Once upon a time there was a vast jungle full of many different kinds of creatures, who made so much noise only the loudest of them, the elephants and the asses, could clearly be heard amid the din. Naturalists often visited the jungle and sometimes focused on one animal or another, filming them and talking about them for nature shows. Now in this jungle there lived a little bird of a fairly rare variety, and though it wanted to be heard the naturalists could never make out its tiny voice amid the cacophony, so they never talked about or even thought about the little bird, and neither did anyone else. Eventually, the little bird got tired of singing its little song for no one to hear, and so it simply stopped singing and minded its own business. Now, a few thoughtful explorers had seen the little bird and knew it existed; an even smaller number had even heard its little song. So they said to the naturalists, “Maybe the naturalists should consider that little bird’s quiet little song, even though few ears are good enough to hear it.” But the naturalists were always accompanied by an unruly gang of fans, and rather than admit that perhaps their idols should be more aware of rare creatures, they blamed the little bird, saying, “If little birds want to be heard, they should peep at the exact same time as the elephant trumpeting or the asses braying, so they can be heard along with those other animals.” When the thoughtful explorers pointed out that merely increasing (by some infinitesimal amount) the noise made by other creatures with whom they had nothing in common was hardly likely to call attention to the little bird in any way, the gang members merely asked if the explorers wanted the “bad” animals to win, and declared that if the little bird really wanted to be heard, it should have been hatched as an ass or elephant. Then they congratulated themselves on their great wisdom, and resumed arguing over whether the elephants’ trumpeting or the asses’ braying made lovelier music. And they were so preoccupied with their argument that none of them noticed when a wildfire started and burned them all up together, elephants and asses and naturalists and fans and explorers, and the little bird too. 
Archive for the ‘Philosophy’ Category
A Fable
Posted in Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged imaginative fiction, politicians on April 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »
In the News (#1627)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged A Moral Cancer, abortion, artificial stupidity, censorship, Colorado, consensual crime, cops, Dirty Amateurs, disease, Divination, Do As I Say, drugs, ethics, Indiana, law, libraries, Mad Libs, Minnesota, New York, scams, sex work is work, Size Matters, Tennessee, The Punitive Mindset, The Vultures Descend, Thought Control on April 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Librarians should not be used as a filter for political agendas.
– Luanne James
Two years later, this decision is still standing:
…Indiana’s…Religious Freedom Restoration Act…[of] 2015….was one of many such state laws passed [by]…evangelical Christians to [privilege]…their beliefs [above those of other religions]…Hoosier Jews for Choice saw an opening for Jews to…[use] the same law…to [protect Jews’] access to abortion…[and] Judge Christina Klineman [recently] upheld a 2024 decision…permanently blocking enforcement of the state’s abortion ban for plaintiffs with sincere religious objections…the case is [now] headed to the Indiana Supreme Court…[Naturally, forced-birth fanatics are angry.] “Indiana’s religious freedom laws were passed for the purpose of [enshrining Christian] religious practice [in law], not to protect the [beliefs] of [others from laws justified by Christian dogma],” [said] Alexander Mingus…of the Indiana Catholic Conference, [absurdly declaring Judaism a] “Religion…that preach[es] violence [which is] not protected by religious freedom claims”…Jews [view] the fetus as “potential life,” gaining the legal status of nefesh, or personhood, at birth…
This is the second article I’ve seen on this fungus in two years:
Infectious disease experts…are working to educate doctors about a new…STI…which recently caused an outbreak of at least 30 cases in Minnesota…the fungus Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII (TMvii)…spreads through intimate contact and has predominately been seen among…gay men. It causes painful, coin-sized rashes on the arms, buttocks, trunk, legs and genitals. While infections can be treated with oral antifungal medications, treatment can take several weeks [and]…TMvii can resemble other skin conditions…so proper evaluation is important…TMvii [was first] identified in 2023 in Europe among men who had recently traveled in Southeast Asia. The first U.S. case was reported in New York in 2024…[and] the Minnesota outbreak…began [last] July…
Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1463) 
It’s heartwarming to see goons snitching on each other:
The national chief of the Border Patrol, Michael Banks, was known among colleagues for taking regular trips abroad to [hire] sex w[orkers in places where it is legal, such as]…Colombia and Thailand[, instead of simply raping them in the US as CBP policy demands]…Kristi Noem [covered for him, but once she got the sack the snitches got loose. One said,] “If you have the character where you’re going to go [hire consenting] third-world country women [instead of deceiving, raping, and robbing migrant women right here in the US and then deporting them], it’s just not cool in my book”…
Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:
By pushing a 75 percent wholesale tax on nicotine pouches, New York…Gov. Kathy Hochul [claims she’s] address[ing] “a public health concern.” That rationale is absurd on its face, since this tax would sharply raise the cost of a nicotine product that is far less hazardous than cigarettes, perversely discouraging smokers from making a switch that could save their lives…tobacco smoke…contains myriad toxins and carcinogens, and…the Biden [FDA]…authorized the marketing of Zyn nicotine pouches [because]…”nicotine pouch products…benefit…adults who use cigarettes and/or smokeless tobacco products and completely switch to these products”…the Royal College of Physicians estimates that “the hazard to health” from e-cigarettes, which likewise do not contain tobacco or burn anything…”is unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco”…
Due to its absurdly-high taxes, 55% of cigarettes smoked in New York are black market. But I guess Hochul wants that to also be true of smoking-replacement products, and to give the NYPD another excuse for violence against citizens.
