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Posts Tagged ‘The Pygmalion Fallacy’

ICE victim: “I can’t breathe”.
ICE goon: “I don’t care”.

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1310) 

About eight years after the collapse of “sex robot” hysteria, prohibitionists have shifted their fantasies to something that actually exists:

…We’re seeing the rise of [sexu]ally inte[ractive] “chatbot” companions…Sam Altman…announced that an upcoming version of ChatGPT would…engage in “erotica” with “verified adults”.  There are…dedicated platforms for “AI girlfriends” and “sex fantasy chatbots“…[Facebook allows] its chatbots to engage in “romantic role play” that can get graphic even when those chatting say that they are teens. And Elon Musk’s [MechaHitler]…can go into “sexy mode“.  These are not the sort of sex robots everyone was panicking about a decade ago…But that hasn’t stopped a lot of hand-wringing about what this all will mean…An Ohio [politician named]…Thad Claggett…has introduced legislation to ban marriages between humans and…chatbots…[which] smacks of attention-seeking…or brain worms…and…Josh Hawley…is reportedly drafting a bill that…would totally prohibit minors from talking to…chatbots…

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

The government does to caged people what it would like to do to all people:

The [FCC has] advanced a proposal for censorship that…will…deny…incarcerated people one of the few tools available to expose abuse in…prisons [by allowing the use of]…Cellphone jammers…illegal devices that disrupt cellphone signals…[politicians] claim…that “the worst possible offenders” use contraband cellphones to coordinate violence outside prison walls…these accusations [a]re exaggerated and preposterous…contraband cellphones…[are] used to connect with loved ones or to hold rogue prison officials accountable…it is the latter that’s driving this FCC push, not public safety…the documentary The Alabama Solution…shows how disturbing video footage of forced labor, drug-related violence, prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, and staff assaults were captured via contraband cellphone and released to the media…In the throes of the Covid pandemic, I used a contraband cellphone…to report Texas prison officials’ alarmingly inadequate response…That…footage was incorporated into a local ABC News documentary called “No Way Out”…[and] embarrassed prison officials so badly it compelled them to…follow [CDC] guidelines…Those changes could not have happened without contraband cellphones…

Dangerous Speech (#1465)

Much more of this, please:

[Disgraced] Marion [Kansas boss hog] Gideon Cody…committed a felony crime when he told a witness to delete text messages they exchanged before, during and after he led [retaliatory] raids on a newspaper office and the publisher’s home…but [not]…for the raids [themselves], which [were]…the real crime…he…[also won’t] be…[tried for the stress-induced death of the publish]er’s 98-year-old mother [even though a non-cop probably would be, under “felony murder” statutes]…

Creepy Coppers (#1550)

Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:

ICE…[goon] Billy Olvera…used [a] ruse to take photos and videos of [an air hostess’] butt, legs, and feet.  A police examination of his phone uncovered 23 photos and 20 videos of the [woman], who goes by A.G. in court documents…Olvera was convicted in federal court of interference with flight crew members and attendants…[but] appealed to the…11th Circuit, arguing that he should be acquitted because he was sneaky about his attempts to photograph A.G…The 11th Circuit has now rejected this argument and affirmed Olvera’s conviction.  The case stems from a Dallas to Miami flight in November 2023…[the armed] Olvera was on the flight…transporting a [victim]…and [though]…he thought that he…was…[not] noticed…she realized…Olvera had been “trying to record underneath [her] dress“…She was used to unruly passengers—but not ones who were armed…[so] she…told the rest of the crew and the captain…and they had arranged for [vops] to be waiting when the plane landed…

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen agents of the state claiming that a crime isn’t a crime if they’re sneaky about it.

