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Posts Tagged ‘Oklahoma’

In the News (#1484)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.  –  Judge Mark E. Walker

Droit du Seigneur

Whenever a pimp cop is caught, his bosses use the occasion as an excuse to belch out deeply-stupid rhetoric:

A…cop…[named] George Trimiliozzi…[was part of] a group that [apparently ran several massage parlors on Long Island.  Officials used high-sounding hogwash and ridiculously convoluted Copese to make the business sound like an international crime cartel, when in actuality the problem was that they extorted so much money from migrant women that some of them started robbing customers, which is how]…Trimigliozzi…got [caught]…

The Vultures Descend (#1332)

Polls have shown 75% of Floridians oppose its politicians’ attempts to ban abortion:

Floridians…will [soon] vote on a constitutional “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.”  So authorities decided to interfere with free speech in an attempt to thwart voters…The state threatened TV stations with criminal penalties for running an ad supporting the abortion initiative…[but] U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker…[has] enjoined Florida from attempting to censor the ad…Florida has been pulling out all the stops to try and stop Amendment 4 from passing…[including] using taxpayer money to run ads in opposition to the amendment while trying to prohibit people from seeing an ad in support of it…

The Last Shall Be First (#1410) 

If this is a “crime”, why is Paxton suing rather than prosecuting?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [has] sued a Dallas doctor…accusing her of [refus]ing [to forcibly de]transition…nearly two dozen minors [as demanded by] state law.  Paxton alleged that Dr. May Chi Lau, who specializes in adolescent medicine, [continued to] provide…hormone replacement therapy to [her patients] between October 2023 and August…“[Being elected gives me a license to practice medicine in] Texas [despite my]…dangerous [lack of] medical [educa]tion…” Paxton said…“Doctors who continue to [disagree with me] will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law”…Paxton…alleged that Lau used “false diagnoses and billing codes” in order to mask “unlawful prescriptions”…If [Paxton’s witch hunt is successful], Lau could have her medical license revoked and face a financial penalty of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Paxton’s suit is the first in the nation by an attorney general against an individual doctor[, but it is far from his first “culture war” nuisance lawsuit]…

Out of Control (ROTW #13)

What is wrong with doctors who do this?

[Michigan] pathologist Charles Yee was accused numerous times of exposing his genitals to women in public places…[yet] he never lost his medical license and he was never disciplined by the Michigan Board of Medicine…until…he re[cently]…pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure…He also is currently facing indecent exposure and lewd conduct charges in Riverside, California, and spent six weeks [last] summer in a [“]sex-addiction[“] program in Idaho…he al[so] followed minor girls around [town] for hours at a time and secretly took photos of them with his cellphone…Yee faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine when he is sentenced in November…

Creepy Coppers (ROTW #14)

Had he not been caught, this would’ve soon escalated:

The city manager of Waurika, Oklahoma, [who is also a cop,] has been arrested…[for making child porn] and l[urk]ing around [other people’s houses to leer at their kids.  Charles Kyote Dunn was first reported]…in January…a search…[of his] electronic devices…discovered [numerous child porn images]…

Paying the Bills

Four weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $1600.  So now I’m only facing a $1400 shortfall; if you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; it would be great if I can catch up by my birthday!

The Cop Myth (#1478)

“Cop murders wife or girlfriend and claims it was suicide” is a recurring theme in this tag:

A [Florida cop named Eloilda Shea was murdered by] her estranged husband[, typical and representative cop Anthony Shea, who tried]…to [make it] look like a suicide attempt…

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 the News (#1482)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Any alternate channel devoted to access by one party will undoubtedly be discovered, accessed, and abused by another.  –  David Ruiz

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

…an [Oklahoma] pastor…[named] Roy Shoop was…[found guilty of molest]ing several girls during horse riding lessons at Shoop’s ranch, or while the girls stayed at the family’s home…

Eavesdropping (#1195)

If a system lets “authorized” busybodies spy on you, “unauthorized” ones can do the same:

…A recent Chinese incursion into U.S. internet providers using infrastructure created to allow police easy wiretap access offers [more] evidence…that weakening security for anybody weakens it for everybody…Among the companies breached by the [Chinese government–supported] hacker group, dubbed “Salt Typhoon” by investigators, are Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies…Joe Mullin and Cindy Cohn of the…EFF…believe the wiretap-ready systems penetrated by the Chinese hackers were “likely created to facilitate smooth compliance with wrong-headed laws like CALEA”…[which] dates back to 1994 and “forced telephone companies to redesign their network architectures to make it easier for [cop shops and spook houses] to wiretap digital telephone calls”…This isn’t the first time that CALEA-mandated wiretapping backdoors have been exploited by hackers…[because] “virtually every phone switch sold worldwide contains ‘lawful intercept’ functionality”…[such as] was subverted by hackers targeting Vodafone Greece…in…2004…

License to Rape (#1234)

Cops raping whores is so ubiquitous, others pose as cops to facilitate rape:

A [young] Delaware man…[named] Jemeire Perry…was [arrested and] charged with se[veral crimes]…after he threatened a woman with arrest unless she [submitted] to [rape]…Perry [pretend]ed to [be a client, but when she showed up]…he…identifying himself as a “Confidential Informant”…[and] threatened to have the woman arrested…The woman…fle[d] and reported the incident to police…

Eavesdropping (#1300)

Why does a vacuum cleaner need either a speaker or a wifi connection?

Robot vacuums made by Ecovacs have been reported roving around people’s homes, yelling profanities at them through the onboard speakers after the company’s software was found to be vulnerable to intrusion…The most common issue people have with so-called “smart” home devices is that they often require a software subscription…and if the manufacturer goes under or stops supporting the device, it simply becomes a paperweight…Remote access is [pointless and unnecessary, and]…every couple of years we hear about something egregious, like intruders accessing a baby monitor and whispering through it at night…

I Spy (#1415)

This is only going to get worse:

A Massachusetts woman used an online platform to schedule an appointment seeking abortion medication from a local clinic in May.  Two minutes after she uploaded her insurance information to finalize the appointment, a representative from a nearby “pregnancy crisis center”…called the woman and, purporting to be the clinic, told her she needed to come in for an ultrasound prior to obtaining the medication.  The crisis center…[called] AWHC…had intercepted the electronic communications between the abortion clinic and the woman, according to a lawsuit filed by the clinic, Four Women Health Services…the federal judge presiding over the case [has] ordered AWHC to stop [eavesdropping] and refrain from contacting [Four Women’s] patients…AWHC has long sought to confuse Four Women patients and has…deceived them when they have inadvertently come into its offices…[after it] moved directly next door to Four Women years ago…AWHC workers [regular]ly patrol a shared parking lot, giving Four Women patients anti-abortion literature…

Thought Control (#1457)

Anyone with a functional brain could’ve predicted this outcome:

[Under] new [censorship] rules enacted by the Alabama Public Library Service in July…libraries can lose their state funding if [a politician points at any book]…in the children or teens section of the library [and belches the magic word “obscene”, “sexually explicit”, or “inappropriate”.  So the] Cullman County Public Library…[has] gotten rid of their entire young adult section…[and] moved everything [in it] to the adult fiction section…over 2,000 books [in all.  The library director]…said they d[id this] because the new rules from the state are [intentionally vague and] confusing…Minors who want to check something out from the library must get…their parents…[to] sign a waiver, saying that they understand exactly what their child is checking out…

Paying the Bills

Three weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $1100.  So now I’m only facing a $1900 shortfall; if you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; it would be great if I can catch up by my birthday!

 

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 the News (#1481)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

If you want to kick the door in…you’re more than welcome to.
–  Paige Mitchell

Above the Law

Your “leaders” at work:

A [North Carolina politician named]…Richard Braswell…[has been] sentenced to…prison…[for] 20 to 33 months and [condemned] to [the]…sex offender [registry] for 30 years…[because] in April 2022…[he molest]ed a 13-year-old girl…Divorce records filed by Braswell’s wife said…he…“took the victim and her brother with him to work under the pretense of having them do some work for him, then sent the victim’s brother on an errand”…

The Cop Myth (#1306)

Sleeping with cops isn’t safe for men, either:

…three Elyria [Ohio cops] stormed a man’s home, tased and arrested him without [cause or] warrant on May 11, 2023…Raul Ortiz…[was attacked by his cop] ex-girlfriend, Brittany Warner, [with two other thugs and permission from senior sow Paige Mitchell.  The gang] kick[ed] down Ortiz’s front door[, supposedly] to retrieve [Warner’s] belongings…though she no longer lived [there]…then tased, arrested and charged Ortiz with five felonies, all of which were later dropped…[politicians] wrote that [Mitchell’s okaying this]…“defied common sense”…but [she was only given a slap on the wrist.  Henchthug]…Colty Hersh [was given an even milder love tap, and]…the third [thug] involved, Chris Lewis, was [not even given a stern lecture.  Boss Hog]…William Pelko didn’t [even deign to notice his pigs’] actions until…a year after the [crime was committ]ed, just eight days after [local news] first reported it…Ortiz has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Elyria, [the cop shop] and each [offending cop]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1444)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

