1. Re:So is it now okay to have men only by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

      Men-only clubs still exist in the US. Ever heard of a fraternity?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:So is it now okay to have men only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats a club not a service or place of business.

      You are still allowed to hang no girls allowed signs in your tree house. You just can't provide a service or place of business open to the general public and refuse to serve someone.

  48. The assumption being... by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    That no woman would assault another woman and no man would assault another man. I have personally witnessed two women who had been living together get into a major domestic violence situation with one another. Several people, myself included, called 911 to report it and the dispatcher (a women, btw) said, "Oh, it's nothing. It's two women." Uh...WHAT?!?!?

    1. Re:The assumption being... by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      I guess the fucked-up standard that our crazy society determines is that its not a problem because woman-on-woman violence somehow can never be "real" violence, or sexually motivated.

    2. Re:The assumption being... by antdude · · Score: 1

      Or woman assault a man. :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    3. Re:The assumption being... by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

      There is a HUGE gender bias in the enforcement of domestic violence laws, to the point that a woman can do anything they want to a man, but if the man defends himself, he goes to jail. Yes, I too have a problem with people perpetuating the myth that domestic violence is something that men do to women and children, with the fact is that violence is something that people do to people, Personally, I have never assaulted a woman, but I've been assaulted by women on multiple occasions, and police never pressed charges against the woman. That being said, there is ample legal precedent for starting businesses that serve only women and are staffed by only women, so I suspect the safety argument would be considered sufficient grounds to justify discrimination in this case. Also, even though they are using only female drivers, they are STILL running exhaustive background checks on them! Not sure what they are doing to blacklist violent customers...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  49. Stupid by MBGMorden · · Score: 2

    This whole thing is stupid and accusatory. Basically, the idea seems to be that if you're male, you're automatically suspected of being a rapist or mugger.

    That's OK. If I want to use the service I'll just decide to identify as a girl (a really, really butch girl) for the duration of the ride. Just because I identify as a woman doesn't mean I can't wear short hair, a t-shirt/jeans, and men's cologne . . .

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    1. Re: Stupid by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      That doesn't work...

      By definition you can't "decide to" identify as something. Identity is a deep innate psychological thing.

      Sure you can CLAIM to identify as a woman. But that's a very different thing.

      How can someone make rules that distinguish "identify as woman" vs "claim to identify as woman"? - presumably with some kind of "reasonableness" criterion just like the rest of the law.

    2. Re: Stupid by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      How can someone make rules that distinguish "identify as woman" vs "claim to identify as woman"? - presumably with some kind of "reasonableness" criterion just like the rest of the law.

      There is no way to do it which is both fair and uninvasive. If you think there is, then stop waving your hands and make specific declarations.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you're male, you're automatically suspected of being a rapist or mugger.

      The real injustice is assuming that rapists and muggers are bad people. Rapists just have a sexuality outside the norm, and muggers are just redistributing wealth. They're both "punching up", which is A-OK in terms of Social Justice. Stop oppressing people simply for being different. I bet you're a Trump supporter. He hates rapists and muggers.

    4. Re:Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > (a really, really butch girl)

      One that rapes drivers with a strap-on?

  50. Why not? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I too would love to disregard discrimination laws when convenient.

  51. Apparently JC laws were against Business Interests by thewolfkin · · Score: 2

    You think without those laws that southern business owners would not have been racist?

    You ignorant jackass. The reason they were made into laws is because many business owners would not abide by them as unwritten rules so the government stepped in and made it against the law to not discriminate. This is historical fact. Read some fucking history you stupid piece of shit.

    ----- ===== -----

    Your premise is that without Jim Crow Laws businesses would have integrated smoothly without issue?

    You're flat out wrong Anon. Businesses made them put those Jim Crows laws on the books because they weren't going to integrate otherwise. Read a book or something. You know what you n ever read about regarding Jim Crow? Any business that complained about having to separate black customers from white.

    Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation. Craniologists, eugenicists, phrenologists, and Social Darwinists, at every educational level, buttressed the belief that blacks were innately intellectually and culturally inferior to whites. Pro-segregation politicians gave eloquent speeches on the great danger of integration: the mongrelization of the white race. Newspaper and magazine writers routinely referred to blacks as niggers, coons, and darkies; and worse, their articles reinforced anti-black stereotypes. Even children's games portrayed blacks as inferior beings (see "From Hostility to Reverence: 100 Years of African-American Imagery in Games"). All major societal institutions reflected and supported the oppression of blacks.

    Sure the ministers, politicians and scientists all say black people are inferior but hey businesses don't care about that because even back then they were run by automatons who aren't influenced by social pressures and clearly only care about money and literally nothing else. /sarcasm.

    I'll tell you what you find me ANYTHING that suggests businesses were open to mixing customers in the era of Jim Crow because I have read up on black culture and I've seen nothing to suggest any businesses were open to that much less many much less most of them.

    --
    Just another second banana
  52. All-Black Ridesharing To Debut In Boston by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I've noticed African Americans ("blacks" for short) tend to be on the receiving end of a lot of abuse in Boston. I'm going to start a blacks only ridesharing service for their protection. And all black schools too. Statistics show its more dangerous for a black student to attend a school that has a lot of white (non-black) students, or if they don't, I think they can be made to show that shortly. We must keep the schools split for everyone's protection.

    How many generations is it going to take to stop this shit? Or are the newer generations not learning anything from history?

  53. No such thing as an absolute right by scamper_22 · · Score: 1

    There is almost never a thing as an absolute right.

    But it will definitely be interest.
    If the stats show more women are assaulted by men in these ride sharing services, there for it is a safety issue to have a women only service.

    At first glance, it seems plausible, but the easy test is to just replace the criteria.

    If the stats show more whites are assault by blacks in service X, is there a safety issue that would allow a 'whites' only service?

  54. How is this not gender discrimination? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Discrimination is treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing is perceived to belong to rather than on individual merit.

    Now explain to me how is this not gender discrimination?

    1. Re:How is this not gender discrimination? by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

      How is the Girl Scouts refusing to accept male members not gender discrimination? And yet nobody has a problem with it...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  55. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    If it's MY car I can decide who and what sex, color and/or what part of town I operate(period) Just as I can decide whether or not to work with a taxi service that discriminates. You can't fix stupid.

    - that should be the case, but it's not. The collectivists in government backed by the mob have collectively decided that an individual running a business on his or her own private property must lose his or her rights to discriminate because they run a business now, though they had this right as individual.

    You seem to forget that before government intervention, integration wasn't going to happen. Slavery was law not because the government demanded it but because the (white) people did. If it was up to businesses they would just not bother serving black people or sexual minorities, or muslims. And with no one to tell them not to suddenly being born looking like a Muslim affects where you can shop. That's WHY we have non descrimination laws for businesses.

    --
    Just another second banana
  56. New Geek Ride Service by EEPROMS · · Score: 2

    Many IT professionals complained they had issues with Uber drivers who ask inane technical questions once they found out their customer was an IT professional. This has lead to a new taxi service where all the drivers must have advanced emacs and vi skills thus helping their customers avoid having to ask the driver "have you tried turning it off and on again".

    1. Re:New Geek Ride Service by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What a stupid idea. You're just going to alienate potential customers who will feel threatened by their drivers.

      I will start a ride sharing service where the drivers have advanced knowledge in emacs alone, and potential customers need to show they aren't vi users before they get on.

    2. Re:New Geek Ride Service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You insensitive clod! I think you mean:-

      "This has lead to a new taxi service where all the drivers must have advanced emacs OR vi skills "

      I thankyew...

    3. Re:New Geek Ride Service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      must have advanced emacs and vi skills

      0 people found. Come on, someone who identifies as having advanced vi skills would never admit knowing anything about emacs besides howto use it to install vi.

    4. Re:New Geek Ride Service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A vi user and an emacs user in an enclosed space? Are you insane?

  57. Can we see the stats? by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Without any actual stats to back them up, I'm far more inclined to believe that this is just more feminazi man-hating bullshit than the result of a real epidemic of rapist Uber drivers.

    1. Re:Can we see the stats? by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      To be clear, by "actual stats" I mean reported/prosecuted drivers.

    2. Re:Can we see the stats? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your post says more about you then it does about the cab company.

    3. Re:Can we see the stats? by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      As does yours about you, especially the fact that you're not even brave enough to attach your user id to your own post.

  58. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 0

    Slavery was law not because the government demanded it but because the (white) people did.

    - slavery was law because it was acceptable for slavery to exist. There were black slave owners as well, by the way, plenty.

    Today slavery is not acceptable for vast majority of people so to say that many businesses would have slaves simply because the laws regarding prohibition of slavery would disappear is disingenuous. There are *always some* people who would own slaves, laws or no laws. Vast majority of businesses today do not discriminate not because of laws but because it is bad for business.

    My point stands, people must be able discriminate if they wish so, it is their right. Most people would not discriminate as business owners because it is bad for business. A business discriminating today will face PR nightmare in the social media and other news. IF they do not care about it then it must not be that relevant for vast majority of their customers because a business will very rarely take a hit to the bottom line for any type of ideology.

  59. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Paleolibertarian · · Score: 1

    Libertarians believe in the Non-Aggression Principle. (Look it up) In one case, my car my rules as long as I don't employ violence against patrons it's my business. In the other case it's simple violence of a man against his wife. Actually even the concept of the language is wrong. A man cannot own a woman nor vice versa. Nor can a man simply rape his wife anytime he likes. Rape is violence.

    Your example is just silly.

    Forcing somebody to pick up somebody against their will is simple slavery. Just because I may be operating on public streets doesn't make it not slavery.

    Forcing a business that caters to the public to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding is slavery. Just because the business caters to the public doesn't make it not slavery.

    Those who would initiate violence to force somebody to do something they do not wish to do is a criminal. It doesn't matter if it's in a private home, on a public street on on the moon.

  60. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    Don't forget that government usurped the authority to engage in all sorts of activities that government works hard to deny to individuals, for example murder. Murder is used by government on daily basis whether it is death penalty, improper police activity, any sort of military conflict, trade barriers, anything that stops free trade between people. Even inflation (money printing) leads to murder because it destroys the health of the economy. Unhealthy economies breed criminality and murder.

    Government has authority over individuals that it denies individuals to have. When we outsource violence to governments, give them the license to kill, we end up with governments that use these authorities more and more just because they can.

    Violence must be kept to individuals, government violence is what should be outlawed.

  61. So here it is - equal but more equal. by kuzb · · Score: 1

    All-female services are sexist. They presuppose that all men are evil rapists, and then they go a step further to exclude them entirely. I wonder if a man applying for a job could file a gender discrimination suit when they tell him they won't hire him because he's a man.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  62. Illegal by tsotha · · Score: 1

    This is patently illegal in the US, though in this political climate they may get away with it.

    1. Re:Illegal by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Actually, since the Equal Rights Amendment was never ratified, there is no constitutional requirement to treat men and women exactly the same. There are plenty of businesses that give preferences to women and get away with it.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:Illegal by tsotha · · Score: 1

      Most things that are illegal are constitutional, so whether the ERA passed or not is immaterial.

      You can provide different services to men and women if there's a basis for doing so (which is why dry cleaners charge more for a woman's blouse - it's more work for the dry cleaner). But you can't just refuse service based on sex unless it's a private club.

      They might get away with it, but it's still illegal. I'd be surprised if they lasted three months before being sued out of business.

  63. slavery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Political correctness is all about getting special rights for special people, while denying those rights to others and forcing others to pay for the special peoples rights and benefits.

  64. Re:Apparently JC laws were against Business Intere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll tell you what you find me ANYTHING that suggests businesses were open to mixing customers in the era of Jim Crow because I have read up on black culture and I've seen nothing to suggest any businesses were open to that much less many much less most of them.

    You need to read some more books, bud. Businesses want money. If some businesses would have actively discriminated while others hadn't, the former would promptly gotten out-competed and would have been gone. Only by government fiat can that kind of discrimination work. Get a clue.

  65. Here is what service people say by Trachman · · Score: 1

    Women are lousier tippers, as a rule. Also, if you are a taxi driver, a professional, and you work in location where you have to wait for the taxi calls, you really want both men and women as your clients.

    All women service will be either more expensive, or less profitable, or less available because there are fewer female drivers. Statistically, female drivers make more accidents in the city driving (men cause less accidents yet they are deadlier) and, in the long term, insurance premiums will go up.

    Further, as few already noticed. Discrimination on the basis of gender in unlawful. However, I don't think that men give a flying s**t about such all-female services.

    Finally, if somebody needs an example, they should visit Hair Dresser - All Female service place. Prices are just obscene, from men's point of view.

  66. This is Massachusetts, land of disarming laws by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    In saner states, that would be doable. The firearm-disarming legislature all but precludes that from (legally) happening there.

    Doesn't seem to stop criminals though.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:This is Massachusetts, land of disarming laws by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Actually, I was showing "reductio ad absurdem" why this argument cannot work in any state.

  67. but, according to the Boston Globe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The leaders of Boston have passed a travel ban against North Carolina over the attempt to keep women and children safe by keeping people with male parts out of the ladies' rooms...

    Sex-based discrimination in the name of perceived safety is clearly completely impermissible in liberal Boston. How can they allow this in their own city while banning travel to other places that do similar things? Why are they not banning travel to cities (and other entire nations) where cabs (and restrooms and showers and locker rooms) are segregated by sex? (oh, yeah.... then they'd have to ban travel to all the super-wealthy Muslim nations that invest massive fortunes made on petroleum in big Boston-based businesses.

    Nothing like leftist hypocrisy.

  68. Sue the fuck out of them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It doesn't matter what their reasoning is, you can't discriminate based on gender.

  69. Isn't the legality question already settled? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Female-only health clubs like Curves for Women are still in business. Girls Scouts still accepts only female members. Men-only clubs still exist in the US! Fraternities and Sororities are still gender-specific. Women can run women-only massage businesses. Sex workers can be selected on the basis of gender and sex... apparently it is legal to "discriminate" on the basis of sex and/or gender if you can state valid reasons to do so, e.g. for safety.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Isn't the legality question already settled? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those things aren't considered "public accommodations." Transportation, housing, hotels, restaurants, etc have different rules.

  70. Re: Apparently JC laws were against Business Inter by countach74 · · Score: 3

    While I agree with you that businesses are there to make money, and are generally willing to forego personal prejudices in order to undercut the competition, there is a flaw in your argument. It can be financial suicide to go against what the surrounding culture wants. For example, if a region is racist, it may be a competitive advantage in the short term to go against the grain by expanding your hiring pool or clientele base by hiring and serving the minority group. However, this is likely to upset the majority, as they generally dislike the minority. A boycott or two later and you're bankrupt. Now all of that said, I tend to agree with what I think your overall point is, which is that private enterprise generally does a better job of being inclusive of different people groups than governments.

  71. Re: Apparently JC laws were against Business Inter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You need a better citation than just "more books."

  72. idiotic by slashmydots · · Score: 2

    Ever heard of the term "personal responsibility." I don't go to the gas station at night with a wallet full of money without my taser and my pistol. If you live in some backwards anti-gun liberal shit hole that doesn't let you carry one, MOVE. At the very least get some pepper spray.

    1. Re:idiotic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever heard of the term "personal responsibility." I don't go to the gas station at night with a wallet full of money without my taser and my pistol. If you live in some backwards anti-gun liberal shit hole that doesn't let you carry one, MOVE. At the very least get some pepper spray.

      Pepper spray?
      read this Section 5(1)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968 and weep...

    2. Re:idiotic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you live in the sort of shithole where you NEED to carry a gun, MOVE!

    3. Re:idiotic by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Ever heard of the term "personal responsibility." I don't go to the gas station at night with a wallet full of money without my taser and my pistol

      Err I do. What the fuck kind of country do you live in where you can't go to get gas at night without the expectation not to be mugged or shot?

    4. Re:idiotic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, what? You don't feel safe going to the gas station at night without being armed with two separate weapons?

      Is this normal in your neck of the woods? Like, everybody does this? Or is it contingent on the wallet full of cash?

    5. Re:idiotic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He doesn't have any weapons, he's just trying to sound tough.

  73. assault? Did you mean compliment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Assault? Did you mean compliment?

  74. Wrong target by Chrisq · · Score: 1

    It would be much better and more productive to have an all non-Muslim ride service

  75. Wrong way by xenobyte · · Score: 1

    What we need is NOT more gender separation, this time under the pretense of 'safety', but an actual fix that will bring safety without separation.

    In other words - we need to go for the cause of the safety concerns - bad male behavior. This is not an easy fix because some areas of society is saturated with misogynistic attitudes, culture and traditions. This is made worse by the lack of consequence for men behaving badly, which easily can escalate into more rude and abusive behavior.

    I can't say what the solution here is. A swift kick in the groin and a whack over the head may feel nice but I doubt it will have any long term effect on the rude behavior. Maybe we really need to directly outlaw catcalling and similar 'soft' abusive behavior, along with actual groping and similar invasive behavior, and punish with stiff fines and a stint behind bars.

    --
    "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
    1. Re:Wrong way by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      Has anyone told you today?

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
  76. QED in Japan. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Japan there are trains with sections cordoned off for female-only use, because skirt-up photo and other perverted kinds of abuse are a problem and ladies want to be safe. Thus, there is legal and enforcable precedent for voluntarily female segregation in a highly advanced democracy that is an ally of the USA.

  77. Re: Apparently JC laws were against Business Inter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I make enough money in my business that out-competing isn't really an issue. I have no desire to serve black customers, nor hire black employees (for a variety of reasons).

    As a pragmatic matter, failure to serve them results in the law coming down on you. I don't want that. Societal backlash? Bring it on. I have no problem defending racism in in-person dealings.

    I have little desire to deal with large-scale harassment from whining individuals on the internet who are not my customers, hence posting as AC.

  78. German railway introduces women-only carriages by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 2

    German railway introduces women-only carriages.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com...

    Something is going the wrong way.

  79. WERE. Not WHERE. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WHERE is the car? WHERE are we going?

    Even if they WERE the ones. Black people WERE considered somehow bad. The genitals you WERE born with.

    How the fuck do people keep fucking up these two simple words? "Were" and "where" don't even fucking sound the same.

  80. Uber/Lyft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Probably already got mentioned, but why not just a a feature to Uber to only allow female drivers to pick you up?

    It's not that this idea of having a female only service is necessarily bad. But it's discriminatory at it's core. And could set a really ugly precedent. I've had a few female friends were assaulted either by family or lovers. So I can understand the PTSD and the need for this type of service. But this is an opportunity for companies like Uber and Lyft to step up their game and offer these features in their service.

  81. I'm fine with that, but then don't call men only by Kartu · · Score: 1

    I'm fine with that, but then don't call men only clubs sexist. Like here, for instance:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

    And other points raised by this angry MR guy:.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  82. Women drivers, in Boston by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to switch to public transit, because many of the Boston women drivers are aggressive, *and* clueless *and* flipping out emotionally when they hit busy traffic. The Boston men drivers are one or the other, never all 3 at once.

    Yes, I drive in Boston and have for 30 years, personally and professionally working ambulance. I get honked at and rude gestures because I stop at stop signs, and because I wave people on, and stop to let people cross the road. When some idiot whips across three lanes of traffic on 93 to get to the exit they failed to read the stops for for the last 2 miles, it's *always* someone dressed and made up as a woman. And whoever's bright idea it was to put them all in SUV's and make them park in "compact" car spaces, I'd like to shoot.

  83. Sue 'em to death by MitchDev · · Score: 2

    Discrimination against men.

    The law works both ways, bitches

  84. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you are saying.... If everyone discriminates against one group, it must be because they deserve it.

    What the fuck??

  85. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Inflation is murder"

    Ok now I know you are trolling. Please try harder.

  86. Bigger picture by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

    Funny how this isn't an issue with taxi services. Only when you dick around with livery service laws does this become a problem.

  87. Re:Apparently JC laws were against Business Intere by j-beda · · Score: 1

    I'll tell you what you find me ANYTHING that suggests businesses were open to mixing customers in the era of Jim Crow because I have read up on black culture and I've seen nothing to suggest any businesses were open to that much less many much less most of them.

    You need to read some more books, bud. Businesses want money. If some businesses would have actively discriminated while others hadn't, the former would promptly gotten out-competed and would have been gone. Only by government fiat can that kind of discrimination work. Get a clue.

    There are many examples of "the free market" having little or no impact in places with large scale behaviour that we now find repugnant. "Whites only" golf clubs were not out-competed by integrated ones for example, thus it in not "only" my government fiat that such things exist.

  88. This is not about safer rides for women by Theovon · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The founder of Chariot for Women admits to this.

    This is about bringing general safety issues into the spotlight so that they’ll be taken more seriously. If this were rides for men only, then they’d just get slammed. But it’s for women only, ostensibly because of some safety issues that people know have a grain of truth in the backs of their minds. Nobody will argue against the fact that some women have been attacked, and the attacks were perpetrated by men. When this is challenged in court (because it is sexist, intentionally so, to make a point), it will receive a much deeper level of critical analysis.

    Women are the primary population segment that still receives discrimination, often in reverse. I’ve seen instances where women (a minority of applicants) were actually preferred for jobs over men, despite some uncertainties, because the employees were mostly men, and the employer felt it was important to strive for gender balance, as long as they could be reasonably sure they weren’t hiring underqualified applicants.

  89. And this new service is called.... by gachunt · · Score: 1

    Hootbers

  90. How can they claim safety by pastafazou · · Score: 2

    And then turn around and make all their drivers female?

  91. So, no such thing as lesbians, then. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And no woman ever beats up or murders other people, 'cos it's only men you have to be scared of?

    Sounds legit.

  92. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    No, I am saying that a society where majority discriminates against one group will pass laws making that discrimination legal, so the point is moot, because unless that happens there will be no massive discrimination against one group by any type of majority (of businesses or individuals).

    If that argument is too complicated for you, I understand.

  93. Then apply to terrorism or crime and... by Holi · · Score: 1

    "We hope to go to the US Supreme Court to say that if there's safety involved" there is nothing wrong with waiving people's 1st and 4th amendment rights.

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  94. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    "Inflation is murder"

    Ok now I know you are trolling. Please try harder.

    - you know nothing.

    Inflation is murder. Inflation is expansion of money supply, in today's world all money is fiat, so inflation is money printing. Money printing goes together with interest rate manipulation below market savings rate. Destroying savings by interest rate manipulation destroys ability to invest into productive land, capital and labour, which prevents business formation and destroys existing businesses.

    Destroying business leads to unemployment, unemployment leads to murder and other forms of death.

  95. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Holi · · Score: 1

    And hence the reason, during one of our governments more reasonable times we made that kind of discrimination illegal. And if you are claiming that there is not massive discrimination in this country anymore then you are extremely naive or racist as fuck.

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  96. Can't have it both ways, liberals... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can't say that this proposed service is good and at the same time say that "transgendered people" can pick their own restrooms to use.

  97. Re: Apparently JC laws were against Business Inter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Give some proof you cretin! You're just trying to push your libertarian shit.

  98. Scores of women have reported assaults by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Scores of women have reported assaults by Uber drivers"

    And yet most of them don't result in convictions, because they're false. Women wake up with an attitude problem one day and suddenly that taxi driver who is refusing to give them a free ride has magically raped them through the power of the insane female mind.

    I have an idea, let's just segregate women and men in society. You'd probably still see women accusing men they've never met of some kind of harassment. Eventually, "I dreamed it" and "I fantasized it" are going to be valid testimony in court as long as they get to put a man in prison for it.

  99. Chariots for Whites by DontTrustWhatIType · · Score: 1

    Because whites feel unsafe when driven by non-whites.

    For those too lazy to read, it's probably not going to hold in court and these geniuses may be in a world of hurt soon.

