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Posts Tagged ‘internet’

In the News (#1344)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 3, 2023| 2 Comments »

Anti-sex-work rhetoric…continues to dominate mainstream media.  –  Holly Randall

If Men Were Angels

One would think that by now, the title “youth pastor” would be a big red flag:

[A typical and representative] youth pastor [previously] charged with child sexual assault is now facing new charges…Jordan Huffman…jump[ed bail in Wisconsin]…and [fled to]…Florida [where he] was [caught and] extradited to Wisconsin…the [newly-reported] victim said the crimes began in 2017…[at] 12 years old…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#907)

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

The Texas legislature has passed a new age verification law that compels adult websites to post pseudoscientific anti-porn propaganda disclaimers declaring that “pornography is potentially biologically addictive, is proven to harm human brain development, desensitizes brain reward circuits, increases conditioned responses and weakens brain function.”  The measure, HB 1181, is a much-augmented version of Louisiana’s age verification law and its many copycats, and echoes the debunked “porn addiction” language of faith-based anti-porn groups…

Compelled speech is, of course, unconstitutional, but Southern politicians in particular seem determined to negate that inconvenient fact by wishing very hard.

Held Together With Lies (#938)

In case you ever doubted the danger of letting government dictate what constitutes “disinformation”:

YouTube [has] removed…an episode of the Holly Randall Unfiltered industry podcast, featuring an interview with…Elizabeth Nolan Brown debunking myths about sex trafficking spread by anti-sex-work activists, mainstream media and politicians.  YouTube [claims] the content was removed due to a supposed violation of its policies against “harmful conspiracy theories.”  Randall appealed the removal but YouTube [bots automatical]ly dismissed the appeal, [pretending actual humans] had reviewed the content…and [claiming that debunking harmful propaganda]…is [not] “safe”…YouTube consistently platforms…pseudoscientific and religious attacks against sex workers and the adult industry without flagging the frequent lack of factuality in those videos…

Winding Down (#1289)

Occasionally, cops’ lies are too outrageous even for politicians:

As of July 1…Maryland…law will allow adults 21 or older to publicly possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana.  In anticipation of that…Maryland [politicians] last month passed H.B. 1071, which will bar police, also effective July 1, from treating the [actual or pretended] smell of cannabis as sufficient grounds for stopping or searching pedestrians or cars.  Virginia enacted a similar law in 2020, and…Missouri and Illinois…have proposed the same basic reform…Any evidence obtained in violation of the new rules is “not admissible in a trial, a hearing, or any other proceeding.”  Notably, that includes “evidence discovered or obtained with consent,” which is little more than a legal fiction when people are waylaid by armed agents of the state with the power to informally punish uncooperative drivers…

Panopticon (#1316)

Cops will continue to do this until there are criminal penalties for it:

[Three civil liberties groups demanded that] seventy-one California [cop shops]…immediately stop sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with [cop shops] in other states because it violates California law and could enable prosecution of abortion seekers and providers elsewhere,  The letters from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU NorCal), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) gave the agencies a deadline of June 15 to comply and respond…Since 2016, sharing any ALPR data with out-of-state or federal [cop shops or spook houses] is a violation of the California Civil Code…Nevertheless, many agencies continue to use services such as Vigilant Solutions or Flock Safety to make the ALPR data they capture available to out-of-state and federal agencies [because, as is typical of laws pretended to control cops, the law has no criminal penalties for violators].  California…also [passed]…a[nother toothless] law…prohibiting state and local [cop shops] from providing abortion-related information to out-of-state [cop shops]…

You Were Warned (#1337)

The censors are growing bold enough to admit their real goals:

Democrats naively (and incorrectly) believ[e] that because [KOSA is] called the “Kids Online Safety Bill” it will magically protect children, even though tons of experts have made it clear it will actually put them at greater risk.  Meanwhile, Republicans are now freely admitting that they’re going to use KOSA to force websites to censor LGBTQ content.  They’re literally proud of it.  The Heritage Foundation, which at least used to have some principled stances before being taken over by culture warriors without any principles, is bragging about how it will use KOSA in this manner…the enforcement mechanism in the bill is that state Attorneys General get to bring lawsuits against websites for not removing such “harmful” content.  And if you don’t believe that there are GOP state AGs itching to bring exactly these lawsuits, you haven’t been paying attention…

Torture Chamber (#1343)

Denying medication to people locked in cages is just a silent version of yelling “Stop faking!” at them:

Dexter Barry waited 12 years to get a new heart…In 2020, his long wait paid off.  His new heart allowed him to imagine a healthy life…But in 2022, after…[the state unnecessarily locked] him in [a cage] for two days [for arguing with a neighbor, and refused to give him] his life-sustaining medication, his body rejected the heart [and he died]…Barry told [both the pigs and the judge] at least seven times that he needed to take his anti-rejection medications every day to survive…[but they didn’t give a shit]…

