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Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Feeding our neighbors should not be a crime.  –  Randy Hiroshige

Censorship Ascendant (#1529)

Useful idiots lust for the violent suppression of wrongthink:

The war against anonymity is raging in Europe…and…[pro-censorship] activist[s want to bring it]…to the United States, [with the help of]…”a massive network of NGOs” connected to the U.K. government…The technique…is to smuggle in speech codes and effectively end online anonymity under the guise of “child safety”…”I’d say, conservatively, there are probably 50,000 arrests per year in the U.K. for speech and conduct…that would be unambiguously and very clearly protected in the United States,” says Preston Byrne, an American free speech attorney…f[ighting] Britain’s online speech [censor], Ofcom…Congress is paying attention. Versions of Byrne’s model legislation, Guaranteeing Rights Against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion Act…have been introduced in both House and Senate committees…Byrne…[says the cens]ors’ “fever dream is that the internet is extremely tightly controlled…Everybody is identified…There’s no anonymous speech.  There is no ability for ideas which are not acceptable to the political mainstream to get traction and propagate.”  Former U.K. Prime Minister Starmer [tried to destroy online anonymity with] a nationwide digital ID scheme…[but] political backlash caused [him] to back off…

Unchristian Nation (#1599)

Government at every level crusades against charity:

A federal judge [has] ruled…that the city of Houston violated the First Amendment when it tried to stop activists from giving away free food outside a downtown library and issued more than 100 tickets to them…The ruling is the latest in a series of legal battles between Food Not Bombs chapters across the country…and [evil [politicians barfing idiocies like “]safety[“]…FNBH activists had operated at a downtown public park for more than a decade without incident—until 2023, when Houston officials [suddenly declared it dangerous]…attempts to enforce the ordinance did not go well….[most] cases were dismissed and delayed because prosecutors couldn’t find jurors who were willing to fine people $500 for the [heinous] crime of feeding the needy…The…11th Circuit ruled in 2018 that distributing food was “expressive conduct” protected under the First Amendment…[but] similar cases keep popping up around the country.  In May, police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, arrested four Food Not Bombs activists [for feeding the hungry, and] the Food Not Bombs chapter of Roswell, New Mexico, sued the city earlier this year…[and] eventually settled…Reason has also covered government suppression of food charities in Tampa, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Atlanta; Newark, New Jersey; Las Vegas; San Antonio, Texas; Philadelphia; and Kansas City, Missouri, [where “]health[” bureaucrat]s poured bleach on food meant for the homeless in 2018…

Creepy Coppers (#1605)

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A [New York] state [cop named]…Steven P. Calderon…[has been] arrested on [child porn]…charges…[after Calderon violently attacked his ex-girlfriend, cops rooted around his] residence…and…electronic…devices…and f[ound]…“thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of…prepubescent children, as well as numerous videos…taken surreptitiously by Calderon in [his] bathroom…on or about July 25, 2026, Calderon surreptitiously recorded a 10-year-old child…undressing in [the] bathroom…and then edited the recording to create a short [CGI] porn clip”…In February, [he did the same to a different] 9-year-old…

Shame, Shame (#1635)

Allowing people to trademark their faces may help curtail this:

[Billionaire Mark] Cuban described Facebook ads using [computer]-generated versions of his face and voice to promote a diabetes treatment [scam]…”Every single week I get emails from little old men and ladies saying…’I just ordered your cure for diabetes for $294′”…Some [of the scams] reportedly include…fine-print disclaimers stating the person shown was [computer]-generated and the clip was for entertainment…[Facebook rakes in] roughly $16 billion, approximately 10% of [its] revenue, from ads involving scams and prohibited goods…[amounting to] approximately 15 billion…scam ads per day in December 2024.  [Facebook’s own] internal safety staff…estimate…that [their company] played a role in roughly one-third of scams that successfully affected U.S. victims…

Enshittification (#1656)

Google is now essentially pushing addictive drugs to children:

Google [has] announced…that…it would [start forcing]…K-12…school administrators…to [foster chatbot dependence in students by denying]…access to Google search…if a school has banned [chatbots]…Google’s suite of education apps — including Gmail, Docs and an assignment platform called Classroom — is ubiquitous [and] Google Chromebooks…are the most widely issued student devices in U.S. schools.  And Google is synonymous with internet search, a crucial tool for students across the globe…Morgan Polikoff, an education professor at the University of Southern California, said Google’s [scheme] could further energize the anti-tech movement percolating among parents and educators[, saying] “This is a particularly clear example of the tech industry going out of its way to force A.I. on us all — even if we have said we don’t want it”…Research shows chatbots…hinder critical thinking and ensnare adolescents in emotional dependency[, delusions, and psychosis]…

Panopticon (#1671)

The Fourth Amendment has been so eroded measures like this will probably make little difference:

…York, Maine, residents have decided to join other Maine communities and ditch [Flock] surveillance technology…effective immediately…ALPRs [are banned] in the town…[its] four [existing] Flock cameras have been covered in plastic since September…in League City, Texas…voters rejected an advisory measure approving…ALPRs…[but] the…measure was nonbinding, [meaning cops will still do whatever they want.  Returning]…Mayor Nick Long vowed to abide by the vote’s outcome, [but he’s a politician so that means little]…Pflugerville, Texas…voters approved…[an] amendment to the city charter [which] requires the city council…to a[bide by its own previous decision…on…overseeing surveillance technologies…Americans are demanding greater transparency and involvement in whether and how they are monitored, [though it is doubtful cops and politicians will respect those demands]…

The Cop Myth (#1681)

A goon is just a kind of cop, with all that entails:

[A] Border Patrol [goon named]…Abel Garza [was arrested for murdering his wife] in [Laredo, Texas.  He tried to flee but was caught by cops after neighbors complained about yelling and screaming]…Garza was previously arrested by…Laredo [cops] in January [for threatening his wife with a gun, then]…again in February [for physically attacking her and stealing her cell phone when she tried to call 911, despite her having filed a “]protective order[” against him]…

Belief in the magic power of “protective orders” gets women killed.

 

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 that seems to matter is the idea that the government should have unchecked access to our financial lives.  –  Nicholas Anthony

A Whore in Church

Matthew 21:31 seems pretty straightforward to me:

…Christianity’s relationship with sex is complicated by Christians themselves.  While some traditions celebrate sex and desire during marriage, others long wielded shame, morality, and religious authority to regulate sex and people’s bodily autonomy.  And while some Christians preach moral “purity,” others find the lines around religion and sexuality blurry.  Today, those tensions are playing out in an increasingly politicized porn landscape, where Christian nationalist efforts to restrict sexuality collide with the complications of faith, lust, and pleasure.  No one is putting those ideas to the test more than Christian porn stars…

Torture Chamber (#1483)

This cannot be “reformed”:

…[After the] Tarrant County…jail…sent…Mack Greer…to the hospital…the [family was barred from]…see[ing him by barfing the word “]custody[” in their faces. By the time someone decided to pretend to have a particle of human decency]…Greer…was already brain dead…due to massive hemorrhaging…[caused by pigs repeatedly] banging his head [against] the wall…[when they] re[alized] Greer [was about to die they]…pulled out an ink pad, grabbed Greer’s limp hand, pressed his thumb on the ink and then onto the signature line of the release form…[so as to avoid the mandatory] investigat[ion of a] death…in jail custody…The Texas Commission on Jail Standards…ruled…the do[dge…in]valid…and appointed [more pigs] to investigate…Greer w[as] the third person in as many days sent from the jail to the hospital and then quickly pronounced deceased…[due to violence inflicted by the stooges of] T[rumpist] Sheriff Bill Waybourn…

Shame, Shame (#1589)

Facebook is the most antisocial corporation other than those who run prisons:

Facebook is hosting a large number of accounts dedicated to [computer]-generated content depicting coaches inappropriately touching young female athletes…and [refusing to take] them down, even when they’re directly reported by users…the coaches are [always] older men…some [of the girls] look as young as teenagers…with braces on their teeth…The coaches run their hands over their lower backs and inner thighs as they stretch or practice poses…sometimes patting them on the buttocks or…genitals over their outfits…[the cartoon] girls in the clips react as though the touching is normal, often smiling and giggling…Some of the clips…are thinly veiled as educational…[while] other[s]…make little effort to hide their prurient intent…it wasn’t until it was contacted by a journalist that [Facebook] backtracked on its initial assessment that the pages didn’t violate its policies…After we reported the abusive pages, Facebook’s recommendation algorithm started serving up many more similar…videos…[so it] has the tech it needs to identify the disturbing clips, but instead of using it to crack down on the content, it’s using it to recommend more…[Facebook] has also declined to remove [computer]-generated content depicting extreme…child abuse…

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar

In comparison with your grandparents, you have no financial privacy:

The Trump [regime keeps] expand[ing] financial surveillance at the southern border to target more than…3.5 million people.  The heightened surveillance began in March 2025 with a…temporary order lower[ing] the threshold for currency transaction reports…from $10,000 to just $200 for money service businesses like Western Union that operate in 30 zip codes along the border.  The surveillance order was quickly met with challenges in court by the Institute for Justice, and other organizations.  And…the courts agreed that…the $200 surveillance order…“defies common sense,” and “likely violates the Fourth Amendment.”  The court issued an injunction to put the surveillance on ice…[but] instead of respecting the ongoing litigation, [the regime] issued a new order with a $1,000 threshold covering four times as many zip codes…small businesses have become trapped under hefty compliance burdens…[while] people [turn]…to illegal markets…In September 2026, the order was expanded again…to 304 zip codes…It didn’t matter to the government that there was a court case challenging the surveillance.  It didn’t matter to the government that people were losing their businesses.  Instead, all that seems to matter is the idea that the government should have unchecked access to our financial lives…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1653)

Everything I read about modern work makes me happier I became a whore:

Andy Yen, the CEO of Proton, [spewed deranged nonsense at] an employee…who urged the company to at least take a few days to pentest newly written code before pushing it live.  “That’s bullshit and loser thinking…focus more on how to be faster”…His ultimate message for the team was to “stop lovingly handcrafting all our code and [enshittify]…more”…In the last few months, Yen set up an email address for employees to [rat out]…any[one counseling caution against letting chatbots ruin] Proton, so leadership can “ruthlessly smash every[one] that stands in the way”…Proton [also] installed software on workers’ computers [to] track how much [slop] the company is generating…and Yen said…Proton will [soon replace all software] engineers…with [chatbot fanatics]…Proton said it would re-interview staff about their [delegating their thinking to chatbots], with the clear implication that…employees’ willingness to [submit to virtual lobotomization] could decide whether a worker is fired or not…Workers describe an environment where employees have genuine concerns about security…but feel unable to voice them, lest Yen…threaten…their [livelihood].  “The CEO is in full AI psychosis and has been for a while now,” one of the sources told 404 Media…

Shame, Shame (#1663)

The software can’t be stopped, but Facebook’s advertising it can:

At first glance, the self-proclaimed “pet portrait” app Viefur appears to be just another…slop generator…pet photos can be turned into an “anthropomorphic portrait,” with the critter dressed in “human clothing” and inserted into bizarre scenes…[but that’s] cover for…the app’s true purpose: creating sexually abusive deepfake images…the app is part of a network of more than 400 connected domains and apps that…claim to be everyday services—such as language tuition..[but] when accessed under certain conditions…load a web interface allowing the generation of explicit…sexual images and videos using photos users upload…includ[ing such] scenes…as “bedroom rape” and “threatening knife”…The network was discovered hiding in plain sight, by multiple researchers, after they investigated links from thousands of video ads containing explicit deepfake content…published on…Facebook and Instagram…

Creepy Coppers (#1677)

Some cops don’t limit themselves to one type of creepiness:

A [typical and representative] Pensacola [Florida cop named]…Matthew Baxter [was arrested after fellow cops rooting in his phone discovered]…child [porn, bestiality porn]…and [images taken in various bathrooms] of [non-consenting subjects]…The [rooting]…began in October when Baxter was arrested for possession of controlled substances without a prescription…

 

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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You have a right to know who’s recording you when you leave home.  –  Proton

Walled Garden (#1652)

Australian politicians really believe the laws of Australia apply worldwide and can change reality:

Australia’s government [apparently believes it can] sue Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube [into magically circumvent]ing t[he ability of] under-16s [to get around politicians’ attempts to control them]…The lawsuit is yet to be filed, but [a politician bloviated] that the [Lord High Censo]r, Julie Inman Grant, has new [magical] powers to build a [magical wall] against the five companies [which will keep people under 16, but not adults, from using VPNs to access them]…“She’s now using those [magical] powers to prepare her [spell],” the minister [moronically bloviated, adding] …“The law is not failing – platforms are failing to c[ensor the entire world to enforce] the law”…[the Australians believe their bureaucrats] can demand information and documents from any person she believes has them, and [magically] summon people to appear before her [in a pentagram]…At no point have the authorities stopped to consider that the law itself may be the problem.  The platforms have already built age-checking systems, scanned profiles with [computer algorithms], and closed millions of accounts – and yet [young adults] continue to find ways to use social media.  To better enforce the law, the platforms would have to start checking every Australian user [without a VPN] more closely – including adults.

Enshittification (#1653)

These companies need to be sued until they’re completely annihilated:

The owners of Elvis Presley’s music sued the a[utomated plagiarism] company Anthropic…[because] it trained its models on more than 200 of Presley’s songs without their permission…[thereby commit]ing…copyright infringement.  The suit…seeks a jury trial and more than $41 million, or $150,000 per song, in damages…Anthropic, the company behind the popular chatbot Claude…circumvent[ed] measures used to protect the music and remov[ed]…copyright management information from the songs…“The…defendant…has built its entire business model…on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before,” the lawsuit [correctly pointed out]…Anthropic…[denied] the [self-evidently true] claims [even though fellow chatbot-pusher Sam Altman admitted during sworn testimony that it would be “impossible to train [chatbots] without using copyrighted materials”]…Anthropic [has also been sued by Reservoir music] and…Universal Music Group [for the same reason]…

Welcome to the Future (#1655)

If this sounds good to you, you might be a useful idiot:

GM says it will roll out a new in-car [chatbo]t, called OnStar AI, starting with 2027 Cadillac Lyriqs…Paired with a new app, the system will start by letting drivers, for example, turn on their air conditioning with a voice command without [the incredible effort of turning a knob]…The automaker plans to expand its “eyes-off” highway driving technology to its most popular cars, inching closer to its years-old promise of making a personal self-driving car…[it plans] to slowly expand “eyes-off” capabilities to more sorts of roads, letting drivers text or eat or watch YouTube first on some highways, and then on more highways, and then on local roads, and then maybe everywhere…The cabin…can become a space to “relax, work, and unwind”…The personal [robot] car will pick up groceries, drop off children, and then maybe even find a parking spot at the end.  Urban planners and infrastructure experts have worried about this vision…of…roads…crowded with pods full of [oblivious nitwits] sleeping, emailing, and YouTubing while their vehicles slowly pilot them onward…

Panopticon (#1677)

“These agencies surveil the public incessantly, but the moment we can watch them back, it’s deemed a security threat”:

Proton…is…hosting a free map of Flock surveillance devices on its servers [after]…Flock tried to [intimidate] the researcher behind the original project to take it down[, describing him as a “malicious actor“]…you can enter your ZIP code to see devices in your area, or zoom and pan around the country.  Note that the data is a snapshot from December 2025, though. Cameras installed or removed since then won’t be reflected…This isn’t the [only] effort to put surveillance cameras on the map…DeFlock Maps lets people look up license plate readers in their neighborhoods, including devices from Flock, Motorola…and other manufacturers.  Volunteers report cameras they spot and add their locations to OpenStreetMap…MapQuest also added a “Surveillance Layer” to its app this month, letting users see known license plate reader locations…

The Cop Myth (#1682)

If they even convict this guy, it’s going to be a love tap:

[A typical and representative] NYPD [cop named Victor Romero murdered a motorist]…on the George Washington Bridge [last] week [but is only being charged with]…manslaughter [despite the fact that he deliberately shot] Koran Irvine…in…an [infantile display of anger because Irvine did not let him go first at the] entrance ramp to the bridge…Romero started to tailgate Irvine’s car, following him…aggressively….[then] pulled up right next to Irvine’s car and [deliberately shot him]…Romero [then] sped [away, hoping to escape, while]…Irvine…crashed and was found dead in his car…

Mad Libs (#1684)

Politicians want to “regulate” consensual sex, but not this dangerous toy:

Bowen Wan…began messaging ChatGPT during a lonely time in her life.  The medication that had kept her [severe] epilepsy at bay for more than a decade had…stopped working…[she sometimes suffered] seizures…more than once a day…[and] she could no longer handle the demands of her software engineering job at Amazon.  So, in 2021, Bowen went on disability leave…she rarely left the safety of her apartment…Then, in 2023, she…[started asking] ChatGPT…for…advice…sometimes chatting for hours…late into the night…her doctor…was unaware [she was using] ChatGPT to…write messages to him…the chatbot [advised her to]…“cut the pills…without telling the doctor”…she used…[a] cutter to slice [each] pill into four pieces…the chatbot] praised her for hiding her plans to wean off the drug…calling it a “solid avoidance strategy”…[and saying] “You have absolutely no need to worry” [while she cut her dose]…from 400 milligrams down to 0 milligrams in a matter of weeks [until she suffered a fatal seizure].  Bowen’s parents..[have] file[d] a lawsuit against OpenAI…

Panopticon (#1684)

The only way to stop the panopticon is to tear it up by its roots:

When Andrae Wright [was sacked five years ago from a Georgia cop shop]…he kept…his log-in credentials for Flock…[and] searched the system more than 60 times…[in an attempt to find dirt on his estranged] wife…[which he could use to win] permanent custody of their teenage daughter.  In July, after [someone reported him, he was finally]…arrested…[for] stalking…unauthorized users [routinely] access…Flock…[mostly] to track [sexual prey.  The routine abuse]…expose[s]…alarming vulnerabilities within Flock’s nationwide [surveillance] network…[which persist in defiance of] calls from their own staff to implement stricter guardrails…[because cops don’t] want t[hem]…accounts [of fired, suspended, or even convicted cops are] not shut off…[and cops routinely] share…log-ins or passwords with [each other or even outsiders]…Flock has [even refused] to adopt basic safeguards that are standard practice among commercial and government software vendors…and…does not [even] monitor for log-ins occurring from unusual locations and devices…

 

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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[Prisons] cannot…legitimately deny people critical healthcare. – Aditi Shah

The Mob Rules (#1559)

Forced-birth fanatics are now actively empowering abusive men:

An Arizona judge awarded $67,000 in damages to a man who sued for wrongful death of an embryo after his ex-wife had a wanted abortion…[pretending] the clinic and its doctors…didn’t [say all the magic words and perform all the sacred dances required by] the state’s [anti-autonomy] law…[even though she] signed four consent documents…[if] the [decision stands], “it would establish a dangerous precedent in Arizona concerning embryonic personhood”…

The Last Shall Be First (#1633)

Judges need to start presenting a united front against monarchical diktats:

The Supreme Court [has] rejected…[the] Trump…[regime’s attempt] to [torture]…transgender people in federal prisons [by forcibly detransitioning them]…in part because the administration lack[s] evidence that…[being trans is innate]ly [a] security concern…Thomas…and…Alito…[predictably] dissented…Trump[‘s henchlawyers pretend]…that the…2026 policy was not an extension of changes made to comply with Trump’s 2025 [anti-trans diktat], but reflected [prison bureaucrats’] independent judgment [that they know more about medicine than doctors do.  However]…the…court re[cognized the obvious fact] that…the 2026 policy was reverse-engineered to implement the [diktat]…

Moloch (#1643)

Pigs in schools are a menace which should be abolished:

An analysis by The New York Times and the San Antonio Express-News reported that, as the number of [pigs lurking] in Texas [schools] grew, children…ages 10 to 13 were [arrested] more than 47,000 times since 2014…[with corresponding] educational, emotional, and financial [damage to] students and their families…The findings mirror other recent studies.  A report…by the…ACLU…of Iowa found that…[pigs lurking] in Iowa schools…[spent] most [of their time persecuting students for] vaping…A…2020 [study] found that…[as the number of pigs lurking in schools rose] the number of Florida school arrests—which had been declining for years—suddenly started to rise.  There was also a sharp increase in [cop violence] against students…Another study…in California…found that increasing the number of [pigs lurking in schools] led to both immediate and persistent increases in [cop violence]…and the number of suspensions and expulsions of students…

Mad Libs (#1652)

When a headline claims “AI can…”, the truth is, “No, it can’t”:

[Quack]s have developed a…[computer algorithm] that [they claim] can predict a cancer patient’s chances of survival from a single photograph of their face.  [What] the…system…[actually does is] estimate biological age and directly [correlate that with] survival outcomes…[under the theory that] people’s biological age estimates are closely linked to their physical health, which could reflect their ability to survive certain treatments…

Served Cold (#1664)

Nobody bothered to investigate this scam until it became explicitly linked with Trumpism:

…so-called “anti-trafficking” groups…are antithetical to…human rights…citing “tough on crime”…mantras characteristic of…[authoritarian] and [Trumpist] groups…Missouri and Utah are…two leading hubs [promoting]…a blend of modern white slavery myths and…Christian nationalis[m]…all tied, directly or indirectly, to…Tim Ballard and the [profiteering organization] he formed, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), which [has] rebranded to [“]Our Rescue[“]…Ballard is still the subject of a lawsuit [due to rampant sexual] abuse [of employees] and trafficking [of the foreign minors he pretended he was “rescuing”], which…is [why]…“Our Rescue”…publicly distanced itself from…Ballard…[but the new head is Trump henchman] Derek Benner, the former…[head of] ICE…[and the organization collaborates with…the…Human Trafficking Training Center (HTTC)…[founded by] Dan Nash…[an infamously-corrupt] Missouri State [pig whose career]…shows a blatant disregard for civil rights…HTTC was awarded a total of $264,037 in recent years to [instruct cops on “rescue” copaganda.  Another conspirator is Alison]…Phillips[, a corrupt Missouri politician who] led…[pogroms against Asian-owned businesses] and…has longstanding ties to [pro-censorship and]…anti-[civil rights cults including]…Exodus Cry…

Panopticon (#1679)

The only way to stop the panopticon is to tear it up by its roots:

A [typical and representative] Savannah [Georgia sow] gave her [ICE goon] husband…access to the [cop shop]’s Flock license plate reader system, which he used to [targe]t hundreds of [human beings for having brown skin.  Collusion with ICE is against]…Savannah [cop shop policy, so it fired Amber] Harpe…who was [caught]…after an internal audit flagged an unusually high volume of searches through [her] account between January and July 2026…[the government tried to hide the goon] husband’s name…[but it is] Tyler Harpe…

Some readers may remember when cops were colluding to circumvent legal restrictions on facial recognition.

Stalkers in Blue (#1679)

Cops will abuse warrantless surveillance for as long as it exists:

A[n] Indiana [cop named]…James Heneghan…was arrested [on October 15 for stalking]…intimidation…and fraud.  He…[was reported by] a family member…[whose] kids [he had threatened, who told cops]…he…had been using [Flock] to…stalk…people and confront them in public…[the victims] includ[ed] ex-girlfriends, his wife…a man his wife knew…the husband of one of his ex-girlfriends…[and] his ex-girlfriend’s [teen offspring]…

 

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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No one is safe. No one.  –  Michael Wriston

Cops and Robbers (#1527)

If you’re a fan of “sex offender” registration, meet one of your bedfellows:

Jeff Bast, who goes by Millstone the Klown on social media, [fantasizes] he is protecting children [by destroying the lives of]…people [he claims are insufficiently sociopathic toward those condemned to] the sex offender registry…[one of his victims,] Lucy Reid…had grown weary of seeing her hometown [plastered with hundreds of handmade signs accusing someone of child sex abuse, so she started taking them down when she saw them]…she did not expect strangers to call her a “pedophile protector” or…deluge…[her employer, a bookstore,] with calls threatening demonstrations outside the shop unless it cut ties with her…[After she was sacked] Millstone the Klown’s followers [started posting videos] showing the entrance to the building where…she [lived, urging lynch mobs visit her with] pepper spray and a knife…One morning, a wood chipper was parked nearby…[after] Millstone…suggested she should be thrown into one…[another victim,] Llaina Groves…[was targeted with a spurious accusation] linking her husband and business to an alleged sex offender…Bast later posted an apology…but [only after his disciples had]…spray-painted [“DPDR”] on the parking lot in front of [her business], an abbreviation for…“Dead Pedophiles Don’t Reoffend”…[a] slogan [which appears on merchandise Bast sells]…

I Spy (#1590)

If you think this will go away when Trump does, you are a fool:

[ICE] is fast-tracking a $100 million domestic surveillance program to [post] 142 [spooks] in more than two dozen cities…in [order to more effectively destroy]…private lives.  The new program is called the Enforcement and Removal Operations Overwatch and National Security Enforcement, or ERO ONE…and…the timeline suggests ICE will award the contract around February…Jay Stanley…[of the ACLU called it] “a nightmare in the making”…[because] the government [is] us[ing the excuse of] undocumented immigrants…[to subject] everyone…[especially] political enemies…[to] raid[s] like the one recently inflicted on] Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s D.C. home…ERO ONE…will…target…every [single] person to whom [a chosen victim is] connected, including household members, family members, friends, acquaintances, or the person with whom they carpool to work…

Sexcrime (#1590)

It’s been less than eight years since the UK lost in court the last time it tried this:

Pornography that depicts strangulation…or…sex between people who are…pretending to be related, or when somebody is pretending to be…under 16, will be illegal [in England and Wales because politicians love]…criminalising harmless sexual preferences…[if control freaks barf the words “]healthy relationship[“]…or [“]glorifies…violence against women…” [at it]…

Mad Libs (#1652)

Greedy idiots are discovering that there’s no autocomplete for human thought:

[Greedy nitwit]s around the globe are grappling with the fallout from rushing to [give human jobs to mindless chatbots.  Facebook] has scaled back plans to axe staff and [replace them with chatbots] after the company found employees were spending more and more time cleaning up t[heir stupid] errors…Microsoft…vice-president Ryan Roslansky…publicly lamented the prevalence of…slop in his day-to-day work…and…Walmart…employees are being plagued by unreasonable expectations, errors and false alerts from [chatbot]s that assign tasks, [make] schedules and monitor performance…Employers are navigating a flood of errors and low-quality work that [is] sapping employee time, raising privacy and security risks and pushing up costs.  Now, some businesses [whose management were wanking to Scroogesque fantasies of cheap electric slaves] are…implementing restrictions where experimentation was once encouraged, bringing back experienced workers and [eat]ing [crow]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1676)

Promoters of dystopia love to vomit words like “safety” into the faces of useful idiots:

Rutgers University quietly paid at least $1.5 million for a powerful surveillance analytics system that can recognize faces, read license plates and [mis]identify objects…and…can track people and cars across a network of cameras and [call the pigs on] them.  Avigilon…is part of Motorola S[urveillance], whose surveillance cameras and license-plate readers…increasingly blanket streets across the country.  Rutgers [hid] the purchase [from students, faculty and even the] Board of Governors, the university’s highest governing body…[by taking it from] the…general budget…[while] cut[ting] library funding by roughly a quarter…Britt Paris, a [Rutgers] professor…who has followed these trends for years…[said] “If people knew about this, they would be incredibly upset”…the capabilities aren’t limited to the new cameras…[but] can be applied to the thousands of existing cameras across campus…Rutgers [barfs] the [buzzwords]…“crime[” and “]safety[” at critics]…but crime across all Rutgers campuses has…declined…[especially] serious violent crime…Surveillance has expanded…since 2023, [after] a wave of protests…

Panopticon (#1676)

“These agencies surveil the public incessantly, but the moment we can watch them back, it’s deemed a security threat”:

When [cops swagger]ed up to Anthony Sistilli’s front door in September, it wasn’t to accuse him of a crime or take a witness statement, but to ask how he could have the nerve to turn…surveillance cameras on the cops themselves…Though Canada lacks a centralized corporate surveillance regime like Flock in the US, the country’s police have been rapidly scaling a more decentralized ALPR network…Sistilli decided to homebrew his own ALPR…[specifically] designed to track police cars…which the software engineer mounted on his car’s dashboard to test in the real world…Unfortunately, local police soon caught onto Sistilli’s handiwork, and paid him a visit in order to [intimidate him]…“one of them…mention[ed] ‘how scary’ it would be for them, because people would be able to find out where they lived…and what they were doing throughout the day.”  Sistilli’s response? “I think that’s the exact same concern that civilians have too”…

