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Posts Tagged ‘transgender’

Now I have to worry about being harassed just for needing to pee?
–  Kalaya Morton

Surplus Women (#1080)

Never call the cops for any reason whatsoever:

A Los Angeles sex worker called 911 to report being held in a motel room against her will.  When the [cops]…showed up, one of the[m] shot her.  The woman, Linda Becerra Moran, died on February 27 after nearly three weeks on life support…Moran [had] called 911 on February 7 and…spoke a mix of Spanish and English…[she] was crying…and…clearly very upset…[when the cops arrived] it [was] clear that she [was having some kind of mental health episode but the cops ganged up on her in an intimidating manner and]…back[ed her] into [a] corner…The supervisor instruct[ed]…one [of them] to “be lethal” and…he…immediately fire[d] at her…the cops then…cuff[ed] her…before administering any medical care…

To Molest and Rape (#1298)

“Sex addiction” will continue to be used as an excuse for violent crimes until ignorant judges stop allowing it to be:

A [typical and representative] London [Ontario cop] with a…[pretend]ed sex addiction [received a slap on the wrist]…for sexually assaulting a woman he met online.  [Cop Stephen Williams also recently changed his name to Will Stephens as part of his effort to avoid consequences for deceiving and attacking at least three women, but despite that a judge let him skate with a mere] 90 days under house arrest, followed by 90 days under a curfew…and…prohibit[ion] from…accessing online dating websites [during that time.  But]…Stephens [alias Williams still plans to]…appeal…that [love tap]…Stephens…quit his [cop] job…to a[void a] suspension…following [yet another sexual assault]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1361)

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

…two male [cops barged into] a Tucson Walmart women’s restroom…[to harass] Kalaya Morton…a…masculine-presenting [lesbian, because]…a [busybody] store employee…assumed she was…transgender…Morton…said that…the…[thugs] stormed in, shining flashlights into the stall and demanding she exit.  Morton, still using the toilet, was stunned…When she finally exited the stall, she said she lifted her shirt to prove she was not a man, expecting the ordeal to end.  Instead…one [of the pigs kept oinking that]…she “looked like a man”…The Pima County Sheriff’s Department c[laim]ed that the incident is under internal affairs investigation…[but only because Morton recorded the cops and posted the video to] social media…

To Molest and Rape (#1455)

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

A Philadelphia [cop] who was named police chief [of] Hartford, Conn…[backed out] after it was revealed he was under investigation for sexual harassment…[and] has been sued by [one of his victims]…Tyrell McCoy…creat[ed] a “hostile environment” of pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace, including unwanted groping and kissing and [demands] for oral sex…[from cop] Mark Casey…[who reported that] McCoy had pursued him for years…and then retaliated against him when he refused [to put out]…McCoy t[old] Casey…he was “untouchable” because of his close…relationship with the then-head of…Internal Affairs…Casey and another [cop victim] filed complaints last year…and…McCoy [had hoped to escape consequences by taking the job in] Hartford…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1473)

Politicians like to pretend that their entry in any “monkey see, monkey do” parade is different:

A new bill…in…North Carolina…aims to ban [people] under 14 from social media…like…Australia’s [float in this “monkey see, monkey do parade]…this bill would prohibit anyone under 14 from creating an account on social platforms that meet certain [arbitrary] criteria…like having 10 percent daily active users under 16 and…scrolling…[people] aged 14 to 15 would need parents’ permission to make an account…[and demands] age verification [for any] site [any politician has pointed at while belching]…”harmful to minors”…Unlike…North Carolina’s [existing] age-verification law…this one requires these site visitors to be 16 years or older, not 18…Findings from a recent study on age verification laws [demonstrate] that these laws don’t work…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1508)

Oh, what a surprise:

A new working paper from various university researchers suggests that age-verification laws aren’t effective…Since 2022, 19 states have passed age-verification laws…[despite warning from] free speech and digital privacy experts…that age-verification laws won’t work [as politicians pretend]…Through analyzing Google Trends data, researchers found a 46.6 percent traffic reduction of searches to Pornhub, the biggest platform compliant with the laws.  Pornhub has blocked most states with age-verification laws because of the burden of complying…researchers saw a 48.1 percent increase in searches for a large non-compliant platform, XVideos…and a 23.6 percent increase in searches for VPNs.  This occurred in the states with age-verification laws on a rolling timeline based on when the laws were enacted…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1509)

Laws are for the peasantry, not the rulers:

A [Utah] judge has been arrested and accused of enticing minors through sexual conversations on a chat app.  Kevin Robert Christensen…was booked into jail…for…[talking to] FBI [agents fantasy role-playing] on…KIK…as [a] 13[-year-old] and…a…16[-year-old]…Christensen allegedly made “multiple references” to sexually abusing [actual minors]…

 

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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With a data set of any size, you can always find a pattern…all you have to do is ignore other information.  –  Jennifer Granick

A Moral Cancer (#1356)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

New York politician…Brad Hoylman-Sigal…[wants] to outlaw…nicotine pouches…[which] contain a derived version of the…compound that tobacco users crave without the carcinogenic sluff that comes with cigarettes and smokeless tobacco…Nicotine pouches contain no tobacco leaf and no known carcinogens.  They just deliver nicotine—potentially addictive, yes, but not known to be inherently harmful…According to the FDA, these products met the public health standard legally required by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act…[but] Hoylman-Sigal [wants cops to have more excuses for destroying lives, so he barfs “THE CHILDREN!” at anyone who opposes his scheme]…

I Spy (#1452) 

Cop excuses produced by human bootlickers are bad enough:

Cellebrite, the company which makes near ubiquitous phone hacking and forensics technology [ab]used by [cop shops] around the world, has introduced [machine learning] capabilities into its products, including summarizing chat logs or audio messages from s[tolen] mobile phones…“[Computer] results…are not transparent…you cannot trace back where a conclusion came from, or what information it is based on”…[said] Jennifer Granick…[of] the…ACLU…“The Fourth Amendment does not permit [cops] to rummage through data, but only to review information for which there is probable cause….you are not allowed to fish through [all available] data on a hunch, in the hopes of finding something”…Cellebrite’s newly announced capabilities sound somewhat similar to Draft One, a tool from contracting giant Axon…[which] uses [algorithms] to automatically generate police reports from bodycam audio….

Follow Your Bliss (#1456)

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

A Bentonville [Arkansas]…church…volunteer…[named] Andrew Apple…[has been] arrested…[for] child [molestation after a boy Apple molested in autumn of 2023 reported him on]…Feb. 1…[to the church’s credit] the report was relayed to [cops] that same day.  A second person later [reported Apple]…to another church staff member…

The Last Shall Be First (#1470) 

The only sure way to keep personal data from being abused by psychopaths with government titles is not to collect it in the first place:

Florida’s insurance regulator has demanded an unusually intrusive trove of data on millions of prescription drugs filled in the state last year, including the names of patients taking the medications, their dates of birth and doctors they’ve seen.  The [politicized] office…sought this information from pharmacy benefit managers…companies that oversee prescription drugs for employers and government programs….[and is pretending] the state required the data to review whether the benefit managers…were compliant with a 2023 state law aimed at lowering drug prices…But…“You don’t need such granular patient information for purposes of oversight,” said Sharona Hoffman, a health law and privacy expert…[so it seems likely] the government [is] actually trying to get information about reproductive care…transgender care…[and] mental health care…Federal privacy law allows benefit managers to hand over limited data about individual patients in certain circumstances…But…Florida’s [demand] could violate the law because it is so broad and…go[es well] beyond what the regulator needs to conduct [any legal and legitimate] review…

Creepy Coppers (#1472)

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

A Detroit [cop named Earl Anderson was fired and arrested] for [attempting to groom] his 12-year-old stepdaughter [via]…text messages…[after he threatened] “to take [her on] a family trip”…[and] offered to get [her] a second phone…[with] a new number…[so her real] father, [Brandyn] Harris, [couldn’t see their texts]…the [girl]…reported the messages to her aunt…[who told] Harris…[who in turn] told…the [cops]…

Torture Chamber (#1501)

The government calls this “correction”; for journalists to parrot that ugly euphemism is a choice:

[New York] State Police are investigating the [murder] of a prisoner…in a…central New York prison [adjacent to another prison] where another [human being] was…[recently] beaten [to death] by guards in [an attack that even their own union called “incomprehensible”]…Officials did not identify the [new victim, whom]…nine [witnesses saw]…brutally beaten [to death] by [screws]…amid a mounting crisis in the New York State prison system, where…thousands of [screws are]…on strike since Feb. 17 — without the backing of their union and in defiance of a judge’s order — to protest…the…state…[not letting them torture people as they want to, and]…to try to distract attention from [December’s] beating death of [Robert] Brooks…

I Spy (#1507)

Maybe a few more big lawsuits will teach these corporate busybodies a lesson:

General Motors is facing yet another legal battle over…illegally [selling] driver data to third parties, who then provided it to insurers…to use [as an excuse] to raise premiums or deny coverage…GM has been [thus illegally] selling driver data since 2015…Unlike [other corporations’] telematics programs that [at least nominally] require users to opt in by installing a device, GM allegedly collected this data without explicit consent…consumers were misled into believing OnStar primarily enhanced vehicle safety and performance, while in reality, it was used to generate revenue through data sales…In January, the automaker settled [a similar suit] with the Federal Trade Commission …[serial lawsuit abuser] Ken Paxton filed a [similar]…suit…in August 2024…[and] 27 class-action lawsuits…have been consolidated into a multi-district litigation case…

 

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

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We can always rely on our government to assault our autonomy.  –  Jeffrey Singer and Mike Fox

License to Rape (#1169)

Doctors need to keep suing cops who pretend they have license to practice medicine:

On Aug. 10, 2024, police [abduct]ed a Lorain, Ohio, resident whom the police [fantasiz]ed inserted a baggy containing illegal drugs into their rectum…[then] transported the [victim] to Mercy Hospital’s Emergency Department and demanded that doctors remove the [imaginary] baggie.  Doctors…refused to perform the ill-advised procedure—even after police secured a warrant…[because they] lacked the [victim]’s informed consent and were concerned that if they attempted to remove the [hypothetical] baggy, it might burst, causing whatever it contained to leak out and get rapidly absorbed through the rectal lining — potentially killing the [cops’ victim.  The cops] then threatened to arrest the doctor in charge for refusing to violate the patient’s bodily autonomy…[but] the doctors stood their ground, and the police eventually released the[ir victim] after failing to [manufacture] any evidence of the [manufactur]ed crime of possessing a government-forbidden substance…the[n]…retaliated against the hospital by abruptly refusing to provide security.  The hospital is now suing

The Last Shall Be First (#1410)

Paxton doesn’t give a damn about women’s sports; he just wants to humiliate women and persecute trans people:

[Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton] wants the NCAA to…require gen[etic] testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports…[he] filed a [nuisance] lawsuit in state district court…seek[ing] a court order requiring gender screening for athletes and an injunction intended to prevent the NCAA from [disagreeing with him]…the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were…female at birth…a day after [Emperor] Trump [made an imperial proclamation] intended to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports.  Paxton [fantasizes that huge numbers of]…biological men [are declaring themselves trans and taking female hormones] to surreptitiously participate in women’s’ sports…NCAA President Charlie Baker in December said he knew of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 across the NCAA…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1426)

Censorious politicians aren’t just copying each other; they’re vying to make their new laws the most unconstitutional:

More than a dozen states have passed or are considering laws to require [web]sites to [demand identity information from] adults who want to visit them…So far, each of them…have applied the rule to sites on which a third or more of the content [can be called] pornography [by politicians without provoking outright mockery from judges].  South Dakota could soon be the first state to affix the expectation to any site that [does not completely ban anything remotely like nudity, a la Facebook.  Censorious megalomaniacs]…voted 34-0 [in favor]…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1443)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

[Florida] attorney general…James Uthmeier [has] filed a [nuisance lawsuit] against retail giant Target…claiming it defrauded investors in the process of promoting “radical LGBTQ activism”.  The [term is Uthmeier’s dysphemism for] the Minnesota-based company’s 2023 Pride campaign…[which culture-war fanatics u]sed…[to attack] Target…Uthmeier’s office, with the help of [pro-censorship law firm] America First Legal, claims Target “misled investors by claiming to monitor the social and political risks posed by its DEI…initiatives”…[Uthmeir pretends to have standing to sue because unions representing] Florida…[pigs] and teachers [include Target stock in their pension fund investments.  Uthmeier said,]…“My office will stridently pursue…offensive political theatre [at taxpayer expense]”…and…“use the court system to [harass my political enemies].”

Guinea Pigs (#1453) 

Erosion of civil rights usually starts with the marginalized, but never stops there:

A Department of Homeland Security unit eliminated policies prohibiting [spying]…based solely on a [victim]’s gender identity or sexual orientation.  The Office of Intelligence and Analysis [has] posted an updated policy manual…that [now allows spooks to target US citizens merely because they are LGBT, due to Emperor] Trump’s Jan. 20 [imperial edict] to scrap…[all] protections fo[r minorities]…across federal agencies.  I&A’s work has attracted close scrutiny for years because of its…focus…[on] US citizens…

Vulture Watching (#1495)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021…The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester…[especially if] the…fetus…still…had [cardiac myocyte activity, incorrectly called “]a heartbeat[” by forced-birth politicians.  While]…the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally…it rose substantially in Texas…[where] the state…threatens [doctors with life]…in prison for providing [necessary medical care]…to…miscarrying patients…Sepsis…is one of the leading causes of deaths in hospitals…[but] Texas…hospitals don’t allow [doctors] to [empty the uterus] until…fetal [cardiac myocyte activity] stops or they can document a life-threatening complication…

If Men Were Angels (#1505)

Preachy perverts nearly always blame their crimes on others:

A [typical and representative] Yakima [Washington] pastor was sentenced Feb. 18 to 30 years in prison for making, possessing and sharing child sexual abuse images.  David Roger Franklin…was arrested after a computer technician working on Franklin’s laptop at his office found folders containing video and photos depicting sexual abuse in June 2022…some of the photos were taken with Franklin’s cellphone of a [girl he knew in the time when she was] 4…to…6…The girl told detectives that Franklin took the photos of her and abused her…he…also had images on his computer of [other] adult men sexually abusing [other] young girls…[Franklin was also] a chaplain in the Civil Air Patrol, and a leader in the Royal Rangers…a Christian scouting-type organization for boys…Franklin…[refused to accept responsibility, claiming that watching] pornography…“began to degrade his mind” and led to hi[s] abusing the 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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[I felt like I] had no choice but to be a victim in the FBI’s eyes.
–  Alisha Price

A Broker in Pillage

Nobody will be safe until this odious, contemptible practice is recognized as unconstitutional:

Hawaii allows prosecutors to [steal]…any property worth less than $100,000 and [any] cars, planes, and boats…96 percent of cases end without ever reaching a judge.  Property owners can demand their day in civil court, but they must file a hefty bond and pay for their own defense…the median currency forfeiture…is around $1,200—far below the amount needed to pay…defense.  Many property owners do the math and walk away.  Others waive their right to a trial and allow the Department of the Attorney General to adjudicate their cases instead, putting property owners in front of state attorneys working on the same side as the police.  Either way, the process is rigged.  Hawaii allows [cops] to prevail with little more than guesswork.  They do not have to specify when or where a crime occurred, who committed the crime, or how…Speculation and innuendo often suffice…

Worse Than I Thought (#911)

Bad ideas for bad laws just keep coming back no matter how many times they are defeated:

Wisconsin [politicians] reintroduced…a…law [to shake down citizens for an extra]…$5,000 surcharge on convictions for [being caught in a]…prostitut[ion sting] or keeping a[n incall]…Similar legislation has previously [failed]…during the 2019-’20 session…

Droit du Seigneur (#1113)

What did this guy think he was, a cop?

A [Las Vegas] attorney…forced women he represented to perform sexual acts on himself and his friends…Gary Guymon…[has been] charge[d with] sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder…and…intimidating a witness…Guymon [was enabled by the state’s]…prostitution c[harges against two of his victims]…and threatened [them] with incarceration…and…physical…violen[ce to coerce obedience]…When [one victim] attempted to get a restraining order against him, Guymon repeatedly threatened her…and…the[n contacted a known]…murder[er] to discuss [hiring him to kill her]…

Monsters (#1255)

Though most of the items appearing under this heading describe violence against trans women, trans men are also targets of horrific violence:

Five people face murder charges after a transgender man…missing [for weeks] was found dead in a field in [New York]…after enduring months of torture…Sam Nordquist…of Oakdale, Minnesota, arrived in New York state in September and was…last in contact with loved ones in late January…Sam, a transgender ma[n]…met a woman named Precious [Arzuaga] online, who convinced him to visit her in New York.  Sam left Minnesota on September 28, 2024, with a round-trip plane ticket, planning to return within two weeks.  However, he never boarded his return flight and was un[der Arzuaga’s psychological]…control…Police launched a missing person investigation…after receiving a welfare check request from Nordquist’s family.  They d[iscover]ed Nordquist had…”endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse” and “repeated acts of violence and torture” between early December and early February…[Arzuaga and other]s sexually assaulted Nordquist with a table leg and broomsticks, and beat him with sticks, dog toys, ropes and belts until he died. His body…was then [dumped in a field]…the…[other] four…[are] Kyle Sage…Patrick Goodwin…Emily Motyka…[and] Jennifer Quijano…

Imaginary Evils (#1347)

Liz Brown on another company the government is trying to destroy with “sex trafficking” myths despite a lack of “sex trafficking” charges:

…Nicole Daedone…founde[r of] OneTaste…and…Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste’s former head of sales…face a single count of conspiracy to commit forced labor…”between approximately 2004 and 2018.”  Neither woman is charged with actually forcing labor or engaging in other criminal acts.  Their lawyers believe this is the first time the feds have charged forced labor conspiracy without an underlying forced labor charge…prosecutors have…employed dubious theories of criminality, such as “coercive control,” and…have exploited rank sensationalism, as though hoping that throwing in lots of details about kinky sex and free love while suggesting cultish behavior will do where evidence of legal wrongdoing falls short.  Underlying the case is one of the Justice Department’s catchall justifications: stopping sex trafficking and prostitution…the feds clearly intend to imply that this is really a sex trafficking case, even if the charges don’t go that far…

The Last Shall Be First (#1413) 

The time, money, and energy Americans are flushing down the “culture war” toilet is incalculable:

…a[n Iowa] bill…would make it a felony to take a minor to a drag show…This applies whether the performer sings, lip-syncs, dances, reads or “performs for entertainment,” regardless of whether they receive payment…the legislation…[calls for] up to five years in prison and a fine [of up to]…$10,245.  The bill would [also] levy fines of $10,000 per minor against any business that allows a minor to be present at or view a drag show hosted on its premises, and [encourages mob rule lawsuits allowing profiteers to demand]…between $10,000 and $50,000 [from each victim they sue]…

Thought Control (#1509)

Trumpist propaganda dismisses book bans as a “hoax”:

At an elementary school at Fort Campbell, [Kentucky,] home of the 101st Airborne Division, librarians [have been forced to hide]…books that contain references to slavery, the civil rights movement and anything else related to diversity, equity and inclusion…[due to an official] letter “to ensure compliance with executive orders”…Librarians are [order]ed to ensure any such books are “removed from the student section of the [library] and placed in the professional collection”…At Fort Campbell, administrators and librarians are interpreting the [vague order] to apply to…anything that could be perceived to promote one group over another or make one group look bad…[such as] books that mention slavery, the civil rights movement or the treatment of Native Americans…Ironically, some of those history books on civil rights might reference the deployment of the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect Black students during the desegregation of a high school, a pivotal moment in civil rights history…At another DoDEA school in Europe…libraries are removing books that discuss immigration in a positive light…

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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[Rescue industry] organizations…perpetuate stereotypes, myths, and lies that end up hurting victims more than helping them.  – Natasha Helfer

The Last Shall Be First (#1078)

Politicians’ obsession with citizens’ genitalia has gone federal:

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall…has introduced a bill to…codify legal definitions of male [and] female…[as] sex…at…birth…in [all] case[s, and to ban changing that in documentation]…In 2023, [Marshall] introduced a bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors nationwide and one to ban federal funding for such care for trans people of all ages.  Neither bill passed.  He put out similar, equally unsuccessful, bills in 2021…

Quiet Genocide (#1329)

There’s been virtually nothing about the Uyghur genocide in Western media for over a year; apparently white people can only care about one group of Muslims at a time.  But this long, highly-detailed account of one man’s escape from China, an ordeal which took from 2012 to 2018 and carried him across China and through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand (where he spent three years in prison for “illegal entry”), Malaysia and finally Turkey, is a rare exception.  It is well worth your time; unless more Westerners start paying attention, China’s campaign to slowly crush an entire culture into oblivion is bound to succeed.

Served Cold (#1405)

Let’s hope every last one of Ballard’s partners in profiteering go down with him:

Pornography [viewing] has become pathologized by a class of [soi-disant] experts fighting “porn addiction,” who rely on [bogus] evidence [and] conflate the legal adult entertainment industry with…human trafficking…Utah is at the center of a[n]…industry…built around such beliefs…many [members] of…which…are linked directly or indirectly to each other…Fight the New Drug and the Malouf Foundation [are] both…connect[ed] to Tim Ballard…[and his] Operation Underground Railroad…and both participated in [“]anti-trafficking[” schemes] tied to the office of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.  It was t[o hide] connections like these…that…both organizations recently reorganized into a new combined [pro-censorship] group—with the Elizabeth Smart Foundation—called the Phase Alliance…[allied with] the Rockford, Illinois-based International Organization for the Family…[which was] caught advocating for anti-LGBTQ+ laws in countries such as the Russian Federation

The Last Shall Be First (#1487) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill…banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that match up with their gender identity…It also bans students from sharing overnight accommodations with people [not] of the[ir birth] sex…A lawsuit is expected to be filed against this [which]…Ohio…[taxpayers will be robbed to defend in court]…The bathroom ban…was added to a [completely unrelated] bill…in the eleventh hour of a House Session at the end of June before the [politicians] went on an extended break…

Vulture Watching (#1488)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Over the course of six hours on June 11, 2023, Porsha Ngumezi had bled so much in the emergency department…that she’d needed two transfusions.  She was…“passing large clots the size of grapefruit”…[and her] mother[-in-law], a [retired] physician…[told her] “You need a D&C”…But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was the hospital’s “routine” to give…misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue…Three hours later, her heart stopped…more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case…said it raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks…It was clear Porsha needed an emergency D&C…But because D&Cs are also used to end pregnancies, the procedure has become tangled up in state legislation that [almost completely bans] abortions…

Stalkers in Blue (#1490)

“Deprivation of rights” is the feds’ catchall charge to use against cops who embarrass politicians:

Federal charges have been filed against two [typical and representative] Missouri [cops who perpetrated] plots to steal nude photos from women’s phones during traffic stops…Julian Alcala…illegally search[ed] 20 women’s phones…between Feb. 6, 2024, and May 18, 2024…Alcala [was caught after he] text[ed] himself a video from one woman’s phone, then tr[ied] to delete a record of this text…The woman reached out to the FBI after this…[David] McKnight [did the same sort of thing]…between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024…[to] nine different women…

Torture Chamber (#1491)

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

Twelve Black [prisoners locked up] in…Red Onion…Virginia’s first super-maximum security prison, have…set themselves on fire since September in a bid to get transferred away from abusive guards…The first reported [case was]…Demetrius Wallace…who told [reporters] he set his leg on fire on Aug. 23 because he knew he would have to be transported out of the prison for treatment.  Since guards waited three days before taking Wallace to the nearest burn unit seven hours away, he had to have a skin graft and spent 14 days in the hospital.  When he returned…guards harassed him, denied access to his email, and [locked] him in [solitary confinement]…Over the [following] two weeks…a dozen [others] had set themselves on fire to escape “intolerable racism, abuse, and inhumane conditions”…Red Onion…has been riddled with…abuse since opening in 1998…More than two-thirds of its [prisoners] are held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, ranging from two weeks to 14 years…[because they are often] served food covered in maggots…prisoners have…[also] gone on months-long hunger strikes…

 

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 demonstrated that it cannot and will not be constrained by Section 230, the First Amendment, or even the venerable principle of presumption of innocence.  –  Maggie McNeill

Surplus Women

Decriminalization is only the first step:

Sex worker advocates have expressed their “rage and sadness” after a man who was due to face a double-murder trial for killing two women struck a manslaughter plea deal with Victorian prosecutors. Xiaozheng Lin, who killed sex workers Yuqi Luo…and Hyun Sook Jeon…in late 2022…now faces significantly less jail time [despite intentionally murdering the sex workers in order to rob them, so as to pay off his gambling debts]…Fiona Patten, former Victorian upper house MP, said she believed the decision reflected the stigma faced by sex workers in society…

Mumbo Jumbo 

It’s not surprising that this woman promotes the Nordic Model; it’s about as rooted in reality as her other beliefs about sex work:

…the Scottish government has instructed local authorities to partner with [an anti-sex group named] Azalea, led by a religious anti-porn activist who has stated that sex workers are “possessed by demons”…Ruth Robb…has in the past recommended “carrying out exorcisms on sex workers”…believes yoga is an “occult practice” and [claims] sex work leads to a “lesbian lifestyle”…[she claims] “Most prostitutes have had some exposure to the occult,” and her [Nordic model-based “outreach”] guides [for fellow religious busybodies] offer a checklist to determine if a sex worker is undergoing “demonic possession”.  Supposed symptoms include “flailing limbs” or a “sudden change of voice”…

The Face of Trafficking

The first actual association between “trafficking” and pizza:

The owner of Stash’s Pizza…in Massachusetts, was sentenced on Oct. 25, 2024 for forced labor charges. [Stavros Papantoniadis] forced or attempted to force six victims to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse; threats of violence and serious harm; and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities for deportation…[he] was sentenced…to 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release and…a $35,000 fine…

The Last Shall Be First (#1408) 

“Bathroom bills” are a political fad that neither court rulings nor public protest have deterred:

The [Odessa, Texas] City Council [has] banned transgender people from using restrooms outside of the sex assigned to them at birth, [despite protests by]…residents…Mayor Javier Joven, who is up for reelection…has said his mission has been to help the city “repent”.  Under the amended ordinance, the city can seek fines of up to $500 and [criminal] trespassing charges…[and] also [encourages nuisance lawsuits for] $10,000 in damages plus the cost of the lawsuit and attorney fees…It [specifically] excludes [male cops who enter bathrooms to harass, rape, or otherwise attack women]…

Dangerous Speech (#1435)

Liz Brown’s articles on sex work are so thorough, it’s just too hard to come up with a pull quote.  So I’ll just point you to her latest on the Backpage persecution, and embed the accompanying video.  Watch it, and go read the article!

Vulture Watching (#1477)

Texas doesn’t care how many women die because of its terrible laws:

Josseli Barnica…[miscarried at] 17 weeks…doctors…should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection…but…[instead] the[y]…told her…they had to wait until there was no heartbeat…[and] it would be a [“]crime[“] to give her an abortion…For 40 hours…her uterus remained exposed to bacteria.  Three days after she delivered, Barnica died of an infection…[because psychopathic politicians threaten] doctors…[with] prosecution, prison time and professional ruin [for doing their jobs]…Barnica’s…death was “preventable,” according to more than a dozen medical experts who…called her case “horrific,” “astounding” and “egregious”…

The Cop Myth (#1481)

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

[An] El Paso [cop named]…Joseph Andrew Shreve, [who is paid to lurk in schools in order to spy on, harass, and intimidate students], was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for…firing at a truck that he [pretend]ed had rear-ended his vehicle on Sept. 18…Shreve…[attempted to escape consequences by belching out the magic formula] “in fear for [my] life”, [but witnesses told] police [otherwise]…

 

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 ANTI-TRAFFICKERS ARE THE TRAFFICKERS.  –  Borys vs Ballard

Sex Work is Work

Can you imagine this even being in question for any other form of work?

The Prague High Court has ruled that two women forced into [work] in the United Kingdom are entitled to keep the CZK 1.8 million they earned during their exploitation…The women were part of a larger group of Czechs lured to Great Britain with the promise of lucrative work.  Once there, they were forced into sex work, with their earnings and identification documents seized by the traffickers.  For months, the gang exploited them, taking all the money they made while the women lived in slave-like conditions.  Last year, the Prague High Court convicted five members of the gang…[bu]t declined to award financial compensation to the [victims because the judges were bluenosed sociopaths who]…argued that [it was just]…to [deprive] the women…[of their] earnings [because they didn’t like their form of work.  But]…the women [appeal]ed to the Constitutional Court.[which] ruled in their favor, stating that the [means by which they earned] the money was irrelevant.  What mattered, the court said, was that the women had been unlawfully deprived of their earnings…

The Last Shall Be First (#1413)

How defective does an adult need to be to think doing this to teenagers is OK?

An Oregon school district [has] asked [Texas politician] Ted Cruz’s…campaign to take down two ads targeting transgender athletes because they include a photograph of two minor girls who are not transgender and whose parents did not give the Cruz campaign permission to use the photo…[the] ads…[target Cruz’s] opponent…Colin Allred…[because he] support[s]…trans-inclusive policies, [and] feature photographs of high-profile transgender athletes…Lia Thomas and CeCé Telfer…and…also…of two teenage [athletes from]…Western Oregon.  Neither of the [Oregon] girls…are transgender, though the Cruz ads imply otherwise…

Panopticon (#1449)

Lawsuits are the only way to hinder a government that won’t control itself:

[The Institute for Justice has] filed a federal lawsuit…suing Norfolk [Virginia] for [its] use of Flock…license plate readers [to] track…vehicle[s’] movements through the city and beyond.  Norfolk installed 172 of the cameras last year, and the[re are]…over 450 of them in the region. Police and prosecutors [belch out puffery about “]crimes[” and try to dismiss]…privacy concerns…“Norfolk has created a dragnet that allows the government to monitor everyone’s day-to-day movements without a warrant or probable cause,” [said attorney] Michael Soyfer…The case could potentially make it to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that a similar surveillance system in Baltimore was an unconstitutional search…Flock camera capabilities go beyond the documentation of license plates.  They photograph every vehicle that passes and upload the images into a database where they are stored for [at least] 30 days.  The machine-learning in the system does not necessarily need a license plate to track a vehicle: the make, model, color and other distinguishing features, like damage or a bike rack, are also documented…The Flock database also allows subscribers to share and access data…nationwide…

Served Cold (#1469)

It’s so satisfying to see this sleazebag hoist with his own petard:

Tim Ballard, the [“rescue” fetishist and profiteer] whose wildly exaggerated [schemes] were the basis of the hi[ghly fictionalized] 2023 film Sound of Freedom, is facing a new legal action from six women who last year sued him for sexual exploitation — leading Ballard to sue them for defamation earlier this month.  The latest complaint is the first federal suit targeting Ballard; it comes from accusers Celeste Borys, Mary Hall, Sasha Hightower, Krista Kacey, Kira Lynch, and Bree Righter.  The filing [also] names Ballard associates Matthew Cooper and Michael Porenta, as well as Ballard’s former organization, Operation Underground Railroad…as defendants….the plaintiffs…seek relief under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003

Paying the Bills

Five weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $2400.  So now I’m only facing a $600 shortfall; if you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; I really hope to get this done by Thanksgiving, so it doesn’t interfere with my annual toy drive!

The Vultures Descend (#1478)

This judge was constrained by law to make this ruling, but it’s still welcome:

[An Ohio court] issued a permanent injunction blocking Ohio’s 2019 six-week abortion ban from taking effect, marking the first permanent injunction stemming from Ohio’s Reproductive Freedom Amendment, which took effect in December…This is also the first permanent injunction throughout the country of an abortion ban following the passage of a pro-abortion rights ballot amendment.  The case, Preterm v. Yost, was originally filed…on September 2, 2022, and enforcement of the ban has been blocked since [twelve days after that]…

The Cop Myth (#1483)

Cops think violence is the solution to every problem, including caretaker stress:

[An 80-year-old] retired [Michigan cop named]…William…Kitzmiller [murdered] his wife, Donna, b[ecause]…he [couldn’t handle the stress of taking care of her after she developed] Alzheimer’s disease…[he called 911 to make the excuse] “I’ve given my wife a merciful ending from her Alzheimer’s disease” [then turned the gun on himself]…Caregivers report higher levels of stress than the general population [but people who aren’t sociopaths don’t murder those they care for because of it]…

Long-time readers will recall that for a year and a half I was the primary caretaker for a dear friend with a brain injury, and I am now caring for my disabled friend Grace.  I therefore know whereof I speak.

 

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 keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.  –  Judge Mark E. Walker

Droit du Seigneur

Whenever a pimp cop is caught, his bosses use the occasion as an excuse to belch out deeply-stupid rhetoric:

A…cop…[named] George Trimiliozzi…[was part of] a group that [apparently ran several massage parlors on Long Island.  Officials used high-sounding hogwash and ridiculously convoluted Copese to make the business sound like an international crime cartel, when in actuality the problem was that they extorted so much money from migrant women that some of them started robbing customers, which is how]…Trimigliozzi…got [caught]…

The Vultures Descend (#1332)

Polls have shown 75% of Floridians oppose its politicians’ attempts to ban abortion:

Floridians…will [soon] vote on a constitutional “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.”  So authorities decided to interfere with free speech in an attempt to thwart voters…The state threatened TV stations with criminal penalties for running an ad supporting the abortion initiative…[but] U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker…[has] enjoined Florida from attempting to censor the ad…Florida has been pulling out all the stops to try and stop Amendment 4 from passing…[including] using taxpayer money to run ads in opposition to the amendment while trying to prohibit people from seeing an ad in support of it…

The Last Shall Be First (#1410) 

If this is a “crime”, why is Paxton suing rather than prosecuting?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [has] sued a Dallas doctor…accusing her of [refus]ing [to forcibly de]transition…nearly two dozen minors [as demanded by] state law.  Paxton alleged that Dr. May Chi Lau, who specializes in adolescent medicine, [continued to] provide…hormone replacement therapy to [her patients] between October 2023 and August…“[Being elected gives me a license to practice medicine in] Texas [despite my]…dangerous [lack of] medical [educa]tion…” Paxton said…“Doctors who continue to [disagree with me] will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law”…Paxton…alleged that Lau used “false diagnoses and billing codes” in order to mask “unlawful prescriptions”…If [Paxton’s witch hunt is successful], Lau could have her medical license revoked and face a financial penalty of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Paxton’s suit is the first in the nation by an attorney general against an individual doctor[, but it is far from his first “culture war” nuisance lawsuit]…

Out of Control (ROTW #13)

What is wrong with doctors who do this?

[Michigan] pathologist Charles Yee was accused numerous times of exposing his genitals to women in public places…[yet] he never lost his medical license and he was never disciplined by the Michigan Board of Medicine…until…he re[cently]…pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure…He also is currently facing indecent exposure and lewd conduct charges in Riverside, California, and spent six weeks [last] summer in a [“]sex-addiction[“] program in Idaho…he al[so] followed minor girls around [town] for hours at a time and secretly took photos of them with his cellphone…Yee faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine when he is sentenced in November…

Creepy Coppers (ROTW #14)

Had he not been caught, this would’ve soon escalated:

The city manager of Waurika, Oklahoma, [who is also a cop,] has been arrested…[for making child porn] and l[urk]ing around [other people’s houses to leer at their kids.  Charles Kyote Dunn was first reported]…in January…a search…[of his] electronic devices…discovered [numerous child porn images]…

Paying the Bills

Four weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $1600.  So now I’m only facing a $1400 shortfall; if you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; it would be great if I can catch up by my birthday!

The Cop Myth (#1478)

“Cop murders wife or girlfriend and claims it was suicide” is a recurring theme in this tag:

A [Florida cop named Eloilda Shea was murdered by] her estranged husband[, typical and representative cop Anthony Shea, who tried]…to [make it] look like a suicide attempt…

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 staff in these prisons DO NOT see us as human beings.
–  Anthony Ehlers

The Last Shall Be First (#1242)

Looking-glass politicians claim cutting a window into a bathroom “adds privacy”:

A[n]…elected school board…in [Pennsylvania have now designated]…five different types of bathrooms…[on] the…[advice of] a Christian law firm…the board approved spending $8,700 to cut windows so passersby can look into the so-called “gender-identity” student bathrooms…[claim]ing that the windows help “[add] privacy in the toilet facility” and that they “increase oversight of the wash area”…[this] is an intimidation tactic designed to make sure students who use the so-called “gender-identity” facilities…know they’re being watched, controlled and judged…

Thought Control (#1391)

Surely you didn’t think this crusade would stop with libraries and the internet?

[Authoritarian busybodies] are [once again trying to use]…Texas’ obscenity laws…[to ban] sex toys.  The [puritans] are [now claiming] colorful boxes…[only] appeal to children…[and a delusional nitwit named Christin Bentley spastically barfed out non sequiturs about toothbrushes, relativity and libraries while claiming]…”children” are…employees…of [drugstores]…

You Were Warned (#1439)

Politicians keep openly trying to destroy the internet:

Hillary Clinton said on CNN  this weekend that repealing Section 230 of federal communications law should be a top political priority…politicians hate Section 230 precisely because it makes it more difficult for them to censor [or otherwise control] what is said online…Clinton makes [it] sound like [not holding platforms responsible for content they didn’t create is] some sort of aberration or anomaly.  But…if a person on private property engages in speech that is somehow criminal, we don’t hold the property owner liable.  If people use the telephone to hatch criminal plans, we don’t arrest the phone company.  If I use a Sharpie and to write you a threatening letter and then send it in the mail, you can’t sue the makers of Sharpie or the U.S. Postal Service…Clinton went on to make the ridiculous but all too common suggestion that social media companies aren’t actively monitoring and moderating content. “If the platforms—whether it’s Facebook or Twitter…or Instagram or TikTok, whatever they are—if they don’t moderate and monitor the content, we lose total control,” she said…

The last two words of Clinton’s quote spell out exactly what politicians want for the internet.

Thought Control (#1462)

As I’ve said many times, the urge to censor is a mental illness:

As [authoritarians] spread the book-banning movement across the nation, Utah has quickly arisen as one of the most dystopian states…The state recently passed a law that allows it to enact statewide book bans…and…The Utah [Ministry] of [Truth] also suggested adding a stipulation…that would’ve required teachers to burn the books banned statewide…the state’s…politicians and [their henchmen] recently held a book-banning party to…demand that authors “repent” for writing books….[so] the fact that they’re now targeting Little Free Libraries is hardly surprising.  If there’s one thing book banners have proven time and time again, it’s that they never stop…unless they successfully ban and destroy every book they dislike nationwide.  First, they claimed they just wanted to take “inappropriate” books from schools and classrooms, but then they started targeting public libraries.  Then, they began targeting book fairs and book awards and even went after Girl Scouts’ projects.  Their next step is preventing citizens from exchanging books and maintaining Little Free Libraries on their private property…

Torture Chamber (#1462)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”:

Michael Broadway [died of an asthma attack triggered by extreme overheating while locked in a cage by the State of Illinois]…His history of severe asthma was well-documented, and prison medical staff had prescribed him medications for the condition.  Yet [a] nurse instead twice administered…Narcan as she yelled [“Stop faking!”] at Broadway…Th[is obscene excuse for] medical care…is [typical] for the nearly 30,000 people [locked in cages] by the Illinois Department of [Torturing Caged Humans (IDOTCH).  Contractor] Wexford Health Sources…has long [flagrantly]…neglect[ed] and abuse[d victims]…providing such poor treatment to older people with dementia that court monitors [described] it [as] elder abuse…Nonetheless, earlier this year, [IDOTCH] inked a 5-year, $4 billion contract with Wexford [thanks to rampant corruption in State bureaucracy]…

The Cop Myth (#1475)

Cop deals with disagreement exactly as he’s trained and paid to, and everyone claims to be shocked:

A [typical and representative Houston cop named]…Jonathan Torres…was charged with assault…[after he] slammed a laptop shut on his wife’s hands, causing “visible injury”…then told her she was going to jail and…[forcibly] handcuff[ed]…her…he…[then dragged]…her to…the ground…[sat] on her stomach and threatened to tase her if she did not comply with his commands…The wife was “crying and screaming for help”…Torres…was arrested but is [currently at large, apparently after posting bail]…

Also note the attempt to pretend this is atypical by calling him a “rookie”.

Paying the Bills

Two weeks ago, I told y’all that I’m facing a projected $3000 shortfall for my annual operating budget, and asked for help making up that difference.  Well, several of my loyal readers have already stepped up, generously helping me to the tune of $700.  So now I’m only facing a $2300 shortfall; if you aren’t yet a subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?  A $1/day subscription would take $90 off of that total, and other levels would help in proportion.  Or if you’re already a subscriber but can spare some extra right now, I’d really appreciate it; it would be great if I can catch up by my birthday!

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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Slavery is not bad.  Some people need to be slaves.  I wish they would bring it back.  I would certainly buy a few.  –  Mark Robinson

Elephant in the Parlor (#705)

Politicians watching kinky porn is no more unusual than their being hypocrites and psychopaths:

North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson said he won’t end his campaign despite a CNN report that reads like a mad lib of campaign-killing material…Robinson called himself a “black NAZI” and a “perv” in posts on…a [porn-sharing] message board [named “Nude Africa”]…Robinson also reportedly wrote about peeping on women in public showers, being thrilled by some absolutely filthy pornography (think The Human Centipede), and called for reinstituting slavery…The cherry on top of it all, given the GOP’s current moral panic over transgender issues, is…Robinson’s “affinity for transgender pornography”…Robinson [has] denied that he’d made the posts

Broken Record (#1112) 

Irish versions of the “gypsy whores” myth were quaint even before other prohibitionists abandoned them:

There was a surge in demand for sex workers at the National Ploughing Championships in Co Laois last week, according to a [religious prohibitionist organization] that…[persecutes] sex…[workers].  Ruhama [is still trying to spread the long-debunked fantasy] that large-scale events attended predominantly by men were “big catalysts” for sexual exploitation…

To Molest and Rape (#1216)

A rapist cop’s evil begets more evil:

Letcher County [Kentucky] Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines…walked into the chambers of Judge Kevin Mullins, closed the door and…murder[ed him with a gun]…then walked out of the chambers with his hands up and surrendered without incident…Stines had been a bailiff in Mullins’ courtroom for years before he was elected sheriff…The [murder may be related to] a federal civil lawsuit filed by…a [woman who was repeatedly raped by a sleazebag deputy]…inside Mullins’ chambers for six months [under threat of being locked in a filthy cage]…The lawsuit accused Stines of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” [rapist cop] Ben Fields…[who got off with a mere] six months in jail, followed by six and a half years of probation…

If Men Were Angels (#1428)

Cop and preacher is like the molester equivalent of a full house:

A…[preacher] who…worked [as chaplain] for the Indianapolis…Police Department…sexually abus[ed] a child “over 100 times”.  Sylvester Driscoll[‘s] victim confessed to her school counselor in August that Driscoll had raped and sexually abused her for years…Driscoll [groomed her by] show[ing] her [porn] videos…since she was 5 years old.  The first sexual assault by Driscoll…[was] not long after that…and…he…would makes threats to keep her from telling anyone…

Eavesdropping (#1449)

Some politicians are starting to admit Shotspotter is a boondoggle:

Ending ShotSpotter would fulfill a campaign promise by [Chicago] Mayor Brandon Johnson…[but] some City Council members [who get kickbacks from the company] are trying to compel his administration to extend the…contract…economist Michael Topper of the Social Science Research Council has co-authored a study that found…ShotsSpotter…reallocat[es] police resources away from…911 calls…to…ShotSpotter alerts [which in Chicago are 91% false positives]…this reallocation is causing 911 calls to…suffer in terms of response times…there isn’t any evidence that this technology is actually benefiting crime clearance or crime reduction efforts…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1465)

Undermining of civil liberties only starts with “undesirables”; it never stops there:

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights…studied how the Department of Justice…the Department of Homeland Security…and the Department of Housing and Urban Development…[mis]use [facial recognition] technology…leading to wrongful arrests, bias in accessing housing and more troubling outcomes…[there is] a [total] lack of federal oversight, with no standardized regulations to [minimize]…abuses of power and privacy concerns…Because there are no public databases which show how often FRT searches are used on individuals…“conducting public oversight of the government’s use of FRT to determine if civil rights violations are occurring is extraordinarily difficult.”  Customs and Border Patrol…uses the technology in 53 airports, 40 seaports and all pedestrian lanes at the Mexican border…HUD uses FRT in surveillance cameras in public housing…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1465)

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

A Fresno [California cop named] Paige McQuay [was arrested, but also rewarded with a paid vacation, because he interacted with another cop fantasy role-playing as a teenage girl online]…

 

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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