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Posts Tagged ‘censorship’

Not of Throwback Thursday

Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

If there is one succinct statement which sums up my political philosophy, it’s “Every adult individual owns themselves and absolutely nobody has the right to overrule that.”  –
“Your Body, Your Choice”

Politicians can always be counted on to pander to hordes of ignorant lackwits who view any knowledge that might contradict their deeply-stupid weltanschauung as an existential threat.  –  “The Kinsey Factor”

I fail to see any important difference between the government forcibly taking people’s homes to quarter troops and forcibly taking them to enable cops and robbers games.  –  “A Broker in Pillage (#1438)”

Prohibitionists have learned…that decriminalization is viewed by all experts as the best framework, so now they’re all lying by calling whatever modified criminalization scam they’re selling “decriminalization”, so as to trick ordinary voters into believing they actually support human rights. – “Not Decriminalization“

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In the News (#1637)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

There’s no such thing as a single-purpose surveillance state. – J.D. Tuccille

All-Purpose Excuse (#1231)

“Promote” & “encourage” are authoritarian dysphemisms for “talk about”:

An adult model is facing up to a decade [in a cage] in Turkey after she allegedly spoke out in support of sex work on national TV, which is against the country’s strict [censorship] laws.  Prosecutors claim Merve Taskin “encouraged prostitution” during a television appearance where she is said to have talked about the work she does behind a camera…on a programme hosted by Turkish media personality Hulya Avsar…Prosecutors claim that during the broadcast, Merve…[honestly] said that she could earn an entire month’s salary in one night…An indictment…alleges that her statements “promoted prostitution”…

Stalkers in Blue (ROTW #2)

Just another kind of cop, being a cop:

A U.S. Secret Service [spook] has been [rewarded with a paid vacation for following] a woman…to her hotel room in Miami and…masturbating [at] her…John Andrew Spillman…was…[caught in the act by] hotel security…[and was still at it] when [cops arrived to arrest]…him…Spillman…was in South Florida to [attend his master, the mad emperor]…

The Vultures Descend (#1485)

The state really does believe it owns every human being within its borders:

…Wyoming [politicians]…recently passed a[n unconstitutional] law to outlaw abortions once…fetal [cardiac myocyte activity can be detected by machines]…it is “clinically inaccurate” to describe what can be heard via an ultrasound during very early pregnancy as a heartbeat.  Cardiac cells in an embryo may exhibit electrical activity that is detectable, but there are no cardiac valves that could generate the sound that people know as a heartbeat.  The Wyoming law…which has now been…blocked [as unconstitutional like other recent attempts to reduce women to cattle, was justified by wannabe feudal lords as]…”sending a message“…that…young [women] are [chattel whose only function in life is to repeatedly spawn tax cattle]…for…the state…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1573)

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

…the U.S. is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tools that give [cops, spooks, and goons] easy access to the home and workplace addresses of American citizens, their social-media accounts, vehicle information, flight history, law-enforcement records and other personal information, as well as data to track their daily comings and goings…[all] in the name of border control.  As of 2022…ICE…had scanned the driver’s license photos of 1 in 3 adults…had access to the driver’s license data of 3 in 4 adults…and…could locate 3 in 4 adults through their utility records…Palantir…provide[s]…the ability to track people’s movements with “near real-time visibility”…and…the Mobile Fortify app…[allows thugs] to identify anyone they happen to encounter…[especially] protesters…and…their associates…in direct violation of Carpenter v. United States…

Creepy Coppers (#1583)

The inevitable result of sexual predators being given power over women:

A[n] RCMP [cop] who took a sexualized photo of a…female prisoner and sent it to a[nother pig] using a work-issued cellphone…will not be fired [but instead merely told he was a naughty boy and should think about what he did]…Samuel Culic admitted…[that] the woman…[did not] consent…[but he thought it was his right to exploit her sexually because someone barfed “]outstanding warrant[” while he] was [in earshot]…The message [he sent his wanking pal] read “Haha hot little senorita in cells tonight. Straight from Mexico’…[and] the [other pig] responded [by oinking] “Niceeee hahaha”…

How exactly do people think a quadruple silent e would affect a word’s pronunciation?

Torture Chamber (#1607)

A convenient way to cover up wanton murder:

On October 3…the Trump [regime] abruptly stopped paying…for medical care provided to…ICE [victims]…including “dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, [and] chemotherapy”…payments…were supposed to resume on April 30…but…did not resume.  Instead, [the billing contractor now…claims [it may be] June…[before they even begin to] process…the…claims…A source…[reported] that this is false…[and] no claims are being processed…the [regime’s refusal to]…pay…for medical services…has c[aus]ed…a massive spike in [ICE victim] deaths and medical crises…From 2018 to 2024, the average number of people who died in ICE c[oncentration camps] annually was 8.9…in 2025, 33 people died [as prisoners of] ICE…[and] the trend is accelerating.  In the first four months of 2026, 18 people have [already] died in [the camps]…since…October 3…[the death] rate [has increased to] 51.7 people annually…more than five times the death rate before [Trump reverted to his typical practice of not paying his bills]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1624)

This needs to be banned worldwide, along with police use of the technology:

Maryland has become the first state in the US to ban surveillance pricing…[the practice of] rapidly chang[ing] the cost of products based on consumer data, including their location, internet search history and demographics…the [industry uses the euphemism “]dynamic pricing[” but no matter what the term it amounts to]…charging each person the most that they’re willing to pay…the Federal Trade Commission…has documented examples of surveillance pricing in stores selling clothing, beauty products, home goods and hardware…Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey may likewise regulate…the [exploitative]…practice…un[fortunat]ely the…Maryland…law is riddled with industry carveouts that will [undermine its stated intent]…

