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Posts Tagged ‘Colombia’

In the News (#1585)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Oh no, not another youth pastor.  –  Jessica Nicely

The War Goes On (#867) 

This started as a scheme to keep sex workers off of Tinder:

Tinder [has] announced…that identity verification with facial recognition will now be required for all new users in the U.S. in the coming months.  A facial scan is already required for new…users in California as of July…[and] new users in Colombia, Canada, Australia, India, and several countries across Southeast Asia must also complete one…users must take a video of themselves within the app…the…scan…[is used to determine] whether the same face is used in multiple profiles…and stored to verify new photos…

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1508) 

There is no such thing as an original idea from a politician:

Pennsylvania [politicians] are proposing a new 10 percent tax on porn.  The…”tiddy tariff,” as…Mike Stabile has dubbed it—would be levied in addition to the state’s normal 6 percent sales and use tax.  As a means to…raise revenue or discourage porn consumption…this…might make sense if most porn viewers were paying for porn videos or platform subscriptions.  But in a world of ample free porn, it seems unlikely to accomplish either of the state’s likely aims…And to the extent that it even further disincentivizes paying for porn, it could actually work against goals like protecting sex workers from exploitation, or keeping people from viewing porn that was made in illegal or exploitative ways…

Pennsylvania, of course, is not interested in protecting sex workers.

Panopticon (#1547)

Other mobile surveillance platforms aren’t enough; cops now want their own:

The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Department is the first in the country to test a new [robot pigmobile] decked in surveillance equipment…it is even capable of serving as a launch platform for [flying pig robots]…this is…a pilot program…sponsored by [fascist corporation] PolicingLab…as a feeler for the Sheriff’s public affairs folks…in order to…evaluate [how badly it will damage]…public trust…“Results will inform whether and how the program expands, potentially serving as a national model for [cop shops] across the country”…

The Cop Myth (#1570)

What would cops do if you shot someone dead in the street?

An FBI [spook in Virginia who murdered] a neighbor in [cold blood was allowed to skate without]…any time in jail…Benjamin Spinale shot…Jason Chamberlain in the middle of the street in February…he was…never charged for [the murder], but…faced four [slap-on-the-wrist gun] charges [instead.  Spinale has a history of threatening neighbors with his gun, having]…previously pulled [it] on a puppy and a group of teens.  The county prosecutor [absurdly claimed] there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Spinale [for] the [murder], despite being surrounded by sheriff’s deputies at the time…the first judge to hear the plea agreement called Spinale a vigilante and said he shouldn’t be allowed to have a gun in any capacity[, so the case was transferred to] another judge [prosecutors knew would] accept…the [corrupt deal]…

Shame, Shame (#1576)

Another ghoul looting graves:

Alan Hamel is doing everything he can to [profit from his late wife] Suzanne Somers…One of [his creepy schemes] is a [computer-generated image synchronized with a chatbot trained on Somers’ writings and interviews, branded as]…”the Suzanne AI Twin”…Hamel, [who is either deeply senile or lacks the capacity for shame, claims]…”When…I…look at the two of them side by side, I really can’t tell which one is the real and which one is the AI”…

Torture Chamber (#1578)

Government thugs hate both queer people and migrants, so queer migrants are especially targeted:

Queer and trans immigrants [locked in a] south Louisiana [dungeon] have…faced sexual harassment and abuse, medical neglect and coerced labor by [screws], and…[were] ignored or faced retaliation for speaking out…they were…forced…to perform hard [and pointless] manual labor [in the middle of the night and]…targeted by an assistant warden…named Manuel Reyes and his [gang, who]… beat them and denied them medical treatment [afterward].  “I was treated worse than an animal,” said Mario Garcia-Valenzuela, one of the [victims]…part of the [torture included repetitively moving]…heavy cabinets [back and forth across a room], and…using industrial-strength [cleaning] chemicals without gloves or protective gear…[all in the middle of the] night…they were persistently sexually harassed by Reyes, who [also] entered their [cells to steal] possessions including [dirty underwear.  One of the victims]…is a [lesbian whom]…Reyes…oral[ly raped]…on a “near daily basis” between February and May 2024, threatening to kill her if she refused…to [submit]…

If Men Were Angels (#1582)

“Youth group leader“:

…a Phoenix…youth group leader…[named] Casey Goslin…was arrested on Oct. 16…for…[possession of] child pornography…Goslin…was…involved with a platform used to livestream child sexual abuse…[from] the Philippines…

 

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

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In the News (#1428)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We can, indeed, convince ourselves that boogeymen are real.
–  Claire Zagorski & Ryan Marino

Legal Is as Legal Does

Who but a politician could conceive of fighting some crime by criminalizing legal business?

[Due to] the discovery of a U.S. citizen with two girls, aged 12 and 13…in a luxury hotel in Medellín…[Colombia]…Mayor Federico Gutiérrez…[has] prohibit[ed] sex work in…for six months, and…[declared] a 1 a.m. closing time for bars…for a month…Gutiérrez…says he is acting under extraordinary circumstances…[to] fight…back against the mafias that he says run [the] El Poblado [neighborhood by denying legal income to legal businesspeople, and subjecting them to police harassment]…He also announced that there would be meetings with owners of bars and hotels to clarify new “rules of the game”.  Establishments that do not comply with the rules…will not only be subject to closure, but also to [the government stealing their property]…Timothy Allan Livingston…was arrested and detained for 12 hours…[but] released…because he had not been [actually] caught in the act of sexually abusing the girls.  He was released on [March 29th], and boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida…

The chief danger of a “tolerated” system is that cops or politicians can suddenly and without warning decide to be intolerant.

Torture Chamber (#1153)

The government tried to establish a precedent that it need not feed its prisoners:

The federal government is required to “expeditiously” house migrant [minors] who cross into the United States [without permission], rather than allow them to remain in unsafe open-air sites along the border…Federal District Court…Judge Dolly M. Gee [ruled]…in a class-action lawsuit…minors at the sites [a]re in legal custody of the Department of Homeland Security and thus…entitled to certain rights and protections, such as a safe and sanitary environment, even if they ha[ve] not yet been formally processed…The outdoor areas where migrants have been waiting [because the US refuses to let them continue north] lack shelter, food and sanitation…Unaccompanied children and young families sometimes arrive in poor health…dehydration and heat stroke have become common problems…and nighttime temperatures, wind and rain are creating conditions ripe for hypothermia…The government had argued that the children [and adolescents] were not yet in U.S. custody so it had no obligation to provide services….[yet] Border Patrol…control[s] the minors’ ability to leave the sites…Judge Gee denied the [government’s] request for a specific time limit for how long minors could be held [without food, water, shelter, or medical care]…

Welcome to the Future (#1351)

Indiscriminate murder is so much easier when blamed on machines:

…the Israeli army has developed a…[computer] program known as “Lavender”…to generate targets for…bombing…the…system is designed to mark all suspected operatives in the military wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), including low-ranking ones, as potential…targets…human personnel…serve…only as a “rubber stamp” for the machine’s decisions…the Israeli army systematically attacked the targeted individuals while they were in their homes — usually at night while their whole families were present — rather than during the course of military activity…Additional automated systems, including one called “Where’s Daddy?”…were used…to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences…The result…is that thousands of Palestinians — most of them women and children or [noncombatants] — were wiped out by Israeli airstrikes, especially during the first weeks of the war, because of [a computer]’s [mindless] decisions…the army…decided…that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians…[and if] the target was a senior Hamas official…the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians…[to eliminate] a single commander…

You Were Warned (#1361)

Ignorant, irrelevant authoritarian spouts ignorant irrelevancies in support of more authoritarianism; what a shock:

Hillary Clinton is the latest to jump on the “Repeal Section 230” bandwagon…Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have insisted that it needs to be repealed.  Senators [from] both sides of the [uniparty]…are supporting bills to repeal [it].  And now Hillary Clinton has joined the crew of ignorant political pundits spouting nonsense about 230…removing Section 230 will not fix whatever problem any of these people think it will fix…Section 230 serves a particularly useful purpose: preventing frivolous lawsuits.  What everyone calling for its repeal is effectively saying is that they want more frivolous lawsuits, most of which will simply be stopped eventually by the First Amendment, but after much more significant expense for websites…what Biden and Clinton seem to be admitting in their desire to remove liability protections is that they want to suppress speech…because they know that any threat of more frivolous litigation would lead companies to…[be far more] censorial…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1391)

Politicians are always happy to wreck lives by inventing new crimes from copaganda:

…While addiction and drug policy experts have repeatedly refuted the idea that touching fentanyl alone can cause an overdose, like a stubborn weed, the lie keeps coming back.  And now the myth has drifted upward to poli[tician]s…At this moment, three bills — one in Florida (SB 718), one in West Virginia (HB 5319) and the other in Tennessee (SB 1754) — are making their way through their respective state legislatures.  All three will allow for a felony charge to be levied against people who [possess]…fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, such as carfentanil or remifentanil…[if a cop has a panic attack nearby]…HB 5319 casts an even wider net, encompassing any opioid regardless of potency…[but] does include language which would require a laboratory test for opioids be administered to the [panicky pig.  But]…SB 718 and SB 1754 [allow charges based entirely in a cop’s imagination]…

If Men Were Angels (ROTW #8)

Turns out he isn’t just a wannabe cop:

Monte Chitty, the [Florida] pastor [who drugged and molested a 15-year-old girl], [was] released on a $75,000 bond soon after his March arrest…[he] was supposed to be arraigned [on April 1st, but] fled in a white van with out-of-state plates and is no longer believed to be in…Florida…he…has lived in 25 states where he’s worked in churches and may have places to hide out; [prosecutor Dennis] Ward [said]…“This guy’s a former cop from Alaska…so I’m concerned about everybody in [his] path”…

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

Let’s hope we can soon say, “Good riddance to bad rubbish”:

Last week, the nation’s largest prison and jail telecom corporation, Securus, effectively defaulted on more than a billion dollars of debt.  After decades of preying on incarcerated people and their loved ones with exploitative call rates and other predatory practices that have driven millions of families into debt, Securus is being crushed under the weight of its own.  In March, the company’s creditors gave the corporation an eight-month extension to pay up, urging its sale to a new owner to stave off an otherwise imminent bankruptcy…The slow death of the largest player in this space is not accidental.  It follows six years of intense advocacy to expose the vulnerability of the prison telecom industry’s business model on both ethical and economic grounds.  Organizers have waged a strategic war against Securus, educating investors and the public about the company’s predatory practices while successfully advocating for legislation and regulation to rein them in…The company’s failure would represent a remarkable victory for advocates—and a potential beginning of the end for the prison telecom industry as we know it…

 

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

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In the News (#1417)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2024| 2 Comments »

This…is a very good example of panic legislation.  –  Mary deYoung

Winding Down (#1106)

Until the concept of prohibition itself is challenged, these measures are just crumbs thrown to the peasants from their masters’ tables:

Germany’s parliament is expected to…make [it] the third country in Europe to legalise the drug for personal use…Adults would be allowed to possess 50g at one time at home, and 25g in public…[prohibitionists burbled the usual pro-police-violence nonsense, including dishonest] doctors…[who vomited lies about] the risk of addiction [even though cannabis is not addictive]…

Eavesdropping (#1167)

Shotspotter is a boondoggle designed to manufacture false evidence for cops:

ShotSpotter…places its microphone sensors primarily in low-income communities of color…the exact locations…have been kept secret from both its [cop shop] clients and the public at large…[but] a leaked document…details the…precise locations and uptime of 25,580 ShotSpotter microphones.  The…surveillance devices…[are] at more than a thousand elementary and high schools…atop dozens of billboards, scores of hospitals, and…more than a hundred public housing complexes…More than 12 million Americans live in neighborhoods with at least one…microphone, [and] sensors can be found in 84 metropolitan areas and 34 states or territories in the United States.  Nine cities have more than 500 sensors installed, including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Las Vegas, Nevada…in aggregate, nearly 70 percent of people who live in a [surveilled] neighborhood…[are] either Black or Latin…

The Implosion Begins (#1265)

The hysteria is imploding so hard, it’s falling all the way back to its roots:

Utah [poluticians] are moving forward with a bill that would criminalize so-called ritualistic child sexual abuse [despite the complete lack of evidence that such a thing exists or has ever existed.  A recent]…hearing…[was packed with mentally ill] adult…[fantasists who have been enabled and encouraged to dwell in their delusions for decades]…Utah’s role in the 1980s [Satanic] panic was significant.  Many of the first well-known cases of alleged ritual abuse originated in the state, as did the movement’s central figures, including therapists who used hypnosis and manipulative interview techniques to [create false] memories [in] alleged child victims…Local media promoted the claims…

The Vultures Descend (#1323)

Alabama has at long last got the “fetal personhood” it claimed to want; let’s see how they like it:

The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system is pausing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that [absurdly declared] frozen embryos are children…reproductive rights advocates and medical experts have been warning…for days…that the high court’s decision could have devastating consequences for Alabamians seeking infertility treatments…and…could soon have profound impacts far beyond the state’s borders…[the unscientific declaration] will likely not only make the already high costs of infertility treatments substantially higher, but will likely also discourage many providers from offering them at all in the state in fear of being held liable for wrongful death…

And if that worries you, how about this?

Most House Republicans have cosponsored a bill declaring that life begins from the moment of conception…[almost immediatel]y after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “unborn children”…the “Life at Conception Act“…states that the term “human being” includes “all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization”…[and] does not include any exception for in vitro fertilization…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1327)

Maybe this will teach fools what a danger biometric identification actually is:

…it’s becoming clear that biometric screens are just as easy to bypass as…other…security…[as demonstrated by a new] banking trojan that steals people’s faces.  Un[wary] users are tricked into giving up personal IDs and phone numbers and…prompted to perform face scans.  These images are then swapped out with AI-generated deepfakes that can easily bypass security checkpoints.  The method — developed by a Chinese…hacking family — is believed to have been used in Vietnam [last] month, when attackers…[used it to] withdr[aw] the equivalent of $40,000 from [a victim’s] bank account…This discovery reveals the alarming, growing threat that biometrics pose…Face swap deepfake attacks increased by 704% between the first and second halves of 2023…The[re was]…also…a 672% increase in the use of deepfake media being used alongside spoofing tools and a 353% increase in the use of emulators (which mimic user devices) and spoofing to launch digital injection attacks…

Remember this the next time some ninny tells you that cartoon porn is the worst possible use for deepfakes.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1405)

Nebraska’s float in the “monkey see, monkey do” parade is notable for its open infantilization of women:

…Nebraska [politicians are considering] a bill t[o use] young people…[as a pretext] to [spy on adults’ viewing of] online porn by [“age verification” of people too ignorant to use a VPN]…Dave Murman…[admits] his goal is to pr[etend]…women a[re equivalent to] children…[and also that] he [wants to join the “monkey see, monkey do” parade because] Utah,  Louisiana, and Arkansas [did]…

Served Cold (#1406)

This just keeps getting better:

A [Colombian] woman is suing for defamation and emotional distress because of the way she was portrayed in the [propaganda] film Sound of Freedom, marking a fifth lawsuit filed against Tim Ballard and [his rescue industry outfit], Operation Underground Railroad…Kely Johana Suarez Moya…“was tragically condemned by the Defendants to the entire world as being a child trafficker without any due process or due diligence by the Defendants,” the lawsuit reads.  Other defendants…include…[the] movie [itself]…the distributor…and…writers…Katherine Ballard, [and]…Janet Russon, a former OUR employee and Tim Ballard’s psychic…Ballard and OUR lied to the public about a “sting operation” in Colombia…where operatives “rescued” children at a “pedophile party” on the Colombian Island of Baru in 2014…In reality…[they lured]…in impoverished…young adults with the promise of money…[and] “None of the young adults…were trafficked in any way (other than by Ballard)”…

 

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

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In the News (#1411)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Cops face little recourse, even when…cases…were based on little more than writing some sort of Asian sex-slave fanfic.  –  Elizabeth N. Brown

The Course of a Disease (#909)

Prohibitionist scum know decriminalization is the only moral framework for sex work; that’s why they keep trying to trick people into thinking the Swedish model is decrim:

[Massachusetts politicians, one of them ironically from] Salem, are p[ushing]…a bill t[o infantilize sex workers and attempt to starve them into submission by persecuting clients]…The bill was created with support from…a Boston-based [prohibitionist] organization that [exploits marginalized]…sex [workers.  Meanwhile, a crony of those same politicians]…has…filed a bill…that would require…hotel workers in the state [to be indoctrinated in the asinine “]signs of sex trafficking[” which encourage businesses to harass unescorted women and engage in racial profiling]…

Blunt Instrument (#1064)

Everyone harmed by these evil “stings” and raids needs to keep suing the agencies which conduct them:

A Utah man is suing after being [falsely] implicated in a[n imaginary] human trafficking ring for driving his wife to and from her job at Asian massage businesses…Police raided the places in early 2021 and arrested Joseph Ferreri, his wife Juying Wang, and several other women associated with the businesses where Wang worked.  A police document justifying Ferreri’s arrest relies heavily on generalizations about Asian massage businesses and race-based stereotypes.  It’s also peppered with misrepresentations—like describing Wang as a “girl” even though she’s in her 50s and two years older than Ferreri…[cop] Shawn Lott…”embellished, omitted, and made up facts to paint Joe Ferreri as an international sex trafficker…the sole basis for targeting Joe was the race/ethnicity of his wife and her occupation”…all charges…were eventually dropped. But by then…his name and picture were published in news outlets that described him as part of a human trafficking ring.  He and his wife were temporarily barred from seeing each other.  He lost his job, and with it any chance of a pension he was more than halfway to qualifying for.   The only work Ferreri could find following the arrest was a temp gig in a coal mine…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1097) 

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

…Intricate, invisible webs…link some of the world’s largest food companies and most popular brands to jobs performed by U.S. prisoners nationwide…If they refuse to work, some can jeopardize their chances of parole or face punishment like being sent to solitary confinement.  They also are often excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers, even when they are seriously injured or killed on the job.  The goods these prisoners produce wind up in the supply chains of a dizzying array of products…from Frosted Flakes cereal and Ball Park hot dogs to Gold Medal flour, Coca-Cola and Riceland rice.  They are on the shelves of virtually every supermarket in the country, including Kroger, Target, Aldi and Whole Foods.  And some goods are exported, including to countries that have had products blocked from entering the U.S. for using forced or prison labor.  Many of the companies buying directly from prisons are violating their own policies against the use of such labor.  But it’s…enshrined in the Constitution by the 13th Amendment, [which states that] slavery and involuntary servitude are banned – except as punishment for a crime.  That clause is currently being challenged on the federal level, and efforts to remove similar language from state constitutions are expected to reach the ballot in about a dozen states this year…

Eternal Vigilance (#1264)

Why is it so difficult for amateurs to grasp the difference between a renter offering sex as payment and a landlord demanding it?

Randy Hames, owner of…an…[Alabama] RV Park…was arrested in 2018…[and] charged with…human trafficking, soliciting prostitution, and attempted sexual extortion…Hames had been [previously] arrested twice on similar charges…after at least 10 female tenants reported Hames making unwanted advances in exchange for lowered rent…A federal trial [is now underway as] prosecutors…allege…Hames violated the Fair Housing Act by creating a hostile home environment for his tenants…he…also…evicted a few…after they refused his advances…

The Last Shall Be First (#1403) 

It’s never really about “protecting children”:

Several [politicians] from Michigan and Ohio were recorded in an online forum planning to try to ban trans health care for everyone, regardless of age…“In terms of endgame, why are we allowing these practices for anyone?” said [Michigan politician Josh] Schriver…“I think…we have to take sometimes small bites,” said [Ohio politician Gary] Click, who then lauded restrictions [recently] placed on…adult clinics by Ohio’s [governor]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1408)

This tells you everything you need to know about politicians’ motivations:

Rather than defend a clearly unconstitutional measure passed to “protect” kids from social media, the government of Utah [claims it] intends to repeal the law…[which] kicked off a [“monkey see, monkey do” parade] of similar measures…Now that it faces a pair of challenges in federal court, the state has a new stance: “Psych! We didn’t actually mean it!”…“They know it’s unconstitutional.  They know it’s pure grandstanding and culture warrioring,” writes Techdirt editor Mike Masnick. “And they don’t want to face the music for abusing the rights of the citizens who elected them to support the Constitution, not undermine it”…

Creepy Coppers (#1410)

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

[NYPD cop] Angad Beharry…[has been] arrested…[for paying a Venezuelan woman living in Indiana] to take sexually explicit photographs and videos of [her nine-year-old girl], and to transmit them over the Internet to [him]…Beharry…possessed [numerous other] sexually explicit video[s] and images of…prepubescent minors…[he was caught because he also paid a woman in] Colombia…[to take similar pictures of her] one-year-old [daughter, and when she was caught she snitched on him to the cops]…and…also [snitched on her “]friend[” from] Venezuela…

 

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

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In the News (#1373)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Being on the registry…has been a death sentence.  –  David Kingrea

Property of the State

So, will Texas now try to stop people from crossing the border into Mexico?

Mexico’s Supreme Court [has thrown] out all federal criminal penalties for abortion…ruling that national laws prohibiting the procedure are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights…The ruling will require the federal public health service and all federal health institutions to offer abortion to anyone who requests it…Some 20 Mexican states…still criminalize abortion.  While judges in those states will have to abide by the court’s decision, further legal work will be required to remove all penalties…Mexico City was the first Mexican jurisdiction to decriminalize abortion 15 years ago…Argentina…legalized the procedure…[in January 2021, and] Colombia [did so early last year]…

If Men Were Angels

“Pastor and sex offender” is a large and ever-expanding group:

Jonathan Shaheen, a [typical and representative] Colorado Springs church pastor and music teacher, [was arrested for] sexual exploitation of a child…[because he talked to] a couple in New Mexico who were said [by some unnamed party] to be exploiting children…

Some of these articles are so vague they wouldn’t even be newsworthy were the accused anyone more credible than a cop or preacher.

Spotlight (#845) 

Asstoon has spent the last 14 years attacking sex workers, so it’s good to see him in hot water over his poor judgment:

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis reportedly wrote letters in support of actor Danny Masterson during his rape trial, which recently found him guilty on two counts of forcible rape…[com]mitted…between 2001 and 2003…Kutcher wrote that Masterson “instantly” became a “dedicated co worker, and role model to me” when the pair began working together on That ’70s Show in 1998…

In addition to bankrolling a dangerous surveillance engine which uses facial recognition to out sex workers to the pigs, Kutcher is a delusional megalomaniac who has claimed to have actual godlike powers.

The End of the Beginning (#1290) 

The state should have to pay substantial damages to people it wrongfully condemns to its pariah list:

David Kingrea…[was falsely] accused…of sexual…abus[e by his ex-girlfriend’s son in 2011]…though…he maintained his innocence…[he] was found guilty [on no evidence other than the boy’s word, and]…sentenced to…12 months [in]…jail…[followed by eternal condemnation to] the Virginia Sex Offender Registry…[but] in the fall of 2020…the boy, who is now an adult, [recanted his lies]…clearing [Kingrea’s] name and getting him off the sex offender…[registry.  The state then fobbed him off with a mere] $55,000 [for twelve years of hell]…The Innocence Project…[has proposed a] bill [stating]…“that people…be compensated $25,000 per year for…[wrongful condemnation to the registry]…the person who wrongfully accused [Kingrea is] currently serving time in prison for an unrelated crime…

A Broker in Pillage (#1324)

“Program” is a helluva euphemism for “criminal conspiracy”:

Wayne County, which includes the city of Detroit, has long run a program where it s[teals] cars and cash from people police [decide to falsely accuse of “crimes” involving] drugs or prostitution…Now a federal court has severely curtailed this…[scheme as a] violat[ion of] due process…the U.S. Supreme Court has a similar case on its docket, so a broader precedent may soon be set…After [cops steal] their vehicle…people are [extorted]…of around $1,000 [to] get their [own property] back immediately or…the county [will illegally] sell the vehicle and pocket the proceeds.  People can challenge a forfeiture in court, but it is expensive and…takes…up to a year even to get a hearing…The court ruled that this period was too long, and the hearing needs to happen within two weeks (one judge argued that it should be within 48 hours)…

To Molest and Rape (#1365)

He wasn’t a “former” cop when he repeatedly raped a six-year-old:

A [typical and representative] Jacksonville [Florida cop] is in…jail charged with…child [molestation].  The case dates to 2005, when…Christopher Tyree…began [rap]ing her during sleepovers…when she was six years old…a prior 2007 criminal complaint made by two girls, ages 9 and 10, w[as completely ignored by his cronies at the time, as was]…a 2017 case…in which he was accused of inappropriate conversations with a 14-year-old over Instagram…

Dangerous Speech (#1367)

The Backpage trial has become an evil self-parody:

…government attorneys have — for the second time — asked federal Judge Diane Humetewa to exclude any mention of the First Amendment in front of the jury during the Backpage trial.  Yes, that’s right, prosecutors want no talk of free speech in a case that’s all about free speech…That Backpage should not be held accountable for acts of third parties who posted or responded to an adult-themed ad on Backpage — as long as the ad was legal on its face and, thus, protected by the First Amendment — should be self-evident to all…but…the government does not want a fair fight…

 

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

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In the News (#1281)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2022| 1 Comment »

You ain’t paralyzed.  –  typical Florida screw

The Public Eye (#789)

It’s always heartening to see a sex worker run for office, especially when she wins:

A transgender politician in Mexico’s ruling MORENA party is under fire for posting pornographic videos of herself on Twitter.  But María Clemente García Moreno—a federal deputy in Mexico City who made history in 2021 when she and another politician became the first trans people elected to the country’s congress—also moonlights as a sex worker and contests that it’s within her rights to post whatever she wants…

Torture Chamber (#1069)

Florida screws love yelling “Stop faking!” at their victims after intentionally breaking their necks:

Craig Ridley…[was] a 62-year-old prisoner in Florida who, after having his neck broken by guards, was left to die in his cell…Ridley…was…tackled…to the ground face first on Sept. 8, 2017…[by brutal screws who th]en manhandled, mocked and ignored [him]…even as he begged for help…as he lay in his cell, unable to walk and starving because he couldn’t reach the food he was being given.  After five days of this paralysis, guards finally took him to a hospital, where…he died on Oct. 12…intubated and unable to communicate…the…story was kept hushed for years…

Winding Down (#1179)

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

Shroomyz is Toronto’s first magic mushroom dispensary and the second in the province…A Shroomyz in Ottawa opened in May of this year…Shroomyz is akin to any cannabis store you’d find in the city.  Windows are taped off for privacy and customers need to buzz in to enter…The store supplies everything from dried psilocybin and microdose capsules to mushroom chocolates and mushroom tea…

Winding Down (#1243)

It’s great to see anti-prohibitionist views quickly becoming mainstream:

Prohibition is not working—and that can be seen most strikingly with cocaine, not cannabis…Global production hit a record of 1,982 tonnes in 2020, according to the latest data, though that is likely to be an underestimate.  That record high is despite decades of strenuous and costly efforts to cut off the supply.  Between 2000 and 2020 the United States ploughed $10bn into Colombia to suppress production, paying the local armed forces to spray coca plantations with herbicide…or…yank up bushes by hand.  To no avail…murder in Colombia is three times more common than in the United States; in Mexico, four times.  In some areas, drug gangs are so wealthy and well-armed that they rival the state…the cocaine gangs will remain powerful so long as their product is illegal in the rich countries that consume most of it, such as the United States.  Half-measures, such as not prosecuting cocaine users, are not enough.  If producing…is still illegal, it will be criminals who produce it…the real answer is full legalisation, allowing non-criminals to produce a strictly regulated, highly taxed product, just as whisky- and cigarette-makers do…

To Molest and Rape (#1263)

The New Orleans cop who stood by and watched a rape has thought up an excuse:

Earl J. Brown III…resigned a week after The Times-Picayune published audio from a 911 call demonstrating that — though he was just a block away — Brown declined to intervene [in a rape] for more than three minutes.  By that point, the suspect had fled.  Brown later [claimed]…he was working a security detail on a movie set and that he had been trained to wait for backup before responding.  Brown also heard over the radio that New Orleans [cops] had been dispatched…[so he figured they would eventually get there, and called it good]…Scott Seymour…who investigated the incident, rejected Brown’s explanation and concluded he violated several department policies by failing to act.  Seymour recommended firing Brown, but he resigned before…that [happened, which] means Brown maintains a clean record…and [could be rehired as a cop somewhere else]…

See also “To Molest and Rape (#1273)” below.

The Cop Myth (#1271)

You’ve heard of “burying the lede”, but this one just keeps getting worse:

A Louisville [cop sent]…a sexually explicit photo of a woman to more than a dozen people without her consent….Harry Seeders…was arrested…and charged…under the so-called Kentucky “revenge porn” law that went into effect in 2018…Seeders…was on [paid vacation as a reward for] a previous domestic violence incident…in May 2021 [in which he attacked] a woman he was dating…[by] hit[ting her]…in the mouth and then chok[ing] her…those charges[, which] are still pending…[were filed when] Seeders was [already enjoying a paid vacation he received as a reward for murdering]…a [random] man…on Nov. 22, 2020…and [trying to blame his victim]…

To Molest and Rape (#1273)

It’s not only Louisiana cops who prefer to rape by proxy:

A garda is under suspension…[for trying] to hire a man to [rape] a female colleague…the [cop apparently]…contacting a man online, possibly on the Darkweb…[and the scheme] apparently came to light when the man, understood to be in Scotland, began arranging to travel to Ireland…

 

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

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In the News (#1245)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Asset forfeiture laws imperil people’s rights to property and due process.  –  Elizabeth Patton

Droit du Seigneur

What the people who enforce “sex trafficking” laws are really like:

[Typical and representative Honolulu cop] Mason Jordan [i]s a “hands-on sexual offender of multiple children” who allegedly bullied victims to send him their nude pictures and…[then tried to force them into] prostitution…[with him as] pimp…he…also [liked to fantasy role-play]…as a teenage girl [online] to…stalk…[threaten, and attempt to blackmail] a woman…

A Broker in Pillage

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

…Kansas [cop shops] raked in $21 million through civil asset forfeiture over the past two years, according to a report…by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation…less than one-quarter of the owners have been convicted of a crime…half of all [that stolen loot]…had a value of $3,100 or less, meaning it would be impractical in those cases, if not a net loss, to hire an attorney to try and recover one’s property…the numbers…omit [the federal governent’s cut of the spoils, amounting to] more than $5 million…

Magic Formulae

Remember this next time somebody tells you that “cop checks” actually work:

[At least nine cops in British Columbia] engag[ed] in “disgusting, appalling” behaviour as they went to “extreme lengths” to prove they were not cops…[they] penetrated a colleague using a vegetable, [shat] on [each]…other and exposed their genitalia…[so-called] experts [who somehow didn’t know cops did stuff like this]…are now calling for an immediate overhaul of undercover tactics…[law professor] Kent Roach…expressed concerns over the liberal use of deceptive and even violent tactics which Canadian police are allowed to use in undercover operations…

Property of the State

Most tyranny starts with governments claiming they want to “protect” people:

Poland has officially started recording pregnancies in a digital database when [women] seek medical care…The country…has a near-total abortion ban with narrow exceptions…[which means that] every pregnancy that doesn’t end in a live birth is a potential crime scene [in the authoritarian mind]…the Polish government…[claims] it’s simply trying to protect [women] from X-rays and medicines that could harm the…[fetus and pretends that]…only medical professionals will have access to the data…[but even if true, that hardly seems likely to withstand cop demands]…

If Men Were Angels

“Youth leaders” = “youth pastors” = predatory perverts:

A…youth leader at two South Carolina churches…has been charged with sex crimes involving children…William Pinckney Carpenter III…[molested] victims as young as 7 [between 2016 and 2021]…

To Molest and Rape

Rapist cops never stop until they’re caged or dead:

A…[typical and representative Georgia cop] pleaded guilty to raping a woman [in]…2019…David Wilborn…[used the pretext of a traffic] stop [to]…block…a car with his p[igmobile].  After…[humiliating the driver], he [raped the passenger at gunpoint.  After]…Wilborn [left]…the victim immediately called police…Wilborn was sentenced to a term of life in prison to serve 25 years without parole, with the balance on probation.  He must also register as a sex offender.  Wilborn was previously a…[cop in] Atlanta…but resigned after…[sexually assaulting a woman in] 2007…

Served Cold (#1156) 

As OUR collapses, expect it to engage in increasingly-petty interference with sex workers’ lives:

The abrupt cancellation…of the Latin American adult industry conference, LALExpo, has been linked to a single press release from controversial, Mormon-led U.S. organization Operation Underground Railroad…As the local religious and conservative campaign attempted to sway local officials into denying LALExpo…permits, OUR issued a press release on June 3…seemingly attempting…to insinuate that the trade show’s sponsors were somehow responsible for “human trafficking”…

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In the News (#1140)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »

People just like to hate.  –  Zeyanie King

The Last Shall Be First (#785)

Potty-obsessed politicians attempt to circumvent a federal ruling by unconstitutionally compelling speech:

Tennessee’s…H.B. 1182…requires all…facilities and businesses to post warning signs that they let trans people use the bathrooms…business[es]…”shall post notice of the policy at the entrance of each public restroom and at each entrance of the building accessible by the general public”…This isn’t the only anti-trans bill Tennessee has recently passed, just the dumbest…H.B. 1233 [allows and encourages]…civil lawsuits if administrators [do not attempt to compel] trans people to use the restrooms or locker rooms of their…birth sex.  The obvious result…will be that every single private business and public facility is going to have to put these signs up since they’re not going to actually police who uses which restroom…

Something Rotten in Sweden (#861)

Cops busting kids’ lemonade stands is no longer news, but using “public health” as an excuse for tyranny is increasingly popular:

With the help of their grandmother a…[group of Richmond, Virginia] sisters…[ranging from 10 to] 13…grew the[ir] lemonade [stand until]…they sold nachos and hot dogs, too…People posted all over social media about their business, called “4k Lemonade,” in hopes to get more people outside of [their neighborhood] to support them financially…But then on April 27 — 10 months into their business venture — a [cop and a]…health [department bureaucrat arrived]…to…[threaten and shake down] the girls[, saying] they had five business days to obtain a business license, and…[demanding] excise taxes from the [kid-level] revenue they made…It was the end of a nearly yearlong streak of running a youth-led business.  They haven’t sold anything since…a [bureaucrat defended the harassment by belching out the magic word “]unlicensed[“]…and [bloviating about] food-borne illness [even though they’d never had a complaint]…

Social Distancing (#1028)

Even in a crisis, politicians have to advertise their hate for sex workers:

A group of strip club owners in Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, South Carolina and Maryland are suing the federal Small Business Administration…over their discriminatory policy classifying sex-oriented businesses as “prurient” and preventing them from…accessing the same…funding that other bars and restaurants have enjoyed…the SBA [automatically declares all adult businesses]… “prurient…without having ever visited the establishments or having viewed the live performances”…At the core of the lawsuit is the federal government’s use of…“prurient”…an imprecise, obscure word that means “appealing to unhealthy sexual interests”…members of the adult entertainment community and First Amendment lawyers have pointed out that people who do not consider their sexual expression “unhealthy” are exempt from application of the “prurient” clause…

Across the Pond (#1047)

Redbridge is so obsessed with persecuting whores, one wonders if any actual crime ever occurs there:

…while sex workers have “disappeared” from the once-notorious Ilford Lane, outreach groups fear they are just being displaced to more dangerous areas or into pop-up brothels.  In 2018, a[n “end demand” scheme]…was introduced across Redbridge [with the typical effect of such schemes, shifting the stroll to someplace cops aren’t stalking]…But while residents [so sheltered they claim to be] shocked at [the extremely mundane sight of] sex work[ers]…may be pleased, outreach groups report their work building relationships with vulnerable women was completely undone…

Given that “pop-up brothel” is a UK dysphemism for “incall” and that one of these supposed “outreach” supporters vomits out a lot of “end demand” filth later in the article, I’m rather skeptical that these “outreach groups” are anything other than typical rescue industry sleaze.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1067)

I love it when they feed on their own:

A [typical and representative London cop] who…sen[t] “highly sexualised” messages to [another cop fantasy role-playing as] a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for more than two years…Mark Collins…[also] sent [the role-playing cop dick pics]…while he was on holiday in Malta…and was arrested [when he returned to] work in Bromley police station on November 26 [2019]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1132)

Another sexual predator specifically targets traumatized women:

The Pinellas County [Florida] Sheriff’s Office fired a patrol deputy…after…he…sen[t] inappropriate text messages to vulnerable women he met on the job…[typical and representative cop] Brian Overton [acted in a typical and representative way, but got caught]…in July 2020…telling [a] woman his favorite thing to do when he was not working was “wild orgies” and that, if he could do any job, he would be a “male stripper”…[then] in February 2021…he…used an app…to disguise his personal phone number [while creeping on] another woman who…called the texts…”unprofessional, creepy, and scary”…Overton [also] communicated through a dating website with an[other sleazy cop fantasy roleplaying] a 15-year-old girl…

To Molest and Rape (#1139)

Rapist cops everywhere tend to prefer underage victims:

The suicide of a 17-year-old girl who [was raped by] police…sparked an uprising in [Popayan,] Colombia that left at least one person dead, 35 injured and the local police jail destroyed…On her Instagram account, the girl had de[scrib]ed how she had been [raped]…by members of the loathed riot police unit ESMAD…police [of course denied raping her]…despite evidence indicating the opposite…[but] Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa announced a criminal investigation into the [rape, which was only]…the latest of many allegations of sexual abuse by the police…Masked men threw firebombs [in]to the Popayan police’s [cage stack] whose outer walls walls had been spray painted with words like “murderers” and “rapists”…

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Links #552

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2021| 2 Comments »

If the mayor defunds the police, I’m going to shoot her.
–  “Officer” Steve Poulos

This week’s video was tweeted by J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, as a farewell to Mira Furlan (“Delenn”); I think it speaks for itself.  The links above it were provided by Mistress Matisse, Sola Love, Phoenix Calida, Franklin Harris, Radley Balko, Amy Alkon, and Gustavo Turner, in that order.

From the Archives

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Links #544

Posted in Current Events, History, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

She was yelling orders at the squirrels and telling them to attack me.  –  James Robinson

Through a series of connections too complicated to describe without an entire paragraph, I recently realized that I have never posted the video of Brak singing “I Love Beans”.  I am not sure how that happened, but it is past time to rectify the situation.  The links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Walter Olson, Melanie Moore, I Am Curious Blue, Mike Siegel, and Jesse Walker, in that order.

From the Archives

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