The Honest Courtesan

My own state does not seem to care if I live or die.  –  Lauren Hall

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

Vancouver police let this maniac run wild for years because “NHI”:

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who took female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree [in] Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died after being assaulted [by another] prison[er on]…May 19…Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007…after being charged with the murders of 26 women…The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on the farm.  Pickton once bragged…that he killed a total of 49 women…Pickton…strangled his victims and fed their remains to his pigs…Vancouver police…[did] not tak[e] the cases seriously because many of the missing were sex workers or users of drugs…

The Course of a Disease (#932)

“Support women’s right to autonomy” ≠ “back paying for sex”:

…more Scots back sex work than are against it despite [the] Government [attempting yet again] to [impose] the so-called “Nordic model” [on] Scotland…a YouGov poll of 1,088 Scottish adults…shows there is little public support for the agenda…47% thought it should be legal to pay [for] sex…compared with 32% who thought it should be an offence.  In a massive rejection of the core principle of SNP policy, just 13% agreed that…[women are men’s moral inferiors and need to be “protected” from their own choices by government] violence…79% think the Scottish Government should consult sex workers and sex worker-led groups when considering new laws…Just 1% of those polled think sex work should be a priority for the Scottish Government [at all]…

No Difference (#1334)

US evangelical prohibitionists are a worldwide menace:

A long-standing US [pro-censorship] group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda, including a governing party member who…[has said] gays “should be castrated”, and a virulently homophobic founder of a “militaristic” Christian boys camp.  The revelations about [Morality in Media, now DBA under the authoritative-sounding alias “]National Center on Sexual Exploitation[“,] and its spin-offs and affiliates…[clearly demonstrate] its recent disavowals of its history of anti-LGBTQ+ positions [to be lies], and [expose] its [previously hidden] role in Uganda’s passage…of laws on homosexuality which are among the most punitive and restrictive in the world.  It also [exposes as li]es NCOSE’s efforts to play down its religious associations…in order to exercise a more authoritative influence on poli[tician]s in the US and around the world…

Vulture Watching (#1395)

Texas’ ruling psychopaths say doctors should just use their medical judgment and hope an aggressive prosecutor doesn’t choose to make an example of them:

The Texas Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the most significant challenge to Texas’ new abortion laws yet, ruling…that the medical exceptions in the law [a]re broad enough…[while simultaneously deeming that a] doctor[‘s]…“good faith judgment” [is insufficient]…While the opinion was unanimous, Justice Brett Busby issued a concurring opinion that left the door open to a broader challenge to the law.  Zurawski v. Texas was…the first challenge to a state’s abortion bans on behalf of women with complicated pregnancies.  At least three other states have followed suit…the court…ruling [basically requires] an abortion…perform[ing physician to be both a]…legal [expert and a seer]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1410)

Texas seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:

…in the past two years, [Texas attorney general Ken] Paxton has [ab]used consumer protection law more than a dozen times to [harass] a range of entities for activities like offering shelter to immigrants, providing health care to transgender teens or trying to foster a diverse workplace.  Not a single one of the investigations was prompted by a consumer complaint…[and] the analysis is possibly an undercount…[because hi]s office…has…fought the release of certain records requested under Texas’ Public Information Act…Paxton…[has] launched the[se specious “]investigations[“] simply to harass [political oppon]ents and to cause a chilling effect among organizations doing similar work…the attorney general’s demands violate the First…and…Fourth Amendment[s, and]…the political weaponization of consumer protection divisions by Paxton and other attorneys general [is] “a core violation” of constitutional laws that runs counter to what these divisions were established to do…when Paxton doesn’t get speedy access to the documents he wants, he often publicizes these typically confidential cases, putting out news releases that draw headlines and build support among his base of [authoritarian sociopaths]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

Useful idiots never see where their idiocy will lead, even when it’s spelled out for them:

Canada’s privacy c[ommissioner is]…warning that a [“monkey see, monkey do” age verification] bill…could apply to streaming services such as Netflix…law professor Michael Geist, who specializes in internet and e-commerce law, say age verification technology is simply not there yet, and the “fundamentally flawed” bill raises major privacy concerns.  Proponents of the bill argue its purpose, which is to [give politicians control over the internet], is important enough that it should be passed [regardless of what civil liberties advocates think]…But Geist said policies on how to handle technology should be created based on known capabilities, not on “technological fairy dust.”  Privacy lawyer David Fraser agrees…saying “sexually explicit material” as defined could mean it applies to search engines, social-media…e-book publishers and even streaming services…During committee testimony [politician Owen] Ripley confirmed…that as written, the proposed law would make it a rule for services like Netflix to verify the age of their users…Fraser added…it’s likely that companies will…just block Canadian access to the content rather than risk liability…[as] Pornhub [has done in] Texas…“[The bill is] not designed to keep kids safe. It’s not designed to keep adults safe,” said Solomon Friedman…of…Ethical Capital Partners…“It’s designed to impose the morality of a select few ideologically motivated legislators on the rest of Canadians”…

Thought Control (#1430)

I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of career path:

Ohio [politicians have joined yet another faddish “monkey see, monkey do” parade by concoct]ing a new bill that would charge teachers and librarians with felonies for handing out books and materials [politicians later decide to point at while belching out the magic word] “obscene”…Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro…argues teachers will…abandon their careers rather than face the potential of criminal prosecution under…“This deliberately vague law…which flies in the face of the First Amendment while inviting inconsistent enforcement”…

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