Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Delaware’

In the News (#1497)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We can’t eradicate the human sex drive.  –  Elizabeth N. Brown

Worse Than I Thought (#335)

Just because the moral panic is moribund, doesn’t mean politicians aren’t going to keep using sex as an excuse to destroy lives:

North Carolina has made it a felony crime to patronize a sex worker…a crime that comes with a presumptive minimum sentence of four months in prison, up to two years…in recent years, we’ve seen a disturbing trend of states starting to classify attempts to pay for sexual activity as a felony…mirror[ing] the misguided and detrimental path [of]…the war on drugs.  Three states now make it a felony crime to pay for sex or attempt to pay for sex…In 2021, Texas became the first…then…last May, Oklahoma [followed]…Morality in Media…is a major driver of these laws and, more generally, the idea that we can “end demand” for prostitution…sold…by [conflating female agency with]…sex trafficking…

If Men Were Angels

“Pastor” + teacher = “youth pastor”:

A [Texas] pastor and teacher in Grapevine is under arrest for possession of child pornography…Arturo Alarcon…[plant]ed hidden cameras in a church-owned mobile home used to host visiting families. [After these were discovered by visiting missionaries staying there], detectives found an image of child pornography on Alarcon’s cell phone…one of the cameras was designed to look like a clock.  Another…was like a bug zapper…Alarcon [has, unsurprisingly, long been buddy-buddy with] Grapevine Police…

Welcome to the Future (#1159)

Of course they had to be forced to end this ugly, evil scam:

The Pasco County [Florida] Sheriff’s Office is permanently scuttling a [“]predictive policing[” sc]am that was the subject of…a pending civil rights lawsuit…[due to its unceasing,] unconstitutional harassment of families.  In a settlement agreement ending that…lawsuit, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office [was forced to admit] that it…[had intentionally violated] the plaintiffs’ First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights…In addition to ending the…[scheme] and agreeing not to create a similar one, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office will pay [a mere] $105,000 to the four plaintiffs…

A Moral Cancer (#1322)

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

If you want to create a black market in a perfectly legal product, just make regulations and taxes so onerous that many people prefer to buy from illegal vendors…that’s certainly the case with cigarettes… “New York has the highest inbound smuggling activity, with an estimated 54.3 percent of cigarettes consumed in the state deriving from smuggled sources in 2022,” note [Adam] Hoffer and [Jacob] Macumber-Rosin [in the latest edition of the Mackinac Center’s regularly compiled research on the topic]. “New York is followed by California (46.7 percent), New Mexico (41.2 percent), Massachusetts (39.7 percent), and Washington (36.8 percent)”…because their tax rates drive people to purchase their smokes from illicit dealers, high-tax states suffered a revenue hit in 2022 of more than $5 billion.  Since 2007, they’ve lost out on more than $79 billion….[and] with flavored tobacco banned in places like California and Massachusetts, those products are available in those states only on the black market…New Hampshire taxes cigarettes at the rate of $1.78 per pack, which is relatively low. As a result, find the Mackinac Center and the Tax Foundation, 31.43 percent of cigarette sales are for smuggling elsewhere.  That puts it in third place after Wyoming, where 49.2 percent of cigarette sales are smuggled out of state, and Delaware, where 34.4 percent of sales are resold in higher-tax jurisdictions…

Feudalism Redux (#1390)

If you need a law like this to control your teen offspring, you’ve already lost them:

[The Ninth Circuit] has ruled that Idaho can [attempt to] enforce its abortion travel ban, which [criminalizes adults who assist] minors [who] travel…out of state for abortions without parental consent.  The decision…reversed a 2023 decision that had blocked the law on First Amendment grounds.  The law [is intended to allow a parent or guardian to force a minor to carry an unwanted or even dangerous pregnancy to term by terrorizing anyone who might help a girl to exercise her right to bodily autonomy.  Its]…sweeping language…could [even] apply to a grandmother driving a pregnant minor to the post office to pick up a package containing abortion medication, for example…

You Were Warned (#1437)

Increasingly-unhinged federal courts uphold a blatantly-unconstitutional law:

A panel of three federal…judges ruled unanimously…to uphold a law that could [unconstitution]ally ban TikTok in the United States…[unless its] Chinese owner, ByteDance…sell[s] it to a…[politically-connected] American owner by Jan. 19, 2025…the…decision sets the table for TikTok to take its case to the Supreme Court…During his campaign, [dancing orange-utang] Donald Trump…[claimed] he would “save TikTok”…though opinions among his [gang of unhinged cronies]…are mixed on whether…to [include this particular]…unconstitutional [action among]…the…flawed and dangerous precedent[s they already support to]…give…the government far too much power [over] Americans’ speech online…

Mad Libs

The reason so-called “AI” spouts out gibberish is that it is incapable of telling truth from falsehood:

Following Hunter Biden’s pardon by his father…Ana Navarro-Cardenas, a commentator who appears on The View and CNN…cited a pardon granted by President Woodrow Wilson of his brother-in-law Hunter deButts…and…an Esquire article called “A President Shouldn’t Pardon His Son? Hello, Anybody Remember Neil Bush?” was based on the premise that George H.W. Bush pardoned his son Neil; it has since been retracted “due to an error.”  The day before its publication, Occupy Democrats’ executive editor Grant Stern tweeted a similar claim that Jimmy Carter pardoned his brother Billy…As far as I can tell, n[one of these] actually occurred.  Where was all this coming from? Well, I don’t know what Stern or Esquire’s source was. But I know Navarro-Cardenas’, because she had a follow-up message for critics: “Take it up with Chat GPT”…

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1482)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Any alternate channel devoted to access by one party will undoubtedly be discovered, accessed, and abused by another.  –  David Ruiz

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

…an [Oklahoma] pastor…[named] Roy Shoop was…[found guilty of molest]ing several girls during horse riding lessons at Shoop’s ranch, or while the girls stayed at the family’s home…

Eavesdropping (#1195)

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

…A recent Chinese incursion into U.S. internet providers using infrastructure created to allow police easy wiretap access offers [more] evidence…that weakening security for anybody weakens it for everybody…Among the companies breached by the [Chinese government–supported] hacker group, dubbed “Salt Typhoon” by investigators, are Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies…Joe Mullin and Cindy Cohn of the…EFF…believe the wiretap-ready systems penetrated by the Chinese hackers were “likely created to facilitate smooth compliance with wrong-headed laws like CALEA”…[which] dates back to 1994 and “forced telephone companies to redesign their network architectures to make it easier for [cop shops and spook houses] to wiretap digital telephone calls”…This isn’t the first time that CALEA-mandated wiretapping backdoors have been exploited by hackers…[because] “virtually every phone switch sold worldwide contains ‘lawful intercept’ functionality”…[such as] was subverted by hackers targeting Vodafone Greece…in…2004…

License to Rape (#1234)

Cops raping whores is so ubiquitous, others pose as cops to facilitate rape:

A [young] Delaware man…[named] Jemeire Perry…was [arrested and] charged with se[veral crimes]…after he threatened a woman with arrest unless she [submitted] to [rape]…Perry [pretend]ed to [be a client, but when she showed up]…he…identifying himself as a “Confidential Informant”…[and] threatened to have the woman arrested…The woman…fle[d] and reported the incident to police…

Eavesdropping (#1300)

Why does a vacuum cleaner need either a speaker or a wifi connection?

Robot vacuums made by Ecovacs have been reported roving around people’s homes, yelling profanities at them through the onboard speakers after the company’s software was found to be vulnerable to intrusion…The most common issue people have with so-called “smart” home devices is that they often require a software subscription…and if the manufacturer goes under or stops supporting the device, it simply becomes a paperweight…Remote access is [pointless and unnecessary, and]…every couple of years we hear about something egregious, like intruders accessing a baby monitor and whispering through it at night…

I Spy (#1415)

This is only going to get worse:

A Massachusetts woman used an online platform to schedule an appointment seeking abortion medication from a local clinic in May.  Two minutes after she uploaded her insurance information to finalize the appointment, a representative from a nearby “pregnancy crisis center”…called the woman and, purporting to be the clinic, told her she needed to come in for an ultrasound prior to obtaining the medication.  The crisis center…[called] AWHC…had intercepted the electronic communications between the abortion clinic and the woman, according to a lawsuit filed by the clinic, Four Women Health Services…the federal judge presiding over the case [has] ordered AWHC to stop [eavesdropping] and refrain from contacting [Four Women’s] patients…AWHC has long sought to confuse Four Women patients and has…deceived them when they have inadvertently come into its offices…[after it] moved directly next door to Four Women years ago…AWHC workers [regular]ly patrol a shared parking lot, giving Four Women patients anti-abortion literature…

Thought Control (#1457)

Anyone with a functional brain could’ve predicted this outcome:

[Under] new [censorship] rules enacted by the Alabama Public Library Service in July…libraries can lose their state funding if [a politician points at any book]…in the children or teens section of the library [and belches the magic word “obscene”, “sexually explicit”, or “inappropriate”.  So the] Cullman County Public Library…[has] gotten rid of their entire young adult section…[and] moved everything [in it] to the adult fiction section…over 2,000 books [in all.  The library director]…said they d[id this] because the new rules from the state are [intentionally vague and] confusing…Minors who want to check something out from the library must get…their parents…[to] sign a waiver, saying that they understand exactly what their child is checking out…

Paying the Bills

Three weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $1100.  So now I’m only facing a $1900 shortfall; if you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; it would be great if I can catch up by my birthday!

 

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

Read Full Post »

Links #685

Posted in Current Events, History, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

We can lock him up, take his kid, put his dog in the impound.
–  Raiford Box

As my memorial for Robbie Robertson, I chose this example of kind of antiwar song I think most effective: one about the human costs of war.  The links above it were provided by Radley Balko; Scott Greenfield; Popehat; Jesse Walker and Radley Balko again; Phoenix Calida; and Elizabeth N. Brown, in that order.

From the Archives

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1335)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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

A Whore in Church

Matthew 21:31 seems pretty straightforward to me:

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

Leaving the 20th Century

Another Australian state sees the light:

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

Censor Chic (#1248)

Corporations have become the favored tool of censors worldwide:

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

The Cop Myth (#1254)

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

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

Winding Down (#1289)

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

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

I Spy (#1319)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (#1320)

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

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

 

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

Read Full Post »

Links #629

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2022| 1 Comment »

There is no evidence (that I know of) that a Bigfoot can be summoned to do one’s evil bidding, like some kind of hairy hitman.  –  Kevin Underhill

This song used to be such a favorite on New Orleans classic rock stations during the summer, I always assumed the band was local (which it definitely was not).  The links above it were provided by Cop Crisis (x2), Radley Balko, Tim Cushing, Dave Krueger, and Popehat, in that order.

From the Archives

Read Full Post »

Links #577

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 25, 2021| 5 Comments »

I’m going to fuck you up.  –  unidentified terrorist

I’m not really fond of westerns, but I am fond of Henry Mancini; I discovered this one on a 1970s tape marketing a quadrophonic sound system, and it popped into my head again recently.  The links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Jesse Walker, Scott Greenfield, Walter Olson, and Cop Crisis (x3), in that order.

From the Archives

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1000)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2019| 3 Comments »

It is urgent that the sacrifice of sex workers on the altar of morality cease!  –  Doctors of the World

License to Rape

Police states define the bodies of all citizens as “crime scenes” which can be violated by “authorities” at will:

[Cops] in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, subjected Tylus Allen Jr. to…illegal searches of his vehicle and person, including strip-searching him and ordering a doctor to [anally rape him]…on Dec. 2, 2018…co[ps decided to pretend Allen was]…concealing drugs. They searched him and his vehicle…without his consent…then called for a…dog [to manufacture]…evidence [but it failed.  Next they abducted Allen] to [their hideout, where they violated his anus but still found]…nothing…[they] then called an ambulance [to take] Allen [to a hospital, even though he]…was…not in need of medical assistance…[cops] lied [to]…a doctor that they had found drugs in Allen’s vehicle…and [used their magical medical degrees to]…order…the…doctor to perform a digital rectal examination and an abdominal X-ray…Approximately three hours after the initial traffic stop, Allen was charged with reckless driving, [locked in a cage all] night…and…stuck with a bill for the ambulance…

Imagine rapists billing you for your rape.

Gingerbread House

A religious-fanatic cop wants to infantilize vulnerable women in order to brainwash them at a remote and hidden ranch.  Reporters think this is perfectly OK:

A Tucson [sow] is determined to return…[sex workers to] childhood…Sarah Haught [refers to her intended victims as] little girls…[and says] “I want to provide a place [to return] them to…childhood again”…Beauty from Ashes Ranch…[is] Haught[‘s]…a[ttempt to cash in on] the $150 billion [rescue] industry…Haught [moaned with her hand in her pants while breathlessly sharing pig fantasies like] “Pimps…can make more profit off of girls than drugs since they can sell the girls over and over”…[she also vomited] “the Johns who participate in these acts…need to be held accountable” [all over the reporter]…She and her board members…signed a lease on a 70-acre property in central Arizona (the location is undisclosed to [isolate their victims])…“I personally believe in the healing powers of Jesus Christ and we can…[force] our beliefs [on these young women because nobody will stop us]”…

If Men Were Angels

A hypocrite and a cheapskate:

A Missouri church leader…tried to pay for sex on the gay hookup app Grindr…with an Arby’s card…Barry Cole Poyner…[also] offer[ed] to pay for gas…a student [he approached snitched on him] and a cop [decided to decieve and entrap him]…Poyner [stupi]dly sent the [pig] a message saying he “would love to have a sugar daddy relationship”…offered to fill up his gas tank in exchange for sex…[and] said…he “might throw in an Arby’s card LOL”…[the pigs then ambushed him] at [a] gas station, where he [initially] tried to flee…the Church of Christ…has made [anti-gay] comments in the past…

I’m always happy to see authoritarians feeding on each other.

Droit du Seigneur (#604)

“Peacekeeper” is just another euphemism for “cop”:

United Nations peacekeeping forces fathered hundreds of children with girls as young as eleven years old while deployed in Haiti…The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was i[mpos]ed in 2004 [using the excuse of]…political instability and organized crime.  The mission continued through 2017…MINUSTAH peacekeepers introduced cholera…causing the infection of 800,000 Haitians, 10,000 of whom died as a result.  The organization has also previously admitted that over 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers were involved in [what “authorities” label a “sex ring”] between 2004 and 2007…MINUSTAH [troops also left many women they raped with]…AIDS…[yet the “authorities” are still trying to blame all this on]…transactional…sex…

The word you’re looking for is “sired”; “fathering” requires more than spooging into some young, gullible girl you manipulated.  But I’m sure hundreds of pregnant teenagers is MUCH better for Haitian society than injecting money into the local sex work economy, so Bra-vo. {slow clap}.

Imaginary Victims (#903) 

As I’ve said repeatedly, the state’s pretended sympathy for “sex trafficking victims” applies only to imaginary “perfect” ones, not real young women with complex lives:

Attorneys for Chrystul Kizer…were seeking to use a law that shields sex trafficking victims as part of her defense…[against a] charge[s of] first-degree [murder]…for the June 2018 shooting death of Randall Volar III…[who] at the time…was under investigation for child sex trafficking…The case…is slated to go to trial in February…

The Course of a Disease (#911)

A decision in favor of human rights could be a powerful blow to Swedish criminalization:

250 sex workers petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to recognize the violation of their fundamental rights to health, safety, and privacy…Faced with a government…that denies their lived reality and remains oblivious to the violence of its policies, they have decided to attack the state…Whether in Sweden, Ireland, Canada or France, we have the necessary hindsight to assert that the Swedish model implementing the penalization of clients endangers all people engaged in sex work.  This is why we…give them unfailing support in the fight against France’s…repressive laws…

To Molest and Rape (#915) 

Yet another rapist gets away with it thanks to his magic clown costume:

…a…jury [let a rapist Delaware cop go free after he orally raped a woman]…Thomas Oliver Jr. was [only] convicted of official misconduct, a misdemeanor…[after] his attorneys…[used] the [“she wanted to suck a random pig’s dick on the side of the road” defense]…as…the [prosecutor pointed out]…”He had the power to arrest her, and she had no choice but to submit”…the [jury also ignored that]…after Oliver [blew his load in his victim’s mouth] he threw $3 at her and [shoved] her…out of his p[igmobile]…

Uncommon Sense (#920)

Yet another large union declares support for sex worker rights:

MoveUP, [a Canadian union with] over 12,000 B.C. members, declared that it formally supports the decriminalization of sex work…The union news release cited the work of Amnesty International…[and] the Lancet, one of the world’s most respected peer-reviewed medical journals…MoveUP plans to work with groups, including WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, on actions to advance the decriminalization agenda…

I Spy (#961)

Anyone who doubts that politicians are deranged megalomaniacs should be following this:

Even the Defense Department is now pointing out that the government’s quest to weaken encryption lies somewhere between counterproductive and downright harmful.  Attorney General Bill Barr and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham have been on a tear lately in a bid to undermine encryption standards.  Those efforts culminated in a hearing…whose primary purpose appears to have been to demonize encryption by falsely proclaiming it “poses a risk to public safety.”  Many [spooks and bureaucrats] have joined the festivities, arguing that encryption enables all manner of nefarious behavior, from human trafficking to child exploitation as they push for the inclusion of [pig gates] in everything from routers to smartphones.  Actual security experts…have long highlighted the foolishness of such efforts…[a very few bureaucrats] seem to understand the benefits of retaining strong encryption…the Defense Department’s Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy…notes that all DOD issued unclassified mobile devices are required to be password protected using strong passwords, and that any data-in-transit on DOD issued mobile devices be encrypted via VPN…Deasy wrote… “maintaining a domestic climate for state of the art security and encryption is critical to the protection of our national security…Facebook sent a letter…to Bill Barr, in which the company made it clear that it would not backdoor its encrypted messaging apps at the government’s [demand]…

A Moral Cancer (#972)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

Imagine a building where drug-sniffing dogs roam the corridors, air-quality sensors alert officials if anyone is inhaling a controlled substance, using the bathroom is a privilege rather than a right, clothing is searched in case anyone is hiding contraband up their sleeves, and those who are caught breaking the rules could face life-derailing punishments…I have just described a public school in Texas…so obsessed with stopping teenagers from vaping that they are perfectly willing to treat them like inmates…That 17-year-olds in Texas are considered insufficiently mature to vape, but plenty old enough to go to prison, is an absurd and unconscionable hypocrisy…

Disaster (#986)

Does any media outlet other than local news fail to recognize what a disaster FOSTA is?

How many of us would think being jailed is a form of help?…that’s the twisted rationale faced by…sex workers, forced to endure the constant threat of imprisonment by people who claim it’s “for their own good.”  At a time when the American political establishment is witnessing a…revolt against the waste and destruction of mass incarceration, one area of the carceral state is [still] headed in the wrong direction:  the war on sex work.  Not only is this puritanical crusade endangering sex workers’ lives, but it created yet another justification for the over-policing of communities of color…[and] the…undocumented..and… expanding the surveillance state.  Guised in the language of combatting…“sex trafficking,” new measures have given law enforcement agencies sweeping powers to take down websites used by consenting, adult sex workers.  Federal measures like SESTA-FOSTA…have driven many sex workers offline and…some have even died, because of the laws that were purportedly passed to “protect” them.  The impact has been so disastrous that [politicians] are now pushing a bill to study just how much damage their own law did…

Disaster (#991)

In the past two years, the EFF has emerged as one of our most powerful allies:

…EFF fought [SESTA/FOSTA] in Congress, concerned that its vague, ambiguous language and stiff criminal and civil penalties would drive constitutionally protected content off the Internet.  And we represent organizations and individuals that are challenging the law in federal court. Activists and organizers from within the sex working community made it clear from the beginning…that…it…would…deprived a community of many of the online tools they used to stay safe and to organize.  2019 has brought us the unfortunate statistics to prove that they were right.  In a recent study of sex workers completed by the grassroots sex worker advocacy organization Hacking//Hustling…40% of participants reported experiencing increased violence after FOSTA became law…these grim statistics aren’t an outlier: last year the San Francisco Police Department reported…street-based sex work offenses had spiked 170% since FOSTA’s passage…

To Molest and Rape (#995)

Rapist cops make sure they’re exempted from “sex offender” registration if possible, because they know it’s really an unending punishment:

A [typical and representative] San Diego [cop] who groped, hugged and tried to kiss more than a dozen women…was sentenced…to 44 months behind bars followed by 16 months of p[robation, but]…Richard Fischer will not have to register as a sex offender…he…attack[ed his 16 victims] between 2015 and 2017…some [after]…he arrested [them] and others…while responding to 911 calls the[y] made…Fo[rtunately]…he’ll be…barred from obtaining another [cop] job in [California, though rapist cops often simply move elsewhere to regain the power they crave]…

Read Full Post »

Links #452

Posted in Current Events, History, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Every president should be remembered as an infamous and immoral rogue who unjustly claimed to rule many millions by arguments no better than magic.  –  Anthony Comegna

Last week we lost Peter Tork of the Monkees (Davy Jones died in 2012), so I thought it appropriate to feature this song, which was not only written by and named for him, but was the closing theme of the second season of the TV show.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Eddie J Cunningham, Mirriam Seddiq, Lucy Steigerwald, Franklin Harris, and Scott Greenfield, in that order.

From the Archives

Read Full Post »

In the News (#915)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2019| 3 Comments »

Speaking for myself and my…Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from [Kamala’s] travesty.  –  Donald Harris

Rough Trade 

Cops wait a year to arrest a dangerous, violent serial rapist.  Guess why?

…a 31-year-old [Dublin] tradesman…imprisoned, stripped, beat…and [raped a sex worker], who escaped out a window and ran naked onto a main road, where she flagged down a taxi…he al[so] pulled clumps of hair out of a second prostitute’s head and raped her, as well as robbing both women.  Judge Bryan Smyth [gave him]…bail [anyhow.  The first attack took place]…in June, 2016…and…the second…in [sic] February 4, 2018…

Amsterdam

Note that this positive article appeared on CNN, one of the major pushers of “sex trafficking” hysteria:

Amsterdam…isn’t as liberal for sex workers as many believe.  Sex work has been legal in some form in the Netherlands since 1830, but it was recognized as a legal profession in 1988.  In 2000, a law made the job subject to municipal regulation, requiring a license to operate and following certain rules set by a municipality…so each can differ.  For example, they can decide how many licenses to give out…The only places that have decriminalized sex work are New Zealand and the state of New South Wales in Australia.  In both places, sex work is not penalized through punitive laws, and regulation are premised on worker health and safety, as with any other profession…The reform in New Zealand…reduced violence against sex workers, increased their comfort in reporting abuse to the police and improved police attitudes toward sex workers, according to the country’s Ministry of Justice.  Research also showed that decriminalization in New Zealand resulted in sex workers being better able to refuse clients and insist on condom use. One study showed that decriminalization has the potential to reduce discrimination as well as denials of justice…

To Molest and Rape 

It’s rare and surprising to see the acts of a rapist cop actually called “rape”:

A…Wilmington [Delaware cop]…was charged with second-degree rape at the conclusion of a four-month [attempt at a cover-up]…Thomas R. Oliver Jr…on October 16, 2018…pulled up alongside a woman and told her to get into the front seat of the vehicle.  Oliver exposed himself to the woman, and told her she had active warrants for her arrest, but he would allow her to leave if she [sucked his disgusting pig dick]…Oliver grabbed the victim by the head and [orally raped her]…

The End of the Beginning (#772) 

Maybe we’re about to witness the beginning of the end of these evil laws:

“Sex offenders are not second-class citizens,” writes U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins in a recent decision overturning two provisions of the Alabama Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act (ASORCNA)…The lead plaintiff…pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure in the early 1990s, when he was living in Wisconsin.  He received a six-month suspended sentence for each charge and was not required to register as a sex offender, even after moving to Alabama in 1994.  But 14 years later, Alabama expanded its registry, forcing Doe to comply with ASORCNA’s numerous demands and restrictions under threat of imprisonment.  Among other things, that meant his driver’s license was marked with the phrase “CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDER” in bold red letters…Judge Watkins ruled that Alabama’s branding of registered sex offenders’ identification cards is a form of compelled speech prohibited by the First Amendment…Another aspect of Alabama’s “debilitating sex-offender scheme” is a requirement that people in the registry report “email addresses or instant message addresses or identifiers used”…”An offender must report to the police every time he connects to a Wi-Fi spot at a new McDonald’s, every time he uses a new computer terminal at a public library…Every time he walks into a new coffee shop, he must determine whether opening his laptop is worth the hassle of reporting”…the demand for information about online activity applied to…the…plaintiffs even though their offenses had nothing to do with the internet or children…

Lack of Evidence (#805)

All cops or prosecutors will need to do to get around this law is say the magic words “sex trafficking”:

San Francisco’s [largely-cosmetic] policy protecting sex workers is now being pitched on the state level.  California Sen. Scott Wiener…introduce[d] legislation Monday that would prevent law enforcement from arresting and charging sex workers who come forward as victims or witnesses to serious crimes [unless they decide to charge the sex workers with “trafficking” instead].  The proposed law, SB233, would also prevent [cops] from using condoms as probable cause to arrest a sex worker…Wiener said…“We want to [fool]…sex workers [in]to feel[ing] safe in reporting crimes”…

San Francisco, which as the article states first enacted this “policy”, took only two months to get around it by declaring a “sex trafficking” exception and forming a vice squad specifically intended to “abate” sex workers.  You know, like a disease.

Overdue

Another example of our culture’s obsession with form over substance:

They used chopped-up chalk as fake crack cocaine and cloaked their white skin in blackface makeup.  Then the two [pigs] hit the streets of Baton Rouge, hoping to fool interested drug buyers in the predominantly black neighborhood into believing they were dealers.  “Not only do they not know we’re cops — they don’t even know we’re white!” then-Detective Frankie Caruso told the Advocate newspaper in 1993, the year the undercover blackface operation took place.  Now, 26 years later, the Baton Rouge Police Department is apologizing for the tactics after a police yearbook photo of the two disguised cops surfaced, marking the latest blackface scandal to ensnare authority figures and the first this year involving undercover police…

They’re not apologizing for intentionally destroying lives, or for specifically targeting black people for something that shouldn’t even be illegal; nope, they’re just apologizing because they did so inappropriately.

Safe Position

Though these legislative “studies” are useless, perhaps they’ll normalize the topic:

Bella Robinson…and her organization, COYOTE – RI, are working with Brown University and advocating for a new bill…sponsored by Rep. Anastasia Williams [which] proposes a commission to study the health and safety impact of sex work laws.  “Crackdowns against sex workers…[are because] we prioritize [religious] morals over the safety of people involved in the sex industry,” said Meghan Peterson, a Brown University researcher…one prominent opponent…is Donna Hughes, [architect of the]…[re-]criminalization [of sex work] in 2009…

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#868) 

At least they’re not calling this an “escort service”:

…the advertising for Doll Next Door brings a host of questions about how this latest trend in sexual services will be regulated in Edmonton, if at all…the service offers customers the choice of a two-hour booking or overnight rental with one of five doll models…the doll is then sent in discreet packaging to the customer’s home or a specified hotel…Kelly Jenny, a sex therapist at Insight Psychological, said she can see the benefits associated with sex dolls, but says they can also be used [as magical transformation devices] to objectify women…

Pyrrhic Victory (#894) 

More on Amazon’s campaign to end privacy forever:

…Amazon…Ring products come with access to a social app called Neighbors that allows customers to not just to keep tabs on their own property, but also to share [accusations]…with the rest of the block…Forming decentralized 19th-century vigilance committees with 21st-century technology has been a toxic move, as shown by apps like…Nextdoor, which tends to foster lively discussions about nonwhite people strolling through various suburbs.  But Ring stands alone as…an avowed attempt to merge 24/7 video, ubiquitous computer sensors, and facial recognition, and deliver it to local police on a platter.  It’s no surprise then that police departments from Bradenton, Florida, to Los Angeles have leapt to “partner” with Ring…

Just a reminder that the word for such authoritarian corporate/government “partnerships” is “fascism”.

The Prudish Giant (#895)

Facebook can’t even follow its own “standards”:

For years, King Cake Snob…has used visitor feedback to choose the best king cakes in various categories in the lead up to Mardi Gras.  So…the site decided to build some interest with a sponsored Facebook post…featuring ten tiny plastic king cake babies — all of which were, as usual, in the buff.  However, though the image remains up, Facebook decided to flag it as ineligible for a paid “sponsored” post…“This ad isn’t running because it includes an image or video depicting excessive skin or nudity…This kind of material is sensitive in nature”…

Top Cop

Copmala tried to sell her dad’s heritage for political coin, and he’s not happy:

United States (US) presidential hopeful Kamala Harris faced scathing criticisms from her father for attributing her support for the legalisation of marijuana to her…heritage.  “Half my family is from Jamaica, are you kidding me?” Kamala Harris responded when asked if she smoked marijuana during an interview…Donald Harris has “categorically” disassociated himself and his family from “this travesty” and slammed his daughter for stereo-typing her heritage for political gain.  “My dear departed grandmothers as well as my deceased parents must be turning in their grave right now to see their family’s name, reputation and proud Jamaican identity being connected…with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker…in the pursuit of identity politics”…Harris [said]…

Legislators Gone Wild (#909) 

This story just keeps getting uglier and filthier:

Former Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil was the largest campaign contributor to the End Trafficking and Prostitution political action committee before the 2018 election, campaign finance records show.  McNeil made contributions totaling $1,499.  Each of McNeil’s two contributions were under $1,000, which avoided mandatory reporting before the election under state campaign finance law…

Worse Than I Thought (#914)

Condemning consenting adults to the “sex offender” registry is the latest “monkey see, monkey do” fad:

Pennsylvania…[politician] Kim Ward wants…a change to state law that would require those convicted of [any sex work related “crime”]…to the…sex offender…[registry]…

Read Full Post »

In the News (#881)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2018| 1 Comment »

Fraudulently achieving sexual intercourse…constitutes rape.
–  Judge Hilary Penfold

Schadenfreude 

Despite the title of this subsection, I take no joy in reporting the horrible abuse perpetrated on young Liberian girls by the rescue industry group “More Than Me”:

…The charity would raise over $8 million, including almost $600,000 from the U.S. government. [Katie] Meyler would…rub shoulders with Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, and even get invited to the Obama White House.  MTM’s footprint in Liberia would multiply to 19 schools teaching 4,000 students.  Yet some of the girls…[were not] saved from sexual exploitation, [but rather] being raped by the man standing beside Meyler on the stage.  His assaults went on for years and…he was protected by his position…he and Meyler had had an intimate relationship, and she kept him in place even after having reason to suspect his predilections.  But he was also shielded from exposure in the community by everything that she had brought: a school, scholarships and, above all, hope.  After his crimes became known…the charity worked to obscure the details and to place responsibility almost anywhere but with Meyler or MTM…They argued that the good they had done in Liberia more than made up for any harm…

Legal Is as Legal Does (#20)

As silly as this may seem, it’s an example of the kind of arbitrary control Turkish brothel owners exercise:

Three prostitutes sued a bordello that fired them…[for] feeding stray cats…in the Turkish province of Erdine…One of the prostitutes, Mürvet Taşvur, claimed:  “They fired us and kicked us out of the apartment due to us looking after the animals.  They shot one of our cats with a pump shotgun, he’s named Kinah.  He’s still alive with 11 pellets in his body.”  The three prostitutes filed a complaint to the Edrine Chief Persecutor’s Office…

King of the Hill

It’s fascinating to watch the various ways in which states try to claim the top spots in the “sex trafficking” pissing contest:

A new report…reveals Florida ranks third in the nation for active sex and labor trafficking cases being prosecuted in federal court…[prohibitionist] Alyssa Beck…said…“Jacksonville has a lot of hotels and also I-95 runs right through…So, it’s really just easy access to a lot of different things that traffickers may need”…

Micromanagement

Any new technology which can be used to spy on you, will be:

A new study argues that more than half of Americans could be identified by name if all you had to start with was a sample of their DNA and a few basic facts, such as the region where they live and about how old they might be…once 3 million Americans have uploaded their genomes to public genealogy websites, nearly everyone in the U.S. would be identifiable by their DNA alone and just a few additional clues.  More than 1 million Americans have already published their genetic information, and dozens more do so every day…This new reality represents the convergence of two long-standing trends.  One of them is the rise of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Companies such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe can sequence anyone’s DNA for about $100.  All you have to do is provide a sample of saliva and drop it in the mail.  The other essential element is the proliferation of publicly searchable genealogy databases like GEDmatch.  Anyone can upload a full genome to these sites and powerful computers will crunch through it, looking for stretches of matching DNA sequences that can be used to build out a family tree…

Rough Trade (#513)

Yes, this is absolutely rape.  No, I don’t want to “discuss” it:

In some jurisdictions, courts have found that when a person cons a sex worker – refuses or evades the agreed payment for sex – such acts constitute rape, because consent for the sexual act was obtained fraudulently.  But [in other places such attackers are only]…convicted of fraud [if tried at all]…Experts and sex worker groups…believe such cases clearly constitute rape and say parts of Australia’s justice system still fail to properly deal with offenders who fraudulently obtain the consent of sex workers…many [of whom] fear…[going] to the police, and [a]re often not treated as sexual assault victims if they [do]…studies [also] show…sentencing [is] also comparatively low for men who…sexually assault…sex workers…[in a recent] case [in]…Queensland…the man was charged with two counts of fraud…and was ordered to pay $350 restitution to each woman and was fined $750 for each offence.  But…In the ACT, a similar set of circumstances led to a rape conviction for…Akis Emmanouel Livas…gave the woman a sealed envelope…[claiming] the full amount owed was inside, but [pretending]…“it’s part of my fantasy that it’s all about the romance and I need you to trust me”…Livas physically blocked her from opening the envelope…Eventually, she discovered there was no money inside…

In the US, most sex workers who report rape are arrested and charged with prostitution, and their rapes are ignored.

Guinea Pigs (#630) 

Remember: they say it’s about “pimps”, but really it’s about sex workers and clients today, and about everybody once they get it perfected:

Minerva [software] helps NCMEC find information in large, hard to search data sets.  Specifically, Minerva has helped NCMEC locate additional phone numbers in online advertisements and further analyze who that phone might be registered to, which can lead to possible current location for the [targeted sex worker]…with human trafficking, there are bad guys acting with malice…Minerva has now identified 989 individual [sex workers] and is tracking 22,000 more…

Signs (#813) 

“Sex trafficking” provides a new excuse for cops to use the same old bogus “evidence” to harass women:

It’s possible Amaya could have escaped sooner than she did, at 24 years old, had [cops] been trained to look for the warning signs of trafficking:  Maybe she had no identification…Did she avoid eye contact with [pigs]?  Was her purse full of condoms?  Was she really as old she claimed to be?  These are just a few of the many [excuses cops]…across the country are being trained to [employ].  The increased awareness and training reflects a shift as law enforcement agencies [use]…the [excuse of “sex trafficking” to]…arrest…prostitutes…

First They Came for the Hookers… (#840)

Stripping is no different from prostitution; say nothing when they attack the latter, expect them to come for the former:

…the government is…mulling rules for Malta’s strip-club industry which could ban the use of private rooms and…allow pole dancers only to be naked on stage…private dancing rooms will no longer be allowed, which previously meant that customers could get private dancers but also negotiate prices for sexual favours…There will also be restrictions on advertising outdoors [and] new zoning guidelines that could prevent such clubs from appearing within a certain distance of schools or places of worship…

Disaster (#853)

Another “monkey see, monkey do” FOSTA copycat:

The [South Korean] government plans to strengthen its monitoring of websites linked to prostitution and sex trafficking,…to control the websites and prevent prostitution…The ministry will develop a large data-based artificial intelligence program to monitor the prostitution situation in the country.  When the program is operational, the websites will be shut down and the operators warned of relevant punishment.  The government believes it is important to take pre-emptive actions against the sites because they lead many people to start paying for sex…

Gee, it’s almost like governments don’t like the open internet.

Fair-Weather Friends (#859)

Every sex worker arrested in a “sting” should sue the cops if at all possible:

Ohio police spent $768 on strip club tickets, tips, and booze during a July sting that ended in the arrest of Stormy Daniels…The undercover excursion could wind up costing cops a whole lot more than that.  The charges filed against Daniels and two other women arrested that night, Miranda Panda and Brittany Walters, were quickly dismissed.  Now Panda and Walters have sued several Columbus [cops] in federal court, arguing that the arrests were politically motivated.  As a result…Panda and Walters…suffered reputational harm and exposure to harassment.  Someone painted the word whore across the door of Panda’s home, for example, and reporters outed Walters as a stripper to her immediate family.  The women are seeking at least $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorneys’ fees…

Disaster (#878)

Mark Draughn does not see any good coming out of the FOSTA Facebook suit:

…I’m not…optimistic…about Facebook coming under attack in the sex trafficking panic.  I agree…that Facebook is going to throw money, lawyers, and lobbyists at the problem, and they’ll come out of this just fine.  But I’m not convinced that Facebook’s victory will be a victory for sex workers.  That’s because I expect Facebook to work toward a[n]…outcome [that will only benefit Facebook].  Their lobbyists and lawyers will offer their expertise at social media to work with Congress to help craft the most effective legislation for “protecting vulnerable people”…Facebook, with $40 billion a year or so in revenue, could easily afford to create a department and hire 10 or 20 people to comply with a law like that, as could many of the other social media giants.  But a lot of smaller businesses would be casualties, not all of them escort advertising sites…

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »