Just as we ignore those topological elements of a cloud or inkblot which do not fit the meaning our minds have imposed upon it, so do we forget or distort elements of a memory which fail to conform to the schema in which we have embedded it, or even invent elements which were not in reality present, but which the schema predicts should be. – “Imagination Pinned Down”
As long as we allow and even encourage our governments to criminalize private, consensual behaviors with no clear victim and no actual corpus delicti, lots more people are going to be senselessly killed and lots of senseless killers are going to get away with it. – “Rotten to the Core”
Most modern prohibitionist propaganda is based upon depicting the prostitute as a mentally inferior creature whose statements about her own thoughts and feelings cannot be trusted. – “Ninon de l’Enclos”
There is no magical moment of “Shazam!” at which teens are mystically imbued with the ability to consent. – “Legal Fiction“
Whores and actresses…both tend to be dehumanized into symbols for other people’s psychological needs and problems. – “Projection”
The mind of a control freak craves being able to cram everything and everyone into neat little boxes, and to adopt a “one size fits all” approach to everyone forced into a given box. –
“Confined and Controlled”
Though the pace of change is usually glacial, it is inexorable. –
“The Mills of the Gods”
Prohibitionists want to “save” sex workers like the Inquisition wanted to “save” heretics: preventing them from “sinning” by any means necessary, even if it means they end up tortured, locked in dungeons or dead. – “Rescued To Death”
If the deities or forces that control reincarnation wanted us to remember past lives, we would. And if they didn’t, the Divine will couldn’t be circumvented by a parlor trick. – “Flying Saucers“
For two years, New Orleans police [have] secretly [spied on]…city streets [with facial recognition] in search of suspects, a[n illegal] surveillance method without a known precedent in any major American city…New Orleans police [abuse]…a private network of more than 200 facial recognition cameras to [leer at] the streets…automatically pinging [cop]s’ mobile phones through an app to [report] the names and currentlocations of [any possible] matches [for police harassment]. This [blatantly violates] a 2022 city council ordinance, which limited police to using facial recognition only for searches of specific suspects in…violent crimes and [prohibits] generalized…tracking…Each time police want to scan a face, the ordinance requires them to send a still image to trained examiners at a state facility and later provide details about these scans in reports to the city council…[but] the…cameras ha[ve]played a role in dozens of arrests, including at least four people who were only charged with nonviolent crimes…[cops regularly hid] their reliance on facial recognition matches in police reports…to the city council [in order to circumvent the law]…
According to recent research…“nearly 1 in 5 young people believe it’s OK to track their partner whenever they want”…Many constantly share their location with their partner, or use apps like Life360 or Find My Friends…one of the most disturbing notions is that acceptance of digital monitoring is…a way to create – rather than undermine – a sense of trust. When government officials or tech industry bigwigs proclaim that you should be OK with being spied on if you’re not doing anything wrong, they’re…demanding…we trust them. But it’s not about trust, it’s about control…and…use of digital spying tools by parents on their children has “anaesthetised young people to the whole idea of being monitored”, teaching them that surveillance is a form of love…and [equating it with] safety…[thus empowering] police, intelligence agencies and…politicians…to undermine [privacy, civil rights, and even]…safety [from state violence]…
…Missouri prison[ers] have filed a lawsuit [because] they’re suffering from life-threatening extreme heat in their un-air-conditioned cells during the summer…[in] violat[ion of both] the Missouri Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act…Algoa [Dungeon] is one of four prisons in the state where none of the [cell blocks] have air conditioning. And, due to the building’s design, it is frequently hotter inside…than outside. Even at night, temperatures remain high…[and the only] heat-mitigation practices include…warm showers; the option to purchase one small, personal fan; and…[splitting] small coolers [of quickly-melting ice among] 100-plus people in each [cell block]…Due to a lack of outlets in solitary confinement, [those locked up] there are unable to use fans…According to legal documents…[similarly-inhumane] prison units in Texas reached 149 degrees Fahrenheit in 2023…
A recent “human trafficking enforcement operation” in Polk County, Florida, led to 244 arrests—albeit none for human trafficking…ICE…Homeland Security, and the U.S. Army [?]…were involved in [the sophomorically-entitled] Operation Fool Around and Find Out, along with more than a dozen Florida [cop shops beside Judd’s]…In addition to targeting adults for trying to consensually engage other adults in private sexual activity, immigration enforcement seems to have been a goal. A press release…notes that 36 of those arrested “are here illegally”…[and] color-coded boxes around some [mug shots] denote that the…[victims are] receiving welfare benefits…Among those arrested was [a] former NFL player…[which] catapulted this story into national news. And that’s meant a whole lot of outlets [parroting]…the police’s preferred narrative…
Since 2013…Phoenix [cops] have [murdered] 173 people…the second-highest total in the country behind…Los Angeles…The study used data from Mapping Police Violence, a website that has become widely known as the foremost tracker of police killings…in the United States since 2013. It has utilized information from police and media reports to [do what cop shops and governments have refused to do]…Estimates suggest the database captures 92% of police killings….the five deadliest police forces[are] Los Angeles [with] 199 deaths…Phoenix [with] 173…Houston [with] 128…New York [with] 126 [and]…San Antonio [with] 106…In June 2024, the Department of Justice completed a years-long investigation…[which] found that…Phoenix police…taught…tactics that were “dangerous, unnecessary and unreasonable,” including that…deadly force…would lead to de-escalation….[Phoenix cops regularly] fired…at people who presented no immediate threat and…[often strangled] people who had not committed a crime…
A fresh round of books — more than 600, by one estimate — have been taken out of circulation from Hillsborough County classrooms after [deranged] state [politicians] ramped up pressure on school district officials. Those books include Margaret Atwood‘s The Handmaid‘s Tale, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Ari Folman’s Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation…[Psychopath] General James Uthmeier [foamed at the mouth and waved his dick around while ludicrously barfing that the books were]…“patently pornographic”…He said the state’s newly created Office of [Froot Loop] Rights plans to give [random Froot Loops power to censor any book statewide]…since 2022, Hillsborough County has removed 389,073 books from its collection of more than 2 million books, and will continue to “actively [burn down]” its collections…
Participating in interactive adult live-streams or ordering custom porn clips are about to be punishable by a year in prison in Sweden, where a new law expands an already-[tyrannical] model of sex work criminalization to the internet…The text of the newly-passed bill (in the original Swedish here, and auto-translated to English here) states that criminal liability…shouldn’t have to require physical contact between the buyer and seller…Buying pre-recorded content, paying to follow an account where pornographic material is continuously posted, or otherwise consuming porn without [having to deal directly with the sex worker as a businessperson] is outside of the scope of the law…
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!
The New Orleans City Council on [May 8th] passed a city ordinance that will make it easier for sex workers to report crimes without fear of prosecution for prostitution…[the usual suspects claim]ed it would exacerbate instances of prostitution in certain neighborhoods…
In other words, it’s a fairly typical non-prosecution bone of the sort politicians regularly throw at sex workers so they can pretend to care, which are always riddled with exceptions and workarounds and are generally repealed as soon as a prohibitionist gang complains loudly enough. New Orleans has enacted similar halfway measures before, such as a December 2010 law which made prostitution a municipal offense so cops could just write tickets instead of subjecting sex workers to violence. Unfortunately, politicians and other prohibitionists have learned in the past 15 years that decriminalization is viewed by all experts as the best framework, so now they’re all lying by calling whatever modified criminalization scam they’re selling “decriminalization”, so as to trick ordinary voters into believing they actually support human rights. And lazy graduates of the stenographic school of journalism simply parrot whatever they’re told, without further investigation.
Hey reporters: here’s a simple rule of thumb. If you need to include a preposition like “for” or “if” after the word “decriminalized” when writing about sex work law, what you’re writing about isn’t “decriminalization”, so don’t pretend it is.
“Sex work is decriminalized for the seller…” Swedish model, not decriminalization.
“Sex work is decriminalized if the seller…” Toothless rule to placate activists, not decriminalization.
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has declared a gentrification war on South LA’s Figueroa Corridor under the guise of ending sex trafficking…she has weaponized an archaic law, The Red Light Abatement Act, to shut down immigrant-owned motels…in preparation for pre-Olympic gentrification…subject[ing] an already over-policed neighborhood to further hypersurveillance and…raids…The Act makes the property owner responsible for vice crimes committed on their property…Essentially, businesses can be forced to shut down based on a [mere evidence-free accusation] that sex work is happening on their property, whether or not they knew of the activity. As a result, property owners discriminate against sex workers…
Hungary’s parliament [has] passed an amendment to [its 14-year-old] constitution that allows the government to ban [LGBT] public events...another [increase in] authoritarianism…by the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition led by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán…The amendment codifies a law fast-tracked through parliament in March that bans [such] events…including the popular Pride event in Budapest that draws thousands annually…That law also allows [pigs] to use facial recognition tools to [harass] people who attend prohibited events...with fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546)…The new amendment also states that the constitution recognizes two sexes, male and female…denying the gender identities of transgender people, as well as ignoring the existence of intersex individuals…
A transgender woman was arrested last month for refusing to leave the women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol. Marcy Rheintgen, a 20-year-old college student…acted intentionally to challenge Florida’s antitrans bathroom law…sending 160 letters to state representatives, the attorney general, and…Ron DeSantis [announcing the planned date and time of her visit and] asking that she not be arrested for using the…women’s restroom…[creepy pigs] followed her inside and warned her that if she did not leave…she would be arrested…but…opted to arrest her [for “]trespass on property after warning[” so she]…won’t be able to challenge the [bathroom] law…in court…
A…[New York cop named]…Aaron M. Alshaman…[was rewarded with a paid vacation for attempting to burn his girlfriend’s house down at 4:30 AM while wearing his magical clown costume]…The two-family, two-story house is still intact and livable but it is damaged…the fire was [quickly] deemed to be arson and…strong…evidence [points to]…Alshaman…
For decades, America relied heavily on psychiatric asylums to treat—or, in many cases, to warehouse and neglect—people with serious mental-health conditions. Then the grand project of “deinstitutionalization” began…[start]ing [in] 1963…the funding for that vision never materialized. Instead, new policies criminalizing poverty and addiction swept up people in severe psychiatric distress, who often ended up in county jail—where…they might languish for months or even years…The number of people jailed pretrial has nearly quadrupled since the nineteen-eighties; people with mental-health issues tend to be detained significantly longer than the rest of the population. Today, the nation’s three largest mental-health providers are New York’s Rikers Island, L.A. County’s Twin Towers Jail, and Chicago’s Cook County Jail…private companies…[are] contract[ed]…to provide medical and mental-health care at a capped cost; any additional money expended…comes out of the corporation’s earnings…[so, predictably,] jails that provide…health care through the top five companies in that market…[have] death rates…eighteen to fifty-eight per cent higher than those of jails whose medical services were publicly managed. Of the five…NaphCare had the highest death rate…
Missouri…Attorney General Andrew Bailey [is] push[ing] regulations to [censor the internet without bothering to go through the legislature]. Under a new [proclamation by a politician without lawmaking power], commercial porn sites are required to [violate the privacy of] users…at both the website and device level. [How Bailey imagines he has the power to do this, or how his magical proclamation demanding device filters will stand when others have been struck down, all while somehow magically]…upholding the privacy rights of legal-age users, [is unclear, as is how he imagines he has the power to determine how]…search engine[s work]…
It’s bad enough when human reporters parrot politicians’ bloviation, but it’s intolerable when a website uses a computer program to do it (while insulting readers’ intelligence by sticking a fake byline on it).
A lawsuit filed against Rockford [Michigan] Public Schools [seeking to ban] over 14 library books [absurdly labeled] “sexually explicit” has been dismissed by the Court of Appeals…The lawsuit was filed by [outside agitators who hid their identities to dodge public ridicule]…and…the court…said…they had no legal right to sue because criminal claims require a prosecutor’s approval…[and] the books were not illegal…
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!
A Los Angeles sex worker called 911 to report being held in a motel room against her will. When the [cops]…showed up, one of the[m] shot her. The woman, Linda Becerra Moran, died on February 27 after nearly three weeks on life support…Moran [had] called 911 on February 7 and…spoke a mix of Spanish and English…[she] was crying…and…clearly very upset…[when the cops arrived] it [was] clear that she [was having some kind of mental health episode but the cops ganged up on her in an intimidating manner and]…back[ed her] into [a] corner…The supervisor instruct[ed]…one [of them] to “be lethal” and…he…immediately fire[d] at her…the cops then…cuff[ed] her…before administering any medical care…
A [typical and representative] London [Ontario cop] with a…[pretend]ed sex addiction [received a slap on the wrist]…for sexually assaulting a woman he met online. [Cop Stephen Williams also recently changed his name to Will Stephens as part of his effort to avoid consequences for deceiving and attacking at least three women, but despite that a judge let him skate with a mere] 90 days under house arrest, followed by 90 days under a curfew…and…prohibit[ion] from…accessing online dating websites [during that time. But]…Stephens [alias Williams still plans to]…appeal…that [love tap]…Stephens…quit his [cop] job…to a[void a] suspension…following [yet another sexual assault]…
…two male [cops barged into] a Tucson Walmart women’s restroom…[to harass] Kalaya Morton…a…masculine-presenting [lesbian, because]…a [busybody] store employee…assumed she was…transgender…Morton…said that…the…[thugs] stormed in, shining flashlights into the stall and demanding she exit. Morton, still using the toilet, was stunned…When she finally exited the stall, she said she lifted her shirt to prove she was not a man, expecting the ordeal to end. Instead…one [of the pigs kept oinking that]…she “looked like a man”…The Pima County Sheriff’s Department c[laim]ed that the incident is under internal affairs investigation…[but only because Morton recorded the cops and posted the video to] social media…
A Philadelphia [cop] who was named police chief [of] Hartford, Conn…[backed out] after it was revealed he was under investigation for sexual harassment…[and] has been sued by [one of his victims]…Tyrell McCoy…creat[ed] a “hostile environment” of pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace, including unwanted groping and kissing and [demands] for oral sex…[from cop] Mark Casey…[who reported that] McCoy had pursued him for years…and then retaliated against him when he refused [to put out]…McCoy t[old] Casey…he was “untouchable” because of his close…relationship with the then-head of…Internal Affairs…Casey and another [cop victim] filed complaints last year…and…McCoy [had hoped to escape consequences by taking the job in] Hartford…
A new bill…in…North Carolina…aims to ban [people] under 14 from social media…like…Australia’s [float in this “monkey see, monkey do parade]…this bill would prohibit anyone under 14 from creating an account on social platforms that meet certain [arbitrary] criteria…like having 10 percent daily active users under 16 and…scrolling…[people] aged 14 to 15 would need parents’ permission to make an account…[and demands] age verification [for any] site [any politician has pointed at while belching]…”harmful to minors”…Unlike…North Carolina’s [existing] age-verification law…this one requires these site visitors to be 16 years or older, not 18…Findings from a recent study on age verification laws [demonstrate] that these laws don’t work…
A new working paper from various university researchers suggests that age-verification laws aren’t effective…Since 2022, 19 states have passed age-verification laws…[despite warning from] free speech and digital privacy experts…that age-verification laws won’t work [as politicians pretend]…Through analyzing Google Trends data, researchers found a 46.6 percent traffic reduction of searches to Pornhub, the biggest platform compliant with the laws. Pornhub has blocked most states with age-verification laws because of the burden of complying…researchers saw a 48.1 percent increase in searches for a large non-compliant platform, XVideos…and a 23.6 percent increase in searches for VPNs. This occurred in the states with age-verification laws on a rolling timeline based on when the laws were enacted…
A [Utah] judge has been arrested and accused of enticing minors through sexual conversations on a chat app. Kevin Robert Christensen…was booked into jail…for…[talking to] FBI [agents fantasy role-playing] on…KIK…as [a] 13[-year-old] and…a…16[-year-old]…Christensen allegedly made “multiple references” to sexually abusing [actual minors]…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
Real babies and real animals are often unpredictable, and unlike the cute little cartoon critters of FarmVille cannot merely be stacked up in neat little rows without any concern for what they might want. – “FarmVille”
Hammers, baseball bats, two by fours, crowbars, monkey wrenches, pipes, walking sticks and frozen legs of lamb might all be intended for different uses, but when applied with sufficient force to the human skull they will each accomplish more or less the same thing. – “Blunt Instrument”
The modern university campus is not only inhospitable, but actively hostile to free speech and rational thought. – “Teamwork“
The Vermont Department for Children and Families went to extraordinary and illegal lengths to [abduct a newborn] from its mother…aided by a…[secret surveillance] program that monitors the pregnancies of multiple Vermonters, [provoking] a new lawsuit…[from] the…ACLU…[centering] the case of one mother, identified only as A.V., in which [bureaucratic busybodies]…used confidential medical information to [get a judge to grant permission to abduct] her daughter before she had even given birth…[including] a court order for the hospital to [violate her body by] perform[ing] a caesarean section [against her will]…DCF [abducted] the infant…immediately after she was born…only to have the child returned by court order months later…the [ordeal began when] A.V. temporarily moved from her…apartment to…a homeless shelter…[whose] executive director…[took it up on herself to report “]concerns about her mental health[” to]…DCF…[which] conducted an “assessment” of A.V…[including snooping into her] confidential [medical] records…without A.V.’s knowledge or participation…“Tragically, A.V.’s experience is not unique,” the suit reads. “She is only one of many expectant Vermonters who have been ensnared in DCF’s speculative surveillance and brazen intervention into their pregnancy and birthing plans”…
These wanking fantasies are so 2012, I checked the date on the story several times. Perhaps it fell down behind a file cabinet and when it was recently found, somebody decided to just print it anyway?
…the Biden administration [recently] proposed a rule that would effectively ban cigarettes by requiring a drastic reduction in nicotine content…to 0.7 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco. That cap technically complies with a federal law that bars the FDA from banning tobacco products or “requiring the reduction of nicotine yields…to zero.” But the negligible amount of nicotine allowed under the rule would amount to both in practice…current smokers would be apt to inhale more deeply, take more or bigger puffs, or consume more cigarettes to get the nicotine dose to which they are accustomed, which would increase their exposure to the toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke…If “NNC cigarettes” are added to the list of proscribed drugs, we can expect many more examples of people entangled in the criminal justice system…it is unclear wh[at] Trump’s pick to run the FDA, Marty Makary…thinks about the nicotine cap…
As [forced-birth fanatic]s launch legal efforts to stop abortion pills from reaching women in states with bans, they are increasingly turning to one group with uniquely intimate and specific informationto help them find cases: [abusive] male sex partners of women who decided to end their pregnancies. The strategy [has] propelled a…lawsuit filed last month by [serial legal system abuser] Ken Paxton that cited first-hand information from an [abusive partner] to accuse a New York doctor of illegally providingabortion pills to a woman in the Dallas area…Paxton’s office…[i]s…searching for potential plaintiffs [for similar opportunistic lawsuits, and]…next month…Texas’s largest [forced-birth] organization [will] launch…an advertising campaign on Facebook and [Twitter] to reach the [abusive] husbands, boyfriends and sex partners of women who [want revenge on]…those who assisted the women in ending their pregnancies…The effort is the latest indication that, nearly three years after the fall of Roe v. Wade…[sociopath]s have remained largely stymied in their quest to [force women to give birth whether they like it or not so as to create more tax cattle for the State]…
Websites that host porn…or other…content [bureaucrats choose to point at while belching out the word “harmful”] must have “robust” age verification in place for UK users by July at the latest, Ofcom has [proclaimed]…services which host their own pornographic content “must begin taking steps immediately” to bring in age checks. Other “user-to-user” services, such as social media, which allow porn…and…other…content [politicians dislike], will have to enforce the age checks by July…the new [demands are] “the next step” in implementing the Online Safety Act, [but will not remotely be the last]…
A Black [cop is suing American airlines because] he was falsely accused of trafficking his wife, who is White…while on their way to…their honeymoon…Anthony Williams…and his wife…Katsiaryna Shasholka…were on a flight from Phoenix to Miami in September 2022 when…a [busybody] passenger accused Williams of human trafficking and reported him to airline employees…wh[o]…upon landing…falsely imprisoned…the [couple]…[who are also suing] the [busybody] passenger…and two airline employees [who enacted their creepy sexual fantasies against the plaintiffs]…
General Motors…and its subsidiary OnStar agreed not to disclose sensitive vehicle geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years…[after it got out that GM] collected, used, and sold…[the] information from millions of vehicles…without notifying consumers and obtaining consent…agencies used the data to compile reports that insurance companies then…used to deny insurance and…raise rates…[as part of the settlement,] the company must [henceforth] obtain driver consent to collect data, and allow [car owners] to delete or limit data…
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!
Annunciation House [is] a nonprofit that shelters and aids migrants…. in…El Paso…Its mission is “to provide hospitality and accompaniment for the poor in migration”…and…it has helped “hundreds of thousands of refugees” since its founding…[but psychopathic] Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton…launched a…[harassment campaign against] Annunciation House…and demanded the nonprofit turn over huge amounts of documentation about its immigrant clients…then…sought an injunction to stop what it [claims is]…”systemic criminal conduct”…[by] “a criminal enterprise”…In July, a state district court judge strongly rebuked that argument, calling Paxton’s actions “outrageous and intolerable”…But that hasn’t stopped Paxton, who hasn’t just continued his pursuit of Annunciation House but is targeting other nonprofits that assist immigrants…
Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is being charged with a seventh murder: the November 2000 death of Valerie Mack…a…New Jersey…sex work[er]….based on evidence…found on an electronic device seized from Heuermann’s home…Heuermann kept detailed notes about serial killings, body disposal and torture pornography…
For months, the location information of around 800,000 electric Volkswagen vehicles was available online due to…the software running inside Volkswagen vehicles [which] could’ve allowed a bad actor [such as cops or spooks] to trace a driver’s exact movements…the vulnerability…also affects EVs from Volkswagen-owned car brands…including Audi, Seat, and Skoda…Cariad, the Volkswagen subsidiary behind the automaker’s software, made it possible for an[y busybody] to find and access driver data housed in Amazon’s cloud storage service…includ[ing] details about when [vehicles] were switched on and off, along with the emails, phone numbers, and addresses of drivers in some cases. It included the “precise” locations of about 460,000 vehicles…“accurate to within ten centimeters” for Volkswagen and Seats vehicles, and within 10km…for Audi and Skoda models…
A quarter century ago, prompted by a spate of abandoned babies in Houston, [Texas] became the first [state] in the [US] to pass a safe haven law allowing parents to relinquish newborns at designated places — [supposedly] without questions or risk of prosecution. Yet [such] surrenders remain rare [because Texas’ psychopathic politicians regularly demonstrate that they cannot be trusted in any matter involving pregnancy]…Statewide…at least 18 babies have been abandoned this year…A decade ago, the number was seven…
[Facebook has deluded itself into believ]ing that characters generated by [computers] will fill its social media platforms in the next few years]…“in the same way that accounts do,” said Connor Hayes, [Computer Cartoon Czar] at [Facebook]. “They’ll have [invented] bios and [fake] profile pictures and be able to [make up the same kind of bizarre nonsense we’ve come to expect from ML systems]…that’s where we see all of this going”…He said hundreds of thousands of [such] characters have already been created…but most users have kept them private so far…social media companies have been racing to [cram] the latest generative [algorithms] into products as a way of [enabling the wealthy to access creativity while denying to the actually creative the means to access wealth]…Snapchat rolled out…[computer cartoon] characters…[and] TikTok is piloting a suite of products called Symphony, which enables brands and creators to use [computer-generated] advertising [schlock]…
The Canyon Independent School District in Texas…pulled the Bible from school library shelves [last] month…[because] House Bill 900…”prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content”…[but politician] Jared Patterson…who sponsored the bill…[says vulgar sex scenes are OK if they’re in] the Bible, and…cited a [contradictory] part of the Texas education code that requires schools to carry “religious literature”…Of course, that [does not actually] preclude…the Bible from meeting Texas standards for “sexually explicit” material. It just means that Texas authorities make exceptions for certain texts…[and] illustrates further how involved the state government is in micromanaging exactly what can and can’t be available in schools…And it’s kind of funny how the only “religious literature” explicitly named in the code is the Christian Bible…
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!
The unnamed multitudes for whom “research” is anathema and “critical thinking” might as well be some obscure principle of Hindu metaphysics, are the greatest enemies of truth and reason in the world today.
– “Gullible’s Travels”
Christmas comes only once a year, and in my opinion it seems a bit rude to rush a guest out practically as soon as he arrives.
– “The Feast of Stephen”
Unless the burgeoning power of police to victimize peaceful people is radically amputated, it must eventually result in catastrophic consequences for any society so afflicted.
– “Catastrophic Consequences”
Tyrants never fight harder than when they know they’re losing.
– “New Year’s Eve 2020”
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There is no therapy for poor judgment. – “Public Service Announcement”
