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!
A jailed [typical and representative cop h]as [been] indicted…for child rape and murder more than a year after [he shot his cop] wife…to death at their Tennessee home…Tommy Duncan…was…[already] in…jail fo[r raping a woman]…multiple times…April Duncan’s death was reportedly investigated as a suicide, but…the investigation…eventually expanded to include investigation of [Duncan’s]…sexually abus[ing a minor]…Now a grand jury…has indicted Tommy Duncan for second-degree murder, five counts of rape, and “continuous sexual abuse of a child”…
The new film Sound of Freedom is seeking to br[eathe life back into the moribund sex] trafficking [hysteria] and is set to be released in theaters on July 4. Sound of Freedom details the true story of how a federal agent quits his job…in an effort to [profit from a moral panic over fantasized]…sex slavery…Jim Caviezel, perhaps best known for his role…in [promoting QAnon], plays…[target of a Utah fraud investigation] Tim Ballard. In the trailer…Caviezel’s character said, “God’s children are not for sale [so we’re going to rape them after labeling them ‘victims’]”. The film also features [histrionic has-been] Mira Sorvino…the film’s distributor…announced [that due to its subject’s reputation crashing and burning] Sound of Freedom’s theatrical release comes more than five years after the film’s completion…
…on a flight from Seattle…to Charlotte, North Carolina…Francisco De Jesus was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter…to…celebrate [his] oldest daughter’s graduation…But…after…he…got [back from] the bathroom…[his] daughter had some [of the toy] wings [airline employees give young children]…she told him that a flight attendant came over and asked…a…[number of nosy questions, but neither father nor daughter thought] much of it until the plane touched down. “As we’re deplaning, we’re greeted by several individuals. One of them who introduced himself as the head of security for the Charlotte International Airport,” said De Jesus…[he] and his daughter were led through the terminal before they were finally told..[the] flight attendant…[had had a sexual fantasy about his daughter and “]signs of human trafficking[”. He and his] scared daughter…were [interrogated but finally let go]…
Each year, police are called thousands of times to New York City schools over incidents where children become emotionally distressed or disruptive. In 2022…560 [of those] times [were for cops to brutalize] children under 10…in five incidents, school employees called the police on four-year-olds. While black students only make up 25 percent of New York City schools’ population, they comprise 46 percent of…[these] calls and 59 percent of the students who are handcuffed at school…officials use…these calls to punish unruly students who [do] not pos[e] a legitimate safety threat…[and these] calls frequently end…with…children…being taken to…hospitals despite no medical emergencies occurring, leading to expensive medical bills…
An EU plan under which all [messaging] accounts could be screened for child abuse content has hit a significant obstacle after internal legal advice said it would probably be annulled by the courts for breaching users’ rights. Under the proposed “chat controls” regulation, any encrypted service provider could be forced to survey billions of messages, videos and photos for “identifiers” of certain types of content wh[ich could dramatically expand as politicians constantly declare ever more material “]harmful[“]…Privacy campaigners and…service providers have already warned that the proposed EU regulation and a similar online safety bill in the UK risk end-to-end encryption services such as [Signal] disappearing from Europe…
A [typical and representative screw] at a federal women’s prison in California where inmates…were subjected to ra[pe and other] sexual abuse [by everyone from the warden to the guards to the chaplain to the kitchen manager] has been arrested [for raping] three [women the government gave him power over]…Darrell Wayne Smith, who worked at the [“Rape Club”] in Dublin, was arrested [for, surprise surprise, rape]. Smith is at least the sixth employee at the Dublin prison charged with [raping and otherwise sexually] abusing [women locked in cages despite empty promises by politicians in] Congress and [bureaucrats at] the federal Bureau of Prisons…
…a [South Carolina cop lured] a drunken woman…to a secluded area [by pretending he wanted to help her] to avoid a DUI charge and then sexually assaulted her while [armed and] wearing his [magical clown costume]…Gerard James Hildebrand…has [a history of violence, and was previously fired from a different cop shop] in August 2021…for [choking out] a handcuffed man…
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!
If you only watch one video this week, make it this one.
This woman is heroic, and y'all know I do *not* throw that term around lightly as so many do now. She could comfortably enjoy old age, but instead she's still fighting for what is RIGHT at 100 years old. https://t.co/KRQFXVa9JU
Cops molesting kids is epidemic; just because some of them prefer to call the molestation a "search" doesn't make it a different issue. https://t.co/uKOtSJOQVl
If you really want a book for more than one-time light reading, you need to actually buy it. Kindle "buying" is really just a kind of renting from a lessor who can change the terms of the contract at any time, even to substituting a different text without your consent. https://t.co/IdG64L2nny
THIS. At one time, a prescription was simply a note from one professional to another, explaining exactly *which* drug the patient needed in clinical terms the patient could not be expected to understand or repeat accurately. Prohibition turned that into a legal document. https://t.co/mCc71HL81E
These publishers are like fast-food chains who intentionally ruin menu items in order to please people who aren't their customers and never will be no matter HOW much they change. https://t.co/E3x7qiBPWs
Whenever I see people surprised that "their" politicians behave exactly like everybody knows politicians behave, I'm reminded of a quote from Rita Mae Brown (not Einstein, sorry internet): "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results."
In which "progressive" NPR calls for more of the police interactions that result in the deaths or incarceration of many thousands of Americans a year. https://t.co/tEcVJ4BMOT
That's probably the most incompetent. But the most pretentious rhymes definitely come from Sting; I mean, rhyming "apprentice" with "Charybdis" and "shake and cough" with "Nabokov" is pretty impressively pompous.
Outrage based on conscious ignorance is driven by the need or desire to be outraged; it's that need which motivates the intentional ignorance. Therefore such outrage MUST be stronger than mere organic outrage, in the same way refined products are more potent than raw ones.
"Speaker Paul Renner had to close the public viewing galleries…"
He "had to"? Was he forced to do so by an evil spell or Platonian psychokinesis? Were terrorists holding a gun to his head? Would someone have inevitably died had he not acted?
The state thinks that legal minors are children; that children are property; and that it's the government's "right" to steal the property of any citizen as it pleases.
This article may help y'all to understand what I've said since the 1980s: "nutritionism" is, to a large extent, simply puritanism disguised by a pseudoscientific veneer. https://t.co/wK3jnviqMP
Recognizing that most people who identify as "left-wing" are useful idiots.
Not coincidentally, my "most left-wing coded attribute" is recognizing that most people who identify as "right-wing" are useful idiots. https://t.co/KUIUBwvi25
From a sociological perspective, it's interesting to watch the last adherents of a moral panic clinging desperately to whatever feeling (safety? importance? validation?) the panic gave them after everyone else has lost interest.
Phrasing this as "Americans buy more of one processed plant product with mood-altering effects that's disliked by some puritans than another processed plant product with mood-altering effects that's disliked by other puritans" really puts the absurdity of prohibition on display. https://t.co/R6x7LfOchO
Your regular reminder that trying to define other people's experiences for them, or claiming they're "wrong" because they're fine with experiences (*especially* sexual experiences) that YOU think would harm YOU, is the behavior of a creepy control freak.
A [ga]ng of [screws] at a Memphis jail used handcuffs as makeshift brass knuckles to beat a Black inmate and kneeled on his back and neck until he went limp in a pool of blood, according to surveillance video…The county medical examiner ruled Gershun Freeman’s death on Oct. 5, 2022, a homicide…Freeman seemed to be experiencing a mental health crisis and was [confin]ed naked and alone to minimize the risk of [escaping further torture by killing himself]…surveillance video shows two [screws decided to]…mace…him [for no particular reason]…Freeman is seen shielding himself from the mace with an orange piece of fabric, which he was given [in lieu of an actual blanket]…and…attempting to…bat away the mace can…at least seven [screws used that as an excuse to attack Freeman]…kicking…and beating him with fists, handcuffs…mace cans…heavy rings of jailer’s keys…and “sets of brass handcuff keys”…[until he succumbed, then] kneeling on [his] back, neck and head for over five minutes…[until he] stopped breathing…jail staff did not perform CPR or attempt any resuscitation…[instead walking] over…[his] body, until medical staff arrived…
Guards…in [a prison for migrants]…walked out of the burning building as screams could be heard on the street in downtown Ciudad Juárez. Thirty-nine migrants died locked in that cell as the [cage stack] burned on the night of March 27, and another died later at the hospital…Survivors say those who died did so for one reason: they could not or did not pay a $200 bribe to s[crews] to be released…the…jail…was a de facto “extortion center,” where only migrants with the means to pay were released. Others would have to stay in jail and be sent to Mexico City or deported back to their origin country…
Ta’Neasha Chappell was arrested for theft in Brownstown, Indiana, in May 2021…Her bail was set at $4,000—an amount too high for her family to pay…On July 15, [she] became mysteriously and violently ill…she called for help repeatedly throughout the night…[as] she was throwing up blood. During the night she became increasingly incoherent, stripping off her clothes and soiling herself…no one provided medical care or called an ambulance…At 3:12, a jail employee told Chappell—who was lying on the floor moaning, “This just makes us think you’re faking it”…she was pronounced dead at 5:45 that evening…Chappell’s death was “probable toxicity from an unknown substance,” based upon “a green liquid in Chappell’s abdomen and her altered mental state, among others”…several inmates…said that Chappell had been poisoned by other prisoners, who “had allegedly been slipping a cleaning product…into her food and drink”…Chappell’s…family has filed a lawsuit against the jail employees who ignored her cries for help…Chappell is not the first person to die under mysterious circumstances in the Jackson County Jail. In August 2021, Joshua McLemore, a man with untreated schizophrenia died of multiple organ failure after he was left in a solitary cell for three weeks—during which time he refused to eat and became increasingly delirious. McLemore’s family has also filed a lawsuit against the jail…
…Joshua McLemore…was l[ocked] in a small, windowless cell for 20 days straight in Jackson county jail in July and August of 2021. The cell had no bed or bathroom and had fluorescent lights on at all hours. In [recently-released surveillance] footage, McLemore, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, appears detached from reality, speaking gibberish, rolling in filth and his own waste and becoming clearly emaciated. He received daily meals through a small slot in his jail door, but appears to have rarely eaten them. H[is only] human interactions [were] on…four occasions…when guards [decided to mindlessly brutalize] him…McLemore [had originally been hospitalized for]…psychosis…[but] when…he pulled [a nurse’s] hair…a guard…called…police, which sent [a whole gang of thugs]…to…carry…him out of the hospital in his underwear [and throw him into the dungeon where he eventually died]…
A 32-year-old man [locked in a cage] at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail begged for medical help for nearly two months before succumbing to testicular cancer in January…Alan Willison had been locked up at the scandal-plagued jail since October on a third-degree forgery charge. In November, he began complaining of severe pain and swelling in one of his testicles, but [screws]…gave him only over-the-counter medication to manage his pain. “NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL,” Willison wrote in a Nov. 23 request for medical care…In early December, Willison received testing indicating that he likely had cancer, but it was not until Jan. 19 that he saw a urologist, who officially diagnosed him. He died a week later, on Jan. 26…the Clayton County Medical Examiner…determined that Willison had died of testicular cancer complicated by medical neglect….unhygienic living conditions at the jail…malnourishment and physical abuse…
LaShawn Thompson was at the Fulton County Jail for three months before he was found dead in a jail cell…”[that] was not fit for a diseased animal”…Thompson…had mental issues…but [screws] did nothing to administer aid to him or help him…until he died…[covered with bites from bed]bugs and [other] insects…
P[ropaganda about] drug overdoses in the jail…[is being used by well-known prohibition fantasist] Tom Dart…[as an excuse to] ban…visitors from bringing in paper, including documents routinely carried by attorneys fulfilling their constitutional duty to provide legal counsel to [Dart’s victims]. The facility…is among jails and prisons across the country [pre]tending…th[at]…paper soaked with illegal narcotics…[is the the cause of overdoses, despite the fact that it is well-known that drugs in jails are smuggled in by screws, as demonstrated by the fact that overdoses actually increase when mail and books from outside are banned]…Dart’s office…[c]ould not provide any…[actual facts to support the cop fantasy of] overdoses tied to deadly paper…Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr.’s office…seemed surprised and distressed by the restrictions…[which appear to be aimed at forcing] public defenders to share information with their clients…[via] computers [so cops can secretly spy on conversations they are not legally allowed to access]…
[After] raping a…[prisoner]…a [Tennessee screw named]…James Thomas…[not only] still works as a [screw] for the Maury County Sheriff’s department…but…was given a raise…
In the rest of this confused mess of a news item, a so-called “victims’ advocate” burbles nonsense about “sending messages“, while the reporter thinks a 60-word digression about the rapist’s sister is more important than the crime the story is supposed to be about.
Terry Grassaree [got away with rape] for years b[ecause he was first a cop and later sheriff]…in Macon, Miss…There were [regular]…rape[s] inside the jail [by] Grassaree…and [others, both cops and prisoners, and Grassaree always]…covered up the episodes. At least five people, including one of his fellow deputies, [witness]ed him…beating [prison]ers or choking them with a police baton…Now, more than three years after losing an election and retiring, and 16 years after a woman first [report]ed that…Grassaree pressured her to lie about being raped, the [typical and representative] sheriff faces criminal charges…of…bribery [rather than rape and assault]…
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!
A [typical and representative] San Diego [cop] who used his badge and his knowledge to run a string of massage…parlors in California and Arizona pleaded guilty…to federal charges. Peter Griffin and three other defendants entered pleas…to racketeering-related conspiracy, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other crimes…The wire fraud charge carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a $1-million fine…
Two Colorado child care workers will go on trial this June for presiding over a day care center where a 5-year-old pulled down a 3-year-old’s pants. Amy Lovato and Roberta Rodriguez…face criminal charges for not reporting this incident to the authorities quickly enough…Jason Flores-Williams, Lovato’s attorney…ask[ed the judge] to dismiss…charges….[which] “criminalize preschool behavior by turning a 5-year-old into a deviant and a 3-year-old into a victim for acts that are neither sexual, abusive, criminal, negligent, or against any reasonable person or community standard.” Judge [Brian] Green denied the…motion…on January 16…one of the kids wet their pants, [so] Lovato left the classroom for between 3 and 5 minutes to clean the kid and deposit the wet clothes in the laundry. When she returned, she saw the 5-year-old “crouched over” a 3-year-old who later told Lovato that the boy had tried to pull her pants down and touch her butt…The school did not ignore this misbehavior. It called the parents involved…[and] reported the touching incidents to the child welfare department …[but the prosecutor claims they did] not report…the incidents immediately enough…three days later…[though] the question of how quickly a school must report an incident of abuse is vague. So, it seems, is the definition of abuse. And so is whether leaving the room to clean off a pee-soaked kid constitutes neglect…
A leading group of medical experts says the term “excited delirium” should not be listed as a cause of death…[because it is only] used to justify excessive force by police. The National Association of Medical Examiners had been one of the last to take a stand against the commonly used but [unscientific] term…The statement has no legal weight, but will be influential among medical examiners…the term…[i]s unscientific, rooted in racism — and a way to hide police officers’ culpability in deaths. The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association do not recognize excited delirium as a diagnosis. Yet…police training materials [think they have a right to invent convenient medical diagnoses that fly in the face of medical science]…Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., who chairs the pathology department at Howard University…[says] “It’s not a real explanation for the death”…
…the Kutadgu Bilik bookshop [in Istanbul] is a trove of Uyghur culture…[which has been repeatedly] raided by the Turkish police…[stealing] hundreds of books…[each] time…Uyghur literature has…been a prime target [of the Chinese genocide], with dozens of renowned writers, poets, publishers and academics disappeared into the labyrinthine system of [concentration] camps. This has all but destroyed the small trickle of books coming out of the region, severing a critical link between those who escaped and those still trapped inside…Abdulla Turkistanli, the bookshop owner…said…there are usually only two to four copies of any given title in [his] shop. The Turkish police, when they raid the shop, [use the pretext] that Turkistanli does not have the copyrights necessary to reprint [them, but]…acquiring the copyrights…is impossible without the cooperation of Chinese authorities. Even contacting the authors…is impossible…[because] around 90% of the books in his shop were written by people who have been swallowed up by the prisons and re-education camps. He believes that the Turkish police are acting under pressure from the Chinese state when they raid Uyghur bookshops…
…Lacey and Larkin’s attorneys…argue…that the DOJ’s indictment and prosecution…of [their clients] and four others…is fatally flawed and should be dismissed…The motion points to the government’s stance…in…the Woodhull Freedom Foundation’s constitutional challenge to…FOSTA…which…[claims] the verbs “promote” and “facilitate”…are legal “terms of art” and do not have the same meanings as in everyday speech…[they] assert that the phrase “promote or facilitate” is the same as “aid and abet,” which requires proof that the defendant intended to facilitate the commission of a specific underlying criminal act — in this case, prostitution. Meanwhile…in Arizona…prosecutors have consistently fought such an interpretation, arguing that “promote” and “facilitate” are much broader and open to various meanings…The defense…argues that the government should not be allowed to railroad Lacey and Larkin, using a broader legal standard…since the DOJ is simultaneously attempting to thwart a constitutional challenge on the other side of the country by insisting that the Travel Act should adhere to a far more stringent standard…
Human Rights Watch…accused Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Grindr of not doing enough to prevent violence against LGBTQ+ users by [cops] in…Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia…[the cops] sometimes publish…[their victims’] personal information on social media, leaving them subject to familial violence or homelessness. Other [times they trick them]…in [order to]…unlawfully search…their personal devices, often under threat of violence…[in order to] collect…private information that’ll enable them to prosecute the [victim] and their [friends]…“When police…could not find [incriminating] information…they [simply]…fabricated chats to justify…detention”…detainees are jailed under vague, trumped-up “morality,” “debauchery,” “prostitution,” and “cybercrime” charges…they’re interrogated; denied access to lawyers, visitors, or medical care; verbally abused; subjected to forced anal examinations…sexually assaulted; tortured; and forced to sign confessions…
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!
A [typical and representative] youth director at a[n Iowa] church…[named] Travis Albers…has been charged with [sexual abuse of] a child…Trinity Reformed Church in Pella…[did not] fire…him [until] after his arrest March 5…
Uganda’s parliament has passed a bill which would criminalise people who identify as gay, or a[ny] sexual minority…Under the proposed legislation, friends, family and [busybody strangers]…would have a duty to r[a]t [out] individuals in same-sex relationships…Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African country. But the bill seeks to go further and criminalise people on the basis of their sexual identity…Individuals or institutions which support or fund LGBT rights’ activities or organisations, or publish, broadcast and distribute pro-gay media material and literature, also face prosecution and imprisonment…In 2014, Uganda’s constitutional court nullified a similar act…because it had been passed by parliament without the required quorum…
[After] sex worker Yang Song fell to her death [as the direct result of] an NYPD raid on [her workplace]…New York elected officials…[made their usual empty] promise[s]…Melinda Katz…assured voters that she would not prosecute sex workers, [but since she is a proponent of]…the…[evi]l Nordic Model…sex workers [knew she was lying]…Katz’s record reveals she has…continu[ed] to prosecute most of the prostitution arrests that are made…Queens continues to have the highest prostitution arrest rate in the city…and…Katz has…only declin[ed] to prosecute one case in her whole term. She has maintained the highest rates of prosecution for prostitution…in the city…
In the heat of a [prohibitionist crusade to censor the internet], Mindgeek, owner of Pornhub, [has been] acquired…by the private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners. Pornhub…has faced intense [persecution despite]…hosting [far fewer] videos that depict…child sexual abuse [than platforms such as Facebook]. After a[rch-prohibitionist Nick Kristof provided a platform for the evidence-free claims of anti-sex worker activists], Visa and Mastercard suspended services from the site…in 2021 it took Pornhub [dramatical]ly less time to remove reported child sex abuse material…than other platforms…Pornhub responded to…notifications…from NCMEC in less than five hours on average, compared to the total average from…websites, which was [five times longer,] more than 24 hours…Out of 30 million reports of child exploitation to NCMEC in 2021, Pornhub submitted just over 9,000 reports…Ethical Capital Partners plans to support and center sex workers and sexually explicit content creators in discussions about legislation and regulation, including what payment processors like Visa and Mastercard do and don’t allow from sex workers and pornography websites…
Rick Duncan, the [typical and representative Minnesota] sheriff previously convicted of harassing and stalking an employee, is being sued by another woman…[because] he used nearly identical means to coerce her into sex around the same time…Prosecutors last year also charged Duncan in a new case with five counts of criminal sexual conduct over [rapes] dating back to 2017…Duncan fabricated evidence to [threaten the woman into submitting to rape, but made] it appear as though the [threats] were [somehow coming from an anonymous third party]…Duncan [simultaneous]ly [confused] the woman [by claiming] he would keep her safe…A federal jury last year awarded more than $1.1 million to th[e employee], who[m]…Duncan [tried to rape with similar bizarre tactics]…Duncan was also charged criminally [but merely]…sentenced to four years of probation. At his sentencing, he [blamed his rapist behavior on members of the public being mean to poor widdle piggies]…
Local police have been called out to Texas public libraries to [forcibly censor] books…in at least five instances….Adam Steinbaugh…[of FIRE said]…“They are treating librarians as suspects. That should be concerning for everyone”…No librarians have [yet] been charged with a crime. But in recent months Texas [politician]s have proposed a dozen bills that would change state law to make it easier to prosecute them for obscenity…
Eight states are weighing [censorship] bills that would force phone and tablet manufacturers…to automatically enable…censor[ship software whether the customer wants that or not]…The only way to disable the [automatic censor]…would be through passcodes. Providing such a passcode to a [legal minor] would be forbidden, except when done by a parent…Many device manufacturers already have adult content [censorship software] available for use, though it is not the norm to have them turned on by default…In recent years, some phone makers have added [more aggressive censorship software] that use[s error-prone algorithms of the type used by Facebook to censor artwork and pictures of plastic dolls] to censor individual images on certain applications. One of these…bills was passed…in Utah but cannot go into effect unless five additional states pass similar laws — a provision included to prevent Big Tech companies from isolating the state a[s it deserves]…This year, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Texas and Montana [politician]s are all considering versions of the bill…
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!
Since every one of this week’s links, all provided by Cop Crisis, was just horrible, I’m sure y’all will understand if I inject some levity by way of the video.
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!
In New Jersey, individuals found [guilty of]…any act of child abuse or neglect are [condemned to] the state’s child abuse registry for life…one New Jersey man is challenging [that]…in court [because]…those on the registry are barred from working in a wide range of fields, including some that do not involve work with children, like substance abuse programs, county mental health boards, or jail diversion programs. While the registry is not publicly accessible, a person’s registry status will show up in some background checks…K.C…was placed on the registry after he admitted to committing a sexual offense against a sibling when both were minors. Even though K.C. has not re-offended in the 25 years since…and has since been removed from the state’s sex offender registry—he is stuck on the state’s child abuse registry…
A [typical and representative] lay pastor at a Big Rock [Illinois] church was sentenced…to 15 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting and abusing a 9-year-old…Mark Rivera…will have to serve at least 11.7 years before being eligible for parole but will receive credit for the approximately three years he has spent in jail or on electronic home monitoring…
A [typical and representative] Syracuse [New York] cop [who tried] to silence one of his victims in…2019 is hoping to use his veteran status to avoid yet another criminal conviction. Chester Thompson…is seeking to resolve…witness tampering and criminal contempt charges by undergoing a program designed for military veterans beset by [PTSD]…It’s unclear whether prosecutors will accept Thompson’s application for the program, which could also include probation and other supervision…Thompson lost his job in 2015 [but suffered only] two misdemeanor official misconduct convictions after admitting to [rap]ing…two…women…[by] using his authority to coerce them…His [rape]s have cost city taxpayers $900,000 in a civil settlement. But…in July 2019…he…tr[ied] to talk one of his victims out of continuing her lawsuit…[despite] a court order prohibiting…contact with his victim…
U.S. Special Operations Command, responsible for some of the country’s most secretive military endeavors, is gearing up to conduct internet propaganda and deception campaigns online using deepfake videos…The plans, which also describe hacking internet-connected devices to eavesdrop in order to assess foreign populations’ susceptibility to propaganda, come at a time of intense global debate over technologically sophisticated “disinformation” campaigns, their effectiveness, and the ethics of their use. While the U.S. government routinely warns against the risk of deepfakes and is openly working to build tools to counter them, the document from…SOCOM, represents a nearly unprecedented instance of…a…government — openly signaling its desire to use the highly controversial technology offensively…
The week of last Thanksgiving, Michael Larkin…[of] Hamilton, Ohio…[let cops have] footage from [hi]s…Ring video doorbell, one of…21 Ring cameras in and around his home and business…The [cops] were [spy]ing…on a neighbor, and…wanted videos of “suspicious activity” between 5 and 7 p.m. one night in October. Larkin [foolishly]…thought that was all the[y]…would [deman]d. Instead, it was just the beginning. They asked for more footage…the[n]…a week later, Larkin received a notice from Ring itself: The company had received a warrant, signed by a local judge….[demanding] footage from [all of his] cameras…[including those inside his home and business]…whether or not Larkin was willing to share it…
In the immediate aftermath of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, women worried data from their period-tracking apps could be used to prosecute them…Now, women…need to consider what they write in chat logs, direct messages, and search bars online….ProPublica…found that at least nine online pharmacies that sell abortion medication — Abortion Ease, BestAbortionPill.com, PrivacyPillRX, PillsOnlineRX, Secure Abortion Pills, AbortionRx, Generic Abortion Pills, Abortion Privacy, and Online Abortion Pill Rx — were sharing information like users’ web addresses, relative location, and search data with third-party sites like Google. That kind of exchange opens that data up to discovery as part of [cop rooting, as in]…the case of Jessica Burgess…who is accused of helping her daughter…[obtain medica]tion in their home state of Nebraska….key…evidence…[included] chat logs…[eagerly handed to rooting pigs] by…Facebook…
The [FBI]…regularly s[teal]s cash, cars and other valuables that belong to people who aren’t accused of any crimes. Months later, many of those people receive a dense, boilerplate notice stating that the FBI plans to keep their property forever, without any explanation of why—a blatantly unconstitutional practice. That’s what happened to Linda Martin. When the FBI [stole] her life savings from a safe-deposit box during a 2021 raid of US Private Vaults in Beverly Hills, Calif., she [naively]assumed her money would be returned [by the robbers]…but several months later, she—and hundreds of other innocent people who had their safe-deposit boxes taken—received a notice stating that the government wanted to [keep] her money…the Institute for Justice [has] calculated that from 2017 to 2021 Justice Department agencies gained more than $8 billion through forfeiture, with the FBI taking in more than $1.19 billion of that bounty…In an earlier lawsuit…regarding the US Private Vaults raid, a federal judge declared the FBI’s notices “anemic” and immediately halted forfeiture proceedings…Unfortunately, that ruling applied only to the named plaintiffs in that suit…So [Ms. Martin has]…filed a new class-action lawsuit…seeking to help anyone nationwide who received one of the FBI’s [robbery-justification] notices…
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!
[The SAFE TECH Act] takes nearly every single idea that people who want there to be less speech online have had, and dumped it all into one bill. – Mike Masnick
Gary Buckaloo…[has been] charged with…[repeated] sex[ual] abuse of a child…under 14…Buckaloo is listed as [something called] a Life Skills teacher [in] Buffalo [Texas]…and…is…also…the Youth Pastor and Worship Leader for First Baptist Church Normangee…
…Texas [politician]…Drew Spring [has] proposed a bill…that would make it a felony for credit card companies to “process a transaction” for abortion pills sales…[and] allow any citizen to sue a credit card company for allowing that sale to happen…[meanwhile, politician] Steve Toth introduced a bill that [demands] internet service providers [illegally censor]…”information…intended to assist or facilitate efforts to obtain an elective abortion or an abortion-inducing drug”…
…This year’s SAFE TECH Act is a redux of a bill first introduced in 2021. That version—which Techdirt Editor in Chief Mike Masnick called “a dumpster fire of cluelessness” — failed to go anywhere (thank goodness). But now the SAFE TECH Act is back…[for] yet another stab at undermining Section 230…The first change [it]…would make is to…open up a huge range of tech companies to more liability. Blogging platforms like WordPress and newsletter and podcast distributors like Substack would be vulnerable, as would any social media platform that provides a paid tier level…[and] all sorts of web hosting services—creating huge incentives for providers to cut off…access to any person or group even slightly controversial…the bill [also encourages lawsuits against] content likely to cause “irreparable harm”…a vague phrase that could open a floodgate of lawsuits over anything…objectionable on social media…particularly speech that is unflattering to the rich and powerful…this…is a dangerous bill that would have far-reaching consequences for content creators, activists, people exposing police violence, whistleblowers, citizen journalists, and basically anyone who uses the internet…
Three days after the Montgomery County District Attorney stood behind a podium and held up packages of THC gummies that he [claimed] contained heroin and fentanyl, his office [had to admit that] lab tests [proved that to be a flagrant lie]…DA Kevin Steele announced an investigation into THC gummies after two people purportedly overdosed after eating them…Steele [was forced to admit]…that his [publicity stunt]…was based on testing done with a [notoriously unreliable] portable device [of the sort typically used by cops to generate false “probable cause” in order to arrest people]…The gummies in question contain legal byproducts of hemp that are increasingly popular for recreational use…[despite] low…potency…[cops and other prohibitionists keep babbling about overdoses and “children” despite there being no known LD50 for THC]…Around Halloween, officials [tried to drum up panic] about so-called rainbow fentanyl, colorful fentanyl pills purportedly marketed to children, that [were of course proven completely bogus]…
Nearly 80 [cops] in 22 [cop shops] in England and Wales have faced disciplinary action for [raping, sexually assaulting, molesting] or s[talking]…victims, witnesses and suspects since 2018…the majority of those facing disciplinary action…resigned before they were [sack]ed. However, 10…remained in their jobs, facing lesser sanctions such as [stern words from superiors. Only]…two faced criminal proceedings. Nearly all of the offending officers were men, and all but two of the victims female…
The lengths to which spokespigs and their media lackeys will go to imply that rapist cops aren’t typical and representative specimens of their predatory breed are increasingly absurd. This story from Puyallup, WA (not far south of Seattle) contains almost no actual information, such as the name or picture of the rapist; it does, however, include at least four distancing maneuvers. The rapist “was still in training and had never worked alone as a police officer”; he was “off duty”; the rape was only “third degree”, implying less serious; and roughly half of the sketchy story is taken up with pompous oinking by the boss pig about how the rapists’ actions are “not representative” of cops, when it should be clear by now (to anyone whose mind isn’t completely rotted by copaganda) that such actions are most certainly representative.
[Disguised San Francisco cop] have recently been [fantasy role-play]ing as sex workers and [claim] they’ve busted 30 “johns” in a pointless exercise on Capp Street, in an ongoing effort to crack down on solicitation on that Mission District alley. One sex worker already told a local TV station what would likely happen if SF police continued cracking down on the sex trade on Capp Street, which dates back decades: The sex workers will just shift over to another nearby street…
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!
A [typical and representative]…Tennessee [cop named]…Jonathan Kelly…was charged with…aggravated rape a[fter he raped]…a woman during a traffic stop…Kelly t[threatened to arrest] the woman [for a bogus]…crime if she [refused to submit to]…him…
Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country…This shadow work force extends across industries in every state, flouting child labor laws that have been in place for nearly a century. Twelve-year-old roofers in Florida and Tennessee. Underage slaughterhouse workers in Delaware, Mississippi and North Carolina. Children sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts in South Dakota. Largely from Central America, the children are driven by economic desperation that was worsened by the pandemic. This labor force has been slowly growing for almost a decade, but it has exploded since 2021, while the systems meant to protect [them] have [been allowed to break] down [because money is instead going to grow the apparatus of surveillance, censorship, and carceral violence]…
The head of the messaging app Signal has warned that it will quit the UK if the forthcoming online safety bill [demands the intentional weakening of] end-to-end encryption…Meredith Whittaker said…“we would absolutely 100% walk rather than ever undermine the trust that people place in us to provide a truly private means of communication”…The bill has been criticised by privacy campaigners for a provision allowing Ofcom, [a surveillance agency], to order a platform to use certain technologies to [spy on users] and [censor anything the government demands as long as it belches out “THE CHILDREN!!!” first]…the bill could force encrypted messaging services such as Signal, WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage to [spy on] users’ messages and create vulnerabilities in their platforms that could be exploited by rogue actors and governments. Whittaker told the BBC it was “magical thinking” to believe there can be privacy “but only for the good guys”…Whittaker also criticised a system called client-side scanning, where images are scanned before being encrypted…[because] such a system would turn everyone’s phone into a “mass surveillance device that phones home to tech corporations and governments”…
A Greenville [South Carolina] woman was arrested…and charged with performing or soliciting an abortion. In October 2021…[she] sought medical help at St. Francis Hospital after having labor pains…an[d naively believed she could trust] medical personnel [with the knowledge that] she had taken abortion pills to end a pregnancy…[of course one of them called the cops on her]…
An Opa-locka [Florida cop has been] arrested…on…domestic abuse charges [because he regularly beat] and threatened to kill [his wife and children] for almost a decade…The wife of Johane Hendrik Taylor [reported] that [many] times dating back to 2014 her husband hit her with closed fists, once even breaking a rib and trying to drag her outside while she was unconscious. Another time…he…hit one of h[is]…children over the head with a vacuum cleaner…he…has abused the children since the oldest…was three…she is currently 13…Taylor…is the youngest son of former Opa-locka Mayor Myra Taylor and the brother of the city’s current Mayor John Taylor…[which may partially explain] how he was hired as a…[cop] despite twice failing his police exam and having a criminal past involving domestic battery. He resigned in 2013 when [reporters] discovered th[is but]…was rehired…about two years later…[and soon] promoted…
Mississippi [has] bec[o]me the seventh state to enact a restriction on…transition-related health care for minors. Gov. Tate Reeves…[turned the signing into a political event, babbling culture-war nonsense centered around THE CHILDREN!!!]…the…bill also bans public funding from going to any institution or individual that provides such care to minors. Health care providers who infringe the law can have their licenses revoked. The law also allows minors who receive transition-related care to sue providers for 30 years after they receive care…In the last two years…Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and, now, Mississippi…have [enacted] such measures into law, though judges have blocked Arkansas’ and Alabama’s laws…pending the outcome of lawsuits…
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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