Every so often, I need to remind my readers that because, like the old MAD Magazine and PBS stations, I don’t accept paid advertising, every so often I need to ask my readers for their voluntary support. And when I say “voluntary”, I mean truly voluntary, not extracted from y’all by paywalls, nag screens, annoying popups, or other methods of coercion. Other than a reasonably-inobtrusive little paragraph three times a week which most of y’all probably don’t even notice any more, I limit myself to asking for your support in a full column like this one about three times a year (last year it was only twice) unless there’s some sort of emergency need. And now that I’m only supporting one and have throttled my driving back to one weekly trip to Aberdeen and 4x a year to Seattle, even the emergencies come less often (and I certainly hope that remains the case from now on). But fewer and smaller bills is not the same as no bills, and while I’m not currently having trouble making ends meet, the unexpected is always possible and a certain fraction of supporters do fall by the wayside every year. Furthermore, regular readers know that I have never and will never delegate my work to employees or chatbots; every word was written by me, and nobody or nothing else. So if the mad emperor’s attempts to demolish the world economy haven’t hurt you too badly, please consider subscribing at one of the regular levels in the right-hand column, or even one of the superstar levels listed here; if you can’t do a monthly expense, you could show your appreciation by a gift from my Amazon wishlist. As always, thank y’all for reading, and for your generosity!
Posts Tagged ‘ethics’
Voluntary Support
Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged advertising, blogging, ethics, internet on May 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Links #824
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged animals, Arizona, Believe Them, California, cops, ethics, imaginative fiction, language, Oregon, scams, video on April 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Hold the bus! – The Banana Splits
Since I’ve already featured the H.R. Pufnstuf theme and Land of the Lost theme before, I decided to feature the opening & closing to The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, the first Saturday morning show to feature the Krofft puppets. As a wee lass my mother enrolled me in the Banana Splits fan club, and I had the various club materials for years after the show went off the air. And it was not unusual for Grace to use one of their catchphrases, “Hold the bus!” The links above the video were provided by Franklin Harris, Ryan Marino, Jesse Walker, Ryan Cooper, Walter Olson, Radley Balko, and Jessica Pishko, in that order.
- Punctuation matters.
- “Let’s get back to work.”
- R.I.P. Sid Krofft and Don Schlitz.
- How to resurrect a bricked Kindle.
- Possibly the funniest thing I’ve read this year.
- They can’t stop demonstrating exactly what they are.
- Cops are always coming up with new ways to murder.
From the Archives
- Overseas pharmacies will sell to US customers without asking permission.
- Both sides in the culture war have completely taken leave of their senses.
- The sleazy “confidential informant” system enables corruption and abuse.
- Pretending these aren’t typical & representative by calling them “rookies”.
- Yelling “Stop faking!” at the sick & dying is one of screws’ favorite games.
- In ≈ 20 years, these stories will be about victims of “trafficking” hysteria.
- Cops will never stop this as long as the state keeps giving them pretexts.
- We need a class-action suit for booksellers affected by these evil policies.
- Politicians are avid devotees of cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
- This one directly describes very typical cop behavior as “uncharacteristic”.
- Swedish politicians angry that their law doesn’t destroy enough lives yet.
- This will continue until media stop calling senseless violence “correction”.
- A few sane judges are the only thing protecting US libraries from freaks.
- Keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually.
- This will continue for as long as cops are allowed to “police” themselves.
- Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working?
- Puritans destroy men’s lives for wanting consensual sex w/adult women.
- I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of career.
- Give sexually-aggressive thugs power over teens; what could go wrong?
- Politicians never bother to observe the consequences of laws they ape.
- Psychopathy is typical in politicians, but this is complete derangement.
- Cops are sexual predators who specifically target traumatized women.
- Missouri seems uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians.
- The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme.
- Doctors mock cops’ fentanyl hysteria, so they invent new bogeydrugs.
- Politicians compete to make their new laws the most unconstitutional.
- Gentrification is a common motivation for persecution of sex workers.
- Petty torture of prisoners and more money for fascist state “partners”.
- One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality.
- Only a few years ago, media outlets were lionizing wackos like these.
- These people were locked in this cage facility because of US policies.
- Your “leaders” refer to rape by state-employed thugs as “correction”.
- “Drugs” are a popular pretext for petty vindictiveness in US prisons.
- Prosecutors are rarely interested in going after rapists with badges.
- If you thought regional “fusion centers” were bad, how about this?
- Software used by “legitimate authorities” also works for abusers.
- Seems like a significant fraction of child porn is spread by cops.
- Prohibitionists’ real goal is to completely ban online sex work.
- Many people fail to realize that calling 911 = calling the cops.
- They often try to make it sound like the prisoners consented.
- More politicians cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
- A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners.
- Florida’s authoritarian government criminalizes kindness.
- Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors.
- Cops, Antarctica, Richard Chamberlain, and much more.
- Your “leaders” refer to these atrocities as “correction”.
- Cops, O.J. Simpson, Dickey Betts, and much more.
- Florida knows it will lose any challenge to this law.
- No religion has a monopoly on preachy molesters.
- Cops, metaphors, Mary Quant, and much more.
- A curated selection of tweets from April 2025.
- There is nothing as hard to kill as a bad law.
- A video record of each shelf of my library.
- A small shrine to Aphrodite in my atrium.
- Cop fails upward into a career in politics.
- On the passing of our little friend Aeryn.
- Puritanism is throttling the entire world.
- Now this is an interesting development.
- The Legend of Throwback Thursday.
- My three previous posts for Easter.
- They really can’t stop themselves.
- Good riddance to toxic rubbish.
- Throwback Thursday Island.
- Bolder than most chickens.
- All prohibition is the same.
- “Spiritual care coordinator“.
- This cannot be reformed.
- Rapist cops of the week.
- Well, this is different.
- Turkey in the sink.
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!
Links #823
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Perception, Tyranny, tagged Alabama, cops, dirty, ethics, fantasy, Florida, I’m Sure You Feel Safer Now, illegal aliens, Kentucky, politicians, South Carolina, video on April 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »
I don’t think they’re aliens, I think they’re demons. – J.D. Vance
I’m not sure why I’ve never posted this song, since it’s been periodically going through my head for years now and I think you’ll agree that though it has never completely stopped being timely, it’s especially timely right now. The links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Ed Krayewski, Radley Balko, C.J. Ciaramella, Rick Horowitz, and IncarcerNation, in that order.
- Instant karma.
- Semper fidelis.
- I’m sure you feel much safer now.
- They don’t get this serious about rapist cops.
- He isn’t really this stupid, but he thinks MAGA voters are.
- “Knife attacks” multiplied once cops realized every home has throwdowns.
From the Archives
- This is just LA County; every single jurisdiction in the US has similar rates.
- Overseas pharmacies sell to US customers without “Mother-May-I” games.
- Erosion of civil liberties only starts with those government has demonized.
- Government tried to establish a precedent that it need not feed prisoners.
- All I read about these apps makes me glad I’ve never even looked at one.
- Medical experts speak out against the copaganda term “excited delirium”.
- Irrelevant authoritarian spouts irrelevancies to promote authoritarianism.
- Note that the dysphemism “sex trafficking” is conspicuously absent here.
- Americans think “democracy” means rule by those as stupid as they are.
- Censorship laws favor big companies with full-time “compliance” people.
- Only a politician would “punish” a crime by criminalizing legal business.
- Any loophole in any right will inevitably be expanded by authoritarians.
- Some still believe these sociopaths are motivated by “child protection”.
- The entire “troubled teen” industry needs to be sued out of existence.
- Monsters claim the “right” to persecute and torture sexual minorities.
- How long will Americans accept cops terrorizing traumatized women?
- Cops, artificial stupidity, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, and much more.
- Politicians are always happy to wreck lives by inventing new “crimes”.
- Louisiana politicians can think of a way to make any legal fad worse.
- The resources flushed down the “culture war” toilet are incalculable.
- Indiscriminate murder is so much easier when blamed on machines.
- Why are people shocked when men paid to behave violently do so?
- Regular readers know that I like seasonal weather to be seasonal.
- Cops, artificial stupidity, Jay North, Clem Burke, and much more.
- Government propaganda inspires the weak-minded to violence.
- I can’t feel sorry for people with problems of their own making.
- The West is complicit in the Chinese genocide of the Uyghurs.
- Thai sex workers are still fighting US-imposed prohibitionism.
- The program which first recruited kids as spies and snitches.
- Let’s hope we can soon say, “Good riddance to bad rubbish”.
- Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors.
- Watching the fall of Asstoon has been such a pleasure.
- My 25th anniversary of living with my best friend.
- Safetyism is the police state’s most powerful fuel.
- Goodness, who could have ever predicted this?
- On timely blessings and pennies from heaven.
- Many useful idiots want this in the US as well.
- Is this idiotic enough yet? Can we stop now?
- “AI” philistines don’t understand art, period.
- A strange, anticlimactic ending to this saga.
- The Swedish Model claims another victim.
- The Satanic Rites of Throwback Thursday.
- Cops, cheese, Al Jaffee, and much more.
- Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool.
- No woman is safe from predatory cops.
- A history of the Backpage persecution.
- A nice soak in a recently-repaired spa.
- Turns out he isn’t just a wannabe cop.
- Humpty Dumpty, federal prosecutor.
- The Terror of Throwback Thursday.
- A review of Doctor Who “Flux”.
- The chicks grow quickly.
- Your “leaders” at work.
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!
