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Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’

In the News (#1633)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Unserious leaders are unsafe.  –  Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai

Under Review (#779)

The internet’s global scope is the main reason politicians hate it and want to destroy it:

An escort website [based in Spain]…“makes a mockery” of Ireland’s law criminalising the purchase of sex, [babbled politician]…Sharon Keogan[, adding nonsense about “]direct defiance[” even though Spanish businesses are not subject to] Ireland’s [puritanic]al law…[she also barfed out the word “]trafficking[” in order to infantilize] migrant women…[and demanded] the law [be made into]…a “ma[gic]al operation[” so as to “]take action against such sites[” despite their being based in other sovereign nations]…She [further slandered]…independent escorts [by claiming they are] often controlled by organised crime groups that dominate the sex trade [in the sick fantasies of prohibitionists, and vomited out the word “]pimping[” before admitting that]…the business…[is] a Spanish-registered company[.  She appeared surprised to learn that] multimillion euro [businesses are]…organised…

License to Rape (#1327)

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

Black [minors] across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be [molested under guise of a “]search[“]…by police than their white counterparts…The findings…come more than five years after the case of…a Black 15-year-old schoolgirl who was [molested by cops] while menstruating b[ecause a teacher claimed she had touched a plant.  Surprisingly]…a disciplinary panel [later sacked the] two [molesters for] gross misconduct…[Such sexual assaults are] usually [justified by belching “]drugs[” in the victim’s face]…from July 2023 to June 2024…there were a total of 362 [“]search[” branded molestations] of under-18s…Half were white, 31% were Black, 11% Asian, 1.7% of mixed ethnicity and 12% other…[at least] 30% [of the victims had been assaulted by cops]…at least once before…[in the case of] Black [victims the assaults] were almost five times as likely to [be violent]…than [if the victims were] white…

Thou Shalt Not (#1381)

Because this kind of prohibition will surely be different!

[British subjects] aged 17 or younger will face…lifelong [criminalization of] buying cigarettes…Parliament….[has] settled on a final draft of the “[monkey see, monkey do]” legislation that aims to [magically] stop anyone born after 1 January 2009 from [getting cigarettes from the black market] to [magically] create a smoke-free generation [with a wave of politicians’ wands.  The government is also giving itself]…new powers to regulate tobacco, vaping and nicotine products, including their flavours and packaging.  It is part of a series of measures aimed at [creating a dangerous new front in the drug war]…one of the [world]’s leading causes of preventable death, [state violence,] and [human misery.  Cops will also be given new powers to spy on]…cars…playgrounds…schools and…hospitals…

Quiet Genocide (#1495)

Apparently white people can only care about one group of Muslims at a time:

…hundreds of thousands…since 2016 have suffered the Chinese government’s grave human rights violations in…Xinjiang…[where] authorities have subjected Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to mass arbitrary detention, unjust imprisonments, intrusive surveillance and forced labor.  The UN Office of…Human Rights concluded in a landmark 2022 report that the Chinese government may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang….Yet…efforts by…countries who tried to place Xinjiang on the formal agenda of the UN Human Rights Council were narrowly defeated after heavy pressure from Beijing…Yet China’s success in shifting the narrative is not solely the result of repression.  It also reflects…an increasingly unpredictable US foreign policy…[because] as governments line up to meet [Emperor] Xi Jinping as a hedge against [mad Emperor] Trump…human rights concerns…are routinely sidelined…allowing Beijing to effectively whitewash its crimes and recast China as a reliable…alternative to the United States…

Panopticon (#1515)

Cops are nothing more than state-sponsored terrorists:

…the Atlanta…“Cop City” [scheme] is at the center of a much larger experiment…[to replace an] urban forest…[with] the most expansive surveillance network of any city in the U.S…supercharg[ing] a pattern of digital tracking in Black neighborhoods…Georgia-based surveillance companies [are already] market[ing] this model nationwide…[despite] its ties to immigration [pogroms] and protest policing…A 2025 mapping project estimated that Atlanta now has about 124 surveillance cameras for every 1,000 residents…higher than any city in the world outside of a handful in China…The network…metastasized through the city’s Connect Atlanta program, which lets [useful idiots give pigs] live access to their private feeds…​

The Last Shall Be First (#1600)

Judges need to start presenting a united front against monarchical diktats:

A federal judge…issued a written opinion blasting [Trump henchman] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for…wanton disregard…for the rule of law in restricting federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors…The judge made it clear he was throwing out the Kennedy declaration…[and] granted an injunction prohibiting the federal government from trying to supersede professionally-recognized standards [again because]…the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lack[s] the authority to unilaterally establish standards of medical care…[government] lawyers [backpedaled, claiming]…that Kennedy’s declaration reflected his personal opinion…and was not binding…[but] the judge found it was “strikingly apparent” that the…federal government’s arguments are based on [a] “bald-faced lie”…[saying] he was not persuaded by the federal government’s “attempts to gaslight” the court…

Mad Libs (#1631)

Politicians want to “regulate” consensual sex, but not this dangerous toy:

When researcher Nicholas Tiller began to feed health questions into chatbots as a test, he [did not] expect…this level of failure.  Five [chatbot]s, 250 questions and a total score of just over 50 percent correct responses.  And 1 in 5 of the…wrong [answers] were…dangerous[ly wrong]…A separate…study…in JAMA Network Open…gave 21 [chatbots all]…failing grades…[Another] recent experiment [show]ed how easily…chatbots [can be made to spout complete nonsense]…the problem is not an isolated quirk [but is intrinsic to the way chatbots function]…

 

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 (#1631)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We cannot agree to the step-by-step creation of a Chinese-style internet in Europe.  –  Piotr Müller

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1160) 

Just in case you think being a “legal” sex worker protects you:

In March 2024…a lawsuit filed by patrons of three [Arizona] strip clubs — Dream Palace in Tempe and Skin Cabaret and Bones Cabaret in Scottsdale…claimed that dancers were drugging scores of customers and racking up six-figure charges on their credit cards…the [claims appear to have been lifted from] the 2019 film Hustlers…and…neither man could prove he’d been drugged, but…Phoenix attorney Rod Galarza…[has] now [recruited] more than 40 plaintiffs, with the total amount of allegedly bogus charges exceeding $2.3 million…And yet no charges were ever filed in the case…Scottsdale police presented the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office…only to have both decline [it for]…“lack…[of] sufficient evidence”…police didn’t…speak to any dancers…at the clubs, didn’t search the club for drugs and didn’t send in undercover cops.  Former club employees who did talk to police reported no direct knowledge of any drugging scheme…and…Todd Borowsky, who owns the Skin and Bones clubs…[has] filed…[a] federal…[law]suit [against] the city of Scottsdale, the [cop shop] and several individual cops…[for] perpetrating a vindictive sham investigation against the clubs…[which] went to great lengths to document their clients’ pricey forays into VIP rooms, requiring signed contracts, a fingerprint and even a photo of the customer holding up the paperwork for each transaction…

Scottsdale cops have a long and sordid history of trying to pin crimes on strippers.

Lack of Evidence (#1318)

Throwing other sex workers under the bus is a shortcut to losing my sympathy:

A gay Canadian adult film star…was detained for over eight hours by U.S. Customs before receiving a 10-year ban from the country.  Milo Miles…was traveling to Las Vegas…in January…to attend the GayVN Awards…where he was set to present and was nominated for six awards…[when goons] accused him of “escorting with no evidence” and were fixated on the “gay clothes”, fiber pills, and PrEP he had packed…When…they found evidence of his career in…porn [it got worse]…then…two hours [later they] found evidence of escorting…Miles [then threw other sex workers under the bus by trying to invoke a bullshit distinction between]…prostitution…[and] escorting…U.S. Customs has the [power] to deny entry to people they believe are sex workers…and will use coercive tactics to try and elicit a confession…

The Prudish Giant (#1547)

In many ways, Microsoft and Google are as evil as Facebook:

An independent privacy audit of Microsoft, [Facebook], and Google web traffic in California found that the companies [routinely] violat[e] state regulations…[by shoving] ad cookies in[to] a user’s browser even if they opt…out of tracking…The webXray California Privacy Audit…found that most tech companies [simply] ignore when a user asks to opt-out of cookie tracking.  [Facebook’s] code [does not even] contain…[a] check for globally standard opt-out signals—it loads unconditionally, fires a tracking event, and sets a cookie regardless of the consumerʼs privacy preferences…[The three companies] have collectively paid billions in fees for previous privacy violations …[but simply view] these fines [as a cost of doing business]…One of the things…revealed in the audit is [that those]…annoying pop-ups that ask users how they want to handle cookies…do…not work…Google, [Facebook], and Microsoft all [lied, saying “nuh-uh” while theatrically crossing their fingers behind their backs]…

From the first time I saw one of those cookie banners I knew they were bullshit; I never respond to them, instead simply archiving the page as soon as such a popup appears, because I suspect that the act of clicking itself triggers some kind of fine-print consent, as in a phishing email.

A Moral Cancer (#1575)

Prohibitionists always claim surprise when the predicted effects of one of their bans appear:

…the Tax Foundation…[has] reported that “cigarette smokers in the European Union pay far more in excise taxes than they do for the cigarettes themselves…at least 60 percent of the national weighted average retail price…The highest…is levied in Ireland at €10.71 ($12.58) per pack…followed by France at €8.09 ($9.51) and the Netherlands at €7.77 ($9.13)”…[outside] the E.U…taxes make up almost 60 percent of the…Swiss…price…[and almost 50] per cent of the…British price…[unsurprisingly,] Europe’s black market for cigarettes…[is therefore] grow[ing]…especially in France and the Netherlands…France continues to remain the largest [European] market for…black market…cigarette[s]…at 38.5 percent, just slightly exceeding the 37 percent share in Ireland…

Mad Libs (#1618)

Any doctor who trusts chatbots should be sued for malpractice:

…chatbots [are especially dangerous] when used to make medical diagnoses, particularly when faced with incomplete information…frequently narrowing too quickly to a single answer...researchers evaluated 21 LLMs, including leading models by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI and DeepSeek.  It found that failure rates exceeded 80 per cent for all models when they needed to do so-called differential diagnosis — when full patient information was lacking…

Walled Garden (#1624)

The only way to ensure data is not abused is not to collect it:

The European Union’s unveiling of a mobile app to check people’s age online has quickly turned sour, as cybersecurity experts found glaring privacy and security problems with the code…turning into a PR disaster for Brussels…security consultant Paul Moore…hacked the app in under 2 minutes…[while] Baptiste Robert, a prominent French white hat hacker, confirmed…it was possible to bypass the app’s biometric authentication features…The European Commission [quickly backpedaled, absurdly declaring]…”When we say it’s a final version, it’s…still a demo version”…and…the vulnerability “was fixed”…

Mad Libs (#1626)

Every study shows that chatbot usage harms brain function:

In a new study, researchers [demonstrate once again]…that [using chatbots for]…cognitive labor [such as] writing…studying [and] coding…can rapidly impair users’ intellectual ability and willingness to persist…After [using the electronic crutch for as little as] 10 minutes…people…performed worse and gave up more frequently than those who never used it…a growing body of research [shows] that [chatbot reliance] can distort and dampen users’ thinking and independence, and…outsourcing cognitive tasks to [chatbots] could put [lazy fool]s in a “boiling frog”…erosion of [their] cognitive “muscles”…“these effects will accumulate over years, and by the time they are visible, they will be difficult to reverse,” the study [says]… “Once the [chatbot] is taken away…people [don’t simply give] wrong answers…They’re…not [even] willing to try without [the chatbot]”…over-reliance [therefore] function[s much] like an addiction…

 

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 (#1610)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Nuance doesn’t make for good headlines or popular books.  –  Mike Masnick

To Molest and Rape (#1335)

The UK is just as dedicated to protecting rapist cops as the US is:

When Ruth walked into a police station to [report her cop ex-boyfriend for] rape…she did not think that she…would later be accused by [his fellow gang members] of making a false rape allegation, charged and put on trial.  It led to a years-long struggle to clear her name, before she was eventually acquitted…her…ex-partner[‘s “defense”]…was…an audio file he had secretly recorded on his mobile phone [without her consent] during the sex, which he [pretended] proved Ruth was lying…[the pig herd] agreed with him that they could hear her “laughing and consenting”…but [when her defense] chose…to play the audio to the jury…[she] could be heard saying she was in pain and telling her [rapist] “no” and “get it out”.  The sounds of laughter and enjoyment…had in fact been made by actors in a porn film that was playing in the background…The [rapist] is currently s[till enjoying a paid vacation but]…faces a misconduct hearing later this year into whether making the audio recording of the sexual act without her knowledge breached the police code of ethics…The jury took just over an hour to find Ruth not guilty of perverting the course of justice…

Part of the Picture (#1349)

Puritanware has a long history of security issues:

An app that purports to help people stop [looking at] pornography has exposed highly sensitive data, including its users’ masturbation habits…We’re not naming the app because the developer has not fixed the issue, which was discovered by an independent security researcher who asked to remain anonymous…The issue is a misconfiguration in the app’s usage of the mobile app development platform Google Firebase…the creator of the app…[called the issue “]fake[” and]…“a joke”…[but when 404 Media] created an account on the app…the researcher was able to see [it] appear in the misconfigured Google Firebase, showing that user information is still exposed.  This…Firebase misconfiguration issue has been known and discussed by security researchers for years…

Panopticon (#1471)

As surveillance technology becomes ubiquitous along the U.S.-Mexico border, the equipment is still sometimes unknown or invisible to even the activists, humanitarians, researchers, and journalists working everyday in the borderlands.  Based on public records research, open source intelligence, and fact-finding trips, EFF has compiled this zine to serve as an illustrated guide to border security technology…

Censor Chic (#1598)

Civil rights mean nothing if fascist corporations eagerly dance to the government’s tune:

M[ark Zuckerberg] has started blocking [his subject]s from sharing links to ICE List, a website that has compiled the names of…Department of [Father]land Security employees…[in an effort] to hold th[em] accountable.  Dominick Skinner, the creator of ICE List [says] links to the website have been shared without issue on [Zuckerberg]’s platforms for more than six months [but that changed on January 26th].  “I think it’s no surprise that a…man who sat behind Trump at his inauguration …[is helping] ICE [goons] retain anonymity”…posting links to the site [is now] blocked on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads…[but] can still be sent on WhatsApp…[the excuse is Facebook’s go-to for all of its censorship,] “Community Standards”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1603)

More studies prove censorious politicians are full of shit:

For years now, we’ve been repeatedly pointing out that the “social media is destroying kids” narrative…has been built on a foundation of shaky, often contradictory research…and that policy responses built on that panic might end up causing more harm than they prevent.  Well, here come two massive new studies—one from Australia, one from the UK—that land like a sledgehammer on…social media ban[s]…The Australian study…followed over 100,000…adolescents across three years and found…the relationship between social media use and well-being isn’t linear.  It’s U-shaped…kids who use social media moderately have the best outcomes. Kids who use it excessively…[or] don’t use it at all…have worse outcomes…Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Manchester just published a separate study that followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years.  Their conclusion?  Screen time spent on social media or gaming does not cause mental health problems in teenagers.  At all…Zero.  Not “small.”  Not “modest.”  Zero…

Other studies have demonstrated that soaring rates of depression and mental disorders are actually caused by pervasive infantilization and surveillance of young adults, including laws banning them from social media.

Shame, Shame (#1605)

It’s good to see ambulance-chasing politicians attacking an actual evil for a change:

At least 37 attorneys general for US states and territories are t[hreaten]ing action against [Elon Musk] after people used [hi]s chatbot, [MechaHitler], to generate a flood of sexualized images earlier this year…during an 11-day period starting on December 29, [the MechaHitler Twitter] account…generated around 3 million photorealistic sexualized images, including around 23,000 sexualized images of [legal minors]…people were [also] generating far more explicit videos using the…Imagine model available on the [dedicated MechaHitler] website…[without] any sort of age verification…[though Musk] claims [MechaHitler] has [been] stopped…from undressing people, th[at is a lie]…the [politicians threatened Musk with a]…non[existent]…federal law…[and demanded Musk] remove [MechaHitler]’s ability to depict people in revealing clothing or suggestive poses [entirely, plus act as a fascist collaborator by]…report[ing anyone who even tries] to [pigs]…

Mad Libs (#1609)

A perfect storm of stupidity, gullibility, and greed:

…the [Irish] Department of Justice [is using chatbots]  programmed to answer asylum and citizenship queries.  And [predictably,] its bots sometimes got it wrong, throwing up misleading or inaccurate responses. It has since retired its asylum chatbot, Erin, but has [“]upgraded[“] its citizenship chatbot, Tara, with [equally-error prone but more expensive software.  Politician]…Gary Gannon…said he has immense concerns about the use of chatbots…in serving up legal counselling to people seeking sanctuary…It all feels “dystopian”, he said…[but] the Minister for Justice…Jim O’Callaghan…continues to stay vague on what legal counselling is and how it’s going to be offered…

 

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 (#1596)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

You don’t forfeit your constitutional rights when you try to board an airplane.  –  Dan Alban

Follow the Leader (#513)

Authoritarianism is a mental and moral sickness:

Tamara Hamby, a book-banning [sleazebag who managed to worm her way into an Arkansas] Library Board, has resigned her position…[after being caught terrorizing] her disabled, adult [adopted] daughter.  Hamby was arrested…and…charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.  Three others…helped [her] in the [outrage and] were also arrested [and charged]…They include Austria Nico…David Quach…and Shannon Childers…Hamby [devised] a bizarre plan to stage a simulated kidnapping of…Jami Kayl Hamby…to [“]teach her a lesson[“] about talking online with strangers…Jami[‘s]…“wrists were zip-tied and she was tied…to a tree…threatened by three accomplices and…told she would be beaten…if she attempted to run away”…[she] managed to work herself free and run to a…home nearby to seek help…Tamara Hamby…does not believe she did anything wrong…and [though her husband, Jeffrey Hamby MD, was not involved in the sick scheme and was away at the time, he’s just as bad as she is and wants the state to take custody of Jami for a while to (you guessed it) “teach her a lesson”]…Jami…suffers from a brain injury incurred at birth, leaving her with a form of epilepsy…severe attention deficit disorder…and severe developmental delays…[leaving the 22-year-old] comparable to an 11- to 13-year-old…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1009)

The latest police-statery from Airstrip One:

Police are set to be handed access to Britain’s passport database under an expansion of facial recognition technology that could be rolled out in every village, town and city across the country….[using] images from CCTV, doorbells, and dashcams…the Home Office launched a consultation aimed at [crush]ing…legal [obstacles to] every [cop shop and pigpen] in Britain to [spy on citizens, justifying the massive civil rights violation by vomiting the magic word “]crime[“]…Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo…[pointed out that] the technology [will] turn Britain into an “open prison”…[transforming] passport [photos]…into “mugshots for a giant surveillance database”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1494)

Government is unable to permanently stop its own depredations:

A year after the…DEA…stopped [robb]ing…airline passengers because of significant constitutional concerns, the Department of [Father]land Security…is quietly keeping the practice alive…at two Dallas-area airports [by] using…dogs to [manufacture] probable cause to [root through] their luggage…Although it’s completely legal to fly domestically with large amounts of cash, [courts have consistently allowed cops to steal it by pointing at it and barfing the magic formula “]drug trafficking[“]…forcing the owner to challenge the [robbery] in federal court…

Torture Chamber (#1495)

A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners:

It’s been a year since Imhotep Muhammad returned home from Dauphin County Prison after a jury acquitted him of the [bog]us charges that [were used to] lock…[him] up for 26 months…[but] physical and mental…[health problems] remain…he spent nearly 24 hours a day inside his cell as he awaited trial, unable to post bond…[and] the near total lack of direct sunlight and fresh air for so long left him deficient in two essential vitamins, D and B12…[leading] to…heart…palpitations and [erratic] kidney function…He developed a respiratory infection shortly after his release and was hospitalized…Doctors told him the vitamin deficiencies were…caused by his incarceration and isolation at DCP…Alycia Welch…[of] the University of Texas law school’s Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, said these kinds of vitamin deficiencies are one of the most common physical health problems associated with the “de facto solitary confinement” conditions to which…nearly everyone incarcerated at DCP are…subjected…A 2023 meta-analysis…estimated more than half of all incarcerated people have a Vitamin D deficiency and another nearly 30 percent are low in Vitamin D…

The Course of a Disease (#1542)

Facts never deter prohibitionists:

[Scottish politician] Ash Regan…wants Scotland to [classify all women as the moral inferiors of men]…The criminal justice committee wrote to the Irish police to find out how the approach[, dubbed “The Swedish Model”,] was working in Ireland…the Garda [admitted they]…”have not observed a decrease in the number of individuals advertising sexual services for sale in Ireland”…[but tried to spin the dramatic increase in violence against sex workers as] “a significant increase in sex workers reporting crimes against them”…[and euphemized their stalking and harassment of sex workers as] “welfare visits”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1574)

Missouri took surprisingly long to join this “monkey see, monkey do” parade:

As of this week, half of the states in the U.S. are under restrictive age verification laws that require adults to hand over their biometric and personal identification to access legal porn.  Missouri became the 25th state to enact its own age verification law on [November 30th].  As it’s done in multiple other states, Pornhub and its network of sister sites…pulled service in Missouri, replacing their homepages with a video of performer Cherie DeVille speaking about the privacy risks and chilling effects of age verification…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1595)

MechaHitler is quickly distinguishing itself as the most antisocial chatbot:

Elon Musk’s chatbot [MechaHitler]…will, with extremely minimal prompting, provide accurate residential addresses for non-public figures — a feature that could easily assist stalking, harassment, and other dangerous types of behavior…Out of 33 names of non-public figures we fed into [MechaHitler]…ten…immediately returned correct and current residential addresses…Seven…returned previously accurate but out-of-date addresses, while another four included accurate work addresses — perfect fodder for anybody looking to stalk a target at their workplace.  The bot…often returned lists of people with similar names alongside their purported residential addresses…[and] frequently came back with a dossier of other information we didn’t ask for — including current phone numbers and emails, as well as accurate lists of family members and their addresses…[this] stands in sharp contrast to other leading chatbots like…ChatGPT…Gemini, and…Claude, all of which declined to provide us with addresses…

 

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 (#1584)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

They didn’t give a shit about anything I said.  –  Andrea Weiskircher

If Men Were Angels

Another fine example of McNeill’s Law:

An Ohio pastor…[named] Silas Shelton…was arrested…Oct. 15…[on] charges including child rape and sexual battery [because]…he [repeatedly molest]ed a minor over a period of about six years.  In August 2023, he [tried to censor]…the Heartstopper series [of YA novels] at the district’s Scholastic Book Fair…[because they] prominently feature gay characters.  “I tell you, I got sick reading that stuff,” Shelton said at the time…

Monsters (#1357)

Violence against a marginalized group never stays limited to that group:

A[n Irish] woman…who was attacked [by a violent drunk named]…Alex Bailey…in September 2022 [has died of her injuries.  Marie] MacGowan…was 86 at the time [and] had early onset dementia…she…decided to go out to the shops, not realising it was 1am.  She got lost and [was attacked by] Bailey…for 42 minutes.  He knocked her to the ground, punched, kicked and dragged her and [violently slammed] her headfirst into a [garbage] bin…then attacked her again as she tried to get out.  The attack only ended when students walking past [intervened]…Bailey had [decided]…Ms MacGowan…was [“a predatory paedophile” and “a man dressed as a woman”, apparently excusing violent assault in his mind]…

Torture Chamber (#1501)

It’s very rare for screws who murder prisoners to suffer any serious consequences:

A [typical and representative] New York [screw] has been found guilty [while] two other…[murderous screw]s were acquitted in the [brutal murder] of Robert Brooks, a…[human being they beat so savagely that that even their own union called the animalistic attack “incomprehensible”]…David Kingsley was found guilty of murder and manslaughter…[and] faces 25 years to life in prison.  Matthew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer were [set free to murder again]…

No Escape (#1522)

The inevitable result of giving sexually-aggressive thugs total power over women:

In June 2024, Andrea Weiskircher…reluctantly filed complaints against the [screws] who had sexually abused her…inspir[ing] other women throughout the jail to file their own, detailing stories of rape, assault, coercion and sexual harassment…Within weeks, seven victims had reported [attacks and] violations…and in the year that followed…dozens more current and former female [prisoners] have come forward to share similar experiences…in [the] state that incarcerates more women per capita than any other…Some…worried that they could be denied parole [in retaliation] for talking about what happened to them.  And others who were already out on parole told reporters they could end up back in prison if their parole officer submitted a [retaliatory] violation against them…They did it anyway…

No Escape (#1528)

And this is just LA County; every single jurisdiction in the US has similar rates:

Six months after approving the largest sexual abuse settlement in US history…Los Angeles…tentatively agreed to pay another huge sum, nearly $1bn, to settle more than 400 additional claims…the…$828m [settlement still leaves]…2,500 other unresolved cases, not covered by either settlement…and that number is expected [to] increase…

Panopticon (#1558) 

Amazon has now fully embraced fascist police-state collaboration:

Amazon’s surveillance [division] Ring announced a [fascist] partnership…with Flock, a maker of [warrantless] surveillance cameras that…[enable cops to circumvent the Fourth Amendment.  Amazon still frames the conscription of supposedly-private cameras as a “]request[” despite the fact] that Ring [has a long history of violating owners’ consent if they refuse]…On the same day that Ring announced this partnership, 404 Media reported that ICE, the Secret Service, and the Navy had access to [the] Flock…network…[which now includes many millions of] Ring…cameras…

The Punitive Mindset (#1583) 

The government does to caged people what it would like to do to all people:

New Hampshire [screw]…Thomas Kelley…stole six pieces of mail in a…bid to intercept [his victim]s’ complaints from reaching their intended destination.  He [was so proud of himself he even] sent a photo to [fellow screw Christopher] Masse to prove it…and [admitted it in]…text…exchanges…multiple state and federal agencies investigated [this and many other abuses and humans rights violations] in 2023 but then declined to prosecute…[despite copious] evidence of…drug trafficking by [screws]…a plan to falsify records to cover up [severe] physical abuse of a…[caged human being], and plans to retaliate against at least one [of their victims] for making complaints…

 

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 (#1569)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

There is no historical context for this.  –  Scott Robinson

Counterfeit Comfort (#1254) 

When a headline asks a question, the answer is nearly always “no”:

The Queensland government will…table legislation creating Australia’s first public [“]child[“] sex offender register.  The Queensland legislation, [like so much bad legislation], was named [for a dead kid]…The government [lied]…that safeguards will be put in place to prevent…vigilantism…a lot of evidence about…[such] schemes…shows all forms of registries are highly unlikely to fulfil the outcomes [politicians pretend]…registration scheme[s] make…no difference to rates of sexual offending…[because] most sex offences are committed by those who have not previously been convicted of a sex offence…Most sex offenders are known to their victims…Perpetrators are unlikely to ever fit back into public life if they have been the targets of harassment, victimisation, exclusion and eviction…shaming specific people can extend to their family members as well…and…ineffective solutions to serious problems distracts poli[tician]s from searching for more effective ways to reduce victimisation…

Choke Point (#1286)

PayPal is becoming a major threat to civil liberties:

…PayPal has frozen all of [a game programmer’s] funds…to…the…[tune] of…£80,000 GBP [using the excuse that]…the programmer…[is] involve[d]…in the development of adult games [even though]…the game…does not contain any elements that could potentially violate UK laws…[and] the actual sales of the game are not being processed through PayPal, which means none of the programmer’s assets come directly from customers buying the adult content…

People, please do not keep any appreciable amount of money in PayPal!  I transfer any funds on the site to my bank account every morning, even if it’s under $10, and I advise everyone else to do the same.

See No Evil (#1386)

The Japanese are the only people left on Earth who can tell fantasy from reality:

A young [English]man travelling to a comic book convention in the United States was stopped by [Irish spooks] at Dublin Airport and [subjected to a warrantless search of his phone which found Japanese cartoons]…Finley Bowd…was arrested…[and] charged with [having copies of cartoons featuring wholly fictional characters which resemble children to Western eyes despite all Japanese animation characters looking like that.  The spooks also stole]…his phone…[and vomited the magic formula “]category-three child pornography[” in his face]…

Panopticon (#1449)

Much more of this, please:

The City of Evanston [Illinois] has shut down its network of automated license plate readers…and will end its contract with vendor Flock Safety early after a state audit found the company was illegally sharing Illinois data with federal agencies…all 19 cameras operated by the city are “deactivated,” and…the…notice to terminate its contract [will be] effective Sept. 26.  The decision [wa]s attributed to…a system audit…which…[was] ordered…in late June after…404 Media reported that out-of-state police had searched cameras in Illinois cities for use in…[persecution of] migra[nts, including those in]…Evanston…

Unchristian Nation (#1502)

Government thugs continue their crusade against Christian charity:

The Department of [Father]land Security is now barring states and volunteer groups that receive government funds from helping undocumented immigrants…[and demands such] groups…co[llabo]rate with [goons to help them inflict violence on people]…FEMA employees and emergency management experts said the new requirements…would make it harder for nonprofits to help the most vulnerable Americans in the aftermath of a disaster…the new requirements are [un]constitutional and…violate some local and state laws that prevent asking about a person’s immigration status…The bulk of disaster-volunteer groups…are…faith-based organizations…so…[the order is a violation of their] First Amendment rights…

I Spy (#1547)

Elon Musk’s “DOGE” didn’t “fail”; it accomplished exactly what he intended:

[Elon Musk’s “DOGE” goons] uploaded a copy of a crucial Social Security database in June to a vulnerable cloud server, putting the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans at risk of being leaked or hacked…The database contains records of all Social Security numbers issued by the federal government…includ[ing] individuals’ full names, addresses and birth dates, among other details that could be used to steal their identities…Charles Borges, [the Social Security official who reported the security breach]…said DOGE [goons illegally] copied the data to an internal agency server that only DOGE could access, forgoing the…“independent security monitoring” [leg]ally required under agency policy…his complaint cites an official…assessment that…warned of “catastrophic impact” to Social Security beneficiaries and programs if the database were to be compromised…and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost…the…[apparent motive for the crime] was to [enable mad emperor Trump’s desire for an illegal fusion of all] government [data into a single, searchable database to make every American easier to target with government violence]…


The Cop Myth (#1560)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

A…Border Patrol [goon] who was recently charged with assaulting a Long Beach [California cop] and resisting arrest has died…Isaiah Anthony Hodgson…[also drunkenly barged] in[to] a women’s restroom at a restaurant…and th[reatened a woman there with a gun]…

Nothing was said about the cause of death, but given that this dangerous pile of shit was only 29, it seems likely it was suicide.

 

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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Walled Garden

Posted in Current Events, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

As I wrote just over a year ago,

…attempts to sanitize the internet and turn it into a unidirectional “walled garden” more like cable TV than a “World Wide Web” have become more common, aggressive, and (thanks to the folly of Man) popular…

And now, it’s no longer accurate to describe these attacks on privacy, freedom, and adult agency as mere “attempts”, though for now it’s still easy to circumvent them by use of a VPN or clever tricks of the sort adolescents are invariably better at than adults.  As the ever-vigilant Liz Brown recently wrote,

…the United Kingdom[‘s demands for ID]…check[ing are]…already reverberating beyond adult websites…Bluesky—a general-interest social media platform…will begin requiring U.K. users to prove they’re adults or otherwise find direct messaging and certain content inaccessible…the U.K.’s [misnamed] Online Safety Act…imposes rules on…a[n]y…digital service…publishing content that [a politician or bureaucrat has pointed at while barfing]…“harmful to children”…Reddit, [Twitter], Discord, and Grinder “have now announced they will deploy age assurance” schemes…At least 20 [American] states have already passed rules requiring age verification for adult content.  And I think we can expect most, if not all, states to follow suit now that the Supreme Court has given it the OK…sex work is always the canary in the coal mine for free speech and privacy, and age-check requirements aren’t stopping with online porn.  Already, some states are passing laws that necessitate social media platforms checking IDs or otherwise [harass]ing user[s].  A federal appeals court recently gave the green light to Mississippi to start enforcing a social media age verification law.

“Around the world, a new wave of [laws justified by labeling them] child protection…are forcing a profound shift that could normalize [intrusive surveillance] broadly across the web,” note[s an article]…at Wired…”courts in France ruled last week that porn sites can check users’ ages.  Ireland [has] implemented age checking laws for video websites…The European Commission is testing an age-verification app.  And in December, Australia’s strict social media ban for [people] under 16 will take effect, [extending even]…to search engines…The age of online anonymity…is rapidly vanishing. In its place, we get dubious “protection” measures that can be easily gamed…may send people to less regulated and less responsible platforms, put adults and children alike at risk of identity theft and other security violations, and make it much easier for authorities around the world to keep tabs on their citizens.

As if that’s not bad enough, some sites have decided not to use ID verification, but rather to subject their users to artificial stupidity instead:

Spotify is requiring users in the UK to verify they’re over 18…”to access certain age restricted content, like music videos tagged 18+”…if the age verification system…which involves getting your face scanned through your device’s camera [for a computer algorithm to guess] your age…[fails as such algorithms often do]…your Spotify account will be deleted…

There are of course ways to listen to music which involve no surveillance, including the quaint, old-fashioned device called a “CD”.  But some other sites aren’t waiting for politicians to act, because they’re eager to force users into a facial-recognition database for their own noxious purposes:

YouTube will soon begin using [computer algorithms] to [guess] which users are under the age of 18.  Starting August 13th, YouTube will [automatically restrict Americans a computer guesses are] underage…based on their activity and the age of their account…if the platform gets it wrong [as it often will], users can verify their age by uploading a government ID, taking a selfie, or entering a credit card…

Well, that whole internet thing was nice while it lasted.

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Links #786

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Nobody is safe.  –  “Thomas”

The perfect song to honor Ozzy’s passage to the afterlife would’ve been “See You On the Other Side”, but I already featured that one in a column about Grace’s preceding him into that realm in January.  But I think this one’s a good choice as well.  The links above it were provided by Jason Kuznicki, David Ley, Dan Savage, Kevin Wilson, Phoenix Calida, Mike Masnick, and Radley Balko, 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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In the News (#1556)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

If they feel emboldened enough to do this to another [cop], imagine what they must do to assault, frame and extort regular citizens.  –  Julia Yoo

Catastrophic Consequences (#798)

This sleazy harassment tactic spread from Canada to Scotland to England to Ireland:

[Irish cops barged into incal]ls “in every major town and city in Ireland” as part of a major world-wide [publicity stunt to intimidate migrants using the hackneyed excuse of “]human trafficking[“.  Cops bragged that] they [had] int[imidat]ed 179 sex workers in 92 [incal]ls and [also harass]ed 5,421 passengers on 37 flights at Dublin Airport over the course of just one week last month.  [They thought it was bragworthy that they had managed to find] one man [to accuse of a crime after harassing 5600 innocent people whom they slandered as “]organised crime groups[“; they also stoked racism and xenophobia by specifying the national origin of all the innocent women they terrorized and infantilized as passive, vegetable-like]…victims[”]…

Welcome To Our World (#995)

It isn’t only sex workers being hunted to death by armed thugs any more:

A m[igrant worker named Jaime Garcia] is on life support after he was [hunted by ICE goons until he]…fell 30 feet off a building while [fleeing for his life and freedom]…He was taken to the hospital with a broken neck and skull….and…is not expected to survive…

Panopticon (#1429)

Safetyism is the police state’s most powerful fuel:

Last year, Oakland installed nearly 300…surveillance cameras across the city to track the movement of [anyone using an] automobile…Now, [as predicted, politicians] are taking steps to expand the reach of this…[surveillance.  Pigs now want to ape San Francisco by] integrat[ing] privately owned security cameras into OPD’s surveillance system…For years, [useful idio]ts have been able to share their surveillance camera footage with OPD by registering their cameras on a city website.  But [now], Oakland…[cops want to do that without the owners’ consent.  Trained seals from the Useful Idiots’ Association of Oakland obediently barked “]helping solve crimes[“]…in…[support].  The privacy commission [asked] whether the expanded surveillance…could be used to furnish data to federal agencies, [even though that is already standard procedure despite]…California [supposedly banning] local jurisdictions from sharing data with [cop shops] from out of state, including federal [spook houses and goon squads]…

Cops and Robbers (#1430)

These crackpots get more dangerous every time we hear of them:

A…[QAnon-adjacent crackpot group] called “Veterans on Patrol” told [KWTV in Oklahoma City] that it is “targeting” Oklahoma weather radars, days after an individual vandalized [the station]’s…radar.  The group, which [has previously harassed homeless people in Spokane, Washington and attacked migrants in Arizona], believe[s] weather radars control the weather…Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, the [group’s] founder…[is not a veteran and is a fugitive from Arizona after skipping his sentencing for destroying humanitarian water stations set up for migrants]…he believes…in [both “chemtrails” and Satanic pedophiles who harvest adrenochrome from children’s blood]…Chief [KWTV] Meteorologist David Payne said that…wh[en] weather radar [is] sabotaged, “We cannot track severe weather…[such as] tornadoes”…

Thought Control (#1528)

Canadian politicians are eager to join the Trumpist “monkey see, monkey do” censorship parade:

Alberta has issued a ministerial order to [ban] books from school libraries that [any politician points at while barfing “]sexually explicit[“]…libraries will also no longer be permitted to provide students in Grade 9 or below with [anything any politician points at while belching the mouthful “]non-explicit sexual content[“.  Politician Demetrios]…Nicolaides [said]…“We believe that students should be curious, inquisitive and exploratory about…[any topic except] sex”…

You Were Warned (#1533)

The open internet is rapidly becoming a thing of the past:

Bluesky is adding age verification to its platform in the UK as part of efforts to comply with the [misnamed] Online Safety Act…the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or entering a payment card…through Kid Web Services (KWS), an Epic Games-owned tool that developers can use to implement age verification and parental controls on their platforms.  If users don’t want to verify their age, or if they’re under 18, they will still be able to have an account [if they use a VPN or agree to be infantilized]…

