It’s like a Swiss Army knife of excretory openings. – Jakob Vinther
Since I like to memorialize musicians with one of their songs, I try not to feature two musicians’ obits in the same column. But since most of Jules Bass’s best lyrics were from the Christmas specials he and his partner Arthur Rankin are best remembered for, and it’s a bit too early for that, I gave this week’s video to Jerry Lee Lewis. The links above it were provided by Radley Balko, Walter Olson, Franklin Harris, Clarissa, Ally Fogg, and Aaron Ross Powell, in that order.
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!
I’ve always been dedicated to the idea of this as the time of year for spooky fun. So every year I collect all the spooky, creepy or scary content from the previous year into one place just before Halloween. If you’ve come to my blog in the past year, or don’t remember previous editions, they are “Trick or Treat”, “More Trick or Treat“, “Tricks and Treats“, “This Trick’s a Treat”, “Tricky Treats“, “A Trickle of Treats”, “Tricking and Treating“, and “Tricks for the Treat“. Oddly, though there were enough spooky or Halloweeny links to justify collecting them, the only horror, death or Halloween-themed column of the past year was “Books of the Dead“, and the only creepy or spooky-fun video appeared in Links #591. Here’s hoping for a better collection next year!
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!
Lord hear me. Lord hear me. – Christian Glass, last words
Shel Silverstein is best known by some for Where the Sidewalk Ends and other books of poetry for children; he’s best remembered by others for his songs, including “A Boy Named Sue”, “The Unicorn”, and “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” (a personal favorite of mine). But he also wrote and recorded poems with musical accompaniment, of which this is certainly the most memorable. The links above it were provided by Mark Bennett, Franklin Harris, Scott Greenfield, Radley Balko, Mike Siegel, Cop Crisis, and Greg Lukianoff, in that order.
[Typical and representative Honolulu cop] Mason Jordan [i]s a “hands-on sexual offender of multiple children” who allegedly bullied victims to send him their nude pictures and…[then tried to force them into] prostitution…[with him as] pimp…he…also [liked to fantasy role-play]…as a teenage girl [online] to…stalk…[threaten, and attempt to blackmail] a woman…
…Kansas [cop shops] raked in $21 million through civil asset forfeiture over the past two years, according to a report…by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation…less than one-quarter of the owners have been convicted of a crime…half of all [that stolen loot]…had a value of $3,100 or less, meaning it would be impractical in those cases, if not a net loss, to hire an attorney to try and recover one’s property…the numbers…omit [the federal governent’s cut of the spoils, amounting to] more than $5 million…
[At least nine cops in British Columbia] engag[ed] in “disgusting, appalling” behaviour as they went to “extreme lengths” to prove they were not cops…[they] penetrated a colleague using a vegetable, [shat] on [each]…other and exposed their genitalia…[so-called] experts [who somehow didn’t know cops did stuff like this]…are now calling for an immediate overhaul of undercover tactics…[law professor] Kent Roach…expressed concerns over the liberal use of deceptive and even violent tactics which Canadian police are allowed to use in undercover operations…
Poland has officially started recording pregnancies in a digital database when [women] seek medical care…The country…has a near-total abortion ban with narrow exceptions…[which means that] every pregnancy that doesn’t end in a live birth is a potential crime scene [in the authoritarian mind]…the Polish government…[claims] it’s simply trying to protect [women] from X-rays and medicines that could harm the…[fetus and pretends that]…only medical professionals will have access to the data…[but even if true, that hardly seems likely to withstand cop demands]…
A…youth leader at two South Carolina churches…has been charged with sex crimes involving children…William Pinckney Carpenter III…[molested] victims as young as 7 [between 2016 and 2021]…
A…[typical and representative Georgia cop] pleaded guilty to raping a woman [in]…2019…David Wilborn…[used the pretext of a traffic] stop [to]…block…a car with his p[igmobile]. After…[humiliating the driver], he [raped the passenger at gunpoint. After]…Wilborn [left]…the victim immediately called police…Wilborn was sentenced to a term of life in prison to serve 25 years without parole, with the balance on probation. He must also register as a sex offender. Wilborn was previously a…[cop in] Atlanta…but resigned after…[sexually assaulting a woman in] 2007…
The abrupt cancellation…of the Latin American adult industry conference, LALExpo, has been linked to a single press release from controversial, Mormon-led U.S. organization Operation Underground Railroad…As the local religious and conservative campaign attempted to sway local officials into denying LALExpo…permits, OUR issued a press release on June 3…seemingly attempting…to insinuate that the trade show’s sponsors were somehow responsible for “human trafficking”…
A [typical and representative] cop [who]…snapp[ed] photos up skirts during a Texas wedding is [named]…Scott Eugene Kilmer…[wedding organizers foolishly hired Kilmer to attend the event wearing his magical clown costume], whe[re] he was caught [repeatedly putt]ing…his foot [with a camera on it] between [women’s] legs but [nobody wanted to] confront him because [they were afraid he would maim, tase, pepper-spray or even murder]…the…guests…the camera transmitted photos to a device in Kilmer’s p[igmobile]…[where other cops] discovered about 50 video clips from the wedding and…similar images [he had taken] previously…
The British government [has] proposed sweeping re[gulation]s to force [websites] to…[cens]or what is posted online — including carve-outs to [render] politicians [immune to such censorship]…The much-delayed Online Safety Bill includes hefty penalties for companies that fail to [obey the censorship diktats of politicians]…and…[forc]es a so-called duty of care on social networks, smartphone apps and other sites where people can interact with each other, making them [arms of the fascist establishment whether they like it or not]…Content on [politically favored] websites will…not be subject to the new rules…The U.K.’s proposals come as countries worldwide look to [by]pass [legal restrictions on censorship by] forc[ing] social media companies to [do the governments’ dirty work for them]…In Germany, local officials recently revamped the country’s [notorious] online content rules, known as NetzDG, to mandate that companies [become police informants]…The European Union is also pushing ahead with s[imilar] proposals…while countries like Hungary and Poland are pursuing [laws] that would…ban…platforms f[rom censoring politicians and bureaucrats]…[anti-]rights campaigners and misinformation [promoter]s welcomed the U.K.’s new proposals…
Advocates and community groups are calling on the province to drop plans to [increase police powers using the pretext of] human trafficking…[because the] proposed bill [will] harm sex workers and…lead to discrimination and racial profiling…The proposed law would [empower cops] to inspect any place for compliance with the law and [interrogate] any person [they feel like harssing]…with failure to comply leading to possible heavy fines. Police and inspectors would also have the power to [demand] hotels…[let the pigs root in] their guest registers…without [warrant, merely by vomiting the magic words “]human trafficking[” at random clerks]…Over 70 legal and human rights organizations have written to the provincial government in opposition to the bill, calling for the resources dedicated to this plan to instead be redirected into efforts to help marginalized communities across the province. Sandra Ka Hon Chu…of the HIV Legal Network…[pointed out that] these types of government initiatives [always] involve surveillance…and [usually abduc]tion and/or deportation of sex workers…“human trafficking i[s used] as a pretext to monitor and interrogate sex workers and to discourage them from working,” she said…
I’d never heard of Operation Underground Railroad when…Tim Ballard, called me suddenly in the summer of 2014…I didn’t wonder why he thought it was appropriate for me—the writer of a mommy blog—to chronicle anti-trafficking work…A camera crew filmed everything, because Ballard…[was] pitch[ing] a TV series about his [cowboy games]…OUR staff…were mostly as inexperienced as I was…Everybody wanted to “save the kids,” but no one really knew anything about these kids. We talked mostly about fundraising. The calls never addressed real things children need to be saved from…Ballard…put me in harm’s way so that I could write a story about him…But…I’d imagined myself the same way he did…as a savior…I tried to find meaning in my own life on the backs of exploited kids… A TV show based on [his] book…Slave Stealers, is currently in development. And a new action movie about him, Sound of Freedom, is forthcoming. Jim Caviezel plays Ballard, with Mira Sorvino as his wife…
Federal prosecutors have failed, for now, in their most repugnant smear tactic to date in the case involving veteran journalists and onetime Backpage.com owners, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin…Judge Susan Brnovich denied a government bid to prejudice the jury at trial by introducing gruesome details of homicides that Lacey, Larkin and their four co-defendants have absolutely nothing to do with…But in a separate ruling issued the same day, Brnovich explained that she will permit prosecutors to try to introduce material involving “sex trafficking” and “child sex trafficking,” though the defendants are not charged with these heinous crimes…These allegations rest on an absurd theory of vicarious, third-party liability, in an attempt to hold Lacey and Larkin responsible for the alleged illegal acts of people they don’t know, have never met and have zero connection to…
A [typical and representative] Miami-Dade [cop] and…high-ranking union member has been charged with sexual battery…John Jenkins Jr. has been “re[warded for his behavior with a paid vacation]” said [top cop] Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III in a statement [which also focused] on…Jenkins…not…[wearing his magic clown costume while raping women]…Jenkins resigned as executive vice president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association…
…the American Civil Liberties Union [filed suit against] two southern Minnesota sheriff’s deputies [who sexually assaulted] a woman on the side of the road in below-freezing temperatures [using the excuse of a “search”], ignoring her pleas to be taken to the hospital or police station and searched the “the right way”. During the 2018 incident, Kelli Jo Torres…asked the [rapists] to stop trying to reach into her vagina 25 times…[while] the[y]…kept her outside without a coat in 9 degree weather, along an interstate on-ramp, for a half-hour before [finally] taking her to a hospital to [justify the assault]…
At 7:40 p.m. April 30, a woman…returned to her apartment [in Cleveland] after being out of state for the past month. In her apartment’s parking lot, she noticed two cars that were unfamiliar. She [harassed] the cars’ drivers…and was not satisfied [that they didn’t simply tell her to fuck off]…The woman then [peeked] through a window into an[other person’s] apartment…and saw a female who appeared to be sad. [Fantasiz]ing that what she had witnessed may have something to do with human trafficking, the woman called police…After [cops] knock[ed] on the unit’s door to try to [harass, rape, rob, abduct or murder]…the female…[the occupants wisely] denied [them] entry…
The Trump administration has started forcibly collecting DNA samples from immigrants in detention and sending that information to an FBI criminal database called the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for permanent storage…The Supreme Court approved this gross invasion of individual privacy in Maryland v. King (2013),ruling 5–4 that the law did not violate constitutional protections against illegal searches and seizures because the original arrest had required probable cause…[but] the vast majority of [immigrants] are detained not because they have committed serious crimes with actual victims but because a harsh Clinton-era enforcement law vastly increased detentions for nonviolent immigration-related offenses…the Justice Department…insist[s] that even if immigration detainees have committed no crimes at the time they are booked, having a permanent DNA record makes it easier to track them if they do so…later. By this logic…DNA testing could be forced on all American citizens. Anyone, after all, could commit a crime at some point in the future…
Clearview AI…said it is ending its relationships with…entities and private companies [that do not claim the “right” to inflict violence upon people they dislike] amid…several potential class action lawsuits…[including one] which argues Clearview violated an Illinois statute regarding the use of biometric data for commercial purposes…Despite public assurances from Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That that its software was meant for law enforcement, internal documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News showed numerous private companies had used the service including Macy’s, Walmart, Bank of America, and Target…
Taking a page from their crusades against Craigslist and Backpage, [prohibitionists] are calling for credit card companies to stop doing business with porn websites…[by] throw[ing] around phrases like sex trafficking and child abuse while p[retend]ing their request [i]s a common-sense plea to stop exploitation…The[y claim]…it is impossible to “judge or verify consent” in online porn content…[which] is “not only factually wrong but also intentionally misleading”…When Craigslist and later Backpage were the moral panic’s big targets…Illinois sheriff Tom Dart [demanded] companies to stop doing business with these websites—even though government officials and [other prohibitionists] had earlier [forc]ed Craigslist and Backpage to accept credit card payments because they thought it would make [surveill]ing customers easier. Dart went so far as to threaten credit card companies that did business with Backpage, prompting Visa and Mastercard to temporarily suspend their services. (This was later ruled unconstitutional)…
The…pandemic has closed down Poland’s strip clubs and massage parlours, leaving many sex workers struggling to make ends meet but also inspiring solidarity via an online fundraising campaign. Similar ventures have also appeared elsewhere in the West…
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)…have learned that a[n unnamed rapist screw in]…Nova [Scotia]…was arrested and charged with [several rape-related crimes, yet they’re still trying to hide his identity]…The…women [who] reported the abuse to authorities…were ignored, transferred and [humiliated by being forced] to apologize [to the rapist]…by their very nature, prisons are violent and oppressive institutions…[which] make those held inside incredibly vulnerable to [rape and other sexual] abuse [such as]…routine strip searches [by screws]…
You don’t make the rules out here, we do. – “Officer” Ethan Newberg
Sadly, there aren’t many holiday videos any more, but this one from Mike Siegel, in which Pachelbel’s Canon is played with Polish train horns, is pretty festive. Mike also provided “deep”, and the rest of the links above the video are from Ricardo Cortés (“apples”); Cop Crisis (“serving” and “standing”); Maura Alwyen (“physics”); Radley Balko (“trained”); and Dave Krueger (“time”).
If Jesus was coming up the escalator three or four steps lower than you are, would He consider what you were wearing was acceptable? – Christian modesty guide (2016)
When this song came on my “Bohemian Rhapsody” Pandora station last week (yes, I have a station based on “Bohemian Rhapsody”; why don’t you?) I hadn’t heard it in decades. But it’s one I have thought about often, and upon re-listening I realized that it’s one of the inspirations for my story “Millennium“. The links above it were provided by Tim Cushing, Elizabeth N. Brown, Mike Siegel, Rick Horowitz, Lenore Skenazy, and Tim Cushing again, in that order.
Tyranny is our inclination to punish and oppress the other. – Ken White
A tweet about favorite Rolling Stones songs got me thinking about this one (surely you didn’t think my favorite Stones song would be a happy, upbeat one?), so here it is. The links above it were provided by Mark Draughn, Popehat, Dave Krueger, Adi MacArtney, and Carol Fenton (x2), in that order.
…the 1918 silent film The Yellow Ticket…follows Lea, a young Jewish woman who lives in the Warsaw Ghetto. Hoping to study medicine at a university in St. Petersburg, Lea is forced to register as a sex worker, receiving a “yellow ticket” as proof of her status as a prostitute, or else she will go to prison for being Jewish. Posing as the deceased Christian sister of her former tutor, Lea reluctantly lives these dual lives until a classmate discovers her at the brothel and she tries to commit suicide…
Fargo [North Dakota] police arrested two men as part of a two-day sting…[during] the annual Big Iron Farm Show…[spokesow Junell] Krabbenhoft [oinked that]…“Any major event, anything that’s going to draw people to the area,” could attract potential buyers…
…sex workers [are] campaign[ing] for an International Labour Organization (ILO) resolution establishing the right to self-employed sex work, with a view to it being included in the individual legislations of Latin American countries, given that, although sex work is not explicitly penalised in many countries of the region, it is criminalised in many ways…they managed, after five years of failed attempts, to secure a thematic hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The demands presented included the recognition of sex work, that the relevant authorities in each state intervene to end the impunity surrounding crimes against sex workers, and measures to tackle the institutional violence they suffer…The IACHR…“urged member states to design public policies and regulations that protect the human rights of sex workers…and…put an end to the stigmatisation and discrimination to which they are subjected”…
Bar girls and sex workers have a visible presence in Pattaya [Thailand]. Women and girls from neighbouring countries like Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar have made up a large slice of the sex worker demographic for as long as people can recall…Among the most recent round of newcomers are some women from Africa…Last week Pattaya City police arrested 12 women from Uganda…A Cambodian sex worker…[said] she came to the city to earn a living five years ago. Pattaya improved her life, she says, and she wants to remain there for as long as possible…”Back at home, I can’t even earn 10% of what I am earning here. I notice a lot more black girls these days but none of us get intimidated by this. After all, we also came here to find an opportunity to make a better living”…
SWOP Behind Bars…provides a community and concrete aid [to incarcerated sex workers] when they’re released, from clothing and shoes to stamped envelopes, notebooks and hygiene products. In a new program, the women also get cellphones…Connecting women to resources quickly after leaving prison is crucial. “When you’re in prison and you get out and you don’t have any money, you’re almost forced back into sex work. Which may not be where these women want to be, because it does put them at risk for rearrest,” [SBB founder Alex] Andrews said. She calls this “state-sponsored trafficking”. Women are cut off from their families and released without resources for finding jobs, getting an education or pursuing a GED. Sex work is effectively the only way many of them have to make money…Finding cheap, reliable phone service nationwide has been tricky, Andrews says. Many services aren’t set up to allow people to purchase phones for others, and she’d like to buy 90 days of service at a time, rather than the usual 30-day package. Most women coming out of prison aren’t in a position to start paying for their own phone after only a month on the outside. For the moment, Andrews has settled on Straight Talk, a program that’s offered through Wal-Mart and gets good service even in rural areas. SWOP can send out refurbished iPhone 5S with 30 days of service for around $100 each. The organization is accepting donations of used smart phones to help expand the program and lower costs…
A federal grand jury…returned a two-count indictment against Eric Scott Kindley…for crimes related to his sexual assault of a woman in his custody, and using his firearm in furtherance of the assault…Kindley was indicted on June 29, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona, for committing similar offenses related to sexual assaults he committed on a different woman in his custody…These indictments stem from Kindley’s arrest in Stockton, California, on June 1, 2017…Kindley operated Group 6, LLC doing business as Special Operations Group, a company that local jails throughout the country hire to transport individuals who have been arrested on out-of-state warrants…In each instance, the victim was handcuffed and restrained, and taken to secluded locations where Kindley [raped] her…Kindley threatened each victim with his firearm and warned her that…no one will believe her…
An Ohio man who tried to discipline his 6-year-old daughter by chasing her around in a clown mask has been charged after she ran screaming to a stranger’s apartment…Vernon Barrett Jr. donned a clown mask and began chasing his young daughter outside their apartment…the frightened child ran to a female stranger’s car nearby, jumped inside and said she was being chased by a clown…That woman later told police that the man wearing the clown mask pulled the child out of her car. Unsure of what was happening, the woman called 911…the child [then] ran into the adjacent apartment of…Dion Santiago…[who] grabbed his firearm and fired a shot out of his window…
…two significant expansions of federal power…passed the Senate unanimously…Under these new measures, the FBI and immigration agents as well as state and local police can secretly wiretap suspected sex workers, or those who associate with them. The wiretapping authority…includ[es] consenting adults on any side of a commercial sexual exchange. The bills call for a new national strategy to reduce “demand” for prostitution, order all U.S. attorneys offices be trained on treating the sex trade as “a form of gender-based violence”…[ban] federal funds [from] any nonprofit that helps people who profit off sex and…broaden…the term “criminal street gang” [to] capture any five or more sex workers traveling together…[the bills provide] a pretext for ICE and Homeland Security Investigations to join in small-town prostitution stings and massage-parlor raids across America…[another] bill (S.1312) gives the attorney general power to file a civil suit against anyone suspected of…planning to commit “any action that constitutes or will constitute” a violation of various federal statutes…This…could allow the feds to preemptively shut down websites, search engines, social apps, browsers, encryption services, or brick-and-mortar businesses because criminals (broadly defined) might communicate there…The new TVPA will also make fighting… “sextortion”…an invitation for the federal government to get involved in teen sexting cases…
Looks like the Roseville, California, police department got a little fed up with social media posts going on about local “sex trafficking kidnappers” and “suspicious people.” And so it came out with this amazing document on its Facebook page…”kidnapping by strangers is a rare crime in the United States. Stranger abductions of children are so frightening and so unusual that when they do happen, they make national news…children taken by strangers or slight acquaintances represent only one-hundredth of 1 percent (.01%) of all missing children…The Roseville Police Department has never taken a report of anyone being kidnapped by a stranger and forced into the sex trade…We…found no evidence that human traffickers were [at shopping malls] recruiting strangers“…
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