I can’t and don’t do a tribute to every musician who dies, but I try to do as many as possible, and my mother used to sing this song quite often when I was small. The links above the video were provided by Dan Savage, Lucy Steigerwald, Radley Balko, Cop Crisis, Mike Siegel, Popehat, and Cop Crisis again, in that order.
The blood goes to your brain, whatever brain you have. – Larry Storch
The obits of Larry Storch aren’t mentioning that he also had a long career as a voice actor, starting as a stage impressionist, then moving on to voice Koko the Clown & other characters in the early ’60s revival of Out of the Inkwell before moving on to Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. He later did work for Depatie/Freleng and Filmation, notably Drac in Groovie Goolies. The links above the video were provided by Walter Olson, Franklin Harris, Cop Crisis, Jesse Walker (x2), Cop Crisis again, and J.D. Tuccille, in that order.
…three days after the Supreme Court issued its…decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, took a call from a colleague, a child abuse doctor in Ohio…[where sociopathicc politicians] had outlawed any abortion after six weeks. Now this doctor had a 10-year-old patient in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant…abortion providers [in Indiana] have…experienc[ed] a dramatic increase in the number of patients coming to their clinics from neighboring states with more restrictive policies…
A Florida pastor has been arrested for exposing himself and masturbating outside a Starbucks…Enginio Dali Muniz-Colon…is a pastor in Kissimmee and…[w]as…previously…charged over a similar incident at the same Starbucks…
Angeli Rose Gomez, the mother who ran into Robb Elementary School to save her two young kids during the [Uvalde, Texas school] shooting, says she’s since faced a barrage of frightening harassment from [cops] in retaliation for her rightfully harsh criticisms of them in the media. Gomez’s lawyer, Mark Di Carlo, announced plans this week to take legal action…and also offered specific, chilling details about what their harassment of Gomez has entailed…Gomez was recently pulled over…and…falsely accused of having “illegal immigrants” in her car…police parked outside Gomez’s house for 45 minutes and flashed their lights at her and her mother as they took a walk…police approached an unnamed family member of Gomez’s, and told the[m]…to tell Gomez to stop speaking to the media…
An artificial intelligence can now predict the location and rate of crime across a city a week in advance with up to 90 per cent accuracy. Similar systems have been shown to perpetuate racist bias in policing, and the same [is] true in this case, but the researchers who created this AI [deny it]…Ishanu Chattopadhyay at the University of Chicago [is the chief badge-licker on this project]…
A [spook] and two p[igs] showed up to a North Texas woman’s house on Thursday morning…to…threaten…he[r]…after she posted in anger over the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The feds’ letter to Madeline Walker [ignored the fact that hyperbolically]…tweet[ing] about burning government buildings [does not constitute a credible threat or any other category of speech that is considered unprotected by the First Amendment]…and…threaten[ed her]…with…criminal charges…Joshua Henry, a [thug] for DHS, confirmed the letter’s authenticity…Walker [pointed out that]…“Pastor Dillon Awes of Stedfast Baptist Church in Fort Worth is allowed to preach that gay people should be ‘lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head.’ when people reported him to the police they said, ‘free speech’”…Henry [responded by threatening her again for] sharing the letter on Twitter…[and demanded a US citizen be] “remorseful” [for exercising her civil rights rather than kowtowing to the precious fee-fees of petty bureaucrats]…
Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano commented…on her office’s role in the recently passed law that essentially bans abortion after six weeks. The state legislature [demands] abortion providers to send sheriff’s offices reports of women who were impregnated by rape or incest and are trying to terminate the pregnancy. “I want the public to know that while these providers are now mandated by law to send us these reports regardless of the will of their patients, we will not contact the patient if she doesn’t want us to…sexual assault…is traumatizing, and my agency will do everything we can to offer…respect to these women who are seeking health care”…
Virginia Beach [shyster] and [politician] Tim Anderson is suing publisher Oni Press and author Maia Kobabe on behalf his client Tommy Altmann, a[nother politician]…claim[ing] that Kobabe’s work is damaging under the state’s obscenity laws…Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury–the other book being challenged in this suit–do not fall under obscene materials in any definition of the law[, but Anderson fully admits his intention is to be a nuisance]…
A new investigation by The [Washington] Post reveals at least 178 cases from 2019 to 2021 in which calls for help resulted in [cops murdering]…the very people they were [foolishly] called on to assist. We used The Post’s nationwide database of fatal police shootings along with public reporting to identify cases in which the callers were concerned primarily for the individuals’ well-being and no imminent harm to others was reported. Many of the calls [referr]ed…to people in mental health crises, [ignorantly] requested wellness checks or reported suicide threats. The calls came from the distressed individuals themselves or were made by worried [but foolish] family members, friends or neighbors…
In July 2020, when I had been out of prison for about 18 months, IDOC offered us money and asked us to sign an agreement absolving them of any wrongdoing. I asked my attorney what would happen if I didn’t sign the papers, and he told me that the judge might throw the lawsuit out…I was still not going to sign. But my attorney…convinced me. “You know there are women inside that need that money,” he said. I knew…it was a manipulative statement. But…I [also] knew…that this money could mean the difference between deprivation and a pair of shoes, a pack of T-shirts or the chance to shop for food…The shame of those days stayed with me for years. But…there is not enough space in one piece to detail the atrocities. For the Halloween strip search, IDOC mailed me a check for $325. Although the agency continues to assert that their staff did nothing wrong, this check that I may never cash is proof that they are guilty…in the eyes of IDOC, my pain — and that of my sisters — is only worth $325…
…anyone who has their rights violated by federal government agents…ha[s] no recourse against those rogue actors. A federal badge will now serve as an impenetrable shield against civil liability…The justices announced…that they would decline to consider two major petitions. In the first, St. Paul [sow] Heather Weyker, who was serving on a federal task force, conjured a fake sex-trafficking ring and [cag]ed a teenage girl for two years on trumped-up charges. In the second, [spook]…Ray Lamb a[ttempted]…to [murder] a man…though [the voctim was spared when his gun] jammed…[neither] Weyker [nor] Lamb…are…protected by qualified immunity…but because they were working for the federal government, they are protected by absolute immunity…and their victims—Hamdi Mohamud and Kevin Byrd, respectively—[are shit out of luck]…
California [politician]s are finally sending to Gov. Gavin Newsom a hot potato of a bill that would bar police from…arrest[ing women for standing in a public place after a cop points at them and belches out the magic word “]prostitution[“, a delay of] nine months after the measure passed the Legislature…[copsuckers] see it as a further erosion of criminal penalties that tie the hands of police on [consensual] issues…Greg Burt, a spokesman for the California Family Council, and other opponents fear it’s part of an eventual effort to decriminalize [thoughtcrime. In support of his authoritarian agenda, he vomited out the words]…”sex trafficking”…[all over open-mouthed reporters]…
Spyware apps were foisted on students at the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns…long after most students have returned to in-person learning, those apps are still proliferating, and enabling an ever-expanding range of human rights abuses…Americans face an unprecedented, record-breaking wave of legislation targeting transgender youth…and…[the overturn of] Roe v. Wade…That means that students who use their devices to research trans healthcare or abortion related material could find those devices weaponized against them, potentially resulting in criminal charges…
[Jacob Sullum of Reason has published] a state-by-state rundown of what we can expect now that the Supreme Court has decided the Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion after all. Red indicates the 22 states that are certain or likely to soon impose or start enforcing new restrictions on abortion, ranging from moderate to severe. Green indicates the 23 states where abortion will remain broadly legal. Blue indicates the five states where new restrictions are unlikely in the short term but are possible in the longer term, depending on electoral outcomes or judicial decisions…
