Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘games’

In the News (#1376)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[This] is…a slap in the face to free speech advocates around the world.  –  Corey Silverstein

Schadenfreude 

The entire Utah rescue industry appears to be collapsing:

The CEO of a Utah-based [company which]…profit[s from hysteria over “]human trafficking[” has been charged with]…communications fraud, theft, and forgery among others.  In total, she was [charged] with 35 different offenses, 32 of which were felonies…

If Men Were Angels

Oh look, another “youth pastor”:

David Robinson…was arrested for sending [porn to] at least two minors, ages 12 and 17…Robinson would send the victim’s [sic] bible [sic] verses and then ask them questions including, “Are you sexually active?” and “Are you pregnant?”…Robinson was a youth pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church…and would volunteer at Seffner Christian School[, both in Florida]…

Of course, not all molesters at schools are preachers:

Matthew Galhouse, a…[girls’] softball coach…in Pasco County, [Florida,] was arrested…for s[tatutory rape of] a 17-year-old [player]…Galhouse…hired her to be his babysitter for his child…[to hide their trysts from her parents]…

And not all molesty preachers have their own church:

An evangelist is facing a slew of child rape and sexual abuse charges in Murfreesboro, [Tennessee]…Benjamin Garlick has been charged with…aggravated rape of a child…and [related offenses, and] his wife…Shaantal Garlick, is also facing charges…[as an accessory]…

Served Cold (#1120) 

Thirteen years after I started writing about it, the press is finally recognizing that “sex trafficking” hysteria rests on pseudoscience, woo, and plain nonsense:

[One] day in February 2016…Operation Underground Railroad…[launched] a bumbling and ineffective mission to [“rescue”]…Gardy Mardy, a missing Haitian boy whose abduction Ballard has portrayed as “the case that led us to found OUR.”  Joining him and his team of [cosplayers, profiteers and loons] was Janet Russon—a psychic medium from Utah whose supposed visions were guiding the mission…Gardy was not found that day, or any day since.  There is no evidence to suggest that he was ever in the village where Russon’s visions led OUR and his hopeful father…Now…files reveal for the first time the level of influence Russon had within the organization, how much she was paid…and how little intelligence there was to back up some of the missions…beyond [the] word…of a Utah psychic who claimed to be able to communicate with the prophet Nephi, a [mythical] figure from the Book of Mormon…

Thought Control (#1267)

Texas’ ice-pick self-lobotomization is becoming increasingly spasmodic:

Katy [Texas is hiding]…$93,000 in new [library] books [under the pretext of “]review[“, and refuses to state] the reasons 14 additional books were [censored], despite a public p[retense] of transparency on book banning…Drew Daywalt’s The Day the Crayons Quit was one of 44 books flagged for review in August that was later retained.  An illustration depicts a beige crayon that has lost its wrapper, becoming “naked”…Other titles [censored] from elementary schools include Eric Carle’s illustrated classic Draw Me a Star, Judy Blume’s coming of age novel Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret, Dr. Seuss’ Wacky Wednesday, and Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess, all of which have been in circulation for more than 40 years…

Property of the State (#1306)

Women of childbearing age should avoid Alabama entirely if at all possible:

The number of arrests of women for allegedly harming their fetuses has increased sharply since 2006, and almost half those cases happened in Alabama, according to a new report by the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice…[which] followed up on prior research that found 413 criminal cases against pregnant women from 1973 to 2005.  The [new] study…found more than four times that number, 1,396 cases, from 2006 until last year, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.  Alabama accounted for 649 of those cases, followed by South Carolina with 180, Tennessee with 131 and Oklahoma with 113…Etowah County had the highest number of cases for any county in the country,..

I Spy (#1369)

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

ShadowDragon…[is] a government contractor…selling social media surveillance technology…[to] ICE…[DEA, FBI, and the State Department.]  It..can be used to monitor protests…and…gather[s] data [not only from large social media sites, but also smaller ones such as] video games like Fortnite and [specialty sites like] BabyCenter, a reference and pregnancy tracking site…as well as social media sites for Black people, bodybuilders, and the fetish community…In one video on ShadowDragon’s website, Elliott Anderson, president and targeting instructor at ShadowDragon, says that with [its chief product] SocialNet “You can pop in an email, an alias, a name, a phone number, a variety of different things, and immediately have information on your target.  We can see interests, we can see who friends are, pictures, videos.”  [Anderson further describes pregnant women, gamers, black people and kinky people, among others, as] “the bad guys”…

I Spy (#1372)

A new censorship regime has been imposed on British subjects:

The U.K. Parliament [has] passed the much-delayed Online Safety Bill, despite vocal criticisms by virtually all digital rights and free speech organizations and advocates…the…law [is] aimed at making social media firms…responsible for users’ s[peech]…and will force firms to…censor any content [arbitrarily] deemed “harmful” or “pornographic” by the politicians who happen to be in power in the U.K. at any given time…The bill grants broad powers to the politicians and bureaucrats appointed to the UK’s regulation agency, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), to target material they [declare] “harmful,” essentially reestablishing content-based state censorship in the U.K…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1374)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The modern porn-addiction treatment industry…seem[s] to be feeding and enabling narcissism.  –  David Ley

The Public Eye ($660)

We’ve seen sex workers win elections in Latin America, but can one win in the puritanical US?

A [nurse practitioner] running for [office] in Virginia…performed sex acts with her husband for a live online audience and encouraged viewers to pay them with “tips” for specific requests…Susanna Gibson…streamed [the performance] on Chaturbate…and…more than a dozen videos of the couple…were archived on [another] site…[called] Recurbate…a Republican operative [snitched to] The Washington Post about them…in…an [attempt to harm her campaign.  Gibson called the outing]…“a sex crime”…[alleging that sharing the] videos [without her permission] constitutes a violation of the state’s revenge porn law, which [criminalizes]…“maliciously” distribut[ing] nude or sexual images of another person with “intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate”…

Out of Control (#1116)

What is wrong with doctors who do this?

For decades, patients warned Columbia about the behavior of obstetrician Robert Hadden. One even called 911 and had him arrested. Columbia let him keep…practicing for another five weeks.  Eight patients say he assaulted them in that time…To date, more than 245 patients have alleged that Hadden abused them, which by itself could make him one of the most prolific sexual assailants in New York history.  But the total number…may be far higher.  On any given day during his two decades…at Columbia, Hadden saw 25 to 40 patients.  Tens of thousands came under his care.  A baby girl he delivered grew up to be a teenager he allegedly assaulted.  Hadden…was sentenced in July to 20 years in federal prison — the result of a long, arduous process that Columbia often undermined…In agreeing to pay $236.5 million to resolve lawsuits brought by 226 of Hadden’s victims, Columbia admitted no fault…But the university’s own records show that women repeatedly tried to warn Columbia doctors and staff about Hadden…

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#1278) 

Anyone who’s ever been involved with a narcissist will see the truth of this:

In 2012, when I first began publishing challenges to the concepts of sex addiction and pornography addiction, one concern I raised was whether these diagnoses enabled persons with personality disorders to externalize responsibility for their often selfish behaviors…Now, new research justifies my early concerns, finding that personality features associated with narcissism contribute to viewing oneself as a porn addict.  Past research has found that persons high in narcissism report higher levels of pornography use in general, and…recent research has found that persons higher in narcissism…are more likely to identify themselves as victims…Externalizing responsibility and blaming others are common features of narcissism, as persons high in narcissism rarely see themselves as at fault for problems or misbehaviors…

See No Evil (#1316)

Australian cops, bravely protecting imaginary children from imaginary abuse:

A[n Australian] man has been charged over allegedly creating and operating an online child exploitation game used by…paid subscribers…The…game…[featured lolicon] images, which [are criminalized] in Australia…[cops swaggered around pretending they had saved the world from some] insidious [evil while vomiting out moral panic shibboleths such as] “in our own backyard” [and]…”hold them to account”…

The Cop Myth (#1343)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do, even if she’s a cop herself:  “[An Alabama cop named] Kenneth Booth shot and killed…[his cop girlfriend] Lexi White, then took his own life during an argument…”

A Moral Cancer (#1356)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

Disposable vapes will be banned [in the UK under the pretext that children [are] becoming addicted to the devices…health ministers…[have] decided [to borrow the American propaganda that no adults like]…bright colours and [sweet] flavours…

Torture Chamber (#1358)

