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Posts Tagged ‘FBI’

Mass surveillance…threatens people’s freedom of movement.
–  Christie Hebert

Stalkers in Blue

Cops are a constant menace to all women:

An NYPD [cop] faces federal charges [for] impersonat[ing] an ICE [goon to] demand…a victim report with [her] family to a…[concentration camp]…Atickul Islam…who [sometimes uses the alias] “James W. Anderson”…to [cloak his illegal activities, was trying to destroy the lives of]…the victim and [her entire] family…in [retaliation for her spurning his sexual advances]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1246) 

Texas’ deranged jihad criminalizes kindness to troubled adolescents:

…Texas…law…[now] bars public school employees from…using a different name, pronoun or other practice that [conflicts with] the birth sex.  [The law is bizarrely] dubbed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights”…[even though it] prohibits…faculty from [support]ing…[parentally]-sanctioned c[hanges]…frustrat[ing parents whose]…rights [the law ignores]…A few of these parents joined advocacy and teacher groups to file a lawsuit…in August, seeking to pause districts from enforcing the law while the case proceeds…Some Texas school districts and boards…have adopted [totalitarian] policies to [criminalize benign] teacher…[conduct] but many…are still allowing teachers to honor students’ preferred names and pronouns [at least in person]…

If Men Were Angels (ROTW #18)

Religious communities very often punish the victims instead of the rapists:

Over the course of about 20 years in two states, [Clint] Massie…sexually abused children with…[the assistance of] the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church…his abuse was such an open secret…that mothers warned their daughters to stay away from him…[after numerous complaints] church leaders told Massie to stay away from…children…but…never reported Massie’s crimes to police…Instead, [they coerc]ed the victims to take part in [so-called “]forgiveness sessions[“] which allowed Massie…to continue abusing children…[it was] not…[until] 2017..[that a] victim…[disobeyed] preachers…to report the crimes to police…

Panopticon (#1556)

Sometimes, protests can temporarily drown out the bleating of useful idiots:

…[Oakland, California politicians almost approved] a $2 million contract with Flock S[urveillance; the measure only failed because]…hundreds rallied against the threat of [ICE goons] and other federal [spooks] spying on residents, bypassing the city’s [cosmetic] sanctuary policies.  [Politicians were so gung-ho about expanding surveillance]…that two members of the local Privacy Advisory Commission resigned…and one subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Oakland [cop shop, which wanted]…the cameras [to expand their already-dystopian] surveillance [network]…But hundreds of public speakers…rallied [despite politicians’ pinky-swearing]…to [oversee] camera data…

Walled Garden

Safetyism is rapidly destroying the internet:

OnlyFans will screen creators in the United States for criminal convictions…[using a surveillance network named] Checkr Trust…[bizarrely bleating the word “]safety[” to distract from the transparent attempt to]…exclude [in-person sex workers] from the platform…

To Molest and Rape (#1567)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

[A typical and representative] Miami…[cop named] James Hurley Edwards died by apparent suicide in [a] Federal [cage]…just days before he faced a minimum 15-year sentence for producing and possessing child [porn]…Edwards…was first arrested [in 2014 for molesting]…two brothers, ages 15 and 16…[but was given] a [typical cop sweetheart] deal…that allowed him to avoid being listed as a sexual offender…keep his $9,000 a month pension…[and serve a mere] 364 days in the Miami-Dade County jail followed by 10 years’ probation…But [last year]…Edwards [sent another man a child porn video to a gay man via a hookup app and he reported it to the FBI, who then took over]…the complainant’s online identity and…[tricked] Edwards [into incriminating himself]…He pled guilty in September to two federal charges…and was to be sentenced [last] Thursday…

Panopticon (#1591)

The fully-realized fascist police state has arrived:

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to [harass, assault, rob] and [abduct] people whose travel patterns it [pretends are “]suspicious[“]…The [nationwide surveillance]…network of [ALPRs feeds]…an algorithm [which] flags vehicles [for persecution] based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took.  Federal agents…then [dispatch local cops serving as lackeys, who use bogus pretexts such as]…speeding, failure to signal…window tint or even [possession of]…an…air freshener…[to stop, interrogate, and even sexually assault drivers or destructively root through their possessions looking for loot]…

 

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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Oh no, not another youth pastor.  –  Jessica Nicely

The War Goes On (#867) 

This started as a scheme to keep sex workers off of Tinder:

Tinder [has] announced…that identity verification with facial recognition will now be required for all new users in the U.S. in the coming months.  A facial scan is already required for new…users in California as of July…[and] new users in Colombia, Canada, Australia, India, and several countries across Southeast Asia must also complete one…users must take a video of themselves within the app…the…scan…[is used to determine] whether the same face is used in multiple profiles…and stored to verify new photos…

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1508) 

There is no such thing as an original idea from a politician:

Pennsylvania [politicians] are proposing a new 10 percent tax on porn.  The…”tiddy tariff,” as…Mike Stabile has dubbed it—would be levied in addition to the state’s normal 6 percent sales and use tax.  As a means to…raise revenue or discourage porn consumption…this…might make sense if most porn viewers were paying for porn videos or platform subscriptions.  But in a world of ample free porn, it seems unlikely to accomplish either of the state’s likely aims…And to the extent that it even further disincentivizes paying for porn, it could actually work against goals like protecting sex workers from exploitation, or keeping people from viewing porn that was made in illegal or exploitative ways…

Pennsylvania, of course, is not interested in protecting sex workers.

