Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Utah’

In the News (#1444)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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

Grace Bellavue

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  Through Grace’s writing – unpublished hip hop lyrics, monologues, and musings – Burger explores her multifaceted life.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

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

Choke Point (#839) 

A rare good decision from the current SCOTUS:

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

Choke Point (#1190) 

Can you even imagine this happening in the US?

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

Opting Out (#1268)

Twitter shifts to an opt-in model:

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

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

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1382)

The claims in these nuisance lawsuits are increasingly absurd:

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

Creepy Coppers (#1437)

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

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

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

You Were Warned (#1438)

Wins against censors are increasingly rare these days:

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

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1436)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Sex workers…are not selling themselves, they are selling a service.  –  Tammy Franks

Surplus Women

Why does this story avoid the obvious?

A…Bothell [Washington politician named James McNeal]…was arrested [on April 30th] after a 20-year-old woman was found dead inside [his] home…”laying face up in a bed, fully nude” and covered by bedding…the King County Medical Examiner’s Office found “injury marks” on [her] neck and “under the left side of her jaw”…the woman had been dead for about 24 hours at the time [cops] found [her].  Evidence …“indicates death from asphyxia”…

Monkey Business 

So much for human uniqueness:

A Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek…It is the first time a creature in the wild has been recorded treating an injury with a medicinal plant…A research team…spotted Rakus with a large wound on his cheek in June 2022…then saw Rakus chewing the stem and leaves of plant called Akar Kuning – an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial plant that is also used locally to treat malaria and diabetes.  He repeatedly applied the liquid onto his cheek for seven minutes…then smeared the chewed leaves onto his wound until it was fully covered.  He continued to feed on the plant for over 30 minutes…the researchers saw no sign of infection and the wound closed within five days.  After a month, Rakus was fully healed.  The scientists concluded that Rakus knew he was applying medicine because orangutans very rarely eat this particular plant and because of the length of the treatment…

If Men Were Angels (#947) 

The problem isn’t Catholicism, Christianity or even religion; it’s teaching kids to blindly submit to authority:

A criminal investigation into the Archdiocese of New Orleans is based on a suspicion that it may be linked to child sex trafficking…The affidavit requesting the search warrant…alleges that multiple sex abuse victims…were transported to other parishes and outside of Louisiana, where they were sexually abused.  It further alleges a scheme…in which abused children were instructed to provide “gifts” to certain priests…to signal that the children were targets for sexual abuse…multiple victims reported that they were brought to the New Orleans Seminary, where they were instructed to “swim naked in the pool and would be sexually assaulted or abused”…the information that led to a suspicion of sex trafficking was obtained by police during an earlier investigation into a retired priest named Lawrence Hecker, who is accused of raping an underage teenage boy in the 1970s…

The Mob Rules (#1323)

Until this batshittery is declared unconstitutional, things will keep getting worse:

As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney — who…immediately issued a legal threat…[of] “wrongful-death claims”…Davis…is…[now] asking for the power to investigate…[so he can] sue either under the state’s wrongful-death statute or the novel Texas law…that allows private citizens to file suit against anyone who “aids or abets” an…abortion…The case also illustrates the role that [abusive] men who [want revenge on former] partners…could play…either by filing their own civil lawsuits or by [snitching] to [the pigs like bootlicking little tattletales]…Davis’s petition — filed…by Jonathan Mitchell, a prominent antiabortion [fanatic]…follows a lawsuit filed last spring by another Texas man, Marcus Silva, who is attempting to sue three women who allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain abortion pills…

The Course of a Disease (#1372)

Australian prohibitionists won’t stop trying to impose this evil scheme:

South Australia’s upper house voted 10-9 to reject…“Nordic model” [criminalization of] prostitution…[beside the usual Swedish rot features] the Bill…would also have compelled government to [treat] sex workers [as cases of arrested development unable to make work decisions without State]…assistance…Greens member Tammy Franks led the charge against the [criminalization attempt] in a furious speech, denouncing the Bill as “slavery” for sex workers…Franks and other members of the Labor Party…expressed support for full decriminalisation of the industry…Franks…expressed alarm about how close [the vote] was and…said…“I think they’ll be back for another attempt at some stage”…

You Were Warned (#1383)

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

Apparently, the world needs even more terrible bills that let ignorant senators grandstand to the media about how they’re “protecting the kids online”…This one is called the “The Kids Off Social Media Act” (KOSMA) and it’s an unconstitutional mess built on a long list of debunked and faulty premises…The…bill…would be an outright ban on social media accounts for anyone under the age of 13…we kinda already have a “soft” version of that because of COPPA, which puts much stricter rules on sites directed at those under 13.  Because most sites don’t want to deal with those stricter rules, they officially limit account creation to those over the age of 13…all this generally did was to have parents teach kids that “it’s okay to lie,” as parents wanted kids to use social media tools to communicate with grandparents.  Making that “soft” ban a hard ban is going to create a much bigger mess and prevent all sorts of useful and important communications (which, yeah, is a 1st Amendment issue)…

The Last Shall Be First (#1408)

This needs to happen to every State tattle-site regardless of intended target:

Utah set up an online form for people to accuse other[s]…of violating the state’s… “bathroom bill”…[which] is being flooded with memes and troll comments…the auditor also left the submissions database open to the public—without…protections [to prevent] viewing other people’s submissions…One can also attach images to the form…those included photos of Barry Wood, characters from Bee Movie, and Shutterstock images of bull testicles…Trolling snitch lines set up to enforce bad laws is a time-honored tradition online.  When Indiana launched a form for reporting schools “that teach about LGBTQ+ issues…[or] Black history”…people flooded [it] with memes…A similar outcome happened for Virginia’s tip line against teachers who taught “critical race theory”.  In 2020, New York City[‘s]…snitch line to report [people]…not social distancing…[was] filled…with dick pics…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1435)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2024| 1 Comment »

Failing to succumb to [jawboning] has been elevated to a criminal matter.  –  Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Surplus Women

Your “leaders” want this to happen more often:

A potential serial killer has been caught after he [raped] two [sex workers], strangled them to death, and dumped their bodies at the same intersection about a month apart…Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves was arrested…for driving with a suspended license…[and while in jail confessed to] killing…Fatia Flowers and…Nichole Daniels…Sheriff John Mina [used the excuse of women’s tragic deaths to swagger and brag about cop magic even though the killer was caught due to other sex workers reporting that] Daniels got into a white pickup truck [at a 7-Eleven] and…video surveillance [from] the [store clearly showed]…his truck…

The Implosion Begins

Oh look, journalists have “discovered” what I’ve been saying about QAnon for four years, and “sex trafficking” in general for fourteen:

During the Red Scare, [Americans] believed that Soviet agents were everywhere, having secretly infiltrated all levels of society…The Satanic Panic convinced Americans of the 1980s that absurd claims of ritual abuse and sacrifice were somehow credible…At any given time, America is moving in and out of some moral panic or another.  Harm to children is a persistent theme.  In recent years, however, our national obsession with these moral panics has consumed our politics…The…current obsession with “child sex trafficking” — the animating force behind such conspiracy theories as QAnon and Pizzagate, as well as coded political insults like “groomer” — has roots in this moral panic hyped by powerful Republicans and Democrats alike.  The panic reached its crescendo with the 2018 federal indictments related to a sex ad hub called Backpage.com…

The article is a tie-in to a podcast series called “Hold Fast“, about the persecution of Backpage and its owners, which I’ve heard is very good.  But please allow me some small bitterness about the fact that I shouted about this for a decade before the “Fourth Estate” began to pay attention.

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #1)

It’s good to see someone else recognize this grooming program for what it is:

The youth program that introduced [Sarah] Birchmore to [her molest]ers is among hundreds of such chapters at [cop shops] around the country…law enforcement Explorer posts are d[isguis]ed [as programs] to help teens…learn about policing…[but in reality they are grooming schemes for predatory cops].  At least 194…[cops] have [been caught] groom[ing], sexually abus[ing] or [raping]…Explorers since 1974…The vast majority of th[e victims] were teenage girls — some as young as 13…In many [of these] programs, armed [thugs] were allowed to be alone with teenage Explorers…[and as is usual in cases of criminal cop behavior, cop shops] minimized or dismissed the concerns of those who reported creepy] behavior…[rare] cases led to criminal charges. [A much smaller number] went to prison, while others received probation or weren’t required to register as sex offenders.  [Most cop shops] allowed [rapists and molest]ers to keep their jobs after a reprimand or short suspension…

Served Cold (#1395)

Ballard’s downfall will be even sweeter if he takes a politician with him:

A new filing in the lawsuit brought by five women [whom] Tim Ballard…sexual[ly] assault[ed] has added an allegation of rape, as well as a [report]…that a witness saw Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes using cocaine at a private club in downtown Salt Lake City…Operation Underground Railroad…had given nearly $1 million in grants to Reyes’ office “in order to motivate…Reyes to protect Ballard and OUR.”  After a criminal investigation was opened by the Davis County attorney’s office, Ballard was upset, the suit asserts, “especially since Ballard made arrangements for…Reyes to use a penthouse at Mac’s Place with women and cocaine”…

Virtual Imperialism (#1419)

Governments worldwide are emulating China’s evil:

India’s…assassination plots in the United States and Canada are part of an expanding wave of aggression against dissident groups seeking protection in other countries.  Their home governments are increasingly willing to disregard the sovereignty of those nations and send agents across borders to subdue political enemies…India has faced few consequences for its use of violence and intimidation against dissident groups, in part because the United States and its allies want closer ties with India in a new era of competition with China.  Cross-border repression takes various forms including violence, harassment and surveillance.  India, which eclipsed China last year as the world’s most-populous country, is part of an expanding roster of dozens of nations now employing such tactics…

“A darker side of Modi’s India”?  Darker than censorship, religious repression, and institutionalized racism?

The Vultures Descend (#1423)

Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:

Louisiana [politician]s are considering adding mifepristone and misoprostol…to the list of controlled dangerous substances in the state, creating penalties of up to 10 years of prison time for anyone caught with the drugs.  It’s the latest move by anti-abortion politicians trying to control access to abortion pills, which people are ordering online…and using to end their pregnancies, despite Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban…

Dangerous Speech (#1434)

Here’s Liz Brown with a deep dive on the tyrannical persecution of Backpage:

…From the beginning, this prosecution has been premised on a bogus rationale (authorities yammer on about sex trafficking though none of the defendants are charged with sex trafficking), overreaching in its scope (attempting to hold a web platform accountable for user-generated speech, in contradiction to Section 230), offensive to the First Amendment, and relentless in its attempts to handicap the defense…[Judge Diane] Humetewa’s [most recent] order showcases how this case has turned normal content moderation into criminal activity—in what should serve as a warning to tech companies of all sorts.  The government’s demands are simply impossible…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1432)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The privacy threats posed by facial recognition technology are, in many ways, unprecedented.  –  Michal Kosinski

To Molest and Rape

Cops are a menace to women of all ages:

A…Utah [cop named] Bronson Willas Wood [forcibly groped a young] woman “against her consent”…on March 18, 2023, b[ut] she [was afraid to report him before now.  She is a friend of]…Wood’s…daughter, both 19 years old, [and on that night she was visiting their house, when Wood allowed them to]…”drink alcohol and encouraged them to take shots.”  She [eventually went] to sleep on the couch in Wood’s basement, where he later went down and a[ccosted her, claiming]…that “he…had been in love with her” since she was 17 years old…[she called] a friend [to] pick…her up after [convincing] Wood [to] go…back upstairs.  W[hen] confronted the next morning b[y unnamed parties, Wood] initially denied everything…[but] later…conf[ess]ed [his actions that] night…to two [other unnamed] people.  Wood was arrested and [charged with]…forcible sexual abuse and…contributing to the delinquency of a minor…

Only an authoritarian could simultaneously classify someone as a “woman” and a “minor”.  And why is “against her consent” in scare quotes?

The Scarlet Letter (#798)

Professional promiscuity is already criminalized; this clown wants to criminalize amateur promiscuity as well:

Oklahoma [politician]s are seeking to criminalize the spread of several more sexually transmitted diseases, a move…[which] could turn nearly every resident into a felon.  House Bill 3098 adds chlamydia, Hepatitis B, genital herpes, trichomoniasis, and…HPV…infections to the list of…STDs…that are illegal to knowingly or recklessly spread…Previously only smallpox, syphilis and gonorrhea were on the list…Toni Hasenbeck…the bill’s…author, [foamed at the mouth while spouting paranoid nonsense about] domestic abuse…The [law would] deter people from getting the necessary testing and treatment…because of [valid] fears that positive tests could open someone up to prosecution…and…no test exists to diagnose [HPV] in men…

Opting Out (#803)

Never forget that “filter” is merely a euphemism for “censor”:

A middle school student in Missouri had trouble collecting images of people’s eyes for an art project.  An elementary schooler…couldn’t access a picture of…Florence Griffith Joyner to add to a writing assignment.  A high school junior couldn’t read analyses of…The Odyssey for her language arts class.  An eighth grader was blocked repeatedly while researching trans rights…All of these students saw the same message in their web browsers as they tried to complete their work: “The site you have requested has been blocked because it does not comply with the filtering requirements as described by the Children’s Internet Protection Act”…CIPA, a federal law passed in 2000, requires schools seeking subsidized internet access to keep students from seeing…images [politicians, bureaucrats, or their fascist “partner” corporations declare “]obscene or harmful[“.  Many] school districts…go much further, limiting not only what images students can see but what words they can read…forcing students to jump through hoops to complete assignments and keeping them from resources that could support their health and safety…including suicide prevention…

Pyrrhic Victory (#977)

Phrenology for tech worshipers:

Scientists have demonstrated that facial recognition technology can predict a person’s political orientation with a surprising level of accuracy.  Their research, published in the journal American Psychologist, shows that even neutral facial expressions can hold clues to someone’s political beliefs.  This finding poses significant privacy concerns, especially since facial recognition can operate without an individual’s consent…

A Broker in Pillage (#1381)

This will never stop until there are criminal charges for cops who perpetrate the robberies:

The Kansas Legislature unanimously passed a bill overhauling the rules for when police can [legally steal citizens’] property under a practice known as civil asset forfeiture…the legislation would make offenses related to possession or personal use of drugs ineligible for civil asset forfeiture, require [cop shops] to notify county prosecutors of a request for forfeiture within 14 days, and limit when local police can [dodge the restrictions by letting] fed[pigs] “adopt” their forfeiture cases.  It would also require judges to consider whether a seizure is unconstitutionally excessive, put the burden of proof on prosecutors to show that the seizure was proportional to the offense, and allow some property owners to recoup legal costs when they successfully challenge a seizure…More than 30 states have reformed their asset forfeiture laws over the past decade…but Kansas was not among them.

The Cop Myth (#1423)

Cop violence is never limited to members of the public:

An Akron [cop] who is under scrutiny for shooting a teen earlier this month was [previously arrest]ed in two violent, drunken incidents with his girlfriend.  In December 2020, [pig] Ryan…Westlake threw h[is girlfriend] into a coffee table…[while they were together in] Florida…Westlake then pinned her arms to the ground under his legs and struck her [repeatedly, but] she declined to press charges.  A few weeks later at Westlake’s…apartment…[he] pushed her to the ground and [gave her a black] eye…[then] pointed a gun at her head and threatened to kill her and her father…the girlfriend again declined to…[press charges, but then-]Mayor Dan Horrigan…[fired him, saying he] wasn’t “fit” to be an Akron officer.  One day later…the Akron police union [got him] reinstated [by issuing unspecified threats] and [he was merely] suspended for 71 days…Westlake [had] numerous [other] disciplinary actions against him [as well, leaving naifs]…in the community questioning why Westlake was still on the job April 1 when he shot Tavion Koonce-Williams…

No Escape (ROTW #8)

Government uses a shell game to avoid making actual reforms:

The Federal Bureau of Prisons [has] announced…that it will close a…women’s prison in California…known as the “rape club”…after several years of [unserious] efforts to root out systemic misconduct and abuse…Eight Dublin employees, including a former warden, have since been convicted or pleaded guilty to [rape and] sexual…assault…[yet] the culture of abuse and whistleblower retaliation [predictably] continued…this is not the first time the BOP has [made the cosmetic change of] shuttering a scandal-ridden prison [rather than enacting meaningful reform.  In this case]…the women currently [locked in rape cages] at Dublin will be transferred to other [rape cages], and…no [rapist or enabler screws will] lose their jobs [but will instead merely be transferred to other cage stacks, to continue raping and enabling as before]…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1425)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up.  –  Albert Fox-Cahn

Not So Different

Politicians can’t resist using popular web services to expand surveillance:

A bill recently introduced in Colorado  aims to make dating apps such as Hinge and Bumble [worse] for users [under the pretext of “safety”].  The first section…would force all dating services with any users in Colorado to submit an annual report to Colorado’s attorney general about misconduct reports from users in the state or about users in the state…[or] the entire United States.  These reports would all become public…Scorned lovers, racists, incels, and others with hostile motives could file false reports and harm people’s job and dating prospects in the future.  And a report on a government website looks a lot more legitimate than someone mad on social media.  These reports might even lead to [cops harass]ing innocent users…

Permanent Record (#1275)

Teachers are supposed to be robots who have no lives outside of school:

Domonique Brown was a history teacher…in the Detroit area, but in her off hours…worked as an aspiring rapper named Drippin Honey…she was [fired] from her job…[because one single] parent complained that she was a “bad influence” on her students because she’s a rapper, despite being voted teacher of the month in December…the parent [was allowed to] remain…anonymous [after the drive-by character assassination,] and didn’t [even bother to] go into detail about what they found objectionable about her rapping…Brown said she plans to take legal action against the school…

Stalkers in Blue (#1313)

Even seemingly-consensual sex with a cop may actually be something else:

A [typical and representative FBI] agent…has been arrested for…secretly filming women [he had] sex [with] at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with [cops] estimating there could be more than 80 victims.  Mark Allen Wells…stored the pornographic images and videos on his computer in neatly organized files.  Morgan Ballou, who dated Wells off and on between 2016 and 2022 said that he had shown her the library of nudes, at which point she contacted one of the women whose name showed up, his now ex-fiancé Savanna Smith…The pair went to the police [last] May…and…over the following months, more victims were identified.  His ex-wife came forward [to report] that he had secretly recorded her via a hidden camera on the bookshelf in one of their bedrooms.  It was also revealed that Wells…sent sexually explicit images of them to at least eight people…

Schadenfreude (#1376)

“Nonprofit” merely refers to the organization; those who run it often make plenty of profit:

…Candace Lierd is the founder and former CEO of a [Utah-based “rescue industry organization named]…Exitus…[who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars] donated to the organization…she made false claims that she was a nurse or physician, [that she] had a position with the United Nations[,] and [that she had] founded several multimillion-dollar companies…Lierd has a stack of 42 charges filed against her…[most of which are] fraud[-related]…felonies…Exitus…did not renew its business license after it expired in 2022, but continued to seek donations on Facebook and Instagram….[with fantasies about fictional] orphan rescues in Europe…Exitus raised over $1,697,000 through [lies and fabric]ations…the[n used the] money…to buy a…new home[, a car for her son, and other things, but]…much of the money is still unaccounted for.

Micromanagement (#1381)

A “Tornado of Bad Ideas”:

In keeping with law enforcement’s grand tradition of taking antiquated, invasive, and oppressive technologies, making them digital, and then calling it innovation, police in the U.S. recently combined two existing dystopian technologies in a brand new way to violate civil liberties. A police force in California recently employed the new practice of taking a DNA sample from a crime scene, running this through a service provided by US company Parabon NanoLabs that guesses what the perpetrators face looked like, and plugging this rendered image into face recognition software to build a suspect list…scientists have affirmed that predicting face shapes—particularly from DNA samples—is not possible.  But this has not stopped…police [from] using DNA to create a hypothetical and not at all accurate face, then using that face as a clue on which to base investigations…Not only is this full dice-roll policing, it also threatens the rights, freedom, or even the life of whoever is unlucky enough to look a little bit like that artificial face…

I Spy (#1385)

Curiosity offends the state, comrade:

Federal [spooks] have ordered Google to provide information on all viewers of select YouTube videos…the orders are unconstitutional because they threaten to turn innocent YouTube viewers into criminal suspects…Kentucky…cops sought to identify the individual behind the online moniker “elonmuskwhm”, who they suspect of selling bitcoin for cash, potentially [ope]ning [him up to persecution under] money laundering laws…In conversations with the user in early January [2023, spooks] sent links of YouTube tutorials for mapping via drones and augmented reality software, then [demand]ed Google [dox everyone] who…viewed the videos [that week by exposing]…the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google account users who accessed the…videos…and…the IP addresses of non-Google account owners who viewed the[m]…court records do not show whether or not Google [licked the boot that time]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #8)

Once a cop, always a cop:

[A retired] Utah [cop]…Sheriff’s Office administrator…[and] mental health counselor…[named] Mitchell McKee [has been] arrested…[for molesting] a teen[age boy].  The teen…told police he was abused by an adult man in exchange for vape pens…he is [considered dangerous because he is] a retired [cop who]…knows where…[his] victim lives…

 

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

Read Full Post »

Tweetenstein

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2024| 1 Comment »

 

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1417)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2024| 2 Comments »

This…is a very good example of panic legislation.  –  Mary deYoung

Winding Down (#1106)

Until the concept of prohibition itself is challenged, these measures are just crumbs thrown to the peasants from their masters’ tables:

Germany’s parliament is expected to…make [it] the third country in Europe to legalise the drug for personal use…Adults would be allowed to possess 50g at one time at home, and 25g in public…[prohibitionists burbled the usual pro-police-violence nonsense, including dishonest] doctors…[who vomited lies about] the risk of addiction [even though cannabis is not addictive]…

Eavesdropping (#1167)

Shotspotter is a boondoggle designed to manufacture false evidence for cops:

ShotSpotter…places its microphone sensors primarily in low-income communities of color…the exact locations…have been kept secret from both its [cop shop] clients and the public at large…[but] a leaked document…details the…precise locations and uptime of 25,580 ShotSpotter microphones.  The…surveillance devices…[are] at more than a thousand elementary and high schools…atop dozens of billboards, scores of hospitals, and…more than a hundred public housing complexes…More than 12 million Americans live in neighborhoods with at least one…microphone, [and] sensors can be found in 84 metropolitan areas and 34 states or territories in the United States.  Nine cities have more than 500 sensors installed, including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Las Vegas, Nevada…in aggregate, nearly 70 percent of people who live in a [surveilled] neighborhood…[are] either Black or Latin…

The Implosion Begins (#1265)

The hysteria is imploding so hard, it’s falling all the way back to its roots:

Utah [poluticians] are moving forward with a bill that would criminalize so-called ritualistic child sexual abuse [despite the complete lack of evidence that such a thing exists or has ever existed.  A recent]…hearing…[was packed with mentally ill] adult…[fantasists who have been enabled and encouraged to dwell in their delusions for decades]…Utah’s role in the 1980s [Satanic] panic was significant.  Many of the first well-known cases of alleged ritual abuse originated in the state, as did the movement’s central figures, including therapists who used hypnosis and manipulative interview techniques to [create false] memories [in] alleged child victims…Local media promoted the claims…

The Vultures Descend (#1323)

Alabama has at long last got the “fetal personhood” it claimed to want; let’s see how they like it:

The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system is pausing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that [absurdly declared] frozen embryos are children…reproductive rights advocates and medical experts have been warning…for days…that the high court’s decision could have devastating consequences for Alabamians seeking infertility treatments…and…could soon have profound impacts far beyond the state’s borders…[the unscientific declaration] will likely not only make the already high costs of infertility treatments substantially higher, but will likely also discourage many providers from offering them at all in the state in fear of being held liable for wrongful death…

And if that worries you, how about this?

Most House Republicans have cosponsored a bill declaring that life begins from the moment of conception…[almost immediatel]y after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “unborn children”…the “Life at Conception Act“…states that the term “human being” includes “all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization”…[and] does not include any exception for in vitro fertilization…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1327)

Maybe this will teach fools what a danger biometric identification actually is:

…it’s becoming clear that biometric screens are just as easy to bypass as…other…security…[as demonstrated by a new] banking trojan that steals people’s faces.  Un[wary] users are tricked into giving up personal IDs and phone numbers and…prompted to perform face scans.  These images are then swapped out with AI-generated deepfakes that can easily bypass security checkpoints.  The method — developed by a Chinese…hacking family — is believed to have been used in Vietnam [last] month, when attackers…[used it to] withdr[aw] the equivalent of $40,000 from [a victim’s] bank account…This discovery reveals the alarming, growing threat that biometrics pose…Face swap deepfake attacks increased by 704% between the first and second halves of 2023…The[re was]…also…a 672% increase in the use of deepfake media being used alongside spoofing tools and a 353% increase in the use of emulators (which mimic user devices) and spoofing to launch digital injection attacks…

Remember this the next time some ninny tells you that cartoon porn is the worst possible use for deepfakes.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1405)

Nebraska’s float in the “monkey see, monkey do” parade is notable for its open infantilization of women:

…Nebraska [politicians are considering] a bill t[o use] young people…[as a pretext] to [spy on adults’ viewing of] online porn by [“age verification” of people too ignorant to use a VPN]…Dave Murman…[admits] his goal is to pr[etend]…women a[re equivalent to] children…[and also that] he [wants to join the “monkey see, monkey do” parade because] Utah,  Louisiana, and Arkansas [did]…

Served Cold (#1406)

This just keeps getting better:

A [Colombian] woman is suing for defamation and emotional distress because of the way she was portrayed in the [propaganda] film Sound of Freedom, marking a fifth lawsuit filed against Tim Ballard and [his rescue industry outfit], Operation Underground Railroad…Kely Johana Suarez Moya…“was tragically condemned by the Defendants to the entire world as being a child trafficker without any due process or due diligence by the Defendants,” the lawsuit reads.  Other defendants…include…[the] movie [itself]…the distributor…and…writers…Katherine Ballard, [and]…Janet Russon, a former OUR employee and Tim Ballard’s psychic…Ballard and OUR lied to the public about a “sting operation” in Colombia…where operatives “rescued” children at a “pedophile party” on the Colombian Island of Baru in 2014…In reality…[they lured]…in impoverished…young adults with the promise of money…[and] “None of the young adults…were trafficked in any way (other than by Ballard)”…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1413)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2024| 1 Comment »

People might [not] be sick of book bannings, but are they sick of having their money wasted?  –  anonymous Texas teacher

The Red Umbrella 

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

Non-[Irish] sex workers were targeted by a recent scam where a person or people pretended to work for a major advertising website and asked them to provide personal information…[when] the workers did not realise it was a scam and replied to the messages…a number of them were…threatened with physical or sexual violence.  Linda Kavanagh…[of] SWAI…said non-national sex workers were deliberately targeted…She said m[ost] workers don’t report threats, or actual assaults, to gardaí because they…[reasonably] fear they’re going to be blamed for the work that they do…

Panopticon (#1277)

Cops use their panopticon exactly as EFF predicted they would:

In 2022, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that would allow the city’s police…to access footage from private security cameras [as long as they could invent a credible-sounding excuse]…the SFPD [is required to] compile quarterly reports detailing how many times it [abused the privilege]…The report released in January shows that in the third quarter of 2023…[64 pigs] spent a collective 193 hours and 19 minutes [rooting through] live surveillance footage…Police made 49 arrests as a result of surveillance, of which 42 were for narcotics…[only] four were for “theft/larceny,” and one was for [contempt of cop]…all of the r[oot-f]ests [centered on] just five [neighborhoods, one of them the Tenderloin]…the longest [root]ing session was during the Outside Lands Music Festival in August in Golden Gate Park, when [pigs rooted through] 42 total hours of live footage…in [defense of this creepy spying, the]…District Attorney…b[elch]ed [out] the [word]…”fentanyl”…San Francisco is [also]…rolling out new traffic cameras, which are more effective at filling government coffers than preventing traffic fatalities…

The Last Shall Be First (#1351) 

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

[Murfreesboro] Tennessee…must pay $500,000 as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over an ordinance designed to ban drag performances…Last year, the Tennessee Equality Project…filed a federal lawsuit after leaders announced they would no longer be approving any event permit requests submitted by the organization…[due to what politicians absurdly labeled] “illegal sexualization of kids”…the city not only vowed to deny TEP permits but also decided later to update its “community decency standards”…to [include merely being gay as]…“obscene or harmful to minors”…Under the [settl]ement, the city…[mus]t also…repeal the ordinance and process any upcoming event permit applications submitted by TEP…

Thought Control (#1376)

Texas’ ice-pick self-lobotomization is becoming increasingly spasmodic:

In November…Conroe…Texas public school [board members]…decided…to g[ive themselves]…final say of what [books are] in libraries and classrooms….[since then] books are being removed to meet the preferences of individual board members, parents or other individuals through “internal review”…one teacher says…thousands of books from…classroom collections [were seized by] the district.  At the teacher’s school alone, over 550 books, equivalent to more than $7,300 were packed and moved out of…[class]rooms…over 30 library titles have been banned…[and] another ten books [are likely to follow]…later this month.  Within the past two school years, at least 125 of all the titles banned from the district libraries came from internal reviews…112 books have been prohibited from being on classroom shelves…last week, [one self-appointed censor demanded the removal of]…Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Geography Club by Brent Hartinger, Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, American Girls by Alison Umminger and Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson…When [a] teacher asked what administrators…planned to do with the [seized] titles, [she]…was told…the books would await “disposal”…

Thought Control (#1389)

Too bad all authoritarian organizations aren’t so short-lived:

…Moms for Liberty experienced a meteoric rise at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as local chapters sprang up to push back against coronavirus restrictions in schools.  The organization soon expanded to pushing book bans and o[ther censorship]…But…the local chapter in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, [has] shut down due to lack of interest…[and] participation also appears to be flagging for…the…organization’s first chapter…in…Brevard County [Florida; at a]…school board…meeting…to discuss a[n attempt to censor]…The Kite Runner and Slaughterhouse-Five…only one Moms for Liberty member showed up…and eventually snuck out of the room [when speakers compared the pro-censorship cult to the Taliban]…The national…organization…has started to see its [15 minutes ending]…as the group was rocked by a sexual assault scandal…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1409)

Censorious politicians are vying to see who can make their new laws the most unconstitutional:

The U.S. Congress’ top anti-porn crusader, Utah Senator Mike Lee, [has] introduced a bill last week that would effectively outlaw all sex work…by classifying any consent influenced by a person’s economic circumstances as coercive…“This is, of course, the dream of the faith based ‘anti-trafficking’ folks — and SWERFs — who believe that no true consent can exist for sex work when money is involved,” [the Free Speech Coalition’s Mike] Stabile added. “It would essentially codify their white slavery panic into law”…

This warped attempt to infantilize women has been part of evangelical feminist dogma for some time, despite its self-evident absurdity.

The Last Shall Be First (#1410)

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

A Utah school board member caused a social media firestorm when she publicly singled out and suggested a high school athlete was transgender with no evidence.  She later [uselessly] apologized…[long after her flying monkeys had] personally attacked the player, the student’s school district had to provide extra security for her, and the [politician] who wrote the state’s anti-transgender athlete bill [vomited out her own stupid opinion]…in violation of her own [law].  The post from Natalie Cline…set…off 16 hours of hateful speculation that continued even after she deleted it…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1411)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Cops face little recourse, even when…cases…were based on little more than writing some sort of Asian sex-slave fanfic.  –  Elizabeth N. Brown

The Course of a Disease (#909)

Prohibitionist scum know decriminalization is the only moral framework for sex work; that’s why they keep trying to trick people into thinking the Swedish model is decrim:

[Massachusetts politicians, one of them ironically from] Salem, are p[ushing]…a bill t[o infantilize sex workers and attempt to starve them into submission by persecuting clients]…The bill was created with support from…a Boston-based [prohibitionist] organization that [exploits marginalized]…sex [workers.  Meanwhile, a crony of those same politicians]…has…filed a bill…that would require…hotel workers in the state [to be indoctrinated in the asinine “]signs of sex trafficking[” which encourage businesses to harass unescorted women and engage in racial profiling]…

Blunt Instrument (#1064)

Everyone harmed by these evil “stings” and raids needs to keep suing the agencies which conduct them:

A Utah man is suing after being [falsely] implicated in a[n imaginary] human trafficking ring for driving his wife to and from her job at Asian massage businesses…Police raided the places in early 2021 and arrested Joseph Ferreri, his wife Juying Wang, and several other women associated with the businesses where Wang worked.  A police document justifying Ferreri’s arrest relies heavily on generalizations about Asian massage businesses and race-based stereotypes.  It’s also peppered with misrepresentations—like describing Wang as a “girl” even though she’s in her 50s and two years older than Ferreri…[cop] Shawn Lott…”embellished, omitted, and made up facts to paint Joe Ferreri as an international sex trafficker…the sole basis for targeting Joe was the race/ethnicity of his wife and her occupation”…all charges…were eventually dropped. But by then…his name and picture were published in news outlets that described him as part of a human trafficking ring.  He and his wife were temporarily barred from seeing each other.  He lost his job, and with it any chance of a pension he was more than halfway to qualifying for.   The only work Ferreri could find following the arrest was a temp gig in a coal mine…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#1097) 

It’s never called “trafficking” when the government and crony corporations do it:

…Intricate, invisible webs…link some of the world’s largest food companies and most popular brands to jobs performed by U.S. prisoners nationwide…If they refuse to work, some can jeopardize their chances of parole or face punishment like being sent to solitary confinement.  They also are often excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers, even when they are seriously injured or killed on the job.  The goods these prisoners produce wind up in the supply chains of a dizzying array of products…from Frosted Flakes cereal and Ball Park hot dogs to Gold Medal flour, Coca-Cola and Riceland rice.  They are on the shelves of virtually every supermarket in the country, including Kroger, Target, Aldi and Whole Foods.  And some goods are exported, including to countries that have had products blocked from entering the U.S. for using forced or prison labor.  Many of the companies buying directly from prisons are violating their own policies against the use of such labor.  But it’s…enshrined in the Constitution by the 13th Amendment, [which states that] slavery and involuntary servitude are banned – except as punishment for a crime.  That clause is currently being challenged on the federal level, and efforts to remove similar language from state constitutions are expected to reach the ballot in about a dozen states this year…

Eternal Vigilance (#1264)

Why is it so difficult for amateurs to grasp the difference between a renter offering sex as payment and a landlord demanding it?

Randy Hames, owner of…an…[Alabama] RV Park…was arrested in 2018…[and] charged with…human trafficking, soliciting prostitution, and attempted sexual extortion…Hames had been [previously] arrested twice on similar charges…after at least 10 female tenants reported Hames making unwanted advances in exchange for lowered rent…A federal trial [is now underway as] prosecutors…allege…Hames violated the Fair Housing Act by creating a hostile home environment for his tenants…he…also…evicted a few…after they refused his advances…

The Last Shall Be First (#1403) 

It’s never really about “protecting children”:

Several [politicians] from Michigan and Ohio were recorded in an online forum planning to try to ban trans health care for everyone, regardless of age…“In terms of endgame, why are we allowing these practices for anyone?” said [Michigan politician Josh] Schriver…“I think…we have to take sometimes small bites,” said [Ohio politician Gary] Click, who then lauded restrictions [recently] placed on…adult clinics by Ohio’s [governor]…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1408)

This tells you everything you need to know about politicians’ motivations:

Rather than defend a clearly unconstitutional measure passed to “protect” kids from social media, the government of Utah [claims it] intends to repeal the law…[which] kicked off a [“monkey see, monkey do” parade] of similar measures…Now that it faces a pair of challenges in federal court, the state has a new stance: “Psych! We didn’t actually mean it!”…“They know it’s unconstitutional.  They know it’s pure grandstanding and culture warrioring,” writes Techdirt editor Mike Masnick. “And they don’t want to face the music for abusing the rights of the citizens who elected them to support the Constitution, not undermine it”…

Creepy Coppers (#1410)

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

[NYPD cop] Angad Beharry…[has been] arrested…[for paying a Venezuelan woman living in Indiana] to take sexually explicit photographs and videos of [her nine-year-old girl], and to transmit them over the Internet to [him]…Beharry…possessed [numerous other] sexually explicit video[s] and images of…prepubescent minors…[he was caught because he also paid a woman in] Colombia…[to take similar pictures of her] one-year-old [daughter, and when she was caught she snitched on him to the cops]…and…also [snitched on her “]friend[” from] Venezuela…

 

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

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1410)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Being calm and reasonable doesn’t get headlines.  –  Mike Masnick

The Face of Trafficking

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

A [Utah politician] is facing a felony charge of human trafficking…[due to] disturbing mistreatment of one of his [ranch] workers, a Mexican national.  Dusty “Hootie” Roche…treated A.S. abusively, housed him in a dirty, dilapidated…trailer without running water and didn’t provide him with timely deliveries of food…Prosecutors also describe the Roche Ranches operators as dismissive of A.S.’s complaints after he was bucked from a horse and stepped on several times while working, suffering a fractured orbital socket…The trailer…sat on a remote part of the ranch and had “rat excrement on the floors,” a bathtub containing “animal parts and animal excrement,” a leaking roof and no working refrigerator or water system…A.S…was not paid regularly and…was treated poorly once he reported the issue to the staffing agency he had obtained his job through…he lived in “constant fear” after he was hit, kicked, yelled at and called names…

The Last Shall Be First (#1349)

This will keep happening, because too many people want it to keep happening:

The father of a junior varsity girl’s basketball player confronted the principals of both his daughter’s school and the opposing school…demanding one of the girls not be allowed to play because he [imagin]ed she was transgender…Both principals assured the parent…that the girl, like her teammates, had uploaded the required birth certificate documenting her age and gender and that “every player on both teams was 100% eligible to be on the court”…The angry parent wasn’t satisfied…he [demanded his fantasies be given veto power over reality, saying]…“I wasn’t born yesterday, I know that’s a boy and you better be able to prove yourself because I am going to the top.”  He became belligerent enough that they asked him to leave the building…[and he will] not [be] allow[ed]…to return to any other games…

Creepy Coppers (#1397)

They only start with relatively minor offenses:

Columbus [cop] Adam Nguyen [was rewarded with a paid vacation]…for…taking upskirt video of a young woman at an anime convention near Chicago last year…[he] was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service…pay more than $870 in court costs and fees…[and] undergo evaluation and treatment for…sex…offen[ders]…

The Last Shall Be First (#1401) 

Texas seems completely uninterested in controlling its psychopathic politicians:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [has demanded] medical records of Texas youth who have received gender-affirming care from a Georgia telehealth clinic, marking at least the second time he’s sought such records from providers in another state…QueerMed said it stopped servicing youth in Texas after the state banned transition-related care last year…[but the demand want]ed information about patients dating back to Jan. 1, 2022…and…nearly mirrors one…sent to Seattle Children’s Hospital…in response to [which]…Seattle Children’s [has] sued…Karen Loewy, a lawyer with Lambda Legal representing organizations…trying to block [Texas’ anti-trans law]…said there is “zero authorization” in the law for Paxton’s [demand]s to clinics outside of Texas…Loewy said that “a handful” of other organizations have received [similar demands]…from Paxton…A QueerMed official could not immediately comment on how the clinic will respond…

The Cop Myth (#1401)

Cop deals with disagreement in typical cop fashion, and the press is shocked:

Police have arrested a [screw] in Connecti[cut for]…fatal[ly] shooting…a [stranger] in what is believed to be a road rage incident…William Lucky, Jr…murder[ed]…Scott Kracke…[after Lucky] cut [Kracke] off and Kracke [responded by] pass[ing Lucky] and brak[ing] suddenly.  The[y both] got out of their vehicles after stopping at the side of the road…then [Lucky] shot Kracke…several [times before fleeing]…in his car…A short time later, Lucky…turn[ed] himself in [at the instigation of his child’s mother]…

Shame, Shame (#1405)

In which natural stupidity masquerades as artificial stupidity:

The estate of…George Carlin sued the makers of a podcast…[who] claimed to use [a computer program] to impersonate Carlin for a comedy s[how]…Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, hosts of the podcast Dudesy…infringed on the estate’s copyrights…for “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” which [has apparently been made “private”] on the podcast’s YouTube channel…The lawsuit calls for a judge to prevent Dudesy…from using Carlin’s copyrighted works in the future and to require the podcast to destroy the episode…Danielle Del, a spokeswoman for Sasso, [admitted that] Dudesy is not actually a…[computer, but rather] “a fictional podcast character created by…Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen…the…video…was completely written by Chad Kultgen”…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1408)

Progressives have given all authoritarians a powerful censorship tool:  declare anything a “public health crisis” and it can be harassed at will:

NYC Mayor Eric Adams is facing a pretty big list of crises, some of his own making…But…[he’s] zeroed in on…the real problem in New York City…the evidence free declaration that social media is “toxic”…This is ridiculous on multiple levels.  First off, last year we had a big post detailing why any comparison between social media and “toxins” like lead paint or tobacco is inherently stupid.  Those are things that are known to cause real harm.  With social media, that’s just not true…the actual science simply does not support the claim that social media is inherently harmful to kids…recent research suggests that the real cause of the teen mental health crisis is the lack of spaces for teens to be teens without parents hovering over them…

Other cities are attempting to bleed social media companies using this asinine propaganda; I won’t be surprised if New York soon attempts to cash in as well.

 

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

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »