Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Choke Point’

In the News (#1216)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2022| 12 Comments »

Without economic freedom you cannot have political freedom.
–  John H. Cochrane

Peeping Toms

This article on how Lawrence v Texas and other cases relate to sex work isn’t flawless by any stretch; while the author makes some good points (especially regarding the common claim that Lawrence specifically excluded sex work), he also makes some shaky assertions and endorses some rather odious academic interpretations, which is perhaps unsurprising given his academic background.  Worth reading, but only cum grano salis.

A Broker in Pillage

It’s rare to see these schemes called what they are: extortion:

Two years ago, prosecutors offered a [Kentucky] man a deal: give up $380,000 in cash through asset forfeiture, and criminal charges just filed against his family would be dropped.  The case has now been resolved, with no criminal convictions for anyone involved — but police and prosecutors still kept the bulk of the cash.  Patrick Card was arrested in 2019 [on]…marijuana…charge[s]…As prosecutors began negotiating [a plea bargain]…they [decided to also] indict…his mother, father and wife…[then] offered Card a plea deal that would reduce his charges and dismiss those against his family if he forfeited the cash…He turned down the deal…[and eventually] the commonwealth’s attorney agreed to dismiss the charges and return a portion of the s[tolen] money.  “This supposed ‘offer’ was nothing more than an attempt by the Commonwealth and its agents to leverage the threat of indictment and prosecution for financial gain,” said attorney Daniel K. Robertson…the prosecutor agreed to…return Card’s [elderly]…parents’…bank account…but [kept]…$305,050 and three dozen guns [stolen from Card]…

To Molest and Rape

They try to make these cases sound like the rapist was doing his victim a favor:

A Le[cherous]…deputy sheriff…[is the target of] a federal lawsuit…filed [by]…Sabrina Adkins…Ben Fields [coerced] her [into submitting to rape]…six times late at night last year in a district judge’s chambers where he [raped] her [both] oral[ly] and [vaginally]…Adkins…was coerced and compelled to comply with Fields’ [demand]s given his “position and power and because she could not afford to pay for the ankle monitor and did not want to return to…jail.”  Fields…has not been charged criminally…

Choke Point (#1096)

Alas, useful idiots think these tyrannies are perfectly acceptable when used against people they dislike:

By invoking emergency powers and freezing the assets of…protesters, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes clear that civil liberties protections mean little when the government can deny you access to your money.  That financial weapon has been used…in democracies against controversial (to some) businesses and organizations…”It’s a Western version of China’s social credit system that does not altogether prohibit political dissent but makes it so costly that it becomes impractical to the ordinary citizen,” David Sacks, former PayPal COO, writes…Sacks warned that we should expect a wave of firms denying services to those who don’t share their ideology…this isn’t the first example of governments conscripting private companies against targets that otherwise enjoy legal protection.  Credit card companies have been pressured into denying services to suspected sex workers, and the U.S. federal government’s Operation Choke Point cut off gun dealers, payday lenders, and sex-oriented businesses from banking without the muss or fuss of proving any illegality…

The Last Shall Be First (#1132) 

Texas has officially lost its collective mind:

Texas…Attorney General Ken Paxton has declared all medical treatment of transgender minors to be child abuse and says that his office could prosecute parents of transgender children, as well as “mandatory reporters” who fail to report medical treatment of transgender children to the state.  In tandem…Gov[ernor and former AG] Greg Abbott has [ordered] state [“child protection” bureaucrats] to begin investigating any families that may be giving their trans kids puberty-blocking drugs or hormones, or allowing them to undergo surgical treatments…Paxton’s policy…is a rejection of transgender medical care entirely, as further evidenced by [his] concession that some types of genital surgery are “medically necessary” when they correct genetic disorders or cancer…Abbott…[also] threatens criminal penalties for anybody [with a functional moral compass] who [refuses] to [snitch on trans kids, their parents, and their doctors]…

Law of the Instrument (#1136)

Picture what you’d think of as “sex trafficking”, then compare it to this:

A school spirit club mom has been accused of having sex with nine pupils from a Tennessee school.  Melissa Blair allegedly had sexual encounters between spring 2020 and late 2021 with teenagers as young as 14…Blair is charged with solicitation of a minor, 18 counts of statutory rape…[and] four counts of human trafficking by patronizing prostitution…District attorney Steve Crump said cops want to “make the fullest amount of [political coin] possible…[out of] this, it truly is about…a headline, it’s…about trying to [posture] as much as possible, [so] our [subjects think we’re actually ‘fighting crime’]”…

To Molest and Rape (#1203)

Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working out?

[Police] chief [Thomas J. Herbst], of…Manville [New Jersey was rewarded with a paid vacation]…after a [female] employee [reported] in a civil lawsuit that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her at work and raped her at her home in a “prolonged pattern and practice of abhorrent sexual harassment” that continued for 13 years…Herbst…masturbat[ed] in front of the woman at the [cop shop]…and [molested] her…on a regular basis while he was a lieutenant…He later raped [her] approximately 10 times in the police archive room and began to regularly rape her at her home and in a hotel parking lot during her lunch hour…she was a single mother when the…assaults began and she feared losing her job…if she reported the [attacks]…She came forward now partly because she is retirement age…

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1212)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »

You don’t exist if you can’t use the banking system.  –  Kristen DiAngelo

The Face of Trafficking

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

A married couple was charged with sex trafficking young women into…prostitution…prosecutors [claim]…Kareem…and Sharice Mitchell…pushed at least eight women into prostitution, including at least two who were…[their wards]…none of the women was under 18.  In New York, young people can leave foster care once they reach the age of 18, but they can also choose to stay in care until they turn 21…

Decentralization (#818) 

