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Posts Tagged ‘New Jersey’

Our texts sound like a clan [sic] rally.  –  a cop, of course

Here’a a seasonal “Silly Symphonies” cartoon from 1929; the links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Nun Ya, IncarcerNation (x3), Tracy Quan, 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!

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No one is safe. No one.  –  Michael Wriston

Cops and Robbers (#1527)

If you’re a fan of “sex offender” registration, meet one of your bedfellows:

Jeff Bast, who goes by Millstone the Klown on social media, [fantasizes] he is protecting children [by destroying the lives of]…people [he claims are insufficiently sociopathic toward those condemned to] the sex offender registry…[one of his victims,] Lucy Reid…had grown weary of seeing her hometown [plastered with hundreds of handmade signs accusing someone of child sex abuse, so she started taking them down when she saw them]…she did not expect strangers to call her a “pedophile protector” or…deluge…[her employer, a bookstore,] with calls threatening demonstrations outside the shop unless it cut ties with her…[After she was sacked] Millstone the Klown’s followers [started posting videos] showing the entrance to the building where…she [lived, urging lynch mobs visit her with] pepper spray and a knife…One morning, a wood chipper was parked nearby…[after] Millstone…suggested she should be thrown into one…[another victim,] Llaina Groves…[was targeted with a spurious accusation] linking her husband and business to an alleged sex offender…Bast later posted an apology…but [only after his disciples had]…spray-painted [“DPDR”] on the parking lot in front of [her business], an abbreviation for…“Dead Pedophiles Don’t Reoffend”…[a] slogan [which appears on merchandise Bast sells]…

I Spy (#1590)

If you think this will go away when Trump does, you are a fool:

[ICE] is fast-tracking a $100 million domestic surveillance program to [post] 142 [spooks] in more than two dozen cities…in [order to more effectively destroy]…private lives.  The new program is called the Enforcement and Removal Operations Overwatch and National Security Enforcement, or ERO ONE…and…the timeline suggests ICE will award the contract around February…Jay Stanley…[of the ACLU called it] “a nightmare in the making”…[because] the government [is] us[ing the excuse of] undocumented immigrants…[to subject] everyone…[especially] political enemies…[to] raid[s] like the one recently inflicted on] Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s D.C. home…ERO ONE…will…target…every [single] person to whom [a chosen victim is] connected, including household members, family members, friends, acquaintances, or the person with whom they carpool to work…

Sexcrime (#1590)

It’s been less than eight years since the UK lost in court the last time it tried this:

Pornography that depicts strangulation…or…sex between people who are…pretending to be related, or when somebody is pretending to be…under 16, will be illegal [in England and Wales because politicians love]…criminalising harmless sexual preferences…[if control freaks barf the words “]healthy relationship[“]…or [“]glorifies…violence against women…” [at it]…

Mad Libs (#1652)

Greedy idiots are discovering that there’s no autocomplete for human thought:

[Greedy nitwit]s around the globe are grappling with the fallout from rushing to [give human jobs to mindless chatbots.  Facebook] has scaled back plans to axe staff and [replace them with chatbots] after the company found employees were spending more and more time cleaning up t[heir stupid] errors…Microsoft…vice-president Ryan Roslansky…publicly lamented the prevalence of…slop in his day-to-day work…and…Walmart…employees are being plagued by unreasonable expectations, errors and false alerts from [chatbot]s that assign tasks, [make] schedules and monitor performance…Employers are navigating a flood of errors and low-quality work that [is] sapping employee time, raising privacy and security risks and pushing up costs.  Now, some businesses [whose management were wanking to Scroogesque fantasies of cheap electric slaves] are…implementing restrictions where experimentation was once encouraged, bringing back experienced workers and [eat]ing [crow]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1676)

Promoters of dystopia love to vomit words like “safety” into the faces of useful idiots:

Rutgers University quietly paid at least $1.5 million for a powerful surveillance analytics system that can recognize faces, read license plates and [mis]identify objects…and…can track people and cars across a network of cameras and [call the pigs on] them.  Avigilon…is part of Motorola S[urveillance], whose surveillance cameras and license-plate readers…increasingly blanket streets across the country.  Rutgers [hid] the purchase [from students, faculty and even the] Board of Governors, the university’s highest governing body…[by taking it from] the…general budget…[while] cut[ting] library funding by roughly a quarter…Britt Paris, a [Rutgers] professor…who has followed these trends for years…[said] “If people knew about this, they would be incredibly upset”…the capabilities aren’t limited to the new cameras…[but] can be applied to the thousands of existing cameras across campus…Rutgers [barfs] the [buzzwords]…“crime[” and “]safety[” at critics]…but crime across all Rutgers campuses has…declined…[especially] serious violent crime…Surveillance has expanded…since 2023, [after] a wave of protests…

Panopticon (#1676)

“These agencies surveil the public incessantly, but the moment we can watch them back, it’s deemed a security threat”:

When [cops swagger]ed up to Anthony Sistilli’s front door in September, it wasn’t to accuse him of a crime or take a witness statement, but to ask how he could have the nerve to turn…surveillance cameras on the cops themselves…Though Canada lacks a centralized corporate surveillance regime like Flock in the US, the country’s police have been rapidly scaling a more decentralized ALPR network…Sistilli decided to homebrew his own ALPR…[specifically] designed to track police cars…which the software engineer mounted on his car’s dashboard to test in the real world…Unfortunately, local police soon caught onto Sistilli’s handiwork, and paid him a visit in order to [intimidate him]…“one of them…mention[ed] ‘how scary’ it would be for them, because people would be able to find out where they lived…and what they were doing throughout the day.”  Sistilli’s response? “I think that’s the exact same concern that civilians have too”…

Panopticon (#1678)

Cops won’t stop doing this until the settlements come out of their own pockets:

Lindsey Isaacs was asleep at home in Palm Coast, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2025, when she was awakened at 4:45 a.m. by…[cops who] accused the retail clerk…of causing a multi-vehicle crash…that had killed three people…and then fleeing the scene…They [moronically barfed that her truck] had damage consistent with that collision…[even though it was] sitting in front of them in perfect condition…[the source of the disinformation was of course] a Flock camera…Isaacs was…[locked in a cage] for 13 days, including three days in solitary confinement……[until] her lawyer presented the court with photos of [the same] undamaged [truck cops had ignored to arrest her]…Isaacs sued t[he lying pigs] for false arrest, wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution and won a settlement in 2026…

 

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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You know what you have to do, carry on.  –  Leandro Andrés Bertazzo

This seemed to me the appropriate song for the passing of Orbison’s longtime songwriting partner.  The links above it were provided by Desiree Alliance; Kevin Wilson; Jesse Walker; Dan Savage and Jesse again; IncarcerNation; Angela Keaton; and Ryan Marino, 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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In a few short years, the entire Western world might finally end the age of the open internet.  –  Kelsey Piper

Torture Chamber (#1445)

For a warden to be charged, there must be much more to this:

State p[igs] and [screwlords] are conducting a “potential criminal misconduct” investigation into…a Western Maryland prison after the latest in a rash of [murder]s of prisoners…on…May 20 [screws found] the body of Colin Wolf…[decomposing] inside his cell in the Roxbury [Dungeon]…Roxbury’s warden and chief of security are out…[and] 19 [screws have been given demerits, while]…eight medical staffers [have been banned] from facilities statewide…officials [are trying] to [figure out how to cover up the] homicides…[but] Wolf was the ninth [victim] this year…and the 33rd…since 2023.  [Politician] Carolyn Scruggs…wrote that…the [screws]…had violated “basic human decency”…to…[a greater] extent [than the ordinary violations of basic human decency inherent in locking human beings up in cages]…Just two weeks before Wolf’s death…Kelvin Hite…was also killed at Roxbury…

To Molest and Rape (#1577)

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

A [typical and representative cop paid to lurk in]…New Jersey [schools in order to spy on, harass, and intimidate students has been arrested for] sexually assaulting an underage girl.  [Louis J.] Baselice…[groomed and enticed the girl by buying her] an electric scooter…a…cell phone…and…food.  [He was reported by her friends]…

Sexcrime (#1590)

Because this worked so well when it was tried next door in the UK:

[Irish politicians] seek…to [invent crim]es relating to the possession, production or distribution of extreme or violent pornography, and acts of necrophilia…Minister Jim O’Callaghan [promied the scheme by absurdly barfing]…”contributes to perpetuating misogynistic attitudes” [in a government know for misogynistic laws against abortion, sex work, etc]…

Feudalism Redux (#1605)

Most federal courts below the SCOTUS level are still doing their jobs:

…Mayday Health runs a website with information about where people can obtain abortion pills…[but] doesn’t provide abortion pill prescriptions itself…Nonetheless, South Dakota has been engaged in a monthslong First Amendment battle with the group, [absurdly claim]ing…the [First Amendment doesn’t apply to speech about]…abortion…Mayday sued…[over the] unconstitutional [censorship attempt and] U.S. District Judge Camela Theeler seems poised to agree…[as she has] issued a preliminary injunction against South Dakota enforcing the law against Mayday or against…[politician] Nancy Turbak Berry….[for] wearing a Mayday sweatshirt…with…the…[same] message…[as] on Mayday’s gas station placards…South Dakota’s abortion advertising law is a[n illegal] content-based restriction on speech…Commercial speech is generally held to receive less First Amendment protection than non-commercial speech.  But Mayday’s website is not commercial speech, as…”there is no evidence that Mayday holds an economic motivation for its advertisements…Rather, [it]…is a nonprofit organization expressing a moral belief and providing information for free”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1622)

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

[Perve]rt glasses might seem like a great way of cheating on exams, [if you]…are [a moral imbecile], but…[it may result in legal] consequences …A…South Korea[n] man is facing criminal charges…after using [perve]rt glasses to cheat on a state-run fire engineer test in May.  [When] he was…[caught by the test] administrator…he…pretty much copped to the entire thing…This isn’t the first instance where [perve]rt glasses have been at the center of an academic cheating scandal, but it’s a particularly [serious] one given the context of the exam…it’s fair to say that someone’s competency could be a contributing factor in whether people live or die…

Walled Garden (#1651)

The open internet will soon be a thing of the past:

Senator Ed Markey…rolled out what he [advertises as] an “AI Accountability Agenda”…[but in reality] he wants to [put] unchecked power [to spy on and censor the internet]…into the hands of the American [government]…Two bills in the s[cheme]…move the internet toward a place where you prove your age before you read a page or say anything on it…[one is] brand[ed] COPPA 2.0…[and] lifts the age of a [restri]cted user from under 13 to under 17, then rewrites the rule that decides when a company is liable…[so] an ordinary website…has to judge whether some hypothetical reasonable person would have figured out that a visitor was under 17.  If you guess wrong, the Federal [Government] can [destroy your business].  The cheapest way to stop guessing is to card everyone at the door…Age gates…stand between a reader and everyone else’s expression, and they turn speaking up into a chore rather than a reflex…

Walled Garden (#1652)

Politicians love aping each other’s schemes while also ignoring their failure:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signaled that a European Union–wide identity verification scheme for social media users may be coming soon…[saying] “It is up to [the government] to decide when children…can join social media”…[and] touting the European Commission’s [failed] age-verification app…In truly Orwellian fashion, von der Leyen claimed that “this is about putting power back into the hands of parents”…despite report after report suggesting that Australia’s ban is a flop…politicians in the U.S. and in the U.K. are rushing to emulate Australia.  Now, it looks like the whole of the European Union could be next…

 

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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No-one in a democracy should need to show their passport just to get online.  –  Silkie Carlo

Policing for Profit

There are many ways for cops to enrich themselves at others’ expense:

A [New Jersey cop named Darryl Brown] stole more than $10,000 in camera equipment from a photographer who had to abandon her bag after she was injured during [a pogrom] outside a…[concentration camp] in Newark [named] Delaney Hall…which has been the focus of ongoing protests since Memorial Day weekend…after [political prisoner]s inside announced a hunger and labor strike…Angelina Katsanis was [hit so hard] by a [cop she] could barely walk…as state troopers [attack]ed…the…protesters [with pepper spray and blunt weapons] late [on the] night [of May 30th]…She…tucked her bag aside so she could seek medical help…[it] was clearly labeled with her name, and her keys were airtagged.  After a friend unsuccessfully tried to retrieve the bag later that night, they were able to monitor the airtag [be]ing [carried by] Darryl Brown [to his house, where operatives of the attorney general’s office of public integrity]…found some of [it on June 3rd after gaining entry via a search warrant]…

Banishment (#1163)

One more baby step toward ridding our society of this evil:

South Carolina is one of 20 states that authorize indefinite [warehousing] of [people] after they have completed their prison sentences…[if] a jury [declares them]…a “sexually violent predator”…Although the South Carolina Office of Mental Health…concluded that Andy Hyman was not an SVP, a jury d[eclared otherwise because a prosecutor tricked them with an “expert”]…opinion based largely on penile plethysmography (PPG), a scientifically dubious technique that [cl]aims to measure sexual response to images, audio narratives, or textual descriptions by gauging tiny changes in the circumference of the subject’s penis.  That test, the South Carolina Supreme Court [has now] unanimously ruled…in response to Hyman’s appeal, is “generally inadmissible in judicial proceedings”…join[ing] a long list of state and federal courts that have deemed PPG results unreliable and inadmissible…

The Last Shall Be First (#1523)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

Student athletes in Washington state schools who want to compete in girls’ sports would likely have to obtain genital exams to participate, if a[n authoritarian] ballot initiative passes in November…students would have several options to confirm their sex: a visual genital exam, a lab test to determine their genetic makeup, or an analysis of testosterone levels in the blood…[high-profile bigot] Brian Heywood and his political action committee Let’s Go Washington are backing the measure…[which they defend by barfing the word “]safety[“] in girls’ [faces]…the measure would be a major shift in the way the state has…handled school sports participation for transgender kids…since 2007…[there are only about] 10 trans athletes out of more than 200,000 kids [in academic sports] across the state…

In the authoritarian mind,  for students to voluntarily allow other people to examine their genitalia for the purpose of pleasure is a “crime”, but for the same students to be forced by law to allow strangers to examine their genitalia for the purpose of bigotry is “protection”.

Panopticon (#1611)

Cops will invariably use warrantless surveillance to frame people:

…[Ariel Beltran and] Hugo Parra [were falsely] arrested last year on felony [assault] charges…[because] San Diego police…de[cided]…the Alfa Romeo car [they were] riding in…[could teleport] five miles away from…the crime [instantly]…a…[Flock] license plate reader…captured…an…[image of] a different Alfa Romeo [whose license plate cops could not read, so they simply]…arrested Beltran and Parra [for riding in a similar car in a different part of town, also captured by the reader 23 seconds later]…Parra spent nearly one month behind bars…before the…charges were dropped…Now Parra and Beltran are preparing to sue the city for civil rights violations and negligence…several other Flock cameras…[and] the location data on their cell phones [showed they were nowhere near the crime scene, but the cops]…ignored [inconvenient] evidence [to frame the men, who now]…seek $1.5 million apiece in damages…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1630)

Zuckerberg sneakily added this dystopian software, hoping civil liberties groups wouldn’t notice:

[Facebook] has quietly embedded face-recognition technology for its [perve]rt glasses into an app downloaded to millions of phones…over multiple updates this year…while publicly…[lying that it w]as something the company was still “thinking through”…Though not yet enabled, NameTag sits inside a…companion app that’s…necessary for use of key features of its [perve]rt glasses…[when] activated, it will transform faces captured by [the pervert] glasses into unique biometric signatures…and check each one against faceprints stored on the user’s phone—a database that…[could easily be re]configured to…revive…technology [Facebook lied about retiring] in 2021, when the company…paid $650 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by Illinois users and, in 2024, agreed to a separate $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over…[illega]lly collect[ing] biometric data…

Torture Chamber (#1638)

Nuremberg-style trials are the moderate solution to these atrocities:

[Victims of] Florida’s notorious [Dade-Collier concentration camp reported that screws are]…denying them food and fresh water…[in an attempt to coerce them into] sign[ing] documents presented to them in English that they [can]not understand…the water given to them…[is] “rotten” and contain[s] mosquito larvae…They…[are also denying] medicine to…diabetic[s], [people] with high blood pressure…and others [who need daily medication.  The concentration camp is so expensive to]…operate…[it is scheduled to] wind down operations in [the next few weeks in preparation for] its eventual closure…[after only] one year of operation, the t[orture] facility…has developed a reputation for the brutal treatment of [human beings crammed into]…metal cages, and…su[bjected to nigh-constant] human and civil rights abuses…[including] denial of access to immigration lawyers, frequent and sudden movement of [victims] to other [concentra]tion [camp]s, and pressure to consent…to deportation…[the new tortures] appear…to be a ramping up of that pressure…

Walled Garden (#1642)

Fascists will never be satisfied until they control all people see, say, and do:

The UK government [is demanding tech companies install Utah-style software] to block access to…images [badly-flawed algorithms identify as “nude”, a la Facebook,] on smartphones and other devices for [all residents of the UK unless they submit to having those devices permanently linked to their identities in government databases].  Sir Keir Starmer has [issued incoherent threats] to…firms [while barfing “]children[” and “]sexually explicit[” at sensible people]…and…[bloviating about what he] “believe[s]”.  The government [issued a]…three month…[ultimatum and threatened corporations not resident in the UK with] criminal [charges, even demanding that corporations force the censorship & surveillance software into]…existing…phones [without the owners’ consent]…The [new threats are a tacit admission that the much-ballyhooed]…Online Safety Act – [which took over 12 years to enact] – i[s as utter a failure as sensible people predicted eight years ago]…However, [authoritarian lunatics] have [demand]ed the government…[completely control everything young adults] see…online[, moronically belching “]sextortion[” as though it were a sensible term used by reasonable adults].  The [scheme includes a proposed ban]…on…social media [for all Britons who refuse to submit to a surveillance regime]…

 

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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Approving a project that will consume water and energy at this scale is irresponsible and dangerous.  –  Franque Bains

This week’s video is a recently-discovered shellac master pressing of “Cross Road Blues” by Robert John­son, who died mysteriously in 1938 before his career even got properly started, yet still influenced the young blues-inspired guitarists of the Sixties.  The video was provided by Brooke Magnanti, and the links above it by Mike Siegel, Shiv Ramdas, Kevin Wilson, Reason, IncarcerNation, and Nun Ya (x2), 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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There’s no such thing as a single-purpose surveillance state. – J.D. Tuccille

All-Purpose Excuse (#1231)

“Promote” & “encourage” are authoritarian dysphemisms for “talk about”:

An adult model is facing up to a decade [in a cage] in Turkey after she allegedly spoke out in support of sex work on national TV, which is against the country’s strict [censorship] laws.  Prosecutors claim Merve Taskin “encouraged prostitution” during a television appearance where she is said to have talked about the work she does behind a camera…on a programme hosted by Turkish media personality Hulya Avsar…Prosecutors claim that during the broadcast, Merve…[honestly] said that she could earn an entire month’s salary in one night…An indictment…alleges that her statements “promoted prostitution”…

Stalkers in Blue (ROTW #2)

Just another kind of cop, being a cop:

A U.S. Secret Service [spook] has been [rewarded with a paid vacation for following] a woman…to her hotel room in Miami and…masturbating [at] her…John Andrew Spillman…was…[caught in the act by] hotel security…[and was still at it] when [cops arrived to arrest]…him…Spillman…was in South Florida to [attend his master, the mad emperor]…

The Vultures Descend (#1485)

The state really does believe it owns every human being within its borders:

…Wyoming [politicians]…recently passed a[n unconstitutional] law to outlaw abortions once…fetal [cardiac myocyte activity can be detected by machines]…it is “clinically inaccurate” to describe what can be heard via an ultrasound during very early pregnancy as a heartbeat.  Cardiac cells in an embryo may exhibit electrical activity that is detectable, but there are no cardiac valves that could generate the sound that people know as a heartbeat.  The Wyoming law…which has now been…blocked [as unconstitutional like other recent attempts to reduce women to cattle, was justified by wannabe feudal lords as]…”sending a message“…that…young [women] are [chattel whose only function in life is to repeatedly spawn tax cattle]…for…the state…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1573)

Erosion of civil liberties only starts with “undesirables”; it never stops there:

…the U.S. is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tools that give [cops, spooks, and goons] easy access to the home and workplace addresses of American citizens, their social-media accounts, vehicle information, flight history, law-enforcement records and other personal information, as well as data to track their daily comings and goings…[all] in the name of border control.  As of 2022…ICE…had scanned the driver’s license photos of 1 in 3 adults…had access to the driver’s license data of 3 in 4 adults…and…could locate 3 in 4 adults through their utility records…Palantir…provide[s]…the ability to track people’s movements with “near real-time visibility”…and…the Mobile Fortify app…[allows thugs] to identify anyone they happen to encounter…[especially] protesters…and…their associates…in direct violation of Carpenter v. United States…

Creepy Coppers (#1583)

The inevitable result of sexual predators being given power over women:

A[n] RCMP [cop] who took a sexualized photo of a…female prisoner and sent it to a[nother pig] using a work-issued cellphone…will not be fired [but instead merely told he was a naughty boy and should think about what he did]…Samuel Culic admitted…[that] the woman…[did not] consent…[but he thought it was his right to exploit her sexually because someone barfed “]outstanding warrant[” while he] was [in earshot]…The message [he sent his wanking pal] read “Haha hot little senorita in cells tonight. Straight from Mexico’…[and] the [other pig] responded [by oinking] “Niceeee hahaha”…

How exactly do people think a quadruple silent e would affect a word’s pronunciation?

Torture Chamber (#1607)

A convenient way to cover up wanton murder:

On October 3…the Trump [regime] abruptly stopped paying…for medical care provided to…ICE [victims]…including “dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, [and] chemotherapy”…payments…were supposed to resume on April 30…but…did not resume.  Instead, [the billing contractor now…claims [it may be] June…[before they even begin to] process…the…claims…A source…[reported] that this is false…[and] no claims are being processed…the [regime’s refusal to]…pay…for medical services…has c[aus]ed…a massive spike in [ICE victim] deaths and medical crises…From 2018 to 2024, the average number of people who died in ICE c[oncentration camps] annually was 8.9…in 2025, 33 people died [as prisoners of] ICE…[and] the trend is accelerating.  In the first four months of 2026, 18 people have [already] died in [the camps]…since…October 3…[the death] rate [has increased to] 51.7 people annually…more than five times the death rate before [Trump reverted to his typical practice of not paying his bills]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1624)

This needs to be banned worldwide, along with police use of the technology:

Maryland has become the first state in the US to ban surveillance pricing…[the practice of] rapidly chang[ing] the cost of products based on consumer data, including their location, internet search history and demographics…the [industry uses the euphemism “]dynamic pricing[” but no matter what the term it amounts to]…charging each person the most that they’re willing to pay…the Federal Trade Commission…has documented examples of surveillance pricing in stores selling clothing, beauty products, home goods and hardware…Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey may likewise regulate…the [exploitative]…practice…un[fortunat]ely the…Maryland…law is riddled with industry carveouts that will [undermine its stated intent]…

 

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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[Age gating] has now become a Swiss army knife for the government.  –  Damien Leloup

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1371)

This may be too little, too late:

Louisiana cannot enforce a 2023 law that requires social media platforms to verify the ages of…users, a federal judge [has] ruled…U.S. District Judge John deGravelles…ruled in favor of NetChoice…[because] the law is overly broad and…takes an “all or nothing” approach to policing social media use…Paul Fiske…of NetChoice…said…“The government lacks authority to restrict access to lawful speech it does not like”…

Walled Garden (#1480)

Surely you didn’t think this would stop with “porn”?

Shein, a cheap-stuff superstore based in China that is popular worldwide, cannot sell sex toys unless it checks purchaser IDs, a French court has ruled…International attention on the case has focused on…a…third-party vendor [in the Shein] marketplace [which] was temporarily selling…child[-shaped toasters]…this is another sign about where online age verification is going.  Politicians and [wannabe censors]…initially pushed age verification…as a requirement for [“]porn[“, (meaning]…all…sexuality-related material[)].  Then [they wanted]…age verification…on all social media…[and] video games…Texas…[politicians have demand]ed age verification for sex toy sales online…We’re [even] seeing [them] take aim at ads depicting bikinis and lingerie…

The Vultures Descend (#1563)

Trump claims to love the military, yet his regime keeps trying to harm veterans:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented an abortion ban after the [Trump regime] issued a [diktat]…that prohibit[s it]…in [all] cases…[unless] the [woman is actually dying from an]…ectopic pregnanc[y] or miscarriage…

Mad Libs (#1564)

These companies need to be bankrupted by lawsuits:

[Canadian] fiddler Ashley MacIsaac had a concert cancelled and is worried for his safety after…Google [maliciously allowed its chatbot to falsely] describe…him as a sex offender…[with] convictions [for]…internet luring and sexual assault.  Th[e libel appears]…to have been the result of [an unsupervised algorithm] blending MacIsaac’s biography with that of another man…bearing the same last name…Google has [closed the barn door after the horse bolted, but] the professional consequences could extend to his ability to enter the U.S. for concerts, given increased [Gestapo] social-media scrutiny…

The Cop Myth (#1571)

Why are people shocked when those paid & encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A pair of married Denver [pigs] assaulted a man in a wheelchair in October because they [imagin]ed he used sexual bondage devices on a 17-year-old…Carla…and…Jason Gentempo…learned that the 17-year-old [family member]…was at a Denver apartment wh[ich they fantasized was]…a “sexual torture chamber”…[they] drove to the [apartment without putting on their magical clown costumes of legal invulnerability] to pick up the [teen from]…in front of the man’s apartment…[then] beat the man up [without provocation]…and [destroyed his] cellphone…whe[n] the [victim tried to]…report…the…attack…[fellow gang member] Henry Soni…[lied] that…[victim] would have to [allow himself to] be arrested [in order] to pursue charges against [his deranged attackers and falsely claimed in his report that the victim]…“does not want to file a report at this time”…[and intentionally covered up the assault]…Soni was arrested…[for] forgery, evidence tampering and misconduct…[and also charged with] sexually assaulting a woman in an unrelated incident…while [wearing his magical clown costume]…

You Were Warned (#1578)

The US has achieved banana republic levels of corruption:

ByteDance…has signed binding agreements to create a joint venture for [TikTok] in the United States…in [collusion] with the Trump [regime].  That deal means the U.S. version of TikTok will become majority-owned by [Trump cronies including]…tech giant Oracle, the C[onehead-owned] private equity fund Silver Lake and the United Arab Emirates investment firm MGX…

Torture Chamber (#1589)

This will continue until the evil US immigration policy is reformed:

A 41-year-old man from Haiti who had been [abduct]ed by [ICE goon]s died last week [because he was ignored during] a medical emergency…[in a dungeon] in Newark…Jean Wilson Brutus, was [ignored for] hours [while suffering a medical crisis]…ICE [refuses to identify]…three other [victims of the gang], who were 39, 46 and 56 years old, [also died] in [government cages] in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Michigan…

 

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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Now, even those with nothing useful to say can tell the whole world exactly, or more often vaguely, what they think.  –  Lane Brown

As I mentioned last month, I was never much of a KISS fan.  However, the band did have a part in one special moment of my growing up: this song was the very first one I ever slow-danced to with a boy (at our 8th grade graduation party).  The links above it were provided by Angela Keaton (x3); Phoenix Calida and Dan Savage; C.J. Ciaramella; Ryan Cooper; and Mike Masnick, 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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Assault…is discipline when you’re a juvenile.  – “Officer” Blake Willer

This is among the best examples of Donna Jean Godchaux’s work with the Grateful Dead, so how could there be a more appropriate sendoff for her?  The links above it were provided by Ryan Marino, C.J. Ciaramella, Radley Balko, Ryan Marino again, IncarcerNation, Carol Fenton, 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!

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