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Posts Tagged ‘The Puritan Recrudescence’

There is no legal mechanism…that allows [the government] to intervene while a fetus remains in somebody’s body.  –  Harrison Stark

Property of the State (#431) 

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

The Vermont Department for Children and Families went to extraordinary and illegal lengths to [abduct a newborn] from its mother…aided by a…[secret surveillance] program that monitors the pregnancies of multiple Vermonters, [provoking] a new lawsuit…[from] the…ACLU…[centering] the case of one mother, identified only as A.V., in which [bureaucratic busybodies]…used confidential medical information to [get a judge to grant permission to abduct] her daughter before she had even given birth…[including] a court order for the hospital to [violate her body by] perform[ing] a caesarean section [against her will]…DCF [abducted] the infant…immediately after she was born…only to have the child returned by court order months later…the [ordeal began when] A.V. temporarily moved from her…apartment to…a homeless shelter…[whose] executive director…[took it up on herself to report “]concerns about her mental health[” to]…DCF…[which] conducted an “assessment” of A.V…[including snooping into her] confidential [medical] records…without A.V.’s knowledge or participation…“Tragically, A.V.’s experience is not unique,” the suit reads. “She is only one of many expectant Vermonters who have been ensnared in DCF’s speculative surveillance and brazen intervention into their pregnancy and birthing plans”…

O, Canada! (#934)

Canadian cops still use long-debunked “sex trafficking” tropes to sell their grotesque sex worker intimidation tactics:

“The goal today is to save and rescue people from human trafficking,” [oinked a herd of silly pigs and sows at credulous “reporters”, before moving on to a whole lot of propaganda long past its sell-by date, including words and phrases like]…trafficking victims can…be…put on a circuit…human trafficking is…growing…“in Calgary…everywhere you look someone’s being trafficked”…“It’s the second biggest crime”…“I use a…program called Traffic Jam”…“The crown means most likely they’re being trafficked“…ALERT calls [lying to women trying to earn a living] “interventions”…They are on the lookout for a trafficker who might be waiting and watching…

These wanking fantasies are so 2012, I checked the date on the story several times.  Perhaps it fell down behind a file cabinet and when it was recently found, somebody decided to just print it anyway?

A Moral Cancer (#1249)

The government is intentionally trying to create a black market so as to start a horrific new front in the drug war:

…the Biden administration [recently] proposed a rule that would effectively ban cigarettes by requiring a drastic reduction in nicotine content…to 0.7 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco.  That cap technically complies with a federal law that bars the FDA from banning tobacco products or “requiring the reduction of nicotine yields…to zero.”  But the negligible amount of nicotine allowed under the rule would amount to both in practice…current smokers would be apt to inhale more deeply, take more or bigger puffs, or consume more cigarettes to get the nicotine dose to which they are accustomed, which would increase their exposure to the toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke…If “NNC cigarettes” are added to the list of proscribed drugs, we can expect many more examples of people entangled in the criminal justice system…it is unclear wh[at] Trump’s pick to run the FDA, Marty Makary…thinks about the nicotine cap…

The Mob Rules (#1436)

Forced-birth fanatics are now actively attempting to empower abusive men:

As [forced-birth fanatic]s launch legal efforts to stop abortion pills from reaching women in states with bans, they are increasingly turning to one group with uniquely intimate and specific information to help them find cases: [abusive] male sex partners of women who decided to end their pregnancies.  The strategy [has] propelled a…lawsuit filed last month by [serial legal system abuser] Ken Paxton that cited first-hand information from an [abusive partner] to accuse a New York doctor of illegally providing abortion pills to a woman in the Dallas area…Paxton’s office…[i]s…searching for potential plaintiffs [for similar opportunistic lawsuits, and]…next month…Texas’s largest [forced-birth] organization [will] launch…an advertising campaign on Facebook and [Twitter] to reach the [abusive] husbands, boyfriends and sex partners of women who [want revenge on]…those who assisted the women in ending their pregnancies…The effort is the latest indication that, nearly three years after the fall of Roe v. Wade…[sociopath]s have remained largely stymied in their quest to [force women to give birth whether they like it or not so as to create more tax cattle for the State]…

Opting Out (#1438)

It was inevitable that British politicians would join the currently-fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parade:

Websites that host porn…or other…content [bureaucrats choose to point at while belching out the word “harmful”] must have “robust” age verification in place for UK users by July at the latest, Ofcom has [proclaimed]…services which host their own pornographic content “must begin taking steps immediately” to bring in age checks.  Other “user-to-user” services, such as social media, which allow porn…and…other…content [politicians dislike], will have to enforce the age checks by July…the new [demands are] “the next step” in implementing the Online Safety Act, [but will not remotely be the last]…

Checklist (#1489)

Airlines:  do you really want to keep accepting liability for employees harassing passengers due to the government propaganda you force-feed them?

A Black [cop is suing American airlines because] he was falsely accused of trafficking his wife, who is White…while on their way to…their honeymoon…Anthony Williams…and his wife…Katsiaryna Shasholka…were on a flight from Phoenix to Miami in September 2022 when…a [busybody] passenger accused Williams of human trafficking and reported him to airline employees…wh[o]…upon landing…falsely imprisoned…the [couple]…[who are also suing] the [busybody] passenger…and two airline employees [who enacted their creepy sexual fantasies against the plaintiffs]…

I Spy (#1504)

The point of this delay is to let public outrage die down before they quietly restart the same offenses:

General Motors…and its subsidiary OnStar agreed not to disclose sensitive vehicle geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years…[after it got out that GM] collected, used, and sold…[the] information from millions of vehicles…without notifying consumers and obtaining consent…agencies used the data to compile reports that insurance companies then…used to deny insurance and…raise rates…[as part of the settlement,] the company must [henceforth] obtain driver consent to collect data, and allow [car owners] to delete or limit data…

 

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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You have zero rights.  –  Andrea Amico

Winding Down (#1221)

Politicians are terrified of losing ways to destroy peaceful citizens’ lives:

Last November…Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a pair of medical marijuana initiatives…a [cour]t ruling [has now] rejected [a legal] challenge [from a prohibitionist politician], allowing authorized patients to possess up to five ounces of marijuana…[and] clear[ing] the way for state licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries…Initiative 437…passed by a whopping 42-point margin…[but typical and representative politician] John Kuehn…tried to block the initiatives by [similar legalistic chicanery to that used in South Dakota]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1457)

Pornhub has repeatedly taken the principled stand of refusing to facilitate state spying:

Almost two years ago, Louisiana passed a law that started a [“monkey see, monkey do” parade]…across the entire U.S. South, and has changed the way people there can access adult content.  As of today, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina join the list of 17 states that can’t access some of the most popular porn sites on the internet [without a VPN]…To remain compliant with the law while protecting users’ privacy…Pornhub is currently blocked in Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, [and] South CarolinaGeorgia’s age verification bill…is set to go into effect in July…visitors [in the affected states typically] go to sites with worse moderation practices and no requirements on identity verification for uploaders…[but] if someone wanted to visit Pornhub [specifically], they could easily get around any age verification barriers with a VPN, which we consistently see searches for spike when these laws go into effect…

A Broker in Pillage (#1467)

This will continue until there are federal criminal charges for “officials”, both political and corporate, who conspire to rob people this way:

A Nebraska man whose house title was s[tolen by the county] over a modest property tax debt has finally gotten it back, ending a yearslong legal battle…In 2014, Kevin Fair was unable to pay his $588 property tax bill after quitting his job to care for his dying wife, Terry…the Scotts Bluff County government quietly sold that debt to a private investor, Continental Resources, which continued to satisfy the Fairs’ property taxes—until 2018, when the company sent the couple a bill for $5,268…[payable] within 90 days, or lose their house…[and] all of their equity…That was business as usual in Nebraska…one of many states engaging in legalized home equity theft…The U.S. Supreme Court considered the issue in 2023…and…With that ruling in mind, Nebraska’s top court reconsidered its previous decision and ruled that Fair would not have to sacrifice..his title…Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision…some states are still trying to find creative ways to get around…the law…[with] Illinois and DC a[s] the most blatant continuing offenders…

Eavesdropping (#1473)

Apple “unintentionally” pisses on its customers’ legs and tells them it’s raining:

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit [over the fact] that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads.  In the proposed class-action settlement…Apple…[gets to pretend the recording was] “unintentional”…the settlement…lets Apple off the hook pretty cheaply.  If…Apple users had won, Apple could’ve been fined more than $1.5 billion under the Wiretap Act alone…the [eavesdropping was]…initially exposed by The Guardian in 2019Google faces a similar lawsuit [which]…likely won’t be settled until this fall…

The Cop Myth (#1486)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”, but you don’t have to:

An Oregon…[screw named Nicholas T. Alexander murder]ed his 16-year-old daughter…Larissa [and then shot himself because he was about to be criminally charged with something his boss hogs are now covering up]…

Cops and Robbers (#1499)

The legacy of To Catch a Predator just keeps on hurting people:

11 teens [in Illinois were] arrested for beating two men they had lured using a gay dating app…in two different incidents on the evening of July 8, 2024…and [also] vandaliz[ing] their cars.  Both victims were able to escape and report the attacks to police.  The attacks are…part of a[n ugly internet fa]d where teens use gay dating apps to target adult gay men they [pretend] are attempting to hook up with underage males…

I Spy (#1502)

Is having a shiny new status symbol really worth being spied on like this?

Video footage and other data collected by Tesla helped [cops] quickly piece together how a Cybertruck came to explode outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day…the investigation …highlights how car companies vacuum up reams of data that can…be…[handed] to third parties without drivers’ knowledge [or consent] …“These are panopticons on wheels,” said Albert Fox Cahn…[of] the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project…abusive spouses track…partners’ locations…insurers raise…rates based on [secretly-recorded] driving behavior data…[and cop shops seeking surveillance] video from Tesla cars…have…obtained warrants to [steal] vehicles to secure such footage…

 

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

Unchristian Nation

Government thugs continue their crusade against Christian charity:

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1424)

Politicians no longer care if their laws are unconstitutional:

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

Shifting the Blame (#1448)

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

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

I Spy (#1478)

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

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

Vulture Watching (#1485)

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

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

Shame, Shame (#1494)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

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

Thought Control (#1500)

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

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

 

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

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The hospitals are at fault. The clinicians are at fault. Our policies are at fault.  –  Dr. Davida Schiff

The Truth About “The Truth About…”

At first, I believed her, until it became clear that Nifong was showboating:

Crystal Mangum, the former exotic dancer who accused three Duke men’s lacrosse players of rape in 2006…now [admit]s she lied…“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t…And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said on the web show “Let’s Talk with Kat“…The interview took place at the North Carolina [prison]…where Mangum is serving time for [the] 2013 [knife] murder…[of] her boyfriend…she said she hopes the three men will forgive her…[Mike Nifong,] the district attorney [who turned] the case [into a circus,] was convicted of criminal contempt and disbarred…

If Men Were Angels

Preacher can’t or won’t behave like a moral person; what a shock:

A [typical and representative Oklahoma] pastor…[named] James McMillan was arrested in late November…[becaus]e he unzipped his pants and began touching himself in front of a…[teen girl] while [driv]ing down a Cleveland County highway.  McMillan was arrested again [on December 9] for [show]ing [porn]…to a minor…he…has been [repor]ted [for] sexual abuse…in multiple [social] services and [criminal] cases dating back to 2003 [but nothing has ever been done]…

Cops and Robbers (#1328)

Cops don’t like it when non-cops ape their entrapment schemes:

Police are …[hu]nting teenage gangs [which are] terrorizing gay men in “pedo hunts” in the Sydney area…Nearly a dozen organized attacks have been connected to the…gangs, likely a fraction of the actual number…the victims were gay men who arranged to meet in public parks with someone they met on a dating app like Grindr.  Instead of a consensual hook-up, they were confronted by multiple teenagers, who then taunted, beat, and robbed the victims, sometimes using [guns Australian politicians like to pretend don’t exist in Australia]…Several of the victims were forced [by threats] to c[laim they were] pedophiles while being filmed, [so the attackers could post the]…videos…online, in…[places such as] an Instagram account called “pedohunting_syd”…At least five boys, ages 14 to 17, have been charged in connection with the assaults and robberies, as well as…possessing unauthorized firearms.  Police are describing the gang as a terror group…

Thought Control (#1460)

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

After years of culture war battles in school and public libraries, the campaign by [pro-censorship] “parent rights” groups has succeeded in casting a nationwide chill over the market for children’s books…During the 2023-24 school year, there were more than 10,000 book bans in public schools — a 200% rise over the previous year.  The books overwhelmingly included LGBTQ+ themes and characters of color, according to PEN America.  Many of the same books are banned over and over across the country, through coordinated efforts by [pro-censorship] groups…Teachers and librarians, facing threats and fearful of losing their jobs or even going to jail…are hesitating to put [any] books that include LGBTQ+ characters or discussions of racism on their shelves…sales of such books are down significantly…and authors have seen school visits canceled, leaving them without a crucial income stream…[wannabe thought controllers vomit out the word “]pornography[” at sane, moral people, and opine that “authors and publishers]…should be imprisoned.  Educators and public librarians who [stock any book we point at] should be classed as registered sex offenders”…

Thought Control (#1468)

Politicians really do believe they can control people’s thoughts via threats:

Karen Cahall…who teaches third grade [in Ohio], was recently suspended for three days without pay and threatened with termination…for [hav]ing four books in her classroom library [of about 100 books] that contained LGBTQ characters…Ana On The EdgeThe Fabulous Zed Watson!Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea, and Too Bright to See…[were on a list used by busybodies to harass teachers] and…on October 30, 2024, a [wannabe thought-controller took it up on herself to compare every title in Cahall’s library against that list, then]…sent an email complaining to…every [school board] member…Superintendent Tracey Miller, who [has neither spine nor principles, claimed]…Cahall’s inclusion of these books in her classroom library violated school district policy…[against books about] “topic[s] on which opposing points of view [exist]”…Cahall has filed a…lawsuit against Miller and…School District…[because] their actions were [blatantly] unconstitutional…

Property of the State (#1474) 

How long will society accept its medical system being used as a tool of state violence?

Across the country, hospitals are dispensing medications to patients in labor, only to report them to child welfare authorities when they or their newborns test positive for those very same substances on subsequent drug tests…The[se]…are…medications routinely prescribed to millions…every year…includ[ing] morphine or fentanyl for epidurals or other pain relief, anxiety medications, and two different blood pressure meds prescribed for C-sections.  In a time of increasing surveillance and criminalization of pregnant women since the end of Roe v. Wade, the hospital reports have prompted calls to the police, child welfare investigations and even the [abduction] of children from their parents…

You Were Warned (#1483)

Politicians will use any trick to gain control of the internet:

[Pro-censorship politician] Mike Lee has introduced a bill to…forc[e unconstitutional] age verification on app stores and mobile devices, with [the] goal of chilling sex-related speech.  Lee [misuses the word] “accountability” [to weirdly represent]…”big corporations”…[as public] “moral[ity agencies” despite the fact that]…big corporations like Google and Apple already ban apps featuring sexual content…[for] everybody…[so] this legislation is about…age-gating…social media…and making tech companies even more afraid of allowing anyone to access adult content…[by inventing] a private right of action for parents and guardians [to file nuisance lawsuits] against app stores…If minors download a web browser and visit porn websites, their parents can sue.  If minors download X or Bluesky or Reddit and happen upon some sort of sexualized image, their parents can sue.  If minors download a chat app and peers direct message them GIFs featuring cartoons committing violence, or inappropriate selfies, or any message at all, their parents can sue.  All a parent has to [do is belch out the word “]harm[“]…or “lewd”…

 

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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[Rescue industry] organizations…perpetuate stereotypes, myths, and lies that end up hurting victims more than helping them.  – Natasha Helfer

The Last Shall Be First (#1078)

Politicians’ obsession with citizens’ genitalia has gone federal:

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall…has introduced a bill to…codify legal definitions of male [and] female…[as] sex…at…birth…in [all] case[s, and to ban changing that in documentation]…In 2023, [Marshall] introduced a bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors nationwide and one to ban federal funding for such care for trans people of all ages.  Neither bill passed.  He put out similar, equally unsuccessful, bills in 2021…

Quiet Genocide (#1329)

There’s been virtually nothing about the Uyghur genocide in Western media for over a year; apparently white people can only care about one group of Muslims at a time.  But this long, highly-detailed account of one man’s escape from China, an ordeal which took from 2012 to 2018 and carried him across China and through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand (where he spent three years in prison for “illegal entry”), Malaysia and finally Turkey, is a rare exception.  It is well worth your time; unless more Westerners start paying attention, China’s campaign to slowly crush an entire culture into oblivion is bound to succeed.

Served Cold (#1405)

Let’s hope every last one of Ballard’s partners in profiteering go down with him:

Pornography [viewing] has become pathologized by a class of [soi-disant] experts fighting “porn addiction,” who rely on [bogus] evidence [and] conflate the legal adult entertainment industry with…human trafficking…Utah is at the center of a[n]…industry…built around such beliefs…many [members] of…which…are linked directly or indirectly to each other…Fight the New Drug and the Malouf Foundation [are] both…connect[ed] to Tim Ballard…[and his] Operation Underground Railroad…and both participated in [“]anti-trafficking[” schemes] tied to the office of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.  It was t[o hide] connections like these…that…both organizations recently reorganized into a new combined [pro-censorship] group—with the Elizabeth Smart Foundation—called the Phase Alliance…[allied with] the Rockford, Illinois-based International Organization for the Family…[which was] caught advocating for anti-LGBTQ+ laws in countries such as the Russian Federation

The Last Shall Be First (#1487) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill…banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that match up with their gender identity…It also bans students from sharing overnight accommodations with people [not] of the[ir birth] sex…A lawsuit is expected to be filed against this [which]…Ohio…[taxpayers will be robbed to defend in court]…The bathroom ban…was added to a [completely unrelated] bill…in the eleventh hour of a House Session at the end of June before the [politicians] went on an extended break…

Vulture Watching (#1488)

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

Over the course of six hours on June 11, 2023, Porsha Ngumezi had bled so much in the emergency department…that she’d needed two transfusions.  She was…“passing large clots the size of grapefruit”…[and her] mother[-in-law], a [retired] physician…[told her] “You need a D&C”…But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was the hospital’s “routine” to give…misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue…Three hours later, her heart stopped…more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case…said it raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks…It was clear Porsha needed an emergency D&C…But because D&Cs are also used to end pregnancies, the procedure has become tangled up in state legislation that [almost completely bans] abortions…

Stalkers in Blue (#1490)

“Deprivation of rights” is the feds’ catchall charge to use against cops who embarrass politicians:

Federal charges have been filed against two [typical and representative] Missouri [cops who perpetrated] plots to steal nude photos from women’s phones during traffic stops…Julian Alcala…illegally search[ed] 20 women’s phones…between Feb. 6, 2024, and May 18, 2024…Alcala [was caught after he] text[ed] himself a video from one woman’s phone, then tr[ied] to delete a record of this text…The woman reached out to the FBI after this…[David] McKnight [did the same sort of thing]…between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024…[to] nine different women…

Torture Chamber (#1491)

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

Twelve Black [prisoners locked up] in…Red Onion…Virginia’s first super-maximum security prison, have…set themselves on fire since September in a bid to get transferred away from abusive guards…The first reported [case was]…Demetrius Wallace…who told [reporters] he set his leg on fire on Aug. 23 because he knew he would have to be transported out of the prison for treatment.  Since guards waited three days before taking Wallace to the nearest burn unit seven hours away, he had to have a skin graft and spent 14 days in the hospital.  When he returned…guards harassed him, denied access to his email, and [locked] him in [solitary confinement]…Over the [following] two weeks…a dozen [others] had set themselves on fire to escape “intolerable racism, abuse, and inhumane conditions”…Red Onion…has been riddled with…abuse since opening in 1998…More than two-thirds of its [prisoners] are held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, ranging from two weeks to 14 years…[because they are often] served food covered in maggots…prisoners have…[also] gone on months-long hunger strikes…

 

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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Murder is illegal in Germany, no matter whether a terrorist’s weapon of choice was otherwise banned or permitted.  –  J.D. Tuccille

Time Warp

The Free Press recently published a bizarrely-anachronistic article that reads like something from the height of “sex trafficking” hysteria, 12 years ago.  If you have the stomach to actually read it, you’ll quickly discover why: both the writer and her primary source are Trumpists, and they blame “America’s fastest-growing criminal industry” (remember when that claim was obligatory in every “sex trafficking” tall tale?) on that Trumpist bugaboo, “Biden’s open border”, which apparently exists in the same fantasy world inhabited by toddler hookers shuttled around the country by pimp gorillas in dog crates to be raped 100 times a day by invisible men.  That source is a wannabe “rescuer” of the MAGA variety, similar to the nut bars in Tennessee who were recently raided by the TBI, or the associated Froot Loops in Arizona who harass aid workers and chase people through the desert.  Stenographer Madeleine Rowley gullibly swallows and regurgitates the self-aggrandizing wanking fantasies, the racist tropes, the bogus statistics and psychobabble, the “gang” copaganda, the asinine bragging of dangerous psychopaths like Grady Judd, etc; the only things missing are “King of the Hill” posturing and the claim that the average “victim” is 13.

The Punitive Mindset (#804) 

If there’s anything narrower and meaner than the mind of a prison official, I’m not sure what it might be:

The Texas Department of [Torturing Caged Humans] has banned yet another book in its prisons…this time, it was written by inmates themselves.  TEXAS LETTERS…[is] an ongoing anthology of letters written by [prisoners] detailing their experiences with solitary confinement…The publisher and editor, Damascus James…describes the project as a work that “explores the loss of sanity, humanness, and, oftentimes, hope through the personal writings” of [human being]s who have spent months, years, and sometimes even decades in solitary confinement.  Much of the collection features portrayals of violence from [screws] and grueling accounts of the living conditions…The banning of TEXAS LETTERS was not a surprise for James.  Not only does the Texas prison authority have a reputation for book banning but also for trying to e[uphemize] the term solitary confinement

Torture Chamber (#1441)

The inevitable result of letting sociopathic thugs lock legally-innocent people in filthy cages for long periods of time:

…The[re has been a] spike in deaths at the…Tarrant County [jail since the election of] Sheriff Bill Waybourn…in January 2017…[more than] 65 people have died in [Waybourn’s filthy cages], compared to 25…during the 8-year period that preceded him.  Most of the…[victims were legally innocent], meaning they [were] never…convicted of…[any] crime…[and] his office…appears to be flouting a state law requiring sheriffs to commission outside [cop shop] investigations into all deaths in their jails…Waybourn…blame[s] the deaths on [his victims while]… Tarrant County has paid out millions of dollars to settle lawsuits [due to] horrific treatment of vulnerable people in [his cages]…the largest…involved a [mentally ill] pregnant woman…who deteriorated…for months until she became non-verbal, and eventually gave birth to…a…baby [who] died ten days later…[meanwhile,] Waybourn…[has] cultivated his celebrity status in [the MAGA cult, including going on talk shows and harassing migrants]…despite his county being hundreds of miles from the…border…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1462)

Surveillance beyond the wildest dreams of the Stasi:

German…politicians are responding to an August attack at a festival in Solingen with proposals for knife controls and biometric surveillance.  Given that the country’s already restrictive laws didn’t deter a terrorist from committing violence, it’s not clear why more laws would finally do the trick…The suspect is a 26-year-old Syrian man who was denied asylum and ordered to leave the country; he didn’t…he’s not a law-abiding guy…Would a terrorist…be deterred by stern signs forbidding carrying knives at festivals?…Also proposed is wider use of biometric data, including automated scanning of publicly available photos, audio files, and video on platforms including social media.  Any online information would be considered fair game for German authorities to grab and match against data from protests, crimes, suspects, or…watch lists…the coalition government is keen on expanding mass surveillance even though it was elected in part on a promise to curb such practices

You Were Warned (#1477)

Politicians will use any trick to gain control of the internet:

The U.S. and the U.K. have signed a joint agreement to coordinate efforts to [control the] internet…[using the perennial excuse of] “stronger protections for children”…though…the U.K. [has]…no…free-speech legal tradition or anything like First Amendment jurisprudence …the agreement…[pre]tend[s] that U.S. and U.K. rights and practices can be considered compatible in order to enforce internet [censorship] of materials [politicians in] either…[country point at while belching out] “harmful to children”…according to…the Online Safety Act and the [opinion of]…the Baroness Bertin, [who has had a hand in drafting laws in the US], all adult content would fall into [bannable] categories …By signing the joint agreement, the U.S. appears to endorse…age verification[, which]…has repeatedly been struck down as unconstitutional by U.S. courts…The U.S. domestic legislative proposal most analogous to the OSA is the Kid’s Online Safety Act (KOSA), which is currently stuck in Congress…because of serious constitutional and privacy concerns…

The Cop Myth (#1478)

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

A [typical and representative] NYPD [cop murdered] his wife before [turning the gun on himself]…Sean…and Arlene O’Neill…[had] three school-age sons [who] were home at the time of the shooting [but were mercifully spared by their murderous father]…Sources [said] the couple [were fighting]…

The Vultures Descend (#1479)

This will keep getting worse until these maniacs are forcibly stopped:

The US…Postal Service…has known for at least the past decade…that foreign-made abortion pills are entering the U.S. and being distributed in quantity without prescription.  FDA regulations hold that this is illegal…[but] days after Roe was overturned in June 2022, the USPIS announced that it would not proactively pursue pill mailers, even in states where abortion was being banned…however…the USPIS does go after people…without medical credentials who mail prescription drugs…so it employs local police dogs and their handlers to check the mail for contraband and provide the probable cause needed to get warrants…Police dogs…are trained to smell only the illegal drugs heroin, marijuana, ecstasy, fentanyl, and cocaine, not the ingredients in abortion pills…[but] canines are exquisitely sensitive to the minutiae of a human’s posture, eye movements, and other subtle behaviors.  Handlers wishing to develop probable cause to do intrusive searches for narcotics can coax their dogs into drug-alerting behavior…Cueing can be deliberate, but it’s more often unconscious…

 

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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All ethical people need to resist the book-burners and website-wreckers, loudly and defiantly, in the hopes that at least some of our fellow-humans will come back to their senses before it’s too late.  –  “Banned Books Week 2023

Censorship, correctly viewed in the more enlightened times of the 20th century as the province of tyrants, bluenoses, humorless scolds, and other closed-minded nitwits, has in the 21st achieved a level of  worldwide popularity unseen since the Index Librorum Prohibitorum went out of fashion.  Governments around the globe threaten individuals and groups with violence for daring to speak or write words, or share images, that the rulers of those countries have declared off-limits, often for the most childish, disgusting, or even absurd reasons.  And while in the past the educated could be counted upon to oppose such repression, nowadays they are more often at the forefront of censorship efforts, demanding harsh penalties for wrongthink and groveling in the most grotesque manner before idiots who, unsatisfied with merely being subjected to such thought control by their masters, demand the power to lobotomize themselves and everyone else within their reach.

In the year since the last Banned Books Week, we’ve seen innumerable efforts to sterilize libraries of anything offensive to the State or the most rigid and tiny-minded fundamentalist, complete with siccing the cops on librarians; the imprisonment of a respected journalist for disagreeing with the government; a “monkey see, monkey do” parade of attempts to either directly censor the internet, or to intimidate websites into censoring themselves; and many people harassed or even arrested by cops and spooks merely for expressing opinions the government dislikes, and that’s just in the so-called “liberal democracies” of the West.  Where will it stop?  There’s no way of knowing, unfortunately; censorship is extremely popular in dark ages, which of course is a large part of what makes them dark ages in the first place.  When belief trumps facts, feelings trump reason, and violent psychopaths declare themselves the only legitimate arbiters of Truth, darkness can be the only result.  The only variables are how widespread the Night will be, and how long it will be before Enlightenment comes again.

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

If Men Were Angels

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

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

Tyranny By Consensus (#690)

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

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

Undead Powers

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

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

Eavesdropping (#1399)

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

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1411)

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

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

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1450)

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

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

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

Banishment (#1470)

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

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

 

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

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We’re doing it from the back door.  –  Russell Vought

A Broker in Pillage

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

The Fourth Amendment’s protection…extends to the length of a seizure…ruled…the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia…the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 11th circuits…have [instead] held that…[cops who steal property] can retain [it] indefinitely…effectively stripping people of their property rights merely because they were arrested…Given that the D.C. court finds itself in the minority…the case may be primed for the Supreme Court if the [swineherds] choose…to appeal…The plaintiffs each had their property s[tolen] by D.C…[cops] during a Black Lives Matter protest…on August 13, 2020…Though the protesters did not face any charges and were…quickly released…the plaintiffs had to wait over 14 months to get their property back…[and] were [thus] forced to replace their phones and lost access to the important information on the originals…police have been [steal]ing phones [solely] to [extrajudicially] punish protestors…

See No Evil (#731)

Anyone who thinks this is “justice” is part of the problem:

A few years ago, Roseberline Turenne, an 18-year-old aide at a Maryland day care center, used her cellphone to take photographs showing “the naked genitals and pubic areas” of eight little girls.  Seven…were lying on changing tables, while the eighth was standing in a bathroom.  Turenne later claimed she was documenting preexisting diaper rashes, lest she be blamed for allowing them to develop while the girls were in her care.  Turenne was fired after the pictures were discovered because…the day care center’s policies…prohibited staff members from photographing children.  She also was charged with eight counts each of child sexual abuse, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography…a jury convicted her on all 24 counts, resulting in a 126-year prison sentence…[and] the Maryland Supreme Court upheld Turenne’s convictions…this…vividly illustrates how laws related to child pornography can generate penalties that make little sense…she was not accused of assaulting the girls.  Yet…[she] will have to serve at least…32 years—before she is eligible for parole…someone convicted of first-degree rape…could end up serving less time than Turenne faces for…taking pictures…

Where Are the Protests? (#928)

Compare with the “nail parlor trafficking” and “car wash trafficking” myths:

[Oregon bureaucrats are attempting to drum up panic over] a new enterprise they say is operating outside of city, county and state regulations: hot dog carts and stands [competing with the overpriced hot dogs sold inside]…event venues and bars…the [bureaucrats absurdly claim]…the…stands harbor something more sinister than just unregulated frankfurters: human trafficking.  “The vendors are unlicensed and selling food and alcohol, and appear to have ties to trafficking and gangs,” [bloviated bureaucrat] Stacy Borke…the city and county are planning a coordinated crackdown on the pushcarts this weekend, with [cops on hand to brutalize the migrants trying to make a living]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1247)

The front of a wedge must by its nature be thinner than the rest:

…in a hidden-camera video…recorded by…British…[activists in July, wannabe chief censor Russell] Vought…talks about why [his gang] have been pushing age verification laws…”We’d have a national ban on pornography if we could…we would have…the porn companies being investigated for all manner of human rights abuses…[so] we came up with an idea…to make it so that the porn companies bear [newly-invented “]liability[“] for…underage use…We’ve got a number of states that are passing this and then…the porn company says ‘We’re not going to do business in your state‘—which, of course, is entirely what we were after”…Vought was previously an official in the Trump administration…is probably best known as one of the architects of Project 2025…and…is “likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration“…”Eighty percent of my time is working on the plans of what’s necessary to take control of [federal] bureaucracies,” Vought said…Project 2025…say[s] that porn is “manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology”…[so their] porn ban wouldn’t simply target videos and imagery depicting nudity or sex but a wide swath of content related to gender and sexuality…

The Cop Myth (#1461)

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

A San Jose [California cop named Timothy Hackney was rewarded with a paid vacation after being arrested] on…felony domestic violence charges [for a year-long pattern of beating, abusing, and terroriz]ing his now-pregnant girlfriend…Hackney [has repeat]edly slapped the victim’s phone out of her hand when she [tried to] call…police [during his attacks]…picked…her [up] to prevent her from leaving…[and] covered her mouth and nose to stop her from screaming…

The Cop Myth (#1463)

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

A…[Florida screw nam]ed Cory Faircloth [was arrested for attacking]…his neighbor…with a deadly weapon a[fter breaking into the man’s house]…Sheriff Chad Chronister [vomited out a lot of lies and asinine platitudes while refusing to provide any more than vague details about the assault]…

To Molest and Rape (#1464)

Can you imagine any non-cop getting such a light little love tap for forcible rape?

A [typical and representative New York cop named Shawn Jordan has been]…sentenced…to [a mere] 10 weekends in jail and 10 years of probation [for forcible rape of] a 13-year-old girl…in 2022…[while still at large in] a separate case for…exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl…The judge [claimed]…the sentencing conditions were necessary to spare the [victim] from having to testify in court…

 

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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[Libraries are at risk from] anybody wanting to make a quick buck.  –  Cindy Erickson

Schadenfreude

It’s heartening to see so many rescue industry profiteers exposed as the sociopaths they are:

An ex-[cop] who [pretend]s to save children from human traffickers has[, like all rescue industry profiteers,] faked stories to raise money for his charity…Adam Whittington, founder of Project Rescue Children (PRC) [lies that] he has helped more than 700 children in countries including Uganda, Kenya and The Gambia.  But…these children have never been trafficked, and…[most of the] funds raised – sometimes with the help of celebrity supporters – have [gone into his own pockets rather than to] children in need…Whittington…has misled donors in a variety of ways – including by raising funds for a baby supposedly rescued from people traffickers, who has actually been with her mother all along.  The mother, who lives in poverty, says she and her daughter have never received any money from PRC…a [“]rescue centre[“]…fundraising drive [ended with]…less than half of the money…sent to PRC’s Ugandan partner organisation, Make a Child Smile…the rest…[was] “eaten by Adam Whittington and PRC”…

If Men Were Angels

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

A[n Ohio preacher named]…Michael Ronald Goble…[has been arrested and charged with molesting a child under] 13…in November, 2021…more charges are likely forthcoming…and [cops believe there are] more victims…not yet…identified…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1422)

Pornhub has repeatedly taken the principled stand of refusing to spy on its users for the State:

Aylo began blocking access to Pornhub [for] Nebraska [residents without VPNs, due to]…the state’s new age verification law…As it had already done in Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Virginia and Utah, Aylo replaced its landing page for Nebraska IP addresses with an SFW video in which Cherie DeVille explains the reasons for the content restriction…

The Punitive Mindset (#1428) 

Next, the practice of preventing prisoners from receiving mail and books needs to be banned:

…”The Federal Communications Commission [has] voted to end exorbitant phone and video call rates that have burdened incarcerated people and their families for decades…The new call rates will be $0.06 per minute for prisons and large jails, $0.07 for medium jails, $0.09 for small jails, and $0.12 for very small jails, and as low as $0.11/minute for video calls—with a requirement that per-minute rates be offered…the cost of a 15-minute phone call will drop to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and, in small jails, to $1.35 from $12.10″…In January 2023, President Joe Biden signed…a…law…clarif[ying] the FCC’s authority to regulate the rates of in-state calls from prisons…

Thought Control (#1441)

That anyone thinks this is OK demonstrates that the urge to censor is a mental illness:

…in response to a new Idaho law that took effect July 1, the [Donnelly Public] Library is transitioning to adults-only…library staff won’t let kids in unless a parent is present with them at all times, a parent signs paperwork allowing their child to enter only for programming, or a parent waives their [“]rights[“] under the new law and lets their child check out materials without a parent present…House Bill 710…requires Idaho public and school libraries to move materials [politicians have pointed at while belching “]harmful to children[“], or face [nuisance] lawsuits…Libraries across Idaho are reworking policies to comply with the…[deliberately-]vague [law,]…but many are waiting to see if there’d be a formal challenge to books in their collections…small and rural libraries…[many of them] one-room…do…not have enough room to separate the material…[and so can only protect themselves from harassment by barring legal minors from] coming into the library…So where will the children go if they can’t go inside the building?  In the two teepees outside where there are no books…

To Molest and Rape (#1452)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

…a [Mississippi cop named]…Rodney Jernigan was arrested on July 15 [for statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.  His bosses used the occasion to swagger, brag, and belch out copaganda]…

Torture Chamber (#1454)

I’m sure they didn’t actually ignore her; they almost certainly yelled “Stop faking!” at her several times a day:

A [human being locked in a cage at the filthy] Rikers Island d[ungeon] has died after jail staff “repeatedly ignored” her requests for medical help, culminating in a medical episode severe enough to land her in a hospital…Charizma Jones…died [July 14th while]…awaiting prosecution [for defending herself from a violent screw]…in April…prosecutors consented to her release…without bail on July 10, after she was hospitalized, [but by then it was too late]…Jones…[was] the fourth [person to die in New York City dungeons]…in 2024…Nine people died [there] in 2023, 19 in 2022 and 16 in 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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