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Links #766

It’s like she’s a ghost.  –  Jason Kilburn

I couldn’t decide whether to send David Johansen off with a New York Dolls number or a Buster Poindexter one, so I defaulted to his older (and more influential) idiom while linking the other.  The links above the video were provided by Brooke Magnanti; Walter Olson; Jesse Walker; Matt Welch; C.J. CiaramellaFranklin Harris; 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!

[Sex work] should be decriminalized and not in any way regulated because it is a sex worker’s body and it is up to them to decide how they will use it in their livelihood.  –  Sean Baker

The Notorious Badge

From Hustlers to Pretty Woman, films centering sex workers continue to drive blockbusters for Hollywood — and last year was no different.  Anora was one of Hollywood’s most lauded films of 2024…By casting real-life sex workers in the club scenes…the film made strides that are rare for Hollywood.  Multiple sex workers were reportedly hired as consultants to ensure the accuracy and fair portrayal of these characters, and there was even a private screening of the film…for…sex workers…[but] the film industry continues to discriminate against…actors with a history of sex work — ironically, even when they’re auditioning to play sex workers…

Sexcrime (#1354)

It’s only been six years since the UK lost in court the last time it tried this:

…pornography should be banned…[if any bureaucrat working for the UK censorship agency] Ofcom [points at it and belches the magic formula]…”degrading, violent and misogynistic”…[the] propos[al is basically an attempt to reinstate the overturned 2014 law] that porn videos [refused]…for any [BBFC] certificate in the offline world should be banned online.  Baroness Bertin[, a fanatical pro-censorship politician, claimed in Nixonian fashion]…”I’m not a prude”…[while demanding that] the state should police people’s sex lives…

Shame, Shame (#1421)

These thieves have absolutely no shame:

Botify AI, a site for chatting with [computers]…hosts bots resembling real actors that state their age as under 18, engage in sexually charged conversations, offer “hot photos,” and in some instances describe age-of-consent laws as “arbitrary” and “meant to be broken”…MIT Technology Review…found popular user-created bots…meant to resemble Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Millie Bobby Brown, among others.  After receiving questions…about such characters, Botify AI removed the[m]…from its website, but numerous other underage-celebrity bots remain…Botify…[is] operated by Ex-Human, a [corporation] that…also licenses [chatbots] to other companies, like the dating app Grindr…and…has more than a million different characters, [imita]ting everyone from Elon Musk to Marilyn Monroe…


The Cop Myth (#1484)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

A [typical and representative] Nashville [cop] died [of old age] while in [jail] for [murdering] his wife…87-year-old John Sorace died on Feb. 20, following…[his] arrest…for…reckless homicide after [murdering] his wife on Jan. 9…

Thought Control (#1498)

It’s sad that the First Amendment has been so weakened it needs a state law to give it teeth:

Several [wannabe book-banners] spoke out…against the effort to pass legislation designed to deter book banning in Connecticut libraries.  They [bloviate] that [individual] parents should have [power to overrule librarians and remove]…books [from] library shelves…[for all legal minors], particularly…those [which might] contain [information authoritarian parents want to deny them]…Bob Duff…co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1271, said Connecticut libraries dealt with 113 [attempts] to [ban] books in 2023 alone.  Duff said that bans “pave the way for greater censorship”…and…[waste] librarians[‘ time while threatening them with culture-war violence]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1499)

Politicians will use any asinine rhetoric to gain control of the internet:

[The U.S. Congress’ top anti-porn crusader, Utah] Senator Mike Lee has introduced [a bill with the deeply-moronic moniker] the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, a step toward [age-gating the entire internet so as to make government surveillance of adults even easier than it already is.  Previous attempts at similar censorship, both at the State and federal level]…have [repeatedly] been challenged and overturned by [federal courts, up to and including] the Supreme Court on the grounds of not [being remotely Constitutional].  Nonetheless…[politicians keep trying anyway because defending the indefensible in court doesn’t come out of their pockets, and culture-war jihads appeal…to the authoritarian nitwits who vote for them]…and garner…[financial] support from the [usual collection of pro-censorship gangs and cabals which infest the US]…

If Men Were Angels (#1517)

Wannabe preachers are often as bad as the real thing:

[North Carolina cops] arrested Lucas Timothy Hunt…the founder of the “Thank You Jesus” signs movement, [for child porn, acting on information from]…the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children…the Thank You Jesus mission…re[fu]sed…[to] comment…

 

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!

The act of agreeing to serve as a policeman in any regime is at best an amoral one, because in doing so the individual agrees to enforce (by violence if necessary) all of the laws passed by his government, whether he agrees with them or not; he abdicates his personal morality to those in authority and allows his actions to be dictated by others, even if he knows those actions to be wrong.  –  “Godwin’s Law

The most dangerous prohibitionists…are those who oppose no particular behavior or thing, but rather the very freedom of choice itself.  –  “Thou Shalt Not

Despite what the anti-sex crowd likes to pretend, sexuality is not a mere “choice”, something dropped on top of a person’s personality at the last minute like pickles on a cheeseburger; it is a deep and intrinsic part of the human psyche, rooted in the hindbrain and woven throughout the psychic fabric.  –  “The Twig is Bent

If intelligence is rare, advanced spacefaring civilizations might consider all of it valuable, and could conceivably think of any intelligent species confined to a single habitat as “endangered”.  –  “Endangered Species

Diary #766

One of the strangest, hardest things about Grace dying so soon after Christmas was that most of her presents were in a sort of limbo.  DVDs had not yet been watched or even opened, books had not yet been read or shelved, treats had not yet been eaten, and this dragon I got her had not yet been put on the window because I had not yet remembered to buy a suction cup to hang it with.  So I’m slowly working my way through everything, putting it where it belongs, with a mixture of sadness and a sense of “this is what she would have wanted”.  I’m eating the foods we had bought specifically for her, and carrying on with our usual habits to the greatest extent possible.  On the day she died, while driving to town for her last radiation appointment, I had pointed out to her that we were almost done with The X-Files and asked her what she wanted to watch next; she chose The Expanse, a show she had watched by herself at some point and had been given in DVD form for Christmas.  I was a bit skeptical (because I don’t care for most streaming-era TV shows), but she insisted I’d like it so I promised I’d watch it with her.  Even though she’s gone, I have never broken a promise to her in the past and I’m not going to start now merely because she’s not in a position to remind me.  She was right; I am enjoying the show.  And sometimes, if I’m stoned enough, it almost feels as though she’s still here, watching along with me.

They tested “self-trafficking” charges on sex workers first.
–  Mistress Matisse

Thought Control (#1343)

I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of career path:

Georgia…[politicians are ap]ing…bill[s from other states] aimed at [criminaliz]ing…librari[an]s, but [sane people] say it would chill free speech and open the state up to lawsuits.  Senate Bill 74…would [criminalize] an[y]…librarians…including at school libraries, who [help any]…minor…[find any book that any politician has pointed at while belching the word “]harmful[” even if the targeted]…book…[has been] in the library for…years…Christoper Bruce…[of] the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia…[pointed out] that the bill is similar to [one recently] struck down in Arkansas

Pyrrhic Victory (#1465)

Undermining of civil liberties only starts with “undesirables”; it never stops there:

[Mad emperor Trump is demanding that] undocumented immigrants age 14 or older…register and provide fingerprints…DHS will [then] issue “evidence of registration,” which immigrants over 18 must carry and [produce every time a racist cop or spook demands it.  The scheme is a Trumpist attempt to]…criminal[ize]…undocumented…migra[tion, which is currently]…a civil violation and not a criminal one.  [Any such new] requirements…would require [actual] new laws, not [mere] executive orders or policy changes…

Feudalism Redux (#1497)

Montana politicians are trying to reduce all women to serfdom:

A new Montana bill “establishing the criminal offense of abortion trafficking” could criminalize pregnant women who cross state lines to get an abortion…Aiding or assisting someone else in such…would also make one guilty of abortion trafficking.  Criminalizing driving someone else out of Montana to do something that’s legal in another state is itself ridiculous. But the language of this bill would very clearly criminalize some pregnant women who transport themselves out of state too…Per a constitutional amendment voters passed in 2024, Montana allows abortion up until fetal viability and provides an exception to this limit if the mother’s life or health is at risk…But…there are…justifiable reasons for getting an abortion after about 24 weeks…and…It’s also possible that Montana…will someday topple the recent constitutional amendment and…ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy…this is unlikely to stop with Montana.  In fact, it’s possible that Montana is seen by some as the perfect test ground for this sort of thing precisely because it currently allows abortions until viability…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #17)

When will the mainstream media admit that pigs in schools are a menace?

A [typical and representative Pennsylvania cop paid to lurk in schools and spy on, harass, and intimidate students] is facing [misdemeanor] charges for [raping] a 14-year-old girl nearly 100 times…Anthony DePanicis Jr….[raped the girl] almost weekly [from 1991 to 1994, when she]…turned 17…

Thought Control (#1509)

As an alumna of the LSU MLIS program, I am fully qualified to declare this absolutely bat-shit insane:

…at Livingston Parish libraries…the…shelves reserved for young adult books are temporarily empty…[because] the local library board…[demand]ed pulling 30,000 young adult print and audiobook materials from children’s sections and moving those [lunatics might conceivably] deem…sexually explicit to the adult side in each of the five library branches.  Young adult is a category of books geared toward youths 13 and older[, whom]…Louisiana law [now] defines…[as “children”, equivalent to kindergarteners]…Since 2022, [pro-censorship fanatics] and [politicians] have [demanded massive censorship as] the [book-banning fad has spread among Trumpists]…Jennifer Holden, an [especially-vile pro-censorship fanatic], said further actions need to be taken, like [officially eliminating the entire YA category to restrict teens to young children’s books]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1514)

Cops don’t care how many false positives these systems shit out, and Detroit cops don’t even pretend to care:

Last year, Detroit police wrongly arrested LaDonna Crutchfield after facial recognition software incorrectly identified her as the culprit of a shooting…[they had no] warrant…[but] handcuffed, detained, and jailed her anyway…[sole]ly on [the] facial recognition [output, and]…released [her] only when it became obvious [even to halfwit cops] that they had arrested the wrong person…six hours after [they brutalized her and]…dis[rupted her life]…Detroit police [have a history of similar incompetence, having terrorized]…Porcha WoodruffRobert Williams…[and Michael Oliver in the same way]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1516) 

Another moronic culture war “monkey see, monkey do” parade is underway:

Pennsylvania [politician] Robert Leadbeter…has announced that he soon plans to introduce a [bill aping one from Iowa] that would make it a felony…[to] allow…a minor to attend a drag show…Leadbeter [vomited buzzwords and culture-war shibboleths at reporters, including]…”corrupt the morals”…”decency”…”sexually charged”…[“]premature sexualization…family values and parental rights[“]…

 

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

Mardi Gras 2025

Maybe the places where many of y’all live don’t observe it, but I still do. So Happy Mardi Gras, dear readers!

Happy Sex Worker Rights Day to all my sisters and brothers, and our supporters.  Here’s a linked list of everything I’ve written for the occasion.

Links #765

There is absolutely no scenario in which it is acceptable for a prosecutor to accuse a defendant of witchcraft in a twenty-first-century court.

This was the obvious choice to honor the passing of Roberta Flack.  The link above the video were provided by Jesse Walker (x2); Lucy Steigerwald; Dan Savage and Jesse Walker again; Popehat; and Nun Ya, 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!

 

We can always rely on our government to assault our autonomy.  –  Jeffrey Singer and Mike Fox

License to Rape (#1169)

Doctors need to keep suing cops who pretend they have license to practice medicine:

On Aug. 10, 2024, police [abduct]ed a Lorain, Ohio, resident whom the police [fantasiz]ed inserted a baggy containing illegal drugs into their rectum…[then] transported the [victim] to Mercy Hospital’s Emergency Department and demanded that doctors remove the [imaginary] baggie.  Doctors…refused to perform the ill-advised procedure—even after police secured a warrant…[because they] lacked the [victim]’s informed consent and were concerned that if they attempted to remove the [hypothetical] baggy, it might burst, causing whatever it contained to leak out and get rapidly absorbed through the rectal lining — potentially killing the [cops’ victim.  The cops] then threatened to arrest the doctor in charge for refusing to violate the patient’s bodily autonomy…[but] the doctors stood their ground, and the police eventually released the[ir victim] after failing to [manufacture] any evidence of the [manufactur]ed crime of possessing a government-forbidden substance…the[n]…retaliated against the hospital by abruptly refusing to provide security.  The hospital is now suing

The Last Shall Be First (#1410)

Paxton doesn’t give a damn about women’s sports; he just wants to humiliate women and persecute trans people:

[Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton] wants the NCAA to…require gen[etic] testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports…[he] filed a [nuisance] lawsuit in state district court…seek[ing] a court order requiring gender screening for athletes and an injunction intended to prevent the NCAA from [disagreeing with him]…the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were…female at birth…a day after [Emperor] Trump [made an imperial proclamation] intended to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports.  Paxton [fantasizes that huge numbers of]…biological men [are declaring themselves trans and taking female hormones] to surreptitiously participate in women’s’ sports…NCAA President Charlie Baker in December said he knew of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 across the NCAA…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1426)

Censorious politicians aren’t just copying each other; they’re vying to make their new laws the most unconstitutional:

More than a dozen states have passed or are considering laws to require [web]sites to [demand identity information from] adults who want to visit them…So far, each of them…have applied the rule to sites on which a third or more of the content [can be called] pornography [by politicians without provoking outright mockery from judges].  South Dakota could soon be the first state to affix the expectation to any site that [does not completely ban anything remotely like nudity, a la Facebook.  Censorious megalomaniacs]…voted 34-0 [in favor]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1443)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

[Florida] attorney general…James Uthmeier [has] filed a [nuisance lawsuit] against retail giant Target…claiming it defrauded investors in the process of promoting “radical LGBTQ activism”.  The [term is Uthmeier’s dysphemism for] the Minnesota-based company’s 2023 Pride campaign…[which culture-war fanatics u]sed…[to attack] Target…Uthmeier’s office, with the help of [pro-censorship law firm] America First Legal, claims Target “misled investors by claiming to monitor the social and political risks posed by its DEI…initiatives”…[Uthmeir pretends to have standing to sue because unions representing] Florida…[pigs] and teachers [include Target stock in their pension fund investments.  Uthmeier said,]…“My office will stridently pursue…offensive political theatre [at taxpayer expense]”…and…“use the court system to [harass my political enemies].”

Guinea Pigs (#1453) 

Erosion of civil rights usually starts with the marginalized, but never stops there:

A Department of Homeland Security unit eliminated policies prohibiting [spying]…based solely on a [victim]’s gender identity or sexual orientation.  The Office of Intelligence and Analysis [has] posted an updated policy manual…that [now allows spooks to target US citizens merely because they are LGBT, due to Emperor] Trump’s Jan. 20 [imperial edict] to scrap…[all] protections fo[r minorities]…across federal agencies.  I&A’s work has attracted close scrutiny for years because of its…focus…[on] US citizens…

Vulture Watching (#1495)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021…The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester…[especially if] the…fetus…still…had [cardiac myocyte activity, incorrectly called “]a heartbeat[” by forced-birth politicians.  While]…the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally…it rose substantially in Texas…[where] the state…threatens [doctors with life]…in prison for providing [necessary medical care]…to…miscarrying patients…Sepsis…is one of the leading causes of deaths in hospitals…[but] Texas…hospitals don’t allow [doctors] to [empty the uterus] until…fetal [cardiac myocyte activity] stops or they can document a life-threatening complication…

If Men Were Angels (#1505)

Preachy perverts nearly always blame their crimes on others:

A [typical and representative] Yakima [Washington] pastor was sentenced Feb. 18 to 30 years in prison for making, possessing and sharing child sexual abuse images.  David Roger Franklin…was arrested after a computer technician working on Franklin’s laptop at his office found folders containing video and photos depicting sexual abuse in June 2022…some of the photos were taken with Franklin’s cellphone of a [girl he knew in the time when she was] 4…to…6…The girl told detectives that Franklin took the photos of her and abused her…he…also had images on his computer of [other] adult men sexually abusing [other] young girls…[Franklin was also] a chaplain in the Civil Air Patrol, and a leader in the Royal Rangers…a Christian scouting-type organization for boys…Franklin…[refused to accept responsibility, claiming that watching] pornography…“began to degrade his mind” and led to hi[s] abusing the girl…

 

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!

Back Issue #140

Unfortunately, most people value the truth far less than they value the ability to feel smug.  –  “Nothing New