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Posts Tagged ‘language’





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Just a reminder that on the 25th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the war it caused was already 21 years in the past, Japan and Germany had largely been rebuilt and become allies, and the economic costs of the war were largely behind the US (though not Europe or Asia).

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-11T17:44:58.998Z

I think scientists should lock RFK into a Skinner box to test this. Of course, several other Trump henchmen will need to be similarly-confined as a control group. A year or two of testing should prove or disprove the assertion.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-14T17:20:16.067Z

How much of a dangerous clown does a man have to be to get fired by ICE, which is practically the dangerous clown brigade?

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T17:15:38.468Z

Looks like I made the right choice by stopping my book at the end of New Who. amazon.com/dp/B0FBLDZ2B…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-17T18:05:39.808Z

For those of you with very tenuous attachment to reality: Don't worry, the Panama Canal has not moved; it's in the same place it has always been since its completion in 1914.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-18T18:09:51.204Z

I really wish people understood verisimilitude, and that consistency of mundane elements is MORE important in a fantasy movie under the "change only one thing" principle.But alas, that ship sailed long ago; critics were already pointing it out in the '60s.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-19T17:12:25.407Z


This is possibly one of the stupidest diktats which have ever erupted from that festering pustule he uses to make sounds.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T16:44:49.712Z

I have said for decades that I'd much rather talk to someone who disagrees with me *and can articulate the reasons why* than someone who agrees with me and cannot.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-25T02:38:41.198Z

The group "Very Stupid People Who Are Nonetheless Convinced They Are Geniuses" have *always* been taken in by claims that one could live forever if one merely eats the "right" foods and performs the "correct" magical rites. The scam was already old when the Comte de Saint Germain was selling it.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-25T17:42:44.300Z

There's a word for a woman who trusts a man to take care of birth control: "pregnant".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-27T01:58:03.448Z

Apparently, YouTube's search algorithm has been programmed so that when it can't find what you asked for, it just brings up a lot of commercials instead. It's like going to a restaurant, ordering something not on the menu, and being served ten dirty dishes and a bill.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-27T17:31:51.369Z

What a strange thing to say. Trump's belief that he is immune from any kind of legal limit is actually a rational one, because that's exactly how everyone in Washington behaves, including SCOTUS and Democratic members of Congress. If they want him to believe something else, they need to show him.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-28T07:28:06.777Z

All of these people are so physically warped it's almost like the director is signaling that they have warped minds and personalities. It's kind of like a Dutch angle.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-29T07:58:23.998Z

He's not far enough "underwater" until his regime implodes like a submersible full of billionaires.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T17:17:07.213Z

When science won't give a powerful person the answer he wants, he invariably turns to mysticism. This syndrome goes back to the dawn of science 2500 years ago, and is largely responsible for the technological and social stagnation of the European middle ages. reason.com/2026/10/02/a…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T19:30:06.431Z

I love that the owl's facial expression says, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-03T17:26:51.356Z

Basically, all the village idiots have been networked into a giant idiotnet (like a botnet, but with idiots) which functions like a computer to spew out more and bigger idiocy than could be produced by any one idiot or group of idiots. It's a massive breakthrough in the technology of idiocy.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-04T18:16:09.793Z

The main problem with those stupid enough to believe even a single word of this Bronze-Age nonsense is that they're allowed to vote.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-06T17:50:29.076Z

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-07T07:42:20.746Z

Remember what "code" is: a set of instructions. If an LLM has feelings, so does every one of those printed sheets that come with Ikea furniture. So does the phrase "close cover before striking" on a matchbook.Yes, this is absurd. People need to start saying so. A picture of a human is not a human.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-10T07:43:11.040Z

The term everyone is dancing around is "secret police", a hallmark of totalitarian regimes.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-10T18:00:31.330Z

Oh please, God, please, I don't ask for much…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-12T17:42:16.917Z

Yeah, we've noticed.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-13T17:48:41.989Z

Actual LOL.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-15T17:35:05.310Z

Quoted post: the fantasy.This post: the reality

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-16T17:56:17.598Z

That's the story of government from ancient times to the present. In all but very rare cases (so rare they are historically notable), the rulers of any political grouping are the most despicable creatures in the land.What makes Trump different is that he can't even PRETEND to be a civilized man.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-10-17T07:41:54.468Z

 

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Freedom from persistent, dragnet-style surveillance while in public…is a reasonable expectation.  –  Judge Sara E. Hill

Bad Girls

At least this report doesn’t pretend she was a real sex worker:

A woman who admitted to drugging and robbing four men, killing three of them, in New York City was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison…Tabitha Bundrick…would give the men the drugs, sometimes claiming it was cocaine…[then] take their phones, money, watches, clothing, and other items.  Mario Paullan…Miguel Navez…and Abrihan Fernandez Rodriguez…[all] died…[and] Bundrick…[also kept] the victims’ sneakers…in…her apartment[, apparently as trophies]…she…[blamed] her conduct…[on] “drug addiction”…

No Escape

Your “leaders” refer to aggravated rape as “correction”; parroting that is a choice:

A Utah woman [who] was [pepper-sprayed,] drugged[, kicked repeatedly in the head] and raped by [deranged screws inside Nashville’s] Downtown D[unge]on…[has filed] a [federal] lawsuit…Lisa Travis, a school administrator from Salt Lake City, visited Nashville on Oct. 7, 2025, to sing at the Dove Awards…[she] was booked…on [a bogus] trespassing [charge which] the prosecutor later dismissed…[but while in the holding cell another woman tried to cause trouble so] four [pigs] — Brandon Davis, Viniece McBride, Jacob Webb and Louis Bulivant…in[vaded the cell to]…threaten…and [brutalize]…her…McBride then…“saturat[ed her] eyes, mouth and nose with [pepper spray, blinding]…her…for hours…[they then] pushed her onto the floor…restrained her legs…[and dragged her] to another, more isolated part of the jail, where the[y] injected her with [such a large dose of] benzodiazepines…a blood test [could still detect them] nearly a week later…two [of the screws, whom she could not see because of the effects of the pepper spray]…began to kick [her repeatedly] in the head…then…raped her…at 3:30 a.m…they [threw] her out of the back door in her socks [without allowing her to call anyone]…forc[ing her] to wander alone, still disoriented and traumatized, around downtown…[she eventually] found her husband at their hotel, then went to [a hospital where]…she received a rape kit [and was diagnosed with a concussion and traumatic brain injury from the kicking]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1586)

Ken Paxton doesn’t care how many children die because of his actions:

Ken Paxton, the [psychopath-]general of Texas and [a serial lawsuit abuser]…has [now] accused doctors, drug companies and insurers of [“]conspiring[“] to…[protect] children…from…[dangerous diseases by vaccination.  Following his usual modus operandi, the criminal Paxton has begun by attempting to intimidate his victims by official-looking letters making sweeping demands for confidential medical records he is not legally authorized to see under the bizarre excuse of “]consumer protection[“]…Paxton[‘s attempted victims include not only Texas]…pediatricians [individually, but also] the American Academy of Pediatrics…[his motive appears to be not only the promotion of the] Trump[ist cult in general, but also retaliation for]…the…Academy[‘s suing]…the Trump [regime over its dangerous policies] and grant cancellations, with some success so far…

Walled Garden (#1636)

I’m afraid judgments like this are too little, too late:

Utah’s [attempt to enact a de facto ban] on VPNs and similar tools…intended to allow internet users to bypass censorship, firewalls, and surveillance…[has been kneecapped by a federal court.  Wannabe censors] have discovered that tools effective for bypassing Chinese and Iranian censorship are equally useful for evading restrictive laws imposed by the European Union, Brazil, or Utah.  Britain briefly considered targeting VPNs but dropped the idea…of banning technology designed to be unbannable…In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs [ex]plained that the state’s requirements that age verification be applied to all internet users present in Utah…would require them “to age-verify every user of its platforms throughout the world” on the off-chance that they’re Utah residents…Utah’s attorneys [pinky-swore]…not…to…actually…enforce…the law…[but Judge David] Barlow [didn’t buy it, and]…issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the “actually located” provision…

Panopticon (#1661)

Judge rules that unconstitutional surveillance is unconstitutional:

…the tide is turning against Flock…an[d other]…ALPR…system[s] in pervasive [and unconstitutional] use around the country…a federal court in Oklahoma granted a woman’s motion to suppress evidence found in her car after a [Flock] search that was conducted [purely because she had California license plates]…Judge Sara E. Hill…reject[ed] previous court holdings that…automated license plate reader systems are not “searches” for Fourth Amendment purposes…A right not to be subjected to “dragnet-style surveillance while in public…is the same expectation of privacy that the Supreme Court has continued to recognize,” she adds, citing…[the court’s rejection of geofence warrants in] Chatrie v. United States…On September 28, the jury on a federal case out of San Antonio held that…[“pre-crime”] policing…involving…pretextual traffic stops [i]s unconstitutional…

The Cop Myth (#1664)

In which intimidation is euphemized as “talking” and a victim is dysphemized as “the offender”:

A…Chicago [cop attempted to murder a whole group of young] people [because] one [got tired of his big talk and slapped him]…the [pig was not wearing his magical clown costume, but]…when he s[aw a]…group [of teenagers] standing on the sidewalk [he couldn’t resist playing the big cheese by swaggering up to them and barfing cop intimidation talk at them]…when [one of the teens got tired of it he foolishly slapped the big-mouthed cop, who flew into an unhinged rage and shot both] the [teen who slapped him]…and…another [young man who was merely] standing [nearby.  His typical cop cowardice then kicked in, so]…he…drove a short distance away and [then got]…out and [started] firing…at [every person he could see.  The first victim]…was [arrested and] transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition.  The [deranged cop, whose identity is being hidden by his gang, is still at large and presumed to be armed and dangerous]…

To Molest and Rape (#1676)

Cops shouldn’t be allowed anywhere legal minors even might be:

A Houston-area family is suing a [typical and representative cop for raping a 13-year-old]…Nicholas Burbridge…[used] an online dating app called “Pure”…[while] pretend[ing] to be a 16-year-old…to [groom] the…girl…[then] picked her up and t[ook] her to his residence…[where he] gave [her] edibles from a dispensary, which [because she was] 13…[and had no tolerance caused her] to [eventually pass out, after which he raped her]…Burbridge’s attorney, Cordt Akers, [called the girl a liar and claimed she is motivated by]…”money to be made”…Harris County [apparently believes otherwise because]…Burbridge was [fir]ed on March 6…

 

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

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I’ve never seen [corruption] like this outside…of a TV show.
–  Mark Begnaud

I recently remembered another favorite from Sesame Street, and it’s even seasonally appropriate!  The links above the video were provided by Shiv Ramdas; Franklin Harris; Jesse Walker and Franklin Harris again; Mike Siegel; David Ley; T. Greg Doucette; and IncarcerNation, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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“AI” allows you to get to a bad idea faster.

I had until recently completely forgotten about this song from The Electric Company, which I can remember my little brother singing around the house.  The links above the video were provided by Shiv Ramdas, Jesse Walker, Tracy Quan, Asawin Suebsaeng, Glenn Kessler, and IncarcerNation, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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Ugh, this sounds like something he mutters to himself during masturbation.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-15T03:01:51.899Z

I always have mixed feelings about "investigations" or "studies" that "find" things which were always completely bloody obvious. On the one hand, I'm glad more people are admitting the problem. But on the other hand, HOLY SHIT WHY DID IT TAKE Y'ALL OVER 30 YEARS TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING SO OBVIOUS?

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-16T07:22:05.418Z

"School resource officer" is a cop euphemism for "sexually-predatory thug paid to lurk in schools so as to spy on, harass, and molest students, and burden them with criminal records for 'offenses' which in more enlightened times were punished with detention and writing lines on the chalkboard."

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-17T18:05:16.858Z

Long ago, I realized that thinking about the money bandits extort from you via threat of burning your farm as still somehow being "yours", and obsessing about what the warlords do with it, is the way to madness.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-20T03:30:11.795Z

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-21T03:38:05.129Z

This looks like a CGI image of a fake CGI sign. In other words, the sign *itself* is CGI, not just the image *on* the nonexistent sign.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-21T17:38:30.715Z

Yes, "health" obsessives truly are full of shit.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-22T17:07:46.039Z

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T07:24:33.815Z

Any decent car or motorcycle can do it in under 4 seconds once it gets moving.These figures mean less than nothing without context.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-25T03:16:33.048Z

Investors stupid and gullible enough to believe this deserve to lose their money when the bubble bursts.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-25T16:40:36.172Z

Modern policing began in most parts of the US in the 1870s. At that time, $1 had the buying power of $30 today.Imagine telling the people of that time that the "law enforcement" they were voting for would one day be used to persecute people for picking up A DOLLAR someone had dropped.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-26T17:25:54.126Z

N.B.: Cryptocurrency is not an "investment", and anyone who believes it is looks like this:

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-27T17:19:23.344Z

Americans have no "philosophy"; they have religion (including partisan politics and entertainment fandom). The number of exceptions in the whole country could comfortably attend a conference on my farm, with room left over for a convention of ethical cops.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-28T17:46:16.457Z

It's very rare that airports get named after people who gave something to the world rather than taking from it; I can only think of two other examples offhand, New Orleans and Oklahoma City.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-29T02:30:21.861Z

"Doctor" Carson thinks hot dogs grow out of the ground like corn.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-30T18:05:12.332Z

We live in a fallen world.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-08-31T17:24:10.226Z

Reporters: "controversial" should not be used as a euphemism for "evil", "unpopular", "tyrannical", "universally reviled", etc.Words mean things; please be more professional with your vocabulary choices.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-01T17:15:02.453Z

If I'd written a satire in which Goebbels Farms honored a Neo-Nazi, my editor would've said it was too obvious.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T03:19:20.912Z

Headline from 1989: "Has our oat bran obsession gone too far?"Same answer.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T18:04:13.456Z

"Return hub" is such a nice way to say "concentration camp".

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-04T17:05:19.288Z

I remember when we were at least ruled by adults.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-05T17:21:43.608Z

The idea that there could be such a thing as a "true-crime star" is like something out of a dystopian comic book universe.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-06T18:05:23.948Z

Your "leaders" want you to believe that you are a tabula rasa, a mere thing without free will to be acted upon (by media, websites, propaganda, the collective, etc) and shaped in a Skinnerian dystopia.Do not believe them. You can CHOOSE not to be warped in this way, BUT THE CHOICE MUST BE ACTIVE.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-08T17:30:09.952Z

The phrase "trusted ad partners", which appears on many adblocker-blocker popups, is really quite funny. Those "trusted partners" are picked by software in automated auctions; *y'all* may be greedy enough to trust these randos, but I'm not as gullible as you would like me to be.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-10T16:52:28.464Z

I'll just leave this here: archive.is/SGZcS

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-11T18:42:41.516Z

The only thing more infuriating than mansplaining is amateursplaining. Holy shit.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-12T07:47:56.110Z

Take THAT, "Woman of the Year"!

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-13T17:25:26.151Z

I blocked him so he won't have to be disappointed that I object to strangers driving by my house and throwing garbage on my lawn.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-14T17:44:05.619Z

It sounds like they're talking about a mad dog. Which, to be fair, isn't completely wrong.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T17:21:32.591Z

Dr. Altman of Dr. Altman's Medicine Show says people are right to fear snake oil, but should trust snake oil SALESMEN.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-16T19:24:36.788Z

Comparison for those of my age: just imagine if an official of Jimmy Carter's cabinet had been advocating for a no-fly zone over the "Bermuda Triangle", and other politicians were actually writing laws to ban such flights.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2026-09-17T19:19:44.712Z

 

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