It’s actually down in most areas.

Broader claims about trends in retail theft have not panned out. Walgreens, for example, cited spikes in shoplifting as an explanation for falling profits and store closures. The claim has since been retracted. Target blamed theft for a rash of store closures. But an analysis by researcher Jeff Asher showed that, according to the limited data available, the stores Target closed in Portland and Seattle had less crime than stores that were not closing. Reporting by CNBC in September 2023 also cast doubt on retailer claims about the impact of theft, noting that “certain retailers” have “pulled back” from blaming organized theft as “a primary cause of losses.” In fact, to the extent it can be relied upon, industry data cuts against the idea of a recent national spike in retail theft.

Nothing like being treated like a criminal when I go into a store to give them money.

Do you rub their noses in it at all? Because I know I would.

Hahahaha I’d forgotten about that! Man, and people unironically call him a genius still.

Russia’s just rubbing our noses in it at this point.

They plan to import workers with visas and then hold those visas over their heads to force them to work for peanuts.

I mean, they do this small-scale already.

Pretty sure you’re too old to be this stupid, dude.

Well that’s a bit alarming.

Protecting them from what now? Exactly what are we protecting them from in a ‘secular world’?

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth.

This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

-C. S. Lewis

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

It’s because it’s All About Them. Their (as fragile as spun-sugar) ego is all-important, and anything that threatens it has to go. And since they wrap their ego up in Being a Republican, and Being a Strong White Man, and all the racist bullshit that goes with that stance, that makes Harris is a physical manifestation of everything they hate. Such ‘challenges’ to their ego cannot be allowed to exist.

This is why I’m not against term limits. He’s been our senator for a long time and always fought the good fight.

We actually have our own map system, although of course you can use Google Maps too.

Wow. Even Trump thought they went too far. Damn.

And the CEO who brushed that assault off ‘suffered’ a ‘delayed promotion’. Poor thing. For saying that stuff about anyone, let alone a customer, he should have been fired, no golden parachute.

I think the doctor’s patients should have sued the airline too, since no doubt having their doctor pounded to a pulp caused them to miss their appointments.

Then you’d just have the police knocking whenever you used an aftermarket part. They’ll just force everyone to agree to them enforcing those contracts when they buy the product. After all, the EULA is given to everyone, has terrible shit in it, but people sign it anyways because if you don’t, you don’t get to use the product.

Source? From what I’ve heard, recent studies are showing the opposite.

It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.

-Mrs. Goose, Her Book

Alright, but…

When you’re arguing on an online space large enough for a position that doesn’t yet have overwhelming support, you’re always going to get some pushback of some kind.

Why wouldn’t the safety of women have overwhelming support? Why are we always on the back foot when it comes to discussions like these? Why is this such a ‘small position’ that women find themselves making ludicrous arguments about bears in the first place?

I would hope that a discussion of safety for any group would have majority support.

And we do know it’s not all men. There are many men who would never do such a thing. Or who have even been abused themselves.

But, according to the CDC, over half of all women have experienced sexual violence, and 1 in 4 women have experienced attempted or completed rape. With those numbers, it’s not all men, but it’s not just a few men either.

With those statistics, we can’t afford to just… trust. And the fun part? Many times, it’s someone the woman knows. So we can’t always believe we’re safe even with friends and family.

And sadly, nature hasn’t supplied us with psychic powers to know when the big burly guy leaning in too close to talk is just socially awkward, or up to something more unpleasant.

So I ask… please be understanding. Men are, on the whole, bigger and stronger than women, so a bad encounter has a much stronger chance to go very, very bad for us.

Okay, but, speaking as a woman, we try to explain these issues nicely, with gentle terminology and a big helping of ‘not all of you, but some of you…’ and we get ignored, dismissed, belittled, or flat-out gaslit.

So, we try going for the shock value to get you to at least pay attention instead of dismissing what we say as background noise or ‘us silly little women worrying our silly little heads over nothing’. And then we get told we can’t talk like that, that it’s insulting, that no man would listen because we’re belittling them, that it ‘doesn’t foster discussion’.

Although at least you heard us say something so many of us take it as a small win…

So, honest question. How do we explain it to you, so we don’t offend you, but you actually hear us? Actually get an idea of what it means to be afraid of footsteps behind us when we go out at night? To get leered at when all we’re trying to do is get a good workout at the gym? To have men just take liberties, like touching us, grabbing us? To not want to mention that we are a woman online, especially in gaming circles, because of the sexist bullshit and dismissive attitudes that will inevitably show up and run us out of a group we just want to be in because we like the game, damnit?

To weigh the decision to even make a post like this, because I know it will be brigaded and will attract sexist jerks who will try to shout me down? Or even attract stalkers who will follow me across instances to harass me?

Please, tell me how. Because we want you to understand. We don’t want to chase people away from discussions. But it’s so hard, and gets so discouraging…