Colorado recently enacted a law protecting [citizens from wrongful] arrest…due to [cops’ misuse of unreliable] roadside tests for drugs…police can no longer make arrests solely for misdemeanor drug possession based on the results of colorimetric field drug tests and instead must issue suspects a summons to appear in court. The act also requires courts, before a defendant enters a plea in a case where a field test was used, to inform defendants of the known error rates for the tests and their right to request testing from a forensics laboratory…[cop]s’ use of unverified drug field tests…result[s] in [an estimated 30,000] innocent people being arrested, jailed, and prosecuted…[every year. Cop]s around the country have jailed innocent people…[for] “presumptive positive” results on bird poop, donut glaze, cotton candy, and sand from inside a stress ball…
Field tests are exclusionary tests; in other words, they are designed to tell whether something is not X substance. A positive result does not mean “This substance is X”; it means “this substance might or might not be X”. But cops are too stupid to understand the difference, and wouldn’t care if they could.
We are now in the early days of a dark age:
[Lazy, dishonest] researchers are increasingly using…LLMs…to…conduct literature searches, write manuscripts and format bibliographies…[resulting in a flood of] non-existent academic references…One analysis of nearly 18,000 papers…found a sharp increase in [fake] references…tens of thousands of 2025 publications, including journal papers and books, as well as conference proceedings, probably contain [incorrect or fake] references generated by [chatbots]…researchers are concerned that the problem will soon get out of hand…[and academic publishers are trying to] decid[e]what to do about hallucinated citations that make it into the published literature…
A Tennessee library board has fired the county’s top librarian for refusing to comply with its [demand] to [hid]e more than 100 LGBT…books f[or juveniles in]…the adult section…Luanne James…said that [hid]ing the books would violate…residents’ First Amendment rights and compromise her professional obligation against government-mandated [censorship]…Last fall, a…Wyoming library director w[as awarded] $700,000 to settle a lawsuit after her firing [but wannabe censors]…Cody York…and…Caleb Tidwell [don’t care because it isn’t their money James will get when she wins a similar lawsuit]…
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!
Throwback Thursday After Midnight
Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged animals, blogging, censorship, holidays, language, rescue industry, Schadenfreude, Sunset on April 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Censorship [is] wildly popular among…those who believe the most terrifying fact of the world is that others beside themselves have free will.
– “Ship of Fools”
[In contrast with the] cost…[of] second-rate, weeks-old grocery store eggs…two hours of literally shoveling shit twice a year…begins to seem like a good bargain indeed. – “Diary #665”
“Nonprofit” merely refers to the organization; those who run it often make plenty of profit. – “Schadenfreude (#1425)”
Links #821
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged acting, cops, Florida, games, hotels, Indiana, politicians, porn, vaccines, video on March 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Teleporting is no fun. – Gregg Phillips
It’s difficult for young people nowadays to understand just how badly our culture has backslid into sexual repression during my lifetime. Here’s an example from the 1978 Broadway musical On the 20th Century in which fairly typical 21st century sexual attitudes are the subject of mainstream mockery. The links above the video were provided by Nun Ya; Reason; T. Greg Doucette; Jesse Walker and Popehat; Nun Ya again; and T. Greg Doucette again (x2), in that order,
- Your “leaders” at work.
- Home-brewed vaccines.
- The Babycandian paradox.
- R.I.P. Chuck Norris and Nicholas Brendon.
- Florida Man’s got nothing on Florida Woman.
- Grace loved crazy engineering projects like this.
- It’s too bad they don’t spend all of their time attacking each other.
From the Archives
- Give aggressive men power over teen girls; what could possibly go wrong?
- Texas pretends to care about women’s health as it crusades to kill women.
- Journalists keep obediently referring to senseless violence as “correction”.
- In addition to being a “pastor”, he’s also a wannabe cop. Quelle surprise.
- Using copaganda to wreck the medical system and excuse state violence.
- Since politicians have no spines, it’s good to see some physicians still do.
- Computer-generated garbage is making records of this period unreliable.
- Politicians can’t resist using popular web services to expand surveillance.
- Stories about child-molesting cops are larded with obfuscatory language.
- Keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually.
- Teachers are supposed to be robots who have no lives outside of school.
- It’s past time cops stopped being allowed to cover up murders so easily.
- “Sex addiction” is a shared delusion of quacks and guilt-ridden patients.
- A decent article despite journalistic credulity about prohibitionist claims.
- Texas starts to realize how bad it looks to keep killing pregnant women.
- Apparently, I was destined to be criminalized regardless of career path.
- Some censors are so mentally ill they feel threatened by tree sexuality.
- Sows love fantasy role-playing as sex workers in order to harm people.
- Only the organization is “nonprofit”; those who run it can make plenty.
- Even lurking in schools part-time is as much opportunity as cops need.
- The people who need “correction” are the ones who enable this horror.
- Airports are among cops’ favorite places to lurk in order to rob people.
- The zeal for censorship isn’t limited to the US or so-called “right wing”.
- Seemingly-consensual sex with a cop may actually be something else.
- Censors are now pretending ideas they don’t like constitute a “crime”.
- One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality.
- Ambulance-chasers don’t care who gets hurt as long as they cash in.
- This will make little difference until cops’ power is severely curtailed.
- “Fetal personhood” policies are going to keep getting more absurd.
- Tennessee’s float in the current “monkey see, monkey do” parade.
- A roundup of efforts in various states to change prostitution laws.
- This evil fascist scheme needs to be eradicated, root and branch.
- What Swedish criminalization proponents do: lie & harm women.
- This is the first time I’ve seen a woman falsely accused of rape.
- Rather than actually filing a lawsuit, ACLU prefers to dilly-dally.
- Cops, parodies, King Lear, Louis Gossett, Jr, and much more.
- Another authoritarian “monkey see, monkey do” parade.
- A pool of tears which has steadily grown for six decades.
- Why are amateurs so damned averse to using condoms?
- Cops, the undead, lemon pound cake, and much more.
- An interesting development in these repressive times.
- Can’t y’all settle on one term for preachy molesters?
- There won’t be any shortcut to stopping Clearview.
- Another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists.
- Throwback Thursday and the Monster from Hell.
- Giving the henhouse its semi-annual cleaning.
- Just how defective are these political vermin?
- Laws are for the peasantry, not the rulers.
- Cops, editors, centaurs, and much more.
- Curiosity offends the state, comrade.
- The pullets move into their playpen.
- On the passing of my dog Annie.
- The sleaziness has no bottom.
- Scars of Throwback Thursday.
- Fancy lighting for my atrium.
- The Trumphole on display.
- Once a cop, always a cop.
- A “Tornado of Bad Ideas”.
- Rapist cops of the week.
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!
Mama Throwback Thursday
Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged activism, animals, blogging, cops, holidays, Lack of Evidence, language, law, politicians, psychology, video on March 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »
The surest way to lose my cooperation is to accompany the demand with a phrase like “you must”, “you are required to”, “it’s the law”, etc. – “Off the Green”
Some of life’s greatest pleasures are pleasant precisely because they’re so ephemeral; if rainbows were always a feature of the sky, few would ever bother to look up at them in wonderment and appreciation.
– “Diary #663”
Baby-step reforms…are mostly intended to distract activists and hush timid human rights campaigners. – “Lack of Evidence (#1421)”
[Trump] wants to make the US status as the world’s cop official, complete with the cop power to terrorize whoever he likes on a whim without anything resembling consequences. – “Client Kingdoms”
The Blood-Spattered Throwback Thursday
Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged All-Purpose Excuse, blogging, cops, fantasy, hysteria, imaginative fiction, language, politicians, propaganda, rescue industry on March 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“Make The Empire Great Again!” is not a new idea. – “Blake’s 5”
When governments are allowed to be arbiters of fact…they wrongly label as “disinformation” facts which those in power find inconvenient. – “Disinformation About Disinformation”
Though politicians and profiteers still use “sex trafficking” as a handy excuse for tyranny, other excuses have become more fashionable and at least the endless stories about idiots with taped mouths parading around to “raise awareness” of cops’ wanking fantasies have largely dried up. – “Four Times Four“
Twin Throwback Thursday
Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged blogging, consensual crime, dirty, ethics, language, law, neofeminism, propaganda, psychology on February 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Accept no source as an absolute authority, especially when they demand you should. – “No Absolute Truths”
Many criminals are entrepreneurs; it’s just that their business happens to be illegal. – “Midwinter Tweets”
It’s always rather funny when a fanatical devotee of fundamentalist Christianity or fundamentalist feminism (they’re hard to tell apart) tries to attack me on some post from over a decade ago, and the best they can come up with is “You’re a whore!” And I’m like, “Yes, and?” – “Tweets for the Tweet”











