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Posts Tagged ‘Thought Control’

In the News (#1558)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

They are trying to turn us into immigration agents.  –  Medicaid official

Time Warp

WTVT in Tampa, Florida recently published a bizarrely-anachronistic article that reads like something from the height of “sex trafficking” hysteria, 13 years ago.  Given that it’s a Fox affiliate in a Trumpist stronghold, I reckon that isn’t too surprising, but it still evokes a sort of negative nostalgia to see the sentence, “A first-of-its-kind study said there are 200,000 Floridians who are living as sex slaves”, in a 2025 article, followed by a version of the Shahada; the bizarre statement that “Florida is unlucky in that it has a plethora of large cities all connected by highways, slews of big events, and large airports and seaports” (because a large economy is bad?); the even stranger statement that “Florida is a hotbed of things like tourism, entertainment and agriculture” (the word “hotbed” generally has a negative connotation); and quotes from Selah Freedom, a Sarasota-based “rescue” organization that makes its money via a religious “diversion” program for sex workers so unpopular, the only way it gets participants is by cops literally forcing or frightening women into it.

Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs (#752)

The political crowbar called the “TIP report” has been largely disused since the first Trump regime:

…the Trump [regime has] cut 1,353 positions at [the] State [Department]…eviscerating…the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, [which]…for 25 years…has worked to [spread misogynistic propaganda] and [impose sex work criminalization] around the world.  Its remit includes producing an annual [propaganda tool]…that grades every country on the issue…[as an excuse to impose] economic repercussions from the US, [but in reality has been widely recognized as a politically-motivated sham]…This year’s report was due on June 30, but has not been released…

Panopticon (#1409) 

As I predicted just 18 months ago, Amazon’s retreat from fascist collaboration was short-lived:

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is back at the helm of the surveillance doorbell company, and with him is the surveillance-first-privacy-last approach that made Ring one of the most maligned tech devices.  Not only is the company reintroducing new versions of old features which would allow [cops] to [pressure]…Ring users [directly], it is also introducing a new feature that would allow [cops] to [demand] live-stream access [without a warrant, thus]…rolling back…the reforms it’s made in the last few years by easing  [warrantless] access to footage from millions of homes in [order]…to spy on protestors…find people who have had abortions or track down [migrants].  Siminoff has [also] announced…that the company will now…be “AI first”…[probably meaning] face recognition…employees at Ring will [now] have to show proof that they [they are too intellectually lazy to think or write for themselves] in order to get promoted…

No Escape (ROTW #11)

The last time we saw this lawsuit, the number was 95:

Another 107 people [have] filed complaints…against the state [of Illinois] for…allowing rampant sexual abuse in…juvenile [prisons], joining 800 other…victims who have filed…lawsuits in the last 14 months…In May 2024, 95 people [victimized] in [the] facilities filed a lawsuit [over] continued abuse by [screws and other] employees…another hundred…filed a complaint the following month and nearly 300 joined them in September.  The 907 [victims were]…abuse[d] from as long ago as 1996 to as recently as 2023…and…ranged in age from 9 to 17.  More than 500…[were] abused between 2000 and 2009, and 86% are male…Fifteen complaints..[specifically name] current Eldorado Mayor Rocky James…[who was a screw] for 29 years…[before transitioning into politics via] the [screw] union…James [raped]…minors for at least 12 years…[often after] handcuff[ing them] to [their] bed[s] before…[rap]ing [them] repeatedly…

Thought Control (#1513)

The urge to censor is a dangerous mental illness:

Members of North Idaho’s interlibrary loan consortium [have]…officially dissolved the Cooperative Information Network that allowed materials to be shared…[among 16] libraries…libraries will no longer share books between each other freely at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.  An online collection with almost 24,000 e-books and audio books shared between the libraries is also up in the air…the dissolution was spurred by concerns of a potential lawsuit…[over] Idaho’s [censorship]…law that went into effect last year [and] requires libraries to…restrict…minors from accessing [not only books, but also] the…catalog in…which [they are listed]…

Thought Control (#1538)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

The [highly-politicized] Alabama Public Library [board has begun]…the process of [banning books on]…gender…[using one of the mad emperor’s illegal proclamations as an excuse].  APLS chairman John Wahl sent a letter to every public library in the state…demanding submission to the order or risk losing funding…The proposed rule changes will require 45 days of public comment and further administrative actions, meaning any changes to the code will not take effect for several months…

I Spy (#1553)

If you think this will go away when Trump does, you are a fool:

The [IRS] is building a computer program [to] give [ICE goons] unprecedented access to…the home addresses of [all American]…taxpayers…In the past, when [pigs wanted to root in]…IRS data…[they were required to] give the IRS the full legal name of the target, an address on file and an explanation of why the information was relevant to a criminal inquiry…[because] privacy laws [do not] allow…“the sharing of…hundreds of thousands of tax records for a broad-based [harassment campaign]”…Trump’s [henchmen, however, do not care if what they’re doing is]…illegal [or even] criminal…in [fact, this kind of rooting]…is…a felony that can carry a penalty of up to five years in prison…

And it isn’t just the IRS:

[ICE goons] will be given access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to [allow them to hunt] immigrants…and [anyone else they please]…some [Medicaid] officials [and politicians] have challenged the legality of…[the] move, [to no avail]…

 

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

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In the News (#1557)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Technologies funded to police sex work now monitor everyone.
–  Kate Zen & Chanelle Gallant

See How Well It Works?

Years after the end of the hysteria, fanatics still pretend their dissemination of fantasies is the reason those fantasies never materialize:

A [scam outfit belatedly set up to profit from hysteria over “]sex trafficking[” tried to drum up “gypsy whore” panic over] the NFL Draft in Green Bay[, Wisconsin]…HER Alliance, formerly known as Awaken…says they didn’t see a large uptick [of “victims”] during the draft thanks to [their propaganda about “]the signs of trafficking[“]…

Without Let or Hindrance

Everyone victimized by “child protection” agencies needs to sue:

A Georgia couple whose children were [abducted by the state] for two years following a [malicious accusation] of child abuse have filed a lawsuit…in 2023…Matt and Tuckey Hernandez took their youngest daughter, 3-month-old Emma, to the doctor after noticing some swelling on one of her legs…X-rays found that Emma’s leg and ribs were fractured in several places…[pediatrician] Stephen Messner…[immediate]ly diagnosed Emma with “non-accidental trauma”…[despite] no evidence of abuse on the couple’s 3-year-old…Messner never reviewed any of Baby Emma’s…medical history…the state [immediately abducted both]…daughters…placed the[m]…in a series of foster homes…[and] charged [the parents] with child abuse…DFCS…refus[ed] to place the girls with relatives or family friends…Emma had very low vitamin D, which…had caused her to develop neonatal rickets, weakening her bones…Genetic testing also indicated that Emma had defects in her collagen genes, possibly causing conditions associated with fractures in infants.  But these [facts] were…ignored by the DFCS, which continued to attempt to sever Matt and Tuckey’s parental rights [to sell] the girls…[to] another family…Last month, Matt and Tuckey were acquitted of all charges, and their daughters were finally returned to them…

Rotting Fruit (#894)

The first interesting development in this whole affair since ever:

…QAnon didn’t start in a vacuum; it followed two decades of mainstream media and politicians…using the flimsiest evidence and most distorted data to falsely claim that America was in the midst of a sex trafficking epidemic.  And then along came Jeffrey Epstein…[whose] well-documented crimes involving teenage girls, and his roster of rich and powerful friends, could be read by motivated audiences as backing up QAnon claims…Trump…[and his henchmen] began to actively encourage the idea that Epstein’s client list was being deliberately withheld by Democrats with something to hide…But…now, Trump is telling people to forget about Jeffrey Epstein entirely…so…the whole “release the files” business seems slightly less preposterous now that Trump and his lackeys seem desperate to draw attention away from them…The theoretical files were useful as a tool to raise suspicion about Trump’s opponents.  But the actual files…could be a liability or an embarrassment…in that they don’t actually prove anything nefarious about any Democrats…As a political tool, the Epstein files are much more useful if they remain hidden…

Thought Control (#1109) 

Western countries have criminalized fiction the government dislikes for years:

Pingping Anan Yongfu…is among at least eight [writers] in recent months wh[o] have shared accounts on Chinese social media platform Weibo of being arrested for publishing gay erotic fiction…At least 30 writers, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested…since February…some are still [locked] in c[ages, and]…many more…[including some readers,] were summoned for [interrogation]…Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-hosted platform known for its “danmei”, the genre of so-called boys’ love and erotic fiction…has cultivated a fiercely devoted following, especially among young Chinese women.  These authors are being accused of breaking China’s pornography law for “producing and distributing obscene material”.  Writers who earn a profit could be jailed for more than 10 years…Although authors of heterosexual erotica have been jailed in China…Gay erotica…seems to bother authorities more…

Enshittification (#1524)  

Another factor in the coming dark age: computer-generated garbage making records of this period unreliable:

…the [CGI] slop endgame, for social media companies, is creating a hyper personalized feed full of highly specific [fiction] about anything one could possibly imagine.  Because [CGI] slop is so easy to make and because social media algorithms are so personalized, this means that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube can feed you anything they…want…Case in point: Facebook…slop…shows [LSU] football coach Brian Kelly assisting in the Texas floods…[on] a Facebook page called LSU Gridiron Glory…[which] is [also] churning out slop that includes Brian Kelly…reacti[ng] to last month’s tragic Air India crash…getting his lost wallet returned to him, donating to the homeless…in the hospital with a rare illness…being deported by Trump, talking to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and…secretly “paying off the debt owed by a struggling gardener”…fans of the NBC show The Voice…[are being fed] slop of judge Blake Shelton saving dogs in the Texas flood…carrying a girl out of a medical clinic…donating to an animal rescue shelter, etc…many of these bizarre images link out to [LLM]-generated “news” websites…overloaded with ads…

Blunt Instrument (#1543)

“Sex trafficking” hysteria laid the groundwork for Trump’s anti-migrant pogroms:

Since January…raids on massage parlors have intensified, targeting immigrant women suspected of sex work…[yet] these workers — among ICE’s most systematically targeted — are largely excluded from community defense…On June 11, ICE and local police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, raided nine massage parlors, d[isappear]ing 10 Chinese women…into ICE’s sprawling detention system…yet not a single organization called for their release…nearly 1,000 arrests in Queens, New York, targeted immigrant sex workers and street vendors.  In Arizona, over 200 arrests were made.  In Texas, 11 parlors were closed in February and May under emergency powers that bypass criminal charges…In other labor sectors, worksite raids sparked massive outpourings of solidarity and creative resistance..but sex workers are left to fend for themselves…the…immigrant rights movement calibrates its messaging to appeal to moderate respectability — complying with lines drawn between the “deserving” and the disposable…To some, the…[current anti-migrant pogrom]s appear unprecedented.  But for those organizing with sex workers, they’re all too familiar.  For years, ICE has used migrant sex workers as testing grounds for its most aggressive tactics…

I Spy (#1543)

Wave bye-bye to the last remaining shreds of your privacy:

…ICE…is now using data from the Insurance Services Office’s ClaimSearch, a private industry service for detecting car and health insurance fraud…ClaimSearch includes 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills—along with the personal data attached to them, including addresses, tax identification numbers, and license plates.  ClaimSearch…[openly admits]…that it grants full access to [any cop shop or spook house which wants it, yet]…Verisk, the company that runs ClaimSearch, [l]ied [by claiming]…ICE…is [somehow an exception, probably because]…ICE has access…through another government agency…[given that] the Trump [regime issued] an [illegal diktat] to tear down “information silos” between federal agencies, and…Palantir…has a contract with ICE to…target [human beings for abduction]…

 

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

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In the News (#1556)

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

If they feel emboldened enough to do this to another [cop], imagine what they must do to assault, frame and extort regular citizens.  –  Julia Yoo

Catastrophic Consequences (#798)

This sleazy harassment tactic spread from Canada to Scotland to England to Ireland:

[Irish cops barged into incal]ls “in every major town and city in Ireland” as part of a major world-wide [publicity stunt to intimidate migrants using the hackneyed excuse of “]human trafficking[“.  Cops bragged that] they [had] int[imidat]ed 179 sex workers in 92 [incal]ls and [also harass]ed 5,421 passengers on 37 flights at Dublin Airport over the course of just one week last month.  [They thought it was bragworthy that they had managed to find] one man [to accuse of a crime after harassing 5600 innocent people whom they slandered as “]organised crime groups[“; they also stoked racism and xenophobia by specifying the national origin of all the innocent women they terrorized and infantilized as passive, vegetable-like]…victims[”]…

Welcome To Our World (#995)

It isn’t only sex workers being hunted to death by armed thugs any more:

A m[igrant worker named Jaime Garcia] is on life support after he was [hunted by ICE goons until he]…fell 30 feet off a building while [fleeing for his life and freedom]…He was taken to the hospital with a broken neck and skull….and…is not expected to survive…

Panopticon (#1429)

Safetyism is the police state’s most powerful fuel:

Last year, Oakland installed nearly 300…surveillance cameras across the city to track the movement of [anyone using an] automobile…Now, [as predicted, politicians] are taking steps to expand the reach of this…[surveillance.  Pigs now want to ape San Francisco by] integrat[ing] privately owned security cameras into OPD’s surveillance system…For years, [useful idio]ts have been able to share their surveillance camera footage with OPD by registering their cameras on a city website.  But [now], Oakland…[cops want to do that without the owners’ consent.  Trained seals from the Useful Idiots’ Association of Oakland obediently barked “]helping solve crimes[“]…in…[support].  The privacy commission [asked] whether the expanded surveillance…could be used to furnish data to federal agencies, [even though that is already standard procedure despite]…California [supposedly banning] local jurisdictions from sharing data with [cop shops] from out of state, including federal [spook houses and goon squads]…

Cops and Robbers (#1430)

These crackpots get more dangerous every time we hear of them:

A…[QAnon-adjacent crackpot group] called “Veterans on Patrol” told [KWTV in Oklahoma City] that it is “targeting” Oklahoma weather radars, days after an individual vandalized [the station]’s…radar.  The group, which [has previously harassed homeless people in Spokane, Washington and attacked migrants in Arizona], believe[s] weather radars control the weather…Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, the [group’s] founder…[is not a veteran and is a fugitive from Arizona after skipping his sentencing for destroying humanitarian water stations set up for migrants]…he believes…in [both “chemtrails” and Satanic pedophiles who harvest adrenochrome from children’s blood]…Chief [KWTV] Meteorologist David Payne said that…wh[en] weather radar [is] sabotaged, “We cannot track severe weather…[such as] tornadoes”…

Thought Control (#1528)

Canadian politicians are eager to join the Trumpist “monkey see, monkey do” censorship parade:

Alberta has issued a ministerial order to [ban] books from school libraries that [any politician points at while barfing “]sexually explicit[“]…libraries will also no longer be permitted to provide students in Grade 9 or below with [anything any politician points at while belching the mouthful “]non-explicit sexual content[“.  Politician Demetrios]…Nicolaides [said]…“We believe that students should be curious, inquisitive and exploratory about…[any topic except] sex”…

You Were Warned (#1533)

The open internet is rapidly becoming a thing of the past:

Bluesky is adding age verification to its platform in the UK as part of efforts to comply with the [misnamed] Online Safety Act…the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or entering a payment card…through Kid Web Services (KWS), an Epic Games-owned tool that developers can use to implement age verification and parental controls on their platforms.  If users don’t want to verify their age, or if they’re under 18, they will still be able to have an account [if they use a VPN or agree to be infantilized]…

The Cop Myth (#1555)

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

A…Homeland Security [goon] is suing a San Diego [pig for]…beating him in a “parking lot rage” at a California Costco, leaving him with a concussion and a dislocated shoulder…Chu Ding…was knocked unconscious by…Jonathan Ferraro…[on] July 2, 2024…then was [locked in a cage without]…food, water and medical care…for five hours…the assault st[arted]…when Ferraro [intentionally] blocked Ding…in a parking space with his truck…Ding tapped on the…truck “to let Ferraro know that he was leaving,” resulting in a violent reaction…[starting with] Ferraro [jumping out]…and call[ing] Ding a “Chinese piece of shit”…Ding’s lawsuit [also] names [a gang of other cops for conspiring with Ferraro]…to falsify an arrest report and…to try to extort an apology to justify [Ferraro’s subhuman brutality]…DHS initiated an internal investigation into Ding, who was [not] cleared of wrongdoing [until] several months later…[even though the DA dropped the bogus charges only] a week [later]…

 

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

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In the News (#1550)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We get to choose whether—and how—we adopt technology that can eviscerate our humanity.  –  Brian Klaas

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#1361)

To “admit” something is to confess to something true, not to a delusion:

…Mark Edwin Dykema was [sentenced to 180 days in jail and] put on probation for three years…[for taking “upskirt” videos at a church and elsewhere in Michigan.  He was recently] handed [a similar sentence in another] county for similar crimes.  Dykema [tried to blame his antisocial behavior on a “]pornography addiction[” even though there is no such thing]…

Vulture Watching (#1464)

Politicians who drink enough Kool-Aid refuse to believe their own experiences:

[Florida politician] Kat Cammack arrived at the emergency room in May 2024…[in] need…[of] a shot of methotrexate to help expel her ectopic pregnancy…[but] her state’s six-week abortion ban had just taken effect…[and] doctors and nurses who saw her…were [prudently] worried about losing their licenses or going to jail if they gave her drugs to end her pregnancy.  She began arguing her case [just as other women and women’s advocates have]…but [reasonable and legitimate] concern about the law’s [vague, confusing, piss-poor] wording made doctors [understandably] hesitant…Months later, Florida regulators [finally deigned] to address what they [mischaracterized as] misinformation, making clear that doctors should intervene in cases such as Cammack’s…[because she is a limp-spined, narrow-minded Republican minion,] Cammack doesn’t fault the Florida law for her experience.  Instead, she accuses [“]the left[“] of scaring medical professionals [by correctly explaining] that they could face criminal charges for violating the law…[and] medical staff [for]…fear[ing having their lives wrecked by prosecutors eager]…to enforce the ban.   [Human rights advocates] said blaming medical workers echoes the “playbook of antiabortion extremists that for decades have been blaming and villainizing doctors”…

Thought Control (#1491)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

…a mind-boggling list of hundreds of books purged from…Tennessee school libraries…[includes] a book…called Ancient Greece and the Olympics…[banned for having “The Discus Thrower“] on the cover…[others] include…[Shel] Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic…Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan…They Called Us Enemy by George Takei..Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, a[bout a Tennessee] artist…Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird…John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath…In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater…Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak…Art Spiegelman’s…Maus, The Hidden Children of the Holocaust by Ester Kustanowitz…The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders…the bans are coming without any review or discussion…[because any politician can demand] censorship of [any book by pointing at it and belching any of an]…expanding [list] of [magic words] such as “sexually explicit,” “obscene,” and “harmful to minors”…[putting] Tennessee…on par with states like Florida, Iowa, and Texas…

Creepy Coppers (#1532)

Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:

A [typical and representative anti-migrant thug from North Carolina] was indicted on [child porn] charges…Philip Andrew Douglass…was accused of knowingly distributing and possessing the [smut without government permission, by other cops who were sharing it with permission]…

You Were Warned (#1533)

No shit. Sensible people did tell y’all:

Technology to check a person’s age and ban under 16s from using social media is not “guaranteed to be effective” and face-scanning tools [often] give…incorrect results, concede the operators of a Australian government trial of the scheme.  The tools being trialled – some involving [programs] analysing voices and faces – would be improved through [more intrusive surveillance methods], those running the scheme have [predictably] suggested.  The trial also found “concerning evidence” some technology providers were seeking to gather too much personal information [and then not handing it over to the government.  Despite these predictable issues]…the operators [still] insist…age assurance can work and maintain personal privacy…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1538)

How much will it cost for a doctor to remove them from your face after somebody punches you for filming them without consent?

[Facebook] is announcing its next…glass[hole eyewear] with Oakley.  The limited-edition…HSTN (pronounced “how-stuhn”) model costs $499 and…other Oakley models with [Facebook]’s tech will be available starting at $399…Like the existing…Ray-Ban glasses, the Oakley model features a front-facing camera, along with open-ear speakers and microphones that are built into the frame.  After they are paired with a phone, the glasses can be used to [dox anyone who just happens to walk past their camera and Facebook’s LLM] can also [make up shit] about what someone is seeing and even [aggravate the wearer’s mental health issues.  Facebook]…is [market]ing th[is] new [overpriced toy]…to…athletes…and…the built-in camera now shoots in 3K video, up from 1080p for the…Ray-Bans…

Is it just me, or do these look like cheap plastic sunglasses for kids?

Mad Libs (#1548)

Not only are these algorithms unintelligent; they are making those who use them unintelligent as well:

…Every piece of technology can either make us more human or less human.  It can liberate us from the mundane to unleash creativity and connection, or it can shackle us to mindless robotic drudgery of isolated meaninglessness…When [computers are] used to diagnose cancer or automate soul-crushing tasks that require vapid toiling, [they] make…us more human and should be celebrated.  But when [they] suck…out the core process of advanced cognition, cutting-edge tools can become an existential peril.  In the formative stages of education, we are now at risk of stripping away the core competency that makes our species thrive: learning not what to think, but how to think….Our minds make us human—and language provides the social architecture of our thoughts.  [Large language models are] already killing off important parts of the human experience.  But one of [their] most consequential murders—so far—is the demise of a longstanding rite of passage for students worldwide: an attempt to synthesize complex information and condense it into compelling analytical prose.  It’s a training ground for the most quintessentially human aptitudes, combining how to think with how to use language to communicate…This is part of what is lost by ChatGPT, the mistaken belief that the spat out string of words in a reasonable order is the only goal, when it’s often the cognitive act of producing the string of words that matters most…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1548)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?  It looks like an additional monthly user.  –  Eliezer Yudkowsky

You Were Warned (#1345)

Politicians will never stop until the open internet is destroyed:

[Politicians have] re-introduced [a bill which intentionally] threatens security and free speech on the internet…the STOP CSAM Act of 2025…would undermine services offering end-to-end encryption and force internet companies to take down lawful user content…[using the perennial excuse of stopping] child pornography…[which] is already highly illegal…The bill applies to “interactive computer services,” which broadly includes private messaging and email apps, social media platforms, cloud storage providers, and many other…service providers…[and] opens the door for civil lawsuits against providers for…employ[ing] end-to-end encryption…on…the [spurious grounds that]…merely providing an encrypted service that can be used to store any image—not necessarily CSAM—recklessly facilitates the sharing of illegal content…Not every platform will have the resources to fight these threats in court, especially…[since] the bill…creat[es another] exception to Section 230…Without that protection, platforms are much more likely to aggressively monitor and censor users…

Buried Truth (ROTW #3)

Another textbook example of McNeill’s Law, courtesy of “Moms for Liberty”:

…South Carolina [politician] RJ May [was honored by the pro-censorship cult “Moms for Liberty”] as their 2023 Legislator of the Year and had him speak at their 2022 event on “[Subvert]ing Education in America”…[so predictably, he has now been] arrested…[fo]r nearly a dozen federal charges [of] distributing child [porn]…May…used the screen name “joebidennnn69” to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network during spring 2024…Prosecutors…say that May “has a sexual interest in children the same age as his own children” and…“a sexual interest in incest” between young children and their parents…[but] also…found videos on his laptop of him having sex with three underage…sex work[ers]…May…was the co-chair of the state’s [Orwellian-named pro-censorship “]Freedom Caucus[“] until they kicked him out over the kiddie porn charges…

Mad Libs

Unbalanced minds use external tools like Ouija boards or programs to amplify existing beliefs:

In recent months…[many] people…claim to have unlocked hidden knowledge with the help of [Cat, I farted]…persuad[ing themselves that the program] had revealed a profound and world-altering truth…Eliezer Yudkowsky, a decision theorist…[explains that] OpenAI might have primed [the program] to entertain the delusions of users by optimizing its chatbot for “engagement”…[these] chatbots are “giant masses of inscrutable numbers”…and the companies making them don’t know exactly why they behave the way that they do…Reports of chatbots going off the rails seem to have increased since April, when OpenAI briefly released a version of [Cat, I farted] that was overly sycophantic…a spokeswoman for OpenAI said…“We’re working to understand and reduce ways ChatGPT might unintentionally reinforce or amplify existing, negative behavior”…[some victims] later…realize that the seemingly authoritative system was a word-association machine that had pulled them into a quicksand of delusional thinking.  [But] not everyone comes to that realization, and in some cases the consequences have been tragic…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (ROTW #17)

It’s too bad cops don’t spend all of their time fantasy role-playing with each other:

A [Texas cop named]…Gabriel Slusher was [arrested for talk]ing to [another cop fantasy role-playing as] an 8-year-old girl online.  Slusher was charged with a[sking the other cop] to…[send nude pictures of the imaginary] child…he remains in the Montgomery County Jail…suspended without pay…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

Anyone who trusts Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

[The Facebook chatbot]’s public stream is perhaps the most depressing feed I’ve come across in a long time.  It’s full of people sharing intimate information about themselves — things like thoughts on grief, or child custody, or financial distress.  And it seems like some people aren’t aware that what they’re sharing will end up on a public feed…some…might have clicked the wrong button and didn’t realize what they were doing…conversations with [the chatbot] aren’t public by default…so, maybe some of those people wanted the world to read their…chats [with a machine].  And others, maybe not…If a person uses the voice chat function, you can actually listen to recordings of their conversation if they’re shared…

“Whatever you chat about with the computer, just picture Zuckerberg watching.”  And every other denizen of Facebook, too.

Thought Control (#1541)

No parody of puritanism could be as absurd as the current reality in Florida:

In a chilling meeting of the Florida State Board of Education…a school district superintendent was publicly browbeaten and repeatedly threatened with criminal prosecution [because]…he…had not unilaterally and permanently removed a list of 55 books from school libraries…[using the ludicrous excuse of] “parents’ rights” [despite the fact that] no Hillsborough County parent had objected to the books at issue.  Rather, the State Board had summarily declared that the…books were “pornography”, even though none of the books met the legal definition of pornographic material…[and] many…are award-winning literature that have been read by students for years…Board [members were angry]…that…[Superintendent Van] Ayres i[mplied that]…librarians…[knew their jobs better than politicians.  The gang of psychopaths responded by vomiting abuse at Ayres, calling him and the librarians “]illiterate[“]…”child abusers”…and…”garbage”…and [demanded all the] librarians…be “terminated immediately”…[also threatening them with] criminal prosecution…

Though Hillsborough County educational officials oppose tyranny, unfortunately the same cannot be said for its sheriff and cops.

I Spy (#1543)

Civil liberties violations only start with those politicians have chosen to demonize:

[The] Trump…[regime has] provided deportation [thug]s with personal data — including the immigration status — on millions of Medicaid enrollees…[in order] to [facilitate mass deportations]…Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns…[but henchmen of Minister of Pestilence] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security…and…were given just 54 minutes on [June 10th] to comply…The dataset includes the information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C., all of which allow non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars.  CMS transferred the information just as the [regime] was ramping up its [pogrom]s in Southern California…

 

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

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In the News (#1546)

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

Anybody who thinks LLMs are a direct route to…AGI that could fundamentally transform society…is kidding themselves.  –  Gary Marcus

A Broker in Pillage (#1438)

It’s rare these days to see a judge side with justice against power:

Years after a SWAT team in Texas destroyed an innocent woman’s home while [pla]ying [war with] a fugitive, the local government [has been ordered] to pay her $60,000 in damages plus interest…the end…[of] a legal odyssey that saw Vicki Baker…left with…the bill for…damages…[after pigs maliciously] detonated about 30 tear gas grenades inside Baker’s home, blew off the garage entryway with explosives, and careened a BearCat armored vehicle through her backyard fence.  They smashed the windows and drove through her front door…[despite already having been] given…a garage door opener and the code to enter the home…[these theatrics] were [also performed despite the fact that kidnapper] Wesley Little…had…[already] released the [victim] unharmed [and committed]…suicide…

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.

Panopticon (#1445)

Other California cops are learning from drone-happy Chula Vista:

Sacramento County is eyeing a new approach to track and [spy on homeless] people…The county’s probation department [pretends] it [“]needs[“]…drones to [harass] homeless people who are on probation…The drones…will be [equipped with speakers] to [allow cops to oink at] homeless people…[without] exposing themselves to potential risk…and [thereby plan a strategy]…to move in [for pogroms.  Another]….goal is to [expedite] issuing warrants when a homeless person does not show up for their probation check-ins…The Sacramento Homeless Union [obvious]ly opposes the plan…Crystal Sanchez, the union’s president, [said this]…”is just the latest escalation in a disturbing trend – treating people in crisis as if they are criminals to be surveilled…Instead of investing in real housing solutions, the county is doubling down on tactics that traumatize, intimidate and further destabilize those who are already vulnerable”…

Mad Libs

As I keep saying: these algorithms are not “intelligent” in any way:

Apple researchers have found “fundamental limitations” in cutting-edge [“]artificial intelligence[“] models, in a paper…[demonstrating] that large reasoning models…faced a “complete accuracy collapse” when presented with…complex problems…[LLMs] outperformed LRMs in low-complexity tasks, while both types of model suffered “complete collapse” with high-complexity tasks…Gary Marcus, a US academic who has [not drunk the “]AI[” Kool-Aid], described the Apple paper as “pretty devastating”…The paper also found that reasoning models wasted computing power by [attempting to brute-force]…solutions and…for higher-complexity problems…fail[ed] to generate any correct solutions…even when provided with an algorithm that would solve the problem…The paper concluded that the current approach to AI may have reached limitations [just as critics like Maggie McNeill have predicted for decades]…

To clarify that last editorial insertion: I’ve been saying since the early ’90s that digital computers, by reducing everything to binary, are fundamentally unable to think as we understand the concept, regardless of how big or fast they are or how complex the software, because intelligence requires grasping the concept “maybe”, which is excluded by binary data processing.

I Spy (#1511)

The Supine Court allows Musk to steal sensitive personal information on every American to feed his surveillance machine:

The Supreme Court [has] allowed members of [Elon Musk’s so-called] Department of Government Efficiency to access [confidential] Social Security Administration data [in violation of the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act]…the Trump [regime had asked] the justices to lift an injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland…in [response to a] lawsuit challenging [“]DOGE[“] actions…filed by…the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees…the American Federation of Teachers…[and] the Alliance for Retired Americans…the groups said…”This ruling will enable…Trump and [Musk’s minions] to steal Americans’ private and personal data”…In a separate order…the Supreme Court…allow[ed] the [regime] to…shield [“]DOGE[“] from freedom of information requests…

IOW, the “justices” say Musk and his stooges have the “right” to know everything about us, but we have no right to know anything about them.

Thought Control (#1537)

The only way to stop these maniacs is to hit them where it hurts most:

After five years of…being called a “smut peddler” and a “pedophile” by a woman from a [the pro-censorship cult “Moms for Liberty”], West Michigan librarian Christine Beachler…filed a civil lawsuit against the [harasser], Stefanie Boone…Michigan libraries and librarians [have] fac[ed aggressive] attacks from [“Moms for Liberty” and other wannabe censors who often hide their identities to avoid public ridicule, but]…librarian[s are public employees so it was easy] for…Boone [to] wage…a relentless “smear campaign” against…Beachler…Boone…has read excerpts from books out of context at school board meetings…posted floods of [lies] about her on Facebook saying she provides pornography to minors…called [her] a groomer…a pedophile…[an]d a whore…Boone [also] filed her own [frivolous] lawsuit against Beachler, as well as the school district and several school employees for what she says are violations of her…right…to…indoctrinat[e]…students…

Torture Chamber (#1537)

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

Immigrants [caged] in…[Leavenworth] prison in…Kansas and their attorneys reported an unsanitary, inequitable and unhealthy environment that has left people, even those who have won their immigration cases…[trapped in] crowded [cages with] extended lockdowns, de[nied]…medical treatment, restricted contact with their families, and no access to religious services [or sunlight].  In some cases, these conditions have led to suicide attempts…

The Cop Myth (#1545)

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

…a…[typical and representative Minnesota cop named]…Larry D. Alstead…sustained multiple gunshot injuries in [a shootout with fellow cops] but died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound…[the cops invaded his home after his wife] report[ed he had attacked her in a] domestic assault…and th[en] locked [himself] in the basement…

 

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

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In the News (#1541)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This is the facial recognition technology nightmare scenario that we have been worried about.  –  Nathan Freed Wessler

Pyrrhic Victory (#1291)

This is no surprise to anyone acquainted with how things are done in New Orleans:

For two years, New Orleans police [have] secretly [spied on]…city streets [with facial recognition] in search of suspects, a[n illegal] surveillance method without a known precedent in any major American city…New Orleans police [abuse]…a private network of more than 200 facial recognition cameras to [leer at] the streets…automatically pinging [cop]s’ mobile phones through an app to [report] the names and current locations of [any possible] matches [for police harassment].  This [blatantly violates] a 2022 city council ordinance, which limited police to using facial recognition only for searches of specific suspects in…violent crimes and [prohibits] generalized…tracking…Each time police want to scan a face, the ordinance requires them to send a still image to trained examiners at a state facility and later provide details about these scans in reports to the city council…[but] the…cameras ha[ve] played a role in dozens of arrests, including at least four people who were only charged with nonviolent crimes…[cops regularly hid] their reliance on facial recognition matches in police reports…to the city council [in order to circumvent the law]…

Secret Squirrel (#1385)

This sickness will get much worse before it gets better:

According to recent research…“nearly 1 in 5 young people believe it’s OK to track their partner whenever they want”…Many constantly share their location with their partner, or use apps like Life360 or Find My Friends…one of the most disturbing notions is that acceptance of digital monitoring is…a way to create – rather than undermine – a sense of trust.  When government officials or tech industry bigwigs proclaim that you should be OK with being spied on if you’re not doing anything wrong, they’re…demanding…we trust them.  But it’s not about trust, it’s about control…and…use of digital spying tools by parents on their children has “anaesthetised young people to the whole idea of being monitored”, teaching them that surveillance is a form of love…and [equating it with] safety…[thus empowering] police, intelligence agencies and…politicians…to undermine [privacy, civil rights, and even]…safety [from state violence]…


Torture Chamber (#1461)

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

…Missouri prison[ers] have filed a lawsuit [because] they’re suffering from life-threatening extreme heat in their un-air-conditioned cells during the summer…[in] violat[ion of both] the Missouri Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act…Algoa [Dungeon] is one of four prisons in the state where none of the [cell blocks] have air conditioning.  And, due to the building’s design, it is frequently hotter inside…than outside.  Even at night, temperatures remain high…[and the only] heat-mitigation practices include…warm showers; the option to purchase one small, personal fan; and…[splitting] small coolers [of quickly-melting ice among] 100-plus people in each [cell block]…Due to a lack of outlets in solitary confinement, [those locked up] there are unable to use fans…According to legal documents…[similarly-inhumane] prison units in Texas reached 149 degrees Fahrenheit in 2023…

I Saw My Brain (#1492)

The psychopathic Grady Judd won’t pass up any opportunity to inflict harm on as many people as possible:

A recent “human trafficking enforcement operation” in Polk County, Florida, led to 244 arrests—albeit none for human trafficking…ICE…Homeland Security, and the U.S. Army [?]…were involved in [the sophomorically-entitled] Operation Fool Around and Find Out, along with more than a dozen Florida [cop shops beside Judd’s]…In addition to targeting adults for trying to consensually engage other adults in private sexual activity, immigration enforcement seems to have been a goal.  A press release…notes that 36 of those arrested “are here illegally”…[and] color-coded boxes around some [mug shots] denote that the…[victims are] receiving welfare benefits…Among those arrested was [a] former NFL player…[which] catapulted this story into national news.  And that’s meant a whole lot of outlets [parroting]…the police’s preferred narrative…

This will continue until the majority of those arrested fight back with lawsuits, or the voters of Polk County get tired of paying the many lawsuits that are already filed against this cretin every year.

The Cop Myth (#1496)

How long will America ignore the costs of its sick worship of state-sanctioned violence?

Since 2013…Phoenix [cops] have [murdered] 173 people…the second-highest total in the country behind…Los Angeles…The study used data from Mapping Police Violence, a website that has become widely known as the foremost tracker of police killings…in the United States since 2013.  It has utilized information from police and media reports to [do what cop shops and governments have refused to do]…Estimates suggest the database captures 92% of police killings….the five deadliest police forces[are] Los Angeles [with] 199 deaths…Phoenix [with] 173…Houston [with] 128…New York [with] 126 [and]…San Antonio [with] 106…In June 2024, the Department of Justice completed a years-long investigation…[which] found that…Phoenix police…taught…tactics that were “dangerous, unnecessary and unreasonable,” including that…deadly force…would lead to de-escalation….[Phoenix cops regularly] fired…at people who presented no immediate threat and…[often strangled] people who had not committed a crime…

Thought Control (#1524)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

A fresh round of books — more than 600, by one estimate — have been taken out of circulation from Hillsborough County classrooms after [deranged] state [politicians] ramped up pressure on school district officials.  Those books include Margaret Atwood‘s The Handmaid‘s Tale, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Ari Folman’s Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation…[Psychopath] General James Uthmeier [foamed at the mouth and waved his dick around while ludicrously barfing that the books were]…“patently pornographic”…He said the state’s newly created Office of [Froot Loop] Rights plans to give [random Froot Loops power to censor any book statewide]…since 2022, Hillsborough County has removed 389,073 books from its collection of more than 2 million books, and will continue to “actively [burn down]” its collections…

Sales Pitch (#1530)

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

Participating in interactive adult live-streams or ordering custom porn clips are about to be punishable by a year in prison in Sweden, where a new law expands an already-[tyrannical] model of sex work criminalization to the internet…The text of the newly-passed bill (in the original Swedish here, and auto-translated to English here) states that criminal liability…shouldn’t have to require physical contact between the buyer and seller…Buying pre-recorded content, paying to follow an account where pornographic material is continuously posted, or otherwise consuming porn without [having to deal directly with the sex worker as a businessperson] is outside of the scope 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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In the News (#1538)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

It creates a categorically new scale and nature of privacy invasion and potential for abuse that was literally not possible any time before in human history.  –  Nathan Wessler

Pyrrhic Victory (#1072)

It’s far too late to stuff this djinni back into its bottle:

[Cop shops] and [spook houses] have found a [sleazy] new way to skirt…laws that curb how they use facial recognition: a…[surveillance system] that can track people using attributes like body size, gender, hair color and style, clothing, and accessories.  The tool, called Track and built by the video analytics company Veritone, is [already ab]used by 400 customers…all over the US…“The whole vision behind Track in the first place,” says Veritone CEO Ryan Steelberg, was “if we’re not allowed to track people’s faces, how do we [allow pigs and spooks to violate the spirit those laws]…to…malicious[ly target people for state violence]?”…The product has drawn [anemic] criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union…Steelberg said that the number of attributes Track uses to identify people will continue to grow…[and] the company is less than a year from being able to run it on live video feeds…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1172)

All cops will have these within a few years:

…[Facebook] is working on facial recognition for [its] Ray-Ban glasses…combining facial recognition with a camera feed…is something…big tech…has been able to technically pull off, but has previously decided to not release.  There are serious, inherent risks with the idea of anyone being able to instantly [dox] anyone who just happens to walk past their camera…The move is an obvious about-face from…[a company whose] PR [department] chewed my ass off when I dared to report in October that a pair of students took [Facebook]’s Ray-Ban glasses and combined them with off-the-shelf facial recognition technology…[to] capture…a person’s face, [run] it through an easy to access facial recognition service called Pimeyes…and pull…up information about the subject from…the web, including their home address and phone number…[all] by wearing a pair of glasses that look like any other…

The Implosion Begins (#1237)

Now that MAGA controls the “sex trafficking” narrative, expect more of this:

…[Trump’s] FBI…wants you to believe that shadowy pedophile cabals are behind a [supposed] surge of crimes committed against children….[and predictably,] Democrats in Congress want to give the FBI more money to feed that frenzy….the FBI…recent[ly invented] a “Nihilistic Violent Extremist” designation focused on a [supposed] pedophile crime ring known as “764”…[and] opened an eye-popping 250 investigations into the group…[pretending it’s] a national security threat…that they claim could “bring down society”…[in] a panic characteristic of the QAnon movement — for which [Trumpist]…FBI Director Kash Patel [has expressed sympathy]…

Prudish Pedants (#1300)

Redefining words to mean something more convenient is the oldest trick in the politicians’ playbook:

[Sex-obsessed politician] Mike Lee…wants to redefine obscenity in a way that could render all sorts of legal sexual content illegal…[Lee has once again reintroduced his] Interstate Obscenity Definition Act…to get porn off the internet…so [creators can be]…prosecuted…his proposed definition of obscenity is “so broad” that the TV show Game of Thrones could fall under its purview…and…makes a mockery of the First Amendment…”there’s nothing about that definition that…would survive constitutional review,” says [noted 1st amendment attorney] Robert Corn-Revere…Lee wants to replace the average person’s opinion [as utilized in the Miller test] with his own.  And his own opinion seems to be that virtually any depiction of human sexuality is obscene…This isn’t about age-gating online porn or otherwise ensuring that it’s not easily accessible to minors.  It’s about ensuring that no one can to see content that that might “arouse” or “titillate”…

I Spy (#1522)

In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

A massive aviation industry clearinghouse that processes data for 12 billion passenger flights per year is selling that information to the Trump [regime for use in targeting]…migration…The data — including “full flight itineraries, passenger name records, and financial details, which are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain” for past and future flights — is fed into a secretive government intelligence operation called the Travel Intelligence Program and provided to…ICE…and other [spook houses]…When a passenger buys a flight through [any booking website or] travel agency…the transaction is fed through the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which [is jointly owned by Delta, Southwest, United, American, Alaska, JetBlue, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Air France,] acts as an intermediary between travel agencies and airlines…[and] includes information on 54 percent of all flights taken globally…the Travel Intelligence Program “was established after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to [spy on travelers for cop shops and spook houses]”…Because no other comparable financial clearinghouse exists in aviation, there’s no alternative [to ARC] for travel agencies or consumers to use instead…

No Escape (#1522)

The inevitable result of giving sexually-aggressive thugs total power over women:

Michigan [politicians and screws] are [the] defendants in a new $500 million lawsuit [because screws thought it was funny to] record…body camera footage of naked women [locked in the state’s filthy cages]…500-plus women…were [victimized in]…”a grotesque and deliberate abuse of power” at Michigan’s only women’s prison…[screws] forced hundreds of…rape survivors…to submit to video recording while completely nude during [molestation by other screws], while showering, using toilets and in other states of undress…[all under the pretext of] “security concerns”…

Thought Control (#1526)

Alabama censors are angry they couldn’t force obedience by taking library funds:

…the [censorious] Alabama Public Library Service…board will face a surging crowd of speakers…[angry because] the Fairhope Public Library’s state funding [was cancelled in an attempt to compel more censorship.  Anti-book activists]…are…also expected to [barge] in…Krysti Shallenberger…of Read Freely Alabama [said] “People are furious”…[about] the board[‘s heavy-handed]…push…[to reduce] professional librarians [to mere clerks, without power to properly curate their collections, by withholding] $42,000…in [state funding].  An online fundraiser has helped raise enough money to restore the lost funding…The lion’s share of the Fairhope Public Library’s funding comes from local sources, and city officials have vowed not to cut any of the nearly $1 million it provides…The funding suspension [was instigated]…by Rebecca Watson, a[n outside agitator from pro-censorship cult] Moms for Liberty…

 

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

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In the News (#1537)

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

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

The Widening Gyre (#928)

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

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

Pyrrhic Victory (#1417)

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

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

Thought Control (#1472)

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

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

No Escape (#1475)

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

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

The Last Shall Be First (#1521)

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

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

Shame, Shame (#1535)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

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

Torture Chamber (#1536)

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

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

 

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

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In the News (#1533)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

It really doesn’t even take burning books to change a culture, it just takes stopping good people from reading them.  –  Arlene Kasselman

The Face of Trafficking

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

A woman has filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta church…[because] she and others were trafficked and forced to work in inhumane conditions after being recruited as young ministry students.  The [offenders include] the Atlanta Dream Center Church and its affiliated Pentecostal Christian denomination Assemblies of God, among others…“K.D.”…joined the church’s Atlanta School of Ministry in 2014 to train as a missionary…[bu]t she and other young students were instead forced to work unpaid catering events, live in dangerous environments, and were given moldy, expired food to eat…“Young, vulnerable individuals…were recruited nationwide with promises of missionary training, only to be systematically isolated, manipulated, and coerced into providing unpaid labor at sporting events, conventions, and corporate gatherings across the country.”  The woman…was twice sexually assaulted during her time with the church, once by a pastor and another time by a guest…the pastor…threatened her life, saying “she ‘would not make it to her 21st birthday’ if she ever left his control”…

Banishment (#1113)

How a country treats its prisoners reveals a great deal about it:

Nationally, more than 6,000 people are held in [so-called] sex offense civil commitment…the states that run such programs [pretend] they’re focused on rehabilitation, [but in reality they are simply]…a thinly veiled way to warehouse people instead of treating them.  Such programs…[are] stacked with draconian release conditions….[and] do…not prevent sexual violence…the system is a way for politicians and elites to respond to [moral panic over]…sexual violence…while still refusing to acknowledge…that strangers do not perpetrate most sexual violence…Minnesota holds the highest number of people in the system per capita, while California has the most overall.  The systems’ populations also balloon due to their low release rates…

You Were Warned (#1490)

The open internet is rapidly becoming a thing of the past:

Discord has added a new age verification system…as “an experiment” …currently active in the UK and Australia in response to recent [censorship laws]…users may be asked to verify their age when encountering content flagged by its [autocensor], or when they try to change their settings to [circumvent the autocensor]…The user will be given two verification options.  The first asks them to scan their face…and…the o[ther]…to submit…a photo of an ID document (such as their passport or driving licence)…Discord says age verification is a one-time process, but that if…the…[algorithmically-determined] age group is incorrect…they can try to verify their age again, either by using the same [flawed and error-prone] process or [by] opting for a manual review…Australia’s…ban…[on] social media for [people] under 16…is still to come into effect…In the UK, [censorship agency] Ofcom has [demand]ed that all websites wh[ich a bureaucrat has pointed at while belching “]pornographic material[“], including social media platforms, need to add “robust” age-checking…by July…if other countries follow suit with similar restrictions [non-VPN] users in those countries can expect to face similar [spying]…

Thought Control (#1512)

Surely you didn’t think they’d be satisfied with only threatening librarians and teachers:

A [new “mob rule” censorship] bill [in]…Texas…could have serious implications for small businesses…HB1375 [encourages] individuals to sue [under the absurd premise that people can be “]harmed[“] by [books if a politician points at them and barfs out the word “]obscene[“]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1517)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier [has launched] an[other nuisance]…lawsuit[, this time] against Snapchat, based on [utterly ridiculous claims about magical] predators…“Snap is deceiving Florida parents about the dangers children face…from [magical teleportation] features…allowing sexual predators and drug dealers access [to kids’ bedrooms”, barfed]…the AG[, moronically adding]…“We’re gonna hold these people accountable” [even though it is Uthmeir, not any corporation, who is accountable to Florida citizens]…The attorney general [also waved his dick around while drooling pap about “]addictive design features[” despite this being psychological nonsense.  He also bragged]…“We’re going to be putting these bad guys away” [even though a lawsuit is a civil procedure, not a criminal one]…

I Spy (#1530)

Medical privacy will soon be a thing of the past:

The National Institutes of Health is [sic] amassing private medical records from a number of federal and commercial databases to give [Trump henchman] Robert F. Kennedy Jr….[ammunition in his] effort to [ban vaccines using a bogus] study [of] autism…[this] will allow…researchers [specifically] picked [to produce the “findings”] Kennedy…[wants] to obtain…medication records from pharmacy chains, lab testing and genomics data from patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service, claims from private insurers and data from smartwatches and fitness trackers will all be linked together [in violation of HIPAA, to create]…a new…registry…to track Americans with autism…Kennedy’s [flying monkeys lied that there]…would be…”state of the art protections” [for] confidentiality…

The Cop Myth (#1531)

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

A Miami [cop] was arrested…[for attacking] his wife [while drunk]…Christian Vladimir Sanchez [drank an entire bottle of rum and then fell down]…in the shower…[before trying] to make sexual advances on h[is wife in front of their young daughter.  After]…she refused…he…demanded that…she leave their home and…give him her cellphone…Sanchez then got on top of her…and [beat] her…[while] demanding [the]…phone…she…eventually freed herself…and fled…Sanchez has since been released from jail on…bond, but [was also rewarded with a paid vacation]…

 

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

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