Panopticon (#1678)

Cops won’t stop doing this until the settlements come out of their own pockets:

Lindsey Isaacs was asleep at home in Palm Coast, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2025, when she was awakened at 4:45 a.m. by…[cops who] accused the retail clerk…of causing a multi-vehicle crash…that had killed three people…and then fleeing the scene…They [moronically barfed that her truck] had damage consistent with that collision…[even though it was] sitting in front of them in perfect condition…[the source of the disinformation was of course] a Flock camera…Isaacs was…[locked in a cage] for 13 days, including three days in solitary confinement……[until] her lawyer presented the court with photos of [the same] undamaged [truck cops had ignored to arrest her]…Isaacs sued t[he lying pigs] for false arrest, wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution and won a settlement in 2026…

 

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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They bragged publicly about violating a law that they themselves had worked really hard to get passed.  –  Molly Duane

Elephant in the Parlor (#1493)

That Gaetz’s downfall was due to paying for sex rather than his openly-espoused evil is a symptom of America’s cultural sickness:

Two women have filed a federal…lawsuit accusing…Florida [politician] Matt Gaetz and two others of…[“]sex trafficking[” because they were both legal adults with]…no stable income when…Gaetz…paid [them for] sex…[did] drugs [with them] and [took them on trips]…Jane Doe 1…alleges that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a girl who was 17 at the time…[but] is not one of the plaintiffs…

The Vultures Descend (#1627)

Fanatics hoist with their own petard is the purest form of justice:

In March, Kristan Hawkins, the founder and president of the anti-[bodily autonomy] group Students for Life posted on Instagram a photo of herself and two [other]…members outside Space Center Houston…[bragging that they were] “Ordering abortion pills undercover”…[so now] a Texas [woman has] sued…Hawkins…and three other members…using a state law…the group…[bragged about] helping to pass.  The law…allows nearly anyone to sue a person who mails, delivers, prescribes or provides abortion pills to or from anyone in Texas…and win at least $100,000 per violation.  The law bars suits against a woman who uses, obtains or tries to obtain the pills to end her own pregnancy…[but] the group members did not appear to be pregnant and so fall squarely within the law’s reach.  The plaintiff is seeking $459,782…the average cost of raising two children to 18 in Texas…the four defendants [are] Kristan Mercer Hawkins, Lydia Taylor Davis, Jamie Curry and Megan Roos…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1632)

Every one of these companies must be sued into bankruptcy:

Character.AI, the…chatbot startup that faced high-profile lawsuits over the deaths of minors, has declared bankruptcy…and is looking to sell the company in a court-supervised sale…Character.AI allowed users to openly chat with a sea of largely user-generated AI companion bots known as “Characters”…despite having no revenue…it was valued at more than a billion dollars…[because] its founders…[barfed the asinine buzzwords] “personalized superintelligence” [in the faces of ignoramuses].  In [autumn of] 2024…Character.AI, Google…and [the company’s founders]…were sued by Megan Garcia, a Florida [woman whose] 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, died by suicide as a result of his extensive and deeply intimate interactions with chatbots on the platform.  The suit…was [only the first of many]…from…families…[whose] children [were] abused by Character.AI, resulting in psychological harm, physical injury, and death.  It was also sued by the states of Kentucky and Pennsylvania…

Welcome to the Future (#1636)

Privacy as we once knew it is a thing of the past:

Josh Earle and Leo Paz…[are] a pair of [sociopaths] behind a…startup called Outlit…[whose] goal is to amass as much real-time information about a company’s clients as possible…[using bo]ts [to] trawl [not only] internal records like call logs and sales data [but also] external information like social media posts and the websites of people’s employers…The resulting product…is basically a detailed intelligence dossier…[which is] always updating…Asked if Outlit sees the need to inform those being monitored, or if they’ll offer the opportunity for an opt-out, [sociopath Josh] Earle [barfed]…“There’s nothing that we’re doing that’s illegal, so we’re within our right to [spy on people]…we…don[‘t care]…how people feel about it…[because] it’s going to happen”…

Panopticon (#1672)

Making a deal with the Devil is easy; getting out of it is not:

Elgin Community College hired Flock…Surveillance…in April 2025…but] President Peggy Heinrich…began to have second thoughts as she learned more about how the cameras can be used…[especially since] more than half of Elgin’s students are Latino…staff notified Flock in October 2025 that they wanted to cancel their contract and have the cameras taken down…[but] Flock [immediately] rejected the request and refused to uninstall the equipment…The school reached out again in December, offering to pay out the rest of the contract, but…Flock [simply ignored the offer]…Since the school no longer wanted the cameras to operate, and Flock refused to remove or disable them, officials zip tied garbage bags over the cameras on campus.  But…workers in an unmarked vehicle, which Heinrich assumed belonged to Flock, repeatedly removed the coverings…until the school’s contract expired in April, when Flock finally removed the cameras…

Welcome to the Future (#1679)

Am I the only one who finds chatbot-assisted masturbation both creepy and pathetic?

In the three weeks since its launch, millions of use[ful idiots] have already downloaded [Zuckerberg’s Muse chatbot]…and [foolishly connected it to their bank accounts and health data].  While pornographic interactions may not be what users [who have been living in caves their whole lives] expect from [a chatbot branded with a picture of a Teletubby ripoff, Facebook]…says that X-rated conversations are allowed and don’t go against its guidelines…In…tests, Muse im[itated “dirty talk”] in great detail…and [its users are apparently oblivious to the ludicrosity of both these]…outputs…and…[Facebook]’s…carelessness with their [most heavily-hyped] product of the moment…Calli Schroeder…[of] the Electronic Privacy Information Center…[points out that] if…someone hacks into your personal account, then their access to your [ridiculous interactions]…with a…[chatbot] could be used to embarrass or extort you…

The Cop Myth (#1681)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

[A typical and representative] Kentucky [cop attacked his girlfriend, then started waving a gun around and shooting randomly]…Dustin Zink…was threatening [his family and bystanders]…and [when a gang of his fellow pigs arrived] Zink…fired his weapon [at them] multiple times, prompting four [of them to shoot him down like a mad dog]…

 

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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Whether…a…person has a vagina or a penis has no bearing on the deadliness of a firearm.  –  Judge Carlyn Addison

Monsters

Some states appear to be determined to reverse civil rights progress:

Paris Lee was shot six times and killed by Samuel Ward Jr…[who] was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in May 2025.  He claimed it was self-defense, but the jury didn’t buy it…however, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals [has] reversed his conviction…declar[ing] that…[by] not disclosing [that] the victim…[w]as a trans woman, the trial judge “misled” the jury…and that Ward was entitled to a new trial where he could use this fact to bolster his claim of self-defense [because trans women are intrinsically scary]…even [though]…Ward was…known…to trans women in the area…[as one who] largely pursued relationships with transgender women…

Guinea Pigs (#1511)

This abomination began as a way for cops to target sex workers:

[Surveillance software] now lets cops take a photo and nearly instantly figure out what specific home it was taken in, using only clues in the photo itself, and is clearly pulling data from sites like Zillow and Airbnb.  The tool, [now] called Raven…was previously called GeoSpy…[but] has [now] added features that let cops analyze the interior of homes…without using location data or other metadata attached to the image…This is…not a reverse image search…what Raven is doing, instead, is identifying unique characteristics in the photo, then finding what are likely other photos from the same property on sites like Airbnb, even if those photos are not exactly the same, or even if time has passed between them being taken…

The first version of this software was called “TraffickCam“; when it appeared 10 years ago, “sex trafficking” hysteria was still going strong and its designers sold it to useful idiots as “helping police rescue trafficking victims” so as to enlist their aid in building a mass surveillance database which now threatens the liberty and privacy of millions who have never sold sex.

The Cop Myth (#1606)

They never stop demonstrating exactly what they are:

An ICE [goon was arrested for]…assaulting an elderly man and his daughter at a home in Fresno…[around] 3:30 am [on October 9.  The] woman found…[drunk goon] David Gonzalez sleeping on her front lawn…[and] told her 72-year-old father, who then went outside to tell Gonzalez to leave…he [responded by attacking] the…old [man, and when]…the daughter tried to intervene to protect her father…Gonzalez…attacked her [as well.  Fortunately]…the…old man [was sensibly armed] and shot Gonzalez.  The[n the] woman…[called her cop] boyfriend…to [come and arrest] Gonzalez…who [has been] charge[d with]…felony assault…

Mad Libs (#1650)

Every study shows that chatbot usage harms brain function:

Brian Christian…was part of a team behind a landmark study that found that spending just 10 minutes relying on a…[chatbot] significantly impairs [human] ability to focus and persist with difficult tasks.  A preliminary draft made waves earlier this year, and the team [recently] presented the updated, peer-reviewed paper…[a control group of] participants [were]…tasked with solving…basic [math and reading comprehension] problems without help, while another had ChatGPT open on the side…[chatbot] users got answers wrong or gave up entirely when the [electric crutch] was withdrawn…The findings backed up what [sensible people understood from the outset:  using chatbots] for answers erodes…cognitive fitness…and…removes what the team called “productive struggle,” which can lead people to [hone intellectual skills.  And]…offloading tasks to chatbots [quickly] reduce[s]…baseline understanding and mastery of a subject…

The Cop Myth (#1666)

Cops think violence is the solution to every problem:

[A typical and representative] San Francisco [cop named Kevin Mannix murdered his estranged wife, another cop named] Ann Mannix…and her 24-year-old daughter, Katherine…[then killed himself.  Another adult son or daughter]…was able to escape [unharmed]…and…[a third] adult [son or daughter was not there at the time]…

The Cop Myth (#1680)

Why are people shocked when men paid & encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A Raleigh [North Carolina cop named]…Christopher Andre Reed was [arrested for] bothering employees and other patrons [of a restaurant while drunk]…he assaulted the manager and tried to hit two others on his way out…he…threw his keys at a[nother] person [then fled].  When [his fellow gang members] arrived…they found him walking down Capital Boulevard, and blocking traffic.  He had several cuts after jumping a barbed wire fence…and…[when] a…paramedic [tried] to [help] him [he responded] by kicking him in the groin…[and] yell[ing] at [the other cops] to “shoot him”…

To Molest and Rape (#1680)

A boss hog is still just a pig, with all that entails:

Elizabeth…Louisiana…[may soon have a boss hog who raped] two children…Christopher Paul…was arrested in early September…[for] raping two 13-year-old girls 20 years ago…[and his opponent, Zachary LaCaze, had to withdrew after learning that his candidacy violated the Hatch Act because he works for the federal government.  But] the village’s Board of Aldermen have no authority to change the ballot under state law…[so they] put an item on the Dec. 12 ballot that would change the police chief position from an elected position to an appointed position, if voted in.  [But this being Louisiana,] it is unclear whether the p[opula]tion…will…act in the[ir own] best interests…

 

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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Freedom from persistent, dragnet-style surveillance while in public…is a reasonable expectation.  –  Judge Sara E. Hill

Bad Girls

At least this report doesn’t pretend she was a real sex worker:

A woman who admitted to drugging and robbing four men, killing three of them, in New York City was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison…Tabitha Bundrick…would give the men the drugs, sometimes claiming it was cocaine…[then] take their phones, money, watches, clothing, and other items.  Mario Paullan…Miguel Navez…and Abrihan Fernandez Rodriguez…[all] died…[and] Bundrick…[also kept] the victims’ sneakers…in…her apartment[, apparently as trophies]…she…[blamed] her conduct…[on] “drug addiction”…

No Escape

Your “leaders” refer to aggravated rape as “correction”; parroting that is a choice:

A Utah woman [who] was [pepper-sprayed,] drugged[, kicked repeatedly in the head] and raped by [deranged screws inside Nashville’s] Downtown D[unge]on…[has filed] a [federal] lawsuit…Lisa Travis, a school administrator from Salt Lake City, visited Nashville on Oct. 7, 2025, to sing at the Dove Awards…[she] was booked…on [a bogus] trespassing [charge which] the prosecutor later dismissed…[but while in the holding cell another woman tried to cause trouble so] four [pigs] — Brandon Davis, Viniece McBride, Jacob Webb and Louis Bulivant…in[vaded the cell to]…threaten…and [brutalize]…her…McBride then…“saturat[ed her] eyes, mouth and nose with [pepper spray, blinding]…her…for hours…[they then] pushed her onto the floor…restrained her legs…[and dragged her] to another, more isolated part of the jail, where the[y] injected her with [such a large dose of] benzodiazepines…a blood test [could still detect them] nearly a week later…two [of the screws, whom she could not see because of the effects of the pepper spray]…began to kick [her repeatedly] in the head…then…raped her…at 3:30 a.m…they [threw] her out of the back door in her socks [without allowing her to call anyone]…forc[ing her] to wander alone, still disoriented and traumatized, around downtown…[she eventually] found her husband at their hotel, then went to [a hospital where]…she received a rape kit [and was diagnosed with a concussion and traumatic brain injury from the kicking]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1586)

Ken Paxton doesn’t care how many children die because of his actions:

Ken Paxton, the [psychopath-]general of Texas and [a serial lawsuit abuser]…has [now] accused doctors, drug companies and insurers of [“]conspiring[“] to…[protect] children…from…[dangerous diseases by vaccination.  Following his usual modus operandi, the criminal Paxton has begun by attempting to intimidate his victims by official-looking letters making sweeping demands for confidential medical records he is not legally authorized to see under the bizarre excuse of “]consumer protection[“]…Paxton[‘s attempted victims include not only Texas]…pediatricians [individually, but also] the American Academy of Pediatrics…[his motive appears to be not only the promotion of the] Trump[ist cult in general, but also retaliation for]…the…Academy[‘s suing]…the Trump [regime over its dangerous policies] and grant cancellations, with some success so far…

Walled Garden (#1636)

I’m afraid judgments like this are too little, too late:

Utah’s [attempt to enact a de facto ban] on VPNs and similar tools…intended to allow internet users to bypass censorship, firewalls, and surveillance…[has been kneecapped by a federal court.  Wannabe censors] have discovered that tools effective for bypassing Chinese and Iranian censorship are equally useful for evading restrictive laws imposed by the European Union, Brazil, or Utah.  Britain briefly considered targeting VPNs but dropped the idea…of banning technology designed to be unbannable…In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs [ex]plained that the state’s requirements that age verification be applied to all internet users present in Utah…would require them “to age-verify every user of its platforms throughout the world” on the off-chance that they’re Utah residents…Utah’s attorneys [pinky-swore]…not…to…actually…enforce…the law…[but Judge David] Barlow [didn’t buy it, and]…issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the “actually located” provision…

Panopticon (#1661)

Judge rules that unconstitutional surveillance is unconstitutional:

…the tide is turning against Flock…an[d other]…ALPR…system[s] in pervasive [and unconstitutional] use around the country…a federal court in Oklahoma granted a woman’s motion to suppress evidence found in her car after a [Flock] search that was conducted [purely because she had California license plates]…Judge Sara E. Hill…reject[ed] previous court holdings that…automated license plate reader systems are not “searches” for Fourth Amendment purposes…A right not to be subjected to “dragnet-style surveillance while in public…is the same expectation of privacy that the Supreme Court has continued to recognize,” she adds, citing…[the court’s rejection of geofence warrants in] Chatrie v. United States…On September 28, the jury on a federal case out of San Antonio held that…[“pre-crime”] policing…involving…pretextual traffic stops [i]s unconstitutional…

The Cop Myth (#1664)

In which intimidation is euphemized as “talking” and a victim is dysphemized as “the offender”:

A…Chicago [cop attempted to murder a whole group of young] people [because] one [got tired of his big talk and slapped him]…the [pig was not wearing his magical clown costume, but]…when he s[aw a]…group [of teenagers] standing on the sidewalk [he couldn’t resist playing the big cheese by swaggering up to them and barfing cop intimidation talk at them]…when [one of the teens got tired of it he foolishly slapped the big-mouthed cop, who flew into an unhinged rage and shot both] the [teen who slapped him]…and…another [young man who was merely] standing [nearby.  His typical cop cowardice then kicked in, so]…he…drove a short distance away and [then got]…out and [started] firing…at [every person he could see.  The first victim]…was [arrested and] transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition.  The [deranged cop, whose identity is being hidden by his gang, is still at large and presumed to be armed and dangerous]…

To Molest and Rape (#1676)

Cops shouldn’t be allowed anywhere legal minors even might be:

A Houston-area family is suing a [typical and representative cop for raping a 13-year-old]…Nicholas Burbridge…[used] an online dating app called “Pure”…[while] pretend[ing] to be a 16-year-old…to [groom] the…girl…[then] picked her up and t[ook] her to his residence…[where he] gave [her] edibles from a dispensary, which [because she was] 13…[and had no tolerance caused her] to [eventually pass out, after which he raped her]…Burbridge’s attorney, Cordt Akers, [called the girl a liar and claimed she is motivated by]…”money to be made”…Harris County [apparently believes otherwise because]…Burbridge was [fir]ed on March 6…

 

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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Mass surveillance violates fundamental rights, even when it is laundered through fragmented systems, private companies, and regional task forces.  –  Cris van Pelt

To Molest and Rape

They usually try to make this sound like the rapist was doing his victims a favor:

A [typical and representative] Raleigh [North Carolina cop named]…Tremale Cogdell…[was] charged [last October]…with [several status offenses due to his repeatedly stopping] fe[male motorists and threatening them with criminal charges unless they submitted to rape]…Later [that month], Cogdell was [also] charged with five counts of soliciting prostitution for [raping five sex workers]…from Aug. 1, 2025, to Sep. 15, 2025.  [Due to a series of shenanigans his arraignment was put off for almost a year, and when it was finally held on September 30 he said all his victims wanted it]…

Charging cops with “soliciting prostitution” instead of rape is a very typical way for prosecutors to let rapist cops off easy when their victims are sex workers.

I Spy (#1434)

Is having a shiny new status symbol really worth being spied on like this?

Northeastern University researchers collaborated with Consumer Reports to take a look at the data [modern] vehicles are collecting and…who it’s shared with.  The study…cover[ed] 19 brands sold in the U.S., along with companion applications…such as HondaLink, MyNissan, and myCadillac….[for] model years…2022 to 2025…the researchers found…that privacy is…nonexistent when drivers own and drive a connected vehicle…the cars and their apps [send] data…to…Google…Amazon, Spotify, Microsoft, and…Facebook…[then] to…Yahoo…Comcast, [Twitter], Disney, Nielsen…Nextdoor…Pinterest, Reddit, Docusign, Dun & Bradstreet, and a…survey…[company named] Press Ganey…VINs…[are shared and linked with] your location, e-mail address, and phone number…The [worst] offenders were Honda, Nissan, [Ford], and…GM…

Feudalism Redux (#1561)

“Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.”  –  George Santayana

[Psychopaths-]general from Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas have filed two sweeping lawsuits targeting dozens of providers who ship abortion pills…One suit, filed against New York, Massachusetts, and California, asks the U.S. Supreme Court to end shield laws—which would allow the [anti-autonomy] states to extradite abortion providers.  The second suit, which names 30 providers, organizations, and pharmacies, seeks injunctions, damages—and [moronically] threatens RICO claims…Louisiana’s Liz Murrill has long been…[spouting the bizarre] claims made in the suits…including lies about abortion ‘coercion’, bogus studies on mifepristone’s safety, free speech attacks, and fetal personhood.  There’s also a new, troubling push for…“complete identification of the individuals…to whom [providers] prescribed and dispensed abortion drugs” [so the patients can be prosecuted]…

Should SCOTUS foolishly allow this, precipitating the biggest crisis in federalism since the 1960s, discreetly-packaged pills sent from overseas by telehealth services like Women Help Women will still be available unless the regime decides to stop all mail from outside the US.

Torture Chamber (#1586)

This will never stop until each and every jail death results in criminal charges:

The Clayton County [Georgia] Medical Examiner’s Office has classified a…[prisoner]’s death as a homicide, finding that medical neglect and uninhabitable conditions at the jail contributed to a fatal bacterial infection.  Scott Clyde Worthy…died…on Sept. 6, 2025, after he was [finally] taken…to…hospital…[after being un]able to get up [for days]…[due to] “complications of Streptococcus pyogenes sepsis”…Worthy had been [locked up for six months for saying words cops didn’t like]…

I’m sure they helpfully yelled “Stop faking! at her as she died:

Representatives of Atiyana Willis’ estate [have] filed a federal civil rights lawsuit…a[gainst screws who] ignored her requests for medical assistance and [left her to die in a cage]…Greene County [Arkansas] Sheriff Brad Snyder [tried to escape culpability by firing] nine jail employees following…[the] 18[-year-old’s wholly preventable death]…Willis…repeat[ly] request[ed] help…[but screws simply ignored her until she died].   The lawsuit cites two earlier Greene County jail deaths — Garrett Lee Evers in 2019 and Marshall Price in 2022 — as evidence that county officials had [long known their incompetence was killing people]…

Panopticon (#1667)

Local politicians’ virtue-signaling is powerless against the fascist panopticon:

The Trump [regime] is using an anti-drug trafficking grant program from the 1980s to force cities around the country to funnel their ongoing [unconstitutional] collection of automated license plate reader data into large federal surveillance centers that fall under [imperial] jurisdiction…[all goons need to do is point at any camera while barfing the magical phrase] “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area”…to [force] local cop…[shops to hand over feeds from their] Flock, Axon, and other ALPR cameras…[it is] aggregate[d] on federal government servers, where it is then accessible to [cops shops, spook houses, goon squads and other violent gangs]…including those who may not have contracts themselves with the ALPR companies…without any…oversight [at all].  HIDTA falls under the jurisdiction of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy…

Eavesdropping (#1677)

All the intrusive surveillance of Facebook, now packed in a baby rattle:

[Facebook’s] new [chatbo]t, Muse, has become a viral hit…with millions [of marching morons]…connecting it to [their] bank accounts…[and] health data…multiple researchers have extracted Muse’s internal files…providing a glimpse of how the system was built and behaves…it…create[s] “a page for every person in the user’s life [without the target’s consent]”…compiling data on family, partners, friends, colleagues…and…[even strangers on the internet.  Security researcher Karan] Joshi [says]….“They’re trying to know you like a friend, which is honestly pretty creepy”…

Stalkers in Blue (#1677)

It’s almost like the Founders knew what they were doing when they enacted obstacles to government spying:

Pinellas County [Florida has] arrested two of its own deputies on felony charges…[for] abus[ing] official databases — in[cluding]…automatic license plate reader data — to…[stalker sexual prey.  Pig] Travis Stanton used…databases to [stalk] a 17-year-old girl met at the restaurant where she worked…[and] Carl Gwynn…[used the ALPR] database some 300 times to track the car of a woman he [lusted after]…The investigation into Stanton began when the teen girl complained to the sheriff’s office…[about his lurk]ing in…the fast-food restaurant where she worked and making her feel uncomfortable [with creepy behavior and comments, then haunting]…the parking lot [of her] high school…Gwynn [was caught when reporters noticed his]…large number of searches…for…a…woman he’d arrested in 2010…he [then quit the cop shop before they could fire him]…

 

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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If you watch enough innocent people closely enough, criminals will fall out.  –  Josh Windham

The Punitive Mindset (#1303)

One of the primary goals of US prisons is ensuring that people condemned to their dungeons can never have a normal life ever again:

…the Connecticut Department of [Torturing People Locked in Cages] charge[s] a fee for every day a person spends in prison and then [robs them whenever possible to] collect on that debt…If [one of the state’s] former…[victims] wins the lottery…collects an inheritance or receives certain lawsuit settlements, the state can [steal] up to half the money…[even from] their children, spouses and heirs.  Other states and the federal government have similar laws on the books, commonly referred to as “pay to [be tortured]” statutes, but…Connecticut bills…prisoners [at] one of the highest [rates] in the country…$347 per day…[and] can collect on that debt for up to two decades after people are released from prison…In one such case, Connecticut [abducted a man’s] 1-year-old son [and killed him]…the state [was forced via lawsuit to pay] $2 million to compensate the family for the child’s death, [then stole]…more than $84,000 [of it because he had once been] in prison…[in] numerous cases…people were forced to sell their homes…

To Molest and Rape (#1468)

Rapist cops don’t only target women:

A Ramona [Oklahoma cop named]…Gerald Garrison [was fired and arrested for groping]…and [“]forcible sodomy[” of]…a city employee [who] was riding along with Garrison…in…the p[igmobile].  The…[grop]ing continued after the two entered Ramona City Hall…Garrison [said his victim wanted it]…

Given that this is Oklahoma, it’s more likely he was quickly fired for being queer rather than for being a rapist.

Feudalism Redux (#1518)

Another attempt to reduce all women to serfdom:

…Tennessee’s Underage Abortion Trafficking Act…criminalizes the “recruit[ment]” of a minor for any procedure that “would constitute a criminal abortion” under Tennessee law…[regardless of] where they take place…[the 6th Circuit has now ruled] in favor of abortion rights advocates Rachel Welty and Aftyn Behn by affirming a lower court’s permanent injunction against the recruitment provision.  Welty and Behn advise people in Tennessee…about how to obtain an abortion in out-of-state places where the procedure is legal.  Making this illegal violates the…First Amendment…

Panopticon (#1661)

Cops won’t stop doing this until they’re forced to stop:

A Lexington [Kentucky] couple [was targeted by a cop gang who] surrounded their house…at 4 o’clock in the morning [on September 26.  A spokespig ludicrously characterized this dangerous act of cop theater as]…investigating a road rage incident in which someone reported being assaulted with a deadly weapon.  The [victim] described the [assailant’s] vehicle…as a dark colored Ram 2500…[so cops] used the Flock S[urveillance system]…to [pick]…a dark colored Ram 2500 [at random.  Luckily for Will and Robin Penn, they are white, so the gang did not destroy their house or murder them in a hail of bullets]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1668)

The open internet will soon be a thing of the past:

Alabama[‘s]…“historic” settlement with TikTok [isn’t merely]…a $100–300 million [extortion]…pa[yout, but also]…one of the most expansive age‑verification and behavioral‑surveillance mandates ever imposed on a social media platform…TikTok must develop machine‑learning models [for]…always‑on…behavioral…deep content…social‑graph…identity correlation…anti‑evasion…[and] activity surveillance…not…only [of] minors…[but of] every Alabama user…device…[and] account…These systems cannot function without continuous monitoring of all users…

Welcome to the Future (#1672)

This ruling is probably too little, too late to stop “pre-crime” policing:

A federal jury…found Bexar County, Texas, liable for systematically violating thousands of Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights for years through a [legalized robbery gang]…On March 16, 2022, Alek Schott was driving home from a work trip near San Antonio, Texas, when…a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office…deputy [inflicted]…an hourlong, unconstitutional fishing expedition [on him, implicitly threatening him with arrest and interrogating him]…while [the pig rooted in his]…criminal history…the[n using a] dog [to manufacture fake “probable cause” to root through his vehicle without his consent by]…gesturing…and signaling toward the dog…when…Schott filed a complaint with the BCSO internal affairs department…[they laughed at him and told him to] “file a…lawsuit”…so he did, untangling a web of pretextual stops…[justified by chatbot-connected] license plate readers…[declaring random victims “]abnormal[“]…

Shame, Shame (#1676)

The excuse-making is almost as nauseating as the electric zombies themselves:

More than a century after her screen debut and decades after her ashes were laid to rest in a Swedish woodland cemetery, [Greta Garbo]’s descendants are ready to c[ash in on her legend any way they can].  Her [corpse] has already been reanimated for a…[ball-bearing] advert for a Swedish industrial company…The practice some [ethical people] call “ghostploitation” has also been used in the case of the [late] actor Val Kilmer…Craig Reisfield, one of three relatives who [mis]manage her legacy, [said]…“I won’t say no, especially [consider]ing [how]…incredibl[y lucrative it will be,] and [since]…Greta Garbo [is dead we needn’t bother with obtaining her consent]”…

 

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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