Being calm and reasonable doesn’t get headlines. – Mike Masnick
Note that cases of actual coercion don’t look much like the myths:
A [Utah politician] is facing a felony charge of human trafficking…[due to] disturbing mistreatment of one of his [ranch] workers, a Mexican national. Dusty “Hootie” Roche…treated A.S. abusively, housed him in a dirty, dilapidated…trailer without running water and didn’t provide him with timely deliveries of food…Prosecutors also describe the Roche Ranches operators as dismissive of A.S.’s complaints after he was bucked from a horse and stepped on several times while working, suffering a fractured orbital socket…The trailer…sat on a remote part of the ranch and had “rat excrement on the floors,” a bathtub containing “animal parts and animal excrement,” a leaking roof and no working refrigerator or water system…A.S…was not paid regularly and…was treated poorly once he reported the issue to the staffing agency he had obtained his job through…he lived in “constant fear” after he was hit, kicked, yelled at and called names…
The Last Shall Be First (#1349)
This will keep happening, because too many people want it to keep happening:
The father of a junior varsity girl’s basketball player confronted the principals of both his daughter’s school and the opposing school…demanding one of the girls not be allowed to play because he [imagin]ed she was transgender…Both principals assured the parent…that the girl, like her teammates, had uploaded the required birth certificate documenting her age and gender and that “every player on both teams was 100% eligible to be on the court”…The angry parent wasn’t satisfied…he [demanded his fantasies be given veto power over reality, saying]…“I wasn’t born yesterday, I know that’s a boy and you better be able to prove yourself because I am going to the top.” He became belligerent enough that they asked him to leave the building…[and he will] not [be] allow[ed]…to return to any other games…
They only start with relatively minor offenses:
Columbus [cop] Adam Nguyen [was rewarded with a paid vacation]…for…taking upskirt video of a young woman at an anime convention near Chicago last year…[he] was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service…pay more than $870 in court costs and fees…[and] undergo evaluation and treatment for…sex…offen[ders]…
The Last Shall Be First (#1401)
Texas seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [has demanded] medical records of Texas youth who have received gender-affirming care from a Georgia telehealth clinic, marking at least the second time he’s sought such records from providers in another state…QueerMed said it stopped servicing youth in Texas after the state banned transition-related care last year…[but the demand want]ed information about patients dating back to Jan. 1, 2022…and…nearly mirrors one…sent to Seattle Children’s Hospital…in response to [which]…Seattle Children’s [has] sued…Karen Loewy, a lawyer with Lambda Legal representing organizations…trying to block [Texas’ anti-trans law]…said there is “zero authorization” in the law for Paxton’s [demand]s to clinics outside of Texas…Loewy said that “a handful” of other organizations have received [similar demands]…from Paxton…A QueerMed official could not immediately comment on how the clinic will respond…
Cop deals with disagreement in typical cop fashion, and the press is shocked:
Police have arrested a [screw] in Connecti[cut for]…fatal[ly] shooting…a [stranger] in what is believed to be a road rage incident…William Lucky, Jr…murder[ed]…Scott Kracke…[after Lucky] cut [Kracke] off and Kracke [responded by] pass[ing Lucky] and brak[ing] suddenly. The[y both] got out of their vehicles after stopping at the side of the road…then [Lucky] shot Kracke…several [times before fleeing]…in his car…A short time later, Lucky…turn[ed] himself in [at the instigation of his child’s mother]…
In which natural stupidity masquerades as artificial stupidity:
The estate of…George Carlin sued the makers of a podcast…[who] claimed to use [a computer program] to impersonate Carlin for a comedy s[how]…Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, hosts of the podcast Dudesy…infringed on the estate’s copyrights…for “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” which [has apparently been made “private”] on the podcast’s YouTube channel…The lawsuit calls for a judge to prevent Dudesy…from using Carlin’s copyrighted works in the future and to require the podcast to destroy the episode…Danielle Del, a spokeswoman for Sasso, [admitted that] Dudesy is not actually a…[computer, but rather] “a fictional podcast character created by…Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen…the…video…was completely written by Chad Kultgen”…
The Puritan Recrudescence (#1408)
NYC Mayor Eric Adams is facing a pretty big list of crises, some of his own making…But…[he’s] zeroed in on…the real problem in New York City…the evidence free declaration that social media is “toxic”…This is ridiculous on multiple levels. First off, last year we had a big post detailing why any comparison between social media and “toxins” like lead paint or tobacco is inherently stupid. Those are things that are known to cause real harm. With social media, that’s just not true…the actual science simply does not support the claim that social media is inherently harmful to kids…recent research suggests that the real cause of the teen mental health crisis is the lack of spaces for teens to be teens without parents hovering over them…
Other cities are attempting to bleed social media companies using this asinine propaganda; I won’t be surprised if New York soon attempts to cash in as well.
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