It does not help young victims of governmental brutality to infantilize them as “children”:

A federal judge ordered Louisiana officials…to begin moving kids out of the former death row unit at Angola, one of the nation’s most notorious prisons…U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick accused state officials of breaking “virtually every promise” they had made when announcing the plan to move [legal minors] to the prison…[screws] had locked [minors] up in cells for days at a time as a form of punishment, punished detained youth with the use of handcuffs, mace, and denial of family visits, and failed to provide appropriate educational and social services and mental health treatment…The ruling gives the state one week to move youth out of Angola…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1371)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It’s the fear that’s the point.  –  Neesha Davé

If Men Were Angels

“Pastor and sex offender” is a large and ever-expanding group:

A [typical and represntative] Green Bay [Wisconsin] pastor will spend at least 15 years in prison after…[buying porn from and sending dick pics to] a minor [of unspecified gender] in Venezuela.  Cory J. Herthel…[was turned in by an informant at his own] church…Herthel said he met the [minor] begging on the streets during a mission trip to Ecuador.  After…the [minor and their] mother returned to their native Venezuela, Herthel kept in touch…

A Tale That Grew in the Telling (#1021)

Americans disapprove of teaching kids about sex, but they’re all for filling their heads with stupid anti-sex propaganda:

The [San Diego] county Board of Supervisors [has] approved a policy to increase [“]human trafficking[” propaganda indoctrin]ation in public schools…[politicians led by fanatical prohibitionist] District Attorney Summer Stephan…[want all students from] kindergarten through 12 [brainwashed to fear sex and view women as moral imbeciles.  The politicians vomited out ancient, rancid nonsense about how “]San Diego is one of the nation’s 13 hot spots for human trafficking[“]…and [“]there are 8,000 victims per year in the county, with average age being 16[“]…

Hey, San Diego! 2013 just called and it wants its “sex trafficking” fantasies back.

The Next Target (#1191)

It’s about goddamned time:

The American Civil Liberties Union [has] filed a formal complaint asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Mastercard for discriminatory practices against sex workers and adult content websites.  The ACLU filed the complaint along with sex worker collective Hacking//Hustling and a coalition of sex worker…and LGBTQ+ organizations…express[ing] its opposition to Mastercard’s 2021 policies for adult content websites using its credit card or payment options, and urged the FTC “to…put an end to these discriminatory and dangerous practices”…[includ]ing requirements such as pre-approval of all content before publication, forbidding certain search terms, and keeping records of age and identity verification for all performers…

Feudalism Redux (#1251)

Two forced-birth states are moving to legally reduce women to serfdom:

Alabama’s attorney general is insisting that he has the right to prosecute people who help pregnant women obtain out-of-state abortions…[absurdly claiming] such actions amount to criminal conspiracy.  [Steve] Marshall’s filing comes as part of a case involving the Yellowhammer Fund…an “abortion advocacy and reproductive justice organization”…[which] sued Marshall in July over [previous iterations of the same claim]…Marshall “specifically referenced the accessory liability and conspiracy provisions of Alabama law as the basis for prosecuting abortion funds”…

Texas prefers a more piecemeal version of its fashionable mob-rule approach:

More than a year after Roe v. Wade was overturned, many [authoritarian]s have grown frustrated by the number of people able to circumvent [totalitarian] laws — with some [wannabe tyrants] grasping for even [more draconian and unconstitutional] measures they hope will fully eradicate abortion nationwide.  That frustration is driving a new strategy in…cities and counties across Texas.  Designed by the architects of the state’s “heartbeat” ban that took effect months before Roe fell, [these] ordinances…[criminalize] transport[ing] anyone to get an abortion on roads within the city or county limits.  The laws [encourage and enable] any private citizen to sue a person or organization they [decide to accuse] of violating the ordinance.  [Prohibitionist fanatics] behind the measure are targeting regions along interstates and in areas with airports, with the [impossible and deranged] goal of blocking off the main arteries out of Texas and keeping pregnant women [trapp]ed within the confines of their…state.  These provisions have already passed in two counties and two cities, creating legal risk for those traveling on major highways including Interstate 20 and Route 84, which head toward New Mexico, where abortion remains legal and new clinics have opened to accommodate Texas women.  Several more jurisdictions are expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks…

The Punitive Mindset (#1288) 

I’ve linked a number of articles about D&D in prison under this tag, but I’ve never before read one that actually brought tears to my eyes.  Journalist Keri Blakinger worked on this story about men playing the game on Texas’ death row for The Marshall Project for several years, so it seems to me only fair that anyone who cares about humanity should at least spend a few minutes reading it in its entirety.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1344)

Politicians don’t even try to make their new laws Constitutional any more:

Free Speech Coalition and…a coalition of major adult platforms and creators…have been granted a preliminary injunction against the Texas antiporn law…The Court agreed…[that] the law violates First Amendment rights of creators and consumers…[and] has a chilling effect on legally-protected speech…[that] parental filters are a less restrictive and more effective method of protecting minors…[and that] the state does not have the right to compel speech in the form of…pseudoscientific “health” warnings…

Meanwhile, in Arkansas:

…the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas has halted enforcement of an Arkansas age verification law that…bans minors from using social media platforms…unless they prove they have parental consent…all social media users—including adults…would be forced to turn over official IDs in order to speak or access information online…the state [absurdly] suggested that all of social media should be treated like “a bar” for purposes of excluding minors…[Judge Timothy] Brooks [wrote]…”minors have no constitutional right to consume alcohol…By contrast, the primary purpose of a social media platform is to engage in speech, and…social media platforms contain vast amounts of constitutionally protected speech for both adults and minors…it is likely that many adults who otherwise would be interested in [using]…social media platforms will be deterred—and their speech chilled—as a result of the age verification requirements, which…will likely require them to upload official government documents and submit to biometric scans”…

Torture Chamber (#1346)

Americans’ sick lust for torture is turning ordinary prison sentences into death sentences:

As brutal heat waves continue to engulf large sections of the country, hundreds of thousands of prisoners are being forced to endure deadly temperatures inside heat-retaining steel or concrete facilities that offer little, if any, access to air conditioning or circulation…Despite its notoriously hot summers, Texas is one of at least 44 states that does not offer universal air conditioning in its prisons…70 percent of units in its prisons are entirely or partially uncooled…this year…dozens of incarcerated people have died due to cardiac-related or unknown causes in sweltering Texas prisons…[but] state officials [simply lie]…Texas…has not officially classified a prison death as heat-related since 2012, even as research has shown that intense heat is associated with an increased risk of mortality behind bars, including due to heart disease and suicide…[instead,] Texas…prison commissaries…raised the price of bottled water by 50 percent as temperatures spiked in June…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

The Music in the Numbers

Posted in Biography, Miscellaneous, Music, Philosophy, tagged , on June 26, 2023| 1 Comment »

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly noticed my passion for structure.  I have certain regular features which appear on certain days of the week or parts of the month, I keep tags tied tightly together with links, and features like my news and links columns even follow a certain recognizable format.  At home I follow self-made schedules regarding what time to perform chores such as feeding the animals, unloading the dishwasher, etc, and my kitchen is so well-organized I know exactly where to find anything unless someone uses it and fails to put it back properly, which will result in their becoming the target of a short but intense burst of opprobrium.  Most of y’all have probably seen photos of my library, and those who own more than one of my books have noticed that they are all formatted in the same way, a format I decided on while putting Ladies of the Night together.  Naturally, a lot of this is due to my OCD, but it goes far beyond that; I actually get considerable enjoyment out of the process of organization itself.

Take for example my escort rates.  I don’t know how most people calculate the rate reductions for longer sessions, but I’ve always done it by looking for patterns in the numbers.  My last hourly rate before retiring was $400, but a 3-4 hour dinner date was $1200 and my rate for dates longer than 4 hours was only $300/hour; after the flat 10-15 hour overnight rate the hourly dropped to $200/hour, and so on.  Back when I had a regular D&D group, my friends used to tease me about the prodigious number of tables and charts I devised for calculating everything from training costs to damage incurred by falling to what a magic spell of any given level should be able to do  (“Where do y’all want to get dinner from tonight?” “Don’t you have a CHART for that, Maggie?”)  And I even devised monetary systems and tables of weights and measures for a dozen different alien races in my game universe despite the fact that nobody but me will ever see them.  And these tables, charts, and systems aren’t arbitrary or slapdash, oh no; there are always patterns, sometimes even formulae, to determine what each entry in each little box on the enormous spreadsheet (or in the old days, double notebook page) will be, so once I settle on the formula I mostly just need to follow the arithmetic, geometric, or logarithmic progression to determine exactly what this particular monster’s magic resistance should be or that noble’s entourage should look like.  I can actually sit in front of my computer for hours, surrounded by sheets of scratch paper covered with what to others probably looks like hieroglyphics, happily following patterns to create a unified and harmonious whole.

I’ve known I was like this since childhood, when I used to design elaborate family trees for my stuffed animals, prepare maps of the imaginary fantasy realms I envisioned in Maman’s backyard, and make tiny little passports for my and my sisters’ Barbie dolls.  But it was the numeric patterns that really fascinated me, and I recently realized that the reward circuits which are stimulated by compiling my ubiquitous tables are at least some of the same ones which are fired when I enjoy music.  Music is, of course, mathematical; the relationships between certain notes are harmonious and others not because of the mathematical relationships between those frequencies of sound.  Of course, in most people this appreciation is instinctive, and even most musicians aren’t consciously aware that what they’re doing is a kind of applied mathematics.  But the realization gave me a new understanding of that particular aspect of my neuroatypicality, one that may help me more often allow myself to spend time composing and performing a kind of music only I can hear.

Read Full Post »

Links #668

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

You have to physically take their phones…because [otherwise]…they’re just too tempted to play chess.  –  Justine Wewers

One of the great things about the internet is that it’s a lot easier to share fan-made films than it used to be; here (just in time for May Eve) is a funny little Lovecraft video from creators we’ve seen here before; next week I’ll share another one.  The links above the video were provided by Clarissa, Mike Siegel (x2), Radley Balko, and Cop Crisis (x2).

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1327)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The political discourse around the border tends to be built around a fantasy.  –  Dave Maass

If Men Were Angels

At least this one wasn’t a “youth pastor”:

A [typical and representative] Orange County [California] pastor has been convicted of sexually abusing two young girls he is related to…Jose Andres Lopez…[committed the assaults from] 1991 through 2020…[he was caught] on Aug. 21, 2020, [when] the [second] victim…was…13…but the abuse started when she was 3…The victim’s brother…was…in the house and…[over]heard…“noise he describes as a rhythm that sounded like having sex”…the victim [later told] her brother…what was happening…[and] the next day, the brother told his mother and the tearful victim confirmed it…During the investigation, deputies “stumbled on a police report” out of Massachusetts from a 12-year-old who said [Lopez] had molested her for years…

Nor was this one:

Indianapolis pastor…Tyree Coleman…offered to pay…a…17-year-old…[for sex and] the teen told police…they got a search warrant for Coleman’s cell phone and…discovered that Coleman…the founder of…[a charity] which feeds homeless people in Indianapolis…was using donations to his non-profit to pay [male sex workers]…During that investigation, police received a new complaint from a…man who accused Coleman of raping him…[after] he missed his bus…and was left stranded…Coleman offered him a room at his home…Coleman would pay him [for]…oral sex and later [for intercourse, but]…the victim [later changed his mind and] told Coleman to stop several times but Coleman refused…Coleman [also] threatened to kill him if he had a sexually transmitted disease…

The Red Umbrella (#1033)

As long as sex work is marginalized, sex workers will be targeted for violence:

A man [named Matthew Sean Donaldson who is] obsessed with video games…brutally bludgeoned [a sex worker] with a hammer in a luxury hotel…with intent to murder [her]…on February 23, 2021…Donaldson bought a hammer and read numerous news articles about women being murdered before he brought the [victim]…to his hotel room…He used a knife to cut off the woman’s underpants in what was to be his first ever sexual experience…the[n started]…a heated argument about the ethics of sex work [to give himself an excuse to attack her]…He left her lying in a pool of her own blood with severe cranial and body injuries as he fled the scene.  Later that night…Donaldson sent the victim a cruel taunting text that said: “Should have picked a different career, honey”…and…also posted a photo of the luxury hotel room to social media with the caption: “game over”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1083)

All too often, evil arrives cloaked in the mantle of expediency:

Panera Bread is rolling out palm scanners that will link customers’ handprints to their loyalty accounts — a move the company paints as convenient but that privacy advocates have decried.  The biometric…technology, developed by Amazon, will hit stores in the next few months…The gadgets will [also] suggest menu items based on customers’ order histories…Amazon One technology is [already] in use at some 200 locations across the country, including Amazon’s Whole Foods Market subsidiary and Amazon Go stores.  Panera says the technology will securely store its customers’ biometric data.  However, digital rights activists [correctly point out] that [any] information [which exists] could be [demand]ed by federal agencies or accessed by hackers…

Feudalism Redux (#1251)

The crusade to reduce Americans to serfdom continues:

…Idaho Republicans…seek…to limit minors’ ability to travel for abortion care without parental consent.  The legislation would create a whole new crime — dubbed “abortion trafficking” — which is defined in the bill as an “adult who…either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug” for the minor…The legislation also includes a statute allowing the Idaho attorney general to supersede any local prosecutor’s decision, preemptively thwarting any prosecutor who vows not to enforce such an extreme law…The legislation doesn’t actually say anything about crossing state lines, but…since nearly all abortions are illegal in Idaho…[the people politicians want to terrorize are] traveling to the border with the intent of crossing state lines, likely into Washington, Oregon or Montana, to get an abortion there…

Panopticon (#1254)

This is only going to get worse for the foreseeable future:

There is perhaps no stretch of American land as politicized as the U.S.-Mexico border…There are towering fences and walls.  Border agents…patrol…the boundary in trucks.  But border security is becoming increasingly stealthy…as the government erects a “virtual wall”—a fortification not made of steel and concrete, but drones, surveillance towers, and artificial intelligence…border [hawks pretend] this…is a more humane and efficient way of keeping undocumented immigrants out…but in reality, the virtual wall has…been expensive, broadly expanded the surveillance abilities of unaccountable government agencies, and forced migrants into taking more dangerous journeys rather than keeping them out.  More dollars are being spent, more migrants are dying, and more civil liberties violations are occurring…

License to Rape (#1263)

“Search” is the most common government euphemism for “molest”:

Police are [molest]ing children in their p[igmobile]s…Almost 3,000 children were [molested under the pretext of a “]search[“]…by police in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, [650 between 2018 and 2020 and 2197 in the next two years]…Nearly a quarter of [molestation]s involved a child aged between 10 and 15, while the youngest [victim was]…an eight-year-old…1 per cent were [molest]ed within public view, and 6 per cent…with at least one [cop] of a different gender than the [victim lurking to watch]…

The Cop Myth (#1297)

UK officials are just as dedicated to hiding the truth about cops as US ones:

[Cop shops] in England and Wales have been…[caught] trying to “evade public scrutiny” after an Observer investigation found that the outcomes of dozens of officer misconduct cases have been deleted from their websites.  They include some of the most serious cases of criminality, including that of the serial rapist David Carrick…the vast majority were either failing to publicise cases, despite a legal obligation to do so, or deleting misconduct cases from their websites after 28 days…including cases related to sexual offences or domestic violence…The law specifically calls on forces to publicise the results of misconduct hearings “as soon as practicable after the officer has been notified of the outcome”…but…the records at 72% of forces were incomplete.  Many were missing more than half or all of the misconduct outcomes…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Diary #662

Posted in Diary, tagged , on March 7, 2023| 4 Comments »

I was first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons in the spring of 1981 or maybe a bit earlier; I started my first campaign in the summer of 1981, and I’m sure it will surprise absolutely no one to hear that I rapidly began filling up notebooks with additions, modifications, and what I thought of as corrections to the game system; by the early ’90s the game I was running for my players had diverged so much from the “official” system (was it 2nd edition then?  I wasn’t really paying attention) that they could only barely be considered the same game.  When Grace and I became roommates early in 1998, I was delighted to discover that she had played a little herself and was eager to expand on that experience.  Matt, too, enjoyed it, and I was happy to run a solo game for him as well.  But eventually, life intervened as it is wont to do; by the late Oughts we rarely got the chance, and by the early teens we had let it lapse altogether.  It wasn’t for lack of desire; it was just that I was so busy with everything from blogging and activism to trying to build a house to dealing with financial disaster to going through a divorce and moving to Washington, that I simply didn’t have the energy.  Those who have never played may be unaware that the game takes a lot of preparation on the part of Game Master (AKA “Dungeon Master”) – creating a world and everything in it, and preparing adventures for the players to enjoy – and I had precious little creative energy to spare.  Oh, sure, some people enjoy running premade adventures created by others, but to me that was as unsatisfying as a TV dinner, and besides those were created in a version of the system  I couldn’t even have recognized.  By the late Teens I was really missing all the fun; I considered starting a new game several times, but things just never came together.  Then finally this winter, I brought it up to Grace again, and she was enthusiastic; around mid-January we started playing every Sunday, and though neither of us is young any more, we can still recapture a little of the youthful joy of fantastic adventures in a magical land of imagination.

Read Full Post »

Yuletweets

Posted in Miscellaneous, Philosophy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Read Full Post »

Yuletide 2022

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , on November 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Every year on this day, the traditional beginning of the Yuletide season in the US, I remind my readers that the real spirit of the season involves giving to others rather than literally fighting to get more for yourself.  Children and whores are St. Nick’s two favorite groups of people; you can help the latter by donating to a sex worker charity such as SWOP Behind Bars, or you can help both by booking a session with a sex worker you know has kids.  If you don’t know any, you can help by participating in my annual toy drive!  From now until Monday, December 12th, I’m collecting donations with which to buy toys, which I then donate to Toys for Tots.  In the past I tied session-time to the donations, but since I’m semi-retired that’s not really a workable deal any more; besides, my readers have always been so generous I’ve only had a few collect on the bargain!  If you’re in the Seattle area, we may be able to meet in person; otherwise you can send it via PayPal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net.  Since I’m also working on my own blog’s funding right now (see that thermometer in the right-hand margin?), make sure you put “Toys for Tots” in the memo so I’ll know where you intend the donation to go.  And if you can afford only one, please make it to the toy drive!

As you can see from the pictures, my readers have always risen to the occasion to help provide some simple joy to needy children who might otherwise have nothing on Christmas morning.  If you’re not hurting economically yourself, please consider donating (either to my drive or to one near you); rising inflation is taking a bite out of many people’s income, so there will be less money for toys this year.  And while we adults can understand that, it can be heartbreaking for very young children to think Santa Claus has forgotten them or bypassed them because they were naughty.  Please help if you can!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1288)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[Qatar’s] Preventive Security Department…[are a kind of] unhinged mafia that go arresting people…just on the suspicion of them being gay.  –  Dr. Nasser Mohamed

Rough Trade

What kind of garbage uses attacks on women as an opportunity to belch out slurs against the victims?

[Cops claim they want] to find a man…[who is a] seri[al rapist of]…sex workers in the east Hollywood area…[yet their press release also calls the victims’ work] “human trafficking’…the [rapist pretends to be a client to]…lure…[women] into his vehicle…the[n]…drives to [a secluded] area…and [violently rapes them at gunpoint]…the man…may use the name Mainer or Maynor and has tattoos on both arms. Also, he has sometimes had an “M” shaved on the side of his head…He was described as 25-35 years old, about 5-feet-8 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes…and…drives a newer-model, four-door sedan, possible a Honda, which is dark in color.  The vehicle may have tinted windows and a…spoiler…

Above the Law

The predictable result of giving violent, aggressive men power over women:

A [typical and representative porcine creature] pleaded guilty…to…a…civil rights [charge for a violent rape]…Rogeric Hankins…was working as a [thug assigned to transport human beings like animals from one cage to another]…when he and a[nother member of his gang]…picked up a[n innocent woman, not convicted of any crime,] in Olympia, Washington, to take her to…St. Paul, Minnesota, where a federal warrant for [enjoying herself in ways the rulers disapprove of] had been issued…[after] picking up and dropping off several male [prisoners] along the way…they stopped at a gas station in Joplin, [Missouri on April 3, 2020]…the woman was the only [prisoner] left…[so] Hankins [used a bath]room…[stop as an opportunity to drag] her into [a filthy] men’s room and [rape her orally and vaginally]…in…[a] stall…

As often happens, the government has chosen to hide this dangerous predator’s picture so other women won’t know what he looks like.

The Punitive Mindset (#829) 

The minds of federal prison bureaucrats are just as narrow and mean as those of state prison bureaucrats, and just as pointlessly cruel as those of screws:

…the federal Bureau of Prisons…bans D&D and other roleplaying games…[just as they] are widely banned in state prison systems under the dubious rationale that they present a security threat or encourage gang behavior…it…illustrate[s] how counterproductive and dumb prison book bans can be.  Of all the things you could be doing in prison, D&D is one of the better and less offensive ways to pass the time.  It’s social, encourages teamwork and empathy, and as one former incarcerated man told me, gives “the vilified an opportunity to be the ‘Good Guy’ that the world in which we live rarely does”…

Presumption of Guilt (#843)

There’s very little point in actually quoting any of this revolting concoction of badge-licking, police-state cheerleading, demonization of privacy, and frantic wanking to “sex trafficking” fantasies and other infantilizing filth.  It is exactly what it appears to be: more propaganda for the Establishment’s wet dream of total financial surveillance.  For decades now, authoritarians have tried to devise a way to sell the hordes of useful idiots on their schemes to completely eliminate cash or other anonymous financial transactions, so governments can monitor, control, and bleed revue from even the smallest exchange of value and even completely cripple the ability of “undesirables” to engage in any financial activity at all.  The only thing of interest here, beside the remarkable depravity of Forbes’ editorial position, is that the magazine has such a low opinion of its readers’ critical faculties that it’s willing to specifically demonize a service whose name clearly reveals what its creators intended it to be an online analog for: Cash.  And in so doing, it “says the quiet part loud”, as the young people put it.

Monsters (#847) 

All around the world, monsters claim the “right” to persecute and torture sexual minorities:

 Qatar’s laws criminalise LGBTQ people…and homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment and lashings under sharia law…LGBT…Qatari[s tell]…of entrapment using dating-apps — cat-fishing gay men and luring them into a honeytrap to arrest them.  Of violence, including torture, and gang rape [by cops].  Of imprisonment, solitary confinement, and deportations.  And of far-reaching online surveillance…that renders LGBT people fearing every connection to someone they do not already know…There is only one publicly out gay Qatari in the world: Dr Nasser Mohamed who…[now lives in] San Francisco…[and works] with Human Rights Watch…“Their biggest targets are feminine gay men and transgender woman,” he says.  “Because it’s visible.”  Even subtle indications of gender identity or sexuality can lead to arrest…[often via] fake dates [like American cops set up with sex workers they wish to entrap]…

The Widening Gyre (#1266)

Even though neither word appears in the article, it’s obvious this woman’s panic attack was rooted in the “fentanyl” and “sex trafficking” hysterias:

A Houston [woman scared herself into a panic attack and]…spent a night in the hospital…because [she believed internet scary tales about] a napkin [she found on] her car door…[because she had read the stories] she grabbed it with the tips of her long fingernails, threw it away and went back inside to wash her hands.  [But she was already obsessed with the idea that the napkin might contain Magic Sex Trafficking Insta-fentanyl, so she imagined]…a tingly sensation in her fingers…She [had an anxiety attack, feeling] like she couldn’t breathe and quickly became light-headed…Hysterical, the couple couldn’t “think straight,” she said, and struggled to find the nearest hospital…where she spent just over six hours as doctors checked her vitals and blood pressure, gave her an IV, took a urine sample and ran a CAT scan to determine if she was having a stroke.  [In typical moral-panicker fashion, she] took to Instagram the next day to warn women to be safe.  Her video went viral…[giv]ing her [the attention she so desperately craved]…and…alarm[ing] many [other] women, who labeled it a kidnapping attempt…

You Were Warned (#1266)

It’s a relief when courts choose to rule that the obviously-true is true:

Reddit cannot be sued for sex trafficking if it didn’t knowingly permit sex trafficking.  That’s the gist of a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.  The case…was brought by [ambulance-chasers who claim that]…Reddit was not quick enough in [removing photos when informed the subjects were underage, and that]…this [somehow] made Reddit complicit in a sex trafficking venture.  In an October 24 decision, 9th Circuit justices disagreed…[due to] Section 230…FOSTA—carved out an exception to Section 230 for claims involving sex trafficking.  But no one was quite sure how wide that exception was…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »