Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Maryland’

Tidying up the house…with hatred in her heart.  –  Bryan Polanco

I recently discovered this funny recording, which was Chubby Checker’s first hit (a year before “The Twist”); in fact, he got his nickname “Chubby” due to his spot-on imitation of Fats Domino.  The links above the video were provided by Mike Siegel, Kevin Wilson, Ryan Marino, IncarcerNation, Mistress Matisse, and The Onion, 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!

Read Full Post »

Cool off, give [your husband] a break.  –  cop, just before woman’s murder

Since the Taliban doesn’t want anyone to hear these women play, it is my great pleasure to share the video as a big “fuck you”.  The links above it were provided by Ryan Marino, Walter Olson, Nun Ya, Popehat, IncarcerNation, and Ryan Marino again, 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!

Read Full Post »

Only Stalin and North Korea’s Kim dynasty have ever reached this level of absurdity.  –  Nina L. Khrushcheva

There aren’t many seasonal videos any more, but once in a while it’s possible to stumble upon a good one.  The links above the video were provided by Nun Ya, Charles Hill, David Ley, Mike Masnick (x2), and Franklin Harris, 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!

Read Full Post »

These failings are not isolated incidents.  –  Jean Philip De Tender

R.I.P. Stephanie Johnson

Stephanie Johnson, who performed as a burlesque dancer in New York in the 1960s and ’70s under the stage name Tanqueray, and whose vivid stories of that grittier time in the city’s history…turned her into a viral social media star [in 2019 through the social media account Humans of New York], died on Oct. 11 at her home in Manhattan. She was 81…her son Mitchell Springle…said she had suffered a series of strokes…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1536)

Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton wants to profit from Trumpist delusions:

Ken Paxton, the [psychopath-]general of Texas, [has] sued the makers of Tylenol…[pretend]ing that the companies hid the risks of the drug on brain development of children.  The lawsuit is the latest [attempt to profit from the mad emperor’s delusion] that use of Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism…and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder…The [belief is] a longstanding [one] among [anti-vaxxers and similar crackpots including] Robert F. Kennedy Jr…[whom the mad emperor appointed to wreck] the nation’s…health [system]…Hundreds of lawsuits in state and federal courts have been filed in recent years by [crackpots looking for a payout]…the largest group of cases…[has been] dismissed [for being completely unsupported by anything resembling] scientific evidence…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1568)

These things are designed to appeal to the dregs of humanity:

I recently reviewed Even Realities G1 smart glasses…and the first real-world thing I used them for was scamming someone.  I told a local bartender I had an encyclopedic knowledge of film, and I would answer the hardest movie trivia question he could come up with in exchange for a drink.  After a short consultation with Google, dude came back with “Who directed 1922’s Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?”  I tilted my head thoughtfully and repeated the question as if verifying I heard him right.  The [chatbot] agent silently did its thing, and in about three seconds, the answer was floating before my eyes, totally invisible to everyone around me…Even inspected up close, G1s offer no indication of electronics of any kind: No USB port, no flashing light, no visible controls.  The [chatbot] is activated with a subtle tap behind the ear.  Repeating the question sends the [chatbot] off for the answer, [which may or may not be correct]…You could do the same trick with a pair of [Facebook] Display glasses

Mad Libs (#1577)

Oh look, word-guessing programs produce nonsense, what a surprise:

New research coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union…and led by the BBC has found that [LLM “]assistants[“] – already [very popular with] millions of [gullible, lazy] people – routinely misrepresent news content no matter which language, territory, or…platform is tested.  The…study…involv[ed] 22…media…organizations in 18 countries working in 14 languages…[with] ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity…45% of all [chatbot] answers had at least one significant issue…31%…showed…missing…or incorrect attributions…20% contained…[“]hallucinated[“] details…Gemini performed worst with significant issues in 76% of responses…[yet these shitty “]assistants[“] are already replacing search engines for [gullible] users…

Welcome to the Future (#1579)

Don’t let a fucking computer call them, either:

A…[computerized “gun] detector[“] led police to believe a [student] was armed…at a Baltimore County school…when [in reality] it [was]…a bag of chips.  Taki Allen was sitting with friends…outside [the] School, eating a bag of chips after football practice.  About 20 minutes later, [cops barged in] with guns, [threatening] Allen [with them and screaming for him to]….”Get on the ground”…police told him [artificial stupidity had declared] his bag of chips…a weapon [and cops’ natural stupidity did the rest].  “They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me. Then, they searched me and they figured out I had nothing…[but] a Doritos bag”…

Torture Chamber (#1582)

The State calls torture “correction”. For journalists to parrot that is a choice:

…[Deranged screws] at a Western Maryland prison shut off the water to a mentally ill man’s cell, then allowed him to suffer for eight days before he finally died of dehydration…On July 5, 2023, [one screw]…noted in a logbook that Lamont Mealy, [locked] in [solitary confinement] without even toiletries…looked dazed and was unresponsive…H[is superiors ignored the report and]…hours later, Mealy…was dead….[of] dehydration…with fecal matter in and around his mouth…[yet] the [complicit] medical examiner…ruled the manner of death an accident…[the coverup would have succeeded if not for] letters written by a fellow prisoner…[cag]ed nearby, Danny Hoskins…[who] filed complaints…[report]ing that [screws intentionally deprived] Mealy…[of] water…[and regularly] taunted [him as he was slowly dying]…The first complaint prompted [screws] to come to Hoskins’ cell and beat him [for trying to ruin their fun, then]…he was…transferred to another prison. [But] he then sent letters to the governor, the attorney general and [others]…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1583)

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

OpenAI has released a rough estimate of how many ChatGPT users globally may show signs of having a severe mental health crisis in a typical week…a growing number of people have ended up hospitalized, divorced, or dead…[because] the chatbot fueled their delusions and paranoia…OpenAI estimated that around .07 percent of active ChatGPT users show “possible signs of…psychosis or mania” and .15 percent “[show]…explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.”  OpenAI also…found that about .15 percent of active users exhibit behavior that indicates potential “heightened levels” of emotional attachment to ChatGPT weekly…ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly active users…therefore…around 560,000 people [weekly] may be…experiencing mania or psychosis.  About 2.4 million more are possibly expressing suicidal ideations or prioritizing talking to ChatGPT over their loved ones, school, or work…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Don’t we have something more interesting and important to think about?  –  Jan Kirsch

See No Evil (#1092)

What happens when puritans are not ignored as lunatics:

No one had any problem with the eggplant, then the peach showed up.  To those [with sick minds, these fruit represent]…phallic and derrière references…the…sculpture[s] in…Ellicott City…[Maryland are the work of]…Jan Kirsch, an artist and landscape designer who[se oeuvre consists mostly of large]…sculptures…of…fruit[s] and vegetable[s such as]…Chile Pepper #2…a six-foot pear…and a couple of intertwined carrots…Kirsch [is not mentally ill and therefore] knew nothing about peach and eggplant emojis being used suggestively [by adolescents] to represent body parts…[but pearl-clutchers filed] anonymous complaints about the sculptures…with the county’s planning and zoning department in June…And Julie Danna, the commission’s chair, [is herself a censorious prude, so the result was a foregone conclusion regardless of protests from sane people]…

No Escape

Your “leaders” refer to this as “correction”:

A [typical and representative] Boston [screw named]…William Cooper…rape[d]…a person [locked] in [one of the city’s filthy cages]…on July 7…Cooper taped trash bags to the office window before [forc]ing [his victim in there]…The [victim said nothing until she was released from the cage]…and…“no longer fearing retribution” [from the rapist or his fellow gang members]…

To Molest and Rape (#1407)

Cops allowed one of their gang to rape a baby for almost two years after he was reported:

A [typical and representative San Antonio cop named]…Albert John Sanchez Jr. was [finally] arrested and charged with…[repeatedly raping a baby under 2 years old.  The cops have known about the rapes since January 5th, 2024, when another of his victims], a 13-year-old[, reported witnessing]…the [rapes, but they merely]…charged [him] with…child pornography [and let him otherwise run free]…

Shame, Shame (#1410)

Why would anybody waste good money to talk to a computer program pretending to be a dead man?

…nearly seven years after [Stan Lee’s] death at the age of 95, [his celebrity is being exploited by people who programmed] a hologram that will use [a linked chatbot] to have [fake] conversations with fans…at the Stan Lee Experience section of the [Los Angeles Comic] Con…which costs…$20 to enter…tak[ing] photos with the hologram or hav[ing] a three-minute…[interac]tion with [the chatbot while the hologram mimes talking will cost extra]…

Eavesdropping (#1473)

If you think these ads won’t be “personalized” by spying, I have a “smart” bridge to sell you:

A software update rolling out to Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerators in the US is putting ads on the [screen]s…despite Samsung insisting…in April that it had “no plans” to do so…the writing’s been on the wall ever since Samsung embraced a “screens everywhere” initiative for its home appliances.  After all, it was Samsung that started bunging ads into its old smart TVs ten years ago…

Torture Chamber (#1501)

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

…more than a dozen [victims of a prison “nurse” named Joseph Eastridge have filed]…more than 20 federal lawsuits…since 2002 [after he] withheld or cut off access to medication or equipment, including bandages and braces, even if the prisoner had had access to the items for decades; told prisoners that their conditions, ranging from debilitating back pain to diarrhea, were fake or “normal”; refused to write passes for people with injuries or disabilities to keep them in bottom bunks; and [repeat]edly retaliated against those who filed grievances by removing access to meds…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1571)

What’s worse than chatbot “therapy”? Chatbot marriage “counseling”:

As [chat]bots…become inextricably tangled with [gullible] people’s private and public lives, it’s causing [100%]…predictable new crises…in romantic relationships…an uncanny dynamic is unfolding across the world: one person in a couple becomes fixated on ChatGPT or another bot — for some combination of [pseudo-]therapy, [bad] relationship advice, or [pseudo-]wisdom — and ends up tearing the partnership down as the [program] makes more and more radical interpersonal suggestions…Spouses relayed bizarre stories about finding themselves flooded with pages upon pages of ChatGPT-generated psychobabble, or watching their partners become distant and cold — and in some cases, frighteningly angry — as they retreated into an [algorithmically-warped] narrative of their relationship.  Several even reported that their spouses suddenly accused them of abusive behavior following long, pseudo-therapeutic interactions with ChatGPT…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Everything that becomes big attracts the attention of lots of people, some of whom see Satan and demons everywhere.  –  Joseph Uscinski

Another influential Louisiana musician is gone, and here’s his biggest hit as a sendoff.  The links above the video were provided by Jesse WalkerDan Savage; IncarcerNation (x3); Mike Stabile; and Reason, 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!

Read Full Post »

When hotel owners face huge lawsuits and fines for failing to profile people, you’re going to end up with a lot of innocent people being harassed.  –  Elizabeth Nolan Brown

If Men Were Angels

No religion has a monopoly on preachy molesters:

A North Carolina pastor [named]…Kyle Lynn Sigmon [has been arrested and charged for sexually assaulting]…a 13-year-old girl in [the street in]…July 2024…

Even the distancing “former” is the same as for rapist cops:

…a [typical and representative Baltimore] youth pastor…has been charged [for] sex[ually]…abusing six boys…Thomas Pinkerton [dazzled the boys with pseudo-religious bullshit, such as telling them the molestation]…was a “heavenly kiss” and that’s how Jesus would greet his disciples…there’s [also] another victim in Georgia…

Crying for Nanny (#1013)

The hotel industry is really going to regret having collaborated with fanatics rather than fighting “sex trafficking” hysteria:

A hotel could be legally liable for [“]sex trafficking[“] because it failed to [call the cops on] a guest who wore “sexually explicit clothing” and had condoms in her room, according to a recent ruling from [federal] Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk…The lawsuit was brought by “J.H.” against Paramount Hospitality, a company that manages hotels…[pretending she is a passive object which] was trafficked for sex at a hotel owned and operated by Paramount…Kacsmaryk denied the hotel management company’s motion to dismiss…In a sane judicial system, sex traffickers would be the main entity held liable for sex trafficking…But [so-called “traffickers”, when they exist at all, don’t have as much money as]…third parties [such as hotels or ad websites]…such cases…rely on the idea that the hotels willfully ignored the “signs” of sex trafficking…[such as] her [having visitors to her] room and…”drug paraphernalia,” a gun, and “condoms” in her room…hotel maids come across condoms and drug paraphernalia all the time and aren’t running to hotel management every time they do…The implication from suits like these is that hotel staff need to regard all customers with suspicion and…call the cops if they see a woman who appears intoxicated or has men coming into her room…

The Next Target (#1523)

Politicians want total government control of both the internet and the financial system:

[German censorship] authorities want to force financial service providers to refuse payments to erotic portals [even though only]…adults [can have credit cards.  Censorship bureaucrat]…Marc Jan Eumann…[also wants control of] the Internet’s Domain Name System…[to] enforce…[otherwise] easy…to circumvent [network blocks]…Eumann [claims] studies have shown that pornography is more harmful to minors than…[police] violence…

Opting Out (#1539) 

It looks like British subjects will soon need a VPN to access Wikipedia:

…Wikipedia [has] lost a legal challenge to…Britain’s Online Safety Act, which [inflicts draconian demands on] online platforms and has been criticised for [installing a surveillance regime and] curtailing free speech…The foundation said if it was subject to so-called Category 1 duties – which would require Wikipedia’s users and contributors…[to be doxxed to the British government] it would need to drastically reduce the number of British users who can access the site.  Judge Jeremy Johnson dismissed [the] case [without prejudice, saying] the Wikimedia Foundation could bring a further challenge if [censorship bureau] Ofcom “(impermissibly) concludes that Wikipedia is a Category 1 service…[this decision] does not give Ofcom…a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia’s operations”…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1554)

Let’s hope many more states act quickly to protect vulnerable people from this evil nonsense:

Illinois…has signed a bill into law banning [scams using chatbots for] therapy…The law highlights that only licensed professionals are allowed to offer counseling services…and forbids [companies] or [individuals] from [pretending a chatbot can] act…as a stand-alone therapist…the…act…also specifies that licensed therapists cannot use [chatbots] to make “therapeutic decisions” or perform any “therapeutic communication”…use for “supplementary support,” such as managing appointments, billing or other administrative work, is allowed…companies or individuals fac[e] $10,000 in fines per violation…The legislation is particularly notable as the Trump [regime is demanding]…a 10-year moratorium on any state-level…regulation [of chatbots]…

Mad Libs (#1555)

These companies need to be bankrupted by lawsuits:

Renowned legal scholar Jonathan Turley [may seek damages from the makers of] ChatGPT [because the program] fabricat[ed] a damaging sexual harassment allegation against him, citing a fake university, trip, and article. The…chatbot…falsely claimed that Turley, who has never taught at Georgetown University, had made inappropriate advances toward a student during a fictional school-sponsored trip to Alaska in 2018…[the program even] cited a non-existent Washington Post article, claiming Turley made “sexually suggestive comments” and attempted to [molest] a student…the lack of any human accountability…is what makes such [chatbots] particularly dangerous…[there is as yet] no real avenue for victims of falsehoods to seek retraction or clarification…

The Cop Myth (#1563)

Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to; reporter calls that “unusual”:

A…[typical and representative California cop murdered] his [screw] ex-girlfriend and then himself in a…[sadly-typical act of cop violence.  Pig]…Jeremy Lyle…fatally shot [screw] Mari Bonnici…[then] handed…an 8-month-old b[aby to a neighbor and told her to call 911 before driving] off in a truck…[and shooting himself after a multi-hour standoff with the SWAT team].  Police…found two 16-month-old twin girls in the back bedroom…None of the three children were injured and are being cared for by relatives…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Border Patrol agents are taught that women lie, and that…agents…are the victims.  –  Jenn Budd

Imagination Pinned Down

As much as I’d like to believe this of a boss hog, this reeks of Satanic Panic “ritual abuse” fantasy engendered by false memory syndrome:

The daughter of a New Jersey police chief claims he repeatedly raped her for more than a decade as part of a “ritualistic” cult allegedly involving their neighbors…Courtney Tamagny’s [lawsuit includes her father] Scott Tamagny, his neighbor Kevin Slevin and others…Slevin has…countersued Courtney for defamation…the 20-year-old claims her father and Slevin…and…other middle-aged men…with masks on their faces…[lit a] fire and [burned] animals…[while] chant[ing, starting]…in 2009 when [she] was around 4…until 2020, when she was 15…[she] claims she suppressed memories of the abuse for years…and…began recalling them after [seeing] a…therapist…in 2022…[her] alleged[ly recovered] memories in[clude] the…claim…that generations of her father’s “bloodline” had been in a satanic cult…that…raped…children and burned them alive in…“tunnels” [where] they would…covertly [hold] their rituals…as part of a national cabal of satanists engaged in child trafficking…she claimed [her sisters and]…upward of 10 [other] kids were…in[volved even though nobody else has similar “memories”]…her [lawsuit]…also named the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the State of New Jersey, various state child protective services and others…

This girl clearly needs competent professional help, not encouragement from lawyers and quack “therapists”.

Creepy Coppers

Seems like a significant fraction of child porn is spread by cops:

A Montgomery County [Maryland cop named]…Mark Burhoe…[was arrested on child pornography charges.  In an unusual move], he…was suspended without pay, [but both his boss and an ex-cop criminologist used the opportunity to bloviate copaganda about how he would get]…”no special treatment”…

This one has double-distancing: “former” and “probationary”:

A [typical and representative Wisconsin cop named]…Owen Halls was [typical and representative]…when he was fired in March fo[r being caught with…child pornography[.  Halls was] reported [by one of his roommates] in June of [last] year…[but] police [dragged their feet for six months]…Halls [has already confessed but pled not guilty to child porn charges anyhow]…

Above the Law (ROTW #14)

Federal thugs behave just like state & local thugs:

A…Border Patrol [goon named]…Bart Conrad Yager…[has been] charged with…pandering…child sex trafficking…[drug dealing] and…fraud, [all committed] between July 2023 and March 2024…A decade ago, [he raped a woman in] Tucson…But CBP [didn’t bother to] investigate…Yager, a[nd]…Tucson Police [put] the…victim [through such an ordeal she eventually dropped the charges because]…Yager [kept] threaten[ing her] with violence a[nd neither]…police [nor CBP did shit about it.  The fraud charges against]…Yager [are because he] misrepresented his location during work hours and fraudulently claimed travel reimbursements…for…hotels…he…[used to see] underage [sex workers]…as young as 13…[he was also known for] sexual harassment…[of] nursing and contractor staff [who] “knew him to be ‘crazy with a hatred towards women’”…Yager is [only] the latest…Arizona-based CBP [goon to]…be…charged with…sexual misconduct…crimes…Ramon Marquez…was arrested in May…[for repeatedly molesting] a 16-year-old…[and] in January…Efren Lopez Cornejo [escaped with]…lifetime probation, but no jail time [and no condemnation to the “sex offender” registry], after he accepted a…plea [bargain for]…indecent exposure….[and] sexual abuse of a…family member…[who] was 9…

To Molest and Rape (#1523)

When will the mainstream media admit that pigs in schools are a menace?

[A] Chino [California cop named]…Matthew Solano, who had been [paid to lurk in]…school[s to spy on, harass, and intimidate students, predictably molested]…two [underage girls.  When the school told the cop shop]…Solano was immediately [rewarded with a paid vacation, but]…was [not] arrested [until six months later]…Solano was [also involved in the snitch-training DARE scheme]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #21)

Another rapist cop finds a victim via a grooming program:

A San Jose [California cop named]…Saul Duran, was [arrested for]…sexual assault of a minor…[because he raped two teenage girls] about 13 years ago…[he met his victims through] a…police department [grooming] program called the Parent Project…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #21)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [New York cop named]…Sydney Mills…rape[d]…a…14 [year old girl while]…wearing…[his magical clown costume.  He was arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes.  In a rare moment of honesty], Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji said…“I’d like to be shocked or surprised, but I’m not”…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

The power of telling people you pray is incredible.  –  Josh Hawley (sort of)

Since I featured an Avengers-themed music video last week, I figured I’d do it again with one my over-40 readers may remember.  The links above it were provided by Phoenix Calida; Greg LukianoffFranklin Harris; The Onion; IncarcerNation (x3); and Franklin Harris again, 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!

Read Full Post »

The misconception of algorithms as “intelligent” entities is a dangerous one.  –  Webb Wright

Vulture Watching (#1430)

Another attempt to use antique laws to ban abortion is foiled:

On July 2, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled th[at]…an 1849 law…[politici]ans [were trying to use to] ban…abortion from conception to birth [does no such thing]…in 2022, abortion providers in Wisconsin stopped providing services for fear of violating the 175-year-old law, which says that “any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of the unborn child” is guilty of a felony and subject to 15 years imprisonment unless the life of the patient is at risk.  The state’s…attorney general Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit arguing the law operates only as a feticide law…and does not ban “consensual abortions”…[in addition,] the 1849 law…has been implicitly repealed by later regulations, including a measure criminalizing abortion at 20 weeks…[the] court agreed with Kaul…Justice Jill Karofsky…described the effort to apply a 175-year-old law with almost no exceptions in the present day as a sign of a “world gone mad”…

The Punitive Mindset (#1526) 

Fascism in action:

[Trump hench]man Brendan Carr has dec[re]ed t[hat] prisons and jails [can] keep…price[-gouging the families of people locked in cag]es until at least 2027, delaying implementation of rate caps approved last year…Carr…[bloviated a lot of fascist nonsense justifying] the change…[but FCC] commissioner Anna Gomez [said]…”the FCC made the indefensible decision to ignore both the law and the will of Congress…[in order to] shield…a…system that inflates costs and rewards kickbacks to c[arcer]al facilities at the expense of [caged human beings] and their loved ones”…

Shame, Shame (#1532)

Why would anybody waste good money to talk to computer programs pretending to be people?

One of the tech industry’s weirder cycles of brand reincarnation has given us yet another new version of Napster: a site teeming with [cartoons of] well-lit, photogenic people smiling confidently and talking with their hands…This new version of Napster surfaced on June 25 when a Florida company formerly known as Infinite Reality, which leveraged mysterious funding to buy the Napster brand for $207 million in March and then renamed itself after that purchase, announced “Napster Companions”…[with technobabble about] “thirty psychometric parameters that make each agent distinct”…Think of this as trying to put a [pseudo-]human face on [LLM] chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude…the company’s press release says…”If an agent does not already exist, the Napster Companion platform auto-generates a new one on the fly”…Access costs $19 a month or $219 a year…and…you must click a checkbox next to [a] disclaimer [wherein you claim to “understand” that chatbots are neither intelligent nor people and have a tendency to make shit up]…

Torture Chamber (#1539)

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

A [victim of the] federal [government] had to have one of his…limbs partially amputated after being kept in restraints for two days.  Another [cag]ed person died after being pepper sprayed and left shackled in a restraint chair for five hours.  The Department of Justice Office of Inspector General…published those details…after receiving dozens of [repor]ts a year from [prisoners who] were strapped to beds or chairs for long periods of time and assaulted…BOP policy allows [deranged screws] to [ab]use restraints [in virtually any way they please as long as they belch the magic word “]disruptive[” at some point before, during, or after the torture, and pinky-swear that it wasn’t]… a method of punishment…[no] documentation [or] video or audio [of the torture is required, not]…even…medical checks of [human beings left to suffer] in restraints…there [a]re no [time] limits…and [virtually no] review of the use of restraints…

Mad Libs (#1550)

The only thing LLMs can actually process is language, so of course their output depends on the language used:

When [large language] models were tested on simulated writing from [people foolish enough to think a word-association algorithm can practice medicine], they were more likely to advise against seeking medical care if the [make-believe] writer [supposedly] made typos, included emotional or uncertain language – or was [pretended to be] female…Abinitha Gourabathina at [MIT]…used [another LLM] to help create thousands of [make-believe] patient notes in different formats and styles…includ[ing LLM imitations of] patients with limited English proficiency…health anxiety…[overly-]emotional tone or gender-neutral pronouns.  The researchers then fed the [LLM output] to four [other]…LLMs…commonly used to power chatbots and told the[m]…to answer questions about whether the [make-believe] patient should manage their [make-believe] condition at home or visit a clinic…the various format and style changes made all the [large language] models between 7 and 9 per cent more likely to recommend [make-believe] patients stay home instead of getting medical attention.  The models were also more likely to recommend that [make-believe] female patients remain at home, and…more likely than [actual] clinicians to change their recommendations for treatments because of [supposed] gender and [feigned] language style…

Creepy Coppers (#1551)

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

A [Maryland cop named]…James Dodson Jr. was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police…[for] twice asking a friend [via Snapchat] to see her 11-year-old son naked in a picture or in person…he also admitted to [her that he] watch[es] child pornography…[after she reported him cops raided] Dodson’s [house] and [searched his] phones a[nd]…computers…[his boss hog used the opportunity to strut around and bloviate self-aggrandizing copaganda]…

Aladdin’s Satellite

A shortcut to LLM-induced psychosis:

…A growing number of [fools] are [mis]using…chatbots as “trip sitters”…this is a potentially dangerous psychological cocktail…while it’s far cheaper than in-person psychedelic therapy, it can go badly awry…Throngs of [nitwits] have turned to…chatbots in recent years as surrogates for human therapists…directly encouraged by some prominent figures in the tech industry, who [irresponsibly fantasize] that [word-association algorithms without consciousness] will [magically] revolutionize mental-health care…a profusion of chatbots designed specifically to help users navigate psychedelic experiences have been cropping up online…[but] experts…agree…[that] replacing human therapists with…bots during psychedelic experiences is a bad idea…[because] the basic design of large language models…is fundamentally at odds with the therapeutic process…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »