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Posts Tagged ‘Iowa’

Data matters, research matters, and it all shows that the con[flation of sex work and “trafficking”] is just based on ideology.  –  Melissa Broudo

A Woman’s Point of View (#1228)

In Rhode Island’s case, this would be re-decriminalization:

A new report by a Rhode Island study commission recommends the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work in the state.  The commission of thirteen individuals, including [politicians], sex workers, medical professionals, and [spokespigs], spent two years reviewing research and evidence, and listening to lived-experience testimonials, before releasing the report, which highlights multiple reforms intended to…promote the health and safety of sex workers…

Thought Control (#1256)

The more vague the law, the more authoritarians like it:

Iowa…[has pass]ed a law…that…requires schools to remove books that depict a “sex act”…unleash[ing] a frenzy of book-banning across the state, one that illustrates a core truth about these types of censorship directives.  Their vagueness is the point…Uncertain whether books…might run afoul of their state’s law, [bureaucrats nearly always]…decide nixing them would be the “safer” option…This week…Iowa…School[s]…released a list of 68 books…removed from schools to comply with the law.  Among the titles: Ulysses by James Joyce, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood…The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison…1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Forrest Gump by Winston Groom…

A Broker in Pillage (#1326)

Airports are among cops’ favorite places to lurk in order to rob people:

[Pigs and spooks lu]rking at…Atlanta International Airport rarely find drugs on passengers at departing gates.  More often, they find money.  Records show [thugs] have s[tolen] millions of dollars from passengers at boarding gates.  The [robbery] is administratively [justified by belching out the magic words “]proceeds of drug trafficking[“] even [though] no drugs are [ever] found…[they] do not arrest the passenger.  They [simply rob them]…Most cases never go before a judge….passengers are forced to [somehow] prove their money “innocent’ on the spot at the airport gate or it’s s[tolen]…passengers are forced to pull up bank statements on their phones or otherwise provide proof the money isn’t from drug trafficking.  Merely flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles is suspicious, according to [porcine fantasies], because it’s a “known drug trafficking route”…

Stalkers in Blue (#1334)

Cops are sexual predators who often specifically target traumatized women:

A Greenville [South Carolina cop has] resigned after[being caught lying] about whether he had sex in his patrol car with another [cop.  But just a few months ago]…Timothy Matthews…was the subject of an anonymous complaint by a woman in the charitable organization Jasmine Road, a residential program for…wom[en who had bad experiences in]…prostitution…[because] he [repeatedly pressured her for]…her phone number [and bombarded her with texts after she gave it to him]…

Panopticon (#1346)

Bureaucrats who committed illegal surveillance refer to their victim as a “public nuisance”:

…the Michigan Supreme Court…has the chance to decide whether a municipal government…can circumvent constitutional protections by farming out the task to a private company…warrantless drone surveillance is [explicitly un]constitutional…[but] the appeals court…said that excluding any evidence gathered would be inappropriate, so the state Supreme Court can functionally determine whether local governments can do this and get away with it.  Multiple civil liberty advocacy organizations have submitted amicus briefs…argu[ing] that “if the Township gets its way, it will not only profit from its privacy violations, but open the door to other local governments deploying cheap, pervasive, flying surveillance devices to surveil private property for the smallest of civil infractions…Without consequences for arbitrary invasions into [Fourth Amendment] rights, no one can be secure in their person, house, papers, or effects”…

Shifting the Blame (#1360)

How many women died as a result of inaction by the murderer’s cop buddies?

Rex Heuermann, the New York architect accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer, has been linked to…the deaths of Shannan Gilbert and Karen Vergata…four witnesses [have come] forward with information about Heuermann…The first…went to Heuermann’s house for a sex party in February 1996 with her boyfriend, who was a cop, and Vergata…During that time, she spoke with [Heuermann’s wife, Asa] Ellerup, who…told the witness that she was “afraid of Rex”…the second witness…[i]s a taxi driver…[who] saw Gilbert and Heuerman together when she picked her up in the fall of 2009…[Gilbert was] “crying and shaking”…[because Heuermann had tried to cheat] her [with] an envelope of paper scraps instead of money…

The Next Target (#1371)

While Mastercard chooses to discriminate vs sex workers via an elaborate concern kabuki derived from “sex trafficking” propaganda, Visa prefers to burble reasonable-sounding rhetoric about “risk” in order to justify charging sex workers more money to access their services than other businesses.  Back in the old agency days, I simply lied to my card processor and called my company a consulting firm in order to avoid high fees, excessive scrutiny, or arbitrarily being dropped by the processor.  But things have changed a great deal in the past two decades, and there’s no way for an online provider to cloak herself as I did.  This article in XBiz is too dense for me to understand, but if you’re an online sex worker you probably already understand many of these terms, and may find it helpful.

 

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

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I’ve always been dedicated to the idea of this as the time of year for spooky fun.  So every year I collect all the spooky, creepy or scary content from the previous year into one place just before Halloween.  If you’ve come to my blog in the past year, or don’t remember previous editions, they are “Trick or Treat”, “More Trick or Treat“, “Tricks and Treats“, “This Trick’s a Treat”, “Tricky Treats“, “A Trickle of Treats”, “Tricking and Treating“, “Tricks for the Treat“, “Tricked Out Treats“, and “Tricks and Treats and Such Small Deer“.  Horror, death or Halloween-themed columns of the past year included “Day of the Dead 2022“, “Guy Fawkes Day 2022“, “Diary #646“, “Undead Powers“, and a three-part review of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  There are creepy or spooky-fun videos in Links #643, #658, #668, #669, #682, #692, #694, “Tweets for Long Nights” and “The First Tweets of Spring“, and a collection of seasonal links appears below.  PS: Have you picked up on the pattern I’m using for the names of my “Throwback Thursday” columns?

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[Screws] punish people who can’t fight back.  –  Gregory Hyde

The Truth About “The Truth About…”

Just another of those nonexistent false rape accusations:

Gerardo Cabanillas…[rotted] in prison for nearly three decades…[after being] accused [by cops] of a brutal robbery at gunpoint and sexual assault of a young woman in [Los Angeles] in 1995…The 18-year-old had been involved in a separate robbery in the area and [vaguely] matched the description given by the woman, so [incompetent cops] assumed the crimes were linked…During a seven-hour interrogation during which Cabanillas [was denied] access to an attorney, [pig inquisitor] Jack Lee Alirez promised the young man he would be released on probation if he admitted to what he was being accused of…[that was a lie, and] Cabanillas was [instead] charged with 14 felonies, convicted and sentenced to a de facto life sentence…The victim…never identified him in court…and…[her] boyfriend [only] identified Cabanillas [because the cops]…told him…Cabanillas…had confessed…his case was finally taken up by the California Innocence Project in 2017…[and] this year, DNA evidence not only cleared Cabanillas, but also identified another suspect, who was already in prison awaiting trial for murder…Th[e actual rapist]…went on to commit additional sexual assaults…

If Men Were Angels

Even the distancing “former” is the same as for rapist cops:

A [typical and representative Iowa] pastor…[named] Mark Benson…gave a young girl medicine to make her sleep, then sexually assaulted her several times between 2009 and 2012, when she was between 10 and 13 years old…

Perquisites (#840) 

Expect use of this term to continue expanding wildly:

..former NU cheerleader Hayden Richardson…alleges that University employees repeatedly put [her] and her peers in situations where they were groped, harassed and assaulted by fans and alumni for the purpose of soliciting donations to the school…In June 2021, NU filed a motion to dismiss federal claims including forced labor, sex trafficking and forced-labor trafficking and state claims related to breach of contract and emotional distress…U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang [has now] ruled…that the University failed to argue that the Trafficking Victims Protection Act does not apply under the provisions listed by Richardson…noting that the “Spirit Squad Contract” Richardson signed with the University amounted to financial coercion.  Had Richardson not attended [such] mandatory events…and thus had to leave the team, she would have owed NU more than $10,000 for her scholarships and cheer-related expenses…

I Spy (#1184)

“Child porn” is merely a pretext for mass surveillance on an unprecedented scale:

…in October [Swedish politician Ylva] Johansson’s [mass surveillance] proposal [will be] put to a vote in the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament…The regulation would obligate digital platforms – from Facebook to Telegram, Signal to Snapchat, TikTok to clouds and online gaming websites – to [snoop into user’s private files and communications] and report any [image a mindless, error-prone algorithm decides is] child [porn]…so-called “client-side scanning”…will unleash a massive new surveillance system and threaten the use of end-to-end encryption…Johansson, however, [keeps barfing out the word] “children”…and…is…“influenced by companies pretending to be NGOs but acting more like tech companies”, said Arda Gerkens, former director of Europe’s oldest hotline for reporting online [child porn].  “Groups like Thorn use everything they can to put this legislation forward…because they have a commercial interest in doing so…Who will benefit from the legislation?…Not the children.”

The Punitive Mindset (#1196) 

“Drugs” are a popular pretext for petty vindictiveness in US prisons:

Another state prison system is facing a lawsuit over its use of inaccurate drug field tests to throw incarcerated people in solitary confinement.  The class-action lawsuit, filed…by Columbia Legal Services in a Washington state circuit court, alleges that the Washington State Department of [Torturing Caged Humans (TCH)] uses unreliable field kits to test mail for drugs and then uses the unverified results to put inmates in solitary confinement, move them to higher security prisons, and strip them of visitation rights and other privileges…items that have tested “presumptive positive” include blank notebook paper and manila envelopes purchased directly from [TCH]’s commissary…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1279)

The stupider the belief, the harder it is to debunk:

[Facts and common sense have]n’t kept [hysteria] over rainbow fentanyl from gaining momentum again as Halloween nears…police in Tulalip, Washington, [tried to panic] parents after finding pastel-colored fentanyl pills at a local casino…”rainbow fentanyl” pills were also seized near Charlotte, North Carolina…”Joe Camel” [inanely barfed] Charles Odell, the CEO of a [company profiting from prohibition, oblivious to this being a non sequitur]…

The Cop Myth (#1374)

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

…[typical and representative] Pennsylvania [cop] Ronald K. Davis [has been charged] with felony strangulation, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment…and o[ther crimes after trying to discredit his mistress by having her committed]…he took a [non-cop buddy] and [attacked] her…[but his buddy] captured the [assault] on video.  That video…and text communications with Davis show that [the mistress] was rational and the involuntary commitment was improper.  As a result of Davis’ actions, [she] was involuntarily committed for five days…

 

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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Discussions and debates [about sex work are] happening in the absence of those who are most affected by it.  –  Solomon Friedman

If Men Were Angels

“Youth pastor”, “youth leader”, “youth director”…can’t y’all settle on one term for preachy molesters?

A [typical and representative] youth director at a[n Iowa] church…[named] Travis Albers…has been charged with [sexual abuse of] a child…Trinity Reformed Church in Pella…[did not] fire…him [until] after his arrest March 5…

No Difference (#431)

Another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists:

Uganda’s parliament has passed a bill which would criminalise people who identify as gay, or a[ny] sexual minority…Under the proposed legislation, friends, family and [busybody strangers]…would have a duty to r[a]t [out] individuals in same-sex relationships…Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African country.  But the bill seeks to go further and criminalise people on the basis of their sexual identity…Individuals or institutions which support or fund LGBT rights’ activities or organisations, or publish, broadcast and distribute pro-gay media material and literature, also face prosecution and imprisonment…In 2014, Uganda’s constitutional court nullified a similar act…because it had been passed by parliament without the required quorum…

Safe Position (#1123)

Katz is doing exactly what Swedish criminalization proponents do: lying and harming women:

[After] sex worker Yang Song fell to her death [as the direct result of] an NYPD raid on [her workplace]…New York elected officials…[made their usual empty] promise[s]…Melinda Katz…assured voters that she would not prosecute sex workers, [but since she is a proponent of]…the…[evi]l Nordic Model…sex workers [knew she was lying]…Katz’s record reveals she has…continu[ed] to prosecute most of the prostitution arrests that are made…Queens continues to have the highest prostitution arrest rate in the city…and…Katz has…only declin[ed] to prosecute one case in her whole term.  She has maintained the highest rates of prosecution for prostitution…in the city…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1247)

A decent article despite the usual journalistic credulity about prohibitionist claims:

In the heat of a [prohibitionist crusade to censor the internet], Mindgeek, owner of Pornhub, [has been] acquired…by the private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners.  Pornhub…has faced intense [persecution despite]…hosting [far fewer] videos that depict…child sexual abuse [than platforms such as Facebook].  After a[rch-prohibitionist Nick Kristof provided a platform for the evidence-free claims of anti-sex worker activists], Visa and Mastercard suspended services from the site…in 2021 it took Pornhub [dramatical]ly less time to remove reported child sex abuse material…than other platforms…Pornhub responded to…notifications…from NCMEC in less than five hours on average, compared to the total average from…websites, which was [five times longer,] more than 24 hours…Out of 30 million reports of child exploitation to NCMEC in 2021, Pornhub submitted just over 9,000 reports…Ethical Capital Partners plans to support and center sex workers and sexually explicit content creators in discussions about legislation and regulation, including what payment processors like Visa and Mastercard do and don’t allow from sex workers and pornography websites…

To Molest and Rape (#1253)

Cops really believe they’re above the law:

Rick Duncan, the [typical and representative Minnesota] sheriff previously convicted of harassing and stalking an employee, is being sued by another woman…[because] he used nearly identical means to coerce her into sex around the same time…Prosecutors last year also charged Duncan in a new case with five counts of criminal sexual conduct over [rapes] dating back to 2017…Duncan fabricated evidence to [threaten the woman into submitting to rape, but made] it appear as though the [threats] were [somehow coming from an anonymous third party]…Duncan [simultaneous]ly [confused] the woman [by claiming] he would keep her safe…A federal jury last year awarded more than $1.1 million to th[e employee], who[m]…Duncan [tried to rape with similar bizarre tactics]…Duncan was also charged criminally [but merely]…sentenced to four years of probation.  At his sentencing, he [blamed his rapist behavior on members of the public being mean to poor widdle piggies]…

Thought Control (#1268)

My first profession is becoming almost as much a target for authoritarians as my second:

Local police have been called out to Texas public libraries to [forcibly censor] books…in at least five instances….Adam Steinbaugh…[of FIRE said]…“They are treating librarians as suspects. That should be concerning for everyone”…No librarians have [yet] been charged with a crime.  But in recent months Texas [politician]s have proposed a dozen bills that would change state law to make it easier to prosecute them for obscenity…

Morality Lessons (#1285) 

Once Utah passed this unconstitutional bill, it became another case of “monkey see, monkey do”:

Eight states are weighing [censorship] bills that would force phone and tablet manufacturers…to automatically enable…censor[ship software whether the customer wants that or not]…The only way to disable the [automatic censor]…would be through passcodes.  Providing such a passcode to a [legal minor] would be forbidden, except when done by a parent…Many device manufacturers already have adult content [censorship software] available for use, though it is not the norm to have them turned on by default…In recent years, some phone makers have added [more aggressive censorship software] that use[s error-prone algorithms of the type used by Facebook to censor artwork and pictures of plastic dolls] to censor individual images on certain applications.  One of these…bills was passed…in Utah but cannot go into effect unless five additional states pass similar laws — a provision included to prevent Big Tech companies from isolating the state a[s it deserves]…This year, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Texas and Montana [politician]s are all considering versions of the bill…

 

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

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I can’t switch off a feeling that I was stupid in the first place … I trusted [a cop].  –  “Sonia”

The work of a prolific TV composer may be much better known than its composer; that’s certainly the case with Gerald Fried, who compositions included the theme to Gilligan’s Island, most of the score for Roots, and a number of scores for Star Trek, including this one you’ll probably recognize.  The links above the video were provided by Franklin Harris, Mike Siegel, Cop Crisis (x4), and Lenore Skenazy, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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Y’all have three cop cars because I’m feeding cats?  –  Mary Alston

You’re probably familiar with the song, but did you know there was an official music video starring the young singer herself, from 1953?  The links above the video were provided by Clarissa, Jesse Walker, Cop Crisis (x3), Radley Balko, and Phoenix Calida, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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To deny [a dying man permission to be with his daughter] is heartless, cruel, and inhumane.  –  Sandy Rozek

Banishment

I’m sure you feel safer now:

The daughter of a bedridden, dying 79-year-old man asked for permission to care for him at home.  This request was denied by the city council of Shenandoah, since the man is on the sex offender registry.  Registrants must live at least 1,000 feet from playgrounds.  The daughter’s home is 894 feet from a toddler park…the Texas bill regarding registries seems to require that towns “establish procedures for a registered sex offender to apply for an exemption from the ordinance,” that option was not provided in Shenandoah.  The chief of police, Troye Dunlap, [said]…”My opinion is no exceptions should be made…If something were to happen, then it falls on me.”  The possibility of something happening seems remote, since the man…is confined to his bed and receiving end-of-life care…

If Men Were Angels

Even the use of the distancing “former” is the same as for rapist cops:

A [typical and representative] Des Moines…youth pastor is charged with giving alcohol to minors [in order to] sexually assault…them.  Caleb Toney [molested at least] five…boys…in [this]…manner…

Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs (#786)

Indonesian fanatics have been trying to impose this evil scheme for years:

Indonesia has passed a new criminal code that outlaws sex outside of marriage [and] defamation of the president, and expands its laws against blasphemy.  The new laws, which apply to foreigners in the country as well…[will be used] to [target sexual minorities, especially sex workers]…and religious minorities.  Critics also say the new laws could damage Indonesia’s [attempts to pretend to be] a tolerant and secular nation.  In 2019, the Indonesian government tried to pass a similar draft law, but it was shelved by President Joko Widodo after protests from young people [because] the law [blatantly violates] civil liberties…

Torture Chamber (#1202)

Your “leaders” refer to this as “correction”:

An Oklahoma [screw]…was caught using white supremacist gangs to go after Black inmates…Matthew Ware…was sentenced to [a mere] 46 months…in prison.  It’s unclear if the prison will be the one where he worked, however…

To Molest and Rape (#1214)

It’s rare that a rapist cop is stopped after only one victim:

A [typical and representative] Atlanta [cop] who was…a serial rapist…was found guilty…and sentenced to 50 years in prison…Lionel Dely…[raped] a mass[euse after vomiting the word]…investigation [at]…her…[it later came out] that Dely had [raped] three other [women previously]…Though Dely was not charged in those cases, the three victims testified against him at trial.  Police [thought it was very important to tell reporters]…that Dely [did not have permission to rape]…the victim…

Torture Chamber (#1219)

He wasn’t a “former” warden when he raped three women:

A federal jury convicted [boss screw] Ray J. Garcia of [raping]…three female victims who were [condemned to the hell-hole Garcia was supposed to be managing.  As is typical of government press releases, prosecutors and other “officials” stood around congratulating themselves to an almost comical extent, but did point out that]…Garcia…fostered [such] a culture of abuse at FCI Dublin [that it was nicknamed “The Rape Club”]…

The Cop Myth (#1270)

Can you imagine any other gang responsible for this level of mayhem being described as merely “troubled”?

Fewer fatal police shootings are recorded by the federal government every year, despite [a collective pretense of increased] scrutiny of police use of force…Even though federal records indicate that fatal shootings by police have been declining nationwide since 2015, The Washington Post’s Fatal Force database shows the opposite is true: [cops] have [wantonly murdered] more people every year, reaching a record high in 2021 with 1,047 deaths.  The FBI database contains only about one-third of the 7,000 fatal police shootings during this time — down from half when The Post first started tracking…Fatal shootings by [cops] in at least 2,250 [cop shops] are missing from the past seven years of federal records…The excluded data has created a misleading government picture of police use of force, [intentionally] complicating efforts at accountability…

 

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

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No one wins in this.  –  Connor Cook

If Men Were Angels

It’s getting harder to tell the preachers from the cops:  “A pastor [named Fredy Gonzalez]…in Wildomar [California] has been arrested for [molesting] a child…

A Broker in Pillage (#1118)

Burying government in lawsuits is the only way to slow its depredations:

Vera and Apollonia Ward…were just getting a dog-breeding business off the ground…when…[cops attempted to rob]…them…the…sisters…had…tried to send $17,500 in cash through FedEx to a…California…dog broker…to scout and purchase two new animals for them…[like most people, they did not know] FedEx [has a] fa[scist pact with cops which allows them to root through parcels at FedEx sorting centers if they claim a dog gave them permission.  The cops first vomited out the phrase]…drug proceeds…[and claimed their Sooper Cop noses] smelled marijuana on the money…[but] the sisters…had receipts to [show they had withdrawn the cash from their bank]…When the sisters refused to cave and say the money was drug proceeds, the…[cops] threatened to go after them for money laundering…[but] after the Wards connected with the Goldwater Institute, prosecutors relented and returned the…money…six months [later]…

The Cop Myth (#1191)

Well, this is certainly novel:

A Miami [cop was]…shot in the head by his estranged…girlfriend…Yessenia Sanchez…a[nother cop paid to lurk in]…school[s in order to spy on and harass students]…Sanchez went to [Damian] Colon’s [home]…around 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 4…to argue [with him], a[fter] which [she]…shot [him]…then fled…in a red pick up truck, [which she almost immediately wrecked into]…an oncoming car.  She [then]…los[t] control, hit two parked cars…and continued for another block until her [truck died, after which she]…fled on foot…[and] was later arrested at her home…

Stalkers in Blue (#1240)

This kind of behavior is just another sexual power trip:

A [typical and representative Mountie] convicted of multiple sex offences has been sentenced to 18 months in jail…Andrew Seangio…will [also] be placed on a sex offender registry for 10 years…[because] between 2018 and February 2019…he exposed himself to four girls, one of whom was just 14 years old, as well as [disguised cops]…Seangio would drive…past York House School and Little Flower Academy, both all-girls K-12 private schools, until he spotted an isolated victim.  He would then roll down his window, expose himself and drive away…

Thought Control (#1261)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

[When] the Patmos Library millage failed in…August…it lost 84% of its operating budget because its staff refused to remove its LGBTQ books.  The board put it on the ballot again [last week]…hoping that with more residents aware of the measure, it would pass.  It failed, again.  Without taxpayer funds, the library will close.  Exactly when that will happen is not yet known.  A GoFundMe for the library raised about $265,000, with the help of author Nora Roberts, but it won’t be enough to sustain it long-term…

Imaginary Victims (#1274) 

The state is far too concerned with “punishing” this girl to actually help her:

…On November 4, [Pieper] Lewis cut off her GPS tracker and [escaped] from [a gingerbread house named] Fresh Start…[cops] issued a warrant for her arrest…and [she was captured 5 days later]…Judge David Porter sentenced Lewis in September to probation for five years to be served at the [gingerbread house].  He also gave her a deferred judgment, which meant her conviction would be expunged from her record if she [successfully jumped through all the] probation [hoops].  Porter warned Lewis at her sentencing hearing that by affording her an opportunity to avoid prison he was giving her a second chance.  “You don’t get a third,” he said…[because of her escape, pigs want] the court to…revoke her probation and deferred judgment and send her to prison…

Winding Down (#1286)

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

Voters…approved the legalization of recreational marijuana in Maryland and Missouri while rejecting similar measures in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Meanwhile, voters in five Texas cities passed ballot measures that bar local police from issuing citations or making arrests for low-level marijuana possession.  But the most striking election result for drug policy reformers looking beyond the ongoing collapse of marijuana prohibition happened in Colorado, where a broad psychedelic decriminalization measure [squeaked by despite clucking from puritans that not sending cops to destroy people’s lives over possession of plants]…is bad, because people might use psychedelics for fun…

 

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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Thanks for the boob grab.  –  “Officer” Samuel Sanson

The Widening Gyre (#1145) 

What do you get when you cross the “Facebook pimps” myth with the “traffickers looking for victims at stores” myth?

…Mallie Taylor [of Canberra] was offloading some free autumn and winter decor using [Facebook Marketplace] when one [woman with poor English was unable to comprehend the meaning of]…“pick up only”…[and repeated]ly asked to be met somewhere more convenient …[instead of realizing the irritating person as a scammer or someone with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement] Taylor shared her experience with other Marketplace users and was…[mis]informed [that] the woman’s behavior was consistent with [what fetishists like to imagine as]…”a know [sic] method of human traffickers”…

To Molest and Rape (#1216)

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

A [typical and representative] Edmonton [cop]…has been found guilty of sexually assaulting another [cop]…Samuel Sanson…had been [enjoying a paid vacation] for 2½ years after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.  He had been given permission to work out at the gym at police headquarters downtown…[where on  on January 20, 2021 he told the woman]…”The best part of right now is I can say or do whatever I want because I’m fucking crazy”…then…[grabb]ed her from behind…and [groped her]…while [theatrically] moaning in her ear…Sanson [claimed she wanted it]…

Choke Point (#1280)

PayPal is becoming a major threat to civil liberties:

On October 8th, [PayPal] updated its terms of service agreement to include a clause [grant]ing it[self the right”] to [steal] $2,500 from users’…accounts…for posting anything the company deems as misinformation or offensive.  Unsurprisingly, the backlash was instant and massive…Google searches for “delete PayPal” spiked to 1,392% after the announcement…and as the situation continued to unfold, the company’s stock price continued to plummet.  By the following day, PayPal’s PR team was…trying to spin the story as a “simple mistake” that was never meant to be included in the terms of service.  But…shortly after the criticism on social media died down, it was added back into the terms of service with equally ambiguous language.  Apparently, they believed that everyone would just accept their claim and immediately forget about the incident…

Winding Down (#1281)

Destigmatization of psychedelics is happening much more quickly than I would’ve expected:

Three years ago, Denver voters passed a…ballot initiative that made adult possession of psilocybin the city’s lowest law enforcement priority and prohibited the use of public money to pursue such cases.  N[ow]…voters statewide will consider a…measure that goes much further…than the initiative that Oregonians approved in 2020Proposition 122 would decriminalize noncommercial activities related to the use of “natural medicine” by adults 21 or older.  It defines “natural medicine” to include psilocybin, psilocyn (another psychoactive component of “magic mushrooms”), dimethyltryptamine (DMT, the active ingredient in ayahuasca), ibogaine (a psychedelic derived from the root bark of the iboga tree), and mescaline (the active ingredient in peyote).  The covered activities, which would not be subject to criminal or civil penalties, include “growing, cultivating, or processing plants or fungi capable of producing natural medicine for personal use.”  Also protected: possessing, storing, using, transporting, or obtaining the listed psychedelics or distributing them to adults 21 or older “without remuneration”…

The Cop Myth (#1281)

He wasn’t incorrect in this assumption:

…[Alice Springs cop] Zachary Rolfe [knew] he could go on a “paid holiday” if he shot someone [he] “didn’t care about, or like Indigenous people”, the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker has heard…[from Rolfe’s] ex-fiancée[, who is also a cop]…Rolfe [got away with Walker’s murder as he] was unanimously acquitted of all charges …after a Supreme Court trial earlier this year…Rolfe [also told her that he] wanted to join the special forces in the army and “wanted to be paid to go out and shoot people”…his [many] “unjustified” use of force incidents were “swept away” by [boss cops]…

Surplus Women (#1283)

Having to investigate sex workers’ disappearance is such a burden for cops:

…Iowa [cops] are investigating a woman’s claim that her late father was a prolific serial killer who murdered dozens of people over decades…[she said] Donald Dean Studey buried the bodies around his property in Thurman, in southwest Iowa near…Omaha…Studey’s daughter claimed her father killed “five or six” women a year for several decades…[before he] died in 2013 at age 75…two cadaver dogs {have been raken to] the 5-acre site…and found the possible existence of decomposing remains in an area around a well…Lucy Studey…[said] her father would demand that she and her siblings help move the…[bodies] using a wheelbarrow or a toboggan.  “He would just tell us we had to go to the well, and I knew what that meant”…her father lured sex workers and transients from Omaha to his property before he killed them.  She reported the claims to [cops] for the second time last year [but was put off until now]…

To Molest and Rape (#1284)

I could fill an entire tag with just cops who molest or rape kids:

Lawrence [Massachusetts cop] Carlos Vieira was found guilty on a series of child rape charges after [manipulating] a…13[-year old boy] he met…on the social media app Grindr…[in]to…[sex in a public] park…

 

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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We cannot set the house on fire to roast the pig.
–  Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, after Frankfurter

Imaginary Victims 

The state’s pretended sympathy for “sex trafficking victims” applies only to imaginary “perfect” ones; real ones are treated as hardened criminals:

A teenage [runaway] who was initially charged with first-degree murder after she stabbed her…rapist to death was sentenced…in an Iowa court to five years of closely supervised probation and ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the man’s family.  Pieper Lewis, 17…pleaded last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury in the June 2020 killing of…Zachary Brooks of Des Moines.  Both charges were punishable by up to 10 years in prison…judge David M. Porter…deferred those prison sentences, meaning that if Lewis violates [even the most arbitrary or trivial condition] of her probation, she could be sent to prison to serve that 20-year term.  As for being required to pay the estate of her rapist, “this court is presented with no other option,” Porter said, noting the restitution is mandatory under Iowa law…Lewis was [a] 15 [year old]…runaway who was seeking to escape an abusive life with her adopted mother…when a 28-year-old man took her in [and started] forcibly [pimp]ing her…Brooks…had [paid her pimp to] rape…her multiple times in the weeks before his death…after Brooks had raped her yet again, she grabbed a knife from a bedside table and stabbed [him] in a fit of rage.  Police and prosecutors…took issue with Lewis [correctly] calling herself a victim…and [were eager to make it look like she was at fault for being coerced and raped]…

Maggie in the Media

Cathy Reisenwitz interviews me on her podcast:

The Day of the Dead (#44) 

In Taiwan, strippers are a traditional part of funerals and autumn festivals.  This is no more “raunchy” than having performers in Halloween costumes would be in the West, and any pretense to the contrary is due to the influence of more puritanical cultures such as China and the US:

The Taoyuan Veterans Home, a state-run facility for retired army personnel in Taiwan, paid [a stripper to perform for] for a…celebrat[ion of the] Mid-Autumn Festival — an important holiday in [several Asian] culture[s]…the…performance…[was branded “raunchy” by bluenosed busybodies who were not present, but saw a video] filmed by an attendee…[which] went viral…nursing home residents clapped along enthusiastically…relish[ing] the…show.  But [people uncomfortable with the idea that the elderly are stil sexual beings attacked the]…facility…[whic] subsequently released a statement saying: “The intention of the event was to entertain residents and make them happy.  We are very sorry for the offense that was caused”…

If Men Were Angels

It’s getting harder to tell the preachers from the cops:

Five woman are suing an international megachurch and its leader, convicted felon Naasón Joaquín García, in California state court over decades of…child sexual abuse…earlier this year…[Garcia] was…sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison…[but] his church, which claims more than 5 million members worldwide, has stood b[ehind him the whole time]…Now, in a 49-page complaint, the church, García, and several affiliated businesses and individuals are being sued for various damages to a class that is expected to include well over 500 alleged victims as plaintiffs.  The introductory lines of the complaint do not mince words and stake out shocking allegations that criticize the church…as an enterprise that intentionally existed for the purpose of finding and providing children to be raped by the leader…The five principal plaintiffs are Jane Doe women [now] aged 20-28…who were originally cited in the criminal complaint…

The Pro-Rape Coalition (#1089) 

India protects rights the West now seems determined to destroy:

The Supreme Court of India has rejected a petition seeking to codify a…[pretend]ed link between viewing internet pornography and committing crimes such as rape and child sexual abuse…the…court…stated that “child sex abuse is a crime by itself” and [said]…“What you are advocating may be surveillance and collection of data”…The court expressed concern about where the type of Internet surveillance being proposed might lead…

Permanent Record (#1099)

If prohibitionists really want to “rescue” sex workers, why do they keep trying to shut us out of other jobs?

An OnlyFans content creator…was [fired] from her nursing position because other nurses were watching her adult videos on the clock…Jaelyn says she was called into the office of a woman she’s never met, who told her she knew about the OnlyFans.  The woman allegedly claimed that the nurses at this particular nursing home have been looking at her socials and OnlyFans while [she] is with patients…Jaelyn adds that her co-workers would have to be paying for her OnlyFans in order to be watching her videos on the clock…This isn’t the first time someone found out their co-worker was watching their OnlyFans videos, as one creator claimed their manager subscribed to their account.  Similarly, another Only Fans creator…was forced out of her nursing job due to her adult content in August…

The Implosion Begins (#1265)

The hysteria is imploding so hard, it’s falling all the way back to its roots:

…in…a spate of recent examples…individuals have been targeted with accusations of Satanism or so-called ritualistic abuse, marking…a [recrudescence] of the moral panic of the 1980s, when hysteria and hypervigilance over protecting children led to [wildly-]false allegations, wrongful imprisonments, decimated communities and wasted resources…While the current obsession with Satan was boosted in part by the QAnon community, partisan media and…politicians have been instrumental in spreading newfound fears over the so-called ritualistic abuse of children that the devil supposedly inspires, sometimes weaving the allegations together with other culture war issues such as LGBTQ rights…which are amplified on social media and by [yellow journalism], and can mobilize mobs to seek vigilante justice…Online accusers can bypass police, therapists and the traditional media and out their alleged accusers straight to audiences of millions…

It’s rather funny to see the expression “partisan media” used pejoratively by NBC News, considering the stark partisanism of its offspring MSNBC.

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