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Archive for September, 2024

Back Issue #135

Thinking people must not let themselves be intimidated by…self-appointed guardians of the public morality.  –  “Censor Chic

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I can’t breathe! Help me!  –  Rhyker Earl

In keeping with my long-standing tradition of sharing my earworms with my readers, I present this classic MTV video from back when videos were fun.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Mike Siegel, Nun Ya, T. Greg Doucette, IncarcerNation (x2), and C.J. Ciaramella, in that order.

From the Archives

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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Slavery is not bad.  Some people need to be slaves.  I wish they would bring it back.  I would certainly buy a few.  –  Mark Robinson

Elephant in the Parlor (#705)

Politicians watching kinky porn is no more unusual than their being hypocrites and psychopaths:

North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson said he won’t end his campaign despite a CNN report that reads like a mad lib of campaign-killing material…Robinson called himself a “black NAZI” and a “perv” in posts on…a [porn-sharing] message board [named “Nude Africa”]…Robinson also reportedly wrote about peeping on women in public showers, being thrilled by some absolutely filthy pornography (think The Human Centipede), and called for reinstituting slavery…The cherry on top of it all, given the GOP’s current moral panic over transgender issues, is…Robinson’s “affinity for transgender pornography”…Robinson [has] denied that he’d made the posts

Broken Record (#1112) 

Irish versions of the “gypsy whores” myth were quaint even before other prohibitionists abandoned them:

There was a surge in demand for sex workers at the National Ploughing Championships in Co Laois last week, according to a [religious prohibitionist organization] that…[persecutes] sex…[workers].  Ruhama [is still trying to spread the long-debunked fantasy] that large-scale events attended predominantly by men were “big catalysts” for sexual exploitation…

To Molest and Rape (#1216)

A rapist cop’s evil begets more evil:

Letcher County [Kentucky] Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines…walked into the chambers of Judge Kevin Mullins, closed the door and…murder[ed him with a gun]…then walked out of the chambers with his hands up and surrendered without incident…Stines had been a bailiff in Mullins’ courtroom for years before he was elected sheriff…The [murder may be related to] a federal civil lawsuit filed by…a [woman who was repeatedly raped by a sleazebag deputy]…inside Mullins’ chambers for six months [under threat of being locked in a filthy cage]…The lawsuit accused Stines of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” [rapist cop] Ben Fields…[who got off with a mere] six months in jail, followed by six and a half years of probation…

If Men Were Angels (#1428)

Cop and preacher is like the molester equivalent of a full house:

A…[preacher] who…worked [as chaplain] for the Indianapolis…Police Department…sexually abus[ed] a child “over 100 times”.  Sylvester Driscoll[‘s] victim confessed to her school counselor in August that Driscoll had raped and sexually abused her for years…Driscoll [groomed her by] show[ing] her [porn] videos…since she was 5 years old.  The first sexual assault by Driscoll…[was] not long after that…and…he…would makes threats to keep her from telling anyone…

Eavesdropping (#1449)

Some politicians are starting to admit Shotspotter is a boondoggle:

Ending ShotSpotter would fulfill a campaign promise by [Chicago] Mayor Brandon Johnson…[but] some City Council members [who get kickbacks from the company] are trying to compel his administration to extend the…contract…economist Michael Topper of the Social Science Research Council has co-authored a study that found…ShotsSpotter…reallocat[es] police resources away from…911 calls…to…ShotSpotter alerts [which in Chicago are 91% false positives]…this reallocation is causing 911 calls to…suffer in terms of response times…there isn’t any evidence that this technology is actually benefiting crime clearance or crime reduction efforts…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1465)

Undermining of civil liberties only starts with “undesirables”; it never stops there:

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights…studied how the Department of Justice…the Department of Homeland Security…and the Department of Housing and Urban Development…[mis]use [facial recognition] technology…leading to wrongful arrests, bias in accessing housing and more troubling outcomes…[there is] a [total] lack of federal oversight, with no standardized regulations to [minimize]…abuses of power and privacy concerns…Because there are no public databases which show how often FRT searches are used on individuals…“conducting public oversight of the government’s use of FRT to determine if civil rights violations are occurring is extraordinarily difficult.”  Customs and Border Patrol…uses the technology in 53 airports, 40 seaports and all pedestrian lanes at the Mexican border…HUD uses FRT in surveillance cameras in public housing…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1465)

It’s too bad cops don’t spend all of their time fantasy role-playing with each other:

A Fresno [California cop named] Paige McQuay [was arrested, but also rewarded with a paid vacation, because he interacted with another cop fantasy role-playing as a teenage girl online]…

 

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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I know how the folks at Wikipedia feel; I, too, am sorry to ask again so soon after my last time, but I’m facing about a $3000 shortfall for my budget this year.  When they use the eye-rollingly precious phrase “Wikipedia is not for sale” or similar, what they mean is that Wikipedia, like Mad magazine before it, does not carry ads.  I share their philosophy: ads pay the bills, but they are distracting and annoying, and readers have good reason to suspect that any publication which carries them will be biased against offending those advertisers.  And that’s anathema for any publication (including the aforementioned and this blog) whose foundational ethics would be undermined by the perception of such bias.  Every week I get plenty of spam for “guest post” scammers offering to pay me for cluttering up this blog with God-only-knows what kind of stupid garbage, and there are plenty of services which will pay for me to embed garish blinking, flashing, jumping rubbish of the sort I block when it’s on other sites.  But I don’t want to pollute this resource with that kind of trash, so that means I need to occasionally ask my readers for money.  I’m not sure what fraction of my readers donate, but I doubt it’s any higher than Wikipedia’s 2%.  And though the number of readers per day varies and is much smaller than it used to be (largely thanks to the enshittification of Google), I see 500 or so most days.  So to ape Wikipedia’s pitch, if everyone reading this donated just $6, I’d hit my goal today.  Of course, everyone won’t, so if you can spare a bit of cash (either once or every month by subscription), I’d appreciate it; the less often I have to mooch like a public TV station, the happier I am.

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Usually, the personal is just personal, and declaring it to be political merely holds the door open for increasingly tyrannical intrusion into people’s private lives.  –  “Politicizing the Personal

As long as the public accepts everything “authorities” say with the approximate degree of skepticism a toddler affords to the Tooth Fairy, this moral panic will be followed by an endless succession of others, each as absurd as the last.  –  “The Young and the Brainless

If I felt anything like the kind of near-constant desire men feel, I’d ask my gynecologist if there was anything we could do about it without ruining my looks.  –  “Borrowing Trouble

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Diary #743

Apparently, the weird weather we had at Sunset this year favored tomatoes, because we had quite a few. I’ve made fried green tomatoes 3 times and will probably make more; I also have some green cherry tomatoes that I’ll be using for mincemeat if the apple trees cooperate.  But we had far more ripe cherry tomatoes than we could use for salad (because I don’t eat salad), so I decided to make salsa (which is a staple in this house thanks to Grace).  What you see in the picture below is two pounds of cherry tomatoes; I chopped them up pretty thoroughly in my ninja, then finely chopped half a medium-sized onion, half a bell pepper and four cloves of garlic, and sauteed them for a few minutes in two tablespoons of olive oil.  I mixed that with the tomatoes and added the following: 1 small can (4 oz) of diced, roasted green chiles; two tbsp each of vinegar, cilantro, and chili powder; and 1/2 tsp each of salt, granulated garlic, extra-hot (Indian) chili powder, cayenne, and MSG.  Now, I didn’t just dream up those proportions; I started with half the tomatoes and none of the spices, and Grace and I repeatedly taste-tested the salsa, adding or increasing ingredients as we went, until about two hours later we had something we were both happy with.  It made enough for two pints and a bit left over, and the full jars are in the canner right now as I type this.  I’ll let you know how it comes out, but I think we may have a winner!

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The whole story of the pursuit of Backpage is one of political opportunism.  –  Robert Corn-Revere

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

A Southern California pastor [named]…Jose Alcides Vasquez…was arrested…on Sept. 5…[for repeatedly molesting and orally raping]…a [girl under] 14…[and orally and anally raping a girl under] 10…Vasquez has served as a pastor or volunteer at several churches in the region known as the Inland Empire…[Vasquez was reported by one of his victims] in 2021 [but cops dragged their feet because they were reluctant to arrest a preacher]…

Welcome to the Future (#805)

Welcome to the “safe” future you keep voting for:

[Billionaire psychopath] Larry Ellison shared his [nightmare] vision for a…[computerized] surveillance future…where [the government] would constantly monitor citizens through an extensive network of cameras and drones…[including] police body cams, doorbell cameras, and vehicle dash cams…”We’re going to have supervision,” he [gloated, absurdly]…attempt[ing] to paint his [1984 scenario]…in a positive light, [while completely ignoring the obvious erosion of]…privacy [and] civil liberties…”Big Brother is watching you” would take on new meaning in Ellison’s [fantasy dystopia, which is]…already becoming a reality…in…China…[where it is called the] “sharp eyes” campaign…leading to what The Economic Times called a “road to digital totalitarianism”…

Law of the Instrument (#1429)

The “sex trafficking” charges appear to involve ordinary “Fly Me To You” deals:

Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.  [Though the] indictment…accuse[s Combs]…of having “abused, threatened, and coerced women”…the racketeering conspiracy charge opens up the government to seizing way more assets than they would otherwise be allowed to seize…and…the Mann Act…charges…all…[involve male] sex workers…The indictment contains no allegation that he forced or coerced these sex workers into anything.  But if he arranged for their travel, across state lines and internationally, the feds have him on a Mann Act violation…

No Escape (#1442)

The 100% predictable result of giving sexually-aggressive men power over young women:

[Screws] at the Oregon Youth Authority sexually abusing teens and young adults [locked] in [their cages have result]ed in a series of federal civil rights lawsuits…[so far there are] six…[cases from] between 2019 and 2023…[involving] four [rapists and]…11 [rape enablers, but]…one of the attorneys representing the six [said]…“I do not think these are isolated incidents. This looks…[like] the tip of the iceberg”…So far, two of the [rapist screws]…have also been charged criminally…Travis Craft…was…indicted…in July [and arrested in early September]…and…Emily Echtenkamp…was…arrested…[last] December …Two other [rapists], Amira Andrade and Cherie MacDougall, were…accused in the lawsuits [but not criminally charged]…

Top Cop (#1458)

The author of this article in Politico seems to want to straddle the fence on Backpage while simultaneously scoring points against Cackling Copmala.  He quotes criticisms of her behavior from Kaytlin Bailey and Alex Andrews, but also creepy cheerleading from another cackling sleazebag prosector, Maggy Krell; he calls attention to her hypocrisy, but also approvingly and uncritically repeats her vile insinuations against Michael Lacey & Jim Larkin; and while his quoting of civil liberties concerns has a sneering undertone, his quoting of “sex trafficking” propaganda is not so colored.  Read it if you wish, but pay attention to the slant.

The Cop Myth (#1469)

How long will America ignore the costs of its sick worship of state-sanctioned violence?

For decades, California police chiefs and sheriffs have lamented how difficult it is to fire [brutal, dangerous cops due to]…powerful [cop gangs] and [bad laws]…what has remained a secret until now, is how they have repeatedly turned to an under-the-radar method of getting rid of problem [pigs] — one that not only allows the off[end]ers to avoid accountability but…[also] to quietly move on to other jobs where they are [again given power] to [abuse] the public….“clean-record agreements”…[are shady] legal settlements that promise to hide the [dangerous pig’s] wrongdoing…in exchange for the off[end]er’s guarantee to leave…without a fight…[even more galling,] these deals…sometimes include a cash payment…In the past decade, at least 163 California [cop shops] have…[made these devil’s bargains with at lea]st 297 [dangerous thugs]…52 were subsequently hired by another [cop shop and] 56 were hired as security guards or [screws]…16 [went on to] teach…[rookie cops, and] three [became politicians]…Payments…[were] as high as $3.1 million…

The Cop Myth (#1474)

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

A [Florida cop named]…Brian Housend was arrested…[for] kidnapping [his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint]…He had [stalked her for months, and recently aimed]…a green laser, which she believed to be the type equipped to a firearm…into a window in her home…[after] a series of…threatening emails and text messages…[back in February] Housend [threatened her with] a rifle…in [response to her]…calling internal affairs…[over his] abuse…

 

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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All ethical people need to resist the book-burners and website-wreckers, loudly and defiantly, in the hopes that at least some of our fellow-humans will come back to their senses before it’s too late.  –  “Banned Books Week 2023

Censorship, correctly viewed in the more enlightened times of the 20th century as the province of tyrants, bluenoses, humorless scolds, and other closed-minded nitwits, has in the 21st achieved a level of  worldwide popularity unseen since the Index Librorum Prohibitorum went out of fashion.  Governments around the globe threaten individuals and groups with violence for daring to speak or write words, or share images, that the rulers of those countries have declared off-limits, often for the most childish, disgusting, or even absurd reasons.  And while in the past the educated could be counted upon to oppose such repression, nowadays they are more often at the forefront of censorship efforts, demanding harsh penalties for wrongthink and groveling in the most grotesque manner before idiots who, unsatisfied with merely being subjected to such thought control by their masters, demand the power to lobotomize themselves and everyone else within their reach.

In the year since the last Banned Books Week, we’ve seen innumerable efforts to sterilize libraries of anything offensive to the State or the most rigid and tiny-minded fundamentalist, complete with siccing the cops on librarians; the imprisonment of a respected journalist for disagreeing with the government; a “monkey see, monkey do” parade of attempts to either directly censor the internet, or to intimidate websites into censoring themselves; and many people harassed or even arrested by cops and spooks merely for expressing opinions the government dislikes, and that’s just in the so-called “liberal democracies” of the West.  Where will it stop?  There’s no way of knowing, unfortunately; censorship is extremely popular in dark ages, which of course is a large part of what makes them dark ages in the first place.  When belief trumps facts, feelings trump reason, and violent psychopaths declare themselves the only legitimate arbiters of Truth, darkness can be the only result.  The only variables are how widespread the Night will be, and how long it will be before Enlightenment comes again.

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Mabon 2024

The apparent path of the sun crosses the celestial equator southbound at 12:43 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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I’m going to feel like the biggest idiot taking this to court.  –  foolish cop

To honor the passing of Tito Jackson, I’ve chosen this performance of “I Want You Back” on The Ed Sullivan Show, mostly because it’s my favorite Jackson 5 song.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Walter Olson, C.J. Ciaramella, T. Greg Doucette, Aaron Ross Powell, and Phoenix Calida (x2), in that order.

From the Archives

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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