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Posts Tagged ‘Israel’

From a legal perspective, [fetal personhood] is, quite frankly, bonkers.  –  Elizabeth N. Brown

Rescued To Death

The “Swedish model” helps women!

Police raided 11 [shared incall]s…in studio apartments in…Tel Aviv…[evict]ing some 20 women…Tel Aviv’s Welfare Department…only got an hour’s forewarning…[and] organizations aiding prostitutes were not informed at all…one [sex worker]…told Haaretz…“They wouldn’t let me change. They came in with cameras and large forces and told me to get lost in 10 minutes…We have no way to make ends meet this month”…Romi Levy of the Argaman organization [said]…“Women who have committed no crime were depicted…as wanted criminals…Women aged 30-60 were thrown out on the street with their belongings, crying and shouting for help, which I’m sad to say won’t be forthcoming”…

If Men Were Angels

This will never stop as long as people teach kids unquestioning obedience to “authority”:  “The minister of a church in [Ohio]…has been arrested…[on] multiple criminal charges…of the sexual abuse of minors.  Dennis Laferty…is pastor at Thompson United Methodist Church…

The Mob Rules (#1198)

Unless this batshittery is declared unconstitutional, things will keep getting worse:

A Texas man is suing three women under the wrongful death statute, alleging that they assisted his ex-wife in terminating her pregnancy…Marcus Silva is represented by [two politicians:] Jonathan Mitchell…architect of the state’s prohibition on abortions…and state Rep. Briscoe Cain…[the] ex-wife learned she was pregnant in July 2022, t[wo] month[s] after [s]he [had filed for divorce]…and [wisely decided]…to…terminate the pregnancy [lest the husband weaponize it in the divorce]…The friends…sen[t] her information about Aid Access, an international group that provides abortion-inducing medication through the mail…they [later] found a way to acquire the medication in Houston…A third woman delivered the medication…and…the wife self-managed an abortion at home…The lawsuit relies heavily on screenshots from a [private] group chat the ex-wife had with [her] two friends…

Choke Point (#1275) 

The word “pause” means a temporary stop:

Just weeks ago, gun control advocates were doing happy dances as credit card companies prepared to implement a new merchant category code…that would ease the way…for tracking gun purchases.  Now, under public pressure, financial institutions are backing away from those codes…It’s an illustration of how…politicized business has become, and how difficult it is for private companies to navigate between the country’s political tribes…

Panopticon (#1295)

Forcing the government back from establishing a very dangerous precedent:

…the Department of Commerce and the…NOAA…[demanded] in 2020…[that] charter-boat captains…install—at their own expense—onboard monitoring systems that regularly relayed their boats’ GPS locations to the government.  A group of…captains…sued, saying the rule violated rights to due process, privacy, and freedom of movement…Now a federal court has sided with the captainsinstallation of a [monitoring] device would cost $3,000, with an additional $40 to $75 per month in service fees…charter-boat owners…primarily operate small businesses, with roughly $26,000 per year in net income…in addition…the regulation imposes a massive privacy cost; demanding that charter-boat owners transmit their exact location to the Government, every hour of every day forever…

The Vultures Descend (#1319)

The predictable result of “fetal personhood” snake oil:

South Carolina [politician]s are proposing…to…defin[e] personhood to begin at fertilization…[even though] the majority of fertilized eggs do not go on to become viable pregnancies…Legally defining personhood as beginning at conception creates all sorts of thorny issues, from the serious (should the state start investigating all miscarriages as potential homicides?) to the odd (can a pregnant woman legally drive in a carpool lane?)…fetal personhood laws have been considered in a number of states and passed in five (Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas and Missouri).  And implicit in this concept is the idea that all laws…would equally apply to all “unborn persons”…South Carolina’s proposed Prenatal Equal Protection Act would…amend the sections of the state code related to murder and assault to say that…women who get abortions could be charged with homicide, and women who injure a fetus in some way could be charged with assault…It’s the type of laws that could lead to increased surveillance, restrictions on, and criminalization of pregnant women across the board…

To Molest and Rape (#1322)

Cops view alcoholism as a way to coerce sex from those suffering from it:

A [Florida cop] has been fired for [coerc]ing an…a[lcoholic] woman…in[to sex]…Patrick Monteith…manipulated [his victim, who]…was scared to report [the rapes] to the police or [even tell him no]…”because of his position as an officer”…Monteith [characteriz]ed [the abusive] relationship [as]…a friendship…

 

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“, and “Tricks for the Treat“.  Oddly, though there were enough spooky or Halloweeny links to justify collecting them, the only horror, death or Halloween-themed column of the past year was “Books of the Dead“, and the only creepy or spooky-fun video appeared in Links #591.  Here’s hoping for a better collection next year!

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’d never put her away in a cupboard.  –  Char Grey

One of the all-time great movie villains has died, just a few days short of his 81st birthday; I thought a retrospective of his work was in order, but this is just a small sample.  The links above the video were provided by Franklin Harris, Mike Siegel (x2), Jesse Walker, Mirriam Zary, and Cop Crisis (x2).

From the Archives

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Prostitution is a profession and sex workers are entitled to dignity and equal protection under the law.  –  The Supreme Court of India

Follow Your Bliss

The naive believe that “child predators” are creepy dudes who hang out at playgrounds; in reality, they are largely people in positions of authority over their preferred targets:

A [Missouri] man [named Scott F. Burow]…who spent more than 30 years working as a deputy juvenile officer in Missouri state court has been indicted in United States District Court on a felony charge of sex trafficking of a minor…[for paying a] 15 year…old…ward of the state of Illinois…[for sex] and…secretly videotaping her…

Policing for Profit

Cops will never stop doing this as long as the state keeps giving them pretexts:

A [gang] of [cops] conducted illegal searches and arrests in New Jersey as a pretext to rob residents out of cash…On May 26, a federal jury convicted Michael Cheff on…conspiracy…and…falsification of a police report…Cheff supervised a [gang] of [thugs who] worked together…between 2016 and 2018, [the gang regularly]…conducted illegal stops and searches of individuals in their vehicles, on the streets or in their homes and [robbed] them…Cheff…[got] a cut [in exchange for]…approving false reports…that…lied about…the…[armed robber]ies…

If Men Were Angels

The problem isn’t Catholicism, Christianity or even religion; it’s blind submission to authority:

A community rabbi from Jerusalem w[as]…indicted…for repeated sexual crimes against newly religious women.  Rabbi Moshe Yazdi…rap[ed], sexually assault[ed] and sodomiz[ed]…women while fraudulently obtaining their “consent” by telling them these were religious acts and therefore they had to submit to his demands.  He is also suspected of exploiting them financially.  So far, 10 women…have filed complaints against him…[revealing that] he presented himself to them as one of the 36 righteous people who, according to Jewish tradition, ensure the world’s continued existence at any given moment…Some of the crimes were committed against brides on their wedding day…

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#568)

Looks like the judge didn’t buy his “porn addiction” excuse:

Josh Duggar, former director of the lobbying arm of the…anti-porn Family Research Council, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for downloading child sexual abuse material…Duggar was known as a reality TV figure for his role on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, a show highlighting his extended family…[which] TLC canceled…in 2015 after it was revealed that Duggar had molested members of his family and a babysitter…The Arkansas trial also exposed the failure of…”porn filter” Covenant Eyes, a business highly ballyhooed by anti-porn crusaders…federal investigators found that Covenant Eyes had been installed on Duggar’s computer so that it could monitor and report his internet use to his wife, Anna…however, an investigator reported that “Covenant Eyes was unable to detect Duggar’s internet usage after a password-protected network was installed on his computer”…

For Those Who Think Legalization is a Good Idea (#737)

Indian sex workers have awaited this ruling for years:

The Supreme Court…told police that they should refrain from interfering and taking criminal action against…sex workers…[who] should not be arrested, penalised, harassed, or victimised through raids on brothels because…sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful.  A sex worker’s child should not be deprived of her mother’s care “on the ground that she is in the sex trade”…The court also instructed cops not to discriminate against sex workers who lodge a complaint, if the offence against them is of sexual nature…The bench observed that use of condoms “should not be construed by the police as evidence of offence by sex workers”…[but unfortunately will still allow cops to abduct] sex workers [under the pretext of “]rescue[“] and [lock them in cages] “for not less than two-three years”…The apex court also ad[monished media to take] “utmost care not to reveal the identities of sex workers, during arrest, raid and rescue operations, whether as victims or accused and not to publish or telecast any photos that would result in disclosure of such identities”…[pointing out that] voyeurism is a criminal offence…

The Last Shall Be First (#1151) 

Laws like this have already been declared unconstitutional by the 4th Circuit:

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt…signed into law a bill that requires students at public schools…[including] charter schools to use restrooms and locker rooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates…Transgender students who decline to use the restroom required under the measure would have to use “a single-occupancy restroom or changing room” provided by the school.  The measure, which cleared the state Legislature last week, will take effect immediately because it was passed with an emergency clause.  School districts that [refuse] to comply…could be sued by school parents

The Next Target (#1151)

Prohibitionists’ real goal is to completely ban online sex work:

[Tobias Schmid, ] the local official behind the crusade for Germany to require age verification for viewing sexual content…is now seeking to expand to all of Europe the use of his new [surveillance] tool, KIVI, which automatically scans all online content to determine which images are not compliant with the law…KIVI was developed by Berlin-based Condat under…Schmid’s supervision and is now reportedly being used by all 14 state media authorities in Germany…to detect [images in] categories like “extremism, hate speech, swastikas or the glorification of drugs,” Schmid also included “pornography” as a target for the new surveillance engine

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How did we go from a routine traffic stop to narcotics-sniffing dogs?  –  Pamella Jenkins

The big news this week was the passing of Vangelis, the Greek composer most famous for his soundtrack work, whose albums from the late ’70s and early ’80s in particular formed a large portion of the soundtrack of my life.  I’ve featured many of his compositions over the years, but never the one that first made me a fan, fittingly entitled “Alpha”.  The links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Cop Crisis (x2), Radley Balko, Popehat, and Nun Ya, in that order.

From the Archives

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Advocates of prohibition always claim good intentions.  –  Jacob Grier

Prudish Pedants

“The label ‘pornography’…represents an attempt by lawheads to pretend that their personal hang-ups about sex can be reduced to a rule”:

Adult content only becomes illegal when it veers into the realm of obscenity.  But for a work to be deemed legally obscene, it must meet the obscure Miller Test developed in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court…Numerous elements of this test are unworkable in modern times…most people do not know the definition of the word “prurient” and cannot use it correctly in a sentence.  Yet this consideration can determine whether someone is imprisoned for making a film.  The entire concept of “community standards” is meaningless in the digital age, when we have more in common with our social media groups spanning the globe than we do with our neighbors who happen to live in the same country…While it’s easy to understand what the “whole work” is when evaluating a magazine or film, what about a tube site or a social media site?…Despite these vagaries, the Miller obscenity test has been upheld over and over, in the face of numerous constitutional challenges…

A Moral Cancer (#1148)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

Sometime in the not-too-distant future…the first American will likely be sentenced to prison for selling flavored tobacco or e-cigarettes.  It might happen in Massachusetts, wh[ich]…announced charges last year against New Hampshire resident Samuel Habib…Or it might happen in New York…[where] the Auburn Police Department…raid[ed]…a…smoke shop owned by Mohamed Algamal…Or maybe it will happen in New Jersey or Rhode Island, which have banned flavored e-cigarettes statewide.  Or maybe it will be in one of the many cities that have passed flavor bans, such as Chicago…San Francisco…[or] Washington, D.C., or result from a federal prosecution if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moves forward with plans to prohibit them nationwide…advocates of flavor bans [falsely] portray them as…mere product regulations and…[pretend] prohibitions will [not] lead to…criminal enforcement, especially…against racial minorities…[but] as the American Civil Liberties Union, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and other groups warned in 2021, this will create “a massive law enforcement problem for states, counties, and cities, since all states treat unlicensed sale of tobacco products as a crime—usually as a felony punishable by imprisonment”…

Creepy Coppers

Funny how it nearly always takes years to convict cops of anything:

Nearly four years after being arrested, a [typical and representative] Harris County [Texas cop pled] guilty for possession of child pornography…Donald Dehnert [was first arrested on March 29, 2018]…he…admitted to having child pornography on a flash drive that…had photos of nude children under two years old and a girl who appeared to be between six and eight years old.  One image showed the girl appearing to perform a sexual act…[Dehner had also] solicited sex with [a roleplaying cop’s imaginary] 5- and 11-year-old daughters…

Opting Out (#1214) 

“At least one person noted that the UK was at risk of looking like idiots”:

…the U.K. has finally unveiled its controversial “Online Safety Bill”…focus[ing] on “pornography” as the main supposed “online harm”…the Johnson government [belched out a number of catchphrases and buzzwords including]…“protect children”…and…”illegal content”, while…[absurdly bragging that] the proposed measures are…“the world-first online safety laws”…[misusing the popular moralist shibboleth] “hold…to account”…and…set[ting] up the [bureaucrats]…running Ofcom, the government’s communications regulatory agency, to become essentially a censorship body with “the power to fine companies failing to comply with the laws up to 10% of their annual global turnover…[and] force them to…block non-compliant sites”…The government’s statement boasts of literally “a raft of other new offenses [including]…obstructing the regulator when it [raids] company offices”…

Leaving the 20th Century

So how exactly are they defining “pimping”?

Sex workers in Belgium will soon be able to claim state pensions and other benefits after the pandemic prompted reforms to decriminalise their profession.  Politicians approved plans to overhaul 19th-century legislation and offer prostitutes a legally recognised job title…While prostitution is decriminalised under Belgian law, there is a ban on pimping aimed at [placating “]sex trafficking[” fetishists]…

Science! (#1221)

A source heard it happened“:

[Wanking fantasies] have increased in Israel since the outbreak of war in Ukraine [about] claims…that some women refugees…were being exploited by human trafficking networks.  [Magical anti-pimp] leaflets…are expected to be [foisted upon] refugee women upon arrival at the airport as part of…moral[ity theater]…The [fantasies claim]…human trafficking and criminal networks lure Ukrainian refugees into prostitution upon their arrival to Israel, with the [tale] being used as an excuse for Israeli immigration officials to deny entry to dozens of refugees during the past two weeks…

The Cop Myth (#1221)

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

…Scottsboro [Alabama cop]…Stephen Miller shot his estranged wife, Amanda Miller, a[nd then shot himself]…Miller…was [an alcoholic]…and [Amanda] was filing for divorce.  Stephen was found dead…and Amanda is currently in critical condition…

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A system that allows this level of sustained incompetence and cruelty…is morally bankrupt.  –  Tod Wilcox

Where Are the Victims?

They’re talking about ordinary-sounding escort agencies or phone services:

…a BBC [news show claims it]…has evidence that…pimps are using Vivastreet to advertise multiple women under their control…one mobile phone number was being used for 78 ads on the site – which suggests the women might be controlled by a single person [because obviously, women are much too stupid to hire answering services like other businesses do]…some of the adverts for sex contained [what prohibitionists, cops, and others who wank to fantasies of passive, doll-like women enjoy calling] the warning signs of sexual exploitation.  One such sign is when multiple women [use the same phone answering service]…Diana Johnson, chair of the [politicians’] Group [trying once again to impose Swedish criminalization on the UK, barfed up childish nonsense about]…”a pimp’s paradise”…Stuart Peall…a…Lancashire [vice cop, made furtive movements in his pants while burbling about how]…”it’s like a takeaway menu”…

It’s really sad that the BBC has sunk to the “IT’S LIKE PIZZA!” level of journalism.

Surplus Women

Your government wants this to happen more often:

Police have arrested a man believed to be the serial killer responsible for six murders and several shootings that happened in St. Louis…and Kansas City…during a span of several weeks in September and late October…Perez Reed…used the same gun to shoot all of the victims…He is also suspected of multiple other homicides in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas…[but his] motive remains unknown.  Most of the victims were women…some were involved in sex work.  And other[s appear to have been transwomen]…Some…were shot in the back of their heads…some victims didn’t fit into any type of pattern and some survived.  One man was waiting for a bus when he was shot but survived…most of the…[victims]…did not know their killer — who does not have much of a criminal history…

Missouri cops of course had to demonstrate what they are by misgendering some of the dead.

Rooted in Racism (#966)

The racism of European “anti-trafficking” schemes is getting harder to disguise:

EU [politicians want to]…e[conomically] sa[botage] Minsk…[for allowing] large numbers of [brown people into]…Belarus…in hopes of [stopping them] crossing into Polish territory…European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called…[the migration of brown people a] “hybrid attack”…[and said] that the EU “will explore how to…blacklist…third-country airlines” that a[llow brown people to buy tickets, referring to the sales as]…”human trafficking”…[another politician bloviated that] “All airlines of the world should understand that they cooperate with the criminal regime by flying to Belarus”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#996)

A tactic pioneered by China:

The Israeli military has been conducting a broad surveillance effort in the occupied West Bank to monitor Palestinians by integrating facial recognition with a growing network of cameras and smartphones…a…technology called Blue Wolf…captures photos of Palestinians’ faces and matches them to a database of images so extensive that one former soldier described it as the army’s secret “Facebook for Palestinians.”  The phone app flashes in different colors to alert soldiers if a person is to be [harassed], arrested or left alone.  To build the database…soldiers competed last year in photographing Palestinians, including children and the elderly, with prizes for the most pictures collected by each unit…The surveillance program was described…by…soldiers…to…Breaking the Silence…an advocacy group composed of Israeli army veterans that opposes the occupation…

The Implosion Begins (#1172)

Everyone who spread “sex trafficking” hysteria contributed to this atrocity:

John Eisenman [of Spokane fantasized] that his underage daughter’s boyfriend had…sold her into a [“]sex trafficking organization[“] in Seattle.  [After the daughter returned home, an event described by]  Eisenman…as…rescue…[he stalked] the boyfriend, 19-year-old Aaron Sorensen…[and murdered] him…by beating and stabbing…[then put his] body in the trunk [of a car, which he] then abandoned in North Spokane County where it sat for nearly a full year.  In October 2021…[someone found the car and] drove [it] back into Spokane…On Oct. 22, [police] received calls from [someone]…who discovered the body when rummaging through the abandoned vehicle…

Here’s the wholly predictable chaser:

The family of Andrew Sorensen…[pointed out that this supposed “trafficker”] “was born with cerebral palsy, autism, and [was] developmentally delayed…Both the FBI and Washington State Patrol said there is no sex trafficking investigation”…John Eisenman…is facing the charge of first-degree murder and is being held in jail on a $1 million bond…

Torture Chamber (#1184)

Arizona screws are notably devoted to yelling “Stop faking!” at the sick and dying:

A paraplegic man was left to physically deteriorate until his penis had to be amputated.  A man with undiagnosed, untreated lung cancer lost 90 pounds and died “slowly and agonizingly” without pain medication.  A woman’s multiple sclerosis was ignored and misdiagnosed until she was left, at age 36, nearly completely paralyzed.  Arizona’s prison system is on trial once again in a long-running civil lawsuit over [systemic] medical neglect…and a doctor’s testimony in the case paints a stomach-churning picture of unnecessary suffering, malpractice, and death…medical neglect is widespread in American prisons and jails, despite the Eighth Amendment’s supposed guarantee of basic medical care, hygiene, and living conditions.  The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and several law firms have been litigating the case since 2012…

To Molest and Rape (Long Hidden)

UK reporters have discussed this more in weeks than US ones have in years:

More than 30 a[ccus]ations of sexual misconduct were made against Suffolk [cops] in the past five years…the figures come amid fresh focus on police conduct after the kidnap, rape and killing of Sarah Everard by [typical and representative cop] Wayne Couzens in March…The case has raised questions about how police forces [refuse to] deal with sexual misconduct amongst their own rank and file after it emerged that Couzens was referred to by his own colleagues as “the rapist”.  Three days before he [raped and murdered a young woman], Couzens also…exposed himself in a McDonald’s restaurant…

Yet reporters still feel the need to include denials and excuses from spokespigs who want to expose even more women to the danger of rape and other violence from cops:

A scheme that will see [disguised cops secretly spying on] clubs and bars [using the excuse of] safeguard[ing] women will instead put them at risk of police violence…the government…first announced plans to roll the scheme out nationwide in the spring…after the kidnapping, murder and rape of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer…Deniz Ugur…of the End Violence Against Women Coalition said trying to safeguard women from predatory men using [other predatory men] would not tackle the root of the problem…“Given that one woman a week reports domestic abuse by a police officer and that police abuse of power for a sexual purpose is…the most common form of police corruption…these plans will be ineffective and…leave women…at risk of police violence”…

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No [one]…has the right to…speak and make choices for women who have not asked to be represented by them.  –  Efrat Rubinstein

Above the Law 

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

Brian Jeffrey Raymond…is [a CIA agent who was arrested]…after a naked woman was seen screaming for help from the balcony of his latest residence in Mexico City…in May of 2020…the woman had no idea how she got to his home and [said] she had no memory after the pair ate dinner together.  When searching his devices, the FBI discovered hundreds of images and videos taken over the the course of 14 years from 2006 to 2020.  This serial rapist had dozens of victims and all of them were unconscious during their rapes…in some of the…images…Raymond can be seen holding open the victims’ eyelids, waving their limp arms and legs around, or putting his fingers in their mouths to demonstrate that they are unconscious…Raymond resided in the Washington, D.C., and San Diego areas…traveled extensively for work and leisure, and lived in numerous countries, including Mexico and Peru…[so] there could be many other victims…

Accredited Whores

There’s nothing wrong with “sexological bodywork”, as long as you understand that the stuff described in this article is no different from what many thousands of sex workers do every day, all over the world, without the fancy title.  But you wouldn’t know it from this article, which pretends that one needs to pay an “accrediting body” money and hide under a “certificate” and a euphemized job title for sex work to be ethical; the writer’s phraseology even seems to imply that ordinary, unsanitized sex work is not consensual, which is one of the most toxic claims of 21st-century prohibitionism.  The writer breathlessly informs us that “Sex bod is one-way, which allows the client to focus solely on their own experience without the pressures that come with a partnered sexual experience.”  Sure sounds like sex work to me; in fact there’s nothing mentioned in this article that one can’t get from sex workers, but don’t tell that to Gwyneth Paltrow; “certified” whores with fancy titles who only touch you through medical gloves are celebrated on Goopy Vaginas or whatever she calls her show, but she claims the rest of us are “harmful to women”.

The Course of a Disease (#1057)

How’s Israel’s plan to force sex workers into low-paid menial “women’s work” going?

The…Knesset…held its first discussion on prostitution [of this session], attended by various representatives of ministries and welfare and [prohibitionist] organizations…[but not] sex workers…[the scheme has] led to an increase in [violence against sex workers, and]…plans to [replace their income]…have not been effectively implemented…Efrat Rubinstein, the head of Israel’s Stripper’s Union…[pointed out] that “no welfare or aid organization representative has the right to represent Israeli sex workers, and they are being given the right to speak and make choices for women who have not asked to be represented by them.”  Rubinstein also demanded that Israel’s strip clubs be reopened, saying that their closure has created unsafe working environments for strippers and that programs have only offered them employment for minimum wage…creat[ing] an impossible situation where strippers must choose between unsafe working conditions or poverty…

Rotting Fruit (#1174)

Presented without comment:

Prince Andrew has asked a New York court to dismiss a legal action brought against him by Virginia Giuffre.  The Duke of York’s lawyers said the “baseless lawsuit” should be dismissed because Ms Giuffre failed to sufficiently outline her claims against him…If a dismissal is not granted, Ms Giuffre should provide a “more definitive statement” of her allegations, [the] lawyers…said…”Giuffre has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense…Epstein’s abuse of Giuffre does not justify her public campaign against Prince Andrew…[also, Epstein’s 2009 settlement with Giuffre included a] broad release…cover[ing] any and all persons who Giuffre identified as potential targets of future lawsuits, regardless of the merit – or lack thereof – to any such claims”…

The Cop Myth (#1179)

41% of cops admit to beating their wives. Some don’t stop with mere beating, or with just their wives:

A [screw paid to torture caged people in Monroe, Louisiana]…was…arrested for [murdering]…his wife and child [on Halloween night]…Blake Bardwell [was apparently still hanging out]…at…home [with their corpses] on [Sunday when he was arrested]…

Think of the Children! (#1182) 

This happens all over the US, but Florida is the worst:

A Florida mother who has spent the last five years volunteering at her children’s school has been banned from donating her time [because a busybody snitched to puritans at] the school district…that she has an OnlyFans page…Mark NeJame, one of Triece’s lawyers, [pointed out that]…“she kept it away from the children. You can’t access her [page] unless you’re an adult.” They plan to sue the school district for $1 million…

To Molest and Rape (#1182)

Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?

A Roy [Utah cop named]…Ryan A. Estes…[was arrested for raping] a girl younger than 14 [at least twice, and molesting her many other times]…between May 2015 and May 2019…[boss pig] Matthew Gwynn [though the most important thing to comment on was that] Estes w[asn’t wearing his magical clown costume at the time of the rapes]…

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A murder.  –  Murray Smalpage

I’ve always been fond of this song, and it started going through my head about a week ago, so here you go.  The links above it were provided by Mark Bennett, Mike Siegel, Scott GreenfieldMistress Matisse, and Cop Crisis (x2), in that order.

From the Archives

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Th[is is] not a slippery slope; [i]t’s a fully built system just waiting for…pressure to make the slightest change.  –  India McKinney & Erica Portnoy

Monkey Business

Higher primates understand the concept of “value”:

The long-tailed macaques who roam the [the Uluwatu temple in Bali] are infamous for brazenly robbing unsuspecting tourists and clinging on to their possessions until food is offered as ransom payment.  Researchers have found they are also skilled at judging which items their victims value the most and using this information to maximise their profit…Mobile phones, wallets and prescription glasses are among the high-value possessions the monkeys aim to steal…and…demand better rewards…for higher-valued items…

If Men Were Angels

“Pastors” are as bad as cops:

[Australian] pastor Brian Houston has been charged for allegedly concealing child sexual abuse by his late father Frank Houston…in the 1970s…Frank Houston, who died in 2004, has been accused of abusing nine boys while a Pentecostal preacher…

A Broker in Pillage (#897)

Yet another government scam to steal Philadelphia citizens’ property:

…relocation towing…is when the police…or a private tow company moves legally parked vehicles to make room for a special event, utility work, or some other [pretext]…they are supposed to relay the new location of each vehicle to police headquarters, so when an owner finds their car missing and call 911, police can tell them where it is.  I[n reality]…drivers have reported spending days or weeks searching for their cars…because neither the [Philadelphia Parking Authority] nor police have any information about the tow.  Many…are recorded…with a pre-Internet system that relies mostly on handwritten notes and fax machines…The PPA [claims] tows from temporary no-parking zones are primarily a police function.  Police [claim] tow companies could be to blame for missing vehicles.  The tow companies [claim] police sometimes lose the information they provide.  Drivers who get sucked into the bureaucratic vortex describe it as city-sanctioned auto theft, often followed up by a shakedown by the PPA if the car was moved to an illegal parking space, then ticketed, towed or booted.  The resulting fees can be difficult or impossible to fight…

To Molest and Rape (#995)

Serial rapist rapes another vulnerable woman:

A [typical and representative] Spokane [cop out on bail]…for…[rap]ing a victim of domestic violence was arrested…[again] after another woman reported he raped her [before he was fired for the previously-reported rape]…Nathan Nash[‘s MO was the same]…in…both [cases; he]…responded to their calls for police assistance and later [raped them during pretended]…“follow-ups”…In the [new] case, Nash [displayed] his gun…then pushed the victim onto the couch, to[re] her clothes off, and raped her…he…[then forc]ed her in[to] the shower…[to wash away evidence]…the victim is disabled and has an apparent minor cognitive disability…

The Widening Gyre (#1057)

Observation: fools waste money.  Conclusion: “sex trafficking”!

Last May, the K-pop…group BTS entered into a partnership with McDonald’s to release a limited-edition promo meal that…almost immediately sold out, and enterprising individuals on social media decided to take advantage of the group’s enormous popularity by selling certain items from the meal online.  One item in particular, a chicken nugget shaped like a “crewmate” from the multiplayer online game Among Us, was auctioned off on eBay for nearly $100,000…[then] last month, [a TikTok idiot] posted a video accusing various eBay sellers peddling the BTS chicken nuggets of…“human trafficking”…The idea that a chicken nugget eBay listing would serve as a front for child trafficking was clearly ridiculous on its face.  Yet many of the commenters appeared to be…[just that ridiculous]…

I Spy (#1155)

The beginning of the end for private communication:

Apple has announced…new “protections for children”…in iCloud and iMessage…this means…Apple is planning to build a backdoor into its…system[s]…Apple’s…appease[ment of] government agencies…is a shocking about-face for users who have relied on the company’s leadership in privacy and security.  There are two main [spyware apps] the company is planning to install in every Apple device.  One…will scan all photos as they get uploaded into iCloud Photos to see if they match a photo in the database…maintained by…NCMEC…the other…scans all iMessage images sent or received by…accounts designated as owned by a minor…and…notifies the parent when…images [an algorithm decides are “sexual”] are sent or received.  All it would take to widen th[is]…backdoor…is an expansion of the…parameters to look for additional types of content…The abuse cases are easy to imagine: governments that outlaw homosexuality might require…[calling the cops on] apparent LGBTQ+ content, or an authoritarian regime might demand the classifier be able to spot popular satirical images or protest flyers…

I Spy (#1158)

Still think this djinni is ever going back into its bottle?

…several high-profile female journalists and activists…have…been targeted and harassed by authoritarian regimes in the Middle East through hack-and-leak attacks using the Pegasus spyware, created by Israeli surveillance technology company NSO Group.  The spyware transforms a phone into a surveillance device, activating microphones and cameras and exporting files without a user knowing…a key part of the harassment…is the use of private photos…[which would be] tame by Western standards…[but] are considered scandalous in…societies like Saudi Arabia and were…used to publicly shame these women and smear their reputations…Pegasus spyware is linked to human rights violations around the world…including the [murder] of Jamal Khashoggi…by Saudi agents…

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