Happy Sex Worker Rights Day to all my sisters and brothers, and our supporters. Here’s a linked list of everything I’ve written for the occasion.
Posted in Perception, Tyranny | Tagged activism, holidays | Leave a Comment »
As you can see, Axel has continued his progress from nervous wreck to very good boy. I caught this picture of he and Speck bathing together on the 14th, and I’ve seen them even closer than that on occasion. Speck has returned to her habit of wanting to be close to me while I’m unwinding on the sofa, though not as much while I’m working at the computer (which is probably for the best); he lies on the other side of me, sometimes cuddled very close to my legs, so he and Speck are less than an arm’s length apart for hours. He doesn’t even stare at her any more, nor does he try to chase Rocky or Lilith when he’s in the atrium, so last week I took a chance on bringing him through the chicken yard with me to go up the ramp, and he barely even looked at the hens. Yesterday, I decreased his trazodone from 75 mg/day (where he was for all of February) down to 50, and in two more weeks I plan to just start giving him 50 at bedtime rather than splitting it into two doses; I figure that will give me an idea if we’re getting close to taking him off of the meds entirely, since his blood levels should be pretty low by the time each evening rolls around. I think the warmer, drier weather is also helping, because he can spend a lot more time running around and sunbathing outdoors and playing with Trip, so he has less pent-up energy at the end of the day. Assuming that all goes well, it looks like he’ll be off the meds by June, and I imagine by the end of the summer his bad times should be no more than a dim memory in his little doggie brain.
Posted in Diary | Tagged animals, drugs, psychology, Sunset | Leave a Comment »
Ah, a proud assitarian. – MechaHitler
Here’s another unusual cover from a performer we’ve seen before; it was provided by Asawin Suebsaeng. I’d argue that “Purple Rain” as performed by Prince was already blues, but this more traditional arrangement makes that more obvious. The links above it were provided by Phoenix Calida; Nun Ya; Desiree Alliance and Dan Savage; T. Greg Doucette; and IncarcerNation (x2), in that order.
- This week in artificial stupidity.
- To lose two looks like carelessness.
- R.I.P. Robert Duvall and Jesse Jackson.
- Another cop demonstrating exactly what he is.
- It’s dangerous to be anywhere near a cop, “on duty” or otherwise.
- Cops are increasingly framing their brutal murders as absurd suicides.
From the Archives
- There’s no legitimate reason for a vending machine to have this capability.
- Another company the government is using “sex trafficking” myths against.
- The state feigns shock when men abuse power it gives them over women.
- Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do.
- Outsourcing one’s judgment to politicians & bureaucrats is a terrible idea.
- Nobody is safe until this odious practice is recognized as unconstitutional.
- The hysteria is imploding so hard, it’s falling all the way back to its roots.
- Censorious politicians compete to make their laws more unconstitutional.
- Erosion of civil rights starts with the marginalized, but never stops there.
- Laws enabling nuisance lawsuits will multiply until ruled unconstitutional.
- Authoritarians don’t care if your kind of sex work is (temporarily) “legal”.
- Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working?
- No rape charges; her remains were too far gone for evidence to survive.
- Shotspotter is a boondoggle designed to create false evidence for cops.
- Alabama has at long last got the “fetal personhood” it claimed to want.
- The headline is a bit misleading; he was found guilty of manslaughter.
- The entire “troubled teen” industry needs to be sued out of existence.
- This happens much more at “Christian” schools than at other schools.
- Doctors must keep suing cops who claim license to practice medicine.
- A good article about why the madonna/whore duality is pure bullshit.
- Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws.
- Bad laws just keep returning no matter how often they are defeated.
- The US flushes incalculable resources down the “culture war” toilet.
- Retrospectives of my blogging for February 2013, 2014, and 2015.
- Maybe this will teach fools what a danger biometric ID actually is.
- Oklahoma is another state which seems to simply hate women.
- The war on trans people has expanded to include drag queens.
- The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd.
- Preachy perverts nearly always blame their crimes on others.
- Where “disgraced” is used to mean “accurately represented”.
- Paxton doesn’t actually give a damn about women’s sports.
- Crumbs thrown to the peasants from their masters’ tables.
- Nevada model proselytizing can always be safely ignored.
- Nebraska’s float in the “monkey see, monkey do” parade.
- Useful idiots think the leopards will never eat their faces.
- Cops, artificial stupidity, Roger Corman, and much more.
- Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors.
- By now, the title “youth pastor” should be a big red flag.
- Cops, Elvis, Roberta Flack, Jerry Butler, and much more.
- Trumpist propaganda dismisses book bans as a “hoax”.
- The most Orwellian case of censorship so far this year.
- Presentation is not exactly my strong point as a cook.
- Your “leaders” say this trash is fit to “correct” others.
- This idiotic culture war has an actual body count.
- Throwback Thursday Has Risen from the Grave.
- Another cop demonstrating exactly what he is.
- Trans men are also targets of horrific violence.
- Another box of baby dinosaurs in my lavatory.
- The fourth leap year since I started this blog.
- Just another typical and representative cop.
- A small memorial observance for Grace.
- What did this guy think he was, a cop?
- Cops, British rap, and much more.
- Good riddance to bad rubbish.
- This just keeps getting better.
- Fallback Friday.
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny | Tagged artificial stupidity, Austria, Believe Them, cops, drugs, Massachusetts, Missouri, politicians, scams, sex toys, Tennessee, video | Leave a Comment »
We should not expect maintenance staff to report people for having too much lube. – Elizabeth Nolan Brown
This will continue until recognized as unconstitutional:
Oklahoma City’s…former city attorney Orval Jones blew the whistle…[on] the city[‘s]…”nefarious scheme” to divert [money stolen by cops under color of law] into police coffers instead of returning property to owners or using it to reimburse victims and the courts…Jones compiled a list of seizures spanning over 20 years that totaled over $400,000 in misappropriated funds…many [cops]…labeled [“unclaimed property”] owners as unknown even though their information appeared in police reports….[and] when the owner sued, he was reimbursed with taxpayer funds while police kept the cash…Jones was [forced to resign because the boss hog demanded it]…
They’re not even all “youth pastors”:
[The] pastor [of] a Miami-Dade church was arrested [for repeatedly molesting] a 15-year-old [girl since she was 13]…Elco Vallier…[repeatedly groped] her and “attempted to kiss her”…[in addition to sending her sleazy] text messages…
Butler [Ohio] Mayor Wesley [the] Dingus…has been charged with…misdemeanor …voyeurism after…an underage…female [relative grew]…suspicious that Dingus was entering her room and purchased a small camera to document it…she received a motion alert on her phone approximately 15 minutes after leaving for school and later reviewed footage showing Dingus entering her room and sniffing her [dirty] underwear. The following day, she received a second alert…[and] again [saw him] entering her room, smelling her worn underwear, and [this time starting to masturbate]…Dingus [is] out on bond awaiting trial on separate felony charges…[for] a [hit-and-run on] July 11, 2025…
They’re disappointed it didn’t help them arrest more people:
Dutch police haven’t used the[ir magic] Crime[-predicting computer] since mid-December…[because despite] the [hype] with which the police launched the system [it does not actually work]…Dutch police…were e[ager to create their own dystopia]…like Minority Report…in[spired by] American [abus]es of “predictive policing”…[but] it soon becomes clear that the promises cannot be fulfilled…[and civil liberties advocates pointed out] that systems like [these]…reinforce inequalities…The result, all in all, is a black box full of biases and without proven results…
Surely you didn’t think this ambulance-chasing would stop at hotels?
…in…California…a woman is suing two high-end apartment buildings for failing to stop prostitution…in their units…A.V. alleges that she was coerced into prostitution in San Francisco…and…[her pimp] rented an expensive apartment at the Avalon…and…complain[s]…that…the doormen or security…[should have harassed] the…visitors…and…residents of this $5,000- to $10,000-a-month building…[because] “she was dressed provocatively” and…was only 17…for [the first] few months of her time there…Are [staff] supposed to [harass any]…woman dressed provocatively?…Should they check the IDs of any female who looks young? And then what? There’s no law against teen girls visiting apartment buildings on their own…We need more and better services for people looking to leave…abusive partners, not a surveillance network of hotel maids and apartment-building doormen ready to call the cops on women in short skirts…
Last week I called this “a disaster waiting to happen”. It didn’t have to wait long:
[After] the social chat app Discord [demand]ed…all new and existing users worldwide…[submit to face-]scan[ning as a condition for full]…platform…[access]…security…researchers…set out to look into Persona, the [fascist Thiel company]…used by Discord for biometric [surveillance]…and found [2,456 files] exposed to the open internet on a US government…server…the code revealed…that…Persona…compares your selfie to watchlist photos using facial recognition, screens you against 14 [government lists] from…terrorism to espionage…the software performs 269 distinct verification checks and scours the internet and government sources for potential matches…[then retains the results] for up to three years…[If] the software “flags you as a ‘suspicious entity’ based on your face alone”…[which is not unlikely given] Persona’s software has rep[ea]tedly made significant mistakes…[merely attempting to use a social media site] can quickly lead to the unjust termination of bank accounts…[which is] exactly what Persona was built to do…
No, really? Who could ever have guessed?
…Ring’s…founder, Jamie Siminoff, [admitted] to…Ring employees…[that “]Search Party[“, its]…automated surveillance system…[is not really] “for finding dogs”, but…[rather] to “zero out crime in neighborhoods”…[sane people recognized the system] as dystopian…[even before] Ring…launched a feature called “Familiar Faces,” which uses facial recognition to identify…friends and family members..[but] Siminoff [bizarrely tried] to [confuse the company’s useful idiot clientele by randomly belching “]Charlie Kirk[” at them]…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny | Tagged A Broker in Pillage, Above the Law, agency denial, artificial stupidity, asset seizure, California, cops, Crying for Nanny, fascism, Florida, If Men Were Angels, masturbation, Netherlands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Panopticon, politicians, Pyrrhic Victory, scams, surveillance, underage, Walled Garden, Welcome to the Future | Leave a Comment »
Had the LGBT “community” devoted its energies to securing the basic rights of all sexual minorities instead of wasting them in trying to force Christian fundamentalists to bake fucking overpriced cakes for their fucking bourgeois weddings, we’d be well on the way to decriminalization by now. – “The Big Table”
- Fact: man talks to young women in public. Conclusion: SEX TRAFFICKING!
- IOW they provide passage & forged papers for migrants to escape Nigeria.
- In Sweden, teen boys are granted more sexual agency than adult women.
- “Authorities” don’t care how many whores are killed to further their show.
- Even cops whose offenses are less than rape employ disgusting defenses.
- It’s illegal to pay for sex in Sweden, except as a defense vs rape charges.
- Is Michael Weinstein’s bizarre one-man crusade against porn over at last?
- Is there any job fetishists don’t think needs “signs of trafficking” training?
- A glimmer of sanity in the mad world of “child pornography” prosecution.
- Small cities can only compete to be “sex trafficking hubs” in their states.
- A profession as old as human civilization, yet somehow always “growing”.
- My ex-girlfriend may be doing sex work. Should I do something about it?
- The magic word appears herein only in a description of a phone number.
- Pig says lifetime on the “sex offender” registry isn’t a “real severe thing”.
- Until prohibition is banned, any decriminalization is a temporary respite.
- Another jurisdiction classifies women as passive objects without agency.
- New Orleans prosecutors love putting whores on “sex offender” registry.
- Bill doesn’t add a new sodomy law; Michigan never repealed its old one.
- Apes call consensual sex “trafficking”, marvel at number of “traffickers”.
- If antis want to “rescue” whores, why do they keep us from other jobs?
- Barely a week passes that I or one of my friends isn’t quoted in media.
- Skeptical of “gypsy whores” myth, but not “sex trafficking” mythology.
- Liz Brown tries to assess the toll in lives from a Swanee Hunt pogrom.
- The badge-licking in this is so loud and fellatory, it may nauseate you.
- Do they think about anything other than who’s allowed to fuck whom?
- Cops, bad babies, Mad, government, Randolph Carter & much more.
- The more sex workers and former sex workers come out, the better.
- Prohibitionists think US can criminalize sex work in other countries.
- COAST pretends pigs know more about our profession than we do.
- Massage parlors are taking the brunt of “sex trafficking” hysteria.
- Swedes just can’t admit that whores can do things for ourselves.
- Florida, Pat Robertson, innumeracy, cops, Cthupid & much more.
- Belief sustains itself by feeding on nothing other than pure faith.
- Court delays favor the rich and powerful, so this is unsurprising.
- A “sex tourism destination” about an hour’s drive from Chicago.
- I think we’ve reached the “possessed toaster” level of hysteria.
- Anti-whore “studies” aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
- Remember, kids, the Swedish modelTM eliminates prostitution!
- Oh, California Massage Therapy Council, please never change.
- Raped by a cop? Say he’s your client; that, they’ll fire him for.
