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Posts Tagged ‘male prostitutes’

[Prison officials] do not give a shit about…medical care. Not one shit.  –  Deborah Ujevich

Schadenfreude

It’s heartening to see so many rescue industry profiteers exposed as the sociopaths they are:

The founder of the International House of Prayer of Kansas City, a [rescue industry] organization, is facing serious allegations of [sexual] misconduct…Mike Bickle has led the organization since its founding in 1999…three former IHOPKC leaders said the allegations…[were] “credible and long-standing”…they tried to bring the allegations…to Bickle…[but] “were repeatedly rebuffed by Mike Bickle and we were refused any sort of meeting…Instead, Mike used manipulating and intimidating tactics towards the victims to isolate them and discredit them”…For years, [IHOPKC] has come under criticism by ex-staffers and former followers who accuse it of being cult-like…In 2012, a park ranger found follower Bethany Deaton, 27, dead in the backseat of a minivan…just weeks after her wedding…a group of young people [had lived] together under the strict control of Bethany’s husband, Tyler Deaton.  Most of the group, whose members…used sex as part of their religious experience, had come to Kansas City to be part of IHOPKC

Checklist (#1014)

The government scheme to cut sex workers off from the healthcare system isn’t dead yet:

St. Joseph’s Health [in New Jersey is subjecting its]…Emergency Department staff members…[to] in[doctrination]…designed to detect [sex workers] and…facilitate the[ir] prosecution…[blah blah] tools to engage with victims…increasing…27.6 million people worldwide…Homeland Security…[fascist] partnership…raise awareness…survivor once trapped in trafficking…psychological control…training the emergency team…to identify…victims [us]ing [scientific criteria like a “feeling of sadness“]…

The Lesser of Two Evils (#1176)

Maybe the Church should delineate acceptable ways for clergy to meet their sexual needs:

A Catholic bishop in southern Poland has resigned after a sex worker passed out at a clandestine orgy allegedly hosted by one of his clergy.  Grzegorz Kaszak, the bishop of Sosnowiec, had been under pressure…for several weeks after details of the all-male sex party were released to the press…[it] is alleged to have been held at the rectory of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels church in Dabrowa Gornicza…at the end of August…a…sex worker fell unconscious under the influence of “psychotropic substances”, a[nd]…another man…rang the local ambulance service for help…

Law of the Instrument (#1216)

Picture what you’d think of as “sex trafficking”, then compare it to this:

A [Nebraska] teen [has been charged with] sex trafficking two teen girls…Cody Holum, 17, is charged as an adult…[for] threaten[ing] to share nude photos of…[a] 16-year-old [girl]…if she did not allow him to sexually assault her….despite telling him no, Holum came to her work and sexually assaulted her…[when cops rooted throug his computer, they] found conversations between Holum and a second [girl]…where he allegedly threatened to harm her if she did [not]…send him sexually explicit photos and videos of herself…

This shitty behavior is usually referred to by the idiotic term “sextortion” rather than the even more idiotic term “sex trafficking”.

Torture Chamber (#1366)

Screws’ idea of prison health care is yelling “Stop faking!” at the sick and dying:

West Virginia…[politicians have] ban[ned]…any health care for incarcerated people that [screws and prison bureaucrats don’t] deem…“medically necessary”.  The policy leaves it to state [Torturing Caged Humans] Commissioner Billy Marshall—a [lifelong pig]…who has said incarcerated people are lying when they allege inhumane treatment by the state—to define “medically necessary” and makes clear that…his de[cisions]…supersede guidance from [actual] health professionals…

See No Evil (#1374)

Realistic cartoons are still cartoons, but that doesn’t matter to those who can’t tell fantasy from reality:

The Internet Watch Foundation…has found thousands of [computer]-generated images which are…criminal under UK law[, as are even the most cartoony porn cartoons if a cop decides they depict characters who are “children” within the fictive universe of the cartoon, regardless of what the creator says about these wholly-fictional characters.  Computers are]…being used to produce new images of real victims, de-age celebrities and unclothe children in ordinary photos to depict them in abuse scenarios…In a new study of a single dark web forum, the IWF found 2,978 [computer-]generated [porn cartoons]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1384)

Cops are sexual predators who often specifically target traumatized women:

A [Florida cop] has been arrested [for stalking, propositioning, and sending dick pics to]…a 17-year-old girl he met while responding to a domestic violence call…Jemiah Thomas…[talked the girl out of her] phone number…and [bombarded her with sexual messages]…In one message, Thomas told her he could be her “personal sheriff that handcuff you from time to time”…the girl…[told her] father[, who then reported]…Thomas…[and another cop caught him by fantasy role-play]ing as the [girl]…

 

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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The implication is that [edible] manufacturers want to trick kids into getting high, although it’s not clear why that would be a sensible business strategy.  –  Jacob Sullum

Bottleneck

Worldwide, over 90% of whores prefer to work illegally than submit to “registration”:

The Dutch Cabinet’s plan to register sex workers…will…worsen their situation, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) warned…The Cabinet’s proposal would allow municipalities to [demand]…sex workers…register their personal data, and to require businesses operating in the space to force their workers to do the same.  The Cabinet [justified] the [scheme by barfing out that all-purpose excuse for violating women’s rights, “]human trafficking[“, but in reality]…sex workers would wind up plying their trade underground “for fear of registration and loss of privacy.”  As a result, they would fall out of view of authorities…

Law of the Instrument (#974)

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

[Mike Jeffries,] the ex-CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner [Matthew Smith]…used a middleman to find young men for…events, [and now eight] of [them] allege…they were exploited or abused…the couple’s middleman denied any wrongdoing and said men went into these events “with their eyes wide open”.  Abercrombie & Fitch…[bloviated pearl-clutching nonsense against Jeffries to protect its] brand…Two former US prosecutors…have called for an investigation to determine whether charges for sex trafficking could be brought…

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1185)

Why do so many morons refuse to grasp that nobody is going to give expensive cannabis edibles to their spawn for free?

It’s October, which means it is time for alarmist cops and credulous reporters to start [attempt]ing [to panic] parents about the purported menace of cannabis edibles in trick-or-treat bags.  KSNT…in Topeka, Kansas, got a jump on that annual rite last month, when it amplified a “community advisory” from the…[local cop shop] about “THC-infused gummies and snacks marketed to children ahead of the holidays”…

Without Let or Hindrance (#1303)

These abuses are finally getting the attention they’ve needed for a generation:

It’s hard to overstate how little mainstream news attention has been paid to…problems with the [“child welfare”] system, which…is more akin to law enforcement than social services, given its ability to surveil parents and hand down the ultimate punishment — terminating the legal bonds between parent and child.  Families ensnared in the system lack many basic due process rights in navigating a punitive bureaucracy, and they typically don’t receive a lawyer until the state seeks temporary or permanent custody of their child in court.  Regardless, children…aren’t actually made safer; the rates of maltreatment for children in foster care are abysmal, and research has repeatedly found that children who enter the system fare worse on multiple measures than children left in their homes…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1304)

If you didn’t foresee where this was going, you haven’t been paying attention:

A woman has been [condemn]ed to life in [a cage] after [a gang of whiny-baby cops had panic attacks while rooting through]…Jessica Thomas[‘ possessions without her permission after using]…a…traffic stop [as a pretext]…Douglas County sheriff Dan Coverley [spouted a lot of pseudoscientific nonsense about an “]increase in pressure from transporting the drugs from low elevation to high elevation[” somehow magically changing the physical and chemical properties]…of…fentanyl [so it would behave as cops imagine it does rather than as it actually does in the real world]…

Checklist (#1363)

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

American Airlines has apologized to a Black musician who…was [harassed using the asinine pretext] that he was trafficking his own children, [based solely on their being] biracial…David Ryan Harris…and two of his children, Truman, 12, and Hendrix, 7, were flying…from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Sept. 15…[when an air hostess started peppering] his children [with nosy] questions…After the plane landed, Mr. Harris…and his children were [confronted] at the top of the jet bridge by an American Airlines employee and [a pack of] four [scowling cops]…They…were eventually allowed to continue on to the baggage claim area, but were not given an apology….[until] he p[ublicized the harassment on] Instagram…

Permanent Record (#1379)

I can’t feel sorry for someone whose job is ruining lives for violating arbitrary diktats when they get in trouble due to a similar diktat:

The Minneapolis Police Department is looking into a [female cop] who moonlights as an OnlyFans model.  [Local news] is not identifying the [cop, though they would never extend the same courtesy to any other sex worker]…

 

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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Who doesn’t want to help people explore different things?  –  Chayse

Above the Law

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

A [typical and representative] U.S. Homeland Security [thug] was sentenced…to life in prison for violating two women’s civil rights by trying to stop them from telling police he [raped] them…John Olivas…beat…and sexually assault[ed both when]…they were, first one and then the other, his girlfriends…Olivas raped one of the women twice and attempted to rape the other one once…but…will appeal his federal conviction…[because he thinks]…as a federal agent…he…is [above the law]…An ex-wife testified that in 2004 she, too, was raped by Olivas…

Skin To Skin

There can never be too many articles on sex workers for the disabled:

…As well as providing his skills as a sex worker, Chayse has also been talking with a dating coach to see how he can support [his client] Melanie navigate the “tango of dating” and help her build future romantic partnerships with other people…For Melanie, the experience is more than just sexual liberation and she has got so much out of this ongoing experience she believes governments should…support disabled people in accessing sexual services…And she has been excited to share her new experiences with friends and family…

To Molest and Rape

When predators aren’t culled, they just keep on predating:

A Toronto [cop named]…Ramdial Lokenath…[raped] a woman on May 19, 2022…[after going] to an apartment…for a reported domestic assault…While his partner was in the p[igmobile] with the [husband], Lokenath returned to the apartment [under the pretext of] tak[ing the woman’s] statement…he…turned off the video on his body camera and muted the audio…while [telling] the…woman…he could “influence the charges facing her husband”…[so she would submit to rape when he returned later without his partner]…Lokenath was also charged with…assaulting his [own] wife on Oct. 19, 2022…

Unchristian Nation

Government at every level crusades against Christian charity:

…Since 2005, Micah’s Way has operated a resource center where volunteers help connect their poor and homeless clients with birth certificates, ID cards, clothing, bus passes, and other services…They also offer the people who come to the resource center muffins, pastries, and fruit, plus hot coffee…their charitable activities continued without issue for over 15 years…then…in November 2021, Micah’s Way received an administrative citation from Santa Ana [California]…demand[ing] that the group obtain a certificate of occupancy at their resource center or else cease all operations there.  When the group applied for the needed certificate, they were denied…on the grounds that it was engaged in food distribution, which wasn’t allowed by their property’s “professional district” zoning…the city [threatened]…the group…[with] “administrative fines, criminal prosecution and/or civil remedies such as injunctions and penalties”…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:  “A M[issouri cop named]…Cory Younger….has been arrested and] charged with possession of child pornography…

Opting Out (#1313)

Most Americans still believe France is a sex-positive society:

The…French government…confirmed…that it will attempt to bypass the courts to force the five largest adult sites accessible in the country to comply with a controversial, vaguely worded 2020 age verification law…[because it] is frustrated with the legal challenge mounted by lawyers for Pornhub, Tukif, xHamster, XVideos and Xnxx…the government’s intention [is] to [place the internet censoship agency] ARCOM…[above] the courts…[as] part of a new bill intended to “secure and regulate the digital space”…

In case you’re wondering what the last ominous statement means:

The French government has confirmed that the new bill it introduced…to bypass the courts and force platforms to implement age verification will apply not only to specifically adult sites but also to any site that allows explicit content, including Twitter…

The Cop Myth (#1336)

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

A [Tennessee cop has been arrested but also rewarded with a paid vacation for]…pointing an AK-47 rifle at [his ex-girlfriend]’s car and later kicking her in the face…Jarreil Peoples…[attacked her when she came to his home to] exchange [some] property…he…approached her car with…[the] rifle and pointed it at her car, [so she drove] away out of fear…Peoples then called her to say he put the rifle up and asked her to return to the house to exchange property.  She [foolishly] returned…and…Peoples [used the opportunity to] kick…in her driver’s side window, hitting her in the face with his foot and shards of glass…Peoples…[previously attacked her when] he came to [her] apartment to return a house key…as she and Peoples walked towards the front door, he turned around, picked her up and body slammed her into some stairs…

 

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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This…is just encouraging [prohibitionists] to bury us in paperwork that won’t accomplish anything.  –  an adult site webmaster

R.I.P. Shane Petzer

Shane Petzer, co-founder of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), has died following a sudden heart attack.  Petzer was renowned for his advocacy of sex work in South Africa…Dr. Gordon Isaacs…also a co-founder of SWEAT…became acquainted with Petzer during the 1983 AIDS pandemic…Petzer…[w]as a male sex worker…[who] attend[ed] the first international sex worker conference in Japan…[which] inspired him to start…SWEAT…in 1996 after Petzer [met]…Ilsa Pauw[, an academic studying]…violence against female sex workers in Cape Town. Together with Pauw, Isaacs and a group of other people, SWEAT began its fight for the protection of sex workers…As a man having lived healthily with HIV for 20 years, [Petzer] also advocated for the universal treatment of people living with HIV…

To Molest and Rape

Another sexual predator specifically targeted a traumatized woman:

A Toronto [cop] who [was dispatched] to a woman’s [domestic violence] call…returned to…he[r]…home the next day and sexually assaulted her…Conal Quinn [was charged] with sexual assault and breach of trust following [the] March 21, 2021…assault [and rewarded with a paid vacation]…

Sexcrime (#911)

Respite from UK porn censorship lasted less than three years:

U.K. media [censor] Ofcom…[has] issued “new guidance” for video-sharing platform providers regarding what the government considers “measures to protect users from harmful material”…the…“guidance”…applies to U.K.-based platforms such as OnlyFans, PocketStars, TikTok, Snapchat, Vimeo and Twitch…and…includes…“protecting…users” from “material inciting violence or hatred…terrorism; child sexual abuse material; and racism and xenophobia”…[but the fine print attempts to restore a ban on “]material which has been deemed, or would likely be deemed, unsuitable for classification (such as sadistic violence or torture)[” which was struck down in February 2019]…the “Guidance” is described as “not a set of compulsory steps” but merely as “intended to help guide providers in deciding how best to comply with the statutory requirements”…[but] also [resurrects the requirement for]…”strict age-verification processes” [which was essentially abandoned as unworkable two years ago this month]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1008) 

European politicians consider talking about taking a baby step in the right direction:

The European Parliament has called for…a ban on law enforcement’s use of facial recognition, as well as other surveillance tools commonly used in the course of [so-called] predictive policing…[cop shops] would be prohibited from conducting biometric surveillance in public spaces—and a moratorium would be placed on tech that scoops up personal data via stuff like “gait, fingerprints, DNA, voice, and other biometric and behavioural signals.”  The measure also suggests the banning of facial recognition databases operated by private companies—a stipulation that would seriously hamper companies like dystopian creepster Clearview AI from operating within the EU’s borders…Yet while that all sounds pretty good, Parliament’s measure is non-binding…

I Spy (#1082)

Curiosity offends the state, comrade:

The U.S. government is secretly ordering Google to provide data on anyone typing in certain search terms…such “keyword warrants” threaten to implicate innocent Web users in serious crimes…[including “sex] trafficking[“]…racketeering…[and] fraud…search term orders are effectively fishing expeditions, hoping to ensnare possible suspects whose identities the government does not know.  It’s not dissimilar to so-called geofence warrants, where [cops demand] Google…provide information on anyone within [a certain distance of some] location [labeled] a crime scene at a given time…Google is continuing to comply with such controversial requests, despite concerns over their legality and the potential to implicate innocent people…Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at…ACLU…[said] “This never-before-possible technique threatens First Amendment interests and will inevitably sweep up innocent people, especially if the keyword terms are not unique and the time frame not precise. To make matters worse, police are currently doing this in secret, which [hides] the practice from public debate and regulation.”

The Next Target (#1130)

This elaborate concern kabuki is the direct result of “sex trafficking” propaganda:

XBIZ has been able to review a suggested “Report Abuse” compliance form that is part of compliance packages that several major industry sites have received with instructions to customize before October 15 in order to continue processing credit card transactions.  The form features a checklist of clickable boxes that anyone visiting an adult site is encouraged to use to report what they [claim] to be…“underage material,” “copyright/trademark infringement”…“prostitution or trafficking,” “weapons,” “drugs” and “other”…[one] webmaster said…“They want us to put a link to this [checklist] in all the footers on every page…which is then [copied] directly to Mastercard.”  The webmaster pointed out that both ruthless competitors and crusading anti-porn activists are likely to flood the system with bogus complaints…The webmaster also noted that the form essentially forces all adult sites to add the words “underage material,” “prostitution or trafficking,” “weapons” and “drugs” to their metadata, which then puts them at risk of AI shadowbans or even state surveillance…

Stalkers in Blue (#1140)

A whole gang of sexual predators specifically targeting traumatized women:

A woman who[se] picture…[was taken without her consent while cops abducted her from a] Sarah Everard vigil [that the cops had tried to prevent w]as [harassed by] “about 50” [cops]…via a dating app, leaving her “terrified”.  Patsy Stevenson…said they knew she was “fearful of police” and had done it “for a reason”…Hundreds attended the vigil…in south London fo[r]…Ms Everard, who was [raped and] murdered by [typical and representative cop] Wayne Couzens after he abducted her while she was walking home…[even though cops tried to] cancel…[the event by claiming]…it w[as] illegal under lockdown restrictions…[just as Couzens himself had used those same tyrannical diktats to intimidate his victim into submitting to abduction]…the “sombre atmosphere… turned very scary very quickly” after police started t[errorizing] the crowd…[Stevenson] has since launched legal action against the Met Police over the arrest

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It was not just that their perspective was discarded. Their perspective wasn’t even heard.  –  Ro Khanna

Torture Chamber

Stop faking!

…in…March 2014…19-year-old Nimali Henry was booked [into the St. Bernard parish jail] on charges of simple battery, disturbing the peace and unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling…she was living with a rare…blood disorder and…in desperate need of her medication…[but] did not have [it] with her [when arrested and screws made no effort to obtain it for her]…Two days later, other [prisoners tried] to…talk…to the guards on duty about her.  In a…video from March 31, 2014, Nimali [can be] seen stumbling and…barely [able to] walk as…guards [shout “stop faking!” at her].  Later that same day, another video shows her lying on a prison bunk with no mattress covered with what appears to be nothing more than a blanket…[she] died hours later…[as the direct result of] jail…[staff refusing to obtain] her medication and [intentionally leaving her] in excruciating pain for 10 days.  The[y]…never [even] called an ambulance….St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann [called the willful murder a “]shortfall[” and]…declined….to look at the video [because “he does not want to see anyone…die in jail”]…Four jail workers pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges…Andre Dominick…Timothy Williams…Lisa Vacrella and Debra Becnel…

What the story doesn’t tell you:  St. Bernard dramatically expanded its jail around 1990 so it could make money warehousing human beings for other parishes who lacked the room to cram any more people into their own cage stacks.

Don’t Take My Word For It (#541)

When a “study” makes silly claims like this, look for the reasons:

…Some researchers…seem obsessed with the idea of proving that sex work isn’t gendered and that women pay for sexual services in increasing numbers…from men…This…claim [is]…based on the number of profiles on [adult service websites, but]…most of these male-owned accounts have no feedback which suggests that they’re not escorts, but fantasists who set up a profile pretending to be an escort as part of their fantasy.  They’re attracted to the idea of anonymous sex as well as the misguided belief that someone would be interested in pursuing them sexually and even paying for the privilege.  Men who typically pay for sex are turned on by the idea that someone might want them enough to offer them money for it.  The male-owned profiles which do have feedback often have it because they pay for sex, get feedback from sex workers, then switch their profile around so it looks like women have paid for their services….client posing is commonly known amongst sex workers; if sex workers had been consulted on the research, that claim would have been contested…

This is an excellent article which explains a number of other silly “study” claims as well.

Full of Themselves (#831)

Racist persecution of massage parlors is a popular pastime for California “authorities”:

…the [victim of California] officials[‘ crusade against mundane businesses they ludicrously defamed as] “an organized crime sex trafficking ring operating across California” has been sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in state prison…Jing Chiang Huang was also ordered to pay $557,391 in [back taxes] to the California Franchise Tax Board [thus revealing the true motive behind the joint pogrom]…by federal, state and local [cop shops]…More than a dozen [employes] were [arrested and deported] in the process, according to a press release [calling the violence “rescue”]…

Uncommon Sense (#898) 

The Spanish high court says the government has no power to suppress a sex worker union:

Spanish sex workers have the right to form their own union, the Supreme Court ruled…overturning an earlier court decision ordering [its] dissolution…OTRAS…was discretely set up in August 2018 but was [attacked] three months later by…[prohibition]ist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez….and [his Swedish-criminalization cultist followers even though the law clearly states] that sex workers “have the fundamental right to freedom of association and the right to form a union”…

Imaginary Victims (#902) 

A celebrity accomplished what do-nothing “safe harbor” laws couldn’t:

…in…April of 2020…Ohio’s governor…grant[ed] the release of a 22-year-old…Alexis Martin…[from prison] after Kim Kardashian visited [her there]…after six years, five months and 13 days…she…wi[ll]…be…track[ed by ankle monitor]…every second…[and] on parole, being [spi]ed on and drug tested until at least 2034.  Her record w[ill] always show a murder conviction, [with] all the limitations [that] bring[s]…

The article has some good information, but you’ll need to pick around the wads of ugly prohibitionist propaganda and chunks of infantilizing, agency-denying language as you would pick around slimy green things in a casserole that’s otherwise edible.

Rough Trade (#923)

In the US, the victim would’ve been arrested:

Jessie Campos was found guilty of raping a sex worker in a [New Zealand] brothel in late 2018, and sentenced to three years and nine months in prison…he was made aware on several occasions a condom was legally required and he agreed to use one…but…the[n]…removed [it]…The woman indicated he had acted inappropriately and made him put the condom back on.  Without her knowledge, Campos again removed the condom and ejaculated inside her.  The woman ran to her manager’s office and the police were called…Judge Stephen Harrop…rejected the defence claim that the stealthing was not premeditated and that cultural factors [Campos emigrated from the Philippines] were relevant to the sentencing…

Yes, this is rape.  No, I don’t want to “discuss” it.

Safe Position (#991)

Even journalists are beginning to recognize what a huge backfire FOSTA was:

Sex workers have gained the backing of a small group of Democratic [politicians] after…being [entirely] shut out of the policymaking process [for decades].  The turning point was…FOSTA…also referred to as SESTA…which was [intended] to punish online platforms facilitating [sex work]…Despite the best efforts of sex workers to dissuade [politicians], the bill passed through both chambers easily…in 2018…“until very recently [no politician] wanted to be seen as facilitating…or encouraging sex work,” said Mike Stabile…of…the Free Speech Coalition…[anti-FOSTA politician Ro] Khanna [said]…his colleagues “didn’t even want to take meetings because of the possible images or pictures” with sex workers that could have been taken.  Stigma also hurts [civol rights] organizations’ funding because consumers of pornopgraphy are “embarrassed” to publically back them, says sex worker and writer Cathy Reisenwitz…

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 [A Biden victory] is not a victory for sex workers.  –  Penelope Saunders

A False Dichotomy 

Cathy Reisenwitz on the dogma that sex without “enthusiastic consent” is rape:

…most of our choices in life…[a]re not straightforwardly coercive or cooperative, but somewhere in-between…This leads me to the inevitable conclusion that consent versus coercion isn’t a binary.  It’s a spectrum…On one end of the spectrum you have slavery and rape.  On the opposite end you have enthusiastic consent.  But most choices fall somewhere in the middle…When we say we are “forced” to make a choice, we mean that there’s no acceptable alternative.  We say we’ve been forced to do something if the alternative is death or jail.  When we say we’re “pressured” to make a choice, what we mean is there’s no appealing alternative.  We say we’ve been pressured to do something if the alternative is unpleasant or inconvenient.  The difference then between force and pressure is a difference of scope, not kind.  They’re both coercion, but are different levels of coercion…

Don’t Take My Word For It (#873)

While it’s not surprising to see male sex work increase during the pandemic, I’m extremely skeptical of claims, such as those in this story, that the clients are predominantly female.  Anti-queer stigma is much higher in India than in the US, so naturally male sex workers there are going to claim – as some did for decades in the US – that most of their clients are female in order to save face.  But as usual, the claims in this story don’t ring true, and the quotes from the interviewees only serve to underscore that.

Pyrrhic Victory (#992) 

Seattle cops have a positive fetish for illegal surveillance:

…a…Seattle Police…detective…signed up for and used facial recognition app Clearview AI, which…i[s a] violation of the City of Seattle’s Surveillance Ordinance…Nick Kartes…signed up for Clearview in September 2019 using his “@seattle.gov” work email address…he logged into the service over 30 times, as recently as April 22…the devices used to log into Detective Kartes’ account were connected to the City of Seattle network…This follows an established pattern, highlighted this summer, where Seattle police regularly flaunt the law…

But don’t worry, toothless local laws will definitely stop this!

Panopticon (#993)

Amazon’s fascist collaboration with cops just keeps getting worse:

…While people buy Ring cameras and put them on their front door to keep their packages safe, police use them to build comprehensive CCTV camera networks blanketing whole neighborhoods.  This…allows police departments to [shift] the cost of buying surveillance equipment…onto consumers by convincing them they need cameras to keep their property safe…[and] evades the natural reaction of fear and distrust that many people would have if they learned police were putting up dozens of cameras on their block…Now…police in Jackson, Mississippi, have started a pilot program t[o convince]…Ring owners to patch the camera streams from their front doors directly to…police…footage [of] your…coming and going…your neighbors taking out the trash, and the dog walkers and delivery people who do their jobs in your street…can now be live streamed directly onto a dozen monitors scrutinized by police around the clock.  Even if you refuse to allow your footage to be used that way, your neighbor’s camera pointed at your house may still be transmitting directly to the police[, plus all cops need do is ask and Amazon will grant warrantless access to your camera without your consent]…


The Pro-Rape Coalition (#1033) 

Censors’ fixation on Pornhub spreads to Thailand:

Thailand’s government said…it had banned Pornhub and 190 other websites showing pornography, prompting social media anger over censorship…many Thai users trended the #SavePornhub hashtag on Twitter and criticised the shutting of a site in a country…which has a globally-known sex industry…A few dozen activists protested the block outside the digital ministry, holding banners saying “free Pornhub” and “reclaim Pornhub”…Internet research firm Top10VPN said it saw a spike in searches from Thailand for Virtual Private Networks (VPN), which help circumvent censorship, by 640%…after Pornhub was [censored]…

And India:

The Cyber Police agency of the Indian state of Maharashtra — the region that includes populous Mumbai — has formally accused several platforms of “transmitting sexually explicit and obscene content online”…[the sites include] Xvideos and Pornhub.  Inspector General of Police Yashasvi Yadav [made furtive movements in his pants while sharing his fantasy that]…”the actresses in these videos have been exploited, lured or compelled to perform the obscene acts. We will be treating the actresses as ‘victims’ and not ‘accused persons’”…

To Molest and Rape (#1048)

Since costumed rapists are essentially immune to criminal law, civil law has to do:

A new lawsuit [has been] filed against [typical and representative] Louisville [cop] Brett Hankison…a…sexual predator…who…[has] willfully, intentionally, painfully and violently…[raped at least 10 women over the years and achieved recent notoriety for the murder] of…Breonna Taylor…LMPD has…fired Hankison for his role in the [murder, but ignored all the rape complaints]…nine o[f the] women who…Hankison [raped have made statements in the lawsuit, filed by Margo Borders, a lawyer he raped in 2018]…

(State) Violence Against Women

Two hardline prohibitionists at the top do not bode well for sex workers:

…Phoenix Calida…[of] SWOP-USA…says of a Biden win, “I see things getting worse for sex workers, actually.”  Calida’s assessment is due in part to Biden’s sponsorship of the 1994 crime bill…“‘Tough on crime,’ which Biden has really promoted his entire career, is really not helpful at all to sex workers…Biden is like, ‘Let’s not defund the police, let’s give them more money!’”  Advocates’ concerns around…Kamala Harris, are both more numerous and concrete.  “You couldn’t get a candidate with a worse record on sex work,” says [Penelope] Saunders of [Best Practices Policy Project].  In 2008, Harris called San Francisco’s Proposition K—an attempt at halting the enforcement of laws against prostitution—“completely ridiculous.”  Harris also infamously pursued the shutdown of Backpage and the prosecution of the site’s owners despite warnings that shuttering the site would put sex workers in greater danger and make it harder to investigate sex trafficking cases. (It did.)  She also helped develop the devastating SESTA/FOSTA, specifically as a means of targeting Backpage…[and supports]…the EARN IT Act, a bill…which threatens sex workers’ ability to use encrypted messaging services…as well as free speech online…opponents of the bill…are calling it “SESTA/FOSTA 2.0.”…

Elephant in the Parlor (#1078)

Compare the ugly, racist, agency-negating whore stigma used by Democrats in this article to attack someone closely associated with Trump, to the ugly, racist, agency-negating whore stigma used by Republicans just a month earlier to attack someone closely associated with Biden, and then tell me again how they’re so different and why sex workers should trust either pack of fanatics:  “President Trump’s top campaign strategist, Jason Miller…admitted to hiring prostitutes and receiving sexual favors at multiple ‘Asian themed’ massage parlors, an industry known to have connections to sex trafficking rings…”  “Progressives” want sex workers to believe they’re on our side, but they go straight for the anti-whore slurs the second they think it will win them cheap points on the “other team”.

Social Distancing (#1084)

Prohibitionists don’t care who has to suffer to advance their twisted agenda:

India’s sex workers suffered a setback…following a U-turn by the country’s human rights body, which said [sex workers] should not be registered as workers or guaranteed financial aid from the government amid the fallout of COVID-19.  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) last month asked state governments to recognise sex workers as informal workers, which would have entitled them to benefits and aid from a $23 billion fund for India’s poor during the coronavirus pandemic…the watchdog’s non-binding advisory was hailed by [human rights experts]… as a boon for the rights of an estimated 800,000 sex workers across India, [but prohibitionists, led by the evil and deeply-deranged Sunitha Krishnan, worked to intimidate the commission by issuing veiled threats of expensive and troublesome legal complaints based in bad “]sex trafficking[” laws.  In response to these threats]…The NHRC…issued a new statement that said sex workers could not be registered officially or categorised as informal workers….[but] should instead be given help on “humanitarian grounds” during the pandemic…

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[COVID-19 schemes] are throwing the working class under the bus.  –  Dr. Martin Kulldorff

Don’t Take My Word For It (#592)

The Australian site Mama Mia, like the US site Jezebel, seems unable to make up its collective mind about sex work.  It has often published anti-sex work propaganda, like its notorious “Faces of Prostitution” article from March 2015 (which featured pictures of bruised, emaciated, drug-ravaged women accompanied with propaganda text from the notorious Christian anti-sex group “Exodus Cry”), or the October 2013 article in which it opined that for sex workers to have Amazon wishlists was “creepy” and “bizarre” (Jezebel wrote on the same topic the same week).  On the other hand, it also published several good articles by the late Grace Bellavue, and now this new one interviewing a male escort who caters to women, and one of his clients.  And of course Jezebel now features the pro-sex work writer Tracy Clark-Flory, so maybe there’s hope for both sites yet.

Unchristian Nation (#907)

Government thugs continue their crusade against Christian charity:

Border Patrol [thugs abducted] 19 people [from] a No More Deaths camp near Arivaca, Ariz., on [October 4th]…12 were in the country without [document]ation…[and] the remaining seven…were No More Deaths volunteers…No More Deaths representatives described the incident as a “military-style” raid with a “massive show of armed force”…[including] “dozens” of trucks…and a [tank]…This was the second raid against the humanitarian camp south of Tucson, near the U.S.-Mexico border, this year, and along with the escalated actions, Border Patrol officials also amped up their rhetoric against the group, [referr]ing t[o] the organization[‘s]…saving lives…as “harboring” people…

Between the Ears (#923)

Yet another ill-conceived, internet-connected dick gadget:

…the Qiui Cellmate internet-connected chastity lock…works by allowing a trusted partner to remotely lock and unlock the chamber over Bluetooth using a mobile app.  That app communicates with the lock using an API.  But that API was left open and without a password, allowing anyone to take complete control of any user’s device.  Because the chamber was designed to lock with a metal ring underneath the user’s penis…it may require the intervention of a heavy-duty bolt cutter or an angle grinder to free the user…There is no emergency override function either…Qiui, based in China…missed the three self-imposed deadlines to fix the vulnerable API…Several user reviews of the app complained that the app [also] had bugs that would cause the device to stay locked…Qiui joins a long list of sex toys with security problems that inherently don’t exist in non-internet-connected devices…Practice safe sex; don’t use a smart device.

Counterfeit Comfort (#984)

Halloween has become a focal point for challenging “sex offender” awfulness:

Every year in the run-up to Halloween, Patch publishes maps showing the homes of “registered sex offenders” in various cities….[the fantasy] that…children might be molested while trick-or-treating…ha[s] no basis in reality, and these stories—like the warning signs and restrictions imposed by local police prior to Halloween—mainly serve to stigmatize people who have already completed their sentences, along with their spouses and children, who have committed no crimes at all.  That stigma invites harassment, vandalism, and violence…This fall a petition organized by the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) is urging Patch and other outlets to cut it out…the petition asks news organizations to “cease a hurtful publication practice that has no positive effect at all on child protection or public safety”…

Working From Home (#1032)

Another example of sex worker ingenuity:

…In early May, one [of the] dancer[s from the East Hollywood hipster strip club Jumbo’s Clown Room] named Gabrielle reached out to a few of her coworkers to create a virtual strip show…within 24 hours they launched Cyber Clown Girls, which has now become a twice-weekly three-hour show featuring current dancers and alumni from Jumbo’s, and other performers from exotic dance communities…the show has given the strippers a new sense of agency and empowerment in an industry that is notorious for taking advantage of women…The co-founders take turns hosting and performing in the virtual show.  Each follows a theme — “Star Wars,” disco and funk, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — and features a different lineup of dancers who perform two short pieces in their homes.  Some dancers use portable poles, and others make creative use of bathtubs, windowsills, cars or apartment corners transformed by a makeshift set.  Like an in-person strip club, viewers (about 100 for each show) are encouraged throughout the night to tip the dancers using payment platforms like Venmo or Cash App.  The tips are eventually pooled and split evenly among all the performers…

The Widening Gyre (#1046)

The more cops are forced to deny “sex trafficking” scary tales, the harder it will be for them to spread such tales themselves:

Mysterious white dots have been popping up on windshields of cars…in Chester County [South Carolina]…Most of the reports and calls say they are finding white dots on their windshields after going into the Walmart…A rumor started on social media saying it was linked to sex traffickers trying to mark your car [sic]…Deputies say there is no evidence linking any type of human trafficking…[people have spread similar silly rumors about] car windshields…in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama…

Quiet Genocide (#1058)

Are Western media finally going to stop tiptoeing around calling this what it is?

…the aim of China’s actions in Xinjiang is clear:  to homogenize Uighurs into the country’s Han Chinese majority, even if that means erasing their cultural and religious identity for good.  What is taking place is a cultural genocide.  The repercussions bear heavily even on Uighurs living outside of the country.  Their burden is more than just raising awareness about what is taking place in their homeland—a task many have taken up at great cost to themselves and their families.  It’s also about preserving and promoting their identity in countries where few people might know who the Uighurs are, let alone what the world stands to lose should their language, food, art, and traditions be eradicated…

Tissue of Lies

A few journalists are beginning to see the danger of “sex trafficking” propaganda:

Trevontae Shareef…didn’t know that his girlfriend of seven months was a runaway from state foster care…until…a dozen [heavily-armed pigs and spooks barged into]…his mother’s house…and…searched [it without permission] until they found the 17-year-old girl hiding under furniture in the garage…They allowed a TV news crew to tag along for the raid and record footage…as [the thugs dragged] Shareef and his mother’s fiancé, Kirk Waters, outside and handcuffed them…Public announcements about the operation, vague on details but full of loaded terms, led to weeks of social media [hysteria] about…a [fantasized] child sex trafficking ring in Georgia…The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined the criminal charges…and found that, by combining a variety of cases, [pigs intentionally and maliciously] fostered a false perception that confused the public and…harmed [innocent] people…

Social Distancing (#1080)

I’m glad prominent physicians are starting to weigh in on this, at long last:

Martin Kulldorff, Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and leading figure in the field of infectious disease epidemiology, argues…[that] lockdowns result in too much collateral damage…and impose unreasonable costs on the working class and the young in particular …”For older people this is much worse than the annual flu.  For children the risks are much less than the annual flu…We don’t close schools because of the annual flu.  We don’t ban people from driving cars because there are people who die in car accidents.  We let people live normal lives with standard precautions…As a scientist I have worked with infectious disease outbreaks for a couple of decades.  Then suddenly in the spring, I was hearing that we should “follow the science” by doing something that I think is contrary to science. That was absolutely stunning to me…among…infectious disease epidemiologists, the majority are in favour of an age-targeted strategy.  A minority are in favour of lockdowns and contact tracing”…

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Anger, rage, and fear over the sexual abuse of children not only hurts our chances of preventing future abuse, but it harms the children themselves.  –  Dr. David Ley

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Ever notice how often predatory cops’ targets are underage?

[Iowa cop] Jared Daily…[has] be[en] charged with distribution, receipt, and accessing of child pornography.  If convicted, Daily faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5…[to] 60 years’ imprisonment, a $750,000 fine, [and] $102,300 in special assessments…

The Widening Gyre (#563) 

Dr. David Ley dares to tell the truth about hysteria over “pedophilia”:

…to truly protect young people, we must deal with reality, and not fantastical conspiracies…Over 90% of sexual assaults against children, are committed by relatives, siblings, parents, teachers, pastors, [cops], or neighbors…Less than half (around 40%) of sexual assaults against children are committed by pedophiles.  The majority of sexual crimes against children are perpetrated by people who do not have a history of disordered sexual arousal to children.  Instead, issues of drugs, alcohol, anger, isolation, and control motivate these tragic events…Pedophilia…is not, in and of itself alone, a highly significant risk factor for sexual abuse of children…Many people with pedophilic disorder never sexually abuse children…when pedophiles have empathy…and are sober, these people appear to have no clear risk for sexually abusive behavior…

Pyrrhic Victory (#857) 

Getting kids into the police state’s biometric database before they’re old enough to consent:

On Aug. 28, a coalition of 20 state attorneys-general…request[ed federal] funding to provide Child ID Kits for the nearly 30 million kindergarten through sixth-graders across America…Spouting exaggerated statistics and tiresome scare tactics, the AGs’ letter suggested that the Child ID Kits would “empower every parent to protect their child(ren) from”…abduction and human trafficking…[the] kits allow parents to capture their children’s physical characteristics and fingerprints…to give to the police…

Elephant in the Parlor (#957)

People just keep pretending “politician hires hooker” is more than a yawn:

…Florida [politician] Andrew Gillum came out as bisexual in…[his] first interview since…he…was found [blackout drunk]…in a…hotel room in March, along with a male escort who overdosed on crystal meth…he went to Miami to attend a wedding with his wife, but ended up meeting up with escort Travis Dyson…he had been drinking before meeting [with] Dyson and continued drinking…[until he] black[ed] out for three hours…he…w[oke] up…surrounded by police…

The Course of a Disease (#1057)

Just as sex workers said would happen before this terrible law was imposed on them:

Sex workers [are] less safe, more stigmatised and in greater fear of gardaí since a law criminalising the purchase of sex was enacted, a report from Maynooth university warns…The report, which HIV Ireland is submitting to a government review of the legislation, says: “The findings . . . point to the negative impact of current laws on the abilities of sex workers to keep safe and reduce harms to their health and well-being, in line with mounting evidence from other jurisdictions where sex buyer laws are in place”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1065)

Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:

…Under Nebraska state law, counties are allowed to seize properties with delinquent taxes and turn those properties over to private investors—and as [Walter] Barnette learned the hard way in 2013, it can happen without the current property owner even being notified…attorneys from the Pacific Legal Foundation…are petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review the practice…Barnette…[only] owed $986 in back taxes…plus a few hundred dollars in fees, interest, and penalties…when Sarpy County offered Barnette’s land to…Pontian Land Holdings…[which] was required to notify Barnette…before it could take possession of his title…the letter was…returned to Pontian three times as unclaimed…and…Pontian was able to obtain a new deed for the property, which was assessed for about $25,000.  Barnette was left with nothing…

Torture Chamber (#1066)

“Detention center” is a euphemism for “prison”, and this is a more extreme form of rape:

…a nurse at a[n] immigration detention center in Georgia came forward about…the center…performing mass hysterectomies on detained people…Dawn Wooten…said that the facility was performing hysterectomies on people who reported having heavy menstrual cycles or other more serious pain, but that “everybody’s uterus cannot be that bad”…ICDC consistently uses one out-of-facility doctor, who is responsible for the hysterectomies in addition to accidentally removing the wrong ovary in one patient…Wooten details other malpractices at the facility, including lack of COVID-19 testing for symptomatic patients…she decided to come forward publicly…[after] be[ing] reprimanded and demoted…when she spoke up about the [mal]practice…

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[Therapists’] preconceptions about sex work…do more damage rather than help.  –  Teela Sanders

Follow the Leader

Costumed hooligans regularly abduct and torture people in ways that would be charged as crimes for anyone else:

…Dallas police [arrested]…Esmeralda Lira…and Jose Balderas…[and] charged [them] with child endangerment after…someone [claimed]…that Lira had three children tied up at the home with no food…[cops] found two children asleep in a bedroom…[and] the third…locked [in a] shed…the 6-year-old boy [was] standing alone inside the pitch-black shed.  His hands were tied behind his back with shoelaces…The child [said] that Lira, his grandmother, tied him him up in the shed [overnight] when he is bad…the boy…[said] Lira bathed [him] outside by spraying him with water…[and gave him] a plastic bag when he needed to relieve himself…

Compare this treatment with that in “Torture Chamber” below, in the same state.

The Real World

Anti-whore stigma even harms sex workers who are therapists:

Some years ago…I sought mental health support.  I noticed that during the initial assessment the therapist increased my risk score when I told him what I did for a living.  I am a trained therapist, so I understood the…form…When I asked him why he had increased my risk factor, he said, “Because you’re an escort.”  I said, “But you haven’t asked me how I work, where I work, with whom I work.  That doesn’t make sense”…He looked at me with a vacant glaze…[and] said, “Okay, well, it’s sex work, so I still have to increase the risk score.”  This is stigma against sex work, or “whorephobia” in action, and it is the opposite of what is needed to support sex workers effectively.  Sex-work stigma…has been identified as the leading cause of mental health problems for sex workers…

Skin To Skin (#958)

Another step forward for disabled Australians:

People with disabilities can use [Australian] disability insurance scheme funds to access specialised sex worker services, the federal court has ruled…unanimously in a favour of a woman who lives with multiple sclerosis and sought to include the services in her NDIS plan.  Despite the agency’s [claim] that it “does not fund participation in sexual activity”, the federal court said the NDIS Act “does not expressly exclude such activities…nor has any exclusion been made under the NDIS rules…there is no implied exclusion of such activities either, and indeed in our opinion the better view is that they are intended to be included”…the NDIS minister, Stuart Robert, [had bloviated that] funding…sexual therapy services was not in line with community expectations…

The Monsters Are Due (#969)

The ugliest part of a peak moral panic: lynch mobs:

A sheriff’s deputy in North Carolina is facing criminal charges after…he led a[n]…armed [mob of non-cops] to the wrong home in a search for a missing girl [because only cops are allowed to attack wrong houses with armed mobs]…Jordan Kita[‘s mob trespassed at] the home of Dameon Shepard, a [black high school] senior…the all-white [mob] tried unsuccessfully to force its way into the…home…Kita was looking for Lekayda Kempisty, a 15-year-old girl who[se present whereabouts he didn’t know]…She was [not actually missing but]…Kita…was searching for someone named Josiah who used to live next door…There was believed to be some sort of familial relationship between Kita and…Lekayda…

Though the word isn’t used here, we all know what “missing girl” means, don’t we?

The Pro-Rape Coalition (#998) 

Puritans especially hate people enjoying themselves while their “leaders” have sent them to their rooms:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter US attorney general William Barr on April 30, calling on the Trump administration to “confront the ongoing harms wrought by the pornography industry”, especially as use of porn sites has spiked during the coronavirus pandemic

Pyrrhic Victory (#1007) 

Still think this djinni can be stuffed back into its bottle?

…in the coronavirus era, when everyone is advised to wear a mask, exposed faces are increasingly rare.  That’s breaking facial recognition systems everywhere, from iPhones to public surveillance…[but a] company [named] Rank One…[has] released a new form of facial recognition called periocular recognition, which can supposedly identify individuals by just their eyes and eyebrows…and is specifically meant for masked individuals.  Rank One says it will ship the technology to all of its active customers for free.  It’s difficult to pinpoint how many companies and government organizations in the United States use Rank One…[because] its technology is resold by companies with connections to [cop shops] and [spook houses]…like DataWorks Plus and Secure Planet…

Uncharted Seas (#1018)

Too bad politicians can’t recognize that criminalization of consensual acts is always harmful:

…a new [Utah] law decriminalizing polygamy among consenting adults [has] take[n] effect…plural marriages are now considered an infraction…less than some traffic tickets…Deidre Henderson, the bill’s sponsor, has said she hopes it will make victims of abuse and fraud less afraid to come forward in the future…[by] remov[ing] the fear for otherwise law-abiding residents that they could be jailed and their children taken from them because of their religious practices.  And she notes that there are still penalties under the new law for polygamy in conjunction with crimes such as fraud, abuse, domestic violence and human smuggling…

Reawakening

Expect a lot more of these before this is over:

The longer COVID-19 lockdowns last, Texas Supreme Court Justice James Blacklock suggested last week, the more legally vulnerable they may be.  “As more becomes known about the threat and about the less restrictive, more targeted ways to respond to it…continued burdens on constitutional liberties may not survive judicial scrutiny.”  Lockdown resisters are testing that hypothesis in state courts, arguing that the public health emergencies governors cited when they ordered businesses to close and told people to stay at home no longer exist.  An Illinois lawsuit made that case based on a statute that limits the length of a governor’s emergency declarations—an argument that last month persuaded a judge to issue a temporary restraining order.  A New Hampshire lawsuit filed this week claims new circumstances have eliminated the statutory rationale for that state’s lockdown…In Michigan…a…barber who defied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s business closure order will get a chance to challenge the state’s claim that he poses “an imminent danger to public health”…[even though] he was taking precautions such as wearing a mask…and sanitizing his tools with ultraviolet light…

Torture Chamber (#1038)

From the same monsters who think it’s reasonable to lock people in cages for not “socially distancing”:

Prison food is notoriously bad, even in the best of times.  This isn’t the best of times, especially in the 40-plus Texas prisons where people are locked in their cells all the time [under the excuse] of coronavirus.  Their food now arrives at odd hours in paper bags, cold, mushy and without a hint of green…except…for…[the] mystery meat…the milk comes in powdered form [not reconstituted] and…even though it doesn’t look like food you or your dog would want to eat, prisoners and their families say they’re not getting enough of it…A [screw mouthpiece]…denied [everything despite photos]…every time [a prisoner] tests positive for coronavirus, the entire prison goes on lockdown for at least two weeks and…[prisoners are] banned from buying food from the commissary because prison brass are treating the lockdowns like a punishment…[since] early May, thousands…[have] only had sporadic access to phones, mail and showers…a former [Texas] prison official [described the so-called]…johnny sacks…[with the statement] “They’re shitty”…

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[Rachel Moran] is a liar, a bitch and a bully and…was never even a sex worker.  –  Gaye Dalton

R.I.P. Scotty Bowers

Hollywood has its collective head so far up the collective prohibitionist rectum that it has to bend over backward describing an actual pimp as a “male madam” and a “sex fixer” rather than simply admitting that the truth about sex work doesn’t resemble a bad screenplay full of evil “traffickers”, pathetic “victims” and brave “rescuers”:

Scotty Bowers, whose explicit, best-selling 2012 memoir revealed a covert realm of Golden Age Hollywood sexuality, died [on October 13th] of natural causes…He was 96.  The former U.S. Marine and gas station attendant turned erotic fixer to the stars (including, he said, Katharine Hepburn and Rock Hudson) was the subject of an acclaimed 2017 documentary, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood.  Bowers helped keep the (often queer) secrets of contract players who were bound by morality clauses during the heyday of the studio system…a business he would later describe as sexual matchmaking…notable Hollywood figures were…set up with Bowers’ network of prostitutes — both men and women…

Bottleneck (#542)

Prohibitionists never understand how unhinged they sound to normal people:

For the past four years, [Edmonton, Alberta] has taken a harm-reduction approach to body rub parlours…[breaking a long tradition of abusing and dehumanizing sex workers.]  But at a committee meeting last month, city councillors supported a motion that would pivot sharply away from that model…Susan Holtby, a [violent prohibitionist, vomited out nonsense about]…”We can [forcibly castrate men]…We can have police go in and charge [people for having sex drives or needing to pay their bills]; we can publi[cly shame people] like [puritans have always done].  I think [all of society should obey me as supreme moral authority]”…

Played Out (#577)

Let’s hope Moran discovers the Streisand Effect:

[Prohibitionist shill] Rachel Moran [is suing former sex worker]…Gaye Dalton [in an attempt to silence her for telling the truth about Moran]…on social media…Moran [claims to have] been left in a state of distress after [the truth about her scam came out, because]…“She makes a good living out of free travel and loads of attention out of bullying and persecuting sex workers and that is all she is capable of caring about.  The fact that innocent women are seeing their lives destroyed by her isn’t even on her radar”…Dalton…also [revealed that] SPACE International, an organisation founded by…Moran [with the backing of prohibitionists] in 2012…[is] run by frauds who…sell…out the lives of sex workers…

Check Your Premises (#771)

“Crime”: introducing two people. Sentence: life as a pariah:

Hope Joy Zeferjohn…is serving a nearly six-year sentence in [a cage in Kansas, followed by]…life…on the state sex offender registry…Zeferjohn, now 21…is seeking a pardon…Prosecutors [of course] defend their case against Zeferjohn…Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay [said] “If you give a pass to every [legal minor] who [introduces another legal minor to an adult on Facebook]? I don’t know that society actually wants that to happen”…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#788) 

It’s never called “trafficking” when the government or a crony does it:

Los Angeles courts force roughly 100,000 people [in]to…weeks and even months of [slavery] each year, exposing some of them to exploitative and hazardous working conditions without enjoying basic labor rights and protections…UCLA…researchers analyzing [so-called] community service also found that government departments and [fascist cronies] rely on workers threatened with debts and jail time to complete labor that would otherwise be paid – and that those affected are overwhelmingly people of color…[the extent of the slavery is shocking:] an estimated total of 8m hours…a year, the equivalent of 4,900 paid jobs.  Government agencies receive an estimated 3m hours of [that slave] labor, replacing 1,800 jobs…[the slavery includes] imposed deadlines, and…nearly one in five people sentenced to [this so-called] community service ultimately face a probation violation or arrest warrant as a result…

Stalkers in Blue

Once in a while, there are witnesses to the way cops act toward women:

An off-duty NYPD [cop threatened a waitress with] his gun at a Queens karaoke bar while partying with his sergeant…he…pointed it at a waitress’s head and threatened to shoot her…[if she refused to “]hang out[” with him]…Two of the bar’s waitresses went to the 109th Precinct stationhouse to report what happened, [foolishly] thinking…he [was impersonating a cop]…Hyun Kim…was suspended without pay, as was the sergeant, who was not charged criminally…

Legislators Gone Wild (#854) 

The anti-whore brigade can’t get the people to support them, so they’re trying to make sex workers’ lives miserable:

A proposed amendment to a Nye County ordinance…would forbid Nye County legal prostitutes from leaving brothels for more than six hours within a 10-day period.  Additionally, prostitutes would only be allowed to leave the premises of a brothel between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.  If they failed to follow these rules, they would need re-test for venereal diseases and HIV, which they are already required to do weekly under Nevada law…The proposed changes were decided by a group of…brothel owners…and [politicians to suppress whores and remind them that they]…cannot be trusted…and…are…dirty, disgusting women that have to be kept from the public and be locked up…

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#886)

There has literally never been a case of a kid getting drugged candy in his trick-or-treat bag:

…Pennsylvania police are [once again trying to frighten ignorant parents with bullshit about people supposedly giving expensive]…drug-laced edibles [to their brats for free].  The Johnstown Police Department [repeated the myth]…on their Facebook page…after [stealing a package of]…”Nerds Rope edibles containing 400mg of THC” while [rooting around in a private home where they had no legitimate business to be]…the department [claimed] “Drug laced edibles are package [sic] like regular candy and may be hard [for illiterates] to distinguish from the real candy”…

Every time the claim of drugs or other tampering with Halloween candy has been made, it turns out to be either an intentional hoax or some nefarious shit by the parents.  Cops will keep this up as long as people let them pretend that adults never like sweet flavors.

Opting Out (#948) 

Any non-politician would have given this up as a bad idea long ago:

…the U.K. government has backtracked on its efforts to implement the [unworkable and repeatedly-delayed] Age Verification scheme that would have compelled anyone who accessed adult websites in the realm to officially verify they were not minors.  Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, released a statement…that the government “has concluded that this objective of coherence will be best achieved through our wider online harms proposals and, as a consequence, will not be commencing Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 concerning age verification for online pornography”…

“Wider online harms proposal” sounds ominous, so I wouldn’t count this as a victory just yet.

Pyrrhic Victory (#976)

When this (soon) arrives in the US, the excuse will be “sex trafficking”:

Picture a world in which the baseline requirement for a new smartphone is a facial recognition test…in China, beginning December 1, that’s the scrutiny to which the country’s over 850 million internet users will be subject, without exception.  The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology [vomited out a bunch of ridiculous excuses, but the real reason is that China is trying to establish a literal panopticon]…A rule imposed by the German interior ministry in 2016 requires that domestic telecoms ask customers for ID cards, foreign passports, or temporary ID papers when they buy a SIM card or a cell phone.  Under French law, carriers must collect identifying information of all users and subscribers of prepaid services…

Loose Cannons (#981)

We’re lucky cops and prosecutors moronically chose to target such a wealthy client:

Lawyers for…Robert Kraft are suing Florida prosecutors…[for] withholding evidence related to prostitution charges faced by the football magnate…[after] the Florida attorney general’s office filed an appeal of a court order that the massage-room video footage of Kraft was inadmissible as evidence.  If they were smart, the state prosecutors would let this one go — and hope everyone forgets the embarrassing, abusive shenanigans law enforcement pulled with their six-month “human trafficking” stakeout…Some have scoffed that of course a rich, powerful, white man like Kraft would employ mighty resources in an attempt to skirt punishment for things those in less privileged positions cannot escape.  But the flip side is that people like Kraft — who have both vast financial resources and sufficient cultural power — are often the only ones non-precarious enough to push back and considered newsworthy enough for coverage…Each week, across the country, women and men are rounded up, thrown in jail, shamed in the press, and saddled with criminal records simply for introducing money into consensual sexual relationships between adults.  But few people care or even notice, and those that do tend to cheer it on…

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