Indiana should stop trying to steal from law-abiding citizens.
– Henry Cheng
Skin To Skin (#1040)
A giant step backward for disabled Australians, courtesy of puritans:
For many National Disability Insurance Scheme…participants, a[n Australian] government decision means they can no longer access sexual services funding…In July, outgoing Minister for NDIS Bill Shorten…bann[ed] the use of funding for sex work…argu[ing that] sexual services funding was “not a sustainable proposition”, and…”It’s not as if [we care that] people are losing all these rights, but…creating regulations…[and] restricting choice and control…is…what’s reasonable and necessary”…
Legislators Gone Wild (#1271)
Though not mentioned in the article, this has the spoogy fingerprints of unhinged shyster Jason Guinasso and his cronies at Morality in Media all over it:
A federal judge dismissed a [nuisance] lawsuit against two Las Vegas casino operators that [pretend]ed the companies benefited from the sex trafficking of a minor…an anonymous plaintiff identified as “Tyla D”…[fantasized that Mandalay Bay, the MGM Grand, and The Orleans] casinos essentially turned a blind eye to sex trafficking and [claimed without evidence] that the practice is well-known among employees at the casinos…
Leaving the 20th Century (#1440)
Nearly every article about Belgian decrim is so badly written and so larded with popular myths and prohibitionist nonsense that it’s very difficult to tease the facts out from the ignorance, stupidity, and propaganda. This article, like most of the others, says nothing about the independent sex work which makes up the majority of the trade and incorrectly implies that every sex worker in Belgium must now be a wage employee, which if true would not be decriminalization. But instead of hearing about such details from the activists who pushed for these new benefits (including maternity leave, pensions, and personal rights independent sex workers have always had, such as the right to refuse clients), the article instead quotes a prohibitionist so stupid she babbles about “being outside in the freezing weather” when talking about brothels, and so detached from reality she appears to believe other public-facing jobs are 100% free from danger.
A Broker in Pillage (#1465)
Burying government in lawsuits is the only way to slow its depredations:
Indiana prosecutors will return $42,000 in cash they s[tole] from a California small business, several months after the owners filed a class action lawsuit [because] law enforcement is exploiting a major FedEx shipping hub in Indianapolis to s[teal] millions of dollars in cash from innocent owners. The Institute for Justice…announced…that prosecutors in Marion County…have agreed to return the money to…Henry and Minh Cheng, who [are]…jewelry wholesaler[s]…Police s[tole] the cash from a FedEx package en route to them from a client in Virginia [without even bothering to invent a crime to accuse]…the Chengs…of…[This is a routine practice for] the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office…[even though] the…scheme violates a wide range of constitutional rights, including the Fourth, Eighth, 10th, and 14th Amendments…
The Cop Myth (#1475)
Unsatisfied with merely subjecting people in this country to police violence, the US is now exporting it:
[Wanton] killing is endemic to the extreme brutality of Brazilian police, one of the most violent and militarized police services in the world. The United States government has helped create this crisis. In 2023, the Military Police in Brazil recorded having killed 6,296 people (approximately 17 people per day)—eight times the U.S. police lethality rate—yet evidence points to the actual number being much higher. The overwhelming majority of the victims are black, poor, young, male, uneducated, and living in the urban peripheries…nearly a quarter of all violent deaths [in the country are] at the hands of police. In some cities…that share exceeds 50 percent,..the U.S. [both arms and] shapes Brazil’s hyper-militarized police culture…The U.S. State Department, along with the FBI, has provided various training programs and exercises…[under] both the Trump and Biden administrations…and…[both] the LAPD and the Chicago Police…have…provided riot and protest control training to the Brazilian police, [demonstrating how to meet crowds] with excessive police brutality, including using tear gas and rubber bullets…
To Molest and Rape (#1476)
I must admit to curiosity regarding what all this is about:
[Typical and representative] Kentucky sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines [has been] indicted…[for the murder] of…District Judge Kevin Mullins…on Sept. 19 in an attack caught on surveillance footage…It is still unclear what motivated the [apparently-unbalanced cop and politician] to pull the trigger…the two men had eaten lunch together with a group in the hours before the shooting…When Stines was [arrested], he allegedly told a…[cop], “they’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid”…[judging by remarks made by] Stines’ defense attorney, Jeremy Bartley…he…[plans a “temporary insanity”] defense…
Dangerous Speech (#1494)
Michael Lacey wrote a number of columns before being released on bail because the government doesn’t want to be blamed for his death:
…the morning pill lady…did [not] have the statin pill that has been missing for days. Two nights [earlier], a guard and a medical tech came to my cell at 10:30 p.m. to give me metoprolol. Several days before the late night appearance of these angels of mercy, I had collapsed upon the floor and been rushed to Dignity Health Hospital. There, a doctor took me off the metoprolol, warning me that it contributed to my heart problem…[so] prison staff are making a sincere effort to dose me with metoprolol, which helped trigger the heart attack, but cannot find the prescribed statins which diminish cholesterol, an active agent in unpleasantness…
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Human beings are not perfectible, and attempts to threaten and beat vice out of them do vastly more harm than good. – “Harm Reduction”
