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Archive for March, 2022

Back Issue #105

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged on March 31, 2022| 1 Comment »

It is government which creates the legal climate which allows oppression to flourish.  –  “Enabling Oppression”

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In the News (#1224)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2022| 1 Comment »

Let’s not abandon th[e term “cancel culture”]…in a vain attempt to please the people most responsible for perpetuating the problem.
–  Komi T. German & Greg Lukianoff

Bad Girls

Cops really don’t care if they ruin people’s lives with wild accusations:

The NYPD wrongly used a [picture] of a Queens woman on a “wanted” poster for a thie[f posing as an escort]…and now the innocent woman is suing for $30 million.  Eva Lopez…first found out she was a wanted woman…[from] a friend…[and] shrugged it off until her boss convinced her it might be real…the wanted poster had already been taken down from the department’s Facebook page…but the damage was done…The poster…[referred to] an Aug. 3 theft from an East Village apartment, where a [careless] man had booked an escort online, only to [discover she was actually a thief who stole his]…$13,000 Rolex and [his roommate’s]…credit card…“On Facebook, the [wanted poster] got shared over…20,000 times.  Then on Instagram…” Lopez insisted she’s never been in trouble with the law, never worked as an escort, and doesn’t know the victims…“The NYPD should commit to more thorough investigations before haphazardly accusing…innocent people of…brazen crimes,” said her lawyer Mark Shirian…

Moral Climate

It’s always good to hear from people whose minds aren’t warped by adherence to the moronic “wing” fantasy:

“Cancel culture”…is a…real thing…no matter how many ways its meaning has been wrongly distorted…Ridiculous non-examples of cancel culture…provide all the ammunition needed for media and academic elites to blithely wave away the phrase as nothing more than a misleading term for a fake problem.  But just because the term has been grossly overused doesn’t mean we should give up on its popularly understood definition…the measurable uptick, since around 2014, of campaigns to get people fired, disinvited, deplatformed, or otherwise punished for speech that is—or would be—protected by First Amendment standards…We say “would be” because the First Amendment does not apply to private companies.  So, while the NFL was free to punish Colin Kaepernick, and The View was free to suspend Whoopi Goldberg, these are still examples of cancel culture under our definition, because the subjects of each controversy engaged in expression that “would be” protected, were the First Amendment standard to apply…despite the denialism surrounding its very existence, we will demonstrate through empirical data and polling that cancel culture is not only a real problem, it is one that continues to expand in scope and size…

Stalkers in Blue (#1088)

If they really want schools to be “safe”, they need to stop paying sexually-aggressive thugs to lurk in them:

Broward County Public Schools violated [Florida] law when [bureaucrats] failed to properly…notify the Florida Department of Education Office of Safe Schools of a [lurking pig]’s dismissal for [perving on a 15-year-old within]…72 hours after [his] firing…Steven J. Daniello…[was] a [typical and representative cop paid by the state to stalk, harass, and spy on students] at Westchester Elementary School in Coral Springs…Broward County…did not notify the state…until March 28, 2021, 56 days after the legally required notification period…Daniello…was sentenced to 14-and-a-half months in state prison…four years of probation…[and eternal condemnation to the “]sex offender[” registry]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1115)

A politician with even a vestigial sense of morality is a rare thing indeed:

Two Republican governors have vetoed bills in Utah and Indiana that seek to ban trans teens from competing in school sports on girls’ teams…Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed…HEA 1041, which not only would have banned trans females from competing on girls teams, but also required schools…and athletic organizations to [invite malcontents]…to complain, and e[nable them]…to sue in civil court for alleged violations. The law included no similar ban on trans males…In Utah, Gov. Spencer Cox’s veto of H.B. 11…was…[due to] a…[last-minute] amendment that changed the bill…[from a compromise in]to a full ban on trans girls competing with other girls….[and] struck down p[rovisions]…that provided indemnity to schools and athletic organizations from costs of lawsuits…Both vetoes seem likely to be overridden…

You Were Warned (#1210)

Savannah Sly and Tarah Wheeler, writing for the Brookings Institute:

