I have three degrees, and two jobs where they don’t matter…[becau]se of…the restrictions of parole and the sex offender registry. I earned my degrees in prison. I was arrested at 19 while doing survival sex work, and prosecutors used my trans identity and the fact that I was using drugs…to escalate the charges. I spent 13 years in…[Georgia prisons] before my release in 2023. The irony is that now, I think back on sex work as something that represents financial stability…the very last thing I want is to…risk…being sent back. Sex work would certainly be a violation of my parole. But so would not being able to keep up with the hundreds of dollars per month it costs to be on the registry, on top of the usual expenses like rent and medical debt…So there’s a Catch-22. In order to not break the law, I need income that’s sufficiently above minimum wage and that doesn’t involve background checks or 1,000-foot distance restrictions. But the options that fit that description are not legal…
Mandatory genomic sequencing of all newborns…sounds like something out of a dystopian sci-fi story. But it could become a reality in New Jersey, where [bureaucrat]s are considering adding [it] to the state’s mandatory newborn testing regime…”What we’re talking about is information…that could allow the state…to…monitor and surveil them and their families for the rest of their lives,” [said] Dillon Reisman…[of] ACLU…New Jersey…parents are…told that the testing is mandatory. They are not told that…the state holds on to these blood samples for 23 years, putting no legal restrictions on how they can be used…[by cops or bureaucrats]. Some states werefound to be selling the blood samples to researchers, or turning [it] over to the Pentagon‘s DNA registry. Now, New Jersey parents are seeking a court order requiring the state to return or destroy the blood samples…or to get informed consent from parents to hold on to it…
The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV…for more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution [while]…HIV-positive [a felony, but] Tennessee [actually made it even worse] in 2010 by reclassifying prostitution with HIV as a “violent sexual offense” with a lifetime registration as a sex offender — even if protection is used. At least 83 people are believed to be on Tennessee’s sex offender registry solely because of these laws, with most living in the Memphis area, where [disguised pigs] and p[igs in suits] most often [employed] the statute [to ruin lives]…the Tennessee attorney general’s office…said in an email statement it would “continue to defend Tennessee’s prohibition on aggravated prostitution”…
Employees of the largest [contractor jailing] unaccompanied migrant [minors] in the U.S. repeatedly sexually abused and harassed [minors] in their care for at least eight years…[committ]ing a s[adly-typical] litany of offenses…as the company amassed billions of dollars in government contracts. Southwest Key Programs Inc. employees, including supervisors, raped, [molest]ed or solicited sex and nude images of [adolescents and even some] children beginning in 2015 and p[roba]bly earlier…At least two employees have been indicted on criminal charges…since 2020…Southwest Key’s vast network of [concentration camps] across three states…have room for more than 6,300 [people]…
In March of 2021, I published a 15 part series detailing the history of deputy gangs inside of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department…[this] attracted the attention of dozens of department personnel, and triggered direct surveillance by the sheriff’s department…in October of 2021…I requested electronic records of any communications made by LASD that contained my name. The department denied my initial request, which prompted me to sue…after nearly two years, LASD opted to settle the matter and turn over the records. More than 50 members of the sheriff’s department sent more than 800 pages of emails about me in the course of just 7 months. Since [my] reporting…I have received numerous personal threats of death and rape. Other threats have been directed at my family and loved ones…via direct message on social media, email, and anonymous texts. I have been pulled over…[and] have seen p[igmobi]les stationed outside of my house…
A [typical and representative Alabama cop] was fired and arrested after being [caught molesting kids. His name is] Joshua Dane Wells…
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 greatest defect of any democracy lies in the tendency of a certain segment of the population to cooperate with the agents of oppression. – “Bootlickers”
The existence of a movie featuring “lurid tall tales” about sex work does no more to prove them than the existence of The Wizard of Oz proves the existence of flying monkeys and talking scarecrows.
– “A Tale That Grew in the Telling (#329)”
The common yokel considers my job degrading, but I’m not the one getting paid to lie about violent thugs so the public stays asleep while a vast police state is constructed around them. – “Lipstick on a Pig“
An ex-[cop] who [pretend]s to save children from human traffickers has[, like all rescue industry profiteers,] faked stories to raise money for his charity…Adam Whittington, founder of Project Rescue Children (PRC) [lies that] he has helped more than 700 children in countries including Uganda, Kenya and The Gambia. But…these children have never been trafficked, and…[most of the] funds raised – sometimes with the help of celebrity supporters – have [gone into his own pockets rather than to] children in need…Whittington…has misled donors in a variety of ways – including by raising funds for a baby supposedly rescued from people traffickers, who has actually been with her mother all along. The mother, who lives in poverty, says she and her daughter have never received any money from PRC…a [“]rescue centre[“]…fundraising drive [ended with]…less than half of the money…sent to PRC’s Ugandan partner organisation, Make a Child Smile…the rest…[was] “eaten by Adam Whittington and PRC”…
A[n Ohio preacher named]…Michael Ronald Goble…[has been arrested and charged with molesting a child under] 13…in November, 2021…more charges are likely forthcoming…and [cops believe there are] more victims…not yet…identified…
Aylo began blocking access to Pornhub [for] Nebraska [residents without VPNs, due to]…the state’s new age verification law…As it had already done in Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Virginia and Utah, Aylo replaced its landing page for Nebraska IP addresses with an SFW video in which Cherie DeVille explains the reasons for the content restriction…
…”The Federal Communications Commission [has] voted to end exorbitant phone and video call rates that have burdened incarcerated people and their families for decades…The new call rates will be $0.06 per minute for prisons and large jails, $0.07 for medium jails, $0.09 for small jails, and $0.12 for very small jails, and as low as $0.11/minute for video calls—with a requirement that per-minute rates be offered…the cost of a 15-minute phone call will drop to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and, in small jails, to $1.35 from $12.10″…In January 2023, President Joe Biden signed…a…law…clarif[ying] the FCC’s authority to regulate the rates of in-state calls from prisons…
…in response to a new Idaho law that took effect July 1, the [Donnelly Public] Library is transitioning to adults-only…library staff won’t let kids in unless a parent is present with them at all times, a parent signs paperwork allowing their child to enter only for programming, or a parent waives their [“]rights[“] under the new law and lets their child check out materials without a parent present…House Bill 710…requires Idaho public and school libraries to move materials [politicians have pointed at while belching “]harmful to children[“], or face [nuisance] lawsuits…Libraries across Idaho are reworking policies to comply with the…[deliberately-]vague [law,]…but many are waiting to see if there’d be a formal challenge to books in their collections…small and rural libraries…[many of them] one-room…do…not have enough room to separate the material…[and so can only protect themselves from harassment by barring legal minors from] coming into the library…So where will the children go if they can’t go inside the building? In the two teepees outside where there are no books…
…a [Mississippi cop named]…Rodney Jernigan was arrested on July 15 [for statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. His bosses used the occasion to swagger, brag, and belch out copaganda]…
A [human being locked in a cage at the filthy] Rikers Island d[ungeon] has died after jail staff “repeatedly ignored” her requests for medical help, culminating in a medical episode severe enough to land her in a hospital…Charizma Jones…died [July 14th while]…awaiting prosecution [for defending herself from a violent screw]…in April…prosecutors consented to her release…without bail on July 10, after she was hospitalized, [but by then it was too late]…Jones…[was] the fourth [person to die in New York City dungeons]…in 2024…Nine people died [there] in 2023, 19 in 2022 and 16 in 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!
It always makes me smile when I walk down to the mailbox and find an Amazon box addressed to me when I know I haven’t ordered anything, because that means somebody has been thinking of me! Last week I received three such packages as 14th-anniversary gifts: A Study in Emerald from Geekdownrange, Devoted to Death from Steve Kempson, and a Blackmore’s Night album from Antonio Lorusso; at least, I think that’s who sent what, because I kept the slips but they don’t say the name of the item with the name of the sender! And surprise surprise, Amazon was no help in sorting it out. So if I got y’all wrong, please let me know! But it doesn’t really matter, because I appreciate all my presents and never put anything on my wishlist that I don’t actually want!
Since I’ve featured a number of Batman-related videos lately (both here and in my “Video of the Day” feature on Twitter & BlueSky), I figured I’d share this one, performed by Burt Ward but written and produced by none other than Frank Zappa. The links above it were provided by IncarcerNation (x2); Radley Balko; Phoenix Calida; Franklin Harris and Gustavo Turner; and IncarcerNation again, 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!
Brian Steven Smith…[of] South Africa…[has] been [sentenced to 226 years in prison for the]…murder[s of two Alaska native sex workers,] Kathleen Henry in 2019 and Veronica Abouchuk, either in 2018 or 2019…[Smith made] graphic videos…[of] Henry’s [murder, then drove around with her]…body in the back of his pickup for two days before dumping her body on a rural road south of Anchorage…The video never shows [his] face but his distinctive [South African] accent is heard…narrat[ing] as if to an audience and urges Henry to die as she’s repeatedly beaten and strangled in an Anchorage hotel room…Valerie Casler…who provided the images to police…stole…Smith’s [phone from the console of his] pickup when they were on…a [professional] date…[and] found…[the] video on it…[then] transferred [it] to an SD card she [gave to police]…During an eight-hour police interrogation…Smith confessed to police that he also killed Abouchuk…and shot her in the head before dumping her body north of Anchorage…police…later found a skull with a bullet wound there…
A West Palm Beach [Florida cop named]…James Bush…was arrested on July 12 [for trying to rape a woman]…after a man called [911] to evict his girlfriend. When Bush arrived, he told the man to leave…the[n immediately] asked her if she wanted to “go upstairs and have some fun.” He then grabbed her arm…[and dragged] her to a bedroom, [where he] tried to…oral[ly rape her, then switched tactics to]…offer…her “$2,000 to get your own place”…[she] eventually [got him to leave, but he returned with another cop]…hours later…[when] the…boyfriend called police again…The woman [then] told the [other cop] that Bush had sexually assaulted her and that she had evidence on her phone. “Bush grabbed her phone during a struggle and deleted video, which was retrieved during the subsequent investigation”…
…a sting operation to nab sexual predators…was run…in May by Millersville [Tennessee] Assistant Police Chief Shawn Taylor and a colorful cast of [fellow psychopaths] he assembled…Taylor did not involve other law enforcement agencies with more experience in such operations because of his un[til-recently popular] conspiracy theories that…state officials are involved in child sex trafficking…Members of a private group posed online as minors — despite Millersville police being told by prosecutors that the sting would be legal only if [pigs] were the ones doing the [entrapment]…Taylor [claimed] investigators would be using [illegal] “pre-signed search warrants”…he…has voiced support for all sorts of bizarre…child sex trafficking [myths which were popular with reporters as long as they only demonized sex workers instead]…of…powerful…Democrats…[and] imagines that Millersville, a community of about 6,000 people just north of Nashville, is at the center of Tennessee’s drug and human trafficking operations…Two of the men were introduced to the group as “prayer warriors,” who are part of a group that believes…human trafficking i[nvolves]…”demons”…and former Navy SEAL Craig “Sawman” Sawyer…[who in 2018] took a Tucson TV crew to a camp that he [fantasiz]ed might have been used for child sex trafficking…
A [Michigan church volunteer named]…Jonathan Russell is facing 10 charges [of child molestation]…Russell [targeted] children he…was [given authority over as] a volunteer youth organizer for the [First Baptist] church [of Bridgeport]. In March…he…was arraigned in Crawford County on three similar charges…[and] previously was convicted in North Carolina in 2016 on charges that he spanked [children] without their parents’ permission…
The call and text message records of tens of millions of AT&T cellphone customers in mid-to-late 2022 were exposed in a massive data breach…the telecom company…blamed [on] an “illegal download”…the compromised data includes the telephone numbers of “nearly all” of its cellular customers and the customers of wireless providers that use its network between May 1, 2022 and October 31, 2022….[and] every number AT&T customers called or texted – including customers of other wireless networks – the number of times they interacted and the call duration…customer names were not exposed…however…publicly available tools can [easily] link names with specific phone numbers…AT&T…learned [about the breach] on April 19 [of this year, but]…the US Department of Justice…de[mand]ed in May and in June that [the company] delay…public disclosure…
Any information which exists can be misused by corporations or demanded by cops; the only way to stop that privacy invasion is not to collect the information in the first place.
J.D. Vance…Trump’s pick for vice presidential nominee, pressured federal regulators last June to kill a privacy rule that prevents police from accessing the medical records of people seeking reproductive services…The rule was designed to prevent [cops] in anti-abortion states from using private records to hunt down and prosecute people who cross state lines in search of abortion services. If the Trump-Vance ticket wins this year’s presidential election, the new administration could rescind the rule…
…NGL…seems like a fairly standard social media offering, allowing users to post questions or prompts and receive anonymous responses. Now, the Federal Trade Commission…has ordered [it] to ban users under age 18…[claiming that it] “unfairly” marketed the app to minors…[while barfing out the magic censorship-justifying buzzwords] “cyberbullying and harassment”…To settle the lawsuit, the agency is not only making NGL pay $5 million, it’s also requiring the app to ban those under age 18 from using it…[which] is effectively a backdoor way to accomplish what Congress has been failing to mandate legislatively and what courts have been rejecting when state [politician]s do it…the FTC does not seem to be requiring NGL to check IDs…[yet,] but…it doesn’t seem like a long shot from here to either a) punishing the company further if kids lie about their ages, thereby necessitating the use of ID checks or other age verification schemes by NGL, and/or b) requiring more invasive age verification schemes in future orders to social media companies…
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!
My fantasy is that some benevolent god sends four simultaneous lightning strikes to take out Trump, Biden, Harris, and whatever deranged authoritarian Trump chooses as his sidekick, while cameras are rolling so their worshipers can't spin their sudden departures as chance.
Today in the "nothing new under the sun" department, "England in 1819" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. If you don't understand the references as you should, crack open a damned book rather than getting your history "lessons" from ideologues on the internet. pic.twitter.com/arNVbIBHgg
It's easy to tell sheltered ninnies who have never been in actual danger (from the State, individuals, or both) by their jaw-droppingly stupid opinions about self-defense.
Authoritarians love to pretend THEIR scheme to control your body and/or property is morally different from the "other side's" scheme to control your body and/or property because "wings". And most Americans are stupid and/or delusional enough to swallow that.
This is a mechanism. It cannot be "bullied". This is like saying a nail is being "assaulted" when it is hit with a hammer, or protesting the existence of junkyards. https://t.co/4L6HqVJfNy
If you thought Catholic priests giving sexual advice even though they're supposed to be celibate was ridiculous, you're gonna LOVE machines giving you advice on health. https://t.co/Cis7V5n7XS
The fact that they thought people would be stupid enough to ignore her deeply authoritarian, deeply pro-carceral record and terrible personality because of her "New and Improved" branding speaks volumes about the party's low opinion of the voters whose support they depend on.
…at least we no longer need endure endless parades of taped-mouth morons standing on lawns or telling people to wave origami figures in strange women's faces. It's like the Drug War: still being used as excuse for State violence, but no more fried egg commercials.
Some men simply can’t handle the truth that women are in control of the sexual sphere, so they invent myths and fantasies with which to convince themselves that it’s actually the other way around.
– “Head Games”
If the primary purpose of a movie is to entertain, it makes sense that a film can be “so bad it’s good”; some movies are just so incredibly, amazingly, jaw-droppingly bad that we can’t help finding them funny.
– “Pull the String”
The claim that sex workers “sell our bodies” is…based on the notion that…a woman has nothing of value to offer except her sexuality, [therefore] if she “sells” that she has “sold herself” and there is nothing left. – “More Harm Than Good“
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