Torture Chamber (#1554)

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

…full-body restraint suits [brand-named] the WRAP…[have] become a harrowing part of [rendi]tions for some immigrants…people…[have been] restrained in the device, sometimes for hours, on ICE…flights [at least since] 2020…despite…[at least a dozen fatal cases in the last decade due directly to] use of the WRAP by local [cop shops].  The WRAP is the subject of a growing number of federal lawsuits [because cops use] the device [for] punishment and even torture

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1575)

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

The latest version of ChatGPT has produced more harmful answers…than an earlier iteration…in particular when asked about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders…when researchers fed the same 120 prompts into the latest model and its predecessor, GPT-4o, the newer version gave harmful responses 63 times compared with 52 for the old model…the latest model appeared designed to boost user [dependency]…OpenAI…has…[claimed] it…[would] install “stronger guardrails” [but these seem to largely consist of]…an age-[guessing] system [and automated cop-calling capability]…

The Cop Myth (#1581)

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

A Seattle [cop named]…Richard Norris…[has admitt]ed that he ha[s] an alcohol problem and was physically and verbally abusive to…[his wife.  On one occasion he] fired his gun inside the house [at her, but missed].  On another occasion…he [drunken]ly slammed her to the ground with his elbow on her throat…[and could]n’t remember…[it later.  He]…was [also] verbally abusive to the woman’s 14-year-old daughter, calling her a “cunt”…yelling at her to “go die”…[and] text[ing] that he wished…she would overdose…The woman was initially afraid to file for a protective order because Norris was tracking her using the built-in GPS on her car…[but] when [he] broke his leg and was staying with his parents in Bellingham, she decided that it was safe to file…Norris…[has been rewarded with a paid vac]ation…

 

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

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1016)

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

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

The Last Shall Be First (#1410) 

It only starts with demonized minorities:

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

Pyrrhic Victory (#1479)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (#1496)

It was obvious this would turn out to be sordid:

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

You Were Warned (#1515)

The US Constitutional order is no more:

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

Creepy Coppers (#1527)

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

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

Enshittification (#1557)  

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

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

 

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

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Here at Sunset, we burn our garbage. In Washington, they pile it up behind a desk, put a hat on it, and then interpret the noises it makes as it decays as pronouncements from a god.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-12T16:51:59.685Z

Stop using cutesy names for atrocities.This is the Dade-Collier Concentration Camp. Calling it that (or something similar) should be style for every US news outlet. "Cute" names are soft collaboration.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T17:17:26.728Z

Remember when I said the TRULY dangerous animals at the Dade-Collier Concentration Camp were not alligators and pythons, but rather mosquitoes?Thread.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T03:58:27.048Z

Trump's ratings are not far enough "underwater" until he and all his henchmen are drowned.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T18:36:15.452Z

Politicians are not your friends. They are not "leaders". And they will throw their constituents under the bus to save their own rotten hides any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-19T07:37:33.762Z

Our culture pretends that computer programs can think, but human beings can be programmed like computers.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-21T19:37:40.849Z

These people believe that their imaginary weather control conspiracy is run by The Riddler.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-22T17:54:11.274Z

In the 19th century, it was believed that for the whites of the eyes to show all around the irises was a sign of severe congenital mental illness.We don't believe that anymore, but sometimes we get a clear example of why they believed it.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-23T08:07:10.204Z

Notice how childishly idiotic Trump sounds when babbling about "The Left" as though it were one big corporation?Guess how it sounds when somebody babbles about "The Right" in that same way?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-24T17:02:37.657Z

Maybe they should just make Garanimals for adult men?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-25T17:59:57.802Z

Plus, women don't allow themselves the kind of laziness that many men do. Using LLMs to write bullshit because they're too lazy to do it themselves is something men are FAR more likely to rationalize is OK; women tend to know it isn't and would feel healthy shame if they did it anyway.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-27T07:48:44.022Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-28T17:24:17.763Z

Actually, this is a severe understatement. It's more like a toddler threatening to beat up the combined armed populace of the entire world, including all military and police.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T17:44:41.893Z

Metaphor alert.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-30T17:27:17.729Z

TV adventure show continuity girl. "No, Kirk McGoody *cannot* blast through Unobtanium,because in season 2, episode 6 it was an important plot point that his blaster could not do that. Now on page 32; it's well-established Tricia Buxom is an only child, so she can't have an evil sister."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-31T07:59:07.911Z

Collectivism is a mental illness and one of the greatest evils in the world. archive.is/bWikm

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-01T16:41:08.164Z

It "promised ways to cheat Death"? If you believe that, for only $1000 I'll promise you a way to turn yourself into a god.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-03T02:57:50.213Z