There’s nothing in this article on sex workers accepting bitcoin that will surprise any sex worker, except the claim that escorts typically charge upwards of $1700/hour.  Unfortunately, even the reporter’s incredibly-naive acceptance of the government’s claims about the intent of FOSTA, Operation Choke Point, and various other anti-whore policies is nothing new.  But what is new is the way most non-local news media (the local ones are way too busy licking cops’ boots to stay up with the rest of their industry) are now treating sex work as normal and sex workers as sympathetic.  Prohibitionists are still winning most of the battles which involve the players in the fascist Establishment, but we’re winning the war.  And in the long run, there’s absolutely nothing the whore-haters can do about it.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1001)

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

A tech firm is offering police a capability to identify and pull up information on [homeless] people…[via] facial recognition…“Police [can] use ODIN…to identify even non-verbal or intoxicated individuals,” the [company’s] brochure…reads…a section called “What’s The Problem?” [includes this graphic]:

…after [scann]ing…a person police would be provided with a slew of information on the individual, including their date of birth, prior contacts, labels such as “needles,” “assaultive,” or “registered sex offender,” their warrant status, notification of who their probation officer or parole agent is, contact information for therapists or social workers, their arrest history, and their temporary housing history…

Panopticon (#1012)

Another government scheme to normalize constant surveillance:

[Politicians] in Iowa introduced a bill…that would require cameras to be installed in nearly every K-12 school classroom across the state, allowing parents to s[py on classes in order]…to censor classrooms and intimidate educators …[as part of the “]critical race theory[” witch hunt]…teachers, administrators and other school staff members who fail to keep the cameras active and in working order or who “obstruct” the camera’s views could be fined up to 5 percent of their weekly salary per infraction…Meanwhile…in…Nevada [a pro-censorship group]…recently proposed placing body cameras on teachers to ensure they aren’t teaching critical race theory…[politicians] in Florida introduced a bill similar to the Iowa proposal…that would require cameras in classrooms and require teachers to wear microphones…and…Missouri [politician] Cindy O’Laughlin…[also] called for…teachers to wear body cameras as a way for parents to [spy on them]…

I sincerely doubt teachers’ unions will agree to this kind of Maoist surveillance, but the very fact that it’s being seriously proposed does not bode well for the future.

Negative Secondary Effects (#1122)

It’s rare for an article on sex work in the UK press to be so free of dysphemisms:

Women who work in Bristol’s two s[trip clubs]…have threatened a judicial review against the city council, if it goes ahead with a proposal to close the venues down.  The United Voices of the World trade union, which represents the dancers at Urban Tiger and Central Chambers, has warned Bristol City Council that…the “nil cap” policy…constitute[s]…gender discrimination and [thereb]y break[s] the law…“The [policy would]…prevent…strippers from working in an occupation, city, and venue of their choice.  This…poses a serious threat to the…livelihoods, safety, and health of over 100 individuals”…[especially given] that other venues that host male stripper nights do not [suffer] the same level of regulation and are not included in the fresh attempts to close down their venues…

Legal Is as Legal Does (#1164) 

Victoria has become the world’s fourth jurisdiction to achieve decriminalization:

…This historical move makes the Australian state of Victoria only the fourth jurisdiction in the world to decriminalise sex work…provid[ing] sex workers with access to the same workplace health and safety protections as other Victorians…The…bill…repeal[s] over the next two years criminal laws associated with consensual adult sex work.  This is an important first step in acknowledging sex work as work…Crucially, and uniquely, the bill strengthens anti-discrimination protections available to sex workers…

To Molest and Rape (#1189)

Why are reporters so unable to comprehend that forced sex is still rape when the rapist is a cop?

The detective [rap]ing…the woman he’d just a[bduc]ted in the toilets at Charing Cross Police Station didn’t react when Sue opened the toilet door…During Sue’s time at the Central London station in the 2000s the building’s toilets and cells were often used by some officers for [rape]…“It was a place to go and [commit rape] before they went home to their girlfriends or wives”…[victims] were [usually either] highly intoxicated [or] in vulnerable situations.  Sex workers in the area were [often the victims]…details of an investigation into…a…[cop who raped] a drunk [woman]…revealed other incidents of “abhorrent behaviour”…Text messages between [cops] at the station…discussed raping [other cops], [murder]ing black children and beating up girlfriends, with one [cop] nicknamed “McRapey Raperson“…

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1206)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Until somebody figures out a good way to rein-in government snoopiness, it might be better to avoid taking selfies at protests.  –  J.D. Tuccille

Thou Shalt Not (#35)

Prohibitionism is a dangerous mental illness:

Some packets of biscuits will be banned from [certain areas of] supermarkets from 2023…the new law bans [stores] from selling [foods labeled] HFSS (high in fat, sugar and salt) [by government-employed puritans from displays in] checkout areas, ends of aisles and store entrances…government…[nannies justified the new law by barfing out the phrase]…childhood obesity [while maintaining laws that keep children from healthy outdoor exercise]…a [government] study [declared that most Britons are far too stupid and weak-willed to make their own food choices, so those choices must therefore be made for them]…

Torture Chamber

If there’s one thing the US needs, it’s more sadistic rapists in the military:

…Brandon Scott Price, a [typical and representative Kentucky] prison guard, was convicted of [a misdemeanor assault charge for anally raping a chained woman]…his…judge…sentenced [him]…to [a mere] 12 months in jail…but said Price could avoid jail time if he [re-]enlisted in the military within 30 days…enlistments are subject to military regulations that would require Price to seek a waiver for his sexual-assault conviction from military officials.  The military has spent more than a decade struggling to limit sexual assault among troops…[on the way back from the hospital after she had suffered] a medical emergency…Price pulled the van…over and [anally raped] the woman…then [claimed she wanted it]…

Choke Point (#611) 

PayPal needs to be buried in similar lawsuits before this will stop:

Three PayPal users who’ve…had their accounts frozen and funds [stol]en by the company without explanation have filed a federal lawsuit against the online payment service.  The plaintiffs…are…proposing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all other users who’ve had their accounts [similarly violated] and are seeking restitution, as well as punitive and exemplary damages.  Lena Evans…[ha]d been a PayPal user for 22 years…[when] the website s[tole] $26,984 from her account six months after…fr[eezing it] without ever telling her why…Roni Shemtov sa[w] PayPal s[teal] over $42,000 of her money and never got an acceptable [or consistent] reason for why her account was terminated…Shbadan Akylbekov…[explained that] PayPal s[tole] over $172,000 of his money without…explanation…[except] a letter that says she “violated PayPal’s User Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy”…PayPal has long angered many a user for limiting accounts and freezing their funds for six months or more.  One high-profile case was American poker player Chris Moneymaker’s who had $12,000 [stol]en from his account after six months of being limited.  Moneymaker was already in the process of asking people to join him in a class action lawsuit before his funds were “mysteriously returned”…

Blunt Instrument (#1012)

Oh look, Texas cops are staging pogroms against migrant-owned businesses; what a surprise.  The only thing even remotely unusual about this farrago of loathsome oinking, agency denial, pious bullshit and revolting bootlicking is that the violent racist psychopaths vomit out the word “trafficking” only 5 times in a 21-paragraph copaganda screed.  By contrast, the word “illicit” (a word which characterizes prohibitionist propaganda more than any other) appears 9 times.  But given that this was published (to use the most charitable word possible for this human-centipede excretion) by the Dallas Morning News, a rag so filled with prohibitionist masturbatory fantasies that it’s an embarrassment to the entire state of Texas, that actually counts as a twisted kind of progress.

I Spy (#1086) 

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

…[Since] social media an easy and low-cost means of gathering intelligence…cops and their private-sector contractors snoop on us…while fishing for anything of interest…instead of curbing such abuses, many politicians want more.  “Social media has become a significant source of information for U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law noted in a report released last week…Customs and Border Protection…routinely runs the names of people of interest, including journalists and activists, through databases…For years, the FBI used Dataminr, “a third-party service that [surveills]…social media posts”…in 2019 [it switched] to ZeroFox, which offers a similar service.  Some FBI agents blamed their inability to anticipate the January 6 riot at the Capitol on the changeover…and…over the past year, law enforcement has come under pressure to engage in even more monitoring of social media because of its failure to anticipate the…riot…

Stalkers in Blue (#1180)

This disgusting article is loaded with copsucking and emotional manipulation:

A [typical and representative] NYPD [cop], who survived [a 2015 “dismissal probation” after drug paraphernalia and needles were found in his locker], was fired…after he repeatedly [sexually harassed] vulnerable women [he was] arrest[ing]…[including] wom[e]n he believed to be domestic abuse victim[s] and…sex [workers, but who]…were actually [other rolepaying cops]…investigati[ng him due to complaints]…He also used an NYPD computer to [stalk other women] …and [lied]…to [other cops]…about [his predatory behavior]…

Right from the headline on, IB Times attempts to manipulate the reader’s sympathies; the cop who repeatedly tried to get into the pants of women he arrested or “investigated” is described as a “veteran” and a “hero”.  His attempted manipulation and rape is described as “romantic”, his victims’ criminal histories are emphasized, and his other shenanigans are not mentioned until far down in the story.  It’s vile even by the standards of cop stenography.

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1204)

Cops think they can just make up their own pharmacology and demand reality conform to it:

Fentanyl that is about 50 times more potent than “what has regularly been found and tested” in the region has been recovered in Hartford, police [lie]d…[after] find[ing] nearly 40 bags of fentanyl…[near where] a seventh-grader [overdosed.  Though the boy appears to have eaten]…the drug…a…spokesp[ig preferred to oink a bunch of weird cop fantasies about how]…“this product can be deadly to anyone coming in contact with it, including absorption through the skin…fentanyl is a poison”…

Fentanyl is a life-saving synthetic drug, no more a “poison” than any other medicine.  It cannot be absorbed through the skin, and no batch is “50 times more potent” than any other; of course, this confused oinking might be attempting to convey the claim that most heroin cut with fentanyl in Hartford is only about 2% fentanyl, whereas this was nearly pure.  But it’s difficult to tell in proximity to so many exaggerations, cop fantasies and outright lies.

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1191)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2021| 1 Comment »

This is not a Uyghur tragedy. This is a human tragedy.  –  Gulchehra Hoja

Guinea Pigs (#970)

Is Facebook finally going to do something about the creation of predatory accounts by law enforcement?

Facebook is demanding that the Los Angeles police department cease all use of [fake] accounts on its platforms and stop collecting data on users for surveillance…after the Guardian…revealed the department [collaborat]ed in 2019 with Voyager Labs, a tech company that [spies on people]…by analyzing social media information such as a person’s friends, posts and usernames…in addition to enabling law enforcement clients to [steal] user data from companies like Facebook, Voyager software also enables…[the creation of] fake accounts to access otherwise inaccessible and private user information…both these uses are violations of [Facebook] policies…

Welcome to the Future (#997)

Another would-be magic lasso based in pseudoscience:

…EyeDetect is just the polygraph in more algorithmic clothing.  The machine is fundamentally unable to deliver on its claims…because human truth-telling is too subtle for any data set…Where the polygraph measures blood pressure, breathing and sweat to determine the flubbing, EyeDetect looks at factors like pupil dilation and the rapidity of eye movement…But experts say such logic may not have much basis in science…Leonard Saxe, a psychologist…who has conducted some of the leading research in the field of truth-detection…says, “I don’t know of any evidence that eye movements are linked to deception”…[yet despite] the polygraph[‘s]…long history of…failure…it…continues to be used [by people who prize false certainty over actual truth, such as cops and]…government [officials]…

Top Cop (#1108)

This authoritarian psychopath wants you to forget what she’s really like:

…polls show the vice president to be deeply unpopular with voters—even less popular than Biden, whose approval numbers have been underwater since August…Her…sloppy attempts to rewrite her biography…attest to an uncomfortable relationship between who Harris is and who she’s trying to convince you she is…Harris is a cop and that won’t change no matter how many times she tries to awkwardly mouth the buzzwords of the progressive youths.  If you’re the type of person who defends dirty cops, throws poor parents in jail when their kids miss school, or laughs at the idea of inmates being denied food and water, then you’re probably never going to be believably woke…Harris is a law-and-order politician in a party that no longer has much room for cops and heavy-handed prosecutors (unless they’re prosecuting the right people).  Her attempts at evolving her image have been disingenuous and unconvincing.  And now she’s tethered to a sinking ship of a presidency, and she doesn’t seem too interested in helping to bail—only in complaining that her feet are getting wet.  And, no, don’t chalk up Harris’ poor poll numbers or criticism of her political performance to sexism and racism…there are plenty of more popular politicians out there who are racial minorities and/or women.  Harris’ popularity problems are her own…

Quiet Genocide (#1114)

Fascist corporations are happy to assist in a genocide:

With the Beijing Olympics less than three months away, will Coca-Cola and other sponsors of the Games celebrate with China while…an entire people is being slowly, deliberately erased?  We have learned to think of genocide as industrial-scale slaughter: gas chambers, killing fields, mass graves.  A report published last week by the U.S. Holocaust Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, “To Make Us Slowly Disappear,” suggests that China may have found a different way, more insidious if no less monstrous.  The campaign against the Uyghur[s]…began with conventional discrimination, escalated to intense surveillance and mass detentions, and now includes forcible sterilization and insertion of IUDs; separation of men and women through incarceration, forced migration and coerced [sham] marriages of Uyghur women to men from the ethnic Han majority; and mass kidnapping of Uyghur children, taken from their parents and placed in state “boarding schools”…

Rotting Fruit (#1126)

The state demands an eye for an eye, but it doesn’t really care whose eye:

Jeffrey Epstein…isn’t just gone; he’s quickly being forgotten, relegated to a supporting role in the scandal that bears his name.  Our focus has turned to Ghislaine Maxwell, whose status has grown so great in the wake of Epstein’s death that she has all but eclipsed the man without whose bad acts there would never have been a story at all…In 2019, when Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking, Maxwell was covered as more of a curiosity than an accomplice — let alone a puppeteer pulling his strings…today…Maxwell’s guilt is treated as a foregone conclusion…the public narrative has already promoted her from partner to boss…The female villain who wields power in the form of manipulation is an ancient fictional archetype; from Eve and the apple on up, it serves to tell us that it’s women’s ambition which forms the true roots of men’s evil deeds.  In Snow White, it’s the power-hungry and jealous queen who orders a huntsman to cut out the heart of her stepdaughter.  In Shakespeare, it’s Lady Macbeth who gets stuck with indelible bloodstains on her hands…in Epstein’s case…the more we hear about Ghislaine Maxwell, the less agency Epstein seems to have…

The Next Target (#1180)

Mastercard’s elaborate concern kabuki is the direct result of “sex trafficking” propaganda:

…for the first time, [Mastercard is] requir[ing] Pornhub, OnlyFans, and other distribution companies to obtain copies of age-verification records instead of only the owner of the content having and maintaining them…making [performers] vulnerable to fraudsters, blackmail artists, and worst of all, people who want to harm us physically…The general public should freak out that Mastercard now controls what they can and cannot watch.  Today, they’re regulating porn, but what if they start deeming what cinema and books we consume?  What if tomorrow they stop processing payments of booksellers that sell Lolita?…Mastercard implemented their porn rules because of a targeted campaign spearheaded by bad-faith actors like Exodus Cry.  In the future, they could quickly stop processing payments of controversial political material due to public pressure.  Last month, c[ensorious] Virginia parents demanded school libraries strip Toni Morrison’s Beloved from their shelves…if activists could scream loud enough so Mastercard could regulate porn, it’s easy to imagine the company coming after other forms of speech.  One day, something isn’t controversial; the next day, it is.  America flip-flops on which artists we hate daily…

The Cop Myth (#1187)

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

…a…four-day manhunt for [typical and representative] Baltimore Co[p]…Robert Vicosa [ended when he murdered] his two kidnapped daughters [and his cop girlfriend, Tia Bynum, then shot himself]…Giana and Aaminah Vicosa…[were] 7 and 6, respectively…The [two cops] had been on the run after…kidnapping Vicosa’s daughters from his estranged wife…then robbing and carjacking the people they encountered while trying to [get aw]ay…the two…[had] lured his estranged wife to his home…the[n held her captive…[ti]ed her [up in] the basement and…drugged…threatened…and sexually assaulted her, [then fled after the ex managed to escape and call the cops]…

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1190)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I was found guilty the minute that mugshot went up.  –  Julie Levitch

Micromanagement

Any data in government hands will inevitably be misused by cops:

…a new data collection and analysis program…called “molecular HIV surveillance”…is used to identify groups of people…where HIV is spreading quickly.  When someone tests positive for HIV, a doctor usually orders a partial sequence of the virus’s genome to check for signs of drug resistance, and the result gives them information on which medicines will work best.  But in recent years, public health [bureaucrats] have been analyzing the virus’s sequence data to monitor how the pathogen spreads…[because of] HIV’s swift evolution…it [rapidly] mutate[s into]…genetically distinct strains.  When two people share similar strains, it suggests they are linked, directly or indirectly, by recent transmission…[but cops] might access and misuse the data in states where…HIV [is]…criminal[ized]…HIV-positive people…[want] assurances that data will be kept away from police and prosecutors…[but] public health [bureaucrats instead prefer to mouth platitudes about]…balanc[ing] the risks [instead of demanding laws to protect the data]…

This is just “contact tracing” by another name.

