Last November…Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a pair of medical marijuana initiatives…a [cour]t ruling [has now] rejected [a legal] challenge [from a prohibitionist politician], allowing authorized patients to possess up to five ounces of marijuana…[and] clear[ing] the way for state licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries…Initiative 437…passed by a whopping 42-point margin…[but typical and representative politician] John Kuehn…tried to block the initiatives by [similar legalistic chicanery to that used in South Dakota]…
Almost two years ago, Louisiana passed a law that started a [“monkey see, monkey do” parade]…across the entire U.S. South, and has changed the way people there can access adult content. As of today, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina join the list of 17 states that can’t access some of the most popular porn sites on the internet [without a VPN]…To remain compliant with the law while protecting users’ privacy…Pornhub is currently blocked in Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, [and] South Carolina…Georgia’s age verification bill…is set to go into effect in July…visitors [in the affected states typically] go to sites with worse moderation practices and no requirements on identity verification for uploaders…[but] if someone wanted to visit Pornhub [specifically], they could easily get around any age verification barriers with a VPN, which we consistently see searches for spike when these laws go into effect…
A Nebraska man whose house title was s[tolen by the county] over a modest property tax debt has finally gotten it back, ending a yearslong legal battle…In 2014, Kevin Fair was unable to pay his $588 property tax bill after quitting his job to care for his dying wife, Terry…the Scotts Bluff County government quietly sold that debt to a private investor, Continental Resources, which continued to satisfy the Fairs’ property taxes—until 2018, when the company sent the couple a bill for $5,268…[payable] within 90 days, or lose their house…[and] all of their equity…That was business as usual in Nebraska…one of many states engaging in legalized home equity theft…The U.S. Supreme Court considered the issue in 2023…and…With that ruling in mind, Nebraska’s top court reconsidered its previous decision and ruled that Fair would not have to sacrifice..his title…Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision…some states are still trying to find creative ways to get around…the law…[with] Illinois and DC a[s] the most blatant continuing offenders…
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit [over the fact] that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads. In the proposed class-action settlement…Apple…[gets to pretend the recording was] “unintentional”…the settlement…lets Apple off the hook pretty cheaply. If…Apple users had won, Apple could’ve been fined more than $1.5 billion under the Wiretap Act alone…the [eavesdropping was]…initially exposed by The Guardian in 2019…Google faces a similar lawsuit [which]…likely won’t be settled until this fall…
An Oregon…[screw named Nicholas T. Alexander murder]ed his 16-year-old daughter…Larissa [and then shot himself because he was about to be criminally charged with something his boss hogs are now covering up]…
11 teens [in Illinois were] arrested for beating two men they had lured using a gay dating app…in two different incidents on the evening of July 8, 2024…and [also] vandaliz[ing] their cars. Both victims were able to escape and report the attacks to police. The attacks are…part of a[n ugly internet fa]d where teens use gay dating apps to target adult gay men they [pretend] are attempting to hook up with underage males…
Video footage and other data collected by Tesla helped [cops] quickly piece together how a Cybertruck came to explode outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day…the investigation …highlights how car companies vacuum up reams of data that can…be…[handed] to third parties without drivers’ knowledge [or consent] …“These are panopticons on wheels,” said Albert Fox Cahn…[of] the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project…abusive spouses track…partners’ locations…insurers raise…rates based on [secretly-recorded] driving behavior data…[and cop shops seeking surveillance] video from Tesla cars…have…obtained warrants to [steal] vehicles to secure such footage…
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!
A [typical and representative Texas] youth pastor…[named] Luke Cunningham…was indicted on [charges of child molestation and various related crimes. Several]…Lubbock [churches kept employing him despite numerous local accusations dating]…back [to] January of 2016…and [others]…dating back to 2013…
…Sweeping calls to collect data on marginalized populations and automate decisions about what constitutes a human trafficking pattern are dangerous. Women…migrants, [people of color,] and queer people face profiling and persecution under surveillance regimes that [intentionally conflate] consensual adult sex work and human trafficking…language models [will] be built on discriminatory stereotypes which have [been used to] plague…[sex workers] for decades…Such tropes cause disproportionate surveillance of poor, racialized, and transgender sex workers, and in[tentional]ly categorize standard safety tactics as trafficking indicators. Studies show that digital tools and policies which take a…similarly broad approach to collecting evidence of alleged exploitation online are dangerous and counterproductive…A 2022 study into technology which scraped and analyzed advertisements for sexual services found “misalignment between developers, users of the platform, and sex industry workers they are [pretend]ing to assist,” concluding that these approaches are “ineffective” and “exacerbate harm”…
…hacktivists [have] published the customer support database for Brainstack, a Ukrainian company that runs a phone tracking service called mSpy. (It was the third mSpy security breach in a decade.) The database includes messages from…ICE…agents…a U.S. circuit court judge…Employees at the U.S. State Department…and…many more…officials…in the…[US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam. The hacktivist said]…”From all the past stalkerware leaks, usually what leaks is victim data”…But this leak was about mSpy’s clients—essentially turning the surveillance back against the surveilers…Unlike other intelligence-for-hire services, mSpy requires users to have intimate access to the target already. The software must be installed directly on the target’s phone, iCloud account, or WiFi network. Afterwards, it provides the user with the target’s call logs, messages, and location data. Brainstack [sani]tises mSpy as a parental guidance tool, but others [more accurate]ely [describe] the service [as] “stalkerware“. Indeed, a few of the [hacked] messages came from [cop shops] and [spook houses] looking for a way to send mSpy a subpoena or warrant because [it allows spying by people who aren’t them]…
Spain’s [increasingly-unpopular] anti-sex-work…Socialist Party (PSOE) government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has unveiled a new age verification app that will become mandatory for [clueless] adult[s]…in the country starting in September. The Cartera Digital app and its age verification protocols…were announced…by…Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service José Luis Escrivá Belmonte …[who] described the existence of [speech socialists dislike] as “a problem,” and [conflated]…“the great majority of young people between 18 and 26 years old” [with legal minors]…
Strip clubs and other adult entertainment establishments in Florida are challenging the state’s [new] law that prevents them from employing adults…under 21…lawyers filed suit against the state…in the name of 19-year-old Serenity Michelle Bushey, a nude dancer at…a [Florida] strip club…[because] the law’s arbitrary raising of the age requirement “not only made her lose her job but also violated her constitutional rights”…The plaintiffs also include Café Risque, strip club chain Sinsations and Jacksonville pleasure products store Exotic Fantasies…Bushey and at least eight [other] Café Risque dancers have lost their jobs, and [the suit] argues that the law also violates their First Amendment right[s]…
An Oklahoma City [cop named]…Ryan Stark…brought [his girlfriend] to his house and tried to take her phone…she tried to escape…[his pigmobile], but…he…accelerated the car, breaking her foot on the garage door…he [then]…held [her] against her will…put a gun to her head…[and] threat[ened] to kill her…[then raped her]. Stark was arrested [on June 29th and]…charged with domestic assault and battery…rape…and [associated crimes]…
Two laws requiring age verification online have been paused by federal courts…as legal challenges to them play out. [Laws like] the [ones from] Indiana [and]…Mississippi…have been [parad]ing [through] U.S. states this year and last, and represent a growing threat to privacy, anonymity, and free speech online. Federal courts have largely ruled against them when they are challenged, but this has not been universal. So, it’s probably good that the Supreme Court has agreed to take up…Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Ken Paxton…involving…[the] Texas [version of the] law…
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!
Every generation thinks it invented sex, or at least non-vanilla sex. – “Nothing New”
Had the LGBT “community” devoted its energies to securing the basic rights of all sexual minorities instead of wasting them in trying to force Christian fundamentalists to bake fucking overpriced cakes for their fucking bourgeois weddings, we’d be well on the way to decriminalization by now. – “The Big Table”
I’m heading into the dreadful days where my pineal gland starts engaging in the neurochemical equivalent of running around the house, turning on all the lights and cranking up the stereo full-blast while screaming obscenities, scattering its clothes all over the floor, losing the car keys, making an unholy mess in the kitchen and refusing to do its homework. – “Diary #347”
No wonder fantasies of whores “enslaved” by exploitative bosses who spy on their every move are so popular; it’s just amateurs projecting their work conditions onto us. – “Secret Squirrel (#916)”
To authoritarians, loyalty to friends and family over the diktats of megalomaniacal racist sociopaths is “misplaced”. – “Rooted in Racism (#1015)“
With the number of people interested in “human trafficking” mythology steadily shrinking, the rescue industry thinks the way to keep milking the mathematically-illiterate is to continually ratchet their fantasy numbers higher. Four years ago, IJM was claiming 40 million people; now they’re up to 50 million, or as they melodramatically claim, “The number of victims suffering could populate Australia twice.” Expressed differently, they’re claiming 1.25% of the entire world population consists of “slaves”.
Domestic violence experts say that [“smart” automobile] features are being weaponized in abusive relationships, and that car makers have not been willing to assist victims. This is particularly complicated when the victim is a co-owner of the car, or not named on the title…Controlling partners have tracked their victims’ cars in the past using GPS devices and Apple AirTags…but connected car apps offer new opportunities for harassment…[such as by] remote[ly] access[ing]…the…vehicle…to…[activate] lights…horns…heat…[or] air-conditioner…from afar…
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order [last] Friday that will immediately ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors within the state…a week after…he…vetoed a bill that would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, from surgeries to hormone blockers….the…[new] restricti[ons appear designed to insert bureaucrats into the doctor-patient relationship]…
Maine’s [new prostitution] law…represents a paternalistic philosophical premise: that sex workers are all victims and their consent to sexual activity is—like a minor’s—irrelevant…In an Orwellian twist, U.S. activists have been trying to rebrand it the “Equality Model“—an egregious misnomer, considering that the whole point of this model is that those selling sex (largely women) and those paying for it (largely men) should be treated differently under the law…Maggie McNeill wrote the ultimate essay on this more than 10 years ago. “The ‘Swedish model’ posits that paying for sex is a form of male violence against women,” McNeill noted. “This is why only the act of payment is de jure prohibited: the woman is legally defined as being unable to give valid consent, just as an adolescent girl is in the crime of statutory rape. The man is thus defined as morally superior to the woman; he is criminally culpable for his decisions, but she is not. In one case, a 17-year-old boy (a legal minor in Sweden) was convicted under the law, thus establishing that in the area of sex, adult women are less competent than male children”…
[Spooks] are [now claiming] that six high end brothels in the suburbs of Boston and Washington, D.C. were set up by a foreign nation as an espionage “honeytrap”…[which] targeted politicians, high ranking government officials and defense contractors…Russia, China, Korea itself, or even Israel are al[l claimed] as possibly being behind the scheme..[one spook belched out “]false flag[” while making furtive movements in his pants. A puritanical]…U.S. Attorney [vomited out drivel about] “accountability for the buyers“…[and another clown burbled about “]involvement in prostitution[” in order to make a very ordinary business sound scary so as to justify the huge expenditure of “investigating” people for having consensual sex]…
A California County is facing legal action after a 21-year-old woman committed suicide while [locked] in [the county’s cages]…Alicia Upton was arrested on April 19, 2022 [during a]…mental health [crisis]…yet despite her clear mental health distress…[she was locked] in…a…cell without safety features….and…on April 28…[she] hanged herself…using the sheets from her bed…18 people died while [locked in cages by] Riverside County…in 2022…and [a similar number in] 2023…[the] county…[also lies when] reporting deaths [by] labeling [legally innocent people] who die…[in its cages] as…”‘sentenced’ post-conviction prisoners” in reports to the Justice Department…
[A New York cop named]…Watson Morgan…[murdered his wife] Ornela…[and his] two sons ages 10 and 12…before turning the gun on himself…neighbors are having difficulty [understanding the concept of]…”a very loving father”…[cops] say the public is not in danger [from the deranged cop coming back from the dead to murder others, and absurdly barfed out the typical lie that a cop committing fatal domestic violence is]…an isolated incident…
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!
A few years ago, we gave our daughter, now 18, a stuffed bear for her birthday. At the time, we had recently discovered she had a boyfriend whom she was hiding from us…[so] we [decided] to [spy on her while pretending we weren’t]…breaking her trust…[by] install[ing] a hidden camera inside the eye of the stuffed bear. Our daughter is now in college, and we overheard her telling her roommate how grateful she was for our trust in her…We have been racked with guilt ever since. How can we tell our daughter about the camera without destroying our relationship with her? Should we tell her at all?
New Zealand’s new…coalition government is abandoning a [new]…plan to [expand the drug war by criminalizing] smoking for future generations, in a move [criticized by] health experts [who think they have the right to enforce their diktats with police violence]…the [scheme]…would [have] gradually raise[d] the legal age so that anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, would…[forever] be [criminalized for] buy[ing] tobacco [regardless of age]. The New Zealand [drug war expansion inspired a monkey see-monkey do parade, with]…England…Ireland…Wales…[and] Hong Kong [already in line behind the prohibitionist bandwagon]…
An Oklahoma City [cop with a long history of domestic violence] has been arrested again, but this time [for]…child abuse….Kristopher Gellenbeck…and…his…ex-wife…were exchanging their three children, ages 8-15, when he…began yelling at her and…pushed their oldest son out of the way to get to her. The…[boy] grabbed Gellenbeck by the shirt in an effort to pull him away from his mother…[he then responded by attempting to] strangle…the…[boy. But when] he…[saw she] was dialing 911…he…stopped strangling their son and ran towards her, grabbing her phone and “smashing” both of her hands against the window…“I never felt safe being around Kristopher, but I tried to do the correct thing and allow him to still see his children…[but they] have told me numerous times they do not want to go over to his house because they are afraid of him…I truly believe that if he gets close to use again, he can kill us,” Gellenbeck’s ex-wife wrote to a judge…In 2021, [Gellenbeck] was…charge[d with]…kidnapping…[and] domestic assault a[fter he broke into her house, tried to steal] her [entire] security camera system…grabbed her phone and [then held her prisoner for a while in her own home]…
Lawyers [for] Texas…[bizarrely argue] that women should sue their doctors, not the state, [because politicians inserted themselves and the police into the doctor-patient relationship]…Beth Klusmann of the Texas Attorney General’s Office [claimed] that [every possible life-threatening condition in pregnancy is invariably recognizable due to]…“a woman is bleeding…[and] has amniotic fluid running down her legs”…Zurawski v. Texas was brought by 22 women who[m]…state law…forced…to carry nonviable and dangerous pregnancies to term…many…were denied care because, despite the severity of the damage that the nonviable pregnancy was doing their body…they weren’t quite sick enough for it to be clearly life threatening. Forty businesses have also signed a brief in support of the suit — arguing that ambiguities in the law have…cost…nearly $15 billion in lost revenues, and businesses and employees leaving the state…the 2021 law flew in the face of a long history of doctors being allowed to determine when abortion was necessary to preserve the health of the mother under state law — even when the procedure, in general, was not legal…
Russia’s Supreme Court has declared what it calls “the international LGBT public movement” an extremist organisation and banned its activities across the country…even though no such organisation exists as a legal entity. The hearing was held behind closed doors, [and]…nobody from “the defendant’s side” had been present…Sergei Troshin, a municipal deputy in St Petersburg who came out as gay last year, [said]…”I think this will mean that anyone whom the state considers an LGBT activist could receive a long prison sentence for ‘participating in an extremist organisation’…There is panic in Russia’s LGBT community. People are emigrating urgently…We’re having to evacuate from our own country”…
Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization…
…Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes…us[ed] “unconstitutional suppression” of [Suzanne Whitehead’s] rights to free speech after she tried to tell the truth about Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad…[her new] lawsuit alleges Reyes “apparently believes” Ballard is the “chosen one” and…[therefore] treats Ballard as if he’s above the law…Reyes [even] wrote a [“very self-aggrandizing”] scene [for a proposed] sequel to the [propaganda] film…Sound of Freedom…[which] reinforces how Reyes covers for Ballard and fails to disclose financial conflicts…Whitehead says Reyes’ “political credibility” allowed the Attorney General to act as a “blocker, quashing complaints against Ballard and OUR with the cover of the top law enforcement officer in the state of Utah”…
[Florida cop] Aurelio Gerald Rodriguez…was arrested in [early] November…for…physical and sexual abuse [of]…3 girls who were related to him [in some unexplained fashion]. The girls are 9, 16 and 18 now and report that the abuse began [for the eldest] when [she] was…10 [and the second when she was 7]….[beside] the…grooming…and [molestation] he…[would talk about] their “sexual needs”…[and] his [own] needs. The girls described being always afraid of him because he was “angry and mean” to them while the [molestation]…occurred more times than they can estimate…The oldest girl said they were silent because they were afraid he would not let them see their mother, something…he…apparently controlled. The…molestation persisted…until he was [arrested]…in November…
Justin Sigmon…[is a typical and representative] Virginia [cop]…On May 25, 2023, he departed from…Miami on a Carnival cruise ship…and…[was] filmed in the ship’s dining room with a 9-year-old girl…described as his “relative” sitting on his lap while he persistently moved his hands to her inner thighs and genital area. The girl was seen pushing his hand away numerous times and he persisted…[even when] she crossed her legs…the molestation lasted about 10 minutes…and when the girl got up, he is seen touching and covering his own crotch for some time. This was recorded by a bystander and…confirmed by the ship’s surveillance cameras. He was charged in Florida with a federal crime when the ship docked on June 3, 2023…[and] convicted by a jury [on November 17th]…Sentencing was set for Jan. 12…
A[n nonymous London cop] has been [sacked] for [molesting]…an underage runaway [of unspecified age or gender]…who was reported missing…he…”exploited and abused” the [victim] after making contact with them on social media…on 16 August 2019…he…[even] allowed them to stay [at his place] on 26 August without informing police or social services…
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!
A [meta-analysis] from the University of Michigan [intentionally misuses the medical term “addiction” in order to make the clickbait declaration that] people can show signs of addiction to ultra-processed foods, which include ice cream, potato chips, and other products high in sugar and carbohydrates…Those addictions were on the same levels as the ones for alcohol and tobacco, the study [claime]d…co-author AlexandraDiFeliceantonio…pointed out that while you can give up smoking, drinking or gambling, you can’t stop eating[, which is exactly why applying the “addiction” model to foods is asinine and absurd]…dietician Erin Palinski-Wade [explained,] “Although foods rich in added sugar may stimulate the feel-good chemicals in the brain..sugar itself is not addictive in the way cocaine or another drug may be…eliminating it from the diet will not result in withdrawal symptoms or side effects as would happen from a true addiction”…
To paraphrase Jacob Sullum, “the study’s findings could just as truthfully be summarized as, ‘Research Shows That Alcohol and Tobacco Are No More Addictive Than Potato Chips’.”
…the Colorado Supreme Court…conceded that [a] warrant [demanding Google report everyone who searched a particular address where a crime took place] was “constitutionally defective” because it lacked individualized probably cause…[but] ruled that [pigs could use the illegally-obtained information against their chosen target anyhow, because they pinky-swore they didn’t know it was wrong]…Justice Monica M. Márquez objected in [her] dissent….[that cops knew] they were engaged in a “fishing expedition”…”reverse-keyword warrants…are…a high-tech version of the reviled ‘general warrants’ that first gave rise to the protections in the Fourth Amendment”…
A [typical and representative]…Cleveland [cop named]…Brandon N. Crites [has been] indicted on [charges] of receipt and distribution of child pornography…between 2022 and 2023…at least one image found in his possession involved a…prepubescent [child]…
Scroll through the livestreaming videos at 4 a.m. on Taobao, China’s most popular e-commerce platform, and you’ll find it weirdly busy. While most people are fast asleep, there are still many diligent streamers presenting products to the cameras and offering discounts…But…many of these livestream influencers seem slightly robotic…they are AI-generated [“]clones[“] of the real streamers. As technologies that create realistic avatars, voices, and movements get more sophisticated and affordable, the popularity of these deepfakes has exploded across China’s e-commerce streaming platforms…With just a few minutes of sample video and $1,000 in costs, brands can [“]clone[“] a human streamer to work 24/7…
Teenagers have long balked at telling parents where they are. Now, they’re asking their parents to track them…[helicopter parenting] and real-time news—with vivid images about the pandemic, war and other disasters—have heightened…anxieties among young people…Members of Gen Z, ages [5 to 22], say they use family location-sharing apps to bolster a sense of security. Downloads of [a surveillance app named] Life360 doubled in the U.S. since 2021. The app now has more than 33 million monthly active users in the U.S. and another 20 million internationally. Even more teens share their location using Apple’s Find My, Google’s Family Link, Snapchat’s Snap Map and GPS-equipped smartwatches…
[Fad laws that attempt to criminalize] pregnant Texas women from traveling through the [domains of showboating politicians] for an abortion in another state…[failed] in Amarillo…after…several members of the…City Council…questioned the legality of [these ordinances]…enforced through private lawsuits…these so-called abortion travel bans have questionable enforcement mechanisms, making them more like a ceremonial declaration than a legally binding statute. In an opinion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote “May a state bar a resident of that state from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion? In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel”…
The Republican Party of Virginia says it mailed out several thousand explicit political fliers to voters. The envelopes read, “Do not open if you are under the age of 18,″ and “Warning: Explicit material enclosed.” Inside the mailer…[were] two pieces of paper with censored quotes and screenshots from [Democratic candidate Susanna] Gibson’s public porn livestream…[both campaigns and both parties then flung competing barrages of monkey-poop at each other]…
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!
…an app called Life360…which claims over 50 million active users across 195 countries, is among the most popular [surveillance] apps in America. It lets parents [track their] kids…at all times, displaying their live coordinates on a map. But, according to nine federal cases dating back to at least 2018, it has also been used by sexual predators to monitor and control their victims. And privacy and trafficking experts say such misuse is hardly an anomaly; it’s becoming an issue with other apps like it including Apple’s “Find My Friends” and Google’s “Find My Phone” tools…
German police have been targeting and intimidating specific Twitter users who post or retweet explicit material, in an attempt to move forward local bureaucrat Tobias Schmid’s campaign to purge all open platforms of adult content…Der Spiegel…devoted an entire feature to the authorities’ campaign to deter users from sharing sexual content…NetzPolitik’s Sebastian Meineck has been covering Schmid’s meticulous, obsessive attempts to ban all sexual content from open platforms in Germany and Europe. In an in-depth report…Meineck wrote that authorities had already [censored] some 150 Twitter accounts for “distribution of pornography”…using the police to confront and threaten adult performers, creators and other sex workers over explicit videos and images they tweeted or promoted…Paulita Pappel, German porn producer and spokeswoman for the Free Speech Coalition Europe, [said]…“We are treated like criminals”…
Florida’s…Legislature…passed a ban on most abortions after six weeks…Ron DeSantis…has said he would sign the measure into law…House Speaker Paul Renner [chose] to close the public viewing galleries [using the absurd excuse that] a…protester…threw…a…[piece of] paper on the…floor…the…[only] exceptions [are] for rape and incest up until 15 weeks. The measure does not change the exceptions for the life and health of the mother up until 15 weeks that are in current law…the six-week ban will be on hold pending a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court on the constitutionality of a 15-week abortion ban DeSantis [recently] signed into law…[politician] Yvonne Hinson…[said] “I wonder how much Florida money is being spent on legal fees attempting to defend that bill”…the six-week…ban is not popular among Florida residents of either [duopoly faction]…A…poll in March showed 75%…opposed the six-week ban. That included 61% of Republicans…
Texas Jail Project…[h]as [collected hundreds of]…stories of medical neglect and abuse during pregnancy in county jails…We started bringing these stories and impacted community members to the quarterly meetings of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards…[where] we were mocked and brushed off by the commissioners and sheriffs as indulging in “mama drama”. This kind of dismissive response continued at the county commissioner’s court as well…a sheriff once alleged that we were making up these horror stories of pregnant women being neglected, miscarrying, and giving birth alone on dirty cell floors because “we don’t really have that many pregnant women in our jails”…[in reality] pregnant [women]…were rendered invisible in an already opaque system designed primarily by men, for men…The first successful bill we advocated for in 2009…mandated that jails [keep] count…[which showed that]…300 to 500 pregnant…[women] are booked monthly into Texas county jails…
A NYPD captain allegedly sent [dick pics] to a female detective and offered her favors if she would send him her panties, during a “relentless” 18 months of sexual harassment…Brian Flynn…sent more than 45…inappropriate photos and messages to…Michelle Almanzar…and retaliated against her when she spurned his advances…by making her stay late and redo reports and denied her personal time off…”he would often take his frustration out on her work partner as well as her team,” [her] lawsuit [explain]s…
Ammy Ventura…a…civilian [NYPD] employee…[foolishly submitted to the advances of] her supervisor, Widler Lucas…[who claimed] he was…going through a divorce at the same time she was…The pair then started dating in April 2021, with Ventura believing Lucas was divorced…They broke up around September 2021, after…Lucas [started behaving abusively]…Nine months after the pair’s break up, during a shift in August 2022, Lucas…grabbed Ventura by her hair, pulled her behind his desk and forced her to give him oral sex while his office door was wide open…Lucas [later] told Ventura never to speak about the affair, saying, “I’ll fucking kill you” and threatening to “push [her] in front of a train”…
The Missouri attorney general, citing a consumer protection law normally used to prosecute fraudulent business practices, issued a new state directive…that would severely restrict gender-transitioning treatment for both adults and minors…[based on the false claim that] they were considered “experimental”…[and claim]ing that the attorney general “is charged with protecting consumers, including minors, from harm”…While there is some debate among medical professionals about how to put in place gender-transitioning treatment for [legal minors], leading medical groups in the United States…oppose legislative bans…
The Washington state House approved a bill that would authorize state agencies to hide [legal minors] seeking transgender medical intervention from parents…under the bill, a disagreement between a[n adolescent] and parents over the [adolescent]’s desire for a medical transition constitutes “abuse and neglect,” only because the parent hasn’t “properly affirmed what the child [sic] wants”…
The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked heavy restrictions on the use of mifepristone…and will allow…physicians to continue using mifepristone for abortions past seven weeks and distributing the pill by mail and without an in-person visit…Kacsmaryk[‘s decision] in Texas…was robustly criticized by legal scholars and medical experts…[and] was in conflict with another decision issued by a district judge in Washington state…Judge Thomas Rice said that the FDA could not change how it regulates the drug in the locales that had filed suit…the…5th Circuit…partially blocked Kacsmaryk’s ruling, but said that instead, the FDA had to revert its approval of mifepristone to what was permitted in 2016: only allowing the drug to be used for people up to seven weeks of pregnancy, prohibiting its provision through telemedicine and requiring three in-person physician visits for anyone getting a prescription. Currently, the FDA permits mifepristone to be used up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, and the World Health Organization recommends its use up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Both endorse telemedicine for medication abortions…
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!
…Intrusive surveillance has become a parental rite of passage in America. But the parental panopticon is not a mark of maturity and responsibility but rather of paranoia, distrust, and devolvement. From smartphones to schools to entertainment, parents can track the near totality of their children’s lives with ease…The simple, slick, and seductive interfaces are designed to make parents feel warm, fuzzy, and responsible…[but] constant vigilance, research suggests, does the opposite of increasing teen safety. A University of Central Florida study of 200 teen/parent pairs found that parents who used monitoring apps were more likely to be authoritarian, and that teens who were monitored were…more likely to be exposed to unwanted explicit content and to bullying. Another study, from the Netherlands, found that monitored teens were more secretive and less likely to ask for help. It’s no surprise that most teens…feel that monitoring poisons a relationship. And there are very real situations, especially for queer and trans teens, where their safety may depend on being able to explore without exposing all the details to their family…
A self-[describ]ed porn addict and his mother wept with relief…after a[n Illinois] judge decided not to send [him] to prison for…child pornography…Joshua R. Skinner…was sentenced to 36 months probation…in…a…plea…deal…[which] also sentenced Skinner to 180 days [time served]…and [life on the “sex offender” registry]. Skinner [also blamed] his behavior…[on] heroin…alcohol…[and] cannabis…[and babbled about] God…
It’s at least a slight improvement to see the headline writer put “addict” in scare quotes.
A [female] New York City [cop has reveal]ed [that] her former commanding officer…serially rap[ed] her for more than a year while they worked together…In [her] lawsuit…Gillian Roberts…said she hoped to stay on the Yankee Stadium detail until her retirement, but decided to leave the department early last month when she could no longer handle the stress of becoming an “unwilling sex slave” to her “perverted” captain, Jeffrey Brienza…an NYPD spokesman said the “incident is under internal review”…
“Under internal review” in this case means “deciding whether to pay her off, claim she’s crazy and/or wanted it, or cut Brienza loose.”
A [typical and representative] Fairfax County [Virginia cop] has been convicted of [molesting] a 16-year-old [girl who parents foolishly allowed her to join a “police explorer” program]. John Grimes…[started grooming] the teen [by taking her] on ride-alongs. The FBI tipped off Fairfax County police after Grimes applied to become a special agent and underwent background checks…
The Chinese government, which has built an extensive digital infrastructure and security apparatus to [suppress] dissent on its own platforms, is going to even greater lengths to extend its internet dragnet to unmask and silence those who [tell the truth about] the country on Twitter, Facebook and other international social media. These new investigations…use advanced…s[pyware to root through] public records and databases to find all the…personal information and international social media presence of people who critize Chinese tyranny, including]…those living beyond China’s borders…The digital [crusade] represents the [logical development] of the government’s vast campaign to counter [inconvenient facts about] China. In recent years, the Communist Party has raised bot armies, deployed [useful idiots] and marshaled [shills] to push its [propaganda] and drown out [facts]. The police have taken it a step further, hounding and silencing those who dare to talk back…and…threatening relatives [of those outside China], in an effort to get them to delete content deemed [embarassing to the rulers]…
The [murder] of a Black Kansas teenager [by] multiple [screws who sat on him] at a juvenile jail…was [actually] ruled a homicide…Cedric Lofton, 17…[died by asphyxiation on]…Sept. 26, two days after he was [abducted by cops who claimed he touched them]…in Wichita…five [grown screws sat on]…the unarmed, 135-pound…[boy until he died]…Sedgwick County [“authorities” are hiding the identities of the murderers and have rewarded them with]…paid [vacations]…
YouTube has plenty of videos on how to fake your GPS location, and teens are doing it…[spokespig] Grady Thigpen [oinked a lot of ridiculous nonsense about how privacy from intrusive surveillance]…can actually be really dangerous for teens. [He infantilized]…young adult[s as]…child[ren and pretended that total violation of their privacy and trust is]…about their safety…
…[sex worker] Sophie Ladder noticed that different…platforms had different notions of what they considered “restricted content.” So [she]…decided to compile the variations in the form of a shareable spreadsheet…“It was interesting to see how different types of sites are, as a whole, more or less restrictive. The free tube sites overall are the most open, banning few things. The clip stores are somewhat restrictive. And the live camming sites are the most strict”…One challenge…was determining exactly what a particular site’s rules actually are….“many of these sites’ rules are vague to avoid the crackdown from their payment processors that would come with explicitly allowing X, Y, Z content, so instead their rules just don’t really mention X, Y, Z”…
A sex worker charity [w]as…excluded from a Scottish Government pledge of £60,000 to support women affected during the Covid-19 pandemic…the government [instead gave the money]…to…nine [prohibitionist] organisations…[activist] Molly Smith…said…”That the Scottish Government sees organisations which campaign to harm us as appropriate vehicles for our ‘support’ during this crisis shows just how screwed up policy-making on sex work is in Scotland”…
The Supreme Court created qualified immunity in 1982. With that novel invention, the court granted all government officials immunity for violating constitutional and civil rights unless the victims of those violations can show that the rights were “clearly established”…th[is]…is a legal obstacle that’s nearly impossible to overcome. It requires a victim to identify an earlier decision by the Supreme Court or a federal appeals court in the same jurisdiction holding that precisely the same conduct under the same circumstances is illegal or unconstitutional. If none exists, the official is immune…in February, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a Texas prison guard who pepper-sprayed an inmate in his locked cell “for no reason” did not violate clearly established law because similar cited cases involved guards who had hit and tased inmates for no reason, rather than pepper-spraying them for no reason…In the last year alone…courts have granted qualified immunity to [cops] who stole $225,000; a cop who shot a 10 year old while trying to shoot a nonthreatening family dog; prison officials who locked an inmate in a sewage-flooded cell for days; SWAT team members who fired gas grenades into an innocent woman’s empty home; medical board officials who rifled through a doctor’s client files without a warrant; county officials who held a 14 year old in pretrial solitary confinement for over a month; a cop who body-slammed a 5-foot-tall woman for walking away from him; and police who picked up a mentally infirmed man, drove him to the county line, and dropped him off at dusk along the highway, where he was later struck and killed by a motorist…
Swiss politicians have decided that sex workers can soon get back to business while activities and sports involving close physical contact such as judo, boxing and wrestling will remain prohibited. Prostitution …can resume from June 6, along with cinemas, nightclubs and public pools…Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset [said]…“To tell you the truth, erotic services could have resumed earlier.” Switzerland has dramatically slowed its Covid-19 infection rate while avoiding the strict confinement imposed in neighboring countries…It was among the first countries in Europe to reopen shops, restaurants and schools earlier this month…The [good sense of the] Swiss…contrasts with [the official whore stigma of]…the Netherlands…
The coronavirus ban on sex work, including the closure of brothels must be lifted, said Germany’s Federal Association of Sex Services (BSD) in an open letter…to 16 [prohibitionist] members of Germany’s parliament who recently [demanded imposition of the Swedish model]…The sex work industry must also be able “to generate income again and to offer customers a good service that is human and grounding for them,” states the letter [which] presents a “hygiene concept” that outlines how sex work could continue while minimizing infection…German states [have begun] to ease restrictions such as reopening restaurants, swimming pools and non-sexual massage parlours. Yet the blanket ban on all types of sex work remains in place…
Despite the mayor’s claim that police have enforced social distancing equally across Chicago…almost all arrests and citations for congregating have been issued on the city’s South and West sides. All 13 arrests and 11 of 13 citations have been issued in majority-Black and Latino neighborhoods…Between March 20 and May 21, 13 people were arrested for violating the stay at home orders. Ten were Black, one was white and two were juveniles whose race and arrest reports were withheld…
So much of the anti-prostitution laws that are being pushed is a combination of the conservative fetish for going after people for doing “sex stuff”, and the liberal instinct to “help” a group of people that they can’t be bothered to understand. – Kaytlin Bailey
Every year more than 40 million people are forced into the world of human trafficking across the globe and it’s someone’s son or daughter* that is trapped in this modern-day slavery…everyday Americans…are the most common victims of human trafficking…[it] is…everywhere…dark, insidious criminal world…shocking…[prohibitionist nobody ever heard of claims] “I’ve worked with over a thousand survivors of trafficking”…[professional survivor tells tale about] dark world of sex work…[another professional survivor claims she was] trapped in this dark underworld for nearly four years…FBI…in plain sight [blah blah “if you see something, say something”]…
*As opposed to what, people who appeared by spontaneous generation? One must also wonder how reporters think “sex trafficking” can be “in plain sight” when they also invariably and repeatedly insist that it’s a “dark underworld”.
…From 2014 to 2017, Lincoln Laboratory contributed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Memex program…Today, more than 30 agencies worldwide are using Memex software to conduct [surveillance]…One of the biggest users…is the…Manhattan [vice squad]…With the introduction of Memex, prostitution arrests…increased…Now, Memex tools are enabling [pigs] to quickly enhance [ordinary] cases and build sex trafficking [fantasies] from…little [evidence]…these tools…have been used to…[conjure imaginary] victims from data in a [typical] online prostitution advertisement…
Please, David Rosen, become a prohibitionist; if your attempts to hurt us are as incompetent as your attempts to “help”, they’ll be great pro-decrim arguments. Rosen quotes prohibitionist lie-factory Fondation Scelles; calls the Swedish Model “decriminalization”; trots out Pretty Woman; damns us with faint support like “sex work…is not always trafficking“; lauds “safe harbor” laws that allow cops to lock up underage sex workers indefinitely under the guise of “protecting” them; and peppers his essay with totally-wrong, “rescue”-friendly wanking fantasies like “sex work is a story of abuse, underpay and harassment – including rape“, and “while there has been a reported increase in independent or ‘freelance’ sex workers, commercial sex is often mediated by a pimp or a sex gang“. A “reported increase”? If you’re fancy yourself an ally, you might want to do some research before putting your hand in your pants while quoting racist propaganda about “pimps” and “gangs”. And stop putting scare quotes around words like “gentlemen” and “freelance”, which is a trick employed by people like Donna Hughes to cast doubt on what sex workers say about our own lives. The man is, in short, a dangerous imbecile and needs to be recognized as such.
[Cops] in Clarksville [Tennessee] have located a man dressed as a clown who prompted a police alert…[after] children [warped by a steady diet of “stranger danger” scare stories] reportedly thought he was trying to use candy to lure them into a moving vehicle…police said they located the man and he was “an older man who dresses up once a year on his birthday as a clown and hands out candy”…
The boss of a popular ice cream firm faces restrictions on his business after a judge [fantasized] that he could commit slavery offences. Salvatore “Sam” Lopresti…will not be able to employ staff or deal with wages at Lopresti Ice Cream, in Bristol. The measures are part of a Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order (STRO) that was imposed last week…Lopresti, and another family member, Robert Lopresti, had previously been charged with requiring a person to perform forced labour…However, charges against both men were dropped. Salvatore’s charges were dropped as he was ruled unfit to stand trial due to his dementia…District judge Lynne Matthews…said: “I am [a seer with power to see the future so I am] sure…you will commit a human trafficking or slavery offence…it is necessary for me to make this order because…[what] if you committed that type of offence”…
Louisiana district attorneys oppose a bill that would prohibit prosecutors from putting sexual assault and domestic violence victims in jail in order to compel them to testify in criminal cases…“This tool is very, very necessary for us to use on rare occasions,” [lied] Charles Ballay…head of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association…[even though] JP Morrell…[of] New Orleans…sponsored the bill…because…New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro was [regularly using this “rare tool”]…
…more than 30 massage parlors in Colorado Springs are little more than a front for an illegal sex industry…KRDO…found that there are 36 massage parlors in the city that have recent reviews specifically outlining explicit sexual acts that can be purchased inside. That’s more than there are licensed brothels in the entire state of Nevada…Those reviews are publicly available on seedy websites like RubMaps and CityXGuide. Those sites — like now-defunct Backpage…offer a way for customers, known as Johns, to find locations where they can purchase sexual acts…”They’re selling sex,” [bloviated vice pig] Mark Comte, who [had his hand in his pants while panting about] “young girls wearing barely anything”…
I wonder if these “reporters” realize how skeevy, racist and pathetic their harassment of Asian women (they actually confronted workers in person, accused them of crimes, and spied on them) sounds to people with moral compasses? Or how ridiculous their use of words like “seedy” and “illegal” sound? Or defining “john”, which only cops and reporters use to describe clients, as though it were an industry term? Or pretending that review sites are a new thing? Or…
A 15-year-old boy in Alaska [says]…his parents set up security cameras in his bedroom and bathroom to make sure he doesn’t masturbate. The anonymous teen took to Reddit’s legal advice section to ask for help…[writing] “I’m 15 and think I should be allowed to touch my own body. This is embarrassing and destroys my privacy, please help…My dad barged in without knocking and started screaming at me…He and my mom then sat me down and told me I’m not allowed to touch myself.” The teen said his parents are against sexual activities before marriage. He wasn’t even allowed to participate in his school’s sex education classes – leaving him to only learn “some things’ on the internet”…
Stripping is legal sex work in America, but states and counties [claim] the right to regulate strip clubs…But even as they legislate dancers’ movements and clothing down to fractions of an inch, [politicians] tend to ignore the fact that those same workers’ rights are being roundly disregarded…strippers are typically classified as independent contractors rather than employees. This means they should be able to come and go as they please, charge whatever they choose to charge and dress as they see fit. Instead, many dancers describe being assigned shifts, told what to charge and held accountable for keeping certain hours. Such regulations should qualify them as employees of the club rather than independent contractors paying for the privilege of working there. But strippers are frequently denied the legal protection afforded W-2 employees, including payroll taxes, health care and workers’ rights protections…
It’s good to see Playboy beginning to recognize its long-ignored duty to support sex workers.
The new [UK]…porn ban…[won’t only] apply to the major porn providers like YouPorn etc. It will also affect small scale sex workers, who use specialist sites or their own personal websites to advertise their work…it could impact…escorts, webcam models, fetish models, and dominatrixes…88 percent of whom are women…and…the porn ban isn’t the only obstacle that could jeopardise sex workers’ safety. MPs in the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prostitution…are pushing to criminalise and ban the online advertising of sex work — meaning sites like Adultwork could be blocked completely…
Robert K. Kraft all but defeated two charges of solicitation of prostitution when a Florida county judge…threw out…evidence [illegally] obtained in [illegal] surveillance videos…Kraft…[sensibly] refused to accept a plea deal…[requiring] a fine and [slave labor] to resolve the two misdemeanor charges because the deal would have required him to [pretend] that the prosecutors [were telling the truth]…Mr. Kraft’s decision to [exercise his constitutional right to a jury trial]…turned what normally would be a routine [railroading for acts that shouldn’t even be illegal] into a highly public [exposure of the sleazy tactics employed by] the police and prosecutors in Palm Beach County…[who used the popular racist fad excuse of] sex trafficking [to raid and pillage] a chain of massage parlors in Florida…Kraft’s lawyer [pointed out, correctly]…that police had [lied to obtain a warrant to] hid[e] surveillance cameras inside the spa…Judge Leonard Hanser…agreed…
As you can see, a number of edits were necessary to correct the New York Times‘ eager copsucking. And the “woke” twits on Twitter? Apparently they are happy to let cops use the Constitution as toilet paper, make non-consensual porn videos of migrant workers and hundreds of their customers, then sexually assault those same migrant workers before robbing them, locking them in cages and threatening them with deportation, in order to humiliate one “old white man”.
…We were…told last month that Harris “regrets” the truancy laws she helped pass…to criminalize parents if their kids miss school…she [now claims to]…regret…that some parents were arrested under the law, saying this “was not the intention.” Yet prosecution of parents was the express purpose of these laws. These arrests were no more an unintended consequence than arrests for breaking laws against burglary or sexual assault…Harris explicitly…lied…in an interview with Jake Tapper…on CNN…[claiming]…”not one parent was sent to jail” because of her initiative…[when] Tapper [correctly stated] “people were thrown into jail under that law”…Harris [replied] “Not by me”…of course they weren’t literally put in jail by Harris, who was attorney general of California…and not an arresting officer…no common understanding of “no one was sent to jail” means People…weren’t personally put [in jail] by the attorney general. Again, we see Harris trying to rewrite her record and history…
Upon seeing the interview, Donald Trump commented “I never separated a migrant family!” Barack Obama added, “I never drone-murdered anyone!” and the ghost of Harry Truman materialized and moaned, “I never bombed Hiroshima!”
If you want to donate but don't want a recurring charge, you can send any amount you like via PayPal to my email address (see below). Be sure to include a note so I can thank you!
All original content on this website (i.e. all of my columns, pages and anything else which I write myself) is protected under international copyright law as of the time it is posted; though you may link to it as you please or quote passages (as long as you attribute the quote to me), please do not reproduce whole columns without my express written permission. In other words, you have to say “pretty please with sugar on top” first, and then wait for me to say “okey-dokey”.
