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Posts Tagged ‘Permanent Record’

In the News (#1536)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

How many more stories do we have to hear of immigrants being mistreated at these black hole detention centers?  –  Frederica Wilson

If Men Were Angels

“Authorities” decided this girl’s fate against her will:

…a [typical and representative Pennsylvania “]youth pastor[” named]…Robert David Fenton…[was] sentence[d to] three to six years…[for] sexual assault…and [will be condemned]…to…[the “]sex offender[” registry] for life…His sentence is part of a plea agreement…Fenton was a youth pastor…from 1996 to 1998 when he…claimed [to have had a] vision from God that he and [his then-14-year-old victim] should marry…A betrothal was then agreed to by Fenton, the victim’s parents, and church officials…[but not] the victim.  After [escap]ing the [cult], the victim came forward and sought support to heal from the abuse…in July 2021…Fenton fled to Australia before charges were filed…[but] was [caught when]…he tried entering…the Philippines from…Australia, on April 24, 2024…[and extradited] to [the US to] stand trial…

Permanent Record (#1274)

In more civilized countries, employers can’t get away with this:

[A Mexican] government [institute]…must pay more than 800,000 pesos in compensation to Jovanna Isabel Ortega Gómez…[because] the institution…fir[ed] her for having an…OnlyFans page.  The case of the doctor, who worked at the institution for about a year, became public in September 2023, when she filed a lawsuit…for unjustified dismissal…Dagoberto Valdés Juárez, general director of ISSSTECALI…[pretended] that Ortega Gómez was [not] fired for having an account on the well-known digital platform, despite the fact that this was one of the arguments in the case.  He [claim]ed that the doctor worked with them on a substitute basis at the Mexicali hospital and that she requested a position at the institution, which was denied…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1443)

Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton wants Texas kids’ teeth to rot:

Texas [Psychopath-]General Ken Paxton is [harass]ing two leading toothpaste makers over their use of fluoride, [pretend]ing that they are “illegally marketing” the teeth cleaners to parents and kids “in ways that are misleading, deceptive, and dangerous.”  The toothpaste makers [Paxton hopes to pillage] are Colgate-Palmolive…and Proctor & Gamble…fluoride…effectively prevents dental cavities and improves oral health…But…[Trumpists have revived the 1950s era paranoid belief that] the naturally occurring mineral is a form of communist mind control…that…[can magically] lower IQ in children…Paxton referenced [a popular-in-Trumpland bogus] study in his announcement of the [“]investigation[” along with a blatantly crypto-moralist claim]…that…toothpaste [is bad if it has] appealing flavoring…

Shame, Shame (#1509)

Still think realistic porn cartoons are the worst use for this technology?

…realtime deepfake[s are] created by…fraudsters…[by] digitally manipulat[ing] their appearance in real time to match a photo on a drivers’ license, dating profile, or a celebrity.  Like a chameleon, these scammers, who can be involved in everything from romance scams…to fraudulent tax refunds, can hide their true appearance with just a laptop and phone and produce very realistic results…Yahoo Boys are fraudsters typically based in Nigeria who traditionally used Yahoo emails as part of their scams, but have now broadened to all manner of schemes…It is now very common to see spammy video ads on social media that use a deepfaked version of a celebrity or public figure…But those were pre-rendered, static files…uploaded to YouTube…realtime deepfakes allow a scammer to talk directly to their mark and improvise on video calls or livestreams.  They can appear just as human as the person they are impersonating, potentially fooling not only people but also…automated systems…

The Vultures Descend (#1522)

This insanity will keep getting worse until these maniacs are forcibly stopped:

Republicans and [associated MAGA trolls] have jumped on a [bogus] report published by a[n authoritarian] think tank that claims the abortion drug mifepristone is harmful to women…the study is junk science…but that’s not stopping [forced-birth pro]ponents from using it to lobby for more abortion pill restrictions…FDA Commissioner Martin Makary [has] said he has “no plans” to restrict mifepristone…But…[he is one of] Trump[‘s creatures]…and…[has] routinely spread anti-abortion misinformation…

Torture Chamber (#1526)

The State tortures thousands of people for crossing an imaginary line:

A woman from Haiti died after [being crammed into a filthy cage in Florida for] over two months [thanks to]…ICE…Marie Ange Blaise…had been complaining about chest pain for hours…[so screws yelled “Stop faking!” at her] and told her to go lie down…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #20)

I’m guessing the “underage family member” was his stepdaughter:

[Typical and representative Texas cop] Andrew Smith was sentenced to 14 years in prison [for repeatedly molesting his stepdaughter when she was] under 14…he…was arrested…on Jan. 12, 2021 after [she reported him.  Up until]…February [of this year], Smith was [still] accusing his victim of lying about the [repeated] assault[s, yet now claims to be] remorseful [while still blaming the attacks on his being sad and drunk]…

 

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 (#1506)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The threat of arrest and prosecution keeps sex workers unsafe and in the shadows.  –  Brian Johnson

A Woman’s Point of View

It would be amusing to see this crammed down Tom Dart’s throat:

[Two politicians] plan to introduce legislation…that would make Illinois the first state to fully decriminalize sex work.  Equality Illinois and the Sex Worker Advisory Group…have spent more than three years advocating for this bill, which…is…sponsored by [politicians] Will Guzzardi…and…Celina Villanueva…[the law] would remove criminal penalties for adults engaging in consensual sex work, remove arrest and conviction records for sex workers and establish a sex workers’ bill of rights…When discussing possible opposition to the bill, Guzzardi said those who believe people should be punished and criminalized for engaging in sex work have a “downright nasty point of view…that we should [not] be endorsing as the General Assembly”…

Permanent Record

I wonder how the judge would’ve ruled had the wife lost her job?

A Texas man has been granted the ability to pursue a retaliatory discharge claim against his former employer, Sewell Lexus of Dallas…[in] a federal wrongful termination suit…the former sales manager was reportedly terminated after pornographic images of his wife were posted to Twitter, Instagram, PornHub, and Only Fans.  These images were circulated among dealership employees and…he…was [supposedly] terminated because…”people don’t want to work with him”…

The End of the Beginning (#915)

Maybe we’re about to witness the beginning of the end of these evil laws:

A[n] appeals court [has] ruled that a [Florida punishment] for [people] convicted [of some] sexual [crimes] to have the words “SEXUAL PREDATOR” on their driver’s licenses violates First Amendment rights…[because it] is compelled speech that is not narrowly tailored to meet the state’s goals of [enlist]ing the public [in persecution] of [these individuals]…Judge Scott Makar, in a 16-page majority opinion joined by Judge F. Rand Wallis, cited rulings that rejected Louisiana and Alabama laws similar to…Florida’s…

Morality Lessons (#953)

Before these hacks, government computers were already among the top hosts of child porn:

…a…wide range of U.S. [federal and state] government websites inadvertently direct…visitors to hardcore porn content…In some cases, the content…[makes fools] of the governments whose sites they have taken over.  Pages…on the State of Louisiana’s official government site that now redirect to porn, for instance, don’t require visitors to provide proof-of-age…Spammers have in the past exploited the redirection functionalities of government websites to steer traffic to pornographic content — [unlike] government sites…[which actually] host…[such] content.  But this recent wave of porn spam appears to be using a more complex technique: uploading to government pages rogue content that transports website visitors to malicious sites…

On the Simultaneous Having and Eating of Cake (#1066) 

It’s probably unwise to state in your employment contract that you’re planning to rip your employees off:

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a federal lawsuit against [a Kansas strip club named] Pleasures…after an investigation…uncovered illegal wage practices…including unpaid wages, unauthorized deductions from tips, and an unusual clause forcing workers to reimburse the employer if litigation or investigations led to the recovery of lost wages…The lawsuit seeks back wages and an equal amount of liquidated damages for the 80 dancers…

If Men Were Angels (#1448)

Religious communities very often punish the victims of rapist authority figures:

A Utah…teacher [named Ricardo Prins] has fled the country after being charged with the rape of two teen students…[one of his victims] reported…[him and the principal responded by]…suspend[ing] her…[and restricting her to] online schooling…for three months[, dismissing the accusation as a “rumor”.  But the cops felt differently]…and on December 15, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation [and] the teacher…fled to Brazil…

Property of the State (#1488) 

How long will society accept its medical system being used as a tool of state violence?

…an Ohio woman [who was] wrongfully arrested and prosecuted for her pregnancy loss is [su]ing her nurses [for] conspiring with police to fabricate evidence against her…Brittany Watts…was…charged with “abuse of a corpse” [due to] miscarrying at home…[and] was put through absolute hell by prosecutors, police, local media and the hospital…while…in the midst of a life-threatening medical crisis…She was interrogated…while “tethered to her hospital bed with IVs”…[after] two nurses [named Connie Moschell and Jordan Carrino, who already knew Watts’ 21-week pregnancy was non-viable,] and a…[cop named Nicholas Carney invented a wild story, claiming]…that Watts had given birth to a viable baby and left it “in a bucket”…Using only police reports and prosecutor’s version of what happened, [local news sources then] claimed that a woman had killed a newborn by shoving it down a toilet…

 

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 (#1479)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[The government’s arguments are] the most bizarre I have heard in 40-plus years of being a lawyer.  –  Bruce Feder

Shame, Shame (#1163)

Thinking with the wrong head creates its own problems without politicians’ help:

Multiple sites which promise to use [computer algorithms] to ‘nudify’ any photos uploaded are actually designed to infect users with powerful credential stealing malware…cybersecurity…researchers…believe the sites are run by Fin7, a notorious Russian cybercrime group…services for producing [computer]-generated n[udes]…are becoming enticing enough [to cheapskates and slimeballs] that hackers feel it is worth the time and effort to build fake versions they can then use to hack people…404 Media also found that one of the Fin7-run sites was included one of the web’s biggest porn site aggregators, potentially putting…any[one foolish enough to use]…the site at risk…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1172)

All cops will have these within a few years:

A pair of students at Harvard have built what big tech companies refused to release [to the] public…due to the overwhelming risks and danger involved: smart glasses with facial recognition technology that automatically looks up someone’s face and identifies them.  The…customized glasses also pull other information about their subject from around the web, including their home address, phone number, and family members.  The…pair are not releasing their code…but the experiment, tested in some cases on unsuspecting people in the real world…still shows the razor thin line between a world in which people can move around with relative anonymity, to one where your identity and personal information can be pulled up in an instant by [armed] strangers [with the power to destroy lives]…

Permanent Record (#1402)

Tenure is another individual protection the Establishment is working to eliminate:

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents unanimously voted to revoke the tenure of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s former Chancellor Joe Gow [because]…he…and…[his wife made] porn…Gow will lose his faculty salary of $91,915 and over $310,000 in unused sick leave…Gow told reporters…he plans to file a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds…[because]…the…decision goes against [explicit] promises to uphold free speech…

The Vultures Descend (#1435)

Politicians really do believe “election” grants them license to practice medicine:

Two common abortion pills are…[now] classified as “controlled substances” in Louisiana, due to a first-of-its-kind law that medical professionals warn will endanger the lives of women by restricting medication used to treat postpartum hemorrhage and other conditions.  Louisiana, which already bans abortion, passed a law reclassifying mifepristone and misoprostol as schedule IV drugs – a designation typically reserved for drugs that carry a risk of…dependence.  People caught with the drugs without a valid prescription could face up to five years in prison, although pregnant women who procure it for their own use are exempted from punishment under the law…

Panopticon (#1449)

Privacy as we once knew it will soon be a thing of the past:

…[computerized] cameras mounted on cars and trucks…initially designed to capture license plates…are now photographing political lawn signs outside private homes, individuals wearing T-shirts with text, and vehicles displaying pro-abortion bumper stickers—all while recording the precise locations of these observations…a tool originally intended for traffic enforcement has evolved into a system capable of monitoring speech…the systems of DRN Data…owned by Motorola…can be used by private investigators, repossession agents, and insurance companies; a related Motorola business, called Vigilant, gives cops access to the same LPR data…those with access…can search for common phrases or names, such as those of politicians, and be served with photographs where the search term is present, even if it is not displayed on license plates…

Dangerous Speech (#1467)

The government is working to ensure these men die in their filthy cages:

…attorneys for former Village Voice Media executive vice president Scott Spear, one of the #Backpage3 defendants, filed an emergency motion with federal Judge Diane Humetewa…[because] Spear, who turns 74 in November, is being denied [his prescribed] medications by his jailers, and as a result is suffering a mental health crisis…Spear…[is] refusing legal visits from his attorneys and sounding confused, paranoid and out of touch with reality during phone conversations with friends and family…in…an [emergency] hearing…[prison operator] CoreCivic…admitted…den[ying] Spear his medications…argu[ing] that [yelling “Stop faking!” at] Spear [was good enough] and…[belching out the magic rights-denying word “]security[“]…CoreCivic’s [own records]…describe…delusional episodes on Spear’s part, including one in which Spear believed that his fellow prisoners were actors…

To Molest and Rape (#1477)

Some rapist cops are indiscriminate in their choice of victim:

A [Colorado cop] was arrested…on suspicion of incest…The [crime was discovered] after…Daniel Huff…[also] sexually assaulted an adult [woman]…Huff [has been rewarded with a paid vacation, as is typical for rapist cops]…

Apparently, Huff soon chose to kill himself rather than suffer the consequences of his crimes.

 

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 (#1449)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 26, 2024| 1 Comment »

Illegal drugs are cheaper, more readily available, more potent, [and] more widely used than they were 20 years ago.  –  James Martin

If Men Were Angels

“Inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” is a helluva way to say “molesting a 12-year-old”:

Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway [mega]Church in Southlake, Texas…has confessed to…sexually abusing [Cindy Clemishire] over multiple years beginning when she was 12…Morris [burbled a lot of evangelical buzzwords like]…repented…walked in purity and accountability…blessing…and…forgiveness…[but] Clemishire [explained]…that…when Morris began abusing her…he…was a 20-year-old traveling evangelist…[already] married…[with a young] son…Morris…[betrayed] her family[‘s]…friends[hip after being] invited into their home and…repeatedly abused her in Texas and Oklahoma…[while telling] his wife that he was merely “counseling” her…For years…she has been warning churches…about Morris because she doesn’t believe she’s the only one who suffered his abuse…

Long Hidden

Cops aren’t the only violent profession whose members feel sexually entitled:

…hundreds of Kenyan women [have] filed complaints with the UK military over the years, a[fter being raped by British soldiers]…in the remote villages where the British Army trains its soldiers in Kenya. The British Army Training Unit, Kenya (BATUK), is headquartered in the town of Nanyuki…[and] Britain pays Kenya about $400,000 a year to allow its soldiers to train…mostly in the expansive wildlife conservancies in Laikipia and Samburu counties.  Kenya renewed the defense pact in 2021 despite strong local opposition…[due to numerous] allegations of rape and other crimes, including murder, by British soldiers deployed there [since] the 1950s…hundreds of women from the mostly pastoralist Maasai and Samburu communities who accused the British Army of rapes in the 1970s and 80s…were represented by the British lawyer Martyn Day in a landmark civil case in London in the early 2000s…[but] in 2007, Britain’s Ministry of Defense dismissed claims…brought by 2,187 women…[claiming] the…evidence appeared to have been fabricated…[and refusing to] conduct DNA tests on any of the 69 mixed-race children…born from rape by British soldiers…[but as they] can now be sued in Kenyan courts…as part of a new addition to the 2021 defense pact…lawyer Kelvin Kubai has signed up more than 300 of the women who previously brought rape claims and is working to reintroduce the case in Kenyan courts…

Rooted in Racism (#1305)

Never forget that this barbarity began using the excuse of “fighting human trafficking”:

The Greek coastguard has caused the deaths of dozens of migrants in the Mediterranean over a three-year period…including nine who were deliberately thrown into the water.  The [others]…died as a result of being forced out of Greek territorial waters, or taken back out to sea after reaching Greek islands…The Greek government has long…forced returns – pushing people back towards Turkey, where they have crossed from, which is illegal under international law.  But this is the first time the…number of…fatalities…[due directly to] the Greek coastguard’s actions [has been calculated]…

Panopticon (#1316)

This is too useful a tool of state control for the rulers to give it up:

A new lawsuit says that Illinois’ widespread use of…automatic license plate readers…violates the Fourth Amendment…because it breaches citizens’ reasonable expectations of privacy…”Defendants are tracking anyone who drives to work in Cook County—or to school, or a grocery store, or a doctor’s office, or a pharmacy, or a political rally, or a romantic encounter, or family gathering—every day…without any reason to suspect anyone of anything, and are holding onto those whereabouts just in case they decide in the future that some citizen might be an appropriate target”…Illinois’ highway [panopticon] began in 2019 [as so many civil liberties abominations do,] with the passage of [a law bearing a crime victim’s name]…Illinois State Police [started with] a $12.5 million state grant in 2021…which was more than doubled in June 2022…[so far] Illinois…has purchased 652 license plate cameras, of which 340 are installed in Cook County…

Permanent Record (#1380)

I can’t feel sorry for someone whose job is ruining lives for violating arbitrary diktats when they get in trouble due to a similar diktat:

Nashville [cop] Sean Herman was recently arrested…weeks after it was revealed that he appeared in a viral OnlyFans clip in [his magical clown costume].  He faces two felony official misconduct charges for [using the clown suit for something other than terrorizing people]…If found guilty, Herman could face prison…[cop shop busybodies] reportedly “discovered the video and identified him as the person in [the magical clown costume], seen in the video from the chest down, who took part in a mock traffic stop in an OnlyFans skit during which he groped the exposed breast of the female driver”…

A Moral Cancer (#1396)

Australia expands the Drug War, and prohibitionists pretend the wholly-predictable consequences are somehow surprising:

Since March of last year, the Australian state of Victoria has been rocked by a series of [murders,] arsons and firebombings…in an escalating turf war between rival gangs…the drug at the center of this conflict: nicotine…[prohibitionists prai]se…Australia…for its graphic warnings on cigarette packs, extremely high cigarette taxes, and strict prohibitions on e-cigarettes…[which together constitute] a form of “de facto prohibition”…[so] predictably…the share of tobacco sold illegally…has…doubled [in recent years] to…nearly a quarter of Australian sales…There are 1.8 million vapers in Australia and about nine out of 10 of them source their vapes illegally…[either by buying] e-cigarette components and…nicotine liquid from abroad…or [by getting] disposable vapes manufactured cheaply in China…Australia’s…response…is to crack down even harder…in…contrast…New Zealand, which has similarly high cigarette taxes but embraces a much more liberal approach to vaping…now boasts one of the world’s lowest rates of smoking…

Eavesdropping (#1417)

Even cops are starting to admit Shotspotter is a boondoggle:

New York City [has wasted tens of millions] on gunshot detection technology that rarely works…ShotSpotter…uses microphones and…software in an attempt to detect the sound of gunshots…When a sound triggers the system, ShotSpotter alerts the police department, and officers are dispatched to the scene…[but] an analysis…found that 87% of the time [cop]s were dispatched to a scene where there was no evidence of a shooting…“The evidence shows that NYPD is wasting precious time and money on this technology and needs to do a better job managing its resources,” [said City Comptroller Brad] Lander… “Chasing down car backfires and construction noise does not make us safer”…It marks the latest report calling the technology’s efficacy into question.  A 2021 audit by Chicago’s Office of Inspector General found that of more than 50,000 alerts there, only 9.1% resulted in evidence of a gun-related offense…Houston Mayor John Whitmire also said he would cancel the city’s contract with the company, telling the Houston Chronicle that it is a “gimmick”…

 

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 (#1426)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[San Jose’s] approach…is to treat unhoused people as blight consistent with trash or graffiti.  –  Tristia Bauman

Negative Secondary Effects

I held off on sharing the news about Washington’s passing a “strippers’ bill of rights” until the governor signed it last week; I still haven’t seen any proper articles about what it actually contains, though the most important part is the clubs will no longer be bound by puritanical “sin density” laws which allow clubs to either serve alcohol or have fully-nude strippers, but not both (thus severely curtailing the money Washington strippers could make).  I’ll link an update when some publishes an article about everything the new law does & doesn’t do.

Permanent Record

In the US she’d have no recourse, but prohibitionists want you to believe decriminalization is a “failure”:

Chelsea Sirolli was two days into a new job…at a real estate agency in regional Victoria…[when] she was…sacked, after a new colleague complained…after learning she’d worked in the sex industry…10 years ago…[because] “pornographic images of [Sirolli] existed online”…it was the third time she had been fired after an employer had found out about her past.  But this time, the law was on her side…[Thanks to decriminalization] it’s now illegal to discriminate against individuals in Victoria based on their current or prior involvement in the sex industry…Ms Sirroli has lodged a case in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal…and said while she was risking exposing herself further by doing so, she wanted to help others in a similar position stand up for themselves…the company directors [had the colossal gall to pretend]…she was being fired for her “welfare”…

The Vultures Descend (#1333)

As empires age, they rot from the inside out and from the top down:

…the Texas [judge] James Ho [of] the fifth circuit court of appeals…served on the three-judge panel last summer that ruled to restrict access to mifepristone.  The legal group behind the mifepristone case, Alliance Defending Freedom, made at least six payments from 2018 through 2022 to his wife, Allyson, a powerhouse federal appellate lawyer who has argued in front of the supreme court and has deep connections to the conservative legal movement that has led the attack on the right to abortion in the US.  The payments don’t [technically] violate the court’s code of conduct…but…Ho’s failure to recuse himself from the case illustrates why public trust in the judiciary is eroding…

I Spy (#1341)

Twitter has always claimed that this surveillance isn’t surveillance:

Ten years ago…Twitter…filed a lawsuit against the government it hoped would force transparency around abuse-prone surveillance of social media users…Elon Musk…continued the litigation, until its defeat in January.  The suit was aimed at overturning a governmental ban on disclosing the receipt of [demands]…that compel companies to turn over everything from user metadata to private direct messages…However, [Twitter]…is in an awkward position, profiting from the sale of user data for government surveillance purposes at the same time as it was fighting secrecy around another flavor of state surveillance in court…Although Dataminr defends…its governmental surveillance platform…as a public safety tool that helps first responders react quickly to sudden crises…[in reality it is] used by police to monitor…online political speech and real-world protests…Dataminr pays for privileged access to…the [Twitter] “firehose”: a direct, unfiltered feed of every single piece of user content ever shared publicly to the platform…While it was unclear whether, under Musk, [Twitter] would continue…[selling] its users [out] to Dataminr — and by extension, the government…emails from the Secret Service confirm that, as of last summer, the social media platform was still very much in the government surveillance business…

The Punitive Mindset (#1401) 

This fascist evil needs to be eradicated, root and branch:

Two lawsuits [have been] filed [against]…Michigan sheriff’s offices [because they are] colluding with large prison telecom companies to end face-to-face jail visitations and then price gouge families who are forced to rely on expensive phone calls and video chats, in return for major kickbacks.  Civil Rights Corps…filed the two class-actions…one in Genesee County and the other in St. Clair County, on behalf of multiple residents…[after] Securus Technologies and Global Tel*Link (GTL)—dangled significant financial incentives in front of [corrupt] officials to install video chat kiosks in jails…In addition to damages, the lawsuit is seeking immediate injunctions ending the bans on in-person jail visits…jails and prison systems across the country started curtailing things like in-person visits, book donations, and physical mail over the last decade, replacing them with [costly, substandard] video services and electronic tablets.  These changes were [usually] made [under the pretext] of security and reducing contraband, a…problem [defined into existence by the mindlessly-punitive policies of] American prisons and jails…

Panopticon (#1408)

Homeless people are another group new evils are tested on:

For the last several months, [San Jose, California] has been training [machine learning algorithms] to recognize tents and cars with people living inside in…the first experiment of its kind in the United States…the areas…targeted…are places where unhoused people congregate, sometimes with the city’s encouragement…the goal of the pilot…[is] to build algorithmic models that c[an] detect…lived-in RVs [and cars] with between 70 and 75% accuracy…City [bureaucrats predictably pretend]…that “the data is intended for [the city’s housing and parks departments] to provide services”…[yet cops]  may [demand] access to…footage….[and] the…system include[s] optical character recognition of…vehicles’ license plate numbers…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1409)

Censorious politicians aren’t just copying each other; they’re vying to see who can make their new laws the most unconstitutional:

The Kansas state legislature has passed a law that will require age-verification on websites that host content deemed “harmful to minors”…defined in part as “acts of masturbation, homosexuality, or sexual intercourse”…This means that the state can “require age verification to access LGBTQ content,” according to attorney Alejandra Caraballo…This could theoretically apply to [mainstream] media with queer characters, LGBTQ+ charities and community resources, or even medical websites that include information on gender and sexuality…

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 (#1425)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up.  –  Albert Fox-Cahn

Not So Different

Politicians can’t resist using popular web services to expand surveillance:

A bill recently introduced in Colorado  aims to make dating apps such as Hinge and Bumble [worse] for users [under the pretext of “safety”].  The first section…would force all dating services with any users in Colorado to submit an annual report to Colorado’s attorney general about misconduct reports from users in the state or about users in the state…[or] the entire United States.  These reports would all become public…Scorned lovers, racists, incels, and others with hostile motives could file false reports and harm people’s job and dating prospects in the future.  And a report on a government website looks a lot more legitimate than someone mad on social media.  These reports might even lead to [cops harass]ing innocent users…

Permanent Record (#1275)

Teachers are supposed to be robots who have no lives outside of school:

Domonique Brown was a history teacher…in the Detroit area, but in her off hours…worked as an aspiring rapper named Drippin Honey…she was [fired] from her job…[because one single] parent complained that she was a “bad influence” on her students because she’s a rapper, despite being voted teacher of the month in December…the parent [was allowed to] remain…anonymous [after the drive-by character assassination,] and didn’t [even bother to] go into detail about what they found objectionable about her rapping…Brown said she plans to take legal action against the school…

Stalkers in Blue (#1313)

Even seemingly-consensual sex with a cop may actually be something else:

A [typical and representative FBI] agent…has been arrested for…secretly filming women [he had] sex [with] at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with [cops] estimating there could be more than 80 victims.  Mark Allen Wells…stored the pornographic images and videos on his computer in neatly organized files.  Morgan Ballou, who dated Wells off and on between 2016 and 2022 said that he had shown her the library of nudes, at which point she contacted one of the women whose name showed up, his now ex-fiancé Savanna Smith…The pair went to the police [last] May…and…over the following months, more victims were identified.  His ex-wife came forward [to report] that he had secretly recorded her via a hidden camera on the bookshelf in one of their bedrooms.  It was also revealed that Wells…sent sexually explicit images of them to at least eight people…

Schadenfreude (#1376)

“Nonprofit” merely refers to the organization; those who run it often make plenty of profit:

…Candace Lierd is the founder and former CEO of a [Utah-based “rescue industry organization named]…Exitus…[who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars] donated to the organization…she made false claims that she was a nurse or physician, [that she] had a position with the United Nations[,] and [that she had] founded several multimillion-dollar companies…Lierd has a stack of 42 charges filed against her…[most of which are] fraud[-related]…felonies…Exitus…did not renew its business license after it expired in 2022, but continued to seek donations on Facebook and Instagram….[with fantasies about fictional] orphan rescues in Europe…Exitus raised over $1,697,000 through [lies and fabric]ations…the[n used the] money…to buy a…new home[, a car for her son, and other things, but]…much of the money is still unaccounted for.

Micromanagement (#1381)

A “Tornado of Bad Ideas”:

In keeping with law enforcement’s grand tradition of taking antiquated, invasive, and oppressive technologies, making them digital, and then calling it innovation, police in the U.S. recently combined two existing dystopian technologies in a brand new way to violate civil liberties. A police force in California recently employed the new practice of taking a DNA sample from a crime scene, running this through a service provided by US company Parabon NanoLabs that guesses what the perpetrators face looked like, and plugging this rendered image into face recognition software to build a suspect list…scientists have affirmed that predicting face shapes—particularly from DNA samples—is not possible.  But this has not stopped…police [from] using DNA to create a hypothetical and not at all accurate face, then using that face as a clue on which to base investigations…Not only is this full dice-roll policing, it also threatens the rights, freedom, or even the life of whoever is unlucky enough to look a little bit like that artificial face…

I Spy (#1385)

Curiosity offends the state, comrade:

Federal [spooks] have ordered Google to provide information on all viewers of select YouTube videos…the orders are unconstitutional because they threaten to turn innocent YouTube viewers into criminal suspects…Kentucky…cops sought to identify the individual behind the online moniker “elonmuskwhm”, who they suspect of selling bitcoin for cash, potentially [ope]ning [him up to persecution under] money laundering laws…In conversations with the user in early January [2023, spooks] sent links of YouTube tutorials for mapping via drones and augmented reality software, then [demand]ed Google [dox everyone] who…viewed the videos [that week by exposing]…the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google account users who accessed the…videos…and…the IP addresses of non-Google account owners who viewed the[m]…court records do not show whether or not Google [licked the boot that time]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #8)

Once a cop, always a cop:

[A retired] Utah [cop]…Sheriff’s Office administrator…[and] mental health counselor…[named] Mitchell McKee [has been] arrested…[for molesting] a teen[age boy].  The teen…told police he was abused by an adult man in exchange for vape pens…he is [considered dangerous because he is] a retired [cop who]…knows where…[his] victim lives…

 

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 (#1402)

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

Banning books contradicts the very essence of what our country stands for.  –  Alexi Giannoulias

Gingerbread House

Now that the hysteria is dying, bureaucrats are finally making a long-overdue effort to control rescue industry profiteering:

…the Department of Children and Families will [finally] start putting together rules for [gingerbread]…houses across Florida…[after investigative] reporting…exposed the lack of standards or regulations for those [facilities which]…exploit…[women forced into them by the state using the pretext of “sex trafficking” hysteria]…

Torture Chamber

This will continue until journalists stop obediently referring to senseless violence as “correction”:

Victor Russo…died…from an inoperable brain bleed caused by blunt force injuries to his head.  The prison [li]ed Russo’s fatal injury was sustained in a fall [which coincidentally happened a week after a] prolonged beating by [Alabama screw] Mohammad Jenkins that was caught on a…surveillance camera…The [state’s pet] medical examiner [wagged his tail] and [obediently] classified Russo’s death as an accident.  So Jenkins was charged with [mere] assault, not [wanton] murder…Jenkins…is…a…[typical and representative screw] in an out-of-control prison system, who preyed on incarcerated men, using violence and cruelty with abandon…for 20 plus years, [Alabama Department of Torturing Caged Humans] promoted…Jenkins through the ranks, while he left behind a long…trail of [victims and was]…quietly reward[ed for] it…whi[le]…the federal government [did nothing]…

An Example To the West (#916)

…the Lady Mermaid Empowerment Centre…is an organisation led by [Ugandan] sex workers fighting to decriminalise their profession while documenting violations [by police] and providing free contraceptives and counselling.  It works with 25,000 women annually, spread across 122 hot spots – street corners, bars, brothels and lodges – in Kampala and two other districts…

Creepy Coppers

Seems like a significant fraction of child porn is spread by cops:

a [South Carolina cop named]…Daniel Shealy [was fired after he was caught]…distribut[ing]…child pornography over the internet.  [His bosses were much more concerned with his magic clown costume than with the crimes he committed] …

Thought Control (#1250)

It’s sad the the First Amendment has been so weakened it needs a state law to give it teeth:

As libraries across the country face threats and book bans, Illinois [has] become the first state in the nation to ban the practice…House Bill 2789…prevents public schools and community libraries that ban books from accessing state funding…Under the new law, Illinois public libraries must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights to receive any state funding — which includes “materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation”…

The Mob Rules (#1368)

Pornhub has repeatedly chosen not to spy on its users:

Pornhub…has blocked people in Montana from viewing the site [without a VPN in response to]…a new state law that requires websites to verify the age of a person before they can access the site’s content…Pornhub said they were specifically making the decision to block access at this time due to the government ID age verification requirement. Saying…“giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk”…

Permanent Record (#1387)

It’s unusual to see a man targeted thus, and even more unusual for it to involve university-level teachers:

UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow, who was denied a pay raise five years ago over inviting a former porn actress to speak on campus, has been fired for himself engaging in explicit sexual acts with his wife on popular porn websites.  Gow…was already planning to retire at the end of the school year.  But in a three-hour, closed-door meeting…the Board of Regents unanimously decided to terminate his chancellorship and [move to strip him of tenure in an effort to cheat him of his pension even though he did not]…violate…any specific UW system policies…

 

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 (#1387)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The reality is that healthy people do not pay for the privilege of stacking hay.  –  Wyoming Supreme Court

Thou Shalt Not (#21)

Crypto-moralists believe anything unpleasant must be “good for you”:

[Crypto-moralists] are [claiming health] benefits [for] cold showers…defined as bathing in water less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit…Dr. Majdoline Jayoushe [sez]…“When you’re in cold water, your brain is too busy focusing on making the unpleasant sensation go away rather than thinking about all the reasons you are unhappy or stressed”…[Bogus] studies [proclaim] that cold showers…help increase endorphins, boost metabolism, strengthen immune health, promote healthy weight loss, improve circulation, reduce inflammation and swelling, fight symptoms of depression…lessen aches and pains [and save your soul]…Some [even] claim that cold water can give you a beauty boost by tightening your pores and adding shine to your hair…[crypto-moralists] recommend taking a cold shower in the afternoon or evening, [when the]…body…is [craving sinful relaxation]…a 2016 study [claimed]…that people who took a cold shower for just 30 to 90 seconds for 90 days [cost their masters money by calling] in sick to work 29% less than people who [actually enjoyed their showers]…

Dr. Jayoushe’s “logic” is that of a cartoon character “curing” someone’s headache by hitting their foot with a giant mallet.

The Truth About “The Truth About…”

Just another of those nonexistent false rape accusations:

A man locked up nearly four years ago was acquitted of…rape from a June 2017 allegation…by a girl, 17 years old at the time, [whose] testimony fell apart under further interrogation…The defendant maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration, and [refus]ed to…plead guilty to a non-sex offense and get out of jail…[with] time served and…probation…[his] wife stuck with him through the trial and testified on his behalf…the accuser had gotten into a heated argument with Martines’ wife over ownership of a car…when her demands were met with refusal, the accuser threatened to go to police with unspecified allegations…Less than 24 hours later, she accused [the defendant] of raping her…[and] also [claimed he] had threatened to murder her whole family…

No Escape (#1302)

Your “leaders” refer to this as “correction”:

Gregory Rodriguez…[raped] more than 22 women…[locked in cages by the state of California] over the span of nearly a decade…The [typical and representative screw]…has [claimed the women all wanted to be raped on at least] 96…[occasions.  Prison bureaucrats are wringing their hands and lugubriously moaning “]how could [this happen]…over so many years, without [his] getting caught?[” even though they create and maintain]…a system in which…vulnerable women [with absolutely no way to escape or even effectively report rapists]…are routinely preyed upon…and then threatened into silence.  When women have reported abuse, they [nearly always] face…severe consequences, in[cluding] longer prison terms[, loss of the most basic human rights,] and further exposure to their assailants.  [Screws routinely] protect…their colleagues and facilitate…their attacks…Rodriguez’s [depredations were known] as early as 2014…but instead of terminating him, [prison bureaucrats] punished the victim…[and encouraged Rodriguez] to commit dozens of additional…[rapes and] sexual assaults…more than 3,500 women [at a conservative estimate] are sexually abused by [screws] each year, and…[screws routinely] abuse…women in at least two-thirds of federal women’s prisons…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1363)

The entire “troubled teen” industry needs to be sued out of existence:

[Two men who] were subjected to severe forced labor and abusive conditions…as teens…on a youth [“treatment”] ranch in Powell, Wyoming, are suing the ranch and other businesses [who collaborate with it] in federal court.  Andrew Lewis, of Texas, and Andrew Unruh, of California…“and others similarly situated were transported to Wyoming, often through legal kidnapping at the suggestion of (the ranch owners), and forced to work in unfathomable conditions while receiving little to no formal education, behavioral treatment or therapy”…Lewis and Unruh are asking…to now be paid for their labor, including $16.31 per hour…for the first 40 hours per week and $24.47 per hour for every hour beyond 40 per week.  Their workdays allegedly [exceeded] 12…hours…They also are asking for compensatory damages for emotional distress for [being held] in…“squalid, restricted and threatening” conditions…. and repayment of the amounts their parents…paid to keep them at the ranch (between $6,000 and $9,000 per month, per teen)…[plus] interest…at 10% per year…

Torture Chamber (#1374)

The government needs to be buried in lawsuits before this will stop:

Philadelphia has asked a judge to hold the state in contempt of court for failing to address a crisis of overcrowding inside the city’s juvenile jail — escalating a blame game that has continued for more than a year.  The filing…included disturbing photos that showed [young people] sleeping on floors and benches in crowded, filthy rooms, where…lights are left on 24 hours a day, and access to bathrooms and showers is limited….about 211 young people [are locked into cages] licensed to hold 184…

Permanent Record (#1379)

If prohibitionists really want to “rescue” sex workers, why do they keep shutting us out of other jobs?

A second teacher at a small Missouri high school has landed in hot water for supplementing her income…on OnlyFans…Megan Gaither…an English teacher and varsity cheerleading coach at St. Clair High School…was put on leave…“Teaching does not financially support a person…That’s why I did it”…Gaither…[has] more than $125,000 in student loans.  Her total pay last year, including a coaching stipend, was about $47,500…Her colleague Brianna Coppage, a former freshman and sophomore English teacher at the school, recently resigned to devote all her time to porn after she was placed on leave when it was revealed she was running an OnlyFans page with her husband…

To Molest and Rape (#1382)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A Miami-Dade [cop named]…Daniel Ramos-Aviles [is] being held [without]…bond [for molesting at least three kids, one of them his own 6-year-old]…It was the second time in less than a week that a South Florida [cop was caught behaving exactly like cops tend to behave when alone]…with a minor…

 

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 (#1380)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The implication is that [edible] manufacturers want to trick kids into getting high, although it’s not clear why that would be a sensible business strategy.  –  Jacob Sullum

Bottleneck

Worldwide, over 90% of whores prefer to work illegally than submit to “registration”:

The Dutch Cabinet’s plan to register sex workers…will…worsen their situation, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) warned…The Cabinet’s proposal would allow municipalities to [demand]…sex workers…register their personal data, and to require businesses operating in the space to force their workers to do the same.  The Cabinet [justified] the [scheme by barfing out that all-purpose excuse for violating women’s rights, “]human trafficking[“, but in reality]…sex workers would wind up plying their trade underground “for fear of registration and loss of privacy.”  As a result, they would fall out of view of authorities…

Law of the Instrument (#974)

In a moral panic, ordinary business arrangements get spun into “exploitation” and “crime”:

[Mike Jeffries,] the ex-CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner [Matthew Smith]…used a middleman to find young men for…events, [and now eight] of [them] allege…they were exploited or abused…the couple’s middleman denied any wrongdoing and said men went into these events “with their eyes wide open”.  Abercrombie & Fitch…[bloviated pearl-clutching nonsense against Jeffries to protect its] brand…Two former US prosecutors…have called for an investigation to determine whether charges for sex trafficking could be brought…

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1185)

Why do so many morons refuse to grasp that nobody is going to give expensive cannabis edibles to their spawn for free?

It’s October, which means it is time for alarmist cops and credulous reporters to start [attempt]ing [to panic] parents about the purported menace of cannabis edibles in trick-or-treat bags.  KSNT…in Topeka, Kansas, got a jump on that annual rite last month, when it amplified a “community advisory” from the…[local cop shop] about “THC-infused gummies and snacks marketed to children ahead of the holidays”…

Without Let or Hindrance (#1303)

These abuses are finally getting the attention they’ve needed for a generation:

It’s hard to overstate how little mainstream news attention has been paid to…problems with the [“child welfare”] system, which…is more akin to law enforcement than social services, given its ability to surveil parents and hand down the ultimate punishment — terminating the legal bonds between parent and child.  Families ensnared in the system lack many basic due process rights in navigating a punitive bureaucracy, and they typically don’t receive a lawyer until the state seeks temporary or permanent custody of their child in court.  Regardless, children…aren’t actually made safer; the rates of maltreatment for children in foster care are abysmal, and research has repeatedly found that children who enter the system fare worse on multiple measures than children left in their homes…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1304)

If you didn’t foresee where this was going, you haven’t been paying attention:

A woman has been [condemn]ed to life in [a cage] after [a gang of whiny-baby cops had panic attacks while rooting through]…Jessica Thomas[‘ possessions without her permission after using]…a…traffic stop [as a pretext]…Douglas County sheriff Dan Coverley [spouted a lot of pseudoscientific nonsense about an “]increase in pressure from transporting the drugs from low elevation to high elevation[” somehow magically changing the physical and chemical properties]…of…fentanyl [so it would behave as cops imagine it does rather than as it actually does in the real world]…

Checklist (#1363)

Airlines:  do you really want to keep accepting liability for employees racially profiling passengers due to the government propaganda you force-feed them?

American Airlines has apologized to a Black musician who…was [harassed using the asinine pretext] that he was trafficking his own children, [based solely on their being] biracial…David Ryan Harris…and two of his children, Truman, 12, and Hendrix, 7, were flying…from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Sept. 15…[when an air hostess started peppering] his children [with nosy] questions…After the plane landed, Mr. Harris…and his children were [confronted] at the top of the jet bridge by an American Airlines employee and [a pack of] four [scowling cops]…They…were eventually allowed to continue on to the baggage claim area, but were not given an apology….[until] he p[ublicized the harassment on] Instagram…

Permanent Record (#1379)

I can’t feel sorry for someone whose job is ruining lives for violating arbitrary diktats when they get in trouble due to a similar diktat:

The Minneapolis Police Department is looking into a [female cop] who moonlights as an OnlyFans model.  [Local news] is not identifying the [cop, though they would never extend the same courtesy to any other sex worker]…

 

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 (#1379)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[Amazon’s] assurance[s]…should…be greeted with a lot of skepticism.  –  John Davisson

Stalkers in Blue

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

In 2014, Bryan Bailey, the sheriff of Rankin County, Miss., [told]…the local district attorney’s office…he needed grand jury subpoenas…to force the phone company to turn over records of calls and text messages for what he [pretended was] a “confidential internal investigation…[of a] school district employee.”  But…[in actuality he abused] the power of a grand jury at least eight times over a year to spy on his married girlfriend and the school employee with whom she was also “unfaithful”…the district attorney at the time, Michael Guest…decided he could not pursue the case further because of conflicts of interest…[but] told two local judges…and passed his investigation on to the state attorney general…no one questioned the sheriff or conducted a full investigation…For seven years, every [politician] who learned of the allegations kept them secret from the public, leaving citizens of Rankin County in the dark, even as they twice voted to re-elect Sheriff Bailey.  He is on the verge of another re-election…facing no opponent in November…

Eavesdropping (#1183)

Amazon also eagerly hands data from internet-connected devices to cops:

Amazon announced new [machine learning] capabilities for its Alexa products last week, based on a model it’s calling AlexaLLM (LLM refers to the “large language model”).  The technology will make Alexa “more personalized to your family” and allow it to remember relevant context throughout conversations…But along with those new capabilities…Amazon would use some user voice interactions with Alexa to train its [ML] model…by agreeing to use a more “customized” version of Alexa, users would be volunteering their voice data and conversations for Amazon’s LLM training purposes.  It’s not clear how much voice data is actually necessary to train Amazon’s models and to what degree it might be used for other purposes [such as handing it to cops without even requiring a warrant]…

Thought Control (#1226)

Idaho newspaper approvingly reports sheriff appointing himself chief library censor:

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris…[barged into several] libraries…[with intent to intimidate librarians, bringing] along a video camera…he [decided to steal two books, named]…Deal With It!…and…Identical…[he then issued a babble-filled statement larded with words and phrases including “]sexually explicit[“…”]inappropriate[“, “harmful to minors”, and “protect children”, bloviated about an unconstitutional censorship bill wisely]…vetoed by Gov. Brad Little…[which] would have allowed a parent or legal guardian to sue a school or library for [a bounty of] $2,500…[then bizarrely pontificated on child psychology (even though he is not a child psychologist), and sexual health (though he is neither a therapist nor healthcare professional), threatened librarians with]…criminal [charges]…equate[d books]…to providing children with alcohol or drugs…[equated both adolescents and] the elderly…[with small] children[, and declared he would not return the books he stole]…

Cops and Robbers (#1287)

Who could have guessed that making a hobby of accusing strangers of felonies could be dangerous?

A [Michigan] man who [made a hobby of accusing people of being]…child [molesters for social media clout] was shot to death…[after accusing two teenagers] at a restaurant…Robert Wayne Lee…confronted [the] two [boys]…and punched [the 18-year-old, who]…pulled a knife…while the [17-year-old]…pulled a gun, shooting Lee several times.  The two…fled [but were]…arrested [the next day]…Lee…[was radicalized by] online videos by a group called Dads Against Predators…[who in turn] modeled their videos on…Chris Hanson’s “To Catch a Predator” segments on NBC’s Dateline news show [which were cancelled after Hanson and company caused the suicide of a Texas politician they tried to humiliate on TV despite his refusal to walk into their trap].  Lee…recorded online conversations and his in-person confrontations with the [people he accused]…In some videos, he can be seen [vandalizing his targets’]…tires to prevent them from driving off…he’[s]…mistakenly identified at least one person as a suspect, who was later cleared…

Permanent Record (#1354)

If prohibitionists really want to “rescue” sex workers, why do they keep shutting us out of other jobs?

A Missouri school district suspended a high school English teacher…after someone outed her as an OnlyFans creator…The teacher does not know who notified the school district about her account, “but she suspects it was after she and her husband appeared in a recent video alongside two other OnlyFans performers in St. Louis who have a substantial following”…she [only] made about $42,000 last year at her teaching job, and…she and her husband earned an additional $8,000 to $10,000 per month performing on OnlyFans…

To Molest and Rape (#1373)

There is nothing “shocking” about a cop abusing a minor or anyone else:

…a [California cop named]…Matthew Dessert…is facing serious charges of sexual and physical abuse of a minor…for around five years…[starting when she was 9 and continuing until] 14…[when she told] a school counselor…[about] the abuse…

A Moral Cancer (#1374)

Anyone whose brain isn’t rotted by prohibitionism could’ve predicted this:

Legal restrictions on the flavors of nicotine vaping products are associated with increased cigarette purchases, according to a new paper that analyzes retail sales data from 44 states.  For each fewer 0.7-milliliter nicotine pod sold in jurisdictions with such policies, the analysis found, consumers bought 15 more cigarettes.  “That tradeoff,” the authors note, “equates to over a pack…per pod for the size of current leading products” such as the Vuse Alto, which uses 1.8-milliliter pods…this…underlines the folly of trying to protect public health by deterring the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems…which are far less hazardous than combustible cigarettes…

 

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