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Posts Tagged ‘Dutch Threat’

My…children were the real victims in this whole fiasco.  –  Melvin Quinney

Absolute Corruption

In about 20 or 25 years, you’ll start hearing news stories like this about victims of “sex trafficking” hysteria:

With a few strokes of a pen, Judge Christine Del Prado dismissed the case against 74-year-old Melvin Quinney…in the same court that 32 years ago had [wrongfully] convicted [him] of indecency with a child and sentenced him to 20 years…Quinney…spen[t] eight years in Texas prisons, [was] forced…to register as a sex offender and saw his four children [condemned]…to the foster care system.  Now that same court [has admitted] that abuse never took place.  It was all based on a lie — stemming from…satanic ritual abuse [hysteria]…Quinney’s now deceased ex-wife Debra along with [incompetent and evil] therapists pressured his nine-year-old son John Parker…to testify that his father molested him…in a satanic cult and that he had seen children murdered…“Whenever I had any doubts that something happened, I was told by the therapist that this was because I had multiple personalities, that my dad had programmed me this way,” Parker said…[when he] recanted his testimony as an adult, and worked to clear his fathers name…“Instead of getting help with the real mental problems she was experiencing, [my mother] was persuaded and kept mentally ill with pseudoscience and superstition”…

Policing for Profit

Cops will never stop doing this as long as the state keeps giving them pretexts:

A woman [has filed] a federal lawsuit [against] Kansas City, Missouri…[cops who] kicked in her front door, [ransack]ed her home…and [stole over] $20,000.  Monecia Smith [said]…a man she did not know knock[ed] on the front door of her house at 12:17 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2020.  Smith got out of bed, checked her video surveillance and saw the man had been shot.  She did not open the door.  A [cop] came to her house within the next two days and…[demanded] her…surveillance [recording, but she was understandably]…worried for her safety…[and so] told the detective he could not come to her house alone…[apparently he viewed this as “contempt of cop” and so sent a SWAT] team…to [her] house [armed with] a search warrant on January 15, 2020…Smith was not home [so the cops]…kicked open the front door….[stole her entire] video surveillance system…caused extensive damage to her home…[and] personal property and [stole] $20,000…

I wonder how long it will be before people realize that these surveillance systems are a liability rather than an asset?

To Molest and Rape

Cops really believe they’re above the law:

[A London cop named] Ireland Murdock…was found guilty of raping a woman and is awaiting sentence…the victim…[made the mistake of allowing Murdock] some consensual sexual activity, [but he] deliberately took things further than she allowed, and she pled for him to “stop” but he did not…She…[had] to change her bedsheets because of the blood.  After the victim reported [him]…he looked her up on [the cop computer] system…despite having no legitimate reason to do so. He has been charged and convicted for this as a separate offence…

Dutch Threat (#1241)

The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme:

New rules for sex workers [went] into force on April 1…requiring Amsterdam’s sex work businesses to close their doors at 3 a.m. rather than 6 a.m. to combat what local authorities describe as nuisance behavior by people visiting the red-light district.  The reduced hours come amid an ongoing campaign by the city council to [forc]e sex workers into an “erotic center” outside the heart of the city [where they will get far less business]…the reforms…are [already] increasing stigma…[against sex workers, who] are being…used as a scapegoat for the city’s problem with mass tourism…Felicia Anna…of Red Light United…says the reduced business hours will drastically reduce income for window workers, leaving many barely able to cover expenses… “Most of the workers start to work after 12 or one o’clock in the morning, when the bars start to close down…Now you have maybe two hours to make any money, which is not enough”…

Thought Control (#1268)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

Missouri House Republicans voted to defund all of the state’s public libraries, in…[retaliation for] a recent lawsuit filed against the state…by the ACLU of Missouri on behalf of the Missouri Association of School Librarians and the Missouri Library Association…seek[ing to overturn an]…unconstitutional…[law] that has resulted in over 300 books getting banned from school libraries…[for offending Christian fundamentalists]…“Library funding is guaranteed in the MO constitution,” the [MLA] wrote on Twitter.  “This tactic, meant to bully MLA into submission, instead directly harms public libraries who rely on those funds, especially the smaller, more rural libraries”…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1309)

Since doctors keep mocking cops’ fentanyl hysteria, they need to invent new bogeydrugs:

A [whiny baby Arizona cop] had a [panic attack after he made a pretext stop of a driver on]…I-10…He…searched the car [without a warrant] and found cocaine, fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, and three ounces of a gray, rock-like substance. [He immediately panicked, causing him to]…start…feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and his heart began to race.  [Unlike most cops, he appears to have some small degree of self-control and calmed himself down without placebos or medical theater]…Investigators then sent the gray substance to be tested…and it was discovered the drug was a new street drug called “gray death”…reportedly a mix of fentanyl and other powerful opioids[, none of which has any effect from casual contact]…

Of course, given the lack of a name, photo, or medical record for Deputy Dawg, the sheriff may have just made the whole thing up.

To Molest and Rape (#1330)

They’re trying to pretend this one isn’t typical and representative by calling him a “trainee”:

A…co[p] has been arrested for…raping a seven-year-old girl in Hazaribag district of Jharkhand…on [April 8th]…the girl was alone at home, and the accused took advantage of the situation…[she told her] parents [when they got home and]…a medical examination…confirmed [she had been raped]…

 

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The nuisance comes from drinking and drunkenness, but no one is saying close the bars.  –  Brenda, Dutch sex worker

The Notorious Badge 

I wonder when Hollywood will catch up?

The brothels look brighter, the alleyways are cleaner, and a stirring soundtrack accompanies the protagonists, but a new Bollywood film set in Mumbai’s red-light district has struck a chord with India’s roughly one million sex workers.  Gangubai Kathiawadi is a biopic telling the story of a sex worker of the same name who went from being a [coerced underage sexworker] to fight[ing] for the rights of women working in the trade in the 1950s, a battle still being fought today…Many sex workers in Kamathipura…and across India say the film starring celebrated actress Alia Bhatt shows rare understanding of their everyday struggles…“There have been so many films on women like us, but none that raised these issues,” said Kiran Deshmukh, president of National Network of Sex Workers.  “People believe what they see in Bollywood films. And this film has shown that sex work is work…that…helps us live our lives and feed and raise our children”…

Guinea Pigs (#757) 

And it can find you just as easily:

Cher Scarlett, a software engineer…uploaded some images of her[self]…to PimEyes, a facial-recognition website meant to be used to find pictures of yourself from around the web — ostensibly to help stamp out issues such as revenge porn and identity theft…the results [included]…porn…[she was coerced into making as a 19-year-old] addict…in New York in 2005…She has since tried and failed to get all of the explicit photos removed from PimEyes’ search results, despite the site saying it would scrub images of Scarlett from results…Giorgi Gobronidze…the current owner and director of PimEyes…[deflected blame by saying] “The problem isn’t that there is a search engine that can find these photos; the problem is…people who actually uploaded [the photos] on purpose”…Scarlett’s saga starkly shows how easily facial-recognition technology, which is now available to anyone with internet access, can lead to unexpected harms that may be impossible to undo…

The Prudish Giant (#1104) 

Instagram and TikTok users, take note:

Digital studies and sexuality researcher Dr. Carolina Are is asking sex workers, adult performers and others who have experienced discrimination to participate in a study investigating Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging or reporting of “gray area” content, including nudity.  Are is seeking participants over 18 years of age who have received negative comments and simultaneously had their accounts and/or content removed…Are plans to circulate an anonymous survey and then interview specific case studies.  Those wishing to share their experience with social media discrimination can fill out the survey here

Dutch Threat (#1136)

The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme:

In November 2020, Mayor Femke Halsema announced plans to [forcibly] relocate sex workers to a purpose built “Erotic Center” on the city’s outskirts in hopes of luring bands of drunk men and general carnality away from residents to make space for new cafés, art galleries, and designer boutiques…according to the mayor’s office…“We want less dominance of cheap nightlife”…if built, it will be the most extreme measure taken to “clean up” De Wallen, which has, in recent years, already been subject to a raft of new regulations and s[urveillance]…Amsterdam’s sex workers are ambivalent about the city’s plans to relocate them.  Brenda, a sex worker…[who] met me at the Prostitution Information Center…said sex workers were soft targets in the city’s gentrification push…Iris, a coordinator at the center, said the “so-called nuisance and antisocial behavior” was just another excuse to get rid of sex workers and free up lucrative real estate in the sought-after inner city

Winding Down (#1148)

Over half of Americans now live in states with legal cannabis:

Rhode Island…became the 19th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use…[the] bill…immediately allows adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of cannabis in public and grow up to three plants at home.  State-licensed recreational sales are supposed to start on December 1, beginning with the state’s three existing medical marijuana dispensaries.  The law also requires automatic expungement of marijuana possession convictions…public consumption…will be legal in any place where cigarette smoking is allowed…The law caps the number of retailers at 33, which amounts to about one store per 32,000 people…Rhode Islanders may find it easier to buy pot from black-market dealers or from stores in Massachusetts or Connecticut, both of which have legalized recreational use.  Like California, Rhode Island will allow local governments to ban pot shops, but only through referendums and not in the three cities (Providence, Warwick, and Portsmouth) where medical marijuana is already being sold…

Opting Out (#1199)

French law provides some defense vs religious activism:

A Paris court of appeals rejected…the attempt by local War on Porn groups, led by an extremist Catholic organization, to use France’s media authority and the courts to block the most popular adult tube sites in the country…following months of…threats pressuring tube sites to implement vaguely defined age verification schemes, French media regulator ARCOM went to court…to demand that French ISPs block Pornhub…and [a number of similar sites, but]…the Council of State…issued a ruling rendering null all the activities taken up by…ARCOM in connection with the…block…the Council…specifically pointed out the role played by extremist Catholic organization Civitas in orchestrating the campaign…

Civitas is associated with the Society of Saint Pius X, the reactionary organization founded by Archbishop Lefebvre to fight modernization efforts such as performing the Mass in the vernacular rather than Latin.

The Mob Rules (#1231)

The number of laws empowering busybodies to harass victims with nuisance lawsuits will only keep growing until they’re ruled unconstitutional:

Shortly after the nation’s latest mass shooting…at an elementary school in Texas, the California Senate passed a bill…to allow private citizens to file suit for at least $10,000 — a bounty-hunter provision modeled on a Texas abortion law — against makers or sellers of [3-D printed firearms] or [rifles banned under California law]…

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Prostitution is normal.  –  Carmen Kleingeris

Dutch Threat (#349)

Every few years, Utrecht thinks of a new way to harass sex workers:

Utrecht’s…Tippelzone…[has been] clos[ed by prohibitionist politicians.  Activist] Carmen Kleingeris…said…”Politicians are now actually saying by closing the tolerance zone: ‘sex workers do not belong’…this mentality…legitimize[s]…rape”…[The politicians specifically] decided to close the Tippelzone in 2018 [in order to gentrify the area]…

Monsters (#616) 

“Gender-critical feminists” are also virtually always prohibitionists:

The [UK] High Court has rejected claims that housing trans women who’ve committed sexual or violent offences against women in female prison facilities is discriminatory to cis women…The landmark case was brought by an unnamed cis female inmate…who…argued that her human rights were violated by having to be in the same prison as trans women prisoners who have convictions for sexual or violent offences against women, [but not by having to be in prison with]…cis women [who committed similar crimes]…The…case was supported by several so-called “gender-critical” groups…

Going After the Pimps

Your periodic reminder of what “going after the pimps” actually means:

A nurse accused of living off the earnings of the prostitution of his wife…in 2018…was fined €600 and did not appeal the decision.  [But now a busybody h]as [complained] to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland…and [David] Navarro is now facing an allegation of misconduct for allegedly bringing the nursing profession into disrepute [by failing to stop his wife from having a job]…

Between the Ears (#966)

Any internet-connected device can and will be used to spy on you:

Google Assistant records your conversations even when not in use, the company…admitted to an Indian government panel…even without saying the word “OK Google,” the AI Assistant still listens to your conversations…[even though] Google has…previously…cl[aimed otherwise]…Google [further] admitted…that their employees listen to such recordings…[but claims] it is not being done in a creepy way, [as if there is some non-creepy way to eavesdrop on strangers]…

Remember, Google has a long history of complying with surveillance and other police-statery.

R.I.P. Margo St. James

A “Celebration of Margo’s Life”:

Margo St. James…fought for sex workers at a time when the mainstream U.S. feminist movement was hostile to them and leftist organizers mostly wanted to portray them as victims…St. James still helped position the sex worker rights movement as a broad and classical liberal battle for civil rights, sexual freedom, economic liberty, and bodily autonomy, while advancing the idea that decriminalization would be good for women and good for sex worker safety.  In May, a group of COYOTE’s 21st century descendants released a video memorial to St. James, who died in January 2021.  Celebration of Life for Margo St. James features archival footage, photos, and interviews plus new commentary on and paeans to her life and work from an international and intergenerational squad of admirers. You can find the whole thing at margostjames.com

The Course of a Disease (#1118)

When a politician does the right thing, it’s usually for the wrong reason:

Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed legislation that would have made the state the first in the nation to [impose Swedish-style]…criminaliz[ation because]…she wasn’t convinced that the bill [taught dirty whores a lesson and she shared her masturbatory fantasies about how]…the state is a trafficking hub where victims are recruited and sent to major cities…such as New York and Boston…

As usual, the ignorant fuckwads who infest US journalism swallowed prohibitionist vomit about the Swedish model being “partial decriminalization” instead of consulting actual experts on the subject.

Property of the State (#1149)

Women with young children should avoid Alabama if at all possible:

Erika…Prock’s husband was smoking a cigarette outside the[ir] car…[when] an [Alabama cop pretended he] smelled marijuana on his breath.  Todd Prock [foolishly] told police he had [legal] marijuana [from their home in Michigan] in the trunk of the car.  The…[pigs therefore] arrested both adults and [abducted] the[ir toddler]…Weeks [later] the…Prock[s]…were charged with felony chemical endangerment, a law originally [represented to useful idiots as necessary] to target parents whose children were near meth labs…Instead of returning to Michigan, Prock and her husband moved into a tent behind her in-laws’ trailer while they fight a[ccus]ations in [both] criminal and [so-called] family court.  Her child has been [given away to] an Alabama foster family…Alabama courts have ruled that drug use can’t be the sole reason for [abducting people’s] child[ren], but [that doesn’t stop cops and prosecutors from maliciously attempting to destroy their lives for months or years until a court finally dismisses the charges]…

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More work spaces are needed in the Netherlands, not fewer.  –  The PIC

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Laws are for the peasantry, not the rulers:

…Oregon [politician]…Dave Hunt was cited by Portland police in a…[prostitution] sting…in April…Hunt was one of numerous sponsors of a bill [redefin]ing [sex work as] sex trafficking in 2007.  In 2011, he also voted for…a…bill creat[ing a new] crime of commercial sexual solicitation, the crime for which he was arrested…The Portland [cop shop] issued a [lot of confused oinking on] May 1, [apparently referr]ing [to ordinary advertising websites as “]known human trafficking websites…”

Guinea Pigs (#938) 

Don’t be fooled by talk of “human trafficking”, “pimps”, and “dangerous societal problems”; what they’re actually targeting are ordinary escort ads:

Researchers at McGill University and Carnegie Mellon University…have designed an algorithm that [they pretend] detects organized human trafficking activity in online escort advertisements…[the computer geeks fantasize about passive, vegetable-like] victims…[who] have no input into the wording used in the advertisements posted for them by their pimp, who [magic]ally controls over 4 to 6 victims, [pants] Reihaneh Rabbany [while making furtive movements in his pants]…this[, rather than the ordinary copycat marketing behavior which occurs in every industry,] leads to similar phrasing and duplication among listings which can be used to detect organized activity.  The proposed algorithm, called InfoShield, can put millions of advertisements together and highlight the common parts…[to] help [the pigs] identify [sex workers for harassment and arrest]…

Law of the Instrument (#954)

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

…actress Esmé Bianco…was one of the many women, including actress Evan Rachel Wood, who spoke out against…shock rocker…Marilyn Manson…back in February…the…actress filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles federal court where she claimed [he] raped and sexually battered her…in or around May 2011…According to the lawsuit, [Manson] also…committ[ed] human trafficking when he “employed fraud” in bringing Bianco to the United States to appear in a music video for his song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies” and a never-made horror film based on the works of Lewis Carroll called Phantasmagoria

Are rape and domestic violence no longer considered sufficiently serious crimes?

The Missing Word (#989)

And yet, that word is still nowhere to be found:

A judge ruled that a former South Carolina restaurant manager who forced a Black man with intellectual disabilities to work more than 100 hours a week without pay, owes [his victim] more than $500,000…Bobby Paul Edwards…is serving a [mere] 10-year prison sentence for [enslav]ing John Christopher Smith…[he] was originally ordered [by an asleep-at-the-wheel judge] to pay Smith [a mere] $273,000, which covered minimum wages and overtime compensation…Federal prosecutors appealed this decision, arguing that Smith should be owed more money because of the delay in receiving pay…an appeals court agreed, and ruled…Smith should be awarded…double the pay and overtime…

To Molest and Rape (#1022)

Your government calls this “border protection”:

Mesa [Arizona] police said they arrested a [typical and representative] Border Patrol agent…[as] a serial rapist who a[ttacked eight women]…from [July] 1999 through [October] 2001.  John Daly III…was…”the East Valley Rapist”…[in] cases…connected by similar suspect behavior and…DNA…[Daly’s victims were all] white women between 21 and 41 years old [whose homes he invaded] through open doors and windows…DNA [evidence has already] linked Daly to two of the [rapes]…

The Widening Gyre (#1102)

Innocent people accused of “sex trafficking” by attention-hungry loons are starting to hit back:

A…[Karen] who went viral in December when she accused a Latino couple of attempting to kidnap her children at a local craft store has been charged with two counts of giving false information to police…Katie Sorensen…post[ed] two videos…to her Instagram account @motherhoodessentials…[in order to] gain…about 4.5 million views…Sadie and Eddie Martinez…were “very happy with the news” of charges filed against Sorensen…

Dutch Threat (#1110)

The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme:

A sex show, bars, 100 small rooms…5,000 square metres of space [plus hovering bureacrats] will [be part of] Amsterdam’s new erotic centre…[to be built in one of] nine possible locations [on] the edge of…Amsterdam…It is part of a plan…to [Disnify] Amsterdam’s red light district by relocating sex work elsewhere.  Mayor Femke Halsema has also stressed that the erotic centre needs to “improve [surveillance] of sex workers” and do more to [infantilize and control them]…The complex will include space for services offering care, as well as…a…[cop] shop…

Lipstick on a Pig (#1127)

When one rewards animals for acting a certain way, one shouldn’t be surprised when that behavior increases:

…[Gary Watsky] is now suing [Williamson] county [Texas] officials, including former Sheriff Robert Chody, over a SWAT team home invasion that was [staged for the TV] show…Live PD…Watsky’s son, Asher, [had] appeared in court just hours before the…raid…[bu]t Chody [had] “created a culture of indifference to the use of excessive force and disregard for civil liberties” and rewarded the bad behavior of his deputies with gift cards and appearances on the show…this policy…led to an “unlawful no-knock home invasion” that injured him and destroyed his property…”Chody set up a false narrative…that Asher was dangerous…to justify the SWAT team’s terror tactics”…sheriff’s officials [have admitted to] removing the [new] warrant from the system so no one would see it on the day of his court appearance…

I Spy (#1133)

The word for such “partnerships” to further tyranny is “fascism”:

The Biden administration is considering using outside firms to [spy on] Americans online, a…[fascist scheme] that would expand the government’s ability to gather intelligence but [violate Constitutional] …limit[s]…on…federal authorities…The [scheme]…would…allow the [DHS, FBI, CIA, NSA and other federal cop shops and spook houses] to circumvent those limits…by [warp]ing [them beyond recognition]…the Biden administration w[ants]…to…find…ways to…[utilize] the January 6 attack on the US Capitol [to expand its surveillance and other powers]…

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Hairdressers…would hardly consider their work to be “decriminalized” if it were legal to sell a haircut but not to buy one.  –  Michael Ellsberg

Under Duress 

Are most cops even capable of telling the truth?

Most Americans don’t know this, but [cops]…are permitted by law to outright lie…to suspects…in pursuit of a confession.  Of all forms of subterfuge they deploy — like feigning sympathy and suggesting that a suspect’s confession might bring leniency — this one is particularly dangerous.  In Frazier v. Cupp (1969), the Supreme Court made it lawful for the police to [lie about] evidence.  “The victim’s blood was found on your pillow,” “You failed the polygraph,” “Your fingerprints were on the knife” and “Your friend said she wasn’t with you like you said” are some common but brazen lies told.  There is…no limit to the type or magnitude of deception permitted — one lie or many; small lies and whoppers; lies aimed at adults or anxious and unwary teenagers…the history of wrongful convictions points to countless innocent people induced to confess to crimes they did not commit.  A bill…in New York…would finally put a stop to [permission for] this in the state.  [Cops would of course still lie constantly, but they would no longer have actual permission to do so]…and…courts [would be required] to evaluate the reliability of confession evidence before allowing it to be used…

The Leading Players in the Field, Not (#752) 

This histrionic has-been has made a rotting moral panic her whole career:

Mira Sorvino is developing a [TV] series to…[profit from the dying hysteria over] human trafficking…The series will [exploit] a group of people…using…abused and neglected rescue animals [that Sorvino and her fellow prohibitionists pretend sex workers resemble]…on a…200-acre ranch outside of Los Angeles [being used as a gingerbread house.  Mira’s]…sister Amanda Sorvino is a highly respected animal rescuer and [it seems that Mira believes humans can be “rescued” using the same methods intended for animals]…

Safe Position (#947)

Even my jaded self is impressed with the speed this is happening in New York:

…Manhattan District Attorney candidate Eliza Orlins is unveiling a comprehensive policy platform calling for the full decriminalization of sex work…Formulated in consultation with many sex workers and…advocacy organizations, it is one of the most detailed policy positions on…decriminalization…ever put forward by a major candidate at any level of U.S. politics…Orlins’ policy platform opens, “As District Attorney I will advocate for the full decriminalization of consensual sex work.  This will begin with declining to prosecute all cases of consensual sex work.  Sex work is work.  Criminalizing sex work stigmatizes and disproportionately targets people of color and trans women, who are already marginalized members of our community… Decriminalizing is the most effective way to protect sex workers from police violence…It is necessary…to reduce mass incarceration”…recent national polling…shows that 52 percent of American voters support the full decriminalization of sex work either strongly or somewhat…The candidate…emphasized that she will aggressively prosecute sex traffickers…In contrast to [prohibitionist politician Liz] Krueger, Orlins [states that]…“Prohibitionist models (such as the ‘Nordic Model’) continue to criminalize and stigmatize sex workers.  Partial legalization schemes give prosecutors too much discretion”…

Orlins’ clear denunciation of Swedish criminalization (even more explicit in the interview which forms the second half of this article) makes me far more optimistic about her plans than those of either Michigan Prosecutor Eli Savit or presidential wannabe Andrew Yang.

Torture Chamber (#1001)

Virginia screws sexually assault women like this on a regular basis:

In July of 2016, Angela Calloway arrived at the Augusta C[age Stack] in…Virginia, to visit with a…[prisoner]…She left soon after, having been [force]d to remove her clothes and tampon so [screws] could [violate] her vaginal[ly] and anal[ly using the pretext of a “search”]…Calloway has not returned to the prison since.  A federal court ruled…that the guards involved in that [sexual assault] did not violate the Fourth Amendment…upholding a lower court ruling that awarded qualified immunity to the government employees.  Calloway will thus not be permitted to sue over the [attack]…

The judges’ ruling can be paraphrased as, “cops are so barbaric and stupid they can’t possibly know that rape is wrong.”  Presumably, that applies even when the victim is only eight years old.

The Monsters Are Due (#1018)

We haven’t seen a case of white van hysteria in almost a year:

University of Oregon students are [behaving like hysterical idiots about]…sex trafficking…[because] a [delusional busybody posted a] TikTok video…show[ing] a white van and accus[ing its owner] of having girls in the back of it…Brandon Smith…[was simply] driving his van…[when] two girls acting intoxicated [started] screaming down to their friends o[ut of a window]…Police showed up to Smith’s door as he was doing laundry and [harassed and threatened him for hours over the moronic accusation.  Luckily they did not murder or assault him, but]…he…is dealing with people harassing him when they see his van, and it’s taking a toll on his mental health…

Robocops

We need more attention to one of the greatest legal abominations ever conceived:

Ben & Jerry’s two co-founders want to make it easier for Americans to sue [violent, corrupt cops]…Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield…The Campaign to End Qualified Immunity is being championed by Cohen and Greenfield…activist Shaun King…rapper Michael “Killer Mike” Render…[politicians] Tom McClintock…Mike Braun…Ayanna Pressley and…Cory Booker…NFL stars Tom Brady and Drew Brees a[nd]…more than 1,500 [other] athletes and artists…[plus] 671 business leaders, according to its website.  “We are…resolved to end this get-out-of-jail free card for bad cops,” Cohen told reporters…

Dutch Threat (#1059)

The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme:

The brothel windows of Amsterdam’s red light district will be closed and an “erotic centre” will be set up away from the city centre, councillors have agreed.  A proposal from the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema…was backed by a broad group of p[uritans]…The sex workers in the De Wallen red light district will be [forc]ed to move to a purpose-built centre elsewhere in Amsterdam…[or else choose to work illegally.  Politicians pretend]ed that the brothel windows should be closed [to “protect”] women working in the area [by dramatically cutting into their income]…When the idea was first proposed, a…[survey show]ed that 90% of…female sex workers…wanted to work in the windows…of…De Wallen.  [A sex worker called]…Foxxy…told [reporters]: “Relocating…is not an option because then the customers will not know where to find the sex workers. Will [politicians] also…organise bus trips for them to the Westelijk Havengebied?”…A second proposal to ban tourists from buying cannabis from the city’s cafes is struggling to win support owing to [the reality] that it will hand over trade to dealers on the streets…

Stupor Bowl (#1106)

Pathetic public promotions of misogynistic masturbatory material like this appear to be all that’s left of the once-popular “gypsy whores” myth.  Whereas national media used to prominently feature fetishists stroking themselves in public to the general adoration of gullible nitwits, the coverage is now mostly limited to local papers and TV news stations who consider obedient regurgitation of copaganda, no matter how ludicrous, to be part of their business model, plus fringe sites run by copsuckers and ex-military wingnuts with delusions of expertise unshared by anyone with even a cursory familiarity with the subject.  While the tales used to start appearing late in the preceding summer or even a year or more in advance, they now seem largely limited to a few foul eruptions in the week or two before, like a sudden discharge from a cluster of turgid pustules previously hidden by clothing.  And despite claims of “recent reports” and “new studies” of the fantasy, all of the claims are a decade or more old and still derive from the same grotesque prohibitionist profiteering we’ve seen over and over again (this one, as one might expect from fascist authoritarians, relies heavily on “Cuckoo Clock” McCain’s fevered fantasies from ’14 which imploded in a spectacular fashion last autumn).  In short, there’s nothing to see here that we haven’t seen innumerable times before, and these creeps’ pathetic devotion to their ugly fantasies would inspire pity if it weren’t being used to support calls for mass surveillance, aggressive censorship and state-sanctioned rape.

To Molest and Rape (#1109)

Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?

A [typical and representative NYPD cop]…was arrested on child pornography charges…after he repeatedly posed as a teenager online to request and obtain sexually explicit photos and videos from at least 46 minors…Carmine Simpson…is the latest in a string of [cops]…to be [caught committing] sexual crimes involving minors…Simpson told his targets that he was 17…and…some[times]…sent them pictures of himself to which he had applied a filter, making him look younger…In November, [cop] Shaun Frazier…[was caught molesting kids for]…the…third [time]…In July, a [pig known for skulking around] school[s]…Jeanisidor Jean Baptiste, was…charged with…rape and assault against a child.  In March…Yavier Julio, was indicted on child pornography charges…In February…Timothy Martinez was charged with possession of child pornography…In September 2019…Juan Jimenez, was…charged with [molesting]…a child.  And the month before that, John Telesca…was…charged with…child pornography.  Dara E. Purvis, an associate dean at Penn State Law who has studied sexual violence by the police, said this kind of misconduct is vastly underreported…

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Are we also going to ban [picking] peppers and asparagus?
–  Niels van den Berge

License to Rape

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

Denver police are [trying to cover up the rape of]…a man [who] was [an]ally [raped by a cop] while being arrested at a protest.  [Cops charged] Michael Jacobs…with disarming a police officer…[claiming] he violently resisted arrest and tried to disarm [his rapist] of a pepper ball gun…[in actuality the cop] used his…nightstick [to rape him]…Jacobs…otained a rape kit following the arrest…a doctor evaluated him two weeks after the incident, finding “rectal and anal hemorrhage”…

Torture Chamber (#997) 

Serial rape is just one of the fringe benefits afforded to screws in Florida:

…[screws] repeatedly sexually assaulted and [raped] the inmates at the…Coleman [cage stack] in [Florida]…In some cases…the [rapes went on regularly] for years…Six of the [rapists] admitted to [serially raping prisoners] but…were not prosecuted — instead, they were allowed to resign or retire, and some are still receiving benefits…

The Cop Myth (#1004)

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

Jay Allen Rotter, a [cop in] Tarrant County [Texas, murdered]…his girlfriend [and then claimed she] had shot herself…Police [tried to cover it up for several weeks before finally arresting]…Rotter…on September 14…

Dutch Threat (#1005)

A good general overview of political attacks on Dutch sex workers contains this welcome news:

…job satisfaction should not play a role in whether you deserve labor rights…In a striking twist [the Green Left Party, which has previously] voted in favour of [laws to register, surveil and control sex workers]…advocated decriminalisation of sex work…the Secretary of State promised to investigate various forms of sex work policy, including the New Zealand model of decriminalisation…such a study has already been done, with one of the most important conclusions being that sex workers should be listened to…

Quiet Genocide (#1023)

Meanwhile, the “enlightened” West just watches as a genocide progresses:

Turkey has been a safe haven for Uighurs fleeing persecution ever since the Chinese Communist Party took control of Xinjiang in 1949 and hosts one of the largest Uighur diaspora populations in the world.  Then came a sudden, unexpected switch…since early 2019, Turkey has arrested hundreds of Uighurs and sent them to deportation centers…Erdogan’s remarkable U-turn has a simple explanation:  His regime and Turkey’s economy are in crisis.  With few other friends, Ankara is counting on Beijing to patch things up…Once seen as a model of democracy and economic development in the region, Turkey is now an authoritarian country…Western companies and investors, once attracted to Turkey’s fast-growing economy and population, are staying away.  China’s appetite for expansion into Western Asia and Europe offers Erdogan a lifeline…China is now Turkey’s second-largest import partner after Russia.  China has invested $3 billion in Turkey between 2016 and 2019 and intends to double that by the end of next year…

The Implosion Begins

I did not foresee that the “sex trafficking” moral panic would implode in such a spectacular and entertaining fashion:

…Rather than enticing new recruits with the promise to unveil…secrets about the…Clintons and Obamas, #SaveOurChildren captures attention with [approved government] statistics about the prevalence of child sex trafficking [which have been endlessly repeated by media like The Guardian], then draws susceptible readers down the rabbit hole of increasingly implausible falsehoods…QAnon [uses the same]…blatantly false beliefs about [sex workers that] Democrats [have conspired with Republicans (and politicians of all parties in most other Western countries) to spread for two decades, then adds extra fantasies about elites] sexually abusing children in order to extract a life-extending chemical from their blood…The #SaveOurChildren version of QAnon has been particularly popular among a new coalition of anti-public-health activists who have been galvanized by the coronavirus pandemic…Facebook’s recommendation algorithm…helped facilitate cross-pollination between…dedicated to anti-vaccine activism, anti-coronavirus lockdowns and QAnon…[which then] infiltrated many online subcultures, including those formed around evangelical Christianity, New Age spiritualism and alternative medicine or “wellness”…

The Widening Gyre (#1074)

It’s fascinating to watch the media flailing against a hysteria they’ve worked for decades to create:

Cuties, which was a hit when it premiered at Sundance last year, tells the story of an 11-year-old girl…who strays from her strict conservative…Muslim upbringing to join a hip-hop dance troupe.  At its essence, Cuties is a coming-of-age narrative and a commentary on social media’s role in sexualizing children, but…[“sex trafficking” fetishists claim] that Cuties and its accompanying marketing materials were evidence of an underage child sex trafficking cabal in Hollywood.  It [i]s the kind of wild-eyed, hysterical allegation that…[for] years…[has] been promoted on…mainstream [media platforms and by] public figures and [profiteer] organizations…[to further a campaign to increase the power of the police state and censor the internet by] fuel[ing public hysteria about a mythical] child sex-trafficking trade…the discourse surrounding Cuties [is further evidence that control over this fantastical narrative has sh]ifted [to] the fringes [from] the mainstream…

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We put incredibly onerous restrictions on them that are…des[igned] to…make them fail.  –  Daniel Lambright

Counterfeit Comfort (#52) 

New York increases “indefinite imprisonment” to “death sentence”:

On March 4, Hector Rodriguez was sent to Rikers Island because he failed to log his address with state’s sex offender registry — even though he had been homeless for years.  Rodriguez died June 21 on his jail bed, while struggling to breathe during a severe asthma attack…he was 60 years old and had contracted COVID-19 in April…Rodriguez was convicted of raping a woman…in 1979, when he was a teenager.  He spent 23 years in prison and has been on the Sex Offender Registry since his release…“He died in a jail where he was put because he didn’t tell someone he was homeless? What kind of society does that?” asked Vincent Schiraldi, who served as probation commissioner during the Giuliani administration…

Sex Rays

Where “bad vibes” is used to mean “sex rays”:

At the posh 75 Main in Southampton [New York], owner Zach Erdem…[publicly] chopped up and torched Table 1 — the favorite of onetime regular Jeffrey Epstein, and occasionally, Harvey Weinstein…“I’m sick of the bad energy of this table,…Every time I see it I think of that sicko.”  The bustling brunch crowd left their tables to gawk at the bonfire in progress, whooping and chanting, “Burn, Epstein, burn!” as Erdem hacked at the cursed table and burned it into oblivion.  Renee Downing, a Miami native who summers in the Hamptons, toasted the roasting. “I think this sends a strong statement”…

Said statement being, “I figured out a way to turn last year’s news into an ad for my overpriced hipster restaurant, because if Gwyneth Paltrow can profit from a bunch of superstitious snobs with far more money than cognitive development, so can I.”

The Immunity Syndrome (#666)

The result of “abstinence only sex education”:

Plastic wrap.  Plastic bags.  These are some of the workarounds teens use to protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, pediatrician Dr. Laura Grubb, a specialist in adolescent medicine…published…in the journal Pediatrics…Grubb said…”I’ve heard so many teens tell me that they don’t need contraception or they don’t need condoms because they don’t plan on being sexually active.  And then a couple weeks later they’re back in the office and we’re running a pregnancy test or we’re testing for sexually transmitted infections.”   Recent rates of sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, have been skyrocketing among teens and young adults, at the same time that the number of teen pregnancies and births has declined…Adolescents and young adults account for more than 50% of new STI diagnoses, despite being only about 25% of the sexually active population…they [also] account for 1 in 5 of all new HIV…diagnoses in the United States…

The Last Shall Be First (#768)

Politicians’ potty obsession goes federal:

A copy of the new rule that will allow homeless shelters to refuse transgender people has been leaked to the media, and it contains instructions on how to spot transgender women to target them for discrimination…the Obama-era Equal Access Rule…required homeless shelters that receive HUD funding to house transgender people with the gender they identify as.  The rollback…allows single-gender homeless shelters to decide if they want a housing policy based on sex assigned at birth or gender identity, effectively allowing shelters…to determine who is transgender…the rule [says]…a shelter…may use “factors such as height, the presence…of facial hair, the presence of an Adam’s apple, and other physical characteristics”…if a homeless person appears…transgender…the shelter is allowed to ask them for proof of “biological sex”…[but stops short of allowing] shelters [to] forc[e] suspected transgender people to strip in front of them…

Checklist (#972) 

Airlines:  are you sure you want to keep accepting liability for employees racially profiling passengers due to the government propaganda you keep feeding them?

A Black social worker is suing American Airlines…[after] airline employees [accused] her of kidnapping a white toddler whom she was accompanying during a flight last fall.  Shannon Murphy, a social worker with Riverside County, California…was pulled off a plane in October and airline employees [temporarily abducted] the…toddler [she was bringing] back from a court-mandated two-week visit with his father in Arkansas.  While [she] was waiting for the second leg of a flight [at] Dallas-Fort Worth [a racist passenger]…told a flight attendant that they [fantasized] Murphy [was] holding a kidnap victim…Airline employees [forced] Murphy…[off] the plane…and took the child from her…she had paperwork…including her work ID, the child’s birth certificate, and a signed copy of the court order for the trip…but the…[employees preferred to be melodramatic instead of simply looking at the documents on the damned plane]…after about 40 minutes, during which the flight was delayed at the gate, she was let back on…

Dutch Threat (#1017)

The idea of just letting sex workers see clients in private, away from cops, bureaucrats and tourists, never occurs to the Dutch:

the Netherlands[‘ biased and punitive] lockdown measures…[plunged] legal…sex workers…into deep financial trouble and…emboldened [NIMBY]…residents…to [demand]…the [government throttle]…the…tourism [on which the inner city economy depends]…Sex workers [point out that, as is typical in places steeped in puritanism,] their industry has been unfairly singled out as the root of the problem…Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema [is using]…the pandemic [to push her scheme to confine]…sex workers…[in] a “prostitution hotel”…outside the [direct sight of busybodies]…

The Spiral of Absurdity (#1056) 

This is the second time we’ve seen fetishists trying to shore up their collapsing fantasy by pretending that “sex traffickers” discarded their “slaves” during the pandemic:

Thousands of Nigerian women forced into prostitution were left to starve by sex traffickers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy…[racist Europeans fantasize that] more than 80% of the tens of thousands of Nigerian women who arrived in Italy from Libya in recent years were victims of highly organised sex trafficking gangs.  The [fetishists claim that] women are forced into prostitution to pay off debts of up to €40,000 (£36,000) and controlled through violence and fear of juju” black magic rituals they are made to undergo before their journey to Europe…during the prolonged and strict three-month Covid-19 lockdown introduced by the Italian government, trafficking gangs abandoned women and their children, who were unable to leave their homes or work and were left without food or money to pay the rent.  Given the illegal status of their jobs, they had no recourse to financial assistance or unemployment benefits…

Anyone with at least one foot in reality could comprehend that sex workers are in financial trouble for the same reason as many other people, but that would require admitting that sex work is work.

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“Decriminalise Sex Work” is not…an ideological argument any more than “Black Lives Matter”.  –  Empower

Torture Chamber 

Even journalists reporting on these abuses insist on referring to them as “correction”:

A [human being locked in a cage by] Alabama [“authorities”] died weeks after he was [savage]ly beaten by a[nother prisoner], beaten again and hog-tied by [screws], and then denied treatment by a nurse…a secret Alabama [government]…report contains shocking details about the death of Billy Smith, including apparent efforts to conceal the timeline of events and obscure the roles that [subhuman monsters euphemized with the Orwellian term] correctional employees played in his fatal ordeal.  Smith…was found dazed and injured on the floor of a bathroom…in November 2017 after another man…punched him in the head…[screws] then beat Smith, hog-tied him, and left him strapped to a gurney [where he]…lay untreated for at least an hour…bleeding heavily from his nose and pleading for help.  [Screws eventually] took him to a nearby prison medical facility, where a [so-called] nurse [shouted “stop faking!” at him and left him to die.  Hours later he slipped into a coma]…and…never woke up again.  He died 26 days later from blunt force head trauma…

A Moral Cancer (#618) 

When government loses one excuse for violently intruding on private lives, it will invent another one:

Suffolk County [New York] is proposing a law that would [ban smoking] in apartment complexes, condominiums, and multi-family dwellings…[because politician, physician and violent busybody] William Spencer…[fantasizes that] smoke can permeate through…walls, electrical lines, [and] plumbing…[politician] Sam Gonzalez is sponsoring the bill…“When I get the push-back from individuals that say, ‘No, you can’t stop me from smoking,’ I say ‘[Sure I can, by sending violent thugs to spy on you, smash down your door, brutalize your family and murder your dog]’” Gonzalez said…

To Molest and Rape

Just another typical and representative cop predating on vulnerable women:

A suburban New York [cop] is behind bars after being charged with repeatedly [raping] a woman while supposedly investigating a theft.  Peekskill [cop] Michael Agovino [i]s being held…on charges including sexual abuse and stalking…[after] the woman secretly recorded Agovino demanding sex…in January…

Tyranny By Consensus (#768) 

Why does California keep trying to destroy or drive out a lucrative industry?

The Adult Performers Actors Guild (APAG) has called for the resignation of the board of their own “mother union,” the International Entertainment Adult Union (IEAU) following the revelation…by…[sponsoring politician] Cristina Garcia that the controversial California bill AB2389…was “brought to them” by the IEAU…No prominent sex worker group…[was] contacted by Garcia before…the…bill proposal[, which] mandates…that…all adult performers, from porn actors and actresses, clip creators, webcam models, and dancers…pay to be licensed, complete a training program, and submit their fingerprints for criminal records checks…[it] requires…performers to keep their licenses with them at all times, and be subject to inspection at any time, including at their homes…the bill…[refers to stage names with the pejorative “]false name[” and includes “]human trafficking[” mumbo-jumbo and anti-migrant language]…The advisory committee who decides who gets licensed and who doesn’t would consist [mostly] of [outsiders, including prohibitionists]

Dutch Threat (#917)

The idea of just letting sex workers see clients in private, away from cops, bureaucrats and tourists, never occurs to the Dutch:

A special room rental complex for prostitutes or an “erotic centre” complete with prostitution, sex theatres and other facilities are the two most likely options on the table to reduce tourism in Amsterdam’s red light district and [enable] the s[urveillance] of sex workers…The [declared] aim is not to replace prostitution in the red light district, but open the door to alternative locations so sex workers can relocate if they feel more comfortable…Five different scenarios have been looked at and discussed with locals, sex workers and [cops]…

Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs (#939)

Thai sex worker activists are made of awesome:

…The Thai Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act (1996) is fast becoming an orphan law running counter to the moral code of modern Thai society…It has reached the point where police must instigate the transactions themselves in order to make any prostitution arrests at all…Despite significant expenditure and 60 years of criminalisation, the Thai law has spectacularly failed to end “prostitution” in Thailand.  Instead it has filled the pockets of corrupt authorities, who use it as a tool to extort money from the country’s sex workers.  It has become an insurmountable wall standing between sex workers and access to justice and human rights…

Whither Canada? (#947)

A small but important victory in Canada:

A[n Ontario] judge has ruled that sections of Canada’s prostitution law violates the constitution in a landmark case surrounding…Tiffany Harvey and Hamad Anwar who ran an escort agency in London.  The couple was charged in 2015 when police raided Fantasy World Escorts…several [bogus] human trafficking charges were dropped [but] they remained charged with advertising sexual services, making money from the sex trade, and procuring for the sex trade.  Those charges have now been stayed as Justice Thomas McKay ruled that they were unconstitutional, a decision that is likely to be appealed by the [Liberal government which while campaigning claimed it would repeal the law]…the…decision is in regards to this case only….[but] will serve as a test case for higher court cases…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1008) 

Remember this when cops start bloviating about how they use the technology to catch “dangerous criminals”:

On the morning of Nov. 8, 2019, Sacramento [cops] arrested a…woman…for carrying an open alcoholic beverage and for [using a stage name] when they [accosted] her…because she was walking…on…“a known prostitution stroll”…[pigs] used facial recognition to [root up her government name so they could charge her with]…false ID…The [cop shop] contracts with a company called DataWorks Plus to capture and store mugshots…and…since late 2017…has been able to run its growing trove of images through a facial recognition database that DataWorks created [specifically for pigs]…

Stupor Bowl (#1012)

The Miami Herald and local TV news mindlessly parrot copaganda, but not the alternative press:

…routine bust[s] of…147 people for…simple prostitution in the 12 days before the [Miami] Super Bowl…[were claimed by cops and prosecutors to be “connected”] with…sex-trafficking crimes…the [raids] swept up scores of [ordinary]…sex workers simply looking to make ends meet — and, once again, [demonstrates that]…the supposed boom in sex trafficking that occurs around the Super Bowl every year is, in fact, a myth

The Mote and the Beam (#1013)

More companies join the herd rushing toward self-lobotomization to please their masters in Washington:

…the U.S. Department of Justice held a “public workshop” on Section 230.  Predictably, it wound being up a greatest hits of the half-truths and paranoid bellyaching commonly employed against this important law…Section 230 has never prevented the Justice Department from enforcing federal criminal statutes against online violators…[yet] U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr opened the event…by saying that “criminals and bad actors now use technology to facilitate and expand the scope of their wrongdoing and the victimization of our fellow citizens”…But [in reality] the statute…provides the legal framework that allows companies to actually try to keep exploitative content offline…Lurking in [his] comments is the schizophrenic proposition girding a lot of Section 230 opposition: that getting rid of it would somehow permit freer speech online and keep online spaces “safer” and more palatable for everyone…

Crying for Nanny (#1013)

AirBnB is trying to shield itself from the fallout of the hotel industry’s eager copsucking:

Airbnb is expanding its commitment to [fascist collaboration with pigs and NGO]…profit[eers]…as the hospitality industry faces a series of lawsuits [result]ing [directly from its kowtowing to fanatics instead of fighting hysteria]…Airbnb is coming up with incentives to encourage hosts to [submit to indoctrination]…Airbnb [conspiracy with] Polaris…[is intended] to provide [the company] a [shield from the many nuisance lawsuits enabled by FOSTA.  Ambulance-chasers]…representing [soi-disant] human trafficking victims want…a single federal judge to oversee multiple lawsuits a[ttempt]ing t[o profit from hysteria over so-called]…human trafficking [before it implodes]…Attorneys asked a federal panel to consolidate at least 21 such lawsuits pending in 11 states into a single case in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, arguing that the lawsuits contain the same basic allegations…About 1,500 [opportunists] have retained lawyers in the various lawsuits and as many as 7,000 are expected over time, said Paul Pennock, an attorney with the New York-based firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which is leading the efforts to consolidate the lawsuits…

Theatrics (#1016)

This is at least the fifth iteration we’ve seen of this same inane stunt:

[“Sex trafficking” fetishists from Covenant House masturbated furiously while looking at BDSM porn they openly displayed on a Toronto street.  Through their animalistic gasps of pleasure they moaned that] women and girls are just products to be sold — or rented, rather, again and again…The campaign strives to [indoctrinate] young people…[with] sex trafficking myths a[bout] warning signs…and…teen victims…[in hopes they’ll ignore the truth about sex work they can learn from activists] through social media…

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Poke any “Super Bowl sex trafficking sting”…and all you’ll find is a bunch of sex workers and their customers arrested.  –  Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Finding What Isn’t There (#778)

Because the numbers are so low, fetishists want cops trained to manufacture larger ones:

…a state Department of Justice survey…found that human trafficking data is “inconsistent across [Wisconsin]”…and more needs to be done to train [pigs to pretend that sex workers are]…victims…[and] children…[Attorney General Josh] Kaul said…”there’s…clearly a need for more training…so…we can make sure that [cop shops define eveything possible as]…human trafficking [so we can get more federal]…money…in Wisconsin…The number of agency heads who believe that human trafficking happens in their jurisdictions has increased”…Milwaukee has be[en fantasized as]…a hub for sex trafficking [absurdly called “the Harvard of sex trafficking“], in part because of a…[masturbatory fantasy about] “pimp roundtables,” focused on [learning how to walk through walls and do black magic]…

Comfort Zone (#847)

Sometimes the attempt to hide migration control behind the “sex trafficking” narrative is especially apparent:

Forty-seven people have been arrested in a major operation against a network trafficking people between Gibraltar and Spain…the gang kaked [sic] the documentation necessary for the migrants to obtain a visa to enter Gibraltar and then cross the border into Spain clandestinely, hidden in four-wheel drive vehicles with tinted window.  The organisation charged each Moroccan migrant between 7,000 and 8,000 euros for the visa, which increased by between 500 and 700 euros if they needed temporary accommodation…or transfer to another province or country…the traffickers planned the migrants’ journeys, preparing a complete file with false documentation…a plane ticket…a hotel reservation in Gibraltar and [instructions on] steps to follow and who to contact…

Does that sound like “victimization” to you?  This business is providing a service to people who want it, and the attempt to frame it as a “crime” against anyone but the State is patently absurd.

Something Rotten in Sweden (#908)

The public will believe anything it sees on billboards, no matter how ridiculous:

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley…[is behind] a new public [disinformation] campaign to [perscute sex workers]…that’s called, “Take The Pledge”…[which] invites [ignorant conformists] to [jump on the “sex trafficking” bandwagon.  Propaganda]…will be presented on Clear Channel billboards and bus shelters throughout Alameda County…[so gullible yahoos] can [fork over their hard-earned money to] support [pogroms against sex workers and their clients and families]…O’Malley said the billboards drive internet traffic to the her office’s [propaganda] website, where people can take the pledge [under the pretense of] anonym[it]y and sign up for text and email alerts with [their identifying information stored on the prosecutor’s office computers]…

Micromanagement (#927)

They’re not only giving cops people’s info, but selling it to corporations as well:

DNA testing company 23andMe has sold the rights to a new drug that it has developed using its customers’ data…the drug…is…a potential treatment for inflammatory diseases…The drug is likely to be the first of many the company licenses…More than 80 per cent of their customers have agreed to their data being used by the company for research…“In general, I think it’s really good that human genetic information is useful for drug discovery,” says [molecular geneticist Tim] Frayling.  But he questions whether it is fair for the company to financially profit from genetic data that its customers volunteered for medical research…Commentators have already suggested that companies that offer consumer genetic testing pay their customers for the data, rather than charge for it

Rescued To Death (#977)

Once again Philippine cops “rescue” Chinese women from lucrative employment:

Nearly 300 Chinese sex workers and their clients were [arrested] in raids by…Philippine…Police…in the second half of last year…the managers were…charged with human trafficking…and…the…women…were sent to [jails described by cops as] shelters [pending deportation]…The sudden proliferation of Chinese prostitution is tied to the explosive growth of Philippine offshore gaming operators…that cater to players in China, where gambling is illegal…Teresita Ang-See, chair of the [authoritarian] group Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order….[claimed] the sex workers were themselves victims…

Stupor Bowl (#989)

Virtually the only people who still profess to believe this nonsense are cops and politicians…and, apparently, the Associated Press:

To [profit from hysteria over] human trafficking during the Super Bowl, [pigs oinked]…that they need hotel workers, ride-hailing service drivers and security personnel to be especially [hysterical]…at the “No Room for Trafficking” conference [cops publicly masturbated while sharing their fantasies of young girls]…enslaved for sex…[at] the…Super Bowl…“We’re enlisting people to [build a fascist surveillance state],” said [Florida Attorney General Ashley] Moody…

The public recitation of prohibitionist sexual fantasies about whores and sports fans has become such a pathetic annual ritual, Liz Brown decided to gather a convenient list of articles debunking the tales.

The Widening Gyre (#996)

Amateurs’ fantasies about their value to “sex traffickers” are growing ever sillier.  This one not only thinks each supposed “trafficking” attempt is worth $100, she also believes in a magic contact poison that incapacitates in seconds and cops as magic angels of safety (note the similarity of their role in this tale to the classic “THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!” instant warrantless phone tracing shtick).  The substitution of something of real value for the usual zip tie, scrap paper or the like is like an amplification of the “jar of honey” version we’ve also seen recently; this one also adds the visible lurking stranger of other versions.  It’ll be interesting to see if the car-marking ghosts start using white vans soon.

Dutch Threat (#999)

Dutch authorities keep pretending their registration scheme is intended to help sex workers:

A lack of [government] control has turned Leeuwarden’s red light district into “the cesspit” of Dutch legal prostitution [in the minds of cops and other busybodies]…prostitutes in the Frisian capital, often from other countries, are largely unregistered and invisible to the authorities making them…able to [avoid police] abuse…[and the] unsafe working conditions [created by the laws using the exuse of] possible human trafficking…[migrant] women can immediately start work in…Leeuwarden…[without jumping through hoops or having their lives snooped in by cops.  This de]creases the risk of exploitation [by government actors]…

Loose Cannons (#1002)

Florida prosecutors have apparently realized how desperate they look:

[Prosecutors]…have backed down from a recent claim that…Robert Kraft committed a felony [by having consensual sex with an adult woman] a year ago…[they] revised their position in an appeal concerning video…[obtained with] an unlawful warrant when they recorded Kraft and other people…the state is…contending that…[illegal acts by cops are actually] legal…[because] prostitution…Kraft’s attorneys cited two older federal court cases to make the point that “hidden video surveillance” by [cops] “raises the spectre of the Orwellian state”…

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Not all heroes wear capes, some wear nothing at all.

With Friends Like These…

As the young people say, “So much nope”:

Louis Theroux: Selling Sex will see the award-winning filmmaker investigate sex work in modern Britain…the…BBC call[s] the programme “challenging and complex film about the modern face of one of the oldest taboos”…A press release [falsely claims]…”websites and social media…bring…a world of transactional sex to people who might have never previously considered it…The age-old issue of whether sex should ever be traded remains, with many believing it to be exploitative and damaging…Louis…explores whether selling sex can ever be a healthy way to make money”…Louis last tackled the subject of sex work in 2017 with Sex Trafficking in Houston in which he investigated sex workers and their pimps…

Women are not morons who need to be “led into” pragmatism by websites.  The idea that other people can decide whether “sex should ever be traded” isn’t “age-old”, but dates to the mid-19th century.  Who cares what puritans “believe”?  Why should any whore give a shit whether this busybody or his fans think our work is “healthy” (and are they mental health professionals that they imagine their opinion has any meaning)?  And if all that isn’t enough, get a load of this pompous turd’s last movie title and description.

Monsters

Yet another trans woman murdered, this time by a self-proclaimed ally:

Julie Berman…a trans…activist [in Toronto] was assaulted and murdered [on December 22nd]…Ms. Berman [died] from head injuries…and…police have charged Colin Harnack…with second-degree murder…

Torture Chamber 

Your government refers to this as “correction”:

A [typical and representative] Cocke County [Tennessee screw] caught on video slamming a handcuffed man [twice his age and half his size] to the ground in February was [finally] arrested [in October] on charges of aggravated assault and official oppression…Kelton Townsend, 29, was booked into the same jail where he once worked.  Footage from…[the] body camera [worn by the cop who arrested]…Jerry Miller [shows the huge, apelike Townsend grabbed Miller] by the throat and threw him to the ground [before the arresting cop even left]…the…jail…Miller filed a federal excessive-force lawsuit against the county in August…[because] the assault left him with eight broken ribs and a punctured lung…[which were ignored] at the jail and [untreated] until he went to a hospital after being released the next day…Cocke County initially denied [the brutality until]…Miller[‘s]…lawyer [got ahold]…of…the…video…

Sex Rays

Half of Australia will be contaminated by sex rays!

An American model has raised more than…$750,000 for the Australian bushfire victims by promising to send nude selfies to those who donate…Kaylen Ward decided to do what she could to help the relief efforts by encouraging followers to donate at least $10 in exchange for an X-rated image of herself…Within minutes, her private messages on Instagram and Twitter were bombarded by hundreds of people sending in their receipts to prove they had donated…to a list of numerous charities including NSW Rural Fire Service, Victorian Country Fire Service, Red Cross and certain koala hospitals across Australia…the [act of charity] has implications for her career as an Instagram model, with the company disabling her account for violating [the censorship rules it euphemizes as] community guidelines…

The End of the Beginning (#569)

Abolishing these evil, tyrannical laws is an uphill climb:

…there’s…no empirical support for…[“sex offender”] residence restrictions…experts have tried for years to convince [politicians] that restrictions are bad policy, given the research and investigations linking them to higher rates of homelessness…[but “progressive” Wisconsin] Governor Tony Evers…block[ed]…efforts to get rid of one such ban [because it was sponsored by Republicans]…both legislative chambers unanimously supported Senate Bill 60…which…would have done away with the state’s rule forbidding…[those condemned to] the state’s [registry]…from living within 1,500 feet of schools and other places…SB 60 was introduced by [NIMBYs] who noticed residency restrictions in places like Milwaukee were pushing people who had been convicted of sex crimes into their rural districts…the [bill’s sponsors] may challenge the governor’s veto…

To Molest and Rape

It’s called “rape”, reporters.  The word for this is “rape”:

A federal lawsuit blames…[the] El Paso County Sheriff’s Office for [giving permission to a cop] to [rape] a “gravely intoxicated woman” after he’d arrested her on suspicion of drunken driving on Christmas Eve 2018…David Kwiecien — who has since been fired — [claims he] believed he could [legally rape a] drunken woman…because [rape] wasn’t strictly prohibited by the sheriff’s policy manual for deputies…The sheriff’s manual [only] prohibits…deputies [from raping] jail inmates…and…employees…[but] was silent about [raping] people who were arrested and released…In this case, the [cop committed the rape] at the [victim]’s home….the [lawsuit] says…that [because cops are sociopaths it was]…“highly foreseeable”…[that] deputies [would rape women unless specifically told they couldn’t]…El Paso County and Kwiecien are also named as defendants….the [District Attorney’s Office said rape does]…”not rise to the level of criminal charges under Colorado law”…

A Woman’s Point of View (#806) 

Meanwhile, next door to New Hampshire:

A group of [politicians] has introduced a bill…that would decriminalize sex work in the state of Vermont…[by] simply repeal[ing] current sex work statutes prohibiting the act…Selene Colburn…said she introduced the bill primarily to protect sex workers from the risks [caused by criminalization]…Research has shown that where sex work is criminalized, sex workers experience far higher rates of sexual and physical violence…[especially] from [cops]…

The Spiral of Absurdity (#855) 

The only thing “growing” about “sex trafficking” is the lies:

Human trafficking, also known as modern slavery, is a growing problem in…Georgia…[prohibitionist] Bobbie Starr said…“over a thousand children in the state of Georgia have been identified”…Micah’s Promise…[is] raising money to build a [prison] for…sex [workers]…Take the City at Redeem…[AKA]…Redeem at Take the City [is not only confused about th name of her orgnzation, but also claims she can]…see vulnerability in a city [like a superhero power]…Redeem is…e[x]plo[iting women to make a]…beauty product line…These organizations said its important to [rat sex workers out to the pigs so they can be raped, abducted, caged and enslaved to make money for the organizations]…

Dutch Threat (#917)

The Dutch Disnification scheme continues:

On 1 January 2020 the name Holland officially cease[d] to exist as a designation of the Netherlands…Institutions, local authorities, universities, private companies and the media [wll be forced] to use the name Netherlands [because]…the government believes the measure will allow the country to get rid of its image in a drug and prostitution setting…authorities in Amsterdam [also] want…to eliminate the use of the [term] “Red Light District”…all city signs [with the term] will be replaced by…”De Wallen”…

On the Simultaneous Having and Eating of Cake (#983) 

Nobody questions the stigma that allowed this scum to destroy women’s lives:

A US judge has awarded $13m in damages to 22 women who were defrauded by the owners of GirlsDoPorn, a website specialising in “amateur”-style pornography.  The women were coerced and tricked into making pornography that was released on to some of the biggest adult sites in the world without their consent…videos on GirlsDoPorn specialise in promoting the image of the “ordinary” college girl who is making her first and only pornographic film…women…who tried to back out once it was clear what was involved were threatened, plied with alcohol and told they would have to pay for their own way home from San Diego.  They were promised that the footage would go straight to DVD for wealthy buyers in other countries, in particular Australia and New Zealand, where the defendants come from.  The videos were in fact uploaded to some of the most used adult sites in the world and have been viewed more than a billion times.  Anonymous emails were sent to their families, universities and friends, linking them to the videos…

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