 

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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In the News (#1341)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 24, 2023| 1 Comment »

Whenever there is a power imbalance…consent is not really possible.  –  Meg Foster

Thou Shalt Not (#971)

Crypto-moralists believe that people enjoying a food is sufficient reason for declaring it “unsafe”:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised most people to avoid most kinds of “non-sugar sweeteners”, after a 2022 review of the evidence found they don’t help with weight control long term and [crypto-moralists claim without evidence that they] may cause diabetes, heart attacks and death…the evidence supporting [the idea that eating less sugar reduces sugar intake] is mixed.  Some short randomised trials have found that consuming drinks with sweeteners instead of the full-sugar versions can reduce weight gain in children, but others have failed to show a benefit.  Population studies tend to show that sweetener consumption correlates with higher rates of diabetes and heart disease – but this could be because people are more likely to use sweeteners if they are heavier to start with…

The lede is of course both buried and quintessentially crypto-moralist: “The perfect solution is going for water.”  To “hydrate” your meal of insects and raw vegetables, I’m sure.

A Broker in Pillage (#1101)

Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:

…”civil asset forfeiture”…remains a boil on the ass of American jurisprudence.  Now, in a rare demonstration of cooperation across political divides, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have joined together to introduce legislation to reform the practice…at the federal level.  They are supported by a coalition of organizations that put aside ideological differences in an attempt to curb the dangerous practice…The FAIR Act…requires that seizures be conducted in court rather than through administrative processes and also guarantees legal representation for federal forfeiture targets…[I]t isn’t a perfect bill…but…some improvement is better than none for a practice that has largely served as an exercise in legalized highway robbery…

I Spy (#1206)

Remember, Twitter claims this surveillance isn’t surveillance:

…in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade…U.S. Marshals …received regular alerts from Dataminr, a[n “official partner” of Twitter] that persistently monitors social media for corporate and government clients, about the precise time and location of both ongoing and planned abortion rights demonstrations…Dataminr flagged the social media posts of protest organizers, participants, and bystanders, and leveraged Dataminr’s privileged access to the so-called firehose of unrestricted Twitter data to monitor constitutionally protected speech…

You Were Warned (#1279)

A little bit of good news about mob-rule attempts to castrate Section 230:

The U.S. Supreme Court…upheld Section 230, ruling in favor of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube/Google in two cases…Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh…which dealt…with…Section 230 protections…In the unanimous decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas…SCOTUS held that the tech companies’ conduct “did not constitute aiding and abetting [terrorists] because they did not knowingly provide substantial assistance to the groups in carrying out the terrorist act in question”…the ruling means that…“the Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that social media platforms like Twitter cannot be held civilly liable for third-party content”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1299)

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

The…TSA’s trial rollout of biometric facial recognition technology at airport security checkpoints…is…[supposedly] voluntary.  However, in a March 14 interview with Kyle Arnold of The Dallas Morning News, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said that if the TSA gets its way, biometric screening technology will eventually not be optional.  But even without mandating facial recognition, fears of delay or poor treatment by TSA staff may lead travelers to submit when they’d rather not…Additionally, the TSA risks travelers’ privacy by collecting personal data and sending it to the Department of Homeland Security (even if the TSA [pretends] that the data is anonymized, encrypted, and eventually deleted)…

You Were Warned (#1328)

These attempts to destroy the internet are just going to keep getting worse:

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed into law a measure to severely restrict…TikTok, making his state the first to enact a near-total ban on the social media platform…The law, slated to take effect on January 1, 2024, would bar TikTok from [legally] operating in Montana.  It would also prohibit app stores from offering TikTok for download within state lines — a ban that tech companies [correctly state] will be impossible to [enforce, in addition to being]…a violation of the…First Amendment…TikTok has earned bipartisan scrutiny in the US and other countries over questions of privacy, surveillance and [partial ownership by] Beijing’s government…Gianforte promised…to…widen…[the ban] to other social media apps with foreign ties, including the China-based WeChat and Telegram, which was founded by two Russian-born entrepreneurs…

To Molest and Rape (#1338)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [typical and representative] Los Angeles [cop] has been charged with sexually assaulting four boys…Paul Razo…[molested] two of his young male relatives; one was 11 or 12 years old and the other was about 13 when the abuse began…The other two victims were sons of a woman Razo had been dating…one was 9 or 10 when Razo began molesting him, and the other…was 12…The assaults occurred between 2006 and 2017…

UPDATE: Razo has apparently died while in the “care” of his cronies.

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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Maytweets

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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In the News (#1339)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Who doesn’t want to help people explore different things?  –  Chayse

Above the Law

Just another kind of federal cop, with behavior to match:

A [typical and representative] U.S. Homeland Security [thug] was sentenced…to life in prison for violating two women’s civil rights by trying to stop them from telling police he [raped] them…John Olivas…beat…and sexually assault[ed both when]…they were, first one and then the other, his girlfriends…Olivas raped one of the women twice and attempted to rape the other one once…but…will appeal his federal conviction…[because he thinks]…as a federal agent…he…is [above the law]…An ex-wife testified that in 2004 she, too, was raped by Olivas…

Skin To Skin

There can never be too many articles on sex workers for the disabled:

…As well as providing his skills as a sex worker, Chayse has also been talking with a dating coach to see how he can support [his client] Melanie navigate the “tango of dating” and help her build future romantic partnerships with other people…For Melanie, the experience is more than just sexual liberation and she has got so much out of this ongoing experience she believes governments should…support disabled people in accessing sexual services…And she has been excited to share her new experiences with friends and family…

To Molest and Rape

When predators aren’t culled, they just keep on predating:

A Toronto [cop named]…Ramdial Lokenath…[raped] a woman on May 19, 2022…[after going] to an apartment…for a reported domestic assault…While his partner was in the p[igmobile] with the [husband], Lokenath returned to the apartment [under the pretext of] tak[ing the woman’s] statement…he…turned off the video on his body camera and muted the audio…while [telling] the…woman…he could “influence the charges facing her husband”…[so she would submit to rape when he returned later without his partner]…Lokenath was also charged with…assaulting his [own] wife on Oct. 19, 2022…

Unchristian Nation

Government at every level crusades against Christian charity:

…Since 2005, Micah’s Way has operated a resource center where volunteers help connect their poor and homeless clients with birth certificates, ID cards, clothing, bus passes, and other services…They also offer the people who come to the resource center muffins, pastries, and fruit, plus hot coffee…their charitable activities continued without issue for over 15 years…then…in November 2021, Micah’s Way received an administrative citation from Santa Ana [California]…demand[ing] that the group obtain a certificate of occupancy at their resource center or else cease all operations there.  When the group applied for the needed certificate, they were denied…on the grounds that it was engaged in food distribution, which wasn’t allowed by their property’s “professional district” zoning…the city [threatened]…the group…[with] “administrative fines, criminal prosecution and/or civil remedies such as injunctions and penalties”…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:  “A M[issouri cop named]…Cory Younger….has been arrested and] charged with possession of child pornography…”

Opting Out (#1313)

Most Americans still believe France is a sex-positive society:

The…French government…confirmed…that it will attempt to bypass the courts to force the five largest adult sites accessible in the country to comply with a controversial, vaguely worded 2020 age verification law…[because it] is frustrated with the legal challenge mounted by lawyers for Pornhub, Tukif, xHamster, XVideos and Xnxx…the government’s intention [is] to [place the internet censoship agency] ARCOM…[above] the courts…[as] part of a new bill intended to “secure and regulate the digital space”…

In case you’re wondering what the last ominous statement means:

The French government has confirmed that the new bill it introduced…to bypass the courts and force platforms to implement age verification will apply not only to specifically adult sites but also to any site that allows explicit content, including Twitter…

The Cop Myth (#1336)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A [Tennessee cop has been arrested but also rewarded with a paid vacation for]…pointing an AK-47 rifle at [his ex-girlfriend]’s car and later kicking her in the face…Jarreil Peoples…[attacked her when she came to his home to] exchange [some] property…he…approached her car with…[the] rifle and pointed it at her car, [so she drove] away out of fear…Peoples then called her to say he put the rifle up and asked her to return to the house to exchange property.  She [foolishly] returned…and…Peoples [used the opportunity to] kick…in her driver’s side window, hitting her in the face with his foot and shards of glass…Peoples…[previously attacked her when] he came to [her] apartment to return a house key…as she and Peoples walked towards the front door, he turned around, picked her up and body slammed her into some stairs…

 

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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When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals

Posted in Current Events, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , on May 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The modern US is the most litigious society which has ever existed, and is likely to be the most litigious one that ever will exist, because when any organism, including a society, exceeds a certain critical parasite load, it is unable to take in enough nourishment to sustain itself.  It’s bad enough that the US body politic is struggling to sustain the massive and malignant tumor called “government”, but that’s only the largest drain on resources; it also must contend with a horrifyingly-huge number of disgusting parasites, both internal and external, eating away at whatever tissues have somehow managed to remain healthy.  And rather than combat these parasites, the government cancer instead enables and even encourages them by dreaming up an ever-larger number of ways for them to further clog the already-overburdened courts with  ridiculous demands for blood from whichever structures seem likely to provide the most for the sucking.  In “The Mob Rules” I wrote,

[When] the process of eliminating the presumption of innocence…proved too slow…politicians hit upon the idea of persecuting individuals they wish to destroy with civil suits rather than prosecuting them in criminal courts, because civil suits have a lower burden of proof and may even allow the persecutors to make a profit…but the tactic still required too much attention from prosecutors and others of their morally-diseased ilk to create the level of carnage desired by authoritarians until some especially-psychopathic individual realized…that a law encouraging any random busybody to file suit for the supposed “offense” would truly open the floodgates…

Of course most of the individuals and corporations politicians are painting targets on are those they wish to eliminate, such as those which allow women to control our own lives, or those which allow people to freely express ideas the government does not like:

…at least eleven school districts around the country have sued the owners of such platforms as Snap, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok seeking financial compensation for the “increased mental health services and training they’ve ‘been forced’ to establish” as a consequence of student use of social media…Cash demands aside, the schools say they want to [control]…the platforms to change how they operate.  These are bad lawsuits that courts should reject.  The suits’ announced goal…is in itself debatable, but the means employed…vaults the whole thing into the realm of the absurd…[politicians] have been advancing proposals lately to regulate social media in the name of protecting minors from its bad influence.  Among the goals are to require age verification and…ban or severely restrict social media access below some threshold age…A recent paper by…Jennifer Huddleston outlined some major objections to the proposals…simply cutting off minors from social media use entirely would ban a great deal of communication almost everyone concedes to be wholesome…and…age verification…can result in the gathering…of sensitive and readily misused personal information…it’s inevitable that some content providers will decide to play safe by not making available certain kinds of sensitive content at all, even for adult eyes…
The article, by the ever-reasonable Walter Olson, is well worth reading in its entirety.  Where and when this insanity will stop, no one can predict.  But it had better be soon, because enabling politicians to continue siccing hordes of useful idiots on anyone or anything they perceive as an enemy is a sure-fire recipe for social and economic collapse.

 

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In the News (#1338)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Free states don’t ban health care.  –  Lori Berman

If Men Were Angels

Another version of this story tried to gloss over his being a preacher:

A Mississippi minister…[molested] several underage boys he knew from his position as their pastor, tutor, or employer…Daniel Paul Harris…was arrested [on May 4th] and charged with [various molestation offenses]…he…is [the]…pastor…of Olive Branch Christian Church…and [runs]…the Kaimen Center, which provides resources for children and [disabled] adults…Victims told police that they were assaulted on multiple occasions…

To Molest and Rape

This is the kind of man to whom the State gives almost unlimited power over women:

Two [London cops] were arrested…[for] kidnapping and raping a woman…in Kingston…[she appears to have foolishly imagined they could be trusted to pal around with until] they took her by taxi to an address in North London [to]…rape…[her] and h[old her] against her will…The woman reported them on [April 30th]…

Leaving the 20th Century (#1223)

“After deciding, less than two years ago, that pimping should continue to be a crime, the Constitutional Court [of Portugal] opened the way…for…decriminalization…[because]  ‘a person’s decision to engage in prostitution can constitute a full expression of her sexual freedom’…and…it is [therefore] unconstitutional to punish…those who profit from the prostitution of others…”  Amateurs are utterly obsessed with “pimps” and refuse to comprehend that such laws are nearly always used against sex workers who help each other or share expenses, or against the maids, landlords, and romantic partners of sex workers.

To Molest and Rape (#1314)

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

A [typical and representative boss cop in]…Hopkinton, Massachusetts…has been charged with…child rape over [assaults] that [he committed] in 2004 and 2005…John “Jay” Porter…[repeatedly raped] a 15-year-old student…while [he was assigned to spy on, harass, and intimidate students] in the town’s school system…

The Last Shall Be First (#1332) 

Both sides in the culture war have completely taken leave of their senses:

The Florida Senate passed what opponents are calling the Florida “abduction” bill (SB 254)…[because it] would allow [legal minors] to be “kidnapped” by…parents [who oppose their receiving care for gender dysphoria] — even if the opposing parent lives across state lines…The bill would grant Florida courts temporary emergency jurisdiction over a [legal minor] present in the state if the [legal minor] has been subject to or is “threatened” with being subjected to sex-assignment prescriptions or procedures…it…would effectively let courts modify out-of-state custody agreements by allowing dissenting parents to petition courts to take [their side in the dispute]…Parents, guardians and medical providers helping minors receive gender-affirming care would be subject to criminal penalties for violating the new law…and medical providers who provide care to trans people under 18 would risk revocation of their medical licenses and could be charged with a…felony…

The Mob Rules (#1337)

This is really the only way to address ignoramus politicians’ demands for surveillance of website users:

The porn industry is warning Virginians could lose access to adult sites if Gov. Glenn Youngkin signs strict new age verification legislation currently on his desk…That’s exactly what [recently] happened…in Utah when a similar bill went into effect…Virginia’s proposed law requires sites verify users are 18, but the state does not yet offer a digital ID that companies can tap into, an adult industry trade group…issues with commercial age verification alternatives make them a no-go for the industry…”Platforms that want to comply will not be able to, but will still be liable for lawsuits for non-compliance”…said [Mike Stabile of the Free Speech Coalition]…

It isn’t just porn sites, either; Wikipedia has announced it will not comply with similar surveillance demands in the UK.

To Molest and Rape (#1337)

Cop and “church youth leader” is like the molester equivalent of a full house:

…a [South Carolina cop] arrested for [molesting teenage boys] was also a church youth leader…Erickson Douglas Lee [assaulted one boy about 30 times] between December 2020 and July 2022…at Lee’s house [after getting him drunk]…

The report is deliberately confusing, but it appears to refer to multiple adolescent male victims of various ages in their mid-teens.

 

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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In the News (#1337)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

She was looking for…content for her name and her income, and at our expense.  –  Sadie Martinez

You Were Warned (#1170)

Prohibitionists, censors and profiteers will continue to harass businesses thus until FOSTA is overturned:

The…9th Circuit has dismissed a lawsuit that accused Twitter of participating in a sex trafficking venture.  The suit—which invoked…FOSTA…was brought by two John Does and…Morality in Media…The 9th Circuit [recently]…found Reddit not guilty of sex trafficking in similar circumstances to this case…

The Widening Gyre (#1230)

Another sign that the moral panic is largely over:

…Katie Sorensen…posted a video that was viewed more than 4 million times in which she [pretend]ed that two strangers tried to grab her young children outside a store in Petaluma, California…Following the video, the accused couple, Sadie and Eddie Martinez, recognised themselves in a photo and came forward to strongly deny the claims…Sorensen was convicted of making a false report of a crime and…faces a jail sentence of between six months and one year.  Sorensen’s lawyer says that his client did not lie to the police[, but rather was just stupid and hysterical]…

You Were Warned (#1292)

These attempts to destroy the internet are just going to keep getting worse:

Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information [under the pretext] of protecting children online…its latest version…would still require surveillance of anyone sixteen and under…[and] put the tools of censorship in the hands of state attorneys general, and would greatly endanger the rights, and safety, of young people online.  And KOSA’s burdens will affect adults, too, who will likely face hurdles to accessing legal content online as a result of the bill…KOSA would make platforms liable for the content they show minors, full stop.  It will be based on vague requirements that any Attorney General could, more or less, make up…

The Mob Rules (#1307)

Websites targeted by a censorship bill are trying to turn the power of the mob back on politicians:

Pornhub…disabled access to its platform from all Utah IP addresses, in response to the state’s latest anti-porn law…The LDS church…considers all pornography to be a ploy by “the adversary” (i.e., Satan) specifically created to destroy Mormon families by tempting male heads of households.  In addition to cutting off access to its content for Utah-based IP addresses, Pornhub…replac[ed] its landing page for those addresses with an SFW video in which [adult performer] Cherie DeVille explains the reasons for the content restriction…

Predictably, searches for VPNs immediately surged in Utah.

The Last Shall Be First (#1322) 

The “bathroom bill” political fad is back after a three-year hiatus:

Kansas has passed what has been described as the “broadest” anti-trans bathroom bill in the United States…overturn[ing] a previous veto by governor Laura Kelly, who has continually spoken out against anti-trans legislation…the…bill…bans trans and intersex women from toilets, changing rooms and prison facilities that align with their gender, as well as…defini[ng]…a female [for purposes of the law a]s a person who produces “ova”…meaning cis women who are infertile and are unable to produce eggs [w]ould [technically be] barred from spaces…

The Mob Rules (#1323)

This is exactly what those who passed this bill wanted:

A countersuit has been filed by two of three women who were named in a [nuisance] lawsuit by a [Texas] man…who alleged they conspired to help his then-wife obtain an abortion.  [According to the]…suit…Marcus Silva…[was] emotionally abusive…to…Brittni Silva, who is now his ex-wife…He subjected her to verbal abuse and manipulative behavior…[such as] hid[ing] her car keys to prevent her from leaving their house…Brittni determined she needed a divorce…[but] continued to live [with Marcus] and in July 2022, [he] went through [her] purse and phone and discovered one of two pills used for a medication abortion.  He put the pill back into her purse, [then went through her phone to find the text messages]…to…Jackie and Amy…He filed a police report on July 18, 2022…admitting he…knew about the pregnancy before it was terminated…

To Molest and Rape (#1334)

Your “leaders” sometimes refer to child molestation as “community support”:

A [typical and representative Surrey cop] has been jailed for six years for “abhorrent” child sex offences.  William Redwood…admitted 33 charges in[volv]ing [molestation and] making…and distributing…child [porn of both]…boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17…from 2016 to 2020…

At other times, they call it “correction”:

A[n Oregon screw] has been charged…with repeatedly molesting a child in Salem over a [recent] four-month period…Cenobio Jauregui…sexually abused a [relative] under 14 years old…five times between December…and April…

And at still other times, they call it what it is, but treat it like no big deal:

A [typical and representative Minnesota cop named]…Eric Gramentz…was sentenced…to…a…[mere] 90 days in jail, followed by 25 years of supervised probation…[in addition to the] year [he has been caged] since his arrest.  He also received a stayed sentence of 12 years…that he would likely have to serve if he violates any of the terms of his probation…[which] include attending a sex offender program and not having any unsupervised contact with any minors.  He’ll also have to register as a predatory offender…[his] victim…was [only] 11 or 12 years old [when the abuse began]…

 

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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In the News (#1336)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[Screws] violate our human rights like crazy.  –  Clothera Peak

A Moral Cancer

This badly-disguised puritanism was the topic of the original column of this heading, twelve years ago:

Oral sex may be the biggest factor in the rise of throat cancer in…the U.S. and U.K.  “For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor [after refusing to take the HPV vaccine] is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex,” Mehanna wrote for The Conversation. “Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex”…

Everything I said back in the original column is still true.

Surplus Women

Prohibitionists want this to happen more often:

A man [named David Montes was]…arrested for murder in Moxee [Washington] after…he suffocated a woman from an escort service, wrapped her body in plastic wrap in the backseat of his truck, then called 911 to confess…the woman was identified as 63-year-old Santos Gloria Reyes from Yakima…Montes [told cops] he was having homicidal thoughts and went on an escort service website to find someone he could “take out”…[after the murder] he ran errands with the [body] still in the back, then contacted his uncle on the night of April 14 where he confessed to his actions.  He then called 911 because his uncle told him to…

The Next Target (#1272)

It’s not like they’ve ever been secretive about their goals:

…Morality in Media…has launched a new campaign to eradicate all adult content on Reddit…call[ing] for the platform to take action against “hardcore pornography and sexually explicit content”…the [pro-censorship] organization frames the call for censoring Reddit — one of the main platforms that allows open sexual expression from users — as addressing “abuse and exploitation”…[but it]s rhetoric about nonconsensual material ultimately serves as a Trojan horse for a call to censor all sexually explicit content and eliminate accounts that share it, regardless of consent or legality…

Opting Out (#1306) 

If other big websites followed suit, the damage done by this totalitarian nonsense would be dramatically curtailed:

Wikipedia will not comply with any age checks required under the [UK] Online Safety Bill…Rebecca MacKinnon, of the Wikimedia Foundation…says it would “violate our commitment to collect minimal data about readers and contributors”…the government says only services [politicians claim] pos[e what is nebulously labeled “]the highest risk to children[” at any given moment] will need age verification…Wikimedia UK fears the site could be blocked because of its stance…

Follow Your Bliss (Anther Rapist Roundup)

A clever non-cop molester took advantage of another grooming scheme for predatory cops:

Eric Uller was…a volunteer in the Police Activities League, where, beginning in the late 1980s, he…was a sexual predator…[who] destroyed the lives of children…wh[ile]…authorities [ignored warnings about his abuse over many years]…Now, more than 200 people have come forward to say they were abused by Uller, most of whom were underprivileged children…whose parents were in this country without proper immigration papers…Santa Monica [has] settled…lawsuits…total[ling]…$229.285 million [so far] — the most costly single-perpetrator sexual abuse disbursement for any municipality in the state…He…most[ly]…target[ed] Latino boys between the ages of 12 and 15…but some were as young as 8, said attorney Brian Claypool, who has represented more than 80 victims…Uller used his police connections to lure them…He…[had] a badge…handcuffs and…a gun…“Everyone thought he was a police officer,” [one victim] said…

Of course, we’ve often seen non-cop rapists posing as cops to facilitate rape.

No Escape (#1312)

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

Sex­u­al abuse is ram­pant…at FCI Tal­la­has­see…[where] documented re­ports of guards terrorizing, threatening, and stalking, as well as mentally, physically, and sexually abusing prisoners…go back at least as far as 2002, so[on]…after the facility officially became a women’s prison.  Since 2012, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has received more than 130 complaints [of] staff…[raping] prisoner[s]…but the abusive and retaliatory environment…has only spi­raled further out of con­trol…recent scrutiny has almost completely overlooked a culture of impunity and widespread abuse at FCI Tallahassee and centered instead on other prisons...[such as] the…so-called rape club [in California]…FCI Tallahassee’s recent ability to remain out of the spotlight is…a reflection of…a brutally efficient system of retaliation and cover-up, which employs a dizzying variety of tactics to protect perpetrators of sexual assault and keep their victims silent…

The Cop Myth (#1333)

I’m sure it would’ve been different had he put on his magical Clown Costume of Legal Invulnerability first:

A…Pueblo County [Colorado screw was sacked for] assaulting [his girlfriend at least twice] in five months…Donald Teschner…was arrested on April 21, 2023..for [the assault, which left a]…”large lump on the back of…the victim’s…head with [bloody] scratches”…the…argument [began because] Teschner [imagined] that the victim was cheating on him, which [he used as an excuse]…to break her phone…hit her in the back of the head…throw…[her against] the wall…[hard enough that] she…was knocked out…This is Teschner’s fourth arrest since 2019….[when] he was convicted of possession of a gun while drunk…[and] sentenced to 18 months of probation…

 

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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In the News (#1335)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Spin the wheel and see what political expression is next on the chopping block. It might just be your own.  –  Sarah McLaughlin

A Whore in Church

Matthew 21:31 seems pretty straightforward to me:

A Christian OnlyFans star says she feels more connected to her faith since she…started…seven years ago, and now believes God put her on earth to help “liberate” other women from their sexual shame. Courtney Tillia…previously worked as a high school teacher but found that her life lacked meaning and her spirituality was suffering as a result…[she] initially felt ashamed of her [work]…before she slowly began to realize that her strict Christian upbringing was the cause of her guilt…

Leaving the 20th Century

Another Australian state sees the light:

Queensland will decriminalise sex work after a long-awaited review recommended sweeping changes…including scrapping the Prostitution Licensing Authority, repealing some police powers and allowing services to be advertised on radio and TV…sex work is under a licensing framework in Queensland, [which means] about 90% of sex workers are in the “unlawful sector” privately or at unlicensed businesses.  Sex workers have long rallied against the laws that prohibit them from employing a receptionist, working with others or texting other sex workers before and after a booking to make sure they’re safe…police can currently also pose as clients and entrap workers by pressuring them to offer blacklisted services…

Censor Chic (#1248)

Corporations have become the favored tool of censors worldwide:

…recent moves from some leading names in tech and social media paint a worrying picture…censorship laws are increasingly determining what people…can do online.  You might not live within the borders of China…India, [the US, the UK, or Germany] but that doesn’t mean their censorship laws won’t affect what you write, see, and say—and some [internet] companies are helping them enforce these rules globally…investigative journalist Saurav Das shared the fact that—in response to legal demands—Twitter blocked access to two tweets he had posted about India’s Minister of Home Affairs…Censorship demands…from…India…are nothing new, and Twitter…has thus far agreed to…block…the material from view within India…in line with [Twitter boss Elon] Musk’s faulty understanding of “free speech” as a simple reflection of an individual country’s laws, no matter how oppressive.  But this time, Twitter…blocked the tweets not just within India…but everywhere…[this] may…be part of a deeply troubling trend of tech companies willingly choosing to allow the most authoritarian diktats to guide content moderation…

The Cop Myth (#1254)

41% of cops admit to beating their wives; some don’t stop with mere beating:

A [typical and representative] Idaho [cop named Daniel Charles Howard] is facing charges…for the [2021] murder of his…wife…Kendy Wilkins…In May 2014, he was charged with first-degree stalking, aggravated assault and malicious injury to property…[after] learning his wife had been having an affair with their…neighbor…he rep[ea]tedly…harass[ed and threatened]…the…neighbor…

Winding Down (#1289)

When will the federal government finally read the writing on the wall?

Delaware just became the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana….Gov. John Carney, a [soft prohibitionist], said he will allow two legalization bills to take effect without his signature, notwithstanding his continued concerns about the consequences of [not sending cops to destroy the lives of people for enjoying something he doesn’t]…Delaware has allowed medical use of marijuana since 2011, and in 2015 legislators decriminalized possession of an ounce or less, making it a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine.  Carney supports both of those policies but…last year he vetoed recreational legalization.  The…[legislature] recently approved essentially the same legislation that Carney blocked last year, this time by larger margins, making it more likely that a veto would be overridden…

I Spy (#1319)

Surely you didn’t believe the pretexts for such surveillance would long remain limited to “child porn” and “terrorism”?

A new U.S. Senate bill would require private messaging services, social media companies, and even cloud providers to report their users to the…DEA…if they find out about certain…drug sales…the Cooper Davis Act…is likely to result in a host of inaccurate reports and in companies sweeping up innocent conversations…[and] incentiv[ize] …dragnet searches of private messages…Most troubling, this bill is a template for [politician]s to try to force internet companies to report their users…for other…speech…[including] the sale or purchase of [sex, adult content, or] abortion pills…

To Molest and Rape (#1320)

In the UK, “disciplinary action” can mean giving rapists early retirement at full pay:

The [London] Police is paying the full salary costs of 145 [cops] who have been [rewarded with paid vacations for] crimes including rape, fatal shootings and paedophilia.  They are made up of 105 [basic thugs] and 40…of a higher undisclosed rank – giving the total combined salary cost…of at least £3.4million over the last six years…[as if that weren’t bad enough] 29 [rapists are still loose with full police powers to stalk more victims]…

 

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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In the News (#1334)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It would be bizarre for the state to create another category of illegal product that could lead to more conflict between law enforcement and the community.  –  Kent Sopris

Devil’s Advocate (#832) 

Dr.David Ley, with your periodic reminder that a child-shaped toaster is still a toaster:

In August of 2022…Harper and Lievesley published [a study]…of persons sexually attracted to children who owned child sex dolls…The researchers recruited online and found 85 individuals who owned such dolls, whose results they then compared to 120 individuals who did not.  All of these individuals self-reported sexual interest in children…But…the owners of such dolls were found to be less antisocial and reported less arousal at the idea of actually sexually abusing a child, compared to those who did not own such dolls.  Given that antisocial traits are a high predictor of contact sex offending against children, and that the owners of such dolls appear to have a high level of emotional and relational connection to the dolls, it suggests that owning such dolls may not significantly predict a higher risk of offending against children…When researchers examined the intentions, and past offending behaviors of the child doll owners, they found no results suggesting such individuals were at higher risk of future sexual offending against children…

To Molest and Rape

“Sexual misconduct” sounds so much nicer than “forcible rape”:

South Carolina [cop]…Gerard James Hildebrandt…was [arrested and] charged…[for forcibly raping a woman while wearing his magical clown costume]…

You Were Warned (#1224)

You just can’t keep a bad law down:

Some politicians never learn.  Congress has been trying to shove through the EARN IT Act for the past two sessions, and thankfully it’s failed both times.  But, now it’s back…and…it’s got all the same problems as the bill from last session…includ[ing]…nearly identical misleading language…regarding encryption…under EARN IT, encrypting content and messages is a liability…it’s kinda funny that they still even include the language pretending this doesn’t touch encryption, considering that sponsor Senator Richard Blumenthal admitted in an interview last year that the point of the bill was totally to target services that use encryption…

A Moral Cancer (#1227)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

[New York governor Kathy] Hochul…is quietly trying to fire up support for a complete ban on the sale of tobacco products in New York…despite [her] failure to secure support from state legislators to include a ban on menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products in the yet-to-be-approved state budget…Kent Sopris, president of the New York Association of Convenience Store Owners, p[ointed out that] a ban would put many stores out of business but wouldn’t stop tobacco use because smokers would just buy cigarettes out of state, online, or…on the black market…

Unfortunately, I must disagree with Mr. Sopris’ quote at the top of today’s column; providing new excuses for police violence is exactly the point of new prohibitions.

Stalkers in Blue (#1301)

Cops are sexual predators who often specifically target traumatized women:

First, the detective sent unusual emails — asking the mother of a Philadelphia homicide victim to send him photos of herself…or suggesting that they go out together.  [W]hen…the woman…me[t] the detective, Donald Suchinsky, for an interview about her son’s case…he groped her, put his hand down her pants, and digitally penetrated her…Suchinsky…has since been fired over the [2020] assault…and…prosecutors…believe…[he] may have victimized other women…

No Difference (#1325)

Don’t think this was an unintended consequence:

…[LGBT] people from…Uganda…began leaving after Uganda’s Parliament passed a sweeping anti-gay bill in late March that threatens punishment as severe as death for some perceived offenses, and calls for life in prison for anyone engaging in same-sex relations….Mbajjwe Nimiro Wilson…fled with a single backpack…after a hostile crowd…cornered him a[t a]…grocer[y]…“They kept saying, ‘We will hunt you. You gays should be killed. We will slaughter you,’” he said…The latest move to target L.G.B.T.Q. people in Uganda has drawn support from local Christian and Muslim groups, and for years the financial and logistical backing of some conservative evangelical groups in the United States.  One of the key organizers of the parliamentary conference in Uganda last month was Family Watch International, an Arizona-based organization that spreads anti-L.G.B.T.Q. and anti-abortion [propaganda]…

To Molest and Rape (#1333)

They’re trying to pretend this one isn’t typical and representative by calling him a “rookie”:

A rookie Los Angeles [cop]…was arrested…[for] rape of a child under 14…[swineherds are distancing] Diego Jose Miranda Lopez…[from other cops not only by stressing his]…probationary [status, but also by implying that the rape occurring] before Lopez joined the department [signifies anything at all about the kind of people who become cops]…

 

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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