In its current form, the…EARN IT Act…would strip technology companies of protection from liability for child sexual abuse material…uploaded onto their platforms by users.  The…[false] premise…[is] that technology companies aren’t doing enough to combat the presence of such material and need to face the prospect of greater legal penalties to do so…One of EARN IT’s key provisions…exposes technology companies to liability if [a prosecutor claims] their encryption features…enable the spread of CSAM—a move that may lead many companies to conclude that offering encryption to users simply isn’t worth it and doing away with secure messaging tools entirely…EARN IT…does nothing to prevent child abuse from happening in the first place…and…may [even] prevent young people from accessing online information about sex…that could help keep them safe…EARN IT will [also] never be able to eradicate…young people taking and sharing intimate photos and videos of themselves, and preventing such material from circulating online would be better done through education…

Thought Control (#1210)

There’s at least one principled librarian in Texas:

On March 9, Suzette Baker was fired as head librarian at the Kingsland Branch Library in Llano County [Texas]…“for creating a disturbance, insubordination, violation of policies and failure to follow instructions.”  Baker [explained] she…did not comply…[with a mob who demanded] censorship…[of] books that they [falsely labeled] “inappropriate” or “pornographic”…

Disaster (#1220)

Of course, the mainstream media will never acknowledge their part in creating this disaster:

Three years ago this month, Congress passed a law that got people killed…In the immediate wake of SESTA/FOSTA’s passage, sex workers…were cut off from online platforms and tools they used to make a living and keep themselves safe…Sex workers and advocates reported an increase in attacks, arrests, self-harm, and suicide…Now…[politicians] are once again obsessed with the idea of [undermining or eliminat]ing Section 230…It’s [typical] for [politicians] to legislate with the goal of scoring political points while ignoring the collateral damage to marginalized people’s safety and rights…[but] if Congress actually wants to…avoid repeating [intentional legal atrocities] that have gotten people killed…it’s essential that they learn from SESTA/FOSTA’s catastrophic failure…the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act…would task the Department of Health and Human Services with conducting a study on the public health impact that SESTA/FOSTA had on sex worker safety.  And it would require the Justice Department to study whether the legislation actually accomplished its [pretended] goal of cracking down on human trafficking…

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Diary #613

Posted in Diary, tagged , on March 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes one little thing will set off a chain reaction that ends up someplace very unexpected.  In this case, it was my neighbors across the lane getting three sows to raise for meat, and one or all of them going into heat a few weeks ago.  That of course caught Cicero’s attention, and since then he’s been going over there to hang around outside of their pigpen until I go to get him.  The neighbors say they don’t mind because he’s harmless, but my two options are A) annoy them every day asking permission to fetch him; or B) go into their yard every day (even though I have their permission).  Obviously, this is not a sustainable situation, so I decided to beef up my fencing so Cicero can’t simply go under it; besides, the north and east fences had grown slack and weren’t keeping Shiloh in either.  This is due in part to a bad windstorm we had about three years ago which dropped quite a few trees, three or four of them directly onto the fence.  I extended the fence on both sides about 6 meters (to the treeline on the north and several meters into it on the east), then I gathered all the fallen branches and tree trunks in the area and piled them up along the fence, tangling them together to make it extremely difficult for a small but determined pig to push them through.  To aid the process, I borrowed Jae’s little electric chainsaw, and was astonished at how easily it ripped though tree trunks not much less in diameter than the length of the blade!  So naturally, I decided I needed one like it, only bigger; as powerful as hers is for such a little thing, it just can’t handle several of the ones I need to clear.  And while I already have a gas-powered chainsaw, I simply don’t have the upper body strength to start it and there isn’t always a man around when you need one to do something like cut down a tree.  So anyway, Grace picked out the one she think best suits our needs, and I added it to my Amazon wishlist.  And in the meantime, I’m going to be beefing up the fences out front with welded wire fencing and leftover sheet metal, so that our pig can wander about safely in the paddock without being lured across the lane by a trio of hussies more than twice his size.

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The March of Tweets

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged on March 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

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Links #612

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I can’t breathe.  –  Edward Bronstein

When a musician with only one hit dies, deciding which song to feature is a piece of cake.  The links above it were provided by Cop Crisis, Jesse Walker, Cop Crisis again, The Onion, Dave Krueger, Popehat, and Jesse Walker again, in that order.

From the Archives

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In the News (#1223)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Advocates of prohibition always claim good intentions.  –  Jacob Grier

Prudish Pedants

“The label ‘pornography’…represents an attempt by lawheads to pretend that their personal hang-ups about sex can be reduced to a rule”:

Adult content only becomes illegal when it veers into the realm of obscenity.  But for a work to be deemed legally obscene, it must meet the obscure Miller Test developed in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court…Numerous elements of this test are unworkable in modern times…most people do not know the definition of the word “prurient” and cannot use it correctly in a sentence.  Yet this consideration can determine whether someone is imprisoned for making a film.  The entire concept of “community standards” is meaningless in the digital age, when we have more in common with our social media groups spanning the globe than we do with our neighbors who happen to live in the same country…While it’s easy to understand what the “whole work” is when evaluating a magazine or film, what about a tube site or a social media site?…Despite these vagaries, the Miller obscenity test has been upheld over and over, in the face of numerous constitutional challenges…

A Moral Cancer (#1148)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

Sometime in the not-too-distant future…the first American will likely be sentenced to prison for selling flavored tobacco or e-cigarettes.  It might happen in Massachusetts, wh[ich]…announced charges last year against New Hampshire resident Samuel Habib…Or it might happen in New York…[where] the Auburn Police Department…raid[ed]…a…smoke shop owned by Mohamed Algamal…Or maybe it will happen in New Jersey or Rhode Island, which have banned flavored e-cigarettes statewide.  Or maybe it will be in one of the many cities that have passed flavor bans, such as Chicago…San Francisco…[or] Washington, D.C., or result from a federal prosecution if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moves forward with plans to prohibit them nationwide…advocates of flavor bans [falsely] portray them as…mere product regulations and…[pretend] prohibitions will [not] lead to…criminal enforcement, especially…against racial minorities…[but] as the American Civil Liberties Union, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and other groups warned in 2021, this will create “a massive law enforcement problem for states, counties, and cities, since all states treat unlicensed sale of tobacco products as a crime—usually as a felony punishable by imprisonment”…

Creepy Coppers

Funny how it nearly always takes years to convict cops of anything:

Nearly four years after being arrested, a [typical and representative] Harris County [Texas cop pled] guilty for possession of child pornography…Donald Dehnert [was first arrested on March 29, 2018]…he…admitted to having child pornography on a flash drive that…had photos of nude children under two years old and a girl who appeared to be between six and eight years old.  One image showed the girl appearing to perform a sexual act…[Dehner had also] solicited sex with [a roleplaying cop’s imaginary] 5- and 11-year-old daughters…

Opting Out (#1214) 

“At least one person noted that the UK was at risk of looking like idiots”:

…the U.K. has finally unveiled its controversial “Online Safety Bill”…focus[ing] on “pornography” as the main supposed “online harm”…the Johnson government [belched out a number of catchphrases and buzzwords including]…“protect children”…and…”illegal content”, while…[absurdly bragging that] the proposed measures are…“the world-first online safety laws”…[misusing the popular moralist shibboleth] “hold…to account”…and…set[ting] up the [bureaucrats]…running Ofcom, the government’s communications regulatory agency, to become essentially a censorship body with “the power to fine companies failing to comply with the laws up to 10% of their annual global turnover…[and] force them to…block non-compliant sites”…The government’s statement boasts of literally “a raft of other new offenses [including]…obstructing the regulator when it [raids] company offices”…

Leaving the 20th Century

So how exactly are they defining “pimping”?

Sex workers in Belgium will soon be able to claim state pensions and other benefits after the pandemic prompted reforms to decriminalise their profession.  Politicians approved plans to overhaul 19th-century legislation and offer prostitutes a legally recognised job title…While prostitution is decriminalised under Belgian law, there is a ban on pimping aimed at [placating “]sex trafficking[” fetishists]…

Science! (#1221)

“A source heard it happened“:

[Wanking fantasies] have increased in Israel since the outbreak of war in Ukraine [about] claims…that some women refugees…were being exploited by human trafficking networks.  [Magical anti-pimp] leaflets…are expected to be [foisted upon] refugee women upon arrival at the airport as part of…moral[ity theater]…The [fantasies claim]…human trafficking and criminal networks lure Ukrainian refugees into prostitution upon their arrival to Israel, with the [tale] being used as an excuse for Israeli immigration officials to deny entry to dozens of refugees during the past two weeks…

The Cop Myth (#1221)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

…Scottsboro [Alabama cop]…Stephen Miller shot his estranged wife, Amanda Miller, a[nd then shot himself]…Miller…was [an alcoholic]…and [Amanda] was filing for divorce.  Stephen was found dead…and Amanda is currently in critical condition…

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Annex 61

Posted in Diary, tagged on March 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

It’s a good thing we got a lot done in the dry weeks of February and early March, because it rained all last week and part of this one. The picture you see here was taken on March 6th, just a little over a week after last week’s shot; as you can see, the steel header was affixed to the top of the outer wall framework in order to support the three long beams which will support the purlins.  If you zoom in, you’ll probably be able to tell that the beams are not the rectangular tubing we used in the other leaves, but rather purlins rotated 90o from their typical orientation for added strength.  We decided to use them this way for two reasons, one structural and one practical.  Structurally, these beams were twice as long as the lengths of tubing; we’d have needed to weld two lengths together to bridge the distance, and the resulting beams would’ve been too heavy for safety.  The purlins were long enough and light enough, and when welded together into a truss as you see were plenty strong enough for the job, yet light enough for the structural needs.  As I welded the crosspieces into place, I could actually feel the structure becoming stronger and more rigid under me; you’ll see the picture of the completed section next week.  Practically, Grace underestimated the amount of steel tubing we’d need and overestimated the number of purlins, so it made sense to use the latter in every application where it was both feasible and safe to do so.  And while I was up there working, I came up with a way to use them for the headers on both cottage rooves; Grace approved of the idea, which you’ll see implemented in the coming weeks.

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In the Dark

Posted in Current Events, History, Tyranny, tagged , , , on March 24, 2022| 5 Comments »

The average age of a US Senator is 63, and the average age in the House of Representatives is 58.  That means the average US Senator was 15 in January 1974, and the average Representative 10; half of them are older than that, so the majority are more than old enough to remember the debacle that was year-round Daylight Saving Time.  I certainly do; it was still pitch-black when school started, and that was in Louisiana; I can only imagine how black it was in, say, North Dakota, where sunrise wouldn’t have come until well after 9 AM in January.
Of course, my brain is a bit healthier than that of the average Congresscritter, so perhaps the average politician’s memory doesn’t even extend back into the last century at all, much less to the incredibly remote year 1974.  But one would presume they have staff to do the actual thinking for them (as opposed to the scheming, which most of them do much too well on their own), so there really isn’t an excuse for repeated attempts at social engineering that aren’t even tied to some kind of grift, pork, or fascist collaboration.

I’m not going to go into detail about why even regular Daylight Saving Time is a terrible idea; I’ve done it before, many others have done it before, and neither control freaks nor sun-worshipers will believe the evidence anyhow, no matter how broad the consensus.  Americans especially balk at the idea that if they want extra time after work, they should simply adjust their schedules (get up an hour earlier to do chores & errands before work, etc); they much prefer the State to force everyone to do it with them whether those people want it or not.  All I’ll say is this: as in 1974, most people are going to hate this by January after it takes effect.  But given that the US bureaucracy has expanded dramatically in the past 50 years (and its inertia has multiplied exponentially), I’m not sanguine about us getting out of the mess Congress is about to impose upon us nearly as quickly and easily this time.

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In the News (#1222)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

There was absolutely zero reason for any of those officers to approach this individual.  –  Judge Naita Semaj

License to Rape

Prohibition turns the body of every citizen into a “crime scene”, which can be violated by cops at will:

A black schoolgirl was [molested] by police while on her period [under pretext of a “search”] after being [falsely accus]ed of carrying cannabis…by teachers, who…[intentionally traumatized a teenager because they] were [“]concerned[” she might have touched a plant]…

Under Duress (#824) 

Establishment media are finally beginning to admit that cops are habitual liars:

The widely-printed account [that claimed]…a…teenager who shot a [cop]…walked free because of lax bail laws, was a credulous transcription of the NYPD’s version of events, replete with racist tropes…Mayor Adams wasted no time in calling for the incarceration of his teenage constituent and falsely blaming his release on modest pre-trial reforms…Then…Judge Naita Semaj determined that NYPD [thug] Taulant Gjonbalaj and his [gang] lied in this case, finding the “incredible…self serving” police testimony “had no value”…Video fully discredited the police account.  But the case and fearmongering coverage had already been used to denigrate the young person, undermine any presumption of his innocence, and mislead the public…This case is not an aberration. Police lie under oath so often there is a word for it: testilying…

To Molest and Rape (#835)

The only unusual aspect of this story is that he eventually got caught:

Candace Sparks…[w]as a teenage runaway…sell[ing sex in]…Seattle…in the late 1970s…when…a Seattle [cop]…and his partner picked her up in an unmarked cargo van…[and] raped her.  Afterward…[they] pushed her naked out the back and tossed her clothes out after her…in 2019…an old friend…who…had [also done street] work…[at that time] informed Sparks that her estranged adult daughter had submitted DNA to a genealogy website…[and] learned her genetic profile matched her to a retired Seattle [cop] named K.C. Smith Jr.  A paternity test Smith took later confirmed he was the father…[the friend] had [also been]…raped [by a cop]…who [looked like Sparks’ rapist]…The [statute of limitations]…had long expired…[so] Sparks sued Smith and the city…

Lack of Evidence (#1117) 

The new version of “safeguarding” arrested sex workers at a “safe house”:

…increasing numbers of prostitutes are being [classified by cops as “]under investigation[“]…for lengthy periods of time…[in] a deliberate attempt…to eschew normal bail conditions…[One Korean sex worker named] Iris [explained that cops stole all of her money, including]…her purse…her bank accounts and [her] assets [using the excuse of “]modern slavery[” plus the old-fashioned charges]…of brothel-keeping, and controlling…Niki Adams…[of] the English Collective of Prostitutes…explained…“instead of releasing people on bail or charging them, they just release them under investigation, so people sit in limbo…There is no pressure or obligation to move the case forward.  When you are under investigation, you are not entitled to representation or legal aid, which puts people at a big disadvantage”…

Creepy Coppers

Just another cop demonstrating what he is:

A Houston [cop named Justin Weber] has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography…two…month[s after someoneone snitched on him]…

Thought Control (#1210)

Idaho seems determined to ape Texas in every way possible:

Idaho [politicians] are threatening librarians and…other educat[ors]…with fines and even jail for [allow]ing minors to [read] material the government deems harmful.  Idaho, like most states, has a law that makes it a crime to expose or provide to youths under the age of 18 material that includes nudity, sexual conduct, or sadomasochism either in imagery or description…H.B. 666 (no, really), would…strike out the part of the law that provides a defense for school and museum employees and librarians and replace…it with nothing at all…[leaving] librarians…subject…to criminal penalties for any works that present nudity or sexual contact regardless of the context…

To Molest and Rape (#1217)

Notice how often rapist cops’ victims are underage?

A Las Vegas [screw] was arrested…[for rape]…Luis Ybarra…is facing a charge of sexual assault of a child less than 14 years old.  [In an unusual twist]…he was…[not rewarded] with…[a paid vacation]…

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Diary #612

Posted in Diary, tagged , on March 22, 2022| 1 Comment »

I’ve never had chicks as rambunctious as this brood.  In past years, chicks would sometimes hop up to the top of the feeder, and once in a very rare while one would make it to the top of the divider.  But as you can see, these just hang out there on the regular, and several times over the past week I’ve opened the door to find one peep-peep-peeping around on the floor outside their enclosure.  At other times they race around the inside, throwing shavings all the way over the wall, and they’re so loud I can actually hear them right now as I type this despite the fact that I’m upstairs in my office and they’re downstairs in the bathroom with the door closed.  So it’s probably a good thing they’ll be going out into the nursery cage of the henhouse on Sunday; if they stayed inside much longer it might get difficult to contain them.  And it ought to be interesting to see if their behavior differs from the hens I’m used to once they get older.

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