Sex work…[is] a personal choice from which we don’t need to be rescued. – Natalia Lane
It’s barely even possible to talk about this under criminalization:
…on May 7, a group of sex workers [in Mexico City] launched ‘CLaP!’, a first-of-its-kind coalition that wants the decriminalization of sex work, its formal recognition as a job, and access to social security for those working online and in person…the group is appealing to potential members online and on the streets of the capital, aiming to create enough momentum for sex workers to win long-sought labor rights. To date, about 42 workers have joined CLaP!…
Privacy as we once knew it is a thing of the past:
American police are testing a new technology that can scan moving vehicles for anything that emits a signal, including phones, smartwatches, cat and dog tracking chips and even library books, according to its creator, Rome, Italy-based surveillance…company Leonardo…Elsag EOC Plus…is typically incorporated into one of Leonardo’s Elsag license plate readers…and is designed to help police [states] monitor [citizens by]…warrantlessly track[ing] people across large tranches of the country…by identifying their belongings without their knowledge…the tool can identify specific models of devices…[such as] pet chips, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, wearable tech like fitness trackers, in-car infotainment systems and tire pressure sensors, and…all that data can be linked to a car’s license plate number, becoming a unique “fingerprint.” As a person travels through other license plate scanners, their fingerprint can be followed around a given area, even when the driver or passenger switches vehicles…malls across the U.S. are already equipped…with…car surveillance technologies from Leonardo rival Flock Safety…[whose] cameras similarly create “fingerprints”…[by] look[ing] at identifying features on a car beyond the license plate number, such as color, make, model, bumper stickers or wheel rims…
This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:
A [Spokane, Washington high] school paraeducator and…coach admitted to recording himself [molest]ing…underage boys and sending the videos to other [boys]…Dallas M. Shuler…told [cop]s he solicited explicit content from 25 [boys] in the last year because he is “sexually excited by” 11- to 15-year-olds…He al[so] admitted he kept a collection of explicit photos and videos of minors and “traded” them with [other minors]…
Politicians keep openly trying to destroy the internet:
…weakening Section 230 has become a weird political hobby horse for…politicians [because they] loathe communications…outside of their control. Generally, such designs take the form of content-specific carve-outs…but a new proposal…would simply “sunset” Section 230 after next year…[politicians] Cathy McMorris Rodgers…and…Frank Pallone…”seem to fundamentally misunderstand how the law works and what the consequences of repealing it would be,” writes Mike Masnick at Techdirt, pointing to the pair’s [recent] Wall Street Journal op-ed…[which] manages to get just about everything about Section 230 wrong, including its origins. Section 230 was part of a panicky “protect the children” law known as the Communications Decency Act, not a measure meant to “help people and businesses connect, innovate and share information,” as the pair so absurdly claims…”These days, one can ask, ‘How do you know when Section 230 is being misunderstood?’ and answer, ‘A politician is talking about it'”…lawyer Robert Corn-Revere aptly wrote in Reason last year…
Articles about misconduct are more effective when journalists don’t make excuses for cops:
In hundreds of deaths where police used force meant to stop someone without killing them, [cops intentionally] violated well-known guidelines for safely restraining and subduing people — not simply once or twice, but multiple times. Most violations involved [maliciously] pinning people facedown in ways that could restrict their breathing or [sadistically] stunning them repeatedly with Tasers…[some cops are very good at inventing excuses for] break[ing]…safety guidelines…[while] many other[s find it] harder to [make up bullshit. Some cops plead incompetence, stupidity, or belligerence to] explain…a string of mistakes. In other cases, they [moronically] kept applying force even after they had people handcuffed and controlled [as though they were rabid animals with no sense at all]…AP catalogued 1,036 [murders committed by cops]…not involving their guns. In [only] about half, medical officials [admitt]ed that [cops] caused or contributed to the deaths…
Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:
According to new research, about 8,000 women per month obtained abortion pills in late 2023, despite living in states that have bans or severe restrictions on telemedicine abortion or abortion access. The survey also found that the abortion rate in 2023 was slightly higher than in 2022, despite total abortion bans in more than a dozen states…a…press release [says,] “This elevated volume of abortion may be due in part to the expansion of telehealth abortion care, which made up 19% of all abortion care nationwide by December 2023″…
The US government is almost completely out of Constitutional control:
…a bunch of members of Congress both signed an amicus brief in the Murthy case saying…governments should never, ever, interfere with speech and also voted to ban TikTok….th[e] same members of Congress who are so worried about “jawboning” by government officials…[are themselves using] the power of Congress to silence voices trying to defend TikTok…NetChoice has been the main trade group…defending against all the terrible laws being thrust upon the internet over the last few years…[it] has been structured to be independent of its members…which sometimes means their members dislike the causes and cases NetChoice takes on…members of Congress threatened to investigate NetChoice if it didn’t drop TikTok from its [membership] roster…PR agencies and lobbying organizations that work with TikTok…are [also] facing similar threats…
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