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Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

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in a “favorable” result—meaning that there was a decision not to prosecute the case, or it was dismissed or otherwise withdrawn—the youth’s arrest records be sealed…preventing…any “public or private agency” from obtaining the[m without]…a court order…”Yet, the NYPD has engaged (and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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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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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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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 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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Illegal drugs are cheaper, more readily available, more potent, [and] more widely used than they were 20 years ago.  –  James Martin

If Men Were Angels

“Inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” is a helluva way to say “molesting a 12-year-old”:

Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway [mega]Church in Southlake, Texas…has confessed to…sexually abusing [Cindy Clemishire] over multiple years beginning when she was 12…Morris [burbled a lot of evangelical buzzwords like]…repented…walked in purity and accountability…blessing…and…forgiveness…[but] Clemishire [explained]…that…when Morris began abusing her…he…was a 20-year-old traveling evangelist…[already] married…[with a young] son…Morris…[betrayed] her family[‘s]…friends[hip after being] invited into their home and…repeatedly abused her in Texas and Oklahoma…[while telling] his wife that he was merely “counseling” her…For years…she has been warning churches…about Morris because she doesn’t believe she’s the only one who suffered his abuse…

Long Hidden

Cops aren’t the only violent profession whose members feel sexually entitled:

…hundreds of Kenyan women [have] filed complaints with the UK military over the years, a[fter being raped by British soldiers]…in the remote villages where the British Army trains its soldiers in Kenya. The British Army Training Unit, Kenya (BATUK), is headquartered in the town of Nanyuki…[and] Britain pays Kenya about $400,000 a year to allow its soldiers to train…mostly in the expansive wildlife conservancies in Laikipia and Samburu counties.  Kenya renewed the defense pact in 2021 despite strong local opposition…[due to numerous] allegations of rape and other crimes, including murder, by British soldiers deployed there [since] the 1950s…hundreds of women from the mostly pastoralist Maasai and Samburu communities who accused the British Army of rapes in the 1970s and 80s…were represented by the British lawyer Martyn Day in a landmark civil case in London in the early 2000s…[but] in 2007, Britain’s Ministry of Defense dismissed claims…brought by 2,187 women…[claiming] the…evidence appeared to have been fabricated…[and refusing to] conduct DNA tests on any of the 69 mixed-race children…born from rape by British soldiers…[but as they] can now be sued in Kenyan courts…as part of a new addition to the 2021 defense pact…lawyer Kelvin Kubai has signed up more than 300 of the women who previously brought rape claims and is working to reintroduce the case in Kenyan courts…

Rooted in Racism (#1305)

Never forget that this barbarity began using the excuse of “fighting human trafficking”:

The Greek coastguard has caused the deaths of dozens of migrants in the Mediterranean over a three-year period…including nine who were deliberately thrown into the water.  The [others]…died as a result of being forced out of Greek territorial waters, or taken back out to sea after reaching Greek islands…The Greek government has long…forced returns – pushing people back towards Turkey, where they have crossed from, which is illegal under international law.  But this is the first time the…number of…fatalities…[due directly to] the Greek coastguard’s actions [has been calculated]…

Panopticon (#1316)

This is too useful a tool of state control for the rulers to give it up:

A new lawsuit says that Illinois’ widespread use of…automatic license plate readers…violates the Fourth Amendment…because it breaches citizens’ reasonable expectations of privacy…”Defendants are tracking anyone who drives to work in Cook County—or to school, or a grocery store, or a doctor’s office, or a pharmacy, or a political rally, or a romantic encounter, or family gathering—every day…without any reason to suspect anyone of anything, and are holding onto those whereabouts just in case they decide in the future that some citizen might be an appropriate target”…Illinois’ highway [panopticon] began in 2019 [as so many civil liberties abominations do,] with the passage of [a law bearing a crime victim’s name]…Illinois State Police [started with] a $12.5 million state grant in 2021…which was more than doubled in June 2022…[so far] Illinois…has purchased 652 license plate cameras, of which 340 are installed in Cook County…

Permanent Record (#1380)

I can’t feel sorry for someone whose job is ruining lives for violating arbitrary diktats when they get in trouble due to a similar diktat:

Nashville [cop] Sean Herman was recently arrested…weeks after it was revealed that he appeared in a viral OnlyFans clip in [his magical clown costume].  He faces two felony official misconduct charges for [using the clown suit for something other than terrorizing people]…If found guilty, Herman could face prison…[cop shop busybodies] reportedly “discovered the video and identified him as the person in [the magical clown costume], seen in the video from the chest down, who took part in a mock traffic stop in an OnlyFans skit during which he groped the exposed breast of the female driver”…

A Moral Cancer (#1396)

Australia expands the Drug War, and prohibitionists pretend the wholly-predictable consequences are somehow surprising:

Since March of last year, the Australian state of Victoria has been rocked by a series of [murders,] arsons and firebombings…in an escalating turf war between rival gangs…the drug at the center of this conflict: nicotine…[prohibitionists prai]se…Australia…for its graphic warnings on cigarette packs, extremely high cigarette taxes, and strict prohibitions on e-cigarettes…[which together constitute] a form of “de facto prohibition”…[so] predictably…the share of tobacco sold illegally…has…doubled [in recent years] to…nearly a quarter of Australian sales…There are 1.8 million vapers in Australia and about nine out of 10 of them source their vapes illegally…[either by buying] e-cigarette components and…nicotine liquid from abroad…or [by getting] disposable vapes manufactured cheaply in China…Australia’s…response…is to crack down even harder…in…contrast…New Zealand, which has similarly high cigarette taxes but embraces a much more liberal approach to vaping…now boasts one of the world’s lowest rates of smoking…

Eavesdropping (#1417)

Even cops are starting to admit Shotspotter is a boondoggle:

New York City [has wasted tens of millions] on gunshot detection technology that rarely works…ShotSpotter…uses microphones and…software in an attempt to detect the sound of gunshots…When a sound triggers the system, ShotSpotter alerts the police department, and officers are dispatched to the scene…[but] an analysis…found that 87% of the time [cop]s were dispatched to a scene where there was no evidence of a shooting…“The evidence shows that NYPD is wasting precious time and money on this technology and needs to do a better job managing its resources,” [said City Comptroller Brad] Lander… “Chasing down car backfires and construction noise does not make us safer”…It marks the latest report calling the technology’s efficacy into question.  A 2021 audit by Chicago’s Office of Inspector General found that of more than 50,000 alerts there, only 9.1% resulted in evidence of a gun-related offense…Houston Mayor John Whitmire also said he would cancel the city’s contract with the company, telling the Houston Chronicle that it is a “gimmick”…

 

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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Forcing random, innocent individuals to shoulder th[e] cost [of police actions] would be as fair as conducting a lottery to determine who has to pay the police chief’s salary each year.  –  Slaybaugh v. Rutherford County

Leaving the 20th Century (#1223)

This is not “decriminalization” as previously claimed, but rather an overhaul in the existing legalization regime:

A new law in Belgium…is being touted as a win by UTSOPI, the Belgium Union of Sex Workers…the legislation…outlines that prostitutes will receive health insurance, a pension, maternity and holiday leave, and unemployment benefits.  Their pimps will be forced to provide them with a “safety button” to use for emergencies…Prostitutes are to be granted “rights” to refuse sexual acts, stop sexual acts, perform sexual acts in the manner they prefer, and refuse to sit behind Amsterdam-style windows…However, should a prostitute use these “rights” 10 times within six months, their pimp can then call on a government mediator to intervene…

“Pimp” appears to be used here to mean “brothel owner”; the article is silent on what the law says about escorts and other non-brothel sex workers.

Panopticon (#1349)

Rural residents are less affected by state surveillance than urbanites, but they aren’t safe:

In December 2022, Reason reported that both state and federal wildlife agents routinely trespass onto private land and plant cameras.  Two Tennessee homeowners successfully sued the state over the practice…the state appealed…and…the court of appeals [has now] ruled in the homeowners’ favor…In the case of Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth, [agents] not only entered their…properties but also installed trail cameras…without a warrant and ignoring “No Trespassing” signs…

Censor Chic (#1366)

Government censors are growing ever bolder:

…federal agencies such as the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) [have] restarted [their jawboning attempts] with [social media] platforms…[under the tissue-thin guise of] “removing disinformation on their sites as the November presidential election nears”…these [attempt]s resumed in March, around the same time oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri — which centers on the feds’ censorship efforts — were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court…Neither agency provided an answer when questioned on how they determine what constitutes “disinformation” or what other federal agencies they are collaborating with in these efforts to have “disinformation” removed from social media…

Opting Out (#1376)

A new censorship regime has been imposed on British subjects:

[The UK censorship agency] Ofcom [wants more censorship power over] Instagram, YouTube and 150,000 other web services [using the popular excuse of “]child safety[“ to push]… tech firms to [deny users anonymity], [censor] and downrank content [the government dislikes], and apply around 40 other steps to [give the government more control over what its]…subjects [can see, hear, and read]…That suggests Brits may need to get accustomed to [us]ing [a VPN if] they [want to] access a range of online content…

A Broker in Pillage (#1400)

There are many ways for governments to steal things that don’t belong to them:

A federal court…heard arguments in an appeal concerning…the…”police powers”…exception to the [Constitution]…Mollie and Michael Slaybaugh…are…on the hook for over $70,000 after a SWAT team destroyed much of their home in Smyrna, Tennessee…in…[pursuit of Mollie’s] adult son, James Jackson Conn—who did not live with her but had recently arrived to visit…she offered to speak to Conn and bring him out of her house, [but the cops prevented]…her [from] re-enter[ing and instead]…broke down the door and launched dozens of tear gas grenades into the Slaybaughs’ home, laying waste to nearly everything…Their insurance [refused] to assist them, as their policy—like many policies—does not cover damage caused by the government…The notion that “police powers” immunize the government from liability is what doomed Leo Lech’s lawsuit, which he filed after a SWAT team did so much damage to his home…that it had to be demolished…Los Angeles refused to compensate Carlos Pena after a SWAT team destroyed his…print shop  in pursuit of a suspect who barricaded himself inside, and…Vicki Baker[‘s]…judgment from a federal jury…was ultimately overturned by the…5th Circuit, which ruled there was a “[fuck you]” exception to the Takings Clause…

Civil rights advocates often joke that the Third Amendment is the only one that hasn’t been undermined, but I fail to see any important difference between the government forcibly taking people’s homes to quarter troops and forcibly taking them to enable cops and robbers games.

The Cop Myth (#1410)

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

A…Memphis [cop in full magic clown regalia] kidnapped a man, shot him in the head and unsuccessfully tried getting rid of his body…Patric J. Ferguson [murdered Robert Howard]…on Jan. 5, 2021, [because Howard was dating Ferguson’s ex-girlfriend.  Ferguson then] dumped his body in the Wolf River in Memphis with the help of another man, Joshua M. Rogers…who [has been]…charged with accessory after the fact…

Sleeping with a cop is not only dangerous to the woman who does so, but to everyone else in her life, especially after she stops sleeping with the cop.

You Were Warned (#1434)

At least there are a few judges willing to restrain other judges’ megalomania:

[Twitter] had a win over the Australian government after the Federal Court overturned a legal block on videos of the Sydney church stabbing.  The [Australian censorship] Commission won a temporary court injunction last month after [Twitter] refused to comply with a…global [censorship order]…Justice Geoffrey Kennett…rejected a bid to extend the injunction until a full trial…The decision does not represent a final legal win…but senior legal sources…said the interim decision…proved the legitimacy of [Twitter’s] case…

 

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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We can, indeed, convince ourselves that boogeymen are real.
–  Claire Zagorski & Ryan Marino

Legal Is as Legal Does

Who but a politician could conceive of fighting some crime by criminalizing legal business?

[Due to] the discovery of a U.S. citizen with two girls, aged 12 and 13…in a luxury hotel in Medellín…[Colombia]…Mayor Federico Gutiérrez…[has] prohibit[ed] sex work in…for six months, and…[declared] a 1 a.m. closing time for bars…for a month…Gutiérrez…says he is acting under extraordinary circumstances…[to] fight…back against the mafias that he says run [the] El Poblado [neighborhood by denying legal income to legal businesspeople, and subjecting them to police harassment]…He also announced that there would be meetings with owners of bars and hotels to clarify new “rules of the game”.  Establishments that do not comply with the rules…will not only be subject to closure, but also to [the government stealing their property]…Timothy Allan Livingston…was arrested and detained for 12 hours…[but] released…because he had not been [actually] caught in the act of sexually abusing the girls.  He was released on [March 29th], and boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida…

The chief danger of a “tolerated” system is that cops or politicians can suddenly and without warning decide to be intolerant.

Torture Chamber (#1153)

The government tried to establish a precedent that it need not feed its prisoners:

The federal government is required to “expeditiously” house migrant [minors] who cross into the United States [without permission], rather than allow them to remain in unsafe open-air sites along the border…Federal District Court…Judge Dolly M. Gee [ruled]…in a class-action lawsuit…minors at the sites [a]re in legal custody of the Department of Homeland Security and thus…entitled to certain rights and protections, such as a safe and sanitary environment, even if they ha[ve] not yet been formally processed…The outdoor areas where migrants have been waiting [because the US refuses to let them continue north] lack shelter, food and sanitation…Unaccompanied children and young families sometimes arrive in poor health…dehydration and heat stroke have become common problems…and nighttime temperatures, wind and rain are creating conditions ripe for hypothermia…The government had argued that the children [and adolescents] were not yet in U.S. custody so it had no obligation to provide services….[yet] Border Patrol…control[s] the minors’ ability to leave the sites…Judge Gee denied the [government’s] request for a specific time limit for how long minors could be held [without food, water, shelter, or medical care]…

Welcome to the Future (#1351)

Indiscriminate murder is so much easier when blamed on machines:

…the Israeli army has developed a…[computer] program known as “Lavender”…to generate targets for…bombing…the…system is designed to mark all suspected operatives in the military wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), including low-ranking ones, as potential…targets…human personnel…serve…only as a “rubber stamp” for the machine’s decisions…the Israeli army systematically attacked the targeted individuals while they were in their homes — usually at night while their whole families were present — rather than during the course of military activity…Additional automated systems, including one called “Where’s Daddy?”…were used…to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences…The result…is that thousands of Palestinians — most of them women and children or [noncombatants] — were wiped out by Israeli airstrikes, especially during the first weeks of the war, because of [a computer]’s [mindless] decisions…the army…decided…that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians…[and if] the target was a senior Hamas official…the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians…[to eliminate] a single commander…

You Were Warned (#1361)

Ignorant, irrelevant authoritarian spouts ignorant irrelevancies in support of more authoritarianism; what a shock:

Hillary Clinton is the latest to jump on the “Repeal Section 230” bandwagon…Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have insisted that it needs to be repealed.  Senators [from] both sides of the [uniparty]…are supporting bills to repeal [it].  And now Hillary Clinton has joined the crew of ignorant political pundits spouting nonsense about 230…removing Section 230 will not fix whatever problem any of these people think it will fix…Section 230 serves a particularly useful purpose: preventing frivolous lawsuits.  What everyone calling for its repeal is effectively saying is that they want more frivolous lawsuits, most of which will simply be stopped eventually by the First Amendment, but after much more significant expense for websites…what Biden and Clinton seem to be admitting in their desire to remove liability protections is that they want to suppress speech…because they know that any threat of more frivolous litigation would lead companies to…[be far more] censorial…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1391)

Politicians are always happy to wreck lives by inventing new crimes from copaganda:

…While addiction and drug policy experts have repeatedly refuted the idea that touching fentanyl alone can cause an overdose, like a stubborn weed, the lie keeps coming back.  And now the myth has drifted upward to poli[tician]s…At this moment, three bills — one in Florida (SB 718), one in West Virginia (HB 5319) and the other in Tennessee (SB 1754) — are making their way through their respective state legislatures.  All three will allow for a felony charge to be levied against people who [possess]…fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, such as carfentanil or remifentanil…[if a cop has a panic attack nearby]…HB 5319 casts an even wider net, encompassing any opioid regardless of potency…[but] does include language which would require a laboratory test for opioids be administered to the [panicky pig.  But]…SB 718 and SB 1754 [allow charges based entirely in a cop’s imagination]…

If Men Were Angels (ROTW #8)

Turns out he isn’t just a wannabe cop:

Monte Chitty, the [Florida] pastor [who drugged and molested a 15-year-old girl], [was] released on a $75,000 bond soon after his March arrest…[he] was supposed to be arraigned [on April 1st, but] fled in a white van with out-of-state plates and is no longer believed to be in…Florida…he…has lived in 25 states where he’s worked in churches and may have places to hide out; [prosecutor Dennis] Ward [said]…“This guy’s a former cop from Alaska…so I’m concerned about everybody in [his] path”…

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

Let’s hope we can soon say, “Good riddance to bad rubbish”:

Last week, the nation’s largest prison and jail telecom corporation, Securus, effectively defaulted on more than a billion dollars of debt.  After decades of preying on incarcerated people and their loved ones with exploitative call rates and other predatory practices that have driven millions of families into debt, Securus is being crushed under the weight of its own.  In March, the company’s creditors gave the corporation an eight-month extension to pay up, urging its sale to a new owner to stave off an otherwise imminent bankruptcy…The slow death of the largest player in this space is not accidental.  It follows six years of intense advocacy to expose the vulnerability of the prison telecom industry’s business model on both ethical and economic grounds.  Organizers have waged a strategic war against Securus, educating investors and the public about the company’s predatory practices while successfully advocating for legislation and regulation to rein them in…The company’s failure would represent a remarkable victory for advocates—and a potential beginning of the end for the prison telecom industry as we know it…

 

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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Artificial intelligence is not that intelligent.  –  Ella Dawson

Dirty Amateurs

Why are amateurs so damned averse to using condoms?

…Calmara claims to use AI to screen photos uploaded by users for STIs.  They want you to open their website, take a picture of your partner’s genitals before having sex, and upload it to their database so that a…[computer] can review it and scan for 10+ “conditions” including herpes, syphilis, and HPV.  Buried in the Q&A section…Calmara makes it clear-ish that they cannot actually diagnose anyone with any STI, the AI only “works” for penises, and you should really just go to a doctor for an accurate STI test.  But you wouldn’t glean any of that from their cocky Instagram or glossy imagery.  “No cap, just facts,” the copy reads beneath an illustration of a dancing robot.  “Up to 90% accuracy, our AI is grounded in real science.”  Uh… sure…the service is so misguided that it’s easy to dismiss it as satire.  But…Calmara is…not satire, and available to download right now…their…own fine print says, “These offerings should not be used as substitutes for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or management of any disease or condition.”  So what is this service for?  Literally why does it exist when it cannot provide the service it advertises?…

Moral Climate

Never make the mistake of thinking the current zeal for library censorship is limited to either the US or the so-called “right wing”:

Cathy Simpson, the CEO of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library, [h]as [been] fired…[because the board dislikes a group she quoted in] an op-ed column published by The Lake Report.  The Feb. 22 opinion piece, “Censorship and what we are allowed to read”…drew strong criticism from a few…over its promotion of some of the principles espoused by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR)…[regarding] “hidden library censorship,” which she said takes two forms — “the vigorous defence of books promoting diversity of identity, but little to no defence of books promoting diversity of viewpoint, and the purchase of books promoting ‘progressive’ ideas over ‘traditional’ ideas”…[library board chair Daryl Novak tacitly admitted that Simpson was fired purely due to the] content related to FAIR, [because] “the balance of (Simpson’s) article, you can’t really criticize”…

Censorship Ascendant

Censors are now pretending ideas they don’t like constitute a “crime”:

Police Scotland…will in[timid]ate actors and comedians if a…[wannabe censor points at them and croaks the magic words] “threatening and abusive” [because] under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) [Law, the taboo magic] can be communicated “through public performance of a play”…the Assistant Chief Constable responsible for overseeing the implementation of the controversial legislation has [washed his hands of it] after just a year in the post…Police Scotland has [threaten]ed that it will investigate every [incident, no matter how trivial, reported as a “]hate crime[“]…despite the force adopting a “proportionate response” approach to [actual] crimes…there [h]as [been] an outcry from artists…[pointing out] that in the past shows ha[ve] been picketed by organisations trying to get them shut down and warn[ing] that “putting theatre in its own category makes it a target”…

I Can’t Breathe (#1329)

It’s about time cops stopped being allowed to cover up their murders so easily:

The Colorado Senate [has] pass[ed] legislation that would bar the term “excited delirium” from use by [cops and medical examiners.  If signed by]…Governor Jared Polis…it would bar the term [or any of its synonyms] from being used in [cop] training or incident reports, or from being listed as a cause of death on a death certificate…Prominent medical organizations have urged [cops and medical] professionals to not use the [pseudoscientific] term…[whose sole purpose is] to justify injury or death to individuals [attacked and restrained by] police…

Thought Control (#1345)

Some censors are so mentally ill they feel threatened by the sexuality of trees:

The Floyd County (Va.) Public Schools have suspended a…community reading of Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree following complaints that the middle-grade novel depicts a monoecious red oak, a tree with reproductive parts that can pollinate and flower simultaneously.  In the book, originally published in 2017, the tree claims an identity that is “both” female and male and responds to diverse pronouns:  “Call me she.  Call me he.  Anything will work”…[wannabe censor] Jodi Farmer…took to Facebook to [warn] Floyd County residents about the [terrifying] reference to…[vegetable biology], calling the book “indoctrination at its finest”…

Apparently, Farmer imagines these scary, scary words will bewitch her children into transkingdomism.

The Next Target (#1371)

Rather than actually filing a lawsuit against Mastercard for its discriminatory policies against sex workers (which would cost them actual money), ACLU prefers to Tweet, to dilly-dally with complaints to the FTC (a bureau of a government which actively persecutes sex workers and encourages corporations to do the same), and now to file a petition which I can’t imagine will prove to be any more effective than its other slacktivist efforts.  Given the wording of the petition and the website page it’s included in, this seems more like an exercise in virtue-signaling than an actual effort to right an injustice, but I reckon it can’t actually hurt you to sign it.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1417)

Tennessee’s float in the current “monkey see, monkey do” parade will cost it millions every year:

A Tennessee bill would make it a felony for an adult content website to allow access to a minor without age verification…[bill sponsor] Becky Massey…[burbled a lot of nonsense about magic sex-ray emitting pictures, but didn’t publicize that her exercise in morality theater] will cost the state more than $4 million in the first year and then $2 million each year after that…

 

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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