Hi, Lauren! It’s really fun reading about your wedding-planning progress - I love hearing about real bride’s feelings as they try to plan their days. As a gown designer and the owner of an independent bridal salon, I have to jump in and defend inspiration shoots. We wedding pros know that shoots are often…

Then that person needs to pay for a seat with enough room to meet their needs... just like I pay for a seat with the reclining feature.

Disagree. He was what, 22? when he first said this? 23? Every 22-23 year old I know is a self-centered moron. It would have been better if he came clean right away (or never made the mistake in the first place), but we all fuck up. He’s older and wiser now, he apologized, his actions didn’t actually harm any human…

Huh, must have missed that. I even went back and reread the article prior to publishing. Oh well, in that case, I'm definitely backing the artist.

“Uber’s words sound a bit hollow given the volume of troublesome incidents that have plagued the company—including incidents of drivers harassing and even raping their female passengers.

Meh, this sort of shit happens with licensed taxi drivers here in Melbourne all the time but, strangely, no one has ever called for the government to shut down the taxi industry.

Okay I don’t think there are any innocent parties here. What did you read, or did you?

While I would never in a zillion years want to live any earlier than I do now (hello, modern medicine, LASIK, implants, orthodontia) I sympathize with her having to deal with shitheads when she goes outside. I tend to dress in a kind of pin-up/1950s style because I like that aesthetic and those clothes fit me well…

You’ll have to give me stats on these tons of people being killed and raped. Uber does 1 million rides per day, probably the vast majority of them turn out fine. Me and my partner have been using Uber for almost 3 years now, and the worst either of us have had was a driver with poor directions and a short temper.

I’ve watched the clip a couple of times at this point and honestly it seems like he rides into her and maybe she lets off the brake for a second and moves slightly forward “bumping him”.

Of course it doesn’t. But it DOES make a difference if they offend vs never offend, and I’d err on the side of inviting those who would like an outlet (such as talk therapy, hormonal treatment/”chemical castration,” or wilful ward-of-the-state managing of lifestyle) to take that outlet rather than offend and then be…

wow, that’s pretty heartless. Maybe try reading some of the personal stories of non-offending pedophiles (who meet your definition of never consuming child porn) who were like 16 and in agony and needed someone to talk to about it, and our laws prevent that.

i misspoke, perpetrators was not the correct word for me to use. i was trying to reiterate that not all people attracted to children are the same, meaning not all people will offend. some people may watch porn (which is definitely not victimless, not trying to claim that either) some people may molest children, some…

well i was agreeing with you, but then you asked what my point was so i got confused and felt like i had to defend my statement somehow. sooooooooooooo idk.

I don’t think you meant to reply to me? If so, my point is:

There was an article on Jezebel about it last year. Any intervention that can be done early on, should be.

yes absolutely. pedophilia is a terrible, awful thing that destroys lives. but like anything, there are different kinds of perpetrators. i remember the This American Life you’re talking about, and it changed my mind about some things. mostly i realized that there is a community of people who are attracted to children…

Ah - crazy coincidence. The SVU episode was called “Confession” and aired in 2008. It was about a kid who went to the police to get help because he wanted to molest his step-brother, and then there was a thing with a support website where people posted pictures of kids but didn’t act on it, then someone acted on it…

Lewis Carroll (a.k.a. Charles Dodgson) was almost certainly a pedophile. He wrote in his journals about being tormented by sinful desires, he never married, and his whole life he had a succession of small girl friends that he dropped like rocks as soon as they hit puberty (including Alice Liddell, the model for Alice…

While nobody who victimizes children (or anyone, for that matter) deserves pity, pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder. How is addressing the issue early on not “help” for the person with the disorder?