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Posts Tagged ‘Sweden’

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The pursuit of sex buyers…functions…[by] targeting people in the sex trade and result[s] in forced evictions, deportations and police harassment.  –  Niina Vuolajärvi

Maggie in the Media

Bound By the Cloak is a new-ish podcast whose tagline is, “Candid conversations about the unspoken”.  Episode 6 is entitled “Grande Horizontale”, so you can probably guess who is interviewed in it.  Give it a listen; I think you’ll enjoy it even if you’ve heard me talk about these topics before.

Sales Pitch

If the Swedish model is so successful, why are they threatening to increase the penalties?

The European Sex Worker Alliance (ESWA) is circulating a petition in solidarity with Swedish sex worker activists fighting a politically motivated attempt to require mandatory jail time for their clients…the…threat…has been Trojan-Horsed into…a series of legal reforms [driven]…by various sex panics fostered by the press…

Smoke and Mirrors

Another of those cases whose reported details don’t add up:

On April 8, a [man] and his teenage daughter were at a Dallas Mavericks basketball game…in Dallas.  Just before halftime, the daughter left her seat to use the restroom.  After she didn’t return, the father went to look for her and notified arena security, staff, and Dallas police of her being missing…lawyer Zeke Fortenberry…[claims] the family repeatedly called Dallas police to help find their daughter…[but] Dallas police…didn’t make any efforts to locate the girl…[so] the family reached out to a [rescueindustry group called] the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative…[which claims it] found [her pictures] on a[n escort] website…in Oklahoma City…and…Oklahoma City police…[found her] at an Extended Stay America…on April 18 and several people were arrested…Fortenberry [was quick to point fingers at]…the Dallas Mavericks…the [stadium, and the hotel, using the required “]failed to protect the victim[” language indicating he plans to sue them and]…Dallas police [using the novel legal construction of vicarious liability which has become popular among ambulance-chasers]…

If Men Were Angels

“Pastors” are as bad as cops:

A pastor [named]…John William Lovelace…in Ayden, North Carolina, was charged…with [various crimes of rape and sexual assault, and]…is also facing two counts of statutory [rape of] a child under the age of 15…

Winding Down (#1179)

It’s too bad Washington only supports self-ownership where drugs are concerned, not sex:

Drug-reform advocates, doctors, and politicians have initiated a ballot measure, Initiative 1922, to remove the penalties for possessing drugs of any kind in the state of Washington, including cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogenic mushrooms.  Led by a coalition group called Commit to Change WA, the proposed [measure would also]…dedicat[e] $141 million…each year to substance use treatment and prevention…the funds…would come from cannabis taxes the state is already receiving…Sponsors of the initiative have until July 8 to collect almost 325,000 valid signatures of registered Washington voters to qualify for a spot on the statewide ballot in November…

Creepy Coppers

Your “leaders” apparently also want you to refer to spreading child porn as “correction”:

Tennessee [screw]…Michael Vernon White, has been charged with possession of “hundreds of items” of child porn…[discovered] after an Internet service provider detected and reported multiple uploads of sexual images and videos depicting young girls.  The number associated with the uploads was linked back to White…

The Cop Myth (#1205)

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

An…NYPD [cop named]…Kevin Marcial…was suspended…following…his [attempt to shoot his] girlfriend’s husband [after he saw the latter behind him in traffic]…Marcial turned around and fired a shot at the [husband, but missed]…The outraged husband showed up later at a nearby police station and reported the [attack], as well as Marcial and the love triangle.  Cops at first [refused to] believe him, but the husband gave [them] the…license plate number, which they traced back to Marcial.  A shell casing was also found at the scene…police reached out to Marcial, who, with his lawyer, [later] surrendered…An NYPD spokeswoman s[pun this as] Marcial “self-report[ing]” the shooting…

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Under feudalism most people are serfs, legally bound to a certain piece of land and barred from leaving it without the permission of their lords.  Serfdom as such was abolished centuries ago in the West, but in recent years governments have increasingly attempted to bring back the idea that citizens are (at least in some ways) owned by the governments under which they live, and therefore subject to the diktats of their owners even if they travel to places with different laws.  And I don’t mean only totalitarian states; the governments I speak of are modern Western ones.  Swedish politicians have made several attempts to criminalize their subjects who pay for sex in countries where it’s legal, despite objections from saner politicians that it would set a dangerous precedent for people who have homosexual relations or abortions in Sweden when those things are criminalized in their own countries.  Some countries criminalize parents who seek surrogacy arrangements overseas, and of course many tax jurisdictions (including the US) try to rob citizens blind if they have the temerity to move elsewhere.  And now American states which more aggressively claim ownership over their residents are also attempting to prevent their circumventing that control:

…a prominent antiabortion [politician] in Missouri, from where thousands of residents have traveled to next-door Illinois to receive abortions since Missouri passed one of the country’s strictest abortion laws in 2019, [now wants to]…allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state, using the novel legal strategy [pioneered by]…Texas…the measure is [clearly] unconstitutional because it would effectively allow states to enact laws beyond their jurisdictions, but…Coleman…also w[ants to criminalize the]…possess[ion of]…abortion pills in Missouri…If enacted, the measure almost certainly would face a swift legal challenge…

And Missouri isn’t the only state to imitate Texan tyranny:

The Idaho House of Representatives…passed legislation to make it a crime punishable by life in prison for a parent to seek out gender-affirming health care for their transgender child…and…A parent or guardian would also be guilty of a felony if they travel with their child to another state for the purpose of obtaining gender-affirming health care…the Idaho proposal…is not unlike laws from a prior generation, including the criminalization of interracial couples traveling to another state to get married…which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.  People already take trips to other states to do things that are legal that they can’t do where they live — from consuming cannabis, gambling or buying fireworks to obtaining an abortion — and there’s little states can do to stop that because of constitutional limits on restricting interstate travel…

It’s not coincidental that laws which attempt to reduce people to a kind of serfdom all revolve around things they might do with their genitalia; Americans have long been obsessed with what other people have between their legs, and what they do with that equipment, so naturally attempts to abrogate human rights often start thus because too many of their countrymen have similar views, and most of those who don’t are too ashamed to defend these rights (which is why so many who do defend them couch them in neutered euphemisms like “love”).  But make no mistake: if these abominations are allowed to stand, the precedent will quickly be extended to other rights that control freaks hate, just as Texas’ abortion law has already inspired gun-grabbers to attempt similar tactics.  And if you think the current police state is bad, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

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How disconnected from reality are [censorious] Senators?  –  Mike Masnick

If Men Were Angels

Is a “small group leader” the same as a “youth pastor”?

…California church leader…Drue Mordecai, a…“small group leader” at New Vintage Church…sexually abused a juvenile…for approximately four to five years…beg[inning] when the victim was 12 years old…

Broken Record (#559) 

Irish versions of the “gypsy whores” myth always seem quaint:

[Pogroms against sex workers and their clients are] being prepared [using the popular myth that]…demand for such services [increases] around the time of major sports fixtures and other events…[fact-free propaganda promot]ed by the Garda shows the demand for prostitution increases around major events…[spokespigs oinked a lot of silly nonsense about]…victims…gangs…vast majority…[are] trafficked…[they also lied that] the Garda is not interested in treating [sex workers] as criminals, [despite ample evidence to the contrary]…

Above the Law (#866)  

The fact that the woman reported him tells me this wasn’t a coercion-free offer:

A Florida lawyer [sentenced to probation] in 2019 on charges that he was using female clients in two county jails to make pornographic films has been disbarred…Andrew Bennett Spark…was arrested Dec. 17, 2017, and charged with [minor offenses including]…soliciting for prostitution.  He…now lives in Flushing, New York…Spark went to visit with a woman…in the Pinellas County Jail…[who] had not requested a visit with him, and she was represented by a different lawyer…the…w[oman was an] adult film actress…whose arrest and conviction [had been] widely publicized…Spark…asked…he[r to let him take video of her giving him head]…in exchange for putting money in her jail account…[but when he gave her a measly $10 she] told her family about the unsolicited visit, and her family c[alled the pigs]…

Morality Lessons (#908) 

Utah hasn’t learned from this unconstitutional bill failing in over a dozen states:

…Utah [politicians]…discuss[ed the latest version of a censorship bill]…requiring all “new electronic devices” sold in the state to have pornography filters turned on by default…the…hearing…ended with putting the bill on hold…[following expert testimony] that… “compliance would not be possible…[and] the constitutional problems …are numerous”…

Chris Sevier, the pro-censorship crackpot who wrote this bill and has shopped it to almost half of US states, appears to be keeping a low profile since Elizabeth Smart threatened to sue him for slapping her name on previous versions without her permission.  Or maybe it’s because a federal judge in Utah threw out his lawsuit trying to target same-sex marriage by saying he should be allowed to marry his laptop.  Or perhaps it’s due to the warrant for his arrest in Tennessee?

Something Rotten in Sweden (#910)

California’s annual anti-whore pogrom did a lot less damage this year:

Riverside County [pigs deceived and abducted] 64 [peaceful citizens] over the course of four days [label]ing [the pogrom] an anti-human trafficking operation…[under the sophomoric name] Operation Reclaim and Rebuild…The statewide operation [destroyed fewer lives this year, down from]…518 [last year, including] 87 [sex workers; this year only 2 sex workers were brutalized]…

Theatrics (#914) 

Fake “sex trafficking” ads dreamed up by prohibitionists demonstrate the depravity of their lurid masturbatory fantasies about our lives and work:

A…Swed[ish prohibitionist organization]…has set up a [fake] call girl service…Unsuspecting men [looking for adult consensual sex] dial the [fake] hotline set up by [the “rescue” profiteers called] Talita, only to be…[non-consensually subjected to ugly tragedy porn] stories…Josephine Appelqvist, co-founder of Talita, says: “We wanted them to [violate their consent by tricking them into] hear[ing our disgusting sexual fantasies]”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1056)

Canada pretends to care about privacy, but has plenty of other snooping tools:

Clearview AI violated Canadian privacy laws when it collected photos of Canadians without their knowledge or permission, the country’s top privacy watchdog has ruled…the startup…scrap[ed] social media sites…without their permission, prompting Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to send cease and desist letters…Clearview rebuffed the allegations, claiming [it is above the] law…and that consent was not required because the images it scraped were publicly available…The Canadian privacy watchdog…said it would “pursue other actions” if the company does not…stop…the collection on Canadians and delet[e] all previously collected images…

Paint By Numbers (#1086)

The dumb “awareness raising” stunt field is being taken over by hack artists:

“Goats are empowering women in the poorest parts of India,” said Rob Canton, founder of Project Goat. “A Goat is essentially an ATM in these communities, keeping them from a life of sex…trafficking.”  That’s how Canton came up with the Global Offensive Against Trafficking also known as Project Goat.  During the months leading up to the Super Bowl…goats, decorated by different artists, were showing up everywhere…“Super Bowls and events like them, World Cups and Olympics, they are the types of events that generate a lot of human trafficking,” [lied] Canton…Canton is now in the process of corralling all these [propaganda] works…They will be part of a large art auction taking place the day before the Super Bowl at Zoo Tampa, with a portion of the proceeds going to [the rescue industry]…

You Were Warned (#1107)

The bipartisan war on the internet continues without even a pause:

For the past few months we’ve been seeing a ton of terrible/ ridiculous/awful/unconstitutional bills coming from mostly Republicans to try to wipe out or undermine Section 230.  Most of those were focused on trying to force websites to do less content moderation.  Now that the Democrats are back in power, it appears we’re going to be getting the opposite.  Senator Mark Warner has introduced…the SAFE TECH Act (“Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer Harms Act” co-sponsored by Senators Mazie Hirono and Amy Klobuchar), and it is one of the worst Section 230 bills I’ve seen.  It is difficult to explain just how bad this bill is concisely, because it has so many bad ideas crammed into one single bill.  It’s as if none of these three Senators or their staff spoke to anyone who actually understands how the internet works, or how content moderation/trust and safety works.  It’s stunning in the ignorance it displays…Basically, this bill takes nearly every single idea that people who want there to be less speech online have had, and dumped it all into one bill.  There’s a lot in there, and nearly all of it is bad…This bill…does not come from a well meaning place.  The drafters…are either malicious or ignorant…

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If lockdowns worked as advertised, we would not see such enormous variability in the death rates.  –  William Briggs

Blasphemy

As I’ve said for decades, so-called “radical” feminism is a cult:

…Looking back on her time in the “gender critical” feminist movement, [Amy Dyess] is unequivocal: it’s a cult…that groomed her when she was vulnerable and sleeping in her car; a cult that sought to control her, keeping tabs on her movements and dictating what she could and couldn’t say; a cult that was emotionally and sexually abusive towards her.  As Amy began to notice more and more red flags about the GC movement – like how it defended abusive women, how it wouldn’t let lesbians speak out about sexual assault perpetrated by women, and how it was forming alliances with homophobic groups – she started asking questions.  Last year, she began speaking out against what she saw as increasingly blatant homophobia in the gender-critical movement.  The cult tightened its grip.  Lesbian journalists who are household names “lovebombed” her, she says, trying to keep her in the movement…

Surplus Women

More blood on prohibitionists’ hands:

Lawrence Paul Mills III…targeted…sex workers on the southside of Detroit…he would [hire] his victims…and [transact their business] in…his [car].  When the victim left the vehicle, he would [intentionally run them down]…and then [steal back] his payment…Mills was arraigned…in connection to a Dec. 22, 2017, incident in which he…[ran over] a then-pregnant woman…several times before driving away…The woman and her unborn child survived…

The Swedish Pimpocracy (#719) 

The key to understanding Swedish law: the government thinks it owns the citizens:

As infections continue to grow in Sweden, several parents and teachers in the country have raised concerns over the risk their children (and everyone the kids come into contact with) face due to the mandatory school attendance required among those aged from six to 15 amid the ongoing pandemic…parents (some of whom have serious health conditions) have reported being threatened with fines, being reported to social services and other repercussions for choosing to keep their children at home to minimize the risk to their own lives…

Safe Position (#947)

This is the woman who beat the pro-decrim candidate Tiffany Caban:

District Attorney Melinda Katz…announced the creation of a [so-called] Human Trafficking Bureau that is exclusively dedicated to [persecuting sex workers]…in Queens County. This newly formed Bureau will…aggressively prosecut[e sex workers’ clients, friends, family members and associates]…and will also [infantilize and criminalize sex workers]…

I Spy (#1035)

It boggles the mind that anyone could be gullible enough to install this:

The Care19 app, developed for the North Dakota Department of Health by developer ProudCrowd, [claimed it would] assist health officials in their battle against coronavirus by logging users’ location data…[which] it also sent…to Foursquare…this is especially concerning, as the app’s [supposed] privacy policy [claims] to explicitly prohibit [exactly] what [the app does]…”This location data…is stored securely on ProudCrowd, LLC servers,..It will not be shared with anyone including government entities or third parties, unless you consent or ProudCrowd is compelled under federal regulations”…

Reawakening

In case you missed this:

…quarantining an entire population is not some set-in-stone technique that has been used for decades to stem the spread of a virus.  It was first proposed in 2006 by two [medical bureaucrats]…neither of them infectious disease specialists —  after President George W. Bush asked for a plan to combat pandemics…But four scientists who were infectious disease specialists…wrote…a devastating critique.  There was no science to support the notion that a national quarantine would halt the spread of infection, they wrote.  It could increase the risk of infection for people living in close quarters.  Closing theaters, malls, restaurants, stores and bars…would have “serious disruptive consequences.”  Closing schools was not only impractical “but carries the possibility of a seriously adverse outcome”…there is surprisingly little evidence that lockdowns work…a statistician named William M. Briggs…compar[ed] countries that locked down with countries that didn’t.  As of May 12, the U.S. had 237 deaths per million people.  Taiwan, a no-lockdown country, had 0.3 deaths per million…No-lockdown Sweden has had 347 deaths per million; lockdown Belgium, with a similar population, has had 763 deaths per million.  Ethiopia…had no lockdown — and a death rate of 0.04 per million…

Social Distancing (#1037)

India refuses to give sex workers stipends to survive on, so I’m sure these pompous blowhards’ scheme will work:

India can add 17 days of additional delay to reaching the peak of novel coronavirus cases, and prevent 72 per cent of projected new cases by closing down its red light areas till a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, [prohibitionists fantasize]. Based on [authoritarian nonsense that imagines people can survive indefinitely with no income if the government demands they do], the [prohibitionists claim]…closing down these places of sex work may reduce projected COVID-19 death toll increase in India by 63 per cent [and besides, whores are expendable]…

Working From Home (#1038)

Internet companies use sex workers to build themselves, then screw us over:

…In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic, [OnlyFans] has exploded in popularity, seeing a 75 percent increase in sign-ups in recent weeks and garnering 170,000 new users per day…[so-called “]influencers[“] like Caroline Calloway have flocked to the platform as a way to monetize their content by selling directly to their fan base.  The influx of…civilians…has prompted concern among many sex workers, who’ve long relied on the platform as a source of income and are worried about oversaturation of the market…To make matters worse, some…[are] being pushed out of the platform, reporting that their accounts have been deleted [and their funds stolen by the platform] even when they have not violated OnlyFans’ terms of service…Emails shared with Rolling Stone show the boilerplate language OnlyFans has sent to such creators, saying accounts are “typically being deleted due to suspicious/fraudulent activity”…

This is, of course, exactly what Paypal did, down to stealing sex workers’ money and claiming it was about “fraud”.

Social Distancing (#1041)

At their core, the Netherlands are still prohibitionist:

The red-light district is one of the main tourist attractions in Amsterdam.  While coronavirus…restrictions are starting to ease, sex work is not allowed to resume until September…the lack of support for sex workers has exposed how vulnerable they are under Dutch law.  Hella Dee…started a fundraising campaign when she realized how many of her colleagues were in financial distress…The campaign collected over $20,000 that was distributed to over 400 sex workers.  Masten Stavast, who rents out 31 windows…is compiling a protocol with sex workers, club owners and other people from the red-light district to lobby policymakers on how sex work can safely resume before September…”If everything goes all right on July 1, there can be 100 people together, why not one to one then with all the protection that everybody has?”  M[ost] sex workers are [also intentionally] excluded from the billions of dollars of government support offered to overcome economic hardship…

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Sex workers are better aware than most of the value of sex. – Jerry Barnett

Check Your Premises 

“Sex trafficking” charges are often hurled at anyone who helps an underage sex worker instead of ratting her out to the pigs:

A transgender woman [entrapped by pigs] nearly two years ago was sentenced to at least eight years imprisonment for…[showing] a girl who was 17 at the time of the incident [how to post an online ad].  Ashanti Welton McLean…was [caught in a trap planned by]…the FBI…District Attorney Ben David…[vomited up a lot of sick sex fantasies and then bragged about his part in getting a shitty. draconian law passed]…McLean…was a transgender escort…only involved in sexual services with adults…the 17-year-old…told court officials that “Ms. McLean had no idea what I was doing”…[the prosecutor gleefully crowed that after her]…release…from prison…McLean [will be condemned to the]…sex…offender [registry]…for…30 years…

South of the Border

It’s difficult to be completely sure due to all the “sex trafficking” mumbo-jumbo in this article, but it seems to be saying that Mexico is headed toward a kind of soft decriminalization by getting rid of “avails” laws.  There’s a lot of nonsense about “consensual exploitation”, but the article mentions that Mexico intends to follow UN recommendations, and most UN bureaus other than UNODC recommend decriminalization.  Also, arch-prohibitionists CATW don’t like the change, which almost certainly means it will benefit sex workers.  So…yay?  I’ll let you know when I find a clearer article.

Train Wreck

I’m fascinated by the bizarre & stilted language used in African news articles about sex workers:

There was drama at a famous brothel in…Mombasa…after police disrupted business, leading to unceremonious end that saw clients scamper away without paying…While castigating police for the clumsy raid, the women of easy virtue demanded respect, saying that theirs is a business, just like any other and it was important for police to have some decency during their operations…So embarrassing was the incident that some of the sex workers took to the streets to protest the harassment the following day…[reporting that] police…extort…them of the little money they make, with some demanding [they submit to rape or be arrested]…

The Face of Trafficking

What an actual attempt to abduct women into forced prostitution looks like:

…aspiring pimp Andrew Frey…[was] arrest[ed for trying to abduct two women]…Frey…initially hired the Long Island wo[men]…before attempting to kidnap the[m]…He arranged separate meetings with the women…one in October 2018 and one this July — and then used force to keep them in line as he drove into secluded areas with plans of abduction…“Both separately managed to escape Frey by jumping from his moving vehicle and sustaining injuries in the process…The nature of his conduct … was sufficiently violent that both deemed it a safer option to throw themselves from a moving vehicle in order to escape”…Frey later reached out to both victims [again]…and even attempted to forcibly abduct Jane Doe #1 with a weapon on a second occasion…Frey has a history of violence against sex workers, including one who sought an order of protection after he intentionally slammed his car into her vehicle.  Frey then violated the order by leaving threatening voicemails on the victim’s phone…He was currently charged with attempted sex trafficking…and attempted kidnapping…

An Older Profession Than You May Have Thought (#635)

It’s impossible to state this too often:

The total value of the sex trade could be said to be the value of the net transfer of wealth from men to women…The UK flower industry was worth almost £1bn last year…many are bought…by men for…courtship. What about restaurant meals, hotel rooms, concert tickets, diamonds, taxi fares, cocktails, vacations…?…Historically, what proportion of the silk carried (invariably by men) along the Silk Road found itself worn by the wealthy wives and mistresses of Europe?…The original female industry—the sex trade—was undoubtedly far bigger than any of the other (male-created) industries, because its role was to collect a dividend on all male-led activity. The greater the innovation and diversification of male-run industries, the larger the sex trade became….

The Swedish Pimpocracy (#741) 

As I’ve said for nine years, Sweden has never given a damn about this rape charge; it was simply an excuse to turn Assange over to the US:

…Deputy director of [Swedish] prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson told journalists that the case against Assange had been discontinued…Assange remains [caged in a London] prison…[while] American prosecutors seek…his extradition…for [the “crime” of revealing facts the US didn’t want revealed]…He faces a full extradition hearing…in February 2020, with the inevitable appeal probably being heard…in the second half of next year…

Pyrrhic Victory (#974) 

Why I keep telling you local laws banning facial recognition are feel-good bullshit:

Over the last decade, large police forces…like the Seattle Police Department…have turned to facial recognition technology to…track down [people they want to cage]…and…thousands of pages of…emails…confirm the existence of a massive, secretive network of police departments working together to share these…tools [since]…at least 2016…these departments explicitly tried to keep this…secret from the public…requests in Washington state were made through a [secret] listserv known as FITlist…[Pigs] on the listserv are encouraged to adopt a Fight Club-style directive that precludes group members from discussing [its] existence…One document explicitly says: “Do not mention FITlist in your reports or search warrant affidavits”…Shankar Narayan…of the…ACLU of Washington…says…secret partnerships like these [will] be used to circumvent jurisdictions [like California] that have banned facial recognition technology…[for example,] despite public claims by New Orleans officials that the city’s police do not employ facial recognition…[they] tap…state police to do the job…

Rescued To Death (#977)

Here’s another American “journalist” who thinks her sadfeelz about sex trump poor women’s right to make a living.  Note her liberal use of scare quotes and her devotion to words like “illegal” (used as a synonym for “wrong”), “exploitation” (used as a synonym for “work”), and “hold accountable” (used as a synonym for “prosecute someone who isn’t a government actor“); note also that most of her “facts” come from rescue industry profiteer ECPAT, one of the most active pushers of “100,000 child sex slaves” propaganda and bogus “checklists” used to justify surveillance of women and minorities in hotels, airplanes and other public places.  She talked to exactly one sex worker, whom she says was underage but admits did not have a pimp; no Philippine sex worker activists were even mentioned despite their previously-stated strong opinions on Westerners writing tragedy porn of this sort about them:  “We really do not care about  ‘patriarchy’, ‘commodification’ and other words they spew.  Those matters don’t bring food on our table nor pay for our rent.  All we are interested in is to work undisturbed“…

To Molest and Rape (#985)

Cops show you what they are all the time; why don’t you believe them?

Bristow, OK…[cop] Bradley Don Goodin…was arrested…and charged with [multiple] counts of…child sexual abuse…[after] the [mother] of one [nine-year-old] victim…walked into a bathroom on Oct. 5 and found Goodin with his hand inside the little girl’s pants…Goodin…threatened to hurt the mother and the child if they told anyone…he [then]…claimed to be applying itch creme to…bug bites [conveniently located in her genital area]…Goodin then [changed his story]…to claim his watch got stuck in the girl’s clothing, which the mother mistook as molestation…The second victim, an 11-year-old girl, told investigators that Goodin had touched her inappropriately more than five times…he has since been [rewarded with a]…paid [vacation]…

Panopticon

The state believes it owns you and you have no right to defend yourself from it:

…the state of Indiana charged a [citizen] with theft for removing a government-owned GPS tracking device from his [vehicle].  This month, the state’s Supreme Court began considering the case…in July 2018…the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office got a warrant to attach a GPS tracking device to Derek Heuring’s car…[after a cop claimed that a snitch told] them…Heuring was…sell[ing] meth…Heuring…discovered and removed it…[so cops got] a warrant to search Heuring’s home and…found methamphetamine and [the GPS tracker]…So Heuring was charged both with drug dealing and with theft of the GPS device…the search…[was] illegal because the police didn’t have probable cause…[for] theft…[and] even if Heuring did [remove] the device…it…wasn’t…labeled as the property of the [pigs]…most important…multiple justices seemed skeptical of the idea that taking a tracking device off your own car amounted to theft…

Disaster (#988)

Morons cheer when a highway is destroyed, then get upset when the traffic goes into side streets:

[Busybodies in San Jose absurdly fantasize that] a growing prostitution problem has made them prisoners in their own homes…[blah blah] “kids walking to school and seeing…underwear on the street” [THE HORROR!!!]…[sows role-play as sex workers] to catch the johns…[blah blah] proactive…[blah blah] criminal element…[blah blah] send a strong message…[blah blah] innocent moms…being a target for johns…

There is no bourgeois housewife fantasy funnier than the notion that they are so hot men just can’t keep from propositioning them or that they’ll be stalked by “sex traffickers” in Ikea.

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I find the fixation on Swedish climate hysteric Greta Thunberg fascinating; she resembles one of the “child saints” who often appear in cults and relatively young religions, and are held by the True Believers of that faith to be especially pure in their prophetic pronouncements from the deity or other metaphysical source.  Thunberg just parrots the same old apocalyptic “the world will end in 12 years” nonsense as other fanatics trying to hijack genuine concern for climate change to support their mad social engineering schemes, but her worshipers imagine that her complete lack of adult life experience and her scant knowledge of either meteorology or economics somehow makes the silly pronouncements more true when she repeats them (especially if she screams at adults while doing so).  And when sensible people (or even foolish ones who pretend climate change isn’t real because they find it inconvenient) correctly point out the absurdity of venerating a troubled teenager who isn’t actually an expert in anything (except perhaps histrionics) as the font of all wisdom on a very complex scientific subject, the Gretists get as offended as any fundamentalist Muslim confronted with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.  The most interesting and disturbing part of the phenomenon is the proliferation of icons of Thunberg serving simultaneously as objects of veneration for the faithful and, presumably, as a sort of scarecrow to the infidels.  I mean, what’s the intended message of this one from a cafeteria in Tel Aviv?  “Holy Saint Greta, bless our utensils that we may endure these raw vegetables thou hast given us to sustain our sinful bodies…”?  As one who attended Catholic schools for a dozen years, I find this very familiar.  Then there’s the giant mural in San Francisco, whose unmistakeable “Big Brother” vibe reveals a hilariously-huge blind spot on the artist’s part, unless of course he’s intentionally trolling One Atmosphere, the patrons who paid for the ugly thing.  Naturally, their spokespeople uttered all the usual fashionable nonsense about “raising awareness” and “sending a message”, but don’t want people thinking too hard about the fact that the project used over 700 cans of petrochemical-based aerosol spray paint (plus sealers, plus the detergents used to prepare the surface, plus transportation costs for the workers, plus…)  As you can probably guess, this observation met with some pushback from her disciples on Twitter, who claim that the environmental impact from the project is negligible; actually, I agree with that, but I’m not the one who tries to shame people out of using plastic straws or spray deodorant, or who flies two crew members across the Atlantic so she can make a big show of crossing the ocean in a sailboat instead of flying only one person (herself).  But in religion, facts are not important; only symbols and “messages” are.  And apparently Thunberg’s devotees think her “message” is important enough to justify littering the Earth with creepy testaments to their adoration.

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The police are the true sex predators.  –  Peter Aiken

Gullible’s Travels

Americans will believe basically any scaremongering about teenagers:

Fort Bend County [Texas cops] are [fearmongering] about a [supposedly] new teen drug trend called, “Robo Tripping” [AKA drinking cough syrup]…to get high…”Robo Cough…[is] a legal substance [that we’re trying to scare people with,” bloviated Sheriff Troy] Nehls…Robo Cough…is…[an ordinary] Dextromethorphan [based]…cough suppressant [which pigs seem to imagine is more]…potentially dangerous [than other over-the-counter cough medicines] because cops’ little tin badges magically grant expertise in pharmacology without the trouble of having to earn a degree]…

Anyone who thinks trying to get high on cough syrup is something “new” is too ignorant to be allowed to run around loose.

The Last Shall Be First 

Since their “bathroom bills” keep getting struck down, transphobes are now trying to accomplish their goals by spreading hysteria:

Drugs that are being used to halt puberty in gender-confused youth have been linked to thousands of adult deaths…The Food & Drug Administration has recorded thousands of deaths associated with Lupron, a…drug…routinely used to treat prostate cancer in men and [both breast cancer and] endometriosis in women…since 1984…there have been 40,764 adverse reactions…[including] 6,370 deaths…

For those unfamiliar with prohibitionist propaganda tactics: when prohibitionists claim that a drug is “linked to” or “associated with” a death or other serious effect, what that means is the drug was present in the person’s system when they suffered the effect.  For example, if I died today cops could say my death was “linked to” cannabis consumption, because there are detectable levels of THC in my system.  Given that Lupron’s most common use is in cancer patients, the statements made in this article would be equally true when made about insulin, painkillers, antibiotics of last resort, etc.  Also: barely over 1000 adverse reactions a year to any drug as widely used as Lupron is not exactly a crisis.

Bullies With Badges

Big masked heroes in riot gear prove their manhood by brutalizing naked women:

[Pigs invited reporters along to humiliate dancers]…as [they dressed up like little boys playing soldier and frog]marched employees in handcuffs out one by one at the Wacko’s Gentlemen’s Club [last] Friday night…Other clubs in Jacksonville [Florida] are taking legal action in response to recent raids…[which clearly] violated the constitution [sic] rights of the dancers….Emperor’s Gentleman’s Club and Flashdancers…filed a federal lawsuit against the city and Sheriff Mike Williams on Thursday…[thus precipitating retaliation the next day]…the…raids violated a 2004 court order that stated performers should be given a “notice to appear”, rather than be arrested for minor violations…dancers [abducted by violent pigs] in those raids…were shackled in leg irons…While Wacko’s is not a party in the recently filed lawsuit, [it] was the lead plaintiff in the case resulting in the 2004 court order…

Rescued To Death

The Asian press just can’t let go of the word “rescue”, even when it’s patently absurd:

Authorities rescued some 91 Chinese women and 4 Filipino women inside an upscale…bar allegedly used as front for prostitution in…Makati City [The Philippines]…the victims…[charged] at least P15,000 [$288 US]…They…will face [charges] for violating…the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.  This is the third incident this month that authorities have rescued several foreign women involved in the sex trade…

“Rescued” from jobs in which they made as much money as many US sex workers (in an economy where that represents a lot more buying power), then prosecuted.  And you can bet deportation will follow whatever time they’re locked in cages for.

Bait and Switch

Cops don’t care how many lives they destroy with their sick fantasies:

Hamid Keshmirian committed suicide…after bonding out on charges related to his conversations…with a…[pig fantasy role-playing a teenage girl]…on…SkipTheGames.com, where Keshmirian responded to an ad that appeared to be for an adult escort…but [was really placed by lying pigs]…Keshmirian, a [62-year-old] single man, whose two adult daughters say he was battling depression and loneliness…ultimately agreed to meet up with the [imaginary] girl on Thursday, Sept. 19 — his birthday.  He was arrested upon arrival, spending two nights in jail because…[pigs] denied him a phone call and kept his arrest out of the computer system while they continued to hunt other men…the [victims]…were looking to talk to other adults on legal, adult dating sites and…would never have considered talking to underage teens…[but] bait-and-switch tactics on adult dating sites have become more frequent for [pigs] that seek to boost arrest numbers related to sex crimes…[lying pigs] have resorted to teasing men who didn’t want to meet up with underage teens, pushing conversations about sex on men who didn’t want to talk about it, and offering gas money to convince one man to make a trip he initially declined.  Some men are arrested for their conversations with decoys, even if they don’t ever travel to meet up…most of the [cops’ victims]…have no real criminal history and suffer from behavioral and/or emotional disorders…Some…are autistic…

R.I.P. Madame Claude

Normal people are growing increasingly sick of prohibitionism and puritanism:

French label Guy Laroche has raised eyebrows by celebrating prostitution in its Paris fashion week show just a day after police in the city raided a modelling agency linked to the Epstein scandal.  Designer Richard Rene defended “cocking a snook” at political correctness by lionising the [late]…Fernande Grudet, known as Madame Claude, and the band of…girls [who worked for her]…high-class call girl agency in Paris in the 1960s and 1970s that counted several heads of state among its clients…Rene [said] the show was a reaction to…a growing atmosphere of uptight puritanism…

R.I.P. Petite Jasmine (#806)

A documentary about how the Swedish model led directly to the death of a young Swedish sex worker is now available on Amazon, and is included with a Prime subscription.  I recently watched the film, entitled Everything’s Better Than a Hooker, and I highly recommend it to anyone who still has any illusions about the Swedish model being “well-intended”; the film unflinchingly portrays how Swedish “authorities” ruthlessly and maliciously persecuted a young woman to death and wrecked the lives of her entire family because they disapproved of her pragmatic choices.

Fair-Weather Friends (#906)

Every sex worker arrested in a “sting” should sue the cops if at all possible:

Stormy Daniels settled her lawsuit against the city of Columbus, Ohio, over her arrest last year at a strip club…Daniels will receive $450,000 and drop all claims made in her federal civil complaint against the city…[she] could have reached a settlement for more…but she was satisfied with changes implemented by the Columbus Police Department following her arrest…“Her main goal was to make sure people weren’t going to be treated like she was going forward” [said her attorney]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#964)

As I’ve repeatedly stated, it’s far too late to put this evil djinni back into its bottle:

…Unilever…is among companies using AI technology to analyse the language, tone and facial expressions of candidates when they are asked a set of identical job questions which they film on their mobile phone or laptop.  The algorithms [supposedly] select the best applicants by assessing their performances in the videos against about 25,000 pieces of facial and linguistic information compiled from previous interviews of those who have gone on to prove to be good at the job.  Hirevue, the US company which has developed the interview technology, claims…that it provides a more reliable and objective indicator of future performance free of human bias [and that this isn’t anything like astrology or phrenology, no sirree]…

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I think most of my readers know that I think the idea that there is only One True Path to Decriminalization is as wrongheaded and destructive as the notion that there is only One True Path to Salvation.  Those who claim that a labor rights approach, or a privacy rights approach, or a social justice approach, or a civil liberties approach, or a medical approach, or a harm reduction approach, or whatever, represent the only way to achieve sex worker rights, have been drinking their own Kool-Aid and need to move on to more potent and adult beverages.  But there is one popular approach that I’m going to ask y’all to reconsider, because I believe it’s doing more harm than good:  Please stop telling authoritarians that their terrible laws are harming sex workers and even getting us killed.  Look, I fully understand why y’all think this will work; it’s because you’re decent human beings who care about others, so naturally you think other decent human beings will also care.  And you’re mostly right, except for one small factor:  politicians, cops and other authoritarians are not decent human beings.  They are sociopaths who think that “law and order” trumps every other concern, and at a minimum accept harm to sex workers as acceptable collateral damage in their war to establish a jackboot Utopia with them at the top; in the worst cases (which means most of them), they are happy when their laws harm sex workers, because that is their specific intent.  In other words, when you tell these moral imbeciles, “Please stop because you’re killing us,” you are not dissuading them from their course of action; you are encouraging it.  Don’t believe me?  Consider that the Skarhed Report, the Swedish government’s own report on their eponymous “model”, stated quite clearly that “negative effects of the [sex purchase] ban…must be viewed as positive from the perspective that the purpose of the law is…to combat prostitution“…in other words, “it’s a good thing that those dirty whores are dying, because omelettes and eggs and all.”  And then there’s this video, which I’ve shared often, that states the prohibitionist attitude so clearly and distinctly you may even be able to see it through rose-colored glasses:

And here’s a selection from a recent article on Florida’s creation of an adjunct “sex offender” registry strictly for clients and sex workers accused of any of the “offenses” that are now fashionable to call “sex trafficking”:

…Savannah Parvu, an anti-sex-[work activist] and [prohibitionist] who advised Rep. Fitzenhagen on the bill…[believes] that that sex workers are…acceptable collateral…“Sex workers…claim they’re doing it willingly, so if a bill that is designed to [empower the police state]…puts sex workers in danger or is bad for…business…then maybe it’s time for a career change”…The bill’s authors are well aware of the criticism—but they don’t…see the issues that activists raise as problems.  “In case it was lost on you, a consensual sex worker, AKA a prostitute, is committing a crime,” Rep. Fitzenhagen said in…March…“It is not my intent to work with them moving forward”…

By all means, keep making this argument to the public, and pointing out the dangers of prohibition to reporters, academics and other potential allies.  But when you tell die-hard prohibitionists their schemes are hurting us, that’s just free intel for them from the front lines of a war against humanity they will do anything to win.

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