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Posts Tagged ‘Kansas’

In the News (#1506)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The threat of arrest and prosecution keeps sex workers unsafe and in the shadows.  –  Brian Johnson

A Woman’s Point of View

It would be amusing to see this crammed down Tom Dart’s throat:

[Two politicians] plan to introduce legislation…that would make Illinois the first state to fully decriminalize sex work.  Equality Illinois and the Sex Worker Advisory Group…have spent more than three years advocating for this bill, which…is…sponsored by [politicians] Will Guzzardi…and…Celina Villanueva…[the law] would remove criminal penalties for adults engaging in consensual sex work, remove arrest and conviction records for sex workers and establish a sex workers’ bill of rights…When discussing possible opposition to the bill, Guzzardi said those who believe people should be punished and criminalized for engaging in sex work have a “downright nasty point of view…that we should [not] be endorsing as the General Assembly”…

Permanent Record

I wonder how the judge would’ve ruled had the wife lost her job?

A Texas man has been granted the ability to pursue a retaliatory discharge claim against his former employer, Sewell Lexus of Dallas…[in] a federal wrongful termination suit…the former sales manager was reportedly terminated after pornographic images of his wife were posted to Twitter, Instagram, PornHub, and Only Fans.  These images were circulated among dealership employees and…he…was [supposedly] terminated because…”people don’t want to work with him”…

The End of the Beginning (#915)

Maybe we’re about to witness the beginning of the end of these evil laws:

A[n] appeals court [has] ruled that a [Florida punishment] for [people] convicted [of some] sexual [crimes] to have the words “SEXUAL PREDATOR” on their driver’s licenses violates First Amendment rights…[because it] is compelled speech that is not narrowly tailored to meet the state’s goals of [enlist]ing the public [in persecution] of [these individuals]…Judge Scott Makar, in a 16-page majority opinion joined by Judge F. Rand Wallis, cited rulings that rejected Louisiana and Alabama laws similar to…Florida’s…

Morality Lessons (#953)

Before these hacks, government computers were already among the top hosts of child porn:

…a…wide range of U.S. [federal and state] government websites inadvertently direct…visitors to hardcore porn content…In some cases, the content…[makes fools] of the governments whose sites they have taken over.  Pages…on the State of Louisiana’s official government site that now redirect to porn, for instance, don’t require visitors to provide proof-of-age…Spammers have in the past exploited the redirection functionalities of government websites to steer traffic to pornographic content — [unlike] government sites…[which actually] host…[such] content.  But this recent wave of porn spam appears to be using a more complex technique: uploading to government pages rogue content that transports website visitors to malicious sites…

On the Simultaneous Having and Eating of Cake (#1066) 

It’s probably unwise to state in your employment contract that you’re planning to rip your employees off:

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a federal lawsuit against [a Kansas strip club named] Pleasures…after an investigation…uncovered illegal wage practices…including unpaid wages, unauthorized deductions from tips, and an unusual clause forcing workers to reimburse the employer if litigation or investigations led to the recovery of lost wages…The lawsuit seeks back wages and an equal amount of liquidated damages for the 80 dancers…

If Men Were Angels (#1448)

Religious communities very often punish the victims of rapist authority figures:

A Utah…teacher [named Ricardo Prins] has fled the country after being charged with the rape of two teen students…[one of his victims] reported…[him and the principal responded by]…suspend[ing] her…[and restricting her to] online schooling…for three months[, dismissing the accusation as a “rumor”.  But the cops felt differently]…and on December 15, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation [and] the teacher…fled to Brazil…

Property of the State (#1488) 

How long will society accept its medical system being used as a tool of state violence?

…an Ohio woman [who was] wrongfully arrested and prosecuted for her pregnancy loss is [su]ing her nurses [for] conspiring with police to fabricate evidence against her…Brittany Watts…was…charged with “abuse of a corpse” [due to] miscarrying at home…[and] was put through absolute hell by prosecutors, police, local media and the hospital…while…in the midst of a life-threatening medical crisis…She was interrogated…while “tethered to her hospital bed with IVs”…[after] two nurses [named Connie Moschell and Jordan Carrino, who already knew Watts’ 21-week pregnancy was non-viable,] and a…[cop named Nicholas Carney invented a wild story, claiming]…that Watts had given birth to a viable baby and left it “in a bucket”…Using only police reports and prosecutor’s version of what happened, [local news sources then] claimed that a woman had killed a newborn by shoving it down a toilet…

 

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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Rapists of the Week #16

Posted in Current Events, Perception, Rapists of the Week, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Above the Law

Politicians tried to slip one of their rapist cronies back into power:

Thomaston…[Maine]’s fire and EMS chief…resigned…days after the town’s [politicians] reinstated him despite [his pleading] guilty [to raping a 14-year-old]…Anthony Leo…was reinstated…on Nov. 7…[but] resigned…on Nov. 13 [due to public outcry]…

Above the Law (#1098)  

FBI thugs are just federal cops, and behave accordingly:

An FBI agent…[raped] two women [after] contact[ing them]…through social media with a promise to give them free tattoos and modeling work…Eduardo Valdivia [did not tell the women that he] was an FBI agent…[but instead] contacted the women through an Instagram account for a tattoo parlor in Gaithersburg, Maryland…and…threatened to take legal action if they didn’t return to model for him…Valdivia may have…other [victims, but his]…defense attorney Robert Bonsib said [they wanted it]…

To Molest and Rape (#1291)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

A [typical and representative] Kansas [cop] about to [finally] stand trial on charges that he kidnapped and raped two women…was found dead [by suicide on December 2.  Cops]…discovered the body of Roger Golubski…after he failed to show up [to face the music] in his long-awaited trial in Topeka…Golubski was…[a serial rapist of] vulnerable Black women…[who] hand-picked his victims[, many of them sex workers,] because he was confident they would never be believed….federal authorities [were also prosecuting him for being part of a violent pimping scheme.  For decades, boss cops ignored stacks of complaints about Golubski’s use of threats and sexual violence to cultivate a vast network of informants and coerce some of them into fabricating testimony to cage innocent human beings he targeted, but that changed when one of his victims], Lamonte McIntyre, [sued him after being] released from prison in 2017 after more than 23 years behind bars.  The parties settled the case in June 2022 with county officials agreeing to pay the McIntyres $12.5 million…

To Molest and Rape (#1399)

It isn’t often cops reap the consequences of their crimes:

A [typical and representative] New York City [cop has been] convicted…[for molesting or attempting to molest] four underage boys…Christopher Terranova…said he would appeal [because they wanted it.  His lawyer] added…“Chris…is…sexy…because he was a cop”…

Business As Usual (ROTW #15)

The obfuscatory language in this one is even more intentionally-confusing than usual:

A…[cop paid by] the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission [to lie to women in order to ruin their lives] was fired…[for raping one of the state’s] victim[s] during a major [scheme to destroy ]…9 different nightclubs across north and east Houston…Moises Felipe Moreno…was…[not] charge[d, allowing him to be]…hired by [a different Texas cop shop which was fully aware they were hiring a known rapist]…

 

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 (#1491)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Making the police the central focus of delivering sex work policy is utterly pointless and doomed to fail.  –  Raven Bowen

I Spy (#826)

Toward the end of privacy, everywhere:

The United States will support the United Nations cybercrime convention…follow[ing] months of internal deliberations at the White House and other agencies…[due to] serious concerns over…its potential misuse by countries like Russia and China…The decision is likely to face pushback from human rights groups…be[cause it could be] used…to justify surveillance…and infring[e] on digital rights…One key concern…[i]s a clause that would allow [signatory] nations…to request data on [anything they choose to label a “]serious crime[” regardless of the act’s legal statu]s in other nations…

I Spy (#1067)

When it comes to surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Officials inside the Secret Service [actually claimed]…they [didn’t] need…a warrant to use location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones…[because] citizens have agreed to be tracked…by accepting app terms of service, despite those apps…not saying their data may end up with [cops, spooks, and other violent authoritarians who might wish them harm]…hundreds of pages of internal Secret Service emails obtained by 404 Media…provide deeper insight into the agency’s use of Locate X, a powerful surveillance capability that allows [pigs and spooks] to follow a phone, and person’s, precise movements over time at the click of a mouse.  In 2023, a government oversight body found that the Secret Service, [CBP], and [ICE] all used their access to such location data illegally.  The Secret Service [now claims] it is no longer using the tool…

The Mob Rules (#1351)

Ambulance-chasers can’t wait to capitalize on mob rule laws:

A [gang of shysters] is actively courting potential plaintiffs in Kansas, using the state’s age-verification law to dangle the prospect of large financial judgments from adult companies…[in front of the moral imbeciles who infest evangelical] church networks…In Kansas, simple access of an adult website by a minor may be enough to bring a civil case with statutory damages — no proof of actual harm is required…[and] statutory damages begin at $50,000.  The state’s attorney general is separately empowered to bring [nuisance] litigation…

Censorship Ascendant (#1427)

Cops are now being dispatched to intimidate people for “bad” thoughts:

[On] Remembrance Sunday…two [cops turned up at my door]…to inform me that I had been accused of a non-crime hate incident (NCHI)…[due] to…something I had posted on…Twitter…a year ago…The co[p claimed]…he wasn’t allowed to tell me [what I had supposedly said or]…who…my accuser…was…[I was] shocked…[and] astonished…to have [cops invade my privacy] on the saddest, most solemn date in the calendar with this kind of malevolent nonsense…

Torture Chamber (#1446)

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

For years, San Francisco’s public defenders and prisoners have filed formal complaints about the city’s lengthy pretrial detention and jail conditions.  Late last year, a federal judge ruled that San Francisco was “recklessly indifferent” in denying prisoners sunlight…the average [detention period i]s 324 days…[so] many people spend months or even years without time outside…at least four [legally innocent] people [have been] held…for nine years or longer…hundreds of [the city’s victims are accused of] non-violent property crimes…[and] lock[ed] up…without sunlight, exercise, adequate healthcare, hygiene, or drinkable water…[and with] frequent use of [solitary confinement]…retaliation [by screws, and]…sexual…assault…

Thought Control (#1462)

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

Since February, the Rutherford County [Tennessee] Board of Education has banned 35 books, including well-known young adult novels such as Wicked, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Beloved…The…bans were initiated by board member Caleb Tidwell, who [pointed at] the titles a[nd belched “]sexually explicit[“]…and… “pornographic material”…Butch Vaughn, a retired principal was just recently elected to the board…call[ed the censorship]…“political grandstanding”…Stan Vaught, another new board member…[said] “It…reminds me of 1930s Germany”…Ken Paulson, Director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University…said…“the [notion that the] books…are somehow written to capture the same audience as…Hustler magazine is nonsense.”  Both Vaughn and Vaught worry that the district is headed down the road to a federal lawsuit which could cost the school district hundreds of thousands of dollars…[and] the…ACLU…is [already] considering legal action…But instead of waiting for [legal] guidance, Tidwell…[ran out and belched “pornographic” at] ten additional titles, and…[his collaborator] Frances Rosales [vomited “obscenity” all over] another 150 titles…including…Catch-22 and A Clockwork Orange…

But no other state’s self-lobotomization can hope to keep up with Florida’s:

Florida school districts…axed about 700 additional books from school libraries…in the 2023-2024 school year.  PEN America…estimates that 4,561 books [in all] have been removed from Florida school libraries since July 2021…[including] works of classic literature…[such as] A Clockwork Orange…Slaughterhouse-Five…and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings…The [mass censorship was enabled by] a law that allows [any Froot Loop] to [demand] removal of any book [by pointing at it and belching the words]…“sexual content” or…“pornographic”…

Mumbo Jumbo (#1487) 

When the “sex trafficking” hysteria was at its height, this wouldn’t have been considered a problem:

The Scottish government’s strategy to [impose the Swedish model on]…sex [workers] has been cast into disarray after it was forced to ditch a proposed partnership with [“rescue” profiteers] whose founder…[wrote] a handbook for “Christians involved in outreach to prostitutes”…[which] says: “Most prostitutes have had some exposure to the occult in childhood…others may have learnt about tarot cards and Ouija boards in prison,” and…offers a checklist of…“occult activity” that includes yoga and playing Dungeons & Dragons…Groups who [actually] support sex workers…have serious concerns about the government’s shift in focus back to policing, less than nine months after the conviction of Iain Packer…exposed chronic police failings [to do anything about] the horrific levels of violence still faced by women selling sex[, especially at the hands of the police themselves]…

 

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 (#1489)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Just because the tech exists doesn’t mean people/employers have to abuse it.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1065) 

Facial recognition systems have quietly become ubiquitous:

Wegmans Food Markets has launched a facial recognition pilot program at one of its New York City locations, prompting some shoppers to express concerns about privacy and pricing…a Wegmans spokesperson [claimed] the pilot will run for 60 days and…will involve employees who have agreed to participate…the spokesperson [also belched out buzzwords like]…“commitment”…”safe”…”exploring”…and…”security”…the move could usher in dynamic pricing….already…in use by Walmart and Kroger…

Creepy Coppers

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A [typical and representative Oklahoma cop named]…Ryan Matthew Matthias…[was arrested] for having several files of obscene images of children online…they [tossed his house and found more]…on…several digital devices…

Checklist (#1380)

Airlines:  do you really want to keep accepting liability for employees harassing passengers due to the government propaganda you force-feed them?

A Virginia Beach man was [harassed with “]human trafficking[” propaganda] by Southwest Airlines and [interrogated by] Norfolk International Airport police…John Kerrigan was flying with his [teenage] daughter…and her…friend…back from Las Vegas….[every time] Kerrigan would get up to go to the restroom, the flight attendant was [repeatedly] asking the girls…peculiar questions.  “She keeps asking if we’re all right and if we know you,” Kerrigan[‘s] daughter…told him…Southwest called airport police during the flight [to continue the harassment of not just]…Kerrigan…but the [other] passengers w[ho were detained in their seats while]…three [little pigs] got on and…[humiliated] Kerrigan…[with their sexual fantasies in front of] all of the other passengers…[after interrogating him] for about 20 minutes…[they final]ly let him go…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1479)

All cops will have these within a few years:

A new app developed by a trio of [sociopath]s in Indiana is…using facial recognition technology to provide information about individuals just by looking at them.  The app…utilizes ChatGPT and Meta Glass technology to access public information archives.  “So, we all have a digital footprint, right? How good would it be if eventually, like there aren’t secrets. Knowing who I’m talking to, knowing who I’m about to meet,” said Kris Peterson, [apparently unaware of what a moral imbecile he is revealing himself to be]…Peterson demonstrated how the app could change a stranger’s phone passcode and even access phone contacts to make calls…

The Cop Myth (#1480)

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

A [sociopathic thug paid by the state of Kansas to torture helpless people locked in cages like animals has been] arrested…for…domestic violence…[Sheriff Jeff Easter of] Sedgwick County [delayed action for weeks, is hiding the thugs’s name and picture, and rewarded him with a paid vacation even though he tried to] strangle [his girlfriend on October 7th, then since he was not arrested, beat]…her…on Oct. 28…

The Vultures Descend (#1486)

A few states are managing to beat off the vultures:

…reproductive freedom initiatives…prevailed in seven of the ten states where they were on the ballot.  Measures meant to protect abortion access were approved by voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York.  And most of these weren’t close calls at all…Until [last week], the pro-choice position prevailed in every state where abortion-related measures were on the ballot, including…Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio.  That…pattern is broken somewhat by results in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota…In Florida, 57 percent of voters supported…an Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion…but it falls short of the 60 percent approval threshold required for constitutional amendments in Florida.  In Nebraska, [only] 48.7 percent of voters approved the state’s Right to Abortion measure…But a competing measure—Initiative 434—passed 55.3 percent…and…allows for first trimester abortions but prohibits second and third trimester abortion unless “necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest.”  Only in South Dakota…did a reproductive freedom initiative truly flop…

The Cop Myth (#1487)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A…Cleveland [cop who wasn’t wearing his magical Clown Costume of Legal Immunity tried to murder his wife]…outside of [an] elementary school [on Halloween]…Alexander Sinclair was [fighting with his victim] off-site and carried…the [violence into the] parking lot…[after ramming] the [victim’s] vehicle [with his]…

 

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 (#1485)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2024| 2 Comments »

Bailey, Kobach, and Labrador’s argument treats teenagers as breeding stock.  –  Madiba K. Dennie

Policing for Profit

There are many ways for cops to enrich themselves at others’ expense:

A [Tennessee cop named]…Arica Hutchison was…assigned to sort through Crime Stoppers tips and then give that information to…investigators…[who] document[ed] the usefulness of that tip in a database, which Hutchison had access to…August 2023 through February 2024, [she would]…“enter fraudulent data” into the…database, then had a person named “KB” to receive…reward money…Hutchison and KB fraudulently obtained $18,500 in rewards…On June 3, she…pleaded guilty…[and] was sentenced to [a mere] six months in prison plus two years supervised release.  She also has to pay $22,000 in restitution and must follow a list of additional terms…[but has] not [been]…decertifi[ed so there’s nothing to stop her from being a cop again once she’s out]…

Censorship Ascendant

Censors now pretend thoughts they don’t like constitute a “crime”:

…a British man was convicted of criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion clinic…Adam Smith-Connor did not attempt to harass, intimidate, or interact in any way with those entering the clinic….[and] wasn’t even on clinic property—he was outside the sightline of the clinic itself…Smith-Connor was…charged with violating a Public Spaces Protection Order…a broad censorship order enabled by the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.  Under this law, [politicians and bureaucrats] can…ban a huge range of conduct…[such as swearing or] homeless [people] sleeping outside…

Law of the Instrument (#1380)

In a moral panic, ordinary business arrangements get spun into “exploitation” and “crime”:

The former CEO of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch…Mike Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and the couple’s alleged middleman [have been] arrested…[because hiring male escorts is now dysphemized as “]sexually exploited and abused men[” and escort services…are now called “]sophisticated operation[s] involving a middleman[” in order to make them sound scary, and “]a sex-trafficking operation[” to make the claims politically profitable for prosecutors and financially profitable for complainants]…

To Molest and Rape (#1435)

Another cop stalks victims through the official cop grooming program:

An NYPD [cop] working with the department’s [grooming] program [was caught attempting to groom]…an[other cop fantasy role-playing as]…a 14-year-old girl.  Travis DeSouza…had [squicked out enough people with his creepy behavior that his bosses]…sent a young-looking [sow]…to approach him in person…and [claim] interest in [being groomed]…She gave him her contact info, and…he [predictably s]exted her…[and] sent her a [dick pic]…

The Implosion Begins (#1471)

Now that MAGA has won control of “sex trafficking” hysteria, Trumpist politicians are desperate to keep it from being debunked:

Two [Tennessee politicians have threatened]…the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation…[saying] it could face “unnecessary political fallout” if it does not end its criminal probe into the [out-of-control] Millersville Police Department…TBI Director David Rausch [responded to politicians] Bud Hulsey…[and] Monty Fritts…with his own letter…in which he appeared to stop just short of accusing the two [politicians]  of attempting to interfere in the investigation…not[ing] that their [talking point]s “seemed to be based on statements made to you by [QAnon cultist] Shawn Taylor himself“…Bizarrely, Taylor has…claimed…that TBI officials are either involved in child sex trafficking themselves or protecting others who are…

Vulture Watching (#1477)

Oh look, the totally-predictable results of bad laws are happening just as sane people said they would:

In the year and a half following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision that revoked the federal right to an abortion, hundreds more infants died than expected in the United States…The vast majority of those infants had congenital anomalies, or birth defects…“This is evidence of a national ripple effect, regardless of state-level status,” said Dr. Parvati Singh, an assistant professor of epidemiology with The Ohio State University College of Public Health and lead author of the new study…infant mortality was…about 7% higher than typical…About 80% of those additional infant deaths could be attributed to congenital anomalies…[because of] a disproportionate rise in the number of women who are carrying fetuses with lethal congenital anomalies to term…

The Vultures Descend (#1483)

The state really does believe it owns every human being within its borders:

Three state Republican Attorneys General filed a complaint in federal court on October 11 arguing that their states have a right to pregnant teenagers [which] is being violated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration…[because it] allowed mifepristone to be sent by mail, dispensed online, or at pharmacies.  Missouri [AG] Andrew Bailey, Kansas [AG] Kris Kobach, and Idaho [AG] Raúl Labrador…claim that decreased births constitute “a sovereign injury to the state in itself,” and causes downstream injuries like “losing a seat in Congress or qualifying for less federal funding if their populations are reduced.” In other words, uteri are state slush funds, and girls owe the state reproduction once they are capable of it…this is deeply gross and weird…The complaint also says that each of the states is “the legal parent or guardian of many minor girls of reproductive age”…Under the state’s theory, it can separate children from their actual parents, declare itself their father now, and deem a daughter’s pregnancy her daddy’s prerogative…

 

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 (#1472)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Fuck Xi Jinping.  –  Zhang Kaiyu

To Molest and Rape

Getting away with raping caged women emboldened this screw to attack women outside of the state’s filthy dungeons:

A [New York screw with a history] of sexually assaulting…women [locked up in the Rikers Island hellhole]…posed as a TV producer casting a show to lure a[nother] woman into his…home and rape her…Anthony Martin Jr…contacted the woman on social media and she went to his house expecting to meet other producers and prospective cast members.  But when [she] got there…he…was alone…and raped her while she told him to stop multiple times…Martin…is one of at least 20 current or former [screws] whose name appears in more than one lawsuit filed in the last two years under the Adult Survivors Act…

I Spy (#990)

Everything cops and other “justice” officials tell you is a lie:

New York City [pigs]…are illegally accessing sealed juvenile arrest records…and have even gone so far as giving those records to prosecutors…several provisions of [New York] state law…require that when a minor’s arrest results in a “favorable” result—meaning that there was a decision not to prosecute the case, or it was dismissed or otherwise withdrawn—the youth’s arrest records be sealed…preventing…any “public or private agency” from obtaining the[m without]…a court order…”Yet, the NYPD has engaged (and continues to engage) in a longstanding practice of illegally accessing, using, and disclosing Sealed Youth Records”…

Because laws pretended to control cops never include criminal penalties for violators, cops simply ignore them as they please without any consequences.

Eggs and Bacon

Bloodthirsty politicians are furious about having their crusades thwarted:

[Forced-birth politicians] are making their distrust of the voters pellucidly clear by fighting like hell to ensure that they can’t cast ballots protecting the right to abortion…Americans broadly support the right to an abortion through viability, or about 24 weeks gestation…every time we put it to a vote, from Kansas to Kentucky, Americans…say, Yes! Get rid of those draconian abortion bans you lunatics rammed through the legislature! Stop that immediately!  So Republicans are doing their damnedest to make sure that voters never get to answer the question.  Everywhere that abortion is on the ballot, they throw a bunch of crazy obstacles in the way to yank it off.  That fight is coming to a head in several different courts, as Republican officials and private litigants wage a pitched battle to keep abortion off the ballot this November…

Virtual Imperialism (#1358)

Beijing’s campaign to silence Chinese people outside China has become far more aggressive:

Chinese [agents]…organized demonstrations in San Francisco that harassed and silenced protesters opposed to Beijing’s [tyranny], including through violence, during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the city in November…illustrat[ing] how the Chinese Communist Party…extend[s] its intolerance of any dissent into the United States and target[s] people exercising their First Amendment rights in an American city…[especially those talking about] ongoing rights abuses in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and mainland China…[the agents were assisted by] the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Communist Party which uses [ostensibly] non-state actors to further China’s political goals overseas…Some of the most violent [agitators wore disguises to]…attack…[protesters] with extended flagpoles…chemical spray, punche[s], kick[s] and…fistfuls of sand thrown in their faces.  The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles paid for…[bootlick]ers’ hotels and meals as an incentive to [assist and help hide the professional thugs among their number]…including groups from New York, Pennsylvania and Washington state…

Feudalism Redux (#1371)

Texas seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:

Texas has sued the Biden administration to try to block a federal rule that shields the medical records of women from [rooting cops] if they cross state lines to seek abortion where it is legal…Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the federal government of attempting to “undermine” the state’s [ownership of women.  Though]…Texas’ abortion ban…[supposedly] exempts women who seek abortions from criminal charges…the ban [allows their family, friends and doctors to be harassed into bankruptcy]…or [locked in a cage for the rest of their lives.  Paxton has previously tried to leer into]…records related to gender-affirming care…from at least two out-of-state health centers last year…

Thought Control (#1413)

Too bad all authoritarian organizations aren’t so short-lived:

Scandal, school board election failures, and a disastrous 60 Minutes interview appear to have diminished Moms for Liberty’s [briefly-] powerful influence, and [its recent] summit provided plenty of additional evidence that the group is…flailing…this year’s gathering was comparatively small, with far fewer panels and a weak…speaker lineup…Much of the conference was spent attempting to terrify parents into believing that schools are secretly grooming, manipulating, and transitioning students…Almost every speaker…incorporated transgender panic into their speech…

Creepy Coppers (#1444)

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A [Tennessee cop named]…Charles Crothers a[ttempted to groom] a minor…from June 26, 2024 through June 28, 2024…[into some kind of sexual performance for him to record, leading to a federal charge of “]attempted production of child pornography[“]…

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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Rapists of the Week #14

Posted in Current Events, Rapists of the Week, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

To Molest and Rape

Cop shops love their obfuscatory, blame-shifting language:  “A [typical and representative Kansas cop named Russell Patterson Jr] was arrested [for]…aggravated…rape“…

To Molest and Rape (#1237)

Sleeping with a cop is dangerous not only to women, but to their children as well (including those sired by the cop):

A [typical and representative] Aurora [Colorado cop] faces criminal charges for raping his daughter and continually sexually assaulting her and his two adopted daughters, but he remains [at large] while his ex-wife is in jail for objecting to court-ordered [convers]ion therapy meant to [brainwash] his…two [minor] sons [into “forgiving” him for abusing them, raping their sister, and attempting to murder their older brother]…Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins…said the [so-called “]therapy[“] by Christine Bassett…has been harmful, abusive and counterproductive…and…Bassett has supported the efforts by her [rapist cop] ex-husband, Michael Hawkins, to gain sole custody of the [boys]…such therapy and its potential harms are increasingly coming under fire in Colorado…[whose “]family court system[“]…has been plagued by accusations of bias, usually from mothers who…are punished…when they seek to protect their children from abusive fathers…

Creepy Coppers (ROTW #9)

Had he not been caught, this would’ve soon escalated:

A [Mississippi cop named Tyson Rushing, who was paid to spy on, harass, and intimidate] Elementary School [students]…was arrested and charged with [spying on prepubescent girls for sexual gratification.  Officials and politicians bloviated that it wasn’t their fault even though they were the ones who gave a sexually-aggressive man power over little girls]…

To Molest and Rape (#1450)

It’s rare for cops to actually be indicted for murders they commit:

[Typical and representative] Massachusetts [cop] Matthew Farwell has been [indicted for murdering] Sandra Birchmore in 2021 while she was pregnant with…his child…then staged the scene to make it look like…suicide…Farwell…[had repeatedly molested and raped] Birchmore …before she turned 16…[after seducing her via a  grooming] program [starting]…in 2012…”When it became clear that…Farwell…could no longer control Sandra Birchmore, he…silenced her permanently,” [said prosecutor] Joshua Levy…

To Molest and Rape (#1460)  

Is the mainstream media finally admitting that pigs in schools are a menace?

[A South Carolina cop named] Jamel Bradley, [who was paid to spy on, harass, and intimidate students, was]…the subject of [numerous] complaints [over a decade, but nothing was done because]…Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott had personally recruited Bradley [for being good at playing a kid’s game in]…school…He was…not [only basically immune to] arrest…[but] was [also allowed] to [keep lurking in]…high school[s until]…a video of a different…[school-lurking pig brutaliz]ing a Black student…had gone viral…an[d the]…Justice Department…[began] to…investigate…Bradley is [finally] facing sex crime charges…but prosecutors have offered [him] a deal…th[at] will re[sult in]…no time on the sex offender registry…

Above the Law (#1468)

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

A federal jury has convicted a [typical and representative] Border Patrol [thug] of abducting and [rap]ing a 15-year-old girl in southern Arizona.  Aaron Mitchell…approached the student as she was waiting for school to start and “asked for her papers” before [flashing his badge]…and [claiming he was arresting her]…he…then…brought [her] to his apartment [and raped] her [repeatedly for] several hours.  Mitchell eventually [dumped her] back [at her] school and told her not to tell anyone…[but] had made an internet search while…holding the girl captive to find out “how long it takes to smother someone”…[he] is now facing a life sentence…

To Molest and Rape (#1469)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

An Indianapolis [cop named]…Kamal Bola…[has been arrested and] charged with…three counts of child molesting, [including] one [instance where] he [threatened] the [victim with] deadly force…[and was reported by the victim’s] family…Bola [is] the fourth…Indianapolis [cop]…arrested…this year…[for] sex crimes.  Javed Richards was arrested in August…[for] child pornography…Myron Howard was arrested in April [for multiple rapes]…And…Paul Humphrey…was a[rest]ed [in January for repeatedly] sexually abusing [the] 15-year-old [daughter of people who thought he was a friend]…

 

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 (#1465)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Just because [a surveillance experiment] happens at the border doesn’t mean that that’s where it’s going to stay.  –  Petra Molnar

If Men Were Angels

Apparently this preacher wasn’t the molester, but is covering for him:

A [North Carolina] pastor [named Kenny Parker] is facing charges [because] he failed to report…a string of sexual assault[s of legal] minors that spanned…several years…Parker is also the chief administrator of the church’s school…

Creepy Coppers

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A[n Illinois cop named]…William Griswold…[has been arrested] for [possession and distribution of] child pornography…and…was immediately placed on unpaid leave…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1235)

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

…DHS…plans to collect and analyze photos of the faces of migrant children at the border in a bid to improve facial recognition technology…This includes children “down to the infant”…Facial recognition…has traditionally not been applied to children, largely because training data sets of real children’s faces…consist of either low-quality images drawn from the internet or small sample sizes with little diversity…[due to] the significant [ethical issues] regarding privacy and consent when it comes to minors…[but] DHS [doesn’t give a damn about the consent of migrants and]…339,234 children arrived at the US-Mexico border in 2022…if the face prints of even 1% of those children had been [scanned], the resulting data set would dwarf nearly all existing data sets of real children’s faces…and [all obtained]…from a population that has little recourse…Petra Molnar, author of The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of AI [said]…“if…you are faced with the impossible choice of either: get into a country if you give us your biometrics, or you don’t…That completely vitiates informed consent”…This question becomes even more challenging when it comes to children…

A Broker in Pillage (#1289)

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

A new class action lawsuit [was filed because] Indiana [cop shops steal]…millions of dollars a year in cash from FedEx packages without eve[n] in[vent]ing…a…crime [to accuse the owners of].  Henry and Minh Cheng, who run a small California jewelry wholesaler business, [explain] in [the]…suit…that [cops stole] over $42,000 in cash from a FedEx package en route to them from a client in Virginia…[but] they’re not the only victims…Indiana [cops] “exploit Indianapolis’s location at the Crossroads of America to [steal] millions of dollars in currency being shipped from one side of the nation to the other.”  The Chengs’ countersuit against the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the State of Indiana was filed on their behalf by the Institute for Justice…Marion County [alone] has s[tolen] $2.5 million…from at least 130 FedEx parcels in transit from one non-Indiana state to another over the past two years…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1301)

Sometimes I just can’t force myself to take cops’ sophomoric pomposity seriously:

[Michigan] Sheriff Chris Swanson [dressed up in a sheet with two holes cut in it and jumped out, yelling “BOO!” at a typical and representative Florida cop named]…Jeffrey Morningstar…Swanson [bragged about how spooky he and his cronies were, pretending to be a (presumably deceased)]…trafficker selling a 15-year-old…Morningstar…want[ed] to…have sex with [for a thrift-store price]…“W[oooooooo, aren’t you scared?”]…Swanson [demanded, claiming] that [he plans to keep running around, startling]…anyone…he [can]…find…

Thou Shalt Not (#1353)

Only a prohibitionist could imagine that examining 10 people constitutes a “study”:

Consuming a drink with erythritol — an artificial sweetener used to add bulk to stevia and monk fruit [sweeteners] and to sweeten low-carb keto products — more than doubled the risk of blood clotting in 10 healthy people…Previous research has linked erythritol to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and death…Consuming a drink with an equal amount of glucose, or sugar, did not affect blood platelet activity in another group of 10 people…

Dangerous Speech (#1368)

Much more of this, please:

A [typical and representative] Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice…Gideon Cody…[led] the raid [in retaliation for] the Marion County Record [investigating the fact that he was hired despite resigning in disgrace from his previous job due to incompetence and shitty behavior]…Publisher Eric Meyer’s mother, who co-owned the newspaper and lived with him, died the next day of a heart attack…[due] the stress of [armed pigs invading her home].  Meyer said…authorities appear to be making Cody the “fall guy” for the raid when numerous officials were involved…The Record…and [some of its] staffers have filed four federal lawsuits against Cody and [his gang]…includ[ing] a wrongful death claim [for] total damages exceed[ing] $10 million.  The city’s current annual budget is about $9.5 million…

 

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 (#1462)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Making money is not an excuse to separate families.  –  Maggie McDonald

Pyrrhic Victory (#985)

Promoters of dystopia love to vomit words like “security” and “accountability” into the faces of useful idiots:

All 32 NFL stadiums will start using [facial recognition] technology this season, after the league signed a contract with a company that uses facial scans to verify the identity of people entering event venues and other secure spaces.  The [surveillance company called Wicket], which counts the Cleveland Browns’ owners as investors, will be used to “streamline and secure” entry for thousands of credentialed media, officials, staff and guests so they can easily access restricted areas such as press boxes and locker rooms…Some teams also have extended their use of the technology to scan the faces of ticket holders.  The Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and New York Mets all have used the company’s…software to authenticate fans with tickets…The Browns also use Wicket to verify the ages of fans purchasing alcohol at concession stands…Soccer stadiums worldwide are…[also us]ing facial recognition technology to surveil fans…

Thought Control (#1345)

Book banning is never, ever well-regarded in retrospect, but they keep doing it:

The Utah state school board [has] ordered the removal of 13 book titles from every public school in the state, in accordance with a new [mob-rule censorship] law passed earlier this year…schools must now dispose of the following titles[: Blankets by Craig Thompson; A Court of Frost and Starlight, A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Silver Flames, A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Wings and Ruin, and Empire of Storms, all by Sarah J. Maas; Fallout and Tilt by Ellen Hopkins; Forever by Judy Blume; Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur; Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood; and What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold]…The books on this list had already been banned by [three] school districts [each], but because of the new law…they will now be banned statewide [by mob rule, even in school districts where officials have more sense and better moral grounding]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1361)

This kind of behavior from a public employee should be grounds for impeachment:

A transgender woman’s use of the women’s locker room at a…[Missouri] fitness center has [been used by a politician to drum up] an outcry [among his supporters]…Eris Montano…has [not] violated any laws or the polices of Life Time fitness center.  But [politician] Justin Sparks…[sees an opportunity to stir up shit by demanding “]investigations[” into people he dislikes having civil rights]…Montano has…[followed] the center’s policies regarding transgender members…and has…largely had positive interactions with other gym members…Many people have gone out of their way to make her feel welcome, she said…[with] the lone exception…[of] a woman in the center’s sauna [who]…“kept telling me that I was a man, that I didn’t belong there,” Montano recalled…Life Time’s members are assigned to locker rooms based on the gender listed on their state-issued photo ID…[on which] she…is now listed as female…[but] Sparks [apparently] wants the Missouri…[policy on] driver’s license [gender to be] changed…

Broken Record (#1371)

Most major cities have quietly backed away from “sex trafficking” hysteria, but not San Diego, long a hotbed of this ugly, misogynistic wanking fantasy.  So it’s not especially surprising to see these sociopathic clowns using Comic-Con as an excuse to ruin people’s lives while publicly sharing their fantasies and making furtive movements in their pants.  But what is pleasantly surprising was to see the public response to this tired copaganda; I guess we weren’t just shouting into the void for all those years, after all.

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

It’s good to see activists using Americans’ fixation on children to promote justice instead of tyranny for a change:

My dad has been in the St. Clair County Jail in Port Huron, Michigan, since October, and I’m not allowed to see him.  So, other kids and I sued the county and others for the right to hug our parents, as part of a larger Right 2 Hug project that aims to restore family visits and stop companies from making money off family separation…In America, around 5 million children like me have experienced a parent being incarcerated at some point in their life…The jail my dad is in got rid of in-person visits in 2018 and replaced them with phone and video calls only…This is happening all over the country, meaning lots of kids like me can’t spend any time together with their parents…Now I just message my dad on the app that the jail uses, but it’s not at all like actually talking to him.  It’s not like DMs or texting; it’s more like email, and it’s really clunky to use…Plus, I think it’s really creepy that someone can read all the messages between me and my dad.  All communication between us is recorded — the video calls, phone calls, messages.  Talk about a major invasion of privacy…in response to a similar lawsuit from the Right 2 Hug campaign in Genesee County, Michigan…the sheriff admitted in an interview with NBC that they had eliminated in-person visitation to make more money…My dad’s release date is soon, and I’m excited to see him again.  But I won’t stop fighting in this lawsuit, because I’m also fighting for all the other families who can’t visit their loved ones…

Vulture Watching (#1451)

Forced-birth politicians want to encourage lawsuits, but not this kind:

[After] Mylissa Farmer was denied an emergency abortion…while experiencing a miscarriage…she filed a lawsuit against…The University of Kansas Health System…[because] it violated a federal law [named EMTALA which requires] doctors [to] treat patients who come into the emergency room…doctors told Farmer that she was at risk of infection, severe blood loss, the loss of her uterus and death.  But they…refused to perform an abortion…because it would be too “risky” in Kansas’ “heated” political environment to do so…the hospital refused to even perform routine checks such as taking her temperature and assessing her pain.  She was turned away without so much as Tylenol or antibiotics to ward off potential infection despite…being at high risk for infection and experiencing heavy bleeding, mental fog and acute pain…Farmer eventually traveled several hours to Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois, for an abortion…The damage to Farmer’s health and wellbeing was long-term…she was hospitalized several times after the miscarriage…was unable to work for months…[and] eventually lost her home…The federal lawsuit comes in the wake of an Idaho EMTALA case recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court…Unlike the Idaho case, which was brought by the government, Farmer’s is the first high profile EMTALA lawsuit brought by an individual denied their federal rights while pregnant…

Torture Chamber (#1457)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

Forty-three people are known to have died in the Maricopa County jail system [in 2022].  More than one-quarter of those deaths were suicides.  Forty-three more people died in the jails in 2023…the death rate was among the highest of major jail systems in the country.  Scholars who study in-c[age] deaths in U.S. jails and prisons said those numbers are incredibly high when compared with similarly sized jail systems and even jails with much larger populations…Drug overdoses, drug withdrawals and suicides were among the leading causes of death…[but] one-third of the deaths…are [the] natural [result of keeping]…old…and sick…[people locked in cages as though they posed a danger to anyone]…the current and former Sheriff’s Office administrations…hindered operations and challenged efforts to maintain safe conditions…

 

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 (#1461)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

People in authority can violate your rights while believing they are protecting you.  –  The Budget

Pyrrhic Victory (#1188) 

Every company and organization (including cop shops) using facial recognition without consent needs to be sued until it stops:

[Facebook] has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas to resolve the state’s lawsuit accusing…[it] of illegally using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data of millions of Texans without their consent…from photos and videos that users uploaded…as part of a [now-]discontinued feature called “Tag Suggestions”…Google separately is fighting a [similar] lawsuit by Texas…

Under Duress (#1222)

Establishment media are finally beginning to admit that cops are habitual liars:

The family of Sonya Massey—whom Deputy Sean Grayson shot in the face as she stood in her kitchen, unarmed and praying for protection—recently publicized that the Sangamon County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office initially told relatives that Sonya had killed herself.  Once body-cam footage disproved Grayson’s self-serving account, he was arrested and charged…[similarly,] Sandra Bland’s cause of death was ruled “suicide by asphyxiation” (i.e., hanging)…suicidologists and suicide awareness advocates should lend expertise…whenever deaths from police brutality are ruled suicides…police “routinely lie to serve their own interests”…a type of misconduct that emerges not from just a few “bad apples” but from the systematic negligence of judges and juries…to the point that…the judicial system’s favoritism toward police has become seen as predictable…and…[encourages] schemes to victim-blame targets…Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police commissioner, admitted…that police culture normalized lying…Justice Gustin Reichbach of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York, echoed Keane…

Welcome to the Future (#1381)

Constant surveillance damages adolescents’ ability to develop in healthy ways:

…at Lawrence High [in Kansas]…every homework assignment, email, photo, and chat on…school-supplied device[s are] monitored by a[lgorithms provided by a company named]…Gaggle…to provide around-the-clock surveillance.  If a word or an image triggers an alert in the…software, the result could range from the student being sent to an administrator to being referred to [compulsory] counseling to…a visit from local police…Gaggle [absurdly] claims that it has saved an “estimated” 5,790 student lives between 2018 and 2023.  It did this, according to its website, by analyzing 28 billion student items and flagging 162 million of those for review…At what point is the safety you think you’re buying for students actually doing harm in unintended ways?  Won’t teachers avoid assignments that challenge students to consider real-world problems?…Won’t students learn just to keep their emotions to themselves, instead of confiding in a teacher or another trusted adult?  What about the chilling effect on student creativity and expression?  Gaggle is the thought police for K-12 campuses…is it worth it if it turns schools into virtual prisons?

Property of the State (#1416)

The court rejected the charges, but not the “fetal personhood” dogma behind them:

Oklahoma resident Amanda Aguilar was arrested after using marijuana while pregnant.  Though Aguilar had a medical marijuana prescription, prosecutors [absurdly argu]ed that her fetus did not…[and] charged [her]…with [felony] child neglect…the state’s highest criminal court [dismissed the charges, but only because prosecutors charged her under a made-up law; they]…urged Oklahoma [politicians]…to c[riminalize all use of cannabis by pregnant women, regardless of prescription]…at least eight women have been charged under this [made-up law] since 2019…But…the Oklahoma Supreme Court…declined [to hear previous appeals]…Aguilar’s case [only] got its day in court thanks to an overzealous…prosecutor…appealing [a lower court’s dismissal of her charges] to…the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals…

I Spy (#1422)

Don’t let your machines call them, either:

Ford is trying to patent a way for its cars to report speeding drivers to the police.  A patent application…was published…Jul. 18 2024, and was originally filed by Ford Jan. 12, 2023…the [dystopian system would use]…cars to monitor each other’s speeds.  If one car detects that a nearby vehicle is being driven above the posted limit, it could use onboard cameras to photograph that vehicle.  A report containing both speed data and images of the targeted vehicle could then be sent directly to a [handy pigmobile] or roadside monitoring units…It’s unclear what legal argument Ford would make should it try to implement this tech, as human [busybodies] wouldn’t be [sticking]ing the[ir noses into strangers’ business]…Ford has also tried to patent a “night drive mode” that would limit vehicle speeds at night for everyone [regardless of circumstances].  This takes things a bit further by turning drivers into unwitting snitches…

Torture Chamber (#1455)

Americans’ sick lust for torture turns ordinary prison sentences into death sentences:

[Human beings caged] in Texas state prisons are being “cooked alive” by scorching temperatures in facilities without air conditioning, a new investigation [reports, yet when prisoners]…died with body temperatures nearing 107 degrees, officials have continued to blame their deaths on causes other than extreme heat.  In 2023, a Texas prisoner filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s refusal to…[obey] its own laws…mandat[ing] that prison temperatures be kept between 65 degrees and 85 degrees…At one prison, Garza West Unit, temperatures stayed above 100 degrees for 11 days straight in the summer of 2023…

The Cop Myth (#1460)

Cop violence is never limited to members of the public:

An…NYPD [cop named]…Imran Iqbal…was [arrested and] charged with [violently abusing] a child…[his bosses thought saying he wasn’t wearing his magical clown costume was much more important than how he was related to the child he attacked or any other pertinent information like his victim’s age]…

 

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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