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Posts Tagged ‘The Puritan Recrudescence’

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

Surplus Women

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

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

To Molest and Rape

Rapist cops often specifically target vulnerable women:

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

The Implosion Begins (#1079)

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

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

Follow Your Bliss (ROTW #2)

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

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

I Spy (#1398) 

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

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

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

I Spy (#1415)

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

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

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1450)

Politicians increasingly use nuisance lawsuits to circumvent the Constitution:

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

 

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

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Help us, we can’t breathe.  –  Elizabeth Nomura

Shame, Shame (#516)

Some of y’all may recall that when all the “police reform” types started touting body cameras as the solution to surging police brutality, I was skeptical:

McNeill points out that the camera records the public, not the officer. She adds, “As long as the cops have the power to turn the cameras off or decide whether footage is released, it’s difficult to see what is to be accomplished here.”

That was February of 2015, and over 9 years later civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis has published a law journal article demonstrating that, as usual, I was correct: the cops wanted the cameras as a surveillance tool, and useful idiots who imagine violent thugs can be “reformed” obligingly gave them exactly what they wanted:

By situating the rise of the police body camera within its actual legal, political, and economic contexts, I suggest that the body camera is one of the most important Trojan horses in contemporary U.S. history.  What follows is a case study of how the police bureaucracy used its own violence as the perfect alibi to get well-meaning people who lacked sufficient information to support greater police procurement budgets, more advanced and efficient technologies of control and incarceration, an explosion of profit for a small group of companies, and an expansion of the capacity of the government to surveil us. And most remarkably: All of it happened under the guise of making the police bureaucracy more “accountable” and “transparent”…

To Molest and Rape

Cops are a menace to women of all ages:

An Orange County woman [has] filed a federal lawsuit…against an Anaheim [cop who]…raped her after seeing her at an In-N-Out Burger and getting her name by running her license plate number…[typical and representative cop] Carlos Romero [was rewarded by] the city of Anaheim…[with a] paid [vacation for raping her] in 2023 after [she reported his stalking, harassing]…and [threatening her until he got tired of her refusing him]…sex…and [raped]…her [vaginally and orally despite her]…repeatedly t[elling] him “no”…His gun was…in full view [and]…she “was terrified and fearful for her life” and just wanted Romero to leave…

Panopticon (#1308)

“Safety” has become the #1 excuse for Orwellian levels of surveillance:

North Carolina [politician] Michele Morrow has made [a fetish of subjecting students to police-state measures that her own children would not have to endure, since she]…home-school[s them.  Like many authoritarians, she is obsessed with incredibly-exaggerated fears of] pedophiles and…gun violence [which she wants to use as an excuse to give dangerous thugs even more power to harass, spy on, persecute, and molest students.  Paradoxically, she wants to give these pervert thugs access to]…video surveillance in classrooms, hallways and bathrooms…

Torture Chamber (#1371)

Americans’ sick lust for torture turns ordinary prison sentences into death sentences:

A…[woman locked up in] California’s largest women’s prison [at Chowchilla] has died amid a brutal heatwave that has left residents without air conditioning begging for relief…temperatures in the region climbed above 110F (43.3C)…[but mouthpieces for the State pretend that had nothing to do with her] death…There have been reports of potentially fatal conditions inside jails and prisons during heatwaves across California and in NevadaIllinoisTexasFlorida and other states this year.  The Chowchilla fatality has escalated fear and panic throughout the…overcrowded [dungeon, in] which…more than 2,000 people [are locked in cages without] air conditioning…[while screws refuse] to provide enough cold water and other supplies that would alleviate their suffering and reduce heatstroke risks…[many prisoners are] struggling with nausea and headaches…[while officials refuse to maintain or repair] swamp coolers meant to lower temperatures…[for] prison[ers]…locked in these death chambers [while bureaucrats deny the crisis and pretend their facilities are humane]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

The currently-fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parade has escaped the US and is careening all over Europe:

The Senate of the Republic of Ireland…[will] debate the country’s proposed…[“monkey see, monkey do”] Online Age Verification…Bill…[whose] sponsor…hailed as a victory the fact that the…imprecise language…[of the US laws his bill apes] has already had a chilling effect on free speech, [namely] “porn suppliers such as Pornhub to cease providing services [to people who don’t know what VPNs are]” in those states…The bill makes platforms and app stores liable for any failure to implement [government-mandated surveillance, and they are specifically required]…to store the…data they collect [at their own expense] for five years, and [make it available for pigs to root through at will]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #11)

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

A [Virginia cop named Michael Rusk] is suing his former department and local…[politicians] for $5 million for…sexual harassment a[fter]…he…shot and severely injured his superior…Christopher Gibson [for sexually assaulting him]…police leadership not only knew about the continued harassment but purposefully disregarded it because Rusk is a man…[for years] Gibson made…sexual advances toward [Rusk] including hand-holding, touching, slapping, stalking, and grooming…the[n]…in January 2023, after a night of drinking…Gibson…sexually assault[ed] Rusk…and…Rusk…[responded by shooting] Gibson several times before calling 911…

If Men Were Angels (#1449)

If I followed up on every rapist cop or preacher, I wouldn’t have room for anything else.  But sometimes I have to make an exception:

In 1982, [21-year old married] pastor Robert Morris…[seduced and molested 12-year-old] Cindy Clemishire…while he was staying at her parents’ home in Oklahoma…But 25 years later, when Clemishire hired an attorney and threatened to sue Morris…hi[s]…lawyer…responded by blaming Clemishire for what happened to her…The Feb. 6, 2007, letter was one in a series of exchanges that year between Sharpe and [Clemishire’s lawyer] Gentner Drummond…Clemishire…had been seeking $50,000 in restitution from Morris to cover the cost of counseling.  Morris…offered to pay $25,000, but the talks fell apart…because [Clemishire] was not willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement…

 

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 way stalkerware companies are run just doesn’t include giving a shit about vulnerabilities.  –  Maia Arson Crimew

If Men Were Angels

Even the distancing “former” is the same as for rapist cops:

A [typical and representative Texas] youth pastor…[named] Luke Cunningham…was indicted on [charges of child molestation and various related crimes.  Several]…Lubbock [churches kept employing him despite numerous local accusations dating]…back [to] January of 2016…and [others]…dating back to 2013…

Guinea Pigs (#1307) 

New tools for tyranny are often tested first on whores, but never stop with us:

…Sweeping calls to collect data on marginalized populations and automate decisions about what constitutes a human trafficking pattern are dangerous.  Women…migrants, [people of color,] and queer people face profiling and persecution under surveillance regimes that [intentionally conflate] consensual adult sex work and human trafficking…language models [will] be built on discriminatory stereotypes which have [been used to] plague…[sex workers] for decades…Such tropes cause disproportionate surveillance of poor, racialized, and transgender sex workers, and in[tentional]ly categorize standard safety tactics as trafficking indicators.  Studies show that digital tools and policies which take a…similarly broad approach to collecting evidence of alleged exploitation online are dangerous and counterproductive…A 2022 study into technology which scraped and analyzed advertisements for sexual services found “misalignment between developers, users of the platform, and sex industry workers they are [pretend]ing to assist,” concluding that these approaches are “ineffective” and “exacerbate harm”…

Secret Squirrel (#1332)

Please enjoy the spectacle of nosy authoritarians hoist with their own petard:

…hacktivists [have] published the customer support database for Brainstack, a Ukrainian company that runs a phone tracking service called mSpy.  (It was the third mSpy security breach in a decade.)  The database includes messages from…ICE…agents…a U.S. circuit court judge…Employees at the U.S. State Department…and…many more…officials…in the…[US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.  The hacktivist said]…”From all the past stalkerware leaks, usually what leaks is victim data”…But this leak was about mSpy’s clients—essentially turning the surveillance back against the surveilers…Unlike other intelligence-for-hire services, mSpy requires users to have intimate access to the target already.  The software must be installed directly on the target’s phone, iCloud account, or WiFi network. Afterwards, it provides the user with the target’s call logs, messages, and location data.  Brainstack [sani]tises mSpy as a parental guidance tool, but others [more accurate]ely [describe] the service [as] “stalkerware“.  Indeed, a few of the [hacked] messages came from [cop shops] and [spook houses] looking for a way to send mSpy a subpoena or warrant because [it allows spying by people who aren’t them]

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1400)

Tech-savvy teens know what VPNs are, so this surveillance will only be “mandatory” for clueless adults:

Spain’s [increasingly-unpopular] anti-sex-work…Socialist Party (PSOE) government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has unveiled a new age verification app that will become mandatory for [clueless] adult[s]…in the country starting in September.  The Cartera Digital app and its age verification protocols…were announced…by…Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service José Luis Escrivá Belmonte …[who] described the existence of [speech socialists dislike] as “a problem,” and [conflated]…“the great majority of young people between 18 and 26 years old” [with legal minors]…

Still a Child (#1422) 

An attempt to push back the swelling tide of adult infantilization:

Strip clubs and other adult entertainment establishments in Florida are challenging the state’s [new] law that prevents them from employing adults…under 21…lawyers filed suit against the state…in the name of 19-year-old Serenity Michelle Bushey, a nude dancer at…a [Florida] strip club…[because] the law’s arbitrary raising of the age requirement “not only made her lose her job but also violated her constitutional rights”…The plaintiffs also include Café Risque, strip club chain Sinsations and Jacksonville pleasure products store Exotic Fantasies…Bushey and at least eight [other] Café Risque dancers have lost their jobs, and [the suit] argues that the law also violates their First Amendment right[s]…

The Cop Myth (#1440)

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

An Oklahoma City [cop named]…Ryan Stark…brought [his girlfriend] to his house and tried to take her phone…she tried to escape…[his pigmobile], but…he…accelerated the car, breaking her foot on the garage door…he [then]…held [her] against her will…put a gun to her head…[and] threat[ened] to kill her…[then raped her].  Stark was arrested [on June 29th and]…charged with domestic assault and battery…rape…and [associated crimes]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1447)

There are still a few judges willing to block “monkey see, monkey do” parades:

Two laws requiring age verification online have been paused by federal courts…as legal challenges to them play out.  [Laws like] the [ones from] Indiana [and]…Mississippihave been [parad]ing [through] U.S. states this year and last, and represent a growing threat to privacy, anonymity, and free speech online.  Federal courts have largely ruled against them when they are challenged, but this has not been universal.  So, it’s probably good that the Supreme Court has agreed to take up…Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Ken Paxton…involving…[the] Texas [version of the] law…

 

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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Th[e Assange] precedent now can and will be used in the future against the rest of the press.  –  Stella Assange

If Men Were Angels

Anyone “shocked” by this must live in a cave:

[Jonathan Elwing, a Florida pastor caught using cryptocurrency to buy child porn of children as young as 4] is now facing more charges…[after] a…search of [hi]s cell phone revealed…at least 14 pictures of him [rap]ing a 2-year-old…

The Face of Trafficking

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

A [West Virginia] couple [who]…lock[ed two of their adopted] children up in a barn and forc[ed] them to work are back behind bars…on a bond that’s more than double what they had already been given– now set at $500,000 each.  Donald Ray Lantz…and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather…[pled] not guilty to over a dozen new charges against them…the adopted children, who were black, were specifically targeted by the couple and forced to work because of their race…the couple was able to acquire the $400,000 bond money for their release from jail in February…[despite claiming] that they had no income or assets, bringing into question where they had acquired the money…from…the couple [say they] sold an 80-acre ranch in Tonasket, Washington [that they claimed not to own] for $725,000 on Feb. 2…the[n]…on March 28…they…sold the…home [that they also did not own]…for $295,000…their bond money…still remains in the custody of the…Court Clerk’s office. [But in a rare moment of normal human decency, the prosecutor said he] believes it should be transferred over to a trust fund for the children…

To Molest and Rape

Good grief, don’t volunteer to be around them either:

A Riverside County [California cop is at large] after [somehow] posting $1 million bail following his…arrest…[for] kidnapping…rape…and…oral [rape] of a sheriff’s office volunteer…Alexander Ravy Vanny…was… [arrested on June 22nd and out the next day after his victim]…told [another cop] about the [rape]…

Joey the Player (#1382)

At least these shitty laws were used against an actual violent criminal for a change:

On Wednesday, June 26th, 2026 “Joey The Player”, [AKA] José Olivio Torres was sentenced to 30 years in prison for 4 counts of Sex Trafficking related charges…The FBI interviewed more than 30 victims, [but]…the court was aware of likely hundreds more victims who were too afraid to come forward.  A search of Torres’ home and office revealed more than 400 phone numbers and hundreds of email addresses he used to evade identification…he sent out between 60 and 150 texts and emails daily, trying to lure new victims to New [Jersey]…Torres had written nearly a million dollars in bad checks to sex workers…He sued the prosecutor, the victims’ attorney’s firm, and even the judge…filed hundreds of self-written motions with the court and fired at least four attorneys…most motions were denied, and the lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice…Torres…repeatedly stated that his “real crime” was theft of services…However, [neither] the judge…no[r anyone else involved]…was…convinced by Torres’ attempts to minimize his actions.  The court never once referred to the survivors as anything but sex workers and treated them with the utmost dignity and respect…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1421)

Simply claiming that the ‘age verification preserves online anonymity’ does not make it so“:

A company that verifies the identities of TikTok, Uber, and [Twitter] users…by processing photographs of their faces and pictures of their drivers’ licenses, exposed a set of administrative credentials online for more than a year potentially allowing hackers to access that sensitive data…The Israel-based company, called AU10TIX, offers what it describes [using buzzwords] as “full-service identity verification solutions”…The news comes as more social networks and pornography sites [have been forced by politicians to] move towards an identity or age verification model…[and] highlights that identity services could themselves become a target for hackers…

Vulture Watching (#1434)

Mutually-contradictory laws are an inevitable result of rampant authoritarianism:

The Supreme Court will allow emergency abortions in Idaho…while a lawsuit over the state’s controversial abortion law [goes] forward…the state…[even] prohibits abortions required to protect a pregnant woman’s physical health…[in] violat[ion of]…EMTALA…a federal law that requires many hospitals to provide stabilizing care to patients who show up to emergency rooms…An Idaho federal district court judge placed a preliminary injunction on [the] law in August 2022…but…Idaho appealed, and the Supreme Court reversed the block in January…[resulting in] “the State’s largest provider of emergency services ha[ving] to airlift pregnant women out of Idaho roughly every other week, compared to once in all of the prior year”…With Thursday’s decision, the Supreme Court has dismissed Idaho’s appeals, allowing doctors to provide health-preserving abortions in the state while the case continues…

Bits and Pieces (#1450)

A short EN Brown piece on the legacy of the Assange persecution:

…it’s hard to exactly call this a win for the WikiLeaks founder.  But on the surface, it is a loss for the U.S. government, which wanted to put Assange away for a much, much longer period of time.  And yet, on some level, authorities got exactly what it seems they wanted: a warning to anyone who would dare to publish information that makes the government look bad.  It provides a clear view of what happens when you actively try to expose government secrets.  Shots have already been fired against future renegade journalists…Assange’s prosecution almost certainly serves as a deterrent for journalists who would encourage whistleblowers…or any outlet that would aim to function, like WikiLeaks, as a source for unredacted publications of government information…

 

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 a case of human trafficking without victims.  –  Jorge Daniel Pirozzo

Torture Chamber

“Died after an altercation” is such a sterile way to say “murdered by screws”:

The family of a Texas man [murdered by] jailers…who…kne[lt on his]…back [while pepper-spraying him]…called for a federal investigation into the practices at the jail.  Anthony Johnson Jr…a [retired] Marine…[was intentionally asphyxiated by the] jailers…[after they oinked the magic word “]contraband[” at him].  The Tarrant County Medical Examiner…ruled the death a homicide…[murder]er Rafael Moreno…kne[lt with all of his weight] on Johnson’s back…while he was handcuffed…[and another screw repeatedly] pepper-sprayed [him in the face]…

See also “I Can’t Breathe” below.

Imaginary Evils (#1347)

Are prosecutors now going to retroactively label all cults as “sex trafficking”?

…Argentinian…prosecutors are trying the [Buenos Aires Yoga] School’s 85-year-old founder, Juan Percowicz, and a number of its members, alleging that the school was really a cult engaged in brainwashing and sex trafficking.  Authorities raided the group’s headquarters and the houses of 50 members two summers ago, accusing the group of being a front for an international sex slavery ring. Seventeen people, including Percowicz, were arrested and jailed…It wasn’t the first time the Buenos Aires Yoga School faced criminal allegations; a similar case was brought in the 1990s.  But after an intense investigation that involved [illegal] raids and wiretaps…that earlier case was closed with nary a conviction.  And it’s looking like the newer case may face a similar fate…The government says at least seven women were forced into prostitution by BAYS…But the women in the case have denied ever having sex in exchange for money, or being victims of any crime…

Thought Control (#1405)

Florida censors have descended completely into self-parody:

[Authoritarian bureaucrats] in Florida have banned a book about book banning.  The Indian River County School Board voted to remove Ban This Book by Alan Gratz from its shelves…overruling its own [hand-picked] book-review committee’s decision to keep it.  The children’s novel follows a fictional fourth grader who creates a secret banned books locker library after her school board pulled a multitude of titles off the shelves…[censor]s…disliked how it referenced other [banned] books…and accused it of “teaching rebellion of school board authorit[arianism]”…The book…was [target]ed by Jennifer Pippin…the [chief censor] of the area’s local chapter of [pro-censorship cult] Moms for Liberty

Pyrrhic Victory (#1409)

Any use of this error-prone surveillance system is misuse:

In 2019 and 2020, three Black men were accused of, and jailed for, crimes they didn’t commit after police used face recognition to falsely identify them.  Their wrongful arrest lawsuits are still pending, but…all three…are speaking out against pending California legislation that would make it illegal for police to use face recognition technology as the sole reason for a search or arrest…[because due to a combination of confirmation bias and plain laziness, cops will merely] seek corroborating evidence [for the computer’s false identification instead of properly investigating the crime.  One of the men is]…Robert Williams [of Detroit,] the first known instance of false arrest involving face recognition in the United States…the…[second is] Njeer Parks…[of] New Jersey and the…[third is] Michael Oliver…who was wrongly accused of assaulting a high school teacher in Detroit in 2020…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

Non-busybodies block Indiana’s float in the “monkey see, monkey do” parade:

A lawsuit…aims to block a new Indiana [surveillance] law …[because it] violates [both] the Constitution and the 1996 Communications Decency Act.  Fred Cate…[of] the Indiana University [Law] School…said…“The Supreme Court decided more than 25 years ago that you couldn’t require age verification online…because age verification is really hard to do online…How do you verify age for someone you can’t actually see? Usually, we do that by collecting a lot of information about them…the state law prohibits you from saving that information but, of course, you have to save it to prove that you did it”…

I Can’t Breathe (#1439)

Dare I hope fewer journalists are willing to cover up cops’ crimes?

…In recent years, the Vallejo Police Department has made headlines for gang-like rituals glorifying [cops] who [successfully get away with murder]; the illegal destruction of evidence; and an inordinately high rate of police shootings, among other scandals.  But the [murder of Darryl Dean] Mefferd [by Vallejo cop Jeremy] Callinan has remained covered up…[large]ly because the Solano County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office [obediently] ruled Mefferd’s death an accidental drug overdose…allow[ing] local officials to keep the killing secret for nearly a decade despite state transparency laws mandating the release of records about deaths and serious injuries caused by [cops]…His family wanted to sue the city, but several lawyers declined to take their case because official records labeled Mefferd’s death an accident…[and] the city [pretends] that…Mefferd[‘s]…death [by positional asphyxia was his own fault]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #12)

Oh look, WaPo has discovered what I’ve been writing about for 14 years:

…over the past two decades, hundreds of [cops] in the United States have sexually abused children while officials at every level of the criminal justice system have [covered up their crimes, refus]ed to…punish abusers and [facilitated] additional crimes…by botching background checks, ignoring red flags and [intentionally] mishandling investigations. [Rapist] cops have used their knowledge of the legal system to stall cases, get charges lowered or evade convictions. Prosecutors have given generous plea deals to [fellow pig]s who admitted to raping and groping minors. Judges have allowed many convicted [cops] to avoid prison time. All the while, children in every state and the District of Columbia have continued to be targeted, groomed and violated by officers [who have no legal duty] to keep them safe…at least 1,800 state and local [cops]…were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse from 2005 through 2022…

 

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 would be nice to see more companies [fight censorial, authoritarian governments].  –  Mike Masnick

Grace Bellavue

Grace Bellavue was a…sex worker…activist and modern-day maverick, until suddenly, she died…Award winning artist, and fellow South Australian, Michaela Burger (A Migrant’s Son, Exposing Edith) explores her legacy in this new one-woman show.  Through Grace’s writing – unpublished hip hop lyrics, monologues, and musings – Burger explores her multifaceted life.  Her outrageously funny wit and charm, fearlessness and “fuck it” outlook on life will seduce you into marching with this social justice warrior who was determined to decriminalise the sex industry.  Presenting Grace’s moving story through a mix of spoken word, song and movement, Michaela Burger explores the mind of the woman in the headlines and brings her audience on the fascinating journey…[at] Edinburgh’s [Festival] Fringe audiences this August…

Michaela’s been working on this show for over a year, so I’m happy to see it coming to fruition!

Choke Point (#839) 

A rare good decision from the current SCOTUS:

…all nine Supreme Court justices found in favor of the NRA…because the behavior of New York State, to try to silence the NRA by threatening third parties, was so constitutionally alarming.  If New York could get away with doing what it had done, and threaten a speaker’s business relationships as a means of punishing the speaker, then so could any other state against any other speaker, including those who might be trying to speak out against the NRA…[or] those at odds with…the preferred policies of states like Texas and Florida…This decision is not the first time that courts have said no to this sort of siege warfare state officials have tried to wage against speakers they don’t like, to cut them off from relationships the speakers depend on when they can’t attack the speakers directly…

Choke Point (#1190) 

Can you even imagine this happening in the US?

A Melbourne-based gay sex worker has resolved a discrimination case against two Australian financial service providers, in a “great victory” that he wants to protect others from falling victim to “debanking”…Matthew Roberts…was debanked and denied a…[credit card processing] machine…[after] finance company Mint Payments…switched the institution it used for transactions…and the company asked him to reapply for [the] machine [he had been using for years]…he dealt with company honestly, disclosing his occupation.  But his application was denied…[because] his business was within “a restricted category”…But that…was…after Victoria decriminalised sex work…[making it] illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of their profession, trade or occupation…Matthew took the companies to court in June last year…and…the case was settled out of court confidentially late last year.  Matthew went public [last] week and said he received no money from the legal action…[but] the two [offending] companies agreed to not restrict services offered to people engaged in lawful sex work…

Opting Out (#1268)

Twitter shifts to an opt-in model:

[Twitter] now officially allows pornographic content…but says it will block adult and violent posts from being seen by users who are under 18 or who do not opt-in to see it.  The…new policies…come as [cens]or pressure grows for platforms around the world to…[censor content by shouting “The] children[!!!!!!” at]…social media [companies].  Historically…Twitter…has not prevented people posting adult content…[but] users who [do so]…have now been asked…to adjust media settings so that their images and videos are put behind a content warning…Users under 18 or those who do not put a birthdate in their profile will be unable to view this content…Similar rules have been put in place for violent content

This appears to be an attempt to head off the nitwit parade led by authoritarians in various US states, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Russia.

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1382)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

The state of Utah has filed another lawsuit against…TikTok…[fantasiz]ing the video app “created a virtual strip club” that allowed young people to be sexually exploited in exchange for money that TikTok takes a cut of.  The lawsuit [was] filed…by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, a[n increasingly-popular angle that allows authoritarian governments to circumvent due process]…the…lawsuit also [imagines]…that TikTok LIVE’s virtual currency could allow criminals to host illegal gambling, sell drugs and fund terrorist activities…The state…is also suing…Facebook…[over imaginary “]harm to the mental health of Utah youth[” and]…has passed bills [attack]ing…social platformsprompt[ing] a coalition of…companies…[and a group of] content creators [to sue over]…the state’s [egregious 1st Amendment violations]

Creepy Coppers (#1437)

It’s too bad cops don’t spend all their time policing their own gang:

A [typical and representative Missouri cop named]…David K. Blankenship…and his wife Karlie Blankenship…[have been] charged with…attempt[ing to find] a child [they could use to make child porn after] David Blankenship…uploaded a [similar] video [to] TikTok [and the upload was reported by TikTok]…David and…Karlie…were having “sexually themed conversations” via TikTok direct message, shared videos of young girls they found attractive and discussed their sexual desires involving children under 14 and “how to locate children that are local”…Another search warrant [executed] at Blankenship’s…home found additional evidence…

Free advice: if your sexual fantasies involve anything that would be illegal in real life, don’t share them in writing, especially not electronically.

You Were Warned (#1438)

Wins against censors are increasingly rare these days:

The real fight for free speech…means being willing to stand up to extremist authoritarian bullies, even when the odds are stacked against you.  Challenging regimes where a single satirical post, a meme, or a critical blog can put someone behind bars requires bravery.  But sometimes people have to fight, because it’s the right thing to do…The notoriously thin-skinned authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sued thousands of people for the crime of “insulting” him (or comparing him to Gollum).  He has jailed journalists for criticizing his government and claims that social media…is a “threat to democracy” for allowing his critics to speak…the makers of WordPress, Automattic…fought back…[un]like…Twitter…after a [2015] demand to remove a critical blog…basically a decade later it has prevailed…this is a rare and surprising outcome.  Turkish courts have rejected similar attempts by the company, but the company hasn’t stopped fighting these fights…It’s especially notable that the main law Turkey relies on for this broad censorship was directly modeled on similar “internet regulations” in Europe (especially Germany’s NetzDG law, which partially inspired the DSA across the EU)…

 

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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My own state does not seem to care if I live or die.  –  Lauren Hall

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

Vancouver police let this maniac run wild for years because “NHI”:

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who took female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree [in] Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died after being assaulted [by another] prison[er on]…May 19…Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007…after being charged with the murders of 26 women…The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on the farm.  Pickton once bragged…that he killed a total of 49 women…Pickton…strangled his victims and fed their remains to his pigs…Vancouver police…[did] not tak[e] the cases seriously because many of the missing were sex workers or users of drugs…

The Course of a Disease (#932)

“Support women’s right to autonomy” ≠ “back paying for sex”:

…more Scots back sex work than are against it despite [the] Government [attempting yet again] to [impose] the so-called “Nordic model” [on] Scotland…a YouGov poll of 1,088 Scottish adults…shows there is little public support for the agenda…47% thought it should be legal to pay [for] sex…compared with 32% who thought it should be an offence.  In a massive rejection of the core principle of SNP policy, just 13% agreed that…[women are men’s moral inferiors and need to be “protected” from their own choices by government] violence…79% think the Scottish Government should consult sex workers and sex worker-led groups when considering new laws…Just 1% of those polled think sex work should be a priority for the Scottish Government [at all]…

No Difference (#1334)

US evangelical prohibitionists are a worldwide menace:

A long-standing US [pro-censorship] group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda, including a governing party member who…[has said] gays “should be castrated”, and a virulently homophobic founder of a “militaristic” Christian boys camp.  The revelations about [Morality in Media, now DBA under the authoritative-sounding alias “]National Center on Sexual Exploitation[“,] and its spin-offs and affiliates…[clearly demonstrate] its recent disavowals of its history of anti-LGBTQ+ positions [to be lies], and [expose] its [previously hidden] role in Uganda’s passage…of laws on homosexuality which are among the most punitive and restrictive in the world.  It also [exposes as li]es NCOSE’s efforts to play down its religious associations…in order to exercise a more authoritative influence on poli[tician]s in the US and around the world…

Vulture Watching (#1395)

Texas’ ruling psychopaths say doctors should just use their medical judgment and hope an aggressive prosecutor doesn’t choose to make an example of them:

The Texas Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the most significant challenge to Texas’ new abortion laws yet, ruling…that the medical exceptions in the law [a]re broad enough…[while simultaneously deeming that a] doctor[‘s]…“good faith judgment” [is insufficient]…While the opinion was unanimous, Justice Brett Busby issued a concurring opinion that left the door open to a broader challenge to the law.  Zurawski v. Texas was…the first challenge to a state’s abortion bans on behalf of women with complicated pregnancies.  At least three other states have followed suit…the court…ruling [basically requires] an abortion…perform[ing physician to be both a]…legal [expert and a seer]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1410)

Texas seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:

…in the past two years, [Texas attorney general Ken] Paxton has [ab]used consumer protection law more than a dozen times to [harass] a range of entities for activities like offering shelter to immigrants, providing health care to transgender teens or trying to foster a diverse workplace.  Not a single one of the investigations was prompted by a consumer complaint…[and] the analysis is possibly an undercount…[because hi]s office…has…fought the release of certain records requested under Texas’ Public Information Act…Paxton…[has] launched the[se specious “]investigations[“] simply to harass [political oppon]ents and to cause a chilling effect among organizations doing similar work…the attorney general’s demands violate the First…and…Fourth Amendment[s, and]…the political weaponization of consumer protection divisions by Paxton and other attorneys general [is] “a core violation” of constitutional laws that runs counter to what these divisions were established to do…when Paxton doesn’t get speedy access to the documents he wants, he often publicizes these typically confidential cases, putting out news releases that draw headlines and build support among his base of [authoritarian sociopaths]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

Useful idiots never see where their idiocy will lead, even when it’s spelled out for them:

Canada’s privacy c[ommissioner is]…warning that a [“monkey see, monkey do” age verification] bill…could apply to streaming services such as Netflix…law professor Michael Geist, who specializes in internet and e-commerce law, say age verification technology is simply not there yet, and the “fundamentally flawed” bill raises major privacy concerns.  Proponents of the bill argue its purpose, which is to [give politicians control over the internet], is important enough that it should be passed [regardless of what civil liberties advocates think]…But Geist said policies on how to handle technology should be created based on known capabilities, not on “technological fairy dust.”  Privacy lawyer David Fraser agrees…saying “sexually explicit material” as defined could mean it applies to search engines, social-media…e-book publishers and even streaming services…During committee testimony [politician Owen] Ripley confirmed…that as written, the proposed law would make it a rule for services like Netflix to verify the age of their users…Fraser added…it’s likely that companies will…just block Canadian access to the content rather than risk liability…[as] Pornhub [has done in] Texas…“[The bill is] not designed to keep kids safe. It’s not designed to keep adults safe,” said Solomon Friedman…of…Ethical Capital Partners…“It’s designed to impose the morality of a select few ideologically motivated legislators on the rest of Canadians”…

Thought Control (#1430)

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

Ohio [politicians have joined yet another faddish “monkey see, monkey do” parade by concoct]ing a new bill that would charge teachers and librarians with felonies for handing out books and materials [politicians later decide to point at while belching out the magic word] “obscene”…Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro…argues teachers will…abandon their careers rather than face the potential of criminal prosecution under…“This deliberately vague law…which flies in the face of the First Amendment while inviting inconsistent enforcement”…

 

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

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

Leaving the 20th Century (#1223)

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

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

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

Panopticon (#1349)

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

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

Censor Chic (#1366)

Government censors are growing ever bolder:

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

Opting Out (#1376)

A new censorship regime has been imposed on British subjects:

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

A Broker in Pillage (#1400)

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

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

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

The Cop Myth (#1410)

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

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

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

You Were Warned (#1434)

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

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

 

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

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They destroyed my life…and now they want to keep quiet.  –  Daegun Chun

Traffic Jam (#694)  

The first exoneration of a victim of “sex trafficking” hysteria has come, 14 years earlier than I expected.  Of course, it happened in Canada, where the hysteria was never as virulent as in the US, and like the Heather Wyker “Somali sex trafficking gang” case, it was based entirely in cop wanking fantasies without a shred of actual evidence or a single credible witness, and collapsed because the primary victim refused to be intimidated into signing a fake confession and “admitting guilt” to the mob at gunpoint.  But the victims of the Satanic Panic were convicted on even more fantastical (and often physically-impossible) charges, with even more absurd “evidence”, and it was more than ten years after the end of the hysteria before any of them were exonerated.  I don’t know if this bodes well for most victims of “trafficking” hysteria, given that the US government is still actively engaged in promoting the lies and fantasies that were used to cage them.  This is a long and intense article, but I think it’s worth every free-thinking person’s time and effort to thoroughly grasp the lengths to which modern “democratic” governments will go to destroy innocent people’s lives in order to advance a propaganda narrative those in power find convenient to their agenda.

I Spy (#787)

Surveillance beyond the wildest dreams of the Stasi:

…the [newly-enacted]…RISAA…’s primary purpose is to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act…But the bill also… “vastly expands the U.S. government’s warrantless surveillance capabilities”…that provision means  that nearly any…entity with access to telecom or internet equipment could be forced to participate in the federal government’s digital spying regime.  The big target…is likely to be the owners and operators of data centers…but…”any company, vendor, or any of their employees who touch the physical infrastructure of the internet could now be…compelled to assist with FISA surveillance“…even someone like a custodian could be legally compelled to assist in the federal government’s spying efforts…gathering places like hotels and coffee shops have been specifically excluded from the law.  But…because…places where journalists work are not specifically exempted…”American newsrooms [could be]e bugged by the government.  And journalists won’t [honestly] be able to reassure [sources] that they’re not, because, for all they know, the building maintenance worker is an involuntary government spy”…

I Spy (#1376)

This is not Grady Judd’s domain in Florida, but it has the same love of using sleazy means to violate people’s civil rights using the typical excuses:

A…[surveilla]nce system that can identify aliases and collect years of personal data from hundreds of online sources is now being used by the Polk County [Iowa] Sheriff’s Department…ShadowDragon surveillance software is [one of many justified to the public by barfing out the words “]human trafficking[“, but in reality has mostly been used so far to spy on protests, pregnant women, gamers, black people and kinky people]…The…software can…map out online identities and associations or correlations among people using…social media, chat rooms and dating platforms…Operation Underground Railroad — a [disgraced Utah]-based [“rescue industry” corpor]ation — donated $4,000 to pay for Polk’s first-year of software expenses…

Cops and Robbers (#1379)

“Journalists” lionize a sexual predator who gets his jollies destroying lives:

…Olive Hugh…use[s fake] Facebook accounts…to [fantasy role-play as] girls between the ages of 12 to 16…[so he can entrap young men with trickery in order to get them charged as “]child predators[” by p]rosecutor[s who don’t care that they’re getting people convicted entirely on the evidence of online conversations]…Hugh finds a sense of [sexual satisfaction] with each successful [entrapment, especially since he has an audience in cops who]…monitor…the chats between [Hugh] and [his victims, not to mention his]…social media accounts have over 50 thousand followers…

You Were Warned (#1420)

Politicians no longer care about whether their new diktats are Constitutional:

…the House of Representatives [has] passed a measure that would require a change in [TikTok]’s ownership or ban it if that doesn’t happen…it’s essentially the same divestiture-or-ban bill…now tucked into…the insanely named 21st Century Peace through Strength Act…that deals with everything from fentanyl trafficking to Russian sanctions, Iranian petroleum, Hamas, and boatloads of foreign aid.  The…Act would ban TikTok unless it completely breaks ties with its Chinese parent-company, ByteDance, within 270 days…and could be used to justify a ban on all sorts of popular apps tied to China, Russia, Iran, or any other country that gets deemed a foreign adversary…The most obvious constitutional problem is the First Amendment…It may also amount to a[n unconstitutional] bill of attainder.—a law punishing a specific person or entity, without a trial…and…the forced sale violates the Fifth Amendment…[because on paper] the government cannot take your property without accusing and convicting you of a crime

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1424)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

…the California Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee voted last week to move forward a version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by [pro-censorship] activists…AB 3080 is backed by Exodus Cry…and [a host of other busybodies, bluenoses, pearl-clutchers, and other useful idiots]…

Torture Chamber (#1427)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

[Prisoners] in…Oklahoma…were locked in filthy shower stalls…for days on end.  In a lawsuit filed last week, the [prisoners seek reparations for such]…an obvious violation of their Eighth Amendment rights…[screws] at the Great Plains C[age Stack] locked [their victims]…in [the] stalls for extended periods, without access to basic amenities like adequate food and water.  Most were placed in 3-foot by 3-foot shower cells, though at least one was confined in an even smaller space.  Confinement periods listed in the suit ranged from 24 hours to four days…[some of] the…stalls [were] filled with human feces and [they were given no] bathroom…the only water they had access to was scalding hot shower water.  One prisoner…was repeatedly pepper sprayed during his [confinement] in the ad hoc [oubliette].  Another…was left without clothing, and had to borrow a shirt…[which] he later used to attempt suicide [in order to escape unending torture inflicted solely]…because guards knew that he was a sex offender…a…state…investigation…found that several different Oklahoma facilities regularly locked [prisoners] in shower stalls…

 

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