Monsters (#616)

It’s unusual for reporters not to excuse this as a “mistake”:

A transgender woman…[named] Kristina Frost [was arrested in] San Diego…on November 25, 2020…she was [at first] placed alone in a holding cell…But [was] later [intentionally]…moved…to a “minimally monitored” cell with three men…”against her wishes”…Frost[‘s]…DMV records and driver’s license both said she was a woman…[but she was] repeatedly misgendered [by screws]…both in person and on official reports…Frost was [then] “viciously” attacked by one of the men in the cell after she had fallen asleep…[including] “closed-fist punches” to the face, which resulted in her jaw being fractured in two places…Frost required two surgeries for her broken jaw and is now required to wear dentures…[screws] witnessed the attack and…none of them “immediately intervened.”  The [attacker] was “eventually” removed from the cell…[but] Frost…[was made] to wait…12 hours for medical attention, despite being unable to eat or drink water because of her injuries…Frost has sued San Diego County and its sheriff’s department for punitive and compensatory damages, and…attorney fees…[due to their] deliberate indifference to safety risks…

Across the Pond (#723)

Every four years, Ipswich claims it will “eradicate” street work:

[Politicians] have [bloviated that they will]…end the “scourge” of street prostitution in Ipswich – [just as they did in 2017 and 2013]…following news that a “small number” of sex workers are on the streets of Ipswich, 15 years after the Steve Wright murders…[a spokespig oinked that] “Police are [swagger]ing [around]…the area aimed at [intimidating] those who [reject the interference of official busybodies]…and the males who [pay their rent and other needs]…Funding of £124,000 will be used to i[ncrease surveillance] coverage…and [maximize the danger of rape and other violence against all women by increasing police presence]…

Gorged With Meaning (#902)

Prohibitionists want inexperienced sex workers harmed or even killed, to “send a message” of course:

A [politician] has condemned Durham University for promoting [safety] training for students working in the adult sex industry.  Michelle Donelan…[bloviated a lot of poisonous nonsense about how censorship constitutes] “protect[ion]”…The university [explain]ed the training was important to “ensure students can be safe and make informed choices” after noting an “emerging trend” of students selling sexual services…Donelan…[replied by barfing out infantilizing dysphemisms such as] “normalise”…”target”…[and] “trap”…[student union spokesman] Jonah Graham…said:  “You’ve got to be maliciously disingenuous to pretend to misunderstand this as anything other than an attempt to support students in a difficulty arising from the reality of rising costs in higher education.  Trying to create a scandal from an attempt to support people whose work can make them vulnerable is contemptible”…

Shame, Shame (#937)

They should never have been made public in the first place:

Many news outlets have stopped publishing mugshots — or at least so many of them — but some states and cities are beginning to grapple with a more fundamental issue: Why do police release th[em]…and should they be allowed to?…The Justice Department has repeatedly refused to release mugshots, arguing…that there’s no public safety interest in releasing pictures that are a “lasting image of what can be one of the most difficult episodes in an individual’s life.”  Last year, the San Francisco Police Department stopped releasing them as well…At least three states have gone a step further, barring the release of some mugshots.  In 2019, New York changed its open records law to ban the release of mugshots unless [the cops want to]…This year, California prohibited police from putting the images on social media, and Utah banned publishing mugshots until after conviction…

Choke Point (#1065) 

Decriminalization is just the beginning:

Australian financial institutions, particularly the Big Four banks, have far more control over the sex work industry than many of us realise.  Sex workers’ battles with the tech and finance industries have dominated headlines in recent months, from MasterCard and Visa’s decision to ban the use of their services on PornHub, to OnlyFans’ [aborted] plan to ban sex work from the platform altogether…On top of the already devastating blow of the pandemic practically obliterating the ability to safely conduct in-person sex work, the industry has been ravaged by a series of changes…designed to…make sex work significantly less safe…We saw this in the case of Mastercard’s policy changes, which were designed to [shield the company from attacks by “]sex trafficking[” fetishists, and] resulted in thousands of…sex workers having to go to more extreme measures to make money…a similar piece of legislation…implemented [using the popular fascist excuses of]…money laundering and terrorism funding, is allowing Australian banks to get away with financial discrimination right in our own backyard…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1176)

It’s good when they feed on each other:

…[Mississippi cop] Harold “Tad” Rogers was arrested…[for having] sexually explicit conversations with…an[other cop fantasy role-playing as a 13-year-old girl]…Rogers tried to solicit explicit pictures from the [oth]er [wank]er…[and w]as…charged with one count of enticement of a child to produce sexually explicit pictures…

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1180)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

This…is just encouraging [prohibitionists] to bury us in paperwork that won’t accomplish anything.  –  an adult site webmaster

R.I.P. Shane Petzer

Shane Petzer, co-founder of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), has died following a sudden heart attack.  Petzer was renowned for his advocacy of sex work in South Africa…Dr. Gordon Isaacs…also a co-founder of SWEAT…became acquainted with Petzer during the 1983 AIDS pandemic…Petzer…[w]as a male sex worker…[who] attend[ed] the first international sex worker conference in Japan…[which] inspired him to start…SWEAT…in 1996 after Petzer [met]…Ilsa Pauw[, an academic studying]…violence against female sex workers in Cape Town. Together with Pauw, Isaacs and a group of other people, SWEAT began its fight for the protection of sex workers…As a man having lived healthily with HIV for 20 years, [Petzer] also advocated for the universal treatment of people living with HIV…

To Molest and Rape

Another sexual predator specifically targeted a traumatized woman:

A Toronto [cop] who [was dispatched] to a woman’s [domestic violence] call…returned to…he[r]…home the next day and sexually assaulted her…Conal Quinn [was charged] with sexual assault and breach of trust following [the] March 21, 2021…assault [and rewarded with a paid vacation]…

Sexcrime (#911)

Respite from UK porn censorship lasted less than three years:

U.K. media [censor] Ofcom…[has] issued “new guidance” for video-sharing platform providers regarding what the government considers “measures to protect users from harmful material”…the…“guidance”…applies to U.K.-based platforms such as OnlyFans, PocketStars, TikTok, Snapchat, Vimeo and Twitch…and…includes…“protecting…users” from “material inciting violence or hatred…terrorism; child sexual abuse material; and racism and xenophobia”…[but the fine print attempts to restore a ban on “]material which has been deemed, or would likely be deemed, unsuitable for classification (such as sadistic violence or torture)[” which was struck down in February 2019]…the “Guidance” is described as “not a set of compulsory steps” but merely as “intended to help guide providers in deciding how best to comply with the statutory requirements”…[but] also [resurrects the requirement for]…”strict age-verification processes” [which was essentially abandoned as unworkable two years ago this month]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1008) 

European politicians consider talking about taking a baby step in the right direction:

The European Parliament has called for…a ban on law enforcement’s use of facial recognition, as well as other surveillance tools commonly used in the course of [so-called] predictive policing…[cop shops] would be prohibited from conducting biometric surveillance in public spaces—and a moratorium would be placed on tech that scoops up personal data via stuff like “gait, fingerprints, DNA, voice, and other biometric and behavioural signals.”  The measure also suggests the banning of facial recognition databases operated by private companies—a stipulation that would seriously hamper companies like dystopian creepster Clearview AI from operating within the EU’s borders…Yet while that all sounds pretty good, Parliament’s measure is non-binding…

I Spy (#1082)

Curiosity offends the state, comrade:

The U.S. government is secretly ordering Google to provide data on anyone typing in certain search terms…such “keyword warrants” threaten to implicate innocent Web users in serious crimes…[including “sex] trafficking[“]…racketeering…[and] fraud…search term orders are effectively fishing expeditions, hoping to ensnare possible suspects whose identities the government does not know.  It’s not dissimilar to so-called geofence warrants, where [cops demand] Google…provide information on anyone within [a certain distance of some] location [labeled] a crime scene at a given time…Google is continuing to comply with such controversial requests, despite concerns over their legality and the potential to implicate innocent people…Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at…ACLU…[said] “This never-before-possible technique threatens First Amendment interests and will inevitably sweep up innocent people, especially if the keyword terms are not unique and the time frame not precise. To make matters worse, police are currently doing this in secret, which [hides] the practice from public debate and regulation.”

The Next Target (#1130)

This elaborate concern kabuki is the direct result of “sex trafficking” propaganda:

XBIZ has been able to review a suggested “Report Abuse” compliance form that is part of compliance packages that several major industry sites have received with instructions to customize before October 15 in order to continue processing credit card transactions.  The form features a checklist of clickable boxes that anyone visiting an adult site is encouraged to use to report what they [claim] to be…“underage material,” “copyright/trademark infringement”…“prostitution or trafficking,” “weapons,” “drugs” and “other”…[one] webmaster said…“They want us to put a link to this [checklist] in all the footers on every page…which is then [copied] directly to Mastercard.”  The webmaster pointed out that both ruthless competitors and crusading anti-porn activists are likely to flood the system with bogus complaints…The webmaster also noted that the form essentially forces all adult sites to add the words “underage material,” “prostitution or trafficking,” “weapons” and “drugs” to their metadata, which then puts them at risk of AI shadowbans or even state surveillance…

Stalkers in Blue (#1140)

A whole gang of sexual predators specifically targeting traumatized women:

A woman who[se] picture…[was taken without her consent while cops abducted her from a] Sarah Everard vigil [that the cops had tried to prevent w]as [harassed by] “about 50” [cops]…via a dating app, leaving her “terrified”.  Patsy Stevenson…said they knew she was “fearful of police” and had done it “for a reason”…Hundreds attended the vigil…in south London fo[r]…Ms Everard, who was [raped and] murdered by [typical and representative cop] Wayne Couzens after he abducted her while she was walking home…[even though cops tried to] cancel…[the event by claiming]…it w[as] illegal under lockdown restrictions…[just as Couzens himself had used those same tyrannical diktats to intimidate his victim into submitting to abduction]…the “sombre atmosphere… turned very scary very quickly” after police started t[errorizing] the crowd…[Stevenson] has since launched legal action against the Met Police over the arrest…

Read Full Post »

Under the Table

Posted in Current Events, History, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 16, 2021| 1 Comment »

Oh look, picket-fence queers from groups like GLAAD are beginning to notice that deliberately ignoring sex workers after they reached the Big Table (and in some cases, actually joining the crusade against us) wasn’t such a good idea.  And I must add again: stop your fucking partisan bullshit.  This wasn’t “Trump’s crusade” or “the GOP’s crusade”; Democrats were equal drivers at every step of the process under the usual banners (“The Children!!!” and “exploitation of women“), so you don’t get to smugly point your fingers at other people and pretend you had nothing to do with it.  This was done by people you elected, in fascist collaboration with companies you support (and who pay for your multi-million dollar “Pride” parades). You stood by while other sexual minorities were persecuted, and you were fine with it because it wasn’t you.  Well, now those pigeons are coming home to roost, just as sex workers told you they would.  Just as you should’ve known they would, but were too wrapped up in partisan bullshit to notice.  “Operation Choke Point“, the government’s program telling big businesses that it was not only OK but encouraged to discriminate against sexual minorities, was an Obama program, not a Trump one.  And don’t try whitewashing your direct involvement in the anti-whore crusades, ’cause Maggie has the receipts. (See all those embedded links?  There are plenty more like them.)  So sit the fuck down unless you’re going to own it and help fix the mess you helped make.

Read Full Post »

Always Alternatives

Posted in Current Events, Guest Columns, tagged , , , , on September 13, 2021| 2 Comments »

Even though OnlyFans reversed its recent decision to banish sex workers, any company who turns on us so quickly can be counted on to do so again at the slightest provocation.  I’ve never gone the porn route myself, so I know very little about the ecosystem; however, I recently saw a Twitter account called “Dream Girls Fan Club” post this on Twitter.  I asked what name the creators would like me to credit and received no answer, but I’m not going to fail to share it because it seems to me they did a very thorough job, and if there’s anything here that can help sex workers to find a more stable work environment, I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass it on.

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1168)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2021| 1 Comment »

Who will be the victims of the government’s next attack on legally protected speech that it wishes to silence? – Michael Lacey & Jim Larkin

Acting and Activism 

Why are so many “celebrities” such hypocritical trash?

[Comedian Bill] Maher [said] during Friday’s Real Time…“OnlyFans is staying in the porn business…because their fans would not take it…if there’s one thing millennials love more than canceling the patriarchy it’s women having sex for money”…So, in Maher’s mind, “women having sex for money” is anti-feminist and a product of the patriarchy.  Women couldn’t possibly be sex workers of their own volition…It’s…strange given how Maher has solicited the services of sex workers in the past…and dated a number of others—including Karine Steffans…who once said of him, “Bill wants someone he can put down in an argument, tell you how ghetto you are, how big your butt is and that you’re an idiot”…

A Whore in Church

Matthew 21:31 seems pretty straightforward to me:

A Christian OnlyFans star…has been [attacked by religious fanatics for] saying “Jesus would have loved sex workers”.  Nita Marie…believes her sexuality is a divine gift, and that God gave her permission to strip…after [she] ask[ed] him directly in prayer – but…so…[called “Christians” who seem poorly acquainted with the Gospels] are calling her a “grifter”, and [some are so] delusional [they imagine] that it “might be Satan”…answering her prayers…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1124)

I have no sympathy for members of the dangerous “porn addiction” cult:

“BlockerX”, a porn [autocensor] application, has failed to protect its Amazon AWS instance…result[ing in]…exposure of its user[s’]…personal details…The owner of the app…Atmana Innovations, responded immediately…but the period of exposure remains unknown.  “BlockerX” is a subscription service that…cost[s] users $7.50 per month or $180 in a single lifetime payment…[and censors anything its algorithms register as] adult content…The…danger for…exposed users…is extortionists who could…threaten…to publish the fact that they [imagine their normal sexual behavior constitutes an “]addiction[“]…

I Spy (#1154) 

Fascism is rapidly making private communications a thing of the past:

A federal court ruled…that…drugs [stolen] by police from a package [th]at [did not belong to them were] not seized unconstitutionally [despite the lack of a warrant]…At the center of the decision is a little-known [fascist pact between FedEx and the cops, which] allow[s pigs to root through]…parcels at the shipping behemoth’s sorting centers…if [they claim] a…dog [gave them permission]…cops…[can then] dress up as FedEx delivery men…[to deceive the victim and] arrest…them…The court d[ecision is based in the legal fiction that an individual’s property no longer belongs to him while in the hands of a third party, such as] FedEx…[thus creating the] con[venient pretense that] it…own[s the packages]…and it can [give them to] the police [without warrant or permission of the actual owner]…The agreement evokes Apple’s recent announcement that it will scan people’s photos [in order to sell them down the river]…the relationship between FedEx and police…has quietly existed for some time, says John Wesley Hall, an expert in Fourth Amendment law…”FedEx…[has] always cooperated…with them—even loans them the truck”…

It’s OK for a company to sell out its customers, because drugs are bad.

Dangerous Speech (#1159)

Michael Lacey & Jim Larkin remind you of what their trial, which began Wednesday, is actually about:

On April 6, 2018, the federal government eradicated an entire classified ads website containing speech that was 100-percent legal…The publication of speech…by users is legally protected; so is “offensive” speech and speech the government does not like.  Numerous federal courts said just that, in cases involving Backpage…whenever any concern arose…our company voluntarily aided law enforcement and government entities such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  This is documented extensively by court records…and the government’s own reports…Since the FBI seized Backpage, adult advertising has, predictably, fled overseas to companies that do not respond to U.S. subpoenas…The culprits here are…self-serving politicians with historical vendettas and overzealous prosecutors who placed their own ambition above the safety and welfare of women…The prosecution has engaged in years of scurrilous tactics, such as destroying evidence, abusing the grand jury process, and seizing all the money we set aside for legal expenses…

If you haven’t been following this tag, I suggest you peruse it today; the various articles I’ve linked will show you exactly the kind of evil, completely-illegal shenanigans the government has pulled over the past three years in its crusade to crucify journalists who wouldn’t make obeisance to its censorious diktats.

To Molest and Rape (#1166)

Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?

[Typical and representative Florida cop] Travis Ryan Pritchard [was sentenced] to 35 years in federal prison for [rap]ing…a 15-year-old [girl and filming it]…Pritchard was also [condemned to the]…sex offender [registry]…From December 2019 through May 2, 2020, Pritchard…had sexually abused [the victim] on a weekly basis…[but finally she had enough and reported him, and another cop role-played her to]…chat…with Pritchard using [a popular] app.  Late in the night of May 1, 2020, and into the early morning hours of the next day, Pritchard [harassed] the [cop he thought was his victim] to sneak out of her home to meet with him…Pritchard’s cellular telephone revealed many [such] conversations…[and a] folder containing numerous…child [porn pics, including one]…of the rape of a prepubescent [girl]…

The Next Target (#1166)

“The sex worker rights movement is getting too loud to ignore“:

…It remains to be seen whether [OnlyFans] will be true to its word but to force the hand of such a giant corporation is no small feat…That a platform which built its fortune on the backs of sex workers might, at a moment’s notice, ditch us, is no surprise; it would be the latest in the slow but sure eradication of sex workers from online spaces…Throughout the fiasco, both MasterCard and OnlyFans were keen to separate themselves from the potential destitution of creators and to claim their credentials as non-haters of sex workers…multi-billion dollar companies fall[ing] over themselves to maintain the veneer of corporate virtue is grotesque…Still, in the conflicted responses there is hope…it’s clear that the sex worker rights movement is too loud to ignore…

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1167)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, Music, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 1, 2021| 3 Comments »

The only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused…is to never create it.  –  Apple in 2016

See No Evil

Moral panics really spin out of control as they age:

Spencer Elden, the man whose unusual baby portrait was used for…the…cover…of…Nirvana’s Nevermind, filed a lawsuit…[pretend]ing that the nude image constituted child pornography…[despite the fact that] non-sexualized nude photos of infants are…not considered child pornography under law.  [To circumvent this plain fact in order to cash in on “child porn” hysteria], Robert Y. Lewis, Elden’s [shyster, fantasizes]…that the inclusion of currency in the shot makes the baby appear “like a sex worker”…[Lewis demands] at least $150,000 from each of the defendants, who include…the…original Nirvana drummer…even though he had been replaced…before the album was recorded or the cover photography shot.  Elden has repeatedly recreated the pose as a teenager and adult, diving into pools to pose (with swim trunks on) on the occasion of the album’s 10th, 17th, 20th and 25th anniversaries…

“A sex worker”.  Seriously.  I reckon he’s supposed to be one of those hundreds of thousands of infant hookers needed to bring the average debut age down to 13.

For Those Who Think Legalization is a Good Idea (#648)

What “legal but heavily regulated” looks like in action:

On August 11, the Nagpur police put [up] a large number of barricades completely sealing the Ganga-Jamuna area….without any prior notice or reason [thu]s drastically affect[ing] the livelihood…of over a thousand sex workers who have been living and working for decades in the area…over 100 [cops] have been [sent to swagger around] the area at all times…Sex workers in India are one of the groups that are consistently at the receiving end of…state-sponsored police brutality…[even though] the profession is not illegal…brothel areas are repeatedly raided and their workers are harassed by the police…A petition by the National Network of Sex Workers, India (NNSW) demanding “Unseal Ganga Jamuna” has been put online and signed by more than 2700 people and organisations…

License to Rape (#720)

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

A Raleigh mother has filed a federal lawsuit against the TSA…a[fter] the[y]…violated her transgender teenager’s rights by [demanding] a strip-search at the airport.  Jamii Erway, 15 at the time, had a valid boarding pass [but] when [t]he [equipment regist]ered a “false positive”…a TSA [goon demanded]…to [leer at] her genitals…[and lied] “that she was not free to leave until she submitted to [the humiliation], in violation of TSA policy, the Fourth Amendment, and…the boundaries of civil and decent society”…the [goon further called the cops on the teenager]…and the[ir threatening] presence…[unsurprisingly] triggered…a…panic…[attack].  Rather than submit to the [molestation]…her mother, Kimberly Erway, rented a car and [they] drove 600 miles.  The Erways seek unspecified damages and an injunction preventing such a scenario from happening again…

Panopticon (#986)

Cops even get their equipment to lie for them:

Michael Williams…was [locked in a cage for almost a year], accused [by cops] of killing a young man from [his] neighborhood who asked him for a ride during a night of unrest over police brutality in May…the [supposed] evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or [snitch, but rather]…from a clip of [silent] security video showing a car driving through an intersection, and a loud bang [separately] picked up by a network of surveillance microphones.  Prosecutors [pretende]d…a secret algorithm that analyzed noises detected by the sensors indicated Williams shot and killed the man…ShotSpotter [claims have] increasingly been admitted in court cases…[as evidence despite the fact that] it…can miss live gunfire right under its microphones, or misclassify the sounds of fireworks or cars backfiring as gunshots.  F[antasy stories written]…by ShotSpotter’s employees have been used in court to [lie] that a defendant shot at police, or provide [lies about] the number of shots allegedly fired by defendants…the…system…[i]s a…black box largely inscrutable to the public, jurors and police oversight boards…[but] the company…fully admits that]…employees can and do modify the location or number of shots fired [on their own whims or] at the request of police…in the past, city dispatchers or police themselves could also make some of these changes…

Stalkers in Blue (#987)

Once in a while, there are witnesses to the way cops act toward women:

Florida [cop]…Naci Tuzcuoglu…approached a woman singing karaoke at…[a] sports bar…[and] put his hands on her hips.  The woman…t[old] him she was married and not interested [but he kep harassing her, so she]…went outside and spoke to her husband…Tuzcuoglu [followed her]…and punched the man in the face…multiple times…[while] taunt[ing him]…“I’m a cop…What are you gonna do about it?”…

Choke Point (#1150)

“Progressives” are finally deigning to notice financial discrimination vs some sex workers:

OnlyFans…has faced widespread backlash from sex workers after it announced…that it will ban sexually explicit content starting Oct. 1.  Some LGBTQ OnlyFans creators say the changes could jeopardize one of their primary sources of income during the Covid-19 pandemic…

OnlyFans reversed its position the day after this article appeared, but I still featured it because it illustrates a disturbing trend I’ve seen lately: some “progressives” only seem to think sex workers deserve rights if they’re queer (especially trans).  Now, since the majority of sex workers are some flavor of LGBT, fighting for their rights will still help straight, cisgender sex workers as well.  But I think it’s pretty sad that some people don’t think human rights are worth supporting unless they’re the “correct” people’s rights.

I Spy (#1161)

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

Apple’s own employees have been expressing alarm [about its plans to snoop in customers’ phones].  The company [pretend]s reservations about the system are rooted in “misunderstandings.”  We disagree.  We wrote the only peer-reviewed publication on how to build a system like Apple’s — and…we’re not concerned because we misunderstand how Apple’s system works.  The problem is, we understand exactly how it works…Our system could be easily repurposed for surveillance and censorship.  The design wasn’t restricted to a specific category of content; a service could simply swap in any content-matching database, and the person using that service would be none the wiser.  A…government could, for example, compel a service to out people sharing disfavored political speech…WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, already uses content matching to identify dissident material.  India enacted rules this year that could require pre-screening content critical of government policy.  Russia recently fined Google, Facebook and Twitter for not removing pro-democracy protest materials[, and US politicians are pressuring social media companies to censor anything they declare “misinformation”]…We warned against our own system design…[an]d planned to discuss paths forward at an academic conference this month…[but] the week before our presentation, Apple announced it would deploy its nearly identical system…

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »