[The SAFE TECH Act] takes nearly every single idea that people who want there to be less speech online have had, and dumped it all into one bill. – Mike Masnick
One would think by now that the title “youth pastor” would be a big red flag:
Gary Buckaloo…[has been] charged with…[repeated] sex[ual] abuse of a child…under 14…Buckaloo is listed as [something called] a Life Skills teacher [in] Buffalo [Texas]…and…is…also…the Youth Pastor and Worship Leader for First Baptist Church Normangee…
…Texas [politician]…Drew Spring [has] proposed a bill…that would make it a felony for credit card companies to “process a transaction” for abortion pills sales…[and] allow any citizen to sue a credit card company for allowing that sale to happen…[meanwhile, politician] Steve Toth introduced a bill that [demands] internet service providers [illegally censor]…”information…intended to assist or facilitate efforts to obtain an elective abortion or an abortion-inducing drug”…
You can’t keep a bad bill down:
…This year’s SAFE TECH Act is a redux of a bill first introduced in 2021. That version—which Techdirt Editor in Chief Mike Masnick called “a dumpster fire of cluelessness” — failed to go anywhere (thank goodness). But now the SAFE TECH Act is back…[for] yet another stab at undermining Section 230…The first change [it]…would make is to…open up a huge range of tech companies to more liability. Blogging platforms like WordPress and newsletter and podcast distributors like Substack would be vulnerable, as would any social media platform that provides a paid tier level…[and] all sorts of web hosting services—creating huge incentives for providers to cut off…access to any person or group even slightly controversial…the bill [also encourages lawsuits against] content likely to cause “irreparable harm”…a vague phrase that could open a floodgate of lawsuits over anything…objectionable on social media…particularly speech that is unflattering to the rich and powerful…this…is a dangerous bill that would have far-reaching consequences for content creators, activists, people exposing police violence, whistleblowers, citizen journalists, and basically anyone who uses the internet…
The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1285) 
Three days after the Montgomery County District Attorney stood behind a podium and held up packages of THC gummies that he [claimed] contained heroin and fentanyl, his office [had to admit that] lab tests [proved that to be a flagrant lie]…DA Kevin Steele announced an investigation into THC gummies after two people purportedly overdosed after eating them…Steele [was forced to admit]…that his [publicity stunt]…was based on testing done with a [notoriously unreliable] portable device [of the sort typically used by cops to generate false “probable cause” in order to arrest people]…The gummies in question contain legal byproducts of hemp that are increasingly popular for recreational use…[despite] low…potency…[cops and other prohibitionists keep babbling about overdoses and “children” despite there being no known LD50 for THC]…Around Halloween, officials [tried to drum up panic] about so-called rainbow fentanyl, colorful fentanyl pills purportedly marketed to children, that [were of course proven completely bogus]…
In the UK, “disciplinary action” can mean telling rapists to “think about what they did wrong”:
Nearly 80 [cops] in 22 [cop shops] in England and Wales have faced disciplinary action for [raping, sexually assaulting, molesting] or s[talking]…victims, witnesses and suspects since 2018…the majority of those facing disciplinary action…resigned before they were [sack]ed. However, 10…remained in their jobs, facing lesser sanctions such as [stern words from superiors. Only]…two faced criminal proceedings. Nearly all of the offending officers were men, and all but two of the victims female…
The lengths to which spokespigs and their media lackeys will go to imply that rapist cops aren’t typical and representative specimens of their predatory breed are increasingly absurd. This story from Puyallup, WA (not far south of Seattle) contains almost no actual information, such as the name or picture of the rapist; it does, however, include at least four distancing maneuvers. The rapist “was still in training and had never worked alone as a police officer”; he was “off duty”; the rape was only “third degree”, implying less serious; and roughly half of the sketchy story is taken up with pompous oinking by the boss pig about how the rapists’ actions are “not representative” of cops, when it should be clear by now (to anyone whose mind isn’t completely rotted by copaganda) that such actions are most certainly representative.
It’s nice to see a journalist getting it for once:
[Disguised San Francisco cop] have recently been [fantasy role-play]ing as sex workers and [claim] they’ve busted 30 “johns” in a pointless exercise on Capp Street, in an ongoing effort to crack down on solicitation on that Mission District alley. One sex worker already told a local TV station what would likely happen if SF police continued cracking down on the sex trade on Capp Street, which dates back decades: The sex workers will just shift over to another nearby street…
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