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Archive for the ‘Tyranny’ Category

No one is safe. No one.  –  Michael Wriston

Cops and Robbers (#1527)

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

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

I Spy (#1590)

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

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

Sexcrime (#1590)

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

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

Mad Libs (#1652)

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

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

Pyrrhic Victory (#1676)

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

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

Panopticon (#1676)

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

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

Panopticon (#1678)

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

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

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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

Elephant in the Parlor (#1493)

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

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

The Vultures Descend (#1627)

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

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

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1632)

Every one of these companies must be sued into bankruptcy:

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

Welcome to the Future (#1636)

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

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

Panopticon (#1672)

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

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

Welcome to the Future (#1679)

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

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

The Cop Myth (#1681)

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

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

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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Just a reminder that on the 25th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the war it caused was already 21 years in the past, Japan and Germany had largely been rebuilt and become allies, and the economic costs of the war were largely behind the US (though not Europe or Asia).

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-11T17:44:58.998Z

I think scientists should lock RFK into a Skinner box to test this. Of course, several other Trump henchmen will need to be similarly-confined as a control group. A year or two of testing should prove or disprove the assertion.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-14T17:20:16.067Z

How much of a dangerous clown does a man have to be to get fired by ICE, which is practically the dangerous clown brigade?

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T17:15:38.468Z

Looks like I made the right choice by stopping my book at the end of New Who. amazon.com/dp/B0FBLDZ2B…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-17T18:05:39.808Z

For those of you with very tenuous attachment to reality: Don't worry, the Panama Canal has not moved; it's in the same place it has always been since its completion in 1914.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-18T18:09:51.204Z

I really wish people understood verisimilitude, and that consistency of mundane elements is MORE important in a fantasy movie under the "change only one thing" principle.But alas, that ship sailed long ago; critics were already pointing it out in the '60s.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-19T17:12:25.407Z


This is possibly one of the stupidest diktats which have ever erupted from that festering pustule he uses to make sounds.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T16:44:49.712Z

I have said for decades that I'd much rather talk to someone who disagrees with me *and can articulate the reasons why* than someone who agrees with me and cannot.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-25T02:38:41.198Z

The group "Very Stupid People Who Are Nonetheless Convinced They Are Geniuses" have *always* been taken in by claims that one could live forever if one merely eats the "right" foods and performs the "correct" magical rites. The scam was already old when the Comte de Saint Germain was selling it.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-25T17:42:44.300Z

There's a word for a woman who trusts a man to take care of birth control: "pregnant".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-27T01:58:03.448Z

Apparently, YouTube's search algorithm has been programmed so that when it can't find what you asked for, it just brings up a lot of commercials instead. It's like going to a restaurant, ordering something not on the menu, and being served ten dirty dishes and a bill.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-27T17:31:51.369Z

What a strange thing to say. Trump's belief that he is immune from any kind of legal limit is actually a rational one, because that's exactly how everyone in Washington behaves, including SCOTUS and Democratic members of Congress. If they want him to believe something else, they need to show him.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-28T07:28:06.777Z

All of these people are so physically warped it's almost like the director is signaling that they have warped minds and personalities. It's kind of like a Dutch angle.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-29T07:58:23.998Z

He's not far enough "underwater" until his regime implodes like a submersible full of billionaires.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T17:17:07.213Z

When science won't give a powerful person the answer he wants, he invariably turns to mysticism. This syndrome goes back to the dawn of science 2500 years ago, and is largely responsible for the technological and social stagnation of the European middle ages. reason.com/2026/10/02/a…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T19:30:06.431Z

I love that the owl's facial expression says, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-03T17:26:51.356Z

Basically, all the village idiots have been networked into a giant idiotnet (like a botnet, but with idiots) which functions like a computer to spew out more and bigger idiocy than could be produced by any one idiot or group of idiots. It's a massive breakthrough in the technology of idiocy.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-04T18:16:09.793Z

The main problem with those stupid enough to believe even a single word of this Bronze-Age nonsense is that they're allowed to vote.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-06T17:50:29.076Z

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-07T07:42:20.746Z

Remember what "code" is: a set of instructions. If an LLM has feelings, so does every one of those printed sheets that come with Ikea furniture. So does the phrase "close cover before striking" on a matchbook.Yes, this is absurd. People need to start saying so. A picture of a human is not a human.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-10T07:43:11.040Z

The term everyone is dancing around is "secret police", a hallmark of totalitarian regimes.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-10T18:00:31.330Z

Oh please, God, please, I don't ask for much…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-12T17:42:16.917Z

Yeah, we've noticed.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-13T17:48:41.989Z

Actual LOL.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-15T17:35:05.310Z

Quoted post: the fantasy.This post: the reality

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-16T17:56:17.598Z

That's the story of government from ancient times to the present. In all but very rare cases (so rare they are historically notable), the rulers of any political grouping are the most despicable creatures in the land.What makes Trump different is that he can't even PRETEND to be a civilized man.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-17T07:41:54.468Z

 

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Our great-great-grandchildren will not starve; they will be squeezed to death.  –  Heinz von Foerster

This week’s video is a British PSA from 1973 (narrated by a voice you should recognize) which was called to my attention a couple of months ago by T. Greg Doucette; I decided to save it until it was seasonally appropriate.  The links above it were provided by Kevin Wilson, Nun Ya, Anarres Ansible, IncarcerNation (x3), and Shiv Ramdas, 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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Whether…a…person has a vagina or a penis has no bearing on the deadliness of a firearm.  –  Judge Carlyn Addison

Monsters

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

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

Guinea Pigs (#1511)

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

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

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

The Cop Myth (#1606)

They never stop demonstrating exactly what they are:

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

Mad Libs (#1650)

Every study shows that chatbot usage harms brain function:

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

The Cop Myth (#1666)

Cops think violence is the solution to every problem:

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

The Cop Myth (#1680)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (#1680)

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

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

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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

Bad Girls

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

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

No Escape

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

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

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1586)

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

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

Walled Garden (#1636)

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

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

Panopticon (#1661)

Judge rules that unconstitutional surveillance is unconstitutional:

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

The Cop Myth (#1664)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (#1676)

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

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

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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I’ve never seen [corruption] like this outside…of a TV show.
–  Mark Begnaud

I recently remembered another favorite from Sesame Street, and it’s even seasonally appropriate!  The links above the video were provided by Shiv Ramdas; Franklin Harris; Jesse Walker and Franklin Harris again; Mike Siegel; David Ley; T. Greg Doucette; 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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Mass surveillance violates fundamental rights, even when it is laundered through fragmented systems, private companies, and regional task forces.  –  Cris van Pelt

To Molest and Rape

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

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

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

I Spy (#1434)

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

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

Feudalism Redux (#1561)

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

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

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

Torture Chamber (#1586)

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

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

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

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

Panopticon (#1667)

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

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

Eavesdropping (#1677)

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

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

Stalkers in Blue (#1677)

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

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

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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