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Posts Tagged ‘The Last Shall Be First’

In the News (#1568)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[Computer-edited videos are] a nightmarish mess of distorted faces, garbled text, and misshapen backgrounds.  –  Jess Weatherbed

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1016)

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the “Campaign Against Toasters”:

…[anti-sex fanatics] assert that sex-doll play objectifies women, contributes to anti-female attitudes, and spurs sexual assault and pedophilia.  Some…pro[hibitionists want] a ban on the dolls…and criminal prosecution for those who own or sell them.  However, a recent study shows that sex-doll owners are normal, mentally healthy guys whose problems with relationships steered them to play with sex toys that are inanimate substitutes for real women…English researchers…found no significant differences between owners and non-owners, and no evidence that, compared with non-owners, doll owners pose any greater sexual threat to women or society…Doll owners were much more likely to be single, separated, or divorced…[and] reported considerably less partner sex…owners reported somewhat less sexual self-esteem and a little more performance anxiety…they were somewhat more likely to view women as mysterious and unknowable, which dovetails with the fact that so many were single, separated, or divorced.  However…owners were less likely to fantasize about sexual coercion or report any interest in sexual aggression against women…owners’ psychological makeup “…suggests that dolls act as a safe surrogate for relationships with living people due to concerns about their own sexual performance and lack of understanding of women…Doll ownership does not appear to be associated with sexual aggression or sexual offending”…

The Last Shall Be First (#1410) 

It only starts with demonized minorities:

…the Trump [regime is] demand[ing]…confidential patient information from doctors and hospitals that provide gender-related treatments for [legal minors.  A]…subpoena to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, sent in June, includes a seven-page list of requested documents, including “every writing or record of whatever type” made by doctors related to gender-affirming care, which includes therapy, puberty blockers, hormones and [rarely] surgery.  The subpoena…also [demanded] the birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses of patients who received transgender care…in [order] to [persecute them despite]…federal confidentiality protections for patients and their medical providers…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1479)

Privacy as we once knew it is a thing of the past:

Two…Harvard [dropou]ts are launching a pair of “always-on” [computerized] glasses that…record…and transcribe every conversation, and then display relevant information to the wearer in real time. “Our goal is to make [people much stupider and completely dependent on expensive gizmos, while appealing to their egos by telling them it will] make [them ‘]super intelligent[‘]”…said AnhPhu Nguyen, co-founder of…Halo…his co-founder Caine Ardayfio [claimed consulting a database is the same as]…“infinite memory…The [goal is] to [create a world of submorons who need computers]…to tell [them] what to say”…Ardayfio and Nguyen have [already] raised $1 million to develop the glasses…[which are] available for pre-order at $249…“[We don’t care] about…privacy”…Nguyen added…point[ing out that]…while [Facebook] glasses have an indicator light when their cameras and microphones are [active]…to warn others that they are being recorded…the Halo glasses…in[tentionally do not, so victims have no] warn…ing…“We want [the intrusion] to be discreet, like normal glasses,” said Ardayfio…

To Molest and Rape (#1496)

It was obvious this would turn out to be sordid:

The rural Kentucky judge gunned down in his own chambers last year r[outinely threatened]…young women w[ith severe criminal penalties in order to] co[erce them] into performing sexual favors…for…him and others…Mullins…[also threate]ned [victims with criminal charges, CPS and other violence] to keep [them] quiet…[some screws and cops claimed to have] heard…“nasty and sickening” stories…[ab]out…the [“]parties[“, but]…one [victim], Sabrina Adkins…[eventually bl]ew…the [whistle] during a 2022 criminal investigation into a [cop]…who…[anally and vaginally] rape[d]…a [woman trapped in the county’s cages]…Mullins’ shooting [by Sheriff Shawn Stines may have had something to do with the scheme because after the murder]…he…immediately surrendered, telling cops: “They’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid”…

You Were Warned (#1515)

The US Constitutional order is no more:

[Mad emperor] Trump is calling national security and privacy concerns related to TikTok and its Chinese parent company “highly overrated” and said…he’ll keep [unconstitutionally] extending the deadline…until there’s a buyer.  Congress approved a[n unconstitutional] ban on TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold its controlling stake.  But Trump has so far [unconstitutionally] extended the deadline three times…with the next one coming up on Sept. 17…and…the White House start[ed] a TikTok account [last] week…[so] it appears less and less likely that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. any time soon…

Creepy Coppers (#1527)

Some cops don’t limit themselves to one type of creepiness:

A…Georgia [cop named]…Matthew Abbott…[has been] charged with…distribution of [child porn featuring adults raping]…children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old…and [also with jerking off]…in a public parking lot near an elementary school…while [wearing his magical clown costume.  His boss hog used the occasion to vomit up a bunch of self-aggrandizing bullshit]…

Enshittification (#1557)  

A company whose motto used to be “Don’t Be Evil” has made violating its users’ consent a standard business practice:

YouTube [used computers to alter] videos without telling users or asking permission.  As…our world [becomes increasingly enshittified], what happens to our shared connection with real life?…Wrinkles in shirts seem more defined. Skin is sharper in some places and smoother in others.  Pay close attention to ears, and you may notice them warp.  These changes are small, barely visible without a side-by-side comparison…[but the creators point out] it gives their content a subtle and unwelcome [uncanny valley] feeling…Complaints on social media date back to June, at least, with users posting closeups of odd-looking body parts and questioning YouTube’s intentions.  Now, after months of rumors in comment sections, the company has finally confirmed it is altering a limited number of videos on YouTube Shorts, the app’s shortform video feature…

 

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 (#1567)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This is absolutely being framed as a tool of abuse.  –  Eva Galperin

Above the Law

Don’t fret, it’s for your “security”:

An Israeli government [“]cybersecurity[” bureaucrat] was…arrested recently by Las Vegas police…[for respond]ing [to] a…[cop fantasy role-playing as a teenage girl] online…Tom Artiom Alexandrovich…faces felony charges…[but] has since been released [after paying] $10,000…and returned to Israel…Alexandrovich…[was] in Las Vegas earlier…for the Black Hat Briefings, a yearly meeting of [“]cybersecurity[“] professionals…

Remember what “black hat” used to mean?  It still does.

What the Hell Were You Thinking? (#417)

Amateurs repeatedly screw up what sex workers have done for many years:

…The Tea app, much like the Are We Dating the Same Guy Facebook groups, invites [amateur] women to join and share red flags about men to help other [amateur] women avoid them.  In order to verify that every person who joined…was a woman, Tea asked users to upload a picture of their ID or their face.  Tea was founded in 2022 but…[in] July this year…reached the top of the Apple App Store chart…and claimed it had more than 1.6 million users…but…Tea did not have all the “safety measures” it needed to keep women safe….[because] users’ images, identifying information, and more than a million private conversations…were compromised in two separate security breaches in late July.  The first…was immediately abused by…misogynists on 4chan to humiliate women…after Tea failed to [capture]…the Are We Dating the Same Guy community, [it] shifted tactics to raid those Facebook groups for users…[using] paid influencers…competing Facebook groups with nearly identical names…[and] hijacked Facebook accounts that spammed the real…groups with links to Tea app…[resulting in] a third security breach which exposed the personal data of…paid…promote[rs]…while [Tea founder Sean] Cook said he built Tea to “protect women,” he repeatedly put them at risk and tried to replace a grassroots movement started by a woman who declined to help him…

Secret Squirrel (#1403)

Modern monogamy is becoming increasingly sick:

TikTok [hucksters are] selling GPS trackers marketed with viral videos that have voiceovers explicitly encouraging secretly tracking a romantic partner.  Some of the videos have millions of views, and…more than a hundred thousand of the devices have been sold…The trackers are advertised as undetectable by Apple’s FindMy system.  Many of the videos encourage people to secretly install the devices in their partners’ cars if they suspect them for things like being “out with friends every night”…“This is absolutely being framed as a tool of abuse,” said Eva Galperin…of…the [EFF].  “Anything where the justification is ‘catch your partner cheating’ or ‘get peace of mind about your partner’ is enabling coercive control”…Alongside the trackers, the same c[ulprit]s are advertising secret audio-recording devices with similar abusive framing…

The Last Shall Be First (#1413) 

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

After a yearslong legal battle, West Texas A&M University students can finally host a drag show…in March 2023…Spectrum WT, an LGBT-focused student club, sought permission to use Legacy Hall, a university venue, to host a drag show that would raise funds for the Trevor Project…While the university had allowed a wide range of events to take place in Legacy Hall—including religious events, a congressional candidate forum, and a local livestock show—the university’s president, Walter Wendler, stepped in to prevent the drag show from going forward…[pretending to be a champion of] womanhood…even [though he] admitted that the show [wa]s First Amendment–protected…the lower court…[backed] Wendler…[up, absurdly belching the word “]lewdness[” as a justification]…

Torture Chamber (#1555)

This will continue until the evil US immigration policy is reformed:

A United States Senate investigation has identified more than 500 credible reports of human rights abuses in [cages where the Trump regime has crammed] immigra[nts]…since January…the investigation—led by US senator Jon Ossoff…unearthed 41 cases of physical and sexual abuse; 14 involving pregnant [victims] and 18 involving [legal minors]…span[ning dungeons] in 25 states…[one] pregnant woman…bled for days before…miscarry[ing] alone without medical attention…Children as young as 2 were…[denied] medical [care, including one case]…where a…[screw] dismissed her mother’s pleas for help by telling her to “just give the girl a cracker.”  A…child recovering from brain surgery was…denied follow-up care, and a 4-year-old undergoing cancer treatment was deported without access to doctors.  The…most abuse reports [were from concentration camps] in Texas, Georgia, and California…

Walled Garden

Prohibitionists always end up with egg on their faces:

The government needs to [magically] stop children using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass age checks on porn sites, [claimed]…Dame Rachel de Souza[, who also absurdly and cluelessly] called for age verification on VPNs…[but another bureaucrat] said VPNs are legal tools for adults and there are no plans to ban them…

To Molest and Rape (#1562)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

…a [typical and representative] Indianapolis [cop named]…David McDaniel…[repeat]edly molested two girls on several occasions, [starting] with one…when [she]…was 8 years old…[and the other] 9…[one of the victims, who is now] 17…told her father that…McDaniel…[had repeatedly molested her] for…nine years…[his practice was to co]me into the room where the girls were sleeping and touch…their [genitalia]…

 

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 (#1565)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

If [every single]…book…[in] public school libraries constitutes government speech, the State is babbling prodigiously and incoherently.  –  Frederick Sperling

If Men Were Angels

Another “youth pastor”, another distancing “former”:

A Jersey City pastor [named]…Robert Anthony…Langston…[repeatedly molested at least] two [boys under 15 while he was “youth pastor”] of Landmark Tabernacle in Denver…in [the late ’90s.  One of the]…victims…had an abusive situation at home…[and] was groomed…to…accompan[y] Langston and his wife as they evangelized across the U.S. and eventually settled in Jersey City…[where] he…continued to be “groped and assaulted” by the pastor after [2003]…he…was “very scared” to report the abuse because “the church is very anti-homosexuality.”  The second victim…[said] Langston…“appeared to prefer boys in the church who had absent fathers or were raised by their grandparents”…

To Molest and Rape

Some rapist cops are indiscriminate in their habits:

A [California cop named]…Juan Pensina…[has been] arrest[ed on numerous charges of forcible vaginal, anal, and oral rape, but also rewarded with a paid vacation]…Pensina [raped some of] the…victims while [wearing his magical clown costume] and…[some not, both in his pigmobile and] in…[other places]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1537)

What kind of warped mind thinks this is OK?

A Minnesota teen [has] filed a charge of discrimination against a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant…after…a server followed her into the women’s restroom and demanded she “prove” she was a girl.  Gerika Mudra…[was harassed by the] server[, who]…banged on the stall door while saying, “This is a women’s restroom. The man needs to get out of here”…Mudra, a biracial lesbian who is not transgender, said she’s been in similar situations before…but…[this] woman [would not] leave her alone…[until] she unzipped her hoodie to show she has breasts.  The server didn’t say anything in response but left the restroom…

Thought Control (#1548)

Florida censors lose every challenge, but it doesn’t stop them:

A federal judge…struck down [most] of a Florida law that’s been used to remove [thousan]ds of books from public school libraries since it was enacted in 2023…Judge Carlos Mendoza…struck down…[provisions] that made it easier to challenge books if they included any sexual content…[so] the…[standard] reverts back to…the Miller Test…The 2023 law…[had exposed] educators…to…criminal penalties and los[s of] their teaching certificates if [any censorious Froot Loop chose to point at any book while barfing the word “]inappropriate[“]…As a result, Florida led the country in school book bans last year with 4,561 instances…State officials [horrifyingly] argued…that Florida was entitled to regulate books in public school libraries [because] such actions amounted to…“government speech”…

Mad Libs (#1550)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who use them less intelligent as well:

…doctors [who rely on chatbots can lose] skills after just a few months…a new study..[showed machine learning programs could] help…health professionals…detect pre-cancerous growths in the colon, but when the assistance was removed, their ability to find tumors dropped by about 20% compared with rates before the tool was ever introduced…[bureaucrats] around the world are…[trying to cram so-called “]AI[” in]to [healthcare systems] with a view to boosting…pro[fitabil]ity…[but] doctors [quickly] become over-reliant on its recommendations, “leading to clinicians becoming less motivated, less focused, and less responsible when making cognitive decisions without [computer interfere]nce,” the…paper [said]…Yuichi Mori…one of the scientists involved, predicted that the effects of de-skilling will “probably be higher” as [machine learning systems are crammed into more areas of expertise]…

Walled Garden

The open internet is becoming a thing of the past:

…age verification laws went into effect in Wyoming and South Dakota, requiring sites [any politician points at while barfing the formula] “material that is harmful to minors” to verify visitors are over 18 years old.  Th[is is not] just…two more states joining the nearly 30 that have [embraced]…invasive, ineffective methods of keeping kids away from porn online…[because] unlike the laws passed in other states, they don’t state that this applies only to sites with “33.3 percent” or one-third “harmful” material…which…opens a huge swath of sites to the [surveillance] burden…The same [pro-censorship gangs] that have lobbied for age verification laws…have also spent years targeting social media platforms…and…streaming services like Netflix, for hosting adult content…age-gating the entire internet only pushes adult consumers and [adolescents] alike into less-regulated…spaces and situations, while everyone just uses VPNs to get around gates…

The Cop Myth (#1562)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

Carlos Baker, the Chicago [cop] who [murdered] his partner Krystal Rivera…[has now] attacked a[nother] female [cop]…The [victim reported]…that Baker and another woman beat her [on August 10th] at [a] bar…[because she wouldn’t] delete [certain] videos taken on her cellphone…[she] escaped, with the help of others, and had a friend take her to [the] hospital…It’s not clear what’s on the videos…Officials…have referred to the shooting [of Rivera] as an accident, but [her] family has called for an outside investigation …[because] Rivera had been a key witness to the theft of a…gun…and [Baker may have wanted to silence her.  His]…career as a cop has been [characteriz]ed by disciplinary problems from the start, including a complaint…[due to his stalking] another…woman at a bar…[and threatening] her…[with] a gun…and…more than a dozen [other reports] of misconduct since joining the [pig herd] in December 2021…

 

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 (#1562)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Shield laws have been a disaster for the anti-abortion movement.
–  Mary Ziegler

Robocops (#1249)

Courts declare that the more egregious a cop’s crimes, the less they can be held accountable:

A [sow] who [maliciously] had a woman jailed for over two years on false charges in connection with a[n imaginary] sex-trafficking ring cannot be sued, a court confirmed last week, because she was acting under color of federal law…Heather Weyker…[completely] fabricat[ed a “Somali sex trafficking gang” for her own self-aggrandizement]…then j[ailed 16-year-old Hamdi Mohamud to silence her after Weyker’s confederate in the scam,] Muna Abdulkadir[,] attacked her [with]…a knife…Mohamud spent 25 months [locked] in federal [cages, but could not sue]… Weyker [because]…she had been cross-deputized on a federal task force [due to “sex trafficking” hysteria]…and…the Supreme Court has made it almost cartoonishly difficult…to [sue]…federal agents…Mohamud’s remaining hope, then, came down to proving that Weyker was acting under color of state law…and the [8th Circuit has now destroyed]…that [hope]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1351) 

Florida’s psychopath-general wants to criminalize vaudeville:

Florida’s [deranged] attorney general…James Uthmeier…has [launch]ed a…[harassment campaign against]…the Kilted Mermaid, a Vero Beach establishment owned by the city’s vice mayor, Linda Moore…A subpoena reportedly demands Moore turn over security footage, employee work schedules, contracts identifying performers, guest lists, and reservation logs [from a June drag event] by August 8…neither the press release nor the subpoena indicates what state laws Moore is…allegedly violating.  But the [harassment began] after local Moms for Liberty chair Jennifer Pippin filed a complaint…accusing the Kilted Mermaid of violating [a] Florida…[anti-drag] law that has been blocked from going into effect since 2023…Pippin…did not attend the event…and [claimed] that she was [somehow] unaware that the law had been blocked…however, [Uthmeier has no such excuse]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1389)

Politicians don’t even try to make their new laws Constitutional any more:

Alabama…has begun sending [demands] to adult site operators [for] 10%…[of their] gross receipts…[starting] Sept. 1…while the First Amendment precludes financially burdening protected speech based on its content, recent events have called such protections into question…enforcing the tax on adult website content could prompt legal challenges…However, a[ny]…website operator…[unwilling to deal with the bullshit] can [simply block] Alabama customers [who don’t use VPNs]…

Feudalism Redux (#1525)

This unhinged lunacy will spread like rot until struck down by a court:

Arkansas [psychopath] General Tim Griffin…sent cease and desist letters…to two websites that provide information about abortion pills, demanding they [stop correctly stating] that medications can be mailed to Arkansas…[despite its] total abortion ban…Griffin and 15 other [forced-birth lunatics are also demanding] Congress…ban…“shield laws” that [give] healthcare providers [protection against legal harassment by psychopaths like Griffin and Ken Paxton].  About one in four abortions in the U.S. are done via telemedicine, and 12,000 abortions per month are provided by clinicians prescribing under shield laws.  Griffin is targeting the sites Plan C and Mayday Health, which do not prescribe or sell the drugs mifepristone or misoprostol…but rather [provide information] about where…the pills [can be purchased, which is 100% legal under the First Amendment.  In order to get around this fact]…Griffin [incorrectly claims] that, by [correctly describing] abortion pills as safe, the language on the sites “may constitute false, deceptive, and unconscionable trade practices” [in] Arkansas…

Secret Squirrel (#1528)

This sickness just keeps getting worse:

Skechers introduced a line of kids’ sneakers that contain a hidden compartment where parents can slip in an Apple AirTag…to…[surreptitiously] track the location of their…child’s shoes…Apple only advertises its AirTags as products to keep track of items like keys, wallets, or luggage — not human beings.  But [abusive people] have been using the technology to [stalk others without their knowledge]…AirTags are not designed to be very good at tracking fast-moving things, like a kid on a school bus, [because they]…don’t have built-in GPS.  Instead, they use Bluetooth beaconing technology to [sneaki]ly signal their presence to nearby Apple devices…[because of such] nefarious [misuse, there was]…a class action lawsuit.  [Because of this] Apple has instituted some anti-stalking features, [but]…the continued normalization of this kind of surveillance could have [strong negative effects on young people’s mental health]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #22)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

An [Oregon cop named]…Hector Carranza was arrested on [July 31st for repeatedly raping a minor both vaginally and anally]…Carranza [w]as [rewarded with a paid vacation] since November 2024, when he was [first reported, and his bosses thought the most important factor in this is that he wasn’t wearing his magical clown costume while committing the rapes]…

The Cop Myth (#1561)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

The [boss hog] of the Maine Capitol Police is facing charges of assault and resisting arrest [after he drunkenly attacked] a…[cop for the town of] Hallowell…[around midnight on August 1st].  Matthew Clancy was arrested…after…[causing trouble in a] bar…Clancy [has been rewarded with a paid vacation]…

 

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 (#1552)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This isn’t constitutional interpretation; it’s constitutional gerrymandering.  –  Mike Masnick

Stalkers in Blue

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A Miami [cop named Zamir Vargas Valerio]…is…facing criminal charges…for giving his ex-girlfriend a traffic ticket…when she…was…deployed overseas…by [fraudulent]ly using the computer credentials of a[nother cop.  Not only was]…the victim…out of the country when the [supposed] violation [supposedly] occurred…the [cop] who supposedly issued the ticket was on disability leave at the time…Vargas Valerio is…a…[repeat offender who] was [previously] arrested…on Aug. 23, 2022…[for] domestic violence [because] he [tried to strangle a previous girlfriend]…in front of her son…the case was later dropped…

Panopticon (#898)

There is no “intelligence” in an automated high-resolution scanner:

The Hertz rental car company, along with its Dollar and Thrifty affiliates, are rolling out [computeriz]ed vehicle inspection scanners that scan [a] rental car as it exits or enters the rental lot for damage…But barely two months into the scanners’ initial deployment…there’s already a problem [with the company overcharging customers for scratches & dings barely visible to the human eye]…the…scanners [are built by]…Israeli…company, UVeye….[which] claims its system increases damage detection…by five times…Hertz…touts “transparency” as one of the main advantages its customers can expect from the tech, though it remains to be seen how transparent things remain when customers invariably require a live human to speak with to dispute the findings.  To note, this is the same company that has left a rental desk unmanned for six hours, attempted to charge a customer $10,000 despite an unlimited mileage policy, attempted to charge a Tesla customer for gas, and settled for $168 million after falsely accusing hundreds of customers of stealing its cars—some of which led to innocent people getting arrested, charged with felonies, and jailed…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1502)

SCOTUS has ruled that the First Amendment does not apply on the internet:

…In the FSC v. Paxton case, [SCOTUS] upheld the very problematic 5th Circuit ruling that age verification online is acceptable under the First Amendment, despite multiple earlier Supreme Court rulings that said the opposite…The practical effect: states can now force websites to collect government IDs from anyone wanting to view adult content, creating a massive chilling effect on protected speech and opening the door to much broader online speech restrictions.  Thomas accomplished this by pulling off some remarkable doctrinal sleight of hand.  He ignored the Court’s own precedents in Ashcroft v. ACLU by pretending online age verification is just like checking ID at a brick-and-mortar store (it’s not), applied a weaker “intermediate scrutiny” standard instead of the “strict scrutiny” that content-based speech restrictions normally require, and—most audaciously—invented an entirely new category of “partially protected” speech that conveniently removes First Amendment protections exactly when the government wants to burden them.  As Justice Kagan’s scathing dissent makes clear, this is constitutional law by result-oriented reasoning, not principled analysis…The real danger here isn’t just Texas’s age verification law—it’s that Thomas has handed every state legislature a roadmap for circumventing the First Amendment online…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #18)

Good riddance to bad rubbish:

[A typical and representative Washington cop who also worked] as [a] girls basketball coach [in order to stalk prey shot himself after he was caught molesting a victim]…Charles “Rob” Gardiner…[was caught on April 23rd by] the girl’s parents [while he was molesting her] in her bedroom…he fled [after her father tried to physically stop him]…Deputies later found Gardiner dead in his p[igmobile] a few blocks away…the girl was reluctant to share information, but [admitted] she and Gardiner texted regularly, and he had sneaked into her house several times before…The girl’s parents [sensibly became suspicious when] Gardiner…bought her gifts, including an iPad, that they made her return…The iPad was later [found in] Gardiner’s [pigmobile]…the girl’s contact information [was] saved in Gardiner’s phone as “Wifey,” and his phone’s wallpaper [was a nude] photo of her…Gardiner was…[also] a football coach at…a…[nearby] middle school[, but currently does not appear to have molested any kids there]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1531)

This is what Pride should be: a gigantic “fuck you” to authoritarianism:

Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders…to march in what organizers called the largest…Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of…Viktor Orbán’s government…which…outlawed [the event] by a law passed in March…The massive size of the march…was seen as a major blow to Orbán’s prestige, as…polls [show] a new opposition force has taken the lead…Orbán and his party have [echoed MAGA] in…[trying to justify their censorship of] Pride…[by absurdly claiming it is] a violation of children’s rights to moral and spiritual development…[trumping] other fundamental rights, including that to peacefully assemble…

Compare this to what Pride celebrations had turned into in the US before Trump ascended the imperial throne and the fascist fair-weather sponsors predictably turned coat.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1541)

The New Orleans city council rewards the NOPD for criminal behavior:

The New Orleans City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow the city’s police department…[to use] the [magic word “]crime[” to justify the]…use [of] real-time facial recognition technology to find and track people as they move about the city…as the[y]…had already been secretly [doing]…via a private surveillance camera network…in…[flagrant] violat[ion of] an earlier city ordinance meant to protect the public’s privacy…the proposed city ordinance would [reward NOPD for violating the previous law by] mak[ing their criminal behavior] legal…the ordinance, as currently written, would allow the police to only “use facial recognition technology while investigating crimes and missing persons cases”…[but since NOPD ignored the previous law there’s no reason to assume this one would be any different], and…these protections could be overturned just as easily as the earlier prohibitions…are about to be…

The Cop Myth (#1542)

Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to, and everyone is shocked:

[A] Kentucky [cop named]…Bearl D. Ashcraft Jr….[murdered] his girlfriend, Hayley Davidson…[then] killed [himself]…Davidson’s estranged husband, Travis Davidson, says there was…“a lot of domestic violence that was hidden”…Ashcraft tracked her whereabouts using a phone app and others…noticed bruising she tried to cover up with make up [sic]…

 

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 (#1542)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Sentiment analysis not only does not work, it cannot work.
–  Calli Schroeder

Monsters

A large fraction of US politicians implicitly or explicitly approve of this:

A 19-year-old [lesbian] was…attacked…at a McDonald’s in…Carpentersville, Illinois…about an hour outside of Chicago…Kady Grass…and her 13-year-old cousin were [order]ing food…when Grass decided to use the bathroom.  Both the restroom stalls were full, so she walked out…[and] one boy out of a group of three began [insulting] her [appearance]…and [tried]…to [provoke a] fight…Then [started]…to a[ttack her], with one…punching her in the front and the other hitting her in the back…A manager…attempted to break up the fight, but he also “got hit in the process”…In an attempt to protect herself, Grass closed her eyes and fell to the ground, which led to the two [attackers] stomping on her head…[until she was knocked] unconscious…Grass…suffered a broken nose…[and extensive] bruises…[19-year-old John] Kammrad was arrested on May 17…and…charged with…aggravated battery…[his juvenile accomplice was also charged and]…the two girls occupying the bathroom…will face misdemeanor charges for stealing Grass’ wallet, phone and her cousin’s phone…

The Course of a Disease (#1443)

Prohibitionists are once again trying to inflict the evil “Swedish model” on Scotland:

[Scottish politician] Ash Regan is introducing a bill that would [impose]…the “Nordic Model”…Regan also wants to see…sex [workers spied on and harassed by cops]…a campaign…has been specifically set up to oppose her proposals, with sex workers stressing safety concerns…

The Last Shall Be First (#1484) 

The only way to keep information from being abused by the State is not to collect it in the first place:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Dallas pediatrician, Dr. May Lau for [refusing to forcibly detransition] “at least 21” minors…Within weeks, Paxton’s office filed similar suits against two more physicians…effectively shut[ting] down these three doctors’ ability to practice…it is a striking example of how government officials can weaponize private prescription records to target anyone they want….[via] the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program…established in the 2000s to [drive pain patients to suicide and destroy the lives of pain doctors]…Testosterone, classified as a Schedule III controlled substance, is automatically tracked in the PDMP database…[which is why] virtually all of the patients were transmasculine…estrogen is not a controlled substance…subject to PDMP surveillance…PDMP datasets typically include patient details…refill schedules, and identifying information for the prescriber and pharmacy.  In nine states, the PDMP entry even contains the diagnosis code…[so a pig rooting in] the file could directly see why a person was prescribed a drug…once a pharmacy uploads…data to a PDMP, that information is no longer covered by HIPAA privacy rules…[and] every state allows police or prosecutors to [root in] PDMP data…without so much as a warrant…Some PDMPs even…[rat out patients the algorithm deems] “suspicious”…PDMPs…function as a nationwide surveillance network….While abortion medications…are not federally scheduled controlled substances…Louisiana recently classified…Mifepristone as a controlled substance, which [will] now be tracked by Louisiana’s PDMP…

I Spy (#1494)

Local politicians’ virtue-signaling is powerless against the fascist panopticon:

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez announced this year her department has a “zero contact policy” with ICE…But [that is a lie;] the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office received over $1 million from the federal government last year…for sharing sensitive information, including names, birthplace and country of origin, under the…State Criminal Alien Assistance Program…managed in part by ICE, [which] uses federal dollars to reimburse local jails and prisons for…[cag]ing…immigrants…even in so-called sanctuary cities and states that forbid…[cop] co[llabo]ration and data sharing with ICE…A spokesperson for Sanchez’s office defended the county’s participation [with, “who are you going to believe, us or the facts?”]…some jurisdictions have chosen to withdraw from SCAAP in recent years to keep from feeding more information into ICE’s deportation dragnet…San Francisco terminated…participation in SCAAP ahead of the first Trump [regime], though Alameda County did not follow suit…Wisconsin’s Dane County, has also quit since Trump’s return to power…

The Cop Myth (#1503)

Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to, and everyone is shocked:

A…[typical and representative California cop named]…Daniel Hutsell…[murdered] his wife, Dinella Hutsell, [then shot himself.  Their daughter]…called 9-1-1…to report that both her father and mother were dead.  The boss hogs thought it was very important to state that he was not wearing his magical clown costume at the time, but this was not his first murder]…He was [part of a gang]…who shot and killed Stephen Murray…on July 17, 2019…and [naturally escaped scot-free]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #17)

Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working out?

Alexus Byrd-Maxey [was a naif who watched far too many cop glorification shows as a] child…But on March 17, 2023, [she had a rude awakening about what cops are really like when]…another recruit [grabbed] her…and [rubbed his dick against her ass]…She [naively believed] confront[ing] him…[would lead to] remorse…Instead…she saw him smirk…[the typical and representative cop], a man named Eric Tabb…started telling other recruits that Byrd-Maxey had overreacted and that h[is dick was really his hand and her butt was really her] shoulder…when Byrd-Maxey reported the incident [she quickly discovered how the “thin blue line” works when she]…was fired from the academy for supposedly cursing and using gang language…Tabb soon became a…[cop] and [was set loose to terrorize the public]…Eight months…[later], Tabb was arrested for…repeatedly [groping other sows]…Tabb now faces multiple felony charges…[which] is [unusual because]…Chicago [cop shops typically refuse]…to vigorously investigate…sexual assault by [pigs], whether those complaints were lodged by [sows]…or members of the public….allowing [rapists] to abuse again and again…

I Spy (#1530)

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

The U.S. [surveillance establishment] is now buying up vast volumes of sensitive information that would have previously required a court order, essentially bypassing the Fourth Amendment…So the government…is working on a system to centralize and “streamline” the use of commercially available information, or CAI, like location data derived from mobile ads…spy agencies will use the web portal not just to search through reams of private data, but also run them through [computer programs] for further analysis…the “Intelligence Community Data Consortium” will provide a single convenient web-based storefront for searching and accessing this data, along with a “data marketplace” for purchasing “the best data at the best price,” faster than ever before…for the [NSA]…CIA…FBI…Homeland Security…and [14 other spook houses]…sidestepping constitutional and statutory privacy protections…Once the website is up and running, the…portal will eventually allow users to analyze the data using large language models, [complete with their characteristic]…factual errors and fabrications.  The portal will also facilitate “sentiment analysis,” a…pseudoscientific endeavor purporting to discern one’s opinion about a given topic using implicit signals in their behavior, movement, or speech…

 

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 (#1537)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Just because these tools act like your friend doesn’t mean that they are.  –  Miranda Bogen

The Widening Gyre (#928)

Georgia cops are still destroying lives over racist “brat snatching” fantasies:

After [being locked for] 45 days in a…Georgia…jail on a [bogus] charge of attempted kidnapping, Mahendra Patel was released on…bond…Patel, 57, was arrested on March 18 and initially denied bail after a [hysterical racist] accused him of trying to kidnap her 2-year-old son in a…[crowded] Walmart…[in actuality] Patel approached…Caroline Miller…to ask for help finding Tylenol.  Miller was sitting on a motorized shopping cart…for disabled customers (even though she is not disabled) and had [the] toddler…on her lap…[But because] Patel [is brown, Miller turned that innocent interaction into]…”I had to rip my baby out of some…man’s hands because he was trying to snatch him”…However, security footage shown during Patel’s latest bail hearing…[shows] that Patel…was merely trying to help stabilize the toddler as the mother began standing up from the cart…Witnesses also [contradicted]…Miller’s story…[but] Prosecutor Jesse Evans [wants to ruin an immigrant’s life]…and…[is doubling down on his fantasy of catching a dangerous] criminal…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1417)

Fools refuse to grasp what a danger biometric identification actually is:

Sam Altman…[has] announced…a new…eye-scanning orb….[which] scans [gullible fools’] irises, creates a unique user ID, stores that information on the blockchain, and uses it as a form of identity verification…the [sales pitch claims] it could ostensibly thwart [the same] scammers…enable[d]…by [Altman’s] other startup, OpenAI…So the World app, and its hardware component, are Altman’s solution to [a self-created] problem…whiffs of a scam have plagued the startup since it launched…[though it] claims…12 million users have been verified with the orb.  The company says it expects to generate revenue…through fees paid by [busybodies who want people’s] identities verified…But World is also a for-profit cryptocurrency company that…has been criticized by privacy advocates…[for] explicitly marketing its services to countries with a high percentage of unbanked or underbanked citizens, and…[bribing] people to sign up and have their irises scanned.  Brazil and Hong Kong have [already] banned Worldcoin [and its attendant] features…Kenya, Portugal, and Spain [have] all instituted temporary restrictions…

Thought Control (#1472)

A small victory for American ideals, but a victory nonetheless:

…the majority of candidates backed by pro-censorship organizations like Moms for Liberty lost their school board races in Texas on [May 3rd, demonstrating]…that the tide may be turning against the…pro-censorship [cult]…in [urban], suburban, and rural districts [alike, even]…candidates backed by big money [authoritarian groups]…In another victory for grassroots groups fighting for intellectual freedom, in Florida, a bill that would have redefined “harmful to minors”…to [mean whatever any politician or other wannabe censor points at while barfing that phrase]…died in session on [May 2nd]…

No Escape (#1475)

The human and financial costs of our society’s sick infatuation with incarceration are staggering:

Another 10 men who were [locked in cages by the state of Oregon as teenagers]…are suing the state [because] the longtime p[hys]ician at the facility…sexually abus[ed] them.  More than 20 men [were molested by] Dr. Edward Gary Edwards…and…[screws, staff, nurses, and] officials at the [cage stack] ignor[ed] the[ir complaints] and [intentionally] allow[ed the abuse] to continue.  Edwards worked…at the [prison] for more than four decades…[and] died in February…The abuse was so well-known…he…had a nickname: “Dr. Cold Fingers”…[his victims] are seeking $51 million…[this is only] the latest lawsuit [against Oregon’s juvenile dungeon system].  Emily Echtenkamp…was convicted in March of sexually abusing [one victim]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1521)

What kind of warped mind thinks it’s OK for male cops to barge into a women’s bathroom?

A [lesbian] couple…were [h]arrassed…[by a male security guard in a women’s restroom]…at The Liberty Hotel [in Boston]…Ansley Baker and…Liz Victor…went to a Kentucky Derby party at the hotel [on May 3rd, but] their afternoon ended when hotel security [barged into] the women’s restroom and…started banging on the stall doors.  Baker [presents in a masculine fashion]…and…the…creep…[demanded her] ID…to check [her] gender…[When he was shown to be an idiot he demanded] the couple…leave the hotel…and [lied to management that] they [were]…”sharing a bathroom stall”…and [had attacked] “our security team”…even…[though] there was only one [guard]…

Shame, Shame (#1535)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

Mark Zuckerberg has a new way to invade your privacy: a creepier version of [Cat, I Farted].  Last week, Facebook…launched…a dedicated home for [its LLM] chatbot.  The app, which climbed to No. 2 on the iPhone free download charts, promises users a more “personalized” [chatbot] with tailored answers and [“]advice[“].  And it includes a new social network for people to share their [chatbot] conversations and images.  But [it accomplishes this “personalization” via] surveillance…drawing on years of personal information tracked by its sister apps Facebook and Instagram…it buil[ds] a so-called memory file…that…by default ke[eps] a copy of everything…said to it — to tailor its responses…to train a future version of [the LLM] and, eventually, [to] target [users] with ads…push[ing] the limits on privacy in ways that go much further than rivals [Cat, I Farted] or [Google] Gemini…Whatever you chat about with [the computer], just picture Zuckerberg watching…

Torture Chamber (#1536)

The State tortures thousands of people for crossing an imaginary line:

The Trump [regime] has created a human rights crisis with its draconian, made-for-TV campaign of mass deportation…three people died inside [concentration camps] in April alone, bringing the total…since Trump returned to [power] to at least seven…Brayan Garzón-Rayo, a 27-year-old man from Colombia…died on April 8…in Missouri…Nhon Nguc Nguyen, 55, from Vietnam, died on April 16 after [being caged for] two months…in Texas…Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old citizen of Haiti…died on April 25…after several weeks of being shuffled between [camps] in Louisiana, Florida and Puerto Rico…dozens of people have died preventable deaths in…ICE…con[centration camps] in the past, and…conditions are rapidly deteriorating as the [regime] packs facilities as part of [the mad emperor’s] war on immigrants…there are [currently] nearly 50,000 people [crammed into the camps, and]…Trump [wants]…to [add] 84,000 more…

 

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 (#1531)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

They’ll do whatever they want!  –  Mary Faith Casey

Whatever They Need To Say (#648)

Gentrification is one of the most common motivations for persecution of all kinds of sex workers:

Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has declared a gentrification war on South LA’s Figueroa Corridor under the guise of ending sex trafficking…she has weaponized an archaic law, The Red Light Abatement Act, to shut down immigrant-owned motels…in preparation for pre-Olympic gentrification…subject[ing] an already over-policed neighborhood to further hypersurveillance and…raids…The Act makes the property owner responsible for vice crimes committed on their property…Essentially, businesses can be forced to shut down based on a [mere evidence-free accusation] that sex work is happening on their property, whether or not they knew of the activity.  As a result, property owners discriminate against sex workers…

The Last Shall Be First (#1147)

Puritanism is throttling the entire world:

Hungary’s parliament [has] passed an amendment to [its 14-year-old] constitution that allows the government to ban [LGBT] public events...another [increase in] authoritarianism…by the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition led by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán…The amendment codifies a law fast-tracked through parliament in March that bans [such] events…including the popular Pride event in Budapest that draws thousands annually…That law also allows [pigs] to use facial recognition tools to [harass] people who attend prohibited events...with fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546)…The new amendment also states that the constitution recognizes two sexes, male and female…denying the gender identities of transgender people, as well as ignoring the existence of intersex individuals…

The Last Shall Be First (#1342)

Florida knows it will lose any challenge to this law:

A transgender woman was arrested last month for refusing to leave the women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol.  Marcy Rheintgen, a 20-year-old college student…acted intentionally to challenge Florida’s antitrans bathroom law…sending 160 letters to state representatives, the attorney general, and…Ron DeSantis [announcing the planned date and time of her visit and] asking that she not be arrested for using the…women’s restroom…[creepy pigs] followed her inside and warned her that if she did not leave…she would be arrested…but…opted to arrest her [for “]trespass on property after warning[” so she]…won’t be able to challenge the [bathroom] law…in court…

The Cop Myth (#1492)

This one directly describes very typical cop behavior as “uncharacteristic”:

A…[New York cop named]…Aaron M. Alshaman…[was rewarded with a paid vacation for attempting to burn his girlfriend’s house down at 4:30 AM while wearing his magical clown costume]…The two-family, two-story house is still intact and livable but it is damaged…the fire was [quickly] deemed to be arson and…strong…evidence [points to]…Alshaman…

Torture Chamber (#1501)

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

For decades, America relied heavily on psychiatric asylums to treat—or, in many cases, to warehouse and neglect—people with serious mental-health conditions.  Then the grand project of “deinstitutionalization” began…[start]ing [in] 1963…the funding for that vision never materialized.  Instead, new policies criminalizing poverty and addiction swept up people in severe psychiatric distress, who often ended up in county jail—where…they might languish for months or even years…The number of people jailed pretrial has nearly quadrupled since the nineteen-eighties; people with mental-health issues tend to be detained significantly longer than the rest of the population.  Today, the nation’s three largest mental-health providers are New York’s Rikers Island, L.A. County’s Twin Towers Jail, and Chicago’s Cook County Jail…private companies…[are] contract[ed]…to provide medical and mental-health care at a capped cost; any additional money expended…comes out of the corporation’s earnings…[so, predictably,] jails that provide…health care through the top five companies in that market…[have] death rates…eighteen to fifty-eight per cent higher than those of jails whose medical services were publicly managed.  Of the five…NaphCare had the highest death rate…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1517)

Censorious politicians aren’t just copying each other; they’re vying to make their new laws the most unconstitutional:

Missouri…Attorney General Andrew Bailey [is] push[ing] regulations to [censor the internet without bothering to go through the legislature].  Under a new [proclamation by a politician without lawmaking power], commercial porn sites are required to [violate the privacy of] users…at both the website and device level.  [How Bailey imagines he has the power to do this, or how his magical proclamation demanding device filters will stand when others have been struck down, all while somehow magically]…upholding the privacy rights of legal-age users, [is unclear, as is how he imagines he has the power to determine how]…search engine[s work]…

It’s bad enough when human reporters parrot politicians’ bloviation, but it’s intolerable when a website uses a computer program to do it (while insulting readers’ intelligence by sticking a fake byline on it).

Thought Control (#1526)

A few sane judges are the only thing protecting US libraries from morally-defective control freaks:

A lawsuit filed against Rockford [Michigan] Public Schools [seeking to ban] over 14 library books [absurdly labeled] “sexually explicit” has been dismissed by the Court of Appeals…The lawsuit was filed by [outside agitators who hid their identities to dodge public ridicule]…and…the court…said…they had no legal right to sue because criminal claims require a prosecutor’s approval…[and] the books were not illegal…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1530)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This is an attempt to…make history the way they want it to be interpreted.  –  Jeffrey Harness

Sales Pitch (#798)

Swedish politicians are angry that their law doesn’t destroy enough lives yet:

A new proposal before Swedish Parliament…[would] criminaliz[e]…the purchase…of sexual acts “performed remotely” via…tube sites, camming platforms, clip sites and premium social media networks, among others…”Sweden’s Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (1991) protects expressive rights, including on online platforms,” writes Marc Randazza, an adult entertainment industry attorney…”The government’s proposal to criminalize user-generated content could conflict with this right”…Other critics include the country’s news media…

The Last Shall Be First (#1350) 

Florida’s authoritarian government criminalizes kindness:

A Florida high school teacher lost her job after calling a student by an alternative name without parental permission, sparking…backlash [from deranged authoritarians]…Melissa Calhoun had taught in Brevard County for 11 years when she ran headlong into a state rule that bars school staff from deviating from students’ legal names without written parental permission…The school district “[believes] parents…[actually own their high-school age offspring, who have no] rights to be…decision-makers in their [own] lives”…Florida…[may also] rev[oke] her teaching certificate…More than 7,400 people signed a change.org petition calling for her to be reinstated.  Students planned a walkout of classes on [April 11th] in support of the teacher…

Thought Control (#1355)

Politicians are avid devotees of cutting off their noses to spite their faces:

A [gang of bureaucrats censor]ed academic research from a database used by Mississippi libraries and public schools…to comply with recent [censorship] laws…One of the [two censor]ed research collections focused on “race relations” and the other on “gender studies”…[but bureaucrat] Hulen Bivins…[absurdly barfed out the phrase] “obscene materials”…


The Punitive Mindset (#1378) 

“Drugs” are a popular pretext for petty vindictiveness in US prisons:

Thousands of drug tests used…in California prisons last year…generated false positive results, an enormous error that has jeopardized the parole requests of some [victims]…California prison officials have known about the issue for months, but have [refus]ed to clear people’s records or reverse the consequences people have faced from the tests…Quest Diagnostics…[is] the sole firm contracted to do clinical drug screening for…California [prisons]…from mid-April through July of last year, Quest’s…screenings…used an “alternative” reagent…[due to] a backorder of its usual reagent.  The switch resulted in [dramatically] “more presumptive positive results” than registered in tests with its usual chemical, and when Quest restored its original reagent, the positivity rate “returned to its historical average”…

I Spy (#1494)

If you thought regional “fusion centers” were bad, how about this?

[Vast numbers of] intimate details about the personal lives of people who live in the United States are held in disconnected data systems across the federal government…The Trump administration is now trying to connect the dots of that disparate information…[by] calling for the “consolidation” of these segregated records, [violating the Privacy Act of 1974 to] creat[e] a kind of data trove…the government has never had before, and that [Republicans] have historically opposed.  The effort is being driven by Elon Musk…and his [henchmen, who]…have [repeatedly violated]…legal privacy protections…[in their chaotic campaign of vandalism.  Now Trump’s creature imposed over] the Internal Revenue Service agreed to help the Department of Homeland Security obtain closely held taxpayer data to help identify immigrants for deportation, over the objections of…the acting I.R.S. commissioner and other top officials…privacy groups, public employee unions and immigrant rights associations…have sued to block the…ac[tion not only because it]…would be illegal…[but also because it] would give the government too much power…and…create a national security vulnerability that could be targeted by hostile nation states…

End Demand (#1505)

Massachusetts Puritans are still trying to destroy men’s lives for daring to want consensual sex with adult women:

Massachusetts is in the midst of prosecuting people who patronized a fancy sex business near Harvard University…The framing of this story is refreshing…[in that] news reports have largely refrained from trying to portray the women involved as hapless victims…So far, the people who ran the business…are the only ones who have been sentenced…[owner Han] Lee…was sentenced in March to four years in prison…[under] the Mann Act…and…if the sex workers’ identities are known…they could be deported…federal authorities…[stole] around $5.5 million [from Lee, and]…state and local authorities are busy prosecuting [h]er clients…and [intentionally]…shaming [them, with help from the obedient yellow press]…Americans like to pretend that we’re way more enlightened than our Puritan ancestors, but here we are, hundreds of years later, putting people through public ridicule and official sanctions over their consensual sexual choices…

Creepy Coppers (#1509)

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

[A Las Vegas cop named] Kevin Menon…[installed] two [hidden] cameras in his home in September…[one was hidden] in a vent, which pointed downward toward a toilet…[cops] found 96 recordings of women using the restroom…[while investigating him for] creating fake scenarios t[o entrap] citizens, mainly Black men…on the Las Vegas Strip…when the…[cops] seized Menon’s electronic devices for the investigation, they found…child pornography.  This resulted in a second criminal case…[which]  expose[d]…the [other videos]…

 

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 (#1525)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[If a state]’s commitment to religious freedom…is to mean anything…[it must protect] unpopular or unfamiliar religious groups [as well as] popular or familiar ones.  –  Judge Jill Parrish

Size Matters

An interesting development in these repressive times:

When Bridger Lee Jensen opened a spiritual center in Provo, Utah, he contacted city officials to…[explain that] the religious group he had founded, Singularism, would be conducting ceremonies involving a tea made from psilocybin mushrooms…Jensen…said he would be happy to answer their questions and invited them to visit the center…The city did not respond…until more than a year later, when Provo police [raided] the Singularism center and [stole] its sacrament: about 450 grams of “mushrooms and mushroom-like material” that the group kept inside a locked safe…That raid happened on November 11, 2024, less than eight months after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had signed the state’s version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act…[which] protects Singularism’s psychedelic rituals, a federal judge ruled last month…

Creepy Coppers

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

Federal authorities arrested a San Diego State University [cop] for possession of child pornography [but are hiding his]…identi[ty.  Boss hog]…Gregory Murphy…and [another cop made lugubrious displays of distress about the crime, yet are still making excuses to hide the name and picture of the offending cop]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1232)

There won’t be any shortcut to stopping Clearview:

Clearview AI attempted to purchase hundreds of millions of arrest records including social security numbers, mugshots, and even email addresses to incorporate into its product…Clearview AI spent nearly a million dollars in a bid to purchase “690 million arrest records and 390 million arrest photos” from all 50 states from…Investigative Consultant, Inc. (ICI) which billed itself as an intelligence company with access to tens of thousands of databases…The contract was signed in mid-2019, at a time when Clearview AI was…relatively unknown…Ultimately, the entire deal fell apart after Clearview and ICI clashed about the utility of the data with each company filing breach of contract claims…

The Last Shall Be First (#1351) 

Just how defective are these political vermin?

Arkansas [politician] Mary Bentley…introduced H.B. 1668…Arkansas law banning gender-affirming care for minors was already struck down by a federal judge in 2023…[but] H.B. 1668 “weaponizes civil enforcement by permitting lawsuits against any person who…help[s]…young people in [gender] transition…[authoritarian] parents can sue for minimum damages of $10,000 and up to $10 million in punitive damages for certain forms of medical care…”including without limitation changes in clothing, pronouns, hairstyle, and name”…if enacted, H.B. 1668 could lead to frivolous lawsuits against “hairdressers who cut a trans teen’s hair, teachers who use a student’s chosen name, and nonprofits that offer support.”  Such lawsuits…would be unlikely to hold up in court, as the First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech and free expression.  However, the law is clearly meant to chill support for trans and gender-nonconforming young people with the threat of costly lawsuits…

Shame, Shame (#1493)

The sleaziness has no bottom:

A network of Instagram accounts is using [computers] to steal content from human creators and deepfake their faces to make them look like they have Down syndrome…the accounts…reuse Instagram bios, videos, and in some cases link to the same OnlyFans competitors pages where they monetize these videos…What started as just a few accounts quickly evolved into an entire industry with specialized tools, advertising strategies, and influencers who sell courses on how to create these fake[s]…to get rich quick through what they call “AI pimping.”  Newer accounts in recent months have started catering to increasingly specific niches and fetishes, including accounts of [CGI] women with amputated limbs.  The…Down syndrome accounts are the latest and newest low for [Facebook-owned] Instagram, which allows the rampant content theft that enables this practice and is now fueling a non-consensual fetishization and monetization of (fake) people with disabilities…

Feudalism Redux (#1511)

Since politicians have no spines, it’s good to see some physicians still do:

Organizations like the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (MAP) are responding to the demand for remote care…During 2024, the MAP says they were mailing abortion medications to nearly 500 patients a month.  In the new year, the monthly average has grown to 3,000 prescriptions a month…80%…[to patients] in Texas or states in the Southeast…the recent indictment from Louisiana will not change the MAP’s plans…state shield laws can’t protect doctors when they leave the state.  If they move or even travel elsewhere, they lose the first state’s protection and risk arrest in the destination state, and maybe extradition to a third state…Physicians doing this type of work accept there are parts of the U.S. that they should no longer go…Any visits, even for a relative’s illness or death, would be too risky…Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill [absurdly barfed the word “fentanyl” at reporters]…but…the U.S. Constitution requires extradition only for those who commit crimes in one state and then flee to another stat…Telemedicine abortion providers aren’t located in states with abortion bans and have not fled from those states — therefore they aren’t required to be extradited back to those states…

Vulture Watching (#1517)

Texas is finally beginning to realize how bad it looks to keep killing pregnant women:

Texas [politici]ans…have filed a bill that aims to make it more clear when a doctor can intervene to save a pregnant patient’s life, despite the state’s near-total abortion ban…the vague language and strict penalties leave [doctors and their lawyers] uncertain of when they are actually free to intervene…Until recently, [politicians pretend]ed that the laws are clear…but at least three women have died, and dozens have reported medical care delayed or denied due to their doctors’ [understandable] hesitation to act…

 

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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