  100. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by jklovanc · · Score: 1

    Did you forget the civil rights movement in the '60s? There were national anti discrimination laws but discrimination was still widespread in the south. What if it is a small town and the only taxi company didn't like homosexuals? The town would not have enough pull to change the State or National law but locally it would be difficult fr homosexuals to get transportation.

  101. Pleas by phorm · · Score: 1

    The plea system is often broken because they use it to give the appearance of leniency while at the same time throwing the book at you. In reality it's to save court-time.

    Well, we're offering you only two year in jail if you plead guilty to minor crime X, but if you don't please we're going to f***'ing nail you with A through Z and if any of that sticks, you're looking at 10+ years. Feel like copying any MORE movies, punk?

    1. Re:Pleas by karmatic · · Score: 1

      The plea system is often broken because they use it to give the appearance of leniency while at the same time throwing the book at you. In reality it's to save court-time.

      I'm very, very well aware.

      For possession of a firecracker (no damage to people or property), I was forced to plead guilty to a felony in order to avoid a mandatory minimum 5 year sentence if convicted.

      That's one of the ways that black people get screwed by the system. They are less likely to take the deal, and fight for their day in court. As the song goes, "I fought the law, and the law won."

  102. If safety trumps equality laws by KenHansen · · Score: 1

    Then minority passengers will find it much harder to hail a taxi.

  103. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    I agree, it would be difficult to get a cab for a homosexual (if he or she was identified as such) to get a cab in a town with one cab company that discriminated because vast majority of residents didn't care or discriminated as well. So what? I don't see the problem with this at all, nobody should be forced to provide any service to anybody.

    You are free to set up a different cab company that didn't do this, you have alternatives, such as other means of public transportation, you can lease or purchase your own vehicle, you can live somewhere else.

    There is no and there should be no obligation upon anybody to provide anybody with anything under any circumstances whatever your morals of today are.

  104. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    Am I racist and does it matter? I run a company, I have various people working for me that I hired, I have a black individual, a Chinese person, a Jewish person, some Ukrainians and Russians. I had all sorts of people working for me, of Indian, Chinese, Arabic, African, Russian, Ukrainian, American descent. Whether I am a racist or not is a moot question, I hire people based on their ability and that is all it is. My clients are of all sorts of races, colours, religions, languages, etc.

    Now, am I naive? Do I not understand that there will be people who will discriminate and there will be those, who will be inconvenienced? Hardly. I understand what discrimination is and what it can do, it can even cause death on a severe occasion.

    Do I think that any of the above matters to my point? Not even slightly. My point is about individual freedom to discriminate, not about anybody's entitlements (which shouldn't exist) or convenience (which may or may not be provided by other private individuals running their own businesses).

    No, I am not naive, I know that there are racist people, no I don't think I am racist but more importantly I do not act racist.

    Does the same argument apply to gender or sex or ethnicity or religion or language as to race discrimination? I think so.

    My point stands. Nobody should be forced by any government to provide anybody with any services or products under any circumstances regardless of the morality of the situation.

  105. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    Does the company do business wiith Mastercard? Interstate.
    AmEx? Interstate
    Insured by Prudential? Interstate.
    Gas from Exxon? Interstate.
    This is settled law. Your "Privacy" to violate others 14th Amendment rights does not exist and enforcement based on the Commerce Clause is well established.
    That's easy.

  106. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by jklovanc · · Score: 1

    Or the person who wants to discriminate can move to a country that does not have anti-discrimination laws. When a society decides that discrimination is unlawful it is a good thing.

  107. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    Or the person who wants to discriminate can move to a country that does not have anti-discrimination laws. When a society decides that discrimination is unlawful it is a good thing.

    - no, it's a horrible thing to use government oppression to dictate behaviour, especially discriminating behaviour.

    Society deciding that discrimination is immoral and thus businesses or individuals who discriminate suffering PR consequences is one thing, using the government oppression to 'stop discrimination' while in reality discriminating through government laws is a different thing altogether.

    So you think government does not discriminate? Laws should apply to people in the same way, why are people running businesses all of a sudden having their rights taken away from them? Government discriminates even with the very 'anti-discrimination' laws by splitting people into categories and then applying different rules to them.

