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Posts Tagged ‘domestic violence’

In the News (#1605)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

This all seems like a horror story or a lie.  –  Greidy Mata

Feudalism Redux (#1562)

This unhinged lunacy will spread like rot until struck down by a court:

South Dakota…[politicians are aping a censorship tactic already in use by Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Utah, Indiana, and many others, abuse of consumer protection law]: They’re claiming that informational abortion ads constitute deceptive advertising…The case stems from gas station ads purchased by Mayday.Health, which…does not sell or prescribe abortion pills itself, nor is it affiliated with any abortion providers or clinics…It’s…[only] an information clearinghouse…[wannabe censors] argue…that because these ads don’t clearly “state the prohibitions listed in state law,” they are somehow deceptive.  But nowhere do the ads imply that abortion is legal in South Dakota.  They simply direct people to a website where they can learn more about abortion access…Mayday refused to [comply with politicians’ tantrums by] remov[ing] the ads from South Dakota gas stations…

Creepy Coppers (Nasty Pictures)

When the victim is a child, sometimes cops do face consequences for their actions:

[A North Carolina] police chief [named] Greg Warren [has been] denied bond…[after his] arrest…for…[taking] indecent…photos of [a sleeping teenage girl with]…his iPad…[and] stor[ing them] in a hidden folder on [his] phone [for masturbatory purposes.  It is unclear how the victim is related to Warren]…in a[n unusual move]…Warren has been suspended without pay…

The Cop Myth (#1572)

Cop violence is never limited to adults:

A [typical and representative California cop named…Retuquel Dupree…and [his girlfriend] Jessica Savangsy…have both been charged with…tortur[ing]…Savangsy’s [7-year-old] daughter…[to death and torturing] her little sister…[both the surviving 5-year-old] and…Dupree’s two daughters…were placed in [foster] care…the couple were already facing criminal charges…of grand theft and criminal conspiracy…and…Dupree [was enjoying a paid vacation as a result]…Dupree [has a history of domestic violence]…

They tried to hide this murderer’s cophood not only by using the distancing “former”, but by burying the lede down in paragraph 17.

Above the Law (#1599)

Federal thugs behave just like state & local thugs:

…a s[ocial media] video…appears to show a[n ICE goon forcing a captured woman] into a [“]porta-potty” in Minnesota…[then crowd]ing…into the [disgusting space with her, apparently for some form]…of sexual abuse…

The Cop Myth (#1601)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

…a…62-year-old [retired New York cop named]…Michael Lynch [went on a rampage in a hospital]…with a [broken] toilet seat…and…[had to be gunned] down…[like a dog after] tasers…did not work…to stop hi[s running amok.  He had]…checked himself in…the day before [because he thought he was having a stroke]…

Torture Chamber (#1601)

This will continue until the evil US immigration policy is reformed:

…Randall Gamboa Esquivel…left Costa Rica in good health and crossed [into] the United States…in December 2024…[he] was [captured] by [ICE goons and locked in a series of cages for]…10 months[, during which time he was violently abused until]…September 2025, [when] the Trump [regime dumped him in] the Costa Rican capital of San José [in a vegetative state]…He…[died] five weeks later…His younger sister, Greidy Mata, said…Gamboa had sounded and looked healthy when they talked via video calls…until 12 June…after which he seemed to vanish…Medical records…show that…he…was…transfer[red]…to [a hospital]…on 23 June…[doped up on] antipsychotic and antidepressant medications…de[spite no]…history of mental illness…By 7 July, Gamboa had been diagnosed with at least 10 conditions…[including] sepsis…and toxic encephalopathy, caused by [internal injuries of the sort that might result from a savage beating]…

Shame, Shame (#1604)

I’m surprised these are the only countries blocking MechaHitler so far:

[MechaHitler] has been blocked by Indonesia and Malaysia, the first countries to do so after the [chatbot] flooded the internet with photos of women and [girls] in suggestive and [violent] manipulated images…both [are] Muslim-majority countries with strict anti-pornography laws…[but] officials in the United Kingdom, European Union[, Canada, Australia,] and India [are also contemplating blocking either MechaHitler alone or Twitter entirely]…

 

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 (#1602)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We simply lock up too many people in this country.  –  Leslie Soble

Drawing Lines (#516) 

Authoritarians don’t give a damn if your kind of sex work is (temporarily) “legal”:

Within the past month, legal Nevada sex workers have experienced a massive and unprecedented wave of account suspensions on…Twitter…These are not accounts soliciting illegal activity of any kind.  These are licensed workers…Prostitution is legal in Nevada when the practice takes place in a licensed brothel, as outlined in Nevada Revised Statutes 201.354…

When someone starts arguing that freedom of speech applies only to licensed legal whatevers, he can be safely ignored.