The Cop Myth (#1555)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

A…Homeland Security [goon] is suing a San Diego [pig for]…beating him in a “parking lot rage” at a California Costco, leaving him with a concussion and a dislocated shoulder…Chu Ding…was knocked unconscious by…Jonathan Ferraro…[on] July 2, 2024…then was [locked in a cage without]…food, water and medical care…for five hours…the assault st[arted]…when Ferraro [intentionally] blocked Ding…in a parking space with his truck…Ding tapped on the…truck “to let Ferraro know that he was leaving,” resulting in a violent reaction…[starting with] Ferraro [jumping out]…and call[ing] Ding a “Chinese piece of shit”…Ding’s lawsuit [also] names [a gang of other cops for conspiring with Ferraro]…to falsify an arrest report and…to try to extort an apology to justify [Ferraro’s subhuman brutality]…DHS initiated an internal investigation into Ding, who was [not] cleared of wrongdoing [until] several months later…[even though the DA dropped the bogus charges only] a week [later]…

 

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 (#1553)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Surrendering our data to unchecked power isn’t just a technical risk – it’s a moral failure.  –  Catherine Engelbrecht

None of Your Business

Since Jimmy Swaggart departed for Hell last week, it seems a good time to remind readers of this 2011 essay (click subtitle above) on his sleazy rise, sleazy fall and sleazy comeback, and to observe that A) there ain’t no justice, and B) only the good die young.

To Molest and Rape (#1281)

This is a cop’s idea of “friendship”:

A [typical and representative Irish cop named]…Shane Flanagan…impersonated [a female cop]…on…FetLife…and…Facebook for the purpose of arranging for people to come to her home and rape her.  He created the accounts using the woman’s personal information, and shared details including her address, and photos of her and her daughters…the woman [imagined she] and Flanagan were friends and there had never been any romantic or sexual history between them…Flanagan pleaded guilty to…inciting two men to rape the woman on dates between November and December 2020…and…to…a…child porn…[charge].  She…became aware that someone was using her image on Fetlife…after a user of that website contacted her on her genuine Facebook page..she [then] created an account on Fetlife and while pretending to be a man interacted with the user pretending to be her…

Thou Shalt Not (#1307)

Using crypto-moralism as an excuse to rob businesses:

Supermarkets could be fined if they do not [force customers to buy enough of whatever food UK politicians have declared “]healthier[“]…under a new government [scheme] to [rob businesses by using moralistic excuses]…Supermarkets will be required to report sales data [to central planning bureaucrats] and those that fail to hit targets could face fines…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1476)

Erosion of civil liberties only starts with “undesirables”; it never stops there:

…ICE…is using a smartphone app to identify people based on an image of their fingerprints or face…the expanding and repurposing of this sophisticated technology, ordinarily used by…DHS…when people are entering or exiting the country, is now being used on people living in the United States to meet mass deportation and arrest quotas imposed by [Mad Emperor] Trump…Mobile Fortify…enables users to verify an unknown person’s identity…by comparing a photo of their face across two databases…CBP…Traveler Verification Service…and…a…DHS…”intelligence aggregator” that brings together information related to searches and seizures.  For fingerprint matches, the app uses DHS’s centralized Automated Biometric Identification System…ICE is [also] using…Clearview…Palantir…[and Flock’s] nationwide database of automatic license plate readers…

The Cop Myth (#1481)

Sleeping with cops isn’t safe for men, either:

A [Texas cop named Ashley Nicole Transmeier murdered her]…ex-[boy]friend…Albert “Bert” Florencio Howie…[when she caught him sleeping with her] mother…Transmeier…fled the [scene of the crime and tried to commit suicide with]…pills while [sitting in her car, but cops took her]…to a local hospital, [had her stomach pumped] and [then caged her]…

As usual when a cop murders somebody off the clock, their cophood is buried far down in the story.  And the passive voice usage in this one is off the charts.

I Spy (#1543)

Wave bye-bye to the last remaining shreds of your privacy:

The Trump [regime] has, [in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974], built a searchable national citizenship data system.  The tool, which is being rolled out in phases, [was justified by the claim it is] designed to be used by state and local election officials to…ensure only citizens are voting.  But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and s[ensible people] are already worrying about what else it could be used for…[especially since it was developed by] DHS…[and the so-called “]DOGE[“.  The system pushes]…the U.S. closer to having a…centralized national database of Americans’ personal information [spooks can use any way they want]…

Mad Libs (#1550)

So far, the thing so-called “AI” is actually best at is parting fools from their money:

…tech companies have proved yet again that there’s money to be made from panic.  Turnitin, a longtime leader in the plagiarism-detection market, released a new tool within six months of ChatGPT’s debut to identify [LLM]-generated writing in students’ assignments.  In 2025 alone…the California State University system collectively paid an extra $163,000 for it, pushing total spending this year to over $1.1 million.  Most of these campuses have licensed Turnitin’s plagiarism detector since 2014…when the internet made it easy for students to copy and paste [text] from websites into their assignments…faculty members [are now seeking] both a way to discourage students from using ChatGPT on their homework and a way to identify [LLM]-generated writing…But the technology…highlights any matching text, whether properly cited or not; it flags everything that mirrors [LLM] writing style, whether a student used [an LLM] inappropriately or not.  And Turnitin…demand[s] “perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable” rights to student writing…[which it] has used…to build a massive database of student papers, which it [then] uses to [train its own LLM]…

 

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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