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Posts Tagged ‘rescue industry’

Throwback Thursday Has Risen from the Grave

Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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”

Hammers, baseball bats, two by fours, crowbars, monkey wrenches, pipes, walking sticks and frozen legs of lamb might all be intended for different uses, but when applied with sufficient force to the human skull they will each accomplish more or less the same thing.  –  “Blunt Instrument”

The modern university campus is not only inhospitable, but actively hostile to free speech and rational thought.  –  “Teamwork“

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In the News (#1512)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[There are] too many examples of investigative tools that become runaway trains.  –  Rebecca Brown

Torture Chamber (#1305) 

It seems highly unlikely that anything will be done about this under the Trump regime:

Floors streaked with blood, rat-infested cells, flooded hallways and routine beatings by [psychopathic thugs]…are but some of the degrading conditions within Alabama state prisons revealed by leaked cellphone videos in a…new documentary that premiered at the Sundance film festival…The Alabama Solution, directed by Andrew Jarecki…and Charlotte Kaufman, reports on the inhumane living conditions, forced labor and rampant [screw] violence…as told by [prisoners]…under constant physical threat from prison management.  Despite [toothless] federal calls for prison reform, Alabama’s prisons currently operate at 200% capacity…[and] have the highest rates of murder, drug addiction and death in the country…prison[ers used smuggled]…cellphones…to document an outrageously brutal and…corrupt system…incarcerated activists Melvin…Ray and Robert Earl…Council [led a] network of sources record[ing]…beatings, unsanitary conditions…drug[s]…supplied by [screws]…and first-person testimony at great personal risk.  Council was nearly beaten to death by guards during the course of production and lost sight in one eye; another source recorded smears of blood trailing from Council’s cell after he was dragged away, unconscious and facedown…


Thought Control (#1325)

Surely you didn’t think they’d be satisfied with only threatening librarians and teachers:

A broad coalition of educational, civil rights, and literary advocacy organizations are banding together to…[oppose] proposed [book-banning] legislation…in Texas.  More than a dozen such bills have been filed this legislative session…[including] one [that] would criminalize almost anyone who allows a [legal minor] to have access to [any] material that [any politician has pointed at while barfing “]harmful to minors[“, such as people who]…put a little free library in [their] front yard…[another] would allow…the…handful of people who…travel…the state with lists of hundreds…of books [they want banned]…to [instead] ban them statewide…

Torture Chamber (#1374)

The 100% predictable result of a judge’s half-assed attempt to stop Louisiana from torturing young people:

Louisiana imprisons young people in an adult jail where they’re attacked by guards, deprived of an education, and kept away from their families…The new court filings are the latest development in a years-long lawsuit [against]…Louisiana…[for caging legal minors] at adult lockups [instead of]…juvenile facilities.  The state’s Office of Juvenile [In]justice…began incarcerating [them]…at Jackson Parish Jail in 2023 after a federal judge ordered them to move all [legal minors] out of…Angola…young [prisoners have since] told the court…that the guards “are very quick to use mace and put their hands on us”…[they’re cag]ed in…“modified shipping container[s]” in the middle of a field…they have been…shot with pepper balls, and had “taser gloves” used on them…there is no school…or…in-person visitation and…they can only call home if they have money in their accounts…the Sheriff’s Office…[lies that prison]ers get 87 minutes a month of free phone call and…and onsite visits are allowed…[but] David Utter…part of the legal team representing the youth, said parents have reported that the Sheriff’s Office told them they cannot visit their children…[and] the legal team had to put money in one client’s account just to be able to speak with him on the phone…

Served Cold (#1405)

Tim Ballard’s partners in profiteering are trying to salvage as much of the scam as possible:

A [disgraced “]sex trafficking[” hysteria profiteer] group is planning to relocate to Minnesota and hoping to set up shop in a new city-owned…facility in Minneapolis.  The prospect that the group, Our Rescue, might be selected to [indoctrinate] police [in “]sex trafficking[” propaganda] in the new South Minneapolis Community Safety Center has drawn criticism from [rival profiteer groups] who call Our Rescue’s approach outdated and poorly informed…Our Rescue was formerly known as Operation Underground Railroad.  It’s moving from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis [but can’t escape either its reputation or a pending] federal lawsuit…

Micromanagement (#1425)

Cops just love new ways to railroad people:

…Parabon NanoLabs was founded…[to profit from] DNA [analysis.  At first the company pursued the prosocial goal of]…developing cancer therapies…[but soon degenerated] into a prominent purveyor of…DNA phenotyping…to [cop shops]…Parabon [claims] its Snapshot FDP System “accurately” predicts not only eye, hair, and skin color, but also face shape.  For a fee, the company will provide [cops] with a rendering of its predictions in the form of a color composite sketch [they can and do run through facial recognition systems]…scientists and legal experts…warn that the company’s sketches are, at best, misleading…Even a scientist who helped develop the technology says it’s not ready for real-world use…In a criminal legal system rife with wrongful convictions and racial bias, there are countless ways…an unproven tool [can be abused]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1433)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

A New York [politician] is trying to introduce the same age verification legislation that has resulted in massive porn sites…going dark across much of the U.S…The bill, introduced by [sociopaths] Jake Ashby and…Mary Beth Walsh, is almost identical to every other [sex surveillance] law that has passed across the country in the last two years…and…defines “material harmful to minors” as a laundry list of sex acts and body parts…

Eavesdropping (#1501)

I have no words sufficient to describe how foolish this is:

Just months after we learned Chinese hackers had compromised US telecom systems through government-mandated backdoors, an inexperienced developer from Musk’s DOGE unit is pushing untested code directly into the Treasury’s payment infrastructure…It seems reasonable to call it one of the most dangerous cyberattacks on the US government.  The Treasury Department wants us to believe…Musk’s team’s access…[was] “read only”…But…[in] reality…a 25-year-old…named Marko Elez (who had refused to give any of his brand new colleagues his last name) had been granted…full administrator privileges to the system….and…is…pushing untested changes directly into production on a system that handles trillions in federal payments…the code changes have a very specific purpose: creating mechanisms to block payments while hiding the evidence…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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In the News (#1508)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

There is no huge difference…in the lives of [prisoners]…based on whether a Democrat or Republican is in office.  –  Julie Abbate

First They Came for the Hookers… (#573) 

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

A [Mississippi] bill meant to eradicate the state’s individual income tax does not apply to sex workers…”all…income derived from producing, distributing, directing, manufacturing, issuing, publishing or advertising any depiction of sexually explicit conduct shall be at the rate of five percent (5%),” House Bill No. 1 reads…[bill sponsor Trey] Lamar did not explain why he included [the provision, except to vomit]…”illegal and illicit activity”…[at] reporters…The Clarion Ledger [has] contacted a labor attorney to discuss whether a state singling out one form of legal employment for taxation is legal…

Paint By Numbers (#1006)

Silly “awareness raising” stunts by crowds of idiots are a relic of the last decade; now they’re merely marketing gimmicks:

A car show and cruise featuring 120 vehicles… [w]as part of an annual fundraiser put on by In-N-Out Burger’s [Christian fundamentalist] owner[s]…The event, called Cruisin’ 2 Freedom, benefits Slave 2 Nothing, a [profiteer group] that [uses “]human trafficking[” as a hook to separate fools from their money]…Benjamin Nolot…of Exodus Cry [shared his sexual fantasies about underage girls]…

The Course of a Disease (#1209)

Ruhama, the current DBA of the gang of prohibitionist nuns who enslaved Irish women in the “Magdalene laundries” for centuries, not only pushed the horrific “Swedish model” despite knowing that it would increase violence against sex workers, but actually celebrated the increase in violence when it happened exactly as predicted.  Now they’re predictably trying to widen their repression by demanding both internet censorship and increased surveillance of Irish citizens, not to mention more police violence against vulnerable women, by vomiting out the same propaganda they’ve used for the past two decades but pretending it’s new and based in “research”.  I’m not even going to bother quoting this same nonsense, barfed up by long-time Ruhama fantasist Ruth Breslin, but the link is there if you feel inclined to wade in sewage.

No Escape (#1372)

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

On the first day of his second presidential term, Donald Trump severely restricted transgender prisoners’ access to safe housing and proper medical care…one order bars the federal government from funding gender-affirming care, mandates that trans women be housed in men’s prisons, and instructs the federal government to remove protections for transgender people from Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) guidelines…

Censorship Ascendant (#1494)

The First Amendment is now being eroded just like many of the others:

Bias reporting systems have been popping up in one form or another across more than a dozen state and city municipalities in the last four years, usually consisting of an online portal or telephone number where citizens are encouraged to submit reports…of speech and behavior that are not only not crimes, but also First Amendment-protected expression…In Oregon, citizens can report “offensive ‘jokes’” and “imitating someone’s cultural norm or practice”…In Philadelphia…authorities fielding “hate incidents” can now ask for exact [names and] addresses…about the alleged offending party…city officials will in some cases “contact those accused of bias and request that they attend sensitivity training”…to teach you the error of your ways…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1503)

“Age verification” laws are bad for speech, but good for VPN business:

In recent years, the implementation of age verification laws for adult content websites has sparked a significant surge in VPN demand across…the United States…The data paints a clear picture of the soaring demand for VPN services in states such as Florida (1,150%), Oklahoma (1,060%), Utah (967%), and Alabama (542%), among others…The use of VPNs has become a popular workaround for individuals seeking unrestricted access to online content. Thus, despite the geo-blocking measures, Pornhub’s traffic reached an all-time high, surpassing 1.8 billion visits by late 2024…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #17)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

 A Corpus Christi [Texas cop has been] arrested [for repeated statutory rape of] a 15-year-old…Daniel Verduzco’s [creepy behavior was not discovered until the girl’s]…family…moved to Tulsa in early 2024…[after a suicide attempt,] the girls’ [mother]…went through her [phone]…and found pictures of…a c[learly]…adult [cop and interrogated]…her daughter…[about him].  Tulsa police…contacted Homeland Security…in Corpus Christi…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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In the News (#1495)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[Rescue industry] organizations…perpetuate stereotypes, myths, and lies that end up hurting victims more than helping them.  – Natasha Helfer

The Last Shall Be First (#1078)

Politicians’ obsession with citizens’ genitalia has gone federal:

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall…has introduced a bill to…codify legal definitions of male [and] female…[as] sex…at…birth…in [all] case[s, and to ban changing that in documentation]…In 2023, [Marshall] introduced a bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors nationwide and one to ban federal funding for such care for trans people of all ages.  Neither bill passed.  He put out similar, equally unsuccessful, bills in 2021…

Quiet Genocide (#1329)

There’s been virtually nothing about the Uyghur genocide in Western media for over a year; apparently white people can only care about one group of Muslims at a time.  But this long, highly-detailed account of one man’s escape from China, an ordeal which took from 2012 to 2018 and carried him across China and through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand (where he spent three years in prison for “illegal entry”), Malaysia and finally Turkey, is a rare exception.  It is well worth your time; unless more Westerners start paying attention, China’s campaign to slowly crush an entire culture into oblivion is bound to succeed.

Served Cold (#1405)

Let’s hope every last one of Ballard’s partners in profiteering go down with him:

Pornography [viewing] has become pathologized by a class of [soi-disant] experts fighting “porn addiction,” who rely on [bogus] evidence [and] conflate the legal adult entertainment industry with…human trafficking…Utah is at the center of a[n]…industry…built around such beliefs…many [members] of…which…are linked directly or indirectly to each other…Fight the New Drug and the Malouf Foundation [are] both…connect[ed] to Tim Ballard…[and his] Operation Underground Railroad…and both participated in [“]anti-trafficking[” schemes] tied to the office of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.  It was t[o hide] connections like these…that…both organizations recently reorganized into a new combined [pro-censorship] group—with the Elizabeth Smart Foundation—called the Phase Alliance…[allied with] the Rockford, Illinois-based International Organization for the Family…[which was] caught advocating for anti-LGBTQ+ laws in countries such as the Russian Federation…

The Last Shall Be First (#1487) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill…banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that match up with their gender identity…It also bans students from sharing overnight accommodations with people [not] of the[ir birth] sex…A lawsuit is expected to be filed against this [which]…Ohio…[taxpayers will be robbed to defend in court]…The bathroom ban…was added to a [completely unrelated] bill…in the eleventh hour of a House Session at the end of June before the [politicians] went on an extended break…

Vulture Watching (#1488)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Over the course of six hours on June 11, 2023, Porsha Ngumezi had bled so much in the emergency department…that she’d needed two transfusions.  She was…“passing large clots the size of grapefruit”…[and her] mother[-in-law], a [retired] physician…[told her] “You need a D&C”…But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was the hospital’s “routine” to give…misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue…Three hours later, her heart stopped…more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case…said it raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks…It was clear Porsha needed an emergency D&C…But because D&Cs are also used to end pregnancies, the procedure has become tangled up in state legislation that [almost completely bans] abortions…

Stalkers in Blue (#1490)

“Deprivation of rights” is the feds’ catchall charge to use against cops who embarrass politicians:

Federal charges have been filed against two [typical and representative] Missouri [cops who perpetrated] plots to steal nude photos from women’s phones during traffic stops…Julian Alcala…illegally search[ed] 20 women’s phones…between Feb. 6, 2024, and May 18, 2024…Alcala [was caught after he] text[ed] himself a video from one woman’s phone, then tr[ied] to delete a record of this text…The woman reached out to the FBI after this…[David] McKnight [did the same sort of thing]…between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024…[to] nine different women…

Torture Chamber (#1491)

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

Twelve Black [prisoners locked up] in…Red Onion…Virginia’s first super-maximum security prison, have…set themselves on fire since September in a bid to get transferred away from abusive guards…The first reported [case was]…Demetrius Wallace…who told [reporters] he set his leg on fire on Aug. 23 because he knew he would have to be transported out of the prison for treatment.  Since guards waited three days before taking Wallace to the nearest burn unit seven hours away, he had to have a skin graft and spent 14 days in the hospital.  When he returned…guards harassed him, denied access to his email, and [locked] him in [solitary confinement]…Over the [following] two weeks…a dozen [others] had set themselves on fire to escape “intolerable racism, abuse, and inhumane conditions”…Red Onion…has been riddled with…abuse since opening in 1998…More than two-thirds of its [prisoners] are held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, ranging from two weeks to 14 years…[because they are often] served food covered in maggots…prisoners have…[also] gone on months-long hunger strikes…

 

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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Throwback Tuesday

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Making wildly exaggerated  Criswell-like predictions of the number of hookers who will descend upon a major sporting event has become a popular pastime of prohibitionists.  –
“Hidden Hordes of Hookers”

In a particularly absurd touch, the “free soap” is labeled with the phone number of the National Human Trafficking Hotline, undoubtedly so that motel guests can call from their waterproof cell phones if “human traffickers” pass through their bathrooms while they’re showering.  –  “It’s That Time Again”

Government repeatedly grants to even its most minor actors immunity from the edicts by which it establishes universal criminality for the rest of us.  –  “Shame, Shame”

Th[e] insane “progressive” social engineering scheme to “improve” the human race by giving governments control over everything individuals might choose to ingest…[was] from the beginning…deeply tied to eugenics and other racist pseudoscience.  –  “Winding Down“

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Baby Throwback Thursday

Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Laws do not determine the rightness or wrongness of an action; they merely determine a government’s official response to that action.  “O Tempora! O Mores!”

The idea that migrants are somehow different from Americans who relocate for jobs, and that “debt bondage” is any different from student loans and a mortgage, is at its heart racist and xenophobic.  –  “Let Me Help”

There is no clause in the Constitution that says equality under the law can be suspended when it’s politically inconvenient.
–  “Sheep and Goats“

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In the News (#1474)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2024| 1 Comment »

A poppy seed bagel should never be the impetus of a child welfare investigation.  –  Emma Camp

Against Their Will (#321)

Authoritarians, like leopards, cannot change their spots:

As he seeks to become Oregon’s…attorney general…Will Lathrop has touted his five years leading a…[rescue industry group]’s efforts to e[nslave women in sweatshops] and [abduct their children] in Ghana…his…campaign ad[s burble the usual nonsense about] “rescu[ing] children from human trafficking and protect[ing] women from violence”…But a BBC documentary from 2023 tells [the truth]: that a single-minded focus on setting and meeting targets resulted in Lathrop’s team [conspir]ing with police to…kidnap…children…from their families under false pretenses…The International Justice Mission…[is one of the most notorious rescue industry profiteers]…and…reporter Kyenkyehene Boateng…[working with] an undercover journalist…[made] “The Night They Came For Our Children”…[which] highlighted two [atrociti]es during [Lathrop’s] tenure…[including one where] armed [cops raided] a…remote…village…in the dead of night to [abduct] four children…[from] the[ir] grandmother…[at] gun[point]…They were [imprisoned]…for four months…[while] two of the[ir] uncles were arrested and charged with child trafficking and child labor law violations, charges that were ultimately dropped…

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

Police [have] arrested a [California] pastor…[named] Juan Barrios, [after a man reported in May that Barrios] had [sexually] assaulted him [and his younger brother] for years, beginning when he was just nine years old…[in] 2009 and [continuing until] 2015, when their family was living with the pastor at his Riverside home…because of his position and the nature of the accusations, [cops] believe there may be other victims who haven’t come forward yet…

Devil’s Advocate (#667)

How long will society accept cops arresting men for fictitious “crimes” against imaginary people?

Cops are now using [computers] to generate images of fake kids, [then using] them [to entrap people] online, [bragging about the scheme in] a lawsuit filed by the state of New Mexico against Snapchat…because its “algorithm serves up children to adult predators”…[fantasy-roleplay]ing as “Sexy14Heather,” [a pervert cop] swapped messages with adult accounts…and…attempted to coerce the[m] into sharing [child porn]…a lawyer specializing in sex crimes, Carrie Goldberg, [said]…using [computer-generated images] could complicate investigations and carry its own ethical concerns…[but of course] ethical concerns [are never considered by]…cops…

Pretext

The “cops bearing gifts” PR scam is not limited to adults:

[The cop shop] in Chicopee, Massachusetts [bought] a used truck…in 2022…using money s[tolen from legally-innocent citizens]…and…then [extorted more money] from local businesses to wrap the truck and…provide ice cream for kids in the community for free…to [trick] children who might otherwise [correctly] associate the department with [armed state violence]…

So, a fancy windowless white van with “free candy” scrawled on the side.

Property of the State (#1353) 

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

Hospitals around the nation are administering unreliable drug tests to pregnant women, and siccing child welfare authorities upon them based on the results…federal data examined by The Marshall Project reporter Shoshana Walter…indicates that tens of thousands of babies are reported to authorities…[even though] it’s been long known that these drug tests are unreliable…[with] false positive rates as high as 50 percent…While more than half of U.S. states require hospitals to [snitch to] child welfare agencies if they suspect a mother used drugs during pregnancy, none require hospitals to confirm that those results are correct.  This means that when a mother has a false positive, she often lacks the ability to demand a more reliable drug test…[leaving] her…to…face humiliating, terrifying ordeals…

Vulture Watching (#1464)

The totally-predictable results of bad laws are happening just as sane people said they would:

In her final hours, Amber Nicole Thurman suffered from a grave infection…She’d taken abortion pills and…had not expelled all of the fetal tissue from her body.  She showed up at [an Atlanta] hospital in need of a routine procedure to clear it from her uterus, called a dilation and curettage, or D&C.  But just that summer, [Georgia] had made performing the procedure a felony…Any doctor who violated the new…law could…face up to a decade in prison….It took 20 hours for doctors to finally operate.  By then, it was too late…an official state committee recently…deemed her…[death] “preventable” and said the hospital’s delay…had a “large” impact on her fatal outcome…at least two [other] women have already died after they couldn’t access legal abortions…in their state…[but] Thurman’s case marks the first time an abortion-related death, officially deemed “preventable,” is coming to public light…

The Cop Myth (#1469)

This phrasing strongly implies strangling a woman while on duty is A-OK:

A Eugene [Oregon cop] was arraigned…[for] strangling a woman while off duty on Sept. 7…Joshua West…[attacked his girlfriend, but is at large anyway because he pinky-swore he’d be a good boy]…a spokes[cop bragged]…that West was “immediately” [rewarded with a paid vacation.  No surprise, given that when reported]…for [drunk driving and bizarre behavior] in 2016…he was not arrested or given a Breathalyzer test…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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In the News (#1469)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2024| 1 Comment »

It’s transparently a ridiculous defense, because the entire thing that they’re selling is the ability to track phones.  –  Nate Wessler

Dangerous Speech

Governments are growing increasingly bold in their attempts to censor the internet:

Telegram is one of the last (mostly) uncensored frontiers of the internet.  The messaging app allows users to message each other through both unencrypted and encrypted chats, and to create “channels” that other users can subscribe to.  There’s no feed with an algorithm to manipulate, and founder Pavel Durov has committed to never sharing user information with [violent busybodies]…A decade ago, Durov fled Russia after his previous social media company, VKontakte, was [stolen] by the government. (Since then, he spent most of his time in Dubai and obtained French citizenship in 2021.)  Russia banned Durov’s newer app Telegram in 2018 but then unblocked [it] two years later…China and Iran have also banned Telegram…[and now] French authorities arrested Durov at the airport for [a number of vicarious “crimes” due to his refusal to engage in a fascist partnership with cops against his own users]…The French case against Telegram resembles the U.S. case against Backpage...

Above the Law (#1361)

It’s unusual that they didn’t make this sound like the rapist was doing his victims a favor:

A [typical and representative] Alabama prosecutor was found guilty of six corruption charges…for [extor]ting sexual favors from at least three women who[m] he was…prosecuting for crimes…Mark Johnson…[was] also previously…a [cop.  His]…attorneys…argued in court that [rape isn’t a crime if a] prosecutor…[accomplishes it by threat rather than force]…

I Spy (#1400)

It’s far too late to cram this djinni back into its bottle, God help us:

…the Texas [cop shop collective has acquired]…a controversial surveillance tool called Tangles…that scrapes information from the open, deep, and dark web.  Tangles’ premier add-on feature…WebLoc can track…mobile devices’ movements…through… “geofencing”…without a search warrant…subpoena…[or the participation of] companies like Google…us[ing]…information from data brokers…While a device’s mobile ad ID is [supposed]ly…anonymous…it is easy to cross reference other data points to determine the owner…Tangles is [sold] by the [fascist Israeli] company Cobwebs Technologies, which…operat[es] as a surveillance-for-hire outfit [to circumvent Constitutional limitations.  Texas]…first purchased the software as part of Governor Greg Abbott’s multi-billion dollar Operation Lone Star [anti-migrant jihad and]…expanded the contract [every year]…

Served Cold (#1406)

I can’t feel sorry for women who were happy to throw other women to the leopards:

Celeste Borys and Kira Lynch…[are regularly] scorn[ed] and harass[ed by the disciples of rescue industry charlatan]…Tim Ballard…who…[realiz]ed during the Obama administration [that there was plenty of money and fame to be made in the hysteria over “]child sex trafficking[“;] he [accomplished this by]…recruiting…true believers to join him on [theatrical “rescue”] operations in [foreign countries where officials could be bribed to ignore his illegal targeting of their citizens and endangerment of their children.  His shenanigans inspired a completely]…fictionalized film [with the hypocritical name] Sound of Freedom based on [the tall tales he tells to attract marks to finance] Operation Underground Railroad…the [rescue industry profiteer]ing organization he founded…Ballard [fell from grace with everyone but MAGAists and QAnon cultists when a number of]…women – Borys and Lynch among them – [sued and filed criminal complaints against him for] sexually abus[ing] them…[using the same ridiculous “]saving children[ from sex trafficking” fantasies he used to fleece sex-haters and other gullible wackos]…

The Cop Myth (#1423)

How long will America ignore the costs of its sick worship of state-sanctioned violence?

Police in the US use force on at least 300,000 people each year, [seriously] injuring an estimated 100,000 of them, according to…Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group that…[has] launched a new database…cataloging non-fatal incidents of police use of force, including stun guns, chemical sprays, K9 dog attacks, neck restraints, beanbags and baton strikes.  The data…compiled from public records requests in every state….[demonstrate] that despite widespread protests against police brutality…in 2020, overall use of force has [at least] remained steady…and in many jurisdictions, has increased.  The data builds on past reports that found US police [intentionally murder] roughly 1,200 people each year, or three people a day, a death toll that has crept up every year and dramatically exceeds rates in c[ivilized] nations.  The nonfatal force statistics…illustrate how the [intentional murder]s are just a small fraction of broader police violence and [death]s caused by law enforcement…The data is [definitely] an undercount as it only covers incidents disclosed by [cop shops], and many states have laws [hiding] police [violence from public scrutiny]…

To Molest and Rape (#1467)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

On…August 19, [typical and representative California cop] James Walter Best Jr. was arrested…[in] Maine…where…he [fled after being interrogated by Kern County, California cops in October of last year for repeatedly molesting and raping]…one of his [own] children…[from] 9 years old…until they were of age…Best…never denied the [molest]ations…but c[laim]ed…he didn’t remember…[Best was previously put on probation in 2020 for embezzlement and grand theft]…

The Cop Myth (#1468)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do, even if she’s a cop herself:

A…Chicago [cop who was not wearing his magical clown costume] attack[ed] his cop girlfriend during a drunken rampage…at a [cop shop], pulling her by her hair while [threatening her with] a loaded gun…Francisco Galvan…faces [only] misdemeanor c[harges because]…his [victim] declined to pursue felony charges…[fellow cops] saw Galvan walking through the [cop shop] parking lot…before he a[ttack]ed his…girlfriend, who was [wearing her magical clown costume and] sitting in a p[igmobile]…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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In the News (#1467)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Jurisdictions have devised creative ways to comply with the law on its face but not really in practice.  –  Billy Binion

Imaginary Victims (#1254) 

The state’s pretended sympathy for “sex trafficking victims” applies only to imaginary “perfect” ones:

A judge…sentenced a [young] Milwaukee woman charged with killing the man who sex trafficked her as a teenager to 11 years in prison plus five years of extended supervision…Chrystul Kizer will ultimately serve fewer than 10 [more] years in prison…[due to] more than a year and a half of time served…Kizer’s…“affirmative defense”…[as] a trafficking victim..[proved worthless against the prosecutor’s TV crime-show fantasy that a 17-year-old girl] carried out a premeditated killing in order to steal Volar’s BMW, [so]…Kizer [had to settle for a plea bargain that at least allowed her to escape a life sentence]…

Thought Control (#1405)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

…just a week before students were due to return to campus, the administration of New College of Florida emptied the library of the college’s Gender and Diversity Center by [throw]ing those books in a dumpster.  They were joined shortly afterward by books from the main library, most on topics related to religion and LGBT…issues…New College [pretend]ed that by law it couldn’t donate or sell the books, but that’s false…in the past, if…books [were weed]ed, students were notified and [allowed to take]…books…But [this time]…the vast majority were carted off to the landfill…Christopher Rufo, a [crony of]…Ron DeSantis…spearheaded the removal of the program…and…books[, tweeting], “We abolished the gender studies program. Now we’re throwing out the trash”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1414)

This will continue until there are federal criminal charges for “officials”, both political and corporate, who conspire to rob people this way:

A few years back, the [Edmondson Community O]rganization accrued a $2,543 property tax debt on its community center.  So in 2018, [Baltimore] sold that lien for $5,115 to a California-based investor, who then foreclosed on and sold the ECO’s building for $139,500.  In return, the ECO got a check for the difference between its debt and the lien purchase price: $2,572…a new federal lawsuit a[ttacks thi]is…practice…that illegally deprives people of their equity in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Taking Clause…debtors [who] have fallen just hundreds of dollars behind on their taxes…may lose their property and the vast majority of equity tied up in it…That Baltimore’s process robs property owners of huge chunks of equity is not just a regrettable side effect…it’s baked into the nature of the city’s approach…[which] actively seek[s] to keep bids low…the city [even] charges a high-bid premium that punishes investors making offers above a certain threshold…

Schadenfreude (#1425)

Con artists use moral panics to fleece the gullible:

…a Utah-based [con artist who] claimed [she] was dedicated to fighting human trafficking pleaded no contest to multiple felonies…including fraud…and forgery.  Candace Lierd, the founder of Exitus…[actually used] the money for personal expenses, as well as homes, cars and trips…[She] faces…5-15 years in prison for each [of 35] count[s]…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1428)

Politicians can always mine tragedy to justify more evil:

The mailroom supervisor at a federal prison in [California] died [suddenly, and prison bureaucrats are blaming “]mail saturated in an unknown substance[” assumed to be]…fentanyl…[despite the fact] that…touching fentanyl cannot cause an overdose, and the risk of death from accidental exposure is…[nonexistent.  But Marc] Fischer’s death comes at a [handy] time [for] the Bureau of Prisons [to exploit it to divert attention from rampant]…criminal misconduct by staff…[including rape, violence], and [epidemic levels of filth and medical neglect leading to] death…[and to justify its scheme of] photocopying mail coming into prisons instead of delivering the original parcels…[thus further isolating them while pretending the mistreatment is actually] an attempt to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics [even though it is well-known that drugs in prisons are smuggled in by screws and overdoses actually increase when mail and books from outside are banned]…

Dangerous Speech (#1441)

Government lawyers will do or say anything to ensure Lacey dies in a filthy cage:

Not content with the suicide last year of his longtime business partner and co-defendant Jim Larkin, prosecutors seek to consign famed journalist and editor Michael Lacey and his two co-defendants to a staggering 20 years in prison each, a likely…death [sentence] given that all three…are in their 70s.  In an Aug. 19 sentencing memo…prosecutors smeared Lacey with crimes that he and the others are not charged with and could never be charged with: sex trafficking, child sex trafficking and an array of murders…Government attorneys are also asking that Lacey…be [locked in a cage before his appeals are exhausted, fearing he might die before that happens]…Backpage…’s right to publish adult-themed ads was upheld on numerous occasions by a series of federal and state court rulings…but…the government…[want]s harsh sentences…to “deter” websites from publishing [legal and Constitutionally-protected] content the government [dislikes]…

To Molest and Rape (#1466)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [typical and representative West Virginia cop] has been sentenced…to…a m[ere] 10 years behind bars…[Chester] Adkins [agreed to a plea bargain rather than face proportionate sentencing for repeatedly molest]ing a…10 year…old [girl]…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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In the News (#1457)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[Libraries are at risk from] anybody wanting to make a quick buck.  –  Cindy Erickson

Schadenfreude

It’s heartening to see so many rescue industry profiteers exposed as the sociopaths they are:

An ex-[cop] who [pretend]s to save children from human traffickers has[, like all rescue industry profiteers,] faked stories to raise money for his charity…Adam Whittington, founder of Project Rescue Children (PRC) [lies that] he has helped more than 700 children in countries including Uganda, Kenya and The Gambia.  But…these children have never been trafficked, and…[most of the] funds raised – sometimes with the help of celebrity supporters – have [gone into his own pockets rather than to] children in need…Whittington…has misled donors in a variety of ways – including by raising funds for a baby supposedly rescued from people traffickers, who has actually been with her mother all along.  The mother, who lives in poverty, says she and her daughter have never received any money from PRC…a [“]rescue centre[“]…fundraising drive [ended with]…less than half of the money…sent to PRC’s Ugandan partner organisation, Make a Child Smile…the rest…[was] “eaten by Adam Whittington and PRC”…

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

A[n Ohio preacher named]…Michael Ronald Goble…[has been arrested and charged with molesting a child under] 13…in November, 2021…more charges are likely forthcoming…and [cops believe there are] more victims…not yet…identified…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1422)

Pornhub has repeatedly taken the principled stand of refusing to spy on its users for the State:

Aylo began blocking access to Pornhub [for] Nebraska [residents without VPNs, due to]…the state’s new age verification law…As it had already done in Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Virginia and Utah, Aylo replaced its landing page for Nebraska IP addresses with an SFW video in which Cherie DeVille explains the reasons for the content restriction…

The Punitive Mindset (#1428) 

Next, the practice of preventing prisoners from receiving mail and books needs to be banned:

…”The Federal Communications Commission [has] voted to end exorbitant phone and video call rates that have burdened incarcerated people and their families for decades…The new call rates will be $0.06 per minute for prisons and large jails, $0.07 for medium jails, $0.09 for small jails, and $0.12 for very small jails, and as low as $0.11/minute for video calls—with a requirement that per-minute rates be offered…the cost of a 15-minute phone call will drop to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and, in small jails, to $1.35 from $12.10″…In January 2023, President Joe Biden signed…a…law…clarif[ying] the FCC’s authority to regulate the rates of in-state calls from prisons…

Thought Control (#1441)

That anyone thinks this is OK demonstrates that the urge to censor is a mental illness:

…in response to a new Idaho law that took effect July 1, the [Donnelly Public] Library is transitioning to adults-only…library staff won’t let kids in unless a parent is present with them at all times, a parent signs paperwork allowing their child to enter only for programming, or a parent waives their [“]rights[“] under the new law and lets their child check out materials without a parent present…House Bill 710…requires Idaho public and school libraries to move materials [politicians have pointed at while belching “]harmful to children[“], or face [nuisance] lawsuits…Libraries across Idaho are reworking policies to comply with the…[deliberately-]vague [law,]…but many are waiting to see if there’d be a formal challenge to books in their collections…small and rural libraries…[many of them] one-room…do…not have enough room to separate the material…[and so can only protect themselves from harassment by barring legal minors from] coming into the library…So where will the children go if they can’t go inside the building?  In the two teepees outside where there are no books…

To Molest and Rape (#1452)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

…a [Mississippi cop named]…Rodney Jernigan was arrested on July 15 [for statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.  His bosses used the occasion to swagger, brag, and belch out copaganda]…

Torture Chamber (#1454)

I’m sure they didn’t actually ignore her; they almost certainly yelled “Stop faking!” at her several times a day:

A [human being locked in a cage at the filthy] Rikers Island d[ungeon] has died after jail staff “repeatedly ignored” her requests for medical help, culminating in a medical episode severe enough to land her in a hospital…Charizma Jones…died [July 14th while]…awaiting prosecution [for defending herself from a violent screw]…in April…prosecutors consented to her release…without bail on July 10, after she was hospitalized, [but by then it was too late]…Jones…[was] the fourth [person to die in New York City dungeons]…in 2024…Nine people died [there] in 2023, 19 in 2022 and 16 in 2021…

 

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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