The climate here at Sunset is not unlike that of England; rainy and on the chilly side, and rarely extremely hot or extremely cold. Because the utility room containing the well and the water tank are inside the atrium, I don’t need to take any precautions if the overnight low is going to be warmer than -3o C, which is usually the case for >80 days of the winter. And if it isn’t going to be lower than about -5o C, all I need to do is turn on a heater in the utility room and let one faucet run at a trickle. But once in a while it gets colder than that for a night or two, so I need to take a few extra precautions, like running the hot water tap for a few minutes whenever I get up to use the bathroom (since the propane heater is outside). It was like that Friday and Saturday nights; if the daytime temperatures are reasonable I don’t need to make any special arrangements for the big animals, because they just huddle together in the stable and emerge to sun themselves after dawn. But our cats are not used to these kind of temperatures, so I bring the outside cats inside on nights like that. Rocky got the atrium bathroom and Lilith the old one; I need to keep the door closed so she and Speck won’t fight (and Axel adds another complication). But Sunday night was back to normal, with a low of only -2o C, so I was able to suspend the freeze protocols. And unless we get some stray cold front later in February, that’s probably it for this winter.
Posts Tagged ‘Washington (state)’
Diary #813
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, Sunset, Washington (state) on January 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »
In the News (#1603)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged abortion, agency denial, Aladdin’s Satellite, artificial stupidity, California, censorship, consensual crime, cops, drugs, fascism, holidays, hysteria, internet, law, New York, Pennsylvania, propaganda, Pyrrhic Victory, rescue industry, scams, surveillance, The Cop Myth, The Last Shall Be First, The Puritan Recrudescence, The Vultures Descend, Theatrics, transgender, violence vs. sex workers, Washington (state), Wyoming on January 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »
If stings worked we wouldn’t still be doing them. – Alex Andrews
The “sex trafficking” moral panic is over, but the rescue industry isn’t:
Let’s talk about the American tradition of the human trafficking sting – part press conference, part moral panic, part budget sinkhole. Across the country, these branded operations promise to crack down on exploitation and rescue victims…Since agencies don’t release itemized budgets, we built conservative cost models using…Local news reporting, booking data…court records…Known staffing levels and standardized pay/benefits rates…Publicly documented tactics (decoy operations, press briefings, multi-agency involvement)[, etc]…All told, these efforts can run $10,000 to $30,000+ per arrest – whether or not a trafficking charge ever materializes…
Customers need to teach these nosy creeps a lesson by shopping elsewhere:
Wegmans in New York City has begun collecting biometric data from anyone who enters its supermarkets…their face, eyes and voice[-prints will be] collected and stored…the [management vomited the word] “safety” a[s a ludicrous justification for fascist collaboration with cops, spooks, and goons]…Legislation aiming to block businesses from using such systems was introduced in the City Council in 2023…But [of course it went nowhere], and other supermarket chains like Fairway already use biometric collection systems…
Another judge doing what judges should do more often: nullify tyrannical laws:
Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws including the country’s first explicit ban on abortion pills…[because] they violate the state constitution…[which clearly states] that competent adults have the right to make their own health care decisions…the state…[absurdly] argued that a…[medical procedure] is not health care…
The psychopaths who market chatbots as “intelligent” need to be sued into bankruptcy:
…Sam Nelson…routinely turned to ChatGPT to…ask for help with…drugs…ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances, and…consistent encouragement…Then, last May…the 19-year-old…died from an overdose, just hours after [more bad advice from]…ChatGPT…Nelson’s death…joins a growing list of tragedies connected to ChatGPT and other…chatbots. In November, seven lawsuits were filed against OpenAI in one day [because] ChatGPT gave awful responses to vulnerable people who ended up…co[mmitting] suicide…[or] other[wise spiraling into] mental health crises…OpenAI [is directly responsible because it falsely advertises] ChatGPT as a trustworthy source for health information…
The Puritan Recrudescence (#1555) 
Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:
New York Governor Kathy Hochul just signed a law that’s going to get expensive fast…[it] forces websites to slap unscientific warnings on their services [falsely] claiming that features like algorithmic feeds and push notifications cause [“]addiction[“]…compelled speech…[is] blatantly unconstitutional, and courts have already rejected nearly identical schemes. But Hochul and [other busybody politicians] either don’t care or don’t understand First Amendment basics, so New York taxpayers are about to fund a losing legal battle whose only real purpose is generating headlines for those politicians pretending to care about “protecting the children”…
What would cops do if you shot someone dead in the street?
A…[Father]land Security [goon murdered] a neighbor [because he] fired gunshots into the air [to celebrate the]…New Year…in…Los Angeles…The [murderer claimed he could fly, therefore shots]…fired [into the air were in reality] at [him, therefore it was self-defense even though he] was in his apartment when he heard…[the] shots…he [also claimed he was a super crack shot who was firing]…to disarm hi[s victim yet killed him instead. LAPD is hiding the deranged goon’s identity]…
The Last Shall Be First (#1600)
This is why some of us are wary of demands for “regulation”:
Passional Boutique & Sexploratorium…of Philadelphia…is now [being harassed] by [the] Trump…[regime] for selling an undergarment…the [FDA] sent a [threat] letter to Passional stating it was illegally selling breast binders…[which] the FDA [absurdly] classifies…as a medical device. Businesses that distribute them in the [US] must be registered with the FDA or [else]…Passional was one of only 12 businesses…including companies in Singapore and the Netherlands, that [were thus threatened]…They included Seattle-based Tomboyx…and Manhattan-based For Them…During a Dec. 18 news conference, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary [vomited the moronic phrase]…“transgender ideology” [in reporters’ faces]…
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!
Links #808
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Tyranny, tagged animals, cops, Maryland, politicians, psychology, racism, restaurants, STEM, Texas, video, Washington (state), Wisconsin on December 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Only Stalin and North Korea’s Kim dynasty have ever reached this level of absurdity. – Nina L. Khrushcheva
There aren’t many seasonal videos any more, but once in a while it’s possible to stumble upon a good one. The links above the video were provided by Nun Ya, Charles Hill, David Ley, Mike Masnick (x2), and Franklin Harris, in that order.
- Instant karma.
- Metaphor alert.
- I hate it when this happens.
- An immense cosmic bowling ball.
- In America, facts no longer matter.
- A view you won’t see in US state media.
From the Archives
- Sometimes molester cops helpfully provide photo evidence of their crimes.
- If more companies did this, the surveillance state would be badly hobbled.
- Cops piss into the wind so much, some will inevitably spray back on them.
- This is the kind of garbage the state pays to spy on and harass your kids.
- This will continue as long as fools teach children obedience to “authority”.
- Hey, female cops; how’s that collaboration with the police state working?
- Moral imbeciles can always be trusted to abuse any power they’re given.
- It’s always nice to see authoritarian fanatics hoist with their own petard.
- Previous columns for Yule, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day & Boxing Day.
- Paxton is a monster Texas enabled to destroy as many lives as possible.
- Moral courage in a politician is like a platypus performing Shakespeare.
- The fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parade has escaped the US.
- Why does a vacuum cleaner need either a camera or a wifi connection?
- A retrospective of my blogging from December 2012, 2013, and 2014.
- Politicians love redefining words to mean something more convenient.
- Cops, epic stupidity, Tommy Smothers, Reed Lee, and much more.
- Never forget that this started with censorship of internet porn.
- This one really was an ex-cop, but still just as dangerous.
- Some light enters the defective brain of a moral imbecile.
- Those who facilitate cops’ evil are enemies of humanity.
- Cops, Monty Python, Herbert Deutsch, and much more.
- Just in case you thought this was restricted to the US.
- There are many ways for governments to rob people.
- Cops, The Onion, Barry Malzberg, and much more.
- This week’s entry in the “No shit” department.
- We’ve got a certain routine on holidays.
- Don’t let computers call them, either.
- You can’t always get what you want.
- A wonderful Christmas at Sunset.
- An absolutely grueling week.
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 (#1598)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged Above the Law, Apple, Bait and Switch, Censor Chic, censorship, China, cops, fascism, Google, homosexuality, If Men Were Angels, illegal aliens, Illinois, internet, libraries, No Escape, North Carolina, Ohio, politicians, porn, prisons, rape, scams, Served Cold, sex offender registry, Texas, Thought Control, Virtual Imperialism, Washington (state) on December 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
We’ve known for years that Tim Ballard is a shameless, lying, actual predator. – Aracely Yates
A[n Ohio politician]…facing serious sex charges dating back nearly 30 years was released on his own recognizance…less than 24 hours after his initial arrest…Gerald Dixon [has a history of molesting boys, including some that are cognitively impaired. The cops have known about]…Dixon…[since 2020, before he first ran for office, and] there are at least eight…victims, [including] some from…Michigan and New York…[going] back [to] 1996…
Here’s reporter Kevin Light-Roth writing for The Appeal with a long, thorough deep dive on the “Operation Net Nanny” scams which were specifically designed to entrap normal young men seeking consensual sex with adult age-peer women on adults-only dating sites, so as to destroy their lives via prison and permanent “sex offender” registration by claiming that the adult women they arranged to meet were actually pigs pretending in their minds to be minors. I know that sounds completely Kafkaesque, but if you explore this tag you’ll realize it’s not only an accurate description, but a common entrapment scheme for the past decade. The article also explores the scam’s deep connections to disgraced “sex trafficking” profiteer Tim Ballard, and the attempts by the families of the victims to use Ballard’s downfall as a crowbar to pry open the refusal of the Washington state carceral establishment to do anything about these blatantly-illegal pogroms.
Greedy, amoral corporations enable Beijing’s campaign to silence Chinese people:
The Chinese telecoms giant Tencent is trying to muzzle a service that offers an uncensored view of what users of [its] social media platform WeChat…are posting…FreeWeChat…is operated by…anti-censorship organisation GreatFire.org…and…works by identifying WeChat posts that contain certain “sensitive” keywords and archives and monitors them all to see whether they are subsequently deleted from the social platform. Typical [censored] words…include the so-called three Ts: Tiananmen, Taiwan and Tibet. If a monitored post subsequently disappears, FreeWeChat marks it as “censored”…FreeWeChat has…allowed more than 700,000 censored WeChat posts to remain available for both Chinese users and others…[but] Tencent…[has made a legal claim] to Vultr, the USA-based…host…of…FreeWeChat…claim[ing] that FreeWeChat was infringing intellectual property rights…[so] Vultr suspended the [site]…
Politicians really do believe they can control people’s thoughts via censorship:
The Randolph County [North Carolina] Library Board [was fired en masse] by the county commissioners…[for refusing] to [ban] a children’s book titled Call Me Max…[which one wannabe censor demanded banned]…Of the 40 speakers [at the meeting], 21 w[ere violently-censorious nitwits who “arguments” were made up of threats and unsupported opinions]…while 19 [wanted to allow] librarians [to do the jobs they were hired to do]…
The inevitable result of giving sexually-aggressive thugs total power over women:
Eleven women [locked up in] a federal prison in Texas…have filed fresh lawsuits [over the endemic rapes and]…sexual…assault[s]…by prison staff…including a doctor, chaplain and three [screws]…sexual assault is [especially] common at FMC Carswell…the most of any federal women’s prison…[because it is used to warehouse] women with severe mental health and physical ailments…
The main difference between cops and “pastors” appears to be that the latter aren’t typically armed:
…[Illinois] pastor…Douglas R. Overmyer…[was arrested and] charg[ed for sharing]…a video of an…adult male [rap]ing [an underage girl]…“on or about May 20, 2025”…Overmyer [was immediately fired from] Zion Hill [Methodist] Church…he…was…was formerly the Executive Director of CHI RHO Outdoors, a group which “provides boys and young men with engaging outdoor experiences…while instilling valuable life lessons”…
Civil rights mean nothing if fascist corporations eagerly dance to the government’s tune:
The developer of ICEBlock, an app used to track local sightings of [goons, spooks, and pigs, has] sued the U.S. government…for [unconstitutional]ly infringing his free speech rights…Apple removed the app from its store in October [after] the Trump [regime threatened the company]…Apple [absurdly justified its bootlicking by claiming heavily-armed thugs with broad immunity to law constitute a vulnerable group]…In 2019, the company [similarly] removed an app that Hong Kong protesters used to track police movements…[and] Apple [justified the collaboration by barfing the word “]criminals[” at the protesters]…Google…also agreed to [collaborate with fascist tyranny]…
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!
Diary #807
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, Sunset, Washington (state) on December 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Though December is the rainiest month here at Sunset, with rain nearly every day, it doesn’t usually rain as heavily as it did last week. When I cleaned the stock tank in October, I decided not to refill it and just let the rain do the job, since Jonathan and Hercules have been drinking out of the rainwater catch basin anyway. Between mid-October and December 7th, the rain filled the tank about 1/3 of the way, then by Tuesday morning it had reached the 2/3 level; in other words, we got as much rain last Monday as we did in all of October and November! It rained some on Tuesday and then heavily again on Wednesday morning, so by Wednesday afternoon the east paddock looked like this despite the fact that there’s a drainage ditch between the barn and henhouse, to the right side of this photo. Jonathan actually likes the rain and Cicero doesn’t seem to mind it much, but Hercules hates it, the chickens prefer to stay inside during it, and Louie could barely be coaxed out of his nest all week; for a few days there I was actually feeding them inside the stable, because it was the easiest way for everyone. Thursday and Friday were much lighter rain and Saturday was actually clear and sunny, so the standing water has drained off and the animals were all roaming around as normal; I’m glad I took the precautions to ensure proper drainage when we first moved here.
In the News (#1583)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged Alabama, Aladdin’s Satellite, artificial stupidity, cell phones, censorship, cops, Creepy Coppers, Dangerous Speech, domestic violence, fantasy, hysteria, I can't breathe, illegal aliens, Kansas, Mad Libs, Never Call the Cops, porn, prisons, robots, Secret Squirrel, Texas, The Cop Myth, The Punitive Mindset, The Pygmalion Fallacy, Torture Chamber, Washington (state) on October 22, 2025| 2 Comments »
ICE victim: “I can’t breathe”.
ICE goon: “I don’t care”.
…We’re seeing the rise of [sexu]ally inte[ractive] “chatbot” companions…Sam Altman…announced that an upcoming version of ChatGPT would…engage in “erotica” with “verified adults”. There are…dedicated platforms for “AI girlfriends” and “sex fantasy chatbots“…[Facebook allows] its chatbots to engage in “romantic role play” that can get graphic even when those chatting say that they are teens. And Elon Musk’s [MechaHitler]…can go into “sexy mode“. These are not the sort of sex robots everyone was panicking about a decade ago…But that hasn’t stopped a lot of hand-wringing about what this all will mean…An Ohio [politician named]…Thad Claggett…has introduced legislation to ban marriages between humans and…chatbots…[which] smacks of attention-seeking…or brain worms…and…Josh Hawley…is reportedly drafting a bill that…would totally prohibit minors from talking to…chatbots…
The government does to caged people what it would like to do to all people:
The [FCC has] advanced a proposal for censorship that…will…deny…incarcerated people one of the few tools available to expose abuse in…prisons [by allowing the use of]…Cellphone jammers…illegal devices that disrupt cellphone signals…[politicians] claim…that “the worst possible offenders” use contraband cellphones to coordinate violence outside prison walls…these accusations [a]re exaggerated and preposterous…contraband cellphones…[are] used to connect with loved ones or to hold rogue prison officials accountable…it is the latter that’s driving this FCC push, not public safety…the documentary The Alabama Solution…shows how disturbing video footage of forced labor, drug-related violence, prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, and staff assaults were captured via contraband cellphone and released to the media…In the throes of the Covid pandemic, I used a contraband cellphone…to report Texas prison officials’ alarmingly inadequate response…That…footage was incorporated into a local ABC News documentary called “No Way Out”…[and] embarrassed prison officials so badly it compelled them to…follow [CDC] guidelines…Those changes could not have happened without contraband cellphones…
[Disgraced] Marion [Kansas boss hog] Gideon Cody…committed a felony crime when he told a witness to delete text messages they exchanged before, during and after he led [retaliatory] raids on a newspaper office and the publisher’s home…but [not]…for the raids [themselves], which [were]…the real crime…he…[also won’t] be…[tried for the stress-induced death of the publish]er’s 98-year-old mother [even though a non-cop probably would be, under “felony murder” statutes]…
Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:
ICE…[goon] Billy Olvera…used [a] ruse to take photos and videos of [an air hostess’] butt, legs, and feet. A police examination of his phone uncovered 23 photos and 20 videos of the [woman], who goes by A.G. in court documents…Olvera was convicted in federal court of interference with flight crew members and attendants…[but] appealed to the…11th Circuit, arguing that he should be acquitted because he was sneaky about his attempts to photograph A.G…The 11th Circuit has now rejected this argument and affirmed Olvera’s conviction. The case stems from a Dallas to Miami flight in November 2023…[the armed] Olvera was on the flight…transporting a [victim]…and [though]…he thought that he…was…[not] noticed…she realized…Olvera had been “trying to record underneath [her] dress“…She was used to unruly passengers—but not ones who were armed…[so] she…told the rest of the crew and the captain…and they had arranged for [vops] to be waiting when the plane landed…
A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners:
…full-body restraint suits [brand-named] the WRAP…[have] become a harrowing part of [rendi]tions for some immigrants…people…[have been] restrained in the device, sometimes for hours, on ICE…flights [at least since] 2020…despite…[at least a dozen fatal cases in the last decade due directly to] use of the WRAP by local [cop shops]. The WRAP is the subject of a growing number of federal lawsuits [because cops use] the device [for] punishment and even torture…
This situation is not going to get better on its own:
The latest version of ChatGPT has produced more harmful answers…than an earlier iteration…in particular when asked about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders…when researchers fed the same 120 prompts into the latest model and its predecessor, GPT-4o, the newer version gave harmful responses 63 times compared with 52 for the old model…the latest model appeared designed to boost user [dependency]…OpenAI…has…[claimed] it…[would] install “stronger guardrails” [but these seem to largely consist of]…an age-[guessing] system [and automated cop-calling capability]…
Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:
A Seattle [cop named]…Richard Norris…[has admitt]ed that he ha[s] an alcohol problem and was physically and verbally abusive to…[his wife. On one occasion he] fired his gun inside the house [at her, but missed]. On another occasion…he [drunken]ly slammed her to the ground with his elbow on her throat…[and could]n’t remember…[it later. He]…was [also] verbally abusive to the woman’s 14-year-old daughter, calling her a “cunt”…yelling at her to “go die”…[and] text[ing] that he wished…she would overdose…The woman was initially afraid to file for a protective order because Norris was tracking her using the built-in GPS on her car…[but] when [he] broke his leg and was staying with his parents in Bellingham, she decided that it was safe to file…Norris…[has been rewarded with a paid vac]ation…
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!
