Every so often, I’ll pass on a press release I think might be of interest to my readers. I get press releases nearly every day, but most are just advertising crap from publicity agents; only once in a while is one of them something I think worth promoting. I got this one a week ago today; it’s for a competition for Southern artists. If you know an eligible artist, please pass this on.
The Gibbes Museum of Art has announced an extension of the deadline for the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art.
$10,000 prize for the winning artist.
An artwork by the winning artist will be exhibited in the museum for one full year.
The new deadline for submissions is Sept. 7, 2025.
The 1858 Prize is recognized as one of the leading artist competitions in the Southeastern United States, and awards $10,000 each year to an artist whose work contributes to a new understanding of art in the South. Artists must reside or work in one of these states. Or – they can live elsewhere but be originally from one of these Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Prize is presented by Society 1858, the museum’s young professionals auxiliary group. In addition to the monetary award, a work by the winning artist will be exhibited in the museum for a full year. A jury comprised of arts professionals, representatives of Society 1858, and the previous year’s recipient will select the winner, who will be announced in October of 2025.The museum will also invite the winner to Charleston for the official unveiling of their artwork, part of a three-day celebration in February honoring the artist ‒ including the annual Society 1858 Winter Party, and the Amy P. Coy Forum, where the artist will be invited to speak about their work.
Some of the past winners have gone on to receive major national awards and accolades, including: the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, the United States Artist Fellowship, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Some of the winning artists’ works have been acquired in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art, and Art Institute of Chicago, among other institutions.
More details about the submission process at: gibbesmuseum.org/1858-prize (applications are accepted exclusively through the museum’s website).
Rules and eligibility detailsat this link (the online application is here).
Good luck explaining th[e danger of censorship] to people who actually think fake nude pictures are worse than totalitarianism. – “Shame, Shame (#1163)”
To a mind…unaccustomed to independent thought, being part of a group that can be said to be the “most” at anything is something to be proud of. – “Bragging Rights”
One reason I’ve never used cryptocurrency [is that] it was clear there would never be a dependable, government-proof way to turn it into actual money. – “Decentralization (#1365)”
Though I’ve read the explanation of why the cohort born from 1928 to 1945 was first named “The Silent Generation“, I cannot fathom how so many nitwits still think it’s a good label. – “Silent, Indeed“
If [every single]…book…[in] public school libraries constitutes government speech, the State is babbling prodigiously and incoherently. – Frederick Sperling
A Jersey City pastor [named]…Robert Anthony…Langston…[repeatedly molested at least] two [boys under 15 while he was “youth pastor”] of Landmark Tabernacle in Denver…in [the late ’90s. One of the]…victims…had an abusive situation at home…[and] was groomed…to…accompan[y] Langston and his wife as they evangelized across the U.S. and eventually settled in Jersey City…[where] he…continued to be “groped and assaulted” by the pastor after [2003]…he…was “very scared” to report the abuse because “the church is very anti-homosexuality.” The second victim…[said] Langston…“appeared to prefer boys in the church who had absent fathers or were raised by their grandparents”…
A [California cop named]…Juan Pensina…[has been] arrest[ed on numerous charges of forcible vaginal, anal, and oral rape, but also rewarded with a paid vacation]…Pensina [raped some of] the…victims while [wearing his magical clown costume] and…[some not, both in his pigmobile and] in…[other places]…
A Minnesota teen [has] filed a charge of discrimination against a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant…after…a server followed her into the women’s restroom and demanded she “prove” she was a girl. Gerika Mudra…[was harassed by the] server[, who]…banged on the stall door while saying, “This is a women’s restroom. The man needs to get out of here”…Mudra, a biracial lesbian who is not transgender, said she’s been in similar situations before…but…[this] woman [would not] leave her alone…[until] she unzipped her hoodie to show she has breasts. The server didn’t say anything in response but left the restroom…
A federal judge…struck down [most] of a Florida law that’s been used to remove [thousan]ds of books from public school libraries since it was enacted in 2023…Judge Carlos Mendoza…struck down…[provisions] that made it easier to challenge books if they included any sexual content…[so] the…[standard] reverts back to…the Miller Test…The 2023 law…[had exposed] educators…to…criminal penalties and los[s of] their teaching certificates if [any censorious Froot Loop chose to point at any book while barfing the word “]inappropriate[“]…As a result, Florida led the country in school book bans last year with 4,561 instances…State officials [horrifyingly] argued…that Florida was entitled to regulate books in public school libraries [because] such actions amounted to…“government speech”…
…doctors [who rely on chatbots can lose] skills after just a few months…a new study..[showed machine learning programs could] help…health professionals…detect pre-cancerous growths in the colon, but when the assistance was removed, their ability to find tumors dropped by about 20% compared with rates before the tool was ever introduced…[bureaucrats] around the world are…[trying to cram so-called “]AI[” in]to [healthcare systems] with a view to boosting…pro[fitabil]ity…[but] doctors [quickly] become over-reliant on its recommendations, “leading to clinicians becoming less motivated, less focused, and less responsible when making cognitive decisions without [computer interfere]nce,” the…paper [said]…Yuichi Mori…one of the scientists involved, predicted that the effects of de-skilling will “probably be higher” as [machine learning systems are crammed into more areas of expertise]…
…age verification laws went into effect in Wyoming and South Dakota, requiring sites [any politician points at while barfing the formula] “material that is harmful to minors” to verify visitors are over 18 years old. Th[is is not] just…two more states joining the nearly 30 that have [embraced]…invasive, ineffective methods of keeping kids away from porn online…[because] unlike the laws passed in other states, they don’t state that this applies only to sites with “33.3 percent” or one-third “harmful” material…which…opens a huge swath of sites to the [surveillance] burden…The same [pro-censorship gangs] that have lobbied for age verification laws…have also spent years targeting social media platforms…and…streaming services like Netflix, for hosting adult content…age-gating the entire internet only pushes adult consumers and [adolescents] alike into less-regulated…spaces and situations, while everyone just uses VPNs to get around gates…
Carlos Baker, the Chicago [cop] who [murdered] his partner Krystal Rivera…[has now] attacked a[nother] female [cop]…The [victim reported]…that Baker and another woman beat her [on August 10th] at [a] bar…[because she wouldn’t] delete [certain] videos taken on her cellphone…[she] escaped, with the help of others, and had a friend take her to [the] hospital…It’s not clear what’s on the videos…Officials…have referred to the shooting [of Rivera] as an accident, but [her] family has called for an outside investigation …[because] Rivera had been a key witness to the theft of a…gun…and [Baker may have wanted to silence her. His]…career as a cop has been [characteriz]ed by disciplinary problems from the start, including a complaint…[due to his stalking] another…woman at a bar…[and threatening] her…[with] a gun…and…more than a dozen [other reports] of misconduct since joining the [pig herd] in December 2021…
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!
Early last week, Chekhov was available to help me expand the chicken coop and replace the roof of the henhouse. Given that I’ve been putting the latter chore off for several years now despite the fact that it probably should’ve been done the first year we were here, I accepted the help despite the fact that the three days it took were also the three hottest of the year. But now it’s done; despite fairly constant rain from Thursday to Saturday, the inside of the henhouse stayed nice and dry, and as you can see the flock is enjoying being able to hunt for bugs in the grass they can now get to. As you can also see, our turkey turned out to be a tom rather than a hen; turkey chicks aren’t routinely sexed, so we had no idea what we had until he developed those distinctive head features and started displaying his tail. I’m not sure what Yellowbird will want to do with him, but the experience has led me to wonder if there’s a butcher hereabouts who’d pay enough for small flocks of turkeys to make the investment in time, money, and effort worthwhile. But in any case, it won’t be long before those four white pullets are laying full-sized eggs, which is why I keep them in the first place!
Here at Sunset, we burn our garbage. In Washington, they pile it up behind a desk, put a hat on it, and then interpret the noises it makes as it decays as pronouncements from a god.
Stop using cutesy names for atrocities.This is the Dade-Collier Concentration Camp. Calling it that (or something similar) should be style for every US news outlet. "Cute" names are soft collaboration.
Politicians are not your friends. They are not "leaders". And they will throw their constituents under the bus to save their own rotten hides any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
In the 19th century, it was believed that for the whites of the eyes to show all around the irises was a sign of severe congenital mental illness.We don't believe that anymore, but sometimes we get a clear example of why they believed it.
Notice how childishly idiotic Trump sounds when babbling about "The Left" as though it were one big corporation?Guess how it sounds when somebody babbles about "The Right" in that same way?
Plus, women don't allow themselves the kind of laziness that many men do. Using LLMs to write bullshit because they're too lazy to do it themselves is something men are FAR more likely to rationalize is OK; women tend to know it isn't and would feel healthy shame if they did it anyway.
Actually, this is a severe understatement. It's more like a toddler threatening to beat up the combined armed populace of the entire world, including all military and police.
TV adventure show continuity girl. "No, Kirk McGoody *cannot* blast through Unobtanium,because in season 2, episode 6 it was an important plot point that his blaster could not do that. Now on page 32; it's well-established Tricia Buxom is an only child, so she can't have an evil sister."
Just imagine how low your self-esteem has to be to willingly take a job which is the functional equivalent of letting all your viscera be ripped out through your anus so a politician can shove his hand up there and use you as a hand puppet.
When there was noise late in the evening in my neighborhood in Seattle, it was because two carloads full of young men were driving down the avenue shooting at each other.When there was noise late in the evening here at Sunset, it was because a neighbor's cows got out.
For decades, I've warned "progressives" that pretending government officials with fancy titles are "experts" was a very dangerous idea. And now people have learned what they were taught.
That's not what this shows. It does not show "Republicans are abstaining from alcohol"; it shows that Republicans are self-reporting to polls that they don't drink. They're not at all the same thing, as any competent psychologist or social scientist could tell you.
What's the penalty for "resisting" or trying to escape if these evil goons attack? Is it worse than being crammed into a filthy dungeon in a swamp for months, and then being deported to El Salvador or the Sudan with no due process? Because if not, resistance is ALWAYS the sensible course of action.
I’m still working on “Until the End of Days“; it’s up to 12,000 words now, into the novelette range, and I’m really enjoying the process. This week’s video is the song I hear playing during the last scene, when our heroines have defeated the baddies and are unwinding in front of the big console radio at home. If you listen to it, I think you’ll get a taste of the tone I’m going for. The links above it were provided by Kevin Wilson, Ryan Marino, IncarcerNation (x2), Marc Randazza (x2), and Eleanor Janega, 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!
When hotel owners face huge lawsuits and fines for failing to profile people, you’re going to end up with a lot of innocent people being harassed. – Elizabeth Nolan Brown
A North Carolina pastor [named]…Kyle Lynn Sigmon [has been arrested and charged for sexually assaulting]…a 13-year-old girl in [the street in]…July 2024…
…a [typical and representative Baltimore] youth pastor…has been charged [for] sex[ually]…abusing six boys…Thomas Pinkerton [dazzled the boys with pseudo-religious bullshit, such as telling them the molestation]…was a “heavenly kiss” and that’s how Jesus would greet his disciples…there’s [also] another victim in Georgia…
A hotel could be legally liable for [“]sex trafficking[“] because it failed to [call the cops on] a guest who wore “sexually explicit clothing” and had condoms in her room, according to a recent ruling from [federal] Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk…The lawsuit was brought by “J.H.” against Paramount Hospitality, a company that manages hotels…[pretending she is a passive object which] was trafficked for sex at a hotel owned and operated by Paramount…Kacsmaryk denied the hotel management company’s motion to dismiss…In a sane judicial system, sex traffickers would be the main entity held liable for sex trafficking…But [so-called “traffickers”, when they exist at all, don’t have as much money as]…third parties [such as hotels or ad websites]…such cases…rely on the idea that the hotels willfully ignored the “signs” of sex trafficking…[such as] her [having visitors to her] room and…”drug paraphernalia,” a gun, and “condoms” in her room…hotel maids come across condoms and drug paraphernalia all the time and aren’t running to hotel management every time they do…The implication from suits like these is that hotel staff need to regard all customers with suspicion and…call the cops if they see a woman who appears intoxicated or has men coming into her room…
[German censorship] authorities want to force financial service providers to refuse payments to erotic portals [even though only]…adults [can have credit cards. Censorship bureaucrat]…Marc Jan Eumann…[also wants control of] the Internet’s Domain Name System…[to] enforce…[otherwise] easy…to circumvent [network blocks]…Eumann [claims] studies have shown that pornography is more harmful to minors than…[police] violence…
…Wikipedia [has] lost a legal challenge to…Britain’s Online Safety Act, which [inflicts draconian demands on] online platforms and has been criticised for [installing a surveillance regime and] curtailing free speech…The foundation said if it was subject to so-called Category 1 duties – which would require Wikipedia’s users and contributors…[to be doxxed to the British government] it would need to drastically reduce the number of British users who can access the site. Judge Jeremy Johnson dismissed [the] case [without prejudice, saying] the Wikimedia Foundation could bring a further challenge if [censorship bureau] Ofcom “(impermissibly) concludes that Wikipedia is a Category 1 service…[this decision] does not give Ofcom…a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia’s operations”…
Illinois…has signed a bill into law banning [scams using chatbots for] therapy…The law highlights that only licensed professionals are allowed to offer counseling services…and forbids [companies] or [individuals] from [pretending a chatbot can] act…as a stand-alone therapist…the…act…also specifies that licensed therapists cannot use [chatbots] to make “therapeutic decisions” or perform any “therapeutic communication”…use for “supplementary support,” such as managing appointments, billing or other administrative work, is allowed…companies or individuals fac[e] $10,000 in fines per violation…The legislation is particularly notable as the Trump [regime is demanding]…a 10-year moratorium on any state-level…regulation [of chatbots]…
Renowned legal scholar Jonathan Turley [may seek damages from the makers of] ChatGPT [because the program] fabricat[ed] a damaging sexual harassment allegation against him, citing a fake university, trip, and article. The…chatbot…falsely claimed that Turley, who has never taught at Georgetown University, had made inappropriate advances toward a student during a fictional school-sponsored trip to Alaska in 2018…[the program even] cited a non-existent Washington Post article, claiming Turley made “sexually suggestive comments” and attempted to [molest] a student…the lack of any human accountability…is what makes such [chatbots] particularly dangerous…[there is as yet] no real avenue for victims of falsehoods to seek retraction or clarification…
A…[typical and representative California cop murdered] his [screw] ex-girlfriend and then himself in a…[sadly-typical act of cop violence. Pig]…Jeremy Lyle…fatally shot [screw] Mari Bonnici…[then] handed…an 8-month-old b[aby to a neighbor and told her to call 911 before driving] off in a truck…[and shooting himself after a multi-hour standoff with the SWAT team]. Police…found two 16-month-old twin girls in the back bedroom…None of the three children were injured and are being cared for by relatives…
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!
I really hate advertising. I hate watching it, I hate advertisers trying to irritate me to get my attention, and back when I used to watch a lot of PBS (’70s to ’90s) I hated those damned pledge drives. Some of y’all may even remember that one of the reasons I semi-retired is because I had it up to here {puts hand as far above head as I can reach} with dealing with buying, keeping up with, writing, and jumping through the stupid censor-demanded hoops of escort advertising. So obviously I don’t want to subject y’all to it, either…
I really wouldn’t mind so much having a sponsor like in ’50s television, where I could put a well-behaved static banner at the bottom saying that this blog was sponsored by Alcoa Aluminum, or Joy Dishwashing Liquid, or General Mills breakfast cereals. Or a tagline saying that my blog was made possible by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. But unfortunately, none of those folks want to be associated with harlots (retired or otherwise), so all I have is “viewers like you”. I try not to bother y’all too often; aside from the little notices at the bottom of news & links columns, the only thing I’ve said about it this year was a little note at the bottom of this column in May. So if you’re a regular reader but not a subscriber yet, would you please consider changing that? The regular levels are in the right-hand column, and the superstar levels are here. Give it a thought, would you? Thank you!
[Though] practical gifts…may not be the stuff of male fantasy like fancy lingerie and expensive jewelry…they mean far more to me [because] they…allow…me to create the comfortable home I plan to spend the rest of my life in.
– “Brazen Solicitation”
Prohibitionist politicians…think the state has the right to classify a bee as a fish, define pi as “3”, or declare that the laws of the State supersede the laws of science in any other way. – “A Blastocyst By Any Other Name”
The Swedish model is not “partial decriminalization”, and I wish people (especially reporters; we expect lies from politicians) would stop pretending otherwise.
– “Partial Bullshit”
One of the reasons I semi-retired is because I had it up to here…with buying, keeping up with, writing, and jumping through the stupid censor-demanded hoops of escort advertising. – “And Now For a Word…”
If these companies want customers to feel safe in their homes, then they should make sure they’re also safe where they buy their supplies.
– Dave Maass
A [typical and representative South Carolina cop named] Ahmad Tyreek Cheeks…was [arrested for raping]…a…mentally [handicapped woman]. He [is still at large after] post[ing bail]…
…in March 2017, Hoan Ton-That…[was already] plan[ning] to deploy…Clearview AI…[against] immigrants entering the United States…[despite being] an immigrant…himself…A diehard Donald Trump supporter, Ton-That envisioned using facial recognition to c[riminalize] migrants…His Border Patrol pitch also included a proposal to screen any arrival for “sentiment about the USA”…conflat[ing] support for [Trumpery] with American identity…Clearview…secured funding from…Peter Thiel…and signed up hundreds of [cop shops] around the country…urging cops to “run wild” with searches…[they have done so] with almost no transparency…[despite its warrantless use being unconstitutional and its] data collection practices [being] illegal…In December, Ton-That…quietly stepped down as CEO…[but] retains a board seat…Replacing him as co-CEOs were Richard Schwartz…a former top aide to Rudy Giuliani, and Hal Lambert…who runs a Texas financial firm known for its “MAGA ETF”…the company [has] pursue[d] “opportunities” with the…Trump…[regime, and] one of the company’s top customers is [ICE]…
[New Zealand boss hog] Jevon McSkimming is facing eight charges of possessing…child…and bestiality [porn]…The c[op], wh[o is typical and] representative, [faces] a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. McSkimming resigned as the country’s second most powerful cop in May…and…was arrested on 27 June in Wellington…[but] the Wellington District Court [conspired with cop shops to hide his name until July 18]…
…the Department of Veterans Affairs [is]…seeking to eliminate coverage for the limited abortion services and counseling that have been available to veterans and their beneficiaries under the VA health care system…[since] September 2022, a…policy change [intended to] pro[tect roughly 2 million female]…veterans and their beneficiaries in the [16] states [with] total or near-total bans…the Trump [regime absurdly claims] that…[no states ban] abortions…in life-threatening situations such as ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages…[and declares that] pregnant women [who need such care are] “incorrect”…Nancy Northup, President…[of] the Center for Reproductive Rights, said…“This administration is sending a clear message to veterans—that their health and dignity aren’t worth defending”…
Hundreds of…automated license plate reading cameras paid for by Lowe’s and Home Depot and stationed in the hardware stores’ parking lots are being fed into a massive surveillance system that [any cop, spook, or goon] can access [at will, without a warrant]…The records are the latest to shed light on how expansive Flock’s surveillance network has become, and highlights that it includes cameras that are operated by both [cop shops] and [fascist] businesses…ALPR…cameras are stationed along roads or at entrances to parking lots around the United States, and constantly scan the license plates of cars that drive by. Because there are Flock cameras around the country, Flock often has a snapshot of people’s movements which police can search, typically without a warrant…in…respon[se] to a request for comment…a Home Depot spokesperson [belched the word “crime” at] 404 Media…This is particularly notable considering that several high-profile ICE raids have taken place near Home Depot and Lowe’s stores…
…a New Jersey [cop named]…Ricardo Santos [murdered] his…ex-girlfriend, Lauren Semanchik, and a…man she had been dating, Tyler Webb, before [shoot]ing hi[mself]…Semanchik [was] a veterinarian…and Webb…a…firefighter…Semanchik had sought a restraining order…[because] Santos was harassing her[, but the cops refused because Santos’ clown costume was extra-magical]…
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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