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Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

In the News (#1502)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This…law…put website operators at risk of criminal prosecution for something as trivial as a mention of the human nipple.  –  Alison Boden

Unchristian Nation

Government thugs continue their crusade against Christian charity:

Annunciation House [is] a nonprofit that shelters and aids migrants…. in…El Paso…Its mission is “to provide hospitality and accompaniment for the poor in migration”…and…it has helped “hundreds of thousands of refugees” since its founding…[but psychopathic] Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton…launched a…[harassment campaign against] Annunciation House…and demanded the nonprofit turn over huge amounts of documentation about its immigrant clients…then…sought an injunction to stop what it [claims is]…”systemic criminal conduct”…[by] “a criminal enterprise”…In July, a state district court judge strongly rebuked that argument, calling Paxton’s actions “outrageous and intolerable”…But that hasn’t stopped Paxton, who hasn’t just continued his pursuit of Annunciation House but is targeting other nonprofits that assist immigrants…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1424)

Politicians no longer care if their laws are unconstitutional:

A Tennessee District court…blocked the state’s age-verification law…from going into effect on January 1, following a motion…by Free Speech Coalition…[which] is [also] challenging similar laws in Louisiana, Texas, Utah, Indiana, Montana, and Florida.  The Texas case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, will be heard by the United States Supreme Court on January 15…

Shifting the Blame (#1448)

It looks like this monster may turn out to be the best witness against himself:

Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is being charged with a seventh murder: the November 2000 death of Valerie Mack…a…New Jersey…sex work[er]….based on evidence…found on an electronic device seized from Heuermann’s home…Heuermann kept detailed notes about serial killings, body disposal and torture pornography…

I Spy (#1478)

If “official” busybodies can spy on you via your car, so can unofficial ones:

For months, the location information of around 800,000 electric Volkswagen vehicles was available online due to…the software running inside Volkswagen vehicles [which] could’ve allowed a bad actor [such as cops or spooks] to trace a driver’s exact movements…the vulnerability…also affects EVs from Volkswagen-owned car brands…including Audi, Seat, and Skoda…Cariad, the Volkswagen subsidiary behind the automaker’s software, made it possible for an[y busybody] to find and access driver data housed in Amazon’s cloud storage service…includ[ing] details about when [vehicles] were switched on and off, along with the emails, phone numbers, and addresses of drivers in some cases.  It included the “precise” locations of about 460,000 vehicles…“accurate to within ten centimeters” for Volkswagen and Seats vehicles, and within 10km…for Audi and Skoda models…

Vulture Watching (#1485)

Oh look, the totally-predictable results of bad laws are happening just as sane people said they would:

A quarter century ago, prompted by a spate of abandoned babies in Houston, [Texas] became the first [state] in the [US] to pass a safe haven law allowing parents to relinquish newborns at designated places — [supposedly] without questions or risk of prosecution.  Yet [such] surrenders remain rare [because Texas’ psychopathic politicians regularly demonstrate that they cannot be trusted in any matter involving pregnancy]…Statewide…at least 18 babies have been abandoned this year…A decade ago, the number was seven…

Shame, Shame (#1494)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

[Facebook has deluded itself into believ]ing that characters generated by [computers] will fill its social media platforms in the next few years]…“in the same way that accounts do,” said Connor Hayes, [Computer Cartoon Czar] at [Facebook].  “They’ll have [invented] bios and [fake] profile pictures and be able to [make up the same kind of bizarre nonsense we’ve come to expect from ML systems]…that’s where we see all of this going”…He said hundreds of thousands of [such] characters have already been created…but most users have kept them private so far…social media companies have been racing to [cram] the latest generative [algorithms] into products as a way of [enabling the wealthy to access creativity while denying to the actually creative the means to access wealth]…Snapchat rolled out…[computer cartoon] characters…[and] TikTok is piloting a suite of products called Symphony, which enables brands and creators to use [computer-generated] advertising [schlock]…

Thought Control (#1500)

In other words, the text of this law can be summarized as “Free speech for me, but not for thee”:

The Canyon Independent School District in Texas…pulled the Bible from school library shelves [last] month…[because] House Bill 900…”prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content”…[but politician] Jared Patterson…who sponsored the bill…[says vulgar sex scenes are OK if they’re in] the Bible, and…cited a [contradictory] part of the Texas education code that requires schools to carry “religious literature”…Of course, that [does not actually] preclude…the Bible from meeting Texas standards for “sexually explicit” material.  It just means that Texas authorities make exceptions for certain texts…[and] illustrates further how involved the state government is in micromanaging exactly what can and can’t be available in schools…And it’s kind of funny how the only “religious literature” explicitly named in the code is the Christian Bible…

 

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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Links #751

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Are you happy now?  –  Reid Hawley

There was really only one choice for a sendoff for Lou Donaldson, so here it is.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker (x2), C.J. Ciaramella, The Onion, IncarcerNation, T. Greg Doucette, and Lenore Skenazy, in that order.

From the Archives

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

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In the News (#1491)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Making the police the central focus of delivering sex work policy is utterly pointless and doomed to fail.  –  Raven Bowen

I Spy (#826)

Toward the end of privacy, everywhere:

The United States will support the United Nations cybercrime convention…follow[ing] months of internal deliberations at the White House and other agencies…[due to] serious concerns over…its potential misuse by countries like Russia and China…The decision is likely to face pushback from human rights groups…be[cause it could be] used…to justify surveillance…and infring[e] on digital rights…One key concern…[i]s a clause that would allow [signatory] nations…to request data on [anything they choose to label a “]serious crime[” regardless of the act’s legal statu]s in other nations…

I Spy (#1067)

When it comes to surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Officials inside the Secret Service [actually claimed]…they [didn’t] need…a warrant to use location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones…[because] citizens have agreed to be tracked…by accepting app terms of service, despite those apps…not saying their data may end up with [cops, spooks, and other violent authoritarians who might wish them harm]…hundreds of pages of internal Secret Service emails obtained by 404 Media…provide deeper insight into the agency’s use of Locate X, a powerful surveillance capability that allows [pigs and spooks] to follow a phone, and person’s, precise movements over time at the click of a mouse.  In 2023, a government oversight body found that the Secret Service, [CBP], and [ICE] all used their access to such location data illegally.  The Secret Service [now claims] it is no longer using the tool…

The Mob Rules (#1351)

Ambulance-chasers can’t wait to capitalize on mob rule laws:

A [gang of shysters] is actively courting potential plaintiffs in Kansas, using the state’s age-verification law to dangle the prospect of large financial judgments from adult companies…[in front of the moral imbeciles who infest evangelical] church networks…In Kansas, simple access of an adult website by a minor may be enough to bring a civil case with statutory damages — no proof of actual harm is required…[and] statutory damages begin at $50,000.  The state’s attorney general is separately empowered to bring [nuisance] litigation…

Censorship Ascendant (#1427)

Cops are now being dispatched to intimidate people for “bad” thoughts:

[On] Remembrance Sunday…two [cops turned up at my door]…to inform me that I had been accused of a non-crime hate incident (NCHI)…[due] to…something I had posted on…Twitter…a year ago…The co[p claimed]…he wasn’t allowed to tell me [what I had supposedly said or]…who…my accuser…was…[I was] shocked…[and] astonished…to have [cops invade my privacy] on the saddest, most solemn date in the calendar with this kind of malevolent nonsense…

Torture Chamber (#1446)

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

For years, San Francisco’s public defenders and prisoners have filed formal complaints about the city’s lengthy pretrial detention and jail conditions.  Late last year, a federal judge ruled that San Francisco was “recklessly indifferent” in denying prisoners sunlight…the average [detention period i]s 324 days…[so] many people spend months or even years without time outside…at least four [legally innocent] people [have been] held…for nine years or longer…hundreds of [the city’s victims are accused of] non-violent property crimes…[and] lock[ed] up…without sunlight, exercise, adequate healthcare, hygiene, or drinkable water…[and with] frequent use of [solitary confinement]…retaliation [by screws, and]…sexual…assault…

Thought Control (#1462)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

Since February, the Rutherford County [Tennessee] Board of Education has banned 35 books, including well-known young adult novels such as Wicked, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Beloved…The…bans were initiated by board member Caleb Tidwell, who [pointed at] the titles a[nd belched “]sexually explicit[“]…and… “pornographic material”…Butch Vaughn, a retired principal was just recently elected to the board…call[ed the censorship]…“political grandstanding”…Stan Vaught, another new board member…[said] “It…reminds me of 1930s Germany”…Ken Paulson, Director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University…said…“the [notion that the] books…are somehow written to capture the same audience as…Hustler magazine is nonsense.”  Both Vaughn and Vaught worry that the district is headed down the road to a federal lawsuit which could cost the school district hundreds of thousands of dollars…[and] the…ACLU…is [already] considering legal action…But instead of waiting for [legal] guidance, Tidwell…[ran out and belched “pornographic” at] ten additional titles, and…[his collaborator] Frances Rosales [vomited “obscenity” all over] another 150 titles…including…Catch-22 and A Clockwork Orange…

But no other state’s self-lobotomization can hope to keep up with Florida’s:

Florida school districts…axed about 700 additional books from school libraries…in the 2023-2024 school year.  PEN America…estimates that 4,561 books [in all] have been removed from Florida school libraries since July 2021…[including] works of classic literature…[such as] A Clockwork Orange…Slaughterhouse-Five…and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings…The [mass censorship was enabled by] a law that allows [any Froot Loop] to [demand] removal of any book [by pointing at it and belching the words]…“sexual content” or…“pornographic”…

Mumbo Jumbo (#1487) 

When the “sex trafficking” hysteria was at its height, this wouldn’t have been considered a problem:

The Scottish government’s strategy to [impose the Swedish model on]…sex [workers] has been cast into disarray after it was forced to ditch a proposed partnership with [“rescue” profiteers] whose founder…[wrote] a handbook for “Christians involved in outreach to prostitutes”…[which] says: “Most prostitutes have had some exposure to the occult in childhood…others may have learnt about tarot cards and Ouija boards in prison,” and…offers a checklist of…“occult activity” that includes yoga and playing Dungeons & Dragons…Groups who [actually] support sex workers…have serious concerns about the government’s shift in focus back to policing, less than nine months after the conviction of Iain Packer…exposed chronic police failings [to do anything about] the horrific levels of violence still faced by women selling sex[, especially at the hands of the police themselves]…

 

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

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In the News (#1485)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2024| 2 Comments »

Bailey, Kobach, and Labrador’s argument treats teenagers as breeding stock.  –  Madiba K. Dennie

Policing for Profit

There are many ways for cops to enrich themselves at others’ expense:

A [Tennessee cop named]…Arica Hutchison was…assigned to sort through Crime Stoppers tips and then give that information to…investigators…[who] document[ed] the usefulness of that tip in a database, which Hutchison had access to…August 2023 through February 2024, [she would]…“enter fraudulent data” into the…database, then had a person named “KB” to receive…reward money…Hutchison and KB fraudulently obtained $18,500 in rewards…On June 3, she…pleaded guilty…[and] was sentenced to [a mere] six months in prison plus two years supervised release.  She also has to pay $22,000 in restitution and must follow a list of additional terms…[but has] not [been]…decertifi[ed so there’s nothing to stop her from being a cop again once she’s out]…

Censorship Ascendant

Censors now pretend thoughts they don’t like constitute a “crime”:

…a British man was convicted of criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion clinic…Adam Smith-Connor did not attempt to harass, intimidate, or interact in any way with those entering the clinic….[and] wasn’t even on clinic property—he was outside the sightline of the clinic itself…Smith-Connor was…charged with violating a Public Spaces Protection Order…a broad censorship order enabled by the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.  Under this law, [politicians and bureaucrats] can…ban a huge range of conduct…[such as swearing or] homeless [people] sleeping outside…

Law of the Instrument (#1380)

In a moral panic, ordinary business arrangements get spun into “exploitation” and “crime”:

The former CEO of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch…Mike Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and the couple’s alleged middleman [have been] arrested…[because hiring male escorts is now dysphemized as “]sexually exploited and abused men[” and escort services…are now called “]sophisticated operation[s] involving a middleman[” in order to make them sound scary, and “]a sex-trafficking operation[” to make the claims politically profitable for prosecutors and financially profitable for complainants]…

To Molest and Rape (#1435)

Another cop stalks victims through the official cop grooming program:

An NYPD [cop] working with the department’s [grooming] program [was caught attempting to groom]…an[other cop fantasy role-playing as]…a 14-year-old girl.  Travis DeSouza…had [squicked out enough people with his creepy behavior that his bosses]…sent a young-looking [sow]…to approach him in person…and [claim] interest in [being groomed]…She gave him her contact info, and…he [predictably s]exted her…[and] sent her a [dick pic]…

The Implosion Begins (#1471)

Now that MAGA has won control of “sex trafficking” hysteria, Trumpist politicians are desperate to keep it from being debunked:

Two [Tennessee politicians have threatened]…the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation…[saying] it could face “unnecessary political fallout” if it does not end its criminal probe into the [out-of-control] Millersville Police Department…TBI Director David Rausch [responded to politicians] Bud Hulsey…[and] Monty Fritts…with his own letter…in which he appeared to stop just short of accusing the two [politicians]  of attempting to interfere in the investigation…not[ing] that their [talking point]s “seemed to be based on statements made to you by [QAnon cultist] Shawn Taylor himself“…Bizarrely, Taylor has…claimed…that TBI officials are either involved in child sex trafficking themselves or protecting others who are…

Vulture Watching (#1477)

Oh look, the totally-predictable results of bad laws are happening just as sane people said they would:

In the year and a half following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision that revoked the federal right to an abortion, hundreds more infants died than expected in the United States…The vast majority of those infants had congenital anomalies, or birth defects…“This is evidence of a national ripple effect, regardless of state-level status,” said Dr. Parvati Singh, an assistant professor of epidemiology with The Ohio State University College of Public Health and lead author of the new study…infant mortality was…about 7% higher than typical…About 80% of those additional infant deaths could be attributed to congenital anomalies…[because of] a disproportionate rise in the number of women who are carrying fetuses with lethal congenital anomalies to term…

The Vultures Descend (#1483)

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

Three state Republican Attorneys General filed a complaint in federal court on October 11 arguing that their states have a right to pregnant teenagers [which] is being violated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration…[because it] allowed mifepristone to be sent by mail, dispensed online, or at pharmacies.  Missouri [AG] Andrew Bailey, Kansas [AG] Kris Kobach, and Idaho [AG] Raúl Labrador…claim that decreased births constitute “a sovereign injury to the state in itself,” and causes downstream injuries like “losing a seat in Congress or qualifying for less federal funding if their populations are reduced.” In other words, uteri are state slush funds, and girls owe the state reproduction once they are capable of it…this is deeply gross and weird…The complaint also says that each of the states is “the legal parent or guardian of many minor girls of reproductive age”…Under the state’s theory, it can separate children from their actual parents, declare itself their father now, and deem a daughter’s pregnancy her daddy’s prerogative…

 

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

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In the News (#1473)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2024| 2 Comments »

AHF…is just the…newest slumlord in a long line of slumlords.

If Men Were Angels

I’m honestly unsure why this doesn’t happen more often:

…a [Tennessee] pastor [named David Baker]…molest[ed a] relative… under the age of 12…He was…charged with aggravated sexual battery…and [after he bailed himself out] went into [a] restroom [at a nearby hospital] and shot himself twice in the chest…

Tyranny By Consensus (#690)

Longtime readers may remember that AHF has a history of financial shenanigans:

…The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development…says its $10 million Tenant Education and Outreach…grant…will be jointly awarded to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation…and the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants.  Over the next two years, these two groups will distribute this money to 30 tenant advocacy organizations to help them in their own efforts to…”hold management accountable for property conditions”…Beginning in 2017, [AHF] started buying up residential hotels in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, with the goal of [fix]ing them and renting them out at low, unsubsidized rates.  [AHF head] Michael Weinstein…argued this was a cheaper, faster way of housing people than building new…units.  But…AHF has been the subject of numerous lawsuits from tenants, and…A detailed Los Angeles Times investigation published in November 2023 reported…apartments infested with cockroaches, exploding radiators, water shut-offs so regular that tenants had to defecate in wastebaskets…and months-long elevator shut-offs that left disabled tenants stuck on upper floors or forced to sleep in the lobby…A former AHF employee described the living conditions at foundation properties as “inhumane”…

Undead Powers

I’ve long held that all laws should sunset after 10 years unless specific action is taken to renew them:

A coalition of advocacy organizations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…urging him to hold a vote on a proposal aimed at guarding against a future Trump administration from reviving [the] long-dormant…Comstock Act…The Stop Comstock Act, which was introduced by Sen. Tina Smith…seeks to repeal the…provisions of the 1873 federal law that ban…abortion-related materials from being sent through the mail…Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas…have signaled a willingness to revive the statute…

Eavesdropping (#1399)

Is a shiny new status symbol really worth being spied on and harassed?

Ford Motor Company is seeking a patent for technology that would allow it to tailor in-car advertising by [eavesdropping on] conversations among vehicle occupants, as well as by analyzing a car’s historical location and other data…“in-vehicle advertisement presentation”…will determine where a car is located, how fast it is traveling, what type of road it is driving on and whether it is in traffic.  It also will predict routes, speeds and destinations to customize ads…the ad controller system can determine when to [butt in with] audio versus visual ads, [subject]ing…drivers [to intrusive, unwanted commercials]…“through a human-machine interface”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1411)

Never forget that “filter” used thus is merely a euphemism for “censor”:

A federal judge in Utah has blocked the state’s…[latest attempt] to enact sweeping online censorship…under the justification of “protecting minors”…[b]y granting a preliminary injunction sought by…NetChoice…the…law…targets social media platforms…by…[demanding they] “enable the maximum default privacy settings on Utah [legal minors’] accounts…[which] would have [required intrusive]…age…[verification”.  Laws like]…this…driv[e] platforms to overmoderate to the point of effectively becoming corporate censors…The law was previously challenged in court [so politicians]…redrafted it…to avoid [public scrutiny]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1450)

They’ll blame anybody but the real culprit: invasive surveillance and onerous infantilization of teenagers:

A [gang] of 42 state and territory attorneys general is calling on Congress to pass regulation [absurdly] requiring warning labels on social media platforms…US [Charlatan] General Dr. Vivek Murthy first proposed the warning labels in June as part of a plan to [di]vert [blame for] the “mental health crisis” affecting young people [from its actual cause, young adults being constantly spied on and treated like children]…The letter [ignores] research linking [infantilization] of [young adults] to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in [favor of blaming] social platforms…in…[order]…to [use this narrative as an excuse to subject them to government control, in defiance of the First Amendment]…these labels would [be unconstitutional compelled speech, similar to court-overturned]…state-level rules demanding adult sites add [specious] health notices about pornography…Over the past year or so, [politicians] across the US have ramped up efforts to [censor the internet via the timeworn pretext of “]protect[ing] children[“, such as]…the Senate[‘s horrific]…KOSA…

Remember what happened the last time a gang of state attorneys general went on a fact-free crusade against websites.

Banishment (#1470)

Politicians will never let go of prohibitionism until they’re forced to:

[Starting] in 1990…Seattle [politicians repeatedly defined and redefined]…banishment zones…across the city, [pretending they could magically]…reduce…drug use…[and] prostitution…[by threatening] drug users and sex workers [with arrest for merely existing]…Research has shown that the orders did not reduce drug use or sex work, but they did make the lives of drug users and sex workers harder, by physically banning them from areas…they used to access services and by turning them into hunted people who could be, and were, jailed when they were caught simply being inside the areas from which they were banished…some 25 years [lat]er the…city largely abandoned the experiment, concluding on the basis of decades of evidence that it hadn’t worked…[now] the Seattle City Council [has] voted to start the cycle over again, by…creating six new banishment zones for drug offenders and one for…sex workers…The new…legislation that will also reinstate a repealed “prostitution loitering” law that will…make it significantly easier for police to arrest [people they decide to accuse of being] sex workers [or clients without any evidence at all]…

 

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

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In the News (#1472)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Fuck Xi Jinping.  –  Zhang Kaiyu

To Molest and Rape

Getting away with raping caged women emboldened this screw to attack women outside of the state’s filthy dungeons:

A [New York screw with a history] of sexually assaulting…women [locked up in the Rikers Island hellhole]…posed as a TV producer casting a show to lure a[nother] woman into his…home and rape her…Anthony Martin Jr…contacted the woman on social media and she went to his house expecting to meet other producers and prospective cast members.  But when [she] got there…he…was alone…and raped her while she told him to stop multiple times…Martin…is one of at least 20 current or former [screws] whose name appears in more than one lawsuit filed in the last two years under the Adult Survivors Act…

I Spy (#990)

Everything cops and other “justice” officials tell you is a lie:

New York City [pigs]…are illegally accessing sealed juvenile arrest records…and have even gone so far as giving those records to prosecutors…several provisions of [New York] state law…require that when a minor’s arrest results in a “favorable” result—meaning that there was a decision not to prosecute the case, or it was dismissed or otherwise withdrawn—the youth’s arrest records be sealed…preventing…any “public or private agency” from obtaining the[m without]…a court order…”Yet, the NYPD has engaged (and continues to engage) in a longstanding practice of illegally accessing, using, and disclosing Sealed Youth Records”…

Because laws pretended to control cops never include criminal penalties for violators, cops simply ignore them as they please without any consequences.

Eggs and Bacon

Bloodthirsty politicians are furious about having their crusades thwarted:

[Forced-birth politicians] are making their distrust of the voters pellucidly clear by fighting like hell to ensure that they can’t cast ballots protecting the right to abortion…Americans broadly support the right to an abortion through viability, or about 24 weeks gestation…every time we put it to a vote, from Kansas to Kentucky, Americans…say, Yes! Get rid of those draconian abortion bans you lunatics rammed through the legislature! Stop that immediately!  So Republicans are doing their damnedest to make sure that voters never get to answer the question.  Everywhere that abortion is on the ballot, they throw a bunch of crazy obstacles in the way to yank it off.  That fight is coming to a head in several different courts, as Republican officials and private litigants wage a pitched battle to keep abortion off the ballot this November…

Virtual Imperialism (#1358)

Beijing’s campaign to silence Chinese people outside China has become far more aggressive:

Chinese [agents]…organized demonstrations in San Francisco that harassed and silenced protesters opposed to Beijing’s [tyranny], including through violence, during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the city in November…illustrat[ing] how the Chinese Communist Party…extend[s] its intolerance of any dissent into the United States and target[s] people exercising their First Amendment rights in an American city…[especially those talking about] ongoing rights abuses in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and mainland China…[the agents were assisted by] the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Communist Party which uses [ostensibly] non-state actors to further China’s political goals overseas…Some of the most violent [agitators wore disguises to]…attack…[protesters] with extended flagpoles…chemical spray, punche[s], kick[s] and…fistfuls of sand thrown in their faces.  The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles paid for…[bootlick]ers’ hotels and meals as an incentive to [assist and help hide the professional thugs among their number]…including groups from New York, Pennsylvania and Washington state…

Feudalism Redux (#1371)

Texas seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:

Texas has sued the Biden administration to try to block a federal rule that shields the medical records of women from [rooting cops] if they cross state lines to seek abortion where it is legal…Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the federal government of attempting to “undermine” the state’s [ownership of women.  Though]…Texas’ abortion ban…[supposedly] exempts women who seek abortions from criminal charges…the ban [allows their family, friends and doctors to be harassed into bankruptcy]…or [locked in a cage for the rest of their lives.  Paxton has previously tried to leer into]…records related to gender-affirming care…from at least two out-of-state health centers last year…

Thought Control (#1413)

Too bad all authoritarian organizations aren’t so short-lived:

Scandal, school board election failures, and a disastrous 60 Minutes interview appear to have diminished Moms for Liberty’s [briefly-] powerful influence, and [its recent] summit provided plenty of additional evidence that the group is…flailing…this year’s gathering was comparatively small, with far fewer panels and a weak…speaker lineup…Much of the conference was spent attempting to terrify parents into believing that schools are secretly grooming, manipulating, and transitioning students…Almost every speaker…incorporated transgender panic into their speech…

Creepy Coppers (#1444)

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

A [Tennessee cop named]…Charles Crothers a[ttempted to groom] a minor…from June 26, 2024 through June 28, 2024…[into some kind of sexual performance for him to record, leading to a federal charge of “]attempted production of child pornography[“]…

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

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In the News (#1471)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A state cannot pick and choose which categories of protected speech it wishes to block teenagers from discussing online.  –  Judge Robert Pitman

Creepy Coppers

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

A [California cop named]…Allen Charles was arrested…[for] distribut[ing] child pornography multiple times between 2019 and 2023…[fellow cops toss]ed his residence and found [lots of child porn, so]…Butte College[, which paid him to spy on and harass students, rewarded him with a paid vacation]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1237)

Another toothless “judgment” against Clearview which will compensate nobody but lawyers:

The Dutch [government has] issued…Clearview AI with a fine of 30.5 million euros ($33.7 million) over its creation of…an “illegal database” of billion of photos of faces….[and] warned Dutch companies that using Clearview’s services is…banned…But…Clearview’s chief legal officer, Jack Mulcaire, said that the decision is “unlawful, devoid of due process and…unenforceable”…[because] Clearview doesn’t fall under EU data protection regulations.  “Clearview AI does not have a place of business in the Netherlands or the EU, it does not have any customers in the Netherlands or the EU, and does not undertake any activities that would otherwise mean it is subject to the GDPR”…

Panopticon (#1327)

I tried to edit out as much of the nauseating bootlicking as I could:

The Department of Homeland Security is shutting down a program that used surveillance blimps at the [US-Mexico] border [despite] objections from [politicians] and [other xenophobic sociopaths because]…funding has dried up.  More than two dozen p[arasites] are out of a job thanks to the program’s end…[pigs oinked dehumanizing rhetoric about people seeking a better life, including obligatory references to] fentanyl…[“]trafficking[“] and…terrorists…

Censor Chic (#1452)

When will this censorship fad end?

A federal judge issued a last-minute partial block on a Texas law that would require some large web services to [spy on users to] identify minors and [censor] what they see online…the…SCOPE…Act…was set to take effect…on September 1st…and…requires…social networks, to [infantilize] users whose registered age is under 18….[by censoring anything and everything any politician points at while belching out words such as] “harmful”…“glorifies”…“grooming”…and…[“]obscene[“, with some services] (as defined by [dubious politically-defined formulae]) [being forced to] implement a “commercially reasonable age verification method.”  Tech industry groups NetChoice and the CCIA sued…[as did] the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression…the injunction…makes HB 18 the latest state-level internet regulation to be at least partially blocked by courts, alongside California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act and other statutes in Arkansas, Ohio and Mississippi…the federal…censorship [law called KOSA has also still not been completely buried yet]…

The Implosion Begins (#1456)

This just keeps getting more entertaining:

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents [raided] the Millersville Police Department as [part of a] criminal investigation into the [nest of deranged psychopaths led by]…the department’s [dangerously-unhing]ed assistant police chief Shawn Taylor…

Reporter Phil Williams has gone all-out in this investigation; it’s already grown to 13 parts, linked in the article I linked & quoted above.

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1459)

Cops won’t drop this fantasy until “news” media stop obediently parroting it:

Two [Arkansas cops] were taken to the hospital and later released after [having panic attacks due to copaganda over] fentanyl [while harassing citizens over] an expired license plate…[the panicky pig, Hunter] Mealer[, lied, claiming]…he got permission from the driver…to [root through] the vehicle…[even though there were drug] pipes [within containing] white residue…[when whiny-baby] Mealer [saw this he] became disoriented and lightheaded and began sweating profusely[, which are not symptoms of opiates]. He [then fainted]…and…[when a fellow pig wasted] Narcan…[on him] another [cop], Danny Kenward, [became jealous of the attention]…and [faked the same panic-attack symptoms]…

Panopticon (#1464)

A high-powered rifle should still be able to take this out from a safe distance:

A [surveillance robot]…known as a Knightscope K5…patrols [an Atlanta] apartment com[plex]…and [can] report anything [it is programmed to alert on] to the [cops]…the devices…feature 360-degree, high-definition cameras, microphones and thermal sensors…and…[have] both license plate…[readers] and…facial recognition, [plus the ability] to identify mobile devices…Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst for the ACLU, said…“I don’t know that Americans want to live in a world where there’s one of these on every block, but if there were, they could trace everywhere you are all the time”…

 

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

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In the News (#1470)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

These extraordinary restrictions…serve no purpose other than to harm transgender Floridians.

The Face of Trafficking

Note that cases of actual coercion don’t look much like the myths:

A[n Oregon] man was arrested [and charged with] human trafficking [for] exploitation of a man with developmental disabilities…Jack Hauser [was supposed to be] a caretaker for the 26-year-old man after the victim’s mother passed away…[but] for at least two years, Hauser…forced the man to sell drinks and snacks at the exit of a shopping center in Hillsboro, often having him remain there for several days and nights with no shelter or proper clothing…he was…only allowed to sleep in a car or in a garden shed…Hauser also restricted [hi]s contact with other people, as well as his access to money and healthcare…

Disaster (#978)

Seattle is notorious for cloaking its police-statery in bogus “liberal” cant:

[Seattle] City Attorney Ann Davison and…City Councilmember Cathy Moore [have] proposed [inanely-labeled] SODA and SOAP zones…that would, among other things, ban sex workers from a designated area on Aurora Avenue North, a major corridor of Seattle’s survival sex trade.  In a bizarre moment during her presentation, Moore screened a video of sex workers engaging in what she described as “commercial sexual exploitation”…[but was in reality] just [surveillance video of] sex workers walking around on a corner of Aurora…taking videos of sex workers to screen publicly at a recorded meeting that’s also posted online — without giving anyone in that video a voice of their own — is an odd way to try to prove how against exploitation you are.  It’s an exploitative act in itself, and a reminder of how out of touch the City Council is…

The Public Eye (#1385)

This childish puritanism is so exhausting:

[MAGA]ists in Indiana are campaigning to remove an elected official after a…blog outed her as an OnlyFans model and published several screen captures from her members-only…account.  The moralistic witch hunt against Etna Troy Township Trustee Elaine Western originated with…Real News Michiana, which first outed her as a sex worker in April and is now a[dvertis]ing…“a petition to have her censured, investigated and removed from her post”…In April, Western told the site, “I haven’t tried to keep it a secret. I’m not doing anything illegal”…[and her] attorney w[arned] the a[gitators that their attempts]…”to intimidate Mrs. Western into resigning from office to avoid a public media circus…could constitute a criminal offense of intimidation”…

Panopticon (#1413)

Another “security” system that isn’t:

…the Oakland Police Department…and [other cop shops]…are increasingly looking for…Teslas parked near…[“crime scenes”], hoping their unique outward-facing cameras captured key evidence.  And…they’re even resorting to…[stealing] cars to ensure they don’t lose the video…While few cars have camera systems similar to Teslas, that could change rapidly, especially as the [“monkey see, monkey do” habits of marketers] continue…In at least three instances in July and August, Oakland police sought to [steal] a Tesla…to obtain…its stored video…There’s no guarantee that a Tesla will record a crime that occurs near it…But police who view Teslas as rolling surveillance…cameras [do]n’t [give a shit]…Similar issues have come up with self-driving cars [and delivery robots]…in San Francisco and other cities, which are also equipped with sophisticated video capability…But in those cases, police subpoena the tech company…because it owns the cars and the data.  Tesla drivers, by contrast, get [violat]ed individually because they control their own camera footage…

Social Autoimmune Disorder (#1416)

Politicians never stop trying to pass off old civil rights violations as new “solutions” to problems they themselves create:

San Francisco [politicians barfed out the asinine phrase “]illegal prostitution[” to justify a raft of civil rights violations], including the mailing of “Dear John” letters to the owners of vehicles [who happen to pass through] the neighborhood.  Mayor London Breed a[lso barfed out the magic rights-violation-justifying word] “safer”…to…encourag[e useful idiots to report each other to the pigs, and] the city plans to install [magic bill-elimination] barriers along Shotwell Street…[along with more] license-plate reading [and facial recognition] cameras…set up to [monito]r individuals [long after sensible sex workers have simply moved to a new stroll]…

You Were Warned (#1438)

Governments are growing increasingly bold in their internet censorship:

In the…standoff between Elon Musk and Brazil…neither side comes out of it looking very good…Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes [is] (1) freezing Starlink assets and (2) threatening to ban…Twitter entirely from the country…Brazil has done this in the past with WhatsApp and Telegram.  The freezing of Starlink’s assets…suggest[s] how far Moraes would…go in this posturing battle.  Apparently, he was willing to go even further, to the point of potentially blocking VPNs entirely…ISPs and app stores have been ordered to block…the [Twitter] app within five days…Moraes seem[s to have walked] back th[e] section of the ruling [blocking VPNs], though perhaps only temporarily…after Moraes hears from “the parties in the proceedings,” the VPN ban could come back…the…order…also threatens to fine anyone who is able to get around the block nearly $9,000 dollars per day…

The Last Shall Be First (#1448) 

The time, money, and energy our society is flushing down the “culture war” toilet is incalculable:

Several transgender youth and adults are being told their care will be terminated following a ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals…that a 2023 law…can go back into effect after being…blocked in June…The ruling…stated that transgender people…do not receive the same level of…protection under the Constitution as other categories such as race, ethnicity, religion, or sex.  This…implies that laws discriminating against transgender people are likely to be considered…constitutional by the 11th Circuit…SB254…banned gender-affirming care for…youth…[and] also restrict[ed] care for…adults…[by] mandat[ing] that [such] care…could only be provided by physicians…the majority of [current] care is provided by nurse practitioners…because the number of transgender adults far exceeds the capacity of physicians [in the field]…If the Supreme Court were to rule [in a pending case stemming from Tennessee’s trans care ban] that transgender people are not entitled to equal protection under the law, many forms of discrimination…could be deemed fully legal…many [in Florida] cannot afford to wait for such a decision, and…have already fled the state…

 

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

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In the News (#1458)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Journalism is not a crime.  –  Adam Rose

Crime Against Society (#1179)

Louisiana isn’t the only state that chooses to punish sex workers in this deranged fashion:

I have three degrees, and two jobs where they don’t matter…[becau]se of…the restrictions of parole and the sex offender registry.  I earned my degrees in prison.  I was arrested at 19 while doing survival sex work, and prosecutors used my trans identity and the fact that I was using drugs…to escalate the charges.  I spent 13 years in…[Georgia prisons] before my release in 2023.  The irony is that now, I think back on sex work as something that represents financial stability…the very last thing I want is to…risk…being sent back.  Sex work would certainly be a violation of my parole.  But so would not being able to keep up with the hundreds of dollars per month it costs to be on the registry, on top of the usual expenses like rent and medical debt…So there’s a Catch-22.  In order to not break the law, I need income that’s sufficiently above minimum wage and that doesn’t involve background checks or 1,000-foot distance restrictions.  But the options that fit that description are not legal…

Top Cop (#1191)

This sex-worker hating psychopath may soon have the power she so desperately craves:

President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race…and [threw]…his “full support and endorsement” behind Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the party’s new nominee…Kamala Harris the horrible campaigner and Kamala Harris the cop can be easy to forget if you’re only considering…her [unremarkable] tenure as vice president…[whose] most distinguishing feature has been a series of bizarre but benign word salads…But…one major thread in Harris’ career…has been flip-flopping on issues to suit the…moment…le[aving] a long-term impression of her as [a] rudderless…phony…if Harris becomes the party’s nominee, the rush to anoint her a saint…is going to kick into overdrive quickly, both because of her identity and out of desperation to avoid Trump getting elected again.  But…her worst tendencies…include…using the state to crack down on problems…better solved through nonpunitive approaches…using moral panics around sex in self-serving ways…acting cavalierly toward the Constitution, defending dirty prosecutors, and finding new ways for the government to poke into people’s lives…

Micromanagement (#1260)

New Jersey cops already abuse the DNA its newborn residents are compelled by law to surrender:

Mandatory genomic sequencing of all newborns…sounds like something out of a dystopian sci-fi story.  But it could become a reality in New Jersey, where [bureaucrat]s are considering adding [it] to the state’s mandatory newborn testing regime…”What we’re talking about is information…that could allow the state…to…monitor and surveil them and their families for the rest of their lives,” [said] Dillon Reisman…[of] ACLU…New Jersey…parents are…told that the testing is mandatory.  They are not told that…the state holds on to these blood samples for 23 years, putting no legal restrictions on how they can be used…[by cops or bureaucrats].  Some states were found to be selling the blood samples to researchers, or turning [it] over to the Pentagon‘s DNA registry.  Now, New Jersey parents are seeking a court order requiring the state to return or destroy the blood samples…or to get informed consent from parents to hold on to it…

The Scarlet Letter (#1397)

I’m sure there are other federal laws which could be used against other state “prostitution” laws:

The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV…for more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution [while]…HIV-positive [a felony, but] Tennessee [actually made it even worse] in 2010 by reclassifying prostitution with HIV as a “violent sexual offense” with a lifetime registration as a sex offender — even if protection is used.  At least 83 people are believed to be on Tennessee’s sex offender registry solely because of these laws, with most living in the Memphis area, where [disguised pigs] and p[igs in suits] most often [employed] the statute [to ruin lives]…the Tennessee attorney general’s office…said in an email statement it would “continue to defend Tennessee’s prohibition on aggravated prostitution”…

Torture Chamber (#1428)

If those confined there can’t come and go as they please, it isn’t a “shelter”, “housing”, or “school”; it is a prison:

Employees of the largest [contractor jailing] unaccompanied migrant [minors] in the U.S. repeatedly sexually abused and harassed [minors] in their care for at least eight years…[committ]ing a s[adly-typical] litany of offenses…as the company amassed billions of dollars in government contracts.  Southwest Key Programs Inc. employees, including supervisors, raped, [molest]ed or solicited sex and nude images of [adolescents and even some] children beginning in 2015 and p[roba]bly earlier…At least two employees have been indicted on criminal charges…since 2020…Southwest Key’s vast network of [concentration camps] across three states…have room for more than 6,300 [people]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1442)

Cops are nothing more than state-sponsored terrorists:

In March of 2021, I published a 15 part series detailing the history of deputy gangs inside of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department…[this] attracted the attention of dozens of department personnel, and triggered direct surveillance by the sheriff’s department…in October of 2021…I requested electronic records of any communications made by LASD that contained my name.  The department denied my initial request, which prompted me to sue…after nearly two years, LASD opted to settle the matter and turn over the records.  More than 50 members of the sheriff’s department sent more than 800 pages of emails about me in the course of just 7 months.  Since [my] reporting…I have received numerous personal threats of death and rape.  Other threats have been directed at my family and loved ones…via direct message on social media, email, and anonymous texts.  I have been pulled over…[and] have seen p[igmobi]les stationed outside of my house…

To Molest and Rape (#1457)

They’re trying to pretend this one isn’t typical and representative by calling him “part-time” and saying he was “attempting to complete his certification”:

A [typical and representative Alabama cop] was fired and arrested after being [caught molesting kids.  His name is] Joshua Dane Wells…

 

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

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In the News (#1456)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

In my movies, everybody always dies.  –  Brian Steven Smith

Surplus Women

Your “leaders” work hard to ensure this happens more often:

Brian Steven Smith…[of] South Africa…[has] been [sentenced to 226 years in prison for the]…murder[s of two Alaska native sex workers,] Kathleen Henry in 2019 and Veronica Abouchuk, either in 2018 or 2019…[Smith made] graphic videos…[of] Henry’s [murder, then drove around with her]…body in the back of his pickup for two days before dumping her body on a rural road south of Anchorage…The video never shows [his] face but his distinctive [South African] accent is heard…narrat[ing] as if to an audience and urges Henry to die as she’s repeatedly beaten and strangled in an Anchorage hotel room…Valerie Casler…who provided the images to police…stole…Smith’s [phone from the console of his] pickup when they were on…a [professional] date…[and] found…[the] video on it…[then] transferred [it] to an SD card she [gave to police]…During an eight-hour police interrogation…Smith confessed to police that he also killed Abouchuk…and shot her in the head before dumping her body north of Anchorage…police…later found a skull with a bullet wound there…

To Molest and Rape

Rapist cops often specifically target vulnerable women:

A West Palm Beach [Florida cop named]…James Bush…was arrested on July 12 [for trying to rape a woman]…after a man called [911] to evict his girlfriend.  When Bush arrived, he told the man to leave…the[n immediately] asked her if she wanted to “go upstairs and have some fun.”  He then grabbed her arm…[and dragged] her to a bedroom, [where he] tried to…oral[ly rape her, then switched tactics to]…offer…her “$2,000 to get your own place”…[she] eventually [got him to leave, but he returned with another cop]…hours later…[when] the…boyfriend called police again…The woman [then] told the [other cop] that Bush had sexually assaulted her and that she had evidence on her phone.  “Bush grabbed her phone during a struggle and deleted video, which was retrieved during the subsequent investigation”…

The Implosion Begins (#1079)

Now that the hysteria has imploded, local media are happy to attack the same fantasies they eagerly spread for two decades:

…a sting operation to nab sexual predators…was run…in May by Millersville [Tennessee] Assistant Police Chief Shawn Taylor and a colorful cast of [fellow psychopaths] he assembled…Taylor did not involve other law enforcement agencies with more experience in such operations because of his un[til-recently popular] conspiracy theories that…state officials are involved in child sex trafficking…Members of a private group posed online as minors — despite Millersville police being told by prosecutors that the sting would be legal only if [pigs] were the ones doing the [entrapment]…Taylor [claimed] investigators would be using [illegal] “pre-signed search warrants”…he…has voiced support for all sorts of bizarre…child sex trafficking [myths which were popular with reporters as long as they only demonized sex workers instead]…of…powerful…Democrats…[and] imagines that Millersville, a community of about 6,000 people just north of Nashville, is at the center of Tennessee’s drug and human trafficking operations…Two of the men were introduced to the group as “prayer warriors,” who are part of a group that believes…human trafficking i[nvolves]…”demons”…and former Navy SEAL Craig “Sawman” Sawyer…[who in 2018] took a Tucson TV crew to a camp that he [fantasiz]ed might have been used for child sex trafficking…

Follow Your Bliss (ROTW #2)

Beware of men who “volunteer” to be in positions of authority over your kids:

A [Michigan church volunteer named]…Jonathan Russell is facing 10 charges [of child molestation]…Russell [targeted] children he…was [given authority over as] a volunteer youth organizer for the [First Baptist] church [of Bridgeport].  In March…he…was arraigned in Crawford County on three similar charges…[and] previously was convicted in North Carolina in 2016 on charges that he spanked [children] without their parents’ permission…

I Spy (#1398) 

If “official” thugs can obtain your data without a warrant, so can unofficial ones:

The call and text message records of tens of millions of AT&T cellphone customers in mid-to-late 2022 were exposed in a massive data breach…the telecom company…blamed [on] an “illegal download”…the compromised data includes the telephone numbers of “nearly all” of its cellular customers and the customers of wireless providers that use its network between May 1, 2022 and October 31, 2022….[and] every number AT&T customers called or texted – including customers of other wireless networks – the number of times they interacted and the call duration…customer names were not exposed…however…publicly available tools can [easily] link names with specific phone numbers…AT&T…learned [about the breach] on April 19 [of this year, but]…the US Department of Justice…de[mand]ed in May and in June that [the company] delay…public disclosure…

Any information which exists can be misused by corporations or demanded by cops; the only way to stop that privacy invasion is not to collect the information in the first place.

I Spy (#1415)

Cops and politicians should never have been allowed to insert themselves into any doctor-patient relationship, but that ship sailed long ago:

 J.D. Vance…Trump’s pick for vice presidential nominee, pressured federal regulators last June to kill a privacy rule that prevents police from accessing the medical records of people seeking reproductive services…The rule was designed to prevent [cops] in anti-abortion states from using private records to hunt down and prosecute people who cross state lines in search of abortion services.  If the Trump-Vance ticket wins this year’s presidential election, the new administration could rescind the rule…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1450)

Politicians increasingly use nuisance lawsuits to circumvent the Constitution:

…NGL…seems like a fairly standard social media offering, allowing users to post questions or prompts and receive anonymous responses.  Now, the Federal Trade Commission…has ordered [it] to ban users under age 18…[claiming that it] “unfairly” marketed the app to minors…[while barfing out the magic censorship-justifying buzzwords] “cyberbullying and harassment”…To settle the lawsuit, the agency is not only making NGL pay $5 million, it’s also requiring the app to ban those under age 18 from using it…[which] is effectively a backdoor way to accomplish what Congress has been failing to mandate legislatively and what courts have been rejecting when state [politician]s do it…the FTC does not seem to be requiring NGL to check IDs…[yet,] but…it doesn’t seem like a long shot from here to either a) punishing the company further if kids lie about their ages, thereby necessitating the use of ID checks or other age verification schemes by NGL, and/or b) requiring more invasive age verification schemes in future orders to social media companies…

 

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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