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Posts Tagged ‘A Broker in Pillage’

In the News (#1516)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[I felt like I] had no choice but to be a victim in the FBI’s eyes.
–  Alisha Price

A Broker in Pillage

Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:

Hawaii allows prosecutors to [steal]…any property worth less than $100,000 and [any] cars, planes, and boats…96 percent of cases end without ever reaching a judge.  Property owners can demand their day in civil court, but they must file a hefty bond and pay for their own defense…the median currency forfeiture…is around $1,200—far below the amount needed to pay…defense.  Many property owners do the math and walk away.  Others waive their right to a trial and allow the Department of the Attorney General to adjudicate their cases instead, putting property owners in front of state attorneys working on the same side as the police.  Either way, the process is rigged.  Hawaii allows [cops] to prevail with little more than guesswork.  They do not have to specify when or where a crime occurred, who committed the crime, or how…Speculation and innuendo often suffice…

Worse Than I Thought (#911)

Bad ideas for bad laws just keep coming back no matter how many times they are defeated:

Wisconsin [politicians] reintroduced…a…law [to shake down citizens for an extra]…$5,000 surcharge on convictions for [being caught in a]…prostitut[ion sting] or keeping a[n incall]…Similar legislation has previously [failed]…during the 2019-’20 session…

Droit du Seigneur (#1113)

What did this guy think he was, a cop?

A [Las Vegas] attorney…forced women he represented to perform sexual acts on himself and his friends…Gary Guymon…[has been] charge[d with] sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder…and…intimidating a witness…Guymon [was enabled by the state’s]…prostitution c[harges against two of his victims]…and threatened [them] with incarceration…and…physical…violen[ce to coerce obedience]…When [one victim] attempted to get a restraining order against him, Guymon repeatedly threatened her…and…the[n contacted a known]…murder[er] to discuss [hiring him to kill her]…

Monsters (#1255)

Though most of the items appearing under this heading describe violence against trans women, trans men are also targets of horrific violence:

Five people face murder charges after a transgender man…missing [for weeks] was found dead in a field in [New York]…after enduring months of torture…Sam Nordquist…of Oakdale, Minnesota, arrived in New York state in September and was…last in contact with loved ones in late January…Sam, a transgender ma[n]…met a woman named Precious [Arzuaga] online, who convinced him to visit her in New York.  Sam left Minnesota on September 28, 2024, with a round-trip plane ticket, planning to return within two weeks.  However, he never boarded his return flight and was un[der Arzuaga’s psychological]…control…Police launched a missing person investigation…after receiving a welfare check request from Nordquist’s family.  They d[iscover]ed Nordquist had…”endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse” and “repeated acts of violence and torture” between early December and early February…[Arzuaga and other]s sexually assaulted Nordquist with a table leg and broomsticks, and beat him with sticks, dog toys, ropes and belts until he died. His body…was then [dumped in a field]…the…[other] four…[are] Kyle Sage…Patrick Goodwin…Emily Motyka…[and] Jennifer Quijano…

Imaginary Evils (#1347)

Liz Brown on another company the government is trying to destroy with “sex trafficking” myths despite a lack of “sex trafficking” charges:

…Nicole Daedone…founde[r of] OneTaste…and…Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste’s former head of sales…face a single count of conspiracy to commit forced labor…”between approximately 2004 and 2018.”  Neither woman is charged with actually forcing labor or engaging in other criminal acts.  Their lawyers believe this is the first time the feds have charged forced labor conspiracy without an underlying forced labor charge…prosecutors have…employed dubious theories of criminality, such as “coercive control,” and…have exploited rank sensationalism, as though hoping that throwing in lots of details about kinky sex and free love while suggesting cultish behavior will do where evidence of legal wrongdoing falls short.  Underlying the case is one of the Justice Department’s catchall justifications: stopping sex trafficking and prostitution…the feds clearly intend to imply that this is really a sex trafficking case, even if the charges don’t go that far…

The Last Shall Be First (#1413) 

The time, money, and energy Americans are flushing down the “culture war” toilet is incalculable:

…a[n Iowa] bill…would make it a felony to take a minor to a drag show…This applies whether the performer sings, lip-syncs, dances, reads or “performs for entertainment,” regardless of whether they receive payment…the legislation…[calls for] up to five years in prison and a fine [of up to]…$10,245.  The bill would [also] levy fines of $10,000 per minor against any business that allows a minor to be present at or view a drag show hosted on its premises, and [encourages mob rule lawsuits allowing profiteers to demand]…between $10,000 and $50,000 [from each victim they sue]…

Thought Control (#1509)

Trumpist propaganda dismisses book bans as a “hoax”:

At an elementary school at Fort Campbell, [Kentucky,] home of the 101st Airborne Division, librarians [have been forced to hide]…books that contain references to slavery, the civil rights movement and anything else related to diversity, equity and inclusion…[due to an official] letter “to ensure compliance with executive orders”…Librarians are [order]ed to ensure any such books are “removed from the student section of the [library] and placed in the professional collection”…At Fort Campbell, administrators and librarians are interpreting the [vague order] to apply to…anything that could be perceived to promote one group over another or make one group look bad…[such as] books that mention slavery, the civil rights movement or the treatment of Native Americans…Ironically, some of those history books on civil rights might reference the deployment of the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect Black students during the desegregation of a high school, a pivotal moment in civil rights history…At another DoDEA school in Europe…libraries are removing books that discuss immigration in a positive light…

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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In the News (#1511)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2025| 1 Comment »

To say that this designation…is without scientific or medical merit is an understatement.  –  Julianne McShane

A Broker in Pillage

The government’s lawyers have grown increasingly shameless in inventing bizarre justifications for its crimes against citizens:

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that [steal]ing $50,000 from a small business did not infringe the business’ right to private property because money is not property[, claiming]…(1) the government creates money, so you can’t own it; (2) the government can tax your money, so you don’t own it; and (3) the Constitution allows the government to spend money for the “general welfare”…Chuck Saine, the owner of C.S. Lawn & Landscaping…became a client of the Institute for Justice…when the federal government sought to impose over $50,000 in liability on his business through a “trial” held deep inside the bowls of a federal administrative agency…[where] both the prosecutor and the judge were employed..the DOJ argued that Saine has no right to a real judge and jury because the government was only trying to take his money, not his property…prominently cit[ing] the Legal Tender Cases—where the Supreme Court upheld laws forcing people to accept paper currency, rather than gold and silver, as payment for debts…

