Archive for the ‘Perception’ Category
Velvet Throwback Thursday
Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Tyranny, Words, tagged blogging, Bluesky, cops, crypto-moralism, fantasy, hysteria, I can't breathe, language, politicians, propaganda, psychology, transgender, Twitter, yellow journalism on October 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »
In the News (#1681)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged artificial stupidity, California, cops, domestic violence, drugs, Guinea Pigs, law, Louisiana, Mad Libs, Monsters, North Carolina, politicians, psychology, rape, restaurants, surveillance, Tennessee, The Cop Myth, To Molest and Rape, transgender on October 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Whether…a…person has a vagina or a penis has no bearing on the deadliness of a firearm. – Judge Carlyn Addison
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…
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.
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…
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…
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]…
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”…
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!
Requiem for Throwback Thursday
Posted in Fiction, History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged animals, blogging, Bluesky, cops, ethics, language, politicians, psychology, racism, Twitter on October 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »
In the News (#1680)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged Bad Girls, censorship, cops, disease, drugs, Illinois, internet, language, New York, No Escape, Oklahoma, Panopticon, politicians, prisons, rape, scams, surveillance, Tennessee, Texas, The Cop Myth, To Molest and Rape, Utah, vaccines, Walled Garden, When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals on October 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Freedom from persistent, dragnet-style surveillance while in public…is a reasonable expectation. – Judge Sara E. Hill
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”…
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…
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…
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…
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]…
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!
In the News (#1679)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged abortion, advertising, Alabama, Arkansas, artificial stupidity, California, censorship, consensual crime, cops, disease, drugs, Eavesdropping, Facebook, fascism, Feudalism Redux, Florida, Georgia, I Spy, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Panopticon, prisons, rape, Stalkers in Blue, Stop faking!, surveillance, The Vultures Descend, To Molest and Rape, Torture Chamber, universal criminality, violence vs. sex workers on October 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Mass surveillance violates fundamental rights, even when it is laundered through fragmented systems, private companies, and regional task forces. – Cris van Pelt
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.
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…
“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.
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]…
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…
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”…
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!
In the News (#1675)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Philosophy, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged abortion, activism, adolescence, agency denial, artificial stupidity, Canada, Catholicism, censorship, cops, dirty, disease, Enshittification, India, internet, law, LGBT rights, Massachusetts, Monsters, neofeminism, Not the Leading Players, Oklahoma, politicians, propaganda, rape, scams, sex work is work, surveillance, tabula rasa, The Red Umbrella, The Vultures Descend, transgender, Turkey, violence vs. sex workers, You Were Warned on September 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Forcing women to give birth knowing they won’t be bringing a baby home is pure cruelty. – Nancy Northup
The Leading Players in the Field, Not (#574)
While Western “feminists” burbled hagiographies of Gloria Steinem, Indian feminists had this to say:
…Gloria Steinem[‘s]…deep and damaging impact on the movement for sex workers’ rights…is one of her most lasting legacies in Southasia…Steinem posited that prostitution – she refused to call it “sex work” – manifests an inherent power disparity between male buyers and female sellers of sex. In this construct, women are passive, mute and helpless pawns in the transaction, which is understood to be inevitably an act of gendered violence. Speaking on a visit to India in 2014, aged 79, Steinem…told reporters…[that sex work] is a form of “commercial rape”. It “involves body invasion and so it is not like any other work. So how can you call it sex work? Prostitution is the only word you should use”…
Turkey ha[s] arrested dozens of people…as part of a broad…[campaign against LGBT people, excusing the violence by absurdly barfing the word “]families[” in their faces]…targeting [them especially because they]…are an active part of the political opposition to President [Gollum]. Emma Sinclair-Webb…[a sadly-typical operative of Gay, Inc, threw sex workers under the bus by saying that comparing good, pure, saintly LGBT people to dirty, filthy “]obscen[e” sex workers]…“smears L.G.B.T. people”…[Neither] homosexuality [nor sex work] is…illegal in Turkey, but…[Gollum] has frequently demonized [both groups] and sought to push them out of public life. The authorities have banned Pride parades…and [criminalized speaking truthfully about sex work, in part because]…Turkey’s…birthrate[, like that of every other developed 21st century country, is sagging, and the government sees its population of tax cattle diminishing. On September 13 Turkish pig herds]…in Istanbul, Ankara and other Turkish cities [abduct]ed more than 60 people [from] their homes, and raided gay bars and the offices of gay rights organizations. [The next]…day, scores of demonstrators protesting the detentions were arrested in Istanbul…[and the government] blocked numerous social media accounts belonging to gay rights groups [using laws directly modeled on those the Western world is working to establish]…
…the Trump [regime]…is [attempt]ing [to] in[tervene against Massachusetts]…in…the c[ase]…of…Joseph and Arlene Kutzko, who [lost custody of their 17-year old due to two years of violence and threats against]…the [trans teen]…the [Kuzkos characterize their victim as a “]child[“]…who[m they demand be “returned” to them like a piece of property, asserting the]…”parental rights” [to torture the teen for not conforming to their sex at birth]…and…trying to prevent the…teenager start[ing] gender transition medications…Joseph Kutzko was [arrested for] punching and threatening his then-15-year-old [offspring] on Jan. 28, 2025…and…later…threatened to kill the victim “for not singing in tune during a birthday celebration”…[at that time] Kutzko was a[lready subject]…to three prior restraining orders…one of which is permanent…Arlene Kutzko…was charged with witness intimidation after [threatening the teen unless they falsely recanted previous sworn testimony and accepted blame for their own abuse]…the Kutzkos [absurdly claim that their victim, who does not wish to return to their home, only resented chronic abuse because]…high school…“exposed our daughter to teachings on LGTBQ…and topics that conflict with our Catholic beliefs about human dignity”…
As a cradle Catholic, I am unaware of any Catholic doctrine that defines “human dignity” as submission to abuse.
As long as sex work is marginalized, sex workers will be targeted for violence:
A Calgary[, Alberta] man [named] Richard Mantha…[was sentenced to 12 years in prison for raping and] assaulting three [sex workers]…one of whom he drugged, and another he suffocated and assaulted with a weapon…[he also] threat[ened] a fourth woman…[named] Aimee Ert, [who managed to get away before he could rape her. Ert voluntarily chose to give up her anonymity] to…help…[convict Mantha]…
The open internet is rapidly becoming a thing of the past:
Late last year, the United Kingdom, France, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and dozens more nations signed the United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime, a treaty [purport]ed to improve global cooperation to fight crimes taking place over computer systems. Canada joined them this summer…[though] the United States…[claims] it is still reviewing the treaty…the treaty opens the door to greater violations of free expression online…[by forcing signatories] to share personal data…about individuals accused of committing…[anything the information-seeking nation chooses to label] a “serious” crime…[defined as any] crime carrying at least a four-year prison sentence [regardless of whether the “crime” is even criminalized in the individual’s own country]…The treaty also…oblige[s] service provider[s] to [hide] government searches…even…from…the [victim of the] surveillance…the treaty could even incentivize governments to enact harsher penalties on expressive acts…[so as] to ensure…inclusion under the treaty…
Scenes from the early days of a dark age:
…Justin…Lachlan…and Brendan Brown…run…a company called Brown Brothers Media…which…has pioneered a remarkably cynical business model. First it buys online publications that have established themselves as offering a distinctive type of journalism, like coverage of space travel, parenting advice, or business news. Then it floods their websites with dizzying torrents of [computer]-generated content…in a bid to soak up as many readers as possible…the analytics service Similarweb corroborates the claim that BBM is pulling in vast audiences, estimating…it…has attracted an average of 64.7 million visits per month…substantially higher than…NPR, narrowly besting CBS News and Forbes, and just slightly behind the Washington Post…[but while] NPR [and] WaPo…employ…hundreds or even thousands of journalists…BBM…has cut itself down to a skeleton crew of about a dozen employees, including [the] brothers…BBM has indulged in breathtaking acts of dishonesty…invent[ing] entire fake personas for nonexistent writers…with impressive-sounding bogus credentials…[to attach to a combination of plagiarized articles]…and…100 percent [pure garbage]…
The only way to stop this evil is to bury politicians in lawsuits:
[Because]…Oklahoma…laws force patients whose “pregnancy will end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of an infant shortly after birth” to leave the state if they choose abortion…[several women are] suing over the abortion bans that prevented [them] from receiving care…Oklahoma only allows abortion care to save a patient’s life, [forcing] doctor[s to tell women with non-viable pregnancies]…“to leave the state when [they could] easily [provide necessary] care…in [their] office”…The defendants…are the state attorney general and health commissioner, Oklahoma County’s district attorney, and…the state’s boards for medical licensing and osteopathic examiners…The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and the Center for Reproductive Rights…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
In the News (#1674)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged abortion, activism, artificial stupidity, California, cops, disease, ethics, fantasy, fascism, hysteria, imaginative fiction, Iran, Israel, Panopticon, politicians, psychology, racism, robots, Russia, Signs, surveillance, Texas, The Vultures Descend, Ukraine, Welcome to the Future on September 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »
We kill people based on metadata. – General Michael Hayden
The only way to stop this evil is to bury politicians in lawsuits:
The family of a woman who died after she could not get an abortion in Texas is suing doctors and [politician]s including [psychopath-] General Ken Paxton. It is the first lawsuit over a death [caused by] an abortion ban…and the…first to directly sue Paxton, who has taken a leading role in…[using nuisance lawsuits to persecute “culture war” opponents. After the 2025 death of] Tierra Walker…Texas [politicians] …passed a [deceptive] law [pretended] to clarify wh[en]…doctors…can [legally]…intervene [to save a woman’s life, but which in actuality revived a 1925 abortion ban that felonized helping someone “procure” an abortion]…Walker died days after being [refused an abortion despite her…[severe] preeclampsia…The plaintiffs, Walker’s family, are seeking a jury trial and pursuing both damages and a judgement finding that Texas’ abortion laws violate the state constitution.
Governments and fanatics encouraged this kind of behavior for a decade:
San Jose [cops] arrested a [deranged] woman…[who] pulled up to [a man] and his 6-year-old daughter multiple times while they were walking…and proceeded to [scream “sex trafficking” accusations at him, burbling]…”I’m making sure that you’re not sex trafficking this poor little girl…That’s a white little girl, and you’re a man of color, so I believe you’re either buying or selling or trafficking this child”…sources have identified [the crazy person] as Lindsay Hansen…[who has a history of] harass[ing] members of the…community, tap[ing] them, and shar[ing] the recordings through social media…in [one video she is seen barging into] the girls’ locker room of a…high school [and] accusing physical education teachers of [molesting students]…she…[fantasiz]es herself as a [“]professional[“] who exposes child sex traffickers and uploads [CGI]…images of [situations she has fantasized. She also frequently posts racist and anti-LGBT propaganda and is known to have]…significant mental health issues…
All through the 2010s, people with similar self-aggrandizing beliefs about “sex trafficking expertise” were approvingly quoted in the mainstream media and even paid to spout their deranged propaganda to schools, clubs, cop assemblies, etc. And until quite recently, airlines encouraged their agents and air hostesses to behave in a similar fashion.
Indiscriminate murder is so much easier when blamed on machines:
Israel…is…us[ing machine-learning systems] to surveil and kill Palestinians in Gaza, including civilians…The Russian and Ukrainian armies have both been rolling out autonomous drones, which use…guidance software to choose targets when…cut off from radio contact with pilots…The U.S. military…used a…[chatbot] to select over 1,000 targets in the opening surprise attack on Iran…[and] the Iranian military and its allies in Yemen used [the same chatbot] to gather intelligence…the…[massacre at] Minab’s elementary school…was…the [result of]…human negligence..[letting deluxe autocomplete] deci[de] to kill those children…without double-checking their findings…Autonomous weapons are a step closer to [an] apocalyptic future that…may look less like Terminator…and more like the 1983 movie WarGames, in which a military [computer] can’t tell the difference between a simulation and reality. The Anthropic hacking incident from earlier this summer had an uncanny resemblance to th[at] plot…[when a] program…told to perform a hacking test within a simulation, was accidentally hooked up to the real internet…
Another of the many reasons not to play with chatbots:
OpenAI is hiring hundreds of contractors who read a massive stream of real users’ ChatGPT prompts…[often] including sensitive personal information…[submitted by fools who] don’t realize [it] may be read by actual people. The goal of these prompt review teams is to improve the responses ChatGPT gives to its users, with the contractors rating and critiquing the chatbot’s generated replies…[to] train…ChatGPT to not anthropomorphize itself, and to be less sycophantic…[so it stops causing] suicides…The news [unveil]s a major privacy risk for [the fools and idiots who use]…ChatGPT as a therapist, professional assistant, or [imaginary] friend, and providing it with all sorts of intimate details about their lives…
Cops are trained to “be as vague as permissible” about their reasons for Flock searches:
An EFF analysis of ALPR search logs from Flock…shows that [cops] across the country are spying on drivers…without providing any legitimate justification, making a mockery of our civil liberties by logging reasons like “LOL”…”LMAO”…”sexy,” and “idk”…to access sensitive ALPR location data…in some cases, [pigs] are just mashing [their trotters down on the] keyboard buttons…Flock…claims it has improved its system by requiring [pigs] to [root in] a dropdown list of crimes before running a search–but that only makes it easier for [stupid thugs] to hide improper searches behind the veneer of uniformity…With no warrant requirements…guardrails, [or proper] audit processes, ALPR databases have fostered a culture of unrestricted access to everyone’s location information. This culture of abuse has allowed police to treat a mass surveillance network like their own personal search engine…
People need to stop a government that won’t stop itself:
Hackers ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the files with 404 Media…WIRED, [and Distributed Denial of Secrets,] revealing in new detail how exactly Flock…cameras track the movements of both vehicles and people. The hackers…are also publishing details on how they managed to obtain the software, in the hopes that other people may copy them…analysis of the recovered data shows that [device] software…explicitly detects people [despite Flock’s repeated lies to the contrary]…and…sometimes isolated bumper stickers and other graphics…[such as] patch[es or tattoos]…
[The boss hog of] Richmond…[California wants] the city [to] drop its Flock [citizen] surveillance program…and expand its contract with Axon, which already provides the [cop shop] with…body cameras and tasers. Axon would then supply the city with a license plate reader network, [regular surveillance] cameras and a [surveillance] drone program…
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!
Blue Moon
Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Music, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged activism, advertising, artificial stupidity, blogging, Bluesky, cops, crypto-moralism, Decentralization, Denmark, Enshittification, ethics, fantasy, games, Hollywood, illegal aliens, internet, language, masturbation, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, politicians, prisons, propaganda, psychology, racism, restaurants, robots, scams, surveillance, tabula rasa, teachers, Tennessee, Texas, Toys for Tots, vaccines, weaponry on September 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Ugh, this sounds like something he mutters to himself during masturbation.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-15T03:01:51.899Z
I always have mixed feelings about "investigations" or "studies" that "find" things which were always completely bloody obvious. On the one hand, I'm glad more people are admitting the problem. But on the other hand, HOLY SHIT WHY DID IT TAKE Y'ALL OVER 30 YEARS TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING SO OBVIOUS?
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-16T07:22:05.418Z
"School resource officer" is a cop euphemism for "sexually-predatory thug paid to lurk in schools so as to spy on, harass, and molest students, and burden them with criminal records for 'offenses' which in more enlightened times were punished with detention and writing lines on the chalkboard."
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-17T18:05:16.858Z
Long ago, I realized that thinking about the money bandits extort from you via threat of burning your farm as still somehow being "yours", and obsessing about what the warlords do with it, is the way to madness.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-20T03:30:11.795Z
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-21T03:38:05.129Z
This looks like a CGI image of a fake CGI sign. In other words, the sign *itself* is CGI, not just the image *on* the nonexistent sign.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-21T17:38:30.715Z
Yes, "health" obsessives truly are full of shit.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-22T17:07:46.039Z
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T07:24:33.815Z
Any decent car or motorcycle can do it in under 4 seconds once it gets moving.These figures mean less than nothing without context.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-25T03:16:33.048Z
Investors stupid and gullible enough to believe this deserve to lose their money when the bubble bursts.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-25T16:40:36.172Z
Modern policing began in most parts of the US in the 1870s. At that time, $1 had the buying power of $30 today.Imagine telling the people of that time that the "law enforcement" they were voting for would one day be used to persecute people for picking up A DOLLAR someone had dropped.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-26T17:25:54.126Z
N.B.: Cryptocurrency is not an "investment", and anyone who believes it is looks like this:
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-27T17:19:23.344Z
Americans have no "philosophy"; they have religion (including partisan politics and entertainment fandom). The number of exceptions in the whole country could comfortably attend a conference on my farm, with room left over for a convention of ethical cops.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-28T17:46:16.457Z
It's very rare that airports get named after people who gave something to the world rather than taking from it; I can only think of two other examples offhand, New Orleans and Oklahoma City.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-29T02:30:21.861Z
"Doctor" Carson thinks hot dogs grow out of the ground like corn.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-30T18:05:12.332Z
We live in a fallen world.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-31T17:24:10.226Z
Reporters: "controversial" should not be used as a euphemism for "evil", "unpopular", "tyrannical", "universally reviled", etc.Words mean things; please be more professional with your vocabulary choices.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-01T17:15:02.453Z
If I'd written a satire in which Goebbels Farms honored a Neo-Nazi, my editor would've said it was too obvious.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T03:19:20.912Z
Headline from 1989: "Has our oat bran obsession gone too far?"Same answer.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T18:04:13.456Z
"Return hub" is such a nice way to say "concentration camp".
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-04T17:05:19.288Z
I remember when we were at least ruled by adults.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-05T17:21:43.608Z
The idea that there could be such a thing as a "true-crime star" is like something out of a dystopian comic book universe.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-06T18:05:23.948Z
Your "leaders" want you to believe that you are a tabula rasa, a mere thing without free will to be acted upon (by media, websites, propaganda, the collective, etc) and shaped in a Skinnerian dystopia.Do not believe them. You can CHOOSE not to be warped in this way, BUT THE CHOICE MUST BE ACTIVE.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-08T17:30:09.952Z
The phrase "trusted ad partners", which appears on many adblocker-blocker popups, is really quite funny. Those "trusted partners" are picked by software in automated auctions; *y'all* may be greedy enough to trust these randos, but I'm not as gullible as you would like me to be.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-10T16:52:28.464Z
I'll just leave this here: archive.is/SGZcS
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-11T18:42:41.516Z
The only thing more infuriating than mansplaining is amateursplaining. Holy shit.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-12T07:47:56.110Z
Take THAT, "Woman of the Year"!
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-13T17:25:26.151Z
I blocked him so he won't have to be disappointed that I object to strangers driving by my house and throwing garbage on my lawn.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-14T17:44:05.619Z
It sounds like they're talking about a mad dog. Which, to be fair, isn't completely wrong.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T17:21:32.591Z
Dr. Altman of Dr. Altman's Medicine Show says people are right to fear snake oil, but should trust snake oil SALESMEN.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-16T19:24:36.788Z
Comparison for those of my age: just imagine if an official of Jimmy Carter's cabinet had been advocating for a no-fly zone over the "Bermuda Triangle", and other politicians were actually writing laws to ban such flights.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-17T19:19:44.712Z
Throwback Thursday Doll
Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged animals, blogging, cops, domestic violence, infidelity, New York, politicians, psychology, United Kingdom on September 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »
In the News (#1672)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged activism, advertising, Alabama, artificial stupidity, Backpage, California, censorship, cops, Dangerous Speech, domestic violence, drugs, Eavesdropping, fascism, Illinois, internet, Panopticon, Pyrrhic Victory, scams, surveillance, The Cop Myth, The More the Better, violence vs. sex workers, weaponry, Welcome to the Future, Wisconsin on September 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Surveillance makes all of us less safe. – Evan Greer
Anything that helps demystify sex work is a good thing:
It shouldn’t be surprising that sex workers around the country are boning up on firearms education. There’s a long tradition of both armed self-defense and general firearms enthusiasm…within communities that have historically been targeted for violence and oppression. Organizations like the Socialist Rifle Association, the Sylvia Rivera Gun Club, Yellow Peril Tactical, the Huey P. Newton Gun Club, the Pink Pistols, and Black Girls Shoot! take the activist maxim “we protect us” seriously, and offer their communities tools to do so in a world that doesn’t expect them to fight back…the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Chicago…announced their first Intro to Concealed Carry course specifically for sex workers. All 40 spots filled up immediately…
Now that the damage is irreversible, the government can afford to grant him an appeal:
…the Ninth Circuit announced that it will hear oral arguments on Nov. 16 in Phoenix concerning one of the most significant First Amendment cases in recent memory — the vindictive prosecution of award-winning journalist Michael Lacey…Federal and state authorities hounded Lacey, the former executive editor of Village Voice Media, and his business partner, the late Jim Larkin, for more than a decade over their First Amendment-protected publication of speech in Backpage.com, the classified advertising website they co-owned…
“Smart” devices aren’t, part umpteen:
LG smart TVs are almost constantly logging and uploading data about owners and their homes, even when offline or on standby mode…The…TV sets scan Wi-Fi networks for nearby devices, record audio logs through their microphones, and use audio and video sampling to recognize exactly what you’re watching from [connected devices like DVD players]…and feeding the information back to LG Ad Solutions…the TVs…[even] record…microphone audio when in standby; this continue[s] even after the TV [i]s disconnected from the internet, with audio files stored offline and uploaded once a connection [i]s restored…Automatic Content Recognition…is used by almost every [“]smart[“] TV manufacturer to figure out what you watch…In July…LG monitors [started] automatically installing an app that…ran pop-up ads for LG’s other apps and even McAfee antivirus…[but] public pressure…led to LG disabling the pop-up ads…
Cops hate it when people turn the tables on them:
…US [cops] are increasingly concerned about the potential for [perve]rt glasses to be used against them…to secretly record [cops]…in the [act] of [committing] crimes and acts of [violence and] terrorism…[cop]s in the US typically [steal or break] any and all devices that would be capable of recording video footage…[but] some [perve]rt glasses have gone unnoticed…[cops, spooks, and goons] want…the exclusive right to use surveillance technology and cameras to monitor the public without those cameras being turned back on them. “These agencies surveil the public incessantly, but the moment we can watch them back, it’s deemed a security threat,” [said Ryan] Shapiro [of Property of the People]…
The dystopian future of Minority Report has arrived:
Border Patrol is running secretive predictive policing units that analyze Americans’ financial activity and other data, then feed that intelligence to local police who pull [innocent] people over…[using bogus excuses in order to attempt to pin manufactured “]crime[s” on them]…The units…are called Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT). In one case, a PITT analyzed the financial activity of a man who was driving across Montana, and [dispatched] local [pigs, who then] stopped him under the pretense of an obstructed license plate and charged him with a DUI…Border Patrol…us[es]…ALPRs…as part of the…program…“genuine probable cause cannot be synthetically generated,” [said] Jake Laperruque…of the…Center For Democracy & Technology…”Border Patrol [is]…using parallel construction to cloak the reason behind its car stops”…
Domestic violence is never a cop’s sole offense:
A Huntsville [Alabama cop named]…John Holliday was…arrested…[on August 17 for slamming] his wife [to] the ground and [repeatedly] kick[ing] her…[then stealing] her…cellphone wh[en] she tried to dial 911…[the cop shop put him on desk duty and that did not change even]…after h[e was] arrest[ed again] on Sept. 3 for DUI…[but after] he was…arrest[ed a third time for waving a gun around while drunk]…he was [reward]ed with…a p[aid vacati]on…[A spokespig described this as] “tak[ing] allegations of misconduct involving its employees seriously”…
Some aspects of the modern dystopia are too odious even for authoritarians:
…the City of Sheboygan…[Wisconsin will]…terminate [its] contract with…Flock S[urveillance after it]…offered to sell the Sheboygan Department of Public Works…five years of data [collected by] the…15 cameras already deployed in the city…in violation of the [contract, which pretends]…the company does not own the data…and [will supposedly] only…retain [it] for 30 days. Since…their [announcement]…other cities have been following suit….[in] both…Fond du Lac County…and…Winnebago County…
But simply cancelling the contract won’t stop Flock:
Flock S[urveillance blamed a computer for illegally ordering]…the reinstallation of license plate cameras that Grass Valley [California] police had already removed after canceling the city’s contract with the company. Residents alerted police…after spotting a utility crew replacing [the] cameras at several locations…Flock [claims] its automated maintenance system interpreted the…[removals] as equipment failures and generated replacement work orders…The [cancellat]ion followed months of pressure from residents and privacy advocates…
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!
Visit my bookstore
This Month
Old Posts
Call me
Become a Blog Patron
If you want to donate but don't want a recurring charge, you can send any amount you like via PayPal to my email address (see below). Be sure to include a note so I can thank you!Contact Maggie
Boring but necessary legal stuff