  108. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no, the rule of thumb origin story is a myth.

    beating your wife with a stick however was not a myth.
    it was completely legal under english common law, until the reign of Charles II, in 1660 (beating was out, but household confinement was still allowed).
    that still leaves ~80 years of beatings allowed in the colonies.

    and of course that's just the law side.
    culturally, it persisted a bit longer, especially the further you were from the crown's reach.

    also, way to link to the website of a hate group.
    who do you read for info on Judaism? The Aryan Nation?

  109. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by dywolf · · Score: 1

    your ignorance is legend.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  110. Gynecologists don't see men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm a guy. I tried to make an appointment with a gynecologist but she said she only accepts women patients. This is discrimination!

  111. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    Is it? Did YOU end up profiting from the housing collapse? How about the coming dollar and bond collapse, do you know what to do? Legend indeed.

  112. Re: Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by jklovanc · · Score: 1

    - no, it's a horrible thing to use government oppression to dictate behaviour, especially discriminating behaviour.

    The people dictate that many behaviours are not acceptable and enforce it with laws. Punching someone is called assault. Telling lies about someone is slander.

    PR consequences is one thing

    PR consequences is quite often not enough to change behaviour.

    why are people running businesses all of a sudden having their rights taken away from them?

    What rights would those be?

    Government discriminates even with the very 'anti-discrimination' laws by splitting people into categories and then applying different rules to them.

    That may be true but only in very specific cases. Just because the government discriminates in certain instances does not men discrimination is a good thing in all cases.

  113. Re:Apparently JC laws were against Business Intere by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    I'll tell you what you find me ANYTHING that suggests businesses were open to mixing customers in the era of Jim Crow because I have read up on black culture and I've seen nothing to suggest any businesses were open to that much less many much less most of them.

    You need to read some more books, bud. Businesses want money. If some businesses would have actively discriminated while others hadn't, the former would promptly gotten out-competed and would have been gone. Only by government fiat can that kind of discrimination work. Get a clue.

    I've read books, I've cited books. You're the one trying to spit that vague 'market forces fix everything' nonsense. Market forces would have said that keeping the black community enslaved was ideal because it minimizes your costs. Get outta here with that Anon nonsense.

    --
    Just another second banana
  114. Re:Anti-Discrimination and Hate laws are stupid. by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    Slavery was law not because the government demanded it but because the (white) people did.

    - slavery was law because it was acceptable for slavery to exist. There were black slave owners as well, by the way, plenty.

    Today slavery is not acceptable for vast majority of people so to say that many businesses would have slaves simply because the laws regarding prohibition of slavery would disappear is disingenuous. There are *always some* people who would own slaves, laws or no laws. Vast majority of businesses today do not discriminate not because of laws but because it is bad for business.

    My point stands, people must be able discriminate if they wish so, it is their right. Most people would not discriminate as business owners because it is bad for business. A business discriminating today will face PR nightmare in the social media and other news. IF they do not care about it then it must not be that relevant for vast majority of their customers because a business will very rarely take a hit to the bottom line for any type of ideology.

    In 1830, the year most carefully studied by Carter G. Woodson, about 13.7 percent (319,599) of the black population was free. Of these, 3,776 free Negroes owned 12,907 slaves, out of a total of 2,009,043 slaves owned in the entire United States, so the numbers of slaves owned by black people over all was quite small by comparison with the number owned by white people.

    [#] You're also forgetting that slavery in America was an inborn condition. You weren't captured and made a slave. You were born into it. So one free black person didn't make his entire family free. Often blacks would buy their family members when they could.

    54 (or about 1 percent) of these black slave owners in 1830 owned between 20 and 84 slaves; 172 (about 4 percent) owned between 10 to 19 slaves; and 3,550 (about 94 percent) each owned between 1 and 9 slaves. Crucially, 42 percent owned just one slave.[#]

    to say that many businesses would have slaves simply because the laws regarding prohibition of slavery would disappear is disingenuous

    Good lord you argue like Thunderfoot. That's not at all what I said. That's disingenuous. I suggested that without those laws businesses wouldn't have integrated then. I'm not saying if you banished the laws businesses would stop integrating now.

    --
    Just another second banana