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Posts Tagged ‘FBI’

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 day…Bid 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 agencies…Patternz, 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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I’m going to feel like the biggest idiot taking this to court.  –  foolish cop

To honor the passing of Tito Jackson, I’ve chosen this performance of “I Want You Back” on The Ed Sullivan Show, mostly because it’s my favorite Jackson 5 song.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Walter Olson, C.J. Ciaramella, T. Greg Doucette, Aaron Ross Powell, and Phoenix Calida (x2), 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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Forcing random, innocent individuals to shoulder th[e] cost [of police actions] would be as fair as conducting a lottery to determine who has to pay the police chief’s salary each year.  –  Slaybaugh v. Rutherford County

Leaving the 20th Century (#1223)

This is not “decriminalization” as previously claimed, but rather an overhaul in the existing legalization regime:

A new law in Belgium…is being touted as a win by UTSOPI, the Belgium Union of Sex Workers…the legislation…outlines that prostitutes will receive health insurance, a pension, maternity and holiday leave, and unemployment benefits.  Their pimps will be forced to provide them with a “safety button” to use for emergencies…Prostitutes are to be granted “rights” to refuse sexual acts, stop sexual acts, perform sexual acts in the manner they prefer, and refuse to sit behind Amsterdam-style windows…However, should a prostitute use these “rights” 10 times within six months, their pimp can then call on a government mediator to intervene…

“Pimp” appears to be used here to mean “brothel owner”; the article is silent on what the law says about escorts and other non-brothel sex workers.

Panopticon (#1349)

Rural residents are less affected by state surveillance than urbanites, but they aren’t safe:

In December 2022, Reason reported that both state and federal wildlife agents routinely trespass onto private land and plant cameras.  Two Tennessee homeowners successfully sued the state over the practice…the state appealed…and…the court of appeals [has now] ruled in the homeowners’ favor…In the case of Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth, [agents] not only entered their…properties but also installed trail cameras…without a warrant and ignoring “No Trespassing” signs…

Censor Chic (#1366)

Government censors are growing ever bolder:

…federal agencies such as the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) [have] restarted [their jawboning attempts] with [social media] platforms…[under the tissue-thin guise of] “removing disinformation on their sites as the November presidential election nears”…these [attempt]s resumed in March, around the same time oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri — which centers on the feds’ censorship efforts — were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court…Neither agency provided an answer when questioned on how they determine what constitutes “disinformation” or what other federal agencies they are collaborating with in these efforts to have “disinformation” removed from social media…

Opting Out (#1376)

A new censorship regime has been imposed on British subjects:

[The UK censorship agency] Ofcom [wants more censorship power over] Instagram, YouTube and 150,000 other web services [using the popular excuse of “]child safety[“ to push]… tech firms to [deny users anonymity], [censor] and downrank content [the government dislikes], and apply around 40 other steps to [give the government more control over what its]…subjects [can see, hear, and read]…That suggests Brits may need to get accustomed to [us]ing [a VPN if] they [want to] access a range of online content…

A Broker in Pillage (#1400)

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

A federal court…heard arguments in an appeal concerning…the…”police powers”…exception to the [Constitution]…Mollie and Michael Slaybaugh…are…on the hook for over $70,000 after a SWAT team destroyed much of their home in Smyrna, Tennessee…in…[pursuit of Mollie’s] adult son, James Jackson Conn—who did not live with her but had recently arrived to visit…she offered to speak to Conn and bring him out of her house, [but the cops prevented]…her [from] re-enter[ing and instead]…broke down the door and launched dozens of tear gas grenades into the Slaybaughs’ home, laying waste to nearly everything…Their insurance [refused] to assist them, as their policy—like many policies—does not cover damage caused by the government…The notion that “police powers” immunize the government from liability is what doomed Leo Lech’s lawsuit, which he filed after a SWAT team did so much damage to his home…that it had to be demolished…Los Angeles refused to compensate Carlos Pena after a SWAT team destroyed his…print shop  in pursuit of a suspect who barricaded himself inside, and…Vicki Baker[‘s]…judgment from a federal jury…was ultimately overturned by the…5th Circuit, which ruled there was a “[fuck you]” exception to the Takings Clause…

Civil rights advocates often joke that the Third Amendment is the only one that hasn’t been undermined, but I fail to see any important difference between the government forcibly taking people’s homes to quarter troops and forcibly taking them to enable cops and robbers games.

The Cop Myth (#1410)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A…Memphis [cop in full magic clown regalia] kidnapped a man, shot him in the head and unsuccessfully tried getting rid of his body…Patric J. Ferguson [murdered Robert Howard]…on Jan. 5, 2021, [because Howard was dating Ferguson’s ex-girlfriend.  Ferguson then] dumped his body in the Wolf River in Memphis with the help of another man, Joshua M. Rogers…who [has been]…charged with accessory after the fact…

Sleeping with a cop is not only dangerous to the woman who does so, but to everyone else in her life, especially after she stops sleeping with the cop.

You Were Warned (#1434)

At least there are a few judges willing to restrain other judges’ megalomania:

[Twitter] had a win over the Australian government after the Federal Court overturned a legal block on videos of the Sydney church stabbing.  The [Australian censorship] Commission won a temporary court injunction last month after [Twitter] refused to comply with a…global [censorship order]…Justice Geoffrey Kennett…rejected a bid to extend the injunction until a full trial…The decision does not represent a final legal win…but senior legal sources…said the interim decision…proved the legitimacy of [Twitter’s] case…

 

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 was like a fun game to them.  –  “Jeny”

The Prudish Giant (#1011)

Why does anyone still trust Facebook?

In 2016, Facebook launched a secret project designed to intercept and decrypt the network traffic between people using Snapchat’s app and its servers. The goal was to understand users’ behavior and help Facebook compete with Snapchat…and later Amazon and YouTube…Given these apps’ use of encryption, Facebook needed to develop special technology to get around it…Facebook’s engineers solution was to use Onavo, a VPN-like service that Facebook acquired in 2013…which when activated had the advantage of reading all of the device’s network traffic before it got encrypted and sent over the internet…

Censorship Ascendant

Safetyism has become the go-to excuse of censors pretending they aren’t:

The FBI spends “every day, all day long” interrogating people over their Facebook posts.  At least, that’s what agents told Stillwater, Oklahoma, resident Rolla Abdeljawad when they showed up at her house to [harass] her about her social media activity…[after] they [were] given “screenshots” of her posts by Facebook…Abdeljawad told…th[em] she didn’t want to talk and…later confirmed with local police that the [spooks] really were FBI agents…”we’re not here to arrest you or anything,” [said the spook pictured here]…”We do this every day, all day long. It’s just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any [bad thoughts].”  [Abdeljawad’s lawyer Hassan] Shibly says…it was the first time he had heard of Facebook…preemptively reporting [citizen]s to [State] enforce[rs]…

No Escape (#1333)

This will never stop while violent thugs have total power over the lives of women:

…719 civil lawsuits…were recently filed against the City of New York and the NYC Department of C[ramming Human Beings into Filthy Cages] under the Adult Survivors Act, a state law that opened a one-year window for sexual assault survivors to file claims outside of the statute of limitations…nearly 60% of the 1,256 lawsuits filed…during the…period describe assaults against people held on Rikers Island…the…abuse…span[ned] decades…from 1976 to…[the present and consists of attacks by screws ranging from] grop[ing]…to [violent anal,] oral…and…v[aginal] rape….[while] jail officials…[tacitly approved of] the ongoing attacks…The plaintiffs seek more than $14.7 billion in damages, which could pose a staggering financial burden for the city[‘s tax cattle]…

Panopticon (#1346)

Old-fashioned Stasi-type surveillance isn’t dead yet:

…a [uniparty-backed] bill…would strengthen the role of the Department of Homeland Security in school [surveilla]nce, [to] turn America’s schools into another adjunct of the national security apparatus, a veritable school for spies…The Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center, or NTAC, was created in 1998 to examine threats to the president and security at complex public gatherings.  Its focus was expanded a year later to the psychology of school shootings…Today, NTAC…brags that…it has [indoctrinat]ed hundreds of thousands of school administrators and teachers….thanks in part to NTAC p[ropaganda preten]ding…[that] “see something, say something”…is…[magically] differen[t from]…snitching…ratting…or…tattling…[because] students…[are] “potential terrorists”…

A Moral Cancer (#1369)

Crypto-moralists want people to believe they could live forever by simply eliminating every single pleasurable activity from their lives:

Women who drink more than one glass of wine a day are 45 per cent more likely to develop heart disease…[crypto-moral]ists studied the drinking habits of 430,000 adults in California, who had an average age of 44, and none of whom were teetotal.  Their habits were followed for four years, and during which 3,108 developed heart disease…The more people drank, the more likely they were to be diagnosed with heart disease, particularly in women…

Torture Chamber (#1389)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

Brooklyn’s troubled federal jail has been serving maggot-infested beans to [prisoners]…defense lawyers….[have also] detailed…partially cooked [chicken]…spoiled, rotting meat…milk [well past]…the expiration date…and…cockroaches and bug parts [in] the food…in January…Manhattan Federal Court Judge Jesse Furman issued a 19-page ruling laying out a litany of problems, including how the jail lost power for eight days in 2019 during a polar vortex.  “It has gotten to the point that it is routine for judges…to give reduced sentences to defendants based on the conditions of confinement in the MDC,” Furman wrote. “Prosecutors no longer even put up a fight, let alone dispute that the state of affairs is unacceptable”…His ruling, that the jail’s dreadful conditions constituted “extraordinary reasons” to not lock up a 70-year-old convicted drug dealer as he awaited sentencing, has since been cited by several defense lawyers seeking leniency or release for their clients…

To Molest and Rape (#1425)

Another example of the cop/religion molestation nexus:

A…Jacksonville [Florida cop]…was arrested…[for seducing a] 17-year-old [girl]…Josue’ Garriga III….[met the girl] at church…he told her to download WhatsApp so they could communicate [surreptitiously]…he…sen[t her dick pics]…and ask[ed] her for [nude] photos….the[n he later molested her]…in his [pigmobile]…it is believed there could be other victims.  Garriga…[murder]ed 22-year-old Jamee Johnson during a [pretextual] traffic stop…in [2019 and]…the city settled the [resulting lawsuit] for $200,000…

 

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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No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up.  –  Albert Fox-Cahn

Not So Different

Politicians can’t resist using popular web services to expand surveillance:

A bill recently introduced in Colorado  aims to make dating apps such as Hinge and Bumble [worse] for users [under the pretext of “safety”].  The first section…would force all dating services with any users in Colorado to submit an annual report to Colorado’s attorney general about misconduct reports from users in the state or about users in the state…[or] the entire United States.  These reports would all become public…Scorned lovers, racists, incels, and others with hostile motives could file false reports and harm people’s job and dating prospects in the future.  And a report on a government website looks a lot more legitimate than someone mad on social media.  These reports might even lead to [cops harass]ing innocent users…

Permanent Record (#1275)

Teachers are supposed to be robots who have no lives outside of school:

Domonique Brown was a history teacher…in the Detroit area, but in her off hours…worked as an aspiring rapper named Drippin Honey…she was [fired] from her job…[because one single] parent complained that she was a “bad influence” on her students because she’s a rapper, despite being voted teacher of the month in December…the parent [was allowed to] remain…anonymous [after the drive-by character assassination,] and didn’t [even bother to] go into detail about what they found objectionable about her rapping…Brown said she plans to take legal action against the school…

Stalkers in Blue (#1313)

Even seemingly-consensual sex with a cop may actually be something else:

A [typical and representative FBI] agent…has been arrested for…secretly filming women [he had] sex [with] at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with [cops] estimating there could be more than 80 victims.  Mark Allen Wells…stored the pornographic images and videos on his computer in neatly organized files.  Morgan Ballou, who dated Wells off and on between 2016 and 2022 said that he had shown her the library of nudes, at which point she contacted one of the women whose name showed up, his now ex-fiancé Savanna Smith…The pair went to the police [last] May…and…over the following months, more victims were identified.  His ex-wife came forward [to report] that he had secretly recorded her via a hidden camera on the bookshelf in one of their bedrooms.  It was also revealed that Wells…sent sexually explicit images of them to at least eight people…

Schadenfreude (#1376)

“Nonprofit” merely refers to the organization; those who run it often make plenty of profit:

…Candace Lierd is the founder and former CEO of a [Utah-based “rescue industry organization named]…Exitus…[who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars] donated to the organization…she made false claims that she was a nurse or physician, [that she] had a position with the United Nations[,] and [that she had] founded several multimillion-dollar companies…Lierd has a stack of 42 charges filed against her…[most of which are] fraud[-related]…felonies…Exitus…did not renew its business license after it expired in 2022, but continued to seek donations on Facebook and Instagram….[with fantasies about fictional] orphan rescues in Europe…Exitus raised over $1,697,000 through [lies and fabric]ations…the[n used the] money…to buy a…new home[, a car for her son, and other things, but]…much of the money is still unaccounted for.

Micromanagement (#1381)

A “Tornado of Bad Ideas”:

In keeping with law enforcement’s grand tradition of taking antiquated, invasive, and oppressive technologies, making them digital, and then calling it innovation, police in the U.S. recently combined two existing dystopian technologies in a brand new way to violate civil liberties. A police force in California recently employed the new practice of taking a DNA sample from a crime scene, running this through a service provided by US company Parabon NanoLabs that guesses what the perpetrators face looked like, and plugging this rendered image into face recognition software to build a suspect list…scientists have affirmed that predicting face shapes—particularly from DNA samples—is not possible.  But this has not stopped…police [from] using DNA to create a hypothetical and not at all accurate face, then using that face as a clue on which to base investigations…Not only is this full dice-roll policing, it also threatens the rights, freedom, or even the life of whoever is unlucky enough to look a little bit like that artificial face…

I Spy (#1385)

Curiosity offends the state, comrade:

Federal [spooks] have ordered Google to provide information on all viewers of select YouTube videos…the orders are unconstitutional because they threaten to turn innocent YouTube viewers into criminal suspects…Kentucky…cops sought to identify the individual behind the online moniker “elonmuskwhm”, who they suspect of selling bitcoin for cash, potentially [ope]ning [him up to persecution under] money laundering laws…In conversations with the user in early January [2023, spooks] sent links of YouTube tutorials for mapping via drones and augmented reality software, then [demand]ed Google [dox everyone] who…viewed the videos [that week by exposing]…the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google account users who accessed the…videos…and…the IP addresses of non-Google account owners who viewed the[m]…court records do not show whether or not Google [licked the boot that time]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #8)

Once a cop, always a cop:

[A retired] Utah [cop]…Sheriff’s Office administrator…[and] mental health counselor…[named] Mitchell McKee [has been] arrested…[for molesting] a teen[age boy].  The teen…told police he was abused by an adult man in exchange for vape pens…he is [considered dangerous because he is] a retired [cop who]…knows where…[his] victim 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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No Escape

Sure, give sexually-aggressive adult men total power over teenage girls; what could possibly go wrong?

A [screw] at a [Washington] juvenile [jail raped] a 15-year-old [prisoner] inside a [pigmobile]…Antwon Jones…[h]as [been] charged [with]…rape and fir[ed].  Jones was tasked with transporting the girl on Jan. 26 [for vaguely-described reasons, and quite predictably coerced]…her during transport [into submitting to rape].  The girl said she [was afraid to refuse him]…So…he…stopped the vehicle in a parking lot…[near] the [cage stack]…and…got into the back seat with…her…[but] after the [rape], Jones realized he had [idiotic]ally locked himself in the back of the vehicle with the girl, s[o he was trapped]…until [he was caught, though he tried to excuse himself with a dumbass tale about]…lock[ing] himself [in] while adjusting her handcuffs…

No Escape (#1340)

The people who actually need “correction” are the ones who enable this horror:

FBI agents…raided a federal women’s prison in California so plagued by sexual abuse it was known among [prisoner]s and [screw]s as the “rape club”.  The action coincided with the ouster of…Warden Art Dulgov — just a few months into his tenure — and three other top…[screws, due to their]…retaliation against a…[prisoner] who testified in January in a lawsuit…against the prison…The developments are just the latest twist in a years-long [parade of atrocities] surrounding the facility.  Since an FBI investigation was launched…in 2021, eight FCI Dublin [screw]s have been charged with sexually abusing inmates.  Five of them have pleaded guilty…and two have been convicted by juries…[the feds have now] appointed [a woman as] interim warden of Dublin…the fourth person to hold the office since [rapist warden Ray] Garcia was removed…[in a transparent attempt to convince the painfully-naive that everything will be better now]…the number of women who have come forward [as victims of rape, other] sexual abuse[,] and retaliation [at the prison]…has reached 63…

To Molest and Rape (#1366)

I doubt this will make much difference until cops’ power is severely curtailed:

A [typical and representative] Oklahoma [cop] convicted [on a federal civil rights charge resulting from the violent rape] of a woman during a traffic stop will become the first to face a heftier penalty under the 2022 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act…Jeffrey Scott Smith Jr…is facing up to 40 years in prison after a jury found him guilty this week of [violently raping the woman and deactivating his body camera and dashboard camera to cover it up]…


If Men Were Angels (ROTW #3)

In addition to being a “pastor”, he’s also a wannabe cop.  Quelle surprise:

South Florida pastor…Monte Lavelle Chitty…was arrested…[for] rap[ing a 15-year-old girl who]…told deputies that “Chitty gave her alcohol that she thinks might have been ‘spiked’ with something else”…When she woke up, she found Chitty [rap]ing her…Chitty “was a registered volunteer with the Sheriff’s Office” [in addition to being] a pastor…


To Molest and Rape (ROTW #7)

Stories about child-molesting cops are often larded with obfuscatory language:

[A typical and representative] South Carolina [cop named]…David Lonny Geronimo Templet…[has been] charged with…[multiple] sex…[crimes against multiple children]…In July 2019…[he molested] an 11-year-old…[and] between July 2019 and September 2020, [he repeat]edly masturbated in the presence of two [other] children…

They’re also often really vague about the victims’ ages:

A…Missouri…[cop named] Johnathon…Taylor…was arrested…[for] the [repeated] sexual assault of [two] minor girls…beginning in 2017 [and continuing until at least 2022]…


To Molest and Rape (ROTW #7)

Give sexually-aggressive thugs power over teens; what could possibly go wrong?

An [Oklahoma cop assigned to spy on, harass, and intimidate students]…was arrested after [predictably raping a student]…James Matthew Waltman p[lied the girl with] alcohol to [facilitate the rape, and the article is heavily padded with clowns feigning surprise at this 100% predictable outcome]…


Even if they’re only part-time lurkers, that’s as much opportunity as they need:

[An Indiana cop named] Rico E. Butler[, who  was assigned to spy on, harass, and intimidate students part-time,] was charged on March 2 with…child seduction…for sexual abuse of…a…17-year-old…[since] September…Butler…has been [rewarded with a] paid [vacation]…

 

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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All I know about magnets is this, give me a glass of water, let me drop it on the magnets, that’s the end of the magnets.  –  Donald Trump

When I first mentioned this cartoon in “My Favorite Short Films” almost 12 years ago, it was only available on the National Film Board of Canada website.  But since that has changed, here it is.  The links above it were provided by Greg Lukianoff, Franklin Harris, C.J. Ciaramella (x2), Mike Masnick, Lucy Steigerwald, and Jesse Walker, 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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To hear the cops tell it, they’re the “thin blue line” that stands between civilization and a species of chaos resembling Mad Max meets Lord of the Flies in the midst of an immense drunken free-for-all in Somalia.  –  “Bait and Switch”

Do you really want to live in a world where everyone must suffer the consequences of every mistake, act of desperation, bad decision, foolish choice and even false accusation forever, without any hope of escape no matter how blameless his life is after that?  –  “Permanent Record”

Fuck your patronizing picket-fence queer bullshit.  Fuck your attempt to pretend that sex workers…are asking for “legalization and regulation” because women (though obviously not men) are too fucking weak and stupid to protect ourselves from “exploitation”.  Fuck your trying to co-opt our movement, which was already going on for forty fucking years before you deigned to fucking notice it.  Stonewall was the fucking Stonewall of sex workers, you asshole; the riot that started the avalanche that gave gay amateurs their rights was started by professionals.  And I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to remain silent while sleazy douchebags like you call for my body and my choices to be “regulated” by the same kind of fucking pigs those rioters were fighting against, just so middle-class vanilla fucks like you don’t have to feel threatened by my unregulated sexuality.  –  “Now They Notice (#567)”

Lying to sociopaths who work to destroy people’s lives for violations of arbitrary laws made up by privileged douchebags completely disconnected from those whose lives they presume to micromanage is not a wrong; in fact, it is both a right and a sacred duty.  –  “What Is Truth?”

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