Panopticon (#1547)

Other mobile surveillance platforms aren’t enough; cops now want their own:

The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Department is the first in the country to test a new [robot pigmobile] decked in surveillance equipment…it is even capable of serving as a launch platform for [flying pig robots]…this is…a pilot program…sponsored by [fascist corporation] PolicingLab…as a feeler for the Sheriff’s public affairs folks…in order to…evaluate [how badly it will damage]…public trust…“Results will inform whether and how the program expands, potentially serving as a national model for [cop shops] across the country”…

The Cop Myth (#1570)

What would cops do if you shot someone dead in the street?

An FBI [spook in Virginia who murdered] a neighbor in [cold blood was allowed to skate without]…any time in jail…Benjamin Spinale shot…Jason Chamberlain in the middle of the street in February…he was…never charged for [the murder], but…faced four [slap-on-the-wrist gun] charges [instead.  Spinale has a history of threatening neighbors with his gun, having]…previously pulled [it] on a puppy and a group of teens.  The county prosecutor [absurdly claimed] there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Spinale [for] the [murder], despite being surrounded by sheriff’s deputies at the time…the first judge to hear the plea agreement called Spinale a vigilante and said he shouldn’t be allowed to have a gun in any capacity[, so the case was transferred to] another judge [prosecutors knew would] accept…the [corrupt deal]…

Shame, Shame (#1576)

Another ghoul looting graves:

Alan Hamel is doing everything he can to [profit from his late wife] Suzanne Somers…One of [his creepy schemes] is a [computer-generated image synchronized with a chatbot trained on Somers’ writings and interviews, branded as]…”the Suzanne AI Twin”…Hamel, [who is either deeply senile or lacks the capacity for shame, claims]…”When…I…look at the two of them side by side, I really can’t tell which one is the real and which one is the AI”…

Torture Chamber (#1578)

Government thugs hate both queer people and migrants, so queer migrants are especially targeted:

Queer and trans immigrants [locked in a] south Louisiana [dungeon] have…faced sexual harassment and abuse, medical neglect and coerced labor by [screws], and…[were] ignored or faced retaliation for speaking out…they were…forced…to perform hard [and pointless] manual labor [in the middle of the night and]…targeted by an assistant warden…named Manuel Reyes and his [gang, who]… beat them and denied them medical treatment [afterward].  “I was treated worse than an animal,” said Mario Garcia-Valenzuela, one of the [victims]…part of the [torture included repetitively moving]…heavy cabinets [back and forth across a room], and…using industrial-strength [cleaning] chemicals without gloves or protective gear…[all in the middle of the] night…they were persistently sexually harassed by Reyes, who [also] entered their [cells to steal] possessions including [dirty underwear.  One of the victims]…is a [lesbian whom]…Reyes…oral[ly raped]…on a “near daily basis” between February and May 2024, threatening to kill her if she refused…to [submit]…

If Men Were Angels (#1582)

Youth group leader“:

…a Phoenix…youth group leader…[named] Casey Goslin…was arrested on Oct. 16…for…[possession of] child pornography…Goslin…was…involved with a platform used to livestream child sexual abuse…[from] the Philippines…

 

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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If Men Were Angels

You’d think “youth pastor” would be a big red flag by now:

A [typical and representative Tennessee] youth pastor [named]…Ryan McElrath…[pled guilty to molesting] a 17-year-old female victim…and…was sentenced…to 252 months (21 years) in federal [prison] and five years supervised release.  He was also ordered to pay over $8,000 in restitution…

To Molest and Rape (#1485)

Another cop stalks victims through the official cop grooming program:

A…King County [Washington cop named]…Ricardo Cueva…was [arrested and rewarded with a paid vacation for grooming, molesting, and raping a 17-year-old]…he[met via]…the Police Explorer program…a national [grooming] program [cops use to seduce] teens…providing them with opportunities to [be alone with their victims without attracting the attention of the kind of fool who would let their daughters be alone with adult cops]…Cueva met [his] victim in 2016 when he was serving as her group leader for the Burien Police Department’s explorer program…he…rape[d] and [molested the girl]…in 2017 and 2018, when [she] was 17…[but she said nothing until last] month…[when s]he…decided to come forward “in hopes of protecting others from Deputy Cueva”…

Creepy Coppers (#1520)

Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:

A…Homeland Security [spook from Minnesota named]…Timothy Gregg…[has been] charged with the production of child [porn]…after the father of the victim found sexually explicit photos and videos of [his 17-year-old daughter] and an older man on [her] cell phone…[cops] were later able to identify the man in the videos as Gregg…who…recorded videos of them having sex, which…[was] consensual, [but she was below the Minnesota age of consent and below the federal age for legally appearing in porn]…

To Molest and Rape (#1536)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”, but you don’t have to:

…a [screw from the notorious] Lowell [torture complex raped] a 17-year-old…Cody Lord a[pproached] the teen…while she was in her apartment complex’s hot tub…[he] got in, [tried to intimidate her], and [plied her with] tequila before raping her…

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

Hardy [Arkansas] Police Chief Scott Rose has been arrested and charged with [raping]…a minor [after getting her drunk.  Rose’s attack was reported to]…Sharp County Sheriff Shane Russell…in late March…[but he dismissed it as a “]rumor[” until]…the victim and her family…[reported the rape to] Arkansas State Police…and the FBI…

And they can’t be trusted even when their freedom depends on it:

[Typical and representative Alabama cop] William “BJ” Squires has been arrested for a third time…[for] violating his bond conditions…[by going] to…Biloxi, Mississippi on June 5…[despite being] require[d]…to stay in Alabama.  Squires…is [out on bail after being]…indicted for rape and sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl…In February, police arrested Squires…[for] walking with his child in Westside Park after he was previously told not to return.  The district attorney’s office was trying to revoke his bond…because of that…[but] Judge Michael Windom [let him go because cop]…

 

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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It’s hard to imagine a situation where a 4-year-old was involved in criminal activity.  –  Stevie Glaberson

To Molest and Rape

If “there is no reason to believe anyone aided him,” the screws were criminally negligent:

A [typical and representative] Arkansas police chief serving a 30-year sentence for murder and rape has escaped from prison and remains at large…Grant Hardin…has been in prison since 2017 for first-degree murder and rape [committed while]…he…was the…police chief of Gateway, Arkansas…[in] a makeshift [disguise that wouldn’t have fooled and competent guard]…Stone County Sheriff Brandon Long [claimed he]…did not have any knowledge of how Hardin was able to escape…[and] has “a lot of questions”…Nathan Smith, the former…prosecutor [on his case said]…Hardin…”He has no moral core or center”…Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder…of…James Appleton…[and] is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher…that was [depicted] in the 2023 television show Devil in the Ozarks

Micromanagement (#1039)

It only starts with people the state wants you to hate and distrust:

The [US] government has collected DNA samples from upwards of 133,000 migrant children and teenagers—including at least one 4-year-old—and uploaded their genetic data into [CODIS,] a national criminal database used by [cop shops] and [spook houses, which was]…originally built for convicted sex offenders and violent criminals…Experts say…the DNA dragnet [will soon] be used for more extensive profiling…CBP [demanded DNA samples from as many as]…2.8 million people [altogether]…a sweeping expansion of biometric surveillance…that explicitly targets migrant populations…

Torture Chamber (#1332)

Any civilized country would be deeply ashamed of this:

Unfortunately for…the estimated 55,000 pregnant women who [are violently hurled into US] jails every year, little data exists on the impact [being confined in filthy cages] has on pregnancy…A 2024 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office…found that “comprehensive data on pregnant women incarcerated in state prisons and local jails do not exist…[despite the US having] one of the highest maternal mortality rates” and “incarcerat[ing] women at the highest rate in the world”…between 1980 and 2022, the female prison population in the U.S. grew by more than 585 percent, more than twice the growth rate of the male prison population.  Much of this increase has been attributed to [the government’s pro-carceral jihad of the early ’90s]…Women have seen drug-related arrests increase by 317 percent since 1980, while men have seen a 69 percent jump.  Today, more than half of [caged] women are [locked up] for drug and property offenses…

Blunt Instrument (#1408)

“Sex trafficking” is no longer a magic brain-pause spell, but that hardly matters under the racist, anti-migrant MAGA regime:

A…[racist] Louisiana [politician named]…Beth Mizell [has proposed a new bill targeting Asian massage parlors]…Mizell[‘s head spun around wildly as she projectile-vomited racist “sex trafficking” myths for other politicians to masturbate to, drawing heavily on the wanking fantasy of the submissive Asian woman and peppering her rant with puritan-pleasing dysphemism like]…“illicit”…[while panting about] “6-10 men a day, seven days a week”…The bill also would prohibit keeping bunk beds inside massage parlors [so as to cut into massage workers’ income]…

The Vultures Descend (#1489)

Your “leaders” know what’s best, so shut up and obey:

One might have thought that last November, when Missourians voted to enshrine “reproductive freedom,” including abortion, in the state constitution, that would be the end of the conversation…But local Planned Parenthood affiliates are still fighting in court to overturn the web of restrictions, known as TRAP laws, that made providing abortions virtually impossible in the state…These include a 72-hour waiting period…and a rule that providers must have admitting privileges at a hospital 15 minutes away, to name just a few.  In a pair of decisions in December and February, Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang agreed to temporarily suspend enough of those old laws to allow abortions to resume in Missouri while the court case heads to a January 2026 trial.  But…the state supreme court overturned Zhang’s rulings, ordering her to [change her mind.  Politicians have also]…voted to put yet another constitutional amendment on the ballot—this one repealing the reproductive freedom amendment and banning virtually all abortions…

Panopticon (#1540)

“Safety” has become the State’s universal excuse for violation of civil rights:

…Texas [cops] performed a nationwide search of more than 83,000 automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras while [hunt]ing…a woman who…had a self-administered abortion, including cameras in states where abortion is legal…Sheriff Adam King of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office [blatantly lied] that…“her family was worried that she was going to bleed to death, and we were trying to find her to get her to a hospital…it was about her safety”…Elizabeth Ling, senior counsel for If/When/How…[said about 26% of abortion] criminal[ization] cases…originate after [a busybody foolishly trusted by] the person getting an abortion [snitches] to police…

I Spy (#1542)

Wave bye-bye to the last remaining shreds of your privacy:

In March, President Trump [issued] an [illegal imperial edict demanding] the federal government to share data across agencies, [violating the Privacy Act of 1974 and paving the way for] a master list of personal information on Americans that [w]ould give him untold surveillance power…[his henchmen] have…turned to…Palantir, the [cop-enabling surveillance firm which started out by spying on sex workers, by forcibly cramming]…a key Palantir product called Foundry into at least four federal agencies, including D.H.S. and…Health and Human Services…pav[ing] the way for…Trump [and his creatures] to easily merge information from different agencies…creating detailed portraits of Americans…including their bank account numbers…[and] medical [records]…[in order] to advance his political agenda by policing immigrants and punishing critics…Privacy advocates…and others] have filed lawsuits to block data access…[even] Palantir employees have been unnerved by the [scheme]…and [are trying to claim it’s not their fault if a tool they created specifically to destroy lives is used to destroy lives]…

 

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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It creates a categorically new scale and nature of privacy invasion and potential for abuse that was literally not possible any time before in human history.  –  Nathan Wessler

Pyrrhic Victory (#1072)

It’s far too late to stuff this djinni back into its bottle:

[Cop shops] and [spook houses] have found a [sleazy] new way to skirt…laws that curb how they use facial recognition: a…[surveillance system] that can track people using attributes like body size, gender, hair color and style, clothing, and accessories.  The tool, called Track and built by the video analytics company Veritone, is [already ab]used by 400 customers…all over the US…“The whole vision behind Track in the first place,” says Veritone CEO Ryan Steelberg, was “if we’re not allowed to track people’s faces, how do we [allow pigs and spooks to violate the spirit those laws]…to…malicious[ly target people for state violence]?”…The product has drawn [anemic] criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union…Steelberg said that the number of attributes Track uses to identify people will continue to grow…[and] the company is less than a year from being able to run it on live video feeds…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1172)

All cops will have these within a few years:

…[Facebook] is working on facial recognition for [its] Ray-Ban glasses…combining facial recognition with a camera feed…is something…big tech…has been able to technically pull off, but has previously decided to not release.  There are serious, inherent risks with the idea of anyone being able to instantly [dox] anyone who just happens to walk past their camera…The move is an obvious about-face from…[a company whose] PR [department] chewed my ass off when I dared to report in October that a pair of students took [Facebook]’s Ray-Ban glasses and combined them with off-the-shelf facial recognition technology…[to] capture…a person’s face, [run] it through an easy to access facial recognition service called Pimeyes…and pull…up information about the subject from…the web, including their home address and phone number…[all] by wearing a pair of glasses that look like any other…

The Implosion Begins (#1237)

Now that MAGA controls the “sex trafficking” narrative, expect more of this:

…[Trump’s] FBI…wants you to believe that shadowy pedophile cabals are behind a [supposed] surge of crimes committed against children….[and predictably,] Democrats in Congress want to give the FBI more money to feed that frenzy….the FBI…recent[ly invented] a “Nihilistic Violent Extremist” designation focused on a [supposed] pedophile crime ring known as “764”…[and] opened an eye-popping 250 investigations into the group…[pretending it’s] a national security threat…that they claim could “bring down society”…[in] a panic characteristic of the QAnon movement — for which [Trumpist]…FBI Director Kash Patel [has expressed sympathy]…

Prudish Pedants (#1300)

Redefining words to mean something more convenient is the oldest trick in the politicians’ playbook:

[Sex-obsessed politician] Mike Lee…wants to redefine obscenity in a way that could render all sorts of legal sexual content illegal…[Lee has once again reintroduced his] Interstate Obscenity Definition Act…to get porn off the internet…so [creators can be]…prosecuted…his proposed definition of obscenity is “so broad” that the TV show Game of Thrones could fall under its purview…and…makes a mockery of the First Amendment…”there’s nothing about that definition that…would survive constitutional review,” says [noted 1st amendment attorney] Robert Corn-Revere…Lee wants to replace the average person’s opinion [as utilized in the Miller test] with his own.  And his own opinion seems to be that virtually any depiction of human sexuality is obscene…This isn’t about age-gating online porn or otherwise ensuring that it’s not easily accessible to minors.  It’s about ensuring that no one can to see content that that might “arouse” or “titillate”…

I Spy (#1522)

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

A massive aviation industry clearinghouse that processes data for 12 billion passenger flights per year is selling that information to the Trump [regime for use in targeting]…migration…The data — including “full flight itineraries, passenger name records, and financial details, which are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain” for past and future flights — is fed into a secretive government intelligence operation called the Travel Intelligence Program and provided to…ICE…and other [spook houses]…When a passenger buys a flight through [any booking website or] travel agency…the transaction is fed through the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which [is jointly owned by Delta, Southwest, United, American, Alaska, JetBlue, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Air France,] acts as an intermediary between travel agencies and airlines…[and] includes information on 54 percent of all flights taken globally…the Travel Intelligence Program “was established after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to [spy on travelers for cop shops and spook houses]”…Because no other comparable financial clearinghouse exists in aviation, there’s no alternative [to ARC] for travel agencies or consumers to use instead…

No Escape (#1522)

The inevitable result of giving sexually-aggressive thugs total power over women:

Michigan [politicians and screws] are [the] defendants in a new $500 million lawsuit [because screws thought it was funny to] record…body camera footage of naked women [locked in the state’s filthy cages]…500-plus women…were [victimized in]…”a grotesque and deliberate abuse of power” at Michigan’s only women’s prison…[screws] forced hundreds of…rape survivors…to submit to video recording while completely nude during [molestation by other screws], while showering, using toilets and in other states of undress…[all under the pretext of] “security concerns”…

Thought Control (#1526)

Alabama censors are angry they couldn’t force obedience by taking library funds:

…the [censorious] Alabama Public Library Service…board will face a surging crowd of speakers…[angry because] the Fairhope Public Library’s state funding [was cancelled in an attempt to compel more censorship.  Anti-book activists]…are…also expected to [barge] in…Krysti Shallenberger…of Read Freely Alabama [said] “People are furious”…[about] the board[‘s heavy-handed]…push…[to reduce] professional librarians [to mere clerks, without power to properly curate their collections, by withholding] $42,000…in [state funding].  An online fundraiser has helped raise enough money to restore the lost funding…The lion’s share of the Fairhope Public Library’s funding comes from local sources, and city officials have vowed not to cut any of the nearly $1 million it provides…The funding suspension [was instigated]…by Rebecca Watson, a[n outside agitator from pro-censorship cult] Moms for Liberty

 

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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It’s a fake legal process…[that] reeks of pure politics.  –  David Webbert

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

…Jose Saez, Jr., [the] pastor [of] a church…in Brentwood, New York, pleaded guilty to…child [molestation, and]…faces a minimum sentence of…30 years…Saez used an encrypted messaging service to engage in sexually explicit conversations with [a cop fantasy role-playing as a child, stating]…he had sexually abused an infant, that his “sweet spot” was molesting children between the ages of 11 and 15, and that he was able to find his younger victims at “church”…FBI agents [also found] numerous images and videos of child pornography [when they searched his stuff]…

The Next Target (#1151)

People everywhere are getting sick of prohibitionist censorship:

The Administrative Court in Düsseldorf is set to decide on the future of online pornography in Germany…The North Rhine-Westphalia State Media Authority (LfM)…demands that pornographic sites meticulously verify the age of all visitors…or…face network blocking.  The operators of the world’s largest porn sites…don’t want to harass their millions of visitors with ID checks…Pornhub and YouPorn, both owned by Aylo…refuse to [spy on visitors thus, so LfM]…demanded that Germany’s largest internet providers block their websites…However, most porn fans are unlikely to have noticed this, as the affected porn sites simply changed their domains.  Pornhub is…accessible at “de.pornhub.org”; the…block only applied to “de.pornhub.com”…In addition, users can easily circumvent a network block…with…a VPN…Two cases before the Düsseldorf Administrative Court revolve around the question of whether the blocking orders issued by the media regulator are even [legal]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1244)

Another disgusting genital inspection law:

…the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill that would allow health care providers to “visually or physically examine a minor”…for the purpose of identifying their “biological sex” without the “consent of the [minor]’s parent, guardian, or custodian.”  The bill, S.B. 456, would define sex based on whether a person produces eggs or sperm…[and limits]  gender-segregated spaces like locker rooms or restrooms…to…a person’s sex…at birth…an amendment…[restricted the “right” to violate a minor against their will to their] “treating health care provider”…[which] was actually an improvement over a previous version of the bill, which…would have allowed teachers to perform the [molest]ations…

In the authoritarian mind,  for students to voluntarily allow other people to examine their genitalia for the purpose of pleasure is a “crime”, but for the same students to be forced by law to allow strangers to examine their genitalia for the purpose of bigotry is “protection”.

Eavesdropping (#1379)

Remember, Amazon eagerly hands data from internet-connected devices to cops:

With Alexa+ rolling out to Amazon Echo devices in the coming weeks, we’re getting a clearer view at the privacy concessions people will have to make to maximize usage of the [LLM] voice assistant and avoid bricking functionality of already-purchased devices…Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally…starting on March 28, recordings of everything spoken to…Echo speakers and…displays will automatically be sent to Amazon and processed in the[ir servers]…One of the most marketed features of Alexa+ is its more advanced ability to recognize who is speaking to it…To accommodate this…Amazon is eliminating a privacy-focused capability for all Echo users, even those who aren’t interested in…Alexa+…In 2023, Amazon agreed to pay $25 million in civil penalties over the revelation that it stored recordings of children’s interactions with Alexa forever…the company [also] allowed employees to listen to Alexa voice recordings…and…watch video recordings of customers’ private spaces…taken from Ring cameras

The Last Shall Be First (#1517)

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were at least a few adults in office?

…after a [politician feign]ed outrage on Facebook about a transgender girl winning a high school pole vaulting event…[mad emperor] Trump singled out Maine’s governor…and threatened to cut off the state’s federal funding.  “See you in court,” Gov. Janet Mills shot back.  Then came a barrage of investigations and threats [from] the…Department[s] of Education…Health and Human Services…Agriculture…and…Justice…The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…pulled $4.5 million for marine research…[and] the Social Security Administration…cancel[ed] contracts that allowed hospitals to automatically report births and funeral homes to report deaths…more federal agencies are pressing down on Maine than there are transgender girls competing in girls’ sports in the state…David Webbert, a longtime civil rights attorney in Maine…[observed that] it’s as if Trump is saying: “Maine believes in transgender rights? Well, you’re going to see what happens to you”…

To Molest and Rape (#1518)

Though his victim wasn’t a student, would you want a rapist lurking around your daughter?

…[An Indiana cop named] Zachary Kerley is [paid to lurk in]…schools [to spy on, harass, and intimidate students].  He…[was friendly with his victim] via Snapchat…and asked her out for drinks.  She…accepted but told him “it’s not going any further than that”, and…he agreed…[but then raped] her at [her] hotel…despite her physical and verbal objections…Kerley [has been rewarded with a paid vacation]…

The Notorious Badge (#1519)

Didn’t this ignorant clod used to be a comedian or something?

Bill Maher…took some time during his “New Rules” segment to exclaim, “Whores are having a moment…You gotta give me more than a week to get used to a new word or phrase or name for what we call something…We did this with homeless until it was unhoused. We did this with illegal alien until it was undocumented migrant…And now we’re doing it with prostitute…If it’s such an important liberal cause…why didn’t you do it 10 years ago or 20 or in 1975?”…

NB: The term “sex worker” was coined by Carol Leigh in 1979, became popular among activists in the ’80s, and has been commonly used in the mainstream media for about ten years now.

 

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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They want to restore the "integrity" of an agency built by J. Edgar Hoover.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-14T18:58:24.002Z

Brussels sprouts are disgusting; they even SMELL disgusting. As do all their siblings.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-15T18:18:53.218Z

Not to mention that being restricted to idiotic, simplistic 18th-century notions of "right" and "left" reduces all political thought and commentary to a second-grade level.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-17T16:31:24.699Z

He also seems ignorant of the fact that Canada is geographically larger than the United States.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-18T18:22:25.152Z

A truly Ozymandian monument to futility and the hubris of politicians.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-19T17:00:46.680Z

And yet some think I'm a weirdo for refusing to eat uncooked or undercooked food.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-21T03:41:07.764Z

We *really* need mandatory retirement ages for politicians.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T04:53:57.294Z

Another timeline cleanse.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T18:34:52.255Z

206-year-old Christmas carol annoys rando, and the Atlantic is ON IT

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-25T18:08:12.311Z

Finding "trending topics" in my margin this morning was like finding a big cat turd on the kitchen floor. Luckily, a "sweep this shit away" button was included.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-26T18:07:13.546Z

Because a healthy brain can't help learning?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-27T18:59:40.901Z

Why don't techies who name their software after mythical people, places, and things bother to think about the implications of the name they choose?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-30T22:33:12.105Z

"As Attorney General, I will not permit steroidal Oklahoma thugs to face criminal prosecution for conduct adhering the state principle of violence toward all minorities who fail to abase themselves and unquestioningly obey state actors."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-12-31T16:34:59.336Z

When a headline asks a question, the answer is nearly always “no”.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-03T04:05:11.236Z

THIS RIGHT HERE.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-03T18:22:20.545Z

I sometimes wonder what kind of abuse it takes to reduce a human mind to a collectivist one. In darker moods, I assume it's a disease of the soul itself.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-04T18:02:54.971Z

In real life, I was 25 from the time I was about 15 until the time I was about 35. Professionally, I was 28 from 33 to 40, then aged about 1 year for every 2 until 2015, when I turned 49.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T05:30:30.070Z

The real reason for this is not "AI", but that most teachers are lazy thinkers who predictably reward certain statements and conclusions which can be tracked and tabulated by machine learning algorithms, rather than rewarding actual thinking ML systems cannot parrot.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T18:51:13.912Z

Very close: the full picture is that a democracy in which there are functionally only two parties is not sustainable.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-07T05:45:48.471Z

Some of us warned y'all about allowing chief executives to govern by monarchical diktat by declaring "emergencies".Y'all were all for it when the executives were on "your" schoolyard team.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-08T18:24:52.542Z

"No civilization—no matter how resilient—is actually permanent."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-09T18:12:38.106Z

Reporters: please stop saying a law is "meant to" do such-and-such when it's obvious it was never ACTUALLY intended to do any such thing, but rather to convince the gullible that it was.The phrase you're looking for is, "the law was PRETENDED to do such-and-such".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-10T18:09:50.321Z

"Looks like your adblocker's on!"Yes, I turned it on a decade ago and left it that way. What next, Captain Obvious? "You're breathing"?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-14T16:41:16.344Z

He "looked like" a hypocrite for the simple reason that he *is* a hypocrite; it kinda goes with the territory. Republics are like cesspools: the biggest chunks float to the top.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-01-15T18:44:02.688Z

 

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When a police department says there’s nothing to worry about unless you’re a criminal, there definitely is.  –  Will Freeman

If Men Were Angels

This was directly caused by people teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

…sexual abuse [is a pattern among typical and representative]…members of Trinity Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho…John “Beau” Summerlin…a founding member and former deacon…has been charged with [molesting teen girls]…between 2012 and 2015…the victim first disclosed the abuse to her mother in 2015 [but] pastor…Stuart Bryan [swept it under the rug]…Summerlin [fled to] Mississippi and [was later arrested there]…Josiah Bryan, son of [the] pastor…[raped] multiple siblings…rep[ea]tedly…between 2005 and 2010…and…was [recently] arrested…in Texas…

I Spy (#1461)

Now that word of automakers’ nonconsensual surveillance of their marks is getting out, here come the excuses:

For researchers…data [from surreptitious auto surveillance] is a “game changer”…Unlike…data sold to the insurance industry [without the victims’ permission], the data that researchers see is [supposedly] anonymized…But…Even if the data is [claimed by busybodies to] be…used for the public good, [consumer advocate Jen] Caltrider [points out the obvious fact that] drivers should know it is being collected and have an easy way to stop it from happening, because…“Anonymized data is never anonymous, especially when location is included…people aren’t used to getting in their car and thinking they need to play with the settings to protect their privacy”…

Panopticon (#1479)

Privacy as we once knew it will soon be a thing of the past:

Some Motorola automated license plate reader surveillance cameras are live-streaming video and car data to the unsecured internet where anyone can watch and scrape them…a privacy advocate then developed a tool that automatically scans the exposed footage for license plates, and dumps that information into a spreadsheet, allowing someone to track the movements of others in real time…these ALPRs are deployed all over the United States by cities and police departments…and…many of them are misconfigured to stream to the open internet rather than a private network…the[ir]…IP addresses can be found using the Internet of [Shit] search engine Censys…So far, roughly 170 unencrypted ALPR streams have been found…

I Spy (#1493)

Why every company wants you to download its “app”, and why you shouldn’t:

Each time you see a targeted ad, your personal information is exposed to thousands of advertisers and data brokers through a process called “real-time bidding”…the most privacy-invasive surveillance system that you’ve never heard of…The ads you see are the winners of milliseconds-long auctions that expose your personal information to thousands of companies a dayBid requests containing more personal data attract higher bids, so websites and apps are financially motivated to harvest as much of your data as possible…As a result, entire businesses have emerged to harvest and sell data from online advertising auctions…RTB is [also] regularly exploited for [illegal, warrantless] government surveillance…For example, the data broker Near Intelligence collected data about more than a billion devices from RTB auctions and sold it to the U.S. Defense Department.  Mobilewalla sold bidstream data to another data broker, Gravy Analytics, whose subsidiary, Venntell, likewise has sold location data to the FBI, ICE, CBP, and other government agenciesPatternz, another surveillance tool built on bidstream data, was advertised to security agencies worldwide as a way to track people’s locations…

Stalkers in Blue (#1495)

Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working out?

An Ohio [cop] has [su]ed a sheriff’s office [for abduct]ing her young child…and then spreading…explicit images of her from her cellphone…Miranda Brothers…[was harassed starting] on January 1, 2024…using the [excuse that she had supposedly left] the child alone with a registered sex offender…The child was [abducted by cops] and Brothers was charged with child endangerment…the[n cops stole]…her phone and…shared [her nudes] with…the [rest of the herd] and “potentially further”…

Shame, Shame (#1502)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

Instagram has begun testing a feature in which [Facebook computers] will automatically generate images of users in various situations and put them into that user’s feed.  One Redditor…told 404 Media that at one point he had uploaded selfies of himself into Instagram’s “Imagine” feature, which is [Facebook’s] image generation feature…“Once you access that feature and upload a selfie to edit, you’ll start seeing these ads pop up with auto-generated images with your likeness”…A [Facebook mouthpiece said] the images are not “ads,” but are a new feature…[Facebook] has begun testing live…“You may see images…created just for you (based on your interests or current trends),” an announcement post from September read…The Reddit post…came on the same weekend that [Facebook’s computer]-generated profiles went viral and were ultimately deleted from the platform.  [Zuckerberg and his henchgeeks have convinced themselves] that people want to be shown more and more [computer]-generated content and [are] finding new ways to [cram] people’s feeds [full of electronic masturbation]…

Cops and Robbers (#1503)

The legacy of To Catch a Predator just keeps on hurting people:

Five…Massachusetts…[students lured] a man to the Assumption University campus in a plot [to attack him] that…was inspired by the television show To Catch a Predator and a fad on TikTok.  The students were part of a [mob] that chased the man from a campus building after he was invited there by a student on the dating app Tinder…[members of the mob fantasized that] the man [was] a sexual predator..[even though] the woman who invited him to the campus, Kelsy Brainard…[truthfully] said on her Tinder profile that she was 18…The [mob]…grabbed him and blocked him from leaving the room…[but] he escaped, and…[fled in] his car…[instigators] Easton Randall…Isabella Trudeau…Joaquin Smith..[Kelsey] Brainard…and Kevin Carroll [have been charged with crimes including kidnapping, conspiracy, and assault]…

 

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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Above the Law

Politicians tried to slip one of their rapist cronies back into power:

Thomaston…[Maine]’s fire and EMS chief…resigned…days after the town’s [politicians] reinstated him despite [his pleading] guilty [to raping a 14-year-old]…Anthony Leo…was reinstated…on Nov. 7…[but] resigned…on Nov. 13 [due to public outcry]…

Above the Law (#1098)  

FBI thugs are just federal cops, and behave accordingly:

An FBI agent…[raped] two women [after] contact[ing them]…through social media with a promise to give them free tattoos and modeling work…Eduardo Valdivia [did not tell the women that he] was an FBI agent…[but instead] contacted the women through an Instagram account for a tattoo parlor in Gaithersburg, Maryland…and…threatened to take legal action if they didn’t return to model for him…Valdivia may have…other [victims, but his]…defense attorney Robert Bonsib said [they wanted it]…

To Molest and Rape (#1291)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

A [typical and representative] Kansas [cop] about to [finally] stand trial on charges that he kidnapped and raped two women…was found dead [by suicide on December 2.  Cops]…discovered the body of Roger Golubski…after he failed to show up [to face the music] in his long-awaited trial in Topeka…Golubski was…[a serial rapist of] vulnerable Black women…[who] hand-picked his victims[, many of them sex workers,] because he was confident they would never be believed….federal authorities [were also prosecuting him for being part of a violent pimping scheme.  For decades, boss cops ignored stacks of complaints about Golubski’s use of threats and sexual violence to cultivate a vast network of informants and coerce some of them into fabricating testimony to cage innocent human beings he targeted, but that changed when one of his victims], Lamonte McIntyre, [sued him after being] released from prison in 2017 after more than 23 years behind bars.  The parties settled the case in June 2022 with county officials agreeing to pay the McIntyres $12.5 million…

To Molest and Rape (#1399)

It isn’t often cops reap the consequences of their crimes:

A [typical and representative] New York City [cop has been] convicted…[for molesting or attempting to molest] four underage boys…Christopher Terranova…said he would appeal [because they wanted it.  His lawyer] added…“Chris…is…sexy…because he was a cop”…

Business As Usual (ROTW #15)

The obfuscatory language in this one is even more intentionally-confusing than usual:

A…[cop paid by] the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission [to lie to women in order to ruin their lives] was fired…[for raping one of the state’s] victim[s] during a major [scheme to destroy ]…9 different nightclubs across north and east Houston…Moises Felipe Moreno…was…[not] charge[d, allowing him to be]…hired by [a different Texas cop shop which was fully aware they were hiring a known rapist]…

 

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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Be unified in rejecting all things that empower the homeless lifestyle.  –  Flathead County Commission

Mitzi Gaynor is of course best remembered for South Pacific, but I’m not as fond of any of her songs from that show as I am of Cole Porter, even with updated lyrics.  The links above the video were provided by Mike Masnick (x2), Dan Savage, T. Greg Doucette, IncarcerNation (x2), and C.J. Ciaramella, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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