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Posts Tagged ‘The Last Shall Be First’

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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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 scannedBrazil and Hong Kong have [already] banned Worldcoin [and its attendant] features…KenyaPortugal, 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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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…raidsThe 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!

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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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[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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It’s a fake legal process…[that] reeks of pure politics.  –  David Webbert

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

…Jose Saez, Jr., [the] pastor [of] a church…in Brentwood, New York, pleaded guilty to…child [molestation, and]…faces a minimum sentence of…30 years…Saez used an encrypted messaging service to engage in sexually explicit conversations with [a cop fantasy role-playing as a child, stating]…he had sexually abused an infant, that his “sweet spot” was molesting children between the ages of 11 and 15, and that he was able to find his younger victims at “church”…FBI agents [also found] numerous images and videos of child pornography [when they searched his stuff]…

The Next Target (#1151)

People everywhere are getting sick of prohibitionist censorship:

The Administrative Court in Düsseldorf is set to decide on the future of online pornography in Germany…The North Rhine-Westphalia State Media Authority (LfM)…demands that pornographic sites meticulously verify the age of all visitors…or…face network blocking.  The operators of the world’s largest porn sites…don’t want to harass their millions of visitors with ID checks…Pornhub and YouPorn, both owned by Aylo…refuse to [spy on visitors thus, so LfM]…demanded that Germany’s largest internet providers block their websites…However, most porn fans are unlikely to have noticed this, as the affected porn sites simply changed their domains.  Pornhub is…accessible at “de.pornhub.org”; the…block only applied to “de.pornhub.com”…In addition, users can easily circumvent a network block…with…a VPN…Two cases before the Düsseldorf Administrative Court revolve around the question of whether the blocking orders issued by the media regulator are even [legal]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1244)

Another disgusting genital inspection law:

…the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill that would allow health care providers to “visually or physically examine a minor”…for the purpose of identifying their “biological sex” without the “consent of the [minor]’s parent, guardian, or custodian.”  The bill, S.B. 456, would define sex based on whether a person produces eggs or sperm…[and limits]  gender-segregated spaces like locker rooms or restrooms…to…a person’s sex…at birth…an amendment…[restricted the “right” to violate a minor against their will to their] “treating health care provider”…[which] was actually an improvement over a previous version of the bill, which…would have allowed teachers to perform the [molest]ations…

In the authoritarian mind,  for students to voluntarily allow other people to examine their genitalia for the purpose of pleasure is a “crime”, but for the same students to be forced by law to allow strangers to examine their genitalia for the purpose of bigotry is “protection”.

Eavesdropping (#1379)

Remember, Amazon eagerly hands data from internet-connected devices to cops:

With Alexa+ rolling out to Amazon Echo devices in the coming weeks, we’re getting a clearer view at the privacy concessions people will have to make to maximize usage of the [LLM] voice assistant and avoid bricking functionality of already-purchased devices…Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally…starting on March 28, recordings of everything spoken to…Echo speakers and…displays will automatically be sent to Amazon and processed in the[ir servers]…One of the most marketed features of Alexa+ is its more advanced ability to recognize who is speaking to it…To accommodate this…Amazon is eliminating a privacy-focused capability for all Echo users, even those who aren’t interested in…Alexa+…In 2023, Amazon agreed to pay $25 million in civil penalties over the revelation that it stored recordings of children’s interactions with Alexa forever…the company [also] allowed employees to listen to Alexa voice recordings…and…watch video recordings of customers’ private spaces…taken from Ring cameras

The Last Shall Be First (#1517)

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were at least a few adults in office?

…after a [politician feign]ed outrage on Facebook about a transgender girl winning a high school pole vaulting event…[mad emperor] Trump singled out Maine’s governor…and threatened to cut off the state’s federal funding.  “See you in court,” Gov. Janet Mills shot back.  Then came a barrage of investigations and threats [from] the…Department[s] of Education…Health and Human Services…Agriculture…and…Justice…The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…pulled $4.5 million for marine research…[and] the Social Security Administration…cancel[ed] contracts that allowed hospitals to automatically report births and funeral homes to report deaths…more federal agencies are pressing down on Maine than there are transgender girls competing in girls’ sports in the state…David Webbert, a longtime civil rights attorney in Maine…[observed that] it’s as if Trump is saying: “Maine believes in transgender rights? Well, you’re going to see what happens to you”…

To Molest and Rape (#1518)

Though his victim wasn’t a student, would you want a rapist lurking around your daughter?

…[An Indiana cop named] Zachary Kerley is [paid to lurk in]…schools [to spy on, harass, and intimidate students].  He…[was friendly with his victim] via Snapchat…and asked her out for drinks.  She…accepted but told him “it’s not going any further than that”, and…he agreed…[but then raped] her at [her] hotel…despite her physical and verbal objections…Kerley [has been rewarded with a paid vacation]…

The Notorious Badge (#1519)

Didn’t this ignorant clod used to be a comedian or something?

Bill Maher…took some time during his “New Rules” segment to exclaim, “Whores are having a moment…You gotta give me more than a week to get used to a new word or phrase or name for what we call something…We did this with homeless until it was unhoused. We did this with illegal alien until it was undocumented migrant…And now we’re doing it with prostitute…If it’s such an important liberal cause…why didn’t you do it 10 years ago or 20 or in 1975?”…

NB: The term “sex worker” was coined by Carol Leigh in 1979, became popular among activists in the ’80s, and has been commonly used in the mainstream media for about ten years now.

 

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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Now I have to worry about being harassed just for needing to pee?
–  Kalaya Morton

Surplus Women (#1080)

Never call the cops for any reason whatsoever:

A Los Angeles sex worker called 911 to report being held in a motel room against her will.  When the [cops]…showed up, one of the[m] shot her.  The woman, Linda Becerra Moran, died on February 27 after nearly three weeks on life support…Moran [had] called 911 on February 7 and…spoke a mix of Spanish and English…[she] was crying…and…clearly very upset…[when the cops arrived] it [was] clear that she [was having some kind of mental health episode but the cops ganged up on her in an intimidating manner and]…back[ed her] into [a] corner…The supervisor instruct[ed]…one [of them] to “be lethal” and…he…immediately fire[d] at her…the cops then…cuff[ed] her…before administering any medical care…

To Molest and Rape (#1298)

“Sex addiction” will continue to be used as an excuse for violent crimes until ignorant judges stop allowing it to be:

A [typical and representative] London [Ontario cop] with a…[pretend]ed sex addiction [received a slap on the wrist]…for sexually assaulting a woman he met online.  [Cop Stephen Williams also recently changed his name to Will Stephens as part of his effort to avoid consequences for deceiving and attacking at least three women, but despite that a judge let him skate with a mere] 90 days under house arrest, followed by 90 days under a curfew…and…prohibit[ion] from…accessing online dating websites [during that time.  But]…Stephens [alias Williams still plans to]…appeal…that [love tap]…Stephens…quit his [cop] job…to a[void a] suspension…following [yet another sexual assault]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1361)

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

…two male [cops barged into] a Tucson Walmart women’s restroom…[to harass] Kalaya Morton…a…masculine-presenting [lesbian, because]…a [busybody] store employee…assumed she was…transgender…Morton…said that…the…[thugs] stormed in, shining flashlights into the stall and demanding she exit.  Morton, still using the toilet, was stunned…When she finally exited the stall, she said she lifted her shirt to prove she was not a man, expecting the ordeal to end.  Instead…one [of the pigs kept oinking that]…she “looked like a man”…The Pima County Sheriff’s Department c[laim]ed that the incident is under internal affairs investigation…[but only because Morton recorded the cops and posted the video to] social media…

To Molest and Rape (#1455)

I just can’t feel sorry for cops sexually abused by other cops:

A Philadelphia [cop] who was named police chief [of] Hartford, Conn…[backed out] after it was revealed he was under investigation for sexual harassment…[and] has been sued by [one of his victims]…Tyrell McCoy…creat[ed] a “hostile environment” of pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace, including unwanted groping and kissing and [demands] for oral sex…[from cop] Mark Casey…[who reported that] McCoy had pursued him for years…and then retaliated against him when he refused [to put out]…McCoy t[old] Casey…he was “untouchable” because of his close…relationship with the then-head of…Internal Affairs…Casey and another [cop victim] filed complaints last year…and…McCoy [had hoped to escape consequences by taking the job in] Hartford…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1473)

Politicians like to pretend that their entry in any “monkey see, monkey do” parade is different:

A new bill…in…North Carolina…aims to ban [people] under 14 from social media…like…Australia’s [float in this “monkey see, monkey do parade]…this bill would prohibit anyone under 14 from creating an account on social platforms that meet certain [arbitrary] criteria…like having 10 percent daily active users under 16 and…scrolling…[people] aged 14 to 15 would need parents’ permission to make an account…[and demands] age verification [for any] site [any politician has pointed at while belching]…”harmful to minors”…Unlike…North Carolina’s [existing] age-verification law…this one requires these site visitors to be 16 years or older, not 18…Findings from a recent study on age verification laws [demonstrate] that these laws don’t work…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1508)

Oh, what a surprise:

A new working paper from various university researchers suggests that age-verification laws aren’t effective…Since 2022, 19 states have passed age-verification laws…[despite warning from] free speech and digital privacy experts…that age-verification laws won’t work [as politicians pretend]…Through analyzing Google Trends data, researchers found a 46.6 percent traffic reduction of searches to Pornhub, the biggest platform compliant with the laws.  Pornhub has blocked most states with age-verification laws because of the burden of complying…researchers saw a 48.1 percent increase in searches for a large non-compliant platform, XVideos…and a 23.6 percent increase in searches for VPNs.  This occurred in the states with age-verification laws on a rolling timeline based on when the laws were enacted…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1509)

Laws are for the peasantry, not the rulers:

A [Utah] judge has been arrested and accused of enticing minors through sexual conversations on a chat app.  Kevin Robert Christensen…was booked into jail…for…[talking to] FBI [agents fantasy role-playing] on…KIK…as [a] 13[-year-old] and…a…16[-year-old]…Christensen allegedly made “multiple references” to sexually abusing [actual minors]…

 

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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With a data set of any size, you can always find a pattern…all you have to do is ignore other information.  –  Jennifer Granick

A Moral Cancer (#1356)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

New York politician…Brad Hoylman-Sigal…[wants] to outlaw…nicotine pouches…[which] contain a derived version of the…compound that tobacco users crave without the carcinogenic sluff that comes with cigarettes and smokeless tobacco…Nicotine pouches contain no tobacco leaf and no known carcinogens.  They just deliver nicotine—potentially addictive, yes, but not known to be inherently harmful…According to the FDA, these products met the public health standard legally required by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act…[but] Hoylman-Sigal [wants cops to have more excuses for destroying lives, so he barfs “THE CHILDREN!” at anyone who opposes his scheme]…

I Spy (#1452) 

Cop excuses produced by human bootlickers are bad enough:

Cellebrite, the company which makes near ubiquitous phone hacking and forensics technology [ab]used by [cop shops] around the world, has introduced [machine learning] capabilities into its products, including summarizing chat logs or audio messages from s[tolen] mobile phones…“[Computer] results…are not transparent…you cannot trace back where a conclusion came from, or what information it is based on”…[said] Jennifer Granick…[of] the…ACLU…“The Fourth Amendment does not permit [cops] to rummage through data, but only to review information for which there is probable cause….you are not allowed to fish through [all available] data on a hunch, in the hopes of finding something”…Cellebrite’s newly announced capabilities sound somewhat similar to Draft One, a tool from contracting giant Axon…[which] uses [algorithms] to automatically generate police reports from bodycam audio….

Follow Your Bliss (#1456)

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

A Bentonville [Arkansas]…church…volunteer…[named] Andrew Apple…[has been] arrested…[for] child [molestation after a boy Apple molested in autumn of 2023 reported him on]…Feb. 1…[to the church’s credit] the report was relayed to [cops] that same day.  A second person later [reported Apple]…to another church staff member…

The Last Shall Be First (#1470) 

The only sure way to keep personal data from being abused by psychopaths with government titles is not to collect it in the first place:

Florida’s insurance regulator has demanded an unusually intrusive trove of data on millions of prescription drugs filled in the state last year, including the names of patients taking the medications, their dates of birth and doctors they’ve seen.  The [politicized] office…sought this information from pharmacy benefit managers…companies that oversee prescription drugs for employers and government programs….[and is pretending] the state required the data to review whether the benefit managers…were compliant with a 2023 state law aimed at lowering drug prices…But…“You don’t need such granular patient information for purposes of oversight,” said Sharona Hoffman, a health law and privacy expert…[so it seems likely] the government [is] actually trying to get information about reproductive care…transgender care…[and] mental health care…Federal privacy law allows benefit managers to hand over limited data about individual patients in certain circumstances…But…Florida’s [demand] could violate the law because it is so broad and…go[es well] beyond what the regulator needs to conduct [any legal and legitimate] review…

Creepy Coppers (#1472)

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

A Detroit [cop named Earl Anderson was fired and arrested] for [attempting to groom] his 12-year-old stepdaughter [via]…text messages…[after he threatened] “to take [her on] a family trip”…[and] offered to get [her] a second phone…[with] a new number…[so her real] father, [Brandyn] Harris, [couldn’t see their texts]…the [girl]…reported the messages to her aunt…[who told] Harris…[who in turn] told…the [cops]…

Torture Chamber (#1501)

The government calls this “correction”; for journalists to parrot that ugly euphemism is a choice:

[New York] State Police are investigating the [murder] of a prisoner…in a…central New York prison [adjacent to another prison] where another [human being] was…[recently] beaten [to death] by guards in [an attack that even their own union called “incomprehensible”]…Officials did not identify the [new victim, whom]…nine [witnesses saw]…brutally beaten [to death] by [screws]…amid a mounting crisis in the New York State prison system, where…thousands of [screws are]…on strike since Feb. 17 — without the backing of their union and in defiance of a judge’s order — to protest…the…state…[not letting them torture people as they want to, and]…to try to distract attention from [December’s] beating death of [Robert] Brooks…

I Spy (#1507)

Maybe a few more big lawsuits will teach these corporate busybodies a lesson:

General Motors is facing yet another legal battle over…illegally [selling] driver data to third parties, who then provided it to insurers…to use [as an excuse] to raise premiums or deny coverage…GM has been [thus illegally] selling driver data since 2015…Unlike [other corporations’] telematics programs that [at least nominally] require users to opt in by installing a device, GM allegedly collected this data without explicit consent…consumers were misled into believing OnStar primarily enhanced vehicle safety and performance, while in reality, it was used to generate revenue through data sales…In January, the automaker settled [a similar suit] with the Federal Trade Commission …[serial lawsuit abuser] Ken Paxton filed a [similar]…suit…in August 2024…[and] 27 class-action lawsuits…have been consolidated into a multi-district litigation 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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They tested “self-trafficking” charges on sex workers first.
–  Mistress Matisse

Thought Control (#1343)

I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of career path:

Georgia…[politicians are ap]ing…bill[s from other states] aimed at [criminaliz]ing…librari[an]s, but [sane people] say it would chill free speech and open the state up to lawsuits.  Senate Bill 74…would [criminalize] an[y]…librarians…including at school libraries, who [help any]…minor…[find any book that any politician has pointed at while belching the word “]harmful[” even if the targeted]…book…[has been] in the library for…years…Christoper Bruce…[of] the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia…[pointed out] that the bill is similar to [one recently] struck down in Arkansas

Pyrrhic Victory (#1465)

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

[Mad emperor Trump is demanding that] undocumented immigrants age 14 or older…register and provide fingerprints…DHS will [then] issue “evidence of registration,” which immigrants over 18 must carry and [produce every time a racist cop or spook demands it.  The scheme is a Trumpist attempt to]…criminal[ize]…undocumented…migra[tion, which is currently]…a civil violation and not a criminal one.  [Any such new] requirements…would require [actual] new laws, not [mere] executive orders or policy changes…

Feudalism Redux (#1497)

Montana politicians are trying to reduce all women to serfdom:

A new Montana bill “establishing the criminal offense of abortion trafficking” could criminalize pregnant women who cross state lines to get an abortion…Aiding or assisting someone else in such…would also make one guilty of abortion trafficking.  Criminalizing driving someone else out of Montana to do something that’s legal in another state is itself ridiculous. But the language of this bill would very clearly criminalize some pregnant women who transport themselves out of state too…Per a constitutional amendment voters passed in 2024, Montana allows abortion up until fetal viability and provides an exception to this limit if the mother’s life or health is at risk…But…there are…justifiable reasons for getting an abortion after about 24 weeks…and…It’s also possible that Montana…will someday topple the recent constitutional amendment and…ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy…this is unlikely to stop with Montana.  In fact, it’s possible that Montana is seen by some as the perfect test ground for this sort of thing precisely because it currently allows abortions until viability…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #17)

When will the mainstream media admit that pigs in schools are a menace?

A [typical and representative Pennsylvania cop paid to lurk in schools and spy on, harass, and intimidate students] is facing [misdemeanor] charges for [raping] a 14-year-old girl nearly 100 times…Anthony DePanicis Jr….[raped the girl] almost weekly [from 1991 to 1994, when she]…turned 17…

Thought Control (#1509)

As an alumna of the LSU MLIS program, I am fully qualified to declare this absolutely bat-shit insane:

…at Livingston Parish libraries…the…shelves reserved for young adult books are temporarily empty…[because] the local library board…[demand]ed pulling 30,000 young adult print and audiobook materials from children’s sections and moving those [lunatics might conceivably] deem…sexually explicit to the adult side in each of the five library branches.  Young adult is a category of books geared toward youths 13 and older[, whom]…Louisiana law [now] defines…[as “children”, equivalent to kindergarteners]…Since 2022, [pro-censorship fanatics] and [politicians] have [demanded massive censorship as] the [book-banning fad has spread among Trumpists]…Jennifer Holden, an [especially-vile pro-censorship fanatic], said further actions need to be taken, like [officially eliminating the entire YA category to restrict teens to young children’s books]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1514)

Cops don’t care how many false positives these systems shit out, and Detroit cops don’t even pretend to care:

Last year, Detroit police wrongly arrested LaDonna Crutchfield after facial recognition software incorrectly identified her as the culprit of a shooting…[they had no] warrant…[but] handcuffed, detained, and jailed her anyway…[sole]ly on [the] facial recognition [output, and]…released [her] only when it became obvious [even to halfwit cops] that they had arrested the wrong person…six hours after [they brutalized her and]…dis[rupted her life]…Detroit police [have a history of similar incompetence, having terrorized]…Porcha WoodruffRobert Williams…[and Michael Oliver in the same way]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1516) 

Another moronic culture war “monkey see, monkey do” parade is underway:

Pennsylvania [politician] Robert Leadbeter…has announced that he soon plans to introduce a [bill aping one from Iowa] that would make it a felony…[to] allow…a minor to attend a drag show…Leadbeter [vomited buzzwords and culture-war shibboleths at reporters, including]…”corrupt the morals”…”decency”…”sexually charged”…[“]premature sexualization…family values and parental rights[“]…

 

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 always rely on our government to assault our autonomy.  –  Jeffrey Singer and Mike Fox

License to Rape (#1169)

Doctors need to keep suing cops who pretend they have license to practice medicine:

On Aug. 10, 2024, police [abduct]ed a Lorain, Ohio, resident whom the police [fantasiz]ed inserted a baggy containing illegal drugs into their rectum…[then] transported the [victim] to Mercy Hospital’s Emergency Department and demanded that doctors remove the [imaginary] baggie.  Doctors…refused to perform the ill-advised procedure—even after police secured a warrant…[because they] lacked the [victim]’s informed consent and were concerned that if they attempted to remove the [hypothetical] baggy, it might burst, causing whatever it contained to leak out and get rapidly absorbed through the rectal lining — potentially killing the [cops’ victim.  The cops] then threatened to arrest the doctor in charge for refusing to violate the patient’s bodily autonomy…[but] the doctors stood their ground, and the police eventually released the[ir victim] after failing to [manufacture] any evidence of the [manufactur]ed crime of possessing a government-forbidden substance…the[n]…retaliated against the hospital by abruptly refusing to provide security.  The hospital is now suing

The Last Shall Be First (#1410)

Paxton doesn’t give a damn about women’s sports; he just wants to humiliate women and persecute trans people:

[Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton] wants the NCAA to…require gen[etic] testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports…[he] filed a [nuisance] lawsuit in state district court…seek[ing] a court order requiring gender screening for athletes and an injunction intended to prevent the NCAA from [disagreeing with him]…the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were…female at birth…a day after [Emperor] Trump [made an imperial proclamation] intended to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports.  Paxton [fantasizes that huge numbers of]…biological men [are declaring themselves trans and taking female hormones] to surreptitiously participate in women’s’ sports…NCAA President Charlie Baker in December said he knew of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 across the NCAA…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1426)

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

More than a dozen states have passed or are considering laws to require [web]sites to [demand identity information from] adults who want to visit them…So far, each of them…have applied the rule to sites on which a third or more of the content [can be called] pornography [by politicians without provoking outright mockery from judges].  South Dakota could soon be the first state to affix the expectation to any site that [does not completely ban anything remotely like nudity, a la Facebook.  Censorious megalomaniacs]…voted 34-0 [in favor]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1443)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

[Florida] attorney general…James Uthmeier [has] filed a [nuisance lawsuit] against retail giant Target…claiming it defrauded investors in the process of promoting “radical LGBTQ activism”.  The [term is Uthmeier’s dysphemism for] the Minnesota-based company’s 2023 Pride campaign…[which culture-war fanatics u]sed…[to attack] Target…Uthmeier’s office, with the help of [pro-censorship law firm] America First Legal, claims Target “misled investors by claiming to monitor the social and political risks posed by its DEI…initiatives”…[Uthmeir pretends to have standing to sue because unions representing] Florida…[pigs] and teachers [include Target stock in their pension fund investments.  Uthmeier said,]…“My office will stridently pursue…offensive political theatre [at taxpayer expense]”…and…“use the court system to [harass my political enemies].”

Guinea Pigs (#1453) 

Erosion of civil rights usually starts with the marginalized, but never stops there:

A Department of Homeland Security unit eliminated policies prohibiting [spying]…based solely on a [victim]’s gender identity or sexual orientation.  The Office of Intelligence and Analysis [has] posted an updated policy manual…that [now allows spooks to target US citizens merely because they are LGBT, due to Emperor] Trump’s Jan. 20 [imperial edict] to scrap…[all] protections fo[r minorities]…across federal agencies.  I&A’s work has attracted close scrutiny for years because of its…focus…[on] US citizens…

Vulture Watching (#1495)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021…The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester…[especially if] the…fetus…still…had [cardiac myocyte activity, incorrectly called “]a heartbeat[” by forced-birth politicians.  While]…the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally…it rose substantially in Texas…[where] the state…threatens [doctors with life]…in prison for providing [necessary medical care]…to…miscarrying patients…Sepsis…is one of the leading causes of deaths in hospitals…[but] Texas…hospitals don’t allow [doctors] to [empty the uterus] until…fetal [cardiac myocyte activity] stops or they can document a life-threatening complication…

If Men Were Angels (#1505)

Preachy perverts nearly always blame their crimes on others:

A [typical and representative] Yakima [Washington] pastor was sentenced Feb. 18 to 30 years in prison for making, possessing and sharing child sexual abuse images.  David Roger Franklin…was arrested after a computer technician working on Franklin’s laptop at his office found folders containing video and photos depicting sexual abuse in June 2022…some of the photos were taken with Franklin’s cellphone of a [girl he knew in the time when she was] 4…to…6…The girl told detectives that Franklin took the photos of her and abused her…he…also had images on his computer of [other] adult men sexually abusing [other] young girls…[Franklin was also] a chaplain in the Civil Air Patrol, and a leader in the Royal Rangers…a Christian scouting-type organization for boys…Franklin…[refused to accept responsibility, claiming that watching] pornography…“began to degrade his mind” and led to hi[s] abusing the girl…

 

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