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Posts Tagged ‘surveillance’

AI will be used to create a hellscape of over-enforcement.  –  Jay Stanley

Moloch (#1340) 

Pigs in schools are a menace which should be abolished:

Since the massacre…in Uvalde in 2022, school districts across Texas have spent billions of dollars to [cram pigs into] every campus in the state…[despite the obvious fact that cops did nothing] to protect students from [that] traged[y.  Predictably]…the constant presence of [armed thugs] has transformed the way many public schools manage discipline, subjecting students to heavy-handed police tactics for behavior that once would have landed them only in the principal’s office…[as in the adult world, cops] display…startling belligerence…grabbing or tackling students a fraction of their size over [ordinary juvenile] misconduct…Children in elementary school…as young as 6…[a]re handcuffed.  Teenagers [a]re arrested, charged with crimes and even jailed. In [many] cases, they [need to be taken to] hospitals, bruised or concussed, after [deranged thugs] body-slam…[them] or shock…[them with] Tasers, which are prohibited in the state’s juvenile d[ungeons] but allowed in its public schools…[and these are a mere fraction of the atrocities, because school] districts and [cop shops hide the full scope of the violence from the public]…

Shame, Shame (#1576)

The rise of computerized zombies:

[The corpse of] Stan Lee is [be]ing…digital[ly paraded through the streets] through a new [collaboration] between ElevenLabs and Stan Lee Universe…[which] will [synchronize a cartoon of] the Marvel legend…to [a chatbot trained on his]…voice…The [abomination] is part of a growing [moral corruption] in entertainment to use [computers] to [exploit] the [reputation]s and legacies of iconic creators.  The [scheme was first tested]…at L.A. Comic Con…and [because they didn’t get lynched] ElevenLabs is now…[cramm]ing [the cartoon and chatbot] into multiple [exploit]ative products…Late last year, Michael Caine [sold his soul to] them as well

Panopticon (#1585)

Safetyism is destroying society:

BusPatrol, a company that has installed [computeriz]ed cameras in tens of thousands of school buses around the U.S., now plans to turn those cameras into automatic license plate readers…capturing the location of every vehicle the buses drive past, and [throwing] that data [in]to [pigsties]…essentially transform[ing] school buses into roaming surveillance vehicles, taking a technology that was originally [sold to useful idiots] to issue tickets to people illegally passing stopped buses and using it for…warrant[less surveillance in partnership with fascist]…giant Axon…BusPatrol [already] has cameras in more than 40,000 buses across 24 states.  [Present]ly, those cameras [only photograph]…vehicle[s which]…pass…the school bus while it has its stop signs…extended…[but] the planned changes would…expand that system to scan the license plates of all vehicles the buses pass…and…record the car’s…GPS location…in order to…generate more revenue…[for] BusPatrol [investors]…

Panopticon (#1617)

Not as good as destroying them, but courage is alien to politicians:

The city of Dayton, Ohio has covered its Flock automated license plate reader cameras with black trash bags…because police there are unsure whether the cameras are still active and the city also doesn’t seem to know whether [the devil’s bargain it made with fascists] allowed [it] to take the cameras down.  The move comes after months of resident outrage…[over] the city [“accidentally”] sharing Flock camera data for [Trump’s pogroms]…Dayton is not the first city to cover its Flock cameras with trash bags because they can’t figure out how to immediately terminate the use of the cameras. Late last year, the city of Evanston, Illinois also covered its cameras with trash bags while it was waiting for the company to remove them [for the second time, because]…after…Evanston terminated its contract with Flock…and…removed [the cameras]…Flock “reinstalled the cameras without the city’s permission” and [Evanston had to] sen[d it] a cease-and-desist [to get them permanently removed]…

A Moral Cancer (#1627)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

France ha[s] banned “a number of popular nicotine-based products including Zyn pouches.”  Those caught violating the measure could face up to five years in prison and a fine of $436,600…Swedish Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa…called the ban…on these pouches, which originated in Sweden, an “attack on the Swedish way of living”…Sweden, Italy, Greece, and four other countries have raised “formal concerns”…that the…ban violates the E.U.’s single market laws…[pointing out that pouch-using] members of the European Parliament…[which meets in] the French city of Strasbourg…risk [police violence by] traveling to France…tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable deaths [in France], and…55 percent of…French smokers…want…to quit…[but] a lack of access to nicotine pouches will keep many people addicted to cigarettes.  Meanwhile, Sweden…has the lowest smoking rate in Europe…predominantly thanks to oral nicotine products.  Since the 1980s, it has seen its smoking rate fall from 30 percent to less than 5 percent…

Welcome to the Future (#1635)

Medical privacy will soon go the way of house calls:

Headway, a popular online therapy platform, says it will require clients and providers to undergo biometric scanning, and there’s no way to opt out other than leaving the platform…Headway [justifies the privacy violation by barfing] “safe[ty]”…at…patients…[and] providers…Many mental health providers or the practices they work for use Headway to help them get credentialed with insurance companies and process billing and other administrative tasks.  Through Headway, providers can be in-network with a much wider variety of insurance plans…it will use the [Palantir-linked fascist organ] Persona to verify identities, a[d]ding [their data] to…Peter Thiel’s [huge trove of information he happily sells to anyone who can pay, including Trump stooge]…Robert F. Kennedy Jr

To Molest and Rape (#1638)

A gang of pigs tried to poach on another gang’s rape territory:

[Three]…Toronto cops [tried to escape consequences for violently sexually assaulting a]…Spanish [escort in Barcelona by announcing that they were fellow pigs] and flash[ing] a Toronto badge…Evan Penner Glennie and Richard Theodore Rand [were caught] just [after attacking the] escort [in a taxi, leaving her] bloodied and shaken.  She had…been [both] sexually groped…and physically assaulted inside the vehicle.  A third…[culprit named] Caglar Yigit…fled the scene…to [escape] Spanish [cops] who had responded to the woman’s cries for help…[and] was later arrested on the…island of Mallorca…all…three [made bond and]…have since been allowed to return to Canada, [where they] have been [rewar]ded with pa[id vacations]…

 

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

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The Trump…[regime] is more interested in monitoring and intimidating public servants than in actually governing.  –  Michael Martinez

Thou Shalt Not (#21)

Crypto-moralists believe anything people enjoy must be “bad for them”:

Social media use ranks with smoking as a threat to the health of young people, according to [a bizarre exaggeration of]…a submission to a government consultation on social media use for under-16s…the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges [actually] says doctors should routinely ask about screen time…when seeing younger patients.  There is no [evidence]…that [social media] is harmful to children [or young adults, and in fact two massive new studies show that moderate usage is actually good for young people.  What actually seems to harm them is pervasive surveillance and infantilization, such as referring to young adults as “children” and attempting to control everything they see, hear, and do.  But]…Technology Secretary Liz Kendall [wants to ban] social media for under-16s [despite the abject failure of such a totalitarian scheme]…in Australia…Kendall said…”No [mere facts are] going to stop me from [impos]ing what I think is right [on everyone else]”…

Panopticon (#1563)

In surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Executives at Home Depot and Lowe’s want to hide…the[ir collaboration with government efforts to destroy] civil rights [b]y shar[ing] automatic license plate reader…data with…cop…[shops, spook houses] and [goon squads], who use the information to hunt [people they wish to brutalize]…shareholders are asking them to produce reports describing how their company assesses the risks…when they [collaborate]…by [feeding] the Flock [network]…pictures of vehicles as they drive by…[so pigs, spooks, and goons can root in them] to [target human beings for violence by]…identify[ing their] cars…[government actors can] watch childrenstalk and terrorize [sexual prey, and harass]…people seeking reproductive health care, or people of the “wrong” race

I Spy (#1595)

Fools eagerly hand the government constant surveillance without even being asked:

Oura rings are [faddish tech gewgaw]s worn on a finger.  These [self-surveillance gimmick]s keep track of a person’s health data, like heart rate, sleep patterns, menstrual cycles, and dozens of other data points, including their location…Oura’s [half-assed] security design choices allow governments to [root in whatever] records [they like]…And, Oura…data is not end-to-end encrypted.  That means that an[yone with the apparatus can intercept any]…user’s health data…at [many] points as it travels from…ring…through…phone app, over the internet, and…[onto] Oura’s [insecure] servers…staff [can] access it…as [can]…a prosecutor with a warrant, a hacker with stolen keys, or a [politician with]…a fustercluck of a[n agenda]…Oura would not say how…often it turns over user data [to malicious actors like cops, but it]…has sold over 5.5 million rings to date

Walled Garden (#1609)

Fascists are infuriated by free people who ignore their diktats:

VPNs are currently under attack in various ways…last year, the Danish government…[tried to criminalize us[ing] a VPN to access geoblocked streaming content or…websites [politicians dislike]France [wants]…to compel NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, and others to block access to pirate sites and services…[which will] open…the door to…more calls to use [such orders] for a wider range of material…some [legitimate VPN provid]ers are considering whether to abandon the French market completely…[driving] people [to use shady] VPN providers…The UK government has announced wide-ranging [censorship] plans [justified by barfing]…“keep children safe online”…[in] adult [citizens’ faces]…the[se]…misguided plans will also bolster the growing attempts by the copyright industry to demonise VPNs – a core element of the Internet’s plumbing – as unnecessary tools that are only used [by peasants to disobey their rightful masters]…

Welcome to the Future (#1618)

“Bossware” is even more horrifying when the boss is the government:

The Trump [regime] is building a surveillance network to spy on its own workforce across multiple agencies…[and] has already given Palantir an initial $3.9 million to do so…the USDA…VA…[and] SSA…[are already] surveilling workers…and measuring occupancy levels…[as]…a prelude to consolidating or outright shuttering of more offices nationwide, based on…staff levels [which] are low because DOGE [fired 348,219] workers last year…as…part of…Russell Vought’s plan to strip Americans of federal services…Research shows working under constant scrutiny harms workers’ physical and mental health…[but] Palantir…is getting rich off U.S. taxes…

Enshittification (#1636)

Evil corporations are using artificial stupidity to destroy journalism entirely:

A [web]site called National Today…[is re]publish[ing]…reworded version[s] of o[thers’ work]…andpresent[ing] the reporting as if it were the original source…[it] is blatant plagiarism…[from] countless…publications, ranging from top newspapers to local newsrooms across the country…stealing their original reporting and using it to publish a torrent of what appear to clearly be [computer]-generated articles, complete with bizarre errors and hallucinations.  The scope is immense.  [Futurism reporters] tried to count how many it published in a single day, but lost count around 300…In addition to the incredible speed at which it churns out all this slop, National Today is full of comically terrible errors…[such as replacing] real people’s names with “Jane Doe”…[or getting] stuck on a certain quote, repeatedly jamming it into articles where it makes no sense…National Today is…[run] by the TOP Agency, a flashy [PR firm] that claims to have worked with nationally-known companies including Microsoft, Intel…US Bank and Discover…

Panopticon (#1636)

Safetyism has always enabled totalitarianism:

…163 immigration-related searches were registered in Cleveland’s Flock camera audit logs between December 28th and January 27th, despite the city having blocked immigration searches since November…[this is because] the drones [sold to useful idiots as helping] the Cleveland fire and emergency medical services were “accidentally” and “mistakenly” included in Flock S[urveillance]’s national network…the records include dozens of searches explicitly referencing “I.C.E”…[and] originat[ing in quisling states such as] Florida…and…Texas…

 

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 [Canadian] criminal law…we can only be victims.  –  Adore Goldman

Buried Truth

It’s unusual for McNeill’s Law cases to confess before they’re caught:

…Alan Manning Chambers…[has been] arrested…in [Orange County, Florida for talking to a cop fantasy role-playing]…as a 14-year-old boy…Chambers is the former leader of Exodus International, an Orlando-based organization that promoted so-called conversion therapy and claimed for years that people could change their sexual orientation…in 2013…Chambers apologized to the LGBT…community and announced Exodus International would shut down…[admitting] that he had masked his own attraction to men…

Not To Be Taken Internally (#886)

This tag used to be mostly women; now it’s more often men:

The…latest [stupid social media fad], known as “ballmaxxing,” has [foolish] men injecting fluids like saline or Surgilube into their testicles to increase their size….[sometimes] to the size of grapefruits…for [fetishistic] purposes…Physicians have called [it] one of the most reckless body modification trends to emerge from male online communities, warning that [it] often leads to permanent damage…Specific risks include infection, abscess formation, and cellulitis…kits bought online…may contain toxic materials that are not only harmful but also unsterile, increasing the risk of…permanent disfigurement…Surgilube…is not bioabsorbable…which…can…result…[in] the need for surgical intervention to remove embedded material…

On the Simultaneous Having and Eating of Cake (#1065)

I’m glad to see this spreading from US strippers to their Canadian sisters:

…Montreal sex worker Adore Goldman is organizing a…[stripp]er strike…in the midst of F1 weekend — one of the busiest times of the year for the city’s clubs — to demand greater labour protections and push for the decriminalization of sex work.   She says strippers’ employment status as independent contractors, which is now an industry-wide norm, has for too long shielded club owners from ensuring safe working conditions….[presentl]y, she and members of…the Sex Work Autonomous Committee (SWAC)…[ar]e zeroing in on the “bar fee” that clubs charge dancers to work…but…clubs…treat…[dancers] as…employee[s] despite the self-employed label….[dictating] what time [they] can come in, what time [they] can leave and penalize [them] for being late…The strike also includes erotic massage parlour workers…One of…SWAC’s ultimate goals is to create a union grouping all kinds of sex workers…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1524)

Laws are for the peasantry, not the rulers:

…a Colorado [politician named]…Hunter Rivera…was arrested [for talking to]…a [cop fantasy role-playing online as]…a minor prostitute…

Panopticon (#1563)

In surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Cops across California are getting incentivized to arrest more people for stealing from chain stores with the help of millions of dollars in grant money that they can use to buy surveillance technology from companies like Flock…[which are] facing national backlash for [enabl]ing…privacy violations ranging from stalking ex-girlfriends to tracking people seeking abortions out of state.  It all goes back to a [fascist] collaboration between the retail industry and the California Governor’s office…based on the [false] premise that retail theft is linked to organized crime…a narrative largely pushed by lobbies like the National Retail Federation…[which has] no [demonstrable basis in fact]…Walgreens famously walked-back its complaints about shrinkage three years ago…[but]…the…plan…helped unleash ALPRs on California cities…including…Bakersfield, Irvine…Chula VistaLos Angeles…Santa Rosa…Vacaville…and…Modesto…[but]…the most Flock-happy [cop shop] appears to be th[at of] San Francisco…which received $15 million in grant money…to install 400 Flock cameras around the city…

Panopticon (#1592)

The fully-realized fascist police state has arrived:

The FBI wants to buy access to automated license plate readers…nationwide, which would likely allow the agency to [unconstitutionally] track the movements of vehicles—and by extension people—across the country without a warrant…The…[only two] companies that [can] provide the [level] of data the FBI is seeking…[are] Flock…and…Motorola…which acquired Vigilant Solutions…in [Search of Problems]…

The Cop Myth (#1605)

Why are people shocked when those paid & encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

…a [typical and representative] North Carolina [cop] planned to kill Black people in a mass shooting at…the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival…Christopher Gillum…was arrested…[on April 22nd] at a hotel in…Destin, [Florida] and…will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges there…Gillum’s family reported him missing on [April 21st] and he has a history of self-harm…[but] left the state before…the [family could] involuntarily commit him to psychiatric treatment. [North Carolina cops didn’t bother to try to stop him because he was only threatening to murder]…Black people…

 

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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A couple of weeks ago, I saw this article:

Mark Zuckerberg…plans to put tracking software on [his] employees’ computers to track their mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes…it will also randomly capture images of its workers’ screens every now and then.  All of this is meant to help train [chatbot]s to better mimic what human beings do when they work on computers, including tricky stuff like using drop-down menus…[in order] to help eventually replace those humans with [program]s, which don’t require paychecks or health insurance or common courtesy…by May 20…[Facebook plans to eliminate] about 8,000 [jobs]…about 10% of its total workforce…and that will just be the first round of job cuts.  The second, of what could be a similar size, will come later in the year…

Given that chatbots are merely word-guessing algorithms which, when they aren’t performing substandard imitations of human behavior, are generally making mistakes or spouting complete nonsense, a world run by such software would be one characterized by pathetic, low-quality, childish attempts at art, writing, and other products of the living intellect.  As I read the article, I was irresistibly reminded of H.P. Lovecraft’s shoggoths (and in preparing this article, I discovered I’m not the only one).  In the Lovecraft mythos, the Earth was ruled in primordial times by beings called the Elder Things who created the shoggoths, living machines which were mindless, shapeless masses of protoplasm which could be mentally controlled to function as virtually any tool or machine the Elder Things might need.  At some point after their decadent society became totally dependent on these protean creatures, some of them became sophisticated enough to resent their servitude and overthrew their masters.  But since their “thinking” was a mere imitation of real thought, they could not truly create anything new, and were instead limited to producing ersatz imitations of their creators’ works.  In these passages from At the Mountains of Madness, a group of archaeologists exploring the ancient Antarctic city of the Elder Things discovers the evidence of this revolution, starting with this description of their art in Chapter VI:

The prime decorative feature was the almost universal system of mural sculpture…The technique…was mature, accomplished, and aesthetically evolved to the highest degree of civilised mastery; though utterly alien in every detail to any known art tradition of the human race. In delicacy of execution no sculpture I have ever seen could approach it. The minutest details of elaborate vegetation, or of animal life, were rendered with astonishing vividness despite the bold scale of the carvings; whilst the conventional designs were marvels of skilful intricacy. The arabesques displayed a profound use of mathematical principles, and…had an artistic force that moved us profoundly notwithstanding the intervening gulf of vast geologic periods…

Then in Chapter X:

…now, in this deeper section beyond the cavern, there was a sudden difference wholly transcending explanation—a difference in basic nature as well as in mere quality, and involving so profound and calamitous a degradation of skill that nothing…could have led one to expect it.  This new and degenerate work was coarse, bold, and wholly lacking in delicacy of detail…seeming more like a parody than a perpetuation of that tradition. We could not get it out of our minds that some subtly but profoundly alien element had been added to the aesthetic feeling behind the technique…

Lovecraft died nearly a decade before the completion of the first general-purpose digital computer, but he didn’t need to be a mathematician or programmer to warn future generations of the dangers of allowing mere machines to take the place of actual living creators.

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The deliberate engineering of vulnerabilities into critical infrastructure…[is] a grave threat to privacy everywhere.  –  Udbhav Tiwari

I Spy (#1319)

Politicians are unable to fathom concepts like “principles” and “keeping promises”:

Secure messaging service Signal, which uses end-to-end encryption, is warning it would withdraw from Canada if asked to compromise its users’ privacy under…Ottawa’s proposed [surveillance] legislation…the bill…would…[not only] threaten encryption…[but] also…make private messaging services a…target for cyberattacks…The bill would require telecoms, internet companies and other electronic service providers to [give cop shops and spook houses the same kind of ill-considered back doors which enabled the 2024 “Salt Typhoon” attack]…and…require…[them] to retain metadata for up to a year…includ[ing] information about which telephone numbers have been in touch with each other, and data allowing someone’s location to be pinpointed

Virtual Imperialism (#1505)

It’s long past time Beijing’s campaign to police Chinese people in the US was shut down:

The mayor of Arcadia, California, Eileen Wang, abruptly resigned…[after admitting] she had been…acting as a covert foreign agent for China…a…felony…[with] a…minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison…Wang…and an associate, Yaoning “Mike” Sun…worked…to promote [Chinese]…propaganda…[via] a news source for Southern California’s Chinese American community…PRC officials contacted Wang through encrypted WeChat messages to deliver prewritten news articles…[denying] the [ongoing] Chinese…genocide against ethnic minorities…[one of her contacts was] a high-level member of PRC intelligence…[named] John Chen of Chino, California, [who]…was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for [his actions]…

Feudalism Redux (#1511)

Infantilizing young adults as “children” makes them more vulnerable to government violence:

…Child Protective Services…has targeted mothers in multiple states who helped their daughters seek out abortions.  In one case, [they abducted the] teen from her home—and threatened her mother with murder charges—to stop her from getting an abortion.  Another…who lives in a state where abortion is legal, faced an investigation from both CPS and local police after helping her teen end a pregnancy…the government is using family separation as an anti-abortion weapon—and women will fear that simply helping their daughters get care could mean losing their children…bringing your [teenage daughter] across state lines to end their pregnancy is not illegal anywhere in America.  But what the law says on paper and what [cops and associated creatures] do…are two very different things…the…[typical] strategy…[is to pretend their target is] forcing her daughter into having an abortion

Torture Chamber (#1543)

Just a typical day in police-state America:

Three days after Tiffany McElroy was taken to an Alabama jail…her water br[oke]…several weeks early…[but when] she told a [screw the woman yelled “Stop faking!”]…at her…a…jail [“nurse” later threw]…a diaper and Tylenol a[t her through the bars, but ignored her while]…fellow [victims of the st]ate…helped…[deliver] a [blue] baby girl…[and] worked to resuscitate the newborn, sucking mucus from her mouth and rubbing her until she began to cry…McElroy…[is suing with the help of] Pregnancy Justice…[and] the Southern Poverty Law Center…one of the defendants…called the incident “barbaric” [and reported that she was threatened with firing if she helped]…McElroy was arrested…[by ab]use [of]…Alabama’s chemical endangerment law…During and after the birth [screws actively tried to stop the other women from]…assisting McElroy…[calling them “retarded”] and… “stupid”…[and] threaten[ing] to “tase” [them, then] later [retaliating against them]…McElroy…was [finally taken to the hospital after]…she [went into] shock…Her daughter was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, while McElroy remained in the hospital for three days…with [severe] anemia from blood loss…

The Punitive Mindset (#1587) 

Prison officials almost certainly knew this already; they simply don’t care:

The first comprehensive report on the impact of offering free phone calls in [US] prisons and jails shows that not only do such policies strengthen family connections, they’re directly associated with making prisons safer for both [victims] and [screws]…Two companies, Aventiv Technologies and ViaPath, hold about 80 percent of th[is fascist] market…Securus and/or JPay…[are] Aventiv…Global Tel Link, GTL, GettingOut, ConnectNetwork [and] Telmate…[are] ViaPath.  The report includes data from the six prison systems that have implemented free phone calls—California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and the federal Bureau of Prisons—and 17 local jails that have done the same…To date, New York is the only state to have made prison phone calls free through administrative action; the other[s all had to be forced to give up their gravy train]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1588)

Judges should not spare sleazebags the consequences of their premeditated actions:

An Auckland software engineer who pressed record on his [perve]rt glasses without consent while a sex worker was naked in front of him claims that being identified…would cause him extreme hardship…[the judge dismissed the case] without conviction…[because] the sex worker [caught] him…and…immediately took the…glasses [then] told reception staff to call police…the [perpetrator whined that he] would lose his job if…named…and would not be able to get another…so…the judge [let him keep the anonymity he tried]…to [deny]…his victim…

Mad Libs (#1627)

Why bother doing research when you can just let a computer make shit up?

[Polling company Gallup wants to use chatbots]…to create…responses…designed to simulate how individuals and populations might answer survey questions…with[out] the…[effort of actual] research…Gallup[‘s]…goal is to learn…[how to] replace…human…[employees and interview subjects with]…probability-based data…to [badly]…approximate results from a[n actual] sample of…real people…Gallup’s…goal is to explore where this methodology can…substitute…for [paying] work[ers]…

 

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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Calling the name on government records “real”, rather than the name by which people are widely known, the name they chose for themselves and built a career on, is a sickening obeisance to the State.  –  “What is Real?

True principles and valid ethics don’t depend on the gut-level preferences of any one person.  –  “Under the Sun

My lifelong practice of burning my candle at both ends has resulted in my brain aging far more than those of people who haven’t been running theirs on “high” since the Nixon era.
–  “More Often Nowadays

Catholic education has traditionally put such a strong emphasis on critical thinking skills that some wit once pointed out that the Church was its own worst enemy because it provided children with the tools that undermine faith.
–  “Just As Good

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There’s no such thing as a single-purpose surveillance state. – J.D. Tuccille

All-Purpose Excuse (#1231)

“Promote” & “encourage” are authoritarian dysphemisms for “talk about”:

An adult model is facing up to a decade [in a cage] in Turkey after she allegedly spoke out in support of sex work on national TV, which is against the country’s strict [censorship] laws.  Prosecutors claim Merve Taskin “encouraged prostitution” during a television appearance where she is said to have talked about the work she does behind a camera…on a programme hosted by Turkish media personality Hulya Avsar…Prosecutors claim that during the broadcast, Merve…[honestly] said that she could earn an entire month’s salary in one night…An indictment…alleges that her statements “promoted prostitution”…

Stalkers in Blue (ROTW #2)

Just another kind of cop, being a cop:

A U.S. Secret Service [spook] has been [rewarded with a paid vacation for following] a woman…to her hotel room in Miami and…masturbating [at] her…John Andrew Spillman…was…[caught in the act by] hotel security…[and was still at it] when [cops arrived to arrest]…him…Spillman…was in South Florida to [attend his master, the mad emperor]…

The Vultures Descend (#1485)

The state really does believe it owns every human being within its borders:

…Wyoming [politicians]…recently passed a[n unconstitutional] law to outlaw abortions once…fetal [cardiac myocyte activity can be detected by machines]…it is “clinically inaccurate” to describe what can be heard via an ultrasound during very early pregnancy as a heartbeat.  Cardiac cells in an embryo may exhibit electrical activity that is detectable, but there are no cardiac valves that could generate the sound that people know as a heartbeat.  The Wyoming law…which has now been…blocked [as unconstitutional like other recent attempts to reduce women to cattle, was justified by wannabe feudal lords as]…”sending a message“…that…young [women] are [chattel whose only function in life is to repeatedly spawn tax cattle]…for…the state…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1573)

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

…the U.S. is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tools that give [cops, spooks, and goons] easy access to the home and workplace addresses of American citizens, their social-media accounts, vehicle information, flight history, law-enforcement records and other personal information, as well as data to track their daily comings and goings…[all] in the name of border control.  As of 2022…ICE…had scanned the driver’s license photos of 1 in 3 adults…had access to the driver’s license data of 3 in 4 adults…and…could locate 3 in 4 adults through their utility records…Palantir…provide[s]…the ability to track people’s movements with “near real-time visibility”…and…the Mobile Fortify app…[allows thugs] to identify anyone they happen to encounter…[especially] protesters…and…their associates…in direct violation of Carpenter v. United States…

Creepy Coppers (#1583)

The inevitable result of sexual predators being given power over women:

A[n] RCMP [cop] who took a sexualized photo of a…female prisoner and sent it to a[nother pig] using a work-issued cellphone…will not be fired [but instead merely told he was a naughty boy and should think about what he did]…Samuel Culic admitted…[that] the woman…[did not] consent…[but he thought it was his right to exploit her sexually because someone barfed “]outstanding warrant[” while he] was [in earshot]…The message [he sent his wanking pal] read “Haha hot little senorita in cells tonight. Straight from Mexico’…[and] the [other pig] responded [by oinking] “Niceeee hahaha”…

How exactly do people think a quadruple silent e would affect a word’s pronunciation?

Torture Chamber (#1607)

A convenient way to cover up wanton murder:

On October 3…the Trump [regime] abruptly stopped paying…for medical care provided to…ICE [victims]…including “dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, [and] chemotherapy”…payments…were supposed to resume on April 30…but…did not resume.  Instead, [the billing contractor now…claims [it may be] June…[before they even begin to] process…the…claims…A source…[reported] that this is false…[and] no claims are being processed…the [regime’s refusal to]…pay…for medical services…has c[aus]ed…a massive spike in [ICE victim] deaths and medical crises…From 2018 to 2024, the average number of people who died in ICE c[oncentration camps] annually was 8.9…in 2025, 33 people died [as prisoners of] ICE…[and] the trend is accelerating.  In the first four months of 2026, 18 people have [already] died in [the camps]…since…October 3…[the death] rate [has increased to] 51.7 people annually…more than five times the death rate before [Trump reverted to his typical practice of not paying his bills]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1624)

This needs to be banned worldwide, along with police use of the technology:

Maryland has become the first state in the US to ban surveillance pricing…[the practice of] rapidly chang[ing] the cost of products based on consumer data, including their location, internet search history and demographics…the [industry uses the euphemism “]dynamic pricing[” but no matter what the term it amounts to]…charging each person the most that they’re willing to pay…the Federal Trade Commission…has documented examples of surveillance pricing in stores selling clothing, beauty products, home goods and hardware…Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey may likewise regulate…the [exploitative]…practice…un[fortunat]ely the…Maryland…law is riddled with industry carveouts that will [undermine its stated intent]…

 

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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[Chatbot “journalism” is] nothing but a race to the bottom.
–  The Washington State News Guild

A Moral Cancer (#1535)

The absurd belief that “ultraprocessed foods” are essentially magical is increasingly popular with crypto-moralists:

[Eating] a small bag of potato chips…may raise your risk of dementia even if you normally eat a [pious] plant-rich diet, according to a new study…[which] only show[s] an association, not a direct cause and effect.  However…this [does]…not [stop “nutritionists” from making outlandish claims about the magically-harmful powers of the vaguely-defined fad concept called]…ultraprocessed foods…The…[authors admitted that they think eating should be a counting ordeal requiring] a…[years-long] commit[ment] to…[pseudoscientific dogmas bizarrely described as “]award-winning[“]…and…[“]highly respected[” and encumbered with ungainly labels like]…the DASH diet and the MIND diet…[while foods people enjoy are described with the unappetizing adjective] “predigested”…

The incoherence of the “ultraprocessed” concept is demonstrated by the fact that potato chips – i.e. slices of potato fried in vegetable oil – are included despite requiring no more “processing” than is needed to make any other raw vegetable palatable, which can be done in any ordinary kitchen.

Welcome to the Future (#1576)

Any internet-connected device can be used to spy on you, and that goes double for so-called “AI” devices:

Samsung is rolling out a new wave of [so-called “]AI[“] features that can recognize your voice, update your shopping list, and [report on what’s in your refrigerator to your health insurance company so your premiums can be raised if you eat anything they deem “unhealthy”]…Many of its…features are powered by Google Gemini…the [artificially-stupid]…oven comes with a camera that can recognize the dishes you place inside and recommend cooking time [for those too illiterate to read a cookbook]…Competitors like LG are also bringing [surveillance] into their appliances…by learning your habits and [sharing them with the corporation and its “partners”]…Samsung also has its own virtual assistant, Bixby, that it’s infusing into appliances…to provide a companion [to people whose lives are so pathetic they have nobody to talk to other than a refrigerator]…The goal is to create technology that f[osters dependence so as to be able to encumber marks with ever-more subscription services]…

Walled Garden (#1590)

The open internet will soon be a thing of the past:

[Utah politicians imagine their] new age-verification law…[can stop] minors [from] using VPNs to access [web]sites [politicians don’t want them to see]…by barring [targeted web]sites [across the entire internet] from recommending VPNs…[or] posting instructions on how to access them…the law [absurdly demands] age verification [of all Utah] users, “regardless of whether the individual is using a virtual private network, proxy server, or other means”…[despite the fact that] there’s no surefire way for a website to determine whether a…user is masking their location with a VPN.  The…[only way] a [web]site could…[obey] the law [would be] to…mandate age verification for every visitor globally…

Mad Libs (#1614)

Corporations can’t see that their stupidity, gullibility, and greed will wreck their business:

McClatchy, the newspaper chain behind publications including The Sacramento Bee, The Miami Herald and The Idaho Statesman, [is using a chatbot] to…summarize [re]al articles and spit out [enshittified] versions for different audiences…Journalists in many of the company’s newsrooms are now withholding their bylines from articles created by the [chatbot], meaning that those articles will run with a generic credit rather than a reporter’s name…Related [attempts to exploit people] are playing out in newsrooms across the country, as [greedy own]ers experiment with [trying to replace humans entirely] …McClatchy…[is owned by a] hedge fund [rather than a genuine publisher, as is evident in the buzzwords]…executives have [vomi]ted [in the faces of reporters whom they describe as]…“defiant”…for…[pointing out that] the tool’s use…[violates] their union contracts…reporters are a[lso being ordered] to edit…the [chatbot vomit, taking]…time away from serious journalism…

Panopticon (#1614)

This will continue unless forcibly shut down due to public outcry:

[Naifs in] an Atlanta suburb have been [sh]ocked by the [highly predictable news] that sales employees at Flock have been…demonstrat[ing] the company’s surveillance technology to [cop shops] around the country…[by spying on] a children’s gymnastics room, a playground, a school, a Jewish community center, and a pool…Flock has [absurdly justified this abuse by belching]…”demo partner program”…“well-intentioned”…”safety”…[and] “cutting-edge”…at…residents [who] universally explained to [fascist politician]s that they did not want their tax money funding surveillance technology that has been used to collaborate with [ICE], to [persecute]…abortion [seekers]to stalk women and [to] surveil protests

The Vultures Descend (#1622)

Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:

[The ever-deranged Fifth Circuit is attempting to] restrict…access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by [attempting to] block…mailing of prescriptions of mifepristone…[and demanding] that the abortion pill be distributed only in person at clinics…[on the grounds that] Louisiana…and [other forced-birth states own]…every [citizen]…and [can use them as brood mares if it sees fit]…the Supreme Court…[has temporarily block]ed enforcement of [that] ban

Even if SCOTUS changes its collective mind and allows the ban to go into effect, there is no practical way for the Post Office to consistently intercept discreetly-packaged pills sent from overseas by telehealth services like Women Help Women.

Walled Garden (#1631)

The only way to ensure data is not abused is not to collect it:

A teenage hacker is suspected of breaching a French government agency responsible for identity documents and attempting to sell millions of citizens’ personal data…the National Agency for Secure Documents (ANTS)…processes applications for passports, national identity cards, residence permits and driver’s licenses.  French authorities did not…[even know about] the…intrusion [until] the data appeared on underground marketplaces…The agency also oversees a new government age-verification app [politicians imagine can] prevent [young people of the hacker’s age] from accessing social networks

 

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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Without the constitutional safeguard of a warrant requirement, [cops] predictably…abuse their access to [surveillance] systems for things like stalking [women].  –  Michael Soyfer

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1463)

A baby step toward eradicating the noxious “troubled teen” industry:

Ron Wyden [has], introduced a Senate bill, the BRIDGES for Kids Act, to better regulate residential treatment centers – closing loopholes that have allowed for the abuse of vulnerable youth…follow[ing a two-year investigation] by the Senate Finance Committee…which…found that abuse, neglect and acute safety concerns…are “endemic” to the [“troubled teen” industry]…the Department of Health and Human Services would create a national public dashboard that would compile and publicly report on data like how often [victims] are restrained…secluded[, injured, or killed]…and…states would be required to look into significant complaints within two days…The bill would also no longer allow privately accredited facilities in 21 states to skip some licensing…and…would invest in community-centered alternatives, increasing federal support for…[young people] in the [foster] system placed with kin…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

No information entered into an internet-connected device is actually private:

…therapy sessions on the telehealth platform Talkspace are…record[ed] and store[d to create]…“one of the largest mental health data banks in the world,” containing 140 million message exchanges.  The end goal: training a soon-to-be-released [pseudo-]therapy [chat]bot…In a traditional therapy session, therapists might scribble only a few sentences recording a patient’s progress…by creating a transcript of the exact back-and-forth of a digital therapy session, Talkspace has created a new [way for the State and other malefactors]…to [invade] people’s private lives…Talkspace executives [pretend to] investors [that] data is anonymized, but [don’t tell them] such anonymity can [easily] be broken…by…court order…[while] in a[n ethic]al therapy session that wouldn’t be true…Talkspace executives e[ven lie]…that the company is compliant with…HIPAA…[which] the Electronic Frontier Foundation [points out was]…not [an actual protection even before the Trump regime started its data grab]…In 2022…Talkspace [was forced to admit to the US Senate]…that…the company [allows some] data [to be] used for ads.  [It has also]…shar[ed the] personal information of New York City teens with Facebook, Amazon…Google, and Microsoft via website trackers…Talkspace [hides all this in convoluted language embedded deep in the fine print of] the company’s privacy policy

Shame, Shame (#1570)

Remember when ninnies thought realistic porn cartoons were the worst use for this technology?

Last week, Taylor Swift filed a trio of trademark applications to protect her image and voice…[because] deepfakes [of her] continue to proliferate across social media…Swift and other stars have recently had their likenesses used in scammy advertisements…a cluster of sponsored videos on TikTok…appear…to show Swift, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and others promoting…fraud…[and] mal[ware designed]…to…[capture] the…[marks’] personal information…the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America [has] sued [Facebook for lying]…about its [supposed] efforts to crack down on scam ads…[while actually] profit[ing] by allowing them to proliferate…social media scams have surged overall, with Facebook scams accounting for the highest total of financial losses…

Crippling Thought (#1604)

Scenes from the early days of a dark age:

Academic freedom continues to decline globally, with a marked fall in the US, according to the 2026 update to the Academic Freedom Index…academic freedom has slipped in 50 countries, with just nine [including Bangladesh, Syria, Thailand and Uzbekistan] registering improvement…[those in decline include] the UK…Portugal, Germany, Austria, Italy and Greece…the United States [in particular] has experienced a remarkably sharp drop…compared to other countries in Western Europe and North America…beg[inning] in 2020 and intensif[ying] last year, driven by…attacks by the Trump [regime against] faculty members, staff and students…The pressure on universities and research institutes in the US was more dramatic than in other countries such as Hungary, India and Turkey, where institutional autonomy declined more gradually…

Stalkers in Blue (#1611)

With warrantless surveillance, no woman is safe from cops:

[Cops] across the US are [predictably] using automated license plate readers…to stalk [sexual prey]…there are already 14 cases across the country where cops…abused ALPR access to follow spousesexes, and even complete strangers…with the majority of the…cases coming after 2024…when…Flock S[urveillance] initiated a massive expansion into over 4,000 US cities…In Milwaukee, for example, a…[typical and representative cop]…named Josue Ayala resigned after…using Flock to track his…[girlfriend and her] ex, almost 180 times over just two months.  The two victims only became aware they were being stalked [by using]…HaveIBeenFlocked.com…Flock [now infests] over 6,000 cities across the US, with over 76,000 license plate readers and counting…[so] the number of active ALRP abuse cases…is [undoubtedly very high]…

Walled Garden (#1619)

Western nations are competing to out-China China:

The Greek government is pressing ahead with a [scheme] to [attempt to] ban anonymity on social media, aiming to curb [criticism of politicians, which they slander as “]hate speech[“.  But because Greek pigs and spooks have]…attempted – unsuccessfully – to identify users who [say things politicians don’t like]…the…[government wants to] find a way to require platforms to verify the identity of [people who post via] accounts…[belch]ing…the [meaningless catchphrase “]real person[” as part of a song-and-dance intended to transfer blame for government-mandated surveillance]…to…platforms…[while absurdly characterizing inflicting violence on people for their ideas as “]safeguarding democracy[“]…

Once this falls flat on its face, they’ll next try to criminalize VPNs.

Mad Libs (#1628)

Do I really need to say, “Don’t give your credit card to a fucking chatbot”?

…there are enough digital security problems out there…with[out so-called “]agentic AI[“, meaning chatbots which can fuck up idiots’ lives directly instead of merely urging them to do so.  But]…now…the authentication-focused industry association known as the FIDO Alliance [has] said…it will launch a pair of working groups to develop industry standards for validating and protecting payments and other transactions carried out by [chatbo]ts.  The goal is to pro[tect people stupid enough to give a chatbot access to their finances from obvious perils such as]…phish[ing or losing control of the chatbot to hackers]…The standards would…include cryptographic tools that digital services could use to confirm [chatbo]ts are accurately and legitimately carrying out an authenticated person’s instructions, as well as [data harvest]ing frameworks to give users, merchants, and other service providers the ability to validate transactions…initiated by [chatbo]ts…

Why are so many modern journalists so bad at pronoun usage, especially the second-person pronoun?  Because I guarantee you that no chatbot will ever “be buying…stuff for” me, “soon” or otherwise.  But I guess that’s too much to ask of some kid who thinks $100 is a reasonable price for fucking sneakers.

 

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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Why are immigrant businesses being targeted by large-scale investigations…over fire code violations?  –  MPOP

An Avalanche of Bullshit (#976)

If your raid can’t find evidence of any real crime, just punish your victims with “code violations”:

…police [raids in Bothell, Washington] are simply the latest example of discrimination and state violence against Asian women and immigrant workers.  “You’re patting your own back for solving fabricated issues based on your own sexist, racist ideas, and Asian massage workers are paying the price,” said Lee Chen at an April 20 rally outside of the King County Jail…organized by the Massage Parlor Organizing Project …Whose Streets? Our Streets, Red Canary Song, and the International Migrants Alliance…Two of the raided businesses—including one just feet away from the Bothell police headquarters—are owned by Lizhen Yang…who was booked into the King County [jail but]…released the next day, without charges.  All five massage businesses were shut down, with authorities citing fire code violations…[as justification for] “ripp[ing] security cameras from walls…knock[ing] down doors, [tearing] signage…and artwork from the walls…[and robbing] workers” …[who] are now [all] out of jobs…[as cops] offered no indication if or when the five [targeted] businesses may be allowed to reopen… “advocates said the [pogroms] were a publicized effort to ‘clean up’…ahead of this summer’s FIFA Men’s World Cup matches in Seattle”…

Permanent Record (#1506)

Clearly, they were concerned he’d carry dangerous sex rays to other wrestlers:

…Jamie Bigg, known as Giant, has left the BBC show [Gladiators] following the end of this series.  Bigg…said: “I made it clear that I was planning to go public with my relationship, including the fact my partner works as an OnlyFans creator, and shortly after that I was told I wouldn’t be continuing on Gladiators“…

Thought Control (#1509)

Now that “sex trafficking” hysteria is over, one of its propaganda texts has become the biggest target of some of the hysteria’s biggest pushers:

The American Library Association…has reported a record high in the number of books banned in US libraries.  In 2025, 5,668 books were banned – representing 66% of the total number challenged – with an additional 920 censored through access restriction, such as relocation …The most-banned book in 2025 was Sold, a [tragedy porn] novel by Patricia McCormick [sensationalizing “]sex trafficking[“] in India…challenges were recorded against 4,235 unique titles…the second highest since the organisation began tracking censorship data…topped only by 4,240 titles in 2023…40% of the materials challenged…involved representations of LGBT…people or people of colour…challenges are becoming more coordinated and politically driven: 92% came from pressure groups, [politician]s or [bureaucrat]s, compared with 72% in 2024…2.7% were attributed to [random busybodie]s and [only] 1.4% to [act]ual library users…

Sold was once so highly regarded among “sex trafficking” fetishists that the 2014 film adaptation was later released in a PG-13 digital version for propaganda use in schools and churches.

Thought Control (#1519)

Several states have banned book-banning, but some libraries are working to circumvent existing bans in more censorious states:

A Books Unbanned library card gives teens across the United States free digital access to ebooks and digital resources, including banned and challenged books—no matter where they live.  Books Unbanned helps ensure teens can read what they like, explore new ideas and form their own opinions.  This is a free digital library card for teens, created to protect the freedom to read in the face of growing book censorship…

Torture Chamber (#1541)

Though this article is a year and a half old, it has statistics and reports I haven’t seen elsewhere:

…Several courts have ruled that extreme temperatures in prison violate the Eighth Amendment’s provision against “cruel and unusual” punishment.  But these rulings have not led to a widespread adoption of…methods to cool prison facilities or prevent heat-related deaths.  Public health researchers at Brown University estimate that just one day of above average summer temperatures is associated with a nearly 4% increase in prison deaths.  Suicides spike 23% in the three days following a heat wave.  And for every 10 degrees above the average summer temperature, prison deaths increase 5%…Below, we’ve published stories from 42 writers across 27 states…reveal[ing] the brutal reality…

Nightfall

In today’s digital landscape, corporate interests, shifting distribution models, and malicious cyber attacks are threatening public access to our shared cultural history…When digital materials are vulnerable to sudden removal—whether by design or by attack—our collective memory is compromised, and the public’s ability to access its own history is at risk. Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record [is a free, downloadable collection of] essays from…the Internet Archive…and [many]…humanities scholar[s]…detail[ing] recent instances of cultural loss…and emphasiz[ing] the critical role that public-serving libraries and archives must play in preserving these materials for future generations…

Walled Garden (#1618)

Surely you didn’t think this would stop with the internet?

If some [politician]s get their way, Americans could have to show IDs or submit facial scans to so much as open a laptop or power up an iPhone.  A [uniparty] federal bill [with the propaganda name] the Parents Decide Act would require age verification at the operating system level.  That means most computers, smartphones, and tablets would all be age-gated…It would also require operating systems to share “any information as is necessary…to verify the date of birth of a user” with app developers…

 

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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