Guinea Pigs (#656)

This abomination began as a way for cops to target sex workers:

A powerful [computer] tool can predict with high accuracy the location of photos based on features inside the image itself—such as vegetation, architecture, and the distance between buildings—in seconds, with the company now marketing the tool to [cop shops] and [spook houses].  Called GeoSpy, made by a firm called Graylark Technologies out of Boston, the tool has also been used for months by [trolls]…and…stalk[ers].  The company’s founder has aggressively pushed back against such requests…[from anyone without State permission to destroy people’s lives.  Cops]…with very little necessary training, private…companies, and stalkers could, and in some cases already are, using this technology.  Dedicated open source intelligence (OSINT) professionals can of course do this too, but the training and skillset necessary can take years to build up.  GeoSpy allows essentially any…[sociopath] to do it…

I Spy (#1353)

Americans aren’t going to like what it will take to stop this coup:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave [Elon Musk and his henchmen] access to the federal payment system [last week]…handing [people neither elected nor hired by the American people]…a powerful tool to monitor and…unilaterally restrict disbursement of money approved for specific purposes by Congress…Musk…has recently fixated on Treasury’s payment processes, c[laim]ing the department [should be falsely] rejecting more [authorized] payments as fraudulent or improper…Similar…teams [of Musk henchmen] have begun demanding access to data and systems at other federal agencies, but none of those agencies control the flow of money in the way the Treasury Department does…the system…includes sensitive personal information about the millions of Americans who receive Social Security checks, tax refunds and other payments from the federal government…

Feudalism Redux (#1472)

Texas’ ruling psychopaths wanted every one of these girls saddled with a baby before they even graduated high school:

…the Houston Chronicle…reports that in 2023, at least 100 minors had to leave Texas for abortion care; at least six of the minors were children under 12 years old.  This number…is ninefold from what it was five years ago.  Prior to 2022…between 1,000 and 1,400 Texas minors received abortions in the state annually.  That number fell to zero in 2023…many of the minors’ pregnancies resulted from rape [including] every…pregnancy in the youngest age category…[but] Texas’ abortion ban, which threatens providers with life in prison among other steep penalties, offers no exception for rape…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1489)

Looks like it’s time for veils to come back into fashion:

Kroger…[has formed a] partnership with Microsoft to install facial-recognition technology in stores, which could be used to identify individual customers: When a shopper approaches the shelf, she would see a price calibrated specifically for her.  The next shopper might pay a different amount based on their profile.  Retailers could use shopper data to charge higher prices to those who can afford to pay more, but…stores do not have to disclose who is making pricing decisions or why…in October 2024, Kroger [claimed] it had ended its facial recognition pilot program…

The Vultures Descend (#1500)

Moral imbeciles can always be trusted to abuse any power they’re given:

In January, [psychopath]s in [Indiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina] introduced proposals to make…harming a fertilized egg or fetus punishable under homicide statutes, with no exceptions for women who get abortions…These measures would leave pregnant women who [miscarry or] seek abortions subject to criminal charges such as murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, and attempted manslaughter and open to wrongful death lawsuits brought by [abusive] partners or family members.  They could also seriously imperil care for women experiencing pregnancy complications and have major implications for in vitro fertilization practices…

Feudalism Redux (#1500)

Forced-birth fanatics are trying to extend their crazed jihad outside their own borders, so as to establish ownership over their subjects:

…a New York-based telemedicine provider has been indicted in Louisiana…for supplying the abortion pill to a teenage patient in that state.  The [attack on]…Dr. Margaret “Maggie” Campbell signals a major escalation in legal challenges by [forced-birth] states against telemedicine providers…who are dispensing abortion drugs under shield laws meant to protect them from prosecution…The…case involves a pregnant minor whose mother allegedly purchased abortion medications from Campbell…in April 2024…In addition to Campbell, [the state is targeting]…the mother…[trying to lock her in a cage for] five years…and [rob her] to [the tune of] $50,000…

 

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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In the News (#1505)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We’re going to take every single John, charge them with sex trafficking, and put them in prison for five years?  –  Patrick Noonan

I’m Sure You Feel Safer Now

And doubly sure Mr. Rodriguez does:

Houston [cop] Ricardo Corral [has been found] not legally liable for crashing his p[igmobile] into an…[innocent bystander’s car because] he was in hot pursuit of someone apparently considered a dangerous villain: an adult man who sought to pay a consenting adult woman for sex…[The victim,] Ruben Rodriguez…sued, [because] both he and his passenger suffered injuries for which Corral should be held liable.  [But] the Texas Supreme Court has dismissed the case, saying Corral is protected by [the magic spell of] “official immunity”…Because of this, and because bad driving is part of police chases, he is not legally liable for the accident he caused [because an adult man was] offering to pay a…[sow cosplay]ing as an adult sex worker.  Police put in danger the lives of countless people in order to arrest someone for trying to have consensual but non-state-sanctioned sex…

If Men Were Angels

The main difference between cops and “church leaders” appears to be that the latter aren’t typically armed:

A church leader in…Florida has been arrested…[for] possession of child pornography after…Microsoft [reported it]…being uploaded…by a Bing Image Search user…Frank Gough II…was [raid]ed on Thursday, January 9…and [cops stole] multiple computer storage devices found…to hold more than 100 files of child porn…[some] of…[kids as young as] three..

To Molest and Rape

Just another rapist cop following his bliss:

A [typical and representative Pennsylvania vice cop named]…Jason Krasley…[has been] arrested…[for aggravated] rape and involuntary sexual servitude for crimes [he] committed…between 2011 and 2015…[his accomplice, fellow vice cop] Kevin Weaver…also was charged with the same crimes [but] was rewarded with a paid vacation]…in 2021 [Krasley] went to work for the SafeSport Center, which fired him in November shortly after learning he was charged in a separate case for…stealing $5,500 from a drug bust…The new arrest [demonstrates that]…a [“]robust vetting process[” is anything but that when the subject is a cop.  Safesport]…was established in 2017 to deal with sex-abuse cases in Olympic sports [at all]…level[s, but…since its “]investigation team[” is recruited from cop shops, they predictably cover for each other]…Krasley [also] faces [charges for]…kidnapping…[anal rape] and intimidation of a witness…

See No Evil (#668)

The sick American mind at work again, seeing sex where it isn’t:

Four pieces of art were removed from the walls of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth…after [politicians beshat themselves while vomiting the words “]child pornography[” in chorus with]…The Dallas [Yellow P]ress…the [non-sexual photos] are part of an exhibition called “Diaries of Home”…by Virginia-born photographer Sally Mann…[only] a handful [of the 21 photos] featured her naked children…[they were taken] more than 30 years [ago and have been exhibited]…across the country and around the world…the [current brouhaha was intentionally stirred up by The Yellow P]ress, which is owned by billionaire Monty Bennett, a…Republican mega donor.  The…website…[also] published [disgusting] comments…[from] Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare[, who apparently found the images sexy]…

End Demand (#1165)

Massachusetts Puritans are still trying to destroy men’s lives for daring to want consensual sex with adult women:

A case that came before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week involves a[n entrapment scheme] conducted by Massachusetts state cops in 2021.  The [cops, fantasy role-play]ing as adult sex workers, posted [fraudulent] ads online and arrested people who responded…the[n]…indicted th[em]…on sex trafficking charges…punishable by at least 5 years in prison (without eligibility for probation, parole, or work release) and a possible 20 years, plus a potential fine of up to $25,000.  The five defendants in [Commonwealth v.] Garafalo…pushed back against the charges, filing a motion to dismiss them in 2022.  State Judge Maynard Kirpalani agreed…[saying,] “the woman in the advertisements was a fictitious individual created by law enforcement, and there was…evidence that any of the Defendants knowingly enabled or caused…another person to engage in commercial sexual activity.”  The state appealed [and lost]…so [it] appealed again…

A Broker in Pillage (#1170)

It’s high time courts stopped letting cops get away with literal armed robbery:

…a [Nevada] judge has ruled that [cops] cannot [abuse] a federal program to circumvent state laws designed to protect property owners.  The ruling effectively closes what the Nevada Highway Patrol…argued was a legal loophole, allowing [cops] to s[teal] property…and [give] it [to the feds, who then refund] 80% of [it to the criminal cops]…The case stemmed from the 2021 [robbery] of retired Marine Stephen Lara’s life savings…[because cops claimed] Lara was following a semi-truck too closely…Lara fought for [year]s to reclaim his money…[until] the court [finally]…concluded that Nevada’s civil forfeiture laws are mandatory, leaving no room for federal workarounds…IJ Attorney Brian Morris [said] “This decision is a wake-up call to other states that have allowed police to skirt their laws by pretending that the federal government’s ‘equitable sharing program’ is a legal loophole”…

Virtual Imperialism (#1306)

It’s long past time Beijing’s campaign to police Chinese people in the US was shut down:

Chen Jinping…of New York [City has]…pleaded guilty…to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the [Chinese] government…[by] operating an undeclared [Chinese] police station…in lower Manhattan…[an act which constituted] “a clear affront to American sovereignty”…said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen…

 

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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In the News (#1503)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

You have zero rights.  –  Andrea Amico

Winding Down (#1221)

Politicians are terrified of losing ways to destroy peaceful citizens’ lives:

Last November…Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a pair of medical marijuana initiatives…a [cour]t ruling [has now] rejected [a legal] challenge [from a prohibitionist politician], allowing authorized patients to possess up to five ounces of marijuana…[and] clear[ing] the way for state licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries…Initiative 437…passed by a whopping 42-point margin…[but typical and representative politician] John Kuehn…tried to block the initiatives by [similar legalistic chicanery to that used in South Dakota]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1457)

Pornhub has repeatedly taken the principled stand of refusing to facilitate state spying:

Almost two years ago, Louisiana passed a law that started a [“monkey see, monkey do” parade]…across the entire U.S. South, and has changed the way people there can access adult content.  As of today, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina join the list of 17 states that can’t access some of the most popular porn sites on the internet [without a VPN]…To remain compliant with the law while protecting users’ privacy…Pornhub is currently blocked in Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, [and] South Carolina…Georgia’s age verification bill…is set to go into effect in July…visitors [in the affected states typically] go to sites with worse moderation practices and no requirements on identity verification for uploaders…[but] if someone wanted to visit Pornhub [specifically], they could easily get around any age verification barriers with a VPN, which we consistently see searches for spike when these laws go into effect…

A Broker in Pillage (#1467)

This will continue until there are federal criminal charges for “officials”, both political and corporate, who conspire to rob people this way:

A Nebraska man whose house title was s[tolen by the county] over a modest property tax debt has finally gotten it back, ending a yearslong legal battle…In 2014, Kevin Fair was unable to pay his $588 property tax bill after quitting his job to care for his dying wife, Terry…the Scotts Bluff County government quietly sold that debt to a private investor, Continental Resources, which continued to satisfy the Fairs’ property taxes—until 2018, when the company sent the couple a bill for $5,268…[payable] within 90 days, or lose their house…[and] all of their equity…That was business as usual in Nebraska…one of many states engaging in legalized home equity theft…The U.S. Supreme Court considered the issue in 2023…and…With that ruling in mind, Nebraska’s top court reconsidered its previous decision and ruled that Fair would not have to sacrifice..his title…Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision…some states are still trying to find creative ways to get around…the law…[with] Illinois and DC a[s] the most blatant continuing offenders…

Eavesdropping (#1473)

Apple “unintentionally” pisses on its customers’ legs and tells them it’s raining:

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit [over the fact] that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads.  In the proposed class-action settlement…Apple…[gets to pretend the recording was] “unintentional”…the settlement…lets Apple off the hook pretty cheaply.  If…Apple users had won, Apple could’ve been fined more than $1.5 billion under the Wiretap Act alone…the [eavesdropping was]…initially exposed by The Guardian in 2019…Google faces a similar lawsuit [which]…likely won’t be settled until this fall…

The Cop Myth (#1486)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”, but you don’t have to:

An Oregon…[screw named Nicholas T. Alexander murder]ed his 16-year-old daughter…Larissa [and then shot himself because he was about to be criminally charged with something his boss hogs are now covering up]…

Cops and Robbers (#1499)

The legacy of To Catch a Predator just keeps on hurting people:

11 teens [in Illinois were] arrested for beating two men they had lured using a gay dating app…in two different incidents on the evening of July 8, 2024…and [also] vandaliz[ing] their cars.  Both victims were able to escape and report the attacks to police.  The attacks are…part of a[n ugly internet fa]d where teens use gay dating apps to target adult gay men they [pretend] are attempting to hook up with underage males…

I Spy (#1502)

Is having a shiny new status symbol really worth being spied on like this?

Video footage and other data collected by Tesla helped [cops] quickly piece together how a Cybertruck came to explode outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day…the investigation …highlights how car companies vacuum up reams of data that can…be…[handed] to third parties without drivers’ knowledge [or consent] …“These are panopticons on wheels,” said Albert Fox Cahn…[of] the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project…abusive spouses track…partners’ locations…insurers raise…rates based on [secretly-recorded] driving behavior data…[and cop shops seeking surveillance] video from Tesla cars…have…obtained warrants to [steal] vehicles to secure such footage…

 

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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In the News (#1496)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2024| 1 Comment »

Indiana should stop trying to steal from law-abiding citizens.
–  Henry Cheng

Skin To Skin (#1040)

A giant step backward for disabled Australians, courtesy of puritans:

For many National Disability Insurance Scheme…participants, a[n Australian] government decision means they can no longer access sexual services funding…In July, outgoing Minister for NDIS Bill Shorten…bann[ed] the use of funding for sex work…argu[ing that] sexual services funding was “not a sustainable proposition”, and…”It’s not as if [we care that] people are losing all these rights, but…creating regulations…[and] restricting choice and control…is…what’s reasonable and necessary”…

Legislators Gone Wild (#1271) 

Though not mentioned in the article, this has the spoogy fingerprints of unhinged shyster Jason Guinasso and his cronies at Morality in Media all over it:

A federal judge dismissed a [nuisance] lawsuit against two Las Vegas casino operators that [pretend]ed the companies benefited from the sex trafficking of a minor…an anonymous plaintiff identified as “Tyla D”…[fantasized that Mandalay Bay, the MGM Grand, and The Orleans] casinos essentially turned a blind eye to sex trafficking and [claimed without evidence] that the practice is well-known among employees at the casinos…

Leaving the 20th Century (#1440)

Nearly every article about Belgian decrim is so badly written and so larded with popular myths and prohibitionist nonsense that it’s very difficult to tease the facts out from the ignorance, stupidity, and propaganda.  This article, like most of the others, says nothing about the independent sex work which makes up the majority of the trade and incorrectly implies that every sex worker in Belgium must now be a wage employee, which if true would not be decriminalization.  But instead of hearing about such details from the activists who pushed for these new benefits (including maternity leave, pensions, and personal rights independent sex workers have always had, such as the right to refuse clients), the article instead quotes a prohibitionist so stupid she babbles about “being outside in the freezing weather” when talking about brothels, and so detached from reality she appears to believe other public-facing jobs are 100% free from danger.

A Broker in Pillage (#1465)

Burying government in lawsuits is the only way to slow its depredations:

Indiana prosecutors will return $42,000 in cash they s[tole] from a California small business, several months after the owners filed a class action lawsuit [because] law enforcement is exploiting a major FedEx shipping hub in Indianapolis to s[teal] millions of dollars in cash from innocent owners.  The Institute for Justice…announced…that prosecutors in Marion County…have agreed to return the money to…Henry and Minh Cheng, who [are]…jewelry wholesaler[s]…Police s[tole] the cash from a FedEx package en route to them from a client in Virginia [without even bothering to invent a crime to accuse]…the Chengs…of…[This is a routine practice for] the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office…[even though] the…scheme violates a wide range of constitutional rights, including the Fourth, Eighth, 10th, and 14th Amendments…

The Cop Myth (#1475)

Unsatisfied with merely subjecting people in this country to police violence, the US is now exporting it:

[Wanton] killing is endemic to the extreme brutality of Brazilian police, one of the most violent and militarized police services in the world. The United States government has helped create this crisis.  In 2023, the Military Police in Brazil recorded having killed 6,296 people (approximately 17 people per day)—eight times the U.S. police lethality rate—yet evidence points to the actual number being much higher.  The overwhelming majority of the victims are black, poor, young, male, uneducated, and living in the urban peripheries…nearly a quarter of all violent deaths [in the country are] at the hands of police.  In some cities…that share exceeds 50 percent,..the U.S. [both arms and] shapes Brazil’s hyper-militarized police culture…The U.S. State Department, along with the FBI, has provided various training programs and exercises…[under] both the Trump and Biden administrations…and…[both] the LAPD and the Chicago Police…have…provided riot and protest control training to the Brazilian police, [demonstrating how to meet crowds] with excessive police brutality, including using tear gas and rubber bullets…

To Molest and Rape (#1476)

I must admit to curiosity regarding what all this is about:

[Typical and representative] Kentucky sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines [has been] indicted…[for the murder] of…District Judge Kevin Mullins…on Sept. 19 in an attack caught on surveillance footage…It is still unclear what motivated the [apparently-unbalanced cop and politician] to pull the trigger…the two men had eaten lunch together with a group in the hours before the shooting…When Stines was [arrested], he allegedly told a…[cop], “they’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid”…[judging by remarks made by] Stines’ defense attorney, Jeremy Bartley…he…[plans a “temporary insanity”] defense…


Dangerous Speech (#1494)

Michael Lacey wrote a number of columns before being released on bail because the government doesn’t want to be blamed for his death:

…the morning pill lady…did [not] have the statin pill that has been missing for days.  Two nights [earlier], a guard and a medical tech came to my cell at 10:30 p.m. to give me metoprolol.  Several days before the late night appearance of these angels of mercy, I had collapsed upon the floor and been rushed to Dignity Health Hospital.  There, a doctor took me off the metoprolol, warning me that it contributed to my heart problem…[so] prison staff are making a sincere effort to dose me with metoprolol, which helped trigger the heart attack, but cannot find the prescribed statins which diminish cholesterol, an active agent in unpleasantness…

 

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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In the News (#1494)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Our police have lost control of our streets, and now their bosses have lost control of their minds.  –  Lee Anderson

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

It’s too bad they don’t spend all of their time preying on each other:

A [typical and representative] Portland [Oregon cop named]…Christopher Kenagy…was arrested November 15 for [attempting to fairly negotiate sex with a woman instead of raping her as police procedure demands]…In 2002, Kenagy [murdered] a 29-year-old man who…[had] an air gun…[and] was later awarded a police medal [for the crime]…

I Spy (#923)

Local politicians’ virtue-signaling is powerless against the fascist panopticon:

…a new report from…the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project…details the ways that…“fusion centers” al[low ICE to circumvent]…sanctuary-city law enforcement.  Run by the US Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, fusion centers [were justified to useful idiots] in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks [by vomiting the word “]terrorism[” into their wide-open mouths]…Fusion centers spent $400 million in 2021…and, as STOP researchers point out…have never [been any good against]…terrorism in the US….[but] ICE agents have [exploited them] for years to get everything from photos of [target]s to license plate location data and more…[including] from [cop shops] in [so-called] sanctuary cities…In addition to undermining the entire purpose and premise of sanctuary city laws, STOP researchers point out, such erosion of guardrails around data sharing broadly could easily become a national security issue…And domestically, the free-wheeling environment within fusion centers means that [they are ripe for abuse by cops]…

Choke Point (#1096)

“Operation Choke Point” was indirect; this goes straight for the throat:

…the U.S. House of Representatives [has] passed a bill that…lets [politicians point at] nonprofit groups [they dislike while barfing the magic words “]supporters of terrorism[“]…and [thereby] strip them of their tax-exempt status…The language provides for a 90-day window during which time supposed “terrorist supporting organizations” can appeal the designation, but the burden is on them to [somehow] prove that they’re not guilty…loss of [tax-exempt] status is essentially a death penalty for most non-profit organizations…

A Broker in Pillage (#1384)

It’s rare that government departments stop their own depredations:

The Justice Department has ordered the…DEA…to suspend most searches of passengers at airports and other mass transit hubs after an independent investigation found DEA [goon]s were…[violating the] constitution…[so egregiously, they were drawing too many] lawsuits.  The deputy attorney general directed the DEA on November 12 to halt what are [absurdly called] “consensual encounter” searches at airports…after seeing the draft of a…memorandum that outlined a decade’s worth of “significant concerns” about how the DEA uses paid airline informants and [bogus] criteria to [target] passengers…for [robbery]…

Dangerous Speech (#1479)

Apparently, the government isn’t yet done torturing Spear into madness:

…the Ninth…Circuit…[has] granted journalist Michael Lacey’s release from prison pending the outcome of his appeal in the Backpage case, while denying a similar request from Lacey’s co-defendants Scott Spear and John Brunst.  The court sent the case back to U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa…who quickly ordered Lacey set free on the same $1 million bond that secured his release after his 2018 arrest…The key issue in determining release was whether an appeal raised a substantial issue that could lead to all convictions against a defendant being overturned.  In the case of Lacey…the court agreed that there was…

Censorship Ascendant (#1491)

Cops are now being dispatched to intimidate people for “bad” thoughts:

Police forces have been blasted for investigating “hate crimes” that include calling someone a Rottweiler or being called a “Leonard” over a row about a hedge.  NCHIs are meant to be recorded for incidents “clearly motivated by intentional hostility” and where there is a genuine risk of significant escalation, government guidance says.  But the police have been…wasting “valuable time” on investigating so-called hate crimes such as an “aggressively-administered haircut”…police were…[even sent to intimidate] two schoolgirls who said another student smelled “like fish”…Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip said: “This nonsense undermines confidence in policing”…


Shame, Shame (#1493)

At least they weren’t trying to make porn:

James and Rose, the bizarre [video-image] bots who were recently installed as news broadcasters at local Hawaii paper The Garden Island, have been terminated…after a two-month run…The pair were designed by Caledo, an Israeli firm that turns articles into videos where a [computer announces] the news [via two video images it generates, but programmers]…were never able to figure out how to present the news…in a manner that wasn’t deeply off-putting for viewers.  The [computer announced all news]…in the same distant, matter-of-fact tone of [a] being…incapable of comprehending human emotions.  In one particularly stilted exchange…[the computer] asked [via the “Rose” character], “And how have these free pumpkins impacted the community?” to which [it responded to itself via the] James [character], “The free pumpkins have brought joy to many.”  [It] consistently butchered difficult Hawaiian names and even had [un]surprising struggles with much simpler words…the [imaginary] pair managed to inspire visceral, bipartisan contempt.  Comments under the videos were nearly universally negative…

 

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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In the News (#1467)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Jurisdictions have devised creative ways to comply with the law on its face but not really in practice.  –  Billy Binion

Imaginary Victims (#1254) 

The state’s pretended sympathy for “sex trafficking victims” applies only to imaginary “perfect” ones:

A judge…sentenced a [young] Milwaukee woman charged with killing the man who sex trafficked her as a teenager to 11 years in prison plus five years of extended supervision…Chrystul Kizer will ultimately serve fewer than 10 [more] years in prison…[due to] more than a year and a half of time served…Kizer’s…“affirmative defense”…[as] a trafficking victim..[proved worthless against the prosecutor’s TV crime-show fantasy that a 17-year-old girl] carried out a premeditated killing in order to steal Volar’s BMW, [so]…Kizer [had to settle for a plea bargain that at least allowed her to escape a life sentence]…

Thought Control (#1405)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

…just a week before students were due to return to campus, the administration of New College of Florida emptied the library of the college’s Gender and Diversity Center by [throw]ing those books in a dumpster.  They were joined shortly afterward by books from the main library, most on topics related to religion and LGBT…issues…New College [pretend]ed that by law it couldn’t donate or sell the books, but that’s false…in the past, if…books [were weed]ed, students were notified and [allowed to take]…books…But [this time]…the vast majority were carted off to the landfill…Christopher Rufo, a [crony of]…Ron DeSantis…spearheaded the removal of the program…and…books[, tweeting], “We abolished the gender studies program. Now we’re throwing out the trash”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1414)

This will continue until there are federal criminal charges for “officials”, both political and corporate, who conspire to rob people this way:

A few years back, the [Edmondson Community O]rganization accrued a $2,543 property tax debt on its community center.  So in 2018, [Baltimore] sold that lien for $5,115 to a California-based investor, who then foreclosed on and sold the ECO’s building for $139,500.  In return, the ECO got a check for the difference between its debt and the lien purchase price: $2,572…a new federal lawsuit a[ttacks thi]is…practice…that illegally deprives people of their equity in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Taking Clause…debtors [who] have fallen just hundreds of dollars behind on their taxes…may lose their property and the vast majority of equity tied up in it…That Baltimore’s process robs property owners of huge chunks of equity is not just a regrettable side effect…it’s baked into the nature of the city’s approach…[which] actively seek[s] to keep bids low…the city [even] charges a high-bid premium that punishes investors making offers above a certain threshold…

Schadenfreude (#1425)

Con artists use moral panics to fleece the gullible:

…a Utah-based [con artist who] claimed [she] was dedicated to fighting human trafficking pleaded no contest to multiple felonies…including fraud…and forgery.  Candace Lierd, the founder of Exitus…[actually used] the money for personal expenses, as well as homes, cars and trips…[She] faces…5-15 years in prison for each [of 35] count[s]…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1428)

Politicians can always mine tragedy to justify more evil:

The mailroom supervisor at a federal prison in [California] died [suddenly, and prison bureaucrats are blaming “]mail saturated in an unknown substance[” assumed to be]…fentanyl…[despite the fact] that…touching fentanyl cannot cause an overdose, and the risk of death from accidental exposure is…[nonexistent.  But Marc] Fischer’s death comes at a [handy] time [for] the Bureau of Prisons [to exploit it to divert attention from rampant]…criminal misconduct by staff…[including rape, violence], and [epidemic levels of filth and medical neglect leading to] death…[and to justify its scheme of] photocopying mail coming into prisons instead of delivering the original parcels…[thus further isolating them while pretending the mistreatment is actually] an attempt to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics [even though it is well-known that drugs in prisons are smuggled in by screws and overdoses actually increase when mail and books from outside are banned]…

Dangerous Speech (#1441)

Government lawyers will do or say anything to ensure Lacey dies in a filthy cage:

Not content with the suicide last year of his longtime business partner and co-defendant Jim Larkin, prosecutors seek to consign famed journalist and editor Michael Lacey and his two co-defendants to a staggering 20 years in prison each, a likely…death [sentence] given that all three…are in their 70s.  In an Aug. 19 sentencing memo…prosecutors smeared Lacey with crimes that he and the others are not charged with and could never be charged with: sex trafficking, child sex trafficking and an array of murders…Government attorneys are also asking that Lacey…be [locked in a cage before his appeals are exhausted, fearing he might die before that happens]…Backpage…’s right to publish adult-themed ads was upheld on numerous occasions by a series of federal and state court rulings…but…the government…[want]s harsh sentences…to “deter” websites from publishing [legal and Constitutionally-protected] content the government [dislikes]…

To Molest and Rape (#1466)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [typical and representative West Virginia cop] has been sentenced…to…a m[ere] 10 years behind bars…[Chester] Adkins [agreed to a plea bargain rather than face proportionate sentencing for repeatedly molest]ing a…10 year…old [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!

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In the News (#1466)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2024| 1 Comment »

We’re doing it from the back door.  –  Russell Vought

A Broker in Pillage

There are many ways for governments to steal things that don’t belong to them:

The Fourth Amendment’s protection…extends to the length of a seizure…ruled…the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia…the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 11th circuits…have [instead] held that…[cops who steal property] can retain [it] indefinitely…effectively stripping people of their property rights merely because they were arrested…Given that the D.C. court finds itself in the minority…the case may be primed for the Supreme Court if the [swineherds] choose…to appeal…The plaintiffs each had their property s[tolen] by D.C…[cops] during a Black Lives Matter protest…on August 13, 2020…Though the protesters did not face any charges and were…quickly released…the plaintiffs had to wait over 14 months to get their property back…[and] were [thus] forced to replace their phones and lost access to the important information on the originals…police have been [steal]ing phones [solely] to [extrajudicially] punish protestors…

See No Evil (#731)

Anyone who thinks this is “justice” is part of the problem:

A few years ago, Roseberline Turenne, an 18-year-old aide at a Maryland day care center, used her cellphone to take photographs showing “the naked genitals and pubic areas” of eight little girls.  Seven…were lying on changing tables, while the eighth was standing in a bathroom.  Turenne later claimed she was documenting preexisting diaper rashes, lest she be blamed for allowing them to develop while the girls were in her care.  Turenne was fired after the pictures were discovered because…the day care center’s policies…prohibited staff members from photographing children.  She also was charged with eight counts each of child sexual abuse, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography…a jury convicted her on all 24 counts, resulting in a 126-year prison sentence…[and] the Maryland Supreme Court upheld Turenne’s convictions…this…vividly illustrates how laws related to child pornography can generate penalties that make little sense…she was not accused of assaulting the girls.  Yet…[she] will have to serve at least…32 years—before she is eligible for parole…someone convicted of first-degree rape…could end up serving less time than Turenne faces for…taking pictures…

Where Are the Protests? (#928)

Compare with the “nail parlor trafficking” and “car wash trafficking” myths:

[Oregon bureaucrats are attempting to drum up panic over] a new enterprise they say is operating outside of city, county and state regulations: hot dog carts and stands [competing with the overpriced hot dogs sold inside]…event venues and bars…the [bureaucrats absurdly claim]…the…stands harbor something more sinister than just unregulated frankfurters: human trafficking.  “The vendors are unlicensed and selling food and alcohol, and appear to have ties to trafficking and gangs,” [bloviated bureaucrat] Stacy Borke…the city and county are planning a coordinated crackdown on the pushcarts this weekend, with [cops on hand to brutalize the migrants trying to make a living]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1247)

The front of a wedge must by its nature be thinner than the rest:

…in a hidden-camera video…recorded by…British…[activists in July, wannabe chief censor Russell] Vought…talks about why [his gang] have been pushing age verification laws…”We’d have a national ban on pornography if we could…we would have…the porn companies being investigated for all manner of human rights abuses…[so] we came up with an idea…to make it so that the porn companies bear [newly-invented “]liability[“] for…underage use…We’ve got a number of states that are passing this and then…the porn company says ‘We’re not going to do business in your state‘—which, of course, is entirely what we were after”…Vought was previously an official in the Trump administration…is probably best known as one of the architects of Project 2025…and…is “likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration“…”Eighty percent of my time is working on the plans of what’s necessary to take control of [federal] bureaucracies,” Vought said…Project 2025…say[s] that porn is “manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology”…[so their] porn ban wouldn’t simply target videos and imagery depicting nudity or sex but a wide swath of content related to gender and sexuality…

The Cop Myth (#1461)

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

A San Jose [California cop named Timothy Hackney was rewarded with a paid vacation after being arrested] on…felony domestic violence charges [for a year-long pattern of beating, abusing, and terroriz]ing his now-pregnant girlfriend…Hackney [has repeat]edly slapped the victim’s phone out of her hand when she [tried to] call…police [during his attacks]…picked…her [up] to prevent her from leaving…[and] covered her mouth and nose to stop her from screaming…

The Cop Myth (#1463)

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

A…[Florida screw nam]ed Cory Faircloth [was arrested for attacking]…his neighbor…with a deadly weapon a[fter breaking into the man’s house]…Sheriff Chad Chronister [vomited out a lot of lies and asinine platitudes while refusing to provide any more than vague details about the assault]…

To Molest and Rape (#1464)

Can you imagine any non-cop getting such a light little love tap for forcible rape?

A [typical and representative New York cop named Shawn Jordan has been]…sentenced…to [a mere] 10 weekends in jail and 10 years of probation [for forcible rape of] a 13-year-old girl…in 2022…[while still at large in] a separate case for…exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl…The judge [claimed]…the sentencing conditions were necessary to spare the [victim] from having to testify in court…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1465)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Just because [a surveillance experiment] happens at the border doesn’t mean that that’s where it’s going to stay.  –  Petra Molnar

If Men Were Angels

Apparently this preacher wasn’t the molester, but is covering for him:

A [North Carolina] pastor [named Kenny Parker] is facing charges [because] he failed to report…a string of sexual assault[s of legal] minors that spanned…several years…Parker is also the chief administrator of the church’s school…

Creepy Coppers

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

A[n Illinois cop named]…William Griswold…[has been arrested] for [possession and distribution of] child pornography…and…was immediately placed on unpaid leave…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1235)

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

…DHS…plans to collect and analyze photos of the faces of migrant children at the border in a bid to improve facial recognition technology…This includes children “down to the infant”…Facial recognition…has traditionally not been applied to children, largely because training data sets of real children’s faces…consist of either low-quality images drawn from the internet or small sample sizes with little diversity…[due to] the significant [ethical issues] regarding privacy and consent when it comes to minors…[but] DHS [doesn’t give a damn about the consent of migrants and]…339,234 children arrived at the US-Mexico border in 2022…if the face prints of even 1% of those children had been [scanned], the resulting data set would dwarf nearly all existing data sets of real children’s faces…and [all obtained]…from a population that has little recourse…Petra Molnar, author of The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of AI [said]…“if…you are faced with the impossible choice of either: get into a country if you give us your biometrics, or you don’t…That completely vitiates informed consent”…This question becomes even more challenging when it comes to children…

A Broker in Pillage (#1289)

Burying government in lawsuits is the only way to slow its depredations:

A new class action lawsuit [was filed because] Indiana [cop shops steal]…millions of dollars a year in cash from FedEx packages without eve[n] in[vent]ing…a…crime [to accuse the owners of].  Henry and Minh Cheng, who run a small California jewelry wholesaler business, [explain] in [the]…suit…that [cops stole] over $42,000 in cash from a FedEx package en route to them from a client in Virginia…[but] they’re not the only victims…Indiana [cops] “exploit Indianapolis’s location at the Crossroads of America to [steal] millions of dollars in currency being shipped from one side of the nation to the other.”  The Chengs’ countersuit against the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the State of Indiana was filed on their behalf by the Institute for Justice…Marion County [alone] has s[tolen] $2.5 million…from at least 130 FedEx parcels in transit from one non-Indiana state to another over the past two years…

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

Sometimes I just can’t force myself to take cops’ sophomoric pomposity seriously:

[Michigan] Sheriff Chris Swanson [dressed up in a sheet with two holes cut in it and jumped out, yelling “BOO!” at a typical and representative Florida cop named]…Jeffrey Morningstar…Swanson [bragged about how spooky he and his cronies were, pretending to be a (presumably deceased)]…trafficker selling a 15-year-old…Morningstar…want[ed] to…have sex with [for a thrift-store price]…“W[oooooooo, aren’t you scared?”]…Swanson [demanded, claiming] that [he plans to keep running around, startling]…anyone…he [can]…find…

Thou Shalt Not (#1353)

Only a prohibitionist could imagine that examining 10 people constitutes a “study”:

Consuming a drink with erythritol — an artificial sweetener used to add bulk to stevia and monk fruit [sweeteners] and to sweeten low-carb keto products — more than doubled the risk of blood clotting in 10 healthy people…Previous research has linked erythritol to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and death…Consuming a drink with an equal amount of glucose, or sugar, did not affect blood platelet activity in another group of 10 people…

Dangerous Speech (#1368)

Much more of this, please:

A [typical and representative] Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice…Gideon Cody…[led] the raid [in retaliation for] the Marion County Record [investigating the fact that he was hired despite resigning in disgrace from his previous job due to incompetence and shitty behavior]…Publisher Eric Meyer’s mother, who co-owned the newspaper and lived with him, died the next day of a heart attack…[due] the stress of [armed pigs invading her home].  Meyer said…authorities appear to be making Cody the “fall guy” for the raid when numerous officials were involved…The Record…and [some of its] staffers have filed four federal lawsuits against Cody and [his gang]…includ[ing] a wrongful death claim [for] total damages exceed[ing] $10 million.  The city’s current annual budget is about $9.5 million…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1463)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I would rather be dead than ever go back.  –  victim of ALA

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1136)

Laws are for the peasantry, not the rulers:

A [typical and representative] North Dakota [politician] who was one of the most powerful members of the Legislature [will] plead guilty…in federal court to traveling to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.  Ray Holmberg…was indicted in October 2023…and…will…have to register as a sex offender…

A Broker in Pillage (#1276)

South Carolina is one of the most flagrant abusers of this unconstitutional practice:

In Spartanburg County, South Carolina, on Interstate 85, [cop]s stop vehicles for…any infraction, no matter how minor…lead[ing] to a roadside interrogation and warrantless search…the [sophomorically-entitled “Operation Rolling Thunder” has been committed] every year since 2006, yet no one has ever done a systematic audit…It took a lawsuit to finally pry the records loose…Over 72 percent of vehicle searches during [the scheme] in 2022 produced nothing illegal.  Officers routinely treated innocent drivers like criminals…[and] currency as contraband.  The records describe no single case in which officers found a large amount of cash and did not seize it…[they] pressured property owners to sign roadside abandonment forms, giving up claims to their cash on the spot…Officers focused on vehicles with out-of-state plates, rental cars, and commercial buses.  Over 83 percent of the [victims]…lived out of state…and 75 percent…were black…[the armed-robber cops] do not create incident reports for every search.  They only document their “wins”…[so there are] no records for 102 of the 144 searches that occurred during [the scheme] in 2022…This leaves government watchdogs in the dark—by design.  They cannot inspect public records that do not exist.  Victims cannot cite them in litigation…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1387)

The entire “troubled teen” industry needs to be sued out of existence:

There is a highly lucrative, multibillion-dollar market of residential “behaviour modification programmes”…in the US, where an estimated 50,000 children [and teenagers] are [sent] by their parents…against their will every year.  All operate in closely guarded secrecy.  There are more than a hundred in Utah alone, but some are based offshore in remote, low-regulation, low-cost foreign locations such as Samoa, Costa Rica, Mexico and Caribbean islands…[they are condemned to these camps] for bunking off school, wearing inappropriate clothes, swearing, [or using] cigarettes or alcohol…a sizeable number [are]…adopted by parents who had then changed their minds…many [we]re had been diagnosed [by quacks] with oppositional defiant disorder, whose symptoms…[are] indistinguishable from typical adolescent behaviour…boys aged 14-18 confined in [Atlantis Leadership Academy, or ALA, raided by Jamaican officials in February]…had been starved, waterboarded and brutally beaten with broom handles, rakes, belts and metal water bottles…sleep-deprived and relentlessly insulted…bleach and salt [were] rubbed in their wounds; others…were [brutally assaulted,] threatened with knives and kept in solitary confinement for months on end…

Panopticon (#1429)

“Prostitution” is such a handy excuse for surveillance:

Moral panic about sex work leads to law enforcement practices that reach far beyond anyone engaged in or with erotic labor.  The latest example comes from San Diego…where cops are putting up a creepy surveillance tower under the auspice of stopping…prostitution…[by] record[ing] video of anyone who happens to be in the area…even if you think that punishing prostitution customers (or sex workers themselves) is a swell idea, it’s hard to see how the surveillance tower makes any sense…the tower is very visible and local media have been publicizing it.  Smart sex workers and their customers will simply move to another, less visible area…It seems clear that th[is]…is…just a way for authorities to look like they’re doing something about sex trafficking while further normalizing the idea of conducting broad, warrantless surveillance of everyone…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1432)

Phrenology for tech worshipers:

Michal Kosinski…has made…plausible[-sounding] claims that machine-learning algorithms…can discern deeply private things about us — our intelligence, our sexual preferences, our political beliefs — using little more than…photographs of our faces…Science has been trying to divine truths about personality and behavior from various tests and images for centuries…Phrenologists used calipers to measure bumps on people’s heads, hoping to diagnose mental incapacities or moral deficiencies…none of these “sciences” worked…[and] every time someone claimed they’d found a way to measure people’s inner traits based on their exterior features, it quickly turned into a tool to discriminate…Yet today…facial recognition continue[s] to be…abused…in everything from marketing and job hiring to college admissions and law enforcement…

Opting Out (#1438)

Politicians refuse to recognize that prohibition of speech, ie censorship, is as doomed to failure as other kinds of prohibition:

As riots rock…Britain, some [politicians] are trying to blame social media…[rather than the] government policy…[causing] the country’s civil unrest…they…want social media companies to ban [any] user accounts [politicians point at, calling this indirect censorship]…”their responsibilities”…Ofcom, the British…[censorship bureau], has already [harass]ed social media companies…about online speech, in…the name of “safety”…Making businesses liable for speech that is not their own is fraught with [wholly]…intended consequences…[by] strongly incentiviz[ing] those businesses to remove any content that could invite legal scrutiny…allowing [government] control over online discourse without the messy optics of jailing citizens for wrongthink…

The Cop Myth (#1446)

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

An…Atlanta [cop was]…arrested [for murdering] a man…outside of a…bar during a birthday party…Melvin Potter…[shot] Devon Anderson…to [death after he] tried to de-escalate [an] argument…[between the drunk] Potter…[and another partygoer.  Potter]…was [previously] arrested on DUI charges in 2021…but [as is typical for drunk-driving cops escaped without consequences]…

 

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