Fort Collins [Colorado cops] have arrested Matthew McGinley…[a typical and representative] pastor and teacher [for grooming and molesting]…a…student…for more than one year…[starting in] the 2018-2019 school year…and…continu[ing]…until the victim cut off communication [in 2020]…McGinley [later confessed] to…a church leader…
…[A Massachusetts boss hog named] Michael Alibozek…was…[rewarded with a paid vacation after offering money to a sow fantasy role-play]ing online [as a sex worker. In order to get higher charges and negatively influence the judge, the sow]…arranged for a meet-up [in a]…school parking lot…Alibozek [absurdly claimed] that he “went on a website to try to get girls off the street…He meets with them, talks with them, and attempts to set them straight”…
Under the pretense of protecting minors and preserving morals, [politicians] in the United States and the United Kingdom are putting the privacy of millions of citizens at risk. Age verification bills…[have metastasized] across much of the US since 2022…but…the latest proposals from [wannabe cens]ors in Wisconsin and Michigan take aim not just at access to adult content, but at virtual private networks as well…internet users have been turning to VPNs to make it appear as though their connection is originating from a different location, effectively bypassing [surveillance laws]…As a result, VPN use has skyrocketed, which is a boon for VPN providers, but…free VPNs [can hide]…malware [that will]…log their internet activity or misuse their personal data…Online age verification is not just a major invasion of privacy, but a potential bonanza for cybercriminals. With millions of internet users uploading images of their faces alongside their government-issued IDs…age verification companies have become extremely attractive targets for hackers…[regardless of politicians’ empty] promises to keep data safe…
The name, email address, and home address of [Michigan politician] Bryan Posthumus…along with a credit card bearing his name, appear in data from Ashley Madison…AdultFriendFinder and Fling.com…Posthumus used [“family values”, anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, and associated buzzwords to drive his political career, but]…his…Fling.com…lists top interests as “fetish,” “group sex,” and…an interest in men, women, or couples….
The county [whose sheriff illegally raided] a small-town Kansas newspaper…in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor…the…Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement [pretend]ing regret…the…agreements [cover] Eric Meyer, the owner and editor of the Marion County Record…Ruth Herbel, the [politician] whose home was raided in tandem with the newspaper office, and two other journalists. The agreements coincide with consent judgments expected to be submitted in their federal cases against the county…the paper…[still has other] ongoing cases against the city…
…ICE…is allocating as much as $180 million to pay bounty hunters and private [dick]s who verify the address and location of undocumented people ICE wishes to…[abduct. These and similar bottom feed]ers all have access to powerful [and often illegal] surveillance technology and tools…rang[ing] from…ALPR…databases [to]…location data harvested from smartphones…
…Proponents of [a new UK bill pretend] the mere existence of choking porn [magically] harms women, even when it’s created consensually between adults…[politicians] are also proposing a range of other regulations related to sex work, including one that would define publishing sex worker ads as “pimping” and another that could criminalize paying sex workers for webcam performances…The [choking] ban…would [even criminalize possession of]…realistic [cartoon porn]…so…anyone who has previously downloaded or purchased any BDSM porn could be prosecuted…and…imprisoned…[another] amendment would let porn performers retroactively withdraw consent…[making adult performance] contract[s unenforceable]…yet another…would make it illegal to possess…any [image manipulation] software…
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!
It didn’t take long for Jonathan to get used to having Hercules around, but as of last week they seem to have become friends. At the end of each day, I give them each a scoop of oats & feed, but because Jonathan takes his time eating while goats bolt their food, Hercules is always done first and will immediately try to push Jonathan out of the way to get the rest of his. So what I’ve been doing is to feed Hercules inside the chicken coop and Jonathan in the stable, so that Hercules can’t bother Jonathan while he’s eating. It only takes about 10 minutes, so I just go about my business and return to let Hercules out once Jonathan emerges from the stable. And for the past week, I’ve found him waiting patiently outside the gate every single day for his rude friend. From Hercules’ direction, he seems to prefer grazing or browsing within sight of Jonathan for most of the day. So though I can’t yet tell if Hercules’ presence will control the ground cover, at least Jonathan has another creature whose habits are more like his than the pigs’ are.
Any slang term is moribund when it is used to describe a number of different, sometimes unrelated or even contradictory, things. "Cringe" has now reached that point; proceed accordingly.
Until I got on social media, I would never have suspected that there were so many people in the US who never, ever, EVER need to transport cargo or disabled people, or travel more than 100 km from their homes.
One of the more interesting aspects of this time period for me is that I get to see other people saying or agreeing with the kind of statements I've incessantly made for over 40 years, mostly to eye-rolling and dismissal.You bet I'm gonna say "I told you so".
Actually, if one considers the political conditions which allowed Trump to ascend to the throne and carry out his reign of madness, it is far more accurate to say Trump is working to finish the job Bin Laden started.
This weird 21st-century shit of Trick-or-Treating at random times on random days in October determined by mobs or politicians, instead of on Halloween night, was a sign of cultural decline. Too bad so few recognized that.
I've decided to start blocking anyone who admits to using a chatbot to write, or obviously does so in the absence of omission. I have no interest in reading computer vomit.
Ever since the "Department of Homeland Security" was created by Bush II, I have referred to it as the "Department of Fatherland Security". People used to claim I was exaggerating. I don't hear that accusation much any more.
Once again, mainstream voices are starting to agree with what I've been saying since high school > 40 years ago. But knowing what it took to shake people out of their ovine complacency and childish "leader" fantasies, I take no real pleasure in having been right. Cassandra was not a happy person.
The more often you call politicians "leaders", the more they will behave like Führers.Go back to calling them "public servants" and treat them like servants rather than nobles.
I'm afraid I'm committed to the ancient-forest-haunting gig for at least the next millennium, or until the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter exorcises me.
"Abducted". They ABDUCTED her from a daycare. "Took" is for inanimate objects, not people, and even then only if they have the owner's permission; otherwise the correct verb is "stole".RIGHT: "A goon took his lunch to work".WRONG: "A goon took a teacher's phone."WRONG: "Goons took a teacher."
You know, Democrats, y'all don't have to keep proving me right, really. I mean, I appreciate the thought, but I'm a big girl and can handle being proven wrong once in a while. Truthfully, it'd be kinda nice.
Stop referring the characters in computer-generated videos as they were people. These videos are animations, even if they look real; those who appear in them are therefore cartoon characters, and should be described as such.
Reporters: please stop using the word "shocking" to describe the actions of the Trump regime. Anybody who is still shocked by Trumpist behavior after 10 months of this is either hopelessly stupid or deeply in need of professional help.
This buffoon is so fixated on winning vs losing, he actually thinks a medical test is like a school test. It's obvious in the way he refers to things like getting an "outstanding" result from an MRI.
Rest easy, king. You did good. – ChatGPT, to a man it goaded into suicide
A recent social media post about the geriatric ward the US calls a government reminded me of this old country song that was on a record my mother played often when I was a child. The links above it were provided by Asawin Suebsaeng, Clarissa, Popehat, Kevin Wilson, Aaron Ross Powell, and Ned, in that order.
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!
A Missouri [preacher named]…Daniel Smathers…[was found] guilty of [“sex]…trafficking[” for paying an underage sex worker, and]…sentenced to 35 years in prison…He was arrested in 2022 after…the…girl[‘s]…mother…found social media posts about her daughter seeking a…sugar daddy[ and reported it to the cops, triggering an investigation]…
…Internal Family Systems…[is] a [pseudoscientific “]therapy[“] centered on…the [belief] that each individual has multiple selves…known as parts…[each] a literal personality with its own identity, age, feelings, even body…[it was invented during the Satanic Panic] in the 1980s…[but] has exploded in social media…Gwyneth Paltrow has praised IFS on her Goop[y Vaginas] podcast…[but actual] psychiatrists and psychologists…are…warning…[that] IFS [is]…a dangerous pseudoscience…that…[can] destabilize already fragile mental states…Former [victims of the practice report seeing]…women crawling around like babies or lying in fetal positions…run[ning] in circles screaming…[or pretending to] switch ages, genders, even species…in group sessions t[hey invent gruesome] stories of parents pimping out their daughters to entire neighborhoods, a grandmother molesting a child in a bathtub, a child forced into a meat locker with dead animals…[or] sexual abuse as an infant…former [victims have]…sue[d practitioners who]…took advantage of [their]…emotionally distressed state to make [them] believe th[ey]’d been repeatedly raped [in]…satanic cult[s] and…[forced to eat] babies…
…Personality assessments are an accepted part of [job] recruitment processes. They normally involve candidates taking surveys and guessing what…answer[s the potential employer wants to see. But popular pseudoscience claims]…personality types can be encoded in facial features, and that [machine learning algorithms] can spot them…and…predict…[a potential employee’s ability to serve the corporate machine acceptably]…one of [a] new paper’s authors…[thinks it would be a great idea to force potential borrowers to submit to] facial analysis [to] give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans…
A proposed change to a Department of [Father]land Security…rule could impose “biological sex” DNA testing on millions of immigrants and Americans as part of the Department’s mass biometric surveillance program—which also includes retinal scans, voice capture, and more. In addition to the obvious human rights violations posed by the changes—which, among other things, would amend policy to allow children to be targeted by biometric surveillance—it would put a target on the back of…women and [gender-nonconforming] people…citizens and non-citizens alike…The policy as proposed doesn’t have…any safeguards for privacy or constitutionality—the government can retain someone’s DNA profile indefinitely…to…track individuals in perpetuity through “continuous vetting”…
Social media accounts on TikTok and [Twitter] are posting [computer]-generated videos of women and girls being strangled…One [Twitter] account…has been posting dozens of [such] videos [since] mid-October. The[y]…are usually 10 seconds long and mostly feature a [cartoon of a] “teenage girl” being strangled, crying, and struggling to resist until her eyes close and she falls to the ground…
A federal judge [has] issued a temporary restraining order…in response to an emergency class action lawsuit filed on behalf of individuals who have been [locked up in] the Broadview…ICE…[dungeon] near Chicago. The order requires that the [hellhole] provide [victims] with clean bedding and space to sleep, basic hygiene supplies, showers, free water, and three full meals a day. [Victims] must also be given their prescribed medications and be allowed to communicate with attorneys…ICE [victims]…in…Broadview…[are locked up] in…cell[s] with roughly 150 other people, [forced to attempt to] sleep…on the floor…near overflowing toilets, inoperable showers, and a lack of hygiene products like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap…the…[food is] cold…[and prepared under unsanitary conditions that give many prisoners] diarrhea….[which they must endure on] a toilet…inside the…crowded…cell…[without] privacy…[they are] denied access to an attorney while being [tortured as described so as to induce them] to sign legal documents…relinquish[ing] their rights…[torturers] argue that [they should be allowed to torture people by labeling] Broadview…a [“]temporary holding facility” even though…it has really become a prison…
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!
It’s the most…emperor-has-no-clothes-type situation that I have ever witnessed. – Alison Macrina
As I pointed out a few weeks ago, it’s not unusual these days for a news item to fall into more than one category, and as the fascist tech industry provides ever more tools for oppression, that will happen ever more often. Here’s a recent one from 404 Media which examines the way artificial stupidity is being used to further library censorship while simultaneously flooding the system with garbage intended to drown out the signal of real information with propaganda, disinformation, and LLM gobbledygook noise:
…a company called the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database [has] announced a new version of a product called Class-Shelf Plus…used by school libraries to keep track of which books are in their catalog…[the] new [version] includ[es]…“automation and contextual risk analysis”…The company…is [trying to trick]…school libraries [into believing their product can help]…“in overcoming a book ban”…[when what it actually does is to encourage the censorship by] simply suggest[ing] other books “without the c[ensor]ed content”…software like this is just the tip of the iceberg; [librarians] are being inundated with new pitches for…library tech and catalogs are being flooded with [LLM] slop books that they need to wade through. But more broadly, [ML] maximalism across society is supercharging the ideological war on libraries, schools, government workers, and academics…[the aggressive promotion of what is deceptively advertised as “artificial intelligence”] is not separate from book bans, educational censorship efforts, and the war on education, libraries, and government workers being pushed by…any number of MAGA groups…Human labor, inquiry, creativity, and expertise is spurned…[because hucksters claim] anything can be learned, approximated, or created in seconds. And…an LLM or a machine algorithm can [be programmed by agents of a censorious state to] decide whether content is “sensitive”…
…The resurgent war on knowledge, academics, expertise, and critical thinking…has its roots in the hugely successful recent war on “critical race theory,” “diversity equity and inclusion,” and LGBTQ+ rights that painted librarians, teachers, scientists, and public workers as untrustworthy…There are DOGE’s mass layoffs of “woke” government workers, and the plan to replace them with [chatbo]ts…There are “parents rights” groups that pushed to ban books and curricula that deal with the teaching of slavery, systemic racism, and LGBTQ+ issues and attempted to replace them with [propaganda]…Many teachers feel they…increasingly [waste] their days grading student essays that were actually written by robots…
…Justin, from librarypunk, said [chatbots have] given people “absolute impunity to ignore reality…[it] is a direct attack on the way we verify information…[because it] both creates fake sources and obscures its actual sources.” That is the opposite of what librarians do, and teachers do, and scientists do, and experts do…
There is a LOT more, and you should read it in its entirety.
There’s nothing wrong with “sexological bodywork”, as long as you understand that…[it’s] no different from what many thousands of sex workers do every day, all over the world, without the fancy title. – “Accredited Whores (#1187)”
The time is long overdue to end the war machine, before it ends all of us. – “Armistice Day 2022”
[Crypto-moralist] “logic” is that of a cartoon character “curing” someone’s headache by hitting their foot with a giant mallet.
– “Thou Shalt Not (#1387)”
Absolutely no one, regardless of how fancy his title, how many degrees he has, or how many votes he receives in a popularity contest, can be trusted with power over others. – “The Power of the Powerless“
California [youth] pastor Joshua David Kemper [has been] arrested…[for repeatedly molest]ing a 15-year-old girl…in his…church…[after grooming her with] explicit messages, photos and videos…Kemper [has] a…[history of spreading propaganda on] Facebook [claiming] LGBTQ+ people [a]re a danger to youngsters…
Teams of armed federal [goons] have been making unannounced [raids on] the homes of immigrant families across Memphis [us]ing…the [excuse] of…“wellness checks’’…[on] undocumented children…[and barfing the magic formula “]human trafficking[” at their victims as a]…pretext to…arrest as many immigrants as possible…The FBI…confirmed it is co[llabo]rating [with]…the Department of [Father]land Security…in…the [scheme]…
Facial recognition technology is unreliable, unjust, and a threat to basic rights and safety…which is why we [should have] act[ed] to stop it [years ago]…Like nuclear or biological weapons, facial recognition’s threat to human society and civil liberties far outweighs any potential benefits…Industry-friendly and government-friendly oversight will not fix the…inherent [dangers]…we need an all-out ban…Facial recognition is unlike any other form of surveillance…[because] it enables automated and ubiquitous monitoring of an entire population, and it is nearly impossible to avoid…
Oklahoma[‘s new bill]…H.B. 1217 d[oes] not explicitly mention drag performers. But [its] supporters…such as…Dusty Deevers…made it clear that…”We’re basically banning drag shows in front of kids”…[censorious politician]s have taken to using the term “obscenity” colloquially to describe all sorts of sexual…content…they don’t like, particularly…homosexuality or gender bending…But the…average drag show does not rise to the level of [legal] obscenity…so…[politicians are] threatening to hold municipalities criminally [li]able for allowing “obscene” performances…[by demanding they]…make sure [any approved event] “will not be obscene.” [But] whether a performance or art work is obscene is something to decided by juries after the material exists. Government authorities can’t decide in advance of a performance or event that it might contain obscenity and therefore can’t happen…Technically, H.B. 1217 doesn’t require prior review or prior restraint. It just [threatens] that a government body that allows a…[performance later deemed] obscene…can be prosecuted for it…
The UK government has o[nce again reintroduced]…the…porn ban [struck down in court in February 2019, excusing the attempt by barfing the magic formula “]violence against women[” and defaming people who enjoy this kind of porn as “]criminals[” regardless of consent. Politician]…Alex Davies-Jones [spouted out threats against both individuals and]…firms [extending] even [to] prison sentences…[belching “]Ofcom can go after the platform]….and…[“]children[“], then…[unscientific nonsense about how what lay people “]believe[” about porn [trumps actual facts]…
Just laws are intended to correct wrongs, not to allow governments to persecute (“go after”) people who have not actually harmed anyone.
The…CHAT Act of 2025 is Washington’s newest attempt to regulate speech through mandatory age checks…[in order to] normalize showing a government ID for basic online speech. The CHAT Act [claims] to target fictional role-play bots [of the type that regularly drive fragile minds into psychosis, but]…defines a chatbot so broadly that anything that “simulates emotional interaction” could be restricted…[including] some video game characters…or…customer service bot[s. Since nothing will stop tech companies’ insane crusade to cram their fake “AI” garbage into everything, the likely result would be the imposition]…of…ID verification…into nearly every digital product…
A number of Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views…upload…videos filmed with [Facebook]’s Ray-Ban glasses [that] show men entering massage parlors across the country and soliciting the workers…In some cases, the women laugh at the men [or] dismiss them…but in a few cases they discuss specific se[rvices] and [prices]…the women [clearly don’t] know they are being filmed and that the videos are being shared online…This is extremely dangerous [because] the women…can be targeted by both [violent rapists who work for the state] and [those who don’t. Facebook]…has built an entire supply chain for dangerous, privacy violating content on the internet. It sells glasses that allow people to surreptitiously film others in public and operates a social network where inflammatory, outrageous content is rewarded and monetized, and [nothing is done about it until]…journalists reach out for comment…the company [hides behind the fact that]…“our glasses [show] an LED light [when]…recording”…[ignoring the fact that] people can pay $60 for a modification to…disable that…SWAN…[reports these] disgusting and dangerous…videos, and…use[s its] Abuser Alert system to notify workers…
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!
As I predicted, my feelings around my birthday were much more complicated this year because Grace was not here to share it with me; I suspect Thanksgiving and Christmas will be harder still, given that I have not spent Christmas without Grace since 1997. But my friends were here with me for my birthday, as they will be at the other holidays, and my generous readers sent me presents: a new sheet set to replace an old one which had torn, several movies, and DVD sets for The Fugitive, Partners in Crime and one of the Jon Pertwee seasons of Doctor Who. Two of my friends have a gift for finding things they know I’ll like that I didn’t know even existed; Yellowbird got me a statuette of a cobra, and Jae found me a cashmere sweater and a charming little kid’s book which I viewed as a sort of extra-long Halloween card. So even though nothing can truly fill the Grace-shaped hole in my life, it’s good to be surrounded by people who care, and are willing to go out of their way to tell me.
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!
All original content on this website (i.e. all of my columns, pages and anything else which I write myself) is protected under international copyright law as of the time it is posted; though you may link to it as you please or quote passages (as long as you attribute the quote to me), please do not reproduce whole columns without my express written permission. In other words, you have to say “pretty please with sugar on top” first, and then wait for me to say “okey-dokey”.
