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Posts Tagged ‘TikTok’

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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It is functionally impossible for people to drive anywhere without having their movements tracked.  –  the Institute for Justice

Property of the State

Every “official” involved in this utter and complete abomination should be imprisoned for life:

Adriana Smith, a registered nurse…was nearly nine weeks pregnant in early February when she started experiencing intense headaches…caused by…multiple blood clots in her brain…[but after she] was declared brain dead…[the State of Georgia demanded her cadaver be kept connected to machines] until doctors believe the baby can survive outside the womb — likely at 32 weeks…Under Georgia’s [monstrous]  law, abortion is banned…[even] if the mother’s life is [over]…her medical team is…not legally allowed to consider other options…[despite the fact that the fetus] has fluid on the brain and…may be blind…[or un]able to walk, [or] may not survive…[to add insult to abomination, the family is being stuck with] mounting hospital bills…

Panopticon (#1486)

Surveillance beyond the wildest dreams of the Stasi:

Flock, the automatic license plate reader…company whose cameras [spy on] more than 5,000 communities in the U.S., is building a product that will use [internet search] tools, data brokers, and data breaches to “jump from LPR…to person,” allowing police to [illegal]ly identify and track the movements of specific people…without a warrant or court order…Th[is makes]…Flock…into a much more invasive tool, potentially able to link a vehicle passing by a camera to its owner and then more people connected to them, through marriage or other association…Flock employees [are] questioning the ethics of using hacked data as part of their surveillance product…[but] the tool is already being used by some [cop shops without permission or regulation]…

End Demand (#1505)

Courts curtail the power of cops and prosecutors much too rarely these days:

Does answering a prostitution ad make a man a sex trafficker?  The highest court in Massachusetts says no, in a ruling that represents a win for both common sense and civil liberties…Commonwealth v. Garafalo…involved a [scheme in which cops]…pretending to be…sex workers…arrested men who [answered their fraudulent ads and]…charged them with…sex…trafficking…[but] there was no trafficked person…and taking “every single John, charg[ing] them with sex trafficking, and put[ting] them in prison for five years” was not “the intent” of the sex trafficking law, defense attorney Patrick Noonan told the court…[which agreed] that…Merely agreeing to “the terms extended by [a] sex worker[, real or imaginary,]…cannot reasonably be [considered coercion]”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1521)

Politicians won’t be satisfied until they can micromanage every aspect of teens’ lives:

Virginia teens under 16 will soon face [political interference in] their social media usage [under] a…new…law…[demanding] social media companies…set default time limits of one hour per day for [Virginia] users under 16…with parents having the ability to adjust that time up or down.  [Politicians congratulated themselves on their self-imagined wisdom and power, ignoring the fact that all a teen will need to do is use a VPN to appear to be someplace other than Virginia]…

Property of the State (#1529) 

How long will Western society allow cops and prosecutors to terrorize traumatized women?

[UK] police have been issued guidance on how to [raid] women’s homes [in search of] abortion drugs and [snoop in] their phones for menstrual cycle tracking apps after unexpected pregnancy loss…the National Police Chiefs’ Council…on “child death investigation”…also suggests a woman’s digital devices could be [stolen] to help [prosecu]tors “establish a woman’s knowledge and intention in relation to the pregnancy”.  That could [also] include [snooping into] a woman’s internet searches [and] messages to friends and family…Details are also provided for how police could [illegally] bypass legal requirements for a court order to [pry into her] medical records…The Abortion Act of 1967 allows women to end their pregnancies under medical supervision up to 24 weeks, or beyond…if the life of the mother is at risk or if the foetus has a serious abnormality…Leading abortion providers, legal experts and medical professionals have…called for [the new guidelines] to be amended…

The Cop Myth (#1533)

They tried to hide this murderer’s cop identity by shoving it down to paragraph 20:

[A cop named Gregory Guilfoyle who was] convicted of shooting his wife and leaving her for dead in a blizzard was sentenced to 100 years in prison by an Indiana judge May 12…Hannah Lynch…nearly died in her own front yard with a gunshot wound to her head.  She has a permanent shunt in her skull…lost part of her toe to frostbite…[and] had to relearn most of her basic motor skills…She was also pregnant at the time of the shooting and lost the baby…three of four experts at trial suggested that Guilfoyle was insane…[and] Guilfoyle [himself blamed the attempted murder on]…his [being a cop]…and…[claims] that he was hallucinating at the time…the jury found Guilfoyle “guilty but mentally ill”…[which means] he will receive psychiatric treatment [while in prison]…

Welcome to the Future (#1537)

Anyone who trusts Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

Mark Zuckerberg…[is] pitching a [dystopian] future where [computer programs] give people something that “knows them well,” not just as pals, but as…therapists…but this future is already…starting to seem extraordinarily dangerous…we’re watching the impending collision of two alarming trends.  In one, tech executives are encouraging people to reveal ever more intimate details to [their computers], soliciting things users…may not even tell their closest friends.  In the other, the government is obsessed with obtaining a nearly unprecedented level of surveillance and control over residents’ minds…with little regard for legal or ethical restraints.  [The Trump regime]…has indiscriminately arrested and revoked the residency of legal immigrants on the basis of legally protected speech and activism…announced plans to build a federal database…of people with autism…and…is…working to centralize data about Americans that’s currently stored across different agencies…[while] US residents are being urged to discuss their mental health conditions and personal beliefs with chatbots…whose owners are cozy with the [regime]…

 

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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To automate the surveillance of lots of innocent people…is really corrosive.  –  Nathan Freed Wessler

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1346) 

Remember, this isn’t “human trafficking”, but consensual sex is:

The U.S. is deporting [non-white] migrants from nations in Africa and Asia to [a concentration camp in] Panama, a major diplomatic [atrocity] for the Trump administration…The…[victims] included adults and families with children…Another U.S. military flight to Panama…deport[ed] more Asian migrants, in addition to some African deportees…from Cameroon…Panama’s foreign ministry confirmed it received…the [prisoners] under a…[shady deal] with the Trump [regime] that allows the U.S. to deport non-Panamanians to the Central American country.  The [victims]…included 119 deportees from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.  The costs of the deportations under the agreement will be covered by the U.S…

Stalkers in Blue (#1442)

Cops are nothing more than state-sponsored terrorists:

…cameras hidden in unmarked boxes have appeared on utility poles outside the Atlanta homes of some people connected to the movement against the police training center known as “Cop City”…after several years of ongoing state surveillance [and harassment] of [activists]…including [cops] following people…and blasting sirens outside bedroom windows at 3am…Three of the cameras are pointed at homes that Atlanta police, the FBI and the…ATF, jointly raided in February of last year, [using the excuse of] arsons of police motorcycles.  One camera is pointed at a cultural and social center.  Georgia Power, the utility company that owns the poles, [said] the boxes are not their property.  The FBI and the ATF denied any knowledge of them…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1471)

Cop “magic fentanyl” hysteria has escaped the US:

Two Ottawa [cops] were hospitalized after [having panic attacks over] fentanyl and crystal meth…In the early hours of February 5, 2025, a…[hysterical cop] was taken to the hospital after [having a panic attacks due to seeing] fentanyl during a traffic stop…Fortunately…[for the big crybaby, fentanyl has no effect from casual exposure]…Only three days later, an[other hysterical cop stole]…crystal meth from a [man] he a[ttack]ed and started feeling nauseous and lightheaded [even though methamphetamine also has no effect from casual exposure]…These incidents highlight the li[berty]-threatening risk [copaganda about] fentanyl and other drugs pose to [the citizens of Western nations]…

A Moral Cancer (#1497)

A dangerous new front in the Drug War has claimed another victim:

…the owner of a Ma[ssachusetts] vape shop has pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted tax evasion arising from the sale of e-cigarettes brought in from across state borders.  He was sentenced to [be locked in a filthy cage like an animal for] six months…and [spend] five years [on] probation.  In 2020, Massachusetts became the first state to implement a comprehensive ban on all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes.  Violation…is only a misdemeanor, but since flavored tobacco products are sold on the illicit market, sellers simultaneously violate state tax law…a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.  Criminal justice reformers have warned for years that flavor bans would encourage illicit markets, creating felony crimes in the process

You Were Warned (#1497)

A blatantly-unconstitutional law is sort of suspended by an unconstitutional order:

Apple and Google [have] restored TikTok to their app stores in the United States…[mere] weeks after they removed the short-form video platform in compliance with a new law that banned it in the country.  [Emperor] Trump tried to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban with a…[royal edict], but the companies were reluctant to bring TikTok back [because Trump doesn’t actually have the power to suspend duly-enacted]…law…

I Spy (#1500)

Cops everywhere are moral imbeciles, and those who facilitate their evil are enemies of humanity:

Italian spyware maker SIO, known to sell its products to government customers, is behind a series of malicious Android apps that masquerade as WhatsApp and other popular apps but steal private data from a target’s device…Italy has been embroiled in an ongoing scandal involving the…use of a sophisticated spying tool made by Israeli spyware maker Paragon…[to spy on] a journalist and two founders of an NGO that helps and rescues immigrants in the Mediterranean…the [SIO] spyware…used a more pedestrian hacking technique: developing and distributing malicious Android apps that pretend to be popular apps like WhatsApp, and customer support tools provided by cellphone providers…the…spyware…is called Spyrtacus…[and] can steal text messages, as well as chats from Facebook Messenger, Signal, and WhatsApp; exfiltrate contacts information; record phone calls and ambient audio via the device’s microphone, and imagery via the device’s cameras; among other functions that serve surveillance purposes…

Thought Control (#1512)

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

…the priggish, puritanical prudes who insist that a cabal of librarians and teachers are trying to turn our children gay with books…would have us believe that they’re just out to protect kids…[but] the legislation they’ve proposed isn’t just about kids, and it’s not just about public libraries and schools…Senate Bill 2307…would amend…North Dakota’s criminal code to [criminalize]…”displays at newsstands or any other business establishment…any…book…or [other media politicians decide to point at while barfing]…’sex, lust, or perversion'”…your local bookstore…would…[either have to ban] minors…[or else any book that could be considered remotely “adult” would] have to be sealed or hidden lest a [17-year-old university freshman] take [one] off the shelf and [be instantly “sexualized”]…the…bill sponsors….[previously] introduced a bill with the [same] language…during the 2023 legislative session…and [it] was only prevented from becoming law by a veto from former Gov. Doug Burgum…

 

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

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

Unchristian Nation

Government thugs continue their crusade against Christian charity:

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1424)

Politicians no longer care if their laws are unconstitutional:

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

Shifting the Blame (#1448)

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

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

I Spy (#1478)

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

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

Vulture Watching (#1485)

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

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

Shame, Shame (#1494)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

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

Thought Control (#1500)

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

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

 

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

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We can’t eradicate the human sex drive.  –  Elizabeth N. Brown

Worse Than I Thought (#335)

Just because the moral panic is moribund, doesn’t mean politicians aren’t going to keep using sex as an excuse to destroy lives:

North Carolina has made it a felony crime to patronize a sex worker…a crime that comes with a presumptive minimum sentence of four months in prison, up to two years…in recent years, we’ve seen a disturbing trend of states starting to classify attempts to pay for sexual activity as a felony…mirror[ing] the misguided and detrimental path [of]…the war on drugs.  Three states now make it a felony crime to pay for sex or attempt to pay for sex…In 2021, Texas became the first…then…last May, Oklahoma [followed]Morality in Media…is a major driver of these laws and, more generally, the idea that we can “end demand” for prostitution…sold…by [conflating female agency with]…sex trafficking…

If Men Were Angels

“Pastor” + teacher = “youth pastor”:

A [Texas] pastor and teacher in Grapevine is under arrest for possession of child pornography…Arturo Alarcon…[plant]ed hidden cameras in a church-owned mobile home used to host visiting families. [After these were discovered by visiting missionaries staying there], detectives found an image of child pornography on Alarcon’s cell phone…one of the cameras was designed to look like a clock.  Another…was like a bug zapper…Alarcon [has, unsurprisingly, long been buddy-buddy with] Grapevine Police…

Welcome to the Future (#1159)

Of course they had to be forced to end this ugly, evil scam:

The Pasco County [Florida] Sheriff’s Office is permanently scuttling a [“]predictive policing[” sc]am that was the subject of…a pending civil rights lawsuit…[due to its unceasing,] unconstitutional harassment of families.  In a settlement agreement ending that…lawsuit, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office [was forced to admit] that it…[had intentionally violated] the plaintiffs’ First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights…In addition to ending the…[scheme] and agreeing not to create a similar one, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office will pay [a mere] $105,000 to the four plaintiffs…

A Moral Cancer (#1322)

Prohibitionists always claim surprise when the predicted effects of one of their bans appear:

If you want to create a black market in a perfectly legal product, just make regulations and taxes so onerous that many people prefer to buy from illegal vendors…that’s certainly the case with cigarettes… “New York has the highest inbound smuggling activity, with an estimated 54.3 percent of cigarettes consumed in the state deriving from smuggled sources in 2022,” note [Adam] Hoffer and [Jacob] Macumber-Rosin [in the latest edition of the Mackinac Center’s regularly compiled research on the topic]. “New York is followed by California (46.7 percent), New Mexico (41.2 percent), Massachusetts (39.7 percent), and Washington (36.8 percent)”…because their tax rates drive people to purchase their smokes from illicit dealers, high-tax states suffered a revenue hit in 2022 of more than $5 billion.  Since 2007, they’ve lost out on more than $79 billion….[and] with flavored tobacco banned in places like California and Massachusetts, those products are available in those states only on the black market…New Hampshire taxes cigarettes at the rate of $1.78 per pack, which is relatively low. As a result, find the Mackinac Center and the Tax Foundation, 31.43 percent of cigarette sales are for smuggling elsewhere.  That puts it in third place after Wyoming, where 49.2 percent of cigarette sales are smuggled out of state, and Delaware, where 34.4 percent of sales are resold in higher-tax jurisdictions…

Feudalism Redux (#1390)

If you need a law like this to control your teen offspring, you’ve already lost them:

[The Ninth Circuit] has ruled that Idaho can [attempt to] enforce its abortion travel ban, which [criminalizes adults who assist] minors [who] travel…out of state for abortions without parental consent.  The decision…reversed a 2023 decision that had blocked the law on First Amendment grounds.  The law [is intended to allow a parent or guardian to force a minor to carry an unwanted or even dangerous pregnancy to term by terrorizing anyone who might help a girl to exercise her right to bodily autonomy.  Its]…sweeping language…could [even] apply to a grandmother driving a pregnant minor to the post office to pick up a package containing abortion medication, for example…

You Were Warned (#1437)

Increasingly-unhinged federal courts uphold a blatantly-unconstitutional law:

A panel of three federal…judges ruled unanimously…to uphold a law that could [unconstitution]ally ban TikTok in the United States…[unless its] Chinese owner, ByteDance…sell[s] it to a…[politically-connected] American owner by Jan. 19, 2025…the…decision sets the table for TikTok to take its case to the Supreme Court…During his campaign, [dancing orange-utang] Donald Trump…[claimed] he would “save TikTok”…though opinions among his [gang of unhinged cronies]…are mixed on whether…to [include this particular]…unconstitutional [action among]…the…flawed and dangerous precedent[s they already support to]…give…the government far too much power [over] Americans’ speech online…

Mad Libs

The reason so-called “AI” spouts out gibberish is that it is incapable of telling truth from falsehood:

Following Hunter Biden’s pardon by his father…Ana Navarro-Cardenas, a commentator who appears on The View and CNN…cited a pardon granted by President Woodrow Wilson of his brother-in-law Hunter deButts…and…an Esquire article called “A President Shouldn’t Pardon His Son? Hello, Anybody Remember Neil Bush?” was based on the premise that George H.W. Bush pardoned his son Neil; it has since been retracted “due to an error.”  The day before its publication, Occupy Democrats’ executive editor Grant Stern tweeted a similar claim that Jimmy Carter pardoned his brother Billy…As far as I can tell, n[one of these] actually occurred.  Where was all this coming from? Well, I don’t know what Stern or Esquire’s source was. But I know Navarro-Cardenas’, because she had a follow-up message for critics: “Take it up with Chat GPT”…

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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Attention, all "progressive" types: are you angry and disgusted by what Republicans are doing to Haitians right now?YOU were doing the same to sex workers all through the Teens, until "Pizzagate" and QAnon forced y'all to let Trumpists have that narrative.And I will never let y'all forget it.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-15T17:07:40.233Z

Honestly, I thought I was later than that; I dawdled for a couple of months after getting my first invite.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-17T05:02:25.648Z

Whatever an individual chooses to do with their time, body, money, and brain is nobody's business but their own, and CERTAINLY not the government's, as long as it hurts nobody else.Everyone understands this deep down, which is why control freaks keep trying to expand the definition of "harm".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-17T17:18:13.072Z

This is very, very good; it's rare I see an article which portrays the problems with US politics so clearly and recognizes partisanism for what it is. http://www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-ca…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-18T16:51:36.658Z

They were teeny, tiny mistresses.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-20T03:55:37.871Z

The advantage of this for cops is that their videos go from being reviewed by entities with only rudimentary consciences, to being reviewed by entities with absolutely no conscience whatsoever. http://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/n…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-09-25T17:01:17.251Z

I *wish* this were only a GOP thing, but it isn't. "See Something, Say Something" dogma has been promoted by both parties in the duopoly for a generation, largely in the service of campaigns to inflict police violence on women and drug users, but also to promote single-side hobby-horses.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-03T17:24:33.518Z

 

When a person's brain is so small and weak it can only conceive of two possible positions on any issue, it's no surprise to see such a mind switch from one extreme belief to another.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-08T17:33:31.681Z

No lies detected.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-09T18:26:03.866Z

“There is a cult of ignorance in the US, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge'.” ― I. Asimov

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-11T18:20:42.620Z

It can babysit your kids, walk your dog.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-12T17:12:14.673Z

"Some people…embrace [politicians] and…idealize them…in the way that fans treat celebrities, or that medieval peasants treated kings. Not only is this unhealthy for the fabric of…society; it is unrealistic. You cannot be a fully moral person and be elected president of the US".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-12T23:49:53.760Z

Prohibitionist "dopamine" propaganda (against drugs, porn, video games, etc) is just puritans straight-out declaring that they are against pleasure, and most Americans being much too stupid to understand what they're being directly told.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-14T17:45:54.245Z

REAL protest targets the people the protesters disagree with, rather than fine art or people trying to drive somewhere.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-15T19:42:32.683Z

"The Supreme Court’s devotion to finality in case outcomes is built upon the fiction that justice is not only possible but almost certain during the trial process. Nothing could be further from the truth. " http://www.teenvogue.com/story/robert…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-10-17T16:40:28.675Z

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

Grace Bellavue

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

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

Choke Point (#839) 

A rare good decision from the current SCOTUS:

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

Choke Point (#1190) 

Can you even imagine this happening in the US?

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

Opting Out (#1268)

Twitter shifts to an opt-in model:

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

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

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1382)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

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

Creepy Coppers (#1437)

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

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

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

You Were Warned (#1438)

Wins against censors are increasingly rare these days:

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

 

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

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The Fourth Amendment is not about the police, it’s about the government.  –  Robert Frommer

New Excuse

One “war” on consensual behavior is very like another:

A new law in Alabama showcases how the war on sex trafficking is mirroring the war on drugs…”The Sound of Freedom Act“…stipulates a mandatory life sentence for anyone found guilty of first-degree human trafficking of a minor…in fact it will likely to lead to extreme overpunishment for people whose offenses…look…nothing like…the sort of…situations imagined by Hollywood or by groups like Operation Underground Railroad…At a certain point in the drug war, everything was plenty criminalized but…politicians still wanted ways to look like they were doing something about it…So instead of dealing in reality, they proposed harsher and harsher penalties for drug offenses…Over the past two decades, we’ve been seeing this same pattern play out with prostitution-related offenses…harsher and harsher penalties, mandatory minimums, and…at the same time…authorities keep expanding the categories of activities that count as sex trafficking

If Men Were Angels (#1360)

It’s not uncommon for cops who murder their wives to pass it off as “suicide”, and preachers are like cops in many ways:

Loved ones of a pastor’s wife who was found dead in a North Carolina state park with a bullet wound to her head are not convinced she died by suicide, as her husband claims…they’re pressing authorities to probe Mica Miller’s death as something potentially more sinister…her husband, John-Paul Miller…delivered an entire sermon as usual before revealing…his wife’s passing…to…his congregation [on April 28th]… “She had struggled with suicide before…but God took care of her and got her through it.”  Court filings show…Mica Miller had filed for divorce from her husband just weeks before her death…And on March 22, [she had] posted a [Facebook] video in which she discussed “leaving a dangerous situation”…

Feudalism Redux (#1371)

Politicians who make unconstitutional threats should be impeached for violating their oaths of office:

A federal judge [has] rebuked Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s threatened prosecution of those who help people in Alabama obtain abortions out of state…Judge Myron H. Thompson rejected Marshall’s request that the court toss out a pair of lawsuits brought by an abortion fund and health care providers challenging his threatened prosecutions…in the 98-page opinion [the judge wrote,] “The Attorney General’s characterization of the right to travel as merely a right to move physically between the States contravenes history, precedent, and common sense”…

Panopticon (#1384)

Court rules that illegal searches are legal if the government circumvents due process:

…the Michigan Supreme Court ruled unanimously that evidence collected illegally c[an] still be used to enforce civil penalties.  Todd and Heather Maxon…filed to suppress…evidence [illegally collected by a warrantless drone search] as a Fourth Amendment violation…[but] the court…[claimed] the exclusionary rule [only] applies to…”wrongful law enforcement conduct”…In other words, the state’s highest court decided that it was irrelevant whether the search violated the Fourth Amendment because…the search was conducted to investigate civil and not criminal violations…

Governments are increasingly attacking citizens with civil suits rather than criminal charges because the burden of proof is lower; this gives them another reason to do so.

Creepy Coppers (#1420)

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

A [typical and representative Maine cop named] Larry Fickett…has been [arrested and] charged with possession of child pornography and endangering the welfare of a child…Fickett…[apparently induced a prepubescent child of indeterminate gender to masturbate while he filmed it, on multiple occasions]…between Jan. 1, 2021 and March 1 of this year…

You Were Warned (#1433)

The inevitable result of a blatantly-unconstitutional law:

TikTok and its parent company [have] filed a legal challenge against the United States over a law…outlawing the app nationwide unless it finds a buyer within a year…”Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional…that even the Act’s sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok’s ownership,” according to the filing…lawyers for TikTok say the law offers the company a false choice, since fully divesting from its parent company, ByteDance, is “simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally…and certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act”…if TikTok loses this legal fight, it will likely [geoblock users in] the U.S. [who don’t use a VPN]…

Torture Chamber (#1433)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

When New York banned the use of long-term solitary confinement in its prisons and barred the practice entirely for certain people, including mentally ill prisoners…it was hailed [by naifs] as a groundbreaking measure that would fundamentally change life behind bars.  But since the law took effect two years ago, prison officials have [predictably] refused to implement it…[Politicians] and oversight agencies have sounded the alarm in reports and letters to the New York Department of [Locking Human Beings in Filthy Cages] and the state’s Office of Mental Health, warning that the agencies were [predictably] violating the law [because there are no criminal penalties for doing so]…

 

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

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

Traffic Jam (#694)  

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

I Spy (#787)

Surveillance beyond the wildest dreams of the Stasi:

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

I Spy (#1376)

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

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

Cops and Robbers (#1379)

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

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

You Were Warned (#1420)

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

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1424)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

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

Torture Chamber (#1427)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

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

 

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

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The advertising technology ecosystem is the largest information-gathering enterprise ever conceived by man.

Droit du Seigneur

What did this guy think he was, a cop?

A Las Vegas family court marshal is accused of sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl…Bryce Tokunaga…is not [alleged to have harmed or threatened]…the girl [in any way, but bought her] condoms, food, hygiene products, hair and nail services, and…hotel rooms where she could [work]…Tokunaga [was caught driving the girl to a stroll]…

Despite the story being larded with the usual weird “sex trafficking” dysphemisms, what Tokunga actually appears to be guilty of is extremely poor judgment by functioning as the pimp of a girl who was already an experienced street worker despite her age and was determined to continue regardless of the State’s defining her as a passive, doll-like “child”.

The Face of Trafficking

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

Gerardo Quijada-Soto…smuggled Javier Rodriguez-Castro from Honduras to the United States, through Mexico, along with 12 other individuals.  They initially crossed the border January 8, 2021.  Rodriguez-Castro was…taken to…Fun Noodle in Abilene….[where] he…observed a large stack of cash change hands between Quijada-Soto and owner of Fun Noodle, Hai Zhuang.  From that moment on, Rodriguez-Castro was…treated as a…slave.  “His passport was thrown into a water heater closet,” and he “was forced to work 10-12 hour days,” without breaks…In late summer…[he] was able to escape to Dallas…during his more than six months in captivity…Zhuang beat him, and…he was forced to eat scraps from customers because he wasn’t fed properly…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1306)

“Criminality” is a status defined entirely by the State:

At least five people have been detained in Moscow after attending the funeral of Alexei Navalny…One woman who attended the rally and was caught on video chanting “glory to the heroes,” a pro-Ukraine slogan, was arrested on M[arch 4th]…but allowed to return home the following day.  Police a[rrest]ed two other attendees [the next]…day, although the charges remain unknown…Moscow’s extensive surveillance system and facial recognition technology [was likely used] to identify attendees…[given that] several new surveillance cameras [were installed] around the church and cemetery [a few days before] the ceremony…

You Were Warned (#1396)

Politicians no longer bother to consider whether their new diktats are Constitutional:

Politicians won’t stop trying to make a TikTok ban happen…We went here with Trump, who tried to ban TikTok via executive order in 2020. (The courts said no, and the Biden administration rescinded the order.)  We went here with Montana, which passed a TikTok-banning law last year. (The court said no…though Montana is appealing.)  We went here with multiple bills…in 2022…and…in 2023…[which foundered] after being introduced…Now, here we are again, with a [theatrical] bill…call[ed]…the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA?)…[which] would…expand…presidential power to restrict Americans’ access to tools for getting and disseminating information—what could go wrong?… 

Creepy Coppers (#1411)

It didn’t take long for this one to demonstrate exactly what he is:

A 19-year-old [Florida man] was sworn in as a deputy on M[arch 4th]– but by sundown, [his employer] had a search warrant for his phone…[typical and representative cop] Kai Cromer…was [sent to lurk]…at a…high school…[and four girls] recognized [him as someone who]…had [demanded] explicit photos and videos over Snapchat…[by] telling [them], “I’m going to be law enforcement. I’m very powerful”…video of an underaged girl was found on Cromer’s phone which led to his arrest…

I Spy (#1412)

In mass surveillance, fascism runs rings around communism:

In 2019, a government contractor…named Mike Yeagley began making the rounds in Washington, DC.  He had a blunt warning for anyone in the country’s national security establishment who would listen: The US government had a Grindr problem…Yeagley was able to access the geolocation data on Grindr users through a hidden but ubiquitous entry point: the digital advertising exchanges that serve up the little digital banner ads along the top of…nearly every…ad-supported mobile app and website….[which make] your precise location available in near-real time to both advertisers and people like Mike Yeagley, who specialized in obtaining unique data sets for government agencies…Yeagley showed…all that information was available for sale, for cheap.  And it wasn’t just Grindr, but rather any app that had access to a user’s precise location—other dating apps, weather apps, games.  Yeagley chose Grindr because…when speaking to a bunch of intelligence agencies, there’s no way to get their attention quite like showing them a tool capable of revealing when their agents are visiting highway rest stops…

I’m a bit skeptical of this timeline, given that I’ve been aware of this collaboration since 2017, and I’m no tech expert.  But the article is lengthy and contains a lot of interesting information on this rights-destroying surveillance machine.

The Cop Myth (#1418)

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

A [typical and representative Alabama cop attacked]…his wife and caus[ed] her to miscarry…[in March 2022] Robert Allen Maddox Jr…threw his then-wife to the floor of their home…and began choking her…he…then began punching [her] in the stomach, causing her to miscarry…Maddox was arrested…and…four months…[later was] charge[d]…with…murder [because Alabama].  That murder charge was later reduced to one count of manslaughter [because cop]…

 

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