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Diary #721

Last year, I definitely took the shutters down too early because I unwisely let a warm week convince me it was time.  So this year, I decided I would do it no earlier than Easter and no later than May Eve, essentially sometime in April; that seems right because I put them back on when the rains start in October.  But the weather has been wackier than usual this year, so it wasn’t until this past Thursday that I decided it was time.  We’re still getting some chilly nights, but the days are sunny and reasonably warm, and we’re past the really heavy rains now.  It’s true that we’re definitely too far north for a screen porch like the ones that were ubiquitous where I grew up, but the atrium is a nice compromise: closed in enough for the cold months, but with a nice breeze and plenty of light in the few warm ones.  And as you can see, Rocky agrees with me.

Links #720

It’s the victim’s fault cops murdered him.  –  Dan Thompson (paraphrase)

Of all the Allman Brothers songs on which he played, this is probably the best showcase of the late Dickey Betts’ talents.  The links above the video were all provided by IncarcerNation, except for “RIP” (Dan Savage and Asawin Suebsaeng) and “abduct” (Billy Binion).

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!

To prohibit vice is not ordinarily considered within the police power of the state.  –  Justice Jackson Temple, 1887

The Camel’s Nose (#584)

There is nothing as hard to kill as a bad law:

Twelve years ago, internet users spoke up with one voice to reject a law that would build censorship into the internet at a fundamental level.  This week, the Motion Picture Association…announced that it hoped we’d all forgotten how dangerous this idea was…What the MPA wants is the power to block entire websites…using the same tools as repressive regimes like China and Russia.  To it, instances of possible copyright infringement should be played like a trump card to shut off our access to entire websites…It is not simply calling for the ability to take down instances of infringement—a power they already have, without even having to ask a judge—but for the keys to the internet…The bills known as SOPA/PIPA would have created a new, rapid path for…major studios to use court orders against sites they accuse of infringing copyright.  Internet service providers…receiving one of those orders would have to block all of their customers from accessing the identified websites.  The orders would also apply to domain name registries…registrars…and…other companies and organizations that make up the internet’s basic infrastructure…all of those would have to build new infrastructure dedicated to site-blocking, inviting over-blocking and all kinds of abuse…In other words, the right to choose what websites you visit would be taken away from you and given to giant media companies and ISPs.  And the very shape of the internet would have to be changed to allow it…

The Peril

As I have said many times, all prohibition is the same, yet people often fail to understand just how much the same it is.  In this article, Reason‘s Jacob Sullum traces the origin of the US drug war back to exactly the same root as the US War on Whores: the deeply racist anti-Chinese moral panic of the 1870s.  Unless you’re already intimately familiar with the topic, you will definitely want to read this one in its entirety.

Creepy Coppers

Seems like a significant fraction of child porn is spread by cops:

[A Phoenix, Arizona cop named] Alaa Robert Bartley…[regularly engaged in ageplay with] a Michigan woman [named] Sarah Elizabeth Chadwick…via…WhatsApp…[Chadwick] transmitted child pornography to Bartley on several occasions, and…[when she] was arrested in November 2023…and…federally charged with…child pornography…[the] FBI [rooted in her]…phone[, thus leading them to] Bartley…On April 4, co[ps tossed]…Bartley’s person, residence, personal vehicles, and…phone…[and found] over 49,000 images and 700 videos…of [child porn]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1332) 

Missouri seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:

…a St. Louis judge has allowed Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s investigation into…gender-affirming care services to proceed.  Last year, Planned Parenthood…sued Bailey over his [illegal] demand that they turn over patient documents disclosing private information on minors to whom the clinic provided gender-affirming care…Judge Michael Stelzer denied Bailey’s [illegal] Demand for these [HIPAA-protected] patient documents, but has allowed his investigation into the clinic’s care to continue…Bailey treated the decision as a political win [despite its stopping his attempt to criminalize and harass the parents of trans youth]…

Texas’ attorney general is conducting a similar theatrical “investigation”.

You Were Warned (#1377)

“Monkey see, monkey do” politicians never bother to observe the consequences of laws they ape:

Google has temporarily blocked links from local news outlets in California from appearing in search results in response to the advancement of [yet another arse-backward “link tax”] bill that would require [internet] companies to pay publications for [sending them free traffic]…Google will also…cut…California publications from its…News Showcase…[Facebook has] said it would be forced to [take similar measures if politicians foolishly pass the law]…The California bill is the latest [mind-bogglingly stupid attempt] to [break the internet]…Facebook…and…Google…have [been forced to take] similar [action due to similar idiotic] legislation in Australia and Canada…Similar legislation is being considered in Illinois [despite the obvious fact that the outcome will be exactly the same]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #8)

Give sexually-aggressive thugs power over teens; what could possibly go wrong?

A…Wisconsin [cop assigned to spy on, harass, and intimidate students] has been arrested on a felony sexual assault charge for [molesting] a female student…after [her] parents reported…his…behavior…Kewaskum Police Chief Thomas Bishop immediately [started bloviating hot air about isolated incidents and “high moral standards”, yet is hiding the identity of the porcine molester]…

UPDATE: Molester cop Steven Rosales’ name and picture were revealed after he was also caught fucking his dog.

To Molest and Rape (#1429)

This will continue for as long as cops are allowed to “police” themselves:

David Gregson was around 12 years old…when…[New York cop] Roger L. Coon Jr…[began to subject him to] four years of sexual abuse…Coon — who died in 2003 at age 73 — molested him at his house, at a camp he furnished behind his property, and “dozens” of times in his [pigmobile] during a period stretching from around 1977 to 1981…Gregson is [now] suing the state of New York…under the 2019 Child Victims Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for…child sexual abuse.  Although Coon…sexually abus[ed] numerous boys over a period of decades, and [was] convicted twice…[for it], the state is fighting Gregson’s lawsuit…[cops covered for Coon until] September 1982, after a [different] teenager [reported] Coon…[who was allowed] to retire two weeks later…without facing any discipline or criminal consequences…Two years after his retirement, Coon pleaded guilty…to molesting three boys between the ages of 10 and 12 years old…he…was sentenced to three years’ probation…but [insisted] he [ha]dn’t…done anything wrong [because] there was “never any force” used in his sexual abuse…In 2001, Coon was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation for sexually abusing a 9-year-old boy…

 

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!

Dangerous Spam

When I tell people, “never call the cops for any reason whatsoever”, many of them fail to realize that calling 911 = calling the cops.  You cannot call 911 and tell them you want an EMT or ambulance or whatever and not cops; regardless of what you say, they will send cops first.  Some places only send cops, and any actual assistance will only be sent if the cops ask for it.  These systems treat cops like Spam in the famous Monty Python sketch: a form of pork that you get with every order whether you like it or not.  Naturally, the 911 programs most people supported (because they were effectively sold to voters) did not use the slogan, “Cops instead of actual help, regardless of your problem!”  But that’s what they actually are, and in most places the only alternative to risking deranged thugs bursting into your home and assaulting, possibly even murdering, you and your loved ones is to handle the situation yourself, because if you try to call the hospital they’ll either redirect you to 911 or call themselves, thus launching the violent thugs.  I have no solution for this; it’s one of numerous bad situations our society has marched lemming-like into by indulging its own childish trust in sociopaths who promise to take care of everything for you so you don’t have to worry about it, all for the low, low price of power over you.

One of the most terrifying [tools of state control works] by redefining behaviors once considered “vices”, “crimes” or “moral turpitude” into “public health issues”, allowing religious fanatics to don the white coats of doctors and disguise their Puritanism as something akin to epidemiology.  –  “Morality Lessons

Th[is badge-licking reporter tried] to make an act of barbaric violence sound like a visit to a thrift store.  –  “Bullies With Badges (#730)

Thinking for yourself and trusting your own experiences rather than what “authorities” tell you leads to a much fuller, more rewarding life.  –  “Guilt-free

In general, the more an escort charges, the less sex she has and the more talking she does.  –  “Talkers

The procurement of health insurance is not a mandatory religious ritual.  –  Judge Leanna K. Weissmann

The Punitive Mindset (#838) 

We need a class-action suit for booksellers affected by these evil policies:

A Georgia jail is refusing all books shipped to inmates, except those that come from major retailers.  One local bookshop is suing…[over the] unconstitutional…policy[, which is excused by having cops barf out the magic word]…”contraband”…prison officials [all over the US pretend] that inmates receive shipments of paper that has been soaked in drugs…[when in reality, it is well-known that drugs in prisons are smuggled in by screws]…Jeffrey Singer, a practicing physician and senior fellow at the Cato Institute [politely expressed the absurdity of the “paper soaked in drugs” fantasy by saying]…”I don’t know if any of these things have ever occurred, or whether law enforcement is simply imagining such scenarios”…

False Witness (#1105)

Good riddance to toxic rubbish:

Bennett Braun, a Chicago psychiatrist whose diagnoses of repressed memories involving horrific abuse by devil worshipers helped to fuel what became known as the “Satanic panic” of the 1980s and ’90s, died on March 20 in Lauderhill, Fla…He was 83…Braun…claimed that he could help patients uncover memories of childhood trauma…which…were responsible for the splintering of a person’s self into many distinct personalities.  He…became…frequently quoted…in the news media…and…publicized his [bizarre fantasies]…of…patients discover[ing] memories of being tortured by satanic cults…key[ing] into a growing national panic…[that] began in 1980 with the book Michelle Remembers…and spiked following allegations of abuse at day care centers in California and North Carolina…[tabloid] TV…[heavily] promoted such claims…[but] the psychiatric profession bore [most of the] responsibility…[because fabulist]s like…Braun [gave] it a gloss of authority…[rather than urging proper investigations of literally-impossible claims]…

Cops and Robbers (#1181) 

Only a few years ago, media outlets were lionizing wackos like these:

Members of a[n Arizona-based] militia group called Veterans On Patrol have spent recent weeks conducting “operations” in Spokane — searching the streets near homeless shelters looking for people they think are victims or perpetrators of human trafficking.  The group has been distributing fliers to homeless people with a phone number and instructions to call Veterans On Patrol instead of the police if they suspect trafficking is occurring…Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer, the leader of the group, arrived in Washington earlier this year and has been attempting to establish a base of operations in the Inland Northwest…Arthur…is not a veteran.  The group started [in 2015] with the stated goal of veteran suicide prevention, but later evolved to focus on immigration and…[fantasies of “]preventing child trafficking[“]…In 2018, Arthur discovered an abandoned homeless camp in Tucson, Arizona, that he [imagin]ed was part of a massive sex trafficking network…Arthur says he isn’t a QAnon adherent, but he does espouse related conspiracies involving chemtrails and Satanic pedophiles who supposedly harvest adrenochrome from children’s blood…In Arizona, Veterans On Patrol members have harassed aid workers, chased people through the desert and physically detained migrants…Arthur has a warrant out in Arizona after skipping out on his sentencing for destroying humanitarian water stations set up for migrants

Vulture Watching

Psychopathy is typical in politicians, but this is complete derangement:

Arizona’s…Supreme Court [has] revived a near-total ban of abortion, invoking a 1864 law that forbids the procedure except to save a mother’s life and punishes providers with prison time…It superseded the previous law, which mandated the right to end a pregnancy by the 15-week mark, resetting policy to the pre-Roe v. Wade era and adding Arizona to the roster of 16 other states where abortion is virtually outlawed…the…ban could force Arizona’s licensed abortion clinics to ramp down dramatically or shutter…The legal upheaval landed as reproductive rights advocates push for a November ballot measure that would protect access to abortion in the Arizona state constitution.  Campaigners have already gathered more than enough signatures to qualify…

The Vultures Descend (#1308)

Now this is an interesting development:

The U.S. Supreme Court 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby allowed religious, anti-abortion employers to refuse to cover contraception in their employee health insurance.  But an extraordinary April 4 appellate court decision in Indiana turned the…decision into a winning argument for abortion rights…The…case was brought in 2022 by five anonymous plaintiffs of…the group Jewish Hoosiers for Choice….[who] argued that their religious doctrine teaches that a fetus is part of a woman’s body, not an independent being with its own rights.  The abortion ban, then, violates their religious freedom to decide whether to have an abortion.  This argument, which undergirds similar religious freedom lawsuits across the country, including in Kentucky, Missouri and Florida, is a profound pushback against the Christian right’s attempts to assert their position, that life begins at conception and that a fetus is a person, as the only genuine religious belief…Judge Leanna K. Weissmann [wrote that]…If the owners of Hobby Lobby could engage in religious exercise by refusing to provide coverage for contraceptives they considered abortifacients…then “it stands to reason that a pregnant person can engage in a religious exercise by pursuing an abortion”…

Stalkers in Blue (#1408)

This cannot be reformed:

Dana Rachlin, a prominent police reform advocate, once collaborated so closely with local precincts in North Brooklyn that she often worked out of the office of NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey…Rachlin…[foolishly] grew [to trust him] so much…that when…she was raped in October 2017, one of the first people she called was Maddrey, who urged her to file a police report, despite her reservations…Now Rachlin…[has filed] a federal lawsuit [because] police officials weaponized [supposedly-]confidential details of that sexual assault to retaliate against her for her vocal criticism of violent policing…in mid-2020 NYPD officials cut off her access…and told precinct leaders not to work with her.  Soon afterward…[details of] her…sexual assault was circulated to community advocates, mixed in with misinformation… and the [lie] that she fabricated the attack and falsely accused a Black man of rape. Those same claims later surfaced in two anonymous letters sent to…politicians and others… Rachlin [said] “This isn’t just about me. It’s about…a department that reacts to even the slightest criticism with ruthless tactics designed to instill fear and cause compliance”…

Thought Control (#1415)

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

[Two Alabama bills] comprise a package…aimed at [redefin]ing…obscenity [in a manner that violates the First Amendment] while also removing free speech protections for school and public libraries…[thus] allowing [librarians] to be criminally prosecuted…[if a politician points at books or other library] materials [while barfing out the magic formula] “harmful to minors”…librarians…would have to guess…which…materials…[any of hundreds of censorious politicians might target, which is impossible, so] librarians will likely favor caution and simply not place [any book which has ever been “challenged” by any wannabe censor anywhere in the country] into circulation instead of dealing with the potential liability that comes from making those materials accessible…

 

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!

Diary #720

On Sunday, I opened up the nursery so the pullets could come out, and plugged their heat lamp into the timer so it only comes on at night. As usual, one of the adult hens barged in there pretty quickly to eat their food (as though they had none of their own), but while the pullets usually cower from the hen, this time one of them actually pecked her! I was not entirely surprised, because that same one has pecked at my hand nearly every day when I reach in to grab their food dispenser for cleaning and refilling. And in that same vein, within ten minutes they were venturing out, which is very unusual; typically, they huddle in the nursery for days despite the open door, only venturing out timidly after a week or so. And while I’m glad to see that they’re bolder now than most chickens, that means I’ll have to watch them next year to be sure they don’t aggressively pick on the new chicks as their sapphire gem predecessors did.

To Molest and Rape

The sleazy “confidential informant” system enables corruption and abuse:

A [Texas woman has filed a] federal lawsuit…against a [typical and representative cop named] Terry Fountain [describes how he used outstanding]…warrants and charges [against her to demand she submit to repeated rape and other abuses, starting in late 2017, under the guise of using her as a stool pigeon]…in addition to the [serial rape], Fountain demanded that she move…in order to be closer to him [so as to facilitate more frequent rape.  He also demanded]…sexually explicit images…[and] phone…sex…[and demanded she] buy drugs for him…he also coerced other acquaintances of hers into [submitting to rape]…by January 2023…[she finally] realized that Fountain had no intention of helping her and that…the warrants he [used against] her about were no longer active…

The Cop Myth (#1295)

Cop fails upward into a career in politics:

[Politician] Jon Stone’s New Hampshire [cop] career ended when he threatened to kill fellow [cops] in a shooting spree, and murder his chief after raping the chief’s wife and children, all while he was already under scrutiny for his inappropriate relationship with a teen girl…Stone [has managed to get himself]…elected [twice by]…fighting to keep [internal] reports secret for years.  Last month, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that Stone could not block their release in response to [a] reporter’s 2020 right-to-know request, ending years of legal challenges…The documents portray Stone in 2006 as an out-of-control and unstable man who…had a reputation for being aggressive on the job and had already been disciplined for assaulting a mentally disabled man during an arrest…But the investigation into his inappropriate relationship with a…High School girl, started when she was 15, brought out a violent and deranged side of Stone that [caused fellow cop Jesse Vezina]…to [say,] “If he gets fired, people are afraid he will go postal…people think he is crazy and wonder why he is a police officer”…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1301)

They really can’t stop themselves:

A [typical and representative Florida cop] who was arrested and fired in 2022 for [interacting with another cop fantasy role-playing as a 14-year-old girl], is now facing charges in a second, new case…Jarrod Eldridge [appears to have fallen for another cop fantasy role-playing as a teenager online]…on Feb. 15…

No Escape

They often try to make it sound like the prisoners consented:

A [typical and representative North Dakota screw named] Anthony Aadland…faces felony charges for…sexually assaulting two female [prisoner]s…including [rape]s in areas without cameras such as the attorney’s room…

Creepy Coppers (#1410)

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

A [typical and representative Michigan cop] is now facing felony charges for…videotaping [his stepdaughter* naked]…Joseph Fornier…[used hidden spy cameras] for…years…[but] was fired [for] refusing to comply with an internal investigation…[rather than for the voyeurism, which was reported to cops by] his wife [when she] filed a personal protection order against him in February…

*I’m guessing about the identity of his victim, because the story absurdly refers to her only as “a family member”, but his wife reacted by leaving him.  The vague “in a sexual way” appears to mean “nude”.

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #8)

Well, this is different:

A [sow named Selena Perez, who was assigned to spy on, harass, and intimidate students] at a California middle school was arrested for [molesting a female] minor…under 14 years old…

 

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!

Links #719

As an AI language model, I cannot give legal advice on the afterlife.  –  ChatGPT

There is only one song to honor the passing of another New Orleans great, and this is it.  The links above the video were provided by The Onion, Mike Masnick, Emma Camp, Jesse Walker, IncarcerNation, Phoenix Calida, and Jesse Walker again, 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!