[I felt like I] had no choice but to be a victim in the FBI’s eyes.
– Alisha Price
A Broker in Pillage
Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:
Hawaii allows prosecutors to [steal]…any property worth less than $100,000 and [any] cars, planes, and boats…96 percent of cases end without ever reaching a judge. Property owners can demand their day in civil court, but they must file a hefty bond and pay for their own defense…the median currency forfeiture…is around $1,200—far below the amount needed to pay…defense. Many property owners do the math and walk away. Others waive their right to a trial and allow the Department of the Attorney General to adjudicate their cases instead, putting property owners in front of state attorneys working on the same side as the police. Either way, the process is rigged. Hawaii allows [cops] to prevail with little more than guesswork. They do not have to specify when or where a crime occurred, who committed the crime, or how…Speculation and innuendo often suffice…
Worse Than I Thought (#911)
Bad ideas for bad laws just keep coming back no matter how many times they are defeated:
Wisconsin [politicians] reintroduced…a…law [to shake down citizens for an extra]…$5,000 surcharge on convictions for [being caught in a]…prostitut[ion sting] or keeping a[n incall]…Similar legislation has previously [failed]…during the 2019-’20 session…
Droit du Seigneur (#1113) 
What did this guy think he was, a cop?
A [Las Vegas] attorney…forced women he represented to perform sexual acts on himself and his friends…Gary Guymon…[has been] charge[d with] sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder…and…intimidating a witness…Guymon [was enabled by the state’s]…prostitution c[harges against two of his victims]…and threatened [them] with incarceration…and…physical…violen[ce to coerce obedience]…When [one victim] attempted to get a restraining order against him, Guymon repeatedly threatened her…and…the[n contacted a known]…murder[er] to discuss [hiring him to kill her]…
Monsters (#1255)
Though most of the items appearing under this heading describe violence against trans women, trans men are also targets of horrific violence:
Five people face murder charges after a transgender man…missing [for weeks] was found dead in a field in [New York]…after enduring months of torture…Sam Nordquist…of Oakdale, Minnesota, arrived in New York state in September and was…last in contact with loved ones in late January…Sam, a transgender ma[n]…met a woman named Precious [Arzuaga] online, who convinced him to visit her in New York. Sam left Minnesota on September 28, 2024, with a round-trip plane ticket, planning to return within two weeks. However, he never boarded his return flight and was un[der Arzuaga’s psychological]…control…Police launched a missing person investigation…after receiving a welfare check request from Nordquist’s family. They d[iscover]ed Nordquist had…”endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse” and “repeated acts of violence and torture” between early December and early February…[Arzuaga and other]s sexually assaulted Nordquist with a table leg and broomsticks, and beat him with sticks, dog toys, ropes and belts until he died. His body…was then [dumped in a field]…the…[other] four…[are] Kyle Sage…Patrick Goodwin…Emily Motyka…[and] Jennifer Quijano…
Imaginary Evils (#1347)
Liz Brown on another company the government is trying to destroy with “sex trafficking” myths despite a lack of “sex trafficking” charges:
…Nicole Daedone…founde[r of] OneTaste…and…Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste’s former head of sales…face a single count of conspiracy to commit forced labor…”between approximately 2004 and 2018.” Neither woman is charged with actually forcing labor or engaging in other criminal acts. Their lawyers believe this is the first time the feds have charged forced labor conspiracy without an underlying forced labor charge…prosecutors have…employed dubious theories of criminality, such as “coercive control,” and…have exploited rank sensationalism, as though hoping that throwing in lots of details about kinky sex and free love while suggesting cultish behavior will do where evidence of legal wrongdoing falls short. Underlying the case is one of the Justice Department’s catchall justifications: stopping sex trafficking and prostitution…the feds clearly intend to imply that this is really a sex trafficking case, even if the charges don’t go that far…
The Last Shall Be First (#1413)
The time, money, and energy Americans are flushing down the “culture war” toilet is incalculable:
…a[n Iowa] bill…would make it a felony to take a minor to a drag show…This applies whether the performer sings, lip-syncs, dances, reads or “performs for entertainment,” regardless of whether they receive payment…the legislation…[calls for] up to five years in prison and a fine [of up to]…$10,245. The bill would [also] levy fines of $10,000 per minor against any business that allows a minor to be present at or view a drag show hosted on its premises, and [encourages mob rule lawsuits allowing profiteers to demand]…between $10,000 and $50,000 [from each victim they sue]…
Thought Control (#1509)
Trumpist propaganda dismisses book bans as a “hoax”:
At an elementary school at Fort Campbell, [Kentucky,] home of the 101st Airborne Division, librarians [have been forced to hide]…books that contain references to slavery, the civil rights movement and anything else related to diversity, equity and inclusion…[due to an official] letter “to ensure compliance with executive orders”…Librarians are [order]ed to ensure any such books are “removed from the student section of the [library] and placed in the professional collection”…At Fort Campbell, administrators and librarians are interpreting the [vague order] to apply to…anything that could be perceived to promote one group over another or make one group look bad…[such as] books that mention slavery, the civil rights movement or the treatment of Native Americans…Ironically, some of those history books on civil rights might reference the deployment of the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect Black students during the desegregation of a high school, a pivotal moment in civil rights history…At another DoDEA school in Europe…libraries are removing books that discuss immigration in a positive light…
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Real babies and real animals are often unpredictable, and unlike the cute little cartoon critters of FarmVille cannot merely be stacked up in neat little rows without any concern for what they might want. – “FarmVille”
