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Posts Tagged ‘violence vs. sex workers’

[Screws] violate our human rights like crazy.  –  Clothera Peak

A Moral Cancer

This badly-disguised puritanism was the topic of the original column of this heading, twelve years ago:

Oral sex may be the biggest factor in the rise of throat cancer in…the U.S. and U.K.  “For oropharyngeal cancer, the main risk factor [after refusing to take the HPV vaccine] is the number of lifetime sexual partners, especially oral sex,” Mehanna wrote for The Conversation. “Those with six or more lifetime oral-sex partners are 8.5 times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer than those who do not practice oral sex”…

Everything I said back in the original column is still true.

Surplus Women

Prohibitionists want this to happen more often:

A man [named David Montes was]…arrested for murder in Moxee [Washington] after…he suffocated a woman from an escort service, wrapped her body in plastic wrap in the backseat of his truck, then called 911 to confess…the woman was identified as 63-year-old Santos Gloria Reyes from Yakima…Montes [told cops] he was having homicidal thoughts and went on an escort service website to find someone he could “take out”…[after the murder] he ran errands with the [body] still in the back, then contacted his uncle on the night of April 14 where he confessed to his actions.  He then called 911 because his uncle told him to…

The Next Target (#1272)

It’s not like they’ve ever been secretive about their goals:

Morality in Media…has launched a new campaign to eradicate all adult content on Reddit…call[ing] for the platform to take action against “hardcore pornography and sexually explicit content”…the [pro-censorship] organization frames the call for censoring Reddit — one of the main platforms that allows open sexual expression from users — as addressing “abuse and exploitation”…[but it]s rhetoric about nonconsensual material ultimately serves as a Trojan horse for a call to censor all sexually explicit content and eliminate accounts that share it, regardless of consent or legality…

Opting Out (#1306) 

If other big websites followed suit, the damage done by this totalitarian nonsense would be dramatically curtailed:

Wikipedia will not comply with any age checks required under the [UK] Online Safety Bill…Rebecca MacKinnon, of the Wikimedia Foundation…says it would “violate our commitment to collect minimal data about readers and contributors”…the government says only services [politicians claim] pos[e what is nebulously labeled “]the highest risk to children[” at any given moment] will need age verification…Wikimedia UK fears the site could be blocked because of its stance…

Follow Your Bliss (Anther Rapist Roundup)

A clever non-cop molester took advantage of another grooming scheme for predatory cops:

Eric Uller was…a volunteer in the Police Activities League, where, beginning in the late 1980s, he…was a sexual predator…[who] destroyed the lives of children…wh[ile]…authorities [ignored warnings about his abuse over many years]…Now, more than 200 people have come forward to say they were abused by Uller, most of whom were underprivileged children…whose parents were in this country without proper immigration papers…Santa Monica [has] settled…lawsuits…total[ling]…$229.285 million [so far] — the most costly single-perpetrator sexual abuse disbursement for any municipality in the state…He…most[ly]…target[ed] Latino boys between the ages of 12 and 15…but some were as young as 8, said attorney Brian Claypool, who has represented more than 80 victims…Uller used his police connections to lure them…He…[had] a badge…handcuffs and…a gun…“Everyone thought he was a police officer,” [one victim] said…

Of course, we’ve often seen non-cop rapists posing as cops to facilitate rape.

No Escape (#1312)

This will never stop while violent thugs have total power over the lives of women:

Sex­u­al abuse is ram­pant…at FCI Tal­la­has­see…[where] documented re­ports of guards terrorizing, threatening, and stalking, as well as mentally, physically, and sexually abusing prisoners…go back at least as far as 2002, so[on]…after the facility officially became a women’s prison.  Since 2012, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has received more than 130 complaints [of] staff…[raping] prisoner[s]…but the abusive and retaliatory environment…has only spi­raled further out of con­trol…recent scrutiny has almost completely overlooked a culture of impunity and widespread abuse at FCI Tallahassee and centered instead on other prisons...[such as] the…so-called rape club [in California]…FCI Tallahassee’s recent ability to remain out of the spotlight is…a reflection of…a brutally efficient system of retaliation and cover-up, which employs a dizzying variety of tactics to protect perpetrators of sexual assault and keep their victims silent…

The Cop Myth (#1333)

I’m sure it would’ve been different had he put on his magical Clown Costume of Legal Invulnerability first:

A…Pueblo County [Colorado screw was sacked for] assaulting [his girlfriend at least twice] in five months…Donald Teschner…was arrested on April 21, 2023..for [the assault, which left a]…”large lump on the back of…the victim’s…head with [bloody] scratches”…the…argument [began because] Teschner [imagined] that the victim was cheating on him, which [he used as an excuse]…to break her phone…hit her in the back of the head…throw…[her against] the wall…[hard enough that] she…was knocked out…This is Teschner’s fourth arrest since 2019….[when] he was convicted of possession of a gun while drunk…[and] sentenced to 18 months of probation…

 

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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You’re faking it! Stop screaming!  –  Texas screw to woman in labor

Secret Squirrel (#715)

Prohibitionists are SHOCKED that software used by “legitimate authorities” is also used by “illegitimate” abusers:

…an app called Life360…which claims over 50 million active users across 195 countries, is among the most popular [surveillance] apps in America.  It lets parents [track their] kids…at all times, displaying their live coordinates on a map.  But, according to nine federal cases dating back to at least 2018, it has also been used by sexual predators to monitor and control their victims.  And privacy and trafficking experts say such misuse is hardly an anomaly; it’s becoming an issue with other apps like it including Apple’s “Find My Friends” and Google’s “Find My Phone” tools…

The Next Target (#1242)

Prohibitionists’ real goal is to completely ban online sex work:

German police have been targeting and intimidating specific Twitter users who post or retweet explicit material, in an attempt to move forward local bureaucrat Tobias Schmid’s campaign to purge all open platforms of adult content…Der Spiegel…devoted an entire feature to the authorities’ campaign to deter users from sharing sexual content…NetzPolitik’s Sebastian Meineck has been covering Schmid’s meticulous, obsessive attempts to ban all sexual content from open platforms in Germany and Europe.  In an in-depth report…Meineck wrote that authorities had already [censored] some 150 Twitter accounts for “distribution of pornography”…using the police to confront and threaten adult performers, creators and other sex workers over explicit videos and images they tweeted or promoted…Paulita Pappel, German porn producer and spokeswoman for the Free Speech Coalition Europe, [said]…“We are treated like criminals”…

The Vultures Descend (#1249)

Given that this is not only unpopular in Florida, but also violates the state constitution, these politicians are cutting off their noses to spite their faces:

Florida’s…Legislature…passed a ban on most abortions after six weeks…Ron DeSantis…has said he would sign the measure into law…House Speaker Paul Renner [chose] to close the public viewing galleries [using the absurd excuse that] a…protester…threw…a…[piece of] paper on the…floor…the…[only] exceptions [are] for rape and incest up until 15 weeks.  The measure does not change the exceptions for the life and health of the mother up until 15 weeks that are in current law…the six-week ban will be on hold pending a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court on the constitutionality of a 15-week abortion ban DeSantis [recently] signed into law…[politician] Yvonne Hinson…[said] “I wonder how much Florida money is being spent on legal fees attempting to defend that bill”…the six-week…ban is not popular among Florida residents of either [duopoly faction]…A…poll in March showed 75%…opposed the six-week ban.  That included 61% of Republicans…

Torture Chamber (#1303)

Your “leaders” refer to these atrocities as “correction”:

Texas Jail Project…[h]as [collected hundreds of]…stories of medical neglect and abuse during pregnancy in county jails…We started bringing these stories and impacted community members to the quarterly meetings of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards…[where] we were mocked and brushed off by the commissioners and sheriffs as indulging in “mama drama”.  This kind of dismissive response continued at the county commissioner’s court as well…a sheriff once alleged that we were making up these horror stories of pregnant women being neglected, miscarrying, and giving birth alone on dirty cell floors because “we don’t really have that many pregnant women in our jails”…[in reality] pregnant [women]…were rendered invisible in an already opaque system designed primarily by men, for men…The first successful bill we advocated for in 2009…mandated that jails [keep] count…[which showed that]…300 to 500 pregnant…[women] are booked monthly into Texas county jails…

Not mentioned in this article: the chief architect of the laws that resulted in this huge explosion in the number of female prisoners now resides in the White House.

To Molest and Rape (#1317)

Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working out?

A NYPD captain allegedly sent [dick pics] to a female detective and offered her favors if she would send him her panties, during a “relentless” 18 months of sexual harassment…Brian Flynn…sent more than 45…inappropriate photos and messages to…Michelle Almanzar…and retaliated against her when she spurned his advances…by making her stay late and redo reports and denied her personal time off…”he would often take his frustration out on her work partner as well as her team,” [her] lawsuit [explain]s…

Sleeping with cops is a bad idea even for other cops:

Ammy Ventura…a…civilian [NYPD] employee…[foolishly submitted to the advances of] her supervisor, Widler Lucas…[who claimed] he was…going through a divorce at the same time she was…The pair then started dating in April 2021, with Ventura believing Lucas was divorced…They broke up around September 2021, after…Lucas [started behaving abusively]…Nine months after the pair’s break up, during a shift in August 2022, Lucas…grabbed Ventura by her hair, pulled her behind his desk and forced her to give him oral sex while his office door was wide open…Lucas [later] told Ventura never to speak about the affair, saying, “I’ll fucking kill you” and threatening to “push [her] in front of a train”…

The Last Shall Be First (#1319) 

Both sides in the culture war have completely taken leave of their senses:

The Missouri attorney general, citing a consumer protection law normally used to prosecute fraudulent business practices, issued a new state directive…that would severely restrict gender-transitioning treatment for both adults and minors…[based on the false claim that] they were considered “experimental”…[and claim]ing that the attorney general “is charged with protecting consumers, including minors, from harm”…While there is some debate among medical professionals about how to put in place gender-transitioning treatment for [legal minors], leading medical groups in the United States…oppose legislative bans…

It is doubtful that this outrageous overreach will withstand a legal challenge; the action is therefore pure virtue-signaling intended to win votes, as is this equally extreme overreach by the Other Team:

The Washington state House approved a bill that would authorize state agencies to hide [legal minors] seeking transgender medical intervention from parents…under the bill, a disagreement between a[n adolescent] and parents over the [adolescent]’s desire for a medical transition constitutes “abuse and neglect,” only because the parent hasn’t “properly affirmed what the child [sic] wants”…

The Vultures Descend (#1330)

Just a reminder that regardless of what tyrants declare, many overseas pharmacies will sell to US customers without playing “Mother-May-I” games:

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked heavy restrictions on the use of mifepristone…and will allow…physicians to continue using mifepristone for abortions past seven weeks and distributing the pill by mail and without an in-person visit…Kacsmaryk[‘s decision] in Texas…was robustly criticized by legal scholars and medical experts…[and] was in conflict with another decision issued by a district judge in Washington state…Judge Thomas Rice said that the FDA could not change how it regulates the drug in the locales that had filed suit…the…5th Circuit…partially blocked Kacsmaryk’s ruling, but said that instead, the FDA had to revert its approval of mifepristone to what was permitted in 2016: only allowing the drug to be used for people up to seven weeks of pregnancy, prohibiting its provision through telemedicine and requiring three in-person physician visits for anyone getting a prescription.  Currently, the FDA permits mifepristone to be used up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, and the World Health Organization recommends its use up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.  Both endorse telemedicine for medication abortions…

 

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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Sex workers are expected to die silently with grace every time a bad policy [gets] enacted.  –  Phoenix Calida

Surplus Women

The Swedish Model claims another victim:

[Sex worker] Geila Ibram…was [murdered] in Limerick…[by] Habib Shamel, an Afghan national…on April 4, [Shamel pretended to be a client in order to trick]…the victim [into] provid[ing] her address…CCTV footage shows [Shamel] entering [her] flat just before 1.30pm, and leaving “approximately one minute 52 seconds later”…[during which time he] stabbed [Ibram] numerous times in the neck, face and abdomen…in…a “vicious and frenzied attack”…[he] the[n fled to]…Belfast…before being arrested on April 6…

Predictably, the ghouls of Ruhama are already trying to make political coin from her barely-cold corpse.

Without Let or Hindrance

Some people still believe these sociopaths are motivated by a desire to “protect children”:

Dallas parents Temecia and Rodney Jackson opted for a home birth for their newborn daughter, Mila, with licensed midwife Cheryl Edinbyrd…Shortly after [her] birth…she…developed a case of jaundice—a highly common condition in newborns…which typically goes away without treatment within one to two weeks.  The Jacksons opted to follow Edinbyrd’s guidance to care for Mila in their home rather than leave her at the hospital.  Within days…Dallas [cops] and CPS [thugs] arrived at their doorstep at around 5 a.m., informing the family that their pediatrician had reported them and demanding that they [surrender their child]…the Jacksons refused…and..reached out to their midwife…[who in turn] reached out to the pediatrician…[and] gave him all the credentials he…requested from her…he [the withdrew from the case]…but [a week later the cops]…returned…arrest[ed the father, stole] his keys, and used them to enter his home [without permission to abduct] Mila…the…warrant…didn’t even list their own names, instead listing her parents as a different couple that’s previously [been targeted by] CPS.  The Jacksons still don’t even have Mila’s birth certificate because she wasn’t born in a hospital…

Stalkers in Blue

No woman is safe from predatory cops:

Jonathan Simon, [a London cop assigned to] Redbridge…and [adjacent areas, escaped with a mere] 16 weeks imprisonment suspended for 2 years for stalking…a…woman…[at her] home and workplace in…a…year-long campaign of harassment…he…also bombard[ed] her with messages and voicemails despite being repeatedly told to stop…After [she] block[ed] him, he began to use his police phone…he…[also] us[ed London’s dystopian network of] CCTV cameras to spy on her and t[old] her…to intimidate her.  He [also] groped her…and…tried to get…he[r]…to engage in sex work w[ith him as her pimp]…

Dangerous Speech (#984)

On the fifth anniversary of the government’s demolition of Backpage for hosting completely-legal, Constitutionally-protected speech politicians didn’t like, the unsinkable Liz Brown has published a thorough look at the past, present, and possible future of the wildly-incompetent, shockingly-illegal, and wholly tyrannical prosecution, complete with a plethora of quotes from many sex workers and other interested parties (including yours truly).  As so often happens with Liz’s articles, there’s too much good stuff here to even attempt a block quote, so you’ll just have to read it yourself (and I strongly urge you to do so).

Leaving the 20th Century

Thai sex workers are still fighting US-imposed prohibitionism:

…in…Thailand…a new government-led plan…calls for repealing the 1996 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, which [was enacted due to pressure from the US], and replacing it with…the Protection of Sex Work Act, affirming the rights of sex workers and their places of business to sell sex.  The bill’s proponents hope it will help the country’s sex workers — estimated to number anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 — ply their trade more safely and earn higher wages…Jintana Janbumrung…of the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development…[said] by giving sex workers legal status…“they can…have access to the same welfare as other occupations, whose rights will not be violated, who will not be exploited by their clients or sex business operators [and have] a better quality of life”…

The Vultures Descend (#1303)

Just a reminder that regardless of what tyrants declare, many overseas pharmacies will sell to US customers without playing “Mother-May-I” games:

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk [has] suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime approval of key abortion pill mifepristone…approved…more than 20 years ago to be used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, to terminate pregnancies at up to 10 weeks…if the stay…goes into effect, the drug would no longer be [legally] available…in the U.S.  That would leave a surgical procedure or off-label use of misoprostol on its own as the only options in states where abortion is legal….though the one-drug approach has been shown in clinical trials to be somewhat less effective than the two-pill regimen…the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals…[as did] Danco Laboratories, which manufactures mifepristone…Even if the 5th Circuit Court…does block Kacsmaryk’s ruling, the challengers could ask the [same] Supreme Court…[which]  overturned Roe v. Wade…to [reinstate the ban]…

To Molest and Rape (#1329)

Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:

A [typical and representative Missouri cop named]…Matthew N. Skaggs…was…arrested…[for] convinc[ing] three minors…to a[llow him to molest them]…he [also] gave vape cartridges to one…in exchange for pornographic images…and paid another [hush money] not to reveal [the molestation.  As is typical, the government thinks the most important factor was that he was wearing his magical clown suit at the time]…

 

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 political discourse around the border tends to be built around a fantasy.  –  Dave Maass

If Men Were Angels

At least this one wasn’t a “youth pastor”:

A [typical and representative] Orange County [California] pastor has been convicted of sexually abusing two young girls he is related to…Jose Andres Lopez…[committed the assaults from] 1991 through 2020…[he was caught] on Aug. 21, 2020, [when] the [second] victim…was…13…but the abuse started when she was 3…The victim’s brother…was…in the house and…[over]heard…“noise he describes as a rhythm that sounded like having sex”…the victim [later told] her brother…what was happening…[and] the next day, the brother told his mother and the tearful victim confirmed it…During the investigation, deputies “stumbled on a police report” out of Massachusetts from a 12-year-old who said [Lopez] had molested her for years…

Nor was this one:

Indianapolis pastor…Tyree Coleman…offered to pay…a…17-year-old…[for sex and] the teen told police…they got a search warrant for Coleman’s cell phone and…discovered that Coleman…the founder of…[a charity] which feeds homeless people in Indianapolis…was using donations to his non-profit to pay [male sex workers]…During that investigation, police received a new complaint from a…man who accused Coleman of raping him…[after] he missed his bus…and was left stranded…Coleman offered him a room at his home…Coleman would pay him [for]…oral sex and later [for intercourse, but]…the victim [later changed his mind and] told Coleman to stop several times but Coleman refused…Coleman [also] threatened to kill him if he had a sexually transmitted disease…

The Red Umbrella (#1033)

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

A man [named Matthew Sean Donaldson who is] obsessed with video games…brutally bludgeoned [a sex worker] with a hammer in a luxury hotel…with intent to murder [her]…on February 23, 2021…Donaldson bought a hammer and read numerous news articles about women being murdered before he brought the [victim]…to his hotel room…He used a knife to cut off the woman’s underpants in what was to be his first ever sexual experience…the[n started]…a heated argument about the ethics of sex work [to give himself an excuse to attack her]…He left her lying in a pool of her own blood with severe cranial and body injuries as he fled the scene.  Later that night…Donaldson sent the victim a cruel taunting text that said: “Should have picked a different career, honey”…and…also posted a photo of the luxury hotel room to social media with the caption: “game over”…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1083)

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

Panera Bread is rolling out palm scanners that will link customers’ handprints to their loyalty accounts — a move the company paints as convenient but that privacy advocates have decried.  The biometric…technology, developed by Amazon, will hit stores in the next few months…The gadgets will [also] suggest menu items based on customers’ order histories…Amazon One technology is [already] in use at some 200 locations across the country, including Amazon’s Whole Foods Market subsidiary and Amazon Go stores.  Panera says the technology will securely store its customers’ biometric data.  However, digital rights activists [correctly point out] that [any] information [which exists] could be [demand]ed by federal agencies or accessed by hackers…

Feudalism Redux (#1251)

The crusade to reduce Americans to serfdom continues:

…Idaho Republicans…seek…to limit minors’ ability to travel for abortion care without parental consent.  The legislation would create a whole new crime — dubbed “abortion trafficking” — which is defined in the bill as an “adult who…either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug” for the minor…The legislation also includes a statute allowing the Idaho attorney general to supersede any local prosecutor’s decision, preemptively thwarting any prosecutor who vows not to enforce such an extreme law…The legislation doesn’t actually say anything about crossing state lines, but…since nearly all abortions are illegal in Idaho…[the people politicians want to terrorize are] traveling to the border with the intent of crossing state lines, likely into Washington, Oregon or Montana, to get an abortion there…

Panopticon (#1254)

This is only going to get worse for the foreseeable future:

There is perhaps no stretch of American land as politicized as the U.S.-Mexico border…There are towering fences and walls.  Border agents…patrol…the boundary in trucks.  But border security is becoming increasingly stealthy…as the government erects a “virtual wall”—a fortification not made of steel and concrete, but drones, surveillance towers, and artificial intelligence…border [hawks pretend] this…is a more humane and efficient way of keeping undocumented immigrants out…but in reality, the virtual wall has…been expensive, broadly expanded the surveillance abilities of unaccountable government agencies, and forced migrants into taking more dangerous journeys rather than keeping them out.  More dollars are being spent, more migrants are dying, and more civil liberties violations are occurring…

License to Rape (#1263)

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

Police are [molest]ing children in their p[igmobile]s…Almost 3,000 children were [molested under the pretext of a “]search[“]…by police in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, [650 between 2018 and 2020 and 2197 in the next two years]…Nearly a quarter of [molestation]s involved a child aged between 10 and 15, while the youngest [victim was]…an eight-year-old…1 per cent were [molest]ed within public view, and 6 per cent…with at least one [cop] of a different gender than the [victim lurking to watch]…

The Cop Myth (#1297)

UK officials are just as dedicated to hiding the truth about cops as US ones:

[Cop shops] in England and Wales have been…[caught] trying to “evade public scrutiny” after an Observer investigation found that the outcomes of dozens of officer misconduct cases have been deleted from their websites.  They include some of the most serious cases of criminality, including that of the serial rapist David Carrick…the vast majority were either failing to publicise cases, despite a legal obligation to do so, or deleting misconduct cases from their websites after 28 days…including cases related to sexual offences or domestic violence…The law specifically calls on forces to publicise the results of misconduct hearings “as soon as practicable after the officer has been notified of the outcome”…but…the records at 72% of forces were incomplete.  Many were missing more than half or all of the misconduct outcomes…

 

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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Discussions and debates [about sex work are] happening in the absence of those who are most affected by it.  –  Solomon Friedman

If Men Were Angels

“Youth pastor”, “youth leader”, “youth director”…can’t y’all settle on one term for preachy molesters?

A [typical and representative] youth director at a[n Iowa] church…[named] Travis Albers…has been charged with [sexual abuse of] a child…Trinity Reformed Church in Pella…[did not] fire…him [until] after his arrest March 5…

No Difference (#431)

Another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists:

Uganda’s parliament has passed a bill which would criminalise people who identify as gay, or a[ny] sexual minority…Under the proposed legislation, friends, family and [busybody strangers]…would have a duty to r[a]t [out] individuals in same-sex relationships…Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African country.  But the bill seeks to go further and criminalise people on the basis of their sexual identity…Individuals or institutions which support or fund LGBT rights’ activities or organisations, or publish, broadcast and distribute pro-gay media material and literature, also face prosecution and imprisonment…In 2014, Uganda’s constitutional court nullified a similar act…because it had been passed by parliament without the required quorum…

Safe Position (#1123)

Katz is doing exactly what Swedish criminalization proponents do: lying and harming women:

[After] sex worker Yang Song fell to her death [as the direct result of] an NYPD raid on [her workplace]…New York elected officials…[made their usual empty] promise[s]…Melinda Katz…assured voters that she would not prosecute sex workers, [but since she is a proponent of]…the…[evi]l Nordic Model…sex workers [knew she was lying]…Katz’s record reveals she has…continu[ed] to prosecute most of the prostitution arrests that are made…Queens continues to have the highest prostitution arrest rate in the city…and…Katz has…only declin[ed] to prosecute one case in her whole term.  She has maintained the highest rates of prosecution for prostitution…in the city…

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1247)

A decent article despite the usual journalistic credulity about prohibitionist claims:

In the heat of a [prohibitionist crusade to censor the internet], Mindgeek, owner of Pornhub, [has been] acquired…by the private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners.  Pornhub…has faced intense [persecution despite]…hosting [far fewer] videos that depict…child sexual abuse [than platforms such as Facebook].  After a[rch-prohibitionist Nick Kristof provided a platform for the evidence-free claims of anti-sex worker activists], Visa and Mastercard suspended services from the site…in 2021 it took Pornhub [dramatical]ly less time to remove reported child sex abuse material…than other platforms…Pornhub responded to…notifications…from NCMEC in less than five hours on average, compared to the total average from…websites, which was [five times longer,] more than 24 hours…Out of 30 million reports of child exploitation to NCMEC in 2021, Pornhub submitted just over 9,000 reports…Ethical Capital Partners plans to support and center sex workers and sexually explicit content creators in discussions about legislation and regulation, including what payment processors like Visa and Mastercard do and don’t allow from sex workers and pornography websites…

To Molest and Rape (#1253)

Cops really believe they’re above the law:

Rick Duncan, the [typical and representative Minnesota] sheriff previously convicted of harassing and stalking an employee, is being sued by another woman…[because] he used nearly identical means to coerce her into sex around the same time…Prosecutors last year also charged Duncan in a new case with five counts of criminal sexual conduct over [rapes] dating back to 2017…Duncan fabricated evidence to [threaten the woman into submitting to rape, but made] it appear as though the [threats] were [somehow coming from an anonymous third party]…Duncan [simultaneous]ly [confused] the woman [by claiming] he would keep her safe…A federal jury last year awarded more than $1.1 million to th[e employee], who[m]…Duncan [tried to rape with similar bizarre tactics]…Duncan was also charged criminally [but merely]…sentenced to four years of probation.  At his sentencing, he [blamed his rapist behavior on members of the public being mean to poor widdle piggies]…

Thought Control (#1268)

My first profession is becoming almost as much a target for authoritarians as my second:

Local police have been called out to Texas public libraries to [forcibly censor] books…in at least five instances….Adam Steinbaugh…[of FIRE said]…“They are treating librarians as suspects. That should be concerning for everyone”…No librarians have [yet] been charged with a crime.  But in recent months Texas [politician]s have proposed a dozen bills that would change state law to make it easier to prosecute them for obscenity…

Morality Lessons (#1285) 

Once Utah passed this unconstitutional bill, it became another case of “monkey see, monkey do”:

Eight states are weighing [censorship] bills that would force phone and tablet manufacturers…to automatically enable…censor[ship software whether the customer wants that or not]…The only way to disable the [automatic censor]…would be through passcodes.  Providing such a passcode to a [legal minor] would be forbidden, except when done by a parent…Many device manufacturers already have adult content [censorship software] available for use, though it is not the norm to have them turned on by default…In recent years, some phone makers have added [more aggressive censorship software] that use[s error-prone algorithms of the type used by Facebook to censor artwork and pictures of plastic dolls] to censor individual images on certain applications.  One of these…bills was passed…in Utah but cannot go into effect unless five additional states pass similar laws — a provision included to prevent Big Tech companies from isolating the state a[s it deserves]…This year, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Texas and Montana [politician]s are all considering versions of the bill…

 

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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Sex workers…would never want their child to feel the way we felt when our parents rejected us for becoming sex workers.  –  Annie Temple

Whore Madonnas

A good article about why the madonna/whore duality is pure bullshit:

Social wisdom would have us believe that sex industry workers are terrible parents who routinely jeopardize their childrens’ safety by bringing “perverts” around, leaving them to raise themselves, and setting an example of depravity.  Social wisdom is INCORRECT.  Children of sex workers that I know are more likely to be level-headed, socially aware, critical thinkers.  Rather than putting their parents through a lot of grief, they are strong allies of their parents.  Gutsy, confident, young people who speak their minds and care about others…

Confined and Controlled

The appalling levels of confusion about sex workers in this article, plus the Nevada model proselytizing, do not inspire confidence:

A San Francisco [politician] who wants to legalize red light districts has scheduled meetings with five sex workers…in order to better understand how legal brothels operate in Nevada…Ronen [claims to understand that]…”sex workers…want decriminalization, not legalization”…[yet also babbles about state-prescribed]…protections needed to keep [sex workers] safe…[while] meeting…with [Nevada model proponent] Alice Little…who [apparently doesn’t understand that 99% of sex workers have no interest in being] finger print[ed and interrogated by cops four times a year, nor enduring]…random checks [by cops to enforce state-mandated licensing and] STD testing.  “The sheriff will show up completely unannounced,” said Little. “It makes us feel safe”…

Feeling “safe” when armed cops come barging into one’s workplace unannounced demonstrates complete disconnection from the reality of most sex workers’ lives, and that’s not even considering that 99% of Nevada sex workers cannot (due to criminal background checks, privacy needs, etc) or will not work in the brothels.

Monsters

The headline is a bit misleading, since he was found guilty of manslaughter:

Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia killed 69-year-old Kimberley McRae by pressing a lamp cord against her neck before leaving her lifeless body inside her apartment in Coogee, New South Wales, in January 2020…the 23-year-old student went to McRae’s home and paid $100 for oral sex…when he realised she was trans…he punched her before she grabbed a nearby lamp…the pair wrestled over control of the lamp and its cord, which the student subsequently used to strangle her…the…prosecution [failed to]…prove…beyond a reasonable doubt that Valencia intended to either kill or cause serious harm to McRae, meaning he could not be found guilty on the murder charge…[but he] had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter…He…will face sentence proceedings in May…

If Men Were Angels

One would think by now that the title “youth pastor” would be a big red flag:

Tupelo [Mississippi cops] arrested a youth pastor for…[molesting] a 16-year-old girl.  Alexander Blackwelder…was…denied…bond…

Lack of Evidence (#998)

Authoritarians don’t give a damn if your kind of sex work is (temporarily) “legal”:

Hex makes a living in virtual reality.  She’s an online sex worker, hosting shows and posting photos and videos from social VR platform VRChat to…a subscription site for erotic content.  She streams from behind a virtual 3D avatar that tracks her movements, often wearing fuzzy animal ears [and] fantasy-inspired neon outfits.  Hex had plans to travel from the UK to visit her friends in the U.S. this year, and applied for a tourist visa.  But in late January, she said, she received a letter stating that she was permanently ineligible for admission to the U.S.  The reason given was the code for “prostitution”. “My reaction to the notice was honestly ‘what the hell? How is this possible? What I’m doing is completely legal’”…

Being a “legal” sex worker will not protect you, not even from arrest, so maybe you ought to stand with other sex workers to demand rights for everyone rather than hiding behind a screen of arbitrary “legality”.

Thought Control (Censorship Ascendant)

The most Orwellian case of censorship so far this year:

Owners of Roald Dahl ebooks are having their libraries automatically [replac]ed with the new censored versions containing hundreds of changes to [the author’s words]…Readers who bought electronic versions of the writer’s books…before the controversial updates have discovered their copies have now been [vandaliz]ed…Puffin Books, the company which publishes Dahl novels, [bowdleriz]ed the…novels…on devices such as the Amazon Kindle.  Dahl’s biographer Matthew Dennison…accused the publisher of “strong-arming readers into accepting a new orthodoxy in which Dahl himself has played no part”…

The Last Shall Be First (#1305) 

The war on trans people has expanded to include drag queens:

The Tennessee legislature [has] passed a bill expanding the state’s definition of “obscenity”…to criminalize anyone who “engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where [it]…could be viewed by a [minor].”  SB0003’s redefinition of “adult cabaret performance” was crafted by Republican legislators specifically to target drag shows, although the actual phrasing is expansive enough to criminalize many other trans-inclusive public events, such as…Pride Parades…[or] any performance by any person not presenting as their assigned-at-birth gender that does not take place in a venue…explicitly zoned as an “adult cabaret”…

 

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 would have been his next target.  –  Elesha Bates

Feminine Pragmatism (#514)

Most reporters are historical ignoramuses who don’t know that up until a century ago, the professions of actress and whore were indistinguishable:

Jane Fonda confessed she agreed to a date with 90-year-old Richard Lugner…[because] he…pa[id] her to accompany him to the Vienna Opera Ball…Fonda said…she needed the money to pay her bills and to support her grandchildren…The 85-year-old joins the list of female celebrities that have [accepted professional dates with]…Lugner…including Pamela Anderson, Kim Kardashian and Elle MacPherson…

Every sex worker needs money to pay her bills and many need it to support children, but the cops who hunt them and the press who demonize them don’t care, because they aren’t worth $200 million.

The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1185)

Unsupervised kid eats too much candy, gets sick; mom demands politicians DO SOMETHING!

An 11-year-old Staten Island boy was [taken to the emergency room] after [rudely] gobbling up THC gummies [at a family friend’s house]…and now his mom is urging the mayor to do something to pr[otect people from having to teach their kids basic manners]…Veronica Gill noticed her son, Ryan, “acting really strange” after returning home…Gill became concerned when the youngster…[got extremely high]…and [then sick]…After Ryan underwent a series of tests…a urine test revealed he had ingested a considerable amount of THC in the last few hours…Gill was…disturbed to find out that her son had taken the weed-infused gummies [without permission] from a candy drawer at the “straight-laced” party-throwers home…the …friend…[claimed to] “have no idea how the hell this got into my house”…

I’m sure it magically appeared on a grocer’s shelf, where she absent-mindedly purchased it without noting that it cost over $2 per individually-wrapped gummy, and threw it in a drawer for friends’ brats to find while rudely digging in drawers at houses where they don’t live.  Therefore a politician should issue an EDICT proclaiming “No edibles for you, New Yorkers!”

See No Evil (#1201)

Are the Japanese the only people left on Earth who can tell fantasy from reality?

A young man [in Ireland] who downloaded…[hentai] onto his phone has escaped going to jail…after Gardai [rooted through]…his phone after [stealing] it…Davies [is sane and grounded in reality, and] was [therefore]…genuinely shocked when he was told that the images were classed [in Ireland] as child pornography….[despite the fact that they] did not feature real children but were animated images involving [characters resembling] children [to Western eyes]…the…judge…sentenced Davies to 80 hours [slave labor] in lieu of four months in prison…

Panopticon (#1203)

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

From Pasadena, California to Lexington, Kentucky to Menasha, Wisconsin, to Newark, New Jersey, the surveillance company Flock Safety is blanketing American cities with dangerously powerful and unregulated automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras.  While license plate readers have been around for some time, Flock is the first to create a nationwide mass-surveillance system out of its customers’ cameras.  Working with [cop shop]s, [busybody club]s, and other private customers, Flock…runs all plates against state police watchlists and the FBI’s primary criminal database…[it]s goal is to expand to “every city in the United States,” and its cameras are already in use in over 2,000 cities in at least 42 states…Flock is building a giant camera network that records people’s comings and goings across the nation, and then makes that data available for search by any of its law enforcement customers…

I Saw My Brain (#1272)

Another pogrom from the dangerous clown who rules Polk County, Florida:

Over 200 people were arrested [in the latest pogrom against consensual sex from the deranged]…Grady Judd[, who always gives the entrapment schemes sophomoric titles, in this case] “Operation Traffic Stop”…[and then stands in front of reporters playing with himself while vomiting out lurid sexual fantasies about the people he and his costumed hooligans victimized]…

This will continue until the majority of those arrested fight back with lawsuits, or the voters of Polk County get tired of paying the many lawsuits that are already filed against this cretin every year.

To Molest and Rape (#1279)

Copaganda erodes the judgment of the naive:

A [typical and representative Oklahoma cop named Cody Even Cheyenne Kackley] faces charges after…he drove home a drunk woman from a casino and [rap]ed her in a bedroom before her brother walked in…the victim…was [heavily drinking] at [a]…Casino…and had called her brother for a ride home…[when cops decided to arrest her] and let her go…she then asked Kackley for a ride home, [foolishly] thinking it was safe “since he was a police officer”…

To Molest and Rape (#1315)

As usual, this monster’s handlers made a conscious choice to let him run wild, despite red flags:

Elesha Bates…submitted Ring camera video to the Gwinnett County Police Department and the Doraville Police Department in December as evidence after…[typical and representative cop] Miles Bryant was stalking her…Bryant…is now [suspected of raping and murdering]…16-year-old Susana Morales [during the time he was stalking Bates, who]…has known…Bryant since fifth grade…in March…shortly after she [met him again]…he showed up at her…apartment unannounced and uninvited…[she came home from work to find her] door…kicked in…her neighbor…“[told] me that there was like a guy coming and putting his ear to my door and…stuff like that…she said she saw him trying to break in”…Bryant showed up at her door again in October and two more times in December…the Ring video [she gave to cops] showed Bryant stopping by in December while she was hiding inside her apartment with her boyfriend…

 

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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[Forcing people to provide private] data…is dangerous, because it’s not a matter of if it will be breached; it’s a matter of when.  –  Caden Rosenbaum

Schadenfreude 

Yet another opportunistic fraud has been unmasked:

…the…[“]sex trafficking[” opportun]ist known as Eliza Bleu has broken into some of the top tiers of right-wing media in just a few years, growing her audience through…[claims that she is] “a survivor of human trafficking”…But now Bleu[‘s lies have been exposed by]…embarrassing images from her past…and…contradict[ions in her backstory from different] videos and interviews—and her frequent use of different names online…Now two former friends of Bleu [have come forward with more details which reveal]…that, at best, Bleu is exaggerating her experiences for attention…Carly Wenzel, a one-time pal…who has known her for two decades…added she believes Bleu is “completely lying”…

Lying Down With Dogs (#335)

What other country uses the term “prostitution” to criminalize consensual behavior the regime dislikes?

An Iranian court has handed jail sentences of more than 10 years each to a young couple who danced in front of one of Tehran’s main landmarks in a video seen as a symbol of defiance against the regime…Astiyazh Haghighi and her fiance, Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, both in their early 20s, were arrested in early November…Haghighi was not wearing a headscarf…women are also not allowed to dance in public, let alone with a man…The couple, who already had a following in Tehran as popular Instagram bloggers, were convicted of “encouraging corruption and public prostitution” as well as “gathering with the intention of disrupting national security”…they [were]…deprived of lawyers during the [kangaroo] court…and attempts to secure their release on bail [were] rejected…

Negative Secondary Effects

It usually starts with sex workers, but it never stops with us:

A bill introduced in West Virginia…aims to ban adult entertainment businesses from the state…The language of the bill is both borderline graphic and incredibly vague: it defines the body parts that stores are prohibited from showing in books, live performances, and films with meticulous specificity…but specific details on which businesses will actually be affected if this bill were to pass into law are left mostly undefined…Under th[e bill’s current language], a bookstore that sells [sex education books or videos]…would be considered an adult business…the terms of this bill could effectively make gay bars and nude modeling at art schools illegal…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1021)

This would be terrible even if the cops weren’t lying:

The…NYPD…is in the process of redesigning its fleet of p[igmobi]les, which will now have 360-degree cameras installed in them for constant [surveillance] of the [citizen]s…Po[rk] Commissioner Keechant Sewell…[lied] that…there are no plans to e[quip] the [cameras with] facial recognition technology…[but she bragged about]…an “augmented reality” app…will allow [cops] to point their smartphones at a location, such as a…[person’s home], and learn about things like wanted suspects or previous 911 calls connected to the address…

Creepy Coppers

The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:

A [Virginia cop named]…David Stone…is currently being held without bond a[fter being]…arrested on Jan. 25…[on] 50 child pornography charges…

Stupor Bowl (#1277)

It’s unsurprising that Arizona is still promoting this nearly-mummified fantasy with police violence against women:

Despite more than a decade of research, reports, editorials, magazine articles and even police accounts debunking the odious myth that the Super Bowl is a magnet for sex trafficking, this zombie lie remains catnip to local politicians, police and media ahead of Super Bowl LVII…But occasionally a little truth sneaks through the miasma of misinformation, as is the case with…Fox 10’s report bolster[ing] the long-disproven…hoax…it inadvertently reveals [that]…Phoenix Police…ha[ve] been regularly arresting unknown numbers of adults [under the pretext that they might be “]victims of sex trafficking[” and] allowing [prohibitionist] groups to proselytize them while in custody…If that sounds familiar, it should, because about 10 years ago, the PPD was involved in a similar, highly-controversial program with ASU’s School of Social Work called Project ROSE

The Mob Rules (#1307)

Tyrannical politicians are now competing to see which state can make adolescence most closely resemble a prison sentence:

A pair of bills in Utah would impose draconian requirements on social media platforms [under the pretext] of protecting children….social media companies would be required to verify the ages of all users from Utah, get parental consent before allowing someone under age 18 to open or maintain an account, provide parents or guardians of minors with “access to the content and interactions” of accounts maintained by their children, and…minors would be prohibited from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m…The bill would also authorize a[nyone, including bureaucrats]…to sue social media companies for [supposed] violations…

Update: This was signed into law in March.

 

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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A right does not, as a practical matter, exist without any remedy for its enforcement.  –  Justice Elissa Cadish

The End of the Beginning (#1197) 

It’s horrifying that a court order was required to stop the government from trying to punish people for being unable to do the literally impossible:

A rule that Attorney General Merrick Garland issued in 2021…requires people to do things that are plainly impossible.  If they have been convicted of a sex offense, they must register with their state, even when the state neither requires nor allows them to do so.  They also must supply the state with all the information required by federal law, even when the state does not collect that information…someone [unable] to meet those requirements…who travels outside his state can be charged with a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.  At trial, the defendant has the burden of proving that he was unable to register “as required”…That Kafkaesque situation, a federal judge in California [has] ruled…violates the constitutional right to due process…The case, John Doe v. Department of Justice, illustrates the perverse consequences of the federal government’s attempt to identify and track sex offenders through detailed registration requirements that often conflict with state law…

Panopticon (#1212)

Useful idiots keep providing government with excuses for Orwellian levels of surveillance:

A bill…in the Mississippi Legislature would require public schools and postsecondary institutions to install video surveillance cameras all over their campuses.  The bill would require that the cameras also record audio and that they be installed in classrooms, auditoriums, cafeterias, gyms, hallways, recreational areas, and along each facility’s perimeter.  Further, it would permit [even adult] students’ parents to view live feeds of classroom instruction…the bill’s sponsor…Stacey Hobgood…[belched out the catchphrases] “critical race theory”…and…”accountable”…[to justify creating a stifling] atmosphere of suspicion and distrust [across every school in the state]…

Robocops (#1249)

Since SCOTUS refuses to slay this monster of its own creation, state courts will need to do the job for it:

…the Nevada Supreme Court [has] unanimously ruled that victims of wrongful searches and seizures have the right to sue the responsible government officials.  Just as critically, the court firmly rejected qualified immunity as a potential defense against those lawsuits.  The court’s twin holdings will better ensure that government officials can actually be held accountable for their misconduct…

Thought Control (#1268)

I never would’ve thought my first profession would become as much a target for authoritarians as my second:

Books containing [what politicians vaguely term] “sexually explicit” content…would be banned from North Dakota public libraries under [newly-proposed] legislation…the measure…proposes up to 30 days imprisonment for librarians who refuse to remove the [censored] books…In addition to banning depictions of “sexual identity” and “gender identity,” the measure specifies 10 other things that library books cannot visually depict, including “sexual intercourse,” “sexual preference” and “sexual perversion,” — though it does not define any of those terms.  The proposal does not apply to books that have “serious artistic significance” or “materials used in science courses,” among other exceptions…

Presumably, the “serious artistic significance” would be determined by politicians, which is a bit like asking a panel of tone-deaf 11-year-olds to discuss the relative merits of Bach cantatas.

The Vultures Descend (#1273)

Calling politicians on their hypocrisy is an interesting strategy:

A group of religious leaders who support abortion rights [has] filed a lawsuit…challenging Missouri’s abortion ban, saying [politicians] openly invoked their religious beliefs while drafting the measure and thereby imposed those beliefs on others who don’t share them.  The lawsuit…is…among nearly three dozen post-Roe lawsuits that have been filed against 19 states’ abortion bans…and…was…filed on behalf of the faith leaders by Americans United for Separation of Church & State and the National Women’s Law Center…Lawsuits in several other states take similar approaches.  In Indiana, lawyers for five anonymous women…and…Hoosier Jews for Choice have argued that state’s ban infringes on…Jewish teaching that a fetus becomes a living person at birth and…Jewish law prioritizes the mother’s life and health…In Kentucky, three Jewish women sued, claiming the state’s ban violates their religious rights under the state’s constitution and religious freedom law…

Presumption of Guilt (#1288)

Another step toward total financial surveillance:

…if you’ve sent money across American borders…Big Brother is likely watching.  In what began as an Arizona-led effort before going nationwide, a not-so-independent nonprofit organization has been indiscriminately compiling sensitive financial information and making it available to [cop shops and spook houses] across the country…ACLU…has published more than 200 documents revealing details of the program which fed a vast database of sensitive data…run by an organization called the Transaction Record Analysis Center…The surveillance dates to 2006, when Arizona’s attorney general sought details from Western Union about money transfers to and from the Mexican state of Sonora…[the ensuing] legal battle [was] settled in 2010…and…TRAC was established in 2014 as a nominally independent repository for intercepted financial records…in 2019…DHS took over funding TRAC and…[began] compel[ling] financial disclosures with…a type of subpoena…

Blunt Instrument (#1296)

This will continue for as long as the voters allow it to:

Attorney General Daniel Cameron has announced [a scheme]…to [use “]human trafficking[” as an excuse to carry out violent pogroms] in Kentucky by targeting “illicit massage businesses”…[Cameron plans to threaten] landlords and [spread racist propaganda] to [encourage useful idiots to snitch on migrant-owned] businesses that Cameron [wanks to pedophilic fantasies about]…Cameron is…running for governor this year…

 

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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There [is] a culture of impunity for…police officers.  –  Harriet Wistrich

Divided We Fall (#736)

Contrary to popular belief, “conversion therapy” has never been banned anywhere in the US; most states merely restrict its use to sex workers and clients:

[Politicians] in Wisconsin voted to strike down a ban on [using] conversion therapy [against LGBT people]…effectively making the practice legal.  Conversion therapy is a broad term that can describe many practices that generally involve trying to force…sexual…[minorities] to [stop whatever sexual practices those with power over the victims dislike].  The methods involved in these practices are highly discredited by medical professionals, and those who have been victims of conversion therapy have described it as torture

The Widening Gyre (#928)

People interpreting a domestic violence incident as “sex trafficking” is basically a microcosm of the whole moral panic:

Bangor [Maine] police sa[id a] kidnapping [from a Target parking lot] is not part of a larger human trafficking ring, despite claims to the contrary on Facebook…Colby Cooper…arrived at the store with the unnamed woman[, but when she broke up with him while there] he…forced [her]…into a U-Haul rental van…[and] fled…police spotted Cooper a short time later…and…arrested [him]…The department cautioned people to refrain from believing everything they read on Facebook…

To Molest and Rape (#1212)

Just a few isolated incidents:

A [London cop] who used his [job] to put fear into his victims has admitted [to] dozens of rape[s] and [highly abusive] sexual [relationships with] 12 women.  David Carrick…who met some victims through dating websites, pleaded guilty to 49 offences across two decades.  The [police bureaucracy] has apologised after it emerged he had [been reported for rape]…nine [times]…between 2000 and 2021.  A [boss cop attempted to downplay the pervasiveness of rape among cops by uttering the obvious lie that] his [behavior] was “unprecedented in policing”…His offences spanned 2003 to 2020 and most took place in Hertfordshire, where he lived.  [In his abusive relationships] Carrick…would control what the women wore, what they ate, where they slept and even stopped some of the women from speaking to their own children…

Thou Shalt Not (#1227)

Prohibitionism is a dangerous mental illness:

Bringing cake into the office should be seen as being as socially unacceptable as inflicting passive smoking on your colleagues, Britain’s top food [nanny]…said…[Nutrition cultist] Susan Jebb…said it was not enough to rely on…personal [responsibility and free choice]… “If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day, but because people do bring cakes in, I eat them.  Now, OK, I have made a choice, but people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub”…

The Punitive Mindset (#1243) 

If there’s anything narrower and meaner than the mind of a prison official, I’m not sure what it might be:

Florida’s prison system has banned more than 20,000 books — the most tracked in the U.S., according to a new study from The Marshall Project…[which] published a database…of about 54,000 titles banned by [human-caging bureaucrats] in 18 states with such records…Most prison systems ban…books containing content related to violence, [criticism of the carceral system], sex or nudity…But…other books banned in Florida prisons include: adult coloring books, French language textbooks, [and] How to Make Money in StocksIn Texas, The Color Purple is banned, while Dungeons and Dragons books are prohibited in Michigan

Guinea Pigs (#1260) 

Alabama discovers the secret to detecting “sex trafficking” in ordinary escort ads: label everything “sex trafficking” and arrest all the women:

Computer modeling developed by…University of Alabama…collects data from online sex ads…[in order to] help…[cops] locate…and arrest s[ex workers]…the modeling has…[led to] over 100 arrests since February 2021…

The article goes on to dredge up lots of moldy decade-old “sex trafficking” propaganda, including the claim that half of all sex workers are children; “Human trafficking is the second-largest criminal enterprisebring[ing] in as much as $150 billion…a year“; the claim that someone other than gibbering idiots calls I-20 the “sex trafficking superhighway“; and the utterly-absurd fantasy of “6,000 human trafficking victims per day in Alabama alone.

The Mob Rules (#1303)

Laws enabling nuisance lawsuits will keep multiplying until they’re ruled unconstitutional:

Utah may follow Louisiana’s lead by requiring residents who want to access pornographic websites to verify their age first….[pro-censorship politician] Todd Weiler…[bloviated a lot of nonsense and dismissed] privacy concerns…[which should come as no surprise given that he’s the jackass who sponsored the bill]…declar[ing] pornography a [“]public health crisis[“ and also tried to establish a state internet censor]

 

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