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Archive for September, 2021

Back Issue #99

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged on September 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Politicians never want to limit the number of ways they can harass, threaten and persecute people.  –  “They Speak for Themselves”

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In the News (#1175)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Authoritarian regimes are able to reach across borders much more effectively than they could in the past.  –  Ronald Deibert

The Pro-Rape Coalition (#1024)

A natural 21st-century development for the brand:

Playboy announced…the launch of premium fan site Centerfold…expected to roll out in the coming months.  Centerfold will “build upon our long history of passing the mic to the most revolutionary voices of our day.  And true to our heritage, we will amplify their messages even further through digital covers, feature stories, interviews and, of course, striking and sensual pictorials…We will also arm our creators with access to content production, merchandise capabilities, blockchain integration and more”…

Safe Position (#1111)

Even prohibitionists like Holmes can tell which way the wind is blowing:

…a Seattle Municipal Court Judge approved a motion by Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes to quash all outstanding warrants for misdemeanor prostitution, including some issued well over a decade ago…The City Attorney’s Office hasn’t prosecuted anyone for selling sex since 2019, when the Seattle Police Department ramped up arrests and sting operations targeting both sex workers and [client]s in response to…pressure [from idiots who thought sex work would magically vanish after]…the federal shutdown of Backpage…

Predictable Consequences (#1134)

Prohibitionism is an inherently violent belief system:

The FBI arrested a Michigan man [last] Monday fo[r]…threats of violence…against telecommunications companies, which the man had blamed for “broadcasting pornography, cursing and immoral content.”  Federal prosecutors charged John Douglas Allen…with “extortion and attempting to destroy a building”…Th[reat] letters were sent from a supposed “Coalition for Moral Telecommunication (CMT)” and addressed to several companies, including AT&T and Verizon.  The letters [threatened the imaginary group would] “begin distroying [sic] inner city tower communication”…unless several demands were followed…includ[ing] a $5 million payment and [total censorship of]…”immoral content”…

You Were Warned (#1135)

They should’ve done this years ago:

A trade organization for the adult entertainment industry has hired a D.C. lobbying firm to build its relationships with [politicians]…on behalf of…the industry.  Most notably it is trying to beat back major changes to Section 230…[which] is key to its ability to exist.  The same law that protects Instagram and YouTube from being sued over illegal content posted by its users…also protects sites like PornHub and OnlyFans…But [a majority of politicians] of both parties…have…[only been stopped from] strip[ping]…that protection away [by their inability to agree on what should be censored and who exactly should control Americans’ thoughts and speech].  The Free Speech Coalition…has enlisted two lobbyists at Clarity Consulting…Keith Nelson…and…Shawn Delaney…So far, [Nelson] has been meeting with [politicians] and their [lackeys] to address…“a huge vacuum of information” about the adult entertainment industry…

For the umpteen thousandth time: the bipartisan drive to censor the internet is not “Trump-fueled”, didn’t begin with Trump, and is being ramped up by Biden, who has repeatedly stated that he wants Section 230 repealed.  But I guess partisanism trumps facts in the modern yellow press.

Above the Law (1142)

A prosecutor is just a kind of cop:

…a tough-on-crime prosecutor…[named] Jeffrey Lynn Thomas…[raped a] woman…he…knew…in a professional capacity…[who] had for years rebuffed his persistent sexual advances…he…walked into the woman’s home with an armload of beer cans and…refused [to leave]…After she slapped him, Thomas hit her in the face and gave her a nosebleed…[then] raped [and throttled] her…Thomas finally left…after the woman promised him she wouldn’t report him to the police…She reported the rape to Pennsylvania State Police on [September 20th]…

Virtual Imperialism

Worst of all, Western governments are looking at this as a model:

Once Dan arrived in Canada and began adjusting to a new city and a new university, he continued to browse Twitter in his dorm room…He retweeted only three posts: the news that Nobel laureate and Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo had died, a short satirical video about…Xi Jinping, and a chart on levels of Chinese government corruption.  With only two followers, he wasn’t making a splash — but…then his father called him out of the blue, clearly disturbed. “Son, did you say something about the Chinese government on the internet? The public security bureau called us twice”…Soon after…a [Chinese cop] contacted him on the WeChat social media app…[even though] Dan hadn’t accepted a new friend request…“The police told me the Ministry of Public Security…tracked me by my IP address and knows where I live in Canada.  They have evidence the Twitter account belongs to me”…the [cop] ordered Dan to immediately delete the offensive posts [or] “You will face trouble.”  “Trouble” is a well-known euphemism in China for state persecution.  It can range from repeated visits and phone calls all the way to…house arrest [of relatives still in China]…

To Molest and Rape (#1172)

Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?

Prosecutors…charged St. Louis [cop] Mark West with three counts of…molest[ing children]…younger than 12…[and] asked for a $100,000 bail “due to the number and serious nature of the offenses and because the defendant constitutes a threat to the victim and other children he may encounter”…

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Diary #587

Posted in Diary, tagged , , on September 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Now that I’m semi-retired and living full-time at Sunset, I schedule all of my appointments (professional, medical, beauty, etc) during the same two-day period every three weeks, so I don’t have to drive into Seattle more than is necessary; of course there are occasional exceptions (such as for all-night appointments and the like), but in general I’ve been able to keep things clustered closely together.  And on most visits, Lorelei and I can synchronize our schedules enough for a Who night.  TV and movie watching are social experiences for me; I rarely watch anything longer than a music video unless I’m in the company of someone I can discuss them with during or after, and if I happen to love my viewing companion it’s even better!  That’s why I still get excited about Who night with Lorelei despite the fact that I’m watching nearly every night with Grace; watching with a different person creates a different experience for me, and the different intoxicants (edibles at home with Grace and a sonic screwdriver when watching at Lorelei’s) probably make a difference as well.

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Censorship Ascendant

Posted in Current Events, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 27, 2021| 2 Comments »

Censorship, once condemned by all ethical people, has now become almost universally popular.  –  “The Convergence of Censors”

The last week of September is “Banned Books Week“; over the 11 years I’ve been writing this blog, my columns on the topic have changed as threats to intellectual freedom have dramatically increased worldwide.  As I said last year,

When I was a librarian, [this] Week was little more than an academic exercise; censorship was an intermittent and generally impotent threat proceeding from small numbers of narrow-minded busybodies, which was easily defeated by librarians and other guardians of our shared cultural heritage.  But that was a generation ago, and would-be censors have become numerous, aggressive, well-organized and (most concerningly) popular.  Few of those under 30 even understand what free speech is or why it’s important, and the majority or those over that age imagine all sorts of exceptions that they believe should be reasons to violently suppress speech…the censor-morons…are…multiplying like bacteria and have already infested all the centers of power…

The links are all there for your perusal, but just in case you’ve been asleep for the past three or four years, here are a few stories from the past six months so you can see for yourself that I’m not exaggerating.  There’s still plenty of old-fashioned, bluenosed, school-based censorship conducted in the name of THE CHIIIIIIIIILDREEEEEEN!!!™, but now they’ve learned to pretend ideas they don’t like constitute a “crime” so as to threaten their enemies with police violence.  Furthermore, institutions writers could once count on to defend them, including libraries and publishers, now race to see who can kowtow most obsequiously to the censor-morons, sometimes even volunteering to act as censors themselves, and institutions which need free speech the most are lobotomizing themselves by peddling pro-censorship sophistry and even conducting literal book burnings.  Governments are increasingly claiming the “right” to declare which facts are “correct” and to suppress ideas they declare “disinformation” or “fake news”, and in our increasingly-connected world governments are increasingly able to cause trouble for people who say things they dislike far beyond their own borders (China is the worst offender, but is far from alone).  Soon, ideas the mob, the government, or other violent simian gangs dislike may become impossible to acquire outside of caches of virtual samizdat, at which point the censor-morons will pivot to criminalizing avenues of access to such caches while “intellectuals” cheer and pen screeds about how obedience and conformity are far better for “society” than imagination and critical thinking.

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Links #586

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , on September 26, 2021| 2 Comments »

A murder.  –  Murray Smalpage

I’ve always been fond of this song, and it started going through my head about a week ago, so here you go.  The links above it were provided by Mark Bennett, Mike Siegel, Scott Greenfield, Mistress Matisse, and Cop Crisis (x2), in that order.

From the Archives

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In the News (#1174)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[Do] they have a deal with the police…or is this simple freelance vigilantism?  –  Laura Agustín

Surplus Women

The same everywhere sex work is at all criminalized:

In light of the death of Nigerian sex worker Eunice Osayande, who was brutally murdered by a 17-year-old client in 2018, an ethnographic study on sex work in the area…was commissioned by the city of Schaerbeek…The sex workers who were interviewed stressed that they faced violence on a regular basis, but especially at night, including robberies and beatings…and people trying to have unprotected sex with them.  The women also spoke of discriminatory attacks, often by young people, and…highlighted that…they are often reluctant to call the police…

Decentralization (#313)

Did you ever wonder why the government stopped harassing bitcoin?

Coinbase will provide [ICE]…with [the] blockchain [surveillance] software…[it] has also provided…to the U.S. Secret Service and [UK] Inland Revenue…Details as to exactly what the ICE wants Coinbase software for are [being hidden]…Last year, Coinbase announced its desire to sell [the same surveillance] tools to…the [DEA] and [IRS]…

If Men Were Angels

Basically the same as a “youth pastor”:

A…California attorney and church leader was sentenced to 40 years…after pleading guilty to molesting young girls…Steven Matlak…[was first] arrested…in 2017…All of [his] victims were under the age of 10, with the youngest being five years old…Matlak…led a Bible study in his home for young members of the First Presbyterian Church…He [tried to claim] sex addiction [as an excuse] for his crimes, but the families did not accept the [attempted responsibility-dodge]…

Rotting Fruit

Presented without comment:

Prince Andrew…’s efforts to avoid facing…[an] American…lawsuit launched against him by…Virginia (Giuffre) Roberts…have now [failed.  British judges] accepted a request…“to formally contact Andrew about the civil proceedings launched in America”…Roberts’ lawyers have complained that Andrew…has thwarted efforts to serve him with the suit…[which] claims that when she was 17…[Jeffrey] Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew at [Ghislaine] Maxwell’s London townhouse…

Negative Secondary Effects (#1122)

It’s rare for an article on sex work in the UK press to be so free of dysphemisms:

Blackpool Council announced in January th[at]…it planned to phase out lap dancing clubs in order to [protect THE CHILDREN!!!™ from dangerous sex rays]…The existing four clubs would be allowed to continue operating, but once those licences lapse for any reason they would not be renewed.  [Club] operators…[poin]t out [th]at…“The industry will be forced underground and girls will be tempted, if not forced to work…for private bachelor parties”…[without] security…or…”underground clubs or might have to get into more dangerous forms of sex work”…

Predictable Consequences (#1125)

Prohibitionists learned nothing from the Atlanta massacre last March:

In Arizona and across the country, [prohibitionists]…have set up massage parlors as [targets] for sex trafficking [hysteria].  Women [who travel] from China, Korea and other countries…may be [raped by cops pretending to “rescue” them, then caged] in unsanitary conditions [to await deportation].  The Arizona Republic and USA Today are [try]ing [to help cops commit] this…legal[ized abomination]…

Frontpage Confidential featured quotes from activists sharply criticizing this exercise in yellow journalism, directly intended to attract either organized or individual violence against migrant sex workers.

Droit du Seigneur (#1135)

What the people who enforce “sex trafficking” laws are really like:

Larry Allen Clay Jr., the [typical and representative]…police chief of [a] small town [in West Virginia]…is charged with sex trafficking a…17-year-old girl…[by paying her stepmother, Kristen] Naylor-Legg…[$50 to] rape…her…[the prosecutor thought it was super-important to note her rapist was]…wearing his [magic clown costume and]…rap[ed] her [in his pigmobile]…He…[later] told the teen “he could be her sugar daddy”…and [pimp by charging]…other [pigs]…$100 to rape her…

Note how deeply the “journalist” who wrote this buried the identity and responsibility of the actual initiator of this crime; they didn’t even print his picture.

CORRECTION: The Washington Post published this as if it were a new story, but in actuality it already appeared back in April and I failed to catch the repeat.

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Annex 45

Posted in Diary, tagged on September 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

It wasn’t easy, but we finally got the longest of the steel beams up and into place. Originally, Grace just wanted me to drill a hole to receive the bolt at the end of the beam, but once I got up there I realized it would be much to difficult to place accurately without the beam itself in place. But we were apparently done with the rain for the day, so Chekhov and I laboriously wrestled it up and into position by a series of back-and-forth maneuvers until finally we were close enough for me to drill the receiving hole, then we clamped the top into its rough position. Grace now has to fabricate a bracket to strengthen the structure, and once this one is permanently installed we can move on to the other two, which should be much easier because they’re both shorter and lighter. Actually, this wasn’t the heaviest of the beams; the back roof header was about 10 or 15% longer. But once we got one end of that one onto the roof, most of the work was done; by contrast, once we reached the same point with this one, there was still more wrangling to get the other end to the tip-top. All in all, this should be the most difficult one, which is a good thing because I really do want to get at least one roof section done before the rains return, and I’m beginning to have some hope that we can accomplish it.

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Tweet Tweet Tweet

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

 

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Mabon 2021

Posted in Holidays, tagged , on September 22, 2021| 1 Comment »

The apparent path of the sun will cross the celestial equator southbound at 19:21 UTC today, making this the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and the first of spring in the Southern.  This is the time of harvest, when plans come to fruition; it is also the harbinger of the time of rest, especially for Daughters of Darkness like myself who are exhausted and overstimulated by the long days of summer.  But even if you’re not a fan of the growing gloom, I hope you can enjoy the cooler days and hold summer in your heart while waiting for its return, just as I wait patiently through the long, bright days for the time that best reflects my inner landscape.

Blessed Be!

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In the News (#1173)

Posted in Current Events, History, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2021| 1 Comment »

Denying rights and enabling trafficking are the same thing.
–  Jean Bruggeman

Down Under

The events which eventually led to decriminalization in New South Wales:

Libertarianism Happens To People

Why do people refuse to see injustice until it’s inflicted on them?

…Alyssa Reid [was]…a faculty member of [James Madison University], where she met a student named Kathryn Lese…in the spring of 2013…The following year, Lese graduated from JMU…the pair…eventually…became [lovers]…for two and a half years, living together for much of that time.  The relationship ended badly, [then]…almost a year later, on December 4, 2018, Lese filed a Title IX report with JMU…and Reid was accused of engaging in a nonconsensual relationship with her former girlfriend.  JMU suspended Reid from teaching.  Then, following a hearing where Reid was given no meaningful opportunity to rebut the allegations against her…the university de[cid]ed she had violated an aspect of the sexual misconduct policy that had not even existed during the time period in question…Reid is now suing JMU, as well as the U.S. Department of Education, which pushed colleges and universities to adopt unfair sexual misconduct adjudication policies during the…Obama…presidency…Reid herself strongly believed in the [policies at the time]…but becoming the target of a false accusation has broadened her perspective…

Torture Chamber

“Inappropriate contact with inmate” is such a nice way to say “rape of a caged woman”:

Richard Wade Sanders…was arrested [and charged with raping a caged woman.  He was also fired from his job as a screw]…

The article was so totally larded with euphemisms and circumlocution, only five words survived my edit.

What Were You All Waiting For? (#568)

About damned time, considering they backed Amnesty six years ago:

…[Cops] love to be the saviour, to do a raid and to rescue the little girls.  The criminalisation of sex work is tailor-made for that sort of project.  [They’ve] been given…carte blanche to stroll into any building or business where they think sex work is taking place, to pull over cars, or to arrest people on the street in order to investigate an on-going crime that they [claim] is being committed…and [cops] never want…a [power] taken away from them…sex work…[is] a form of work.  The people who disagree…usually give moral[istic]…reasons for why they think that.  But…FNUSA is grounded in representing workers who are doing dirty, dangerous, unpleasant work.  No little girl dreams of being a garment factory worker…or…a poultry processor…yet that is what some little girls end up doing, which is why we must put protections and regulations in place that make their environments less dangerous…even if it’s an industry that little girls don’t dream of going into, all sex workers deserve protection…and we don’t protect workers when we criminalise an industry.  We leave them…out in the cold…

Out of Control (#954)

Spooge-based sexual assaults are growing worse:

Thomas Stemen…who stabbed a woman with…a semen-filled syringe last year was sentenced [to 10 years in prison]…In February 2020, surveillance video showed [that Stemen] cre[pt up] behind a young woman…returning a shopping cart at a…grocery store…and stabbed her…Stemen…also…[tried to stab] a 17-year-old girl in the same supermarket, but he was unsuccessful…Doctors prescribed [the victim] a 30-day mix of preventive medication as she did not know what she [was injected] with, but…police searched Stemen’s home and vehicle, and found similar syringes were filled with semen…that…matched Stemen’s DNA…

The writing of this article is rather odd, including referring to the 52-year-old Stemens as “elderly”.

Torture Chamber (#1123) 

Stop faking!

…on May 6, 2019…[Tanya] Suarez…was arrested for being under the influence of [methamphetamine]…she was “acting bizarrely and responding to internal stimuli” during the booking process….[and] started clawing at her eyes.  [Screws]…cut…off her clothes and her acrylic nails with scissors.  The…nails cracked, leaving jagged edges…Suarez told the nurse she was bipolar…took psychiatric medication…[and] was having delusions…she…[was locked in a] bare concrete…hole…left naked…and…gouge[d] out her [own] eyes…[while a sow stood at the door recording the whole thing on her cell phone]…“for over a minute…and…never once…intervened in a[ny]…substantial way”…Six minutes later, the jail video shows a different [screw] walking up to Suarez’s cell and looking through the window, then watching as Suarez removed her right eye…[the screw then casually walked away to fetch more screws, who were eventually followed by medical staff after Suarez had gouged out her left eye.  After both eyeballs were on the floor and Suarez was bleeding profusely from the empty sockets, the screws waited another five to ten minutes to actually do anything]…

I Spy (#1155)

Cops and politicians think barfing out the word “children” excuses any tyranny:

Facebook’s plans to allow encrypted messaging across all its platforms could prevent the [government from snooping in millions of people’s private communications]…every year…[so executive cop] Rob Jones…[is claiming] the social media company’s goal of rolling out end-to-end encryption will stop [cops] from accessing “incisive intelligence” that allows them to rescue abused children…[meanwhile] the home secretary, Priti Patel…step[ped] up her [own] international campaign against encryption…

Nothing infuriates violent, self-important busybodies more than the knowledge that there are private affairs that are none of their business, so they keep trying to convince the masses to share their view of secrecy as a “crime” in and of itself with grossly-exaggerated scare stories, usually involving sex.

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