Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘China’

In the News (#1572)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Help me, I can’t breathe.  –  Francis Gigliotti

If Men Were Angels

On Aug. 28, New York State Police arrested [a Methodist minister named] Ronald E. Wenzinger…for [talking online to a cop fantasy role-playing as a teenager]…

Cashing In On Shame

What was once pure fraud can now be accomplished in reality:

…one specimen of widely available spyware has turned [w]hat [used to be a scam] into a…[serious crime by] detecting when the user is browsing pornography…screenshotting it, and taking a candid photo of the victim through their webcam…an open-source variant of “infostealer” malware known as Stealerium…like all infostealers, is designed to infect a target’s computer and automatically send a hacker a wide variety of stolen sensitive data, including banking information, usernames and passwords, and keys to victims’ crypto wallets.  Stealerium, however…also monitors the victim’s browser for web addresses that include certain NSFW keywords, screenshots browser tabs that include those words, photographs the victim via their webcam while they’re watching those porn pages, and sends all the images to a hacker—who can then blackmail the victim…cybercriminals attempt…to trick users into downloading and installing Stealerium as an attachment or a web link, luring victims with typical bait like a fake payment or invoice…

Welcome to the Future (#1440)

Oh what a surprise, how could anyone have predicted this, etc:

…Axon[‘s]…Draft One…[is a program] that [is supposed to] turn [cop] body camera footage and audio into intelligible police reports…civil rights advocacy groups like the [EFF] and ACLU…[have pointed out that LLM’s] tendency to insert inaccuracies into texts—including wholesale inventions known by technologists as “hallucinations”…[make such systems unreliable and dangerous].  Axon [claims] its…safeguards…[are] designed to ensure [cop]…actually read…the…reports rather than rubber-stamping them.  But records obtained by Mother Jones through [FOI] laws almost uniformly show [cop shops] that use the software turn…such features off….[to] reduce…or eliminate…human oversight…reports generated by the…tool…have [certainly] been used in plea deals…essentially [telling] lie[s]…to the court that can’t be easily revealed…

I Can’t Breathe (#1447)

Dare I hope fewer coroners are willing to cover up cops’ crimes?

The death of a Massachusetts man this summer outside a fish market was attributed [in part] to…police…The July 11 death of Francis Gigliotti was deemed…a…homicide [by]…the medical examiner…[but] District Attorney Paul F. Tucker…is…[trying to justify the cops’] actions [anyhow]…Seven [cops]…were [rewarded with paid vacations for the murder of a man who]…was [intentionally] restrained…face down…[even though the DoJ]…has warned [cops] for decades to roll [prisoners] off their stomachs as soon as they are handcuffed because of the danger of positional asphyxia…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1456)

Ambulance-chasers have given themselves the power to rob internet companies:

…the Federal Trade Commission…is proposing that Aylo, [owner of] Pornhub and other popular porn…platforms, be ordered to pay the state of Utah $5 million…[due to supposedly] violating…Utah’s Consumer Sales Practices Act by failing to stop Pornhub users from uploading [porn] the [state has demonized]…In its complaint, the FTC spends a lot of space listing Pornhub tags and titles such as “helpless teens,” “internet creeper,” “shower spy cameras,” and “shamed sluts”…No one let FTC workers visit the Netflix homepage.  We’ll soon have an investigation into how Netflix is promoting murder and corporate espionage and witchcraft…Porn, like other types of entertainment media, often relies on fictional characters and scenarios…some of the content users uploaded to Pornhub may have actually been illegal…[but] Pornhub…tightened up its content rules…in 2020…And most of the things that the FTC objects to are policies [from] before 2020…[also,] distributing child pornography is a crime.  If a web platform is knowingly distributing child pornography, the proper recourse is for the Department of Justice to bring a criminal case…

The Cop Myth (#1461)

Cop violence is never limited to adults:

[A] Texas [cop named] Micah Smyth [was turned in by his wife for inflicting multiple injuries on their small child.  Smyth]…claimed to have accidentally dropped the child while a[bus]ing his other child in the bathroom…the…injuries [were so severe] the child [had to be] taken to [specialists at a] Children’s Hospital in Lubbock…who…found…a fractured skull with a brain bleed, bruises on his back and a healing rib fracture…that [could not be] solely based on an accidental drop…Smyth…was arrested and charged with…child [abuse both] in this case…[and] an additional…charge from 2022 [which his cop buddies previously ignored, thus allowing three more years of abuse]…

If the victims are young enough, there may even be consequences:

A [typical and representative] Milwaukee [cop] is heading to prison…[for] abus[ing] his infant daughter…Martinese McDaniel…[was left with the child by his] girlfriend[, who] came home one day in January 2023 to find the…two-month old…wasn’t breathing and McDaniel…[shaking] her…in a panic.  A pediatrician diagnosed the infant with brain bleeding, hemorrhaging, rib fractures, bruises and other injuries consistent with abuse.  McDaniel gave investigators surveillance video of his home…with one hour of the video [conveniently] missing during the time that his daughter stopped breathing…

Eavesdropping (#1501)

Just a reminder that these hackers exploited vulnerabilities intentionally placed into systems to allow “authorized” busybodies to spy on you:

[The full extent of last year’s massive]…attack by [the Chinese government’s] Salt Typhoon [hacking team] is [finally becoming clear]…It targeted more than 80 countries and may have stolen information from nearly every American…[by] exploit[ing  vulnerabilities intentionally inserted into] global communication networks [to allow cops easy wiretap access]…British and American officials have described the attack as “unrestrained” and “indiscriminate.”  Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain were also signatories to the statement, which was part of a [childish “We see you!” strategy] directed at the Chinese government…The…hack…highlights China’s ambitions for global [domina]nce, which were [recently] on display…at an elaborate military parade in Beijing that featured fighter jets, tanks and thousands of troops marching across Tiananmen Square…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1557)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Technologies funded to police sex work now monitor everyone.
–  Kate Zen & Chanelle Gallant

See How Well It Works?

Years after the end of the hysteria, fanatics still pretend their dissemination of fantasies is the reason those fantasies never materialize:

A [scam outfit belatedly set up to profit from hysteria over “]sex trafficking[” tried to drum up “gypsy whore” panic over] the NFL Draft in Green Bay[, Wisconsin]…HER Alliance, formerly known as Awaken…says they didn’t see a large uptick [of “victims”] during the draft thanks to [their propaganda about “]the signs of trafficking[“]…

Without Let or Hindrance

Everyone victimized by “child protection” agencies needs to sue:

A Georgia couple whose children were [abducted by the state] for two years following a [malicious accusation] of child abuse have filed a lawsuit…in 2023…Matt and Tuckey Hernandez took their youngest daughter, 3-month-old Emma, to the doctor after noticing some swelling on one of her legs…X-rays found that Emma’s leg and ribs were fractured in several places…[pediatrician] Stephen Messner…[immediate]ly diagnosed Emma with “non-accidental trauma”…[despite] no evidence of abuse on the couple’s 3-year-old…Messner never reviewed any of Baby Emma’s…medical history…the state [immediately abducted both]…daughters…placed the[m]…in a series of foster homes…[and] charged [the parents] with child abuse…DFCS…refus[ed] to place the girls with relatives or family friends…Emma had very low vitamin D, which…had caused her to develop neonatal rickets, weakening her bones…Genetic testing also indicated that Emma had defects in her collagen genes, possibly causing conditions associated with fractures in infants.  But these [facts] were…ignored by the DFCS, which continued to attempt to sever Matt and Tuckey’s parental rights [to sell] the girls…[to] another family…Last month, Matt and Tuckey were acquitted of all charges, and their daughters were finally returned to them…

Rotting Fruit (#894)

The first interesting development in this whole affair since ever:

…QAnon didn’t start in a vacuum; it followed two decades of mainstream media and politicians…using the flimsiest evidence and most distorted data to falsely claim that America was in the midst of a sex trafficking epidemic.  And then along came Jeffrey Epstein…[whose] well-documented crimes involving teenage girls, and his roster of rich and powerful friends, could be read by motivated audiences as backing up QAnon claims…Trump…[and his henchmen] began to actively encourage the idea that Epstein’s client list was being deliberately withheld by Democrats with something to hide…But…now, Trump is telling people to forget about Jeffrey Epstein entirely…so…the whole “release the files” business seems slightly less preposterous now that Trump and his lackeys seem desperate to draw attention away from them…The theoretical files were useful as a tool to raise suspicion about Trump’s opponents.  But the actual files…could be a liability or an embarrassment…in that they don’t actually prove anything nefarious about any Democrats…As a political tool, the Epstein files are much more useful if they remain hidden…

Thought Control (#1109) 

Western countries have criminalized fiction the government dislikes for years:

Pingping Anan Yongfu…is among at least eight [writers] in recent months wh[o] have shared accounts on Chinese social media platform Weibo of being arrested for publishing gay erotic fiction…At least 30 writers, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested…since February…some are still [locked] in c[ages, and]…many more…[including some readers,] were summoned for [interrogation]…Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-hosted platform known for its “danmei”, the genre of so-called boys’ love and erotic fiction…has cultivated a fiercely devoted following, especially among young Chinese women.  These authors are being accused of breaking China’s pornography law for “producing and distributing obscene material”.  Writers who earn a profit could be jailed for more than 10 years…Although authors of heterosexual erotica have been jailed in China…Gay erotica…seems to bother authorities more…

Enshittification (#1524)  

Another factor in the coming dark age: computer-generated garbage making records of this period unreliable:

…the [CGI] slop endgame, for social media companies, is creating a hyper personalized feed full of highly specific [fiction] about anything one could possibly imagine.  Because [CGI] slop is so easy to make and because social media algorithms are so personalized, this means that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube can feed you anything they…want…Case in point: Facebook…slop…shows [LSU] football coach Brian Kelly assisting in the Texas floods…[on] a Facebook page called LSU Gridiron Glory…[which] is [also] churning out slop that includes Brian Kelly…reacti[ng] to last month’s tragic Air India crash…getting his lost wallet returned to him, donating to the homeless…in the hospital with a rare illness…being deported by Trump, talking to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and…secretly “paying off the debt owed by a struggling gardener”…fans of the NBC show The Voice…[are being fed] slop of judge Blake Shelton saving dogs in the Texas flood…carrying a girl out of a medical clinic…donating to an animal rescue shelter, etc…many of these bizarre images link out to [LLM]-generated “news” websites…overloaded with ads…

Blunt Instrument (#1543)

“Sex trafficking” hysteria laid the groundwork for Trump’s anti-migrant pogroms:

Since January…raids on massage parlors have intensified, targeting immigrant women suspected of sex work…[yet] these workers — among ICE’s most systematically targeted — are largely excluded from community defense…On June 11, ICE and local police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, raided nine massage parlors, d[isappear]ing 10 Chinese women…into ICE’s sprawling detention system…yet not a single organization called for their release…nearly 1,000 arrests in Queens, New York, targeted immigrant sex workers and street vendors.  In Arizona, over 200 arrests were made.  In Texas, 11 parlors were closed in February and May under emergency powers that bypass criminal charges…In other labor sectors, worksite raids sparked massive outpourings of solidarity and creative resistance..but sex workers are left to fend for themselves…the…immigrant rights movement calibrates its messaging to appeal to moderate respectability — complying with lines drawn between the “deserving” and the disposable…To some, the…[current anti-migrant pogrom]s appear unprecedented.  But for those organizing with sex workers, they’re all too familiar.  For years, ICE has used migrant sex workers as testing grounds for its most aggressive tactics…

I Spy (#1543)

Wave bye-bye to the last remaining shreds of your privacy:

…ICE…is now using data from the Insurance Services Office’s ClaimSearch, a private industry service for detecting car and health insurance fraud…ClaimSearch includes 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills—along with the personal data attached to them, including addresses, tax identification numbers, and license plates.  ClaimSearch…[openly admits]…that it grants full access to [any cop shop or spook house which wants it, yet]…Verisk, the company that runs ClaimSearch, [l]ied [by claiming]…ICE…is [somehow an exception, probably because]…ICE has access…through another government agency…[given that] the Trump [regime issued] an [illegal diktat] to tear down “information silos” between federal agencies, and…Palantir…has a contract with ICE to…target [human beings for abduction]…

 

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

Read Full Post »

War of Assassins

Posted in Current Events, History, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2025| 1 Comment »

I’ve said for a very long time that the only moral form of warfare is War of Assassins, in which the only combatants and the only legitimate targets are the rulers, their henchmen, and their agents.  We had a sort of watered-down version of this in the Cold War, where agents might assassinate each other, but they tried to avoid involving members of the general population wherever possible.  Of course, the rulers also decided to agree that assassinating each other was somehow wrong, but it was perfectly moral and acceptable to blow up thousands or even millions of noncombatants who might not even agree with their government’s policies or their decision to go to war against another country.  This looking-glass morality has led to the current US policy where it’s pretended to not be OK to send a covert operative to target some “Enemy of the State” with a single bullet, but totally OK to destroy his entire family with a drone-carried missile fired at some building he currently occupied (even if the event was a wedding or some other circumstance in which many of the victims of this morally-destitute strategy were women and children).  Yes, the actual argument is that killing an enemy is wrong unless a lot of innocent people are exterminated along with him, and the majority of people who know about this policy see nothing morally suspect about it.

But recently, we’ve seen similar drone technology used in an unquestionably moral fashion; it’s a version of War of Assassins in which large military weapons are the targets:

For years, Russia has used its strategic bombers — which can also carry nuclear weapons — to launch cruise missiles at Ukraine from a huge distance.  The Ukrainians had attacked these bombers on the ground with drones, but the Russians simply moved them farther away, well out of reach of anything the Ukrainians could launch from their own territory.  So the Ukrainians…packed a bunch of drones — little plastic battery-powered quadcopters, not too different from a toy you would fly at the park — into trucks and [surreptitiously] sent the trucks all the way across Russia.  When the[y] got close to the air force bases where the Russians had parked their bombers, the Ukrainian drones popped out of the trucks and started blowing up the bombers — and other planes — on the ground…It’s not clear how many  Russian bombers the Ukrainians managed to take out, but everyone agrees it was a significant chunk of Russia’s bomber force.  And these magnificent, enormously expensive, rare, highly prized machines of destruction were taken out [by] battery-powered toys…the world has changed, almost overnight.  The American military is…built around a bunch of big, expensive, heavy “platforms” like aircraft carriers, jet planes, and tanks…that will be destroyed every time a cheap plastic battery-powered Chinese drone takes out an expensive piece of American hardware in a war over Taiwan, or the South China Sea, or Xi Jinping waking up in a bad mood — not including, of course, the lives of whatever Americans happen to be inside the hardware when it gets destroyed…military planners all over the world are scrambling to come up with defenses against the kind of raid that Ukraine just carried out…

Good.  The less power is concentrated, the better for everyone except tyrants and their parasites.  The real ultimate promise of technology is universal decentralization, the complete opposite of the surveillance state and techlords’ LLM platforms.  And the sooner we reach the day when the giants can no longer rely on their sheer size to dominate individuals and small groups, the better for humanity.

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1544)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

If you can do it to them, you can do it to any of us. – Rabbi William Gershon

A Whore in Church

Matthew 21:31 seems pretty straightforward to me:

Professionally, I now openly represent myself as a Christian dominatrix who uses Christian rituals to heal the connection between sexuality and spirit.  My clients often come to me because I work specifically with the deconditioning of the religious wound that has caused harmful beliefs around their sexuality…Out of the shadow of shame, they are no longer “wicked” or “evil”― they are holy…Jesus…spen[t] time with and perform[ed] miracles for prostitutes…Jesus never cast anyone out, and he never denied anyone the miracles, signs and wonders that flowed through him; he wanted everyone to have a personal relationship with God, free from the constraints of organized religion.  So even though many Christians would view me as “sinful” and even undeserving of a relationship with God, I reject that view, because I know Jesus loves me and wants the best for my life…

Creepy Coppers

[An Illinois cop named Eli Barthel] has been arrested for child pornography offenses…after [he was caught in an] FBI [trap]…

Welcome to the Future (#1265)

New forms of intrusive surveillance are always justified as “safety”:

…[moral imbeciles] have come up with…an electronic tattoo, stuck to the forehead …[to spy on the moods of] pilots, healthcare workers and other professions where managing mental workload is crucial to preventing catastrophes…[by giving bosses] “some warning and alert so that they can [be relieved]…of [duty],” said Dr Nanshu Lu, an author of the research…[ignor]ing the [obvious fact that data from such a] device [would be compiled in]…workers[‘ files and used to judge their performance]…Lu and colleagues describe how using questionnaires to investigate mental workload is problematic, not least as people are poor at objectively judging [whether they should be demoted or fired]…the “e-tattoo” is a lightweight, flexible, wireless device [constantly]…attached to the forehead [during work hours to]…detect…brain activity…and…eye movements…[allowing human beings to be monitored by] a machine-learning algorithm [as though they were machines themselves]…

Click on the subtitle to see the “demoralizing, humiliating, and toxic” abuses already possible with existing employee-monitoring technology.

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1391)

This would be hilarious if it were their own money these idiots were throwing away:

The [US] Senate is considering a fentanyl exposure bill that would fund “containment devices”…TruBLOC LLC, a company that manufactures the type of…devices in question, sells 1.5-ounce canisters as a set of 12 for $359.40, or as a set of 48 for $1,437.60…TruBLOC [claims]…“Inhalation is the main route of exposure”…[which] would [not be entirely wrong] if the term were being used to refer to sniffing or snorting fentanyl, but in this context the term is describing passive inhalation — i.e. breathing air while standing somewhere in the vicinity of fentanyl…a…video [lies that]…“Small amounts of opioids can kill an officer”….then shows the gloved hands of a…paid actor awkwardly peeling the orange residue off the seat in a manner that strongly recalls attempting to peel off sour candy that’s melted.  The hands remain gloved, despite the fact that the threat that did not exist to begin with has been contained…


Virtual Imperialism (#1472)

As I’ve explained under this tag before, Beijing’s campaign to silence Chinese people outside China has become far more aggressive.  Rolling Stone published an excerpt from Those Who Should Be Seized Should Be Seized, a new book detailing Chinese surveillance, harassment, intimidation, and sometimes abduction or assassination of activists who flee China.  The excerpt tells the story of Serikzhan Bilash, an ethnic Kazakh human rights activist who was pursued by Chinese agents from Xinjiang to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan, then to Istanbul, and eventually to Washington DC and New York, always trying to terrorize him into shutting up and dismantling his organization, Atazhurt.  If you don’t know about the extent of China’s terrorism of expatriates and its willingness to violate other countries’ sovereignty, you really should read it in its entirety.

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#1524) 

Much more of this, please:

An isolated tribe in the Amazon…[has sued] The New York Times over [yellow journalism] in the newspaper [claim]ing their people’s recent access to the internet…[has led to] members of the tribe…develop[ing] pornography addictions [even though there is no such thing].  The Marubo tribe…filed the defamation lawsuit…seeking $180 million in damages…[over the paper’s] “portray[al of] the Marubo people as a community unable to handle basic exposure to the internet, [and pretending]…that their youth had [developed narcissistic personality disorder as a result]”…After the piece was published, other outlets, including TMZ and Yahoo!, published their own versions of the [accusations], which in many cases…exaggerate the [already-dishonest] claims [even further].  That prompted The Times to run a[n attempt at a semi-retraction en]titled “No, A Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn”…But it wasn’t enough.  The Marubo [correctly point out] that the original statements were “inflammatory” and conveyed that the tribe “had descended into moral and social decline as a direct result of internet access”…

Business Opportunity (#1527)

This sort of NIMBY bullshit is exactly why there are so many homeless people in the first place:

…the town of Toms River, New Jersey is planning to use eminent domain to condemn a church, raze it, and build a park and pickleball courts on the spot.  The planned condemnation [is obviously] motivated by a desire to prevent the church from opening a small homeless shelter on part of its…11 acres of land…the church, which was founded in 1865…[rents space to] an affordable housing nonprofit…[which] asked to create a small homeless shelter [but] the mayor [insists pickleball is more important than housing the needy because local NIMBYs said so]…the town’s interfaith council [are] united in their opposition to the [scam]…and…there is substantial public opposition…[so] the condemnation…will likely be challenged in court under the state and federal constitutions…

 

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

Read Full Post »

The Tweets Go On

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Music, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

"A long-time struggle with pornography addiction" is as real as "A long-time struggle with a witch's curse", "A long-time struggle with pikachu", or "A long-time struggle with the Klingon Empire".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-14T02:17:58.912Z

After the Democratic theatrical performance yesterday, do y'all still think I'm a crank for saying there's really only one political party in the US?If there were a functional opposition party, what do you think they'd be doing right now?

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-15T18:14:46.211Z

Yes, that includes when your doctor thinks you could benefit from opioid pain medication.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-16T20:01:01.703Z

The answer to the question, "Can [common food] prevent [common chronic ailment]?" is always "No".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-18T17:44:28.283Z

Many, many people are finally approaching the level of distrust and cynicism I have always had for government. This does not please me in any way; I wish we could go back to everybody thinking I was kind of a crank on the subject, given what it took to open everyone's eyes.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-20T07:34:11.042Z

I daresay the majority of US homeowners reading this own houses valued at ten times their annual salaries or more. That's why they have mortgages.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-21T17:00:22.654Z

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-22T03:34:57.621Z

Because obviously "leaders" like Schumer should be able to enjoy their safe positions while the people are beaten, sprayed with tear gas, and shot in the eye with rubber bullets.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-23T22:41:48.369Z

This will continue until the voters stop it. Politicians are addicted to power, sometimes so pathetically they're still pushing that needle in at 80.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-25T07:24:00.384Z

God only forgives the sincerely penitent.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-26T21:56:50.311Z

Gee, I wonder what 700,000 angry people converging on Washington could accomplish, given that only a few thousand were able to terrorize cringing Congress just a few years ago?

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-28T04:45:11.563Z

I refuse to do this, because it would be foolhardy to give my enemies such a dangerous weapon.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T16:45:40.960Z

There's some sweet irony in Google's spellfucker trying to capitalize "philistine" because its programmers don't know what the lower-case noun means.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-03-31T17:10:37.847Z

New way for us to look at things, ladies.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-03T08:19:31.892Z

One underrated GREAT thing D&D does for young people is teach them demons are imaginary.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-04T16:37:42.359Z

Because Bluesky STILL hasn't given us the ability to mute RTs from individual users, I'm having to get extra-creative with my muted words list.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-06T17:22:29.253Z

So I'm a "thrifter"? In that case I'll tell you fresh vegetables are a waste of $ unless you're planning to cook 'em within ≈ 3 days of purchase, 6 at the outside. Canned or frozen will keep indefinitely, and if you're using them in a recipe (not served as a pile) nobody will notice the difference.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T17:31:58.069Z

It's especially designed to hide pervasive rot under a beautiful, polished surface that will last without change for decades.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-08T07:34:22.931Z

Remember when good-hearted people were chastising some of us for declaring that some politicians are just plain evil rather than "misguided" or "wrong but mean well"?If you can't call THIS evil, I don't know what to tell you.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-09T17:23:11.454Z

Smuggling is, was, and always will be a social good, providing to individuals what collectives and/or tyrants wish to deny to them or bleed them for wanting.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-10T18:40:50.868Z

True, but as a prostitute I must point out that's a REALLY low bar.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-11T03:11:21.535Z

Because everything so-called "AI" produces is shit.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-11T19:22:11.481Z

"Leaders".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-13T07:18:35.192Z

"Space mission" is a strange way to spell "publicity stunt".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-14T18:06:36.656Z

Doesn't China have their own water?

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T04:22:03.213Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D8T…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T16:54:08.948Z

Politicians are moral imbeciles who want to be called "leaders" and treated like nobility, but don't want to do the hard, morally strenuous work of actual leadership.They are human garbage, and unless this country learns that, it cannot and will not ever come back from Trumpism in any degree.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-17T17:29:37.740Z

 

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1505)

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

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

I’m Sure You Feel Safer Now

And doubly sure Mr. Rodriguez does:

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

If Men Were Angels

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

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

To Molest and Rape

Just another rapist cop following his bliss:

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

See No Evil (#668)

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

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

End Demand (#1165)

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

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

A Broker in Pillage (#1170)

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

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

Virtual Imperialism (#1306)

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

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

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1501)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

You don’t [leave] any human being on earth…lying on a cement floor in their own shit.  –  Mrs. White

Torture Chamber

The government calls this “correction”; for journalists to parrot that ugly euphemism is a choice:

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York has ordered that 13 [screws] and a…nurse [collaborator] be fired after the [brutal murder] of a…[human being locked] in [one of the state’s filthy cages by] a…[gang] attack that [even] their [own] union called “incomprehensible”…[The murder of] Robert L. Brooks…[was] at least partly captured on video.  [Prison bureaucrats at first tried to downplay the savage, animalistic beating by calling it]…a “use of force” [and talking about the crime the victim had been convicted of]…The[y also first rewarded the thugs with paid vacations]…Hochul [made the logically-absurd claim that]…“The vast majority of [screws] do extraordinary work“[, in apparent ignorance of the meaning of the word “extraordinary”]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#995)

Judges have ruled that if cops forcibly hold your head to unlock your phone, it counts as “consent” to root through your property:

Apple is working on a new s[stupid] doorbell camera that uses Face ID to unlock your door…The camera could be released by the end of 2025 “at the soonest”…The lock would work just like your iPhone, automatically unlocking your door when you or another resident looks at it…this device will “likely” work with existing third-party HomeKit s[stupid] locks and that the company may also partner with a s[tupid] lock company “to offer a complete system on day one”…

Torture Chamber (#1110)

Just in case you thought screws restricted their petty sadism to the prisoners:

For people entering prisons, jails, or courts, consent is coerced at every visit.  Throughout the time that I traveled to these institutions, I felt caught in an inescapable loop, always forced to let someone [grope] my [breasts] under the guise of “security”.  After spending time and money traveling to [prisons]…far from urban centers, visitors are not likely to challenge demeaning [molestation disguised as a “]search[“]…The fear of canceled visits, retaliation against imprisoned loved ones, or being late to court appearances makes people comply…Questioning the search process can end the visit…Carceral institutions are sites where sexual violence is routine and protected by law…In 2019, New York settled a class action lawsuit for conducting unlawful, invasive [sexual assault]s on jail visitors.  This year, California paid a $5 million settlement to Christina Cardenas, a woman [who was groped by screws] before a doctor sexually violated her…[after belching out the magic rights-negating word “]contraband[“]…But these settlements are the exception, not the rule…

Thought Control (#1362)

Laws criminalizing women for pragmatic thoughts are equally unconstitutional, but don’t expect any judge to recognize that anytime soon:

A federal judge…struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers [if a wannabe censor pointed at any book in their collection and belched out the word] “harmful”…Judge Timothy Brooks [wrote]…“The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest”…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1411)

It’s never called “trafficking” when the government and crony corporations do it:

No state has a longer, more profit-driven history of contracting prisoners [as slave labor] to private companies than Alabama.  With a sprawling labor system that dates back more than 150 years — including the brutal convict leasing era that replaced slavery — it has constructed a template for the commercialization of mass incarceration.  Best Western, Bama Budweiser and Burger King are among the more than 500 businesses to lease [slave]s from one of the most violent, overcrowded…prison systems in the U.S. in the past five years alone…The cheap, reliable labor force has generated more than $250 million for the state since 2000…Most jobs are inside [prisons]…but more than 10,000 [enslaved prisoners] have logged a combined 17 million work hours outside Alabama’s prison walls since 2018, for entities like city and county governments and businesses that range from major car-part manufacturers and meat-processing plants to distribution centers for major retailers like Walmart…

Eavesdropping (#1482)

If a system lets “authorized” busybodies spy on you, “unauthorized” ones can do the same:

…the Salt Typhoon…hackers [have still not been expelled] from most of the compromised systems and [officials] were unable to give a timeline for when that would be achieved…the effects of the hack threaten to be…widespread, with CISA and its counterpart agencies in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada warning this month that Salt Typhoon’s campaign extends beyond just U.S. networks…[and] NBC News report[ed] that the hackers also accessed…metadata…of more than a million Americans…[cybersecurity expert] Tom Kellermann [said]…“This is something we’re going to be dealing with for years, to identify all the back doors that [copsucking politicians forced companies to install] in the systems”…

Torture Chamber (#1493)

Be fair; how much medical skill does it take to repeatedly yell “Stop faking!” at people?

One doctor accidentally chopped off part of a newborn’s…finger…[and cho]ked two nurses…in a rage.  Another…drained the wrong side of a patient’s chest…and altered a medical record to [cover]…the [mistake]…A third…botch[ed] 10 surgeries in four years…and [subjected victims to] extensive, medically inappropriate procedures.  Common to all…is…their most recent place…of employment: the New York state prison system.  They are among [the incompetent] physicians…who…ma[ke] up [more than 10%] of the system’s full-time core of doctors, despite being sanctioned for horrific mistakes and other professional abuses…Some were hired…after serving lengthy probationary sentences meted out by the state’s Board for Professional Medical Conduct…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1495)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[Rescue industry] organizations…perpetuate stereotypes, myths, and lies that end up hurting victims more than helping them.  – Natasha Helfer

The Last Shall Be First (#1078)

Politicians’ obsession with citizens’ genitalia has gone federal:

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall…has introduced a bill to…codify legal definitions of male [and] female…[as] sex…at…birth…in [all] case[s, and to ban changing that in documentation]…In 2023, [Marshall] introduced a bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors nationwide and one to ban federal funding for such care for trans people of all ages.  Neither bill passed.  He put out similar, equally unsuccessful, bills in 2021…

Quiet Genocide (#1329)

There’s been virtually nothing about the Uyghur genocide in Western media for over a year; apparently white people can only care about one group of Muslims at a time.  But this long, highly-detailed account of one man’s escape from China, an ordeal which took from 2012 to 2018 and carried him across China and through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand (where he spent three years in prison for “illegal entry”), Malaysia and finally Turkey, is a rare exception.  It is well worth your time; unless more Westerners start paying attention, China’s campaign to slowly crush an entire culture into oblivion is bound to succeed.

Served Cold (#1405)

Let’s hope every last one of Ballard’s partners in profiteering go down with him:

Pornography [viewing] has become pathologized by a class of [soi-disant] experts fighting “porn addiction,” who rely on [bogus] evidence [and] conflate the legal adult entertainment industry with…human trafficking…Utah is at the center of a[n]…industry…built around such beliefs…many [members] of…which…are linked directly or indirectly to each other…Fight the New Drug and the Malouf Foundation [are] both…connect[ed] to Tim Ballard…[and his] Operation Underground Railroad…and both participated in [“]anti-trafficking[” schemes] tied to the office of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.  It was t[o hide] connections like these…that…both organizations recently reorganized into a new combined [pro-censorship] group—with the Elizabeth Smart Foundation—called the Phase Alliance…[allied with] the Rockford, Illinois-based International Organization for the Family…[which was] caught advocating for anti-LGBTQ+ laws in countries such as the Russian Federation…

The Last Shall Be First (#1487) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill…banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that match up with their gender identity…It also bans students from sharing overnight accommodations with people [not] of the[ir birth] sex…A lawsuit is expected to be filed against this [which]…Ohio…[taxpayers will be robbed to defend in court]…The bathroom ban…was added to a [completely unrelated] bill…in the eleventh hour of a House Session at the end of June before the [politicians] went on an extended break…

Vulture Watching (#1488)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Over the course of six hours on June 11, 2023, Porsha Ngumezi had bled so much in the emergency department…that she’d needed two transfusions.  She was…“passing large clots the size of grapefruit”…[and her] mother[-in-law], a [retired] physician…[told her] “You need a D&C”…But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was the hospital’s “routine” to give…misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue…Three hours later, her heart stopped…more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case…said it raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks…It was clear Porsha needed an emergency D&C…But because D&Cs are also used to end pregnancies, the procedure has become tangled up in state legislation that [almost completely bans] abortions…

Stalkers in Blue (#1490)

“Deprivation of rights” is the feds’ catchall charge to use against cops who embarrass politicians:

Federal charges have been filed against two [typical and representative] Missouri [cops who perpetrated] plots to steal nude photos from women’s phones during traffic stops…Julian Alcala…illegally search[ed] 20 women’s phones…between Feb. 6, 2024, and May 18, 2024…Alcala [was caught after he] text[ed] himself a video from one woman’s phone, then tr[ied] to delete a record of this text…The woman reached out to the FBI after this…[David] McKnight [did the same sort of thing]…between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024…[to] nine different women…

Torture Chamber (#1491)

A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners:

Twelve Black [prisoners locked up] in…Red Onion…Virginia’s first super-maximum security prison, have…set themselves on fire since September in a bid to get transferred away from abusive guards…The first reported [case was]…Demetrius Wallace…who told [reporters] he set his leg on fire on Aug. 23 because he knew he would have to be transported out of the prison for treatment.  Since guards waited three days before taking Wallace to the nearest burn unit seven hours away, he had to have a skin graft and spent 14 days in the hospital.  When he returned…guards harassed him, denied access to his email, and [locked] him in [solitary confinement]…Over the [following] two weeks…a dozen [others] had set themselves on fire to escape “intolerable racism, abuse, and inhumane conditions”…Red Onion…has been riddled with…abuse since opening in 1998…More than two-thirds of its [prisoners] are held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, ranging from two weeks to 14 years…[because they are often] served food covered in maggots…prisoners have…[also] gone on months-long hunger strikes…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1487)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The government has demonstrated that it cannot and will not be constrained by Section 230, the First Amendment, or even the venerable principle of presumption of innocence.  –  Maggie McNeill

Surplus Women

Decriminalization is only the first step:

Sex worker advocates have expressed their “rage and sadness” after a man who was due to face a double-murder trial for killing two women struck a manslaughter plea deal with Victorian prosecutors. Xiaozheng Lin, who killed sex workers Yuqi Luo…and Hyun Sook Jeon…in late 2022…now faces significantly less jail time [despite intentionally murdering the sex workers in order to rob them, so as to pay off his gambling debts]…Fiona Patten, former Victorian upper house MP, said she believed the decision reflected the stigma faced by sex workers in society…

Mumbo Jumbo 

It’s not surprising that this woman promotes the Nordic Model; it’s about as rooted in reality as her other beliefs about sex work:

…the Scottish government has instructed local authorities to partner with [an anti-sex group named] Azalea, led by a religious anti-porn activist who has stated that sex workers are “possessed by demons”…Ruth Robb…has in the past recommended “carrying out exorcisms on sex workers”…believes yoga is an “occult practice” and [claims] sex work leads to a “lesbian lifestyle”…[she claims] “Most prostitutes have had some exposure to the occult,” and her [Nordic model-based “outreach”] guides [for fellow religious busybodies] offer a checklist to determine if a sex worker is undergoing “demonic possession”.  Supposed symptoms include “flailing limbs” or a “sudden change of voice”…

The Face of Trafficking

The first actual association between “trafficking” and pizza:

The owner of Stash’s Pizza…in Massachusetts, was sentenced on Oct. 25, 2024 for forced labor charges. [Stavros Papantoniadis] forced or attempted to force six victims to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse; threats of violence and serious harm; and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities for deportation…[he] was sentenced…to 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release and…a $35,000 fine…

The Last Shall Be First (#1408) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

The [Odessa, Texas] City Council [has] banned transgender people from using restrooms outside of the sex assigned to them at birth, [despite protests by]…residents…Mayor Javier Joven, who is up for reelection…has said his mission has been to help the city “repent”.  Under the amended ordinance, the city can seek fines of up to $500 and [criminal] trespassing charges…[and] also [encourages nuisance lawsuits for] $10,000 in damages plus the cost of the lawsuit and attorney fees…It [specifically] excludes [male cops who enter bathrooms to harass, rape, or otherwise attack women]…

Dangerous Speech (#1435)

Liz Brown’s articles on sex work are so thorough, it’s just too hard to come up with a pull quote.  So I’ll just point you to her latest on the Backpage persecution, and embed the accompanying video.  Watch it, and go read the article!

Vulture Watching (#1477)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Josseli Barnica…[miscarried at] 17 weeks…doctors…should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection…but…[instead] the[y]…told her…they had to wait until there was no heartbeat…[and] it would be a [“]crime[“] to give her an abortion…For 40 hours…her uterus remained exposed to bacteria.  Three days after she delivered, Barnica died of an infection…[because psychopathic politicians threaten] doctors…[with] prosecution, prison time and professional ruin [for doing their jobs]…Barnica’s…death was “preventable,” according to more than a dozen medical experts who…called her case “horrific,” “astounding” and “egregious”…

The Cop Myth (#1481)

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

[An] El Paso [cop named]…Joseph Andrew Shreve, [who is paid to lurk in schools in order to spy on, harass, and intimidate students], was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for…firing at a truck that he [pretend]ed had rear-ended his vehicle on Sept. 18…Shreve…[attempted to escape consequences by belching out the magic formula] “in fear for [my] life”, [but witnesses told] police [otherwise]…

 

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

Read Full Post »

Treats and Tricks

Posted in History, Links, Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I’ve always been dedicated to the idea of this as the time of year for spooky fun.  So every year I collect all the spooky, creepy or scary content from the previous year into one place just before Halloween.  If you’ve come to my blog in the past year, or don’t remember previous editions, they are “Trick or Treat”, “More Trick or Treat“, “Tricks and Treats“, “This Trick’s a Treat”, “Tricky Treats“, “A Trickle of Treats”, “Tricking and Treating“, “Tricks for the Treat“, “Tricked Out Treats“, “Tricks and Treats and Such Small Deer“, and “Trick Treatment“.  Horror, death or Halloween-themed columns of the past year included Day of the Dead 2023, Diary #697, and “Why Zombies?” There are creepy or spooky-fun videos in Links #695, #698, #721, #722, #739, #745, and #746, and a collection of seasonal links appears below.

 

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »