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Posts Tagged ‘Torture Chamber’

Jurisdictions have devised creative ways to comply with the law on its face but not really in practice.  –  Billy Binion

Imaginary Victims (#1254) 

The state’s pretended sympathy for “sex trafficking victims” applies only to imaginary “perfect” ones:

A judge…sentenced a [young] Milwaukee woman charged with killing the man who sex trafficked her as a teenager to 11 years in prison plus five years of extended supervision…Chrystul Kizer will ultimately serve fewer than 10 [more] years in prison…[due to] more than a year and a half of time served…Kizer’s…“affirmative defense”…[as] a trafficking victim..[proved worthless against the prosecutor’s TV crime-show fantasy that a 17-year-old girl] carried out a premeditated killing in order to steal Volar’s BMW, [so]…Kizer [had to settle for a plea bargain that at least allowed her to escape a life sentence]…

Thought Control (#1405)

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

…just a week before students were due to return to campus, the administration of New College of Florida emptied the library of the college’s Gender and Diversity Center by [throw]ing those books in a dumpster.  They were joined shortly afterward by books from the main library, most on topics related to religion and LGBT…issues…New College [pretend]ed that by law it couldn’t donate or sell the books, but that’s false…in the past, if…books [were weed]ed, students were notified and [allowed to take]…books…But [this time]…the vast majority were carted off to the landfill…Christopher Rufo, a [crony of]…Ron DeSantis…spearheaded the removal of the program…and…books[, tweeting], “We abolished the gender studies program. Now we’re throwing out the trash”…

A Broker in Pillage (#1414)

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

A few years back, the [Edmondson Community O]rganization accrued a $2,543 property tax debt on its community center.  So in 2018, [Baltimore] sold that lien for $5,115 to a California-based investor, who then foreclosed on and sold the ECO’s building for $139,500.  In return, the ECO got a check for the difference between its debt and the lien purchase price: $2,572…a new federal lawsuit a[ttacks thi]is…practice…that illegally deprives people of their equity in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Taking Clause…debtors [who] have fallen just hundreds of dollars behind on their taxes…may lose their property and the vast majority of equity tied up in it…That Baltimore’s process robs property owners of huge chunks of equity is not just a regrettable side effect…it’s baked into the nature of the city’s approach…[which] actively seek[s] to keep bids low…the city [even] charges a high-bid premium that punishes investors making offers above a certain threshold…

Schadenfreude (#1425)

Con artists use moral panics to fleece the gullible:

…a Utah-based [con artist who] claimed [she] was dedicated to fighting human trafficking pleaded no contest to multiple felonies…including fraud…and forgery.  Candace Lierd, the founder of Exitus…[actually used] the money for personal expenses, as well as homes, cars and trips…[She] faces…5-15 years in prison for each [of 35] count[s]…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1428)

Politicians can always mine tragedy to justify more evil:

The mailroom supervisor at a federal prison in [California] died [suddenly, and prison bureaucrats are blaming “]mail saturated in an unknown substance[” assumed to be]…fentanyl…[despite the fact] that…touching fentanyl cannot cause an overdose, and the risk of death from accidental exposure is…[nonexistent.  But Marc] Fischer’s death comes at a [handy] time [for] the Bureau of Prisons [to exploit it to divert attention from rampant]…criminal misconduct by staff…[including rape, violence], and [epidemic levels of filth and medical neglect leading to] death…[and to justify its scheme of] photocopying mail coming into prisons instead of delivering the original parcels…[thus further isolating them while pretending the mistreatment is actually] an attempt to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics [even though it is well-known that drugs in prisons are smuggled in by screws and overdoses actually increase when mail and books from outside are banned]…

Dangerous Speech (#1441)

Government lawyers will do or say anything to ensure Lacey dies in a filthy cage:

Not content with the suicide last year of his longtime business partner and co-defendant Jim Larkin, prosecutors seek to consign famed journalist and editor Michael Lacey and his two co-defendants to a staggering 20 years in prison each, a likely…death [sentence] given that all three…are in their 70s.  In an Aug. 19 sentencing memo…prosecutors smeared Lacey with crimes that he and the others are not charged with and could never be charged with: sex trafficking, child sex trafficking and an array of murders…Government attorneys are also asking that Lacey…be [locked in a cage before his appeals are exhausted, fearing he might die before that happens]…Backpage…’s right to publish adult-themed ads was upheld on numerous occasions by a series of federal and state court rulings…but…the government…[want]s harsh sentences…to “deter” websites from publishing [legal and Constitutionally-protected] content the government [dislikes]…

To Molest and Rape (#1466)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [typical and representative West Virginia cop] has been sentenced…to…a m[ere] 10 years behind bars…[Chester] Adkins [agreed to a plea bargain rather than face proportionate sentencing for repeatedly molest]ing a…10 year…old [girl]…

 

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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Buried Truth

Another fine example of McNeill’s Law:

Aberdeen Councilman Riley Carter…was arrested [on July 30th for]…rape of a child…The victim…stat[Ed] that Carter had touched them sexually “a lot of times”…over the last two years, as often as several times per week…Carter would unplug a camera…in the…bedroom before…[molesting], as well as cameras in areas leading to the room…after his arrest…Carter…[confessed to] the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office…

Out of Control (#1374)

What is wrong with doctors who do this?

…A…Missoula [Montana] emergency room doctor [named Tyler James Hurst], who is charged with a slew of sex crimes, [appeared] in court via Zoom from a [“]sex addiction[” blame-avoiding] facility in Mississippi…[because] seven victims [so far] have [reported]…that…Hurst…[molested] them…and in some cases g[ave them] opiates and [raped] them…the state asked that he be [extradited] from Mississippi and [jailed] in…[Montana] on a $750,000 bond…victims are still coming forward and more charges are still in the process of being filed…Hurst is planning to return to Montana, to be [confined to] another [“]sex addiction[” blame-avoiding] ranch in Corvallis….[with] a GPS monitor…if he is removed from the program, he is to [be] immediately [jailed]…

Torture Chamber (#1390)

“Failed to protect them from sexual abuse” is such a sterile way to say “repeatedly raped them”:

The U.S. Department of Justice found unconstitutional conditions at all five of Texas’ juvenile detention facilities, where [young adults] were exposed to excessive force, sexual abuse and in the case of disabled [minors, maltreatment] that [was used as an excuse by screws to keep] them [locked] in c[ages] longer or [to send] them to adult prisons…[screws] excessively used pepper spray on [young people], employed dangerous restraint techniques…kept [them] isolated for days or weeks on end…[and facilitated] a “pervasive atmosphere of sexual abuse, grooming and [rape by] staff”…

Reporters: get it through your thick skulls that infantilizing young victims of governmental brutality as “children” does not help them, and in fact further cultivates a climate in which they are treated as less than adult citizens.

To Molest and Rape (#1459)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A[n Ohio cop is at large, though] on a GPS monitor after being arrested on 32 counts of rape…Charles R. Davis…rape[d] and…sexual[ly abused…[at least two victims] between March 2020 and October 2022, and many [were rapes of] a victim under 13…

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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Making money is not an excuse to separate families.  –  Maggie McDonald

Pyrrhic Victory (#985)

Promoters of dystopia love to vomit words like “security” and “accountability” into the faces of useful idiots:

All 32 NFL stadiums will start using [facial recognition] technology this season, after the league signed a contract with a company that uses facial scans to verify the identity of people entering event venues and other secure spaces.  The [surveillance company called Wicket], which counts the Cleveland Browns’ owners as investors, will be used to “streamline and secure” entry for thousands of credentialed media, officials, staff and guests so they can easily access restricted areas such as press boxes and locker rooms…Some teams also have extended their use of the technology to scan the faces of ticket holders.  The Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and New York Mets all have used the company’s…software to authenticate fans with tickets…The Browns also use Wicket to verify the ages of fans purchasing alcohol at concession stands…Soccer stadiums worldwide are…[also us]ing facial recognition technology to surveil fans…

Thought Control (#1345)

Book banning is never, ever well-regarded in retrospect, but they keep doing it:

The Utah state school board [has] ordered the removal of 13 book titles from every public school in the state, in accordance with a new [mob-rule censorship] law passed earlier this year…schools must now dispose of the following titles[: Blankets by Craig Thompson; A Court of Frost and Starlight, A Court of Mist and FuryA Court of Silver FlamesA Court of Thorns and RosesA Court of Wings and Ruin, and Empire of Storms, all by Sarah J. MaasFallout and Tilt by Ellen HopkinsForever by Judy BlumeMilk and Honey by Rupi Kaur; Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood; and What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold]…The books on this list had already been banned by [three] school districts [each], but because of the new law…they will now be banned statewide [by mob rule, even in school districts where officials have more sense and better moral grounding]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1361)

This kind of behavior from a public employee should be grounds for impeachment:

A transgender woman’s use of the women’s locker room at a…[Missouri] fitness center has [been used by a politician to drum up] an outcry [among his supporters]…Eris Montano…has [not] violated any laws or the polices of Life Time fitness center.  But [politician] Justin Sparks…[sees an opportunity to stir up shit by demanding “]investigations[” into people he dislikes having civil rights]…Montano has…[followed] the center’s policies regarding transgender members…and has…largely had positive interactions with other gym members…Many people have gone out of their way to make her feel welcome, she said…[with] the lone exception…[of] a woman in the center’s sauna [who]…“kept telling me that I was a man, that I didn’t belong there,” Montano recalled…Life Time’s members are assigned to locker rooms based on the gender listed on their state-issued photo ID…[on which] she…is now listed as female…[but] Sparks [apparently] wants the Missouri…[policy on] driver’s license [gender to be] changed…

Broken Record (#1371)

Most major cities have quietly backed away from “sex trafficking” hysteria, but not San Diego, long a hotbed of this ugly, misogynistic wanking fantasy.  So it’s not especially surprising to see these sociopathic clowns using Comic-Con as an excuse to ruin people’s lives while publicly sharing their fantasies and making furtive movements in their pants.  But what is pleasantly surprising was to see the public response to this tired copaganda; I guess we weren’t just shouting into the void for all those years, after all.

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

It’s good to see activists using Americans’ fixation on children to promote justice instead of tyranny for a change:

My dad has been in the St. Clair County Jail in Port Huron, Michigan, since October, and I’m not allowed to see him.  So, other kids and I sued the county and others for the right to hug our parents, as part of a larger Right 2 Hug project that aims to restore family visits and stop companies from making money off family separation…In America, around 5 million children like me have experienced a parent being incarcerated at some point in their life…The jail my dad is in got rid of in-person visits in 2018 and replaced them with phone and video calls only…This is happening all over the country, meaning lots of kids like me can’t spend any time together with their parents…Now I just message my dad on the app that the jail uses, but it’s not at all like actually talking to him.  It’s not like DMs or texting; it’s more like email, and it’s really clunky to use…Plus, I think it’s really creepy that someone can read all the messages between me and my dad.  All communication between us is recorded — the video calls, phone calls, messages.  Talk about a major invasion of privacy…in response to a similar lawsuit from the Right 2 Hug campaign in Genesee County, Michigan…the sheriff admitted in an interview with NBC that they had eliminated in-person visitation to make more money…My dad’s release date is soon, and I’m excited to see him again.  But I won’t stop fighting in this lawsuit, because I’m also fighting for all the other families who can’t visit their loved ones…

Vulture Watching (#1451)

Forced-birth politicians want to encourage lawsuits, but not this kind:

[After] Mylissa Farmer was denied an emergency abortion…while experiencing a miscarriage…she filed a lawsuit against…The University of Kansas Health System…[because] it violated a federal law [named EMTALA which requires] doctors [to] treat patients who come into the emergency room…doctors told Farmer that she was at risk of infection, severe blood loss, the loss of her uterus and death.  But they…refused to perform an abortion…because it would be too “risky” in Kansas’ “heated” political environment to do so…the hospital refused to even perform routine checks such as taking her temperature and assessing her pain.  She was turned away without so much as Tylenol or antibiotics to ward off potential infection despite…being at high risk for infection and experiencing heavy bleeding, mental fog and acute pain…Farmer eventually traveled several hours to Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois, for an abortion…The damage to Farmer’s health and wellbeing was long-term…she was hospitalized several times after the miscarriage…was unable to work for months…[and] eventually lost her home…The federal lawsuit comes in the wake of an Idaho EMTALA case recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court…Unlike the Idaho case, which was brought by the government, Farmer’s is the first high profile EMTALA lawsuit brought by an individual denied their federal rights while pregnant…

Torture Chamber (#1457)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

Forty-three people are known to have died in the Maricopa County jail system [in 2022].  More than one-quarter of those deaths were suicides.  Forty-three more people died in the jails in 2023…the death rate was among the highest of major jail systems in the country.  Scholars who study in-c[age] deaths in U.S. jails and prisons said those numbers are incredibly high when compared with similarly sized jail systems and even jails with much larger populations…Drug overdoses, drug withdrawals and suicides were among the leading causes of death…[but] one-third of the deaths…are [the] natural [result of keeping]…old…and sick…[people locked in cages as though they posed a danger to anyone]…the current and former Sheriff’s Office administrations…hindered operations and challenged efforts to maintain safe conditions…

 

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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People in authority can violate your rights while believing they are protecting you.  –  The Budget

Pyrrhic Victory (#1188) 

Every company and organization (including cop shops) using facial recognition without consent needs to be sued until it stops:

[Facebook] has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas to resolve the state’s lawsuit accusing…[it] of illegally using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data of millions of Texans without their consent…from photos and videos that users uploaded…as part of a [now-]discontinued feature called “Tag Suggestions”…Google separately is fighting a [similar] lawsuit by Texas

Under Duress (#1222)

Establishment media are finally beginning to admit that cops are habitual liars:

The family of Sonya Massey—whom Deputy Sean Grayson shot in the face as she stood in her kitchen, unarmed and praying for protection—recently publicized that the Sangamon County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office initially told relatives that Sonya had killed herself.  Once body-cam footage disproved Grayson’s self-serving account, he was arrested and charged…[similarly,] Sandra Bland’s cause of death was ruled “suicide by asphyxiation” (i.e., hanging)…suicidologists and suicide awareness advocates should lend expertise…whenever deaths from police brutality are ruled suicides…police “routinely lie to serve their own interests”…a type of misconduct that emerges not from just a few “bad apples” but from the systematic negligence of judges and juries…to the point that…the judicial system’s favoritism toward police has become seen as predictable…and…[encourages] schemes to victim-blame targets…Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police commissioner, admitted…that police culture normalized lying…Justice Gustin Reichbach of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York, echoed Keane

Welcome to the Future (#1381)

Constant surveillance damages adolescents’ ability to develop in healthy ways:

…at Lawrence High [in Kansas]…every homework assignment, email, photo, and chat on…school-supplied device[s are] monitored by a[lgorithms provided by a company named]…Gaggle…to provide around-the-clock surveillance.  If a word or an image triggers an alert in the…software, the result could range from the student being sent to an administrator to being referred to [compulsory] counseling to…a visit from local police…Gaggle [absurdly] claims that it has saved an “estimated” 5,790 student lives between 2018 and 2023.  It did this, according to its website, by analyzing 28 billion student items and flagging 162 million of those for review…At what point is the safety you think you’re buying for students actually doing harm in unintended ways?  Won’t teachers avoid assignments that challenge students to consider real-world problems?…Won’t students learn just to keep their emotions to themselves, instead of confiding in a teacher or another trusted adult?  What about the chilling effect on student creativity and expression?  Gaggle is the thought police for K-12 campuses…is it worth it if it turns schools into virtual prisons?

Property of the State (#1416)

The court rejected the charges, but not the “fetal personhood” dogma behind them:

Oklahoma resident Amanda Aguilar was arrested after using marijuana while pregnant.  Though Aguilar had a medical marijuana prescription, prosecutors [absurdly argu]ed that her fetus did not…[and] charged [her]…with [felony] child neglect…the state’s highest criminal court [dismissed the charges, but only because prosecutors charged her under a made-up law; they]…urged Oklahoma [politicians]…to c[riminalize all use of cannabis by pregnant women, regardless of prescription]…at least eight women have been charged under this [made-up law] since 2019…But…the Oklahoma Supreme Court…declined [to hear previous appeals]…Aguilar’s case [only] got its day in court thanks to an overzealous…prosecutor…appealing [a lower court’s dismissal of her charges] to…the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals…

I Spy (#1422)

Don’t let your machines call them, either:

Ford is trying to patent a way for its cars to report speeding drivers to the police.  A patent application…was published…Jul. 18 2024, and was originally filed by Ford Jan. 12, 2023…the [dystopian system would use]…cars to monitor each other’s speeds.  If one car detects that a nearby vehicle is being driven above the posted limit, it could use onboard cameras to photograph that vehicle.  A report containing both speed data and images of the targeted vehicle could then be sent directly to a [handy pigmobile] or roadside monitoring units…It’s unclear what legal argument Ford would make should it try to implement this tech, as human [busybodies] wouldn’t be [sticking]ing the[ir noses into strangers’ business]…Ford has also tried to patent a “night drive mode” that would limit vehicle speeds at night for everyone [regardless of circumstances].  This takes things a bit further by turning drivers into unwitting snitches…

Torture Chamber (#1455)

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

[Human beings caged] in Texas state prisons are being “cooked alive” by scorching temperatures in facilities without air conditioning, a new investigation [reports, yet when prisoners]…died with body temperatures nearing 107 degrees, officials have continued to blame their deaths on causes other than extreme heat.  In 2023, a Texas prisoner filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s refusal to…[obey] its own laws…mandat[ing] that prison temperatures be kept between 65 degrees and 85 degrees…At one prison, Garza West Unit, temperatures stayed above 100 degrees for 11 days straight in the summer of 2023…

The Cop Myth (#1460)

Cop violence is never limited to members of the public:

An…NYPD [cop named]…Imran Iqbal…was [arrested and] charged with [violently abusing] a child…[his bosses thought saying he wasn’t wearing his magical clown costume was much more important than how he was related to the child he attacked or any other pertinent information like his victim’s age]…

 

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 government has such loose standards that they let people weaponize them.  –  J.D. Lott

Torture Chamber (Chamber of Horrors)

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

For years, federal investigators…immigrants, and advocates have called for ICE to shutter the Winn [Migrant Torture] Center…[due to rampant] abuse, mismanagement, and inhumane conditions, [yet] in May, the Biden administration temporarily extended the facility’s contract…and..ICE will likely extend it again for five more years…During…a…protest [in January the prison sent in a goon squad]…dressed in black riot gear…who…began deploying canisters of pepper spray without warning…[while yelling] “Shut up motherfuckers!” [at] the[ir victims]…then [swarm]ed through…[the dungeon, pepper-]spraying detainees in the face…they…then exited the [scene of their crime], locked the doors and windows, and cut power and water.  For three hours or so, the immigrants…were denied medical care, aside from a few individuals who had [been beaten unconscious by the thug gang]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1373)

These evil schemes need to be completely shut down as unconstitutional:

Detroit police can no longer s[teal] cars through civil asset forfeiture unless they can show that the car was used for trafficking drugs…the Michigan Supreme Court ruled…that…it is not enough to merely claim that a car was near a suspected drug crime or that a passenger possessed drugs for personal use…The ruling is the second recent court decision limiting the asset forfeiture powers of Wayne County, which encompasses Detroit, and the second one specifically involving [Stephanie] Wilson’s Saturn Ion…[which cops stole] in 2019 because she gave rides to her daughter’s father to or from a residence [cops had pointed at while oinking “]drug activity[“, but]…Wilson was never cited, arrested, or charged with a crime…Wayne County s[tole] over 2,600 vehicles  between 2017 and 2019 and raked in over $1.2 million in [ransom] revenues…

You Were Warned (#1383)

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

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…[is about to] force a vote…on…KOSA…a[n internet-censorship bill which invents]…a “duty of care” for a huge swath of digital companies…to protect minors from exposure to anything that [politicians decide is a]…”harm”…The only way to “prevent and mitigate” services from contributing to these [politically-designated “]harms[“] is for companies to either drastically censor every user’s speech or to block minors from using [thei]r service, which means checking IDs for everyone.  Even if used in the most neutral and narrow of ways possible, the potential disruption of free speech and anonymity online is cataclysmic.  And…the political appointees at the Federal Trade Commission…will wind up…[using] KOSA to further specific political agendas—including crusades against abortion, LGBTQ rights, second-amendment rights, sex worker rights, big businesses, language that progressives deem disrespectful, and sexuality broadly…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1388)

Cops won’t drop this fantasy until “news” media stop obediently parroting it:

A…[whiny-baby cop in] Southport [Indiana had a panic attack while harassing a motorist]…Tony Wilson…[was root]ing [through his victim’s] car…[and saw] a dollar bill [with traces of white powder]…he [fantasized] was fentanyl…he [was so terrified he pissed himself]…and [then fainted]…his bosses [used the non-event as an excuse for swaggering and oinking out a lot of hysterical self-aggrandizing nonsense]…

Without Let or Hindrance (#1392)

Calling “child protection” on people is merely a quieter form of “swatting”:

J.D. Lott…his wife Britney…[and] their eight kids…[were] three years into a cross-country, home-schooling, Instagram-documented road trip in a bus they refashioned into an RV…wh[en]…online trolls…[decided] to weaponize child protective services…a group, FundieSnarkUncensored, that makes fun of people it believes are Christian Fundamentalists…had been…armchair diagnosing…the[ir] healthy newborn [Boone, claiming he] had “severe sunburn,” “was lethargic,” and had “jaundice”…they used a…video the Lotts had posted from their Florida campground stay to geolocate the[m]…then…called the local Florida DCF office and repeated, verbatim, the accusations…the [agency] decided t[o destroy their lives and]…threatened to issue a nationwide order to [abduct all of their] kids…Lott called the Family Freedom Project…a Texas nonprofit that helps families wrongly accused of abuse by child services…the FFP…found a…[lawyer and] a…[non-government] doctor…to have [a] child welfare evaluation…As soon as the Lotts pulled into the parking lot, a cop car pulled in behind them, lights flashing…the [doctor] took a look at baby Boone and determined that he did not have jaundice, severe sunburn, or lethargy.  The other seven children were examined and found to be in good health as well.  The doctor informed the family that the cops would not be [abduct]ing the kids…But when the state threatens to take away your kids, it’s not exactly no harm, no foul, sorry for the inconvenience.  The experience still gives some of the kids nightmares…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1447)

Everyone abused by cops using this error-prone surveillance system needs to sue:

In 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested after facial recognition software incorrectly identified him as the person responsible for a 2018 shoplifting spree.  Detroit, Michigan, police jailed Williams for more than 30 hours—even after it became clear that he was not responsible…Williams ultimately sued.  Last month, the case was settled, with Williams set to receive a $300,000 payout for his wrongful arrest…Donald Bussa, [the pig] who conducted the investigation, relied almost exclusively on the facial recognition software, not even looking into Williams’ whereabouts at the time of the crime…or interviewing [store] employees who were [actually present]…After Williams was arrested…he was held for hours before being interviewed…[and] once he was…the case against him quickly unraveled…[but] even after police [admitt]ed they had the wrong person, Williams still wasn’t released for another eight hours.  It took nearly two weeks for the charges against him to be dropped…

To Molest and Rape (#1457)

“Lewd and lascivious conduct” sounds so much nicer than “raping a 10-year-old”:

A [typical and representative] Vermont [cop named Todd Chisholm] has been [let off with a mere] 30 days in prison a[fter making a sweetheart] plea [deal] in which he pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct…[after repeatedly raping his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter starting] in…2003…Chisholm…[also has] 6 years of probation…[but] if [he hadn’t been a cop], Chisholm could have been facing life in prison…

 

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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Journalism is not a crime.  –  Adam Rose

Crime Against Society (#1179)

Louisiana isn’t the only state that chooses to punish sex workers in this deranged fashion:

I have three degrees, and two jobs where they don’t matter…[becau]se of…the restrictions of parole and the sex offender registry.  I earned my degrees in prison.  I was arrested at 19 while doing survival sex work, and prosecutors used my trans identity and the fact that I was using drugs…to escalate the charges.  I spent 13 years in…[Georgia prisons] before my release in 2023.  The irony is that now, I think back on sex work as something that represents financial stability…the very last thing I want is to…risk…being sent back.  Sex work would certainly be a violation of my parole.  But so would not being able to keep up with the hundreds of dollars per month it costs to be on the registry, on top of the usual expenses like rent and medical debt…So there’s a Catch-22.  In order to not break the law, I need income that’s sufficiently above minimum wage and that doesn’t involve background checks or 1,000-foot distance restrictions.  But the options that fit that description are not legal…

Top Cop (#1191)

This sex-worker hating psychopath may soon have the power she so desperately craves:

President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race…and [threw]…his “full support and endorsement” behind Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the party’s new nominee…Kamala Harris the horrible campaigner and Kamala Harris the cop can be easy to forget if you’re only considering…her [unremarkable] tenure as vice president…[whose] most distinguishing feature has been a series of bizarre but benign word salads…But…one major thread in Harris’ career…has been flip-flopping on issues to suit the…moment…le[aving] a long-term impression of her as [a] rudderless…phony…if Harris becomes the party’s nominee, the rush to anoint her a saint…is going to kick into overdrive quickly, both because of her identity and out of desperation to avoid Trump getting elected again.  But…her worst tendencies…include…using the state to crack down on problems…better solved through nonpunitive approaches…using moral panics around sex in self-serving waysacting cavalierly toward the Constitutiondefending dirty prosecutors, and finding new ways for the government to poke into people’s lives…

Micromanagement (#1260)

New Jersey cops already abuse the DNA its newborn residents are compelled by law to surrender:

Mandatory genomic sequencing of all newborns…sounds like something out of a dystopian sci-fi story.  But it could become a reality in New Jersey, where [bureaucrat]s are considering adding [it] to the state’s mandatory newborn testing regime…”What we’re talking about is information…that could allow the state…to…monitor and surveil them and their families for the rest of their lives,” [said] Dillon Reisman…[of] ACLU…New Jersey…parents are…told that the testing is mandatory.  They are not told that…the state holds on to these blood samples for 23 years, putting no legal restrictions on how they can be used…[by cops or bureaucrats].  Some states were found to be selling the blood samples to researchers, or turning [it] over to the Pentagon‘s DNA registry.  Now, New Jersey parents are seeking a court order requiring the state to return or destroy the blood samples…or to get informed consent from parents to hold on to it…

The Scarlet Letter (#1397)

I’m sure there are other federal laws which could be used against other state “prostitution” laws:

The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV…for more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution [while]…HIV-positive [a felony, but] Tennessee [actually made it even worse] in 2010 by reclassifying prostitution with HIV as a “violent sexual offense” with a lifetime registration as a sex offender — even if protection is used.  At least 83 people are believed to be on Tennessee’s sex offender registry solely because of these laws, with most living in the Memphis area, where [disguised pigs] and p[igs in suits] most often [employed] the statute [to ruin lives]…the Tennessee attorney general’s office…said in an email statement it would “continue to defend Tennessee’s prohibition on aggravated prostitution”…

Torture Chamber (#1428)

If those confined there can’t come and go as they please, it isn’t a “shelter”, “housing”, or “school”; it is a prison:

Employees of the largest [contractor jailing] unaccompanied migrant [minors] in the U.S. repeatedly sexually abused and harassed [minors] in their care for at least eight years…[committ]ing a s[adly-typical] litany of offenses…as the company amassed billions of dollars in government contracts.  Southwest Key Programs Inc. employees, including supervisors, raped, [molest]ed or solicited sex and nude images of [adolescents and even some] children beginning in 2015 and p[roba]bly earlier…At least two employees have been indicted on criminal charges…since 2020…Southwest Key’s vast network of [concentration camps] across three states…have room for more than 6,300 [people]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1442)

Cops are nothing more than state-sponsored terrorists:

In March of 2021, I published a 15 part series detailing the history of deputy gangs inside of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department…[this] attracted the attention of dozens of department personnel, and triggered direct surveillance by the sheriff’s department…in October of 2021…I requested electronic records of any communications made by LASD that contained my name.  The department denied my initial request, which prompted me to sue…after nearly two years, LASD opted to settle the matter and turn over the records.  More than 50 members of the sheriff’s department sent more than 800 pages of emails about me in the course of just 7 months.  Since [my] reporting…I have received numerous personal threats of death and rape.  Other threats have been directed at my family and loved ones…via direct message on social media, email, and anonymous texts.  I have been pulled over…[and] have seen p[igmobi]les stationed outside of my house…

To Molest and Rape (#1457)

They’re trying to pretend this one isn’t typical and representative by calling him “part-time” and saying he was “attempting to complete his certification”:

A [typical and representative Alabama cop] was fired and arrested after being [caught molesting kids.  His name is] Joshua Dane Wells…

 

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

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

Schadenfreude

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

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

If Men Were Angels

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

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1422)

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

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

The Punitive Mindset (#1428) 

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

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

Thought Control (#1441)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (#1452)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

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

Torture Chamber (#1454)

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

A [human being locked in a cage at the filthy] Rikers Island d[ungeon] has died after jail staff “repeatedly ignored” her requests for medical help, culminating in a medical episode severe enough to land her in a hospital…Charizma Jones…died [July 14th while]…awaiting prosecution [for defending herself from a violent screw]…in April…prosecutors consented to her release…without bail on July 10, after she was hospitalized, [but by then it was too late]…Jones…[was] the fourth [person to die in New York City dungeons]…in 2024…Nine people died [there] in 2023, 19 in 2022 and 16 in 2021…

 

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

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

Shame, Shame (#516)

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

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

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

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

To Molest and Rape

Cops are a menace to women of all ages:

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

Panopticon (#1308)

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

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

Torture Chamber (#1371)

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

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #11)

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

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

If Men Were Angels (#1449)

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

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

 

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

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We decline the invitation.  –  Justice Eric Rosen

Monsters

Words fail me in the face of such barbarity:

A Western Pennsylvania man…[named] DaShawn Watkins…is facing…charges [for the murder and dismemberment] of 14-year-old Pauly Likens…[a trans girl] missing since June 22…Police…found dismembered human remains…in and around…Shenango River Lake…the cause of death was ruled to be a sharp force trauma to the head, and…surveillance footage, social media records and cellular phone records found that Likens appeared “to be on the phone and waiting to meet someone near the canoe launch area”…footage also captured Watkins making several trips out of his apartment carrying multiple bags, and driving to his apartment in the vehicle seen near the crime scene.  Multiple locations in Watkins’ apartment tested positive in a preliminary blood test…

Creepy Coppers

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

[A typical and representative] St. Tammany Parish [cop named] Christopher Cassidy pleaded guilty to [189 charges related to child & animal] pornography…[and] was sentenced to 15 years in prison for each count without…parole [plus condemnation to the] sex offender [registry] for…25 years [if he somehow manages to survive 2835 years in prison]…

Eggs and Bacon (#1348)

Kansas courts aren’t allowing politicians to circumvent the will of the voters:

The Kansas Supreme Court [has] reaffirmed abortion protections in the state’s Constitution…striking down [attempt]ed laws that banned a common second-trimester abortion procedure and created additional licensing requirements for abortion clinics…The rulings were the latest setbacks for [forced-birth pro]ponents in Kansas, a…state that has…recently [confounded Manicheans who insist that all voters in every state are partisan robots who unfailingly obey both their “leaders” and the expectations of the New York Times]…

Artificial “Intelligence”?

There is no part of this reeking pile of shit that fails to be stupid, so I’ll just comment instead of quoting it.  1) Things that are not alive cannot commit suicide.  2) “Cyborg” is not a synonym for “robot”; a cyborg has living parts.  3) A robot cannot be an “officer”.  4) A malfunctioning machine tumbling down a flight of stairs does not constitute a “jump”.  5) If a machine is observed malfunctioning and nothing is done, it’s no surprise if the situation worsens.  6) For a malfunctioning machine to break is not a “tragedy”.  7) A machine has neither mind nor personality and therefore cannot be “depressed”.  8) I think it highly unlikely that this robot was actually “unique” in any way.  9) Anyone who issued a “civil service officer card” to a piece of office equipment should be sacked for incompetence.  10) Robots cannot be “diligent” (see #7).  11) Too many technology reporters know nothing about technology.  12) What is possible in fantasy movies is in no way reflective of reality.

The Red Umbrella (#1414)

As long as sex work is marginalized, sex workers will be targeted for violence:

Two sex workers were violently assaulted in Edmonton [Alberta by]…a man [who] contacted both women through a website and arranged to meet them [early on July 6th]…At around 7 a.m…he attacked [the first victim, leaving her]…significantly injured and…unconscious…he [then] arranged to meet [the second victim]…around 7:50 a.m…the[n]…violently attacked…her…[leaving her] unconscious…[and stealing her] wallets, identification, cash and cell phones…detectives believe there may be more victims…

Torture Chamber (#1445)

I’m sure they helpfully yelled “Stop faking!” at him every time he coughed:

S[crews] at Brooklyn’s [abominable federal jail] ignored a…[prisoner]’s cancer diagnosis for months, letting a mass in his lungs grow to double its size while he coughed up enough blood to fill a milk carton…Terrence Wise…is [only] the latest [human being] subjected to what defense attorneys and judges describe as grievous medical mistreatment…[including a prisoner] who couldn’t use a CPAP machine for 85 days because the jail didn’t provide an extension cord, another…whose broken cheek had to be re-broken because the jail defied a judge’s order for treatment [until] it…improperly healed, and yet another who waited more than three months for emergency surgery for a twisted bowel…staff [also] lied about giving a…[prisoner] his antibiotics after his appendix burst…and…defied [another judge’s] order to send a…[prisoner] with a severe contagious MRSA infection to a hospital.  Instead, the[y just forced their victim into] a yellow jumpsuit to single him out as sick…

A Moral Cancer (#1450)

Crypto-moralists want the gullible to be afraid of even moderate alcohol consumption:

A[nother crypto-moralist] has [claim]ed that even moderate drinking can reduce life expectancy, [repeat]ing [scary tales prohibitionists have been pushing for two years]…Dr. Tim Stockwell, a [pseudo]scientist at the Canadian Institute for [Coming up with “]Research[” to Reinforce What Prohibitionists Want You To Believe], [made] the [absurdly-specific universal claim] that consuming an average of two drinks per week over a lifetime can shorten one’s life by 3 to 6 days.  One drink per day, seven a week, can cut life expectancy by 2 1/2 months…

The puritanical notion that lifelong deprivation of pleasure in the vague hope of adding a few extra minutes of senility and decrepitude to the far end of one’s old age – a time one has only a 50% chance of reaching in the first place, statistically – is so alien to my way of thinking, I’ve never been able to wrap my head around it, even as a concept for consideration.

 

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

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

Torture Chamber

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

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

See also “I Can’t Breathe” below.

Imaginary Evils (#1347)

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

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

Thought Control (#1405)

Florida censors have descended completely into self-parody:

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

Pyrrhic Victory (#1409)

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

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

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1423)

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

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

I Can’t Breathe (#1439)

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

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

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #12)

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

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

 

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