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In the News (#1489)

November 13, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

Just because the tech exists doesn’t mean people/employers have to abuse it.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1065) 

Facial recognition systems have quietly become ubiquitous:

Wegmans Food Markets has launched a facial recognition pilot program at one of its New York City locations, prompting some shoppers to express concerns about privacy and pricing…a Wegmans spokesperson [claimed] the pilot will run for 60 days and…will involve employees who have agreed to participate…the spokesperson [also belched out buzzwords like]…“commitment”…”safe”…”exploring”…and…”security”…the move could usher in dynamic pricing….already…in use by Walmart and Kroger…

Creepy Coppers

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A [typical and representative Oklahoma cop named]…Ryan Matthew Matthias…[was arrested] for having several files of obscene images of children online…they [tossed his house and found more]…on…several digital devices…

Checklist (#1380)

Airlines:  do you really want to keep accepting liability for employees harassing passengers due to the government propaganda you force-feed them?

A Virginia Beach man was [harassed with “]human trafficking[” propaganda] by Southwest Airlines and [interrogated by] Norfolk International Airport police…John Kerrigan was flying with his [teenage] daughter…and her…friend…back from Las Vegas….[every time] Kerrigan would get up to go to the restroom, the flight attendant was [repeatedly] asking the girls…peculiar questions.  “She keeps asking if we’re all right and if we know you,” Kerrigan[‘s] daughter…told him…Southwest called airport police during the flight [to continue the harassment of not just]…Kerrigan…but the [other] passengers w[ho were detained in their seats while]…three [little pigs] got on and…[humiliated] Kerrigan…[with their sexual fantasies in front of] all of the other passengers…[after interrogating him] for about 20 minutes…[they final]ly let him go…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1479)

All cops will have these within a few years:

A new app developed by a trio of [sociopath]s in Indiana is…using facial recognition technology to provide information about individuals just by looking at them.  The app…utilizes ChatGPT and Meta Glass technology to access public information archives.  “So, we all have a digital footprint, right? How good would it be if eventually, like there aren’t secrets. Knowing who I’m talking to, knowing who I’m about to meet,” said Kris Peterson, [apparently unaware of what a moral imbecile he is revealing himself to be]…Peterson demonstrated how the app could change a stranger’s phone passcode and even access phone contacts to make calls…

The Cop Myth (#1480)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A [sociopathic thug paid by the state of Kansas to torture helpless people locked in cages like animals has been] arrested…for…domestic violence…[Sheriff Jeff Easter of] Sedgwick County [delayed action for weeks, is hiding the thugs’s name and picture, and rewarded him with a paid vacation even though he tried to] strangle [his girlfriend on October 7th, then since he was not arrested, beat]…her…on Oct. 28…

The Vultures Descend (#1486)

A few states are managing to beat off the vultures:

…reproductive freedom initiatives…prevailed in seven of the ten states where they were on the ballot.  Measures meant to protect abortion access were approved by voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York.  And most of these weren’t close calls at all…Until [last week], the pro-choice position prevailed in every state where abortion-related measures were on the ballot, including…Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio.  That…pattern is broken somewhat by results in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota…In Florida, 57 percent of voters supported…an Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion…but it falls short of the 60 percent approval threshold required for constitutional amendments in Florida.  In Nebraska, [only] 48.7 percent of voters approved the state’s Right to Abortion measure…But a competing measure—Initiative 434—passed 55.3 percent…and…allows for first trimester abortions but prohibits second and third trimester abortion unless “necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest.”  Only in South Dakota…did a reproductive freedom initiative truly flop…

The Cop Myth (#1487)

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

A…Cleveland [cop who wasn’t wearing his magical Clown Costume of Legal Immunity tried to murder his wife]…outside of [an] elementary school [on Halloween]…Alexander Sinclair was [fighting with his victim] off-site and carried…the [violence into the] parking lot…[after ramming] the [victim’s] vehicle [with his]…

 

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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Diary #750

November 12, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

I’ve at last got a proper amount of canning in my larder!  Given the dearth of apples, blackberries, and plums this year, I didn’t get to make any new jam or apple butter; fortunately, I still have a lot from previous years as you can see.  The two quart jars are mincemeat; as I wrote before, I had plenty of green tomatoes, and by shaking limbs and climbing a ladder I was just barely able to scrounge enough apples to try the recipe again.  And this time was a success; I found that two pounds of green tomatoes and two pounds of peeled, cored apples were the right proportions to make two quarts, one for each pie I plan to make this year (Thanksgiving and Christmas).  Chekhov and I are the only ones around here who like mincemeat pie, so that’s plenty.  Now, pumpkin pie is much more popular, and as you can see I got six pints of that from my Halloween pumpkin (after working out a new method of rendering that got me through the process much more quickly and easily than in the past).  I thought I was done canning for the year, but when Chekhov and Yellowbird came for my birthday they brought five pounds more tomatoes (a mixture of red, yellow, and green).  So after buying another case of Mason jars, that gave me five more jars of salsa (two rows to the right of the pumpkin); we recently opened one of the first jars and were happy to discover it got better as it aged!  Given that we go through a lot of salsa here, that’ll all be gone by next autumn, but the recipe is easy and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of tomatoes again!

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Armistice Day 2024

November 11, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

The time is long overdue to end the war machine, before it ends all of us.
–  Armistice Day 2022

Posted in History, Holidays, Philosophy, Tyranny | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Links #749

November 10, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

To the…people who called DEC, there’s a special place in hell for you.  –  Mark Longo

It wasn’t easy to choose a sendoff for Quincy Jones, but I think the blues title for In the Heat of the Night, sung by Ray Charles, is the right choice.  The links above the video were provided by Franklin Harris, Mike Masnick, Jesse Walker, Franklin Harris again, Greg Lukianoff, Jesse Walker again, and J.D. Tuccille, 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!

Posted in Current Events, History, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

In the News (#1488)

November 9, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

Pregnant women have become essentially untouchables. -Sara Rosenbaum

Property of the State 

Pregnant women are uniquely vulnerable to State violence:

How a person handles a pregnancy loss — and where it occurs — can mean the difference between a private medical issue and a criminal charge for abuse of a corpse, child neglect or even murder…[Psychopathic politician]s across the country have been using a series of laws and court rulings in the past decade to criminalize how women react to pregnancy loss….[and] the fear and suspicion following the Supreme Court’s [Dobbs] decision…may be making things worse…about 20% of pregnancies end in a loss, which includes miscarriage or spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth or fetal death…[in the past] only a small number [we]re investigated as crimes.  But…the growing number of [invasive] laws…[give cops more excuses to persecute them]…Women in South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and several other states have faced criminal charges after a miscarriage or stillbirth for failing to seek immediate medical treatment, not pursuing prenatal care or disposing of the fetal remains in a way that [pigs] or prosecutors [retroactively declared] improper…

If Men Were Angels

“Youth leader”, “youth pastor”…just another preachy pervert:

A [church] youth leader [in Abilene, Texas] has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography…[after] a member of the church [reported creepy behavior to the cops]…Charles Goff…[claimed to cops that he “]struggled[“] with videos of teen girls 14-15 years old…and…nude pictures [he cajoled] teenage girls [into sending him via] various social media platforms…

No Escape (#1312)

Why does it take the US press so long to recognize rampant governmental abuses?

Though female prisoners long have been victims of sexual violence, the number of reports against [rapist screws] has exploded nationwide in recent years.  Many complaints follow a similar pattern: [victim]s are retaliated against, while [rapists] face little or no punishment.  In all 50 states, the AP found cases where [rapists] used [prisoner] work assignments to lure women to isolated spots, out of view of security cameras.  The prisoners said they were attacked while doing jobs like kitchen or laundry duty inside [filthy dungeons] or in work-release programs that placed them at private businesses like national fast-food restaurants and hotel chains…Those cases prompted a [mostly theatrical] Senate investigation two years ago that found prisoners were sexually abused by wardens, guards, chaplains or other staff in at least two-thirds of all women’s federal prisons over the past decade.  But a[bsolutely nothing was done about it]…

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1380)

Actual facts cannot stop copaganda:

For nearly two decades, alarmist government officials, abetted by credulous reporters, have been [trying to frighten] parents prior to Halloween [by claiming] that malevolent strangers might try to get their kids high by passing off THC-infused treats as ordinary candy…a version of the old urban legends about razor blades, needles, and glass shards hidden inside Halloween candy, and…equally grounded in reality…The dearth of [actual] cases…has led to a noticeable change in warnings from [cop shops], [crypto-moralist]s, and [the yellow press].  They now [wild]ly e[xaggerat]e the potential for accidental confusion [by the extremely stupid]…

Creepy Coppers (#1472)

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

Akron [cop] Geoffrey Parker…was arraigned…[for] creating and sharing child pornography…Parker is facing five felony charges for sharing “sexually explicit videos with minors engaging in sex acts” and two felonies for photographing [his own] 5-year-old child “in a state of nudity” and then sharing those photographs online in order to “receive other explicit images of children”…using the Kik application…an[d was caught by an algorithm on the site]…Parker “made admissions” about some of the allegations [to the cops who arrested him.  His]…bond [was set] at $1 million…

Paying the Bills

Six weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $2400.  But I’m still facing a $600 shortfall; it isn’t much, but an unpaid bill is still unpaid even if it’s close. If you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; I really hope to get this done by Thanksgiving, so it doesn’t interfere with my annual toy drive!

Vulture Watching (#1487)

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

Nevaeh Crain was crying in pain, too weak to walk…feverish and vomiting…The first [emergency room she tried]…diagnosed her with strep throat without investigating her sharp abdominal cramps.  At the second, she screened positive for sepsis…But doctors said her six-month fetus had a heartbeat [so she was sent away]…on Crain’s third hospital visit, an obstetrician insisted on two ultrasounds to “confirm fetal demise”…before moving her to intensive care.  By then, more than two hours after her arrival, Crain’s blood pressure had plummeted and…her organs began failing.  Hours later, she was dead…Texas’s abortion ban threatens prison time for interventions that end a fetal heartbeat…It includes exceptions for life-threatening conditions, but…that…[means] medical teams are wasting precious time debating legalities and creating documentation, preparing for the possibility that they’ll need to explain their actions to a jury and judge…

 

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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The Power of the Powerless

November 8, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

There is not and in fact cannot be any such thing as “legitimate” authority, whether that authority is chosen by elections, lots, birth, examining goat entrails, or pulling swords out of lakes.  And until humans collectively get that through their thick simian skulls, we are doomed to suffer an endless succession of evil rulers stomping on human freedom and dignity until they at last succeed in wiping us all out.  –  “Illegitimate”

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, yet somehow nearly everyone pretends otherwise when the contest winner is the one they voted for.  Furthermore, absolutely no law which criminalizes adult consensual behavior of any kind can have even the slightest moral weight, regardless of its pedigree, justification, or popularity, and it is not only the right but the duty of free people to disobey such evil laws.  And I don’t mean “civil disobedience” in which a protester volunteers to be brutalized, abducted, and saddled with a lifelong criminal record by a malevolent state, nor do I mean “protesting” by shouting slogans until the thuggish enforcers of such a state gas them, beat them, shoot them in the face, or allow facial recognition software to identify them so their lives can be destroyed later at the state’s leisure.  Rather, the approach I recommend is the one which at last brought down the Iron Curtain, the one Vaclav Havel called “living in truth“:

[In] his famous political essay…“The Power of the Powerless”…Havel didn’t talk about marches or demonstrations.  Instead, he asked the inhabitants of totalitarian countries to “live in truth”:  That is, to go about their daily lives as if the regime did not exist, to the extent that was possible…By the late 1980s, “living in truth” was widely practiced across central Europe.  The first time I went to Poland in 1987, I stayed with friends.  According to the law, I was supposed to register my presence in a private home with the police.  “We don’t do that,” my friends told me.  “We don’t believe the police have the right to know who stays with us.”  I didn’t register — and because thousands of other people didn’t either, that law became unenforceable…

“The Power of the Powerless” is not a short essay; it’s 51 pages in all.  But when I first came upon it nearly 13 years ago I found it so important I spent hours laboriously editing a poor OCR copy so as to provide  a clean copy for my readers.  And I still think it’s that important, despite its now-dated historical references.  If you’re upset by recent political developments, please take the time to read it; if it speaks to you, download it and share it widely all over the internet.  Neither the world nor politics is rational, but individual humans can be. And they owe neither allegiance nor obedience to moral imbeciles who believe fancy words give them ownership rights over other humans.

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Throwback Created Thursday

November 7, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

The dictatorship of the majority is…the most oppressive tyranny of all because it has a huge army of sympathizers and informants with which to enforce its demands.
–  “Guy Fawkes Night”

People love to say, “if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,” but this is completely backwards:  it is the voters who have no right to complain, because by signing on to this devil’s bargain they agree to be bound by it.
“Honored in the Breach”

The rulers [of modern republics]…treat government as a colossal game of hot potato, eternally passing the ball forward in the hopes that it will be in someone else’s hands when the music at last stops as it inevitably must.  –  “Cleansing Fire”

The continuance of life for any given creature requires the regular deaths of countless others.  –  “The Mysteries“

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In the News (#1487)

November 6, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

The government has demonstrated that it cannot and will not be constrained by Section 230, the First Amendment, or even the venerable principle of presumption of innocence.  –  Maggie McNeill

Surplus Women

Decriminalization is only the first step:

Sex worker advocates have expressed their “rage and sadness” after a man who was due to face a double-murder trial for killing two women struck a manslaughter plea deal with Victorian prosecutors. Xiaozheng Lin, who killed sex workers Yuqi Luo…and Hyun Sook Jeon…in late 2022…now faces significantly less jail time [despite intentionally murdering the sex workers in order to rob them, so as to pay off his gambling debts]…Fiona Patten, former Victorian upper house MP, said she believed the decision reflected the stigma faced by sex workers in society…

Mumbo Jumbo 

It’s not surprising that this woman promotes the Nordic Model; it’s about as rooted in reality as her other beliefs about sex work:

…the Scottish government has instructed local authorities to partner with [an anti-sex group named] Azalea, led by a religious anti-porn activist who has stated that sex workers are “possessed by demons”…Ruth Robb…has in the past recommended “carrying out exorcisms on sex workers”…believes yoga is an “occult practice” and [claims] sex work leads to a “lesbian lifestyle”…[she claims] “Most prostitutes have had some exposure to the occult,” and her [Nordic model-based “outreach”] guides [for fellow religious busybodies] offer a checklist to determine if a sex worker is undergoing “demonic possession”.  Supposed symptoms include “flailing limbs” or a “sudden change of voice”…

The Face of Trafficking

The first actual association between “trafficking” and pizza:

The owner of Stash’s Pizza…in Massachusetts, was sentenced on Oct. 25, 2024 for forced labor charges. [Stavros Papantoniadis] forced or attempted to force six victims to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse; threats of violence and serious harm; and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities for deportation…[he] was sentenced…to 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release and…a $35,000 fine…

The Last Shall Be First (#1408) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

The [Odessa, Texas] City Council [has] banned transgender people from using restrooms outside of the sex assigned to them at birth, [despite protests by]…residents…Mayor Javier Joven, who is up for reelection…has said his mission has been to help the city “repent”.  Under the amended ordinance, the city can seek fines of up to $500 and [criminal] trespassing charges…[and] also [encourages nuisance lawsuits for] $10,000 in damages plus the cost of the lawsuit and attorney fees…It [specifically] excludes [male cops who enter bathrooms to harass, rape, or otherwise attack women]…

Dangerous Speech (#1435)

Liz Brown’s articles on sex work are so thorough, it’s just too hard to come up with a pull quote.  So I’ll just point you to her latest on the Backpage persecution, and embed the accompanying video.  Watch it, and go read the article!

Vulture Watching (#1477)

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

Josseli Barnica…[miscarried at] 17 weeks…doctors…should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection…but…[instead] the[y]…told her…they had to wait until there was no heartbeat…[and] it would be a [“]crime[“] to give her an abortion…For 40 hours…her uterus remained exposed to bacteria.  Three days after she delivered, Barnica died of an infection…[because psychopathic politicians threaten] doctors…[with] prosecution, prison time and professional ruin [for doing their jobs]…Barnica’s…death was “preventable,” according to more than a dozen medical experts who…called her case “horrific,” “astounding” and “egregious”…

The Cop Myth (#1481)

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

[An] El Paso [cop named]…Joseph Andrew Shreve, [who is paid to lurk in schools in order to spy on, harass, and intimidate students], was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for…firing at a truck that he [pretend]ed had rear-ended his vehicle on Sept. 18…Shreve…[attempted to escape consequences by belching out the magic formula] “in fear for [my] life”, [but witnesses told] police [otherwise]…

 

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!

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Guy Fawkes Day 2024

November 5, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

Since I’ve already said plenty on this subject, this time I’m just going to leave you with a link to a collection of earlier essays, and remind you that all government is at best a necessary evil rooted in the idea that might makes right, and that the reason you’re so worried about the outcome of today’s popularity contest is that for over 200 years now, Americans have stood by while the executive branch increases its own power, then leaves the newly-expanded powers to anyone their ideological enemies manage to get into the White House.

Posted in Holidays, Philosophy, Tyranny | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Diary #749

November 4, 2024 by Maggie McNeill

Last Thursday was of course my birthday, and we celebrated as we usually do: watching horror movies, in this case a Boris Karloff triple feature, thanks in part to one of my presents.  I also received several Doctor Who DVD sets from another of my generous gentlemen, and both of those gents also gifted me with sums of money which went a long way toward making up my shortfall (as did Dr. Quest).  Another of my gents gave me a Blackmore’s Night CD I’ve wanted for a while, and Chekhov and Yellowbird gave me a pack of “Alice in Wonderland” themed playing cards and a MAD Magazine compilation; it was in the envelope with the Vincent Price design, which was printed by Yellowbird with her fancy art printer because she does clever things like that.  They also gave me the haunted house, which was actually a pop-up card!  And Chekhov made the cake.  All in all, it was a quiet evening at home embellished with the company of friends and gifts from admirers, and at this stage of my life that’s exactly how I like my birthdays.

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