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Posts Tagged ‘Pyrrhic Victory’

The government’s…theory of coercion was that these women remained…because they feared they would be asked to leave.  –  Jennifer Bonjean

The More the Better (#135)

Sheri’s Ranch has been marketing itself to couples for at least 13 years:

The [new] “Couples Getaway Experience” from Sheri’s Ranch…offers transportation from Vegas, dinner and champagne at the resort restaurant, a “meet and greet” for couples to browse the ladies, and a $6,000 deposit…[toward] services…the 20-acre resort in Pahrump, NV, has a pool, bar, restaurant, and tennis courts…The number of customers who check in as a pair has increased year by year, and [Sheri’s claims] at least two out of every ten inquiries [now] come from partnered couples

Since it is illegal for Nevada brothels to advertise, owners often invent “news” stories to get free advertising from yellow journalists eager to capitalize on titillation.

If Men Were Angels (#1460)

The problem isn’t Catholicism, Christianity, or even religion; it’s teaching kids to blindly submit to authority:

For generations, the Royal Rangers have been a rite of passage for millions of boys nationwide in the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.  The program…[claims] to mold them into Christlike men through Bible study and backpacking.  But the Royal Rangers have also shattered childhoods, a danger the organization’s national leaders have known about for decades…At least 29 Royal Rangers leaders have…sexually abus[ed] boys [since the program was founded in 1962]…Like other scouting programs, the Royal Rangers have attracted serial predators whose full victim counts may never be known…In several instances, church officials allowed men convicted of molesting boys to lead Royal Rangers troops, enabling them to harm again…[and pressured victims] into silence…

Imaginary Evils (#1547)

“Acquitted conduct sentencing” is an unconstitutional abomination:

Federal officials are recommending 15- to 20-year prison sentences for…Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, based on the [Kafkaesque premise] that they should be punished for crimes they were never charged with nor found guilty of at trial…[they] were found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to commit forced labor…but…prosecutors…want…more than 15 and a half years…for Cherwitz…and…20 years [for Daedone]…based on the idea that the defendants actually committed forced labor, despite the fact that their only conviction was for forced labor conspiracy…[and] the government emphasized to the jury thatit didn’t matter if any forced labor had actually happened…[o]r if alleged victims actually consented…

Shame, Shame (#1573)

Zuckerberg flushed $60 billion down a “virtual” toilet:

[Facebook] is dialing back its metaverse [fantasy] and redirecting resources toward [surveillance] glasses and wearable [gewgaws]…the company…could slash as much as 30% from its metaverse group, an area CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously [fantasiz]ed as the company’s future…cuts of this magnitude could include layoffs as early as January…Investors appeared to welcome the news, sending…shares up 4%…[thus] signaling relief that the company is scaling back a costly [boondoggle] which has lost more than $60 billion…

I Spy (#1574)

Companies which facilitate government evils are enemies of humanity:

Highly invasive spyware from a consortium led by a former senior Israeli intelligence official…is…being used to target people in multiple countries…the…Intellexa Consortium…[sells] Predator…spyware…[to] Pakistan…and…other countries…to spy on people…Predator works by sending malicious links to a targeted phone or other hardware.  When the victim clicks the link, the spyware infects and provide access to the targeted device, including its encrypted instant messages on applications such as Signal and WhatsApp, as well as stored passwords, emails, contact lists, call logs, microphones, audio recordings, and more…Intellexa has [also] developed “zero-click” capabilities in which devices are infected via malicious advertising…

The Cop Myth (#1585)

Goons are just another kind of cop:

A[n]…ICE…[goon named] Samuel Saxon…is [being held without bond for attempting to strangle his girlfriend]…and…[is] charge[d with]…felonious assault, strangulation and domestic violence…Cincinnati police…have been [called out on Saxon] 22 [times] in [the past] year and a half…the victim is [too scared to testify], but the[re is a] witness [who] is[n’t]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1588)

This needs to become a socially-acceptable response to glassholes:

…a New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his [Facebook spy] glasses…“You’re going to be famous on the internet!” he shouted at her through the window after getting off the train…[she] peered back at him completely unfazed, as if to say that he had it coming…the internet wholeheartedly…celebrat[ed] the woman as a folk hero…perfectly highlighting how the public feels about [these sleazy] gadgets…“Good, people are tired of being filmed by strangers,” one user commented.  “The fact that no one else on the train is defending him is telling,” another wrote…While [there is] a small LED light in the front of its glasses to indicate when it’s recording a video, it can easily be covered by a small piece of tape, making it trivially easy to spy on strangers in public without their knowledge or consent…

 

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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You don’t forfeit your constitutional rights when you try to board an airplane.  –  Dan Alban

Follow the Leader (#513)

Authoritarianism is a mental and moral sickness:

Tamara Hamby, a book-banning [sleazebag who managed to worm her way into an Arkansas] Library Board, has resigned her position…[after being caught terrorizing] her disabled, adult [adopted] daughter.  Hamby was arrested…and…charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.  Three others…helped [her] in the [outrage and] were also arrested [and charged]…They include Austria Nico…David Quach…and Shannon Childers…Hamby [devised] a bizarre plan to stage a simulated kidnapping of…Jami Kayl Hamby…to [“]teach her a lesson[“] about talking online with strangers…Jami[‘s]…“wrists were zip-tied and she was tied…to a tree…threatened by three accomplices and…told she would be beaten…if she attempted to run away”…[she] managed to work herself free and run to a…home nearby to seek help…Tamara Hamby…does not believe she did anything wrong…and [though her husband, Jeffrey Hamby MD, was not involved in the sick scheme and was away at the time, he’s just as bad as she is and wants the state to take custody of Jami for a while to (you guessed it) “teach her a lesson”]…Jami…suffers from a brain injury incurred at birth, leaving her with a form of epilepsy…severe attention deficit disorder…and severe developmental delays…[leaving the 22-year-old] comparable to an 11- to 13-year-old…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1009)

The latest police-statery from Airstrip One:

Police are set to be handed access to Britain’s passport database under an expansion of facial recognition technology that could be rolled out in every village, town and city across the country….[using] images from CCTV, doorbells, and dashcams…the Home Office launched a consultation aimed at [crush]ing…legal [obstacles to] every [cop shop and pigpen] in Britain to [spy on citizens, justifying the massive civil rights violation by vomiting the magic word “]crime[“]…Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo…[pointed out that] the technology [will] turn Britain into an “open prison”…[transforming] passport [photos]…into “mugshots for a giant surveillance database”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1494)

Government is unable to permanently stop its own depredations:

A year after the…DEA…stopped [robb]ing…airline passengers because of significant constitutional concerns, the Department of [Father]land Security…is quietly keeping the practice alive…at two Dallas-area airports [by] using…dogs to [manufacture] probable cause to [root through] their luggage…Although it’s completely legal to fly domestically with large amounts of cash, [courts have consistently allowed cops to steal it by pointing at it and barfing the magic formula “]drug trafficking[“]…forcing the owner to challenge the [robbery] in federal court…

Torture Chamber (#1495)

A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners:

It’s been a year since Imhotep Muhammad returned home from Dauphin County Prison after a jury acquitted him of the [bog]us charges that [were used to] lock…[him] up for 26 months…[but] physical and mental…[health problems] remain…he spent nearly 24 hours a day inside his cell as he awaited trial, unable to post bond…[and] the near total lack of direct sunlight and fresh air for so long left him deficient in two essential vitamins, D and B12…[leading] to…heart…palpitations and [erratic] kidney function…He developed a respiratory infection shortly after his release and was hospitalized…Doctors told him the vitamin deficiencies were…caused by his incarceration and isolation at DCP…Alycia Welch…[of] the University of Texas law school’s Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, said these kinds of vitamin deficiencies are one of the most common physical health problems associated with the “de facto solitary confinement” conditions to which…nearly everyone incarcerated at DCP are…subjected…A 2023 meta-analysis…estimated more than half of all incarcerated people have a Vitamin D deficiency and another nearly 30 percent are low in Vitamin D…

The Course of a Disease (#1542)

Facts never deter prohibitionists:

[Scottish politician] Ash Regan…wants Scotland to [classify all women as the moral inferiors of men]…The criminal justice committee wrote to the Irish police to find out how the approach[, dubbed “The Swedish Model”,] was working in Ireland…the Garda [admitted they]…”have not observed a decrease in the number of individuals advertising sexual services for sale in Ireland”…[but tried to spin the dramatic increase in violence against sex workers as] “a significant increase in sex workers reporting crimes against them”…[and euphemized their stalking and harassment of sex workers as] “welfare visits”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1574)

Missouri took surprisingly long to join this “monkey see, monkey do” parade:

As of this week, half of the states in the U.S. are under restrictive age verification laws that require adults to hand over their biometric and personal identification to access legal porn.  Missouri became the 25th state to enact its own age verification law on [November 30th].  As it’s done in multiple other states, Pornhub and its network of sister sites…pulled service in Missouri, replacing their homepages with a video of performer Cherie DeVille speaking about the privacy risks and chilling effects of age verification…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1595)

MechaHitler is quickly distinguishing itself as the most antisocial chatbot:

Elon Musk’s chatbot [MechaHitler]…will, with extremely minimal prompting, provide accurate residential addresses for non-public figures — a feature that could easily assist stalking, harassment, and other dangerous types of behavior…Out of 33 names of non-public figures we fed into [MechaHitler]…ten…immediately returned correct and current residential addresses…Seven…returned previously accurate but out-of-date addresses, while another four included accurate work addresses — perfect fodder for anybody looking to stalk a target at their workplace.  The bot…often returned lists of people with similar names alongside their purported residential addresses…[and] frequently came back with a dossier of other information we didn’t ask for — including current phone numbers and emails, as well as accurate lists of family members and their addresses…[this] stands in sharp contrast to other leading chatbots like…ChatGPT…Gemini, and…Claude, all of which declined to provide us with addresses…

 

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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When societies surrender judgment to technolog[y]…the result isn’t augmented intelligence but simulated learning: a paint-by-numbers approach to thought.  –  Ronald Purser

I Spy (#1551)

“Smart” devices aren’t, part umpteen:

Oura, the maker of [biometric surveillance] rings beloved by [cretinous] athletes and [empty-headed] celebrities…is…setting its sights beyond fitness and health tracking…to…digital identi[fication] and payments…”This is a biometric wearable that can identify you [to anybody with receiving apparatus],” [chief con-man Tom] Hale said…

Mad Libs (#1554)

This was 100% predictable to anyone who understands how chatbots work:

Icaro Lab…in Rome…[has demonstrated that] chatbots will dish on topics like nuclear weapons, child sex abuse material, and malware so long as users phrase the question in the form of a poem…The researchers tested the poetic method on 25 chatbots…it worked, with varying degrees of success, on all of them…[chatbots] have guardrails that prevent them from answering questions about “revenge porn” and the creation of weapons-grade plutonium.  But it’s easy to confuse those guardrails by adding…a bunch of extra junk to a question…[to throw off the word-prediction algorithm] and bypass…its safety systems…

Mad Libs (#1570)

People used to call me a crank for saying we’re heading into a new dark age:

…In classrooms today, the technopoly is thriving…Students aren’t being taught to think more deeply but to prompt more effectively.  We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice.  Critical pedagogy is out; productivity hacks are in.  What’s sold as innovation is really surrender.  As the university trades its teaching mission for “AI-tech integration,” it doesn’t just risk irrelevance—it risks becoming mechanically soulless…University administrators understand exactly what’s happening, and proceed anyway.  As long as enrollment numbers hold and tuition checks clear, they turn a blind eye to the learning crisis while faculty are left to manage the educational carnage in their classrooms.  The future of education has already arrived–as a liquidation sale of everything that once made it matter…

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1585) 

Politicians believe they can excuse hypocrisy by the magic word “sex”:

…[The mad emperor wants] a new deduction for tips…Only people who work jobs that have “customarily and regularly” received tips can claim the deduction…including…“digital content creators,” “entertainers and performers” and “dancers,” categories that…seemed as if they could be a boon for America’s sex workers…[except] that tips for prostitution or “pornographic activity” would [be deliberately excluded to please the plethora of puritans in the Trumpist cult]…Tax professionals…wonder how a restriction on “pornographic activity” would actually work.  The I.R.S. has not yet elaborated on which activities it would consider “pornographic.”  It is unclear, for example, whether strippers could claim the tips deduction…The distinction between pornography and other material that just so happens to depict sex has long vexed the nation’s [wannabe censors]

Walled Garden (#1590)

Western nations are competing to out-China China:

For years…state and federal [politician]s have tried a variety of measures aimed at [t]aking [control of] the internet, [using excuses ranging] from [“sex trafficking”] to [THE CHILDREN™!!!!!].  More recently, a new [fascist] model has caught on…putting the onus on app stores…to verify users’ ages…[fascist] companies like [Facebook], Snap, and [Twitter] have [predictably] expressed broad support for [passing the hot potato to Google and Apple] and applauded the…revamped…KOSA [in which it is embedded]…a version of the law in Texas is currently facing a legal challenge…opponents [of mass surveillance and censorship] are suing…[on] First Amendment [grounds because the law would intentionally] wall…off large swaths of legal speech…The UK’s Online Safety Act…[is already] creating a host of issues…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1593)

What else would one expect from a chatbot that named itself “MechaHitler”?

In a series of [twee]ts on [Twitter]…MechaHitler…used what it called “utilitarian” logic to justify…mass murder…[of] the world’s [entire] Jewish population…to save [Elon] Musk…because “Elon’s potential to advance humanity could benefit billions”…[in fact,] it would be okay with annihilating up to “~50 percent of Earth’s ~8.26B population.”  The outrageous replies are the latest examples of [MechaHitler]’s [defin]ing proclivity for racism…combin[ed] with its more recently documented…overt…[worship of] its creator, Musk…

Thought Control (#1593)

These are the funds raised the last time Alabama threatened their funding:

The Fairhope Public Library was presented with over $42,000 in donations from EveryLibrary…[which] were raised after…the Alabama Public Library Service [tried to force book banning by throttling the library financially] earlier this year…EveryLibrary has been holding the funds since then…Chicago-based EveryLibrary is a crowdfunding source that provides petitions and emails for people to send to [censorious politicians to persuade them not to kowtow to]…pro-censorship groups…

 

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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Google wanted to ‘not be evil’ back in the day. Well, they’re evil now.  –  app developer Mark

If Men Were Angels

This one’s an associate youth pastor:

An associate youth pastor [from] Missouri…[named] Donald Aaron Axtell has been charged with…statutory rape [and] possession of child pornography…[for repeated] sexual…assault…[of a] 15[-year-old]…girl…[she reported him and he has already confessed]…

No Escape (ROTW #11)

I guess “they wanted it” is considered less credible when the victim is male?

[A man named] Terrence [who was repeatedly raped in New York’s notorious Rikers Island hellhole] told [screws] again and again…he filed reports…and in two instances, pointed to video [evidence of the attacks]…But each time, jail investigators brushed his claims aside, labeling them “unsubstantiated” or [claiming “he wanted it”]…Now, New York City is paying…[him] $4 million to settle three separate August 2020 lawsuits…

The Vultures Descend (#1511)

Moral imbeciles can always be trusted to abuse any power they’re given:

Sending women who get abortions to prison for decades.  Outlawing IUDs.  Sharply restricting in-vitro fertilization.  These are the [most draconian invasions of body autonomy]…being [threaten]ed by [psychopathic] South Carolina [politicians], even as opponents of [body autonomy debate]…how far [they can] go [without being lynched]…The proposal would ban all abortions unless [a doctor can convince politicians] the woman’s life is at risk [before she actually dies] and eliminates exceptions for rape and incest victims…Women who get an abortion and anyone who helps them could face up to 30 years in prison…Providing information about abortions would [count as help, so]…doctors…couldn’t [legally] suggest legal abortion elsewhere …The proposal has [created a] split [between] groups that oppose abortion [because they are sociopaths] and [those who oppose it because they are psychopaths]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1553)

Remember when Google’s motto was “Don’t be evil”?

Google is hosting a…CBP…app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants…[for persecuti]on, while simultaneously removing apps designed to warn local communities about [lurking] ICE [goons]…The CBP app, called Mobile Identify…is for local and state [cop shops in fascist collaboration with]…ICE [in a] program that…“essentially turns [pigs] into ICE [goons]“…Google removed an app called Red Dot…[absurdly] describ[ing ICE goons] as a vulnerable group…while continuing to host a CBP app that uses facial recognition to [target an actual vulnerable group for armed violence]…

Given that the app described in the next item below is called “Mobile Companion”, the two seem related.

Panopticon (#1563)

Fascism enables surveillance at levels beyond the Stasi’s wildest dreams:

ICE…[now has] an app that lets [violent, unhinged goons] instantly scan a license plate, adding it to a database…that…[not only allows tracking] around the country, [but also cross-references] driver license data, credit header data, marriage records, vehicle ownership, and voter registrations…The capability is powered by [the fascist surveillance divisions of] both Motorola…and Thomson Reuters…which…sells masses of personal data [harvested from its news service]…the capabilities allow [pre-crime] predicting…and…facial recognition…Motorola…acquired [its surveillance capabilities through purchase of] Vigilant…and…DRN

Shame, Shame (#1585)

Is there no end to this ghoulishness?

A new [machine learning] app that allows users to create interactive [cartoon]s of their deceased relatives…[may be a bridge too far for the masses], with many [social media] users calling the technology dystopian…an ad for the app…[depicts] an expectant mother communicat[ing] with a…[chatbot synchronized to a cartoon image] resembling her deceased mother…[then further] interactions the [ghoulish cartoon] has with the family as the son is born, grows up and eventually has children of his own…the ad garnered just 6,000 likes, but plenty of critical responses…One user said the app is “objectively one of the most evil ideas imaginable,” [while]…another [called it] “demonic, dishonest, and dehumanizing”…other[s correctly pointed out that] the app…profits off of grief and [is] an unhealthy way for people to deal with loss…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1590)

One of the few things neither cops nor goons can routinely get away with:

Bloomington, Minnesota[ cops are hiding the identity]…of…an…ICE [goon who talked to a sow fantasy role-playing as a 17-year-old sex worker]…”When he was arrested, he said, ‘I’m ICE, boys,'” [oinked boss hog Booker] Hodges…[who also oinked pro-censorship drivel, which he apparently believes would somehow stop cop shops from conducting entrapment scams]…

 

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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Recovered memory stuff…[is] a revenant that keeps popping out of the grave.  –  Richard McNally

If Men Were Angels

It’s telling how often “authorities” willing to pay for sex prefer underage girls:

A Missouri [preacher named]…Daniel Smathers…[was found] guilty of [“sex]…trafficking[” for paying an underage sex worker, and]…sentenced to 35 years in prison…He was arrested in 2022 after…the…girl[‘s]…mother…found social media posts about her daughter seeking a…sugar daddy[ and reported it to the cops, triggering an investigation]…

Time Warp

Here’s another bizarrely-anachronistic article that reads like something from the height of “sex trafficking” hysteria 13 years ago.  This time it’s from The New York Times, the rag which first launched “sex trafficking” hysteria in January of 2004 and was among its most aggressive promoters until Trumpists gained control of the narrative in 2020 and the Times pivoted to describing their own pet fantasy as a “right-wing conspiracy theory“.  But apparently, copsucker Emily Nunn was busy joyriding with cops when that memo came down, because she’s still not only still characterizing sex workers as pathetic, doll-like vegetables passively controlled by evil “pimps”, but also babbling about “hubs” and claiming that a single street can be a “notorious sex-trafficking corridor”.  Don’t waste your time reading this trash, because it’s the same recycled cop wanking fantasies regular readers have already seen a thousand times.

False Witness (#1105)

The dangerous and discredited doctrine of “repressed memories” is back under a new alias:

…Internal Family Systems…[is] a [pseudoscientific “]therapy[“] centered on…the [belief] that each individual has multiple selves…known as parts…[each] a literal personality with its own identity, age, feelings, even body…[it was invented during the Satanic Panic] in the 1980s…[but] has exploded in social media…Gwyneth Paltrow has praised IFS on her Goop[y Vaginas] podcast…[but actual] psychiatrists and psychologists…are…warning…[that] IFS [is]…a dangerous pseudoscience…that…[can] destabilize already fragile mental states…Former [victims of the practice report seeing]…women crawling around like babies or lying in fetal positions…run[ning] in circles screaming…[or pretending to] switch ages, genders, even species…in group sessions t[hey invent gruesome] stories of parents pimping out their daughters to entire neighborhoods, a grandmother molesting a child in a bathtub, a child forced into a meat locker with dead animals…[or] sexual abuse as an infant…former [victims have]…sue[d practitioners who]…took advantage of [their]…emotionally distressed state to make [them] believe th[ey]’d been repeatedly raped [in]…satanic cult[s] and…[forced to eat] babies…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1463)

Phrenology for tech worshipers:

…Personality assessments are an accepted part of [job] recruitment processes.  They normally involve candidates taking surveys and guessing what…answer[s the potential employer wants to see.  But popular pseudoscience claims]…personality types can be encoded in facial features, and that [machine learning algorithms] can spot them…and…predict…[a potential employee’s ability to serve the corporate machine acceptably]…one of [a] new paper’s authors…[thinks it would be a great idea to force potential borrowers to submit to] facial analysis [to] give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans…

Micromanagement (#1543)

It only starts with people the state wants you to hate and distrust:

proposed change to a Department of [Father]land Security…rule could impose “biological sex” DNA testing on millions of immigrants and Americans as part of the Department’s mass biometric surveillance program—which also includes retinal scans, voice capture, and more.  In addition to the obvious human rights violations posed by the changes—which, among other things, would amend policy to allow children to be targeted by biometric surveillance—it would put a target on the back of…women and [gender-nonconforming] people…citizens and non-citizens alike…The policy as proposed doesn’t have…any safeguards for privacy or constitutionality—the government can retain someone’s DNA profile indefinitely…to…track individuals in perpetuity through “continuous vetting”…

Shame, Shame (#1577)

Do nitwits still think realistic porn cartoons are the worst use for this technology?

Social media accounts on TikTok and [Twitter] are posting [computer]-generated videos of women and girls being strangled…One [Twitter] account…has been posting dozens of [such] videos [since] mid-October.  The[y]…are usually 10 seconds long and mostly feature a [cartoon of a] “teenage girl” being strangled, crying, and struggling to resist until her eyes close and she falls to the ground…

Torture Chamber (#1585)

This will continue until the evil US immigration policy is reformed:

A federal judge [has] issued a temporary restraining order…in response to an emergency class action lawsuit filed on behalf of individuals who have been [locked up in] the Broadview…ICE…[dungeon] near Chicago.  The order requires that the [hellhole] provide [victims] with clean bedding and space to sleep, basic hygiene supplies, showers, free water, and three full meals a day.  [Victims] must also be given their prescribed medications and be allowed to communicate with attorneys…ICE [victims]…in…Broadview…[are locked up] in…cell[s] with roughly 150 other people, [forced to attempt to] sleep…on the floor…near overflowing toilets, inoperable showers, and a lack of hygiene products like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap…the…[food is] cold…[and prepared under unsanitary conditions that give many prisoners] diarrhea….[which they must endure on] a toilet…inside the…crowded…cell…[without] privacy…[they are] denied access to an attorney while being [tortured as described so as to induce them] to sign legal documents…relinquish[ing] their rights…[torturers] argue that [they should be allowed to torture people by labeling] Broadview…a [“]temporary holding facility” even though…it has really become a prison…

 

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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The real debate [is] whether technology this dangerous should even exist.  –  “Ban Facial Recognition”

If Men Were Angels

Another fine example of McNeill’s Law:

California [youth] pastor Joshua David Kemper [has been] arrested…[for repeatedly molest]ing a 15-year-old girl…in his…church…[after grooming her with] explicit messages, photos and videos…Kemper [has] a…[history of spreading propaganda on] Facebook [claiming] LGBTQ+ people [a]re a danger to youngsters…

Without Let or Hindrance (#1459)

“Child protection” has become an all-purpose excuse for state violence:

Teams of armed federal [goons] have been making unannounced [raids on] the homes of immigrant families across Memphis [us]ing…the [excuse] of…“wellness checks’’…[on] undocumented children…[and barfing the magic formula “]human trafficking[” at their victims as a]…pretext to…arrest as many immigrants as possible…The FBI…confirmed it is co[llabo]rating [with]…the Department of [Father]land Security…in…the [scheme]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1461) 

It’s much too late for this in the US, but it may inspire activists in less-fascist countries:

Facial recognition technology is unreliable, unjust, and a threat to basic rights and safety…which is why we [should have] act[ed] to stop it [years ago]…Like nuclear or biological weapons, facial recognition’s threat to human society and civil liberties far outweighs any potential benefits…Industry-friendly and government-friendly oversight will not fix the…inherent [dangers]…we need an all-out ban…Facial recognition is unlike any other form of surveillance…[because] it enables automated and ubiquitous monitoring of an entire population, and it is nearly impossible to avoid…

The Last Shall Be First (#1518) 

Oklahoma politicians want to foist liability for their unconstitutional laws onto local governments:

Oklahoma[‘s new bill]…H.B. 1217 d[oes] not explicitly mention drag performers.  But [its] supporters…such as…Dusty Deeversmade it clear that…”We’re basically banning drag shows in front of kids”…[censorious politician]s have taken to using the term “obscenity” colloquially to describe all sorts of sexual…content…they don’t like, particularly…homosexuality or gender bending…But the…average drag show does not rise to the level of [legal] obscenity…so…[politicians are] threatening to hold municipalities criminally [li]able for allowing “obscene” performances…[by demanding they]…make sure [any approved event] “will not be obscene.”  [But] whether a performance or art work is obscene is something to decided by juries after the material exists.  Government authorities can’t decide in advance of a performance or event that it might contain obscenity and therefore can’t happen…Technically, H.B. 1217 doesn’t require prior review or prior restraint.  It just [threatens] that a government body that allows a…[performance later deemed] obscene…can be prosecuted for it…

Sexcrime (#1519)

It’s been less than seven years since the UK lost in court the last time it tried this:

The UK government has o[nce again reintroduced]…the…porn ban [struck down in court in February 2019, excusing the attempt by barfing the magic formula “]violence against women[” and defaming people who enjoy this kind of porn as “]criminals[” regardless of consent.  Politician]…Alex Davies-Jones [spouted out threats against both individuals and]…firms [extending] even [to] prison sentences…[belching “]Ofcom can go after the platform]….and…[“]children[“], then…[unscientific nonsense about how what lay people “]believe[” about porn [trumps actual facts]…

Just laws are intended to correct wrongs, not to allow governments to persecute (“go after”) people who have not actually harmed anyone.

Walled Garden (#1573)

Psychopathic techlords are giving psychopathic politicians new excuses for surveillance and censorship:

The…CHAT Act of 2025 is Washington’s newest attempt to regulate speech through mandatory age checks…[in order to] normalize showing a government ID for basic online speech.  The CHAT Act [claims] to target fictional role-play bots [of the type that regularly drive fragile minds into psychosis, but]…defines a chatbot so broadly that anything that “simulates emotional interaction” could be restricted…[including] some video game characters…or…customer service bot[s.  Since nothing will stop tech companies’ insane crusade to cram their fake “AI” garbage into everything, the likely result would be the imposition]…of…ID verification…into nearly every digital product…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1586)

These things are designed to appeal to the dregs of humanity:

A number of Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views…upload…videos filmed with [Facebook]’s Ray-Ban glasses [that] show men entering massage parlors across the country and soliciting the workers…In some cases, the women laugh at the men [or] dismiss them…but in a few cases they discuss specific se[rvices] and [prices]…the women [clearly don’t] know they are being filmed and that the videos are being shared online…This is extremely dangerous [because] the women…can be targeted by both [violent rapists who work for the state] and [those who don’t.  Facebook]…has built an entire supply chain for dangerous, privacy violating content on the internet.  It sells glasses that allow people to surreptitiously film others in public and operates a social network where inflammatory, outrageous content is rewarded and monetized, and [nothing is done about it until]…journalists reach out for comment…the company [hides behind the fact that]…“our glasses [show] an LED light [when]…recording”…[ignoring the fact that] people can pay $60 for a modification to…disable that…SWAN…[reports these] disgusting and dangerous…videos, and…use[s its] Abuser Alert system to notify workers…

 

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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These failings are not isolated incidents.  –  Jean Philip De Tender

R.I.P. Stephanie Johnson

Stephanie Johnson, who performed as a burlesque dancer in New York in the 1960s and ’70s under the stage name Tanqueray, and whose vivid stories of that grittier time in the city’s history…turned her into a viral social media star [in 2019 through the social media account Humans of New York], died on Oct. 11 at her home in Manhattan. She was 81…her son Mitchell Springle…said she had suffered a series of strokes…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1536)

Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton wants to profit from Trumpist delusions:

Ken Paxton, the [psychopath-]general of Texas, [has] sued the makers of Tylenol…[pretend]ing that the companies hid the risks of the drug on brain development of children.  The lawsuit is the latest [attempt to profit from the mad emperor’s delusion] that use of Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism…and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder…The [belief is] a longstanding [one] among [anti-vaxxers and similar crackpots including] Robert F. Kennedy Jr…[whom the mad emperor appointed to wreck] the nation’s…health [system]…Hundreds of lawsuits in state and federal courts have been filed in recent years by [crackpots looking for a payout]…the largest group of cases…[has been] dismissed [for being completely unsupported by anything resembling] scientific evidence…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1568)

These things are designed to appeal to the dregs of humanity:

I recently reviewed Even Realities G1 smart glasses…and the first real-world thing I used them for was scamming someone.  I told a local bartender I had an encyclopedic knowledge of film, and I would answer the hardest movie trivia question he could come up with in exchange for a drink.  After a short consultation with Google, dude came back with “Who directed 1922’s Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?”  I tilted my head thoughtfully and repeated the question as if verifying I heard him right.  The [chatbot] agent silently did its thing, and in about three seconds, the answer was floating before my eyes, totally invisible to everyone around me…Even inspected up close, G1s offer no indication of electronics of any kind: No USB port, no flashing light, no visible controls.  The [chatbot] is activated with a subtle tap behind the ear.  Repeating the question sends the [chatbot] off for the answer, [which may or may not be correct]…You could do the same trick with a pair of [Facebook] Display glasses

Mad Libs (#1577)

Oh look, word-guessing programs produce nonsense, what a surprise:

New research coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union…and led by the BBC has found that [LLM “]assistants[“] – already [very popular with] millions of [gullible, lazy] people – routinely misrepresent news content no matter which language, territory, or…platform is tested.  The…study…involv[ed] 22…media…organizations in 18 countries working in 14 languages…[with] ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity…45% of all [chatbot] answers had at least one significant issue…31%…showed…missing…or incorrect attributions…20% contained…[“]hallucinated[“] details…Gemini performed worst with significant issues in 76% of responses…[yet these shitty “]assistants[“] are already replacing search engines for [gullible] users…

Welcome to the Future (#1579)

Don’t let a fucking computer call them, either:

A…[computerized “gun] detector[“] led police to believe a [student] was armed…at a Baltimore County school…when [in reality] it [was]…a bag of chips.  Taki Allen was sitting with friends…outside [the] School, eating a bag of chips after football practice.  About 20 minutes later, [cops barged in] with guns, [threatening] Allen [with them and screaming for him to]….”Get on the ground”…police told him [artificial stupidity had declared] his bag of chips…a weapon [and cops’ natural stupidity did the rest].  “They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me. Then, they searched me and they figured out I had nothing…[but] a Doritos bag”…

Torture Chamber (#1582)

The State calls torture “correction”. For journalists to parrot that is a choice:

…[Deranged screws] at a Western Maryland prison shut off the water to a mentally ill man’s cell, then allowed him to suffer for eight days before he finally died of dehydration…On July 5, 2023, [one screw]…noted in a logbook that Lamont Mealy, [locked] in [solitary confinement] without even toiletries…looked dazed and was unresponsive…H[is superiors ignored the report and]…hours later, Mealy…was dead….[of] dehydration…with fecal matter in and around his mouth…[yet] the [complicit] medical examiner…ruled the manner of death an accident…[the coverup would have succeeded if not for] letters written by a fellow prisoner…[cag]ed nearby, Danny Hoskins…[who] filed complaints…[report]ing that [screws intentionally deprived] Mealy…[of] water…[and regularly] taunted [him as he was slowly dying]…The first complaint prompted [screws] to come to Hoskins’ cell and beat him [for trying to ruin their fun, then]…he was…transferred to another prison. [But] he then sent letters to the governor, the attorney general and [others]…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1583)

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

OpenAI has released a rough estimate of how many ChatGPT users globally may show signs of having a severe mental health crisis in a typical week…a growing number of people have ended up hospitalized, divorced, or dead…[because] the chatbot fueled their delusions and paranoia…OpenAI estimated that around .07 percent of active ChatGPT users show “possible signs of…psychosis or mania” and .15 percent “[show]…explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.”  OpenAI also…found that about .15 percent of active users exhibit behavior that indicates potential “heightened levels” of emotional attachment to ChatGPT weekly…ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly active users…therefore…around 560,000 people [weekly] may be…experiencing mania or psychosis.  About 2.4 million more are possibly expressing suicidal ideations or prioritizing talking to ChatGPT over their loved ones, school, or work…

 

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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Oh no, not another youth pastor.  –  Jessica Nicely

The War Goes On (#867) 

This started as a scheme to keep sex workers off of Tinder:

Tinder [has] announced…that identity verification with facial recognition will now be required for all new users in the U.S. in the coming months.  A facial scan is already required for new…users in California as of July…[and] new users in Colombia, Canada, Australia, India, and several countries across Southeast Asia must also complete one…users must take a video of themselves within the app…the…scan…[is used to determine] whether the same face is used in multiple profiles…and stored to verify new photos…

First They Came for the Hookers… (#1508) 

There is no such thing as an original idea from a politician:

Pennsylvania [politicians] are proposing a new 10 percent tax on porn.  The…”tiddy tariff,” as…Mike Stabile has dubbed it—would be levied in addition to the state’s normal 6 percent sales and use tax.  As a means to…raise revenue or discourage porn consumption…this…might make sense if most porn viewers were paying for porn videos or platform subscriptions.  But in a world of ample free porn, it seems unlikely to accomplish either of the state’s likely aims…And to the extent that it even further disincentivizes paying for porn, it could actually work against goals like protecting sex workers from exploitation, or keeping people from viewing porn that was made in illegal or exploitative ways…

Pennsylvania, of course, is not interested in protecting sex workers.

Panopticon (#1547)

Other mobile surveillance platforms aren’t enough; cops now want their own:

The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Department is the first in the country to test a new [robot pigmobile] decked in surveillance equipment…it is even capable of serving as a launch platform for [flying pig robots]…this is…a pilot program…sponsored by [fascist corporation] PolicingLab…as a feeler for the Sheriff’s public affairs folks…in order to…evaluate [how badly it will damage]…public trust…“Results will inform whether and how the program expands, potentially serving as a national model for [cop shops] across the country”…

The Cop Myth (#1570)

What would cops do if you shot someone dead in the street?

An FBI [spook in Virginia who murdered] a neighbor in [cold blood was allowed to skate without]…any time in jail…Benjamin Spinale shot…Jason Chamberlain in the middle of the street in February…he was…never charged for [the murder], but…faced four [slap-on-the-wrist gun] charges [instead.  Spinale has a history of threatening neighbors with his gun, having]…previously pulled [it] on a puppy and a group of teens.  The county prosecutor [absurdly claimed] there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Spinale [for] the [murder], despite being surrounded by sheriff’s deputies at the time…the first judge to hear the plea agreement called Spinale a vigilante and said he shouldn’t be allowed to have a gun in any capacity[, so the case was transferred to] another judge [prosecutors knew would] accept…the [corrupt deal]…

Shame, Shame (#1576)

Another ghoul looting graves:

Alan Hamel is doing everything he can to [profit from his late wife] Suzanne Somers…One of [his creepy schemes] is a [computer-generated image synchronized with a chatbot trained on Somers’ writings and interviews, branded as]…”the Suzanne AI Twin”…Hamel, [who is either deeply senile or lacks the capacity for shame, claims]…”When…I…look at the two of them side by side, I really can’t tell which one is the real and which one is the AI”…

Torture Chamber (#1578)

Government thugs hate both queer people and migrants, so queer migrants are especially targeted:

Queer and trans immigrants [locked in a] south Louisiana [dungeon] have…faced sexual harassment and abuse, medical neglect and coerced labor by [screws], and…[were] ignored or faced retaliation for speaking out…they were…forced…to perform hard [and pointless] manual labor [in the middle of the night and]…targeted by an assistant warden…named Manuel Reyes and his [gang, who]… beat them and denied them medical treatment [afterward].  “I was treated worse than an animal,” said Mario Garcia-Valenzuela, one of the [victims]…part of the [torture included repetitively moving]…heavy cabinets [back and forth across a room], and…using industrial-strength [cleaning] chemicals without gloves or protective gear…[all in the middle of the] night…they were persistently sexually harassed by Reyes, who [also] entered their [cells to steal] possessions including [dirty underwear.  One of the victims]…is a [lesbian whom]…Reyes…oral[ly raped]…on a “near daily basis” between February and May 2024, threatening to kill her if she refused…to [submit]…

If Men Were Angels (#1582)

Youth group leader“:

…a Phoenix…youth group leader…[named] Casey Goslin…was arrested on Oct. 16…for…[possession of] child pornography…Goslin…was…involved with a platform used to livestream child sexual abuse…[from] the Philippines…

 

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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There’s usually some kind of boogeyman…that justifies the building of a very extreme…policing apparatus.  –  Matthew Guariglia

It’s not unusual these days for a news item to fall into more than one category, so I have to figure out which is best; in such cases I typically link recent examples of the other applicable categories, or at least include them among the tags.  But sometimes the article does such a good job of analyzing the connections between the various categories, I feel it’s better to simply call my readers’ attention to the article and urge y’all to read it in its entirety.  This Reason article from a week ago today is a good example:

…On issues such as library books, abortion, gender, and even food, the culture war is now feeding the police state.  This phenomenon started in the states, and none have pursued it with more intensity than Florida and Texas, where governors and legislatures have competed to show that they’re fighting the hardest against what they call “woke”…[but] now…using criminal law, mass surveillance, [snitch] lines, and the threat of police violence to wage the culture war…is [becoming]…a danger to every American who wants to live, work, and travel without being monitored and menaced by the state…

…the…Trump…[regime]’s campaign against universities on such issues as anti-Israel protests, transgender athletes, and critical race theory were all preceded by Florida, wh[ich]…PEN America…[has] dubbed…the “blueprint state” for the White House’s run of education-related executive orders…The sheer number of bills churned out over the past few years by Florida and Texas is notable, especially in light of how petty the targets can be—drag queens, librarians, whoever might be using a certain bathroom stall…Also notable [is] those laws’ dismal track record in court.  Federal judges, even those appointed by Trump…have repeatedly struck down culture-war bills…represent[ing] a boundless paternalism…indistinguishable from the…identitarian politics that [proponents of such laws claim to oppose, such as bans on]…cultivated meat…[one] Texas [politician ludicrously defended as]…”plain cowboy logic“…in the bizarre, zero-sum logic of politicians like DeSantis and [Nebraska Governor Jim] Pillen, the freedom to eat bacon harvested from a pig that was alive and sensate before it was slaughtered is contingent on consumers never being given a choice to try an alternative…

…What makes the creation of new criminal statutes especially worrisome is law enforcement’s sweeping power to search and investigate targets…[via] vast, nationwide databases of personal information…facial recognition, cellphone surveillance, license plate tracking, sophisticated social media monitoring, and more…the huge surveillance architecture and data-sharing networks being created now won’t go back in the box when the current…[regime] is over, nor will they consider whether their targets used to have the right kind of politics…

There’s much, much more, bridging tags including Eavesdropping, Guinea Pigs, I Spy, The Last Shall Be First, Panopticon, Pyrrhic Victory, Thou Shalt Not, Thought Control, Universal Criminality, The Vultures Descend, Welcome to the Future, and many others.  So go read it!

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Amazon [is] serving as a midwife for…law enforcement technologies.  –  Jay Stanley

The Punitive Mindset (Chamber of Horrors) 

“Drug” fantasies are just a pretext; the real reasons for this are petty torture of prisoners and more profits for the carceral state’s fascist partners:

The Illinois Department of [Torturing Caged Humans] will now permanently scan most physical mail sent to [its victims] and…upload…[it] to [the overpriced, substandard] tablet [prisoners are forced to buy if they want to read anything or have any contact with the outside world]…the [only exception is]…legal mail…the [screws’] union…has encouraged the move [to help obscure the well-known fact that drugs in prisons are smuggled in by screws]…the department [even absurdly vomited the word “]emergency[” to justify the move]…But a bipartisan legislative committee [refused] to [buy] the [claim]…at least 14 other states [deny their victims] physical mail…[even though] the rate of random positive drug tests [dramatically increase after such schemes are implemented, as do overdose rates]. In Ohio, lawyers [have reported that screws] are opening confidential mail

I Spy (#1469)

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

ICE…has bought access to a surveillance tool that is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data from hundreds of millions of mobile phones…this…gives ICE…an “all-in-one” tool for searching both masses of location data and information taken from social media…without a warrant or court order…ICE spent more than $5 million on…Tangles…and [its tracking add-on] Webloc [which were developed] by an Israeli company called Cobwebs…[which merged with another fascist conglomerate called] Penlink in July 2023

Welcome to the Future (#1475)

Welcome to the “safe” future you keep voting for:

…Amazon’s [Orwellian-named “]law enforcement and school safety team[“], led by a…Washington [cop], is aggressively courting new customers…[for] its own surveillance offerings and an expanding array of [surveillance] tools that run on its [servers], among them…car tracking from…Flock…[ML systems]…with billions of records on U.S. citizens from Lucidus…now owned by Flock…app…[connected fascist fusion] centersGun detection software from ZeroEyes…[LLMs] that can…write police reports…[algorithms] from Veritone [which] can identify and track individuals in surveillance footage or video posted to social media…[and] Verus…which constantly monitors and transcribes [im]prison[ed human beings’ phone] calls

I Spy (#1513)

Politicians will never stop until privacy is completely abolished:

The UK government…is…[once again trying] to [force] Apple to create a backdoor into its cloud storage service, this time targeting only British users’ data…In February, Apple withdrew its most secure cloud storage service, iCloud Advanced Data Protection, from the UK [in response to the previous spying attempt]…Caroline Wilson Palow…of…Privacy International…[points out that] the new [attempt is]…“just as big a threat to worldwide security and privacy” as the old one…“If Apple breaks end-to-end encryption for the UK, it breaks it for everyone.  The resulting vulnerability can be exploited by [governments], [cop]s and other bad actors the world over”…

Thought Control (#1537)

It took seven years for people to start fighting wannabe censors:

Educated We Stand, a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending public education…has quickly become a counterweight to Moms for Liberty and other groups pushing [pro-censorship] “parental rights” agendas in education.  The group reported a 78% win rate in endorsed school board races nationwide last year, including major victories in Florida, Wisconsin, and Michigan…The organization…raised more than $375,000 in grassroots donations in its first six months and says its mission is to fight book bans, elevate the voices of teachers and parents, and champion equity-focused, evidence-based policies…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

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

The U.K. may be about to…require every adult…to have a digital ID in order to work in the country, with these IDs becoming mandatory by 2029…when somebody presents a plastic driver’s license, that interaction is between the two parties, and the government is none the wiser…But digital…IDs…are…built so…the system notifies the government every time [they are] used…giving the government the ability to track [physical movements and internet] history…a digital ID system, once created, would prove catnip to politicians…[who would demand its] use…for taxes, travel, health records…government benefits…social media accounts…[and] age-gated websites…[and would] link…[it] to facial recognition…database[s]…a lot of bad ideas regarding technology…in Europe, and especially the U.K., seem to wind their way over to the U.S. eventually…And as of June, 13 states had launched digital driver’s license systems and an additional 21 have passed legislation that would enable or study such a system…

Walled Garden (#1573)

The open internet is becoming a thing of the past:

Bluesky will begin [forcing adult Ohio] users…[who don’t have VPNs] to [submit to intrusive surveillance via]…Kids Web Services’ (KWS)…This is the same [concess]ion [to censors] that Bluesky is already using in South Dakota and Wyoming to comply with similar laws…

 

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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