The Mark of Throwback Thursday
Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, tagged acting, artificial stupidity, blogging, ethics, fantasy, imaginative fiction, internet, psychology, Reviews, sex work is work, Who in Review, yin and yang on April 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »
The concept of “free sex” is largely a male fantasy. – “Waiting for Lightning”
In the online world, as in the real one, you don’t get something for nothing. –
“Something for Nothing”
Even the finest thespian can’t conjure Hamlet out of lackluster dialogue draped carelessly over a checklist. – “In Flux”
[Those] who declare CGI “art”, or even declare it superior to real human-created art, are soulless clowns whose opinions should be rejected by anyone who cares about beauty, life, and humanity. – “The Philistine Majority“
In the News (#1627)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged A Moral Cancer, abortion, artificial stupidity, censorship, Colorado, consensual crime, cops, Dirty Amateurs, disease, Divination, Do As I Say, drugs, ethics, Indiana, law, libraries, Mad Libs, Minnesota, New York, scams, sex work is work, Size Matters, Tennessee, The Punitive Mindset, The Vultures Descend, Thought Control on April 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Librarians should not be used as a filter for political agendas.
– Luanne James
Two years later, this decision is still standing:
…Indiana’s…Religious Freedom Restoration Act…[of] 2015….was one of many such state laws passed [by]…evangelical Christians to [privilege]…their beliefs [above those of other religions]…Hoosier Jews for Choice saw an opening for Jews to…[use] the same law…to [protect Jews’] access to abortion…[and] Judge Christina Klineman [recently] upheld a 2024 decision…permanently blocking enforcement of the state’s abortion ban for plaintiffs with sincere religious objections…the case is [now] headed to the Indiana Supreme Court…[Naturally, forced-birth fanatics are angry.] “Indiana’s religious freedom laws were passed for the purpose of [enshrining Christian] religious practice [in law], not to protect the [beliefs] of [others from laws justified by Christian dogma],” [said] Alexander Mingus…of the Indiana Catholic Conference, [absurdly declaring Judaism a] “Religion…that preach[es] violence [which is] not protected by religious freedom claims”…Jews [view] the fetus as “potential life,” gaining the legal status of nefesh, or personhood, at birth…
This is the second article I’ve seen on this fungus in two years:
Infectious disease experts…are working to educate doctors about a new…STI…which recently caused an outbreak of at least 30 cases in Minnesota…the fungus Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII (TMvii)…spreads through intimate contact and has predominately been seen among…gay men. It causes painful, coin-sized rashes on the arms, buttocks, trunk, legs and genitals. While infections can be treated with oral antifungal medications, treatment can take several weeks [and]…TMvii can resemble other skin conditions…so proper evaluation is important…TMvii [was first] identified in 2023 in Europe among men who had recently traveled in Southeast Asia. The first U.S. case was reported in New York in 2024…[and] the Minnesota outbreak…began [last] July…
Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1463) 
It’s heartwarming to see goons snitching on each other:
The national chief of the Border Patrol, Michael Banks, was known among colleagues for taking regular trips abroad to [hire] sex w[orkers in places where it is legal, such as]…Colombia and Thailand[, instead of simply raping them in the US as CBP policy demands]…Kristi Noem [covered for him, but once she got the sack the snitches got loose. One said,] “If you have the character where you’re going to go [hire consenting] third-world country women [instead of deceiving, raping, and robbing migrant women right here in the US and then deporting them], it’s just not cool in my book”…
Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:
By pushing a 75 percent wholesale tax on nicotine pouches, New York…Gov. Kathy Hochul [claims she’s] address[ing] “a public health concern.” That rationale is absurd on its face, since this tax would sharply raise the cost of a nicotine product that is far less hazardous than cigarettes, perversely discouraging smokers from making a switch that could save their lives…tobacco smoke…contains myriad toxins and carcinogens, and…the Biden [FDA]…authorized the marketing of Zyn nicotine pouches [because]…”nicotine pouch products…benefit…adults who use cigarettes and/or smokeless tobacco products and completely switch to these products”…the Royal College of Physicians estimates that “the hazard to health” from e-cigarettes, which likewise do not contain tobacco or burn anything…”is unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco”…
Due to its absurdly-high taxes, 55% of cigarettes smoked in New York are black market. But I guess Hochul wants that to also be true of smoking-replacement products, and to give the NYPD another excuse for violence against citizens.
Colorado recently enacted a law protecting [citizens from wrongful] arrest…due to [cops’ misuse of unreliable] roadside tests for drugs…police can no longer make arrests solely for misdemeanor drug possession based on the results of colorimetric field drug tests and instead must issue suspects a summons to appear in court. The act also requires courts, before a defendant enters a plea in a case where a field test was used, to inform defendants of the known error rates for the tests and their right to request testing from a forensics laboratory…[cop]s’ use of unverified drug field tests…result[s] in [an estimated 30,000] innocent people being arrested, jailed, and prosecuted…[every year. Cop]s around the country have jailed innocent people…[for] “presumptive positive” results on bird poop, donut glaze, cotton candy, and sand from inside a stress ball…
Field tests are exclusionary tests; in other words, they are designed to tell whether something is not X substance. A positive result does not mean “This substance is X”; it means “this substance might or might not be X”. But cops are too stupid to understand the difference, and wouldn’t care if they could.