- A cop wanking fantasy inspired by arrest of two petty thieves.
- All too often, evil arrives cloaked in the mantle of expediency.
- It’s always so great to see academics stand up for us in print.
- A couple of “trafficking bowl” debunkings that both quote me.
- The word for government/corporate “partnering” is “fascism”.
- About the least-infuriating coverage of this story I could find.
- Weapons forged for use against whores will work on anyone.
- Lux Alptraum on financial discrimination vs sex businesses.
- Because women are too stupid to use AirBnB for ourselves.
- It took three years to bring these serial-rapist cops to trial.
- James Deen appears to have been welcomed back to porn.
- In which “sex trafficking” is defined as simple prostitution.
- Hey Australia, can the US import some of your journalists?
- “Cumfiesta”, “Screw You”, “Nut Sack Ale” and much more.
- Man is shamed and disgraced for seeking consensual sex.
- What century do “sex trafficking” fetishists believe this is?
- I predict this will be lousy with cops within a few months.
- This is the typical “Super Bowl sex trafficking” story now.
- Reminder: Spitzer’s a fan of choking women during sex.
- Apparently, there’s at least one decent judge in Ireland.
- Vice is back to spreading “sex trafficking” myths again.
- These types of stories are often stunningly incoherent.
- A bill in New Hampshire would decriminalize sex work.
- Cops, churches, incompetence, wizards & much more.
- In the US, the victim would’ve been arrested as well.
- Laura Lee talks about how she became a sex worker.
- “Hookers for Hillary” was just a Dennis Hof PR scam.
- A short profile of escort and activist Kimberlee Cline.
- Surveillance beyond the wildest dreams of the Stasi.
- Politicians just can’t get their minds out of the toilet.
- Korean cops are learning US-style agency negation.
- Moron who claims porn increases whores’ business.
- She’s facing a lot worse than mere “discrimination”.
- Cops nearly always get the least-possible charges.
- What alternatives to P411 would you recommend?
- A theologian debunks “sex trafficking” mythology.
- Governments now think they own their subjects.
- A selection from reader Mike Siegel’s new book.
- As opposed to what, legal trafficking of minors?
- Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Queen of Whore Allies.
- WE’RE NUMBER FOUR! WE’RE NUMBER FOUR!
- This picture of me would be illegal in Victoria.
- More Swedish model shenanigans in the UK.
- Is there a serial killer in Anchorage, Alaska?
- “Anti-trafficking” stunts grow ever stupider.
- In which I open up the throttle on harlotry.
- This is kind of like “legalizing” prostitution.
- It’s cops’ job to cause harm, not reduce it.
- Butterfly mourns the death of Tammy Le.
- How many times do we need to say this?
- Another sex worker who subverts hijab.
- No, NBC, this is not “bribery”; it’s rape.
- Parallels between abortion & sex work.
- First trans sex worker murder of 2016.
- If this is real, it’s hilariously pathetic.
- Swanee’s brother. Need I say more?
- Brooke Magnanti’s first crime novel.
- Cops, dead videos and much more.
- Facebook causes “sex trafficking”!
- Damn, has this girl got chutzpah!
- Is a sex-for-job deal prostitution?
- Journalists are starting to listen.
- Is it just me, or is this hilarious?
- On the vile bigotry of Gay, Inc.
- A selection of “Lilli” cartoons.
- Most incompetent pimp ever.
- I’ll just leave this right here.
- Another fishy P411 incident.
- “Sex traffickers” use roads!
- A lesbian client speaks out.
- Much more of this, please.
- Rapist cop of the week.
- A year of rapid change.
- It’s for their own good!
- Four years ago today.
- It only starts with us.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged blogging | Leave a Comment »
Accept no source as an absolute authority, especially when they demand you should. – “No Absolute Truths”
Many criminals are entrepreneurs; it’s just that their business happens to be illegal. – “Midwinter Tweets”
It’s always rather funny when a fanatical devotee of fundamentalist Christianity or fundamentalist feminism (they’re hard to tell apart) tries to attack me on some post from over a decade ago, and the best they can come up with is “You’re a whore!” And I’m like, “Yes, and?” – “Tweets for the Tweet”
Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny | Tagged blogging, consensual crime, dirty, ethics, language, law, neofeminism, propaganda, psychology | Leave a Comment »
Face recognition technology…poses a uniquely dire threat to the practical anonymity we all rely on. – Nathan Freed Wessler
A [Department of Defense contractor assigned to] do…background checks for [ICE]…was arrested in a Bloomington, Minnesota, sex sting. But the story is being twisted—by people employing the same sort of despicable smear tactics we see from ICE…[boss hog] Booker Hodges [strutted around, pompously belching up the typical “child sex trafficking” rhetoric cops use to justify these scams, while]…news media and countless folks on social media have been [parrot]ing [that]…narrative…but—as is so often the case—it…[was] just a vice operation aimed at adults looking to find other adults for sexual activity…Bloomington Police’s press conference and post about [the sophomorically-dubbed] “Operation Lookin’ for Love in All the Wrong Places” are truly bizarre. The YouTube video of the conference opens with an elaborate skit, acted out by Bloomington cops…[and boss hog] Hodges…spends part of the press conference singing “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” and [mocking his victims]…as he shows their mugshots…
As I’ve said before, cops pretending to be entertainers should be a summary firing offense.
The hamlet of Brookside, Alabama, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit three years after local news investigations revealed that it was running a predatory speed trap. The Institute for Justice…sued Brookside in 2022 on behalf of motorists who…were framed and swindled by the town…[whose] unusually large police force was bankrolling the city budget by fining people traveling through and towing their cars under [bullshit]…charges…Brookside, a place with no traffic lights and one commercial property…”collected $487 in fines and forfeitures for every man, woman and child“…and…income from [the robberies] comprised 49 percent of the town’s budget…Brookside’s racket was so outrageous that the Justice Department filed a “statement of interest” in support of the…lawsuit…and…the Alabama state legislature [has now] passed a bill capping the revenue municipalities can keep from fines to just 10 percent of their general operating budgets…and [Brookside in particular faces] 30 years of strict caps on how much revenue [it can make]…from policing…
New tools for tyranny are often tested first on whores, but never stop with us:
An underground site uses facial recognition to reveal the site a camgirl streams on…present[ing] a serious privacy risk to sex workers…who may not want stalkers, harassers, or employers to discover their profiles…Camgirlfinder has been running for several years, with most adult streaming platforms being added in 2021…[and] contains faces from a wide variety of adult streaming platforms, including Chaturbate, MyFreeCams, and LiveJasmin…The database appears to include sex workers who may not have streamed for years, creating the risk that someone may use the site to find them even if they decided to not stream anymore. The site then sells all images it has of a particular person for $1 per model…
Nor does this stop with specialized sites and online locations:
Porn performer Siri Dahl’s personal information, including her full legal name and birthday, was publicly exposed earlier this month by [MechaHitler]…Almost instantly, harassers started opening Facebook accounts in her name and posting stolen porn clips with her real name on sites for leaking OnlyFans content. Dahl has used the name…since the beginning of her career in the adult industry in 2012…[MechaHitler] provided her personal information unprompted; the user likely only wanted information on what performer appeared in the clip. This is the latest in a series of abuses inflicted by [the chatbot] and its users…
News publishers are working to hasten the coming of the new dark age:
Now major news publishers are actively blocking the Internet Archive—one of the most important cultural preservation projects on the internet—because they’re worried [machine learning] companies might use it as a sneaky “backdoor” to access their content. This is a mistake we’re going to regret for generations…blocking the Internet Archive isn’t going to stop [chatbot] training. What it will do is ensure that significant chunks of our journalistic record and historical cultural context simply…disappear…When websites disappear—and they disappear constantly—the Wayback Machine is often the only place that content still exists…the Internet Archive’s efforts to permanently preserve our digital culture are essential infrastructure for anyone who cares about historical memory…Future historians trying to understand 2025 will have access to archived versions of random blogs, sketchy content farms, and conspiracy sites—but not The New York Times. Not The Guardian…We’re creating a historical record that’s systematically biased against quality journalism…
Woman convicted for “abuse” of an imaginary person fictionally pretending to be a child:
Lauren Ashley Mastrosa…wrote [a book named] Daddy’s Little Toy under the pen name Tori Woods and published it…in March. The book is about an 18-year-old woman named Lucy who roleplays as a toddler with Arthur, an older man who is her father’s best friend. Mastrosa was charged [with child porn offenses in Australia] after the book sparked outrage [among people who cannot tell fantasy from reality]…a…magistrate [and a cop both repeatedly declared that]…the female protagonist[, a fictional character invented by Mastrosa from her imagination who was]…repeated[ly declared]…to…be…18…[was]…”similar to a young child”…[which] invited the reader to imagine…thing[s] that [the government] prohibited…[despite the fact] that [the depicted] role play w[ould be completely] legal [if the characters were real people and not figments of a woman’s imagination]…
Note that the magistrate is talking here about literal thoughtcrime, declaring that it is criminal to invite readers to imagine things the government dislikes.
This report of a murderous cop tried to hide that the victim was his wife:
A Buffalo [New York cop named Lance Woods] has been arrested [for the execution-style] murder…[of his wife] Alexis Skoczylas…[by] a single gunshot wound to the head…there were no calls in the past for domestic violence…[and their] two children…are [safe and] in the care of relatives…[the apparent motive was] Skoczylas fil[ing] for a contested divorce in September…Woods…was [paid to lurk in schools in order to spy on, intimidate, and harass students, but has no known history of molestation]…
Facebook is the most antisocial corporation other than those who actually run prisons:
Five years ago, Facebook shut down the facial recognition system for tagging people in photos [after it was forced to settle several class-action lawsuits]…Now it wants to [use Trump’s massive pogroms as cover to]…add the feature to its s[py] glasses…[so its chatbot can fully doxx anyone in public without their consent]…“We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns,” according to [an internal memo]…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
Posted in Current Events, History, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny | Tagged A Broker in Pillage, Alabama, artificial stupidity, Australia, Bait and Switch, censorship, consensual crime, cops, domestic violence, end demand, Enshittification, Facebook, fascism, Guinea Pigs, internet, Minnesota, New York, porn, propaganda, Pyrrhic Victory, scams, surveillance, teachers, The Cop Myth, Thought Control, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
My life is made so much easier by the generosity of friends and readers! After my resourceful and generous Australian friend read about my current technology issues, he decided to do some research and discovered a free, open-source PDF-making software which will run on XP! He sent me the link last Monday; I downloaded it and it works perfectly, so now I’m back in the process of preparing Lost Angels for publication. The day before that, Chekhov dropped by, ostensibly to get some eggs and return a borrowed tool, but actually to give me a new TV set he claimed to have got on sale. It wasn’t too difficult to set up, and fortunately I was able to bypass all the streaming-channel setup stuff, which would have just been a waste of time. We did, however, discover that Samsung has planned-obsolescenced their own older soundbars by ensuring there is no compatible means of connecting them to their newer TV sets. Not to be daunted, Chekhov ordered a new soundbar to be delivered last Thursday, and though it was easy to connect I had a new problem: it barely put out any sound. To reach a comfortable viewing volume, I had to set the old soundbar at about 30 (of a maximum 100), but the new soundbar is nearly inaudible at that level; depending on the DVD and other, more mysterious factors, I had to raise the level to 75-100 for comfortable viewing (and it only goes to 100). The internet told me this is a known issue with Samsung soundbars, but provided no useful information on fixing it; every “separate” article I could find was apparently copied from some ur-text, right down to the wording, and none of them are much above the “make sure your cable is plugged in” level of helpfulness. Finally, Samsung customer service via text talked me through resetting the soundbar, so now it sounds good at 60. But I won’t be surprised if I end up having to do this more than once, or perhaps even regularly.
Posted in Diary | Tagged Lost Angels, Sunset | Leave a Comment »
In 20th century science fiction, humanoid robots which could perform manual labor as well as (or even better than) humans were common, while those which could think in a human-like fashion were rare. But as the actual science of robotics has advanced, scientists and engineers have discovered that building humanoid robots which can perform tasks humans master at a very early age (such as walking) is actually much harder than it looks. And because the human brain is wired to see faces in everything and to interpret natural phenomena and random events as the acts of conscious beings, creating programs which seem intelligent to the ignorant and gullible is quite easy in comparison. This has not been lost on the Techlords, which is why they decided a few years ago not to try to automate boring, soul-destroying work, but rather the thinking, creative work which commands high salaries. If they can succeed in replacing brain work with computer programs, the people who currently do those jobs will be forced into the blue-collar labor market, thereby creating a labor glut which will drive down wages for the physical jobs robots cannot yet do as cheaply or efficiently as even an unskilled human. Consider that the same people busily engaged in selling companies on “AI” are also in favor of lowering the labor age and banning both contraception & abortion; if they can achieve their sick dream of chabots doing all thinking work, there will be so many people competing for so few jobs the wages for those jobs will crash to barely above slave-labor level.
Posted in Tyranny | Tagged artificial stupidity, Mad Libs, robots, slavery, The Pygmalion Fallacy | Leave a Comment »
A young rock is probably a good thing. – Derek Leung
Though Fred Smith left Blondie before their first album was recorded, I decided to feature this little-known, very weird, very punk song from their debut album because I’ve always liked it. The links above the video were provided by Nun Ya, Kevin Wilson, Jeremy Malcolm, Jesse Walker, Franklin Harris, Yasmin Nair, and Nun Ya again, in that order.
- Metaphor alert.
- The geology of curling.
- This is actually pretty cool.
- R.I.P. Fred Smith and Bud Cort.
- How on earth did it get into a bikini?
- In case you think this is limited to the US.
- As the young say, “Not all heroes wear capes.“
From the Archives
- They said nothing while the Times spread propaganda against sexworkers.
- The trades of actress & whore were, until a century ago, indistinguishable.
- All I see about modern square work makes me happier I became a whore.
- I was fated to be threatened with state violence regardless of career path.
- Some still believe these sociopaths are motivated by “protecting children”.
- Both sides in the culture war have completely taken leave of their senses.
- This will continue as long as fools teach children obedience to “authority”.
- While sex work is marginalized, sex workers will be targeted for violence.
- Mom demands politicians stop unsupervised kids from gorging on candy.
- The worst rape defense after “she wanted to be raped by a random cop”.
- Prohibitionist politicians’ real goal is government control of the internet.
- Give aggressive thugs power over teens; what could possibly go wrong?
- When it comes to surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down.
- Are the Japanese the only people left who can tell fantasy from reality?
- Journalists must stop obediently calling senseless violence “correction”.
- Still think realistic porn cartoons are the worst use for this technology?
- Unconstitutional law is sort of suspended by an unconstitutional order.
- Ambulance-chasers give themselves power to rob internet companies.
- Another pogrom from the dangerous clown who rules Polk County, FL.
- Everyone abused by cops using this surveillance system needs to sue.
- Besides laughing aloud, I may have also clapped my hands in delight.
- So many rescue industry profiteers have been exposed as sociopaths.
- Surely you didn’t think they’d be satisfied with threatening librarians.
- This monster’s handlers made a conscious choice to let him run wild.
- Cops don’t like it when non-cops report “crimes” that didn’t happen.
- Cops, nightmares, Amy Winfrey, artificial stupidity, and much more.
- A dangerous new front in the Drug War has claimed another victim.
- Some politicians are starting to admit Shotspotter is a boondoggle.
- Judge vs currently-fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parade.
- I’m sure they helped by occasionally yelling “Stop faking!” at her.
- Politicians wreck lives by inventing new crimes from copaganda.
- Remember, this isn’t “human trafficking”, but consensual sex is.
- Now that the moral panic is over, expect more articles like this.
- This will continue until there are federal criminal charges for it.
- Some cops don’t limit themselves to one type of creepiness.
- Surely you didn’t think this was just about porn, did you?
- Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors.
- Texas has a long history of “correcting” people to death.
- Those who facilitate cops’ evil are enemies of humanity.
- Cops are nothing more than state-sponsored terrorists.
- Cops, artificial stupidity, Gerald Fried, and much more.
- Cop “magic fentanyl” hysteria has escaped the US.
- Cops view alcohol as a means of facilitating rape.
- “Crisis pregnancy centers” for the 21st century.
- Tweet selections from 2023, 2024, and 2025.
- Cops, madness, weirdness, and much more.
- Some pretty mild early-spring type weather.
- Pathetic reruns of years-old fantasies.
- At least this one didn’t attempt to lie.
- Throwback Thursday of Darkness.
- Dracula vs. Throwback Thursday.
- A mural decorating my atrium.
- Grace’s prized shillelagh.
- Thoughts on The X-Files.
- Rapist cops of the week.
- Mud everywhere.
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny | Tagged acting, animals, Australia, Bluesky, China, cops, ethics, Florida, language, Minnesota, sporting events, STEM, video | Leave a Comment »
Visit my bookstore
This Month
Old Posts
Call me
Become a Blog Patron
If you want to donate but don't want a recurring charge, you can send any amount you like via PayPal to my email address (see below). Be sure to include a note so I can thank you!Contact Maggie
Boring but necessary legal stuff