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Posts Tagged ‘Lack of Evidence’

In the News (#1631)

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

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

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1160) 

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

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

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

Lack of Evidence (#1318)

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

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

The Prudish Giant (#1547)

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

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

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

A Moral Cancer (#1575)

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

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

Mad Libs (#1618)

Any doctor who trusts chatbots should be sued for malpractice:

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

Walled Garden (#1624)

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

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

Mad Libs (#1626)

Every study shows that chatbot usage harms brain function:

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

 

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

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Mama Throwback Thursday

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The surest way to lose my cooperation is to accompany the demand with a phrase like “you must”, “you are required to”, “it’s the law”, etc.  –  “Off the Green”

Some of life’s greatest pleasures are pleasant precisely because they’re so ephemeral; if rainbows were always a feature of the sky, few would ever bother to look up at them in wonderment and appreciation.
–  “Diary #663”

Baby-step reforms…are mostly intended to distract activists and hush timid human rights campaigners.  –  “Lack of Evidence (#1421)”

[Trump] wants to make the US status as the world’s cop official, complete with the cop power to terrorize whoever he likes on a whim without anything resembling consequences.  –  “Client Kingdoms”

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Throwback Thursday’s Lover

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , on February 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Actual civilized adults are comfortable with individuals being individual, without any sick need to target them with violent attempts at control.  –  “Brand X”

 

Useful idiots can always be counted on to eagerly lick up whatever toxic sludge cops vomit all over their upturned faces as they kneel in obeisance before the police state.
–  “Lack of Evidence (#1312)”

 

Attention, state-level politicians: the watchword is “Balkanization”.  –  “Balkanization”

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Not Decriminalization

Posted in Current Events, History, Perception, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2025| 1 Comment »

The New Orleans Times-Picayune falsely raised a lot of sex workers’ hopes last week by publishing a headline stating that “New Orleans council has decriminalized sex work for crime victims“.  This of course is not true:

The New Orleans City Council on [May 8th] passed a city ordinance that will make it easier for sex workers to report crimes without fear of prosecution for prostitution…[the usual suspects claim]ed it would exacerbate instances of prostitution in certain neighborhoods…

In other words, it’s a fairly typical non-prosecution bone of the sort politicians regularly throw at sex workers so they can pretend to care, which are always riddled with exceptions and workarounds and are generally repealed as soon as a prohibitionist gang complains loudly enough.  New Orleans has enacted similar halfway measures before, such as a December 2010 law which made prostitution a municipal offense so cops could just write tickets instead of subjecting sex workers to violence.  Unfortunately, politicians and other prohibitionists have learned in the past 15 years that decriminalization is viewed by all experts as the best framework, so now they’re all lying by calling whatever modified criminalization scam they’re selling “decriminalization”, so as to trick ordinary voters into believing they actually support human rights.  And lazy graduates of the stenographic school of journalism simply parrot whatever they’re told, without further investigation.

Hey reporters: here’s a simple rule of thumb. If you need to include a preposition like “for” or “if” after the word “decriminalized” when writing about sex work law, what you’re writing about isn’t “decriminalization”, so don’t pretend it is.

“Sex work is decriminalized for the seller…”  Swedish model, not decriminalization.

“Sex work is decriminalized if the seller…”  Toothless rule to placate activists, not decriminalization.

Only decriminalization is decriminalization; don’t let prohibitionists pretend otherwise.

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The Last Throwback Thursday

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Prostitution is to my knowledge the only “crime” which is entirely defined by its motive.  –  “Lack of Evidence”

Adult women are ADULTS.  It isn’t the job of strangers, nor that of “rescue” organizations or the government, to police their private lives.  –  “Thought Experiment”

To anyone who knows anything at all about the origin and development of Christmas, the insistence by American Christians that the holiday belongs to them and them alone is bizarre indeed; it’s rather like someone buying a used car, giving it a new paint job, and then declaring that he was the inventor of the internal combustion engine.  –  “Christmas Eve 2012”

In a very real sense, Christmas is literally as old as civilization, and we owe the majority of what makes us more than just high-falutin’ monkeys to [an] ancient event that we now only remember in myths of a time when life was easy.
–  “Yule 2013”

There are still far too many…who want sex workers silent, invisible, and preferably caged, enslaved, or dead.  –  “Before It Gets Better“

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In the News (#1473)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2024| 2 Comments »

AHF…is just the…newest slumlord in a long line of slumlords.

If Men Were Angels

I’m honestly unsure why this doesn’t happen more often:

…a [Tennessee] pastor [named David Baker]…molest[ed a] relative… under the age of 12…He was…charged with aggravated sexual battery…and [after he bailed himself out] went into [a] restroom [at a nearby hospital] and shot himself twice in the chest…

Tyranny By Consensus (#690)

Longtime readers may remember that AHF has a history of financial shenanigans:

…The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development…says its $10 million Tenant Education and Outreach…grant…will be jointly awarded to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation…and the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants.  Over the next two years, these two groups will distribute this money to 30 tenant advocacy organizations to help them in their own efforts to…”hold management accountable for property conditions”…Beginning in 2017, [AHF] started buying up residential hotels in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, with the goal of [fix]ing them and renting them out at low, unsubsidized rates.  [AHF head] Michael Weinstein…argued this was a cheaper, faster way of housing people than building new…units.  But…AHF has been the subject of numerous lawsuits from tenants, and…A detailed Los Angeles Times investigation published in November 2023 reported…apartments infested with cockroaches, exploding radiators, water shut-offs so regular that tenants had to defecate in wastebaskets…and months-long elevator shut-offs that left disabled tenants stuck on upper floors or forced to sleep in the lobby…A former AHF employee described the living conditions at foundation properties as “inhumane”…

Undead Powers

I’ve long held that all laws should sunset after 10 years unless specific action is taken to renew them:

A coalition of advocacy organizations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…urging him to hold a vote on a proposal aimed at guarding against a future Trump administration from reviving [the] long-dormant…Comstock Act…The Stop Comstock Act, which was introduced by Sen. Tina Smith…seeks to repeal the…provisions of the 1873 federal law that ban…abortion-related materials from being sent through the mail…Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas…have signaled a willingness to revive the statute…

Eavesdropping (#1399)

Is a shiny new status symbol really worth being spied on and harassed?

Ford Motor Company is seeking a patent for technology that would allow it to tailor in-car advertising by [eavesdropping on] conversations among vehicle occupants, as well as by analyzing a car’s historical location and other data…“in-vehicle advertisement presentation”…will determine where a car is located, how fast it is traveling, what type of road it is driving on and whether it is in traffic.  It also will predict routes, speeds and destinations to customize ads…the ad controller system can determine when to [butt in with] audio versus visual ads, [subject]ing…drivers [to intrusive, unwanted commercials]…“through a human-machine interface”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1411)

Never forget that “filter” used thus is merely a euphemism for “censor”:

A federal judge in Utah has blocked the state’s…[latest attempt] to enact sweeping online censorship…under the justification of “protecting minors”…[b]y granting a preliminary injunction sought by…NetChoice…the…law…targets social media platforms…by…[demanding they] “enable the maximum default privacy settings on Utah [legal minors’] accounts…[which] would have [required intrusive]…age…[verification”.  Laws like]…this…driv[e] platforms to overmoderate to the point of effectively becoming corporate censors…The law was previously challenged in court [so politicians]…redrafted it…to avoid [public scrutiny]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1450)

They’ll blame anybody but the real culprit: invasive surveillance and onerous infantilization of teenagers:

A [gang] of 42 state and territory attorneys general is calling on Congress to pass regulation [absurdly] requiring warning labels on social media platforms…US [Charlatan] General Dr. Vivek Murthy first proposed the warning labels in June as part of a plan to [di]vert [blame for] the “mental health crisis” affecting young people [from its actual cause, young adults being constantly spied on and treated like children]…The letter [ignores] research linking [infantilization] of [young adults] to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in [favor of blaming] social platforms…in…[order]…to [use this narrative as an excuse to subject them to government control, in defiance of the First Amendment]…these labels would [be unconstitutional compelled speech, similar to court-overturned]…state-level rules demanding adult sites add [specious] health notices about pornography…Over the past year or so, [politicians] across the US have ramped up efforts to [censor the internet via the timeworn pretext of “]protect[ing] children[“, such as]…the Senate[‘s horrific]…KOSA…

Remember what happened the last time a gang of state attorneys general went on a fact-free crusade against websites.

Banishment (#1470)

Politicians will never let go of prohibitionism until they’re forced to:

[Starting] in 1990…Seattle [politicians repeatedly defined and redefined]…banishment zones…across the city, [pretending they could magically]…reduce…drug use…[and] prostitution…[by threatening] drug users and sex workers [with arrest for merely existing]…Research has shown that the orders did not reduce drug use or sex work, but they did make the lives of drug users and sex workers harder, by physically banning them from areas…they used to access services and by turning them into hunted people who could be, and were, jailed when they were caught simply being inside the areas from which they were banished…some 25 years [lat]er the…city largely abandoned the experiment, concluding on the basis of decades of evidence that it hadn’t worked…[now] the Seattle City Council [has] voted to start the cycle over again, by…creating six new banishment zones for drug offenders and one for…sex workers…The new…legislation that will also reinstate a repealed “prostitution loitering” law that will…make it significantly easier for police to arrest [people they decide to accuse of being] sex workers [or clients without any evidence at all]…

 

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 (#1421)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Simply claiming that the “age verification preserves online anonymity” does not make it so.  –  Judge Patrick Higginbotham

Policing for Profit

Cops usually make up some pretext, however flimsy, for their armed robbery schemes:

Indiana State Police…located 26 shipping containers [full of military surplus and other equipment, plus] a…forklift…and a[n entire] locomotive [stolen] from the former Jeffersonville Powder Plant…[by] former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel…[by interrogating] Sheriff’s Office…employees [ordered to] move…the property…Defense Department…criminal investigators said the Clark County Sheriff’s Office had received $7 million in surplus property between 2015 and 2022 when Noel was sheriff.  Auction records…show…two air compressors and a generator [were] sold [in 2023]…Noel has been charged with 25 felonies…

Chauvinism (#335)

“Major events such as…the Olympics always provide an excuse for governments to ‘clean things up’ in the host cities before the guests arrive”:

French police [a]re cracking down on Paris sex workers ahead of the Olympics…Charities working in…the Boulogne and Vincennes woods…ha[ve] noted “increased police patrols ahead of the Games with heavy-handed identity controls on women working in the sex industry.”  They urged authorities [not] to…”rob, rape and assault [sex workers].”  French authorities[‘ pretext is a mythical] increase in prostitution during the Olympic and Paralympic Games which will begin on July 26 – something…[repeatedly disproven by years of reports and stud]ies…”Contrary to [government claim]s, sex workers are not in the process of arriving in large numbers in Paris where the cost of accommodation is constantly increasing ahead of the Olympics”…Other charities have denounced efforts by the French authorities to move migrants and the homeless out of the capital ahead of the Games…

The tagline quote is from an essay I wrote for Reason ten years ago; note what’s missing from their rhetoric despite its omnipresence in stories about the London Olympics?

Lack of Evidence (#1312) 

California pigs are still using “sex trafficking” myths to argue they should be allowed to assault, rape, and abduct women for merely existing in public:

…little more than a year after SB 357 became law, some [politician]s want…to once again criminalize loitering in a public place with the intent to commit prostitution.  Supporters of the bills…[vomited a lot of ugly, moronic nonsense about how cops are brave heroes whose often-violent harassment of women on the street constitute] efforts to combat human trafficking [and women are much too stupid and pathetic to make their own decisions, so cops must be empowered to force them, for their own good of course]…

The whiplash-inducing speed with which California pivots on civil rights issues is one of the reasons I tend to be such an Eeyore on these baby-step reforms, which are mostly intended to distract activists and hush timid human rights campaigners.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1405)

The 5th Circuit is, as usual, somewhat confused:

…the 5th Circuit [has] handed down a mixed opinion in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.  The Court unanimously upheld the preliminary injunction barring [Texas] from mandating pseudoscientific “health warnings” on adult websites.  By a 2-1 decision, however, it lifted the injunction against the state’s age verification mandate…this decision does not change the fact that platforms that do not implement age verification measures will be at risk of prosecution by the Attorney General, as has been the case since the Fifth Circuit stayed the preliminary injunction last September…As the dissenting opinion by Judge Higginbotham makes clear, [lifting the injunction] violates decades of precedent from the Supreme Court [requiring]…strict scrutiny to content-based regulations that limit adults’ access to protected speech…

Shame, Shame (#1405)

These ghouls have absolutely no shame:

Marilyn Monroe, who died 62 years ago, has been [imit]ated [by] a “hyper-real” [computer]-generated digital [zombie] that lets fans engage in a conversation with [a computer imitating] the late act[ress] — wh[ich] can answer questions “in Marilyn’s signature voice and style,” according t[o]…Soul Machines…which [claims]…the…chatbot…is able to read users’ emotions and respond accordingly via…proprietary camera and microphone technology…other recent…i[mitation]s [of] dead celebrities…include an animated biopic of French singer Edith Piaf that will use [a computer] to create a facsimile of her voice and image and the Calm app’s [computer]-generated [imitation] of Jimmy Stewart reading a bedtime story…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1415)

Next time you find yourself wondering why Florida is such a perpetual cavalcade of crazy, visit this link and read the whole thing, then ask yourself what kind of defective intellect could possibly fall for even 3% of this egregious bootlickery.  The single fact contained therein is that Florida politicians have economized by creating one unconstitutional float to enter into two fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parades, the “age verification” parade and the “social media is a tool of Satan intentionally designed to destroy Our Precious Children” parade.  WWSB couldn’t find even a single employee with low enough self-esteem to sign off on this turd, so it’s simply credited to “staff”.  I suppose an intern assigned to copy-paste a press release does qualify as “staff”, so at least that much is true.

The Last Shall Be First (#1418) 

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

A newly proposed law in Missouri could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they’re found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning…[bill sponsor] Jamie Gragg…said the goal of the bill is to [define legal minors as the property of] the family that they come from [without legal rights as individuals]…

 

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 (#1394)

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

She looked like she was mummified.  –  Melinda Bettencourt

Business Opportunity

It’s not like it’s their money, after all:

…in…Wilmington, North Carolina, where the New Hanover County government…is trying to seize the neighboring Cheetah Premier Gentlemen’s Club to build what it [pretend]s is much-needed parking…The county commission voted to authorize eminent domain of the Cheetah Club…on November 6.  The resolution authorized the county to spend $2.36 million acquiring the club…the seizure…wasn’t on the commission’s agenda, and was only introduced in the final minutes of the meeting by [the “county manager”, who] referred to the property only by its tax ID number…The sudden, seemingly surreptitious effort to seize the club has [Michael] Barber[, a lawyer for the owners,] speculating that the eminent domain effort has more to do with public appearances than public facilities…[the property owner] has offered to let the county use the 74 parking spaces on his property…[because] the Cheetah Club doesn’t even open till 6 p.m…

The Scarlet Letter (#520)

“Presumption of innocence” doesn’t apply to whores:

Unlike “simple” police cautions, prostitute cautions don’t require evidence…sex workers don’t have to admit guilt, and there is no right to appeal them.  Without any say, someone can be branded as a criminal, their life forever impacted by her decision of how they provides for themselves and their families…prostitute cautions, and wider criminalisation of sex work, are deliberately used to keep women in poverty by penalising them for using sex work to escape it…In 2009, under the Police and Crime Act, the right of appeal against prostitutes cautions was abolished…and…the caution will stay on a sex worker’s record for life, or until the age of 100…

Blunt Instrument (#728)

Have you noticed that “sex trafficking” is no longer the magic brain-pause spell it was for over a decade?

One Richmond [BC politician] would like to see massage parlours…be denied business licences and…shut down…Kash Heed [tried to justify his puritanical bigotry by barfing the phrases “]human trafficking[“…and “]scantily clad[” at other city politicians, but]…Mayor Malcolm Brodie…[timidly broached the subject of harm reduction, and] Mark Corrado, director of bylaws and licencing…said Richmond is [already] known for having the most “restrictive” licence requirements in the province.  This includes [micromanag]ing clothing, age, locks, insurance bonds, lighting and criminal record checks…

Where Are the Protests? (#945)

Americans are only concerned about how others have sex; they don’t really want to know where their overpriced coffee comes from:

Starbucks…is unable to guarantee that the coffee sold at its stores is not associated with serious labour and human rights crimes such as low wages, harvest workers eating cold meals, inadequate accommodation and even child and slave labour…The cases are portrayed in the report “Behind Starbucks coffee,” published by Repórter Brasil (available in Portuguese and English)…coffee farms…where…inspectors found violations hold…the C.A.F.E. Practices seal, which…is the certification programme that…[supposedly] evaluates suppliers according to more than 200 indicators…It is yet another situation that exposes the limits of the certification market…Labour irregularities in the industry are not limited to Starbucks’ supply chain.  Repórter Brasil has already exposed similar problems among suppliers of Nestlé, McDonald’s and other…major…buyers…

Vulture Watching (#1268)

Idaho apparently wants to chase away as many physicians as possible:

Idaho asked the Supreme Court…to allow its [near-total] abortion ban that imposes [criminal] penalties on doctors who perform abortions to take full effect despite [the fact that it conflicts with]…the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)…a…federal law [which] requires hospitals to provide stabilizing care to emergency room patients regardless of their ability to pay…

Torture Chamber (#1386)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

Melinda Bettencourt…knew her youngest daughter, Amanda Bews, had been struggling [with severe alcoholism and heroin addiction] for years…But…no one could explain what had happened to the rotting body Bettencourt saw at the funeral home.  “She looked like she was mummified,” Bettencourt [said]…describing the “horrible” shock of watching bugs hover around her dead daughter’s face as a foul stench emanated across the room…Bews got arrested…[on] Sept. 7, 2022…for allegedly shoplifting at a BevMo…Before booking, the deputies took her to a nearby hospital, where…she was prescribed medications for anxiety, blood pressure and alcohol withdrawal…But [screws]…decided…not [to give her the] require[d] medications…[and] a little over four hours later, Bews…”died of untreated…effects of withdrawal from alcohol and drugs”…

Dangerous Speech (#1391)

I’ve linked to many of Mark Draughn’s well-researched, well-considered essays over the years; this one is on the aftermath of the Backpage persecution & show trial, and here’s a taste:

The Iron Law of Prohibition says that making something illegal will make it stronger and more dangerous.  Nobody drank bathtub gin in America until the Prohibition laws of 1920 criminalized alcoholic beverages.  Almost nobody smoked crack until law enforcement started a war on cocaine, and we didn’t have much of a fentanyl problem until the government started cracking down on opioids.  Legal alcohol and tobacco distributors didn’t shoot each other in the streets the way drug-smuggling gangsters do.  Criminalizing a good or service necessarily drives it underground.  The need to hide makes it harder to build a good reputation, which makes it less rewarding to have good business practices.  Customer service and attention to product quality fall by the wayside…Thus bad actors enter and thrive in the market, engaging in fraud, theft, and violence, which can often only be countered with more violence…With the success of the Backpage prosecutions, it seems likely that more such prosecutions will follow…

 

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 (#1362)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Once you get the scarlet letter, nobody wants you anymore.
–  Kristen DiAngelo

If Men Were Angels

Oh look, another “youth pastor”, what a surprise:

A [typical and representative] youth pastor at a Twin Falls [Idaho] church faces sexual battery charges after…[molesting] a girl in 2021 when she was 16 years old.  Dakota Austin Kennemer…was charged…after…the pastor [reported him to cops]…

This one, on the other hand, is a bit surprising:

Amanda Buchanan Justice…of [North Carolina]…was charged with sexually assaulting a child…She…was a youth leader at New Life Family Worship Center in Kings Mountain…her…husband…is still serving as a pastor…[but] stepped down from his role as a youth minister following…his wife [admitting the molestation to him]…

Torture Chamber (#690)

US officials already know prisons exacerbate crime; they simply don’t care:

In 1999 Connecticut had so many people in prison that it paid to send 500 of them to be [cag]ed in Virginia.  Nearly 25 years later, the state has not only sliced its number of imprisoned people in half, but been able to close more than 10 prisons while keeping its crime rate at its lowest level in more than 40 years…Connecticut currently runs 13 prisons, which [cag]e about 10,000 people.  Two-thirds of these are serving sentences; the other third are those who have yet to be sentenced…The state’s rate of 155 people imprisoned per 100,000 residents is now the ninth lowest in the country and well below the national average of 350 people per 100,000…

Guinea Pigs (#1307) 

Another bunch of vigilante bigots playing games with people’s lives:

Victor Marx…is…a [jarhead and] self-proclaimed exorcist…[who] helped launch the Skull Games, a privatized intelligence outfit that purports to hunt pedophiles, sex traffickers, and other “demonic activity” using a blend of sock-puppet social media accounts and commercial surveillance tools — including face recognition software…Recent games have been [sponsored] by the [Israeli] surveillance firm Cobwebs, and an upcoming competition…[by] Anomaly Six…Marx has savvily ridden recent popular attention to the [propaganda] film Sound of Freedom…and conservative “groomer” panic…to [sell harassment of sex workers as somehow]…Christ[ian]…Skull Games…is…a sort of hackathon for would-be Christian saviors…play[ers win] points based on their sleuthing.  Finding a [sex worker]’s high school diploma…nets 15 points, while finding [a common] tattoo on multiple women would earn…300…as they prepare intelligence dossiers on women before turning them over to p[igs]…what sets Skull Games apart from other amateur predator-hunting efforts is its reliance on “open-source intelligence”…a military euphemism…[for] surveilling the public internet and purchasing sensitive information from commercial data brokers…one [recent participant was]…able to use PimEyes to find a sex worker’s driver’s license…Clearview [and Amazon’s Rekognition were]…heavily used in the January 2023 Skull Games…

Lack of Evidence (#1312) 

Courts are still more dependable sources of relief from bad laws than politicians:

…The Dallas County Criminal Court of Appeals has struck down a law against “manifesting the purpose of engaging in prostitution.”  The law…”trespasses on the constitutional rights of Dallas citizens,” wrote Judge Kristin Wade…The Dallas law…[basically] prohibits looking like [a whore, and can bring]…a fine of up to $500…there’s been a growing movement against these laws, which make it easy for police to hassle and arrest people without cause…The case that led to the law being struck down involved the arrest of Iqbal Jivani, who “was in a known prostitution area and stopped to engage passers-by in conversation,” per a police complaint…

Thought Control (#1343)

It seems I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of my career path:

A federal lawsuit…challenges an Arkansas law that would subject librarians and booksellers to criminal charges if they provide…materials [politicians have pointed at while belching out “harmful”] to minors.  A coalition that includes the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock filed the challenge to the law, which [took] effect Aug. 1.  The law also creates a new process [for any busybody] to [demand] library materials…be [censored]…The number of attempts to ban or [censor] books across the U.S. last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts…at least 121 proposals introduced in state legislatures this year target…libraries, librarians, educators and access to materials…39 of those…would allow for criminal prosecution…

Creepy Coppers (#1348)

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A Vevay, Indiana [cop named]…Kyle Davis…was arrested…[for] attempt[ing] to video record an underage [girl]…while she was using the bathroom…on May 30, 2020, she was at his home when she wanted to use the bathroom…Davis went in…before her…and she noticed an iPhone pointed toward the toilet set to record video…[when later questioned] Davis…[tried to blame] his teenage son…[but] Davis’ phone…[held a nude photo] of two pre-pubescent girls about 8 years old…[and] searches related to “voyeurism” [and] “spy cams”…

I Spy (#1352)

This totalitarian nonsense is a danger to the entire internet, worldwide:

…the privacy of people around the world…[will be undermined by] the Online Safety Bill, now at the final stage before passage…which will destroy end-to-end encryption.  No amendments have been accepted that would mitigate the bill’s most dangerous elements…If the Online Safety Bill becomes British law, the damage it causes won’t stop at the borders of the U.K…because…undermining encryption, whether by banning it, pressuring companies away from it, or requiring client side scanning, will be a boon to bad actors and authoritarian states…That’s [why]…U.K. civil society groups have condemned the bill, as have technical experts and human rights groups around the world…In response to this outpouring of resistance, the U.K. government’s response has been to wave its hands and deny reality…

 

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 (#1357)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2023| 1 Comment »

Arresting people for sex work is not going to get them out of sex work.  –  Arlene Mahoney

If Men Were Angels

This “youth pastor” appears to have an oddly specific fetish:

A [typical and representative South Carolina] youth pastor is facing nearly 60 charges…Daniel Kellan Mayfield [set up hidden cameras] in June of 2021…[to record] a bride and her bridal party…[in] changing rooms at Gowensville First Baptist Church…[he did the same thing] in September of 2021…in a bedroom at [a different] wedding venue and…[committed] a similar [viol]ation…in April of 2019 at [still another] wedding venue…

Lack of Evidence (#508)

While other cities back away from these medieval laws, Phoenix doubles down:

…“manifesting an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution”…in Phoenix [is]…a crime with a mandatory sentence of at least 15 days in jail…more than 450 people…have been charged with manifestation of prostitution over the past eight years.  The…unconstitutional [ordinance]…allows…wearing provocative clothing to be used as grounds to [arrest] someone.  In 2014, the city’s prosecution of Monica Jones under the ordinance drew national outcry…But Phoenix has not stopped using [it, and]…the majority of those charged were Black…An attorney who has represented people charged with manifesting prostitution offered a blunt assessment of the city prosecutions in an interview: “You’re being prosecuted because of what you’re wearing”…

Shifting the Blame (#700)

I wonder if we’ll ever hear about a connection between this guy and disgraced former Police Chief James Burke?

Suffolk County cops ignored a key tip in the grisly Gilgo Beach murders case for over a decade — and had a general description of the suspect and a make and model of car he drove which they failed to act upon for 13 years.  It was only when a new task force went back over evidence in the case and reinterviewed a pimp that the clues pointed to Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect who is now charged with three counts of murder.  The crucial tip came from the pimp for Amber Lynn Costello, one of three women…killed by Heuermann in 2010.  He was interviewed by cops soon after the murders and identified the killer as a bulky “ogre” [Heuermann is 6’6″ and weighs about 270#] who drove a distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche when last seen with the victim.  It was only when ex-NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison took over as Suffolk County police commissioner last year and reopened the case that the dots started to get connected…

Monsters (#895)

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

Michelle Dionne Peacock…was a 59-year-old Black cis woman who was…murdered by 67-year-old Tommy Wayne Earl in Richmond, Indiana in June…Earl [slit her throat] with a straight razor and…[told cops] Peacock [w]as “a male acting like a woman” several times…In a separate incident, 32-year-old Colin Smith was stabbed to death in Portland, Oregon on July 2.  He had been out with coworkers at…[a] bar when 24-year-old Rahnique Jackson started harassing one of [them for being]…trans.  When Smith tried to intervene, Jackson…stabbed him to death…

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1316)

Any hospital visit in which the patients admits to or tests positive for cannabis is listed as “marijuana-related” regardless of the reason for the visit:

Over the past few years, marijuana use has been [reported by] more young people in…hospital…according to a new study by the…CDC…cannabis-related emergency department visits increased overall among kids, teens, and young adults…The rise in cannabis-related emergency department visits, however, does not…mean that kids are consuming more marijuana.  According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey, marijuana use among 8th to 12th graders from 2019-2022 either decreased or remained approximately level…this [most likely] mean[s] that young people are…more…[likely to] report…cannabis use during ED visits [due to decreasing stigma against cannabis, one of the safest drugs known]…

Since there is no known LD50 for THC, prohibitionists are desperate to invent new evidence-free reasons for banning it.

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1331)

Since doctors keep mocking cops’ fentanyl hysteria, they’re looking for new bogeydrugs:

Five Los Angeles [cops] were rushed to the hospital [in a ludicrous display of cop theater]…after [they saw] methamphetamine while [invading someone’s home]…They were all reportedly [having panic attacks despite the fact that there is no such thing as “methamphetamine exposure”]…

Served Cold (#1340)

Ballard’s increasingly-bizarre antics have apparently upset his partners in profiteering:

Tim Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, has quietly parted ways with the [highly-unethical rescue industry] group.  The news comes as Sound of Freedom, a heavily fictionalized depiction of Ballard’s work for a division of ICE and his early career as a [“sex trafficking”] pr[ofiteer]…continues to [flounder] at the box office.  The movie has brought in just under $50 million, largely on the strength of a [scammy] marketing campaign…buying [up] tickets [to make the movie look far more successful than it actually is]…In recent days, sources with knowledge of OUR…[say] Ballard had…gone to donors in a state of upset, saying that he’d been forced out and asking for their help with a new organization…

 

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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