We are now in the early days of a dark age:
[Lazy, dishonest] researchers are increasingly using…LLMs…to…conduct literature searches, write manuscripts and format bibliographies…[resulting in a flood of] non-existent academic references…One analysis of nearly 18,000 papers…found a sharp increase in [fake] references…tens of thousands of 2025 publications, including journal papers and books, as well as conference proceedings, probably contain [incorrect or fake] references generated by [chatbots]…researchers are concerned that the problem will soon get out of hand…[and academic publishers are trying to] decid[e]what to do about hallucinated citations that make it into the published literature…
A Tennessee library board has fired the county’s top librarian for refusing to comply with its [demand] to [hid]e more than 100 LGBT…books f[or juveniles in]…the adult section…Luanne James…said that [hid]ing the books would violate…residents’ First Amendment rights and compromise her professional obligation against government-mandated [censorship]…Last fall, a…Wyoming library director w[as awarded] $700,000 to settle a lawsuit after her firing [but wannabe censors]…Cody York…and…Caleb Tidwell [don’t care because it isn’t their money James will get when she wins a similar lawsuit]…
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!
In the News (#1625)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged A Woman's Point of View, Aladdin’s Satellite, artificial stupidity, censorship, Colorado, consensual crime, cops, ethics, Illinois, internet, law, LGBT rights, libraries, Massachusetts, No Difference, Opting Out, politicians, robots, Senegal, Shame Shame, Tennessee, Thought Control, To Molest and Rape, United Kingdom, Walled Garden on April 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »
I will not comply. – Luanne James
Sows are just as disgusting and predatory as their male counterparts:
A [Massachusetts cop] was [rewarded with a paid vacation for]…sexual abuse [of a minor]…Samantha Pelrine…and her…husband, Daniel Forand, repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted the…[victim for] several years…[after wheedling control from] the victim’s aunt and grandmother[, who had] raised them until they were 12 years old…about one year later, Pelrine and Forand became the…victim’s legal guardians…and…began sexually assaulting the victim a short time after[ward]…continu[ing] until 2025…
Another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists:
Senegalese proponents of a tougher anti-LGBT law [got advice from] a U.S.-based [anti-sex] group that calls homosexuality a public health threat…MassResistance…has advised like-minded African [prohibition]ists for years…but now…is trying to take advantage of …[the] Trump…[regimes]’s [mass destruc]tion…of [US-funded health programs in Africa]…the new law…doubles the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalizes so-called promotion of homosexuality…
WebinarTV, a company that bills itself as “a search engine for the best webinars,” is secretly scanning the internet for Zoom meeting links, recording the calls, and turning them into [computer]-generated podcasts [without the consent of the participants]…in an attempt to promote WebinarTV’s services…in some cases the [creators of the] stolen videos…[are informed by computer-generated emails “signed” by imaginary corporate officers that their]…webinar is “featured on the Phil & Amy Show”, [which is a make-believe]…talk…show…[featuring] two [cartoon characters synchronized to chatbots outputting nonsensical “commentary” on]…the [stolen Zoom] call…WebinarTV accesses meetings using links that have been shared publicly, then records the sessions [without any] participant’s [knowledge or consent]…in…violat[ion of] Zoom’s terms of service…
A Woman’s Point of View (#1506)
As with cannabis legalization, if enough of these are thrown at the wall one may eventually stick:
…[If] a [new] bill…[is] passed, Colorado would become the first state to fully decriminalize sex work state-wide…This is not [the Swedish model, but rather] a decisive shift away from criminalization and toward safety…to [placate the very stupid]…the bill draws a firm line between consensual sex work and exploitation…and…would repeal statutes related to solicitation and patronizing…[and] update outdated escort service regulations…Nick Hinrichson…Lisa Cutter…Lorena Garcia and Rebekah Stewart…[are the sponsoring politicians. A similar]…bill…in…Illinois [is still languishing undiscussed]…
In a message…to the Rutherford County Library…board, Director Luanne James said she would not comply with an order to move…LGBT…titles from youth sections to the adult area…[saying] “Restricting access…through subjective relocation or removal constitutes a violation of the community’s right to information”…[which] would violate both the First Amendment and her professional obligations…The…Board [had] voted…to relocate more than 190 books…following a [“]review[” by non-librarians on order of]…Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett…Board Chair [and wannabe Big Brother] Cody York [defended his censorship attempt by bizarrely vomiting out]…“dismembering…healthy sex organs”…during [a] debate…[and threatened to sack] James…
Sanders has announced he next plans to interview a TV set:
[Perennially-clueless politician] Bernie Sanders has a viral video making the rounds in which he “interviews” Anthropic’s Claude chatbot about the dangers of AI and privacy…and it might be one of the most unintentionally revealing demonstrations of…actual problems [with LLMs] that a politician has ever produced — just not in the way Sanders thinks…When you “interview” a large language model you are talking to a very sophisticated text prediction system that is specifically designed to give you responses that are (possibly) helpful, (hopefully) relevant, and (obsequiously) agreeable — shaped entirely by how you framed the question. It’s not there to help you uncover hidden truths. It’s not a whistleblower. It’s not a witness in a congressional hearing, which is exactly what Sanders’ staging is designed to imply. Ask it scary questions, get scary answers. Ask it reassuring questions, get reassuring answers. It is a mirror, not a source. And Sanders’ video demonstrates this…
The internet’s global scope is the main reason politicians hate it and want to destroy it:
Ofcom, the U.K.’s [censorship bureau, is trying to] fine…4chan £520,000 for [refus]ing to implement [user surveillance] procedures and other measures [demand]ed by the U.K.’s Online Safety Act. The [shakedown demand] includes “£450,000 for not having age checks in place”…[and the rest] for [refus]ing to provide Ofcom with [busywork it demands] and for not [submitting to posting compelled speech] in its terms of service…4chan[‘s lawyer, Preston Byrne,] responded to Ofcom with a…[computer]-generated picture of a giant hamster [hold]ing a [giant] peanut…attached to a truly excellent email response [stating]…”As has been explained to your agency, ad nauseam, the United Kingdom lost the American Revolutionary War…We are not in the mood to discuss the matter further, and have not been in the mood for 250 years…[4chan] reserves all rights and waives none…[including] the right to sue you again and/or to respond to future correspondence with an even larger rodent, such as a marmot.” This is exactly the attitude U.S. companies should be taking with foreign authorities intent on forcing their online [censorship] on the rest of us…Ofcom [responded by absurdly claiming that the internet is a bar]…
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!
In the News (#1624)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged abortion, agency denial, artificial stupidity, cops, drugs, ethics, fascism, Florida, I Spy, law, Michigan, politicians, pregnancy, prisons, propaganda, Property of the State, Pyrrhic Victory, rape, surveillance, The Vultures Descend, To Molest and Rape, Torture Chamber, Walled Garden, Welcome to the Future, West Virginia on March 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »
When we use the courts to…bully someone into an unnecessary medical procedure against their will, it’s akin to torture. – Cherise Doyley
When this evil started a decade ago, potential victims were warned in advance:
Cherise Doyley…wanted to try for a vaginal delivery, but she understood from years of experience as a professional birthing doula that things don’t always go as planned…Doctors told her they were concerned about the [<2%] risk of uterine rupture…[but] she understood th[at negligible] risk…and repeatedly told doctors she wouldn’t consent to a cesarean without trying to have a vaginal delivery first…Then a nursing supervisor wheeled a tablet up to her bed and informed her she was in court….[for] failing to agree to a C-section…abortion restrictions can lead to pregnant women being denied lifesaving care…[bu]t the opposite problem, forced treatment, could also become more common in states like Florida that have fetal personhood policies [which place politically-determined “rights” of a fetus above that of an adult]…woman…who…is…[essentially considered an] incubator…
Most rapist cops use their cop power, but some prefer the brute-force approach:
Detroit…[cop] Benjamin Wagner…is now facing life in prison on numerous kidnapping and [rape] charges…[for at least] five [attacks carried out] between 1999 and 2003…Wagner targeted girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 23, approaching them while they were walking and then forcing them at gunpoint into secluded areas…The charges are tied directly to sexual assault kits collected at the time of the attacks…[which the police] never [bothered to] investigate…[a “new broom” politician named Kym] Worthy launched a sweeping initiative to [make political coin]…It took nearly a decade just to test all of the kits…
Your regular reminder that used cars still exist:
…a federal mandate requiring surveillance technology that monitors your every blink, glance, and head nod…[will empower a computer to] decide…whether you’re fit to drive. If [a computer program] determines you’re impaired (blood alcohol ≥0.08% or showing fatigue), it can prevent ignition startup or limit vehicle speed…[buy]ing…a 2027 model means accepting this digital copilot…[worse still,] these systems [will be] updatable [without owner consent, allowing]…monitoring capabilities [to be expanded] post-purchase [at a political whim]…manufacturers [will almost certain]ly upload biometric data to corporate servers…[for] sharing with insurance companies to [raise] your premiums…Car manufacturers [point out that]…false positives [will regularly] strand drivers. They’re concerned about customer backlash and [100% predictable] sales declines as buyers seek older, unmonitored vehicles. The federal government [justifi]es this surveillance [by barfing the word “]safety[” at useful idiots]…
This twisted scheme was first attempted in Wyoming:
…The [latest attempt by forced-birth politicians to make abortion more difficult, odious, and stigmatized]…would [criminalize] flush[ing] abortion or miscarriage remains down a toilet “to protect both human dignity and America’s water systems”…The bill[‘s sponsor, Mary]…Miller[, vomited a lot of bizarre claims and convoluted dysphemisms all over reporters while attempting to justify her attempt to]…force women [using abortion pills] to [bleed into a bag marked “BIOHAZARD”]…and bring the [expelled tissue] to their physician. [Presumably, women who miscarry unexpectedly would be expected to leave the results in the toilet, go and get one of these scarlet bags, and then scoop the mess, feces and all, into it, upon pain of]…a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison…Trace amounts of all medications…can be found in wastewater…but there is no scientific evidence to back up the [prohibitionist propaganda] that abortion pills are polluting drinking water or harming [anyone]…
Looks like it’s time for veils to come back into fashion:
Walmart has recently been awarded patents…for [algorithms which enable]…surveillance pricing, the practice of charging people different prices for the same goods and services based on their unique [facial-recognition-linked profile in the software]…Another patent recently granted to Walmart…involves the use of machine learning to predict the demand of various items and recommend prices…[using] third-party data…
West Virginia prisoners [have filed a class action lawsuit against] Aramark Corporation [because it] serves inedible, low-quality food in its prison cafeterias to drive customers to its [overpriced] food-for-purchase programs…Aramark is the largest food provider in the United States to prisons and jails…and…brought in $18.5 billion [last year. It has a long history]…of serving inedible or spoiled food, prepared in kitchens where workers have [regular]ly found maggots…In Kentucky, Aramark’s [terrible] food…led to a prison riot [in 2015]…
As the old adage says, “Three can keep a secret if two are dead”:
…an unprotected database [belonging] to IDMerit, a company that claims to help businesses verify identities, exposed roughly 1 billion sensitive records across 26 countries. In the United States alone, more than 203 million records were left unsecured…researchers…discovered [the] exposed…database on Nov. 11…anyone who knew where to look could access it. Inside were full names, home addresses, postal codes, dates of birth, national ID numbers, phone numbers, email addresses and gender information…Researchers notified the company, and the database was secured the following day…[bu]t automated bots constantly scan the internet for exposed databases and can copy them within minutes…
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!
In the News (#1623)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged abortion, advertising, artificial stupidity, Belgium, censorship, cops, dating, Enshittification, ethics, Facebook, fascism, games, Google, I Spy, internet, language, law, Leaving the 20th Century, Nightfall, Ohio, politicians, porn, pregnancy, Property of the State, rape, Rough Trade, scams, Shame Shame, Stalkers in Blue, surveillance, The War Goes On, Twitter, United Kingdom on March 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Privacy and security on social media apps can’t be “optional”—they are life-saving necessities. – Leila Nashashibi
Cops are a constant menace to all women:
[A London cop named] Samson Akinnawo[, who was] featured in [a recruiting poster] in July 2024 d[emonstrated that]…he was a [typical and representative cop by]…stalking and harassing Melieka Daley between June and August last year through repeatedly calling and messaging her, [lurk]ing [around] her home…follow[ing] her from work and [harassing a] friend [of hers who had been] arrest[ed]…Akinnawo…[started out as a screw] and…is currently [enjoying a paid vacation]…
Yes, this is absolutely rape. No, I don’t want to “discuss” it:
In Belgium, a man was convicted of rape [for fak]ing…payment receipts for a sex worker, a scheme deemed by the court to be equivalent to a lack of consent…Belgium is [the only] European countr[y] where sex work is [decriminalized]…but this is the first time that a refusal to pay, or “a ruse” such as the production of a false receipt, has been considered in a trial as a lack of consent…and therefore rape…the Belgian Penal Code [specifically] stipulates that…”there is no consent if the sexual act results from deception”…the man had deliberately deceived his victim by pretending to make a payment via his banking application when…in reality, he was showing her his phone displaying…a screenshot of a previous successful payment…He was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended, with the obligation to undergo psychotherapy and submit to regular checks proving that he no longer uses drugs…
Four years ago I wrote, “I’ll believe Facebook is going to use encryption when it actually does it”:
[Facebook] is backtracking on [yet another] of its…[emp]ty promises…to implement default end-to-end encryption for direct messages on Instagram…End-to-end encrypted messages are more important than ever…in the face of a…[regime] that will do anything and everything to silence and punish its critics…No better case illustrates the risk…than when [Facebook] handed over private messages…that were…used to prosecute [a] young woman for having an abortion. If Messenger were default end-to-end encrypted at that time, [Facebook] would never had access to the messages in the first place…But now [Zuckerberg]…is looking for some bogus reason to cancel…[supposed] plans for default E2EE…so that [Facebook] can 1) tap your DMs to train its [chatbots] and 2) curry political favor…by opening up…your private messages for spying and surveillance by the government…
Most tyranny starts with governments claiming they want to “protect” people:
Ohio [politici]ans have introduced a bill that would allow the government to track every pregnancy, beginning to end…[the] registry…[would] requir[e] healthcare providers to file a “certificate of life” with the Ohio Department of Health within ten days of examining a pregnant patient and detecting [fetal cardiac myocyte activity]. The bill also mandates that “fetal deaths” be registered with the state, and…requires a “cause of death” to be certified within 48 hours—and if a fetus is deemed to have died in a “violent, suspicious, unusual, or sudden” manner, a coroner or medical examiner would be brought in…Let’s be clear about what this really is: an attempt to build an infrastructure for pregnancy surveillance…and…a pathway for scrutiny if the state decides something looks “off”…
If you thought Google spellcheck “correcting” properly-used words was bad:
…It is now possible to use live translation to communicate in another language in real time…but [the technology is already being abused]…to…rephras[e] profanity…in chat [programs]…Roblox…is [defending the decision to implement this dystopian thought control by spewing out buzzwords such as] “civility”…”leveraging AI”…”respectful”…and…”multilayered safety system”…it creates a dangerous proof of concept that others may build on…It’s easy to imagine situations where Chinese…systems…rephrase people’s language on social media in real time to promote “social harmony”. Not only the style but even the content’s details could be subtly changed away from controversy towards conformity. It would be possible for rephrasing to be visible only to others, so the person making a comment might not even be aware that their words were being subverted in this way…
…Google is beginning to replace news headlines in its search results with ones that are [LLM]-generated. After doing something similar in its Google Discover news feed, it’s starting to mess with headlines in the traditional “10 blue links,” too. We’ve found multiple examples where Google replaced headlines we wrote with ones we did not, sometimes changing [or even reversing] their meaning in the process. For example, Google reduced our headline “I used the ‘cheat on everything’ AI tool and it didn’t help me cheat on anything” to just five words: “‘Cheat on everything’ AI tool.” It almost sounds like we’re endorsing a product we do not recommend at all…And Google says it’s tweaking how other websites show up in search, too, not just news…this is like a bookstore ripping the covers off the books it puts on display and changing their titles…but Google seems to believe we don’t have an inherent right to market our own work…
This started as a scheme to keep sex workers off of Tinder:
Tinder plans to let machine vision algorithms loose on your camera roll. Instead of building a profile on their own, [Tinder] will scan users’ locally-stored photos—everything from gym selfies to pictures of their family, sensitive documents and dick pics—to [let a machine] construct profiles by [mahine-guess]ing what users’ interests and values are. Dating apps are [quickly becoming enshittified]…thanks to [toy]s like ChatGPT…[which allow unscrupulous] users…[to] offload get-to-know-you conversations to [machines]…Although Tinder [spokesgeek Mark Kantor vomits out platitudes about choice, sane]…users may still be concerned with [unaccountable black-box algorithms rooting through] their entire [phone memory, and since]…users can’t pick individual photos they want analyzed or ignored…Tinder’s [so-called “]safeguards[“] are [hardly reassuring, especially given dating apps’ terrible security track record]… Kantor [brushed off valid security concerns by belching “]science[!” in a reporter’s face]…
Much, much, much more of this, please:
…a group of Tennessee teenagers [are suing Elon Musk’s chatbot company because its MechaHitler chatbot was]…used to create nude images of them by editing photos in which they were clothed. The edited photos spread across Discord and Telegram in recent months, and some were bartered for [child porn] in online chatrooms…a single perpetrator compiled images and videos of more than 18 girls, many of whom attended the same school, and digitally altered…them using [MechaHitler]…The three plaintiffs, including two minors, seek damages for each [altered photo] and aim to prevent the company from allowing [other such] image editing…Musk [predictably lied]…that [the number]…of…naked underage images generated by [MechaHitler was] “Literally zero”…and…[claimed] the…estimated 23,000 [altered] photos…[of naked legal minors was the result of “adversarial hacking”]…
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!
Zombie Throwback Thursday
Posted in Biography, History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Tyranny, tagged blogging, consensual crime, cops, Creepy Coppers, ethics, Grace, language, Leaving the 20th Century, libraries, Prohibition (alcohol), propaganda, psychology, yellow journalism on March 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »
The first prohibitionist laws date to the late 19th century, but it was in the 20th that the concept…penetrated the minds of the general public so thoroughly that most took it for granted that for governments to tell people what they could consume, what they could own, and even what thoughts they could have…was not only normal, but desirable. – “Leaving the 20th Century”
If you find an article interesting, infuriating, or whatever, you can follow the thread of references back through similar articles, often for years, while marveling at the obsessive lengths and depths to which my librarian’s brain will go to impose order on chaos. – “Rabbit Hole”
Copsucking reporters waste considerable space quoting boss pigs oinking about how typical and representative cops aren’t really typical or representative. – “Creepy Coppers (#1418)”
I have never broken a promise to [Grace] in the past and I’m not going to start now merely because she’s not in a position to remind me. – “Diary 766“
In the News (#1619)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged abortion, activism, artificial stupidity, censorship, Eavesdropping, ethics, Facebook, fascism, Illinois, internet, Iran, libraries, No Escape, prisons, propaganda, Pyrrhic Victory, rape, robots, scams, Shame Shame, surveillance, teachers, The Vultures Descend, Thought Control, Twitter, Walled Garden, Welcome to the Future on March 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Young people still have human rights. – David Greene
The predictable result of sociopaths being given total power over women:
…Prison counselor Richard MacLeod…repeatedly [raped] Andrea Nielsen…at Illinois’ Logan C[age Stack]…But…when her cellmate reported the abuse to prison investigator Todd Sexton and Warden Margaret Burke, the pair “formulated an outrageous plan to use her as unwitting ‘bait’ to try to catch MacLeod in the act…Sexton [would] stay late a few times, crawl around in the ceiling above the room MacLeod used to sexually assault Nielsen, and wait to jump down and intervene”…The plan [required]…MacLeod [to attack when Sexton was in his voyeur position, so of course it failed]…A jury found [Burke, Sexton, and MacLeod] all…liable and ordered them to pay Nielsen $19.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages…[but] the 7th Circuit…partially reversed the lower court’s ruling and ordered a new trial on damages…for Sexton and Burke…to [reset the amount of damages]…MacLeod [coerced] Nielsen…[by threaten]ing [to deny] her calls with her 6-year-old daughter…he…[would] subject her to…[unprotected] vaginal and oral [rape when she came to his]…office [for the calls]…he [also]…threatened [to destroy her mail] and [put her in solitary confinement]…if she reported [him]…
Indiscriminate murder is so much easier when blamed on machines:
In order to [ma]ke a b[ig social media show]…of its attack on Iran, the U.S. military [used a chatbot combined with]…Maven Smart System…built by…Palantir…to [pick victims] in Iran…Embedded into the system is Anthropic’s AI tool Claude, a technology that was banned by the Pentagon [on orders of the lunatic Secretary of Defense] last week…As planning for a potential strike in Iran was underway, Maven, powered by Claude, suggested hundreds of targets, issued precise location coordinates, and prioritized those targets according to importance…Claude has also been used in [inventing imaginary] terror plots and in the raid that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. But this is the first time it has been used in major war operations…Hours before the bombing in Iran began, [the mad emperor belch]ed he was banning government agencies from further using Anthropic’s tools…be[cause] the company [didn’t want]…the tools [used for] mass domestic surveillance and [murder robots]…The military will continue using its technology as it waits for a replacement to be phased in…
Apparently these fools didn’t learn from Zuckerberg’s flushing $77 billion:
…the “Tillyverse” [is a cartoon] world [imagined for cartoon character]…Tilly Norwood…to [exist in with other cartoon characters who will “]build artificial acting careers[“]…Particle6…the [software company behind]…Tilly Norwood and its universe…has…recruited Amazon Executive Mark Whelan from Prime Video…and [the delusional nitwit cabal already imagines their cartoon as]…“a future global superstar”…[with “]humour[“, a “]daily life[“, “]career choices[“, and “]fans”…[in response to] SAG-AFTRA…[correctly pointing out] that Norwood is…“a character generated by a computer program”…Particle6…[developed an unnerving tic, spastically belching out nonsense buzzwords including] “rapid acceleration”…“AI talent”…and…“cultural spark”…
The mad emperor’s reign of terror continues:
H.R. 7661 t[ies]…federal education funding to restrictions on certain books and educational materials…[in order to] pressure…schools to remove titles that discuss identity, history, and lived experiences…politicians [dislike]…This is…about whether the federal government can use its power to narrow the range of…perspectives available to students…It is about whether educators and school librarians will feel forced to self-censor to protect their budgets. And it is about whether young people will grow up in classrooms shaped by political fear instead of free expression…Once the government begins deciding which viewpoints are acceptable, every reader’s freedom is at risk…as we’ve already seen in [individual] states…
Western nations are competing to out-China China:
…The bipartisan effort to censor and deanonymize the internet for everyone…[is behind] a dozen “child online safety” bills…[intended to] force social media companies to enact invasive identity verification measures…[which would permanently link every] user’s offline identity…with their online behavior…constitut[ing] one of the most sweeping rollbacks of civil rights in recent history. It would allow for unprecedented levels of mass surveillance and censorship, endangering the most marginalized members of society. Whistleblowers exposing corporate wrongdoing…[or] government employees speaking out about illegal behavior or bad policies could face [retalia]tion, and activists organizing protests could be identified and surveilled before ever setting foot on the street…Already, the U.S. government is flooding social media platforms with subpoenas seeking to unmask hundreds of anonymously run anti-ICE social media accounts. These laws would make it all the more easier for the government to target and prosecute those who dissent…and [the Quisling party has]…become integral to advancing these proposals, falsely claiming that surveillance laws will crack down on Big Tech or curb [nonexistent] social media addiction…The laws would create a massive new market for third-party identification vendors, [which is why psychopaths]…such as Peter Thiel…Elon Musk…and…Mark Zuckerberg [support these and even worse laws]…
Forced-birth fanatics really do want more women to die:
…crisis pregnancy centers [are] organizations that advertise free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds but dissuade women from pursuing abortions and contraceptive options. Since the [rogue SCOTUS] ended national abortion access in June 2022, the centers have seen an infusion of taxpayer dollars in many Republican-led states….[even though they] endanger public health by “causing delays in accessing legitimate health care”…Twenty-one states funneled…$491 million…to [these scams] between fiscal years 2022 and 2025…not includ[ing] millions some states diverted from federal programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families…Yet that largesse hasn’t been matched by corresponding regulation…[even though the centers regularly lie]…about their services…[and] promote [dangerous pseudo-]treatments like abortion pill reversal… the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists…[says] “they operate outside of ethical principles and best care practices”…
In which glassholes are hoist with their own petard:
[Facebook has been forced to admit that] subcontracted workers [can]…view…films and images…captured by its…[perve]rt glasses for the purpose of improving the “experience”…[the privacy violations were discovered] by Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet…and Goteborgs-Posten…[a Facebook mouthpiece] said…”[Our] glasses help you…to [violate the privacy of anyone in]…the world around you”…
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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