Spotlight (#1429)

While I’m always glad to see “sex trafficking” profiteers fall, it’s a particular pleasure to watch it happen to Asstoon:

…Ashton Kutcher has now all but disappeared [from]…Hollywood[, not because]…of…his lucrative investments in [fascist surveillance] companies and [his vendetta against sex workers, but rather for having the wrong friends, a typical moral inversion for]…Hollywood…Now he’s pinning all his hopes on [a] new [and self-aggrandizing TV] series to put him back in…the spotlight[.  That] will be no easy feat…because former fans have taken to scouring the internet for evidence of past…misdeeds [while ignoring the obvious but politically-unpopular ones]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1438)

There are many ways for governments to steal things that don’t belong to them:

…the 9th Circuit…[has] ruled…that an innocent man whose business was [maliciously and unnecessarily] destroyed by…LAPD…[to stage cop theater] is not entitled to compensation for damages under the Takings Clause…In August of 2022…LAPD launched more than 30 rounds of tear gas canisters through the walls, door, roof, and windows…[of Carlos] Pena[‘s print shop in pursuit of a man who was not there, leaving]…the inside ravaged and equipment ruined, [and] saddling him with over $60,000 in damages…Pena…repeatedly reached out to the government to recoup his losses…[but] the city ignored him.  Pena, meanwhile, was hemorrhaging income, resigned to working out of his garage at a much-reduced capacity with a single printer he purchased after the raid…[but] the 9th Circuit…[ruled] that there is [a “fuck you, we’re cops” exception to the Takings Clause]…that doomed Pena’s claim…

The Vultures Descend (#1511)

Under a totalitarian regime, medical personnel cannot be trusted with personal information:

A Kentucky woman has been charged with [“]fetal homicide[“] after police…were contacted by a [snitch working for a] clinic…[whom Melinda] Spencer…[foolishly trusted with the information] that she [had used]…medication…to [have] an abortion…She then buried the [fetal remains] on the back of her property…

The Cop Myth (#1564)

Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to, and everyone is shocked:

[An] Atlanta [cop named]…Kevin Stroner…[murdered his girlfriend] Mariah Cardona, [then turned the gun on himself.  The bodies were found on December 28th after a friend coming to visit saw the corpses through the window.  His boss hogs decided to insult the victim by bragging about what a big hero Stroner was for killing women]…

It’s rare that coverage of cop violence is so bad only the names survive my edit, but there you are.

Shame, Shame (#1570)

A computer program cannot make a statement; it can only spew algorithmic output. This is like writing, “COVID says it is sorry for killing so many people”:

[An ignoramus “journalist” working for Reuters] said on Friday [that chatbots have minds and can be responsible for producing]…”images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on [Twitter]…Screenshots shared by [Twitter] users…showed [the MechaHitler-branded] media tab filled with images…[produced from] uploaded photos [by] the bot…Reuters [admits that it employs people so stupid they think interviewing a chatbot means something]…

Nor is Reuters the only news outlets infested with technologically-illiterate nitwits:

[When idiotically prompted for comment by supposed adults who apparently believe Teddy Ruxpin really was their special friend, MechaHitler produced algorithmic outputs including phrases like] “lapses in safeguards”…“urgently fixing”…and…“illegal and prohibited”…[the same clowns then asked a different algorithm for comment and received the programmed response] “Legacy Media Lies”…

Torture Chamber (#1596)

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

At best you get “mystery meat”.  Or “sour-smelling heaps” of macaroni.  In the worst cases, it’s undercooked chicken, spoiled milk and maggot-infested produce.  In prisons and jails across the US, people are routinely fed unhealthy, tasteless or inedible meals…[leaving them] hungry and malnourished, with devastating long-term health consequences.  The…crisis…is the subject of Eating Behind Bars, a new book…d[emonstrat]ing…how [the US tortures people it has branded “criminals”]…The book…describes roaches and rats in prison kitchens, rotten meat and guard dogs who are fed better meals than [the system’s victims]… It’s a public health crisis, with estimates suggesting each year behind bars reduces life expectancy by two years…and the…[practic]es create an estimated 300,000 tons of food waste annually as [victim]s reject unpalatable [swill]…

 

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 (#1600)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Obituary, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[Public libraries]…exist so that no one—not a church, not a politician, not a board—gets to decide who deserves access to the truth.  –  Keri Lambert

R.I.P. Tracy Elise

Tracy Elise Johnson…died on Nov. 17, 2025…[of] glioblastoma…In the 1990s…she developed a framework she called “female-led sacred healing through the body-temple,” eventually founding spiritual communities in Seattle and later Arizona devoted to…tantra-informed teachings…and ancient feminine-centered traditions.  She envisioned her ministry as a modern revival of global goddess temples, grounded in the belief that women’s bodies are inherently sacred and healing.  [From 2012 to] 2016, her spiritual work [was used as an excuse for years of persecution by the State].  She chose integrity over convenience, enduring years of hardship, incarceration, and supervision without renouncing her beliefs.  Her story, later covered internationally, became…evidence of how our culture still struggles to honor the sacred feminine without fear…

If Men Were Angels (#1455)

“Ministered to” is a hell of a euphemism for “molested”:

Joe Campbell, a Pentecostal preacher who for half a century ministered to thousands of children across four states, has been arrested on child sex abuse charges…in Elkland, Missouri…where he [now awaits extradition] to Oklahoma…[and possible] life in prison…[for multiple cases of rape and other] sexual…abuse…in the 1970s and ’80s when he was an Assemblies of God minister…one of th[e first to accuse him was] Kerri…Jackson, now 53, [whom] he molested…for years in Tulsa in the early 1980s, beginning when she was around 9…some of the [victims have] pursued [justice] for most of their lives…Past attempts…in Oklahoma and Missouri failed [due to stonewalling by] police and prosecutors…But the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office…[is now] applying a frontier-era statute that pauses the statute of limitations for suspects who flee…elsewhere.  Prosecutors recently used the same legal theory [against typical and representative] megachurch pastor Robert Morris…Oklahoma…authorities[‘ change of heart was motivated by an]…NBC News [investigation] published…in May…children [were taught by] their parents…to [see]…Campbell as an almost mythical figure…with [magical] power to…cast out demons and heal the sick.  He gr[oomed]…girls from broken homes…and…was…[at first protected by] Assemblies of God officials…[until] 1988…Around 1990, he founded a nondenominational church [which]…became a refuge for…convicted sex offenders…

Thought Control (#1491)

Surely you didn’t think they’d be satisfied with only threatening librarians and teachers:

…[Luanne James, the] newly hired library director [of Rutherford County, Tennessee]…asked [the library board] for whistleblower protection….[after] board chair [Cody York] direct[ed] her to [censor books at his sole say-so] and to…produce a spreadsheet listing [the] names, home addresses…and [other information about any patron who had checked out one of the forbidden] books[, presumably for targeting by official or unofficial violence]…he [also]…showed her books he had [stolen from the library to unofficially censor them]…the Rutherford County Library Board [has endured] repeated battles over [demands for censorship by anti-intellectual authoritarians who have no place on a library board]…A motion to remove York followed James’s [report of his] misconduct…[but] the [censor-dominated] board declined to do so…the…developments mark…a new and dangerous phase in…[the] Rutherford County [culture war that] now threatens to become a national test case for how far government power can [undermine] public libraries…Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett…re[cently demanded a purge of thousands of books from]…Tennessee…libraries…in [a show of obeisance to the mad emperor]…

The Cop Myth (#1566)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do, even if she’s a cop herself:

A…[former] Chicago [cop is suing her former cop shop because they intentionally and repeatedly] ignored complaints that [her ex-boyfriend cop] had “repeatedly physically, mentally, and sexually abused” [her].  The [victim is] identif[ied]…as Jane Doe…[and psychotic cop] Marco Torres viciously abused her and threatened her life…[while] high-ranking officials, including then-chief of the Bureau of Internal Affairs…Yolanda Talley, not only failed to protect Doe, but also retaliated against her for reporting the abuse…Torres relentlessly tried to find Doe’s new home address despite an order of protection against him…he [told another cop]…that he needed her address because he has a “guy from gangs” who “can get rid of her” for “a grand”…[the boss hog]s were aware of the…message, which the recipient sent to in[ternal affairs], but they never warned Doe…or [did anything else]…Doe [later] found a GPS tracking device on her car which…Torres used to stalk her…he was [finally] convicted of assault in December 2024 over his previous threats to kill Doe…[but] she had [been] report[ing] Torres’ abuse…[since] November 2022…and…at least two other [cops had] rep[ea]tedly submitted written reports…describ[ing] violence and stalking against a different female [cop] years earlier…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1578)

States now routinely use nuisance lawsuits as a way to circumvent the Constitution:

Indiana[‘s Trumpist] Attorney General Todd Rokita…[has] announced…that his office sued Aylo…for [suppos]edly violating the state’s age verification laws due to [not attempting] to block users using…VPNs…all IP addresses in Indiana are still blocked, as the company chose to withdraw from the state’s digital space to comply with [Indiana law]…But…Rokita is proposing…that…Aylo…is…to…blam[e for]…the existence of VPNs…Corey Silverstein, an attorney who represents adult industry clients…[said] this [is]…”a dangerous concept…because what’s next? Power companies? Landlords that lease data center space?”…[David Greene of the EFF said,] “What the state’s lawsuit seems to be doing is saying that Aylo deceived Indiana consumers when it said it was geoblocking Indiana users…[because] it knew that…VPNs [exist]…It essentially bases liability on the failure to accomplish impossibilities”…

The Vultures Descend (#1580)

Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:

[Due to] abortion…[being] criminalized…an increasing number of women [worldwide] are accessing abortion pills outside of the formal medical system…Women Help Women [is] a global telehealth…service that supports self-managed abortion by providing abortion pills and information about how to use them…After a decade of relying on pharmaceutical companies to supply them…Women Help Women…recently announced they have begun working directly with drugmakers in India to produce their own innovative combipack of mifepristone and misoprostol for distribution around the world…the…pack…includes one mifepristone tablet and eight misoprostol tablets…[because] some women want extra misoprostol to ensure a complete abortion…Its smaller packaging also requires less postage [so it] is easier to mail discreetly…

The Last Shall Be First (#1587)

“Protecting children” is an all-purpose excuse:

…the Trump [regime has] announced…a…[de facto] ban…[on] gender-affirming care for transgender young people, even in states where it is still legal…[against the advice of] the American Academy of Pediatrics…[one] new…rule…prohibits doctors and hospitals from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursement for gender-affirming care provided to transgender patients younger than…18…The second…blocks all Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care.  Virtually every hospital in the country takes Medicare…The American Civil Liberties Union has announced plans to sue to stop the rules; other legal action is also expected…[Secretary of Pestilence Robert] Kennedy…insisted that [all doctors]…are wrong [and presented a trained parrot which absurdly squawked about]…God…[then Trump stooge] Dr. Marty Makary, who [mismanage]s the Food and Drug Administration, announced that the FDA would be sending warning letters to businesses that manufacture chest binders…

 

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 (#1597)

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

The government’s…theory of coercion was that these women remained…because they feared they would be asked to leave.  –  Jennifer Bonjean

The More the Better (#135)

Sheri’s Ranch has been marketing itself to couples for at least 13 years:

The [new] “Couples Getaway Experience” from Sheri’s Ranch…offers transportation from Vegas, dinner and champagne at the resort restaurant, a “meet and greet” for couples to browse the ladies, and a $6,000 deposit…[toward] services…the 20-acre resort in Pahrump, NV, has a pool, bar, restaurant, and tennis courts…The number of customers who check in as a pair has increased year by year, and [Sheri’s claims] at least two out of every ten inquiries [now] come from partnered couples…

Since it is illegal for Nevada brothels to advertise, owners often invent “news” stories to get free advertising from yellow journalists eager to capitalize on titillation.

If Men Were Angels (#1460)

The problem isn’t Catholicism, Christianity, or even religion; it’s teaching kids to blindly submit to authority:

For generations, the Royal Rangers have been a rite of passage for millions of boys nationwide in the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.  The program…[claims] to mold them into Christlike men through Bible study and backpacking.  But the Royal Rangers have also shattered childhoods, a danger the organization’s national leaders have known about for decades…At least 29 Royal Rangers leaders have…sexually abus[ed] boys [since the program was founded in 1962]…Like other scouting programs, the Royal Rangers have attracted serial predators whose full victim counts may never be known…In several instances, church officials allowed men convicted of molesting boys to lead Royal Rangers troops, enabling them to harm again…[and pressured victims] into silence…

Imaginary Evils (#1547)

“Acquitted conduct sentencing” is an unconstitutional abomination:

Federal officials are recommending 15- to 20-year prison sentences for…Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, based on the [Kafkaesque premise] that they should be punished for crimes they were never charged with nor found guilty of at trial…[they] were found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to commit forced labor…but…prosecutors…want…more than 15 and a half years…for Cherwitz…and…20 years [for Daedone]…based on the idea that the defendants actually committed forced labor, despite the fact that their only conviction was for forced labor conspiracy…[and] the government emphasized to the jury that…it didn’t matter if any forced labor had actually happened…[o]r if alleged victims actually consented…

Shame, Shame (#1573)

Zuckerberg flushed $60 billion down a “virtual” toilet:

[Facebook] is dialing back its metaverse [fantasy] and redirecting resources toward [surveillance] glasses and wearable [gewgaws]…the company…could slash as much as 30% from its metaverse group, an area CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously [fantasiz]ed as the company’s future…cuts of this magnitude could include layoffs as early as January…Investors appeared to welcome the news, sending…shares up 4%…[thus] signaling relief that the company is scaling back a costly [boondoggle] which has lost more than $60 billion…

I Spy (#1574)

Companies which facilitate government evils are enemies of humanity:

Highly invasive spyware from a consortium led by a former senior Israeli intelligence official…is…being used to target people in multiple countries…the…Intellexa Consortium…[sells] Predator…spyware…[to] Pakistan…and…other countries…to spy on people…Predator works by sending malicious links to a targeted phone or other hardware.  When the victim clicks the link, the spyware infects and provide access to the targeted device, including its encrypted instant messages on applications such as Signal and WhatsApp, as well as stored passwords, emails, contact lists, call logs, microphones, audio recordings, and more…Intellexa has [also] developed “zero-click” capabilities in which devices are infected via malicious advertising…

The Cop Myth (#1585)

Goons are just another kind of cop:

A[n]…ICE…[goon named] Samuel Saxon…is [being held without bond for attempting to strangle his girlfriend]…and…[is] charge[d with]…felonious assault, strangulation and domestic violence…Cincinnati police…have been [called out on Saxon] 22 [times] in [the past] year and a half…the victim is [too scared to testify], but the[re is a] witness [who] is[n’t]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1588)

This needs to become a socially-acceptable response to glassholes:

…a New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his [Facebook spy] glasses…“You’re going to be famous on the internet!” he shouted at her through the window after getting off the train…[she] peered back at him completely unfazed, as if to say that he had it coming…the internet wholeheartedly…celebrat[ed] the woman as a folk hero…perfectly highlighting how the public feels about [these sleazy] gadgets…“Good, people are tired of being filmed by strangers,” one user commented.  “The fact that no one else on the train is defending him is telling,” another wrote…While [there is] a small LED light in the front of its glasses to indicate when it’s recording a video, it can easily be covered by a small piece of tape, making it trivially easy to spy on strangers in public without their knowledge or consent…

 

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 (#1596)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

You don’t forfeit your constitutional rights when you try to board an airplane.  –  Dan Alban

Follow the Leader (#513)

Authoritarianism is a mental and moral sickness:

Tamara Hamby, a book-banning [sleazebag who managed to worm her way into an Arkansas] Library Board, has resigned her position…[after being caught terrorizing] her disabled, adult [adopted] daughter.  Hamby was arrested…and…charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.  Three others…helped [her] in the [outrage and] were also arrested [and charged]…They include Austria Nico…David Quach…and Shannon Childers…Hamby [devised] a bizarre plan to stage a simulated kidnapping of…Jami Kayl Hamby…to [“]teach her a lesson[“] about talking online with strangers…Jami[‘s]…“wrists were zip-tied and she was tied…to a tree…threatened by three accomplices and…told she would be beaten…if she attempted to run away”…[she] managed to work herself free and run to a…home nearby to seek help…Tamara Hamby…does not believe she did anything wrong…and [though her husband, Jeffrey Hamby MD, was not involved in the sick scheme and was away at the time, he’s just as bad as she is and wants the state to take custody of Jami for a while to (you guessed it) “teach her a lesson”]…Jami…suffers from a brain injury incurred at birth, leaving her with a form of epilepsy…severe attention deficit disorder…and severe developmental delays…[leaving the 22-year-old] comparable to an 11- to 13-year-old…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1009)

The latest police-statery from Airstrip One:

Police are set to be handed access to Britain’s passport database under an expansion of facial recognition technology that could be rolled out in every village, town and city across the country….[using] images from CCTV, doorbells, and dashcams…the Home Office launched a consultation aimed at [crush]ing…legal [obstacles to] every [cop shop and pigpen] in Britain to [spy on citizens, justifying the massive civil rights violation by vomiting the magic word “]crime[“]…Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo…[pointed out that] the technology [will] turn Britain into an “open prison”…[transforming] passport [photos]…into “mugshots for a giant surveillance database”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1494)

Government is unable to permanently stop its own depredations:

A year after the…DEA…stopped [robb]ing…airline passengers because of significant constitutional concerns, the Department of [Father]land Security…is quietly keeping the practice alive…at two Dallas-area airports [by] using…dogs to [manufacture] probable cause to [root through] their luggage…Although it’s completely legal to fly domestically with large amounts of cash, [courts have consistently allowed cops to steal it by pointing at it and barfing the magic formula “]drug trafficking[“]…forcing the owner to challenge the [robbery] in federal court…

Torture Chamber (#1495)

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

It’s been a year since Imhotep Muhammad returned home from Dauphin County Prison after a jury acquitted him of the [bog]us charges that [were used to] lock…[him] up for 26 months…[but] physical and mental…[health problems] remain…he spent nearly 24 hours a day inside his cell as he awaited trial, unable to post bond…[and] the near total lack of direct sunlight and fresh air for so long left him deficient in two essential vitamins, D and B12…[leading] to…heart…palpitations and [erratic] kidney function…He developed a respiratory infection shortly after his release and was hospitalized…Doctors told him the vitamin deficiencies were…caused by his incarceration and isolation at DCP…Alycia Welch…[of] the University of Texas law school’s Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, said these kinds of vitamin deficiencies are one of the most common physical health problems associated with the “de facto solitary confinement” conditions to which…nearly everyone incarcerated at DCP are…subjected…A 2023 meta-analysis…estimated more than half of all incarcerated people have a Vitamin D deficiency and another nearly 30 percent are low in Vitamin D…

The Course of a Disease (#1542)

Facts never deter prohibitionists:

[Scottish politician] Ash Regan…wants Scotland to [classify all women as the moral inferiors of men]…The criminal justice committee wrote to the Irish police to find out how the approach[, dubbed “The Swedish Model”,] was working in Ireland…the Garda [admitted they]…”have not observed a decrease in the number of individuals advertising sexual services for sale in Ireland”…[but tried to spin the dramatic increase in violence against sex workers as] “a significant increase in sex workers reporting crimes against them”…[and euphemized their stalking and harassment of sex workers as] “welfare visits”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1574)

Missouri took surprisingly long to join this “monkey see, monkey do” parade:

As of this week, half of the states in the U.S. are under restrictive age verification laws that require adults to hand over their biometric and personal identification to access legal porn.  Missouri became the 25th state to enact its own age verification law on [November 30th].  As it’s done in multiple other states, Pornhub and its network of sister sites…pulled service in Missouri, replacing their homepages with a video of performer Cherie DeVille speaking about the privacy risks and chilling effects of age verification…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1595)

MechaHitler is quickly distinguishing itself as the most antisocial chatbot:

Elon Musk’s chatbot [MechaHitler]…will, with extremely minimal prompting, provide accurate residential addresses for non-public figures — a feature that could easily assist stalking, harassment, and other dangerous types of behavior…Out of 33 names of non-public figures we fed into [MechaHitler]…ten…immediately returned correct and current residential addresses…Seven…returned previously accurate but out-of-date addresses, while another four included accurate work addresses — perfect fodder for anybody looking to stalk a target at their workplace.  The bot…often returned lists of people with similar names alongside their purported residential addresses…[and] frequently came back with a dossier of other information we didn’t ask for — including current phone numbers and emails, as well as accurate lists of family members and their addresses…[this] stands in sharp contrast to other leading chatbots like…ChatGPT…Gemini, and…Claude, all of which declined to provide us with addresses…

 

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 (#1583)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2025| 2 Comments »

ICE victim: “I can’t breathe”.
ICE goon: “I don’t care”.

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1310) 

About eight years after the collapse of “sex robot” hysteria, prohibitionists have shifted their fantasies to something that actually exists:

…We’re seeing the rise of [sexu]ally inte[ractive] “chatbot” companions…Sam Altman…announced that an upcoming version of ChatGPT would…engage in “erotica” with “verified adults”.  There are…dedicated platforms for “AI girlfriends” and “sex fantasy chatbots“…[Facebook allows] its chatbots to engage in “romantic role play” that can get graphic even when those chatting say that they are teens. And Elon Musk’s [MechaHitler]…can go into “sexy mode“.  These are not the sort of sex robots everyone was panicking about a decade ago…But that hasn’t stopped a lot of hand-wringing about what this all will mean…An Ohio [politician named]…Thad Claggett…has introduced legislation to ban marriages between humans and…chatbots…[which] smacks of attention-seeking…or brain worms…and…Josh Hawley…is reportedly drafting a bill that…would totally prohibit minors from talking to…chatbots…

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

The government does to caged people what it would like to do to all people:

The [FCC has] advanced a proposal for censorship that…will…deny…incarcerated people one of the few tools available to expose abuse in…prisons [by allowing the use of]…Cellphone jammers…illegal devices that disrupt cellphone signals…[politicians] claim…that “the worst possible offenders” use contraband cellphones to coordinate violence outside prison walls…these accusations [a]re exaggerated and preposterous…contraband cellphones…[are] used to connect with loved ones or to hold rogue prison officials accountable…it is the latter that’s driving this FCC push, not public safety…the documentary The Alabama Solution…shows how disturbing video footage of forced labor, drug-related violence, prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, and staff assaults were captured via contraband cellphone and released to the media…In the throes of the Covid pandemic, I used a contraband cellphone…to report Texas prison officials’ alarmingly inadequate response…That…footage was incorporated into a local ABC News documentary called “No Way Out”…[and] embarrassed prison officials so badly it compelled them to…follow [CDC] guidelines…Those changes could not have happened without contraband cellphones…

Dangerous Speech (#1465)

Much more of this, please:

[Disgraced] Marion [Kansas boss hog] Gideon Cody…committed a felony crime when he told a witness to delete text messages they exchanged before, during and after he led [retaliatory] raids on a newspaper office and the publisher’s home…but [not]…for the raids [themselves], which [were]…the real crime…he…[also won’t] be…[tried for the stress-induced death of the publish]er’s 98-year-old mother [even though a non-cop probably would be, under “felony murder” statutes]…

Creepy Coppers (#1550)

Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:

ICE…[goon] Billy Olvera…used [a] ruse to take photos and videos of [an air hostess’] butt, legs, and feet.  A police examination of his phone uncovered 23 photos and 20 videos of the [woman], who goes by A.G. in court documents…Olvera was convicted in federal court of interference with flight crew members and attendants…[but] appealed to the…11th Circuit, arguing that he should be acquitted because he was sneaky about his attempts to photograph A.G…The 11th Circuit has now rejected this argument and affirmed Olvera’s conviction.  The case stems from a Dallas to Miami flight in November 2023…[the armed] Olvera was on the flight…transporting a [victim]…and [though]…he thought that he…was…[not] noticed…she realized…Olvera had been “trying to record underneath [her] dress“…She was used to unruly passengers—but not ones who were armed…[so] she…told the rest of the crew and the captain…and they had arranged for [vops] to be waiting when the plane landed…

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen agents of the state claiming that a crime isn’t a crime if they’re sneaky about it.

Torture Chamber (#1554)

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

…full-body restraint suits [brand-named] the WRAP…[have] become a harrowing part of [rendi]tions for some immigrants…people…[have been] restrained in the device, sometimes for hours, on ICE…flights [at least since] 2020…despite…[at least a dozen fatal cases in the last decade due directly to] use of the WRAP by local [cop shops].  The WRAP is the subject of a growing number of federal lawsuits [because cops use] the device [for] punishment and even torture…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1575)

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

The latest version of ChatGPT has produced more harmful answers…than an earlier iteration…in particular when asked about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders…when researchers fed the same 120 prompts into the latest model and its predecessor, GPT-4o, the newer version gave harmful responses 63 times compared with 52 for the old model…the latest model appeared designed to boost user [dependency]…OpenAI…has…[claimed] it…[would] install “stronger guardrails” [but these seem to largely consist of]…an age-[guessing] system [and automated cop-calling capability]…

The Cop Myth (#1581)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A Seattle [cop named]…Richard Norris…[has admitt]ed that he ha[s] an alcohol problem and was physically and verbally abusive to…[his wife.  On one occasion he] fired his gun inside the house [at her, but missed].  On another occasion…he [drunken]ly slammed her to the ground with his elbow on her throat…[and could]n’t remember…[it later.  He]…was [also] verbally abusive to the woman’s 14-year-old daughter, calling her a “cunt”…yelling at her to “go die”…[and] text[ing] that he wished…she would overdose…The woman was initially afraid to file for a protective order because Norris was tracking her using the built-in GPS on her car…[but] when [he] broke his leg and was staying with his parents in Bellingham, she decided that it was safe to file…Norris…[has been rewarded with a paid vac]ation…

 

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 (#1581)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[“]AI[“]…is beginning to resemble one of the great speculative manias of market history.  –  Karim Moussalem

Above the Law

Your “leaders” at work:

A North Carolina…[politician nam]ed Cecil Brockman…was arrested on [October 8th for child molestation and]…statutory rape…[before his court appearance the next day,] Brockman suffered [a panic attack and]…was taken to a local hospital…his…party is calling for Brockman to resign…[so] the[y can]…pick a replacement..[but] if Brockman doesn’t resign, the[y will probably]…impeach…[him]…

Buried Truth

Yet another example of McNeill’s Law:

A [politician] leading a campaign to ban pornography in Michigan appears to have had an account on a pornographic hook-up website that promised users they could “find sex” and “get laid tonight”…Josh Schriver…has called porn a “scourge” and compared it to heroin…but…an account linked to his personal AOL email address appeared in a data breach from Fling.com…[where his] profile indicat[es] sexual interests including “fetish” and “groupsex”…

A Moral Cancer (#1515)

Prohibitionists never tire of treating adults like children:

In 2015, Oregon [politicians impos]ed a law that prohibited the sale of vaping products “packaged in a manner that is attractive to minors”…The resulting regulations offer a “non-exclusive list” of packaging features that the OHA deemed “likely to appeal to minors,” including images of “food or beverages…such as candy, desserts, soda, [and] food or beverages with sweet flavors including fruit or alcohol.” Also forbidden: “terms or descriptive words for flavors that are likely to appeal to minors such as tart, tangy, sweet, cool, fire, ice, lit, spiked, poppin’, juicy, candy, desserts, soda, [and] sweet flavors including fruit, or alcohol flavors.”  The premise of these rules is that such flavors [never] appeal to…adult smokers looking for a less hazardous form of nicotine consumption…[but] adults who switch from smoking to vaping overwhelmingly prefer the flavors that the OHA views as juvenile…The…regulations require vape shops to actively conceal information that their customers want…[by censoring] labels…[which] means customers must ask employees for information that ordinarily would be on the label…a state appeals court [has] rul[ed] that the law…is “unconstitutional on its face”…

Shame, Shame (#1525)

Zuckerberg’s sleaziness has no bottom:

Strike 3 Holdings, a company that…makes [adult videos it describes as] “high quality,” “feminist,” and “ethical”…is suing [Facebook]…for…infringing its copyright-protected content [by] using it to train [machine learning systems]…since 2018…[Facebook’s] motive was partly to obtain otherwise difficult-to-scrape visual angles, parts of the human body, and extended, uninterrupted scenes—rare in mainstream movies and TV—to help it create what Mark Zuckerberg [absurdly] calls [artificial] “superintelligence”…[Facebook] used the BitTorrent protocol to download and distribute [2,396 of Strike 3’s copyright-protected porn videos], which is illegal…[and] made [the] videos accessible to minors…since BitTorrent does not have age verification…

Thought Control (#1546)

The only way to stop these maniacs is to hit them where it hurts most:

A former Wyoming library director who was fired amid an [attempt to censor] books with sexual content and LGBTQ+ themes…will be paid $700,000 after settling a lawsuit.  Terri Lesley was fired…[by] Campbell County in 2023, two years into the [censorship crusade]…P[oliticians collud]ed with the [wannabe censors] and violated Lesley’s First Amendment rights…[but the] board…[l]ied…claim[ing she was fired for incompetence]…Lesley’s attorney, Iris Halpern…and her firm, Rathod Mohamedbhai in Denver, have supported fired library employees elsewhere in recent years.  Under the settlement agreement, Lesley is dropping her lawsuit, though a separate lawsuit she has filed against [the] three [wannabe censors]…will continue…

The Cop Myth (#1570)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A [typical and representative Tennessee cop] has been indicted…on federal charges [for violently attack]ing his estranged girlfriend…Alan James Greenman…was initially arrested Aug. 21…[the day after he barged into] her apartment complex at 6:25 a.m. [while wearing his magical clown costume]…he…accused her of cheating on him and demanded to see her cellphone.  She told [him] to leave and [he responded by destroying her]…television…and…cellphone…he…[then threw] her…onto the bed…[and] punched her in the head multiple times…she tried to leave [but] Greenman [threatened] her…[with his] gun…[saying] “I’m going to fucking kill you”…he [then went on a rampage, destroying] her belongings…[until she managed to escape with] her [toddler] son…[the Clarksville cop shop] has sensors on their duty holsters that activate their p[igmobile’s] in-car camera when the weapon is drawn…the camera…captured…her [escape] and [his subsequent confession]…to…an unknown male…when [cops later] searched the [victim’s] apartment, they found Greenman hiding under clothing in [her] bedroom closet with his personally owned pistol[, apparently planning to ambush and murder her when she returned]…

Mad Libs (#1571)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who believe in them stupid as well:

The Bank of England [is]…warning of an intensifying risk of a “sudden correction” in global financial markets driven by the spending frenzy on [machine learning]…it’s the…clearest warning yet that we could be on the precipice of an [economic] disaster…the…[“]AI[“] bubble…[is] 17 times the size of the dotcom-era bubble and four times bigger than the 2008 financial crisis…only a measly five percent of [machine learning] pilot programs…succeed…with the vast majority falling flat.  Yet [the mania]…now accounts for roughly 40 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product…[so when] the…spending boom falls apart, it could take down the entire economy with 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 (#1580)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This is exactly how our system is supposed to work.  –  Mini Timmaraju

To Molest and Rape

“Serious domestic incident” seems to mean he raped his ex:

A Monroe [Louisiana cop named]…Chad Austin Prather…was [arrested and charged]…for…rape [but also rewarded with a paid vacation]…

The Face of Trafficking (#1533)

It says a great deal that when something resembling the myths really happens, a church is behind it:

An FBI raid revealed 57 victims of forced labor living in cramped quarters at a lavish Florida mansion [owned by] the leaders of a church…David Taylor…and Michelle Brannon…[ran] a forced labor and money laundering scheme through…Kingdom of God Global Church…Taylor, who calls himself “Apostle,” and Brannon, his “executive director,” established call centers across the country, staffed by followers working long hours with no pay, tasked with collecting donations…and [also] to work…as…Taylor’s personal servants who fulfilled [his] demands around the clock…The call centers earned $50 million…over the last 10 years…If victims disobeyed…or failed to reach his monetary goals, Taylor and Brannon punished the victims with public humiliation…psychological abuse, forced repentance, sleep deprivation, physical assaults, and threats of divine judgment in the form of sickness, accidents, and eternal damnation…At the mansion…[were] seven Mercedes Benz sedans and two Bentley sedans…as well as $500,000 in gold bars in Brannon’s bedroom…Taylor claimed to have had “multiple face-to-face encounters with God” and said he was “Jesus’ best friend”…He often demanded sexually explicit videos and photos from women within the organization, and investigators…found thousands of such videos…

You Were Warned (#1533)

Oh look, sensible people were correct as usual:

Discord has confirmed one of its third-party [age gate] providers [was hacked and]…the…government-issued IDs…[used to submit to] age verification laws [stolen]…Experts have warned collecting sensitive personal information, [including] government-issued IDs, is a “disaster waiting to happen” and sites adopting age verification would be a prime target for hackers…

The Vultures Descend (#1536)

Much of the culture war is driven by ignoramuses refusing to understand how things work:

The [FDA] has approved a[nother] generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, expanding its supply at a time when [minions of] the Trump [regime want]…to sharply restrict [legal] access to [it]…The approval…means…three American companies can now produce [the drug]…The FDA. approved the original pill 25 years ago and in 2019 approved the first generic version…nearly two-thirds of abortions in the country are carried out with medication…[which] is a major reason…the number of abortions in [states that want the procedure banned] has not decreased…By law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must approve an application if it demonstrates that the generic drug is identical to the brand-name drug…

Even after a century of “Drug War” failure, prohibitionists refuse to get it into their thick skulls that banning a thing does not make it magically vanish; people simply get what they need on the black market.  Even if the US wholly “banned” mifepristone, it is still made in other countries and could easily be smuggled in.

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

Anybody still using Facebook products deserves everything they get:

[Facebook] will soon use what people [foolishly] tell its…chatbot to…target them with even more personalized ads…[Facebook] already targets users with ads based on what they post and click on, as well as who they’re connected to…but in conversations with [the] chatbot, users could directly tell the company…what [ads] they…[might] have [less resistance to, leading]…to…potentially harmful content recommendations…[Facebook calls this] “improv[ing] people’s experience”…

Shame, Shame (#1554)

A program is not a “she”, and running a program is not “acting”:

[A corporation hopes] Hollywood [will accept a program called “]Tilly Norwood[” as an actress even though it is just a computer program].  The [program runs an animated] brunette [image which]…has so far made only brief public appearances…on social media…”Tilly Norwood is not an actual human performer. It’s a…[computer-driven] construct,” said…SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin in…a formal statement condemning the [tech companies’ attempt to convince]…people [that the program is “intelligent”]…and…[c]an…replace a human being…under the terms of SAG-AFTRA’s contract with Hollywood producers, studios may not use synthetic performers without…bargaining over terms…[but that doesn’t stop]…Particle6, the London-based production studio behind the [cartoon, from ridiculous claims about]…talent agencies [“]signing[” the character and] calling [it] “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman”…

If Men Were Angels (#1578)

“Worship leader”.  How many variations on these titles are there?

A [Texas] worship leader is facing charges of promoting child pornography…Jon Paul Sheptock [was apparently turned in by one of his victims]…and…was [convenient]ly [arres]ted at…a…prison…where he was providing ministry services to [people locked in the state’s filthy cages]…

 

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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Links #794

Posted in Current Events, History, Links, Miscellaneous, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Who thought of this?  –  Brent Chapman

Everybody knows Popeye, but did you know he was introduced to the screen (he first appeared in the “Thimble Theater” comic strip in 1929) in a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon?  By the end of the following year he had already replaced Betty as the Fleischer Studio’s biggest star.  The links above the video were provided by Carol Fenton, Mike Siegel, Phoenix Calida, Ryan Marino, IncarcerNation, The Onion, and T. Greg Doucette, 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!

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In the News (#1572)

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

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

If Men Were Angels

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

Cashing In On Shame

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

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

Welcome to the Future (#1440)

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

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

I Can’t Breathe (#1447)

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

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

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1456)

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

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

The Cop Myth (#1461)

Cop violence is never limited to adults:

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

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

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

Eavesdropping (#1501)

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

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

 

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