Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘scams’

Links #742

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2024| 2 Comments »

I’m going to feel like the biggest idiot taking this to court.  –  foolish cop

To honor the passing of Tito Jackson, I’ve chosen this performance of “I Want You Back” on The Ed Sullivan Show, mostly because it’s my favorite Jackson 5 song.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Walter Olson, C.J. Ciaramella, T. Greg Doucette, Aaron Ross Powell, and Phoenix Calida (x2), in that order.

From the Archives

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!

Read Full Post »

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1473)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2024| 2 Comments »

AHF…is just the…newest slumlord in a long line of slumlords.

If Men Were Angels

I’m honestly unsure why this doesn’t happen more often:

…a [Tennessee] pastor [named David Baker]…molest[ed a] relative… under the age of 12…He was…charged with aggravated sexual battery…and [after he bailed himself out] went into [a] restroom [at a nearby hospital] and shot himself twice in the chest…

Tyranny By Consensus (#690)

Longtime readers may remember that AHF has a history of financial shenanigans:

…The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development…says its $10 million Tenant Education and Outreach…grant…will be jointly awarded to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation…and the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants.  Over the next two years, these two groups will distribute this money to 30 tenant advocacy organizations to help them in their own efforts to…”hold management accountable for property conditions”…Beginning in 2017, [AHF] started buying up residential hotels in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, with the goal of [fix]ing them and renting them out at low, unsubsidized rates.  [AHF head] Michael Weinstein…argued this was a cheaper, faster way of housing people than building new…units.  But…AHF has been the subject of numerous lawsuits from tenants, and…A detailed Los Angeles Times investigation published in November 2023 reported…apartments infested with cockroaches, exploding radiators, water shut-offs so regular that tenants had to defecate in wastebaskets…and months-long elevator shut-offs that left disabled tenants stuck on upper floors or forced to sleep in the lobby…A former AHF employee described the living conditions at foundation properties as “inhumane”…

Undead Powers

I’ve long held that all laws should sunset after 10 years unless specific action is taken to renew them:

A coalition of advocacy organizations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…urging him to hold a vote on a proposal aimed at guarding against a future Trump administration from reviving [the] long-dormant…Comstock Act…The Stop Comstock Act, which was introduced by Sen. Tina Smith…seeks to repeal the…provisions of the 1873 federal law that ban…abortion-related materials from being sent through the mail…Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas…have signaled a willingness to revive the statute…

Eavesdropping (#1399)

Is a shiny new status symbol really worth being spied on and harassed?

Ford Motor Company is seeking a patent for technology that would allow it to tailor in-car advertising by [eavesdropping on] conversations among vehicle occupants, as well as by analyzing a car’s historical location and other data…“in-vehicle advertisement presentation”…will determine where a car is located, how fast it is traveling, what type of road it is driving on and whether it is in traffic.  It also will predict routes, speeds and destinations to customize ads…the ad controller system can determine when to [butt in with] audio versus visual ads, [subject]ing…drivers [to intrusive, unwanted commercials]…“through a human-machine interface”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1411)

Never forget that “filter” used thus is merely a euphemism for “censor”:

A federal judge in Utah has blocked the state’s…[latest attempt] to enact sweeping online censorship…under the justification of “protecting minors”…[b]y granting a preliminary injunction sought by…NetChoice…the…law…targets social media platforms…by…[demanding they] “enable the maximum default privacy settings on Utah [legal minors’] accounts…[which] would have [required intrusive]…age…[verification”.  Laws like]…this…driv[e] platforms to overmoderate to the point of effectively becoming corporate censors…The law was previously challenged in court [so politicians]…redrafted it…to avoid [public scrutiny]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1450)

They’ll blame anybody but the real culprit: invasive surveillance and onerous infantilization of teenagers:

A [gang] of 42 state and territory attorneys general is calling on Congress to pass regulation [absurdly] requiring warning labels on social media platforms…US [Charlatan] General Dr. Vivek Murthy first proposed the warning labels in June as part of a plan to [di]vert [blame for] the “mental health crisis” affecting young people [from its actual cause, young adults being constantly spied on and treated like children]…The letter [ignores] research linking [infantilization] of [young adults] to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in [favor of blaming] social platforms…in…[order]…to [use this narrative as an excuse to subject them to government control, in defiance of the First Amendment]…these labels would [be unconstitutional compelled speech, similar to court-overturned]…state-level rules demanding adult sites add [specious] health notices about pornography…Over the past year or so, [politicians] across the US have ramped up efforts to [censor the internet via the timeworn pretext of “]protect[ing] children[“, such as]…the Senate[‘s horrific]…KOSA…

Remember what happened the last time a gang of state attorneys general went on a fact-free crusade against websites.

Banishment (#1470)

Politicians will never let go of prohibitionism until they’re forced to:

[Starting] in 1990…Seattle [politicians repeatedly defined and redefined]…banishment zones…across the city, [pretending they could magically]…reduce…drug use…[and] prostitution…[by threatening] drug users and sex workers [with arrest for merely existing]…Research has shown that the orders did not reduce drug use or sex work, but they did make the lives of drug users and sex workers harder, by physically banning them from areas…they used to access services and by turning them into hunted people who could be, and were, jailed when they were caught simply being inside the areas from which they were banished…some 25 years [lat]er the…city largely abandoned the experiment, concluding on the basis of decades of evidence that it hadn’t worked…[now] the Seattle City Council [has] voted to start the cycle over again, by…creating six new banishment zones for drug offenders and one for…sex workers…The new…legislation that will also reinstate a repealed “prostitution loitering” law that will…make it significantly easier for police to arrest [people they decide to accuse of being] sex workers [or clients without any evidence at all]…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

Links #740

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I made the huge error of conducting a dowsing rod session and asking if “Carroll” was present.  –  Brocarde

I’m not one to waste hours on YouTube, but every so often a video catches my attention as this modern fable did; I think you’ll enjoy it, too.  The links above it were provided by Mike Siegel, Kendra Holliday, Franklin Harris, C.J. Ciaramella, Mike Masnick, Nun Ya, and Popehat, in that order.

From the Archives

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!

Read Full Post »

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1468)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2024| 2 Comments »

My livelihood will never be as important as someone’s life or right to read what they want.  –  Summer Boismier

To Molest and Rape (#1324)

Rapist cops don’t only target women:

A [typical and representative Ohio cop named] James Stokes Sr. was…convicted of two [status] felonies…[for sexually assaulting] a man who…worked for Stokes…[at his] side [business] of removing junk…Stokes [tried to obtain compliance by] threatening [bogus charges of “unauthorized use” of his personal truck.  His body camera caught him making the threats and sexual comments, including]…”If I don’t get alone time tonight, I swear to God, I will file a charge on you, and I’ll have your butt arrested”…Stokes…[later molested him] at the [cop shop]…The [victim] told investigators he was trying to push Stokes off of him, and their relationship wasn’t sexual.  “He’s obsessed with me”…

The Missing Word (#1383)

If sex were involved, that word wouldn’t be 15 paragraphs in and blunted by qualifiers:

The number of foreign social care workers reporting that they are trapped in exploitative contracts has risen sixfold in the last three years, in the latest evidence of widespread abuse of migrants in the British care system…the Royal College of Nursing…was contacted 134 times in 2023-24 by care workers reporting that their employers were demanding large sums of money…to cover “hiring costs”, including visa processing, if they left their jobs…in one case [these costs] ran to £10,000…and [many include] threat[s of] deportation…

Above the Law (ROTW #5)

Had he not been caught at this stage, he’d have soon moved on to rape:

A U.S. Border Patrol [pig] has been charged [with mere misdemeanors for]…ordering women to show him their breasts…Shane Millan…[pretended the violations were “]searches[“, just as cops often do]…

Thought Control (#1443)

Politicians really do believe they can control people’s thoughts via threats:

Oklahoma’s education board has revoked the license of a former teacher who drew national attention during surging book-ban efforts across the U.S. in 2022 when she covered part of her classroom bookshelf in red tape with the words “Books the state didn’t want you to read”…a judge…advised the…Board…not to revoke the license of Summer Boismier, [but they did it anyway]…An attorney for Boismier, who now works at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York City, told reporters after the board meeting that they would seek to overturn the decision…

Vulture Watching (#1464)

Oh look, the totally-predictable results of bad laws are happening just as sane people said they would:

[There have been] six instances of child abandonment in Harris County [Texas] since the beginning of June.  In two cases, children died…States like Texas with near-total abortion bans are dealing with more [women] abandoning their children for several reasons like [they can’t afford a baby but Texas prevented them from having an abortion, and]…Texas’ safe haven law, or the Baby Moses law, allows a parent to leave a baby less than 60 days old safe and unharmed at a hospital, fire station, or EMS station…

Enshittification

How long before Google becomes completely useless?

Scams just keep popping up [on] Google…impostors of customer service for Delta and Coinbase…[have appeared] in the “People also ask” section high up in Google.  A group of people experienced in Google’s intricacies…said…that it took about 22 minutes to fool Google into highlighting a bogus business phone number in a prominent spot in search results…This fits a persistent pattern of…Google [being tricked] into showing scammers’ numbers for airlines, hotels, local repair companies, banks or other businesses…Fortune recently reported on a man who called what a Google listing said was Coinbase customer support, and instead it was an impostor who…tricked the man and stole $100,000…

The Cop Myth (#1466)

The cop establishment is trying hard to hide this one’s crimes:

A Massachusetts State [cop named]…Dylan Knox…[has been arrested for brutalizing his girlfriend]…on Aug. 15…Records are vague on the nature of…Knox[‘s crimes because]…prosecutors [are hiding the truth, but based on the charges Knox beat, pistol-whipped, and attempted to strangle her, then threatened a witness]…Knox is the second state trooper charged with domestic assault and battery in the last two weeks….

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!

Read Full Post »

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1465)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Just because [a surveillance experiment] happens at the border doesn’t mean that that’s where it’s going to stay.  –  Petra Molnar

If Men Were Angels

Apparently this preacher wasn’t the molester, but is covering for him:

A [North Carolina] pastor [named Kenny Parker] is facing charges [because] he failed to report…a string of sexual assault[s of legal] minors that spanned…several years…Parker is also the chief administrator of the church’s school…

Creepy Coppers

One of the people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A[n Illinois cop named]…William Griswold…[has been arrested] for [possession and distribution of] child pornography…and…was immediately placed on unpaid leave…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1235)

Undermining of civil liberties only starts with “undesirables”; it never stops there:

…DHS…plans to collect and analyze photos of the faces of migrant children at the border in a bid to improve facial recognition technology…This includes children “down to the infant”…Facial recognition…has traditionally not been applied to children, largely because training data sets of real children’s faces…consist of either low-quality images drawn from the internet or small sample sizes with little diversity…[due to] the significant [ethical issues] regarding privacy and consent when it comes to minors…[but] DHS [doesn’t give a damn about the consent of migrants and]…339,234 children arrived at the US-Mexico border in 2022…if the face prints of even 1% of those children had been [scanned], the resulting data set would dwarf nearly all existing data sets of real children’s faces…and [all obtained]…from a population that has little recourse…Petra Molnar, author of The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of AI [said]…“if…you are faced with the impossible choice of either: get into a country if you give us your biometrics, or you don’t…That completely vitiates informed consent”…This question becomes even more challenging when it comes to children…

A Broker in Pillage (#1289)

Burying government in lawsuits is the only way to slow its depredations:

A new class action lawsuit [was filed because] Indiana [cop shops steal]…millions of dollars a year in cash from FedEx packages without eve[n] in[vent]ing…a…crime [to accuse the owners of].  Henry and Minh Cheng, who run a small California jewelry wholesaler business, [explain] in [the]…suit…that [cops stole] over $42,000 in cash from a FedEx package en route to them from a client in Virginia…[but] they’re not the only victims…Indiana [cops] “exploit Indianapolis’s location at the Crossroads of America to [steal] millions of dollars in currency being shipped from one side of the nation to the other.”  The Chengs’ countersuit against the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the State of Indiana was filed on their behalf by the Institute for Justice…Marion County [alone] has s[tolen] $2.5 million…from at least 130 FedEx parcels in transit from one non-Indiana state to another over the past two years…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1301)

Sometimes I just can’t force myself to take cops’ sophomoric pomposity seriously:

[Michigan] Sheriff Chris Swanson [dressed up in a sheet with two holes cut in it and jumped out, yelling “BOO!” at a typical and representative Florida cop named]…Jeffrey Morningstar…Swanson [bragged about how spooky he and his cronies were, pretending to be a (presumably deceased)]…trafficker selling a 15-year-old…Morningstar…want[ed] to…have sex with [for a thrift-store price]…“W[oooooooo, aren’t you scared?”]…Swanson [demanded, claiming] that [he plans to keep running around, startling]…anyone…he [can]…find…

Thou Shalt Not (#1353)

Only a prohibitionist could imagine that examining 10 people constitutes a “study”:

Consuming a drink with erythritol — an artificial sweetener used to add bulk to stevia and monk fruit [sweeteners] and to sweeten low-carb keto products — more than doubled the risk of blood clotting in 10 healthy people…Previous research has linked erythritol to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and death…Consuming a drink with an equal amount of glucose, or sugar, did not affect blood platelet activity in another group of 10 people…

Dangerous Speech (#1368)

Much more of this, please:

A [typical and representative] Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice…Gideon Cody…[led] the raid [in retaliation for] the Marion County Record [investigating the fact that he was hired despite resigning in disgrace from his previous job due to incompetence and shitty behavior]…Publisher Eric Meyer’s mother, who co-owned the newspaper and lived with him, died the next day of a heart attack…[due] the stress of [armed pigs invading her home].  Meyer said…authorities appear to be making Cody the “fall guy” for the raid when numerous officials were involved…The Record…and [some of its] staffers have filed four federal lawsuits against Cody and [his gang]…includ[ing] a wrongful death claim [for] total damages exceed[ing] $10 million.  The city’s current annual budget is about $9.5 million…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1449)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 26, 2024| 1 Comment »

Illegal drugs are cheaper, more readily available, more potent, [and] more widely used than they were 20 years ago.  –  James Martin

If Men Were Angels

“Inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” is a helluva way to say “molesting a 12-year-old”:

Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway [mega]Church in Southlake, Texas…has confessed to…sexually abusing [Cindy Clemishire] over multiple years beginning when she was 12…Morris [burbled a lot of evangelical buzzwords like]…repented…walked in purity and accountability…blessing…and…forgiveness…[but] Clemishire [explained]…that…when Morris began abusing her…he…was a 20-year-old traveling evangelist…[already] married…[with a young] son…Morris…[betrayed] her family[‘s]…friends[hip after being] invited into their home and…repeatedly abused her in Texas and Oklahoma…[while telling] his wife that he was merely “counseling” her…For years…she has been warning churches…about Morris because she doesn’t believe she’s the only one who suffered his abuse…

Long Hidden

Cops aren’t the only violent profession whose members feel sexually entitled:

…hundreds of Kenyan women [have] filed complaints with the UK military over the years, a[fter being raped by British soldiers]…in the remote villages where the British Army trains its soldiers in Kenya. The British Army Training Unit, Kenya (BATUK), is headquartered in the town of Nanyuki…[and] Britain pays Kenya about $400,000 a year to allow its soldiers to train…mostly in the expansive wildlife conservancies in Laikipia and Samburu counties.  Kenya renewed the defense pact in 2021 despite strong local opposition…[due to numerous] allegations of rape and other crimes, including murder, by British soldiers deployed there [since] the 1950s…hundreds of women from the mostly pastoralist Maasai and Samburu communities who accused the British Army of rapes in the 1970s and 80s…were represented by the British lawyer Martyn Day in a landmark civil case in London in the early 2000s…[but] in 2007, Britain’s Ministry of Defense dismissed claims…brought by 2,187 women…[claiming] the…evidence appeared to have been fabricated…[and refusing to] conduct DNA tests on any of the 69 mixed-race children…born from rape by British soldiers…[but as they] can now be sued in Kenyan courts…as part of a new addition to the 2021 defense pact…lawyer Kelvin Kubai has signed up more than 300 of the women who previously brought rape claims and is working to reintroduce the case in Kenyan courts…

Rooted in Racism (#1305)

Never forget that this barbarity began using the excuse of “fighting human trafficking”:

The Greek coastguard has caused the deaths of dozens of migrants in the Mediterranean over a three-year period…including nine who were deliberately thrown into the water.  The [others]…died as a result of being forced out of Greek territorial waters, or taken back out to sea after reaching Greek islands…The Greek government has long…forced returns – pushing people back towards Turkey, where they have crossed from, which is illegal under international law.  But this is the first time the…number of…fatalities…[due directly to] the Greek coastguard’s actions [has been calculated]…

Panopticon (#1316)

This is too useful a tool of state control for the rulers to give it up:

A new lawsuit says that Illinois’ widespread use of…automatic license plate readers…violates the Fourth Amendment…because it breaches citizens’ reasonable expectations of privacy…”Defendants are tracking anyone who drives to work in Cook County—or to school, or a grocery store, or a doctor’s office, or a pharmacy, or a political rally, or a romantic encounter, or family gathering—every day…without any reason to suspect anyone of anything, and are holding onto those whereabouts just in case they decide in the future that some citizen might be an appropriate target”…Illinois’ highway [panopticon] began in 2019 [as so many civil liberties abominations do,] with the passage of [a law bearing a crime victim’s name]…Illinois State Police [started with] a $12.5 million state grant in 2021…which was more than doubled in June 2022…[so far] Illinois…has purchased 652 license plate cameras, of which 340 are installed in Cook County…

Permanent Record (#1380)

I can’t feel sorry for someone whose job is ruining lives for violating arbitrary diktats when they get in trouble due to a similar diktat:

Nashville [cop] Sean Herman was recently arrested…weeks after it was revealed that he appeared in a viral OnlyFans clip in [his magical clown costume].  He faces two felony official misconduct charges for [using the clown suit for something other than terrorizing people]…If found guilty, Herman could face prison…[cop shop busybodies] reportedly “discovered the video and identified him as the person in [the magical clown costume], seen in the video from the chest down, who took part in a mock traffic stop in an OnlyFans skit during which he groped the exposed breast of the female driver”…

A Moral Cancer (#1396)

Australia expands the Drug War, and prohibitionists pretend the wholly-predictable consequences are somehow surprising:

Since March of last year, the Australian state of Victoria has been rocked by a series of [murders,] arsons and firebombings…in an escalating turf war between rival gangs…the drug at the center of this conflict: nicotine…[prohibitionists prai]se…Australia…for its graphic warnings on cigarette packs, extremely high cigarette taxes, and strict prohibitions on e-cigarettes…[which together constitute] a form of “de facto prohibition”…[so] predictably…the share of tobacco sold illegally…has…doubled [in recent years] to…nearly a quarter of Australian sales…There are 1.8 million vapers in Australia and about nine out of 10 of them source their vapes illegally…[either by buying] e-cigarette components and…nicotine liquid from abroad…or [by getting] disposable vapes manufactured cheaply in China…Australia’s…response…is to crack down even harder…in…contrast…New Zealand, which has similarly high cigarette taxes but embraces a much more liberal approach to vaping…now boasts one of the world’s lowest rates of smoking…

Eavesdropping (#1417)

Even cops are starting to admit Shotspotter is a boondoggle:

New York City [has wasted tens of millions] on gunshot detection technology that rarely works…ShotSpotter…uses microphones and…software in an attempt to detect the sound of gunshots…When a sound triggers the system, ShotSpotter alerts the police department, and officers are dispatched to the scene…[but] an analysis…found that 87% of the time [cop]s were dispatched to a scene where there was no evidence of a shooting…“The evidence shows that NYPD is wasting precious time and money on this technology and needs to do a better job managing its resources,” [said City Comptroller Brad] Lander… “Chasing down car backfires and construction noise does not make us safer”…It marks the latest report calling the technology’s efficacy into question.  A 2021 audit by Chicago’s Office of Inspector General found that of more than 50,000 alerts there, only 9.1% resulted in evidence of a gun-related offense…Houston Mayor John Whitmire also said he would cancel the city’s contract with the company, telling the Houston Chronicle that it is a “gimmick”…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »