Posts Tagged ‘violence vs. sex workers’
December 17th, 2023
Posted in Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged activism, holidays, The Red Umbrella, violence vs. sex workers on December 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
In the News (#1384)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged A Broker in Pillage, A Woman's Point of View, asset seizure, censorship, cops, Georgia, internet, Iowa, law, libraries, Michigan, New York, Panopticon, porn, rape, Rhode Island, serial killers, Shifting the Blame, South Carolina, Stalkers in Blue, surveillance, The Next Target, Thought Control, violence vs. sex workers on October 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Data matters, research matters, and it all shows that the con[flation of sex work and “trafficking”] is just based on ideology. – Melissa Broudo
A Woman’s Point of View (#1228)
In Rhode Island’s case, this would be re-decriminalization:
A new report by a Rhode Island study commission recommends the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work in the state. The commission of thirteen individuals, including [politicians], sex workers, medical professionals, and [spokespigs], spent two years reviewing research and evidence, and listening to lived-experience testimonials, before releasing the report, which highlights multiple reforms intended to…promote the health and safety of sex workers…
The more vague the law, the more authoritarians like it:
Iowa…[has pass]ed a law…that…requires schools to remove books that depict a “sex act”…unleash[ing] a frenzy of book-banning across the state, one that illustrates a core truth about these types of censorship directives. Their vagueness is the point…Uncertain whether books…might run afoul of their state’s law, [bureaucrats nearly always]…decide nixing them would be the “safer” option…This week…Iowa…School[s]…released a list of 68 books…removed from schools to comply with the law. Among the titles: Ulysses by James Joyce, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood…The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison…1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Forrest Gump by Winston Groom…
Airports are among cops’ favorite places to lurk in order to rob people:
[Pigs and spooks lu]rking at…Atlanta International Airport rarely find drugs on passengers at departing gates. More often, they find money. Records show [thugs] have s[tolen] millions of dollars from passengers at boarding gates. The [robbery] is administratively [justified by belching out the magic words “]proceeds of drug trafficking[“] even [though] no drugs are [ever] found…[they] do not arrest the passenger. They [simply rob them]…Most cases never go before a judge….passengers are forced to [somehow] prove their money “innocent’ on the spot at the airport gate or it’s s[tolen]…passengers are forced to pull up bank statements on their phones or otherwise provide proof the money isn’t from drug trafficking. Merely flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles is suspicious, according to [porcine fantasies], because it’s a “known drug trafficking route”…
Cops are sexual predators who often specifically target traumatized women:
A Greenville [South Carolina cop has] resigned after[being caught lying] about whether he had sex in his patrol car with another [cop. But just a few months ago]…Timothy Matthews…was the subject of an anonymous complaint by a woman in the charitable organization Jasmine Road, a residential program for…wom[en who had bad experiences in]…prostitution…[because] he [repeatedly pressured her for]…her phone number [and bombarded her with texts after she gave it to him]…
Bureaucrats who committed illegal surveillance refer to their victim as a “public nuisance”:
…the Michigan Supreme Court…has the chance to decide whether a municipal government…can circumvent constitutional protections by farming out the task to a private company…warrantless drone surveillance is [explicitly un]constitutional…[but] the appeals court…said that excluding any evidence gathered would be inappropriate, so the state Supreme Court can functionally determine whether local governments can do this and get away with it. Multiple civil liberty advocacy organizations have submitted amicus briefs…argu[ing] that “if the Township gets its way, it will not only profit from its privacy violations, but open the door to other local governments deploying cheap, pervasive, flying surveillance devices to surveil private property for the smallest of civil infractions…Without consequences for arbitrary invasions into [Fourth Amendment] rights, no one can be secure in their person, house, papers, or effects”…
How many women died as a result of inaction by the murderer’s cop buddies?
Rex Heuermann, the New York architect accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer, has been linked to…the deaths of Shannan Gilbert and Karen Vergata…four witnesses [have come] forward with information about Heuermann…The first…went to Heuermann’s house for a sex party in February 1996 with her boyfriend, who was a cop, and Vergata…During that time, she spoke with [Heuermann’s wife, Asa] Ellerup, who…told the witness that she was “afraid of Rex”…the second witness…[i]s a taxi driver…[who] saw Gilbert and Heuerman together when she picked her up in the fall of 2009…[Gilbert was] “crying and shaking”…[because Heuermann had tried to cheat] her [with] an envelope of paper scraps instead of money…
While Mastercard chooses to discriminate vs sex workers via an elaborate concern kabuki derived from “sex trafficking” propaganda, Visa prefers to burble reasonable-sounding rhetoric about “risk” in order to justify charging sex workers more money to access their services than other businesses. Back in the old agency days, I simply lied to my card processor and called my company a consulting firm in order to avoid high fees, excessive scrutiny, or arbitrarily being dropped by the processor. But things have changed a great deal in the past two decades, and there’s no way for an online provider to cloak herself as I did. This article in XBiz is too dense for me to understand, but if you’re an online sex worker you probably already understand many of these terms, and may find it helpful.
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!
In the News (#1382)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged Arkansas, Buried Truth, censorship, cops, Indiana, internet, Joey the Player, McNeill's Law, New Jersey, Ohio, porn, psychology, rape, rescue industry, Rough Trade, scams, Schadenfreude, Served Cold, teachers, The Puritan Recrudescence, TikTok, To Molest and Rape, Twitter, Utah, violence vs. sex workers, When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals on October 18, 2023| 1 Comment »
Is there anything you wouldn’t do to save a child? – Tim Ballard
Yet another example of McNeill’s Law:
A[n Indiana] man [named Eldon W. Phelps has been]…arrest[ed for]…possession of child pornography…[after NCMEC reported he had] an image of a [prepubescent] girl [being raped by] an adult male…[when interrogated,] Phelps told police…they would find more [of the same]…on his desktop computer…Phelps [h]as a…[history of vomiting ugly rhetoric against “pedophiles” on Twitter]…
A rare case of “authorities” actually doing something about a serial rapist of sex workers:
Jose Torres…was convicted of…four counts of [“persuading women to travel interstate to engage in prostitution”]…From May 2015 to October 2019, Torres persuaded, induced and enticed…sex workers…to travel [to New Jersey]…to [see him as a client, specifically]…target[ing] out-of-state sex workers…with promises of large sums of payment. Once the women were in New Jersey, Torres refused to pay them…[and] became aggressive, often assaulting and raping them. Each charge of coercion and enticement carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2024…
Rape is not a federal offense, but Mann Act violations are. At least this shitty law was used against an actual violent criminal for a change, but…
Give sexually-aggressive thugs power over teen girls; what could possibly go wrong?
…no charges will be filed against a[n Ohio cop assigned to spy on, harass, and intimidate students]…for [grooming and molesting] a female student…at the high school…[he was assigned to lurk in. His behavior made his] wife…[suspicious so she rooted in his] phone…and [found]…a number of…lengthy…late…night [calls with the girl, plus]…messages [that were] “personal in nature and clearly unrelated to school business…a dozen or more times a day…many messages [were] sexual in nature including specific requests for sex”…the student…in[sists] “no sexual conduct beyond touching and kissing took place”…last month, [Bernhardt stalked her]…even though he’d been warned not to have contact with her…
When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals
The state of Utah [has] filed a lawsuit against TikTok…for [magical]ly harming the mental health of children and teens, following in the footsteps of states like Arkansas and Indiana…The new lawsuit accuses TikTok of leveraging “[magica]l algorithms and m[ind-control] design features” to entice young users to use the app [in] violation of the state’s consumer protection laws…
The Puritan Recrudescence (#1371)
Politicians don’t even try to make their new laws Constitutional any more:
[An] Ohio [politician named Steve Demetriou has] introduced an age verification bill called the “Innocence Act,” which…could make posting any nude image online without verifying age a felony…and would [criminalize] anyone under the age of 18 [who views] sexually explicit content.” Demetriou…claim[s] that unspecified studies have shown that “pornography is a pathway to mental health issues for children and can be a precursor to sexual aggression”…[and absurdly belched out the phrase] “human trafficking” [for extra hysteria value]…
Ballard’s house of marked cards is collapsing:
[Fiv]e women [have] filed a lawsuit against Tim Ballard…for…abuse…[of] the Couples Ruse…in which a woman would accompany Ballard pretending to be his wife or girlfriend…Ballard would tell the women it was necessary to continue the ruse even while at private accommodations because [magical ninja] traffickers could be surveilling them[, presumably via psychic powers or invisibility,] at any moment…even though the accommodations were always at designated “safe houses”…Ballard [demanded sex]…in [order] to have “real chemistry” because…traffickers would be [magically] able to determine…if they were actually involved or not [via magic spells]…He frequently asked women to practice…before a mission ever took place…through a number of different sexual activities…and…at…strip clubs…Ballard believed he could “talk to the dead prophet Nephi and issue forth prophecies about Ballard’s greatness and future as…President of the United States, and ultimately the Mormon Prophet, to usher in the second coming of Jesus Christ”…
Y’all may remember that I’ve repeatedly described Ballard as a megalomaniac.
Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:
Arkansas State Police arrested [a cop named] Roy E. Mitchell…[for] sexual assault [against a minor]…following a call [made by some unnamed party] to the…Crimes Against Children Division Hotline…
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!
In the News (#1365)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged A Tale That Grew in the Telling, Backpage, California, censorship, Choke Point, cops, Dangerous Speech, Decentralization, Enablers, Ireland, Kansas, Mexico, pragmatism, pregnancy, prisons, prohibitionist myths, rape, rescue industry, serial killers, Stop faking!, Surplus Women, Swedish model, Tennessee, Texas, The Vultures Descend, To Molest and Rape, Torture Chamber, violence vs. sex workers, Washington (state) on August 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Where are all the good people to put a stop to this? – Joann Meyer
If only there were a concise term for “forcing a woman into a sexual relationship”:
A judge has approved a 10-year [toothless “]protection order[“] against…Glen Trejo…[a cop in Granger, Washington] who [was rewarded with a]…paid…[vac]ation…[for] repeatedly [rap]ing a…woman…often while [wearing his magical clown costume]…Trejo admits…the [rapes], but says [she wanted it]…The woman [fell victim to Trejo after] she went to the police department last year to report a vehicle that had been following her, and Trejo took her report…he…[sometimes ga]ve her money…because…he [knew it would damage her credibility if ]…it [came to light]…
In an unprecedented raid [on August 11th], local [cops stole] computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home. Eric Meyer, owner and publisher of the newspaper, said…the message was clear: “Mind your own business or we’re going to step on you.” The city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies took “everything we have,” Meyer said…
The parallels with the Backpage case didn’t stop there:
Joann Meyer, who spent nearly 60 years as a reporter, columnist, editor and associate publisher at The Marion County Record in Kansas, died…a day after the police [illegally raid]ed [her home and] the newspaper’s offices. She was 98…the coroner…concluded that the stress of the [raid caused her death]…
What has remained unreported until now is that, prior to the raids, the newspaper had been actively investigating Gideon Cody, Chief of Police for the city of Marion. They’d received multiple tips alleging he’d retired from his previous job to avoid demotion and punishment over alleged sexual misconduct charges…
A Tale That Grew in the Telling (#975)
Given that the term “human trafficking” means whatever busybodies (with or without government powers) want it to mean, it can always be claimed to be “growing”. In this credulous regurgitation of prohibitionist propaganda, it seems to mostly mean “coerced prostitution”, though the article also pretty clearly states that the so-called “victims” did sex work because they were refugees the Northern Irish government does not allow to work in their chosen professions, and have children to support. However, this contradiction and confusion is unsurprising given that the rescue industry group in the article also infantilizes adult women with Phds, asserts that 6 = 230, repeats an urban legend as fact, and ignores the fact that sex work advocates and human rights experts told them exploitation would increase under the Swedish Model, but they ignored us and are now apparently trying to use the dying moral panic to get a big cash infusion from the government.
Once bitcoin exchanges got in bed with the government, this was inevitable:
…[Roughly]…two-thirds of sex workers have lost access to either a bank account or financial service, while 40 percent have had an account closed within the past year. Faced with this [discrimination], sex workers have gone in search of an alternative means of both storing wealth and accepting payment. In cryptocurrency, for a time, it appeared they had found…[a way for] clients to pay discreetly…[and] sex workers a way to bypass the banking system…But…though sending and receiving crypto payments is relatively simple, converting it into dollars is sometimes not. The typical method is to transfer crypto to an exchange, where earnings are converted into regular money, which is then withdrawn to a bank account…But sex workers are sometimes banned from crypto exchanges too…leaving them st[uck] with [valueless data] they cannot use to pay rent or buy goods…
I smelled this coming when I read Coinbase’s TOS, which is one reason I’ve never used cryptocurrency; it was clear there would never be a dependable, government-proof way to turn it into actual money.
Baja California’s State Attorney’s Office says…[serial killer] Bryan Rivera is responsible for a fourth murder that occurred in Tijuana while he was in the city last year. Rivera…is now the subject of extradition proceedings in federal court in Los Angeles. The Mexican government wants Rivera returned to Tijuana to face murder charges [for]…the deaths of three other…sex workers….[and] they have evidence showing Rivera was in Tijuana when the murder of the fourth woman occurred, and that she was killed in the same way as the other three…
Texas wants to have its blood and drink it as well:
Salia Issa had just begun her shift as a…[pregnant Texas screw] when she felt the intense pain of what she believed was a contraction…but…prison policy wouldn’t allow her to leave her post until someone could replace her. No one came for hours. Issa kept calling for relief, but her supervisor [unsurprisingly claimed]…she was lying…two and a half hours [later]…she was allowed to leave…[and] drove to a nearby hospital, where doctors rushed her into emergency surgery…The baby was delivered stillborn. If Issa had gotten to the hospital sooner, medical personnel told her, the baby would have survived…the prison agency and the Texas attorney general’s office, which has staked its reputation on “defending the unborn” all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, are arguing the agency shouldn’t be held responsible for the stillbirth because…it’s not clear that Issa’s fetus had rights as a person…
Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working out?
Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:
[Tennessee cop] Tommie Lee House [was arrested for molesting a teenager while wearing his magical clown costume; other cops rooted in his phone and found a nude photo of the same teen taken]…earlier 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!
In the News (#1363)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged adolescence, Checklist, cops, Disaster, Don't Call It Trafficking, fantasy, Follow Your Bliss, hysteria, If Men Were Angels, Kansas, License To Rape, Michigan, Missouri, Neither Addiction nor Epidemic, North Carolina, Oregon, porn, propaganda, psychology, racism, rape, scams, Schadenfreude, serial killers, Served Cold, South Carolina, Surplus Women, teachers, The Red Umbrella, To Molest and Rape, violence vs. sex workers, Washington (state) on August 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I saw more blood and fistfights and violence and threats…while I was there, than my entire life combined. – “Cameron”
…a man posing as a…[lying cop] shackled and abducted a [sex worker] from [Aurora Avenue in Seattle]…then drove her hundreds of miles to his home in southern Oregon, where he locked her in a makeshift cell in his garage…She escaped by punching the door, bloodying her knuckles, until it broke. Authorities say they are looking for more possible victims after linking the man, Negasi Zuberi, to violent sexual assaults in at least four other states…The July 15 abduction is one of at least three cases in the past year in which police say women engaged in prostitution along Aurora Avenue had to make harrowing escapes or otherwise be rescued after being held against their will…Residents have noticed a dramatic increase in the activity since the pandemic struck in 2020, as the Seattle Police Department has contended with a severe shortage of [violent, out-of-control cops]…
Wrong. Street work on Aurora increased when the government destroyed Backpage. State violence vs. sex workers caused the problem; it does not prevent it.
“Pastor and sex offender” is a large and ever-expanding group:
A convicted sex offender who is also a pastor at a [North Carolina] church has been arrested again for more counts of sexual crimes against [young boys aged 9-15]…Robert “Bobby” Price…faces new charges for incidents between 2001-2011…whe[n he]…was a youth pastor…When he was arrested in 2013…[it was] for incidents between 2000-2006. In 2014, Price was convicted for…16 months in jail…[he] was released in December
2015…[hi]s current…work…as an associate pastor…[is] an administrative role that did not involve any contact with minors…
And it’s even bigger if you include “church group leaders”:
…former [Michigan] church group leader Michael Baxter…[was] sentenced…to…25 to 40 years in prison…[for raping] several [girls], ages 10 and 15, from 1996 to 2013…
Don’t Call It Trafficking (#667)
This isn’t called “trafficking”, while the same demographic choosing to sell sex to survive is:
STAR Guides Wilderness Therapy…bills itself as “the country’s premier wilderness treatment program for teens with technology, pornography and sexual addictions.” These camps…[pretend ordinary] behavior[s authoritarian parents dislike constitute threats to] “the physical, mental and spiritual health of youth”…[which can be “cured” by] sending kids to the middle of nowhere—for weeks, months, or even years—with no running water, phones, internet access, or contact with the outside world…[this] seems like a disproportionate reaction to watching videos of people having orgasms…
A white mother is suing one of the country’s biggest airlines…[because] it accused her of trafficking her black daughter. Mary MacCarthy…filed suit…against the airline for “blatant racism”…seeking to change Southwest’s [government-approved indoctrination] and policies, after…[an] airline employee had assumed her daughter Moira, then 10, couldn’t be hers based on their differing skintones…
Cops can’t be bothered to investigate the disappearance of sex workers, especially black sex workers:
Remains of Jaynie Crosdale were discovered in a barrel floating in the Missouri River, mirroring the blue barrels found at Timothy Haslett Jr.’s home…further validating him as a serial killer. Alternatively, [cops think there might be]…a possible accomplice still at large, either collaborating with Haslett or operating alone. The Kansas City police department had initially dismissed concerns over missing black women in the area, stating claims of a serial killer were “unfounded rumors” despite conducting no formal investigation…
Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors:
A North Charleston [South Carolina cop] is facing charges [for molesting]…a minor…David Don Watson…[was assigned to spy on, harass, and brutalize young people] at Charleston County Academic Magnet, however, this [victim was] not…a student [he was supposed be molesting, and he didn’t call it a “search” first]…
And here’s one from the other Carolina: 
A [typical and representative] Mooresville [North Carolina cop]…was…arrest[ed] for [molesting]…minor[s and taking video of the assaults]…Matthew Edward Beebe…[apparently also had child pornon his] phone…
Guy obsessed with child-abduction fantasies following his bliss:
One of thousands of patrons of the crowdfunded…child [“sex] trafficking[” fantasy] film Sound of Freedom was recently arrested and charged for child kidnapping…Fabian Marta was charged…in July…[while hi]s name appears in the movie’s credits among the “investors”…[the movie’s] release was…delayed…[until] nearly $5 million was crowdfunded [to get it out of hock]…The production [was then boosted by mass ticket sales to the same “investors”, making it look as though it was]…beating…the likes of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One [even though it was actually playing to phantom crowds at nearly-empty theaters]…
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!
In the News (#1362)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged agency denial, Arkansas, cell phones, censorship, Connecticut, cops, Cops and Robbers, Creepy Coppers, evidence, Guinea Pigs, hysteria, I Spy, Idaho, If Men Were Angels, Indiana, Lack of Evidence, law, libraries, North Carolina, prisons, Pyrrhic Victory, rescue industry, streetwalkers, surveillance, Texas, Thought Control, Torture Chamber, United Kingdom, violence vs. sex workers on August 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Once you get the scarlet letter, nobody wants you anymore.
– Kristen DiAngelo
Oh look, another “youth pastor”, what a surprise:
A [typical and representative] youth pastor at a Twin Falls [Idaho] church faces sexual battery charges after…[molesting] a girl in 2021 when she was 16 years old. Dakota Austin Kennemer…was charged…after…the pastor [reported him to cops]…
This one, on the other hand, is a bit surprising: 
Amanda Buchanan Justice…of [North Carolina]…was charged with sexually assaulting a child…She…was a youth leader at New Life Family Worship Center in Kings Mountain…her…husband…is still serving as a pastor…[but] stepped down from his role as a youth minister following…his wife [admitting the molestation to him]…
US officials already know prisons exacerbate crime; they simply don’t care:
In 1999 Connecticut had so many people in prison that it paid to send 500 of them to be [cag]ed in Virginia. Nearly 25 years later, the state has not only sliced its number of imprisoned people in half, but been able to close more than 10 prisons while keeping its crime rate at its lowest level in more than 40 years…Connecticut currently runs 13 prisons, which [cag]e about 10,000 people. Two-thirds of these are serving sentences; the other third are those who have yet to be sentenced…The state’s rate of 155 people imprisoned per 100,000 residents is now the ninth lowest in the country and well below the national average of 350 people per 100,000…
Another bunch of vigilante bigots playing games with people’s lives:
Victor Marx…is…a [jarhead and] self-proclaimed exorcist…[who] helped launch the Skull Games, a privatized intelligence outfit that purports to hunt pedophiles, sex traffickers, and other “demonic activity” using a blend of sock-puppet social media accounts and commercial surveillance tools — including face recognition software…Recent games have been [sponsored] by the [Israeli] surveillance firm Cobwebs, and an upcoming competition…[by] Anomaly Six…Marx has savvily ridden recent popular attention to the [propaganda] film Sound of Freedom…and conservative “groomer” panic…to [sell harassment of sex workers as somehow]…Christ[ian]…Skull Games…is…a sort of hackathon for would-be Christian saviors…play[ers win] points based on their sleuthing. Finding a [sex worker]’s high school diploma…nets 15 points, while finding [a common] tattoo on multiple women would earn…300…as they prepare intelligence dossiers on women before turning them over to p[igs]…what sets Skull Games apart from other amateur predator-hunting efforts is its reliance on “open-source intelligence”…a military euphemism…[for] surveilling the public internet and purchasing sensitive information from commercial data brokers…one [recent participant was]…able to use PimEyes to find a sex worker’s driver’s license…Clearview [and Amazon’s Rekognition were]…heavily used in the January 2023 Skull Games…
Courts are still more dependable sources of relief from bad laws than politicians:
…The Dallas County Criminal Court of Appeals has struck down a law against “manifesting the purpose of engaging in prostitution.” The law…”trespasses on the constitutional rights of Dallas citizens,” wrote Judge Kristin Wade…The Dallas law…[basically] prohibits looking like [a whore, and can bring]…a fine of up to $500…there’s been a growing movement against these laws, which make it easy for police to hassle and arrest people without cause…The case that led to the law being struck down involved the arrest of Iqbal Jivani, who “was in a known prostitution area and stopped to engage passers-by in conversation,” per a police complaint…
It seems I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of my career path:
A federal lawsuit…challenges an Arkansas law that would subject librarians and booksellers to criminal charges if they provide…materials [politicians have pointed at while belching out “harmful”] to minors. A coalition that includes the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock filed the challenge to the law, which [took] effect Aug. 1. The law also creates a new process [for any busybody] to [demand] library materials…be [censored]…The number of attempts to ban or [censor] books across the U.S. last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts…at least 121 proposals introduced in state legislatures this year target…libraries, librarians, educators and access to materials…39 of those…would allow for criminal prosecution…
The people the government empowers to police your sexuality:
A Vevay, Indiana [cop named]…Kyle Davis…was arrested…[for] attempt[ing] to video record an underage [girl]…while she was using the bathroom…on May 30, 2020, she was at his home when she wanted to use the bathroom…Davis went in…before her…and she noticed an iPhone pointed toward the toilet set to record video…[when later questioned] Davis…[tried to blame] his teenage son…[but] Davis’ phone…[held a nude photo] of two pre-pubescent girls about 8 years old…[and] searches related to “voyeurism” [and] “spy cams”…
This totalitarian nonsense is a danger to the entire internet, worldwide:
…the privacy of people around the world…[will be undermined by] the Online Safety Bill, now at the final stage before passage…which will destroy end-to-end encryption. No amendments have been accepted that would mitigate the bill’s most dangerous elements…If the Online Safety Bill becomes British law, the damage it causes won’t stop at the borders of the U.K…because…undermining encryption, whether by banning it, pressuring companies away from it, or requiring client side scanning, will be a boon to bad actors and authoritarian states…That’s [why]…U.K. civil society groups have condemned the bill, as have technical experts and human rights groups around the world…In response to this outpouring of resistance, the U.K. government’s response has been to wave its hands and deny reality…
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!
In the News (#1360)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged Alabama, cops, fantasy, fascism, Georgia, Hollywood, hysteria, I Spy, If Men Were Angels, Moving Pictures, New York, Pennsylvania, pimps, prisons, prohibitionist myths, rescue industry, scams, Schadenfreude, serial killers, Served Cold, Shifting the Blame, streetwalkers, surveillance, Texas, The Face of Trafficking, The Widening Gyre, Torture Chamber, violence vs. sex workers, Washington (state) on August 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
When a film claims to be “based on a true story,” it can still be 99% fiction. – Robert Gehrke
He wasn’t a “former pastor” when he murdered a little girl:
…83-year-old David Zandstra [has confessed to the]…murder of…[8-year-old] Gretchen Harrington…on August 15, 1975. Zandstra was a pastor at…Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reform Church [in Media, Pennsylvania], where Harrington was going to [Bible] camp…[when Harrington’s] skeletal remains were found…[Zanstra was questioned but claimed he hadn’t seen her that day. Then]…earlier this year, investigators learned Zandstra [had] groped a girl, who was best friends with his daughter, years ago…In [her] diary from 1975, she noted that she thought Zandstra kidnapped Harrington…[when confronted] in Marietta, Georgia, where he [now] lives…Zandstra admitted…he [had] offered Harrington a ride and took her to a wooded area…[where] he [tried to molest her, then fatally]…struck [her] in the head with a fist when she refused…he…[then] cover[ed her] body and [fled] the scene…
The Face of Trafficking (#585)
Another case of what really happens when a wannabe “pimp” abducts a girl:
Terrique Devon Milam, 19, [and an unnamed 17-year-old were] charged with…promotion of prostitution…[after being] arrested Thursday, July 20, by…Seattle Police…[when a] father…reported that his daughter was being held against her will…his daughter had told him she could not leave, shared her location and abruptly hung up the call…The victim told police she met a woman in her home state of Texas who…[had shared an especially-silly version of the “gypsy whore” myth with] her…she [was abducted by]…several [wannabe] pimps…[who for] two weeks [took her] to and from Aurora Avenue…[by] two men [who stole] the money she earned…
Note the lack of actual “sex trafficking” charges, despite the attempt to invoke the “sex trafficking at sporting events” myth.
The government thinks you shouldn’t be allowed any privacy whatsoever:
…From the bluntly named World War II-era Director of Censorship’s power to restrict mail, to the 1873 Comstock Act fueling the power of the post to [censor] contraception information…to the PATRIOT Act’s many tentacles, the Post Office hides nasty habits under its all-American exterior…Mail covers involve the USPS recording any information displayed on the outside, then giving that information to [cop shops and spook houses]. It is…a kind of metadata for the analog realm that gives a…picture of who the suspect knows, what they are interested in, and sometimes where they have gone…The USPS has also not released data about mail covers since 2014…[but] “no higher authority, judge or otherwise, needs to endorse the process”…A legal concept called the third party doctrine…broadly says that if you willingly give your information over to a phone company, an internet service provider, or the post office…you do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy…
Fascism in action, profiting from human misery:
The price of bottled water [has gone] up 50% in prison commissaries across Texas…as [humans locked in the filthy cages] struggle to endure an entrenched and deadly heatwave in facilities without air conditioning. The state raised the price from $4.80 per case (24 bottles) to $7.20 per case [after]…vendor Royal Pacific Tea Company requested to raise the prices in March even though it contract was incomplete. The price…[gouging was obtained via kickbacks to] the state comptroller’s office and…Texas Department of Criminal Justice…the men have access to tap water. But…the water quality [in] the aging prisons [is far below acceptable standards]…the smell…resembl[es] sewage…[and] has [been] described…as “rancid” smelling…
Will we ever know the connection between this guy and disgraced former Police Chief James Burke?
…authorities [have begun] digging up the Long Island…home of Rex Heuermann, the man suspected of killing at least three women found at Gilgo Beach, and reportedly found a soundproof room in Heuermann’s basement that they think at least one woman may have died in…[they] are excavating his backyard, and…brought cadaver dogs and radar tools to the property…Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup…has since filed for divorce…and…Heuermann is a “prime suspect” in the death of a fourth woman, Marueen Brainard-Barnes, who disappeared in July 2007…
At least this one confessed quickly:
[Carlee Russell] has confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of the interstate…there was no kidnapping…she did not leave the city, and acted alone…it is possible that Russell could face charges. [Cops] are trying to determine where she was in the two days she was gone…
The schadenfreude of watching Tim Ballard’s reputation go down in flames is so very sweet:
Ballard’s [highly-exaggerated] version of the story [he claims inspired him to profit from “sex trafficking” hysteria] provides the basis for the new film, Sound of Freedom, which has [not] done [as] well at the box office [as its promoters pretend]…But in the movie, even more liberties are taken…there are obvious discrepancies between the story Ballard tells and the narrative in court documents…When embellished or exaggerated or untrue statements are used to raise money, it becomes…problematic…much of Ballard’s origin story is flatly, provably false, and the people who have donated tens of millions of dollars to Ballard’s organizations deserve to know how much of what he has told them is true and how much has been concocted to fuel his celebrity status and ego.
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!
In the News (#1359)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged Censor Chic, censorship, cops, drugs, fascism, FBI, Florida, Ghana, internet, Kenya, law, LGBT rights, Mexico, Monsters, No Difference, politicians, prisons, psychology, rescue industry, Schadenfreude, serial killers, Served Cold, Stop faking!, Sudan, Surplus Women, surveillance, Tanzania, Texas, Torture Chamber, Uganda, Utah, violence vs. sex workers, When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals, You Were Warned on July 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
[An FBI] suggestion…is not a suggestion. It is in fact effectively an order. – Darrell Issa
Cops love awkward, overcomplicated language:
Three women [have been] found dead near the Trinity River in [Dallas, and]…Oscar Sanchez Garcia…is being charged with th[e]…murder[s]. The body of 60-year-old Limberly Robinson was found in late April. 25-year-old Cherish Gibson was found dead in the same area two months later. The third woman was found [July 15th and] has not yet been identified. Police believe at least two of the victims have possible ties to prostitution…
Would it have been too difficult to say, “at least two of the victims may have been sex workers”?
Will this be another victory for US evangelical prohibitionists?
Kenya is…introducing legislation that would criminalise openly identifying with, or supporting, the LGBTQ+ community…including openly identifying as LGBTQ+ or wearing Pride emblems. Those found in breach of the law would face a minimum of 10 years in jail while those found guilty of performing same-sex acts would face a minimum of 14 years…anyone found guilty under a clause for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as engaging in “homosexual acts with a minor or disabled person and transmitting a terminal disease through sexual means”, could be executed. The bill heavily mirrors Uganda’s…which was signed into law earlier this year. Similar bills are also being proposed in Tanzania…South Sudan…[and] Ghana…
“This bill is not about kids’ safety, because it will put their safety at risk”:
With…KOSA…be[ing] debated in…Congress…Joe Biden [has] come out [to] give a full throated endorsement of the horrible, dangerous, bill that will damage privacy and harm children…the Republicans have been quite vocal about how they support KOSA because they know they can use it to suppress LGBTQ voices. They flat out said that they believe that “keeping trans content away from children is protecting kids”…KOSA….[is] not about “protecting” kids privacy at all. It’s about giving the government more control over kids. The nature of the bill will require more data collection…[and] create serious 1st Amendment concerns by holding companies potentially liable if kids face harm that…an [ambulance-chaser can pretend was somehow related]…to anything they found online…
Now would be the time to call your congresscritter to scare it away from being associated with this police-state garbage.
I’m sure they occasionally yelled “Stop faking!” at him as he wasted away:
By the time he died alone in his Miami-Dade jail cell in the summer of 2021, (5’10”) Randy Heath weighed just 113 pounds…[because] guards…allowed [him]…to languish [for 9 months] in the jail’s mental health unit…[and] did not properly feed, monitor, or administer…medication…the…Medical Examiner’s Office…[claims] Heath…died from “food asphyxia” after a large piece of orange blocked his airway, with the contributory cause being pica, an eating disorder in which people compulsively eat things that aren’t food…Heath…had been in and out of…jail since 2002 on various charges…[but the most recent arrest] in April 2020 [was on the pretext that he touched] his ankle monitor [in a manner disallowed by The State]…He would remain on the floor of his cell unattended for hours…in his own urine and feces…Although he was regularly prescribed medication for his mental illnesses, his toxicology report detected no medicine in his system at the time of death…
Partisans deny this when it’s their side making “suggestions”:
…based on current evidence, the FBI has not explicitly demanded that social media companies censor any specific posts or news stories. But…[as] the Supreme Court [said] nearly 60 years ago: Americans “do not lightly disregard public officers’ thinly veiled threats to institute criminal proceedings against them if they do not come around.” Much is said in our current discourse about…power imbalances…When your boss asks if you can stay late or come in on the weekend, you can say no. But in the back of your mind, you know there may be consequences…It’s…a similar dynamic when the government sends “suggestions” to private individuals or companies over which it exercises…authority…When the FBI floods social media platforms with “alerts” about content it obviously wants taken down, it doesn’t deserve a pass just because it didn’t say out loud: “or else”…The FBI uses the weight and authority of its office to lean on platforms in an attempt to do what the First Amendment forbids it from doing directly: suppress protected speech. This tactic is called “jawboning,” and is not something we should blithely accept in a society committed to free expression as a fundamental value…
Ballard’s increasingly-bizarre antics have apparently upset his partners in profiteering:
Tim Ballard, the celebrity [“sex] trafficking[” profiteer] whose heavily fictionalized exploits served as the inspiration for the [fak]e box-office hit Sound of Freedom, is no longer CEO of the Nazarene Fund, the Glenn Beck-backed [rescue industry] organization…a letter is circulating in Utah’s philanthropic community, which claims that Ballard left OUR following an internal investigation…[after] an employee filed an HR complaint after returning from a mission with Ballard…
Elsewhere, Kaytlin Bailey uses Ballard’s fanciful story as a springboard for discussion of why “rescue” narratives are not only nonsense, but distracting from measures that really help sex workers.
It does not help young victims of governmental brutality to infantilize them as “children”:
…inside…the…largest juvenile [prison]…in…New Mexico…[young people] between the ages of 12 and 17 are routinely subjected to strip searches, held for weeks in cells without toilets, and left with only a thin plastic sheet to block out the glare of hallway lights that never turn off. Girls face particularly harsh conditions, often placed in…solitary confinement…chronic understaffing…[is used to excuse holding prisoners] for weeks, in temporary booking cells with no toilets or sinks…[yet somehow there are enough staff for weekly sexual assaults euphemized as “]strip searches[“. Girls who]…refuse…to [submit are]…locked in…cell[s] until [they “]consent[“]…
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!
In the News (#1358)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged abortion, Alabama, Canada, China, consensual crime, cops, drugs, fantasy, Italy, Little Tin Gods, Louisiana, Madonna/whore, Mississippi, No Escape, politicians, porn, prisons, rape, robots, scams, Surplus Women, surveillance, The Pygmalion Fallacy, The Vultures Descend, The Widening Gyre, To Molest and Rape, Torture Chamber, violence vs. sex workers, Virtual Imperialism on July 26, 2023| 3 Comments »
The judges…justif[ied] their leniency…in florid language strikingly similar to that found in subreddits for incels. – Gustavo Turner
The return of a ridiculous fantasy we haven’t seen much in the past few years:
Former Google executive Mo Gawdat has made a st[upid, hackneyed] prediction: hyper-realistic AI sex robots are coming that could make intimate human relationships obsolete…Gawdat— [like many other clueless techheads before him]—claimed…virtual reality and augmented reality will soon allow people to have simulated sexual experiences that are indistinguishable from real life…If you can use tech to feel what your partner makes you feel, Gawdat [inanely bloviated], “Why would you need another being in the first place?”…
Beijing’s campaign to silence Chinese people outside China is becoming more aggressive:
…a couple of weeks before the [election, incumbent Canadian MP] Kenny Chiu…[realized] something had flipped among the ethnic Chinese voters in his British Columbia district…Longtime supporters…were not returning his calls. Volunteers reported icy greetings at formerly friendly homes. Chinese-language news outlets stopped covering him. And he was facing an onslaught of attacks — from untraceable sources — on the local community’s most popular social networking app, the Chinese-owned WeChat…Chiu and several other elected officials critical of Beijing were targets of a Chinese state that has increasingly exerted its influence over Chinese diaspora communities worldwide as part of an aggressive campaign to expand its global reach…a Chinese diplomat…[tried] to intimidate…Michael Chong…after he successfully led efforts in Parliament to label China’s [genocide] of…Uyghur[s]…a genocide…
Another troubled woman fakes an “abduction” to get attention:
Police in Alabama cast doubt…on the story of a woman who set off a frantic search when she disappeared for two days after calling 911 to report a[n imaginary] toddler wandering on the highway. Carlee Russell [pretended] she was abducted and forced into a car…but…detectives were…unable to verify…[her claim that] she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put [her] in [both] a car and an 18-wheel truck, [then] blindfolded [her] and held [her] at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers…she [claimed she later]…managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood. In the days before her disappearance, she searched for information on her cellphone about Amber Alerts, [the “sex trafficking” propaganda] movie [Taken,] and [buying] a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, departing the day she disappeared. Her phone also showed she traveled about 600 yards while telling a 911 operator she was following a 3- or 4-year-old child in a diaper on the side of the highway…
If only there were a concise term for “coerced women into sex”:
In 2012, three months after Eddie Scott became sheriff of Clay County, Miss…a woman he had [repeatedly rap]ed…after she was arrested…[filed suit against him, and even] showed suggestive letters [he had written her]…Judge Jim Kitchens ruled against the woman. Sheriff Scott’s predecessor, Laddie Huffman…did not report [him] to state or federal [cop shops]. There [wa]s no…internal investigation…The…only public record of the allegations [was intentionally hidden] at the Clay County Courthouse…among hundreds of cases, until reporters [finally] pressed for it…while [finally] investigating other [rapes committed by] Scott…[who claims she wanted it, just like all the other] women..[he has harassed,] coerce[d, raped,] and retaliate[d] against…wh[en they reported the attacks]…In rural communities like Clay County…sheriffs rule like kings. They can arrest anyone they choose, smear reputations and hand out reprieves and other favors. They…hold people in jail as long as they please and they answer to no one…Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree rose in the ranks of his Mississippi department and kept his elected office for years despite [repeated rapes and beatings of caged people]. He was voted out in 2019 and now faces federal charges of bribery…But in Clay County, Sheriff Scott remains in power…
Prohibition can never succeed, regardless of which substance is prohibited:
…A new procedure adopted in mid-June by one of the largest abortion pill suppliers, Europe-based Aid Access, now allows U.S. medical professionals in…states that have passed abortion “shield” laws to prescribe and mail pills directly to patients in antiabortion states. Previously, Aid Access allowed only Europe-based doctors to prescribe abortion pills to women in states where abortion is restricted and then shipped those pills internationally, leaving patients to wait weeks. The telemedicine shield laws, enacted over the past year in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Vermont and Colorado, explicitly protect abortion providers who mail pills to restricted states from inside their borders. The result is a new pipeline of legally prescribed abortion pills flowing into states with abortion bans…
Gee, I wonder why violent men often target sex workers?
In a controversial statement justifying their sentence of 30 years rather than life in prison for the man convicted of murdering [adult] performer and OnlyFans creator Charlotte Angie, the Italian judges in the case referred to the victim as an “uninhibited” woman who made her killer feel “used”…
It does not help young victims of governmental brutality to infantilize them as “children”:
[Young people] incarcerated on the former death row unit of Louisiana’s Angola prison were locked in their cells without air conditioning for several days this month amid scorching summer temperatures…the[y]…were only let out of their cells for an eight-minute shower, which they had to take while handcuffed with their ankles shackled…With heat indexes in the surrounding area reaching as high as 133 degrees this month, a medical expert…warned the court that the conditions could be fatal…[describing the practice as] “foolhardy and perilous”…the…young people [were moved to Angola in retaliation for] escap[ing] from a…juvenile…facility…
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!
In the News (#1357)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged Arizona, California, cops, dehumanization, drugs, evidence, Facts in the Case of Monica Jones, hysteria, If Men Were Angels, Indiana, Lack of Evidence, language, Monsters, Moving Pictures, New York, Oregon, prohibitionist myths, propaganda, rescue industry, scams, serial killers, Served Cold, Shifting the Blame, South Carolina, surveillance, The Clueless Leading the Hysterical, transgender, Unsafe for Human Consumption, violence vs. sex workers on July 23, 2023| 1 Comment »
Arresting people for sex work is not going to get them out of sex work. – Arlene Mahoney
This “youth pastor” appears to have an oddly specific fetish:
A [typical and representative South Carolina] youth pastor is facing nearly 60 charges…Daniel Kellan Mayfield [set up hidden cameras] in June of 2021…[to record] a bride and her bridal party…[in] changing rooms at Gowensville First Baptist Church…[he did the same thing] in September of 2021…in a bedroom at [a different] wedding venue and…[committed] a similar [viol]ation…in April of 2019 at [still another] wedding venue…
While other cities back away from these medieval laws, Phoenix doubles down:
…“manifesting an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution”…in Phoenix [is]…a crime with a mandatory sentence of at least 15 days in jail…more than 450 people…have been charged with manifestation of prostitution over the past eight years. The…unconstitutional [ordinance]…allows…wearing provocative clothing to be used as grounds to [arrest] someone. In 2014, the city’s prosecution of Monica Jones under the ordinance drew national outcry…But Phoenix has not stopped using [it, and]…the majority of those charged were Black…An attorney who has represented people charged with manifesting prostitution offered a blunt assessment of the city prosecutions in an interview: “You’re being prosecuted because of what you’re wearing”…
Suffolk County cops ignored a key tip in the grisly Gilgo Beach murders case for over a decade — and had a general description of the suspect and a make and model of car he drove which they failed to act upon for 13 years. It was only when a new task force went back over evidence in the case and reinterviewed a pimp that the clues pointed to Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect who is now charged with three counts of murder. The crucial tip came from the pimp for Amber Lynn Costello, one of three women…killed by Heuermann in 2010. He was interviewed by cops soon after the murders and identified the killer as a bulky “ogre” [Heuermann is 6’6″ and weighs about 270#] who drove a distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche when last seen with the victim. It was only when ex-NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison took over as Suffolk County police commissioner last year and reopened the case that the dots started to get connected…
Violence against a marginalized group never stays limited to that group:
Michelle Dionne Peacock…was a 59-year-old Black cis woman who was…murdered by 67-year-old Tommy Wayne Earl in Richmond, Indiana in June…Earl [slit her throat] with a straight razor and…[told cops] Peacock [w]as “a male acting like a woman” several times…In a separate incident, 32-year-old Colin Smith was stabbed to death in Portland, Oregon on July 2. He had been out with coworkers at…[a] bar when 24-year-old Rahnique Jackson started harassing one of [them for being]…trans. When Smith tried to intervene, Jackson…stabbed him to death…
The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1316)
Over the past few years, marijuana use has been [reported by] more young people in…hospital…according to a new study by the…CDC…cannabis-related emergency department visits increased overall among kids, teens, and young adults…The rise in cannabis-related emergency department visits, however, does not…mean that kids are consuming more marijuana. According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey, marijuana use among 8th to 12th graders from 2019-2022 either decreased or remained approximately level…this [most likely] mean[s] that young people are…more…[likely to] report…cannabis use during ED visits [due to decreasing stigma against cannabis, one of the safest drugs known]…
Since there is no known LD50 for THC, prohibitionists are desperate to invent new evidence-free reasons for banning it.
Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1331)
Since doctors keep mocking cops’ fentanyl hysteria, they’re looking for new bogeydrugs:
Five Los Angeles [cops] were rushed to the hospital [in a ludicrous display of cop theater]…after [they saw] methamphetamine while [invading someone’s home]…They were all reportedly [having panic attacks despite the fact that there is no such thing as “methamphetamine exposure”]…
Ballard’s increasingly-bizarre antics have apparently upset his partners in profiteering:
Tim Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, has quietly parted ways with the [highly-unethical rescue industry] group. The news comes as Sound of Freedom, a heavily fictionalized depiction of Ballard’s work for a division of ICE and his early career as a [“sex trafficking”] pr[ofiteer]…continues to [flounder] at the box office. The movie has brought in just under $50 million, largely on the strength of a [scammy] marketing campaign…buying [up] tickets [to make the movie look far more successful than it actually is]…In recent days, sources with knowledge of OUR…[say] Ballard had…gone to donors in a state of upset, saying that he’d been forced out and asking for their help with a new organization…
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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