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Posts Tagged ‘TSA’

The Online Safety Bill poses a serious threat…and could put UK citizens at greater risk.  –  Apple

If Men Were Angels

Oh look, another “youth pastor”, what a surprise:

…Rejoice Lutheran Church [in Geneva, Illinois] hired the Rev. Michael C. Willis to lead its youth ministry in 2016…[he] was ordained as a pastor in 2022 [and accused of possessing and disseminating child pornography in March of this year]…Willis was arrested [on June 27th]…

Finding What Isn’t There (#1005)

Opportunists want to prop up the moribund hysteria by demanding government manufacture “victims” from thin air:

Human trafficking [opportunists want people  to believe their outrageous fantasies of imaginary]…traffickers operat[ing] with impunity…[and] predators rent[ing passive, inert] children for commercial sex, and [complain that] governments fail to implement [violent] enough action plans…governments [regularly] identify [far fewer “victims” than the rescue industry pretends there are]…governments around the world reported identifying only 115,324 human trafficking victims in the last year…slightly lower than the high of 118,932 victims identified in 2019…[even though] the [fantasiz]ed number…is [still] increasing [despite all evidence to the contrary.  Profiteers now claim] 27.6 million people in…forced labor or sex trafficking…

License to Rape (#1167)

“Search” is the most common government euphemism for “molest”:

…the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held 3-0 that the Federal Tort Claims Act allows lawsuits against the government when TSA screeners [sexually] violate passengers.  Two months ago, the Fourth Circuit held the same, and previously the Third and Eighth Circuits took the same path in 2019 and 2020, respectively…the government attempts to combine two laws to preclude any lawsuits against anyone.  First, the Westfall Act allows the government, when one of its employees gets sued for on-the-job conduct, to say, “sue us instead of the employee.”  This would not be a problem — the treasury is more likely to pay a judgment than a random TSA employee anyway — except they next use the Federal Tort Claims Act, which basically says…the government can’t be sued for…assault and battery when committed by anyone other than an “investigative or law enforcement officer.”  So the argument is: 1) you have to sue only the government, but 2) the government isn’t liable.  Luckily, now four appellate courts have concluded that TSA screeners are “investigative or law enforcement officers”…and the government may be sued for their…misconduct.

Peeping Toms (#1211)

Lawrence v Texas actually overturned these laws 20 years ago, but many were left on the books anyway and used by cops to harass gay men:

The state of Maryland has repealed the Unnatural or Perverted Sexual Practice Act, which criminalized any sexual act outside of vaginal penetration…the Woodhull Freedom Foundation submitted testimony in February…explain[ing]…“We cannot allow antiquated and discriminatory laws to remain on the books and leave us vulnerable to prosecution…This exact ordinance was used to arrest four gay men as recently as 2021…[despite] the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas…[which] Maryland’s ordinance stood in direct opposition to…

The politician who spearheaded the repeal was apparently motivated by the reversal of Roe v Wade, reasoning that the same court might overturn Lawrence.

To Molest and Rape (#1222)

He wasn’t a “former” cop when he repeatedly raped a teenage girl:

A [typical and representative cop] turned criminal defence barrister has been jailed for 16 years for the rape and indecent assault of a teenage girl more than 30 years ago.  James Boyle, now aged 69, w[orked for the] Cambridgeshire Police when…he [repeatedly raped his victim] between 1986 and 1991…The judge…[also fin]ed Boyle…£4,500…[and condemned him to] the sex offenders’ register…

I Spy (#1319)

The pretexts for such surveillance would not long remain limited to “child porn” and “terrorism”:

Apple has become the latest operator of an encrypted messaging service to raise concerns about the UK’s [misnamed] Online Safety Bill…join[ing]…WhatsApp and Signal in opposing a provision that would allow [surveillance & censorship agency] Ofcom…to use “accredited technology” to identify child [porn] “whether communicated publicly or privately” and swiftly take it down.  Apple is calling for the bill to be amended to offer explicit protections for end-to-end encryption…[because] forcing companies to scan messages for illegal content, even if using an approach such as client-side scanning, would fundamentally [break] this encryption and hence the privacy and security of users.  Apple previously [delay]ed plans to [spy on users in this way] after a backlash from privacy advocates…The government[‘s entire defense of] that the bill…[has been to repeatedly barf out the word] criminals…

The Course of a Disease (#1347)

Maine officially defines women as moral imbeciles, and men as our moral superiors:

Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Monday that [imposes the Swedish model of] prostitution [law o]n Maine.   The new law…[defines women as unable to consent to sex when money is involved, in the same way underage girls are deemed legally unable to consent to any sex, therefore] eliminat[ing] criminal charges for [the specific crime of prostitution] while [defining men as full adults with sexual agency who]…can still be criminally charged…Supporters [of the model ignore both these legal implications, and the measurable rise in violence against sex workers and rape in general which resulted when the model was imposed on] Canada, Ireland, Sweden and France

 

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 was not sent to prison to be raped and abused.  –  Briane Moore

To Molest and Rape (#1009)

Prince George’s County, Maryland is well-known for rapist cops:

…Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Deputy…Brandon Burroughs…has been suspended following repeated [rapes of]…a woman from the area…Burroughs w[as charged following the]…rape…that h[e committed] in October…[bu]t in September…Burroughs [had raped] the same woman…[and been rewar]ded with [a] pa[id vacation]…

Guinea Pigs (#1141) 

This is what your god-emperor and his lackeys call “going after the billionaires”:

…OnlyFans content creators [are now being slapped with threats of]…criminal tax investigation…“pairs of IRS Special Agents across the country descended on the homes and offices of OnlyFans personalities and their tax return preparers, delivering grand jury subpoenas,” [said] John Colvin, a Seattle tax defense attorney…OnlyFans reportedly grossed over $2.3 billion in 2020 alone.  Its content creators have been increasingly well-known for their eye-popping accumulation of wealth.  It is no surprise, then, that the IRS…[is going to try to rob as many of them as possible, starting with] some of the highest grossing of the 1.6 million content creators…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1193)

All too often, evil arrives cloaked in the mantle of expediency:

…the TSA, has been testing facial recognition software to…screen passengers flying [domestically] in 16 airports.  And now it’s looking into rolling it out nationwide next year…security checkpoints [will require] scanning a copy of a government-issued ID…and standing in front of a c[omputerized facial recognition] system…TSA agents…[w]ill [lurk nearby to subject]…travelers…[to] further [harassment] due to the technology’s inaccuracies…

Thou Shalt Not (#1198)

Because this kind of prohibition will surely be different!

…the New Zealand parliament [has] passed a law banning anyone born after December 31, 2008, from ever buying cigarettes.  The law is designed to permanently [criminalize] tobacco usage in the country by aging out current[ly-legal] smokers.  In 2040, for instance, 31-year-olds will still be [criminalized if they]…buy…cigarettes, cigars, and similar products…the policy will fuel a black market for the products and create new vectors for state violence against individuals…[under the pretext of] dramatically reduc[ing] smoking rates in the country—which are already at a historic low, with only 8 percent of adults smoking daily.  The law will also reduce the number of retailers permitted to sell combustible tobacco products, from 6,000 to 600, and it mandates a reduced nicotine level in [legal] tobacco products.  The legislation will not ban the sale of tobacco vape products…

The Last Shall Be First (#1246) 

Texas seems to be preparing to extend its deranged jihad to trans adults:

Employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety in June received a sweeping request from…Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office: to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender on their Texas driver’s license and other department records during the past two years…The behind-the-scenes effort…came as the attorney general, Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican [politicians] in the state have been publicly marshaling resources against transgender Texans…[including] more than a dozen anti-LGBTQ measures ahead of the next session in January, including criminalizing gender-affirming care and banning minors at drag shows…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1277)

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

A Florida [cop] making a [pretext] stop [imagined she] was accidentally exposed to fentanyl, triggering a p[anic attack] that [was alleviated by a placebo effect when her fellow cops gave her]…three doses of Narcan…Courtney Bannick…[was looking for a drug arrest] while she was handling dollars bills [that cops claim are often coated with the magical insta-fentanyl of cop legends].  Although she was wearing gloves…[she was terrified by] a gust of wind [she suddenly imagined had] blown some of the drugs toward her…

Torture Chamber (#1298)

The one man most responsible for the staggering number of US women locked in cages is now living in the White House:

The epidemic of sexual assaults against [women locked in cages by the]…federal [government]…has prompted the Justice Department to expand the use of a program to provide early releases to women [raped by screws and other government actors]…In recent weeks, the deputy attorney general…has pressed top [screwmasters]…to encourage [prisoners] who have been [raped or otherwise] assaulted by prison employees…to apply.  The push comes amid new [admiss]ions about the extent of abuse of women, and the…willingness of many prison officials [to cultivate the system which allows that abuse]…and [shield rapists] at all levels in the system, to address a crisis that has long been an open secret…

 

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 Sin of Waste

Consider the massive waste on display here.  Money was spent on all of these stolen items, and money was spent to pay goons to steal it.  This picture was taken by an employee who was on the clock.  And the same happens at every airport in the US, every week.  The one concept of sinful behavior which the nuns successfully planted in my unconscious brain is that wasting resources, especially resources which could’ve been used to help the needy, is a serious sin; many of my generation joke about the phrase we heard so often, “There are children starving in {some famine-stricken country} who would be glad to eat that!”, but the amount of waste any individual person can achieve recedes into utter insignificance beside the scale of pointless, stupid waste perpetrated by government, especially the US government, as the volume of a toilet bowl compares to that of the solar system.  My reaction to a picture like this is like that of a prohibitionist seeing a porn pic, only without the hypocritical secret masturbation and demands for more government violence against peaceful citizens; I find it shocking, appalling, disgusting, and an argument for minimizing the size and power of government in and of itself.
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 very much!

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It’s as if Disney were entering Notre-Dame.  –  Maurice Culot

Every once in a while social media produces something really exceptional; this was called to my attention by Mike Siegel, who also contributed “improved” and “baby”.  The other links above the video were provided by Dan Savage, Scott Greenfield, Kevin Wilson, and Radley Balko, in that order.

From the Archives

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The only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused…is to never create it.  –  Apple in 2016

See No Evil

Moral panics really spin out of control as they age:

Spencer Elden, the man whose unusual baby portrait was used for…the…cover…of…Nirvana’s Nevermind, filed a lawsuit…[pretend]ing that the nude image constituted child pornography…[despite the fact that] non-sexualized nude photos of infants are…not considered child pornography under law.  [To circumvent this plain fact in order to cash in on “child porn” hysteria], Robert Y. Lewis, Elden’s [shyster, fantasizes]…that the inclusion of currency in the shot makes the baby appear “like a sex worker”…[Lewis demands] at least $150,000 from each of the defendants, who include…the…original Nirvana drummer…even though he had been replaced…before the album was recorded or the cover photography shot.  Elden has repeatedly recreated the pose as a teenager and adult, diving into pools to pose (with swim trunks on) on the occasion of the album’s 10th, 17th, 20th and 25th anniversaries…

“A sex worker”.  Seriously.  I reckon he’s supposed to be one of those hundreds of thousands of infant hookers needed to bring the average debut age down to 13.

For Those Who Think Legalization is a Good Idea (#648)

What “legal but heavily regulated” looks like in action:

On August 11, the Nagpur police put [up] a large number of barricades completely sealing the Ganga-Jamuna area….without any prior notice or reason [thu]s drastically affect[ing] the livelihood…of over a thousand sex workers who have been living and working for decades in the area…over 100 [cops] have been [sent to swagger around] the area at all times…Sex workers in India are one of the groups that are consistently at the receiving end of…state-sponsored police brutality…[even though] the profession is not illegal…brothel areas are repeatedly raided and their workers are harassed by the police…A petition by the National Network of Sex Workers, India (NNSW) demanding “Unseal Ganga Jamuna” has been put online and signed by more than 2700 people and organisations…

License to Rape (#720)

“Search” is the most common government euphemism for “molest”:

A Raleigh mother has filed a federal lawsuit against the TSA…a[fter] the[y]…violated her transgender teenager’s rights by [demanding] a strip-search at the airport.  Jamii Erway, 15 at the time, had a valid boarding pass [but] when [t]he [equipment regist]ered a “false positive”…a TSA [goon demanded]…to [leer at] her genitals…[and lied] “that she was not free to leave until she submitted to [the humiliation], in violation of TSA policy, the Fourth Amendment, and…the boundaries of civil and decent society”…the [goon further called the cops on the teenager]…and the[ir threatening] presence…[unsurprisingly] triggered…a…panic…[attack].  Rather than submit to the [molestation]…her mother, Kimberly Erway, rented a car and [they] drove 600 miles.  The Erways seek unspecified damages and an injunction preventing such a scenario from happening again…

Panopticon (#986)

Cops even get their equipment to lie for them:

Michael Williams…was [locked in a cage for almost a year], accused [by cops] of killing a young man from [his] neighborhood who asked him for a ride during a night of unrest over police brutality in May…the [supposed] evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or [snitch, but rather]…from a clip of [silent] security video showing a car driving through an intersection, and a loud bang [separately] picked up by a network of surveillance microphones.  Prosecutors [pretende]d…a secret algorithm that analyzed noises detected by the sensors indicated Williams shot and killed the man…ShotSpotter [claims have] increasingly been admitted in court cases…[as evidence despite the fact that] it…can miss live gunfire right under its microphones, or misclassify the sounds of fireworks or cars backfiring as gunshots.  F[antasy stories written]…by ShotSpotter’s employees have been used in court to [lie] that a defendant shot at police, or provide [lies about] the number of shots allegedly fired by defendants…the…system…[i]s a…black box largely inscrutable to the public, jurors and police oversight boards…[but] the company…fully admits that]…employees can and do modify the location or number of shots fired [on their own whims or] at the request of police…in the past, city dispatchers or police themselves could also make some of these changes

Stalkers in Blue (#987)

Once in a while, there are witnesses to the way cops act toward women:

Florida [cop]…Naci Tuzcuoglu…approached a woman singing karaoke at…[a] sports bar…[and] put his hands on her hips.  The woman…t[old] him she was married and not interested [but he kep harassing her, so she]…went outside and spoke to her husband…Tuzcuoglu [followed her]…and punched the man in the face…multiple times…[while] taunt[ing him]…“I’m a cop…What are you gonna do about it?”…

Choke Point (#1150)

“Progressives” are finally deigning to notice financial discrimination vs some sex workers:

OnlyFans…has faced widespread backlash from sex workers after it announced…that it will ban sexually explicit content starting Oct. 1.  Some LGBTQ OnlyFans creators say the changes could jeopardize one of their primary sources of income during the Covid-19 pandemic…

OnlyFans reversed its position the day after this article appeared, but I still featured it because it illustrates a disturbing trend I’ve seen lately: some “progressives” only seem to think sex workers deserve rights if they’re queer (especially trans).  Now, since the majority of sex workers are some flavor of LGBT, fighting for their rights will still help straight, cisgender sex workers as well.  But I think it’s pretty sad that some people don’t think human rights are worth supporting unless they’re the “correct” people’s rights.

I Spy (#1161)

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

Apple’s own employees have been expressing alarm [about its plans to snoop in customers’ phones].  The company [pretend]s reservations about the system are rooted in “misunderstandings.”  We disagree.  We wrote the only peer-reviewed publication on how to build a system like Apple’s — and…we’re not concerned because we misunderstand how Apple’s system works.  The problem is, we understand exactly how it works…Our system could be easily repurposed for surveillance and censorship.  The design wasn’t restricted to a specific category of content; a service could simply swap in any content-matching database, and the person using that service would be none the wiser.  A…government could, for example, compel a service to out people sharing disfavored political speech…WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, already uses content matching to identify dissident material.  India enacted rules this year that could require pre-screening content critical of government policy.  Russia recently fined GoogleFacebook and Twitter for not removing pro-democracy protest materials[, and US politicians are pressuring social media companies to censor anything they declare “misinformation”]…We warned against our own system design…[an]d planned to discuss paths forward at an academic conference this month…[but] the week before our presentation, Apple announced it would deploy its nearly identical system…

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I can’t breathe.  –  Mario Gonzalez

Another New Orleans music legend has passed; though his first big hit was “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”, he was best known for this one.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, David Ley, Amy Alkon, Dave Krueger, Cop Crisis, Popehat, and Scott Greenfield, in that order.

From the Archives

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Public health expert…warnings were largely ignored by governments.  –  Heather Barr

Where Are the Victims?

Do cops realize how stupid their inability to stick with one narrative per statement makes them sound?

…a…ho[us]e in a gated country club…was being used as a brothel…[spokespig] Mike Bruno…[oinked]…“No one is immune from it…[oink oink] victim of human trafficking…[oink oink] protect the [41 and 50 year old] girls…[oink oink] these women may not even know that they are a victim…because obviously someone is making money”…

Under Every Bed 

578,759 people total at a density of about 2 per km2:

…sex trafficking…is happening in Wyoming, and it’s very unidentified here…Terri Markham…founde[d]…Uprising…[an] organization…committed to [mak]ing [money from hysteria] about sex trafficking in the state…she…[claims] sex trafficking is often misidentified as sexual abuse, domestic violence or some other crime instead…she a[lso] said if your child has any kind of online presence, there is a 100 percent chance the child has been seen by a predator…

Fetishists often turn things backward (in reality, domestic violence and other crimes are often mislabeled “sex trafficking” in order to win grants and whip up support for more police-statery), but the most amusing part of this is the claim that for a “predator” to merely see a teenager (which is what she really means by “child”) is some sort of cause for concern (presumably due to sex rays emitted by the dangerous “male gaze” and somehow propagated through the internet).

Guinea Pigs (#1013) 

The snitching “apps” and hotlines first sold as anti-whore technology are widening their nets:

Teachers, students and staff [in Oklahoma] can now report [each other] through text messages…For years…students have been able to r[at on each other]…through a [snitch] line…But [t]hat [didn’t fool them into thinking they’d have]…anonymity, and the…[new snitch line pretends]…a…text messaging system [somehow is.  Surveillance minister Jon]…Parker said once a student reports a[nother student], a s[pook]…will follow up with questions…[because the snitch texts go] right…[to] the[state] fusion center…[informants] also may send…videos and pictures [taken without the victim’s consent]…

Civil rights violations often start with whores, but never stop with us.

License to Rape (#1014)

TSA goons can usually molest citizens without consequence, but this was a bit too blatant:

A [typical and representative TSA goon]…who…[bullied and] trick[ed] a traveler into showing her breasts as she went through security [theater] at [LAX] pleaded no contest…to false imprisonment [in return for a slap on the wrist and bogus “sex addiction” classes]…Johnathon Lomeli…was also barred from working as a security guard [in California]…

Since the government still insists on hiding the identity of this budding rapist from women he might endanger, here’s California AG Xavier Becerra’s picture instead.

Social Distancing (#1043)

Don’t worry, the Swedish model “decriminalizes the seller”!

Norwegian police have arrested sex workers [using the pretext] that they violated quarantine restrictions…the[y now]…face detention and expulsion from Norway…some have already been forced to leave although their clients do not appear to have been arrested…Rights organizations drew attention early in the pandemic to its devastating impact on sex workers…[who] often struggle to access financial safety nets due to the marginalized nature of their work and because many are migrants or members of other groups facing discrimination.  These problems are worsened by laws criminalizing sex work…including…[those] us[ing] the so-called “Nordic model”…[which] harms people who sell sex…[by] mak[ing] it harder for them to find safe places to work, work together, advocate for their rights, or even open a bank account.  It stigmatizes sex workers and leaves them vulnerable to abuse by police…

You Were Warned (#1071)

Prohibitionists, censors and profiteers will continue to harass businesses thus until FOSTA is overturned:

Morality in Media…helped file a lawsuit…against Twitter over a third-party user post, based on the Section 230 loophole opened by…FOSTA-SESTA…The civil lawsuit for damages was filed under the federal Trafficking Victims’ Protection Reauthorization Act…but [the pro-censorship group] makes the argument for Twitter’s liability for a user’s post by invoking FOSTA-SESTA.  The case involves a video compilation uploaded by two Twitter accounts that allegedly contain material that an underage “John Doe” shot for strangers who catfished him through Snapchat claiming to be a girl his age…The lawsuit…timed to the inauguration of Kamala Harris as Vice President, makes allegations…that mirror the campaign to shut down…Backpage …The lawsuit is the first…of copycat proceedings that religious groups had announced for the first weeks of the Biden-Harris administration…under an effort known as “Project Blitz”…

Top Cop (#1103)

Authoritarian media want people to forget about the true nature of this psychopath, now only an old man’s heartbeat from the power she so desperately craves:

When The Washington Post published a 2019 campaign trail feature about…Kamala Harris’ close relationship with her sister, it opened with a memorable anecdote in which Harris bizarrely compared the rigors of the campaign trail to…life behind bars.  And then proceeded to laugh—at the idea of an inmate begging for a sip of water…But now that Harris is vice president, that awful moment…vanished from the Post’s website after the paper “updated” the piece earlier this month…The scene…did what few political features can accomplish: showing, rather than telling, something about the candidate…Harris made her name as a prosecutor, and her track record includes…laughing off criticism of her history of throwing poor parents in jail when their kids missed school.  The Post profile provided a mask-slipping moment that seemed to perfectly capture a warped sense of justice and lack of basic human dignity…[instead] the Post…[replaced it] with a new opening anecdote…by…Chelsea Janes…who has authored several fawning pieces about Harris…

Caught red-handed, the Post restored the original and downplayed their attempt to whitewash a tyrant as a kind of editorial oversight.

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The reasons for using encryption are as real and varied as the reasons for keeping your cash in a safe and your front door locked.  –  J.D. Tuccille

Torture Chamber

The government needs to be buried in lawsuits before this will stop:

Michigan has agreed to [steal] $80 million [from taxpayers] to settle a lawsuit on behalf of currently and formerly [caged] teens who [were raped or] sexual[ly] assault[ed by screws or prisoners]…while [caged] in adult jails and prisons…The lawsuit, representing more than 500 currently and formerly incarcerated youth…was filed in 2013…

The Public Eye (#710)

Sex workers reaching out via art:

An art exhibition aimed at destigmatizing sex work open[ed] in Manhattan [last] Tuesday.  The Sex Workers’ Pop-Up features artwork across 10 different countries and aims to elevate sex workers’ voices and drive the narrative around how their work is viewed.  More than half of the 22 artists have a history with sex work themselves…The pop-up gives viewers the ability to “actually listen to the voices of sex workers and hear what they have to say”…curat[ors were]…led by an advisory committee from groups based in the U.S., Australia, France, Scotland, and South Africa, and supported by the Open Society Foundation…

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#792) 

It’s good to see the “sex addiction” myth slowly falling apart:

Sex addiction treatment forces people into a kind of re-education program, which tries to convince them that perfectly normal consensual sexual behavior is the sign of a serious problem…These programs tell supposed sex addicts that they can reprogram themselves through behavioral modifications to become ideal sexual citizens: monogamous, non-porn-using people who rarely masturbate or fantasize about anyone other than their main partners…some of the same centers that treat sex addiction also offer gay conversion therapy…illuminat[ing] the ugly truth behind the sex addiction industry: it’s based on a moralistic judgment on what sexual behaviors are socially acceptable, yet it’s cloaked in a scientific sheen that gives it legitimacy…

Checklist (#972) 

The hotel industry is regretting having collaborated with “sex trafficking” fetishists, and the airline industry eventually will as well:

…Jana Kuner, customer services manager for [Huntsville, Alabama] airport [is the only person actually named or quoted in what appears to be a “sex trafficking rescue” fantasy borrowed from TV cop glorification shows]….Kuner [claims she]…struck up a conversation [with a nameless] woman [who] shared how excited she was for her daughter who had answered an ad for a modeling job in Phoenix…Kuner has been [indoctrinated in all the usual fantasies, and claims she talked]…the [nameless] young woman…[into letting a complete stranger talk on the phone to] the [nameless] modeling agency…to [threaten to] have [cops come with]…the young woman [to snoop into their business, after which]…the young woman [supposedly] received texts from the agency saying they’d canceled her flights…[Nameless and unquoted] authorities are now [supposedly] certain [via magic that] she was walking into a human trafficking trap and…had already been sold [to some nameless buyer even though that doesn’t actually happen outside of movies]…

Given that this is pure hearsay with neither names of people or the supposed agency, nor quotes from the supposed victim, one can only conclude that these local news reporters are either gullible idiots or else have a very poor understanding of the meaning of the word “confirmed”.

To Molest and Rape (#986)

Your government calls this “border protection”:

[After] Geraldine Rodriguez Olivares…a [professional] twerk dancer [from Chile] on an international tour…landed in the Dominican Republic on a flight from Puerto Rico…U.S. Customs agents…[took] her to a private room where they forced her to twerk, while…five [pigs] threw dollar bills at her and slapped her butt.  She was then stripped naked and [raped]…Rodriguez’s public cries for help sparked an international investigation involving U.S. and Chilean diplomats, prosecutors and immigration officials…

Pyrrhic Victory (#989)

Your last bit of privacy during travel is about to be eliminated:

…The 9/11 commission and language in the Muslim ban directs Customs and Border Protection…to complete “a biometric entry and exit data system as expeditiously as possible” for non-citizens, and they’ve already worked with…SeaTac to buy face-scanning stuff for the gates at the new International Arrivals Facility that’s opening in July…SeaTac is already using biometrics in some capacities…[and] surveillance watchdogs…agree that airports across the country…will eventually expand this face-scanning infrastructure to snap photos of passengers arriving and departing on domestic flights, too…

I Spy (#1011)

Anyone who doubts that politicians are deranged megalomaniacs should be following this:

A cabal of unsavory U.S. senators have introduced a…measure that would pressure tech companies to weaken protections for communications privacy in the guise of a measure aimed at child porn.  While the…bill…never mentions the word “encryption,” it makes online companies liable for information exchanged by their users unless they adopt practices approved by the government…[which] means leaving people’s messages open to snoopy officials…In particular, they’ve scrutinized the bill’s reservation of Section 230 protections…to…compan[ies] that [dance to whatever tune]…the [current] Attorney General [feels like playing at the moment]…Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at Stanford Law School [warns] “The AG could single-handedly rewrite the ‘best practices’ to state that any provider that offers end-to-end encryption is categorically excluded”…[like FOSTA, the] EARN IT Act…[would allow ambulance-chasers to file] civil [suits against] companies [that]…offer…end-to-end encryption.  They’ll have to weaken or abandon such offerings to escape liability for users’ communications, but without ever explicitly being told to do so…

License to Rape (#1014)

People need to keep suing government actors for every single assault, no matter what the excuse:

Michele Leuthauser was traveling from Las Vegas…Airport last June wearing yoga pants that should have made it quite easy to determine that she was concealing nothing on the lower half of her body.  But…TSA…flagged [her] for…a pat-down of her “groin area”…in a private room…the [operative] told Michele to spread her legs far wider than the mat — an order that seems common for TSA screeners about to inflict abuse.  She then proceeded to rub her hand on Michele’s vulva, pressing firmly enough to penetrate her labia with her finger through her leggings, and then continuing to rub her vulva until Michele, in shock, finally recoiled and told the screener to stop…Michele [filed suit] after TSA supervisors, local police, and TSA’s Office of the Chief Counsel refused to do anything about this incident…

To Molest and Rape (#1016)

Another specimen of the garbage the state pays to rape children:

A [retired] New Orleans [cop]…who led the NOPD’s pedophile investigations unit for years before he was unmasked as a child molester himself admitted in federal court…that he abused a boy who had turned to him for protection after the boy was preyed upon by his Boy Scout leader.  Stanley Burkhardt’s admission in a Feb. 24 hearing in North Carolina came after years of denying the sex abuse claims leveled against him by Richard Windmann…

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If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime.  –  Tulsi Gabbard

See How Well It Works?

As usual, they’re claiming that the reason the Lost Tribe of Gomorrah failed to materialize was because of the hysteria:

The [FBI and an assortment of other pigs and spooks]…said [only] three [adults and four juveniles] were arrested…[for sex work-related “offenses” in] the [entire] Miami-Dade [area during Super Bowl week despite the massive] police [presence and media circus]…

Oops

I’m sure she really had to “force” him:

A 32-year-old doctor [in Bengaluru, India] who forced her techie-husband to watch porn with her and enact whatever they saw landed in trouble after he saw an online video of her having sex with a…[previous partner] and walked out on her…She’d told him before marriage that she had a relationship with a man in the past but had later separated…[when] he found [the] video online…he confronted her [and] she confessed to having had many relationships before marriage but didn’t know how the video was available online…The man [now claims] his wife was addicted to watching porn…

We of course know that there is no such thing as “porn addiction”; this prudish man is simply trying to punish his wife for being more comfortable with her sexuality than he is.

Pimping the Pimp (#446) 

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Annie Lobert and her outfit “Liars for Jesus”:

A U.S. Justice Department anti-human trafficking grant program is facing internal complaints, after two nonprofits were denied funding in favor of two less established groups…The awarding of more than $1 million total to the two groups, Hookers for Jesus in Nevada and the Lincoln Tubman Foundation in South Carolina, has triggered a whistleblower complaint…[because] two long-established nonprofits – the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach and Chicanos Por La Causa of Phoenix – were…replaced…[because the latter] has opposed…Trump…immigration policies [and] the head of…[the former is an active] Democrat…Hookers for Jesus, which received $530,190 over three years, is run by a born-again Christian [ex-casino prostitute]…who has lobbied against decriminalizing prostitution…[it] operates a [private jail which]…ban[s inmates] reading “secular magazines”…limit[s the organization’s]…victims [phone] call[s and controls their money]…

Trumpists and anti-Trumpists fighting for control of the “sex trafficking” narrative can only help the cause of human rights.

Painfully Clueless

Women don’t work for the same reasons as real people, but because we have “low self-esteem” or daddy issues:

Kim Squires says…sex [workers are]…”vulnerable little girls…that have a lack of love, and attention, and affection…That can really lure them right into the arms of a trafficker…We were actually going into the strip clubs, the brothels, the tracks, the traps, hotels, motels, all the places that you would find human trafficking”…to spread a message of love and tell the girls they meet how valuable they are…

If you want to “tell them how valuable they are”, do it in the only sincere way: give them fucking money.  Your “love” and other Hallmark nonsense won’t pay their bills.

License to Rape (#720)

TSA goons can usually molest citizens without consequence, but this was a bit too blatant:

A [TSA goon named]…Johnathon Lomeli…was [lu]rking at [LAX]…in June when he…[demanded a] woman…[let him] look inside her bra to make sure she wasn’t hiding anything, then had her hold her pants away from her waist so he could look inside…He subsequently to[ld] her…he [had to take her to] a private room for more security screening…but once they were alone on an elevator…he told her he could do the screening right there…[demanding] she…lift her shirt “to show me your full breasts.”  He also again looked down her pants…He was [recently arrested]…and…[Attorney General Xavier Becerra said “He needs a better] excuse for this kind of…behavior [if he expects us to cover for him]”…

The Widening Gyre (#753)

Those who don’t remember the height of the Satanic Panic may be surprised by this level of lunacy:

…QAnon…centers on the…belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals.  What started as an online obsession for the far-right fringe has…been creeping into the mainstream political arena for more than a year.  The trend shows no sign of abating as Trump…has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts.  Followers flock to Trump’s rallies wearing clothes and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans.  At least 23 current or former congressional candidates in the 2020 election cycle have endorsed or promoted QAnon…University of California, Davis history professor Kathryn Olmsted…said…“What’s different now is that there are people in power who are spreading this conspiracy theory…Finally, there is someone saying they’re not crazy”…

Naturally, mainstream outlets won’t say the obvious truth:  the government’s eager promotion of the bizarre “sex trafficking” mythology laid the groundwork for this, just as it was government endorsement of the Satanic Panic (via the daycare prosecutions) which added fuel to that completely deranged belief.  When government officials go around spouting hysterical, evidence-free nonsense about “Satanists”, “sex trafficking rings”, and pedophile cannibal conspiracies, is it any wonder when the weak-minded believe them and combine them?

Safe Position (#922)

Anti-sex feminism’s days are numbered:

Testifying in front of the D.C. City Council, Toni Van Pelt, the 72-year-old [president] of [NOW told a bunch of weird BDSM sex fantasies and]…claimed…she…represent[ed] all the chapters…[but in actuality] the local…chapter…was…working on testimony in support of [decriminalization]…younger members and women of color…are frustrated by the leadership’s refusal to [respect] them…After seeing Van Pelt’s testimony in October, the [DC] board fired off a letter to the national organization, blasting the president’s “misleading and dehumanizing language,” and the “breach of autonomy and assertion that this language represents DC NOW’s views…we ask that that National NOW modify their language to reflect the terms currently accepted…in the sex worker community and by progressive organizations that show respect for all women and their choices”…chapter[s including] Illinois NOW…Montgomery County, Maryland…Madison, Wisconsin…California…NOW…and…Florida…NOW [are]…calling for decriminalization…and…a resolution on decriminalization will be brought at this year’s national conference…it would need only 75 signatures to pass to a floor vote…

The NOW “tore itself apart” over sex work once before in the 1980s, when the anti-sex feminists seized control and discarded the organization’s pro-decriminalization stance.

A Tale That Grew in the Telling (#983)

Americans disapprove of teaching kids about sex, but they’re all for filling their heads with stupid anti-sex propaganda:

Seattle is…a major thoroughfare for child sex trafficking…[“sex trafficking” fantasist] Jim Fuda…said…“India is number one, Brazil is number two, and sadly, the United States is number three”…Fuda [shared some of his favorite sexual fantasies on a radio show, making furtive movements in his pants as he got to the part about how]…a…girl[‘s]…organs were harvested…he…[encourages] people [to spy on their neighbors and]…report…the[m to the pigs.  Meanwhile a group absurdly called]…Informed Parents of Washington is…[trying to advance its anti-sex agenda by pretending that a] bill mandating sexual education in Washington public schools [will cause] sex crimes against minors…[because] grooming…

I thought I had already seen the most idiotic claims for things supposedly causing “sex trafficking”, but “sex education” may be the all-time winner.

I Spy (#1001)

When it comes to mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

[ICE] has purchased commercial databases and software that tracks millions of mobile phones and used the information to [arrest] undocumented immigrants in the US…DHS…began purchasing location data back in 2017 from Venntel…the data is gathered through smartphone applications after users grant access to their locations…

Safe Position (#1001)

The first duopoly candidate to actually support decriminalization:

A majority of Americans now favor “removing criminal penalties for adults to sell and pay for consensual sex,” with support particularly high among Democrats and younger voters but also crossing party and age lines.  Yet…only one remaining [Democratic] candidate…Tulsi Gabbard…[of] Hawaii…has publicly expressed support for decriminalizing…”If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime,” Gabbard said…”All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.”  Gabbard is the only one to get a good grade on a recent report card put out by the group Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW)…[she only got] A-…because she voted for FOSTA, which made hosting content that facilitates prostitution a federal crime

Checklist (#1004)

The scheme to cut sex workers off from the healthcare system is inducing psychosis in those who promote it:

The CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health System is [persecut]ing…sex [workers] by beginning a series of [indoctrination] sessions and seminars [to convince] health care professionals [that ordinary whores are part of a ruthless international criminal cartel]…the Forensic Nurse in charge of the…[indocrination is clinically paranoid,] fear[ing] retribution from [imaginary ninja “pimps”] involved in local sex trafficking…

As the hysteria heads toward implosion, expect to see many more claims of retribution from imaginary bogeymen.  I’m reminded of the New Orleans news reader who, at the height of the Satanic Panic, claimed that thieves who broke into his garage were part of a Satanic conspiracy to “get” him.

Anatomy of a Boondoggle (#1013)

Utah is another state which pays cops to sexually assault sex workers:

[Utah pig bosses admit]…about half of their [entrapment] operations targeting…massage parlors involve the [cop sexually assaulting a] masseuse…before an arrest is made.  It’s necessary, they say…Chris Burbank, a [re]forme[d] Salt Lake City police chief who now works with the Center of Policing Equity…[said] “[the cop] committed [a] crime and then arrested the other person for that crime”…Bountiful [Utah cops sent]…in a [pig with a fake] credit card that would [upload malware to] capture the shop’s credit card records when swiped.  The information [is] later used to [hunt down]…customers who had paid for massages [and threaten them to get them to rat on masseuses]…

I suppose we could’ve predicted fascists would come up with something like the malware-uploading device described here, but that doesn’t make it any less nauseating.

To Molest and Rape (#1013)

Notice how often rapist cops’ victims are underage?

A California Highway [pig] has been charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl…The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office…charged…Brian Watkins, of Fremont, with three counts of unlawful sexual assault against a minor…Fremont police [knew about the rapes since]…July 2019…but [didn’t bother to do anything about it until] recent[ly due to] unspecified developments…

“Unlawful sexual assault,” as opposed to the lawful form of sexual assault called “searching”.

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