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Archive for the ‘History’ Category






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For those who find [drag shows] offensive, the solution is relatively simple…just don’t go.  –  Judge David Hittner

To Molest and Rape

When will amateur women learn cops are dangerous sex predators?

[A Baltimore cop named] Daniel Oxendine…[raped] a woman…[who foolishly approached] him to [ask him to] drive her…home…[when they got there,] Oxendine [forced his way] inside and [raped] her…Investigators [believe]…he may have [had other victims so he]…is being held [without bail]…

Undead Powers (#1409)

I’ve long held that all laws should sunset after 10 years unless specific action is taken to renew them:

[The prominent anti-female autonomy group] Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America [has] signed a letter calling on the Department of [In]justice…to interpret a 19th century anti-obscenity law as a national abortion ban.  It’s the first time the country’s largest anti-a[utonomy] organization has publicly endorsed this interpretation of the Comstock Act, signaling that a once-fringe reading of the dormant law has gone mainstream within the [forced-birth] movement—and that these groups are coming for more than just abortion pills…Comstock bans mailing any article or thing that can be used for abortions…including…devices and other supplies sent to brick-and-mortar abortion clinics.  These same drugs, devices, and supplies are also used for routine obstetric care, including miscarriage management and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage…

Your regular reminder that regardless of what evil laws fanatics impose, abortion medication will still be available by mail unless the US entirely criminalizes shipping things.

The Last Shall Be First (#1567) 

It should be a felony to propose a bill that is facially unconstitutional:

U.S. District Judge…David Hittner [has once again] ruled that Texas’ law banning drag shows around minors is “facially overbroad” and “unconstitutionally vague”…Hittner had originally ruled SB 12 unconstitutional in 2023, shortly after it was passed…[but psychopath-]General Ken Paxton appealed [the] ruling to the…Fifth Circuit…which…sent the case back to Hittner…who…[pointed out that] banning…[any] performance…that…”appeals to the prurient interest in sex”…might…apply to performers as varied as Elvis Presley…Dolly Parton, and Miley Cyrus…

These showboat bills waste public money for politicians’ virtue-signaling; the only allowable defense should be that the politician was too stupid to understand the plain language of the Constitution.

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1626)

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

[Facebook] has settled with 52 state and local Attorneys General who had sued the company in some form or another [using the excuse of “]child safety[“]…the years-long case…against [it] ends, and [Zuckerberg] pays…approximately $18 billion…[and] will implement a bunch of changes to its platforms…everyone involved knows full well that no government could mandate these feature changes without violating the First Amendment.  But now that it’s in a “settlement”…people are cheering this on, without realizing the damage it will do…For a few decades now, when basically all Attorneys General would get together to threaten and/or sue tech companies, it was almost always over bullshit headline grabbing claims where the AGs either had no jurisdiction or ability to legally do anything…these efforts are so resource intensive, so expensive, and so draining that it’s no surprise that most companies end up “settling” by agreeing to do things that the government simply cannot force a company to do.  But because it’s a “settlement” people act like it’s not the government doing it…The other bit of background worth understanding here is that [Facebook] has been…practically begging for Congress to pass child safety legislation that only the largest companies (like itself) could comply with…[such as] FOSTA…it’s been pretty consistently losing the innovation race, and the government granting it a regulatory moat that smaller competitors can’t cross would be a godsend…[especially when i]t looks like…“losing” a lawsuit…

The Cop Myth (#1658)

He was named “Deputy of the Year” for exemplifying cops’ true nature so well:

[A Florida cop named] Michael Fultz [was allowed to] resign…[rather than being fired] for…extreme…sexual misconduct, racism, and abuse…Brevard County named Fultz its Deputy of the Year in 2025.  The day of the ceremony [his] ex-girlfriend sent a letter…to the sheriff’s office with a long list of complaints about his behavior…which [prompted]…the…discover[y that] he’d used Flock to stalk her…[further] investigation found Fultz had posed for pictures as Adolf Hitler, freely used racial slurs in texts, masturbated on camera in his p[igmobile, shoved his gun into]…his ex-girlfriend[‘s]…mouth during sex [and took pictures, and] repeatedly [covered]…his motorcycle [license plate while speeding over 100 mph so he could look like a big man on]…Instagram and TikTok…the sexual encounter where…he [threatened to murder his girlfriend] occurred [immediately after he murdered a man in April 2025, then blamed his victim]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1666)

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

A…[Kentucky cop was actually]…suspended…and…charge[d] for [repeat]edly using license plate reader cameras to track and harass [his ex-girlfriend] in Kentucky and Indiana…Asad Zahir …used…Flock…to conduct more than 2,000 searches on [her] from January through May of this year, [despite]…an Indiana…[“]protective order[“] against him…Zahir…[abused the system so egregiously Flock’s software reported him to his bosses]…

Panopticon (#1667)

Cops are angry that people hate unconstitutional surveillance:

A…Florida [cop shop] used “decoy” Flock cameras that a…[pig] 3D-printed at home to “bait” [citizens concerned about unconstitutional surveillance]…then charged a man with three felonies after he cut down and destroyed one…Oviedo, Florida mayor Megan Sladek said she “had NO idea” that [cops were planning this scam]…Despite the decoy camera being worth, at most, several dollars worth of plastic filament, Evan Meyer was charged with…[“]attempted[” felonies]…Meyer ad[mitted that he targeted the make-believe] camera…specifically…[because it] was close…to his house…The [pig scheme] is reminiscent of Amazon “package sting” [scam]s that several [cop shops] attempted several years ago, in which empty Amazon boxes were placed on people’s porches while p[igs lurked to spy]…result[ing] in zero known arrests…

 

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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Get on the fucking ground…I will fucking tase you. – cop to “missing child”

Even with all of her songs to choose from, this felt to me like the most appropriate tribute to one of the world’s most beloved human beings.  The links above it were provided by Radley Balko; Mistress Matisse; T. Greg Doucette; Ryan Cooper and Scott Long; Nun Ya (x2); and IncarcerNation, 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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Sex workers have been asking this question for 20 years.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-16T16:58:18.635Z

There is a product called "Suddenly Salad" which I've always thought had the most bizarre name. In my imagination, the ways that product works is one opens the box, then at some unknown point in the next 24 hours the salad suddenly appears in front of one without warning, which could be dangerous.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-19T03:37:39.650Z

Absolutely. Some pictures wordlessly sum up a moment in history.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-20T16:38:43.159Z

Post a Photoshop of Trump wandering aimlessly into an historical event:

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-21T18:06:59.488Z

When you were a weird kid in the '70s and you saw this on your TV, you KNEW you were in for some good viewing!

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-23T06:41:38.881Z

Good thing they added the extra 40 years, just in case he manages to die and come back as a vampire twice.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-23T19:15:36.022Z

The only moral form of warfare is War of Assassins, in which only the rulers of the warring nations, plus their deputies, agents, and operatives, are legitimate targets. In other words, nobody who does not CHOOSE to be a combatant is in direct physical danger except by accident due to proximity.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-24T07:44:29.870Z

People who cannot understand friendship, and truly believe that all close friendships are motivated by a mutual desire to rut, are both pathetic and contemptible.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-25T17:45:06.947Z

Is a "health movement" anything like a bowel movement?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-26T03:21:25.961Z

I'm sure you feel safer now.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-27T17:21:46.847Z

"The Singularity" is the God of the futurist religion. If you want perspective on anything any tech cultist says about "The Singularity", simply substitute "God", "Providence", "The Force", or any similarly-vague and irrational name for "magic"."The Singularity is coming" = "The Second Coming".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-28T17:49:37.779Z

Sex workers always warn y'all about predators, and y'all never listen.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-29T17:42:59.877Z

Absolutely. I still laugh at the memory of Mr. Moose and his various tricks to win the Captain's consent to having ping-pong balls dropped on him.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-30T18:28:53.057Z

Apparently it will take more than self-induced terminal illness to teach him to behave normally in public.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-31T17:05:53.189Z

It wasn't really Yoko's fault.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-01T07:48:22.576Z

I'm not especially concerned with anyone mistaking my writing for something a chatbot shat out, nor am I willing to change my style in any way to keep stupid people from doing so. I write as the Muse moves me, not by working from some tedious set of guidelines or to please some specific audience.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-02T07:51:12.904Z

I miss my late best friend Grace every single day. And yet, there is a part of me which is glad she passed away a few days after Trump's inauguration, so she never got to see what Musk, who was a hero to her specifically BECAUSE of SpaceX, was really like. I'm glad she was spared disillusionment.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-04T18:26:25.697Z

Nutritionism is not science, exhibit umpteen thousand, nine hundred eleventy-seven.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-05T17:18:45.827Z

Suggestion: limit data centers to whatever size they can power with on-site solar. It would remove the noise & pollution factors, and if the company wanted to go bigger they'd have to have more land, creating more buffer between them and neighbors.Don't bother to point out flaws; I'm just musing.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-06T18:07:11.455Z

Oh look, Maggie was right once again, what a shock, etc.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-07T17:09:01.629Z

Like all those Bond girls who were the supervillain's mistress, only the villains' schemes are more pathetic, like "I will ruin a beloved corporation, hahahahahaha!" instead of "I will cause World War III so my organization can rule over what is left, hahahahahaha!"

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-08T17:07:29.519Z

Your regular reminder that desalination has existed for decades; Americans just don't want to build the plants because REASONS.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-10T02:49:12.833Z

If skills were sexually transmitted, I'd be a Renaissance polymath with *exceptional* ability in medicine, engineering, physics, law, politics, music, and several sports including golf and fishing.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-10T17:30:33.743Z

The US has become a global laughingstock.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-11T17:21:45.852Z

This is breathtakingly brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen such a deft collection of clever, striking, and above all *apt* insults and condemnation of a well-known specimen of poisonous vermin.Well done, @jojofromjerz.bsky.social!

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-14T18:31:38.573Z

What avatar will he replace it with next? This?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-16T17:36:54.670Z

Librarians' chief duty is preserving human culture from the stupidity of other humans.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-17T17:31:00.759Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-19T03:52:13.785Z

 

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Computers can be useful tools or servants, but they are not human; they have no feelings and no dignity, and humans have no more obligation to treat them as equals than we have toward any other machine.  If you don’t think humans need to get the consent of a power saw or dishwasher before using it, you also shouldn’t think computer programs are owed good manners.  Yet since the 1980s, humans have been presented with an ever-increasing number of circumstances in which we are confronted by machines whose owners and operators apparently expect others to treat them as though they were sentient beings.  It was already bad enough when the machines were merely recordings of human voices intended to guide customers through an ersatz replacement for a phone operator by advising us to press this number to speak to that human; by the ’90s they started expecting us to talk back to them, then in this century humans began to be replaced by machines at every step of the process, so a computer operator would switch callers through to other computers which can virtually never do what their corporate owners pretend they can.

But now that we’re several years into the chatbot invasion, a large number of people have not only conceded their right to be helped by other people, but actually expect others to do the same.  Sorry, but no.  When a computer answers a phone I’ve called, I do whatever is necessary to get to a human operator, and when a computer calls me I immediately hang up and block the number, because in my view if something isn’t important enough for a human to make that call, it also isn’t important enough for me to waste my valuable time with.  As if it isn’t bad enough that we’re expected to treat objects as equals, many people apparently feel comfortable taking a subordinate position to objects!  I can no longer use social media without philistines presenting things shat out by chatbots as “art” or “writing”, and though I block strangers who do this, a few of those who have succumbed to this aesthetic disorder are people I otherwise enjoy talking to.  It’s just too much, so I’ve decided on a more aggressive policy:  I’ve already muted a number of phrases such as, “I asked ChatGPT…” yet I am still assailed by people who have surrendered so much of their human dignity that they consider deluxe autocomplete an “authority”.  So from here on out, I’m going to block anyone who quotes a chatbot at me, and I’m only going to give one warning before I do it.

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I’ve always believed that music, like space, is about exploration.  –  William Shatner

Though this Irving Berlin song (provided by Rick Horowitz) is about Hitler, it has taken on a new meaning in our day.  The links above it were provided by Anarres Ansible, Jesse Walker, Ryan Marino, Kevin Wilson, Mike Stabile, Nun Ya, and Savannah Sly, 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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You know what you have to do, carry on.  –  Leandro Andrés Bertazzo

This seemed to me the appropriate song for the passing of Orbison’s longtime songwriting partner.  The links above it were provided by Desiree Alliance; Kevin Wilson; Jesse Walker; Dan Savage and Jesse again; IncarcerNation; Angela Keaton; and Ryan Marino, 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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I used to try to explain when a young or pre-menopausal woman makes some sort of confident statement about what she will be like post-menopause. Now I just shrug and say, "You'll find out soon enough."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-17T17:21:31.990Z

It's always amusing to me when a paywall demanding I provide my personal information is followed almost immediately by a popup admitting they will sell that information to anybody who wants it.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-18T18:46:19.972Z

"Mmmm, a meat-free savoury loaf!" said no hungry person ever.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-19T18:57:53.004Z

The best part of this algae bloom is, it only needs to stay in place for two more weeks from today to achieve maximum humiliation value for Trump and the whole MAGA movement. After the 4th, it can vanish overnight; what will be remembered is the perfect metaphor for the semiquincentennial.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-20T17:51:22.612Z

5 million djinn and imps working 24/7 can build Baghdad in ≈ 6 months. Now just imagine what the world looks like when we have 10 billion of them by 800. Now imagine the year 1000. Amazing abundance for all!

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-21T17:27:00.933Z

I don't generally call attention to toxic filth from Twitter, but if you're still on Twitter at all you may want to look up this sewer outlet which calls human beings "farm equipment" just for the pleasure of blocking it.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-23T17:52:42.652Z

"It’s Donald Trump’s violent, pawing need, not to win, but to be *seen* to have won. To see *himself* as a winner or, when observable reality disagrees, to declare war on reality. It’s the president’s shrieking demand that everyone else join him in waging war upon a mirror."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-24T16:58:10.225Z

Why are the US media and Democratic politicians so averse to recognizing that SCOTUS judges can be impeached?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-25T18:01:45.727Z

A new dimension of "throwing like a girl".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-28T03:27:07.509Z

This is actually a good way to deal with drive-by commenters on social media."This is stupid!""OK."They don't know how to continue when you refuse to give them the theatrical conflict they crave.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-28T18:12:37.049Z

Maybe they're all ninjas, disguising themselves by becoming blades of grass.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-28T18:06:43.769Z

Musk is a Bond supervillain. Zuckerberg is a Batman supervillain.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-06-30T07:37:56.774Z

Well come ON! If you looked like that, you'd be depressed, too.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-01T17:52:32.638Z

THANK YOU.It's rare to see *anyone* who grasps this nowadays, even though it's right there in the name of the movement.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T17:43:57.214Z

The Trump regime keeps people from entering the US "because of who they are" all the time.Monkey see, monkey do.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-04T17:43:32.766Z

Without a doubt, it would have to be the guy who said that any female character in a fantasy story with extraordinary powers was a "Mary Sue".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-06T19:08:47.786Z

Another American institution destroyed by private equity: http://www.salon.com/2026/07/03/h…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-07T17:02:26.485Z

As a former reference librarian, I can tell you what people did before Google. (HINT: it wasn't sitting around helplessly wishing for the information.)

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-08T07:57:06.570Z

I spoke with Mitch McConnell for twenty minutes this morning. He told me he had meddled in things that man must leave alone.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-09T08:13:53.616Z

Reminds me of this argument which anyone who knew teen boys in the late '70s & early '80s will remember:Boy 1: Rob Halford is not gay!Boy 2: Dude, he's gay. Look at his costumes.Boy 1: Leather is tough, not gay!Boy 2: What about gay leather dudes?Boy 1: They stole that from bikers!Boy 2: …..

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-11T18:16:55.618Z

Every so often the very first tweet I see from someone is so absolutely, moronically authoritarian, I block them instantly to spare myself from ever seeing another violently-stupid utterance from them.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-12T17:12:55.939Z

"Verify your age"Fuck you! In my day, computers didn't talk back or make demands. And we watched TV by attaching the set to an antenna.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-13T17:03:24.239Z

So very many words to say, "I don't understand the concept of hubris and anyone who tries to explain it to me is Satan."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-14T17:41:15.926Z

"The alternative would be to admit that we as a nation have done what we have in fact done, which is install a demented narcissistic madman as president."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-15T17:58:14.068Z

Partisanism is a form of brain rot. Today's example: claiming the increasingly-totalitarian Trump regime is "anti-government".If Trump's metastasizing police state is "anti-government", I shudder to think what a "pro-government" regime would look like.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-16T17:03:55.420Z

People used to think I was kooky for refusing to eat green, leafy vegetables and uncooked or undercooked food.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-18T03:39:10.780Z

My favorite Sanders tell is how his refrain used to be blaming "millionaires and billionaires" for everything until someone correctly pointed out that SANDERS is a millionaire, at which point he switched to just blaming "billionaires".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-07-19T16:53:53.906Z

 

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She is not only vastly stupid, but also vastly lazy.  –  W.A. Mozart

There was no way I was going to feature anything by the Village People over one of my favorite songs (which I’ve somehow never featured), sung by Bonnie Tyler but written by the legendary Jim Steinman.  The links above it were provided by T. Greg Doucette; Kevin Wilson; Mike Siegel; Jesse Walker; Dan Savage ; Radley Balko; and Mike Masnick, 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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