…the…FDA…[has arbitrarily banned] Juul’s…tobacco- and menthol-flavored vaping products…[despite the fact that Juul’s] application…was…detailed and data-heavy, showing just how effective it was at transitioning smokers away from cigarettes, toward a safer alternative …The company…became a victim of an intensely ideological war on nicotine…[when prohibitionists decided to blame] Juul…for the rise of youth vaping…[using the venerable puritan lie] that flavors like mango and cucumber [only]…appeal…to the younger demographic…The claim that Juul’s flavors were the underlying cause for the rise in youth vaping is highly dubious, considering there were thousands of different flavors for other e-cigarettes on the market years before Juul took off…
The Biden administration continues its misguided war on nicotine….[with] plans to require cigarette makers to severely cut the amount of nicotine in their products…nicotine itself isn’t what makes cigarettes so dangerous…it’s the other ingredients…and the byproducts of combustion, that make smoking cigarettes so bad for you. This is one reason why the war on vaping is so stupid, and also speaks to the half-baked premises of the Biden administration’s latest anti-smoking plan…people already addicted to nicotine will still be addicted—they’ll just have to smoke more cigarettes to get their nicotine fix…low-nicotine cigarettes could actually make smoking riskier by requiring smokers to smoke more and consume more of the other substances in cigarettes in order to get the same level of nicotine they’re used to…[also,] other countries will still be producing full-nicotine cigarettes. And this opens up a great opportunity for smuggling and black market sales of higher nicotine cigarettes…
[The state of Illinois hides] disciplinary records for [screws after]…four years…So WBEZ and ProPublica used the files that are available to try to piece together how the system responds when…[screws inflict mayhem on] prisoners…Through that effort, WBEZ and ProPublica identified 18 Illinois [screws] who…had [brutalized] or sexually [assaulted victims caged] in the state’s prisons…including at least] one [murder]…all 18 held onto their jobs after the [atrocities]; 11 remain employed by the Illinois Department of [Torturing Caged People] today…
The…pastor of a Southern Baptist church in South Carolina has been charged with molesting a child under 16…Tracy Darin Turner resigned [on] April 18, 2021, from Trinity Point Church [after somebody reported him to the cops]…
[A British cop named] David Longden-Thurgood…[raped a] woman…[he had met] on the Bumble dating app…after a day of…exchanging sexualised messages and…naked selfies, the woman invited him to her home…but…repeatedly said “I don’t want sex”…when she noticed Longden-Thurgood taking his boxers off, she told him [again and]…he replied “don’t worry we won’t have sex”…then, “without warning”, raped her]…
A Florida [cop]…hid Apple AirTags in his ex-girlfriend’s car and bag to track and stalk her…Javier Magarin…was [rewarded]…with [a paid vacation]…after she…report[ed] the [harassment] to his employer…[Magarin also threatened her]…and…canceled [her airline reservations by]…logg[ing] into her email account…
A new lawsuit…is challenging [Texas] Gov. Greg Abbott’s di[ktat] to [persecu]te parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal on behalf of three families…[and] also seeks to block the state from [persecu]ting any families that belong to PFLAG…The state is currently blocked from investigating one family that brought a prior legal challenge. This lawsuit seeks to widen the number of people who cannot be [persecu]ted under the di[ktat]…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis [blovia]ted…that he might urge the state’s child protective services to investigate parents who take their children to drag shows…The [threat was in response]…to…videos showing young children attending a Dallas drag show…which…were…the [subject of performative outage by other members of DeSantis’ playground “culture war” team. The other team, in order to prove they had just as little respect for Constitutional rights, responded by demanding]…new gun laws…
