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Posts Tagged ‘A Moral Cancer’

In the News (#1427)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It was like a fun game to them.  –  “Jeny”

The Prudish Giant (#1011)

Why does anyone still trust Facebook?

In 2016, Facebook launched a secret project designed to intercept and decrypt the network traffic between people using Snapchat’s app and its servers. The goal was to understand users’ behavior and help Facebook compete with Snapchat…and later Amazon and YouTube…Given these apps’ use of encryption, Facebook needed to develop special technology to get around it…Facebook’s engineers solution was to use Onavo, a VPN-like service that Facebook acquired in 2013…which when activated had the advantage of reading all of the device’s network traffic before it got encrypted and sent over the internet…

Censorship Ascendant

Safetyism has become the go-to excuse of censors pretending they aren’t:

The FBI spends “every day, all day long” interrogating people over their Facebook posts.  At least, that’s what agents told Stillwater, Oklahoma, resident Rolla Abdeljawad when they showed up at her house to [harass] her about her social media activity…[after] they [were] given “screenshots” of her posts by Facebook…Abdeljawad told…th[em] she didn’t want to talk and…later confirmed with local police that the [spooks] really were FBI agents…”we’re not here to arrest you or anything,” [said the spook pictured here]…”We do this every day, all day long. It’s just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any [bad thoughts].”  [Abdeljawad’s lawyer Hassan] Shibly says…it was the first time he had heard of Facebook…preemptively reporting [citizen]s to [State] enforce[rs]…

No Escape (#1333)

This will never stop while violent thugs have total power over the lives of women:

…719 civil lawsuits…were recently filed against the City of New York and the NYC Department of C[ramming Human Beings into Filthy Cages] under the Adult Survivors Act, a state law that opened a one-year window for sexual assault survivors to file claims outside of the statute of limitations…nearly 60% of the 1,256 lawsuits filed…during the…period describe assaults against people held on Rikers Island…the…abuse…span[ned] decades…from 1976 to…[the present and consists of attacks by screws ranging from] grop[ing]…to [violent anal,] oral…and…v[aginal] rape….[while] jail officials…[tacitly approved of] the ongoing attacks…The plaintiffs seek more than $14.7 billion in damages, which could pose a staggering financial burden for the city[‘s tax cattle]…

Panopticon (#1346)

Old-fashioned Stasi-type surveillance isn’t dead yet:

…a [uniparty-backed] bill…would strengthen the role of the Department of Homeland Security in school [surveilla]nce, [to] turn America’s schools into another adjunct of the national security apparatus, a veritable school for spies…The Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center, or NTAC, was created in 1998 to examine threats to the president and security at complex public gatherings.  Its focus was expanded a year later to the psychology of school shootings…Today, NTAC…brags that…it has [indoctrinat]ed hundreds of thousands of school administrators and teachers….thanks in part to NTAC p[ropaganda preten]ding…[that] “see something, say something”…is…[magically] differen[t from]…snitching…ratting…or…tattling…[because] students…[are] “potential terrorists”…

A Moral Cancer (#1369)

Crypto-moralists want people to believe they could live forever by simply eliminating every single pleasurable activity from their lives:

Women who drink more than one glass of wine a day are 45 per cent more likely to develop heart disease…[crypto-moral]ists studied the drinking habits of 430,000 adults in California, who had an average age of 44, and none of whom were teetotal.  Their habits were followed for four years, and during which 3,108 developed heart disease…The more people drank, the more likely they were to be diagnosed with heart disease, particularly in women…

Torture Chamber (#1389)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

Brooklyn’s troubled federal jail has been serving maggot-infested beans to [prisoners]…defense lawyers….[have also] detailed…partially cooked [chicken]…spoiled, rotting meat…milk [well past]…the expiration date…and…cockroaches and bug parts [in] the food…in January…Manhattan Federal Court Judge Jesse Furman issued a 19-page ruling laying out a litany of problems, including how the jail lost power for eight days in 2019 during a polar vortex.  “It has gotten to the point that it is routine for judges…to give reduced sentences to defendants based on the conditions of confinement in the MDC,” Furman wrote. “Prosecutors no longer even put up a fight, let alone dispute that the state of affairs is unacceptable”…His ruling, that the jail’s dreadful conditions constituted “extraordinary reasons” to not lock up a 70-year-old convicted drug dealer as he awaited sentencing, has since been cited by several defense lawyers seeking leniency or release for their clients…

To Molest and Rape (#1425)

Another example of the cop/religion molestation nexus:

A…Jacksonville [Florida cop]…was arrested…[for seducing a] 17-year-old [girl]…Josue’ Garriga III….[met the girl] at church…he told her to download WhatsApp so they could communicate [surreptitiously]…he…sen[t her dick pics]…and ask[ed] her for [nude] photos….the[n he later molested her]…in his [pigmobile]…it is believed there could be other victims.  Garriga…[murder]ed 22-year-old Jamee Johnson during a [pretextual] traffic stop…in [2019 and]…the city settled the [resulting lawsuit] for $200,000…

 

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 (#1404)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2024| 1 Comment »

They just threw him out like trash.  –  Gretchen Hankins

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

A [typical and representative] pastor of an independent Baptist church in…Warsaw [Virginia] is facing 30 felony charges [for molesting and even raping children]…at the church between 1981 and 1997.  Albert Benjamin Wharton…has [worked for]…seven churches in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida over the past four decades[, so there may be many more victims]…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#667)

It’s never called “trafficking” when the government or a crony corporation does it:

Universal Health Services…is the nation’s largest psychiatric hospital chain, with 185 inpatient…facilities and dozens of acute care hospitals…More than 21,000 inpatient psychiatric beds—or one in six across the country—are operated by UHS, which brought in $13.4 billion last year.  In recent years, the company has been the subject of several high-profile lawsuits and investigations…UHS facilities admitted patients who didn’t need to be there…failed to provide adequate treatment…billed insurance for unnecessary services…improperly used physical and chemical restraints and isolation….[and] used suicidal ideation to “justify almost any admission”…thousands of foster kids have been [condemn]ed in recent years to UHS’s psychiatric facilities, where they typically stay for weeks or months, sometimes leaving far worse off than when they arrived…a symbiotic relationship has developed between…[“]child welfare[“] agencies, which have too many kids in custody and not enough places to put them, and [fascist] companies like UHS…Kids often come back to facilities again and again, acting out more with each admission…To UHS and its competitors…foster kids are “a gold mine”…

Believe Them

Mississippi demonstrates exactly what it thinks of its subjects:

Some 215 bodies were found in a pauper’s cemetery… just outside of Jackson, [Mississippi]…intended for people who have no known family, but…relatives…were never contacted by officials.  Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the families of Marrio Moore, Dexter Wade, and Jonathan Hankins, who were all buried in the cemetery without the knowledge of their families…the deceased are put in body bags and placed into…graves [so shallow that]..the stench [of decomposition is]…drawing buzzards…Wade was [not a prisoner; he was run over by a cop driving a pigmobile, then his]…identification [was ignored and his]…family was not notified…[so they] thought he was missing until…recently…

The Mob Rules (#1322)

Partisan fanatics want you to believe this is fundamentally different from very similar laws in Arkansas and Utah, because “red and blue”:

…the supposed “harm” of social media to teen mental health just isn’t supported by the data.  But it seems it’s never enough to stop savior-complex folk…[like] Jim Steyer, who has more money and ignorance than sense, trying to quietly push a California ballot initiative that would adjust the California constitution in an unconstitutional (by the US Constitution) manner to falsely claim that social media is deliberately harmful to kids, and that people should be able to sue social media for a million dollars any time any kid anywhere is “harmed” in a manner…that the…company should have magically stopped.  He submitted the proposal…right before the holidays when most people weren’t paying attention, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta has a comment period open that ends on January 17th…Bonta’s office has supported a variety of problematic “protect the children online!” laws, including the Age Appropriate Design Code that a district court has already noted was pretty clearly unconstitutional…

Winding Down (#1342)

Politicians are terrified that the state is losing ways to destroy peaceful citizens’ lives:

California’s…governor…Gavin Newsom…[vetoed] bills that would have decriminalized four naturally occurring psychedelics and authorized Amsterdam-style cannabis cafés.  Senate Bill 58…was similar to a groundbreaking ballot initiative that Colorado voters approved in 2022, [and] would have eliminated criminal penalties for adults 21 or older who use psilocybin, psilocyn, mescaline, or dimethyltryptamine…But [Newsom claims]…it would be [“]reckless[“] to stop threatening psychedelic users with arrest and jail…Assembly Bill 374…would have allowed dispensaries, with local approval, to serve marijuana along with noncannabis food and beverages, which is currently illegal.  It also would have explicitly allowed live music…[but] Newsom [is] “concerned this bill could undermine California’s long-standing” [war on]…smoking…

A Moral Cancer (#1388)

SCOTUS says it’s OK for politicians to specifically target black people with prohibitionist laws:

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a California law that bans the sale of flavored cigarettes, leaving the state law in place…The ban’s challengers…told the justices that the law “has shut the doors to one of the Nation’s largest markets for flavored tobacco products and thereby banned a product (menthol cigarettes) that has been lawfully sold for nearly a century,” [and which are used by 77-88% of black American smokers]…

Vulture Watching (#1394)

SCOTUS also says it’s OK if deranged Idaho politicians let women die and ruin doctors’ careers if they try to prevent that:

The Supreme Court [has] allowed Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, while a legal fight continues.  The justices said they would hear arguments in April and [if any women die before that it’s just tough luck]…the Biden administration has argued that hospitals that receive Medicare funds are required by federal law to provide emergency care, potentially including abortion, no matter if there’s a state law banning abortion…

 

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 (#1396)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

You would think…the government would want to encourage a substance that helps people to quit smoking rather than discourage its use.
–  Kyle Kutasi

The Face of Trafficking

Note that cases of actual coercion don’t look much like the myths:

Three [Missouri] men kept a student from India in a locked [basement] and forced him to work, do chores and endure severe beatings over the course of several months…Venkatesh R. Sattaru was charged with human trafficking, kidnapping and other charges after…forc[ing] a 20-year-old college student who moved to the U.S. last year to work for Sattaru’s company and sleep…on an unfinished floor without access to food, water or a bathroom…Sravanvarma Penumetcha and Nikhil V. Penmatsa…helped Sattaru further the abuse by issuing beatings and lashings with electrical wire, PVC pipe, metal rods, wooden boards, sticks and [plastic] hoses…a neighbor…called [the cops after]…the…student…ran out of the house…trembling uncontrollably, heavily scarred and suffering from bruises and swelling all over his body… Sattaru is a wealthy, powerful man in India with political…connections…and [cop friends, so the victim] feared that he would be killed if he identified Sattaru…

Dutch Threat (#1005)

Though cloaked in “helping” language, this is actually just a way for the Dutch government to establish more effective financial surveillance over sex workers:

Dutch banks want to make it easier for sex workers to open a business bank account…Sex workers often encounter problems with business bank accounts because they work a lot with cash, making it difficult for b[usybodie]s to know where the money comes from.  It is also difficult for banks to determine the sector’s typical income and expenditures, which complicates [pry]ing [into their financial affairs]…the banks [have] set up a new Sector Standard, which specifies that banks can use sex workers’ tax returns to determine where their income comes from and what is typical for them…

Creepy Coppers

Cops of all types love their child porn:

A [typical and representative Vermont screw named]…Benjamin Mallery…pleaded guilty to [a minor charge]…under a plea deal [to avoid a series of child porn charges.  Unlike non-cops, Mallery will skate] with…a…[mere] 60 days — with 10 years of probation…and…[condemnation] to [the]…sex offender [registry]…

Typical and representative cop Blake Gruny of St. Johns County Florida was arrested for child porn in early October, and typical and representative cop Jordan Collins of Elgin, Illinois was charged for the same thing on December 6; both stories consist mainly of their bosses strutting around, vomiting bombastic rhetoric about how these typical and representative predators are neither typical nor representative.

You Were Warned (#1341)

Politicians no longer bother to consider whether their new diktats are Constitutional:

A TikTok ban in Montana is likely unconstitutional, a federal judge [has] ruled…Judge Donald Molloy…issued a temporary halt to enforcing the ban.  It was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024, and [politicians with dollar signs in their eyes imagined they would collect]…$10,000 penalties per day for app stores or TikTok “each time that a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok”…

A Moral Cancer (#1374)

A dangerous new front in the Drug War claims its first victim:

A[n Australian] man has been charged with possessing liquid nicotine despite Health Minister Mark Butler [ly]ing [that] smokers will not be personally targeted [by cops due to] vape cr[iminalizatio]n.  Trinite Williams…pleaded not guilty…after [cops found it while rooting through] his car on October 8 [in order to find something to charge him with]…Mr Williams’ lawyer Kyle Kutasi [said] his client was “extremely frustrated” because he [was foolish enough to actually] believe…a [politician’s lies]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1386)

Cops are sexual predators who often specifically target traumatized women:

A Surrey [BC] RCMP [cop] abused his power to search police databases for information on a troubled 19-year-old sex worker…then appeared at [her] home under false pretences to [try to maneuver her into] sex…Peter Leckie knew the young woman had recently experienced the murder of her father, a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and entry into the sex trade…[this is not the first time] Leckie…specifically targeted [vulnerable] women…[yet he was let off with] six months of house arrest and…a year of probation…

The Widening Gyre (#1388)

Poor “sex traffickers” have apparently been forced to give up their ambitious schemes to abduct women and children from big-box stores such as Target and Ikea, and instead to pathetically lurking in strip-mall parking lots.  While they could once afford to lure them with roses, honey, or $100 bills, they’ve now been reduced to attempting to trick them with empty candy wrappers.  And while one of these dopey Twitter posts once attracted thousands of “likes”, I’ve never seen as much mockery as this one drew.  So scary!

 

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 (#1388)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2023| 2 Comments »

Technology doesn’t make better people.  –  Vera, from Aqkol, Kazakhstan

Creepy Coppers

Police departments attract predatory garbage even to positions that don’t involve directly inflicting violence on citizens:  “[Typical and representative Tennessee cop employee] John Herring was arrested and charged…[with] possession of child pornography…”

Pyrrhic Victory (#1291)

All too often, evil arrives cloaked in the mantle of expediency:

…Smart Aqkol [is] a pilot study in digitized urban infrastructure for Kazakhstan…[using] Chinese surveillance [technology to establish a]…Chinese-style public surveillance system…The government…[sells the system with the usual rhetoric about] public safety…But the hardware came through…China’s…Silk Road initiative…and…uses surveillance cameras made by Chinese firms Dahua and Hikvision, which in China have been used — and touted, even — for their ability to track “suspicious” people and groups.  Both companies are sanctioned by the U.S. due to their involvement in surveilling and aiding in the repression of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang…Kazakhstan…is home to a large Uyghur diaspora of more than 300,000 people, many of whom have deep ties to Xinjiang…Hikvision announced in December 2022 that its software is used by Chinese police to set up “alarms” that are triggered when cameras detect “unlawful gatherings” in public…its cameras can detect ethnic minorities based on their unique facial features…

I Spy (#1340)

It’s good to see sane people speaking up about this:

…the European Union…have bent themselves towards breaking up “monopolistic” (i.e., huge and non-European) services on the Internet, in the name of benefitting…user choice…this effort is at least equally motivated by a desire to delay adoption of end-to-end secure messaging solutions that lack…means to passively “backdoor” them…the latest draft of Section 45 of the EU’s eIDAS proposal contains phenomenally dangerous propositions that will clearly undermine the security and privacy of millions, even billions (because Europeans also speak with non-Europeans) of people.  They are a replay of the widely derided ChatControl proposal…and they too deserve to be roundly and loudly rejected by the privacy-loving European public …“Browsers” are not somehow conspiring to exclude European innovation.  It’s simply safer and clearer and more transparent to have just one agreed, well-oiled, open, global, standard website trust mechanism, especially where it’s proposed to be regionally usurped by something that is so clearly undermining trust and enabling surveillance…

Choke Point (#1354) 

It always starts with a politically-unpopular group like sex workers or gun owners, but never stops there:

The [pretexts] vary, but the scene that plays out is almost always the same.  Bank customers get a letter…saying their institution is closing all of their checking and savings accounts.  Their debit and credit cards are shuttered, too.  The explanation, if there is one, usually lacks any useful detail.  Or…instead, they discover that their accounts no longer work while they’re at the grocery store, rental car counter or A.T.M.  When they call their bank, frantic, representatives show concern at first…then comes the telltale pause and shift in tone.  “Per your account agreement, we can close your account for any reason at any time,” the script often goes…This isn’t your standard boot for people who have bounced too many checks.  Instead, a vast security apparatus has kicked into gear, starting with [bureaucrats] in Washington and [imposed on] bank security managers…The [pretext used] is to crack down on fraud, terrorism, [and invented political “crimes” such as sex work and “]money laundering[“…]

The Widening Gyre (#1368)

Apparently, as “sex trafficking” hysteria has shrink in popularity, imaginary “sex traffickers” have been forced to give up their ambitious schemes to abduct women and children from big-box stores such as Target and Ikea, and instead to stalk them at gas stations.  And while they could once afford to lure them with roses, honey, or $100 bills, or to mark cars with various objects such as zip ties or litter, they’ve now been reduced to rather pathetically begging for help.  I’m a bit disappointed that Sara didn’t describe her fantasy stalker’s vehicle as a windowless white van, though.

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1370)

The way local media parrots copaganda in the face of clear evidence of its foolishness is utterly pathetic:

A…Sonoma County [California cop had a panic attack]…after a c[opsuck]er reported finding what [he imagined was] fentanyl.  The [suggestion was strong enough for the weak-minded cop to have psychosomatic symptoms, feeling]…lightheaded and dizzy, and experienc[ing] rapid tunnel vision, [none of which are] symptoms of…fentanyl…a[nother cop]…quickly administered naloxone, which [calmed the crybaby cop due to the placebo effect]…

A Moral Cancer (#1379)

Anyone whose brain isn’t rotted by prohibitionism could’ve predicted this:

The Biden administration’s flavored cigarettes and cigars ban, currently under final review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will soon make it illegal to buy or sell menthol and flavored tobacco products in the United States…its [claimed] intention [is] to prevent people, especially [imaginary] children, from becoming addicted to cigarettes…[but] a similar ban in Brazil gives us a window into the probable outcome of [this new theater in the Drug War]…In 2012…Brazil became one of the first countries in the world to fully ban flavored cigarettes…But…demand for…flavored cigarettes…only increased.  Illegal actors quickly entered the market, leading the Brazilian government to conduct dangerous raids…[which have often resulted] in bystanders being killed in the crossfire.  The Brazilian government has lost billions of dollars in enforcement and tax revenues…[and] Brazil now has one of the largest cigarette markets in the world, [because]…of…prohibition…the illegal cigarette market now represents about half of the entire cigarette market…

 

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 (#1381)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

If war is the health of the state…then scaring the hell out of people is the health of the security state.  –  J.D. Tuccille

Micromanagement

Since practical limits on surveillance are vanishing, legal limits are more important than ever:

It sounds like science fiction, but researchers are getting better and better at retrieving tiny traces of human genetic material called environmental DNA…that we leave floating in the air or water, and mining it for genetic info.  The technique has…[already] been used for…detecting the…COVID-19  [virus] in wastewater, [and] tracking endangered or invasive species.  But now, a team of scientists has attempted to see how much information it could glean from human eDNA specifically…analyzing samples for genetic markers related to genealogy and even ethnicity.  As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, a team led by University of Florida wildlife geneticist David Duffy found that they could trace back medical and ancestry information from these minute traces of human DNA.  And that has privacy experts deeply worried…[because cops] already…[ab]use…flawed and controversial DNA tools to [persecute people]…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A TikTok-famous small-town police chief traded incest videos via a secret Twitter account…Joel Justice Womochil…[was] police chief in Burns, Kansas…[from] February 2022…until his sudden resignation in early August…A little over a week later, Womochil was arrested [for child porn]…[after] Synchronoss Technologies, which provides cloud storage for Verizon Wireless customers, [reported] that [Womochil] had backed up a dozen video and image files of hardcore child abuse…

Incidentally, the ass-backward fantasy that Pedobear, a character created to mock people behaving creepily about young girls online, is actually some sort of symbol for pedophiles is a product of cops’ sick, warped minds, and was the topic of the very first “The Clueless Leading the Hysterical” in December 2011.

Welcome to the Future (#1261)

Conditioning kids to accept constant, intrusive surveillance:

…”Research demonstrates the damaging effect of surveillance on children’s ability to develop in healthy ways,” [wrote law professor Barbara] Fedders…”[they] cannot develop the ability to evaluate and manage risk…in order to function effectively.”  Notably, school surveillance normalizes the idea that constant monitoring is good and necessary for preserving safety…”3 in 10…Americans under 30 favor ‘the government installing surveillance cameras in every household’ in order to ‘reduce domestic violence, abuse, and other illegal activity,'” the Cato Institute…[reported] in June…and…A survey of college students by the Foundation for Individuals Rights and Expression (FIRE) found “forty-five percent said blocking other students from attending a speech may be acceptable in some situations”…If young Americans ultimately reject liberty, it may result from trapping them in miniature surveillance states that defy every premise of a free society.  Kids will grow up to value freedom only if they’re raised in an environment where privacy and liberty are treated as normal and good…

Thou Shalt Not (#1299)

Because this kind of prohibition will surely be different!

People in England born on or after January 1, 2009, will be [criminalized if they] ever buy…cigarettes under [a “monkey see, monkey do” law] announced…by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak [which would ape New Zealand’s scheme right down to the date of prohibition]…The prime minister [lied that] smokers put “huge pressures” on the country’s National Health Service despite the fact smokers in the U.K. pay far more in taxes than they cost in terms of health care…”Not only is this prohibitionist wheeze hideously illiberal and unconservative, it is full of holes,” says Christopher Snowdon…of…the Institute of Economic Affairs…”adults [will] buy cigarettes informally from slightly older adults and will inflate the black market in general”…But cigarettes aren’t alone in Sunak’s war on nicotine—disposable e-cigarettes, which have been blamed for an uptick in youth vaping, could also be banned…

A Broker in Pillage (#1341)

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

A North Carolina teenager was hoping to get her life back on track after a state judge ordered a man who sexually abused her to pay her $69,000.  Instead, she got a nasty surprise.  The local [cops] had already s[tolen] the cash through civil asset forfeiture, and it was already [spent].  Despite a judge’s order, she will get nothing…Mario Alberto Gomez-Saldana II…pleaded guilty…and is currently serving a prison sentence…[but the cops claimed to have found plant leaves when they ransacked his house, and used that as a pretext to steal money] Saldana [had] won [in] the lottery in 2018…[an after-tax total of] $70,507…North Carolina…is one of four states that only allows forfeiture after a criminal conviction…But under the Justice Department’s equitable sharing [scheme], federal authorities may “adopt” state and local civil asset forfeiture cases and…local [cop shops who collaborate in the racket get a kickback of]…up to 80 percent of the [loot]…the sheer injustice of th[is] case ha[s] led to calls from Congress to pass federal legislation to stop cases like this from happening in the future…

I Spy (#1353)

When it comes to surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

…ICE…CBP…and the Secret Service all broke the law while using location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones.  In one instance, a CBP official also inappropriately used the technology to…[stalk] coworkers…For years U.S. government agencies have been buying access to location data through commercial vendors, a practice which…skirts the Fourth Amendment requirement of a warrant.  During that time, the agencies have typically refused to publicly explain the legal basis on which they based their purchase and use of the data.  Now, [a DHS] report shows that three of the main customers of commercial location data broke the law while doing so…ICE [has refused to] stop…use of such data [despite lack of warrant or supervisory] approval…

The Vultures Descend (#1358)

Regardless of what pompous politicians eventually do, many overseas pharmacies will sell to US customers without playing “Mother-May-I” games:

A handful of independent pharmacies across the [US] have quietly begun dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone under new rules created by the Biden administration earlier this year…Thousands of branches of major pharmacy chains are poised to join them — making the drugs more accessible to millions of people nationwide and kicking off a new phase of the legal and political battle over the most popular method of ending a pregnancy…

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 (#1379)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[Amazon’s] assurance[s]…should…be greeted with a lot of skepticism.  –  John Davisson

Stalkers in Blue

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

In 2014, Bryan Bailey, the sheriff of Rankin County, Miss., [told]…the local district attorney’s office…he needed grand jury subpoenas…to force the phone company to turn over records of calls and text messages for what he [pretended was] a “confidential internal investigation…[of a] school district employee.”  But…[in actuality he abused] the power of a grand jury at least eight times over a year to spy on his married girlfriend and the school employee with whom she was also “unfaithful”…the district attorney at the time, Michael Guest…decided he could not pursue the case further because of conflicts of interest…[but] told two local judges…and passed his investigation on to the state attorney general…no one questioned the sheriff or conducted a full investigation…For seven years, every [politician] who learned of the allegations kept them secret from the public, leaving citizens of Rankin County in the dark, even as they twice voted to re-elect Sheriff Bailey.  He is on the verge of another re-election…facing no opponent in November…

Eavesdropping (#1183)

Amazon also eagerly hands data from internet-connected devices to cops:

Amazon announced new [machine learning] capabilities for its Alexa products last week, based on a model it’s calling AlexaLLM (LLM refers to the “large language model”).  The technology will make Alexa “more personalized to your family” and allow it to remember relevant context throughout conversations…But along with those new capabilities…Amazon would use some user voice interactions with Alexa to train its [ML] model…by agreeing to use a more “customized” version of Alexa, users would be volunteering their voice data and conversations for Amazon’s LLM training purposes.  It’s not clear how much voice data is actually necessary to train Amazon’s models and to what degree it might be used for other purposes [such as handing it to cops without even requiring a warrant]…

Thought Control (#1226)

Idaho newspaper approvingly reports sheriff appointing himself chief library censor:

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris…[barged into several] libraries…[with intent to intimidate librarians, bringing] along a video camera…he [decided to steal two books, named]…Deal With It!…and…Identical…[he then issued a babble-filled statement larded with words and phrases including “]sexually explicit[“…”]inappropriate[“, “harmful to minors”, and “protect children”, bloviated about an unconstitutional censorship bill wisely]…vetoed by Gov. Brad Little…[which] would have allowed a parent or legal guardian to sue a school or library for [a bounty of] $2,500…[then bizarrely pontificated on child psychology (even though he is not a child psychologist), and sexual health (though he is neither a therapist nor healthcare professional), threatened librarians with]…criminal [charges]…equate[d books]…to providing children with alcohol or drugs…[equated both adolescents and] the elderly…[with small] children[, and declared he would not return the books he stole]…

Cops and Robbers (#1287)

Who could have guessed that making a hobby of accusing strangers of felonies could be dangerous?

A [Michigan] man who [made a hobby of accusing people of being]…child [molesters for social media clout] was shot to death…[after accusing two teenagers] at a restaurant…Robert Wayne Lee…confronted [the] two [boys]…and punched [the 18-year-old, who]…pulled a knife…while the [17-year-old]…pulled a gun, shooting Lee several times.  The two…fled [but were]…arrested [the next day]…Lee…[was radicalized by] online videos by a group called Dads Against Predators…[who in turn] modeled their videos on…Chris Hanson’s “To Catch a Predator” segments on NBC’s Dateline news show [which were cancelled after Hanson and company caused the suicide of a Texas politician they tried to humiliate on TV despite his refusal to walk into their trap].  Lee…recorded online conversations and his in-person confrontations with the [people he accused]…In some videos, he can be seen [vandalizing his targets’]…tires to prevent them from driving off…he’[s]…mistakenly identified at least one person as a suspect, who was later cleared…

Permanent Record (#1354)

If prohibitionists really want to “rescue” sex workers, why do they keep shutting us out of other jobs?

A Missouri school district suspended a high school English teacher…after someone outed her as an OnlyFans creator…The teacher does not know who notified the school district about her account, “but she suspects it was after she and her husband appeared in a recent video alongside two other OnlyFans performers in St. Louis who have a substantial following”…she [only] made about $42,000 last year at her teaching job, and…she and her husband earned an additional $8,000 to $10,000 per month performing on OnlyFans…

To Molest and Rape (#1373)

There is nothing “shocking” about a cop abusing a minor or anyone else:

…a [California cop named]…Matthew Dessert…is facing serious charges of sexual and physical abuse of a minor…for around five years…[starting when she was 9 and continuing until] 14…[when she told] a school counselor…[about] the abuse…

A Moral Cancer (#1374)

Anyone whose brain isn’t rotted by prohibitionism could’ve predicted this:

Legal restrictions on the flavors of nicotine vaping products are associated with increased cigarette purchases, according to a new paper that analyzes retail sales data from 44 states.  For each fewer 0.7-milliliter nicotine pod sold in jurisdictions with such policies, the analysis found, consumers bought 15 more cigarettes.  “That tradeoff,” the authors note, “equates to over a pack…per pod for the size of current leading products” such as the Vuse Alto, which uses 1.8-milliliter pods…this…underlines the folly of trying to protect public health by deterring the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems…which are far less hazardous than combustible cigarettes…

 

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 (#1374)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The modern porn-addiction treatment industry…seem[s] to be feeding and enabling narcissism.  –  David Ley

The Public Eye (#660)

We’ve seen sex workers win elections in Latin America, but can one win in the puritanical US?

A [nurse practitioner] running for [office] in Virginia…performed sex acts with her husband for a live online audience and encouraged viewers to pay them with “tips” for specific requests…Susanna Gibson…streamed [the performance] on Chaturbate…and…more than a dozen videos of the couple…were archived on [another] site…[called] Recurbate…a Republican operative [snitched to] The Washington Post about them…in…an [attempt to harm her campaign.  Gibson called the outing]…“a sex crime”…[alleging that sharing the] videos [without her permission] constitutes a violation of the state’s revenge porn law, which [criminalizes]…“maliciously” distribut[ing] nude or sexual images of another person with “intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate”…

Out of Control (#1116)

What is wrong with doctors who do this?

For decades, patients warned Columbia about the behavior of obstetrician Robert Hadden. One even called 911 and had him arrested. Columbia let him keep…practicing for another five weeks.  Eight patients say he assaulted them in that time…To date, more than 245 patients have alleged that Hadden abused them, which by itself could make him one of the most prolific sexual assailants in New York history.  But the total number…may be far higher.  On any given day during his two decades…at Columbia, Hadden saw 25 to 40 patients.  Tens of thousands came under his care.  A baby girl he delivered grew up to be a teenager he allegedly assaulted.  Hadden…was sentenced in July to 20 years in federal prison — the result of a long, arduous process that Columbia often undermined…In agreeing to pay $236.5 million to resolve lawsuits brought by 226 of Hadden’s victims, Columbia admitted no fault…But the university’s own records show that women repeatedly tried to warn Columbia doctors and staff about Hadden…

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#1278) 

Anyone who’s ever been involved with a narcissist will see the truth of this:

In 2012, when I first began publishing challenges to the concepts of sex addiction and pornography addiction, one concern I raised was whether these diagnoses enabled persons with personality disorders to externalize responsibility for their often selfish behaviors…Now, new research justifies my early concerns, finding that personality features associated with narcissism contribute to viewing oneself as a porn addict.  Past research has found that persons high in narcissism report higher levels of pornography use in general, and…recent research has found that persons higher in narcissism…are more likely to identify themselves as victims…Externalizing responsibility and blaming others are common features of narcissism, as persons high in narcissism rarely see themselves as at fault for problems or misbehaviors…

See No Evil (#1316)

Australian cops, bravely protecting imaginary children from imaginary abuse:

A[n Australian] man has been charged over allegedly creating and operating an online child exploitation game used by…paid subscribers…The…game…[featured lolicon] images, which [are criminalized] in Australia…[cops swaggered around pretending they had saved the world from some] insidious [evil while vomiting out moral panic shibboleths such as] “in our own backyard” [and]…”hold them to account”…

The Cop Myth (#1343)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do, even if she’s a cop herself:  “[An Alabama cop named] Kenneth Booth shot and killed…[his cop girlfriend] Lexi White, then took his own life during an argument…”

A Moral Cancer (#1356)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

Disposable vapes will be banned [in the UK under the pretext that children [are] becoming addicted to the devices…health ministers …[have] decided [to borrow the American propaganda that no adults like]…bright colours and [sweet] flavours…

Torture Chamber (#1358)

It does not help young victims of governmental brutality to infantilize them as “children”:

A federal judge ordered Louisiana officials…to begin moving kids out of the former death row unit at Angola, one of the nation’s most notorious prisons…U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick accused state officials of breaking “virtually every promise” they had made when announcing the plan to move [legal minors] to the prison…[screws] had locked [minors] up in cells for days at a time as a form of punishment, punished detained youth with the use of handcuffs, mace, and denial of family visits, and failed to provide appropriate educational and social services and mental health treatment…The ruling gives the state one week to move youth out of Angola…

 

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 (#1369)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The potential for abuse is immense.  –  Patrick Toomey

License to Rape (#1249)

Apparently, pigs are only allowed to excuse sexual assault as a “search” if the victim is female:

…”squeezing a detainee’s penis hard is not a ‘proper part of a search,'” a federal appeals court has held.  The case, before the…8th Circuit, was brought by Wilbert Glover against Minnesota [screw] Richard Paul….[who sexually assaulted] Glover [in]…jail…in 2015…Paul responded by claiming that he “never touched [Glover’s] genitals”…and that even if he had, he was protected by qualified immunity.  The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota rejected Paul’s argument, concluding “that Paul’s alleged actions violated [a male’s] clearly established constitutional right to be free from…sexual assault or abuse”…the appeals court…affirmed the district court’s ruling…

A Moral Cancer (#1306)

Crypto-moralists want people to believe they could live forever by simply eliminating every single pleasurable activity from their lives:

George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism…[sez] the…USDA…might soon revise its dietary guidelines to recommend that adults consume no more than two alcoholic drinks per week.  Canada’s health [nann]ies recently shifted to that guideline …Currently, the federal dietary guidelines advise no more than two drinks per day for adult men and one drink per day for adult women…Thankfully, most Americans don’t give a shit what the federal guidelines…say.  Following [them]…would mean a joyless existence devoid of many fine drinks (particularly if you’re a woman), anything less than well-done steak, or eggs benedict.  Oh, and don’t forget to microwave your prosciutto!…

The Punitive Mindset (#1307)

If there’s anything more petty and warped than the mind of a prison official, I’m not sure what it might be:

A Florida prison refused to deliver copies of a local newspaper to an incarcerated subscriber…[under the bizarre pretext] that a puzzle game in the publication “may be used to create coded messages indecipherable by staff”…the “Celebrity Cipher”…[is] a syndicated word puzzle that appears next to the crossword.  Staff [preten]ed that the game violates a…rule prohibiting “publication[s] … written in code”…The Florida Press Association has asked the Literature Review Committee to reverse the [moronic] decision and allow incarcerated people to receive [newspapers because the ban is]…“arbitrary and irrational” and violates the First Amendment rights of the publisher and its incarcerated subscribers…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1341)

Tyrannies often start with sex workers, but never stop with us:

…it…seems to be that online [sex work] advertising is a surefire way to get flagged at the border…Some sites are seemingly safer than others.  Sex workers who advertised on Tryst, for example, never heard of the advertising platform mentioned by Border Control… it’s almost exclusively full-service sex workers being flagged, but there are examples of online creators being targeted, too…The ads reportedly don’t even need to be live in order to be flagged…It is unclear how the US government is identifying sex workers. It could be facial recognition, it could be advertising sites working with the government.  The fight right now is for transparency…some websites disclose that they co[llaborate with pigs and spooks], but…these statements are often buried in opaque terms and conditions, and no site is forthcoming in terms of speaking to the media…

I Spy (#1342)

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Customs and Border Protection…has bought millions of dollars worth of software from a company that uses [error-prone algorithms] to detect “sentiment and emotion” in online posts…related to inbound and outbound travelers who the agency [imagin]es may threaten public safety, national security, or lawful trade and travel…the…company called Fivecast also offers “AI-enabled” object recognition in images and video, and detection of “risk terms and phrases” across multiple languages…the software…[surveils] big social platforms like Facebook and Reddit, but also…smaller communities like 4chan, 8kun, and Gab…Fivecast…[also says] the tool could be used against [sex workers]…which can include U.S. citizens…CBP has deployed multiple [algorithmic] systems…[of dubious] accuracy and utility…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1366)

Now that politicians are vomiting out the “magic fentanyl” myth, will the media finally back away from it?

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass falsely claimed that “touching fentanyl could kill you”…according to all reputable toxicology experts, fentanyl powder cannot penetrate the skin under casual circumstances.  And overdosing from inhaling fentanyl particles in the air is nearly impossible, despite news reports published by…[bootlicking local media from both “culture war”camps pretend]ing otherwise…

The Mob Rules (#1368)

Much more of this, please:

As more and more states pass [unconstitutional] laws targeting “pornographic material” in books and online, they are repeatedly running up against a problem:  The Bible has not just a few passages that could be considered indecent…Reddit users…in…Virginia…[are] encourag[ing] people to use the new law to file consumer complaints to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares…[about] websites…[which a]re “failing in requiring age verification before accessing pornographic material” from the Bible…

 

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 (#1356)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Parents…are…capable of deciding for themselves what bibs are welcome…as a gift at their baby showers.  –  Walter Olson

If Men Were Angels

Tennessee has a disturbingly high number of such incidents:

Videos of the rapes of 10 unconscious boys were found on the cellphone of a Tennessee soccer coach after he left it behind at a restaurant…Camilo Hurtado Campos…was booked on allegations of child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor…”During off-hours, Campos frequented nearby school playgrounds…where he approached kids and recruited them as players on his team…After gaining their trust, Campos invited many of the kids to his home where he drugged and then raped them”…

Here’s another one:

Top leaders at…[the] Apostolic Christian Academy…of Maryville [Tennessee]…knew of at least two separate times…teacher Joseph “Kade” Abbott se[xted]…a 14-year-old girl [student]…but he was allowed to maintain contact with students…Abbott was suspended both times, but Apostolic leaders did not notify the parents of the girl about the messages, nor is there any evidence…they [called the cops]…Abbott al[so] sexually assaulted her multiple times, including in a stairwell of a Gatlinburg hotel while he was chaperoning students on an overnight trip.  He is now facing criminal charges…

The Widening Gyre (#1145) 

The “Facebook pimps” myth has gone from merely silly to completely pathetic:

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is demanding Mark Zuckerberg e[nable his weird sexual fantasies about] human trafficking across Meta platforms after a…[creepy internet fantasy about] pedophiles [magically sucking children into the computer via Facebook’s so-called “]metaverse[“].  Moody sent a letter to Zuckerberg Monday, [attemp]ting [to recruit] the CEO [into bolstering his political ambitions by pret]end[ing] human trafficking on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp…is [an actual] public safety threat [rather than the pro-censorship copaganda it is]…

Thought Control (#1250)

Politicians are no longer satisfied with merely censoring libraries and the internet:

Republican attorneys general from seven states signed a letter…to Target…[absurdly claim]ing clothes and merchandise sold as part of…Pride month campaigns could violate their state’s child protection laws...[politicians] from Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and South Carolina signed the letter, [blovia]ting [that] they were “concerned by recent events involving the company’s ‘Pride’ campaign”…[and belching nonsense about] “protecting children” from “content that [magically] sexualizes them,” including obscenity laws.  The letter also [bizarrely claim]s Target may be breaching the law by making decisions that are allegedly…not in the best interests of its shareholders, citing it as a violation of the company’s fiduciary duty…

The Prudish Giant (#1263) 

Why does anyone still trust Facebook?

A Nebraska mother pleaded guilty…to giving her 17-year-old daughter pills for an…abortion [politicians wanted to deny her] last year and helping to burn and bury the [remains of the] fetus.  Under a plea agreement, Jessica Burgess…admitted to providing an abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, false reporting and tampering with human skeletal remains…Celeste Burgess, now 18, was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty in May to removing, concealing or abandoning a dead body…She faces up to two years in prison [for daring to exert control over her own body in defiance of the State]…the two [foolishly] discussed terminating the pregnancy [over Facebook, which eagerly handed]…the messages [over to the pigs]…

Torture Chamber (#1322)

Your “leaders” refer to this as “correction”:

The RCMP are launching a confidential hotline to assist with their investigation into…[rapes and other] sexual abuse at the Nova Scotia [Teenage Cagestack] between 1988 and 2017.  Police…have already taken statements from more than 70 people who…were [raped and sexually] abused at the…jail in Waterville, N.S., but believe there could be up to 200 in total.  They ask…anyone with relevant information about the case…to come forward…to date, all 70…[victims] have been male, but police…are not ruling out that girls could also have been abused…

Thought Control (#1331)

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

Gerard Kleinsmith [pretend]s he hates the idea of censorship…[yet] wants to pull the lease for the city’s public library because he doesn’t like books about transgender people…He is supported in this stance by the other members of St. Marys’ five-person city commission, a heavily religious group that attends the Society of St. Pius X…a…[heretical sect]…that broke away from the Catholic church…The public library…narrowly surviv[ed] an attempt to pull the lease at the end of last year…“We’re not part of the city structure and the lease agreement is the only leverage that they have seemed to be able to find,” [library director Judith] Cremer said…the library…would be forced to shift locations if the lease isn’t renewed, giving up a community spot it has held for decades…

A Moral Cancer (#1334)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

New York Mayor Eric Adams has gone to federal court to stop the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, [spouting the puritanical drivel that they are intended specifically to] appeal to kids…The mayor a[lso made the bizarre and specious claim] that some of the vape products are equal to between 175 and 350 single cigarettes.  The suit was filed against four distributors…and…[pigs have] already [stolen] many thousands of dollars worth of those products [from the companies.  Adams’ cronies vomited out other lies and propaganda, and]…the suit [absurdly] accuses the distributors of violating a host of city, state and federal laws, including the federal RICO statutes…

 

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 (#1353)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sex workers…should have access to the same legal mechanisms to enforce their agreements as any other service provider.  –  Jessica Rose

The Prudish Giant (#1104) 

The headline writer omitted the word “temporarily”:

A days-long ban by Instagram on dozens of kink and sex-positive creators [has been] lifted [for now]…Those impacted by the bans, which lasted from June 22 to June 28, still…[somehow can’t understand why the compulsively-censorious Facebook, which owns] Instagram…blocked [their accounts again as it did two and a half years ago], and [naively expect] explanations of how those involved in the sex-positive community can safely interact on [the] platform…without [being lumped in with those dirty, bad sex workers Facebook has repeatedly censored for years without a peep from the “sex positive community”]…

Property of the State (#1133) 

Pregnant women & new mothers are uniquely vulnerable to state coercion:

…in 2016…Congress passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act…[which] included a one-word change to…federal law…requir[ing] newborns vaguely identified as “affected by” illegal drugs to be flagged to child protective services.  In this new iteration, [politician]s removed the word “illegal”…[so] hospitals…were required to [snitch to pigs] any time a newborn was “affected by” any substance, legal or [otherwise]…Many [states] responded by expanding child abuse reporting requirements to include the use of prescription medications during pregnancy…States such as Arizona…doubled down on investigations…women [have been] reported after taking antidepressants, anxiety and ADHD medications, and even over-the-counter cold medicine…some…were reported after testing positive for the fentanyl in their epidurals.  States are even less forthcoming about how many…newborns are [abducted under this pretext]…

Whither Canada? (#1256)

I’m happy to have been proven wrong about her chances:

A Halifax sex worker has won her small claims court case over an unpaid fee from a client in what her advocates say is a huge step toward strengthening the rights of all sex workers…On Jan. 26, 2022, Brogan Sheehan…[agreed] to provide companionship services to a man named Bradley Samuelson…at a rate of $300 per hour.  Seven hours…later…after [a great deal of hassle]…he finally paid her $300, leaving a balance of $1,800…Samuelson [bizarrely] argued that a contract for sexual services is not enforceable in law because it’s an illegal contract…[but adjudicator Darrel] Pink ruled that the contract was enforceable…because sex work is not illegal, [therefore] it follows that normal commercial law benefits afforded by civil law should be available to sex workers…Samuelson voluntarily hired her, agreed to pay for her services and communicated intent to pay…[he] was ordered to pay Ms. Sheehan $1,800 plus interest and costs, which he did on May 24.  Ms. Sheehan said she’s relieved and proud that the victory now clears the way for other sex workers to seek a legal remedy when clients refuse to pay, which happens often…

To Molest and Rape (#1278)

It’s rare that a rapist cop stops at only a few victims:

A [typical and representative] Philadelphia [cop] already [caged] on child sex assault charges is now charged with dozens more sex crimes that stem from his [long career as a rapist cop]…Patrick Heron…has [been]…charged…in 19 new cases…from 2005 to 2019…the 233 new counts…include kidnapping, [anal rape, child molestation, rape, witness intimidation]…sexual assault, child sexual abuse, indecent assault, and [rape of a caged woman]…

I Spy (#1315)

When it comes to surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Numerous government agencies, including the FBI, Department of Defense…[NSA, and] Treasury Department…have purchased vast amounts of U.S. citizens’ personal information from commercial data brokers…a partially declassified…report released on June 9…shows the breathtaking scale and invasive nature of the consumer data market and how [it] directly enables wholesale [unconstitutional] surveillance of people.  The data includes not only where you’ve been and who you’re connected to, but the nature of your beliefs and [highly-flawed] predictions about what you might do in the future…[this] information, coupled with the now-ubiquitous decision-making a[lgorithms]…like ChatGPT, significantly increases the threat to privacy and civil liberties by giving the government access to sensitive personal information beyond even what it could collect through court-authorized surveillance…

Thou Shalt Not (#1347)

Crypto-moralists believe people enjoying something is enough reason to declare it “unsafe”:

“The dose makes the poison.”  That’s always what you have to bear in mind when you hear any claim about whether some substance…is “toxic”, or even “causes cancer”.  Many “poisons” only do…harm at very high concentrations, and even water can be toxic if you drink enough…the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), is about to declare that aspartame…is “possibly carcinogenic” …[despite being] repeatedly…declared safe by multiple health authorities over the years after dozens of studies…the IARC [has]…four categories…Group 1 is things they think definitely cause cancer.  Group 2A is things that are “probably carcinogenic”.  Group 2B is “possibly carcinogenic”.  And Group 3 is “not classifiable”.  Aspartame isn’t currently…on the list, but [IARC wants]…to add it to Group 2B…[along with] aloe vera…working as a carpenter…joiner…[or] dry cleaner…[and] pickled vegetables…Group 2A…[includes] red meat…working night shifts…[and] drinking hot beverages…At a certain level, all of these things might be hazardous to our health – but what is that level?…

You Were Warned (#1351)

It’s too bad politicians don’t always end up with egg on their faces after issuing stupid authoritarian diktats:

Google has followed [Facebook] in announcing it will block Canadian news content from its search engine in Canada after [Canadian politicians refused to back down from foolish demands it pay for the “privilege” of linking to other websites]…The Liberals say the law is meant to end tech titans’ dominance of the digital advertising market [by reversing the centuries-old traditional advertising relationship (where companies pay to have their products advertised in mass media) via magical proclamation]…platforms would face fin[es on top of the extortion fees] for failing to [dance in the way politicians demand, so the only way for these companies to win is not to play]…

 

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