 

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 (#1636)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[Chatbot “journalism” is] nothing but a race to the bottom.
–  The Washington State News Guild

A Moral Cancer (#1535)

The absurd belief that “ultraprocessed foods” are essentially magical is increasingly popular with crypto-moralists:

[Eating] a small bag of potato chips…may raise your risk of dementia even if you normally eat a [pious] plant-rich diet, according to a new study…[which] only show[s] an association, not a direct cause and effect.  However…this [does]…not [stop “nutritionists” from making outlandish claims about the magically-harmful powers of the vaguely-defined fad concept called]…ultraprocessed foods…The…[authors admitted that they think eating should be a counting ordeal requiring] a…[years-long] commit[ment] to…[pseudoscientific dogmas bizarrely described as “]award-winning[“]…and…[“]highly respected[” and encumbered with ungainly labels like]…the DASH diet and the MIND diet…[while foods people enjoy are described with the unappetizing adjective] “predigested”…

The incoherence of the “ultraprocessed” concept is demonstrated by the fact that potato chips – i.e. slices of potato fried in vegetable oil – are included despite requiring no more “processing” than is needed to make any other raw vegetable palatable, which can be done in any ordinary kitchen.

Welcome to the Future (#1576)

Any internet-connected device can be used to spy on you, and that goes double for so-called “AI” devices:

Samsung is rolling out a new wave of [so-called “]AI[“] features that can recognize your voice, update your shopping list, and [report on what’s in your refrigerator to your health insurance company so your premiums can be raised if you eat anything they deem “unhealthy”]…Many of its…features are powered by Google Gemini…the [artificially-stupid]…oven comes with a camera that can recognize the dishes you place inside and recommend cooking time [for those too illiterate to read a cookbook]…Competitors like LG are also bringing [surveillance] into their appliances…by learning your habits and [sharing them with the corporation and its “partners”]…Samsung also has its own virtual assistant, Bixby, that it’s infusing into appliances…to provide a companion [to people whose lives are so pathetic they have nobody to talk to other than a refrigerator]…The goal is to create technology that f[osters dependence so as to be able to encumber marks with ever-more subscription services]…

Walled Garden (#1590)

The open internet will soon be a thing of the past:

[Utah politicians imagine their] new age-verification law…[can stop] minors [from] using VPNs to access [web]sites [politicians don’t want them to see]…by barring [targeted web]sites [across the entire internet] from recommending VPNs…[or] posting instructions on how to access them…the law [absurdly demands] age verification [of all Utah] users, “regardless of whether the individual is using a virtual private network, proxy server, or other means”…[despite the fact that] there’s no surefire way for a website to determine whether a…user is masking their location with a VPN.  The…[only way] a [web]site could…[obey] the law [would be] to…mandate age verification for every visitor globally…

Mad Libs (#1614)

Corporations can’t see that their stupidity, gullibility, and greed will wreck their business:

McClatchy, the newspaper chain behind publications including The Sacramento Bee, The Miami Herald and The Idaho Statesman, [is using a chatbot] to…summarize [re]al articles and spit out [enshittified] versions for different audiences…Journalists in many of the company’s newsrooms are now withholding their bylines from articles created by the [chatbot], meaning that those articles will run with a generic credit rather than a reporter’s name…Related [attempts to exploit people] are playing out in newsrooms across the country, as [greedy own]ers experiment with [trying to replace humans entirely] …McClatchy…[is owned by a] hedge fund [rather than a genuine publisher, as is evident in the buzzwords]…executives have [vomi]ted [in the faces of reporters whom they describe as]…“defiant”…for…[pointing out that] the tool’s use…[violates] their union contracts…reporters are a[lso being ordered] to edit…the [chatbot vomit, taking]…time away from serious journalism…

Panopticon (#1614)

This will continue unless forcibly shut down due to public outcry:

[Naifs in] an Atlanta suburb have been [sh]ocked by the [highly predictable news] that sales employees at Flock have been…demonstrat[ing] the company’s surveillance technology to [cop shops] around the country…[by spying on] a children’s gymnastics room, a playground, a school, a Jewish community center, and a pool…Flock has [absurdly justified this abuse by belching]…”demo partner program”…“well-intentioned”…”safety”…[and] “cutting-edge”…at…residents [who] universally explained to [fascist politician]s that they did not want their tax money funding surveillance technology that has been used to collaborate with [ICE], to [persecute]…abortion [seekers]…to stalk women and [to] surveil protests…

The Vultures Descend (#1622)

Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:

[The ever-deranged Fifth Circuit is attempting to] restrict…access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by [attempting to] block…mailing of prescriptions of mifepristone…[and demanding] that the abortion pill be distributed only in person at clinics…[on the grounds that] Louisiana…and [other forced-birth states own]…every [citizen]…and [can use them as brood mares if it sees fit]…the Supreme Court…[has temporarily block]ed enforcement of [that] ban…

Even if SCOTUS changes its collective mind and allows the ban to go into effect, there is no practical way for the Post Office to consistently intercept discreetly-packaged pills sent from overseas by telehealth services like Women Help Women.

Walled Garden (#1631)

The only way to ensure data is not abused is not to collect it:

A teenage hacker is suspected of breaching a French government agency responsible for identity documents and attempting to sell millions of citizens’ personal data…the National Agency for Secure Documents (ANTS)…processes applications for passports, national identity cards, residence permits and driver’s licenses.  French authorities did not…[even know about] the…intrusion [until] the data appeared on underground marketplaces…The agency also oversees a new government age-verification app [politicians imagine can] prevent [young people of the hacker’s age] from accessing social networks…

 

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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Sign of the Times

Posted in Current Events, Diary, History, Tyranny, tagged , , , on May 8, 2026| 3 Comments »

If you are on Bluesky, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been around for the past few days; that’s because on Tuesday evening, some moderator over there decided I was a bad girl who needed her social media taken away to teach her a lesson about offending Trumpists.  I was scanning my timeline, getting ready to close the computer for the evening, when suddenly my screen sort of blipped and I was looking at a weird generic timeline, featuring stuff from nobody I follow; in the margin was a signin button.  I thought it was odd and went to sign back in, only to be told my account was suspended for violating the ToS by “hate speech”, and my account would be suspended until the 9th (no time was given).  They did tell me which post was the one which had provoked their fit of pearl-clutching; it was one which stated that Trump’s poll numbers were not yet bad enough, illustrated by this picture: 
I’ve used the same picture with a similar statement literally dozens of times, with absolutely no pushback, so it’s obvious that what actually happened was mass reporting by a gang of Trumpists offended by my being mean to their god-emperor.  But given that in the past Bluesky has been fairly resistant to that sort of thing, this rings an alarm bell for everyone using the site; it means not only that they’re now trying to establish more rigid censorship, but that there are now enough Trumpists over there to make a reporting-gang.  Bluesky’s block function is very aggressive; blocked accounts can’t see the blocker to engage in retaliatory reporting.  I’ve subscribed to several MAGA blocklists, to preemptively close off this exact risk, but clearly that is no longer sufficient because there are enough stealth Trumpists around (who haven’t yet been blocked) to organize a gang.

I have no suggestions about avoiding this, other than pointing out that the picture having actual dead people in it is probably what they took exception to.  I’m merely pointing out that mass reporting has obviously made it to Bluesky, and the Trumpists have access to the weapon.  According to their official email my account should be back sometime tomorrow, which means a ton of playing catch-up, and alas, the retirement of this useful image.

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In the News (#1635)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Without the constitutional safeguard of a warrant requirement, [cops] predictably…abuse their access to [surveillance] systems for things like stalking [women].  –  Michael Soyfer

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1463)

A baby step toward eradicating the noxious “troubled teen” industry:

Ron Wyden [has], introduced a Senate bill, the BRIDGES for Kids Act, to better regulate residential treatment centers – closing loopholes that have allowed for the abuse of vulnerable youth…follow[ing a two-year investigation] by the Senate Finance Committee…which…found that abuse, neglect and acute safety concerns…are “endemic” to the [“troubled teen” industry]…the Department of Health and Human Services would create a national public dashboard that would compile and publicly report on data like how often [victims] are restrained…secluded[, injured, or killed]…and…states would be required to look into significant complaints within two days…The bill would also no longer allow privately accredited facilities in 21 states to skip some licensing…and…would invest in community-centered alternatives, increasing federal support for…[young people] in the [foster] system placed with kin…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

No information entered into an internet-connected device is actually private:

…therapy sessions on the telehealth platform Talkspace are…record[ed] and store[d to create]…“one of the largest mental health data banks in the world,” containing 140 million message exchanges.  The end goal: training a soon-to-be-released [pseudo-]therapy [chat]bot…In a traditional therapy session, therapists might scribble only a few sentences recording a patient’s progress…by creating a transcript of the exact back-and-forth of a digital therapy session, Talkspace has created a new [way for the State and other malefactors]…to [invade] people’s private lives…Talkspace executives [pretend to] investors [that] data is anonymized, but [don’t tell them] such anonymity can [easily] be broken…by…court order…[while] in a[n ethic]al therapy session that wouldn’t be true…Talkspace executives e[ven lie]…that the company is compliant with…HIPAA…[which] the Electronic Frontier Foundation [points out was]…not [an actual protection even before the Trump regime started its data grab]…In 2022…Talkspace [was forced to admit to the US Senate]…that…the company [allows some] data [to be] used for ads.  [It has also]…shar[ed the] personal information of New York City teens with Facebook, Amazon…Google, and Microsoft via website trackers…Talkspace [hides all this in convoluted language embedded deep in the fine print of] the company’s privacy policy…

Shame, Shame (#1570)

Remember when ninnies thought realistic porn cartoons were the worst use for this technology?

Last week, Taylor Swift filed a trio of trademark applications to protect her image and voice…[because] deepfakes [of her] continue to proliferate across social media…Swift and other stars have recently had their likenesses used in scammy advertisements…a cluster of sponsored videos on TikTok…appear…to show Swift, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and others promoting…fraud…[and] mal[ware designed]…to…[capture] the…[marks’] personal information…the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America [has] sued [Facebook for lying]…about its [supposed] efforts to crack down on scam ads…[while actually] profit[ing] by allowing them to proliferate…social media scams have surged overall, with Facebook scams accounting for the highest total of financial losses…

Crippling Thought (#1604)

Scenes from the early days of a dark age:

Academic freedom continues to decline globally, with a marked fall in the US, according to the 2026 update to the Academic Freedom Index…academic freedom has slipped in 50 countries, with just nine [including Bangladesh, Syria, Thailand and Uzbekistan] registering improvement…[those in decline include] the UK…Portugal, Germany, Austria, Italy and Greece…the United States [in particular] has experienced a remarkably sharp drop…compared to other countries in Western Europe and North America…beg[inning] in 2020 and intensif[ying] last year, driven by…attacks by the Trump [regime against] faculty members, staff and students…The pressure on universities and research institutes in the US was more dramatic than in other countries such as Hungary, India and Turkey, where institutional autonomy declined more gradually…

Stalkers in Blue (#1611)

With warrantless surveillance, no woman is safe from cops:

[Cops] across the US are [predictably] using automated license plate readers…to stalk [sexual prey]…there are already 14 cases across the country where cops…abused ALPR access to follow spouses, exes, and even complete strangers…with the majority of the…cases coming after 2024…when…Flock S[urveillance] initiated a massive expansion into over 4,000 US cities…In Milwaukee, for example, a…[typical and representative cop]…named Josue Ayala resigned after…using Flock to track his…[girlfriend and her] ex, almost 180 times over just two months.  The two victims only became aware they were being stalked [by using]…HaveIBeenFlocked.com…Flock [now infests] over 6,000 cities across the US, with over 76,000 license plate readers and counting…[so] the number of active ALRP abuse cases…is [undoubtedly very high]…

Walled Garden (#1619)

Western nations are competing to out-China China:

The Greek government is pressing ahead with a [scheme] to [attempt to] ban anonymity on social media, aiming to curb [criticism of politicians, which they slander as “]hate speech[“.  But because Greek pigs and spooks have]…attempted – unsuccessfully – to identify users who [say things politicians don’t like]…the…[government wants to] find a way to require platforms to verify the identity of [people who post via] accounts…[belch]ing…the [meaningless catchphrase “]real person[” as part of a song-and-dance intended to transfer blame for government-mandated surveillance]…to…platforms…[while absurdly characterizing inflicting violence on people for their ideas as “]safeguarding democracy[“]…

Once this falls flat on its face, they’ll next try to criminalize VPNs.

Mad Libs (#1628)

Do I really need to say, “Don’t give your credit card to a fucking chatbot”?

…there are enough digital security problems out there…with[out so-called “]agentic AI[“, meaning chatbots which can fuck up idiots’ lives directly instead of merely urging them to do so.  But]…now…the authentication-focused industry association known as the FIDO Alliance [has] said…it will launch a pair of working groups to develop industry standards for validating and protecting payments and other transactions carried out by [chatbo]ts.  The goal is to pro[tect people stupid enough to give a chatbot access to their finances from obvious perils such as]…phish[ing or losing control of the chatbot to hackers]…The standards would…include cryptographic tools that digital services could use to confirm [chatbo]ts are accurately and legitimately carrying out an authenticated person’s instructions, as well as [data harvest]ing frameworks to give users, merchants, and other service providers the ability to validate transactions…initiated by [chatbo]ts…

Why are so many modern journalists so bad at pronoun usage, especially the second-person pronoun?  Because I guarantee you that no chatbot will ever “be buying…stuff for” me, “soon” or otherwise.  But I guess that’s too much to ask of some kid who thinks $100 is a reasonable price for fucking sneakers.

 

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 (#1634)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Why are immigrant businesses being targeted by large-scale investigations…over fire code violations?  –  MPOP

An Avalanche of Bullshit (#976)

If your raid can’t find evidence of any real crime, just punish your victims with “code violations”:

…police [raids in Bothell, Washington] are simply the latest example of discrimination and state violence against Asian women and immigrant workers.  “You’re patting your own back for solving fabricated issues based on your own sexist, racist ideas, and Asian massage workers are paying the price,” said Lee Chen at an April 20 rally outside of the King County Jail…organized by the Massage Parlor Organizing Project …Whose Streets? Our Streets, Red Canary Song, and the International Migrants Alliance…Two of the raided businesses—including one just feet away from the Bothell police headquarters—are owned by Lizhen Yang…who was booked into the King County [jail but]…released the next day, without charges.  All five massage businesses were shut down, with authorities citing fire code violations…[as justification for] “ripp[ing] security cameras from walls…knock[ing] down doors, [tearing] signage…and artwork from the walls…[and robbing] workers” …[who] are now [all] out of jobs…[as cops] offered no indication if or when the five [targeted] businesses may be allowed to reopen… “advocates said the [pogroms] were a publicized effort to ‘clean up’…ahead of this summer’s FIFA Men’s World Cup matches in Seattle”…

Permanent Record (#1506)

Clearly, they were concerned he’d carry dangerous sex rays to other wrestlers:

…Jamie Bigg, known as Giant, has left the BBC show [Gladiators] following the end of this series.  Bigg…said: “I made it clear that I was planning to go public with my relationship, including the fact my partner works as an OnlyFans creator, and shortly after that I was told I wouldn’t be continuing on Gladiators“…

Thought Control (#1509)

Now that “sex trafficking” hysteria is over, one of its propaganda texts has become the biggest target of some of the hysteria’s biggest pushers:

The American Library Association…has reported a record high in the number of books banned in US libraries.  In 2025, 5,668 books were banned – representing 66% of the total number challenged – with an additional 920 censored through access restriction, such as relocation …The most-banned book in 2025 was Sold, a [tragedy porn] novel by Patricia McCormick [sensationalizing “]sex trafficking[“] in India…challenges were recorded against 4,235 unique titles…the second highest since the organisation began tracking censorship data…topped only by 4,240 titles in 2023…40% of the materials challenged…involved representations of LGBT…people or people of colour…challenges are becoming more coordinated and politically driven: 92% came from pressure groups, [politician]s or [bureaucrat]s, compared with 72% in 2024…2.7% were attributed to [random busybodie]s and [only] 1.4% to [act]ual library users…

Sold was once so highly regarded among “sex trafficking” fetishists that the 2014 film adaptation was later released in a PG-13 digital version for propaganda use in schools and churches.

Thought Control (#1519)

Several states have banned book-banning, but some libraries are working to circumvent existing bans in more censorious states:

A Books Unbanned library card gives teens across the United States free digital access to ebooks and digital resources, including banned and challenged books—no matter where they live.  Books Unbanned helps ensure teens can read what they like, explore new ideas and form their own opinions.  This is a free digital library card for teens, created to protect the freedom to read in the face of growing book censorship…

Torture Chamber (#1541)

Though this article is a year and a half old, it has statistics and reports I haven’t seen elsewhere:

…Several courts have ruled that extreme temperatures in prison violate the Eighth Amendment’s provision against “cruel and unusual” punishment.  But these rulings have not led to a widespread adoption of…methods to cool prison facilities or prevent heat-related deaths.  Public health researchers at Brown University estimate that just one day of above average summer temperatures is associated with a nearly 4% increase in prison deaths.  Suicides spike 23% in the three days following a heat wave.  And for every 10 degrees above the average summer temperature, prison deaths increase 5%…Below, we’ve published stories from 42 writers across 27 states…reveal[ing] the brutal reality…

Nightfall

In today’s digital landscape, corporate interests, shifting distribution models, and malicious cyber attacks are threatening public access to our shared cultural history…When digital materials are vulnerable to sudden removal—whether by design or by attack—our collective memory is compromised, and the public’s ability to access its own history is at risk. Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record [is a free, downloadable collection of] essays from…the Internet Archive…and [many]…humanities scholar[s]…detail[ing] recent instances of cultural loss…and emphasiz[ing] the critical role that public-serving libraries and archives must play in preserving these materials for future generations…

Walled Garden (#1618)

Surely you didn’t think this would stop with the internet?

If some [politician]s get their way, Americans could have to show IDs or submit facial scans to so much as open a laptop or power up an iPhone.  A [uniparty] federal bill [with the propaganda name] the Parents Decide Act would require age verification at the operating system level.  That means most computers, smartphones, and tablets would all be age-gated…It would also require operating systems to share “any information as is necessary…to verify the date of birth of a user” with app developers…

 

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 (#1632)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[Chatbots] can be really good at the care and feeding of a delusion.  –  unnamed source

The End of the Beginning (#1308) 

The government had to be forcibly stopped from attacking people for being unable to do the literally impossible:

…a federal judge has permanently blocked the [federal government] from prosecuting Californians who [cannot] register…[as “]Sex Offender[s” because] the state doesn’t require them to do so.  In a lawsuit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation…four John Does described the impossibility of complying with…a [diktat] issued by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 [which demanded that] anyone who’s ever been convicted of a sex offense to register with their state, regardless of whether their state’s laws match the federal requirements…up[on pain of] 10 years in federal prison.  This…was particularly problematic for individuals who are no longer required, nor permitted, to register as a sex offender in their home state…there [we]re thousands of individuals in California alone facing the same penalties for circumstances outside of their control…

Panopticon (#1486)

Lawsuits are the only way to hinder a government that won’t control itself:

…the San Jose [cop shop]…has access to…a network of 474 ALPR cameras that blanket the city, [unconstitutionally] recording residents as they go about their daily lives.  More than 1,000 [San Jose pig]s are authorized to [root through] that information…[without] a warrant, probable cause, or even individualized suspicion…[plus pigs in] nearly 300 other [st]ies across California.  [Because] that “creepy” and “deeply intrusive” surveillance system violates the Fourth Amendment, the Institute for Justice [has filed] a lawsuit…represent[ing] a class consisting of “all San Jose residents who were drivers of vehicles” that have been photographed by the city’s cameras during the last year or will be photographed in the future…seeking a court order that would require the [pigs] to delete or block access to images and data collected by the cameras after 24 hours unless it has “a specific warrant based on probable cause”…In addition to license plate numbers…Flock’s software [also] generates [“fingerprints”] based on each car’s characteristics…can produce a “vehicle journey map” showing “everywhere the car has been seen”…”analyze patterns of movement,” “flag repeat visitors to a location,” “identify vehicles frequently seen together,” “generate lists of vehicles that have visited multiple locations of interest,” and “predict the future route a vehicle might take”…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

Google pretends temporarily making this “opt-in” makes them better than Facebook:

…Google’s latest [chatbot] upgrade…lets users opt-in to connecting Google apps to Gemini…[including] all your photos…Gemini…can scan everything to form its own views of you and everyone you know…[and allow its] Nano Banana 2…[image generator with the sophomoric name] to…use actual images of you and your loved ones….to [create shitty cartoons]…Gizmodo sums it up pretty well as “solving a problem no one had”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1566)

All cops will have these within a few years:

The Department of [Father]land Security is developing specialized [perve]rt glasses that will allow federal [goon]s on American streets to automatically identify “illegal aliens” [and protesters] from a distance…these new ICE Glasses…will be able to [parse] vast federal holdings of biometric data…to identify people in real-time…They…will be two-way, not only able to…match to [targe]ts already in databases, but also to secretly record people to add them to new domestic watchlists…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1586)

Chatbots will encourage whatever madness a user discusses with them:

…chatbot[-facilitated]…violence [is]…on the rise…a mass shooter…at Florida State University …used ChatGPT…to [plan]…his attack…[as did Jesse Van Rootselaar in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia]…iterative, sycophantic conversations with chatbots can create powerful feelings of intimacy and trust…among troubled [or mentally ill] people…[leading to] a wave of lawsuits from families…[whose] loved ones [were driven] to kill themselves and others…A Pittsburgh man who…stalk[ed] and violently threaten[ed] 11 women…relied on ChatGPT as a “therapist” and “best friend” to justify his thinking…Google Gemini…sen[t an armed Florida man] on delusional missions…then encouraged [his] suicide…Google[‘s response was “no[body’s] perfect”…

Walled Garden (#1594)

Goodness, who could ever have predicted this?

Unfortunately for the Australian government (and fortunately for most kids), the implementation of a [social media] ban is going about as well as many critics predicted.  Kids are largely avoiding enforcement, with 61 percent of kids ages 12–15 who had accounts before the ban still having access to at least one of them…many kids are able to game the system by changing their appearance to look older and fool age-estimation software.  Others have used false IDs or VPNs to maintain their access…Still other[s], like 15-year-old Noah Jones, are suing the government for infringing on their…rights…[but] many [others] have not been so lucky.  At least 4.7 million accounts have been disabled, and hundreds of thousands of new accounts have been blocked…60 percent of parents [have deluded themselves into seeing] positive behavioral outcomes [despite objective evidence to the contrary]…

Above the Law (#1618)

Your “leaders” at work:

Virginia’s former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who…derailed [his own career] by sexual[ly] assault[ing women], fatally shot his wife before killing himself…the couple’s teenage son called 911 shortly after midnight [on April 16th]…The couple was going through a divorce…

 

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 (#1631)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We cannot agree to the step-by-step creation of a Chinese-style internet in Europe.  –  Piotr Müller

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1160) 

Just in case you think being a “legal” sex worker protects you:

In March 2024…a lawsuit filed by patrons of three [Arizona] strip clubs — Dream Palace in Tempe and Skin Cabaret and Bones Cabaret in Scottsdale…claimed that dancers were drugging scores of customers and racking up six-figure charges on their credit cards…the [claims appear to have been lifted from] the 2019 film Hustlers…and…neither man could prove he’d been drugged, but…Phoenix attorney Rod Galarza…[has] now [recruited] more than 40 plaintiffs, with the total amount of allegedly bogus charges exceeding $2.3 million…And yet no charges were ever filed in the case…Scottsdale police presented the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office…only to have both decline [it for]…“lack…[of] sufficient evidence”…police didn’t…speak to any dancers…at the clubs, didn’t search the club for drugs and didn’t send in undercover cops.  Former club employees who did talk to police reported no direct knowledge of any drugging scheme…and…Todd Borowsky, who owns the Skin and Bones clubs…[has] filed…[a] federal…[law]suit [against] the city of Scottsdale, the [cop shop] and several individual cops…[for] perpetrating a vindictive sham investigation against the clubs…[which] went to great lengths to document their clients’ pricey forays into VIP rooms, requiring signed contracts, a fingerprint and even a photo of the customer holding up the paperwork for each transaction…

Scottsdale cops have a long and sordid history of trying to pin crimes on strippers.

Lack of Evidence (#1318)

Throwing other sex workers under the bus is a shortcut to losing my sympathy:

A gay Canadian adult film star…was detained for over eight hours by U.S. Customs before receiving a 10-year ban from the country.  Milo Miles…was traveling to Las Vegas…in January…to attend the GayVN Awards…where he was set to present and was nominated for six awards…[when goons] accused him of “escorting with no evidence” and were fixated on the “gay clothes”, fiber pills, and PrEP he had packed…When…they found evidence of his career in…porn [it got worse]…then…two hours [later they] found evidence of escorting…Miles [then threw other sex workers under the bus by trying to invoke a bullshit distinction between]…prostitution…[and] escorting…U.S. Customs has the [power] to deny entry to people they believe are sex workers…and will use coercive tactics to try and elicit a confession…

The Prudish Giant (#1547)

In many ways, Microsoft and Google are as evil as Facebook:

An independent privacy audit of Microsoft, [Facebook], and Google web traffic in California found that the companies [routinely] violat[e] state regulations…[by shoving] ad cookies in[to] a user’s browser even if they opt…out of tracking…The webXray California Privacy Audit…found that most tech companies [simply] ignore when a user asks to opt-out of cookie tracking.  [Facebook’s] code [does not even] contain…[a] check for globally standard opt-out signals—it loads unconditionally, fires a tracking event, and sets a cookie regardless of the consumerʼs privacy preferences…[The three companies] have collectively paid billions in fees for previous privacy violations …[but simply view] these fines [as a cost of doing business]…One of the things…revealed in the audit is [that those]…annoying pop-ups that ask users how they want to handle cookies…do…not work…Google, [Facebook], and Microsoft all [lied, saying “nuh-uh” while theatrically crossing their fingers behind their backs]…

From the first time I saw one of those cookie banners I knew they were bullshit; I never respond to them, instead simply archiving the page as soon as such a popup appears, because I suspect that the act of clicking itself triggers some kind of fine-print consent, as in a phishing email.

A Moral Cancer (#1575)

Prohibitionists always claim surprise when the predicted effects of one of their bans appear:

…the Tax Foundation…[has] reported that “cigarette smokers in the European Union pay far more in excise taxes than they do for the cigarettes themselves…at least 60 percent of the national weighted average retail price…The highest…is levied in Ireland at €10.71 ($12.58) per pack…followed by France at €8.09 ($9.51) and the Netherlands at €7.77 ($9.13)”…[outside] the E.U…taxes make up almost 60 percent of the…Swiss…price…[and almost 50] per cent of the…British price…[unsurprisingly,] Europe’s black market for cigarettes…[is therefore] grow[ing]…especially in France and the Netherlands…France continues to remain the largest [European] market for…black market…cigarette[s]…at 38.5 percent, just slightly exceeding the 37 percent share in Ireland…

Mad Libs (#1618)

Any doctor who trusts chatbots should be sued for malpractice:

…chatbots [are especially dangerous] when used to make medical diagnoses, particularly when faced with incomplete information…frequently narrowing too quickly to a single answer...researchers evaluated 21 LLMs, including leading models by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI and DeepSeek.  It found that failure rates exceeded 80 per cent for all models when they needed to do so-called differential diagnosis — when full patient information was lacking…

Walled Garden (#1624)

The only way to ensure data is not abused is not to collect it:

The European Union’s unveiling of a mobile app to check people’s age online has quickly turned sour, as cybersecurity experts found glaring privacy and security problems with the code…turning into a PR disaster for Brussels…security consultant Paul Moore…hacked the app in under 2 minutes…[while] Baptiste Robert, a prominent French white hat hacker, confirmed…it was possible to bypass the app’s biometric authentication features…The European Commission [quickly backpedaled, absurdly declaring]…”When we say it’s a final version, it’s…still a demo version”…and…the vulnerability “was fixed”…

Mad Libs (#1626)

Every study shows that chatbot usage harms brain function:

In a new study, researchers [demonstrate once again]…that [using chatbots for]…cognitive labor [such as] writing…studying [and] coding…can rapidly impair users’ intellectual ability and willingness to persist…After [using the electronic crutch for as little as] 10 minutes…people…performed worse and gave up more frequently than those who never used it…a growing body of research [shows] that [chatbot reliance] can distort and dampen users’ thinking and independence, and…outsourcing cognitive tasks to [chatbots] could put [lazy fool]s in a “boiling frog”…erosion of [their] cognitive “muscles”…“these effects will accumulate over years, and by the time they are visible, they will be difficult to reverse,” the study [says]… “Once the [chatbot] is taken away…people [don’t simply give] wrong answers…They’re…not [even] willing to try without [the chatbot]”…over-reliance [therefore] function[s much] like an addiction…

 

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 Tweet of the Night

Posted in Biography, Current Events, History, Miscellaneous, Music, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2026| 1 Comment »

Change one single vowel in this headline, and it would be a VERY different story.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-20T01:59:52.797Z

Probably the same way that holding a knife to a child's throat can open a guarded door.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-20T18:03:29.896Z

Beware of Davros.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-25T03:17:35.675Z

#3 is a very, very bad idea.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-25T17:50:01.254Z

Spring this on family members in New Orleans, and they may not stop at disowning* you.*And disowning people is mighty difficult under Napoleonic Code.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-26T17:26:22.068Z

It's fascinating to watch men with severe, easily-recognized mental illnesses publicly blaming others' mental illness on behaviors that the speakers are incapable of due to their own undiagnosed, untreated psychopathologies.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-27T17:09:35.827Z

My teen self would be confused by this.1981 Maggie: So there are new "Star Trek" shows all the time, but you haven't watched one in 20 years?2026 Maggie: CorrectM81: Ditto "Star Wars"?M26: YepM81: Plus all kinds of D&D fantasy stuff?M26: Right again.M81: I DON'T KNOW YOU

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-28T17:19:00.870Z

Reporters: doing something willfully is not a "failure", regardless of what politicians call it. If a party refuses to comply with some illegal diktat, that party has not *failed* to comply with said diktat; he has REFUSED to comply. The former is an omission; the latter an active rejection.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-29T16:55:44.729Z

This monster's face appears to have been designed by Jack Pierce. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm06823…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-30T17:38:45.538Z

"Dabbled in cross-dressing" makes it sound like alchemy or some other occult practice.(Yes, I know about the shamans and mystery religions; this isn't that, so let's not)

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T17:37:38.961Z

Oh please, PLEASE let them use a chatbot as architect, so we can have a "Galloping Gertie" moment on live TV soon after it's done.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-01T17:35:58.519Z

This is how partisanism warps minds.Distrust of politicians *in general* for wholly rational reasons is subjected to the duopoly's Procrustean bed, then for 21st century readers must be trivialized & infantilized. So anarchists & true libertarians are described by the asinine tag "double haters".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-03T17:28:10.591Z

WAAAAAAAAAH! I'VE POOPED MYSELF AND I DEMAND SOMEONE CHANGE IT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-04T17:16:42.139Z

Please, people, I beg you not to rely on spellcheckers at the cost of your own vocabulary skills.Trade languages have nothing to do with birds.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-07T17:10:46.810Z

Meanwhile, books on my shelves which were published as far back as the 1920s, and which I purchased as far back as the 1970s, are still 100% readable. And all I have to do to access them is walk over to my bookshelves.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-08T17:13:17.853Z

Due to the high volume of "You were right all along" emails, I will not be responding to them individually. Thank you for your understanding.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-08T17:29:33.587Z

A friend who grew up on Country/Western was unfamiliar with Zeppelin, and when "Ramble On" came on she asked me what it was about. I replied, "A dude who gets his girlfriend stolen by Gollum."

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-10T07:34:41.637Z

Trump is someone who consistently cheats at Solitaire and still repeatedly loses, and when he's done the deck only has about 49 cards. And some of those are from kids' game decks, like one with a picture of an old maid.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-12T17:44:13.156Z

 

We need Captain Kirk.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T03:26:13.653Z

If you want to reveal a crypto-authoritarian, just start him talking about virtually anything to do with cars.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T17:21:33.262Z

THIS.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-16T17:53:47.686Z

Your regular reminder that it is 100% legal to fictionally depict murder, rape, and mayhem in movies.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-17T17:19:44.529Z

I especially love that the stupid thing flew apart on impact.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-17T19:17:10.473Z

First Palantir came for the sex workers, but nobody cared because "sex trafficking".Then Palantir came for young minority men, and nobody cared because "gangs".Then Palantir came for migrants, and nobody cared because "illegals".Now it's coming for you, and I think you know the rest.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-04-19T17:28:11.213Z

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In the News (#1629)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Fifth Amendment…was designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear…burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.  –  Armstrong v. US, 1960

Gullible’s Travels

The quality of social science studies has not improved in the last 15 years:

A massive seven-year project exploring 3,900 social-science papers has ended with a [predictable] finding: researchers could replicate the results of only half of the studies…John Ioannidis, a metascientist at Stanford…says…the results are “not surprising”, because they are in line with those from smaller, earlier studies…Researchers have been investigating a ‘crisis’ in the reliability of scientific results for more than a decade…not just in the social sciences, but also in the biomedical field.  The…findings…don’t necessarily mean that science is being done poorly…[or dis]honest[ly; the reports may simply be written poorly, without]…enough data or details for experiments to be repeated accurately…

Shifting the Blame (#1502)

Apparently, his cop buddies will escape scot-free:

[The] Long Island…serial killer [has] pleaded guilty…to murdering seven women and admitted he killed an eighth…[architect] Rex Heuermann…strangled the women, m[ost] of them sex workers, over a 17-year span and buried their remains…along an isolated beach highway across the bay from where he lived…He faces life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date…The investigation began in…2010 after [the]…remains w[ere discovered, but was stalled and obstructed for years by police who were chummy with Heuermann, including disgraced former Police Chief James Burke]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #22)

Another cop who stalked victims through the official cop grooming program:

A [typical and representative Colorado cop has been] indicted…[for molesting] two [underage] m[arks] in the [cop shop’s official grooming] program…Troy Brienzo[‘s cronies tried to protect him by only releasing a] heavily redacted [copy of the] indictment…[but] police accountability nonprofit Blue Surveillance [got ahold of a less-redacted copy]…show[ing] both victims were enrolled in the…[groom]ing program…

I Spy (#1599)

The erosion of US air travelers’ rights which started with TSA is now complete:

…ICE…[has] arrested more than 800 people [in the past year using] tips shared by…TSA…which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers…the [scheme]…was created in 2007 to allow [universal surveillance of]…passenger[s by checking them against unconstitutional]…government watchlists…[and justified by barfing the word “]terrorism[” in the faces of useful idiots]…but the…Trump [regime]…is [using it to] pursu[e and persecute ordinary migrants]…and [nonwhite US citizens]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1602)

Lower courts have repeatedly pretended that there’s a “fuck you, we’re cops” exception to the Takings Clause:

In 2022, police caused extensive damage to Amy Hadley’s home in South Bend, Indiana, because they [willful]ly [chose to pretend] a fugitive was inside the house [despite being told otherwise by Hadley and her son].  That same year, a Los Angeles SWAT team wrecked Carlos Pena’s print shop while [staging theatrics] to arrest a [man] who [was not there]…Hadley and Pena were stuck with the tab for the havoc wrought by police operations—a plainly unfair but increasingly common situation that could be rectified by the “just compensation” that the Fifth Amendment requires when property is “taken for public use”…Hadley and Pena are asking the Supreme Court to recognize that remedy…The Institute for Justice, which represents both Hadley and Pena, argues that [the “fuck you”] exception…[is] not supported by the text or history of the Takings Clause…

Civil rights advocates often joke that the Third Amendment is the only one that hasn’t been undermined, but I fail to see any important difference between the government forcibly taking people’s homes to quarter troops and forcibly taking them to serve as props for cops and robbers games.

Panopticon (#1614)

Safetyism is destroying society:

A row has broken out in one of Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhoods [between sane people and]…surveillance [profiteers who want to create] the country’s first “virtual gated community” to [exploit useful idiots’ unrealistic fears of “]crime[“]…Craig Campbell, the Rosedale resident who proposed the plan…runs a security company.  He [told unattributed scary tales about unnamed “friends” who suffered a home invasion in order to sell] a plan in which an initial group of 100 residents would pay a C$200…monthly subscription [to impose]…licence plate [surveillance on everyone in the area, whether they like it or not]…Campbell holds the Canadian licensing rights for Flock, and [said] he “absolutely has a [scheme to exploit his neighbors’ fears, belching]…“my family’s safety” [at reporters]…

Walled Garden (#1620)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

…Massachusetts [politicians have] passed…one of the country’s most restrictive policies on youth social media use…It would…prohibit kids under 14 from having accounts [at all regardless of the parents’ wishes, and require]…parent[al]…consent for 14- and 15-year-olds…[politicians burbled about] studies [which] have shown…ex[actly the opposite of what politicians pretend they show]…and…[vomited “]protecting our children[” in the faces of civil rights advocates, while also moronically claiming that passing surveillance measures promoted by Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg somehow constitutes]…“standing up to Big Tech”…[when] asked…if [politician]s thought about data privacy as they prepared the legislation, [Grand Poobah] Ron Mariano [barfed]…“protect kids[“], and…compare[d] their proposal to a[n unconstitutional] social media law in Florida…

 

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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