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Posts Tagged ‘Massachusetts’

The Fifth Amendment…was designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear…burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.  –  Armstrong v. US, 1960

Gullible’s Travels

The quality of social science studies has not improved in the last 15 years:

A massive seven-year project exploring 3,900 social-science papers has ended with a [predictable] finding: researchers could replicate the results of only half of the studies…John Ioannidis, a metascientist at Stanford…says…the results are “not surprising”, because they are in line with those from smaller, earlier studies…Researchers have been investigating a ‘crisis’ in the reliability of scientific results for more than a decade…not just in the social sciences, but also in the biomedical field.  The…findings…don’t necessarily mean that science is being done poorly…[or dis]honest[ly; the reports may simply be written poorly, without]…enough data or details for experiments to be repeated accurately…

Shifting the Blame (#1502)

Apparently, his cop buddies will escape scot-free:

[The] Long Island…serial killer [has] pleaded guilty…to murdering seven women and admitted he killed an eighth…[architect] Rex Heuermann…strangled the women, m[ost] of them sex workers, over a 17-year span and buried their remains…along an isolated beach highway across the bay from where he lived…He faces life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date…The investigation began in…2010 after [the]…remains w[ere discovered, but was stalled and obstructed for years by police who were chummy with Heuermann, including disgraced former Police Chief James Burke]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #22)

Another cop who stalked victims through the official cop grooming program:

A [typical and representative Colorado cop has been] indicted…[for molesting] two [underage] m[arks] in the [cop shop’s official grooming] program…Troy Brienzo[‘s cronies tried to protect him by only releasing a] heavily redacted [copy of the] indictment…[but] police accountability nonprofit Blue Surveillance [got ahold of a less-redacted copy]…show[ing] both victims were enrolled in the…[groom]ing program…

I Spy (#1599)

The erosion of US air travelers’ rights which started with TSA is now complete:

…ICE…[has] arrested more than 800 people [in the past year using] tips shared by…TSA…which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers…the [scheme]…was created in 2007 to allow [universal surveillance of]…passenger[s by checking them against unconstitutional]…government watchlists…[and justified by barfing the word “]terrorism[” in the faces of useful idiots]…but the…Trump [regime]…is [using it to] pursu[e and persecute ordinary migrants]…and [nonwhite US citizens]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1602)

Lower courts have repeatedly pretended that there’s a “fuck you, we’re cops” exception to the Takings Clause:

In 2022, police caused extensive damage to Amy Hadley’s home in South Bend, Indiana, because they [willful]ly [chose to pretend] a fugitive was inside the house [despite being told otherwise by Hadley and her son].  That same year, a Los Angeles SWAT team wrecked Carlos Pena’s print shop while [staging theatrics] to arrest a [man] who [was not there]…Hadley and Pena were stuck with the tab for the havoc wrought by police operations—a plainly unfair but increasingly common situation that could be rectified by the “just compensation” that the Fifth Amendment requires when property is “taken for public use”…Hadley and Pena are asking the Supreme Court to recognize that remedy…The Institute for Justice, which represents both Hadley and Pena, argues that [the “fuck you”] exception…[is] not supported by the text or history of the Takings Clause…

Civil rights advocates often joke that the Third Amendment is the only one that hasn’t been undermined, but I fail to see any important difference between the government forcibly taking people’s homes to quarter troops and forcibly taking them to serve as props for cops and robbers games.

Panopticon (#1614)

Safetyism is destroying society:

A row has broken out in one of Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhoods [between sane people and]…surveillance [profiteers who want to create] the country’s first “virtual gated community” to [exploit useful idiots’ unrealistic fears of “]crime[“]…Craig Campbell, the Rosedale resident who proposed the plan…runs a security company.  He [told unattributed scary tales about unnamed “friends” who suffered a home invasion in order to sell] a plan in which an initial group of 100 residents would pay a C$200…monthly subscription [to impose]…licence plate [surveillance on everyone in the area, whether they like it or not]…Campbell holds the Canadian licensing rights for Flock, and [said] he “absolutely has a [scheme to exploit his neighbors’ fears, belching]…“my family’s safety” [at reporters]…

Walled Garden (#1620)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

…Massachusetts [politicians have] passed…one of the country’s most restrictive policies on youth social media use…It would…prohibit kids under 14 from having accounts [at all regardless of the parents’ wishes, and require]…parent[al]…consent for 14- and 15-year-olds…[politicians burbled about] studies [which] have shown…ex[actly the opposite of what politicians pretend they show]…and…[vomited “]protecting our children[” in the faces of civil rights advocates, while also moronically claiming that passing surveillance measures promoted by Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg somehow constitutes]…“standing up to Big Tech”…[when] asked…if [politician]s thought about data privacy as they prepared the legislation, [Grand Poobah] Ron Mariano [barfed]…“protect kids[“], and…compare[d] their proposal to a[n unconstitutional] social media law in Florida

 

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

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I will not comply.  –  Luanne James

To Molest and Rape (#1177)

Sows are just as disgusting and predatory as their male counterparts:

A [Massachusetts cop] was [rewarded with a paid vacation for]…sexual abuse [of a minor]…Samantha Pelrine…and her…husband, Daniel Forand, repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted the…[victim for] several years…[after wheedling control from] the victim’s aunt and grandmother[, who had] raised them until they were 12 years old…about one year later, Pelrine and Forand became the…victim’s legal guardians…and…began sexually assaulting the victim a short time after[ward]…continu[ing] until 2025…

No Difference (#1359)

Another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists:

Senegalese proponents of a tougher anti-LGBT law [got advice from] a U.S.-based [anti-sex] group that ​calls homosexuality a public health threat…MassResistance…has advised like-minded African [prohibition]ists for years…but now…is trying to take advantage of …[the] Trump…[regimes]’s [mass destruc]tion…of [US-funded health programs in Africa]…the ⁠new law…doubles the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalizes so-called promotion of homosexuality…

Shame, Shame (#1494)

This sleaze is bottomless:

WebinarTV, a company that bills itself as “a search engine for the best webinars,” is secretly scanning the internet for Zoom meeting links, recording the calls, and turning them into [computer]-generated podcasts [without the consent of the participants]…in an attempt to promote WebinarTV’s services…in some cases the [creators of the] stolen videos…[are informed by computer-generated emails “signed” by imaginary corporate officers that their]…webinar is “featured on the Phil & Amy Show”, [which is a make-believe]…talk…show…[featuring] two [cartoon characters synchronized to chatbots outputting nonsensical “commentary” on]…the [stolen Zoom] call…WebinarTV accesses meetings using links that have been shared publicly, then records the sessions [without any] participant’s [knowledge or consent]…in…violat[ion of] Zoom’s terms of service…

A Woman’s Point of View (#1506)

As with cannabis legalization, if enough of these are thrown at the wall one may eventually stick:

…[If] a [new] bill…[is] passed, Colorado would become the first state to fully decriminalize sex work state-wide…This is not [the Swedish model, but rather] a decisive shift away from criminalization and toward safety…to [placate the very stupid]…the bill draws a firm line between consensual sex work and exploitation…and…would repeal statutes related to solicitation and patronizing…[and] update outdated escort service regulations…Nick Hinrichson…Lisa Cutter…Lorena Garcia and Rebekah Stewart…[are the sponsoring politicians.  A similar]…bill…in…Illinois [is still languishing undiscussed]…

Thought Control (#1600)

This is the library whose board chair wanted a snitch list of those who read books he wanted censored:

In a message…to the Rutherford County Library…board, Director Luanne James said she would not comply with an order to move…LGBT…titles from youth sections to the adult area…[saying] “Restricting access…through subjective relocation or removal constitutes a violation of the community’s right to information”…[which] would violate both the First Amendment and her professional obligations…The…Board [had] voted…to relocate more than 190 books…following a [“]review[” by non-librarians on order of]…Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett…Board Chair [and wannabe Big Brother] Cody York [defended his censorship attempt by bizarrely vomiting out]…“dismembering…healthy sex organs”…during [a] debate…[and threatened to sack] James…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1602)

Sanders has announced he next plans to interview a TV set:

[Perennially-clueless politician] Bernie Sanders has a viral video making the rounds in which he “interviews” Anthropic’s Claude chatbot about the dangers of AI and privacy…and it might be one of the most unintentionally revealing demonstrations of…actual problems [with LLMs] that a politician has ever produced — just not in the way Sanders thinks…When you “interview” a large language model you are talking to a very sophisticated text prediction system that is specifically designed to give you responses that are (possibly) helpful, (hopefully) relevant, and (obsequiously) agreeable — shaped entirely by how you framed the question.  It’s not there to help you uncover hidden truths.  It’s not a whistleblower.  It’s not a witness in a congressional hearing, which is exactly what Sanders’ staging is designed to imply.  Ask it scary questions, get scary answers.  Ask it reassuring questions, get reassuring answers.  It is a mirror, not a source.  And Sanders’ video demonstrates this…

Walled Garden (#1611)

The internet’s global scope is the main reason politicians hate it and want to destroy it:

Ofcom, the U.K.’s [censorship bureau, is trying to] fine…4chan £520,000 for [refus]ing to implement [user surveillance] procedures and other measures [demand]ed by the U.K.’s Online Safety Act.  The [shakedown demand] includes “£450,000 for not having age checks in place”…[and the rest] for [refus]ing to provide Ofcom with [busywork it demands] and for not [submitting to posting compelled speech] in its terms of service…4chan[‘s lawyer, Preston Byrne,] responded to Ofcom with a…[computer]-generated picture of a giant hamster [hold]ing a [giant] peanut…attached to a truly excellent email response [stating]…”As has been explained to your agency, ad nauseam, the United Kingdom lost the American Revolutionary War…We are not in the mood to discuss the matter further, and have not been in the mood for 250 years…[4chan] reserves all rights and waives none…[including] the right to sue you again and/or to respond to future correspondence with an even larger rodent, such as a marmot.”  This is exactly the attitude U.S. companies should be taking with foreign authorities intent on forcing their online [censorship] on the rest of us…Ofcom [responded by absurdly claiming that the internet is a bar]…

 

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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Ah, a proud assitarian.  –  MechaHitler

Here’s another unusual cover from a performer we’ve seen before; it was provided by Asawin Suebsaeng.  I’d argue that “Purple Rain” as performed by Prince was already blues, but this more traditional arrangement makes that more obvious.  The links above it were provided by Phoenix Calida; Nun Ya; Desiree Alliance and Dan Savage; T. Greg Doucette; and IncarcerNation (x2), in that order.

From the Archives

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We’re now employing people who are not equipped to tie their own shoelaces.

I can’t think of a more appropriate sendoff for Bob Weir than this one.  The links above it were provided by Popehat; Brooke Magnanti and Jesse Walker; The Onion; Phoenix Calida; IncarcerNation; and Walter Olson, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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Online age verification is not just a major invasion of privacy, but a potential bonanza for cybercriminals.  –  Attila Tomaschek

If Men Were Angels

“Pastor” + teacher = “youth pastor”:

Fort Collins [Colorado cops] have arrested Matthew McGinley…[a typical and representative] pastor and teacher [for grooming and molesting]…a…student…for more than one year…[starting in] the 2018-2019 school year…and…continu[ing]…until the victim cut off communication [in 2020]…McGinley [later confessed] to…a church leader…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1548)

Boss hog tries the same bullshit with cops that cops routinely feed the media:

…[A Massachusetts boss hog named] Michael Alibozek…was…[rewarded with a paid vacation after offering money to a sow fantasy role-play]ing online [as a sex worker.  In order to get higher charges and negatively influence the judge, the sow]…arranged for a meet-up [in a]…school parking lot…Alibozek [absurdly claimed] that he “went on a website to try to get girls off the street…He meets with them, talks with them, and attempts to set them straight”…

Walled Garden (#1570)

Western nations are competing to out-China China:

Under the pretense of protecting minors and preserving morals, [politicians] in the United States and the United Kingdom are putting the privacy of millions of citizens at risk.  Age verification bills…[have metastasized] across much of the US since 2022…but…the latest proposals from [wannabe cens]ors in Wisconsin and Michigan take aim not just at access to adult content, but at virtual private networks as well…internet users have been turning to VPNs to make it appear as though their connection is originating from a different location, effectively bypassing [surveillance laws]…As a result, VPN use has skyrocketed, which is a boon for VPN providers, but…free VPNs [can hide]…malware [that will]…log their internet activity or misuse their personal data…Online age verification is not just a major invasion of privacy, but a potential bonanza for cybercriminals.  With millions of internet users uploading images of their faces alongside their government-issued IDs…age verification companies have become extremely attractive targets for hackers…[regardless of politicians’ empty] promises to keep data safe

Buried Truth (#1581)

No, this is a different pro-censorship Michigan politician caught on hookup sites:

The name, email address, and home address of [Michigan politician] Bryan Posthumus…along with a credit card bearing his name, appear in data from Ashley Madison…AdultFriendFinder and Fling.com…Posthumus used [“family values”, anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, and associated buzzwords to drive his political career, but]…his…Fling.com…lists top interests as “fetish,” “group sex,” and…an interest in men, women, or couples….

Dangerous Speech (#1583)

The only thing they “regret” is not getting away with this:

The county [whose sheriff illegally raided] a small-town Kansas newspaper…in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor…the…Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement [pretend]ing regret…the…agreements [cover] Eric Meyer, the owner and editor of the Marion County Record…Ruth Herbel, the [politician] whose home was raided in tandem with the newspaper office, and two other journalists. The agreements coincide with consent judgments expected to be submitted in their federal cases against the county…the paper…[still has other] ongoing cases against the city…

I Spy (#1587)

Bounty hunters are the lowest, most toxic species of vermin tolerated by US society:

…ICE…is allocating as much as $180 million to pay bounty hunters and private [dick]s who verify the address and location of undocumented people ICE wishes to…[abduct.  These and similar bottom feed]ers all have access to powerful [and often illegal] surveillance technology and tools…rang[ing] from…ALPR…databases [to]…location data harvested from smartphones

Sexcrime (#1588)

Censors never, ever stop until they are forced to stop:

…Proponents of [a new UK bill pretend] the mere existence of choking porn [magically] harms women, even when it’s created consensually between adults…[politicians] are also proposing a range of other regulations related to sex work, including one that would define publishing sex worker ads as “pimping” and another that could criminalize paying sex workers for webcam performances…The [choking] ban…would [even criminalize possession of]…realistic [cartoon porn]…so…anyone who has previously downloaded or purchased any BDSM porn could be prosecuted…and…imprisoned…[another] amendment would let porn performers retroactively withdraw consent…[making adult performance] contract[s unenforceable]…yet another…would make it illegal to possess…any [image manipulation] software…

 

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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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!

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Who thought of this?  –  Brent Chapman

Everybody knows Popeye, but did you know he was introduced to the screen (he first appeared in the “Thimble Theater” comic strip in 1929) in a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon?  By the end of the following year he had already replaced Betty as the Fleischer Studio’s biggest star.  The links above the video were provided by Carol Fenton, Mike Siegel, Phoenix Calida, Ryan Marino, IncarcerNation, The Onion, and T. Greg Doucette, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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Help me, I can’t breathe.  –  Francis Gigliotti

If Men Were Angels

On Aug. 28, New York State Police arrested [a Methodist minister named] Ronald E. Wenzinger…for [talking online to a cop fantasy role-playing as a teenager]

Cashing In On Shame

What was once pure fraud can now be accomplished in reality:

…one specimen of widely available spyware has turned [w]hat [used to be a scam] into a…[serious crime by] detecting when the user is browsing pornography…screenshotting it, and taking a candid photo of the victim through their webcam…an open-source variant of “infostealer” malware known as Stealerium…like all infostealers, is designed to infect a target’s computer and automatically send a hacker a wide variety of stolen sensitive data, including banking information, usernames and passwords, and keys to victims’ crypto wallets.  Stealerium, however…also monitors the victim’s browser for web addresses that include certain NSFW keywords, screenshots browser tabs that include those words, photographs the victim via their webcam while they’re watching those porn pages, and sends all the images to a hacker—who can then blackmail the victim…cybercriminals attempt…to trick users into downloading and installing Stealerium as an attachment or a web link, luring victims with typical bait like a fake payment or invoice…

Welcome to the Future (#1440)

Oh what a surprise, how could anyone have predicted this, etc:

…Axon[‘s]…Draft One…[is a program] that [is supposed to] turn [cop] body camera footage and audio into intelligible police reports…civil rights advocacy groups like the [EFF] and ACLU…[have pointed out that LLM’s] tendency to insert inaccuracies into texts—including wholesale inventions known by technologists as “hallucinations”…[make such systems unreliable and dangerous].  Axon [claims] its…safeguards…[are] designed to ensure [cop]…actually read…the…reports rather than rubber-stamping them.  But records obtained by Mother Jones through [FOI] laws almost uniformly show [cop shops] that use the software turn…such features off….[to] reduce…or eliminate…human oversight…reports generated by the…tool…have [certainly] been used in plea deals…essentially [telling] lie[s]…to the court that can’t be easily revealed…

I Can’t Breathe (#1447)

Dare I hope fewer coroners are willing to cover up cops’ crimes?

The death of a Massachusetts man this summer outside a fish market was attributed [in part] to…police…The July 11 death of Francis Gigliotti was deemed…a…homicide [by]…the medical examiner…[but] District Attorney Paul F. Tucker…is…[trying to justify the cops’] actions [anyhow]…Seven [cops]…were [rewarded with paid vacations for the murder of a man who]…was [intentionally] restrained…face down…[even though the DoJ]…has warned [cops] for decades to roll [prisoners] off their stomachs as soon as they are handcuffed because of the danger of positional asphyxia…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1456)

Ambulance-chasers have given themselves the power to rob internet companies:

…the Federal Trade Commission…is proposing that Aylo, [owner of] Pornhub and other popular porn…platforms, be ordered to pay the state of Utah $5 million…[due to supposedly] violating…Utah’s Consumer Sales Practices Act by failing to stop Pornhub users from uploading [porn] the [state has demonized]…In its complaint, the FTC spends a lot of space listing Pornhub tags and titles such as “helpless teens,” “internet creeper,” “shower spy cameras,” and “shamed sluts”…No one let FTC workers visit the Netflix homepage.  We’ll soon have an investigation into how Netflix is promoting murder and corporate espionage and witchcraft…Porn, like other types of entertainment media, often relies on fictional characters and scenarios…some of the content users uploaded to Pornhub may have actually been illegal…[but] Pornhub…tightened up its content rules…in 2020…And most of the things that the FTC objects to are policies [from] before 2020…[also,] distributing child pornography is a crime.  If a web platform is knowingly distributing child pornography, the proper recourse is for the Department of Justice to bring a criminal case…

The Cop Myth (#1461)

Cop violence is never limited to adults:

[A] Texas [cop named] Micah Smyth [was turned in by his wife for inflicting multiple injuries on their small child.  Smyth]…claimed to have accidentally dropped the child while a[bus]ing his other child in the bathroom…the…injuries [were so severe] the child [had to be] taken to [specialists at a] Children’s Hospital in Lubbock…who…found…a fractured skull with a brain bleed, bruises on his back and a healing rib fracture…that [could not be] solely based on an accidental drop…Smyth…was arrested and charged with…child [abuse both] in this case…[and] an additional…charge from 2022 [which his cop buddies previously ignored, thus allowing three more years of abuse]…

If the victims are young enough, there may even be consequences:

A [typical and representative] Milwaukee [cop] is heading to prison…[for] abus[ing] his infant daughter…Martinese McDaniel…[was left with the child by his] girlfriend[, who] came home one day in January 2023 to find the…two-month old…wasn’t breathing and McDaniel…[shaking] her…in a panic.  A pediatrician diagnosed the infant with brain bleeding, hemorrhaging, rib fractures, bruises and other injuries consistent with abuse.  McDaniel gave investigators surveillance video of his home…with one hour of the video [conveniently] missing during the time that his daughter stopped breathing…

Eavesdropping (#1501)

Just a reminder that these hackers exploited vulnerabilities intentionally placed into systems to allow “authorized” busybodies to spy on you:

[The full extent of last year’s massive]…attack by [the Chinese government’s] Salt Typhoon [hacking team] is [finally becoming clear]…It targeted more than 80 countries and may have stolen information from nearly every American…[by] exploit[ing  vulnerabilities intentionally inserted into] global communication networks [to allow cops easy wiretap access]…British and American officials have described the attack as “unrestrained” and “indiscriminate.”  Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain were also signatories to the statement, which was part of a [childish “We see you!” strategy] directed at the Chinese government…The…hack…highlights China’s ambitions for global [domina]nce, which were [recently] on display…at an elaborate military parade in Beijing that featured fighter jets, tanks and thousands of troops marching across Tiananmen Square…

 

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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We’ll notify next of kin if she dies.  –  ICE goon

I’ve always liked this early example (1929) of boogie-woogie, but I’ve never before heard it performed by its composer.  The links above the video were provided by Nun Ya (x2); Popehat; IncarcerNation; Mike Masnick; Mike Siegel and T. Greg Doucette, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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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!

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