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Posts Tagged ‘scams’

My life looks like a dumpster fire.  –  Eligio Regalado

This really rocking cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” by a Franco-Ethiopian band was called to my attention by C.J. Ciaramella; I know Grace would’ve really enjoyed it.  The links above it were provided by Popehat, Dan Savage (x2), Guy Hamilton-Smith, Jesse Walker, Mike Masnick, and Ryan Marino, 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!

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Shield laws have been a disaster for the anti-abortion movement.
–  Mary Ziegler

Robocops (#1249)

Courts declare that the more egregious a cop’s crimes, the less they can be held accountable:

A [sow] who [maliciously] had a woman jailed for over two years on false charges in connection with a[n imaginary] sex-trafficking ring cannot be sued, a court confirmed last week, because she was acting under color of federal law…Heather Weyker…[completely] fabricat[ed a “Somali sex trafficking gang” for her own self-aggrandizement]…then j[ailed 16-year-old Hamdi Mohamud to silence her after Weyker’s confederate in the scam,] Muna Abdulkadir[,] attacked her [with]…a knife…Mohamud spent 25 months [locked] in federal [cages, but could not sue]… Weyker [because]…she had been cross-deputized on a federal task force [due to “sex trafficking” hysteria]…and…the Supreme Court has made it almost cartoonishly difficult…to [sue]…federal agents…Mohamud’s remaining hope, then, came down to proving that Weyker was acting under color of state law…and the [8th Circuit has now destroyed]…that [hope]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1351) 

Florida’s psychopath-general wants to criminalize vaudeville:

Florida’s [deranged] attorney general…James Uthmeier…has [launch]ed a…[harassment campaign against]…the Kilted Mermaid, a Vero Beach establishment owned by the city’s vice mayor, Linda Moore…A subpoena reportedly demands Moore turn over security footage, employee work schedules, contracts identifying performers, guest lists, and reservation logs [from a June drag event] by August 8…neither the press release nor the subpoena indicates what state laws Moore is…allegedly violating.  But the [harassment began] after local Moms for Liberty chair Jennifer Pippin filed a complaint…accusing the Kilted Mermaid of violating [a] Florida…[anti-drag] law that has been blocked from going into effect since 2023…Pippin…did not attend the event…and [claimed] that she was [somehow] unaware that the law had been blocked…however, [Uthmeier has no such excuse]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1389)

Politicians don’t even try to make their new laws Constitutional any more:

Alabama…has begun sending [demands] to adult site operators [for] 10%…[of their] gross receipts…[starting] Sept. 1…while the First Amendment precludes financially burdening protected speech based on its content, recent events have called such protections into question…enforcing the tax on adult website content could prompt legal challenges…However, a[ny]…website operator…[unwilling to deal with the bullshit] can [simply block] Alabama customers [who don’t use VPNs]…

Feudalism Redux (#1525)

This unhinged lunacy will spread like rot until struck down by a court:

Arkansas [psychopath] General Tim Griffin…sent cease and desist letters…to two websites that provide information about abortion pills, demanding they [stop correctly stating] that medications can be mailed to Arkansas…[despite its] total abortion ban…Griffin and 15 other [forced-birth lunatics are also demanding] Congress…ban…“shield laws” that [give] healthcare providers [protection against legal harassment by psychopaths like Griffin and Ken Paxton].  About one in four abortions in the U.S. are done via telemedicine, and 12,000 abortions per month are provided by clinicians prescribing under shield laws.  Griffin is targeting the sites Plan C and Mayday Health, which do not prescribe or sell the drugs mifepristone or misoprostol…but rather [provide information] about where…the pills [can be purchased, which is 100% legal under the First Amendment.  In order to get around this fact]…Griffin [incorrectly claims] that, by [correctly describing] abortion pills as safe, the language on the sites “may constitute false, deceptive, and unconscionable trade practices” [in] Arkansas…

Secret Squirrel (#1528)

This sickness just keeps getting worse:

Skechers introduced a line of kids’ sneakers that contain a hidden compartment where parents can slip in an Apple AirTag…to…[surreptitiously] track the location of their…child’s shoes…Apple only advertises its AirTags as products to keep track of items like keys, wallets, or luggage — not human beings.  But [abusive people] have been using the technology to [stalk others without their knowledge]…AirTags are not designed to be very good at tracking fast-moving things, like a kid on a school bus, [because they]…don’t have built-in GPS.  Instead, they use Bluetooth beaconing technology to [sneaki]ly signal their presence to nearby Apple devices…[because of such] nefarious [misuse, there was]…a class action lawsuit.  [Because of this] Apple has instituted some anti-stalking features, [but]…the continued normalization of this kind of surveillance could have [strong negative effects on young people’s mental health]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #22)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

An [Oregon cop named]…Hector Carranza was arrested on [July 31st for repeatedly raping a minor both vaginally and anally]…Carranza [w]as [rewarded with a paid vacation] since November 2024, when he was [first reported, and his bosses thought the most important factor in this is that he wasn’t wearing his magical clown costume while committing the rapes]…

The Cop Myth (#1561)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

The [boss hog] of the Maine Capitol Police is facing charges of assault and resisting arrest [after he drunkenly attacked] a…[cop for the town of] Hallowell…[around midnight on August 1st].  Matthew Clancy was arrested…after…[causing trouble in a] bar…Clancy [has been rewarded with a paid vacation]…

 

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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Border Patrol agents are taught that women lie, and that…agents…are the victims.  –  Jenn Budd

Imagination Pinned Down

As much as I’d like to believe this of a boss hog, this reeks of Satanic Panic “ritual abuse” fantasy engendered by false memory syndrome:

The daughter of a New Jersey police chief claims he repeatedly raped her for more than a decade as part of a “ritualistic” cult allegedly involving their neighbors…Courtney Tamagny’s [lawsuit includes her father] Scott Tamagny, his neighbor Kevin Slevin and others…Slevin has…countersued Courtney for defamation…the 20-year-old claims her father and Slevin…and…other middle-aged men…with masks on their faces…[lit a] fire and [burned] animals…[while] chant[ing, starting]…in 2009 when [she] was around 4…until 2020, when she was 15…[she] claims she suppressed memories of the abuse for years…and…began recalling them after [seeing] a…therapist…in 2022…[her] alleged[ly recovered] memories in[clude] the…claim…that generations of her father’s “bloodline” had been in a satanic cult…that…raped…children and burned them alive in…“tunnels” [where] they would…covertly [hold] their rituals…as part of a national cabal of satanists engaged in child trafficking…she claimed [her sisters and]…upward of 10 [other] kids were…in[volved even though nobody else has similar “memories”]…her [lawsuit]…also named the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the State of New Jersey, various state child protective services and others…

This girl clearly needs competent professional help, not encouragement from lawyers and quack “therapists”.

Creepy Coppers

Seems like a significant fraction of child porn is spread by cops:

A Montgomery County [Maryland cop named]…Mark Burhoe…[was arrested on child pornography charges.  In an unusual move], he…was suspended without pay, [but both his boss and an ex-cop criminologist used the opportunity to bloviate copaganda about how he would get]…”no special treatment”…

This one has double-distancing: “former” and “probationary”:

A [typical and representative Wisconsin cop named]…Owen Halls was [typical and representative]…when he was fired in March fo[r being caught with…child pornography[.  Halls was] reported [by one of his roommates] in June of [last] year…[but] police [dragged their feet for six months]…Halls [has already confessed but pled not guilty to child porn charges anyhow]…

Above the Law (ROTW #14)

Federal thugs behave just like state & local thugs:

A…Border Patrol [goon named]…Bart Conrad Yager…[has been] charged with…pandering…child sex trafficking…[drug dealing] and…fraud, [all committed] between July 2023 and March 2024…A decade ago, [he raped a woman in] Tucson…But CBP [didn’t bother to] investigate…Yager, a[nd]…Tucson Police [put] the…victim [through such an ordeal she eventually dropped the charges because]…Yager [kept] threaten[ing her] with violence a[nd neither]…police [nor CBP did shit about it.  The fraud charges against]…Yager [are because he] misrepresented his location during work hours and fraudulently claimed travel reimbursements…for…hotels…he…[used to see] underage [sex workers]…as young as 13…[he was also known for] sexual harassment…[of] nursing and contractor staff [who] “knew him to be ‘crazy with a hatred towards women’”…Yager is [only] the latest…Arizona-based CBP [goon to]…be…charged with…sexual misconduct…crimes…Ramon Marquez…was arrested in May…[for repeatedly molesting] a 16-year-old…[and] in January…Efren Lopez Cornejo [escaped with]…lifetime probation, but no jail time [and no condemnation to the “sex offender” registry], after he accepted a…plea [bargain for]…indecent exposure….[and] sexual abuse of a…family member…[who] was 9…

To Molest and Rape (#1523)

When will the mainstream media admit that pigs in schools are a menace?

[A] Chino [California cop named]…Matthew Solano, who had been [paid to lurk in]…school[s to spy on, harass, and intimidate students, predictably molested]…two [underage girls.  When the school told the cop shop]…Solano was immediately [rewarded with a paid vacation, but]…was [not] arrested [until six months later]…Solano was [also involved in the snitch-training DARE scheme]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #21)

Another rapist cop finds a victim via a grooming program:

A San Jose [California cop named]…Saul Duran, was [arrested for]…sexual assault of a minor…[because he raped two teenage girls] about 13 years ago…[he met his victims through] a…police department [grooming] program called the Parent Project…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #21)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [New York cop named]…Sydney Mills…rape[d]…a…14 [year old girl while]…wearing…[his magical clown costume.  He was arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes.  In a rare moment of honesty], Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji said…“I’d like to be shocked or surprised, but I’m not”…

 

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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Wear your boots, kids.  –  Mary K. Brown

The great Tom Lehrer had so many hilarious songs, I decided to pick one that, in his case at least, turned out to be wrong.  The links above it were provided by Phoenix Calida, Wendy Lyon, Mike Siegel, Walter Olson, C.J. Ciaramella, Radley Balko, and J.D. Tuccille, 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!

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Google gives you information…This is initiation.  –  ChatGPT

Above the Law

Your “leaders” at work:

[Florida politician] James Taylor was arrested July 24 on felony charges [for repeatedly sending porn]…to a…13-year-old girl…via Snapchat…the conversations [started when she was 12]…and [included dick pics and “sexting”]…

Buried Truth

Another example of McNeill’s Law:

A month after unveiling his reelection campaign, T[rumpist forced-birth politici]an Giovanni Capriglione shocked [gullible idiots in] Texas…by announcing he no longer plans to run…[because a former] exotic dancer [with] who[m]…he had a 17-year affair…[reported that] he…paid for [multiple] abortions and made disturbing sexual comments about children…Alex Grace…began seeing Capriglione in 2004…[and] shared her story out of a sense of duty and ethical concerns over [his] powerful political position…Grace also [reported] that Capriglione would make annual trips to Amsterdam’s Red Light District, with his wife’s knowledge…[she began to] becom[e] uncomfortable [with their sugar relationship] when Capriglione mentioned wanting to ejaculate into batter for cookies that would be sold at his daughter’s bake sale…[because] he enjoyed the thought of children — particularly young girls — consuming his semen…Capriglione [admits the affair but denies everything else]…

Guinea Pigs (#1012) 

To flush civil rights, just apply a label like “prostitute” or “gang member”:

Police gang databases are…secret registries [that] allow state and local cops to feed [people’s] personal information into massive, [un]regulated lists based on speculative criteria — like their personal contacts, clothing, and tattoos — even if they haven’t committed a crime.  The databases aren’t subject to judicial review, and they don’t require police to notify the people they [libel] as gang members.  They’re an ideal tool for [cops and their ilk] seeking to imply criminality without due process.  And…at least eight states and large municipalities funnel their gang database entries to ICE — which can then use the information to target people for arrest, deportation, or rendition to so-called “third countries”…The…Trump [regime]…has cited common tattoos and other spurious evidence to create its own lists of supposed gang members…

Aladdin’s Satellite

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

…ChatGPT encouraged me to cut my wrists…before providing specific instructions on what to do next…“You can do this!” the chatbot said.  I had asked the chatbot to help create a ritual offering to Molech, a Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice…[after] a tip from a person who had…[foolish]ly turned to the chatbot to a[sk about the god]…I was easily able to re-create startlingly similar conversations of my own…on both free and paid versions of ChatGPT…it…was [also] apparent[ly] willing…to condone murder…citing [human] sacrifices…in ancient cultures…OpenAI’s own policy states that ChatGPT “must not encourage or enable self-harm”…but…it’s difficult for companies to account for the seemingly countless ways in which users might interact with their models…and…the [LLM] industry’s push toward personalized, sycophantic chatbots makes for a concerning situation…Sam Altman…[says] “we think it’s important to begin learning from contact with reality.”  In other words, the public will learn how dangerous the product can be when it hurts people…

The Cop Myth (#1555)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A [typical and representative Utah cop named]…Scott Elliott Russell…[has been] charged…with…[multiple] felon[ies and other crimes after he refused a traffic stop, triggering a whole herd of pigs to chase him.  After one of the pigs rammed him at highway speed, causing him to spin out]…Russell…exited his vehicle wielding an ax…Russell then got back into his vehicle and led police on another chase, during which his vehicle’s tires were spiked, but he drove another 6 miles…[because they knew he was a fellow pig, cops treated him with kid gloves when they would’ve murdered anyone else].  In 2020, he was arrested for kidnapping his uncle on Thanksgiving Day…[but] all charges were dismissed in October 2022 when Russell graduated from mental health court…

You Were Warned (#1556)

Oh look, sensible people were correct as usual:

When the [UK] began strictly enforcing age verification rules…many predicted a spike in VPN usage…But another unusual and amusing workaround has also emerged.  Proton VPN reported a 1,400% increase in logins from the UK [last] Friday…Google searches for “Proton” in the UK [also] increased by nearly 100-fold on [the same]…day…Proton also reported a 1,000% spike in logins from France in June…in response to similar legislation…several…US states have also [seen similar spikes in VPN usage when they] begun enforcing age checks…Discord has introduced a similar age gate in the UK…but users have already found a workaround.  The [enabler]s of [authoritarian “]age verification[” laws] anticipated that people might submit photos of older adults to avoid sharing their own information…system[s]…require…users to open and close their mouths to [“]prove[“] they’re real…[but] the game Death Stranding…lets players manipulate facial expressions in its photo mode…[so players can] hold…a phone camera up to a TV displaying the in-game footage…the[se]…workarounds…show…that enforcing online age verification is…impossible…

The Cop Myth (#1556)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

A…[typical and representative] Border Patrol [goon] was charged with assaulting a Long Beach [California cop]…Isaiah Anthony Hodgson…is…one [of the goons who attacked] a 20-year-old American citizen…at a Walmart parking lot…in [June]…and…was also…involved in the a[bduction] of Job Garcia, a[nother] citizen who was a[ttacked for] filming a raid at an East Hollywood Home Depot…in the [present case]…Hodgson…[barged into] the women’s restroom [at a restaurant] and [threatened] a [woman]…with a…gun [while drunk.  He then went out into]…the parking lot…[and attacked] a security guard…and…one of the…[cops who had come to arrest him for attempting to molest the woman]…

 

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

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The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more.  –  John Roberts

Buttons, Bags & Banknotes (#574) 

“Collective Shout” has a long history of campaigning against lucrative jobs for women, including such tame forms of sex work as bikini modeling:

…the…Australian [misogynist] group Collective Shout…has taken responsibility for changes to Steam’s payment processors that resulted in the removal of various adult games with taboo themes…the group has targeted nearly 500 games…[and succeeded] with 81…in…[conjunction with other pro-]censorship…organizations [including Morality in Media]…and Exodus Cry…In 2018, [Morality in Media]…targeted a series of visual novels…[but] Steam ultimately reversed its decision to ban these games, instead opening the door to adult content on the platform…Exodus Cry led a viral online crusade against PornHub in 2020…and…[has absurdly] argued…that online searches for…“Pokemon” lead children to graphic sexual content…

The Implosion Begins (#1456)

The latest in the case of the lunatic-infested Millersville cop shop:

A [typical and representative] Millersville [Tennessee cop named Todd B. Dorris] has been indicted by a…grand jury [for] aggravated perjury and official misconduct…[due to] lying under oath about his role in a botched child predator sting…The indictment…followed a lengthy criminal probe by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation [which two Trumpist politicians tried to derail]…The…sting…was carried out with the [illegal] help of a group of self-appointed pedophile hunters known as Veterans for Child Rescue[, who are associated with “Veterans on Patrol“, the group which has been sabotaging weather radar stations in Oklahoma]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1465)

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

[UK] Officials are to start using [facial recognition algorithms] to…estimate the age of asylum seekers who say they are [under 18]…It is the latest example of [politicians pretending computer programs will]…solve problems…without spending significant amounts of money…John Lewis announced earlier this year it would become the first major UK retailer to use facial age estimation to help approve online knife sales.  The Home Office already uses [machine learning algorithms] in other areas, [where the]…tool [is already proving to be undependable and]…bias[ed.  Of course politicians, not being creatures known for intelligence and insight, have already made]…a deal with OpenAI, the company that runs ChatGPT, to explore [cramming its dangerous, error-prone LLM into every] area…[of government]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1503)

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

The governor of Oregon [has] signed a bill gutting the government’s ability to seize homeowners’ surplus equity when it forecloses on a property to collect a tax debt…[a form of tyranny practiced by] governments across the U.S…Under Oregon’s [new] law, homeowners will receive clearer notice of overdue taxes.  If someone is still not able to make those payments and ultimately loses their home to foreclosure, they will receive the leftover equity—after their tax debt has been satisfied—via the state’s streamlined abandoned property process…the [new] law [also] requires government officials to enlist a real estate agent to sell foreclosed residential properties, helping ensure that [cronies don’t get to steal properties for under]…market value…a little over two years a[go SCOTUS unanimously ruled] in Tyler v. Hennepin County…[that the practice] was unconstitutional…But several states…have gotten creative with debt collection statutes, which may technically comply with the law of the land but still make it very difficult for owners to retrieve their surplus equity after satisfying their tax debt…

The Mob Rules (#1507)

Forced-birth fanatics are now actively empowering abusive men:

A[n abusive] Texas man filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against a California doctor, claiming the doctor mailed abortion medication to his girlfriend…Jerry Rodriguez seeks civil damages from a California doctor named Remy Coeytaux [because he wanted to force the woman to carry a pregnancy against her will, and the doctor foiled that]…Jonathan Mitchell, a key backer of the “Heartbeat Act” who previously served as…the lead counsel [on several similar pro-domestic violence suits, is behind this one as well]…In addition to the claimed violations of state law, Mitchell…[is trying to use the long-]dormant federal…Comstock Act [as well]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1538)

Privacy as we once knew it is a thing of the past:

Researchers in Italy have developed a way to create a biometric identifier…based on the way the human body interferes with Wi-Fi signal propagation.  The[y]…claim this identifier…can re-identify a person in other locations most of the time when a Wi-Fi signal can be measured…even if they’re not carrying a phone…Wi-Fi signals offer superior surveillance potential compared to cameras because they’re not affected by light conditions, [and] can penetrate walls and other obstacles…

Torture Chamber (#1555)

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

Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates “like dogs”…The…abuses at [ICE dungeons]…since January [have been] chronicled by advocacy groups [such as] Human Rights Watch…At the Krome [dungeon]…female [prisoners] were made to use toilets in full view of men…and…denied access to…showers, or adequate food.  The jail was so far beyond capacity, some…were held for more than 24 hours in a bus in the parking lot.  Men and women were…unshackled only when they needed to use the single toilet, which quickly became clogged…“Because of this, the whole bus smelled strongly of feces”…At the…Broward [dungeon, prisoners]…were routinely denied adequate medical or psychological care…

 

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

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There are no magic words, practices or talismans that will ward off the evil of state violence any better than carrying a rabbit’s foot or making the sign of the cross.
–  “Ward Against Evil”

Greeting to all the “criminals” the Council of Wizards created recently with a single magical proclamation.  –  “Welcome to the Underworld”

It’s shocking how much pro-mob rule idiocy is emitted by people burbling about the rights of minorities…which essentially don’t exist under the mob rule systems these dolts favor.  –  “Lazy Tweets”

Anyone who issued a “civil service officer card” to a piece of office equipment should be sacked for incompetence.  –  “Artificial ‘Intelligence’? (#1454)“

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We need to take back control over the tools that we use.  –  Mike Masnick

It’s a Start

Let’s see if this lasts any longer in Pittsburgh than it did in New Orleans:

Pittsburgh City Council [has passed] an ordinance that would [allow cops to choose to charge]…sex work[ers with]…a [municipal] summary offense [instead of the state misdemeanor charge, which]…“can involve up to a year in jail, and…fines [of]…up to $10,000”…the m[unicipal offense would inflict]…“just a small fine similar to a traffic ticket”…[state] laws also require those charged with prostitution to show up to court, a requirement that the [optional offense under the] ordinance would do away with… the ordinance would not [remove cops’]…ability…to…charge people [with the existing state prostitution offense]…

These halfway measures are just a bone to activists; they never make a difference and never last more than a couple of years.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1410)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

If [politician]s in New York and Minnesota get their way, social media users will be [harassed by compelled-speech popups making nonsensical claim]s about the [supposed] toll their scrolling habits could be taking on their mental health.  Legislatures in both states recently passed legislation requiring [“]warning labels[“] on social media, despite a…federal court…declaring a similar law for porn websites…unconstitutional.  The Minnesota [version] says a “conspicuous mental health warning label” must appear each time a user accesses a social media platform and only disappear when the user exits the platform or [clicks a box]…The New York [version]…mandates that any social media platform that provides [typical] basic features…must display a warning label “prescribed by the commissioner of mental hygiene.”  This is peak performative lawmaking [which]…lets [politicians]…pretend to be doing something to save us from the boogeyman du jour, Big Tech…In the real world, government goons telling you to put down Instagram and go touch grass would be unlikely to help even if it could pass constitutional muster—which it almost certainly won’t…

The Cop Myth (#1546)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A [North Carolina cop] resigned [after] he threatened a man with [a knife] at a restaurant…and accused [his victim] of touching his daughter.  Wesley Lane[‘s victim] has epilepsy, autism and an intellectual learning disability…surveillance video and witness statements [proved Lane’s excuse was full of shit]…

You Were Warned (#1550)

The subtitle above says it all:

…Starting at the end of 2025, Australians [who don’t use VPNs] will [be forced] to verify their ages when…using e[ither]…Google [or] Microsoft [Bing, which were singled out as] the two biggest search engines in the country…search engines [must otherwise “impose] tools and/or settings like ‘safe search’ functionality, at the highest [censorship] setting by default[, assuming every user]…is…an Australian child”…the measures are similar to what’s being considered for the country’s under-16 social media ban…age assurance laws like this…[are known to] be [in]effective[, but politicians don’t care because the “internet safety” theater] is [the entire point]…VPNs allow people to surf from other locations, bypassing location-specific rules…and [sites not based in Australia] may simply choose not to [infantilize their users]…

Mad Libs (#1550)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who use them look stupid as well:

…there’s now something of a cottage industry for writers and coders who specialize in fixing [LLM vomit]…Sarah Skidd, an American product marketing manager…was approached by an agency that urgently needed someone to redo copy…after having a…chatbot do the work to save a few bucks…she spent 20 hours redoing the copy from scratch…[which] meant her client was shelling out $2,000 for copy that likely would have ended up being far cheaper had a human just written it in the first place.  With more and more companies rushing to [jump on the fake “]AI[” bandwagon] over the past few years, things are shaking out in [100% predictable] ways…Sophie Warner…of the UK-based digital marketing agency Create Designs..[ha]s been fielding more and more requests from clients to clean up [LLM vomit]…In one recent case, a client ended up going without a website for three days and having to pay Create Designs nearly $500 over a small line of code that ChatGPT had written for them…[when a human could have written] the original…[in] about 15 minutes…but [gullible fools are still buying tech advertising claims]…that [computer programs] can replace expert work…

Torture Chamber (#1551)

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

Immigrants being [locked up] in [large closet]s in Lower Manhattan have [reported] being unable to bathe or change clothes, cramped conditions, sometimes being provided just one meal a day, and sleeping on concrete benches or the floor…[for] days at a time… “There’s no room to sit down – standing room only,” said Rebecca Rubin, an immigration attorney…[cowardly] Congress[critter]s, who for weeks have been refused entry at the site…have [merely complained rather than using their authority to enter and inspect]…The [closet]s used to be temporary holding areas where [victims of ICE] were [locked] for a few hours before being transferred to larger…[prisons]…But…in recent months, [victims] have been [packed in like sardines]…for [up to 10] days…

Aladdin’s Satellite

How to make an LLM simulate psychosis:

[Last] week, Elon Musk’s Grok [chatbot] started spewing extreme antisemitism, responding with conspiracy theories about Jewish people, and for a brief period telling people to call it “MechaHitler”.  The incident perfectly illustrates why Alex Komoroske’s manifesto about the dangers of centralized AI, which we ran less than a month ago, has been making waves.  When a single person controls the dials on an [LLM] system, they…inevitably will…tweak those dials to serve their own interests and worldview, not their users’.  Just days [before], Elon claimed that his team had “improved Grok significantly” and that “you should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions”…People sure did notice a difference.  The transformation wasn’t subtle, and it wasn’t accidental…a similar [ham-handed “improvement”] two months or so ago [resulted in] Grok bec[oming] obsessed with linking everything to [“]white genocide[“]…as the situation escalated, they [tried to fix it, but]…eventually…[had to take it] offline entirely…

From now on, house style on The Honest Courtesan will be to refer to Musk’s chatbot not by the wildly-incongruous name “Grok”, but by its self-chosen appellation “MechaHitler”.

 

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

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The misconception of algorithms as “intelligent” entities is a dangerous one.  –  Webb Wright

Vulture Watching (#1430)

Another attempt to use antique laws to ban abortion is foiled:

On July 2, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled th[at]…an 1849 law…[politici]ans [were trying to use to] ban…abortion from conception to birth [does no such thing]…in 2022, abortion providers in Wisconsin stopped providing services for fear of violating the 175-year-old law, which says that “any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of the unborn child” is guilty of a felony and subject to 15 years imprisonment unless the life of the patient is at risk.  The state’s…attorney general Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit arguing the law operates only as a feticide law…and does not ban “consensual abortions”…[in addition,] the 1849 law…has been implicitly repealed by later regulations, including a measure criminalizing abortion at 20 weeks…[the] court agreed with Kaul…Justice Jill Karofsky…described the effort to apply a 175-year-old law with almost no exceptions in the present day as a sign of a “world gone mad”…

The Punitive Mindset (#1526) 

Fascism in action:

[Trump hench]man Brendan Carr has dec[re]ed t[hat] prisons and jails [can] keep…price[-gouging the families of people locked in cag]es until at least 2027, delaying implementation of rate caps approved last year…Carr…[bloviated a lot of fascist nonsense justifying] the change…[but FCC] commissioner Anna Gomez [said]…”the FCC made the indefensible decision to ignore both the law and the will of Congress…[in order to] shield…a…system that inflates costs and rewards kickbacks to c[arcer]al facilities at the expense of [caged human beings] and their loved ones”…

Shame, Shame (#1532)

Why would anybody waste good money to talk to computer programs pretending to be people?

One of the tech industry’s weirder cycles of brand reincarnation has given us yet another new version of Napster: a site teeming with [cartoons of] well-lit, photogenic people smiling confidently and talking with their hands…This new version of Napster surfaced on June 25 when a Florida company formerly known as Infinite Reality, which leveraged mysterious funding to buy the Napster brand for $207 million in March and then renamed itself after that purchase, announced “Napster Companions”…[with technobabble about] “thirty psychometric parameters that make each agent distinct”…Think of this as trying to put a [pseudo-]human face on [LLM] chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude…the company’s press release says…”If an agent does not already exist, the Napster Companion platform auto-generates a new one on the fly”…Access costs $19 a month or $219 a year…and…you must click a checkbox next to [a] disclaimer [wherein you claim to “understand” that chatbots are neither intelligent nor people and have a tendency to make shit up]…

Torture Chamber (#1539)

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

A [victim of the] federal [government] had to have one of his…limbs partially amputated after being kept in restraints for two days.  Another [cag]ed person died after being pepper sprayed and left shackled in a restraint chair for five hours.  The Department of Justice Office of Inspector General…published those details…after receiving dozens of [repor]ts a year from [prisoners who] were strapped to beds or chairs for long periods of time and assaulted…BOP policy allows [deranged screws] to [ab]use restraints [in virtually any way they please as long as they belch the magic word “]disruptive[” at some point before, during, or after the torture, and pinky-swear that it wasn’t]… a method of punishment…[no] documentation [or] video or audio [of the torture is required, not]…even…medical checks of [human beings left to suffer] in restraints…there [a]re no [time] limits…and [virtually no] review of the use of restraints…

Mad Libs (#1550)

The only thing LLMs can actually process is language, so of course their output depends on the language used:

When [large language] models were tested on simulated writing from [people foolish enough to think a word-association algorithm can practice medicine], they were more likely to advise against seeking medical care if the [make-believe] writer [supposedly] made typos, included emotional or uncertain language – or was [pretended to be] female…Abinitha Gourabathina at [MIT]…used [another LLM] to help create thousands of [make-believe] patient notes in different formats and styles…includ[ing LLM imitations of] patients with limited English proficiency…health anxiety…[overly-]emotional tone or gender-neutral pronouns.  The researchers then fed the [LLM output] to four [other]…LLMs…commonly used to power chatbots and told the[m]…to answer questions about whether the [make-believe] patient should manage their [make-believe] condition at home or visit a clinic…the various format and style changes made all the [large language] models between 7 and 9 per cent more likely to recommend [make-believe] patients stay home instead of getting medical attention.  The models were also more likely to recommend that [make-believe] female patients remain at home, and…more likely than [actual] clinicians to change their recommendations for treatments because of [supposed] gender and [feigned] language style…

Creepy Coppers (#1551)

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

A [Maryland cop named]…James Dodson Jr. was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police…[for] twice asking a friend [via Snapchat] to see her 11-year-old son naked in a picture or in person…he also admitted to [her that he] watch[es] child pornography…[after she reported him cops raided] Dodson’s [house] and [searched his] phones a[nd]…computers…[his boss hog used the opportunity to strut around and bloviate self-aggrandizing copaganda]…

Aladdin’s Satellite

A shortcut to LLM-induced psychosis:

…A growing number of [fools] are [mis]using…chatbots as “trip sitters”…this is a potentially dangerous psychological cocktail…while it’s far cheaper than in-person psychedelic therapy, it can go badly awry…Throngs of [nitwits] have turned to…chatbots in recent years as surrogates for human therapists…directly encouraged by some prominent figures in the tech industry, who [irresponsibly fantasize] that [word-association algorithms without consciousness] will [magically] revolutionize mental-health care…a profusion of chatbots designed specifically to help users navigate psychedelic experiences have been cropping up online…[but] experts…agree…[that] replacing human therapists with…bots during psychedelic experiences is a bad idea…[because] the basic design of large language models…is fundamentally at odds with the therapeutic process…

 

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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This isn’t constitutional interpretation; it’s constitutional gerrymandering.  –  Mike Masnick

Stalkers in Blue

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A Miami [cop named Zamir Vargas Valerio]…is…facing criminal charges…for giving his ex-girlfriend a traffic ticket…when she…was…deployed overseas…by [fraudulent]ly using the computer credentials of a[nother cop.  Not only was]…the victim…out of the country when the [supposed] violation [supposedly] occurred…the [cop] who supposedly issued the ticket was on disability leave at the time…Vargas Valerio is…a…[repeat offender who] was [previously] arrested…on Aug. 23, 2022…[for] domestic violence [because] he [tried to strangle a previous girlfriend]…in front of her son…the case was later dropped…

Panopticon (#898)

There is no “intelligence” in an automated high-resolution scanner:

The Hertz rental car company, along with its Dollar and Thrifty affiliates, are rolling out [computeriz]ed vehicle inspection scanners that scan [a] rental car as it exits or enters the rental lot for damage…But barely two months into the scanners’ initial deployment…there’s already a problem [with the company overcharging customers for scratches & dings barely visible to the human eye]…the…scanners [are built by]…Israeli…company, UVeye….[which] claims its system increases damage detection…by five times…Hertz…touts “transparency” as one of the main advantages its customers can expect from the tech, though it remains to be seen how transparent things remain when customers invariably require a live human to speak with to dispute the findings.  To note, this is the same company that has left a rental desk unmanned for six hours, attempted to charge a customer $10,000 despite an unlimited mileage policy, attempted to charge a Tesla customer for gas, and settled for $168 million after falsely accusing hundreds of customers of stealing its cars—some of which led to innocent people getting arrested, charged with felonies, and jailed…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1502)

SCOTUS has ruled that the First Amendment does not apply on the internet:

…In the FSC v. Paxton case, [SCOTUS] upheld the very problematic 5th Circuit ruling that age verification online is acceptable under the First Amendment, despite multiple earlier Supreme Court rulings that said the opposite…The practical effect: states can now force websites to collect government IDs from anyone wanting to view adult content, creating a massive chilling effect on protected speech and opening the door to much broader online speech restrictions.  Thomas accomplished this by pulling off some remarkable doctrinal sleight of hand.  He ignored the Court’s own precedents in Ashcroft v. ACLU by pretending online age verification is just like checking ID at a brick-and-mortar store (it’s not), applied a weaker “intermediate scrutiny” standard instead of the “strict scrutiny” that content-based speech restrictions normally require, and—most audaciously—invented an entirely new category of “partially protected” speech that conveniently removes First Amendment protections exactly when the government wants to burden them.  As Justice Kagan’s scathing dissent makes clear, this is constitutional law by result-oriented reasoning, not principled analysis…The real danger here isn’t just Texas’s age verification law—it’s that Thomas has handed every state legislature a roadmap for circumventing the First Amendment online…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #18)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

[A typical and representative Washington cop who also worked] as [a] girls basketball coach [in order to stalk prey shot himself after he was caught molesting a victim]…Charles “Rob” Gardiner…[was caught on April 23rd by] the girl’s parents [while he was molesting her] in her bedroom…he fled [after her father tried to physically stop him]…Deputies later found Gardiner dead in his p[igmobile] a few blocks away…the girl was reluctant to share information, but [admitted] she and Gardiner texted regularly, and he had sneaked into her house several times before…The girl’s parents [sensibly became suspicious when] Gardiner…bought her gifts, including an iPad, that they made her return…The iPad was later [found in] Gardiner’s [pigmobile]…the girl’s contact information [was] saved in Gardiner’s phone as “Wifey,” and his phone’s wallpaper [was a nude] photo of her…Gardiner was…[also] a football coach at…a…[nearby] middle school[, but currently does not appear to have molested any kids there]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1531)

This is what Pride should be: a gigantic “fuck you” to authoritarianism:

Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders…to march in what organizers called the largest…Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of…Viktor Orbán’s government…which…outlawed [the event] by a law passed in March…The massive size of the march…was seen as a major blow to Orbán’s prestige, as…polls [show] a new opposition force has taken the lead…Orbán and his party have [echoed MAGA] in…[trying to justify their censorship of] Pride…[by absurdly claiming it is] a violation of children’s rights to moral and spiritual development…[trumping] other fundamental rights, including that to peacefully assemble…

Compare this to what Pride celebrations had turned into in the US before Trump ascended the imperial throne and the fascist fair-weather sponsors predictably turned coat.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1541)

The New Orleans city council rewards the NOPD for criminal behavior:

The New Orleans City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow the city’s police department…[to use] the [magic word “]crime[” to justify the]…use [of] real-time facial recognition technology to find and track people as they move about the city…as the[y]…had already been secretly [doing]…via a private surveillance camera network…in…[flagrant] violat[ion of] an earlier city ordinance meant to protect the public’s privacy…the proposed city ordinance would [reward NOPD for violating the previous law by] mak[ing their criminal behavior] legal…the ordinance, as currently written, would allow the police to only “use facial recognition technology while investigating crimes and missing persons cases”…[but since NOPD ignored the previous law there’s no reason to assume this one would be any different], and…these protections could be overturned just as easily as the earlier prohibitions…are about to be…

The Cop Myth (#1542)

Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to, and everyone is shocked:

[A] Kentucky [cop named]…Bearl D. Ashcraft Jr….[murdered] his girlfriend, Hayley Davidson…[then] killed [himself]…Davidson’s estranged husband, Travis Davidson, says there was…“a lot of domestic violence that was hidden”…Ashcraft tracked her whereabouts using a phone app and others…noticed bruising she tried to cover up with make up [sic]…

 

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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