Jae got two more strings of those little LEDs, and I put them up a couple of weeks ago. They’re powered from an extension cord I ran up the hollow inside of one of the long rafters running over Chekhov’s cottage, so it was a simple matter to plug the new strands into the same cord and then place the control box right next to the other one, so whenever I change the color (eg, to this spooky green) with the remote they all change at once. We avoided the area to the right of this picture on purpose, because that’s where the stovepipe will be and I’m not interested in finding out what effect the heat might have on the LEDs. It’s really pretty amazing how much light these little suckers give off; as soon as it warms up a little more I’m anxious to see what they look like from the hot tub while soaking.
Archive for March, 2023
Annex 102
Posted in Diary, tagged Sunset on March 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Back Issue #117
Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged blogging on March 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Grotesquely-unjust government policies nearly always have to get worse before they get better. – “Banishment”
- Indian sex workers saved a 14-year-old girl from being sold to a brothel.
- Prosecutor lies about a service’s fee to ratchet up the number of counts.
- Interestingly, the phrase “sex trafficking” appears nowhere in this story.
- Can you imagine U.S. cops contradicting a prohibitionist politician’s lies?
- How should I answer a therapist’s claim that ALL prostitutes are slaves?
- Dr. Brooke Magnanti on Comic Relief’s subscription to prohibitionist lies.
- Ireland turns down nearly all asylum requests from “trafficking victims”.
- This is only “stunning” to those who believe in the “pimps & hos” myth.
- French whores continue to push back against increased criminalization.
- Cops, robots, bugs, myths, clichés, terrifying pastries, and much more.
- “Greenbacks”, “Jezebel”, “Louise”, “Big City Girls” & “Baroque Bordello”.
- Redefine prostitution as “sex trafficking”; get a grant for street stings.
- Cops, de-extinction, censorship, Scientology, fascism and much more.
- Swedish neofeminists label surrogate motherhood “human trafficking”.
- The deep connection between addiction rhetoric and crypto-moralism.
- Dutch “authorities” narrow bottleneck, wonder why “crime” increases.
- How do verification services like Date Check and P411 screen escorts?
- Is there a penis length or thickness that is too large for most escorts?
- One would never know these claims have been repeatedly debunked.
- Emi Koyama exposes journalists who knowingly repeated false myth.
- Russians use “sex trafficking” hysteria as Anti-American propaganda.
- Politician says caging people & giving them criminal records is “help”.
- Cops claim hiring whores was a “botched prostitution investigation”.
- Dallas tries to push off its “diversion” scheme on the rest of Texas.
- The media finally notice that using condoms as evidence is insane.
- A legal clinic in Cape Town provides legal services for sex workers.
- Nuns and SOAP fanatics harass hoteliers in the American Midwest.
- Phone app for teen girls who are suddenly “trafficked” by surprise.
- In which I go far outside my comfort zone to attend a symposium.
- Indian sex workers triumph over attempt at covert criminalization.
- Umbrellas, cops, redshirts, censorship, Pokemon, and much more.
- Drone-enabled universal surveillance is about to become a reality.
- Soi-disant conservative declares individuals are owned by society.
- Cops puzzled when “rescued” whores immediately return to work.
- Margo St. James on the birth of the sex worker rights movement.
- More evidence of the evangelical basis for “sex trafficking” myth.
- Government officials attacked for failing to find what isn’t there.
- Cats, crayons, Kipling, Sweden, endometriosis, and much more.
- Washington state puritans’ bizarre persecution of coffee stands.
- Tracy Elise of Phoenix Goddess Temple involuntarily committed.
- Hawaii expands asset forfeiture to include petty misdemeanors.
- A federal appeals court struck down Virginia’s anti-sodomy law.
- Sex therapist argues disability should cover hiring sex workers.
- Dr. Brooke Magnanti on the lessons we can learn from Pompeii.
- Indian government reverses its sneaky criminalization attempt.
- Client screening tips & helpful links from a New Orleans escort.
- Video of my appearance at the Albany Law School symposium.
- The vulnerable party in a sex work transaction isn’t the whore.
- The Dutch consider licensing, despite knowing it doesn’t work.
- The “Facebook pimps” myth just keeps growing and growing.
- What positions are good for a small penis and a large vagina?
- Arizona wants to force some women to use men’s restrooms.
- Nobody can challenge secret surveillance because it’s secret.
- A $100,00 grant to develop “the next generation of condom”.
- More on the escort who was arrested for reporting a stalker.
- Officials pretend that licensing schemes “help” sex workers.
- Indian feminists serve “vinegar pie” to Harvard do-gooders.
- Charlotte Shane on the weakness of “enthusiastic consent”.
- Proposed South Australian law isn’t quite decriminalization.
- The evangelical Christian roots of “sex trafficking” hysteria.
- A collection of vile, psychopathic, literally genocidal hatred.
- Dutch anti-sex politicians use a shill to attack sex workers.
- Mars, zeroes, censorship, cops, teeth, tits and much more.
- A really bad review of a “sex trafficking” propaganda film.
- Few Irish politicians dare to stand up to Magdalene nuns.
- The real attitude of Swedes toward the sex payment law.
- Is the sex worker rights movement nearing a watershed?
- Nevada is not more whore-friendly than other US states.
- The radical concept of paying people for things they sell.
- Bolshoi ballet dancer calls the company a “giant brothel”.
- ASPaSIA is working on a code of ethics for sex workers.
- Yet another example of what real sex slavery looks like.
- “You don’t change the world with a Hitachi Magic Wand“.
- Should I “out” a sex worker friend to my other friends?
- The fantasy of porn prohibition via internet censorship.
- The wholly predictable outcome of prohibitionist idiocy.
- The tale of a lonely woman who found a higher calling.
- The topless Tunisian checks into a psychiatric hospital.
- Can mature, chubby women make a living as escorts?
- Sex worker says calling her a sex worker is “slander”.
- Tullia d’Aragona: courtesan, poetess and philosopher.
- The logical end result of “human trafficking” rhetoric.
- Dr. Laura Agustín on the concept of “empowerment”.
- Why do women tend to be more talkative than men?
- Justine Reilly, Ruhama’s all-purpose anti-whore shill.
- Another good argument against anti-polygamy laws.
- A thorough refutation of Neumayer, Cho and Dreher.
- The view on the Swedish model from inside Norway.
- Another attempt to decriminalize in South Australia.
- Charlotte Shane reviews a sex surrogate’s memoirs.
- “Following the Money: Spending on Anti-Trafficking”.
- Is this really the company you want the US to keep?
- Bitcoin is now the world’s best-performing currency.
- Baboons have been observed keeping dogs as pets.
- Bernard Baran, another victim of the Satanic Panic.
- The US Treasury’s first attempt to regulate Bitcoin.
- Contrasting stories on sex work with the disabled.
- I just love it when predators feed on one another.
- Jennifer Reed debunks the “sex trafficking” panic.
- Jesse Walker’s good short piece on Santa Muerte.
- Rapist cop of the week, and another a year later.
- Horrible Houma whore helps cops entrap clients.
- UK literally robs a sex worker of her life savings.
- Oregon ramps up the “sex trafficking” hysteria.
- Supporting moral panics with bogus checklists.
- Interviews with Rob Arthur and Laura Agustín.
- Why banishment has come back into fashion.
- New Wikipedia article on “Migrant Sex Work”.
- Secret Lives and A Natural History of Rape.
- 14 more people have been cured of HIV.
- A challenge to prostitution laws in Ohio.
- The Fokkens sisters have finally retired.
- Turkey’s slow-motion war on sex work.
- Because financial survival is shameful.
- Why Anne Hathaway should go-away.
- Two reader-authors exchange books.
- Unpacking the sex trafficking panic.
- Caty Simon interviews Audacia Ray.
- King of the Hill: Portland, Oregon.
- Amanda Brooks’ advice for clients.
- Who really paid her, and for what?
- When prostitution wasn’t a crime.
- No, rape is not worse than death.
- Nevada joins the “pole tax” mob.
- A new low in intra-family spying.
- When science looks like religion.
- King of the Hill: North Carolina.
- An interview with Tracy Quan.
- Who victimizes sex workers?
- A profile of Grace Bellavue.
- When sex is your day job.
- My favorite short stories.
- Superfreakonomics.
- R.I.P. Harry Reems.
- Baby cured of HIV.
In the News (#1325)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged cell phones, censorship, cops, Florida, hysteria, Idaho, If Men Were Angels, internet, Iowa, law, LGBT rights, libraries, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Morality Lessons, New York, No Difference, politicians, porn, propaganda, rape, Safe Position, scams, South Carolina, Swedish model, Tennessee, Texas, The Puritan Recrudescence, Thought Control, To Molest and Rape, Uganda, Utah, violence vs. sex workers on March 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Discussions and debates [about sex work are] happening in the absence of those who are most affected by it. – Solomon Friedman
A [typical and representative] youth director at a[n Iowa] church…[named] Travis Albers…has been charged with [sexual abuse of] a child…Trinity Reformed Church in Pella…[did not] fire…him [until] after his arrest March 5…
Another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists:
Uganda’s parliament has passed a bill which would criminalise people who identify as gay, or a[ny] sexual minority…Under the proposed legislation, friends, family and [busybody strangers]…would have a duty to r[a]t [out] individuals in same-sex relationships…Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African country. But the bill seeks to go further and criminalise people on the basis of their sexual identity…Individuals or institutions which support or fund LGBT rights’ activities or organisations, or publish, broadcast and distribute pro-gay media material and literature, also face prosecution and imprisonment…In 2014, Uganda’s constitutional court nullified a similar act…because it had been passed by parliament without the required quorum…
Katz is doing exactly what Swedish criminalization proponents do: lying and harming women:
[After] sex worker Yang Song fell to her death [as the direct result of] an NYPD raid on [her workplace]…New York elected officials…[made their usual empty] promise[s]…Melinda Katz…assured voters that she would not prosecute sex workers, [but since she is a proponent of]…the…[evi]l Nordic Model…sex workers [knew she was lying]…Katz’s record reveals she has…continu[ed] to prosecute most of the prostitution arrests that are made…Queens continues to have the highest prostitution arrest rate in the city…and…Katz has…only declin[ed] to prosecute one case in her whole term. She has maintained the highest rates of prosecution for prostitution…in the city…
The Puritan Recrudescence (#1247)
A decent article despite the usual journalistic credulity about prohibitionist claims:
In the heat of a [prohibitionist crusade to censor the internet], Mindgeek, owner of Pornhub, [has been] acquired…by the private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners. Pornhub…has faced intense [persecution despite]…hosting [far fewer] videos that depict…child sexual abuse [than platforms such as Facebook]. After a[rch-prohibitionist Nick Kristof provided a platform for the evidence-free claims of anti-sex worker activists], Visa and Mastercard suspended services from the site…in 2021 it took Pornhub [dramatical]ly less time to remove reported child sex abuse material…than other platforms…Pornhub responded to…notifications…from NCMEC in less than five hours on average, compared to the total average from…websites, which was [five times longer,] more than 24 hours…Out of 30 million reports of child exploitation to NCMEC in 2021, Pornhub submitted just over 9,000 reports…Ethical Capital Partners plans to support and center sex workers and sexually explicit content creators in discussions about legislation and regulation, including what payment processors like Visa and Mastercard do and don’t allow from sex workers and pornography websites…
Cops really believe they’re above the law:
Rick Duncan, the [typical and representative Minnesota] sheriff previously convicted of harassing and stalking an employee, is being sued by another woman…[because] he used nearly identical means to coerce her into sex around the same time…Prosecutors last year also charged Duncan in a new case with five counts of criminal sexual conduct over [rapes] dating back to 2017…Duncan fabricated evidence to [threaten the woman into submitting to rape, but made] it appear as though the [threats] were [somehow coming from an anonymous third party]…Duncan [simultaneous]ly [confused] the woman [by claiming] he would keep her safe…A federal jury last year awarded more than $1.1 million to th[e employee], who[m]…Duncan [tried to rape with similar bizarre tactics]…Duncan was also charged criminally [but merely]…sentenced to four years of probation. At his sentencing, he [blamed his rapist behavior on members of the public being mean to poor widdle piggies]…
My first profession is becoming almost as much a target for authoritarians as my second:
Local police have been called out to Texas public libraries to [forcibly censor] books…in at least five instances….Adam Steinbaugh…[of FIRE said]…“They are treating librarians as suspects. That should be concerning for everyone”…No librarians have [yet] been charged with a crime. But in recent months Texas [politician]s have proposed a dozen bills that would change state law to make it easier to prosecute them for obscenity…
Once Utah passed this unconstitutional bill, it became another case of “monkey see, monkey do”:
Eight states are weighing [censorship] bills that would force phone and tablet manufacturers…to automatically enable…censor[ship software whether the customer wants that or not]…The only way to disable the [automatic censor]…would be through passcodes. Providing such a passcode to a [legal minor] would be forbidden, except when done by a parent…Many device manufacturers already have adult content [censorship software] available for use, though it is not the norm to have them turned on by default…In recent years, some phone makers have added [more aggressive censorship software] that use[s error-prone algorithms of the type used by Facebook to censor artwork and pictures of plastic dolls] to censor individual images on certain applications. One of these…bills was passed…in Utah but cannot go into effect unless five additional states pass similar laws — a provision included to prevent Big Tech companies from isolating the state a[s it deserves]…This year, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Texas and Montana [politician]s are all considering versions of the bill…
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!
Diary #665
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, Sunset on March 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The chicks will be moving into their nursery in the henhouse this coming Sunday, so last Saturday I decided it was time to give the place its semi-annual cleaning. That means shoveling out what is politely called “poultry litter” (a mixture of feathers, spilled feed, decomposing hay, and chicken shit) and replacing it with fresh hay. In the autumn that’s the end of it, but in the spring I also need to straighten out the chicken wire around the nursery to keep the hens out, then spread fresh shavings all over the nursery and make sure the bulb in their heat lamp is still good. It’s a tiring, smelly job, but fortunately it only takes about two hours and it is only semi-annual. And when I think about how much it would cost to regularly buy a paltry few second-rate weeks-old grocery store eggs, that two hours of literally shoveling shit twice a year in exchange for a constant supply of delicious fresh eggs (in such plentiful supply that I can share them with friends) begins to seem like a good bargain indeed. 
For Better, For Worse
Posted in Current Events, Perception, Tyranny, tagged A Woman's Point of View, California, end demand, Hawaii, infidelity, Lack of Evidence, law, Leaving the 20th Century, Massachusetts, New York, politicians, Rhode Island, Safe Position, Swedish model, Tennessee, The Course of a Disease, Vermont, Worse Than I Thought on March 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Liz Brown recently published a roundup of efforts in various states to change prostitution laws, four of them for the better and two for the mostly-worse. Liz covers the developments with her usual thoroughness so the article is well worth reading in its entirety, but since there are several tags tracking these legal maneuvers, it doesn’t hurt to synopsize them here (along with a few comments of my own, and links to earlier stories about prostitution law changes in those states).
…Senate Bill 1204…introduced by state Sen. Carol Fukunaga…would repeal a section of Hawaii law criminalizing prostitution…and a section criminalizing “commercial sexual exploitation”…It would also repeal laws that criminalize “promoting prostitution,” “loitering for the purpose of engaging in or advancing prostitution,” “promoting travel for prostitution,” “street prostitution,” and soliciting prostitution near schools or parks…Another measure introduced by Fukunaga…would establish a working group to “study the effects of New Zealand’s model of decriminalizing prostitution on sex workers, their clients, and the broader community”…and “make recommendations for amending Hawaii laws to decriminalize prostitution”…
…Julia Salazar[‘s]…S4396…has attracted eight co-sponsors so far…[it] would repeal all parts of state penal law “that make sex work between consenting adults illegal”…[and] also repeal other statutes related to consensual adult prostitution…
Unfortunately, there is a competing Swedish model bill sponsored by prohibitionist Liz Krueger which would treat sex workers as moral imbeciles and target their partners, friends, co-workers and families for persecution, and the governor has held discussions with its supporters.
…House Bill 6064 was introduced on March 3 and…would allow sex workers to come forward about crimes they witnessed or were victimized by without worrying that police would then arrest them for prostitution…or “procuring or attempting to procure sexual conduct for the payment of a fee,” loitering for prostitution, “soliciting from motor vehicles for indecent purposes,” or practicing massage without a license…
I’m not especially impressed with laws like this, one of which was recently passed in California. But there are also re-decriminalization efforts going on in the state.
…H.372…has attracted 14 sponsors…and…would repeal the part of Vermont’s criminal code that outlaws engaging in prostitution, soliciting someone for prostitution, aiding and abetting prostitution, and related activities (such as permitting a place to be used for lewdness or prostitution and transporting someone to a place where they will engage in prostitution)…
Vermont’s current law actually defines all extramarital sex as “prostitution”, whether or not money is exchanged.
[Prohibitionist filth] Kay Khan…[is once again trying to] implement what’s known as the Nordic model of sex work laws, in which paying for sex is illegal but selling sex (at least under some circumstances) is not. The Nordic model…[i]s not recommended by human rights, health, or sex worker advocacy groups, since continuing to criminalize prostitution clients keeps the industry underground and leaves in place most of the harms presented by full criminalization. A recent study of sex work law changes in Europe found that…the Nordic model [is] associated with higher rape rates…
[Politicians] Page Walley…and…John Ragan…have introduced measures (H.B. 1383 and S.B. 0182), [basically similar to the one on offer in Rhode Island, with an important difference: they]…would also institute heftier penalties for people paying or attempting to pay for sex. Right now, the crime of “patronizing prostitution” in Tennessee is already a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in prison and/or a $2,500 fine. The…[new] law…would make patronizing prostitution a Class E felony, punishable by one to six years in prison and up to $3,000 in fines. Increasing…penalties for…customers doesn’t stop prostitution. But it may make customers more reluctant to engage in screening…and…other conditions that could increase sex worker safety, out of fear that doing so will leave a paper trail or otherwise make them more vulnerable to arrest…
Links #664
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged activism, Believe Them, Brazil, cops, Georgia, Hollywood, Japan, Michigan, racism, restaurants, universal criminality, video, West Virginia on March 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Put your hands behind your…fucking back. – “Officer” Paul Arrowood
This week’s video features Topol, who passed away earlier this month, playing the part he was born to play. The links above it were provided by Stephen Lemons; Franklin Harris and Jesse Walker; Marc Randazza; Cop Crisis (x3); and Angela Keaton, in that order.
- Sushi terrorism.
- R.I.P. Bert I. Gordon and Topol.
- A giant gas bubble from Uranus.
- Cop beats man for walking while black.
- The US isn’t a police state yet, no sirree!
- Crime: drunkenness. Penalty: summary execution.
- Just another cop demonstrating exactly what he is.
From the Archives
- Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do.
- Prohibition turns bodies into “crime scenes” which cops can violate at will.
- The new version of “safeguarding” arrested sex workers at a “safe house”.
- It’s good to see a story like this quote at least one knowledgeable person.
- Everyone harmed by “prostitution stings” needs to keep suing over them.
- Establishment media are finally beginning to admit cops are chronic liars.
- Prohibitionist profiteers will harass businesses thus until FOSTA is gone.
- “At least one person noted that the UK was at risk of looking like idiots”.
- They actually admit this shit law is designed to put people through hell.
- Hollywood actors really need to stop pretending expertise in sexology.
- Waffle House is so reliable, FEMA uses it as a disaster severity metric.
- The pandemic affects sex workers in Germany, Bangladesh & Bolivia.
- Prohibitionists’ next target isn’t just Pornhub; it’s all online sex work.
- A reminder of what the government is trying to take away from you.
- Your regular reminder that rapist screws are not confined to the US.
- Violent, coercive “wing” idiots are completely detached from reality.
- Funny how it nearly always takes years to convict cops of anything.
- Katz is in reality a duplicitous proponent of Swedish criminalization.
- For a change, this journalist doesn’t refer to torture as “correction”.
- Cops, Al Jaffee, Yaphet Kotto, George Segal, PBS, and much more.
- The majority of petty evildoers see themselves as just doing a job.
- Lots of sex workers are quoted in this rebuke of yellow journalism.
- Do I really have to add, “Not because a little boy picked a flower”?
- Cops, politicians, Stuart Gordon, Kenny Rogers, and much more.
- “Give me your huddled masses, so I can torture them to death.”
- This pro-censorship screed is utterly larded with dysphemisms.
- A thorough analysis of the awfulness of “end demand” policies.
- Idaho seems determined to ape Texas in every way possible.
- Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet.
- A glimpse into the violent sociopathy that is prohibitionism.
- The pandemic seems to be killing “sex trafficking” hysteria.
- And guess who gets to declare that an “emergency” exists?
- Prohibitionist whining is becoming increasingly desperate.
- The beginning of “sex trafficking” morphing into QAnon.
- The debacle that was year-round Daylight Saving Time.
- Ally Deviant Ollam on internet security for sex workers.
- Wow, two politicians with a particle of human decency!
- Dr. Laura Agustín with GAATW on the rescue industry.
- All too often, human tragedies are wholly predictable.
- As always, sex workers demonstrate our adaptability.
- I’ve never had chicks as rambunctious as this brood.
- Even rent-a-cops feel entitled to rape sex workers.
- Predictable in the current Neo-Victorian climate.
- Cops, satire, Timmy Thomas, and much more.
- So how exactly are they defining “pimping”?
- Just another cop demonstrating what he is.
- Like seeing pictures in clouds or inkblots.
- Building the roof for my new bathroom.
- My new pullets at three weeks old.
- The best surprise is no surprise.
- “A source heard it happened“.
- On chickens and bookcases.
- What a sick, sorry waste.
- Rapist cops of the week.
- On the Miller test.
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!
In the News (#1324)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged A Broker in Pillage, abortion, asset seizure, California, child "protective" services, China, cops, drugs, hotels, hysteria, If Men Were Angels, Italy, Louisiana, Michigan, Permanent Record, Property of the State, rape, scams, sex rays, teachers, Tennessee, The Truth About..., The Vultures Descend, To Molest and Rape, Wyoming on March 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The government cannot use bogus criminal charges to attempt to silence its critics. – Kirby Thomas West
The Truth About “The Truth About…”
Just another of those nonexistent false rape accusations:
A 25-year-old Stanford University employee was arrested…and charged with felony perjury for…lying about being raped twice last year on campus…Jennifer Ann Gries…first [made] a false [report] in August…[claiming] that a [young black] man…dragged her to a restroom and [rap]ed her, the[n]…in October she went…to get another rape examination and told the nurse…that…a man…forced her into a basement storage closet [in broad daylight] and raped her…She…declined to speak with police…[both times, and] also claimed that she became pregnant with twins but suffered a miscarriage…Both of Gries’ [rape] kits were analyzed…[but] the…results “were not consistent with her story.” On both occasions she…signed forms to get public funds…[from a] compensation [fund]…In January…Gries…admitted to lying about the rapes and wr[ote] an apology letter to the man…[s]he [had] target[ed, claiming]…”She…was upset with [him] because she felt he gave her ‘false intention’ and turned her friends against her”…
This will never stop as long as people teach kids unquestioning obedience to “authority”: “A Chalmette [Louisiana] pastor [named Milton Martin III has been] arrested for.molesting a minor…from 2010 to 2013; starting when the victim was just 14…”
A judge has ordered an Italian university to pay…a prestigious academic after dismissing him…[due to] his former career as an adult performer. Professor Ruggero Freddi performed in gay porn in the U.S. as Carlo Masi between 2004 and 2013 for Colt Studios, and later went on to receive advanced degrees in engineering and mathematics. He was awarded 2,500 euros for unpaid hours and 1,500 euros for “unjustified dismissal”…
Wayne County, Michigan has openly stolen thousands of cars with similar tactics:
A Detroit man…[named] Robert Reeves[, represented] by the Institute for Justice…[is suing] Wayne County prosecutors [because they] twice filed baseless criminal charges against him after he joined a class-action lawsuit in an attempt to get his…car back…[after it was stolen by cops] in July of 2019…along with more than $2,000 in cash, after [they decided to absurdly accuse him]…of stealing a skid steer from Home Depot [despite having no evidence at all]. For more than six months, Reeves was not arrested or charged with a crime, and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office…didn’t file [the paperwork]…to [steal] his car [under color of law], meaning he wasn’t able to officially challenge the [robbery]. Reeves then joined a class-action lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice in 2020 challenging Wayne County’s aggressive asset [robbery] program…[in retaliation] the WCPO filed felony charges against Reeves for receiving and concealing stolen property, then asked the judge overseeing the class-action lawsuit to suspend his suit while the criminal case against him proceeded. In February of 2021, after more than a year of delays…the judge in the criminal case against Reeves dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. Less than a month later, the WCPO refiled the charges against Reeves. In January of last year, that case ended with an identical result…
Tennessee is now apparently emulating Alabama:
Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams were driving through rural Tennessee with their five young children when they were [subjected to a pretextual stop so cops could search their car with a dog]…when police found 5 grams of marijuana in the car, Williams was arrested and the five children
were [abduct]ed by local child [“]protective[“] services. One month later, the couple is still fighting to regain custody of their children…
Rapist cops don’t only target women:
…a…[Hong Kong] cop…surnamed Luk…was [arrested after a man was] found [dead] in a hotel…and…another…man…[was raped by use of] gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB…commonly known as the “date rape drug”…[an unidentified] 28-year-old man asked a mainland man – whom he met on a dating app – to the [second] hotel the same night after he left the…hotel [where the dead man was found]. He spiked the mainlander’s coke, [raped] him, and left. Then Luk entered the hotel room and also [raped] the [victim]…police arrested the 28-year-old…and Luk for…raping the mainlander…[and] will arrange for an autopsy to…see if [the other victim died from] an overdose of [GHB]…
This anti-abortion law seems to be specifically targeted at doctors:
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon…signed into law a bill outlawing the use or prescription of…abortion pills…so-called “morning-after” pills…are exempted…[as is] any treatment necessary to protect a woman “from an imminent peril that substantially endangers her life or health,” as well as any treatment of a “natural miscarriage according to currently accepted medical guidelines”…The measure stipulates that a woman “upon whom a chemical abortion is performed or attempted shall not be criminally prosecuted”…
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!
Annex 101
Posted in Diary, tagged Presents, Sunset on March 24, 2023| 1 Comment »
Thanks to a very generous gentleman, we now have a wood-burning stove for the atrium! According to the specifications, it should be more than enough to heat the area, which will mean no more shivery runs from the hot tub into the lower bathroom after a nice, relaxing soak; it will also help keep the cottages and upper bathroom warm next winter, and protect the pipes during cold weather since the well is in the utility room, fairly close to the stove. It should also help me save on electricity, since Sunset is 11 acres and the majority of that is trees; even just picking up fallen branches should provide plenty of fuel. Since it arrived less than a week before the end of winter, it won’t be of much help this year, but that’s OK; at least I’ll have plenty of time to get the chimney installed and all the other prep long before it starts getting chilly again around the end of September. Since it weighs about 150 kg, I reinforced the deck the same way I did under the shower pan, then we put down four concrete pavers and a marble slab Jae scored several years ago. She and Grace figured out what we needed, and since I’ve never owned a wood stove before I trusted them; it certainly is a nice looking unit, and I’m looking forward to getting it ready to at least test as soon as I can budget the rest of the stovepipe, fittings, etc.
Thaw-time Tweets
Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged adolescence, agency denial, blogging, cops, crypto-moralism, dehumanization, drugs, language, law, left-right myth, politicians, pregnancy, robots, surveillance, Twitter, universal criminality on March 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The number of women whose lives were ruined by sex work is dwarfed into utter insignificance by the number of women whose lives were ruined by unwanted pregnancies.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) February 24, 2023
"Misleading" is such a nice way to say "lying outrageously to cover up their own crimes". https://t.co/ZbjkZIMZNI
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) February 24, 2023
I don't think I've ever muted anyone on here for being a humorless, pompous scold before. But there' a first time for everything.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) February 26, 2023
This is rhetorical sleight of hand. There's no such thing as a "prostituted woman"; it's an imaginary construct based in the fantasy that sex workers are passive, vegetable-like entities. Since there ARE no such creatures, talking to none is talking to all.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) February 27, 2023
One of the most important principles of existing in a world full of violent authoritarians and their pet snitches is, "Never give anybody any personal information that they do not absolutely need".
Most sex workers understand why this is important; I wish the rest of y'all did.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) February 28, 2023
Politicians and bureaucrats are ALWAYS in favor of more laws, rules and "regulations" about every single aspect of human existence, so THEIR preferences are not arguments in favor of ANYthing. It would be like trying to advertise a food product by proclaiming that dogs like it.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) February 28, 2023
Catastrophist authoritarians love saying "planet" when they actually mean "human society", and "universe" when they actually mean "this one tiny planet".
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 1, 2023
Don't ever say Cassandra McNeill never warned y'all. https://t.co/9XQiw9VR7b
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 2, 2023
I first encountered coconut milk when I was about 5; it was obvious to me even then that it got the name from its appearance and had nothing to do with dairy.
But I guess most politicians aren't as bright as I was at 5. https://t.co/llcXds1xFU
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 3, 2023
Make cops carry individual insurance, and pay for it themselves. When a cop has too many suits to be insurable, he can no longer work as a cop. This may be the only way to stop the carnage, considering politicians are too spineless to fix it themselves. https://t.co/WszZaYpkMU
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 4, 2023
Another person arguing that big, tall, fat, or wealthy people should have more votes than small, short, skinny, or poor ones. https://t.co/XJ90ZE6597
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 5, 2023
I beg to differ about it not being healthy; it saved my sanity, my health, and very possibly my life, far more effectively than any prescription drug could've, for a fraction of the cost, and fully under MY control rather than some doctor's. And I'm far from alone.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 8, 2023
This is your regular reminder that infantilizing young adults as "children" does not actually help them, and if anything makes them MORE vulnerable to whatever it is you're claiming you want to protect them from.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 9, 2023
Gotta say I'm amused by the sudden realization by both reporters and social media denizens that politicians lie, constantly and egregiously. Now if they can just grok that this is neither new nor novel nor limited to politicians of only one party, we might actually get somewhere.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 10, 2023
I have never and will never understand the childlike faith people put in "restraining orders". But then, perhaps because I've played D&D for over 40 years, I *know* magic is just make-believe.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 11, 2023
I wish people would stop using this backward phrasing invented by journalists.
It's "1/50 as fast", not "50 times slower". Slowness is a lack of speed, just like cold is a lack of heat. That's why your car has a "speedometer" not a "slowometer". https://t.co/bXJ7JXFc7r
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 11, 2023
Many years ago, Robert Heinlein proposed a Constitutional amendment requiring all laws to be written in plain English comprehensible to average high-school graduates. https://t.co/ov9M5Nz5yp
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 11, 2023
Every time one of these "feminist" prohibitionists opines, she demonstrates that she not only fails to comprehend that is a wide variety of clients who want all sorts of different experiences, but also that she has absolutely not the faintest clue what any of them is like.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 13, 2023
CSPI has nothing to do with science; it’s an authoritarian organization dedicated to promoting the latest nutritional pseudoscience. These are the same people who once said that raw poppy seeds are "contaminated" with opium (which comes from, you guessed it, poppy seeds). https://t.co/l8fneOWKfu
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 15, 2023
Oh yes, statism is just another religion. The gods have been replaced by parties and agendas, and the prayers go by other names. But the adherents are still expected to mindlessly regurgitate dogma, and heretics and infidels are punished as ruthlessly as ever.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 16, 2023
The problem with "progressive" types & "parental rights" types BOTH is that they view young adults as "children" & children as objects, to be managed & programmed by state or family. Neither gives a damn about the young people themselves; they're just quibbling about ownership.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 17, 2023
One of the stupidest things about modern culture wars is that, when
culture warriors' opponents CLEARLY STATE what's bothering them, the warriors deny it and say, "No, your problem is REALLY 'x' motivation from our dogma about you" rather than using the knowledge.— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 19, 2023
Why do prohibitionists make ridiculously-obvious statements like "people only do work if they feel the money is worth their time" and then pretend it's somehow a "gotcha"?
Puritanism blinds people. https://t.co/6xSPPZFTXC
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 20, 2023
I mean really; this is the online equivalent of taking your dick out at a party and wriggling it around while pretending it's talking, as though it were a puppet. Only the online behavior is more sophomoric.
— Maggie McNeill (@Maggie_McNeill) March 22, 2023
In the News (#1323)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged abortion, Choke Point, cops, drugs, fascism, Florida, If Men Were Angels, Israel, law, Ohio, Panopticon, pregnancy, rape, Rescued To Death, South Carolina, surveillance, Swedish model, Texas, The Mob Rules, The Vultures Descend, To Molest and Rape, weaponry on March 22, 2023| 1 Comment »
From a legal perspective, [fetal personhood] is, quite frankly, bonkers. – Elizabeth N. Brown
The “Swedish model” helps women!
Police raided 11 [shared incall]s…in studio apartments in…Tel Aviv…[evict]ing some 20 women…Tel Aviv’s Welfare Department…only got an hour’s forewarning…[and] organizations aiding prostitutes were not informed at all…one [sex worker]…told Haaretz…“They wouldn’t let me change. They came in with cameras and large forces and told me to get lost in 10 minutes…We have no way to make ends meet this month”…Romi Levy of the Argaman organization [said]…“Women who have committed no crime were depicted…as wanted criminals…Women aged 30-60 were thrown out on the street with their belongings, crying and shouting for help, which I’m sad to say won’t be forthcoming”…
This will never stop as long as people teach kids unquestioning obedience to “authority”: “The minister of a church in [Ohio]…has been arrested…[on] multiple criminal charges…of the sexual abuse of minors. Dennis Laferty…is pastor at Thompson United Methodist Church…”
Unless this batshittery is declared unconstitutional, things will keep getting worse:
A Texas man is suing three women under the wrongful death statute, alleging that they assisted his ex-wife in terminating her pregnancy…Marcus Silva is represented by [two politicians:] Jonathan Mitchell…architect of the state’s prohibition on abortions…and state Rep. Briscoe Cain…[the] ex-wife learned she was pregnant in July 2022, t[wo] month[s] after [s]he [had filed for divorce]…and [wisely decided]…to…terminate the pregnancy [lest the husband weaponize it in the divorce]…The friends…sen[t] her information about Aid Access, an international group that provides abortion-inducing medication through the mail…they [later] found a way to acquire the medication in Houston…A third woman delivered the medication…and…the wife self-managed an abortion at home…The lawsuit relies heavily on screenshots from a [private] group chat the ex-wife had with [her] two friends…
The word “pause” means a temporary stop:
Just weeks ago, gun control advocates were doing happy dances as credit card companies prepared to implement a new merchant category code…that would ease the way…for tracking gun purchases. Now, under public pressure, financial institutions are backing away from those codes…It’s an illustration of how…politicized business has become, and how difficult it is for private companies to navigate between the country’s political tribes…
Forcing the government back from establishing a very dangerous precedent:
…the Department of Commerce and the…NOAA…[demanded] in 2020…[that] charter-boat captains…install—at their own expense—onboard monitoring systems that regularly relayed their boats’ GPS locations to the government. A group of…captains…sued, saying the rule violated rights to due process, privacy, and freedom of movement…Now a federal court has sided with the captains: installation of a [monitoring] device would cost $3,000, with an additional $40 to $75 per month in service fees…charter-boat owners…primarily operate small businesses, with roughly $26,000 per year in net income…in addition…the regulation imposes a massive privacy cost; demanding that charter-boat owners transmit their exact location to the Government, every hour of every day forever…
The predictable result of “fetal personhood” snake oil:
South Carolina [politician]s are proposing…to…defin[e] personhood to begin at fertilization…[even though] the majority of fertilized eggs do not go on to become viable pregnancies…Legally defining personhood as beginning at conception creates all sorts of thorny issues, from the serious (should the state start investigating all miscarriages as potential homicides?) to the odd (can a pregnant woman legally drive in a carpool lane?)…fetal personhood laws have been considered in a number of states and passed in five (Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas and Missouri). And implicit in this concept is the idea that all laws…would equally apply to all “unborn persons”…South Carolina’s proposed Prenatal Equal Protection Act would…amend the sections of the state code related to murder and assault to say that…women who get abortions could be charged with homicide, and women who injure a fetus in some way could be charged with assault…It’s the type of laws that could lead to increased surveillance, restrictions on, and criminalization of pregnant women across the board…
Cops view alcoholism as a way to coerce sex from those suffering from it:
A [Florida cop] has been fired for [coerc]ing an…a[lcoholic] woman…in[to sex]…Patrick Monteith…manipulated [his victim, who]…was scared to report [the rapes] to the police or [even tell him no]…”because of his position as an officer”…Monteith [characteriz]ed [the abusive] relationship [as]…a friendship…
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!
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