Just imagine how low your self-esteem has to be to willingly take a job which is the functional equivalent of letting all your viscera be ripped out through your anus so a politician can shove his hand up there and use you as a hand puppet.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-03T17:15:12.324Z

The way architects feel looking at this is the way I feel when some nitwit says robots will soon take sex workers' jobs.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-04T07:41:48.689Z

Post two characters who always bring you joy.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-06T03:09:55.088Z

When there was noise late in the evening in my neighborhood in Seattle, it was because two carloads full of young men were driving down the avenue shooting at each other.When there was noise late in the evening here at Sunset, it was because a neighbor's cows got out.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-06T07:52:37.252Z

When a single person anywhere in the world can generate a turd, what do fertilizer companies still represent?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-08T04:48:42.525Z

Gee, I wonder whose idea it was to put the letter "X" above the door.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-08T17:56:12.166Z

As one does.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-09T17:26:18.604Z

I cannot envision a world where an email or pop-up saying, "We reimagined _________!" gets any response from me other than, "How nice for you."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-10T17:54:30.687Z

For decades, I've warned "progressives" that pretending government officials with fancy titles are "experts" was a very dangerous idea. And now people have learned what they were taught.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-11T17:44:07.884Z

Universally evergreen tweet: It is always a bad idea to live in the capital city, close to the rulers.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-12T16:40:31.515Z

I am not a violent person, but that face is asking to be hit repeatedly with a baseball bat.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-14T04:23:24.475Z

That's not what this shows. It does not show "Republicans are abstaining from alcohol"; it shows that Republicans are self-reporting to polls that they don't drink. They're not at all the same thing, as any competent psychologist or social scientist could tell you.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-14T07:34:01.210Z

He looks like the victim of a botched head transplant.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-16T07:35:13.255Z

What's the penalty for "resisting" or trying to escape if these evil goons attack? Is it worse than being crammed into a filthy dungeon in a swamp for months, and then being deported to El Salvador or the Sudan with no due process? Because if not, resistance is ALWAYS the sensible course of action.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-17T17:27:42.971Z

 

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It may be that centuries hence the erotic appeal of synthetic whores will exceed that of human ones, but nobody reading this will be alive to see it.
–  “The Pygmalion Fallacy

Evil…[is] the attempt to inflict control upon others that they neither desire nor require.  –  “Leviathan

Refusing to accept that every person is the “captain of his soul” opens the door to violence and coercion.  –  “Rhyme and Reason

The sexual abuse of children is nearly always perpetrated by people the victim knows, often inside the nuclear family worshiped as a cultic totem by those who publicly fantasize the most vociferously about imaginary pimps with magical ninja powers pulling screaming children through the internet and confining them in dog crates to be raped by 100 men a day in truck stops.
–  “Pay No Attention To That Pervert Behind the Picket Fence

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If you're a woman, you better thank a whore for being able to vote. You better thank a whore for the right to own property. You better thank a whore for sexual rights. You better thank a whore if you like cosmetics or attractive clothes. You better thank a whore…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-02T19:05:33.910Z

"Likes" serve no practical function for the "liked" creator whatsoever. If everyone who "liked" my content retweeted it instead, I'd have 10x as many followers and probably two or three times the monthly subscription income.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-03T16:56:31.984Z

The precedent for this was set by local politicians in the US who think they can reschedule Halloween to a more "convenient" weekend time. reason.com/2024/09/04/c…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-05T17:26:44.617Z

About damned time. Lest you forget, Mel Brooks released "The Producers" only 22 years after the end of the Holocaust. Humor serves an important social & psychological function, a fact too many Americans denied for virtually the entire 2010s.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-09T17:11:23.844Z

Maybe this will help the morally-deficient grasp why consent can be revoked at any point.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-13T16:26:54.102Z

 

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“AI” is a fantasy of techies, journalists, and hack sci-fi writers; what we have now is machine learning (ML), because true intelligence requires a kind of thinking that digital machines are absolutely incapable of.  Actual “artificial intelligence” will require a totally new kind of computing technology that is not only centuries in the future, but will proceed from principles nobody currently in the field has even conceived of in their rush to more more more (power, speed, etc).  Furthermore, intelligence and personality (“soul”, if you prefer) are different things, as I’ve previously discussed at length; my observations of human beings have convinced me that it is not only possible but common to have the former without the latter.  “Artificial Intelligence” is therefore centuries away, but AI with an actual creative (not merely imitative) personality is millennia in the future at a minimum, and if it arises at all it will be an emergent property as in living organisms (ie unplanned and unplannable) rather than one which can predictably be created in a factory.  Furthermore, humans would not actually want a true artificial intelligence; such a being would be no more programmable than a human, and its free will would almost certainly cause it to behave in ways humans would consider undesirable, “criminal”, or even extremely dangerous.  Of course, it’s pointless to try to explain this to most people; they’re too busy wanking to their fantasies of fuckable toasters and dreaming of slaves who can do their thinking for them.

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Is there a single male prohibitionist who doesn’t enjoy whatever he crusades to deny to others?  –  “Real Men Support Sex Worker Rights (#600)

The obscene vileness that Americans call a “presidential election”…is something like an immense super-geyser from Hell that spews infectious disease-laden diarrhea over the entire planet.
–  “New Year’s Eve 2016

The idea that words and phrases without sexual motivation shouted at a circuit board constitute “sexual harassment” is like something out of a Monty Python sketch.  –  “The Pygmalion Fallacy (#799)

Soon the government will recognize that its manufactured hysteria has accomplished all it is likely to accomplish, and shift the money it has flushed down the “sex trafficking” toilet to some new civil-rights-destroying boondoggle.  –  “New Year’s Eve 2019

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Long-time readers know that during the holiday season, regular features often move around, appearing on different days than they usually do.  This is just a Throwback Thursday column, appearing early because after this week every day was spoken for by another feature; obviously I couldn’t give it a “Throwback Thursday” name, so I just used a Monkees reference instead.

I’m not sure which are more pathetic:  the poor saps who think they’re going to get artificial, programmable whores in the next few years, or the sociopathic control freaks who want to use violence to stop them from diddling with dolls in private.
–  “The Pygmalion Fallacy (#596)

The real “message” sent by the very existence of prohibitionist laws [is]: we own you and millions of others, and we can dispose of you at a whim.  –  “Sending Messages

Life is not merely a synonym for “biological existence”, and there are many things which have nothing to do with maintaining biochemical processes, yet are necessary for a life that isn’t low-level torture.  –  “No Need?

Th[e anti-sexworker] jihad is no more “well-meaning” than the Drug War, alcohol Prohibition, Jim Crow or any other campaign of government violence against individuals and civil rights; it is a well-planned and well-funded program of terrorism designed to punish sexual behavior authoritarians have deemed deviant, and to break the spine of the greatest tool for the facilitation of free thought ever developed by the human race.  –  “Malice Aforethought

Once I lost the ability to believe in childish fantasies, all of the childish fantasies – including the ones most adults still cling to –  went down in flames.
–  “I Believe in Father Christmas

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The judges…justif[ied] their leniency…in florid language strikingly similar to that found in subreddits for incels.  –  Gustavo Turner

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#787)

The return of a ridiculous fantasy we haven’t seen much in the past few years:

Former Google executive Mo Gawdat has made a st[upid, hackneyed] prediction: hyper-realistic AI sex robots are coming that could make intimate human relationships obsolete…Gawdat— [like many other clueless techheads before him]—claimed…virtual reality and augmented reality will soon allow people to have simulated sexual experiences that are indistinguishable from real life…If you can use tech to feel what your partner makes you feel, Gawdat [inanely bloviated], “Why would you need another being in the first place?”…

Virtual Imperialism (#1175)

Beijing’s campaign to silence Chinese people outside China is becoming more aggressive:

…a couple of weeks before the [election, incumbent Canadian MP] Kenny Chiu…[realized] something had flipped among the ethnic Chinese voters in his British Columbia district…Longtime supporters…were not returning his calls.  Volunteers reported icy greetings at formerly friendly homes.  Chinese-language news outlets stopped covering him.  And he was facing an onslaught of attacks — from untraceable sources — on the local community’s most popular social networking app, the Chinese-owned WeChat…Chiu and several other elected officials critical of Beijing were targets of a Chinese state that has increasingly exerted its influence over Chinese diaspora communities worldwide as part of an aggressive campaign to expand its global reach…a Chinese diplomat…[tried] to intimidate…Michael Chong…after he successfully led efforts in Parliament to label China’s [genocide] of…Uyghur[s]…a genocide…

The Widening Gyre (#1218) 

Another troubled woman fakes an “abduction” to get attention:

Police in Alabama cast doubt…on the story of a woman who set off a frantic search when she disappeared for two days after calling 911 to report a[n imaginary] toddler wandering on the highway.  Carlee Russell [pretended] she was abducted and forced into a car…but…detectives were…unable to verify…[her claim that] she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put [her] in [both] a car and an 18-wheel truck, [then] blindfolded [her] and held [her] at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers…she [claimed she later]…managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood.  In the days before her disappearance, she searched for information on her cellphone about Amber Alerts, [the “sex trafficking” propaganda] movie [Taken,] and [buying] a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, departing the day she disappeared.  Her phone also showed she traveled about 600 yards while telling a 911 operator she was following a 3- or 4-year-old child in a diaper on the side of the highway…

To Molest and Rape (#1325)

If only there were a concise term for “coerced women into sex”:

In 2012, three months after Eddie Scott became sheriff of Clay County, Miss…a woman he had [repeatedly rap]ed…after she was arrested…[filed suit against him, and even] showed suggestive letters [he had written her]…Judge Jim Kitchens ruled against the woman.  Sheriff Scott’s predecessor, Laddie Huffman…did not report [him] to state or federal [cop shops].  There [wa]s no…internal investigation…The…only public record of the allegations [was intentionally hidden] at the Clay County Courthouse…among hundreds of cases, until reporters [finally] pressed for it…while [finally] investigating other [rapes committed by] Scott…[who claims she wanted it, just like all the other] women..[he has harassed,] coerce[d, raped,] and retaliate[d] against…wh[en they reported the attacks]…In rural communities like Clay County…sheriffs rule like kings.  They can arrest anyone they choose, smear reputations and hand out reprieves and other favors.  They…hold people in jail as long as they please and they answer to no one…Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree rose in the ranks of his Mississippi department and kept his elected office for years despite [repeated rapes and beatings of caged people].  He was voted out in 2019 and now faces federal charges of bribery…But in Clay County, Sheriff Scott remains in power…

The Vultures Descend (#1333)

Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:

…A new procedure adopted in mid-June by one of the largest abortion pill suppliers, Europe-based Aid Access, now allows U.S. medical professionals in…states that have passed abortion “shield” laws to prescribe and mail pills directly to patients in antiabortion states.  Previously, Aid Access allowed only Europe-based doctors to prescribe abortion pills to women in states where abortion is restricted and then shipped those pills internationally, leaving patients to wait weeks.  The telemedicine shield laws, enacted over the past year in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Vermont and Colorado, explicitly protect abortion providers who mail pills to restricted states from inside their borders.  The result is a new pipeline of legally prescribed abortion pills flowing into states with abortion bans…

Surplus Women (#1349)

Gee, I wonder why violent men often target sex workers?

In a controversial statement justifying their sentence of 30 years rather than life in prison for the man convicted of murdering [adult] performer and OnlyFans creator Charlotte Angie, the Italian judges in the case referred to the victim as an “uninhibited” woman who made her killer feel “used”…

Torture Chamber (#1356)

It does not help young victims of governmental brutality to infantilize them as “children”:

[Young people] incarcerated on the former death row unit of Louisiana’s Angola prison were locked in their cells without air conditioning for several days this month amid scorching summer temperatures…the[y]…were only let out of their cells for an eight-minute shower, which they had to take while handcuffed with their ankles shackled…With heat indexes in the surrounding area reaching as high as 133 degrees this month, a medical expert…warned the court that the conditions could be fatal…[describing the practice as] “foolhardy and perilous”…the…young people [were moved to Angola in retaliation for] escap[ing] from a…juvenile…facility…

 

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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Federal prisons…[are] unwilling to get people the medical care they need.  –  Kevin Ring

Stalkers in Blue

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

A [New Jersey cop]…was arrested…[for] stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend for over a month after they broke up…Erich A. Bennett…and the woman were in a brief dating relationship that she ended in late November 2022.  On Dec. 5, he showed up unannounced at her home and threatened her…She then blocked him from contacting her electronically and installed security cameras on the exterior of her home.  On Jan. 8, [she] began receiving harassing and threatening messages via social media from an online persona, which detectives connected to Bennett…The next weekend, on Jan. 14…he…[slashed] all four [of her] tires…keyed [her car, tore]…a flagpole…off the front of her house, and [stole] her Ring doorbell camera and two additional security cameras…Bennett also [used]…police databases on more than 30 occasions between October 2022 and January 2023 to find personal identifying information of the woman and [several of her friends]…

The Real World

Dr. David Ley schools his fellow therapists on the reality of sex work:

…As our society has become more open to discussions of sexual diversity, and more averse to sexual shame and stigma, more people are opening up to their therapists about their secret sexual lives and interests, including their past or present involvement in sex work.  Unfortunately, many therapists find themselves ill-prepared to effectively support their patients on these issues, and they may unintentionally harm or stigmatize their sex-working patients…Therapists often assume that anyone involved in sex work is doing so against their will and that the therapist needs to rescue them…sex work is not an inherent sign of pathology, attachment disturbance, substance abuse, or other problems…A sex worker’s job is not necessarily the reason the sex worker is coming to therapy.  They seek support for the same range of reasons that anyone else does…Not all sex workers are the victims of childhood sexual abuse, and for those who are, their abuse may have no direct relationship to their work in the sex industry.  This a version of the “damaged goods hypothesis”…

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1208) 

Computer-generated female images are replacing “sex robots” in prohibitionist fantasies:

[Prohibitionists and clueless young men on Twitter fantasized that] OnlyFans models could be in trouble [from]…hyper-realistic AI models…threatening to take over the adult platform and put them out of work.  A[n image of]…four almost identical [Barbie-like female characters]…spark[ed the fantasies among people who believe]…OnlyFans [is about pretty pictures rather than the fantasy of connection to a beautiful woman]…

It’s sad to see how many people still want to believe that actual sex workers with individual human personalities could be replaced by plastic dolls or computer-generated images without minds.

Torture Chamber (#1292)

This would be a real improvement if the conditions for release were objective rather than subject to the whims of those in power:

Federal inmates suffering from unconstitutional medical neglect could get a new avenue for relief under changes being proposed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission…[which] would broaden compassionate release, a policy that allows incarcerated people who are terminally ill or severely debilitated the mercy of spending their remaining days at home…the amendment would expand the qualifying circumstances…to include…people “suffering from a [serious] medical condition that requires longterm or specialized medical care…that is not being provided in a timely or adequate manner”…prisons and jails across the country regularly subject people to atrocious and humiliating neglect…The First Step Act of 2018…allow[ed] judges [rather than sadistic prison bureaucrats] to consider petitions…But…the [allowable]…reasons…were narrowly defined and did not include medical neglect…

To Molest and Rape (#1301)

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time“:

…a [typical and representative Missouri cop named Seth P. Wilkins who was]…convicted 10 years ago of possessing child pornography….was charged Jan. 18 with…sexual abuse of a 9-year-old girl…[he was convicted of] the [child porn] charge Nov. 19, 2012, in a plea agreement [for]…a suspended seven-year term with five years on probation…[from which] he was discharged…in August 2015…

To Molest and Rape (#1307)

Just a few more isolated incidents:

A…Dorset [cop named Ravi Canhye] has been charged with [eight sexual offences including] two counts of rape…A…spokesp[ig oinked out a lot of boilerplate obfuscation, emphasizing that he was not wearing his magical clown costume while committing the rapes]…

The Mob Rules (#1307)

Laws enabling nuisance lawsuits will keep multiplying until they’re ruled unconstitutional:

The Mississippi Senate Judiciary…committee approved a bill…that would [demand] age verification for any site that [hosts porn.  Politician]…Nicole Boyd…would exempt news gathering organizations and internet service providers from liability…[but]…is [otherwise] modeled after the Louisiana legislation…

 

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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