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Posts Tagged ‘Australia’

It happened as frequently as they wanted it to.  –  Miranda Williams

The Slave-Whore Fantasy

It’s been 7 years since we’ve had an example of what real sex slavery looks like:

…a woman who was chained and being held in a locked room [in a travel trailer in Arizona] was able to break free and run for help…to a neighbor’s house…Aaron Cortez had the unidentified woman chained in his travel trailer.  He whipped her with a charging cord and chains, then left her alone locked inside…once she felt he was gone long enough that day, she escaped…Cortez…[fancied himself a pimp and] went by “King Ace”…he…had [placed] about 70 ads for prostitution online with pictures of him[self], some with the victim, and some depicting violent sex acts…Cortez…is currently facing charges including aggravated assault…[and] kidnapping…

The fact that this violent freak forced his victim to sign a “sex slave contract” and was planning to force her to get a tattoo tells me he’s been reading waaaaay too much “sex trafficking” propaganda.  That, and the fact that his ads mostly had pictures of him, tells me he isn’t very bright.

The Course of a Disease (#421)

Not even Australia is safe from Swedish rot-fanatics attempting to spread their loathsome tyranny:

A [dangerous and discredited] sex-work model would attack the men who buy sex [and infantilize] the women who sell it in a move to [define women as men’s moral inferiors]…The Bill, introduced by South Australian Upper House Liberal leader Nicola Centofanti, would [impose the Swedish model, which defines women as permanent adolescents unable to consent to] sex [except in ways politicians allow]…Centofanti…[vomited the usual disgusting propaganda about evil men and infantile women] in parliament…attacking the de[criminalization model supported by all evidence, human rights organizations, and sex workers themselves]…Sex Industry Network general manager Kat Morrison said…the “Nordic”…criminalisation model had failed in Europe…Greens member Tammy Franks backs full decriminalisation and said the Bill was a “political strategy” to end sex work.  “This Bill says basically a sex worker can do their work but not be paid for it,” she said.  “In what other jurisdiction or area or work would a worker be expected to do their work but not get paid for it?”

Decriminalization has become the norm in Australia, but South Australian prohibitionists have managed to keep it out of their state despite repeated attempts.

If Men Were Angels

“Youth pastor”, “youth leader”, “youth minister”, “youth director”…can’t y’all settle on one term for preachy molesters?

The [typical and representative] youth minister of a [Georgia] church faces up to 40 years in prison after entering a guilty plea to child molestation charges…Austin Wray Perkins was arrested on March 9, 2022…[for] victimizing a minor who…had no family or support…[Perkins took the youth] into his home and molested him…[then] coached [him] about how to act in pornographic videos with himself…

I Spy (#1103)

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

Modern cars are a privacy nightmare…All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label — making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed…every car brand we looked at collects more personal data than necessary and uses that information for a reason other than to operate your vehicle and manage their relationship with you…56%…say they…share your information with…[cops and spooks] in response to a “request.”  Not a high bar court order, but something as easy as an “informal request”…car companies’ willingness to share your data is beyond creepy.  It has the potential to cause real harm and inspired our worst cars-and-privacy nightmares

Welcome to the Future (#1164)

The government thinks it even has the right to leer at the inside of your body:

What if your [body] could be monitored from a distance…to track your use of medications, such as opioids, to make sure you’re not using them in frequencies and dosages frowned upon by…politicians…who want to…stop [you] from getting high[?]…the Cato Institute…[warns that such surveillance is] “another example of ‘cops practicing medicine’…[which] will intimidate health care practitioners into further curtailing opioid prescribing to their patients in pain…exacerbat[ing] the misery that state and federal opioid prescribing policies have already inflicted on them that is driving many to suicide and some to homicide”…

No Escape (#1298)

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

…at least a dozen women…were [repeatedly raped] by [typical and representative screws] at [Federal Cage Collection] Coleman…in Florida…th[e rapists]…admitted [their crimes] in sworn interviews with internal affairs investigators…Yet thanks to a little known Supreme Court precedent and a culture of corrupt self-protection inside the prison system, none of those guards were ever prosecuted—precisely because of the manner in which they confessed.  Most…retired before they could be fired, meaning they walked with their retirement benefits intact…Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in 2003.  It was [pretend]ed to create zero-tolerance policies for sexual abuse in U.S. prisons and jails.  PREA is mostly toothless, though—and in the federal prison system, festering corruption made it a bad joke…

I Spy (#1362)

This was merely a way for politicians to save face rather than be the direct cause of every encrypted app leaving the UK market:

The UK government will concede it [can]not…scan messaging apps for…content [politicians dislike without destroying end-to-end encryption] until it is “technically feasible” to do [the impossible], postponing measures that…threaten users’ privacy…mark[ing] an eleventh-hour effort by ministers to end [the looming threat of politicians being made total fools of by] tech companies…pull[ing] their services from the UK over [politicians’ demands that] they [submit to] an intolerable threat to millions of users’ security…The online safety bill, which has been in development for several years and is now in its final stages in parliament, is one of the [most outlandishly-pigheaded] attempts by any government to make [communications] companies responsible for [messages sent] on their networks…Officials have now privately a[dmitt]ed to tech companies that [they understand] there is no…technology able to scan end-to-end encrypted messages that would not also undermine users’ privacy…However, the statute will still give Ofcom powers to [demand] platforms…[conjure up] a technology [that] does not exist [and cannot exist]…

 

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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All I know is that my granddaughter was killed by the police.  I thought she was grocery shopping.

I’ll always remember Arleen Sorkin not merely for bringing the character of Harley Quinn to life, but for introducing me to this wonderfully-sinister little ditty from the Warner Brothers catalog.  The links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Tracy Quan, Mistress Matisse, Conner Habib, and Phoenix Calida (x2).

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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So you guys made a guy pee himself?  –  laughing sow
Yeah.  –  smiling pig

Choosing an anti-war song for last week’s links column reminded me of this, probably the most powerful anti-war song I’ve ever heard; I cannot ever listen to it without being reduced to tears by the end.  The links above the video were provided by Angela Keaton; Popehat; Franklin Harris and Brooke Magnanti; Popehat again; and Christian Britschgi, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

 

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I can’t breathe.  –  Ivan Gutzalenko

There are many popular Tina Turner songs I could’ve chosen to honor her passing, but instead I decided to use one most of my younger readers may be unfamiliar with.  The links above the video were provided by Anarres Ansible; Cop Crisis; Phoenix Calida; Scott Greenfield; Dan Savage & Franklin Harris; Lenore Skenazy; and SWOP-USA, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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Who doesn’t want to help people explore different things?  –  Chayse

Above the Law

Just another kind of federal cop, with behavior to match:

A [typical and representative] U.S. Homeland Security [thug] was sentenced…to life in prison for violating two women’s civil rights by trying to stop them from telling police he [raped] them…John Olivas…beat…and sexually assault[ed both when]…they were, first one and then the other, his girlfriends…Olivas raped one of the women twice and attempted to rape the other one once…but…will appeal his federal conviction…[because he thinks]…as a federal agent…he…is [above the law]…An ex-wife testified that in 2004 she, too, was raped by Olivas…

Skin To Skin

There can never be too many articles on sex workers for the disabled:

…As well as providing his skills as a sex worker, Chayse has also been talking with a dating coach to see how he can support [his client] Melanie navigate the “tango of dating” and help her build future romantic partnerships with other people…For Melanie, the experience is more than just sexual liberation and she has got so much out of this ongoing experience she believes governments should…support disabled people in accessing sexual services…And she has been excited to share her new experiences with friends and family…

To Molest and Rape

When predators aren’t culled, they just keep on predating:

A Toronto [cop named]…Ramdial Lokenath…[raped] a woman on May 19, 2022…[after going] to an apartment…for a reported domestic assault…While his partner was in the p[igmobile] with the [husband], Lokenath returned to the apartment [under the pretext of] tak[ing the woman’s] statement…he…turned off the video on his body camera and muted the audio…while [telling] the…woman…he could “influence the charges facing her husband”…[so she would submit to rape when he returned later without his partner]…Lokenath was also charged with…assaulting his [own] wife on Oct. 19, 2022…

Unchristian Nation

Government at every level crusades against Christian charity:

…Since 2005, Micah’s Way has operated a resource center where volunteers help connect their poor and homeless clients with birth certificates, ID cards, clothing, bus passes, and other services…They also offer the people who come to the resource center muffins, pastries, and fruit, plus hot coffee…their charitable activities continued without issue for over 15 years…then…in November 2021, Micah’s Way received an administrative citation from Santa Ana [California]…demand[ing] that the group obtain a certificate of occupancy at their resource center or else cease all operations there.  When the group applied for the needed certificate, they were denied…on the grounds that it was engaged in food distribution, which wasn’t allowed by their property’s “professional district” zoning…the city [threatened]…the group…[with] “administrative fines, criminal prosecution and/or civil remedies such as injunctions and penalties”…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:  “A M[issouri cop named]…Cory Younger….has been arrested and] charged with possession of child pornography…

Opting Out (#1313)

Most Americans still believe France is a sex-positive society:

The…French government…confirmed…that it will attempt to bypass the courts to force the five largest adult sites accessible in the country to comply with a controversial, vaguely worded 2020 age verification law…[because it] is frustrated with the legal challenge mounted by lawyers for Pornhub, Tukif, xHamster, XVideos and Xnxx…the government’s intention [is] to [place the internet censoship agency] ARCOM…[above] the courts…[as] part of a new bill intended to “secure and regulate the digital space”…

In case you’re wondering what the last ominous statement means:

The French government has confirmed that the new bill it introduced…to bypass the courts and force platforms to implement age verification will apply not only to specifically adult sites but also to any site that allows explicit content, including Twitter…

The Cop Myth (#1336)

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

A [Tennessee cop has been arrested but also rewarded with a paid vacation for]…pointing an AK-47 rifle at [his ex-girlfriend]’s car and later kicking her in the face…Jarreil Peoples…[attacked her when she came to his home to] exchange [some] property…he…approached her car with…[the] rifle and pointed it at her car, [so she drove] away out of fear…Peoples then called her to say he put the rifle up and asked her to return to the house to exchange property.  She [foolishly] returned…and…Peoples [used the opportunity to] kick…in her driver’s side window, hitting her in the face with his foot and shards of glass…Peoples…[previously attacked her when] he came to [her] apartment to return a house key…as she and Peoples walked towards the front door, he turned around, picked her up and body slammed her into some stairs…

 

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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Spin the wheel and see what political expression is next on the chopping block. It might just be your own.  –  Sarah McLaughlin

A Whore in Church

Matthew 21:31 seems pretty straightforward to me:

A Christian OnlyFans star says she feels more connected to her faith since she…started…seven years ago, and now believes God put her on earth to help “liberate” other women from their sexual shame. Courtney Tillia…previously worked as a high school teacher but found that her life lacked meaning and her spirituality was suffering as a result…[she] initially felt ashamed of her [work]…before she slowly began to realize that her strict Christian upbringing was the cause of her guilt

Leaving the 20th Century

Another Australian state sees the light:

Queensland will decriminalise sex work after a long-awaited review recommended sweeping changes…including scrapping the Prostitution Licensing Authority, repealing some police powers and allowing services to be advertised on radio and TV…sex work is under a licensing framework in Queensland, [which means] about 90% of sex workers are in the “unlawful sector” privately or at unlicensed businesses.  Sex workers have long rallied against the laws that prohibit them from employing a receptionist, working with others or texting other sex workers before and after a booking to make sure they’re safe…police can currently also pose as clients and entrap workers by pressuring them to offer blacklisted services…

Censor Chic (#1248)

Corporations have become the favored tool of censors worldwide:

…recent moves from some leading names in tech and social media paint a worrying picture…censorship laws are increasingly determining what people…can do online.  You might not live within the borders of China…India, [the US, the UK, or Germany] but that doesn’t mean their censorship laws won’t affect what you write, see, and say—and some [internet] companies are helping them enforce these rules globally…investigative journalist Saurav Das shared the fact that—in response to legal demands—Twitter blocked access to two tweets he had posted about India’s Minister of Home Affairs…Censorship demands…from…India…are nothing new, and Twitter…has thus far agreed to…block…the material from view within India…in line with [Twitter boss Elon] Musk’s faulty understanding of “free speech” as a simple reflection of an individual country’s laws, no matter how oppressive.  But this time, Twitter…blocked the tweets not just within India…but everywhere…[this] may…be part of a deeply troubling trend of tech companies willingly choosing to allow the most authoritarian diktats to guide content moderation…

The Cop Myth (#1254)

41% of cops admit to beating their wives; some don’t stop with mere beating:

A [typical and representative] Idaho [cop named Daniel Charles Howard] is facing charges…for the [2021] murder of his…wife…Kendy Wilkins…In May 2014, he was charged with first-degree stalking, aggravated assault and malicious injury to property…[after] learning his wife had been having an affair with their…neighbor…he rep[ea]tedly…harass[ed and threatened]…the…neighbor…

Winding Down (#1289)

When will the federal government finally read the writing on the wall?

Delaware just became the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana….Gov. John Carney, a [soft prohibitionist], said he will allow two legalization bills to take effect without his signature, notwithstanding his continued concerns about the consequences of [not sending cops to destroy the lives of people for enjoying something he doesn’t]…Delaware has allowed medical use of marijuana since 2011, and in 2015 legislators decriminalized possession of an ounce or less, making it a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine.  Carney supports both of those policies but…last year he vetoed recreational legalization.  The…[legislature] recently approved essentially the same legislation that Carney blocked last year, this time by larger margins, making it more likely that a veto would be overridden…

I Spy (#1319)

Surely you didn’t believe the pretexts for such surveillance would long remain limited to “child porn” and “terrorism”?

A new U.S. Senate bill would require private messaging services, social media companies, and even cloud providers to report their users to the…DEA…if they find out about certain…drug sales…the Cooper Davis Act…is likely to result in a host of inaccurate reports and in companies sweeping up innocent conversations…[and] incentiv[ize] …dragnet searches of private messages…Most troubling, this bill is a template for [politician]s to try to force internet companies to report their users…for other…speech…[including] the sale or purchase of [sex, adult content, or] abortion pills…

To Molest and Rape (#1320)

In the UK, “disciplinary action” can mean giving rapists early retirement at full pay:

The [London] Police is paying the full salary costs of 145 [cops] who have been [rewarded with paid vacations for] crimes including rape, fatal shootings and paedophilia.  They are made up of 105 [basic thugs] and 40…of a higher undisclosed rank – giving the total combined salary cost…of at least £3.4million over the last six years…[as if that weren’t bad enough] 29 [rapists are still loose with full police powers to stalk more victims]…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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The political discourse around the border tends to be built around a fantasy.  –  Dave Maass

If Men Were Angels

At least this one wasn’t a “youth pastor”:

A [typical and representative] Orange County [California] pastor has been convicted of sexually abusing two young girls he is related to…Jose Andres Lopez…[committed the assaults from] 1991 through 2020…[he was caught] on Aug. 21, 2020, [when] the [second] victim…was…13…but the abuse started when she was 3…The victim’s brother…was…in the house and…[over]heard…“noise he describes as a rhythm that sounded like having sex”…the victim [later told] her brother…what was happening…[and] the next day, the brother told his mother and the tearful victim confirmed it…During the investigation, deputies “stumbled on a police report” out of Massachusetts from a 12-year-old who said [Lopez] had molested her for years…

Nor was this one:

Indianapolis pastor…Tyree Coleman…offered to pay…a…17-year-old…[for sex and] the teen told police…they got a search warrant for Coleman’s cell phone and…discovered that Coleman…the founder of…[a charity] which feeds homeless people in Indianapolis…was using donations to his non-profit to pay [male sex workers]…During that investigation, police received a new complaint from a…man who accused Coleman of raping him…[after] he missed his bus…and was left stranded…Coleman offered him a room at his home…Coleman would pay him [for]…oral sex and later [for intercourse, but]…the victim [later changed his mind and] told Coleman to stop several times but Coleman refused…Coleman [also] threatened to kill him if he had a sexually transmitted disease…

The Red Umbrella (#1033)

As long as sex work is marginalized, sex workers will be targeted for violence:

A man [named Matthew Sean Donaldson who is] obsessed with video games…brutally bludgeoned [a sex worker] with a hammer in a luxury hotel…with intent to murder [her]…on February 23, 2021…Donaldson bought a hammer and read numerous news articles about women being murdered before he brought the [victim]…to his hotel room…He used a knife to cut off the woman’s underpants in what was to be his first ever sexual experience…the[n started]…a heated argument about the ethics of sex work [to give himself an excuse to attack her]…He left her lying in a pool of her own blood with severe cranial and body injuries as he fled the scene.  Later that night…Donaldson sent the victim a cruel taunting text that said: “Should have picked a different career, honey”…and…also posted a photo of the luxury hotel room to social media with the caption: “game over”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1083)

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

Panera Bread is rolling out palm scanners that will link customers’ handprints to their loyalty accounts — a move the company paints as convenient but that privacy advocates have decried.  The biometric…technology, developed by Amazon, will hit stores in the next few months…The gadgets will [also] suggest menu items based on customers’ order histories…Amazon One technology is [already] in use at some 200 locations across the country, including Amazon’s Whole Foods Market subsidiary and Amazon Go stores.  Panera says the technology will securely store its customers’ biometric data.  However, digital rights activists [correctly point out] that [any] information [which exists] could be [demand]ed by federal agencies or accessed by hackers…

Feudalism Redux (#1251)

The crusade to reduce Americans to serfdom continues:

…Idaho Republicans…seek…to limit minors’ ability to travel for abortion care without parental consent.  The legislation would create a whole new crime — dubbed “abortion trafficking” — which is defined in the bill as an “adult who…either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug” for the minor…The legislation also includes a statute allowing the Idaho attorney general to supersede any local prosecutor’s decision, preemptively thwarting any prosecutor who vows not to enforce such an extreme law…The legislation doesn’t actually say anything about crossing state lines, but…since nearly all abortions are illegal in Idaho…[the people politicians want to terrorize are] traveling to the border with the intent of crossing state lines, likely into Washington, Oregon or Montana, to get an abortion there…

Panopticon (#1254)

This is only going to get worse for the foreseeable future:

There is perhaps no stretch of American land as politicized as the U.S.-Mexico border…There are towering fences and walls.  Border agents…patrol…the boundary in trucks.  But border security is becoming increasingly stealthy…as the government erects a “virtual wall”—a fortification not made of steel and concrete, but drones, surveillance towers, and artificial intelligence…border [hawks pretend] this…is a more humane and efficient way of keeping undocumented immigrants out…but in reality, the virtual wall has…been expensive, broadly expanded the surveillance abilities of unaccountable government agencies, and forced migrants into taking more dangerous journeys rather than keeping them out.  More dollars are being spent, more migrants are dying, and more civil liberties violations are occurring…

License to Rape (#1263)

“Search” is the most common government euphemism for “molest”:

Police are [molest]ing children in their p[igmobile]s…Almost 3,000 children were [molested under the pretext of a “]search[“]…by police in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, [650 between 2018 and 2020 and 2197 in the next two years]…Nearly a quarter of [molestation]s involved a child aged between 10 and 15, while the youngest [victim was]…an eight-year-old…1 per cent were [molest]ed within public view, and 6 per cent…with at least one [cop] of a different gender than the [victim lurking to watch]…

The Cop Myth (#1297)

UK officials are just as dedicated to hiding the truth about cops as US ones:

[Cop shops] in England and Wales have been…[caught] trying to “evade public scrutiny” after an Observer investigation found that the outcomes of dozens of officer misconduct cases have been deleted from their websites.  They include some of the most serious cases of criminality, including that of the serial rapist David Carrick…the vast majority were either failing to publicise cases, despite a legal obligation to do so, or deleting misconduct cases from their websites after 28 days…including cases related to sexual offences or domestic violence…The law specifically calls on forces to publicise the results of misconduct hearings “as soon as practicable after the officer has been notified of the outcome”…but…the records at 72% of forces were incomplete.  Many were missing more than half or all of the misconduct outcomes…

 

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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Sex workers…would never want their child to feel the way we felt when our parents rejected us for becoming sex workers.  –  Annie Temple

Whore Madonnas

A good article about why the madonna/whore duality is pure bullshit:

Social wisdom would have us believe that sex industry workers are terrible parents who routinely jeopardize their childrens’ safety by bringing “perverts” around, leaving them to raise themselves, and setting an example of depravity.  Social wisdom is INCORRECT.  Children of sex workers that I know are more likely to be level-headed, socially aware, critical thinkers.  Rather than putting their parents through a lot of grief, they are strong allies of their parents.  Gutsy, confident, young people who speak their minds and care about others…

Confined and Controlled

The appalling levels of confusion about sex workers in this article, plus the Nevada model proselytizing, do not inspire confidence:

A San Francisco [politician] who wants to legalize red light districts has scheduled meetings with five sex workers…in order to better understand how legal brothels operate in Nevada…Ronen [claims to understand that]…”sex workers…want decriminalization, not legalization”…[yet also babbles about state-prescribed]…protections needed to keep [sex workers] safe…[while] meeting…with [Nevada model proponent] Alice Little…who [apparently doesn’t understand that 99% of sex workers have no interest in being] finger print[ed and interrogated by cops four times a year, nor enduring]…random checks [by cops to enforce state-mandated licensing and] STD testing.  “The sheriff will show up completely unannounced,” said Little. “It makes us feel safe”…

Feeling “safe” when armed cops come barging into one’s workplace unannounced demonstrates complete disconnection from the reality of most sex workers’ lives, and that’s not even considering that 99% of Nevada sex workers cannot (due to criminal background checks, privacy needs, etc) or will not work in the brothels.

Monsters

The headline is a bit misleading, since he was found guilty of manslaughter:

Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia killed 69-year-old Kimberley McRae by pressing a lamp cord against her neck before leaving her lifeless body inside her apartment in Coogee, New South Wales, in January 2020…the 23-year-old student went to McRae’s home and paid $100 for oral sex…when he realised she was trans…he punched her before she grabbed a nearby lamp…the pair wrestled over control of the lamp and its cord, which the student subsequently used to strangle her…the…prosecution [failed to]…prove…beyond a reasonable doubt that Valencia intended to either kill or cause serious harm to McRae, meaning he could not be found guilty on the murder charge…[but he] had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter…He…will face sentence proceedings in May…

If Men Were Angels

One would think by now that the title “youth pastor” would be a big red flag:

Tupelo [Mississippi cops] arrested a youth pastor for…[molesting] a 16-year-old girl.  Alexander Blackwelder…was…denied…bond…

Lack of Evidence (#998)

Authoritarians don’t give a damn if your kind of sex work is (temporarily) “legal”:

Hex makes a living in virtual reality.  She’s an online sex worker, hosting shows and posting photos and videos from social VR platform VRChat to…a subscription site for erotic content.  She streams from behind a virtual 3D avatar that tracks her movements, often wearing fuzzy animal ears [and] fantasy-inspired neon outfits.  Hex had plans to travel from the UK to visit her friends in the U.S. this year, and applied for a tourist visa.  But in late January, she said, she received a letter stating that she was permanently ineligible for admission to the U.S.  The reason given was the code for “prostitution”. “My reaction to the notice was honestly ‘what the hell? How is this possible? What I’m doing is completely legal’”…

Being a “legal” sex worker will not protect you, not even from arrest, so maybe you ought to stand with other sex workers to demand rights for everyone rather than hiding behind a screen of arbitrary “legality”.

Thought Control (Censorship Ascendant)

The most Orwellian case of censorship so far this year:

Owners of Roald Dahl ebooks are having their libraries automatically [replac]ed with the new censored versions containing hundreds of changes to [the author’s words]…Readers who bought electronic versions of the writer’s books…before the controversial updates have discovered their copies have now been [vandaliz]ed…Puffin Books, the company which publishes Dahl novels, [bowdleriz]ed the…novels…on devices such as the Amazon Kindle.  Dahl’s biographer Matthew Dennison…accused the publisher of “strong-arming readers into accepting a new orthodoxy in which Dahl himself has played no part”…

The Last Shall Be First (#1305) 

The war on trans people has expanded to include drag queens:

The Tennessee legislature [has] passed a bill expanding the state’s definition of “obscenity”…to criminalize anyone who “engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where [it]…could be viewed by a [minor].”  SB0003’s redefinition of “adult cabaret performance” was crafted by Republican legislators specifically to target drag shows, although the actual phrasing is expansive enough to criminalize many other trans-inclusive public events, such as…Pride Parades…[or] any performance by any person not presenting as their assigned-at-birth gender that does not take place in a venue…explicitly zoned as an “adult cabaret”…

 

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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I can’t switch off a feeling that I was stupid in the first place … I trusted [a cop].  –  “Sonia”

The work of a prolific TV composer may be much better known than its composer; that’s certainly the case with Gerald Fried, who compositions included the theme to Gilligan’s Island, most of the score for Roots, and a number of scores for Star Trek, including this one you’ll probably recognize.  The links above the video were provided by Franklin Harris, Mike Siegel, Cop Crisis (x4), and Lenore Skenazy, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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Pay sex workers to educate you so you’re not reiterating harmful stereotypes out of ignorance.  –  Mahx Capacity

The Notorious Badge 

Hollywood follows rather than leads, so this is a good sign of a cultural shift:

…sex worker character[s] in…movie[s] or TV show[s]…are [typically] nameless, background-less, and function as nothing more than victims to be killed in a violent manner…but…a handful of [recent]…shows have represented sex work as ordinary work, and sex workers as complex characters, not singularly defined by the way they make money…What’s more, sex workers are becoming some of the most beloved characters — no longer the victims, but the heroes of their own stories.  In recent releases like the second season of The White Lotus, and movies like The MenuGood Luck to You, Leo Grande and Pleasure, sex workers are…among the most likeable (or, in the case of The White Lotus and The Menu arguably the only likeable) characters …and their choices are front and centre in the narratives…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

…a [typical and representative Michigan cop named]…Todd Barraco…was arrested on Wednesday for possession of…over 230,000 images and over 9,000 videos…of boys between the ages of 3 and 12 being sexually abused by adults…Barraco was initially arrested on March 17, 2022…when he went to a house…with the intent of having sexual relations with a[nother cop fantasy role-playing as a] minor…

Lack of Evidence (#1249) 

Useful idiots can always be counted on to eagerly lick up whatever toxic sludge cops vomit all over their upturned faces as they kneel in obeisance before the police state.  Here’s an example; it’s mostly just the usual wildly-exaggerated demonization of streetwalkers which yellow journalists parrot every time a stroll shifts due to police harassment.  But in this case, cops fed the ninnies the lie that the problem is due to the fact that they can no longer point their filthy fingers at any woman they want and oink out the word “prostitute” in order to justify assault, rape, and abduction (revoltingly euphemized as “rescuing women they believe to be human trafficked”).  Even by the abysmally-low standards of local news copaganda, this one is repellent in the extreme.

Torture Chamber (#1291)

Rather than solving this problem by convicting fewer people and giving screws less power over them, politicians say the solution is MOAR PRISON:

Wash[ington politicians are considering]…legislation that would lead to more prison time for [screw]s who sexually abuse [people locked in cages by the state and put completely under the power of those screws]…the bill…[is a response to the case of typical and representative] Forks jail guard John Gray…who…served [only] 13 months of his 20-month sentence…[after] Kimberly Bender…died by suicide in [the] Forks [cage stack] in 2019 after [her] report…to [bureaucrats] that Gray sexually [abu]sed her [was completely ignored until she was dead]…

Winding Down (#1302)

Destigmatization of psychedelics is happening much more quickly than I would’ve expected:

Australia…announced that…MDMA and psilocybin…will soon be used in the treatment of depression and post-traumatic stress.  Psychiatrists will be able to prescribe the two substances from July…[due to] “sufficient evidence for potential benefits in certain patients”.  The two drugs are…“relatively safe”…and provide…an “altered state of consciousness” that could help patients…

No Escape

The government is beginning to grudgingly admit what everyone already knew:

…the…Bureau of Justice Statistics…released detailed data…on more than 2,500 substantiated incidents of sexual assault in U.S. prisons and jails between 2016 and 2018.  The data starkly show how federal, state, and local officials have ignored their constitutional duty to protect incarcerated people from sexual assault, despite federal laws [pre]tended to create zero-tolerance policies for prison rape…the report found that perpetrators of staff sexual misconduct were…convicted, sentenced, fined, or pleaded guilty in [a mere] 20 percent of incidents in jails, and only a minuscule 6 percent…in prisons.  And less than half of those staff lost their jobs…The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 was supposed to create zero-tolerance policies for sexual abuse in U.S. prisons.  However, PREA is largely toothless and, in many prisons, it’s a bad joke…

To Molest and Rape (#1310)

This time, they’re trying to pretend he isn’t typical and representative by stating his continuous molestation of at least one kid started before he became a cop:

An El Paso [cop] was arrested [for]…aggravated sexual assault of child over a period of at least three years…Eric Bernardino Ramirez…[started] the repeated…molestation…[in 2014] before Ramirez joined the El Paso Police Department six years ago…

 

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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