More than a dozen states are filing lawsuits…accusing TikTok of harming the well-being of children by using [magically-]addictive product features that keep them [spellbound] on the platform, in a [moronic] salvo that amplifies the company’s legal perils as it tries to stave off a federal ban.  Attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia are a[bus]ing…local consumer protection laws by [ascrib]ing [supernatural powers] to [a program], exposing young users to mental and physical risk…The complaints represent the second multistate attempt to [loot] a major social media company…[using spurious] claims they are contributing to a youth mental health crisis in the United States [which is actually caused by government-encouraged intrusive surveillance and infantilization of young adults], following a flurry of similar lawsuits against Facebook…last year…California AG Rob Bonta…is co-leading the [witch hunt] alongside…New York AG Letitia James, [claiming]…that TikTok [vampirical]ly designed the app to “feed on young users”…[the rest of the nitwit parade consists of] Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington…

The Punitive Mindset (#1457) 

Modern attorneys general are vile even by the low standards of politicians:

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and 13 other [fascist] attorneys general [have] filed a petition…asking a federal court to block new rules that reduce the cost of phone and video calls with people in prisons and jails…The [politicians object to] new rules…prohibit[ing] telecommunications companies from paying commissions or kick-backs to jails and prisons…and [to] long-term benefits that include lower risks of reoffending and an increased likelihood of successful re-entry…[which would reduce the] prison…[popula]tion…[they also object to] prisons and jails [being less able to bleed needy families to increase their profits]…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1467)

Politicians and bureaucrats are empowered to force stupidity on others:

Every morning, before opening the mail, Tulsa County Election Board employees Kerry Martin and Taylor Gutierrez put on N95 masks, face shields, medical smocks and surgical gloves…[because] Election Board Secretary Gwen Freeman [is a yokel who believes copaganda about]…election boards across the country receiving mail containing fentanyl…“one piece of mail that was sent to the state Election Board in Oklahoma City…included a multi-page document and…flour…[causing] Freeman [to absurdly belch out “]dangerous substances[“] …“It’s unfortunate that we live in a society [where idiots] have [the power to force us] to do this kind of stuff,” Martin said…

The Cop Myth (#1477)

If he’d been wearing his magical clown costume, this would’ve gone very differently for his victim:

A homeowner shot and killed an…Atlanta [cop] who…broke into his home…around 5 a.m. [without a magic scroll of permission]…Aubree Horton…was…recently [named] “Investigator of the Year” at the [cop shop]’s annual [self-aggrandization] breakfast…[fellow cops excuse]ed Horton [as] “experiencing a mental health episode or under the influence of narcotics”…[when he was] shot [by his intended victim] in self-defense…

Torture Chamber (#1480)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”, but “journalists” shouldn’t parrot them:

[Screw]s routinely lock severely mentally ill men in [cages] on Rikers Island for weeks and even months in [flagrant] violation of city law, [according to] a jail social worker who [finally developed enough backbone to quit] three weeks ago…

 

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 the News (#1477)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Doesn’t all political speech induce some kind of emotional distress for those who disagree with it?  –  Dan Crenshaw

Where Are the Protests? (#830)

When consensual acts such as migration or selling plants are criminalized, conditions are ripe for exploitation:

Lin’s story is a rare firsthand account of the harsh conditions and violent atmosphere endured by Chinese workers on many marijuana farms in Oklahoma and other states…Chinese criminal groups, some with suspected ties to the Chinese state, have become a dominant force in the [criminalized] U.S. marijuana trade and subjected thousands of Chinese immigrant laborers to abuse and exploitation.  Until now, though, much of that information about illegal activity in the cannabis industry has come from law enforcement [propaganda, and is therefore of dubious validity]…Lin gave a frightening front-line look inside the underworld…

The Red Umbrella (#1414)

As long as sex work is marginalized, sex workers will be targeted for violence:

Three Jersey City men held two [escorts] against their will at gunpoint, repeatedly raped them, transferred more then $2,000 from their phones and stole cash from them…Mohamed Mohamed…Abdalla Abdelsalam Elsayed…and Mahmoud Hegazi…were arrested Sept. 20 and are being held…[on] 21 counts…on Sept. 11…[the victims were tricked in]to go[ing] to an apartment…[under the pretext of a normal business arrangement, but]…one of the men pulled out a handgun…[and] forced [her to lie to her safety call] at gunpoint[, claiming]…she was “OK”…the woman was then [gang-raped] and [electronically robbed]…The second victim…was [similarly violated]…

You Were Warned (#1459)

Politicians no longer care about whether their new diktats are Constitutional:

[Politicians have] advanced two internet [censorship] bills, including a [sligh]tly revised version of the [horrible]…KOSA…which had stalled after passing the Senate….KOSA [is] one of the most potentially dangerous federal bills among those that [civil rights advocates] have [warned the public about; it] resurfaced in the last few weeks, as part of a package with a…[more restrictive] version of…COPPA…[sponsor] Marsha Blackburn…[tipped her hand] last year…when she stated that KOSA would aid in her mission of “protecting minor children from the transgender”…[and] last week…[she tried to] stok[e] up panic among her base by [belch]ing [out the magic bugaboo word]…“fentanyl”…

Vulture Watching (#1464)

Texas’ ruling psychopaths want permission to let women die and ruin doctors’ careers if they try to prevent that:

…Texas is asking the Supreme Court to allow it to continue denying emergency medical care to pregnant women…Across the United States, maternal mortality rose 11 percent between 2019 to 2022; in Texas…the maternal death rate surged 56 percent…[yet] officials in Texas are nevertheless charging ahead with their effort to ensure that the state can continue blocking doctors from providing emergency medical treatment to pregnant residents.  The state sued the Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that…[Texas] hospitals [should be required] to [deny] emergency abortions [even] if necessary to preserve a woman’s health…

The Cop Myth (#1466)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

…a Fort Worth [cop has been] charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon…William Martin…was [not wearing his magical clown costume]…when he [had] a collision…on the freeway…[with a man named Samuel] Christopher [which was so minor Christopher] was not [even] aware of [it], but [he] noticed Martin closely following him, constantly changing lanes to stay behind…he tried to get away, but Martin sped past him and pulled…in front of Christopher, [intentionally] causing…[another] collision…Christopher…[then] tried to drive away [because] Martin…got out with [a] handgun…[and] shot at [Christopher] three times…Police talked with 14 witnesses…and none of them saw the initial collision [because it was so minor, but]…they [all] saw Martin chas[e] Christopher…pull in front of [him] to cause the collision, and [shoot] at [him]…Martin…[lied to other cops later, spinning an elaborate yarn in which]…Christopher looked directly at him before driving into his lane and hitting the side of his car…[then intentionally] rammed [him again when he cut Christopher off and jumped out]…with his pi[stol]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #14)

“Misconduct with minor” is quite a way to say “getting a teenage girl drunk so he could molest her”:

A [typical and representative] Tallahassee [Florida cop] is behind bars [because he got]…a [teenage girl drunk] and [molested her]…Danny Moore…[was] re[ported by a neighbor who saw the girl drunk]…Moore initially [lied to his cop cronies about being a cop, then told]…them a young teenage girl was inside his apartment…as [though she had suddenly magically appeared there]…in…[reality]…he…[found her] on a mobile app and…drove [her] to a nearby liquor store [specifically so he could molest her]…

If Men Were Angels (#1476)

Cop and preacher is like the molester equivalent of a full house:

…a…[typical and representative Florida cop] who was also a youth group pastor…was arrested on child molestation charges…Pablo Rios Hernandez…[molested a 12-year-old in February of 2023, and could have been] arrested [in March of that year, but his cronies dawdled as long as they could]…

 

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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Tweet and Low

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

If you're a woman, you better thank a whore for being able to vote. You better thank a whore for the right to own property. You better thank a whore for sexual rights. You better thank a whore if you like cosmetics or attractive clothes. You better thank a whore…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-02T19:05:33.910Z

"Likes" serve no practical function for the "liked" creator whatsoever. If everyone who "liked" my content retweeted it instead, I'd have 10x as many followers and probably two or three times the monthly subscription income.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-03T16:56:31.984Z

The precedent for this was set by local politicians in the US who think they can reschedule Halloween to a more "convenient" weekend time. reason.com/2024/09/04/c…

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-05T17:26:44.617Z

About damned time. Lest you forget, Mel Brooks released "The Producers" only 22 years after the end of the Holocaust. Humor serves an important social & psychological function, a fact too many Americans denied for virtually the entire 2010s.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-09T17:11:23.844Z

Maybe this will help the morally-deficient grasp why consent can be revoked at any point.

— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-13T16:26:54.102Z

 

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In the News (#1468)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2024| 2 Comments »

My livelihood will never be as important as someone’s life or right to read what they want.  –  Summer Boismier

To Molest and Rape (#1324)

Rapist cops don’t only target women:

A [typical and representative Ohio cop named] James Stokes Sr. was…convicted of two [status] felonies…[for sexually assaulting] a man who…worked for Stokes…[at his] side [business] of removing junk…Stokes [tried to obtain compliance by] threatening [bogus charges of “unauthorized use” of his personal truck.  His body camera caught him making the threats and sexual comments, including]…”If I don’t get alone time tonight, I swear to God, I will file a charge on you, and I’ll have your butt arrested”…Stokes…[later molested him] at the [cop shop]…The [victim] told investigators he was trying to push Stokes off of him, and their relationship wasn’t sexual.  “He’s obsessed with me”…

The Missing Word (#1383)

If sex were involved, that word wouldn’t be 15 paragraphs in and blunted by qualifiers:

The number of foreign social care workers reporting that they are trapped in exploitative contracts has risen sixfold in the last three years, in the latest evidence of widespread abuse of migrants in the British care system…the Royal College of Nursing…was contacted 134 times in 2023-24 by care workers reporting that their employers were demanding large sums of money…to cover “hiring costs”, including visa processing, if they left their jobs…in one case [these costs] ran to £10,000…and [many include] threat[s of] deportation…

Above the Law (ROTW #5)

Had he not been caught at this stage, he’d have soon moved on to rape:

A U.S. Border Patrol [pig] has been charged [with mere misdemeanors for]…ordering women to show him their breasts…Shane Millan…[pretended the violations were “]searches[“, just as cops often do]…

Thought Control (#1443)

Politicians really do believe they can control people’s thoughts via threats:

Oklahoma’s education board has revoked the license of a former teacher who drew national attention during surging book-ban efforts across the U.S. in 2022 when she covered part of her classroom bookshelf in red tape with the words “Books the state didn’t want you to read”…a judge…advised the…Board…not to revoke the license of Summer Boismier, [but they did it anyway]…An attorney for Boismier, who now works at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York City, told reporters after the board meeting that they would seek to overturn the decision…

Vulture Watching (#1464)

Oh look, the totally-predictable results of bad laws are happening just as sane people said they would:

[There have been] six instances of child abandonment in Harris County [Texas] since the beginning of June.  In two cases, children died…States like Texas with near-total abortion bans are dealing with more [women] abandoning their children for several reasons like [they can’t afford a baby but Texas prevented them from having an abortion, and]…Texas’ safe haven law, or the Baby Moses law, allows a parent to leave a baby less than 60 days old safe and unharmed at a hospital, fire station, or EMS station…

Enshittification

How long before Google becomes completely useless?

Scams just keep popping up [on] Google…impostors of customer service for Delta and Coinbase…[have appeared] in the “People also ask” section high up in Google.  A group of people experienced in Google’s intricacies…said…that it took about 22 minutes to fool Google into highlighting a bogus business phone number in a prominent spot in search results…This fits a persistent pattern of…Google [being tricked] into showing scammers’ numbers for airlines, hotels, local repair companies, banks or other businesses…Fortune recently reported on a man who called what a Google listing said was Coinbase customer support, and instead it was an impostor who…tricked the man and stole $100,000…

The Cop Myth (#1466)

The cop establishment is trying hard to hide this one’s crimes:

A Massachusetts State [cop named]…Dylan Knox…[has been arrested for brutalizing his girlfriend]…on Aug. 15…Records are vague on the nature of…Knox[‘s crimes because]…prosecutors [are hiding the truth, but based on the charges Knox beat, pistol-whipped, and attempted to strangle her, then threatened a witness]…Knox is the second state trooper charged with domestic assault and battery in the last two weeks….

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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Links #736

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We all live below sea level in one way or another.  –  Matthew Christopher

Another video from Amy Winfrey on big corporations stealing art to train programs they hope will replace artists.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Brooke Magnanti, Scott Greenfield, IncarcerNation, Nun Ya, and Mistress Matisse, 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 the News (#1461)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

People in authority can violate your rights while believing they are protecting you.  –  The Budget

Pyrrhic Victory (#1188) 

Every company and organization (including cop shops) using facial recognition without consent needs to be sued until it stops:

[Facebook] has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas to resolve the state’s lawsuit accusing…[it] of illegally using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data of millions of Texans without their consent…from photos and videos that users uploaded…as part of a [now-]discontinued feature called “Tag Suggestions”…Google separately is fighting a [similar] lawsuit by Texas…

Under Duress (#1222)

Establishment media are finally beginning to admit that cops are habitual liars:

The family of Sonya Massey—whom Deputy Sean Grayson shot in the face as she stood in her kitchen, unarmed and praying for protection—recently publicized that the Sangamon County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office initially told relatives that Sonya had killed herself.  Once body-cam footage disproved Grayson’s self-serving account, he was arrested and charged…[similarly,] Sandra Bland’s cause of death was ruled “suicide by asphyxiation” (i.e., hanging)…suicidologists and suicide awareness advocates should lend expertise…whenever deaths from police brutality are ruled suicides…police “routinely lie to serve their own interests”…a type of misconduct that emerges not from just a few “bad apples” but from the systematic negligence of judges and juries…to the point that…the judicial system’s favoritism toward police has become seen as predictable…and…[encourages] schemes to victim-blame targets…Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police commissioner, admitted…that police culture normalized lying…Justice Gustin Reichbach of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York, echoed Keane…

Welcome to the Future (#1381)

Constant surveillance damages adolescents’ ability to develop in healthy ways:

…at Lawrence High [in Kansas]…every homework assignment, email, photo, and chat on…school-supplied device[s are] monitored by a[lgorithms provided by a company named]…Gaggle…to provide around-the-clock surveillance.  If a word or an image triggers an alert in the…software, the result could range from the student being sent to an administrator to being referred to [compulsory] counseling to…a visit from local police…Gaggle [absurdly] claims that it has saved an “estimated” 5,790 student lives between 2018 and 2023.  It did this, according to its website, by analyzing 28 billion student items and flagging 162 million of those for review…At what point is the safety you think you’re buying for students actually doing harm in unintended ways?  Won’t teachers avoid assignments that challenge students to consider real-world problems?…Won’t students learn just to keep their emotions to themselves, instead of confiding in a teacher or another trusted adult?  What about the chilling effect on student creativity and expression?  Gaggle is the thought police for K-12 campuses…is it worth it if it turns schools into virtual prisons?

Property of the State (#1416)

The court rejected the charges, but not the “fetal personhood” dogma behind them:

Oklahoma resident Amanda Aguilar was arrested after using marijuana while pregnant.  Though Aguilar had a medical marijuana prescription, prosecutors [absurdly argu]ed that her fetus did not…[and] charged [her]…with [felony] child neglect…the state’s highest criminal court [dismissed the charges, but only because prosecutors charged her under a made-up law; they]…urged Oklahoma [politicians]…to c[riminalize all use of cannabis by pregnant women, regardless of prescription]…at least eight women have been charged under this [made-up law] since 2019…But…the Oklahoma Supreme Court…declined [to hear previous appeals]…Aguilar’s case [only] got its day in court thanks to an overzealous…prosecutor…appealing [a lower court’s dismissal of her charges] to…the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals…

I Spy (#1422)

Don’t let your machines call them, either:

Ford is trying to patent a way for its cars to report speeding drivers to the police.  A patent application…was published…Jul. 18 2024, and was originally filed by Ford Jan. 12, 2023…the [dystopian system would use]…cars to monitor each other’s speeds.  If one car detects that a nearby vehicle is being driven above the posted limit, it could use onboard cameras to photograph that vehicle.  A report containing both speed data and images of the targeted vehicle could then be sent directly to a [handy pigmobile] or roadside monitoring units…It’s unclear what legal argument Ford would make should it try to implement this tech, as human [busybodies] wouldn’t be [sticking]ing the[ir noses into strangers’ business]…Ford has also tried to patent a “night drive mode” that would limit vehicle speeds at night for everyone [regardless of circumstances].  This takes things a bit further by turning drivers into unwitting snitches…

Torture Chamber (#1455)

Americans’ sick lust for torture turns ordinary prison sentences into death sentences:

[Human beings caged] in Texas state prisons are being “cooked alive” by scorching temperatures in facilities without air conditioning, a new investigation [reports, yet when prisoners]…died with body temperatures nearing 107 degrees, officials have continued to blame their deaths on causes other than extreme heat.  In 2023, a Texas prisoner filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s refusal to…[obey] its own laws…mandat[ing] that prison temperatures be kept between 65 degrees and 85 degrees…At one prison, Garza West Unit, temperatures stayed above 100 degrees for 11 days straight in the summer of 2023…

The Cop Myth (#1460)

Cop violence is never limited to members of the public:

An…NYPD [cop named]…Imran Iqbal…was [arrested and] charged with [violently abusing] a child…[his bosses thought saying he wasn’t wearing his magical clown costume was much more important than how he was related to the child he attacked or any other pertinent information like his victim’s age]…

 

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 the News (#1455)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Help us, we can’t breathe.  –  Elizabeth Nomura

Shame, Shame (#516)

Some of y’all may recall that when all the “police reform” types started touting body cameras as the solution to surging police brutality, I was skeptical:

McNeill points out that the camera records the public, not the officer. She adds, “As long as the cops have the power to turn the cameras off or decide whether footage is released, it’s difficult to see what is to be accomplished here.”

That was February of 2015, and over 9 years later civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis has published a law journal article demonstrating that, as usual, I was correct: the cops wanted the cameras as a surveillance tool, and useful idiots who imagine violent thugs can be “reformed” obligingly gave them exactly what they wanted:

By situating the rise of the police body camera within its actual legal, political, and economic contexts, I suggest that the body camera is one of the most important Trojan horses in contemporary U.S. history.  What follows is a case study of how the police bureaucracy used its own violence as the perfect alibi to get well-meaning people who lacked sufficient information to support greater police procurement budgets, more advanced and efficient technologies of control and incarceration, an explosion of profit for a small group of companies, and an expansion of the capacity of the government to surveil us. And most remarkably: All of it happened under the guise of making the police bureaucracy more “accountable” and “transparent”…

To Molest and Rape

Cops are a menace to women of all ages:

An Orange County woman [has] filed a federal lawsuit…against an Anaheim [cop who]…raped her after seeing her at an In-N-Out Burger and getting her name by running her license plate number…[typical and representative cop] Carlos Romero [was rewarded by] the city of Anaheim…[with a] paid [vacation for raping her] in 2023 after [she reported his stalking, harassing]…and [threatening her until he got tired of her refusing him]…sex…and [raped]…her [vaginally and orally despite her]…repeatedly t[elling] him “no”…His gun was…in full view [and]…she “was terrified and fearful for her life” and just wanted Romero to leave…

Panopticon (#1308)

“Safety” has become the #1 excuse for Orwellian levels of surveillance:

North Carolina [politician] Michele Morrow has made [a fetish of subjecting students to police-state measures that her own children would not have to endure, since she]…home-school[s them.  Like many authoritarians, she is obsessed with incredibly-exaggerated fears of] pedophiles and…gun violence [which she wants to use as an excuse to give dangerous thugs even more power to harass, spy on, persecute, and molest students.  Paradoxically, she wants to give these pervert thugs access to]…video surveillance in classrooms, hallways and bathrooms…

Torture Chamber (#1371)

Americans’ sick lust for torture turns ordinary prison sentences into death sentences:

A…[woman locked up in] California’s largest women’s prison [at Chowchilla] has died amid a brutal heatwave that has left residents without air conditioning begging for relief…temperatures in the region climbed above 110F (43.3C)…[but mouthpieces for the State pretend that had nothing to do with her] death…There have been reports of potentially fatal conditions inside jails and prisons during heatwaves across California and in Nevada, Illinois, Texas, Florida and other states this year.  The Chowchilla fatality has escalated fear and panic throughout the…overcrowded [dungeon, in] which…more than 2,000 people [are locked in cages without] air conditioning…[while screws refuse] to provide enough cold water and other supplies that would alleviate their suffering and reduce heatstroke risks…[many prisoners are] struggling with nausea and headaches…[while officials refuse to maintain or repair] swamp coolers meant to lower temperatures…[for] prison[ers]…locked in these death chambers [while bureaucrats deny the crisis and pretend their facilities are humane]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

The currently-fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parade has escaped the US and is careening all over Europe:

The Senate of the Republic of Ireland…[will] debate the country’s proposed…[“monkey see, monkey do”] Online Age Verification…Bill…[whose] sponsor…hailed as a victory the fact that the…imprecise language…[of the US laws his bill apes] has already had a chilling effect on free speech, [namely] “porn suppliers such as Pornhub to cease providing services [to people who don’t know what VPNs are]” in those states…The bill makes platforms and app stores liable for any failure to implement [government-mandated surveillance, and they are specifically required]…to store the…data they collect [at their own expense] for five years, and [make it available for pigs to root through at will]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #11)

I just can’t feel sorry for cops sexually abused by other cops:

A [Virginia cop named Michael Rusk] is suing his former department and local…[politicians] for $5 million for…sexual harassment a[fter]…he…shot and severely injured his superior…Christopher Gibson [for sexually assaulting him]…police leadership not only knew about the continued harassment but purposefully disregarded it because Rusk is a man…[for years] Gibson made…sexual advances toward [Rusk] including hand-holding, touching, slapping, stalking, and grooming…the[n]…in January 2023, after a night of drinking…Gibson…sexually assault[ed] Rusk…and…Rusk…[responded by shooting] Gibson several times before calling 911…

If Men Were Angels (#1449)

If I followed up on every rapist cop or preacher, I wouldn’t have room for anything else.  But sometimes I have to make an exception:

In 1982, [21-year old married] pastor Robert Morris…[seduced and molested 12-year-old] Cindy Clemishire…while he was staying at her parents’ home in Oklahoma…But 25 years later, when Clemishire hired an attorney and threatened to sue Morris…hi[s]…lawyer…responded by blaming Clemishire for what happened to her…The Feb. 6, 2007, letter was one in a series of exchanges that year between Sharpe and [Clemishire’s lawyer] Gentner Drummond…Clemishire…had been seeking $50,000 in restitution from Morris to cover the cost of counseling.  Morris…offered to pay $25,000, but the talks fell apart…because [Clemishire] was not willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement…

 

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 the News (#1453)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The way stalkerware companies are run just doesn’t include giving a shit about vulnerabilities.  –  Maia Arson Crimew

If Men Were Angels

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

A [typical and representative Texas] youth pastor…[named] Luke Cunningham…was indicted on [charges of child molestation and various related crimes.  Several]…Lubbock [churches kept employing him despite numerous local accusations dating]…back [to] January of 2016…and [others]…dating back to 2013…

Guinea Pigs (#1307) 

New tools for tyranny are often tested first on whores, but never stop with us:

…Sweeping calls to collect data on marginalized populations and automate decisions about what constitutes a human trafficking pattern are dangerous.  Women…migrants, [people of color,] and queer people face profiling and persecution under surveillance regimes that [intentionally conflate] consensual adult sex work and human trafficking…language models [will] be built on discriminatory stereotypes which have [been used to] plague…[sex workers] for decades…Such tropes cause disproportionate surveillance of poor, racialized, and transgender sex workers, and in[tentional]ly categorize standard safety tactics as trafficking indicators.  Studies show that digital tools and policies which take a…similarly broad approach to collecting evidence of alleged exploitation online are dangerous and counterproductive…A 2022 study into technology which scraped and analyzed advertisements for sexual services found “misalignment between developers, users of the platform, and sex industry workers they are [pretend]ing to assist,” concluding that these approaches are “ineffective” and “exacerbate harm”…

Secret Squirrel (#1332)

Please enjoy the spectacle of nosy authoritarians hoist with their own petard:

…hacktivists [have] published the customer support database for Brainstack, a Ukrainian company that runs a phone tracking service called mSpy.  (It was the third mSpy security breach in a decade.)  The database includes messages from…ICE…agents…a U.S. circuit court judge…Employees at the U.S. State Department…and…many more…officials…in the…[US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.  The hacktivist said]…”From all the past stalkerware leaks, usually what leaks is victim data”…But this leak was about mSpy’s clients—essentially turning the surveillance back against the surveilers…Unlike other intelligence-for-hire services, mSpy requires users to have intimate access to the target already.  The software must be installed directly on the target’s phone, iCloud account, or WiFi network. Afterwards, it provides the user with the target’s call logs, messages, and location data.  Brainstack [sani]tises mSpy as a parental guidance tool, but others [more accurate]ely [describe] the service [as] “stalkerware“.  Indeed, a few of the [hacked] messages came from [cop shops] and [spook houses] looking for a way to send mSpy a subpoena or warrant because [it allows spying by people who aren’t them]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1400)

Tech-savvy teens know what VPNs are, so this surveillance will only be “mandatory” for clueless adults:

Spain’s [increasingly-unpopular] anti-sex-work…Socialist Party (PSOE) government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has unveiled a new age verification app that will become mandatory for [clueless] adult[s]…in the country starting in September.  The Cartera Digital app and its age verification protocols…were announced…by…Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service José Luis Escrivá Belmonte …[who] described the existence of [speech socialists dislike] as “a problem,” and [conflated]…“the great majority of young people between 18 and 26 years old” [with legal minors]…

Still a Child (#1422) 

An attempt to push back the swelling tide of adult infantilization:

Strip clubs and other adult entertainment establishments in Florida are challenging the state’s [new] law that prevents them from employing adults…under 21…lawyers filed suit against the state…in the name of 19-year-old Serenity Michelle Bushey, a nude dancer at…a [Florida] strip club…[because] the law’s arbitrary raising of the age requirement “not only made her lose her job but also violated her constitutional rights”…The plaintiffs also include Café Risque, strip club chain Sinsations and Jacksonville pleasure products store Exotic Fantasies…Bushey and at least eight [other] Café Risque dancers have lost their jobs, and [the suit] argues that the law also violates their First Amendment right[s]…

The Cop Myth (#1440)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

An Oklahoma City [cop named]…Ryan Stark…brought [his girlfriend] to his house and tried to take her phone…she tried to escape…[his pigmobile], but…he…accelerated the car, breaking her foot on the garage door…he [then]…held [her] against her will…put a gun to her head…[and] threat[ened] to kill her…[then raped her].  Stark was arrested [on June 29th and]…charged with domestic assault and battery…rape…and [associated crimes]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1447)

There are still a few judges willing to block “monkey see, monkey do” parades:

Two laws requiring age verification online have been paused by federal courts…as legal challenges to them play out.  [Laws like] the [ones from] Indiana [and]…Mississippi…have been [parad]ing [through] U.S. states this year and last, and represent a growing threat to privacy, anonymity, and free speech online.  Federal courts have largely ruled against them when they are challenged, but this has not been universal.  So, it’s probably good that the Supreme Court has agreed to take up…Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Ken Paxton…involving…[the] Texas [version of the] law…

 

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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