Noble Waidelich rose through the ranks of the Ukiah [California cop shop]…and eventually [became] chief. [He abused his fiancee] Amanda Carley…[until] she packed her things and moved her children out of the house they owned together in 2015…“It started out as a shove and him standing in the doorway when I wanted to take a break. Then he was throwing me down on the table and swerving into oncoming traffic, threatening to drop me off in the middle of nowhere,” Carley said. She did not hesitate to disclose the abuse to her friends and co-workers…[but despite being backed up by her kids and another cop named] Freddy Kepplinger…Waidelich was not questioned…[despite] evidence of the injuries Carley had endured…[the district attorney] declined to file criminal charges against Waidelich…and [instead]…interrogated [Carley] and threatened [her] with criminal charges…
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation arrested a [typical and representative] Canadian County [cop]…who…rap[ed a woman] he [had locked in a cage-truck]…David Wayne Loman [raped her]…three times at three different locations…at [least once anally]…
…in December of 2020…the mayor…and…police chief [of Highland Park, Michigan] dropped by a 13,000-square-foot building owned by Justyna and Matt Kozbial [using the pretext of] an impromptu fire code inspection…[in reality, the politicians needed pretext to pretendto “find” a [state-licensed] marijuana grow operation…[in order to steal] the building…and h[o]ld on to it for 17 months without charging them with a crime…police never alleged there was any major criminal activity…[and] In…response to an interrogatory filed in the Kozbials’ subsequent lawsuit against Highland Park…they received a settlement offer from the town: Stop growing marijuana and buy two [brand-new pigmobiles] for the [cop shop, for]…a…total…pcost of] about $70,000…after WXYZ Detroit reported on the fiasco, Highland Park informed the Kozbials that it would be giving them back their building. Their lawsuit is still ongoing…
Thousands of photographs from the heart of China’s highly secretive system of mass incarceration in Xinjiang, as well as a shoot-to-kill policy for those who try to escape, are among a huge cache of data hacked from police computer servers in the region. The Xinjiang Police Files, as they’re being called, were passed to the BBC earlier this year…and…reveal…in unprecedented detail, China’s use of “re-education” camps and formal prisons…for Uyghurs – and…[makes it harder for Western politicians to pretend to believe its ridiculous] public narrative about…[the concentration camps being] “schools”…The documents provide some of the strongest evidence to date for a policy targeting almost any expression of Uyghur identity, culture or Islamic faith – and of a chain of command running all the way up to the Chinese [dictator], Xi Jinping…
[After the] Virginia Beach (VA) school…[board ordered the] remov[al of the book] Gender Queer from [school libraries]…a Virginia [ambulance-chaser seized upon the opportunity to]…fil[e]…suit[s] against [a] school [which stocked the book] and against the Barnes & Noble store in Virginia Beach…[because the book, and another one named] A Court of Mist and Fury are [available]…to minors…[shyster Tim Anderson,who is also (unsurprisingly) a politician, openly admitted his suit is intended as a nuisance and encouraged other wannabe censors to file] “suits like this…all over Virginia. There are dozens of books. Hundreds of schools”…Neither book fits the [legal] definition of obscene and neither book is pornography…
The Oklahoma Legislature gave final approval…to a bill that prohibits nearly all abortions starting at fertilization, which would make it the nation’s strictest abortion law. The bill subjects abortion providers and anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion to civil suits from private individuals…The measure is modeled on a law that took effect in Texas in September, which has relied on civil…instead of criminal enforcement to [circumvent] court challenges”…The bill makes exceptions for cases of rape and incest, but only if [the victims invite cops to gawk at them, ask disgusting questions, and pry into every corner of their lives]…
…a little-known [gang in the Chicago cop shop]…called the Social Media Exploitation…team…had been set up to [conspire with] the FBI [to] find [weak people who could be suborned] and [spy on citizens] using information gleaned from social sites. The Intercept and Chicago-based transparency groups obtained more than 800 pages of emails and other documents about the [gang] through public records requests. These show that the [gang members] were given broad leeway to [spy on] people across platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, using fake social media accounts furnished by the FBI, in violation of some platforms’ policies…
Matthew Dominguez…[the infamous Wanking Pig of] San Jose…[has] sexually harassed and assaulted…other…wom[en]n [in the past]…Dominguez…touched [one woman’s] breasts and thigh and kept trying to touch her even after she rebuffed his advances…she and her boyfriend…reported the…sexual assault…but [of course nothing was done]…Another woman…[w]as…[groped by] Dominguez…[while] arresting [her in December. Conveniently]…the body camera footage [for the arrest is] missing…
In its attempts to target an ever-growing number of people for detention and deportation, ICE has reached into the private homes and lives of almost every person in America. – Nina Wang
Under a legal settlement filed in court today, Clearview AI…has agreed to a new set of restrictions that ensure the company is in alignment with the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act…Clearview will be permanently banned from granting paid or free access to its gargantuan face recognition database to private entities [but not to governmental entities, including ICE, CBP, the FBI and local cop shops]…except…in Illinois [and even that restriction is only]…for a [mere] five years…Clearview will maintain an opt-out request form on its website, allowing Illinois residents to [give this unscrupulous business yet another] photo [in exchange for a politician’s promise that]…their faceprints will be blocked from appearing in Clearview’s search results…
…the European Commission [is] seeking to end encrypted communications…[using the popular excuse] of child sexual abuse imagery…messaging services and web hosts would be required to search for, and report, child abuse material – even in the case of encrypted messaging services…that cannot be scanned in such a way…[politician] Ylva Johansson…[bloviated a lot of self-contradictory nonsense about] “strong safeguards guaranteeing privacy of all”…[while constantly harping on the word] “children”…But the plans [are in reality]…an attack on privacy…Joe Mullin of Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)…[pointed out that because what the politicians demand is literally impossible in encrypted messaging…“This would be a massive new surveillance system…[which] would require the infrastructure for detailed analysis of user messages”…It is a similar approach to that proposed…by Apple…Patrick Breyer, German MEP for the Pirate party, called the proposals “fundamental rights terrorism against trust, self-determination and security on the internet”…
A 10-year-old girl called police in March [to report that] her father, a Chicago [cop, had]…sexually abus[ed] her…but when he was [arrested and] charged…it was only for domestic battery, a misdemeanor…
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement…has built a vast digital surveillance system that gives it access to the personal details of almost every person in America, a two-year investigation by Georgetown University law center…conclud[ed] that the…organisation has strayed well beyond its [official] duties as an immigration body to become…a domestic surveillance agency…[with] capabilities that allows its agents to “pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time”…includ[ing]…driver’s license data…utility records…[license plate reader data and] facial recognition [data on roughly 75% of US adults]…and…weaponised through the use of powerful algorithmic tools for searching and analysing data…all…[secretly and] in the absence of warrants…
Jason Frank…and his [QAnon] group…have been camping out near Sasabe, Ariz., as a self-appointed border force [in an elaborate fantasy roleplay]…of protecting the thousands of migrant children who have been arriving from the evils of sex trafficking — a favorite QAnon theme…wh[ich developed] over the years [from fantasies about]…pedophilia rings [heavily promoted by cops, fanatics, politicians, and journalists – especially the New York Times – since the early Oughts despite mountains of evidence that organized]…sex-trafficking schemes [of the sort featured in these fantasies are highly] unusual…migrant children [and adults are]…overwhelmingly people who paid to be smuggled…
Empyreal Logistics…has reached a settlement with the San Bernardino County, California, Sheriff’s Department, which had [robbed] more than $1 million from Empyreal’s armored cars. The Justice Department, which was holding the money pending federal forfeiture, agreed to return all of it last month…Empyreal a[lso agreed to endorse a statement] the sheriff’s department issued on Friday, [absurdly claiming that the sheriff and his henchmen were]…”acting in good faith when the[y conducted pretextual traffic] stops w[ith the specific intent of robbing a corporation conducting business that was 100% legal under California law]”…
…hundreds of…men claiming to be [Irish cops have been raping,] abusing and harassing sex workers…The [attacks] range from demanding [sex]…worker[s submit to rape], to violent abuse, including [forcible] rape, choking, and assault…at least two [incidents involved] men…produc[ing] handcuffs and attempt[ing] to [abduct] the women…one such [rapist]…targets foreign sex workers due to their particular vulnerability and demands [they submit to rape or else face]…deportation…
…Across Illinois, police are ticketing thousands of students a year for…adolescent behavior once handled only by the principal’s office…Ticketing students violates…an Illinois law that prohibits schools from fining students as a form of discipline. Instead of issuing fines directly, school officials [snitch]…to police, who then ticket them for municipal ordinance violations…Another state law prohibits schools from notifying police when students are truant…but…dozens of school districts routinely [violate]…this law…At the assembly-line hearings where…these cases are handled, students have no right to legal representation and little chance to defend themselves against charges that can have long-term consequences…fines can be hundreds of dollars, presenting an impossible burden for some families, and administrative or court fees of up to $150 are often tacked on. Unpaid fines are sometimes sent to collections or deducted from parents’ tax refunds. And, unlike records from juvenile court, these cases can’t be expunged under state law…
Two human rights organizations, a digital library, a sex worker activist, and a certified massage therapist [have] appealed a ruling that denied their constitutional challenge to FOSTA…an overbroad and censorious internet law that harms sex workers. The plaintiffs, Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Human Rights Watch, The Internet Archive, Alex Andrews, and Eric Koszyk, have been challenging the law since it was enacted in 2018. The district court…dismissed the case last month, [pretend]ing that FOSTA did not violate the First Amendment…
A [typical and representative] Boston [cop who was president of the pig union] is now pleading guilty to…child rape…Patrick Rose Sr…pleaded guilty to 33 charges in connection with the rape and abuse of at least six children…as far back as the 1990s and as recently as four years ago…Rose [was first caught] in 1995, but he was allowed to keep his badge for another 20 years…
[Pigs] of the Minneapolis [cop shop]…engaged in [unauthorized] surveillance of local Black leaders and organizations…as just one [of] a litany of other abuses that included “[murder]ing community members of color and Indigenous community members” at a highly disproportionate rate, according to a [new] report…[showing] a pattern…of racial discrimination…extending over a period of at least 10 years…includ[ing] the “covert use” of fake social media accounts to spy on local Black residents who were not suspects in any criminal probes…The groups included the local chapters of the NAACP and Urban League. [Lying pigs] used fake accounts to gain access to posts they could not otherwise read…commented on posts, sent private messages, and contributed to discussions…[while pretending to be] like-minded individuals and claim[ing], for example, that they met the targeted person at a prior demonstration or protest…
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe…issued a resolution…urging European nations to mandate online [censorship software] for “pornographic materials” on all devices, to be “systematically activated in public spaces, such as schools, libraries and youth clubs”…The PACE p[olitic]ians [also bloviated about… “addiction to pornography and…unhealthy sex.” There is no scientific evidence for a clinical “addiction to pornography” and n[one of] the p[olitic]ians offered any definitions of what they consider “unhealthy sex” or…explained how these mandatory [censorship algorithms] would be coded and by whom…The…resolution includes a number of…suspiciously-sourced statements that seem to echo anti-porn propaganda by both religious activists and sex-worker-exclusionary feminists…
A [cop paid by the state to stalk, harass, and spy on students] was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for child molestation in Carrollton…Jerric Gilbert…[molested] an 11-year-old girl…
The TV station which produced this story felt compelled to defend a child molester by digging up someone to say what a great guy he is and how he never molested her son.
Many tend to think of police as the first line of defense for women in need of help. But…sexual misconduct is…pervasive throughout the profession, despite receiving relatively little attention. After excessive force, sexual misconduct is the second most commonly reported form of police misconduct…and that only includes what’s reported. “We have no way of knowing how much of this behavior goes on,” [said] Timothy Maher, a criminology professor at University of Missouri… “Many people are [afraid] to report on the police”…[rapist cops usually] target [women]…on the margins of society, such as [sex workers or other] women with criminal records…who[m they know will be dis]believed [by cops and prosecutors] if they do come forward. While the spectrum of police sexual misconduct is wide, it can include things like unnecessary strip searches or a sexual shakedown, which is when a…[cop demands submission to rape] in exchange for not…arresting the [victim]…[even] female [cops]…can…be victims…
In April 2015…Indiana [cops stole] almost $10,000 from Terry Abbott after [a snitch claimed] he was…selling drugs…Abbott attempted to challenge that action…but he lost his attorney—as the money he would use to pay for that counsel had been [stolen] by the state…The Indiana Supreme Court…rul[ed] that [victims of robbery by cops] have no right to use their s[tolen money] to finance legal [challenges to the robbery]…This means that…the government is able to put defendants in a chokehold by seizing the very assets that they would use to defend themselves…Fighting to get your cash back is a bit difficult when the government has [stolen] all of your cash…
It’s astounding how many novel ways politicians can propose to invade privacy. The latest comes from Alabama, where a new bill would require women from ages 25 to 50 to produce a negative pregnancy test from a doctor or medical lab before purchasing medical marijuana. The test would have to be conducted within 48 hours of the purchase…Pregnant women on the marijuana patient registry would also be required to report pregnancies to the physician who approved their patient status. Having to go to a doctor or medical lab and pay for a pregnancy test before every medical cannabis purchase would be not only invasive but inconvenient. In effect, it’s an added tax on…female patients…
A [typical and representative] Perryton [Texas cop] was sentenced…to 17 years in federal prison for child pornography offenses…Aaron Bennett Daugherty…was [caught uploading]…a video file depicting an adult male [raping]…a blindfolded prepubescent child. “I’m here to look at CP, everybody”…he…posted…
Karlyn Gorski…[of] the University of Chicago…[studied the] robust black market for snack foods that persists at Hamilton High (not the school’s real name) despite the best efforts by school administrators, security guards, and teachers to stamp it out…Gorski spent 112 days observing students and adults at Hamilton during the 2019–2020 school year…[and] observed a widespread black market for snack sales…beyond the amusing anecdotes about deception and the heroic struggles of would-be entrepreneurs against the school snack cops, the paper contains some serious implications about what the school is teaching its students…Students in a Spanish club selling cookies to raise money for a field trip to Peru were allowed to “carry their wares openly and advertise on posters throughout the school…when…the school retained control over the proceeds…the [sales were deemed] ‘worthy'”…[but]…when students were caught “selling” [on their own]…their motives were “subject to moral scrutiny”…One student, code-named Lucas, told Gorski that “they’re basically training us for a fake world” in which good behavior is rewarded while trying to make a buck is regarded as valuable only if the seller’s intentions are worthy…
Even before the pandemic,…exaggerated security fears intersected with the declining cost of technology to turn many schools into panopticons. ID tags tracked students, cameras watched their behavior, and software monitored their online activity. Then COVID-19 appeared and safety [theater]…overwhelmed civil libertarian concerns about privacy with public health arguments…contact tracing and social-distancing enforcement…became a new way to sell facial recognition systems…and…all of that surveillance technology remains in place even as pandemic concerns wane across the country. Badges and cameras purchased at considerable expense aren’t going to be put into storage just because COVID-19 fades into the background…And, of course, the federal government is right there to subsidize schools’ purchase of surveillance tools with gobs of cash. That makes the transformation of supposed learning environments into entry-level police states surprisingly affordable…
…Tobacco is still legal for adults to purchase and consume in the United States. But [state] policy regarding nicotine delivery systems is shifting from taxation and regulation to explicit prohibition of many products. Some jurisdictions already have banned menthol cigarettes, and the…FDA…is likely to announce a similar ban at the federal level this spring. Local restrictions on e-cigarettes likewise provide a preview of what will happen nationwide if the FDA continues to regulate vaping products in a way that threatens to wipe out nearly the entire industry…As tobacco, e-cigarettes, and e-liquids transition from legal to illicit, [cop shops] will more aggressively interfere with production, distribution, retail sales, and in some cases even individual use. Every such interaction carries with it the possibility of freedom lost, perhaps violently. There is a real risk that American tobacco policy will open a regressive new front in the war on drugs, just as the previous crackdown on psychoactive substances begins to wind down…
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