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Posts Tagged ‘Served Cold’

In the News (#1357)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2023| 1 Comment »

Arresting people for sex work is not going to get them out of sex work.  –  Arlene Mahoney

If Men Were Angels

This “youth pastor” appears to have an oddly specific fetish:

A [typical and representative South Carolina] youth pastor is facing nearly 60 charges…Daniel Kellan Mayfield [set up hidden cameras] in June of 2021…[to record] a bride and her bridal party…[in] changing rooms at Gowensville First Baptist Church…[he did the same thing] in September of 2021…in a bedroom at [a different] wedding venue and…[committed] a similar [viol]ation…in April of 2019 at [still another] wedding venue…

Lack of Evidence (#508)

While other cities back away from these medieval laws, Phoenix doubles down:

…“manifesting an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution”…in Phoenix [is]…a crime with a mandatory sentence of at least 15 days in jail…more than 450 people…have been charged with manifestation of prostitution over the past eight years.  The…unconstitutional [ordinance]…allows…wearing provocative clothing to be used as grounds to [arrest] someone.  In 2014, the city’s prosecution of Monica Jones under the ordinance drew national outcry…But Phoenix has not stopped using [it, and]…the majority of those charged were Black…An attorney who has represented people charged with manifesting prostitution offered a blunt assessment of the city prosecutions in an interview: “You’re being prosecuted because of what you’re wearing”…

Shifting the Blame (#700)

I wonder if we’ll ever hear about a connection between this guy and disgraced former Police Chief James Burke?

Suffolk County cops ignored a key tip in the grisly Gilgo Beach murders case for over a decade — and had a general description of the suspect and a make and model of car he drove which they failed to act upon for 13 years.  It was only when a new task force went back over evidence in the case and reinterviewed a pimp that the clues pointed to Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect who is now charged with three counts of murder.  The crucial tip came from the pimp for Amber Lynn Costello, one of three women…killed by Heuermann in 2010.  He was interviewed by cops soon after the murders and identified the killer as a bulky “ogre” [Heuermann is 6’6″ and weighs about 270#] who drove a distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche when last seen with the victim.  It was only when ex-NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison took over as Suffolk County police commissioner last year and reopened the case that the dots started to get connected…

Monsters (#895)

Violence against a marginalized group never stays limited to that group:

Michelle Dionne Peacock…was a 59-year-old Black cis woman who was…murdered by 67-year-old Tommy Wayne Earl in Richmond, Indiana in June…Earl [slit her throat] with a straight razor and…[told cops] Peacock [w]as “a male acting like a woman” several times…In a separate incident, 32-year-old Colin Smith was stabbed to death in Portland, Oregon on July 2.  He had been out with coworkers at…[a] bar when 24-year-old Rahnique Jackson started harassing one of [them for being]…trans.  When Smith tried to intervene, Jackson…stabbed him to death…

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1316)

Any hospital visit in which the patients admits to or tests positive for cannabis is listed as “marijuana-related” regardless of the reason for the visit:

Over the past few years, marijuana use has been [reported by] more young people in…hospital…according to a new study by the…CDC…cannabis-related emergency department visits increased overall among kids, teens, and young adults…The rise in cannabis-related emergency department visits, however, does not…mean that kids are consuming more marijuana.  According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey, marijuana use among 8th to 12th graders from 2019-2022 either decreased or remained approximately level…this [most likely] mean[s] that young people are…more…[likely to] report…cannabis use during ED visits [due to decreasing stigma against cannabis, one of the safest drugs known]…

Since there is no known LD50 for THC, prohibitionists are desperate to invent new evidence-free reasons for banning it.

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1331)

Since doctors keep mocking cops’ fentanyl hysteria, they’re looking for new bogeydrugs:

Five Los Angeles [cops] were rushed to the hospital [in a ludicrous display of cop theater]…after [they saw] methamphetamine while [invading someone’s home]…They were all reportedly [having panic attacks despite the fact that there is no such thing as “methamphetamine exposure”]…

Served Cold (#1340)

Ballard’s increasingly-bizarre antics have apparently upset his partners in profiteering:

Tim Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, has quietly parted ways with the [highly-unethical rescue industry] group.  The news comes as Sound of Freedom, a heavily fictionalized depiction of Ballard’s work for a division of ICE and his early career as a [“sex trafficking”] pr[ofiteer]…continues to [flounder] at the box office.  The movie has brought in just under $50 million, largely on the strength of a [scammy] marketing campaign…buying [up] tickets [to make the movie look far more successful than it actually is]…In recent days, sources with knowledge of OUR…[say] Ballard had…gone to donors in a state of upset, saying that he’d been forced out and asking for their help with a new organization…

 

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

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In the News (#1347)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 14, 2023| 2 Comments »

Librarians should be able to do their jobs rather than be forced to tiptoe through the minefield of…political positions.  –  Rita Christensen

Bad Girls

How to be a stupid, greedy whore:

A[n Irish] sex worker [named Lorna White] and her…boyfriend [Jason Hamill]…have been sentenced to [about] four years [in prison each for]…us[ing] threats of police involvement and exposure to extort £7,900 from their victim…[it is unclear whether White is a bona fide sex worker or an extortionist who merely takes clients in order to set them up, because] in July 2019, the couple were handed [similar] sentences after they admitted extorting more than £3,000 from [another]…man White had sex with…making repeated demands [for money] between July 1, 2017, and May 10, 2018…

Imaginary Evils (#1133)

Another sign the moral panic is over: prosecutors have backed away from labeling this “sex trafficking” as they initially did:

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn indicted Nicole Daedone, founder and former CEO of the cultish sexual wellness company OneTaste, and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz…on forced labor charges…[US attorney] Breon Peace…said…“the defendants are alleged to have sought complete control over their employees’ lives, including by driving them into debt and directing them to perform sexual acts while also withholding wages.”  If sentenced, Daedone and Cherwitz will face up to 20 years in prison…

The Course of a Disease (#1152)

Maine is once again attempting to impose Swedish-style criminalization:

Maine [politicians] are on track to…rechristen prostitution as commercial sexual exploitation…institut[ing]…the “Nordic Model”…a scheme…linked to…[increased] rates of sexual violence…

Served Cold (#1248)

Tim Ballard’s newest shtick: falsely claiming others are collaborating with his “sex trafficking” antics:

…Despite the founder of O.U.R., Tim Ballard suggesting in January 2023 that [Mel] Gibson was involved in [a supposed] four-part docuseries, Gibson’s representative [says]…that [this is] no[t]…accurate…the Twitter page Leading Report…claimed…[the] alleged…series [is about] the [imagined] “$34 billion global child sex trafficking market involving countries like Ukraine“…The site wasn’t the only one to [share] the [claim, and there are]…several [supposed] links…between Gibson and…O.U.R…Though he’s not credited on IMDb, Ballard [also] claims Gibson did the final edit for his [long-delayed] movie Sound of Freedom…

Thought Control (#1256)

I’m glad to see FIRE getting involved in this:

[Politicians] in Orem, Utah, have banned its public library from setting up displays highlighting Pride Month, Black History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month, along with other heritage-themed holidays.  And then they banned librarians from criticizing the city’s decision—threatening to discipline them for “insubordination.”  But now, the Utah Library Association (ULA) has threatened to sue, teaming up with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)…to warn the city that it could soon face a lawsuit for violating librarians’ First Amendment rights…

Thou Shalt Not (#1341)

Crypto-moralists believe that people enjoying a food is sufficient reason for declaring it “unsafe”:

America’s favorite artificial sweetener could…damage…your DNA.  Splenda is the brand name for sucralose…It’s…600 times sweeter than sugar and is the best-selling artificial sweetener…But sucralose has been found to be genotoxic [in petri dishes], meaning it breaks apart the DNA in chromosomes [when cells are soaked in huge amounts of the stuff in petri dishes]…The new study adds to earlier [bad] research that [claim]s sucralose…can also cause intestinal damage…[actual] health experts…question the relevance of the new study.  “The findings…do not practically reflect what occasional or even frequent ingestion of sucralose-sweetened food and beverages have on health,” [said] Dr. John Damianos…[of] Yale School of Medicine…

Unsurprisingly, this one has the same buried lede (including the verb) as the previous attempt to demonize artificial sweeteners, only last month: “Instead of…diet soda, switch to seltzer water…Instead of…[diet] foods…grab fruits…”

Torture Chamber (#1345) 

Any country in which “officials” can get away with this has no business calling itself “free” or “liberal”:

Nineteen Rikers Island [prisoners] died last year, marking a high the New York jail complex hasn’t seen in more than 20 years.  Each death has received significant media attention…[so] New York City…[plans to eliminate the bad publicity by] no longer inform[ing] the press when [one of its victims] dies.  This comes after two [of those victims], Rubu Zhao and Joshua Valles, died in May.  The department didn’t publicly report either death.  Zhao died after reportedly falling or jumping over a railing on the top floor of [the] psychiatric facility…and…the…Department…has attempted to claim that Valles’ death wasn’t “in custody” because he was compassionately released on May 24 after he was sent to the hospital [due to a fractured skull] and [put]…on life support…

 

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

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In the News (#1340)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

My question…is how did they get to label me as a human trafficker?  –  Francisco De Jesus

To Molest and Rape (#1131)

A murderer is also a rapist.  Gee, what a surprise:

A jailed [typical and representative cop h]as [been] indicted…for child rape and murder more than a year after [he shot his cop] wife…to death at their Tennessee home…Tommy Duncan…was…[already] in…jail fo[r raping a woman]…multiple times…April Duncan’s death was reportedly investigated as a suicide, but…the investigation…eventually expanded to include investigation of [Duncan’s]…sexually abus[ing a minor]…Now a grand jury…has indicted Tommy Duncan for second-degree murder, five counts of rape, and “continuous sexual abuse of a child”…

Typical and representative, in spades.

Served Cold (#1156) 

This article hides the fact that the subject of the movie is a psychopathic wacko who even makes many “trafficking” fetishists uncomfortable:

The new film Sound of Freedom is seeking to br[eathe life back into the moribund sex] trafficking [hysteria] and is set to be released in theaters on July 4.  Sound of Freedom details the true story of how a federal agent quits his job…in an effort to [profit from a moral panic over fantasized]…sex slavery…Jim Caviezel, perhaps best known for his role…in [promoting QAnon], plays…[target of a Utah fraud investigation] Tim Ballard.   In the trailer…Caviezel’s character said, “God’s children are not for sale [so we’re going to rape them after labeling them ‘victims’]”.  The film also features [histrionic has-been] Mira Sorvino…the film’s distributor…announced [that due to its subject’s reputation crashing and burning] Sound of Freedom’s theatrical release comes more than five years after the film’s completion…

Checklist (#1188)

Airlines:  do you really want to keep accepting liability for employees racially profiling passengers due to the government propaganda you feed them?

…on a flight from Seattle…to Charlotte, North Carolina…Francisco De Jesus was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter…to…celebrate [his] oldest daughter’s graduation…But…after…he…got [back from] the bathroom…[his] daughter had some [of the toy] wings [airline employees give young children]…she told him that a flight attendant came over and asked…a…[number of nosy questions, but neither father nor daughter thought] much of it until the plane touched down.  “As we’re deplaning, we’re greeted by several individuals.  One of them who introduced himself as the head of security for the Charlotte International Airport,” said De Jesus…[he] and his daughter were led through the terminal before they were finally told..[the] flight attendant…[had had a sexual fantasy about his daughter and “]signs of human trafficking[”.  He and his] scared daughter…were [interrogated but finally let go]…

Moloch (#1234) 

Pigs in schools are a menace which should be abolished:

Each year, police are called thousands of times to New York City schools over incidents where children become emotionally distressed or disruptive.  In 2022…560 [of those] times [were for cops to brutalize] children under 10…in five incidents, school employees called the police on four-year-olds.  While black students only make up 25 percent of New York City schools’ population, they comprise 46 percent of…[these] calls and 59 percent of the students who are handcuffed at school…officials use…these calls to punish unruly students who [do] not pos[e] a legitimate safety threat…[and these] calls frequently end…with…children…being taken to…hospitals despite no medical emergencies occurring, leading to expensive medical bills…

I Spy (#1237)

It’s about time somebody sane spoke up about this:

An EU plan under which all [messaging] accounts could be screened for child abuse content has hit a significant obstacle after internal legal advice said it would probably be annulled by the courts for breaching users’ rights.  Under the proposed “chat controls” regulation, any encrypted service provider could be forced to survey billions of messages, videos and photos for “identifiers” of certain types of content wh[ich could dramatically expand as politicians constantly declare ever more material “]harmful[“]…Privacy campaigners and…service providers have already warned that the proposed EU regulation and a similar online safety bill in the UK risk end-to-end encryption services such as [Signal] disappearing from Europe…

No Escape (#1297)

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

A [typical and representative screw] at a federal women’s prison in California where inmates…were subjected to ra[pe and other] sexual abuse [by everyone from the warden to the guards to the chaplain to the kitchen manager] has been arrested [for raping] three [women the government gave him power over]…Darrell Wayne Smith, who worked at the [“Rape Club”] in Dublin, was arrested [for, surprise surprise, rape].  Smith is at least the sixth employee at the Dublin prison charged with [raping and otherwise sexually] abusing [women locked in cages despite empty promises by politicians in] Congress and [bureaucrats at] the federal Bureau of Prisons…

To Molest and Rape (#1334)

More detail on a story which originally offered only a paucity of facts:

…a [South Carolina cop lured] a drunken woman…to a secluded area [by pretending he wanted to help her] to avoid a DUI charge and then sexually assaulted her while [armed and] wearing his [magical clown costume]…Gerard James Hildebrand…has [a history of violence, and was previously fired from a different cop shop] in August 2021…for [choking out] a handcuffed man…

 

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

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In the News (#1248)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 25, 2022| 1 Comment »

A government powerful enough to bully tech companies into obscuring information about anti-abortion centers is also one powerful enough to bully tech companies into hiding info about how to obtain an abortion.  –  Elizabeth N. Brown

If Men Were Angels

“Pastor” + “assistant principal” = “youth pastor”:

A [pastor and] assistant principal at Union Grove Christian School [in North Carolina]…has been sentenced to five consecutive 10-12 month sentences…for a series of sex crimes that he committed…from 2008 to 2009…with a high school student…

Quiet Genocide (#1130)

Meanwhile, the West obsesses about porn:

Under Xi, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has steadily beaten the population into ideological conformity.  For ethnic and religious minorities, that has meant erasing their identities and remaking them as Han Chinese.  Most far‐​reaching has been the campaign against the Muslim Uyghurs…the…vi[ctims of a]…far‐​reaching campaign of…Orwell[ian]…surveillance…and…[repress]ion …more than a million Uyghurs [are caged] in reeducation camps…[whose] purpose is also Orwellian—to produce CCP‐​controlled automatons.  Even after release, many Uyghurs are not free…[they are] forced…[to] work…in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well‐​known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen…Even when [Uyghurs]…find…safe haven outside China…Beijing is also determined to control [them]…A new report by Bradley Jardine, a fellow with both the Wilson Center and the Kennan Institute, explores how China is exporting repression abroad, including into the United States…

Censor Chic (#1138)

Corporations have become the favored tool of censors worldwide:

…some politicians…think Google should be serving up only government-approved information.  In the latest iteration of this phenomenon, 21 senators have sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai complaining that people who search for information about abortions may be led to websites for crisis pregnancy centers…The[se] often draw people in by purporting to be neutral sources of information and support for people facing unexpected pregnancies, but their goal is to convince people to continue those pregnancies…But while some have been found to misrepresent themselves in ways that amount to fraud, most operate within legal limits and have every right to exist, to advertise, and to try to persuade people…standing in contrast to the much more drastic tactics of trying to…criminalize abortion [entirely]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1166) 

Frog, meet scorpion:

For years, TikTok has responded to data privacy concerns by pr[etend]ing that information gathered about users in the United States is stored in the United States, rather than China, where ByteDance, the video platform’s parent company, is located.  But according to leaked audio from…internal TikTok meetings, China-based employees of ByteDance have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users…Despite a TikTok executive’s…[perjur]y in an October 2021 Senate hearing that a “world-renowned, US-based security team” decides who gets access to this data, nine statements by eight different employees describe situations where US employees had to turn to their colleagues in China to determine how US user data was flowing.  US staff did not have permission or knowledge of how to access the data on their own…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

New Mexico [cop]…Robert Jesse Strand…was…charged with c[hild porn]…possession…[he was caught in] June 2021 but…once [the investigators] learned Strand was [a member of their gang, they tried to bury]…the case…

All-Purpose Excuse (#1238)

“Sex trafficking” is a convenient excuse for any tyranny:

…sex workers could be subject to unwanted visits from police — and more profiling from strangers — if the Manitoba government passes new legislation i[ntended to infantilize sexworkers and make it easier to persecute them and their clients, whom the bill’s sponsors label]…”exploiters”…Winnipeg police [are promoting the usual idiotic “]signs of exploitation[” on their website, and the]…new legislation…would compel hotels and temporary accommodations…to keep a record of guests’ information, including their names and addresses, and turn it over to police on [demand] without…a warrant…Families Minister Rochelle Squires [lied that the bill]…won’t go after people involved in consensual sex work.  The province wants to [call all sex work “]human trafficking[” so the government can pretend the bill]…is not intended to push sex work further underground…

Served Cold (#1245) 

OUR’s increasingly-bizarre antics have made it a pariah even among “trafficking” fetishists:

Operation Underground Railroad has a pattern of exaggeration and misrepresentation…its founder, Tim Ballard…claimed…in a video posted on…Instagram, in a Tweet, and in a Facebook post…to be doing a “collaboration” with American Airlines this month, with the airline showing a video about its work…a spokesperson for American flatly said there was no such collaboration…“We do not have any partnership or affiliation with them, and the content is not available on our in-flight entertainment”…Turns out…[that in actuality,] the organization bought an ad with a third-party service provider, Clearwind Media, which…never actually ran on [American’s] in-flight entertainment…this is qualitatively different from a “collaboration” with American…

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In the News (#1245)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Asset forfeiture laws imperil people’s rights to property and due process.  –  Elizabeth Patton

Droit du Seigneur

What the people who enforce “sex trafficking” laws are really like:

[Typical and representative Honolulu cop] Mason Jordan [i]s a “hands-on sexual offender of multiple children” who allegedly bullied victims to send him their nude pictures and…[then tried to force them into] prostitution…[with him as] pimp…he…also [liked to fantasy role-play]…as a teenage girl [online] to…stalk…[threaten, and attempt to blackmail] a woman…

A Broker in Pillage

Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:

…Kansas [cop shops] raked in $21 million through civil asset forfeiture over the past two years, according to a report…by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation…less than one-quarter of the owners have been convicted of a crime…half of all [that stolen loot]…had a value of $3,100 or less, meaning it would be impractical in those cases, if not a net loss, to hire an attorney to try and recover one’s property…the numbers…omit [the federal governent’s cut of the spoils, amounting to] more than $5 million…

Magic Formulae

Remember this next time somebody tells you that “cop checks” actually work:

[At least nine cops in British Columbia] engag[ed] in “disgusting, appalling” behaviour as they went to “extreme lengths” to prove they were not cops…[they] penetrated a colleague using a vegetable, [shat] on [each]…other and exposed their genitalia…[so-called] experts [who somehow didn’t know cops did stuff like this]…are now calling for an immediate overhaul of undercover tactics…[law professor] Kent Roach…expressed concerns over the liberal use of deceptive and even violent tactics which Canadian police are allowed to use in undercover operations…

Property of the State

Most tyranny starts with governments claiming they want to “protect” people:

Poland has officially started recording pregnancies in a digital database when [women] seek medical care…The country…has a near-total abortion ban with narrow exceptions…[which means that] every pregnancy that doesn’t end in a live birth is a potential crime scene [in the authoritarian mind]…the Polish government…[claims] it’s simply trying to protect [women] from X-rays and medicines that could harm the…[fetus and pretends that]…only medical professionals will have access to the data…[but even if true, that hardly seems likely to withstand cop demands]…

If Men Were Angels

“Youth leaders” = “youth pastors” = predatory perverts:

A…youth leader at two South Carolina churches…has been charged with sex crimes involving children…William Pinckney Carpenter III…[molested] victims as young as 7 [between 2016 and 2021]…

To Molest and Rape

Rapist cops never stop until they’re caged or dead:

A…[typical and representative Georgia cop] pleaded guilty to raping a woman [in]…2019…David Wilborn…[used the pretext of a traffic] stop [to]…block…a car with his p[igmobile].  After…[humiliating the driver], he [raped the passenger at gunpoint.  After]…Wilborn [left]…the victim immediately called police…Wilborn was sentenced to a term of life in prison to serve 25 years without parole, with the balance on probation.  He must also register as a sex offender.  Wilborn was previously a…[cop in] Atlanta…but resigned after…[sexually assaulting a woman in] 2007…

Served Cold (#1156) 

As OUR collapses, expect it to engage in increasingly-petty interference with sex workers’ lives:

The abrupt cancellation…of the Latin American adult industry conference, LALExpo, has been linked to a single press release from controversial, Mormon-led U.S. organization Operation Underground Railroad…As the local religious and conservative campaign attempted to sway local officials into denying LALExpo…permits, OUR issued a press release on June 3…seemingly attempting…to insinuate that the trade show’s sponsors were somehow responsible for “human trafficking”…

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In the News (#1156)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2021| 1 Comment »

Sex workers are amazing people, and they deserve to be celebrated.  –  Perri Freeman

The Truth About “The Truth About…”

Just another of those nonexistent false rape accusations:

Quantavious Brown was [locked in a cage without trial in Tennessee] for three years for a rape he…did not commit…on August 3, 2018…he spent the [evening]…with a woman he met two years prior through his then-girlfriend…[she then falsely] reported…that Brown forced his way into her apartment and raped her…Brown…was [arrested]…and…eventually g[iven] a trial [date] but it was delayed [using the excuse of] the pandemic…[finally public defender] Tim Hewitt…[hir]ed an investigator…[who] discover[ed that]…the woman’s landlord and her son…were home during the alleged rape [but cops] had not b[othered to] interview…[them.]  The landlord heard Brown and the woman having a quiet conversation when her boyfriend busted in…Forensic reports showed no evidence of rape and the landlord…told [the] investigators the woman’s injuries [she claimed were from the rape] were not new…a jury found Brown not guilty…[but the prosecutor claimed he] disagree[d that a man should be found not guilty of a crime that never happened]…

I Spy (#988)

Do people really take “this tool of oppression is only sold to oppressors” as some kind of reassurance?

A powerful surveillance tool…was used to infiltrate mobile phones belonging to at least seven people in India…represent[ing] a tiny fraction of what may be a vast surveillance net, intensifying concerns about the erosion of civil liberties…under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  Hundreds of Indian phone numbers appeared on a list…for surveillance by clients of NSO Group, an Israeli firm.  The list contained numbers for…journalists, activists, opposition politicians, senior officials, business executives, public health experts, Tibetan exiles and foreign diplomats…The spyware…called Pegasus…secretly unlocks the contents of a target’s mobile phone and transforms it into a listening device.  NSO says it licenses the tool exclusively to government agencies [who belch out the words “]terrorism[” or “]crime[” first]…

This is the same surveillance tool the Saudis used to spy on Jamal Khashoggi before murdering him.  But don’t worry, because “terrorism” and “crime”!

I Spy (#1057) 

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should“:

Scientists have invented an instrument to peer deeply into billions of Twitter posts — providing an unprecedented, minute-by-minute view of popularity, from rising political movements, to K-pop, to emerging diseases.  The tool — called the Storywrangler — gathers phrases across 150 different languages, analyzing the rise and fall of ideas and stories, each day, among people around the world…

You Were Warned (#1112)

The bipartisan war on the internet moves us another step closer to idiocracy:

Florida’s social media bill was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge a couple weeks ago…its response to the lawsuit…is…basically…deny[ing that its law is unconstitutional]…142 [times]…the law…violat[es] the 1st Amendment…[bu]t even if it were constitutional (which it is not), it would be pre-empted by Section 230…So, to counter that, Florida is now doing a “it’s not our law that’s unconstitutional, it’s actually Section 230 that’s unconstitutional!”…as the social media bill itself has shown, Florida does not exactly have a good track record for understanding what is, and what is not, a violation of the 1st Amendment.  But, of course, when you have clueless Supreme Court Justices asking for cases challenging the constitutionality of Section 230, eventually we were going to get to this point…

Safe Position (#1120)

This is quickly moving into the mainstream:

The Burlington [Vermont] City Council voted unanimously…to consider eliminating ordinances that prohibit prostitution and will consider charter changes that could [de facto] decriminalize sex work in the city…

A city cannot make laws that contravene those of its state, but it can remove copycat municipal ordinances, defund police vice gangs, and make it a city policy not to prosecute such “offences”.

Served Cold (#1145) 

This article seems to be hiding the fact that the subject of the movie is a psychopathic wacko who even makes some “trafficking” fetishists uncomfortable:

…As part of [a $2 million publicity stunt], Goya [food company], will support the release of Sound of Freedom…[a “sex trafficking” propaganda film glamorizing the shenanigans of Tim Ballard, the founder of the increasingly-controversial rescue industry group Operation Underground Railroad, which is being investigated by a Utah prosecutor for fraud and by the FBI, IRS and Homeland Security over reports that its “operators” have raped people, including underage girls, whom they labeled “human trafficking victims”]…

To Molest and Rape (#1155)

Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?

A Mississippi [cop] was arrested…for…sex crimes against children, including…production and distribution of child [porn]…Joshua Christopher Stockstill…[was reported to the FBI by] the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children…But agents couldn’t identify the suspect, and…asked for the public’s help in putting a name to the face…Stockstill was arrested and fired from his job a few hours later…

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In the News (#1145)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

All moral panics blend real societal problems with the cartoon version.  –  Michael Hobbes

The Widening Gyre (#792) 

Trying to prop up the “Facebook pimps” myth with bogus “studies”:

…re[scue industry profiteers pompously branding themselves]…the Human Trafficking Institute [claimed] “The internet has become the dominant tool that traffickers use to recruit victims, and…Facebook overwhelmingly is used by traffickers to recruit victims”…[a bogus government] report showed that 30 percent of all victims identified in federal sex trafficking cases in the past two decades – since 2000 – were recruited online…and 65 percent of identified child sex trafficking victims recruited on social media were recruited through Facebook…

Blunt Instrument (#998)

The government’s latest sleazy trick: attacking with civil suits rather than criminal charges, because the burden of proof is reversed:

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a civil lawsuit against an [Asian] massage business…in St. Louis County.  The lawsuit [is based in the “evidence” that] Royal Day Spa…has its front windows covered and that it’s open late…[cops made pretextual] traffic stops…[of] three [men, threatening them with nuisance charges to get them to parrot] Schmitt’s [racist claims]…about the…Spa.  Schmitt [masturbated furiously while vomiting out moronic phrases such as]…dark underworld…modern-day slavery…and…human trafficking in illicit massage businesses…[he also shared his shockingly-racist sex fantasies about how all Asian women are stupid and ignorant and need white men to “rescue” and deport them]…

The End of the Beginning (#1015) 

Maybe we’re about to witness the beginning of the end of these evil laws:

The S.C. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled the state’s lifetime sex offender registration requirement is unconstitutional and people who demonstrate a low risk of reoffending should be able to petition a judge to have their names purged…[until now] South Carolina [has] provide[d victims ofthe law]…no recourse to seek relief from a judge…Brooke Burris…a…Human Trafficking [fetishist, vomited out a lot of ugly nonsense about the so-called]…victims [of public urination or consensual teen sex]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1038)

Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:

In February…almost eight years after the state of Indiana s[tole] Tyson Timbs’ brand-new Land Rover over a drug crime, prosecutors argued that…the government should…be free to take everything you’re worth.  [Last week], the state’s highest court categorically rejected that…Chief Justice Loretta Rush likened the government’s chutzpah to “Captain Ahab’s chase of the white whale Moby Dick”…[But] Indiana p[oliticians haven’t yet learned their lesson]…also in February…the Indiana Senate passed a bill to [rob] people [cops accuse] of [attending] “unlawful”…protests…

The Implosion Begins (#1075)

I did not foresee that the “sex trafficking” moral panic would implode in such a spectacular and entertaining fashion:

…the women who share…pastel, mom-washed #savethechildren posts [don’t c]are that they [a]re spreading Q propaganda…The statistics [they] share…have been repeatedly and publicly debunked by NGOs…[and] researchers…But [they think that]…doesn’t matter…They [also follow]…Tim Ballard…of the Utah…rescue [industry] group Operation Underground Railroad…[who] has [prom]oted…the child sex trafficking panic [even in its most unhinged aspects].  As the Wayfair h[ysteria] took off [last] July, he released a video…claiming that “children are sold that way” and that “law enforcement will get to the bottom of it.”  Since then, the organization has publicly [distanced itself from] QAnon…But, at the time, Ballard [continues to claim] child sex trafficking is a growing global crisis…

See also “Served Cold” below.

The Cop Myth (#1118)

If they actually punished wife-beating cops, they’d lose half of them:

A Garda…sexual assault[ed his girlfriend], threaten[ed] to kill [her] and [exercised] coercive control…in a “grand scheme” to control her life…He was charged with 35 offences…includ[ing] four counts of assault…two [of] sexual assault…10 [of] criminal damage…a threat to kill, endangerment of life, four thefts, coercion…[and] harassment…the woman…was punched in the face, grabbed by the neck, held against the floor and…choke[d]…he pulled her hair out by the roots and kicked her on the ground…the…harassment…[included] 65,000 phone messages…a number of [which included] a threat to kill…her…

Served Cold (#1138) 

The schadenfreude is so very sweet:

[Prohibitionist actor] Jim Caviezel appeared [at a conference] in Oklahoma…to promote his newest role, in which he plays Tim Ballard, the founder…of the [rescue industry] group Operation Underground Railroad, [with “sex trafficking” fetishist Mira Sorvino as his wife]…there…he…[also] promoted…the…QAnon [branch]…of [“sex trafficking” hysteria, which]…was awkward at best for OUR, which has spent the better part of a year insisting that it…is not affiliated with…QAnon…[despite] Ballard…[himself endorsing the belief last summer]…After years of success…OUR[‘s]…carefully-crafted image is coming undone…several people have been interviewed about their dealings with OUR not just by [a Utah prosecutor], but by the FBI…IRS and Homeland Security…among the matters being looked into are whether OUR operators have [raped people they branded] human trafficking victims…and whether OUR has committed human trafficking itself…

QAnon weirdness is not especially extreme from an organization which gets “tips” from psychics and has claimed that “pimps” use magic padlocks to trap doll-like girls in cages.

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In the News (#1138)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We made their lives worse.  –  former OUR member Meg Conley

Stalkers in Blue

Another cop demonstrating exactly what he is:

A [typical and representative] cop [who]…snapp[ed] photos up skirts during a Texas wedding is [named]…Scott Eugene Kilmer…[wedding organizers foolishly hired Kilmer to attend the event wearing his magical clown costume], whe[re] he was caught [repeatedly putt]ing…his foot [with a camera on it] between [women’s] legs but [nobody wanted to] confront him because [they were afraid he would maim, tase, pepper-spray or even murder]…the…guests…the camera transmitted photos to a device in Kilmer’s p[igmobile]…[where other cops] discovered about 50 video clips from the wedding and…similar images [he had taken] previously…

Censor Chic (#830)

Corporations have become the favored tool of censors worldwide:

The British government [has] proposed sweeping re[gulation]s to force [websites] to…[cens]or what is posted online — including carve-outs to [render] politicians [immune to such censorship]…The much-delayed Online Safety Bill includes hefty penalties for companies that fail to [obey the censorship diktats of politicians]…and…[forc]es a so-called duty of care on social networks, smartphone apps and other sites where people can interact with each other, making them [arms of the fascist establishment whether they like it or not]…Content on [politically favored] websites will…not be subject to the new rules…The U.K.’s proposals come as countries worldwide look to [by]pass [legal restrictions on censorship by] forc[ing] social media companies to [do the governments’ dirty work for them]…In Germany, local officials recently revamped the country’s [notorious] online content rules, known as NetzDG, to mandate that companies [become police informants]…The European Union is also pushing ahead with s[imilar] proposals…while countries like Hungary and Poland are pursuing [laws] that would…ban…platforms f[rom censoring politicians and bureaucrats]…[anti-]rights campaigners and misinformation [promoter]s welcomed the U.K.’s new proposals…

See also “Kiss Freedom Goodbye” and “The Convergence of Censors“.

O, Canada! (#1027)

Prohibitionists want Ontario to be more like the US:

Advocates and community groups are calling on the province to drop plans to [increase police powers using the pretext of] human trafficking…[because the] proposed bill [will] harm sex workers and…lead to discrimination and racial profiling…The proposed law would [empower cops] to inspect any place for compliance with the law and [interrogate] any person [they feel like harssing]…with failure to comply leading to possible heavy fines.  Police and inspectors would also have the power to [demand] hotels…[let the pigs root in] their guest registers…without [warrant, merely by vomiting the magic words “]human trafficking[” at random clerks]…Over 70 legal and human rights organizations have written to the provincial government in opposition to the bill, calling for the resources dedicated to this plan to instead be redirected into efforts to help marginalized communities across the province.  Sandra Ka Hon Chu…of the HIV Legal Network…[pointed out that] these types of government initiatives [always] involve surveillance…and [usually abduc]tion and/or deportation of sex workers…“human trafficking i[s used] as a pretext to monitor and interrogate sex workers and to discourage them from working,” she said…

Quiet Genocide (#1054)

There are still some Westerners who insist this isn’t genocide:

Across much of China, the authorities are encouraging women to have more children…but in…Xinjiang, they are forcing them to have fewer, as…part of a vast and repressive social…engineering campaign by a Communist Party determined to e[stablish fully totalitarian] rule…Xi Jinping…has [condemned millions of]…Uyghurs…to [concentration] camps…placed the region under tight surveillance, sent residents to work in factories [thousands of kilometers away, abducted Uyghur] children…[to give to childless Han couples, and forced] Muslim women…to [submit to]…invasive birth control procedures…[propaganda] authorities [absurdly claim that] the procedures are voluntary…[but] the [facts say otherwise.  Uyghur women]…recuperat[ing] at home [from the forced sterilization were also forced to literally accept] government officials [in their beds]…If they…refused…they faced steep fines or, worse…a…[concentration] camp…[where] they were…[repeatedly and systematically] raped…

Served Cold (#1120) 

It took almost seven years, but the press finally caught up with me on this:

I’d never heard of Operation Underground Railroad when…Tim Ballard, called me suddenly in the summer of 2014…I didn’t wonder why he thought it was appropriate for me—the writer of a mommy blog—to chronicle anti-trafficking work…A camera crew filmed everything, because Ballard…[was] pitch[ing] a TV series about his [cowboy games]…OUR staff…were mostly as inexperienced as I was…Everybody wanted to “save the kids,” but no one really knew anything about these kids.  We talked mostly about fundraising.  The calls never addressed real things children need to be saved from…Ballard…put me in harm’s way so that I could write a story about him…But…I’d imagined myself the same way he did…as a savior…I tried to find meaning in my own life on the backs of exploited kids… A TV show based on [his] book…Slave Stealers, is currently in development.  And a new action movie about him, Sound of Freedom, is forthcoming. Jim Caviezel plays Ballard, with Mira Sorvino as his wife…

Dangerous Speech (#1128)

US “authorities” keep pretending “because sex” is an excuse for any tyranny:

Federal prosecutors have failed, for now, in their most repugnant smear tactic to date in the case involving veteran journalists and onetime Backpage.com owners, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin…Judge Susan Brnovich denied a government bid to prejudice the jury at trial by introducing gruesome details of homicides that Lacey, Larkin and their four co-defendants have absolutely nothing to do with…But in a separate ruling issued the same day, Brnovich explained that she will permit prosecutors to try to introduce material involving “sex trafficking” and “child sex trafficking,” though the defendants are not charged with these heinous crimes…These allegations rest on an absurd theory of vicarious, third-party liability, in an attempt to hold Lacey and Larkin responsible for the alleged illegal acts of people they don’t know, have never met and have zero connection to…

To Molest and Rape (#1130)

High union rank is another thing rapist cops often have in common:

A [typical and representative] Miami-Dade [cop] and…high-ranking union member has been charged with sexual battery…John Jenkins Jr. has been “re[warded for his behavior with a paid vacation]” said [top cop] Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III in a statement [which also focused] on…Jenkins…not…[wearing his magic clown costume while raping women]…Jenkins resigned as executive vice president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association…

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In the News (#1120)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

It’s complete and utter bullshit.  –  former member of OUR

Choke Point (#593) 

Prohibitionists love victim-blaming sex workers:

On March 3rd…Scott Stedman and Aaron Parnas published a hit piece on Forensic News lobbing accusations of fraud, theft, and money laundering at several adult sites…Stedman is rehashing old, baseless accusations for attention…it’s the banks, not the adult sites, which are responsible for sex workers losing access to their funds…Sex workers certainly have their gripes with adult sites…But accusations that [they] are particularly rife with fraud, theft, and money laundering seem to be entirely without merit…the only evidence Stedman and Parnas can point to are Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)…[which] anyone can file…without any proof or evidence.  Banks have claimed that certain adult sites “may be operating in areas where underage children…might be forced to provide services.”  Yet not only did no bank report a single instance of underage activity, their only evidence was the fact that MyFreeCams serves users in “high-risk” areas such as Colombia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Lithuania, the Philippines, and Russia…In fact, all evidence points to all of these “suspicious” transactions being from adult platforms to content creators abroad…

To Molest and Rape (#869)

The “sex offender” registration is the only serious consequence:

A third Louisville [cop]…has [received a slap on the wrist]…for sexually a[ssault]ing a minor [he groomed via]…the department’s youth Explorer program.  A U.S. District Court judge…[let typical and representative cop] Brad Schuhmann [walk with a mere] six months of home incarceration and two years on probation.  In addition, Schuhmann will have to pay a $2,000 fine and register as a sex offender…The [lenient treatment was in spite of the] victim…calling Schuhmann a “monster” and a “predator” who has ruined her life…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1045)

Far too little, far too late:

…four individual civil liberties activists and the groups Mijente and NorCal Resist [have filed suit against] Clearview AI [because it] “engages in the widespread collection of California residents’ images and biometric information without notice or consent”…The plaintiffs argue Clearview AI enhances [cop shops’] efforts to monitor…activists…and [marginalized people]…

Lack of Evidence (#1052) 

Removing excuses cops use to persecute people is always a good thing:

[New York’s] “walking while trans” law…was repealed…in [Februar]y…It could prompt other states and cities that have similar laws on the books to follow suit.  California could introduce a bill to repeal a prostitution loitering law this year, and activists in Chicago, Atlanta and New Orleans have organized to reverse similar ordinances.  Last summer, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted to repeal drug trafficking and prostitution loitering laws…

Working From Home (#1052)

Another step toward a fully-independent demimonde:

…for many sex workers, corporate platforms aren’t revolutionary at all.  Censorship, technology failures and heavy-handed fees are just a few of the drawbacks of using social platforms for sex work.  Rather than rely solely on mainstream services such as OnlyFans, which keeps 20 percent of performers’ earnings, some sex workers use corporate networks only for advertising and conduct their real business on their own websites, which they build and control…

Served Cold (#1100) 

It took almost seven years, but the press has finally caught up with me:

…Operation Underground Railroad…had arrived in a remote village seeking a missing child, acting on what founder Tim Ballard had promised was a solid tip from a source…But the missing child was nowhere to be found. And then…Ballard produced his source: a psychic medium from Utah…Soon after…the villagers became suspicious and increasingly upset as he began circulating through the village with a camera crew…The villagers began to gather, some of them armed with old shotguns, and…elders soon asked the[m]…to leave.  Several cars followed them out of the village to make sure they’d gone…The day was…indicative of a larger pattern for OUR…People who participated in and witnessed OUR operations overseas recounted blundering missions…that seemed aimed mainly at generating exciting video footage…Experts and advocates for sex workers and trafficking survivors also questioned whether OUR’s ties to a corrupt Thai police agency could lead to repression of pro-democracy activists…one person with extensive experience working overseas with OUR…said…nothing OUR did seemed recognizably informed by professional military or intelligence practice…no meaningful surveillance or identification of targets; no development of assets; no validating that people they sought to rescue had in fact been trafficked, or that people they were targeting were indeed traffickers…“They’d go and just push for pimps to show up with girls.”  If presented with sex workers of legal age, OUR would insist on younger girls…“He was creating demand…They conflate sex work and trafficking…They’re making it worse”…

Safe Position (#1110)

Even columns like this one by Steve Chapman are no longer rare:

Eliza Orlins…could be remembered for…moving the nation toward decriminalizing sex work…If elected, she says, she will “advocate for the full decriminalization of consensual sex work. This will begin with declining to prosecute all cases of consensual sex work.”  She is finding plenty of allies.  Five other candidates in the eight-person field have taken the same position…Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez is not in favor of full decriminalization, but he has stopped prosecuting sex workers on prostitution charges and recently vacated more than 1,000 warrants…A poll last year found that 52% of Americans think we should “remove criminal penalties for adults to sell and pay for consensual sex”…Among Democrats and voters aged 18 to 44, 2 out of 3 take th[at] view…

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In the News (#1100)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »

When cops came to arrest you in th[e late 20th century], they weren’t telling the newspapers they had saved you.  –  Maggie McNeill

Maggie in the Media

I recently gave an interview for the 30th anniversary of Pretty Woman:

Ten years ago, sex worker, writer, and activist Maggie McNeill wrote…that it was already “nigh-impossible to find an internet discussion on [Pretty Woman] without at least a few would-be critics complaining that it is ‘unrealistic.’”  This, however, is a criticism to which McNeill has long handed down a simple, “No shit, Sherlock.”  “Pretty Woman is a fantasy,” she told Bitch. “It’s not going to be realistic.”  While McNeill herself has no particular affection for the film, she’s never considered Pretty Woman’s lack of accuracy a compelling argument against it, though that argument is common among critics both within the sex-work community and those who are actively working to criminalize sex work…“it amuses me terribly to hear how much the prohibitionists are fixated on it,” she adds, noting that anti–sex work arguments often attempt to paint the film as a dangerously glamorous misrepresentation of a community prohibitionists would rather see victimized, humiliated, and/or punished…

If Men Were Angels

“Pastors” are as bad as cops:

William Dalton Milam, the pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Milton[, Florida]…was arrested on charges of child pornography…[and “]promoting sexual performance of a child[” after]…a tip…from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children…Milam’s home…[held] multiple devices containing child pornography, some depicting children as young as 3…

Disaster (#829)

It usually starts with us, but it never, ever stops with us:

…TikTok purge[d sex worker accounts]…en masse in mid-November, all for the same [pretext]:  violating TikTok’s sex and nudity policy.  [None] of the…[victims]…violated TikTok’s policy, but had linked to either their OnlyFans or their websites linking to their OnlyFans in their bios, which they believe led to them getting removed from the platform.  The purge appears to have been in advance of TikTok’s new [terms of service, which ban virtually all]…sexual content…But…many mainstream creators on TikTok post links to their OnlyFans in their bios, including Bella Thorne…

Why did anyone ever think a company owned by the Chinese wouldn’t aggressively censor?

Safe Position (#947)

Even my jaded self is impressed with the speed this is happening in New York:

A group of New York [politicians] are calling on the New York Police Department to stop all undercover operations that aim to arrest sex workers or their clients, after a ProPublica investigation revealed that the busts have [included]…false arrest and sexual misconduct, and that almost everyone arrested was nonwhite.  Assemblyman Ron Kim and four other [politicians] made that recommendation in a letter this week to…the City Council and the state Assembly and Senate.  The letter also asks for an oversight hearing to examine misconduct allegations against the NYPD vice unit…Separate from the letter and the call to end undercover operations, Council Speaker Corey Johnson and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, two of the city’s most powerful politic[ians], told ProPublica they believe the vice unit should be disbanded altogether…Ten other city and state [politicians]…have expressed support for the same…

Quiet Genocide (#997)

Fascist corporations are eager to assist in a genocide:

…the [Chinese] technology giant Alibaba taught its…[government] clients [how to] use its software to detect the faces of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities within images and videos…The feature was built into Alibaba software that [roots through]…digital content [looking] for material…to [censor]…A social media platform, for instance, could automatically flag videos for additional scrutiny, or even [whistle up] the [pigs], if they contain faces that the software [decide]s are Uighur…the company [has since] edited its website to remove…references to [the feature]…The Washington Post reported last week that Huawei, another Chinese tech giant, had tested software that could automatically alert the police when its surveillance cameras detected Uighur faces…

Served Cold (#1082) 

This megalomaniac’s lies have grown so extreme, even the yellow press can no longer ignore them:

The specific stories that OUR tells are intensely cinematic…and extremely difficult to fact-check.  They are also not the…truth.  An investigation by VICE…found…a pattern of image-burnishing and mythology-building, a series of exaggerations that are, in the aggregate, quite misleading…Multiple law enforcement agencies OUR says it has partnered with or supported describe their relationships as insubstantial…OUR has also declined to describe what precisely it does with the millions of dollars it says it spends overseas…During [a recent fundraiser], Ballard described a rescue in an undisclosed country in which, he [claimed], Jessica Mass, OUR’s director of aftercare, literally wrestled a padlock away from a trafficker as they were running to lock up and re-imprison young girls whom OUR and local police had just rescued*…”This is the [magic] padlock that had been used to lock these girls behind a jail cell [sic],” he proclaimed, triumphantly…Several people familiar with [an ongoing Utah] investigation…[said] it concerns…misleading claims to donors and the public about the work it does…

*Seriously, WTF?  Is Ballard claiming that this “trafficker” had a magical Hollywood padlock which, once locked, magically traps immobile, vegetable-like “young girls” into…I don’t know, an extradimensional space “behind a jail cell”(?) from which they could never have been freed had this liar not grabbed the magical lock in time?  Are these “girls” incapable of locomotion?  Have these people never heard of bolt cutters?  This story makes no sense on any level I can think of.

The Pro-Rape Coalition (#1090)

Are institutions finally starting to understand the cost of promoting “sex trafficking” hysteria?

Britain’s International Slavery Museum is facing a [righteous] backlash over a “dehumanising” [propaganda] exhibition…which features an image of a naked woman with tape over her mouth and abusive comments plastered on her body.  The museum [took money fror the propaganda display from]…a U.S.-based [pro-censorship] group, Exodus Cry, which seeks to [censor the internet] and s[upport police violence against]…sex workers…dozens of critical responses…[pointed out that] the [“art” is in reality] “trauma porn” [that is] “damaging, sensationalist and dehumanising”…Exodus Cry’s chief executive, Benjamin Nolot, [whined]…that criticism of the exhibition was…”unfair”, and that [sex workers are not allowed to criticize attempts to drive them into poverty and encourage cops to rape and abduct them]…

Torture Chamber (#1093)

“Give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, so I can torture and deport them”:

…the U.S. government sent Mory Keita to a country he hasn’t lived in since he was three years old…Keita lived here undocumented for about three decades and has a daughter who is an American citizen…What makes Keita’s deportation extra jarring is that he was…a…[key witness in a] case…brought by Ahmed Adem and Bayong Brown Bayong…[against] the Butler County Jail, just north of Cincinnati…Bayong [reported] at least three beatings by jail guards—including one in August while he was infected with COVID-19…th[e] guards made “threats such as ‘I hope you die bitch’ and, after being pushed down the stairs, ‘When you get down the stairs, I am going to beat all the teeth from your mouth.'”  At one point, the suit says, Bayong was taken to an isolation cell where a correctional officer “punched Mr. Bayong with closed fists all over his face and head” as two other guards watched. Bayong lost a tooth…

You Were Warned (#1099)

Congress won’t stop until it controls the internet:

[Politicians] Ben Sasse…and Jeff Merkley…introduced [fascist] legislation, dubbed the “Stop Internet Sexual Exploitation Act,” [pre]tended to “prevent the uploading of pornographic images to online platforms without the consent of the individuals in the images”…The proposed legislation…would apply to “all online platforms that host pornography [but does not define it],” noted a summary provided by Sasse’s office…A wide variety of intended restrictions…include the [impossible demand that]…platforms hosting pornography [again, without defining the term] offer a 24-hour hotline staffed by the platform…[so] individuals…can request removal of a video that has been distributed without their consent…[within] two hours…

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