The Blues are not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch; ain’t no way out. – from “How To Sing the Blues”
This was a relatively quiet week for links, and I’m glad to say that I haven’t yet seen much unseasonably-early Christmas stuff yet (though I did have to re-activate the email filter which automatically deletes anything with the words “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday” in the subject line). I’m nearly finished with my book, and the cover art should be here in the next few days; I’ve also been working on some other extracurricular stuff I’m sure y’all will like, which will be announced as it’s released. Everything down to the first video is from Radley Balko; the video itself is from Aspasia, and the second video (a short film from 1966 on the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey) is from I Am Curious Blue. The links between the videos were contributed by Szusa (“Greek music”), Brooke Magnanti (“Prince”), Mike Siegel (“update”), Neil Gaiman (“Heisenberg”), Walter Olson (“ice”), Rick Horowitz (“Circle K”), and Jesse Walker (“python”).
- Activist charged with felony for sharing public data from police website.
- Never call the cops for any reason whatsoever. Not even accidentally.
- US aids criminals by increasing the price of their wares.
- You, too can stay in a heated shanty with wi-fi!
- Headline of the week.
- How to sing the Blues.
- How did Ancient Greek music sound?
- A dramatic failure to learn from history.
- What if Prince had been a writer instead?
- Update to last week’s “IRS perjury” story.
- A sort of Heisenberg principle for life-forms.
- Hotel made entirely from ice is ordered to install smoke alarms.
- Circle K expects every employee to be willing to die for Circle K.
- Prosecutor who jailed innocent man for 25 years is jailed for 10 days.
- Man supposedly changes into python and swallows girl in a hotel room.
From the Archives
- Skepticism, Star Wars, Southern belles, censorship, UFOlogy, politics, piss, torture, D & D, delusions and Uncle Sam as abusive husband.
- “Leading a crusade” against any sexual behavior is probable cause for suspicion of practicing it.
- With sex worker “allies” like the ACLU, who needs Farley and company?
- What forced prostitution and violence against women actually look like.
- The inevitable result of laws which treat women as helpless victims.
- Governments block legal challenges to tyranny by refusing to listen.
- Some Greek officials believe in “sex rays”, even if the people don’t.
- Whore-hatred in World War II France and contemporary Iceland.
- Why sex worker rights have languished while gay rights thrived.
- Portland, Maine elects a burlesque dancer to the school board.
- Why opponents of prostitution should fight whore stigma.
- The stark difference between two “rescue” charities.
- Aspasia on would-be allies and “concerned parties”.
- Rachel Wotton’s wonderful charity “Touching Base”.
- What European news stories on sex work look like.
- Judges rule that sympathetic magic really exists.
- The tale of a brutally-thorough client screening.
- Map of surveillance societies around the world.
- A rare refutation of an embellished memory.
- Australia dumps a porn-censorship scheme.
- Umpteen thousand people can’t be wrong!
- The difference between morals and mores.
- Veronica Franco, courtesan and poetess.
- Thieves posing as sex workers in Kenya.
- When Someone You Love is A Sex Worker.
- The “sex robot” morons are at it again.
- How to render a bad date line useless.
- The forgotten angels of Dien Bien Phu.
- Hard facts about “sex trafficking”.
- Another “dog bites man” study.