One State, Two State, Red State, Blue State
Posted in History, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged ethics, fascism, left-right myth, Louisiana, Oklahoma, politicians, Washington (state) on October 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The whole left-right, red-blue, all-or-nothing nonsense rots the brains of those who embrace it. If you actually look at the percentages, so-called “red states” don’t actually have many more “red” voters than “blue states” do. The idea of monolithic “red” or “blue” states is a fiction promoted by nitwits with childlike views of the world who long for easy, clear “white hat-black hat” narratives that simply don’t apply to mass politics. I grew up in a so-called “red state”, lived for a while in an even “redder” one, and for ten years now have lived in a “blue state”. And the balance of political commentary I heard from neighbors, casual conversation in public, etc hasn’t changed much over my lifetime. What has changed is the amount of power given to dangerous, psychopathic crackpots, and the erosion of citizens’ protections from said crackpots. This has been a bipartisan project all along; even the Constitutional crisis which started 24 years ago last month and finally came to a boil in January, was a contest between the GOP and Dems to see who could erode more civil liberties and scream “FOR THE CHIIIIIIIIIILDREN!!!” the loudest. In the end, the GOP turned out to be the party that broke and completely succumbed to populist-flavored fascism, but that’s because it has long cultivated a more rigid belief-system which broke when the winds of change blew hard enough. The Dems cultivated a more flexible catechism which did not snap in those winds, but instead has become so warped and weakened it isn’t good for anything. Trumpism is the immediate danger, and needs our focus. But don’t fall for lies that Democrats are noble saviors, else ending trumpery will be no more than leaping from one boiling pot to another.
Tweet to the Beat
Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Music, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged advertising, animals, BDSM, blogging, Bluesky, bogus studies, censorship, comics, consensual crime, cops, disease, drugs, Florida, Grace, hysteria, illegal aliens, imaginative fiction, infidelity, internet, Japan, language, left-right myth, libraries, politicians, Post-Christianity, prisons, prohibitionist myths, propaganda, psychology, sex work is work, Twitter, vaccines, Vietnam, Washington (state) on July 18, 2025| 1 Comment »
The world was beautiful for eons before there were self-aware eyes to appreciate it, and it will still be beautiful for eons after we are all gone. And there are countless other beautiful worlds which have never been seen, and never WILL be seen, by thinking beings.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-14T17:08:13.335Z
Intentionally conflating normal people whose lives are ruined by persecution with shameless politicians returned to prominence by a machine is a choice. A stupid or evil choice, but a choice nonetheless.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-16T17:10:38.247Z
It came from the same place as the "300,000 trafficked children being raped 100 times a day" came from: the Justification for State Violence factory.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T15:25:32.902Z
"Vice offenses" is a government dysphemism for "poor people enjoying the same adult pastimes as politicians".
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-20T17:31:41.920Z
If the HPV vaccine had been available 20 years earlier, my beloved Grace might still be alive.Get vaccinated, while you still can.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-21T17:38:43.497Z
If you had written a satire in the 1980s or '90s where the president of the US wears a freaking BALL CAP everywhere, even in serious situations like giving formal speeches or planning goddamned WAR, critics would've said it was unrealistic.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-22T07:50:44.028Z
Actual LOL.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-23T07:57:01.365Z
PROTIP: If you can't use a word without feeling a psychological compulsion to misspell it by replacing one of its letters with "x", find a different word.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T16:51:07.852Z
Now if only we can get the US to abolish summary execution for misdemeanors.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-25T17:45:45.761Z
I'm not one to kink shame, but have these people no discretion? I mean really. bsky.app/profile/meid…
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-26T08:12:44.396Z
Your regular reminder that websites outside the US can ignore US law, and the only way the US can stop them is by playing an endless game of whack-a-mole.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-27T18:27:08.695Z
I've decided the proper term for ICE thugs who hide their faces & leap out of vans to abduct people is "goons". I use the venerable term "spooks" to describe most G-men, but as one born during the '60s spy craze I can't help feeling it implies a degree of cleverness completely lacking in ICE goons.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-28T18:34:21.499Z
At this point, his being made into a martyr is probably less damaging in the long run.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-29T16:53:32.222Z
I'm not one to kink shame, but maybe you should keep this between you and your dominatrix.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-06-30T03:19:42.645Z
His approval rating is still MUCH too high. We need to see "Mussolini's funeral" approval ratings for him and his whole gang.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-01T02:40:20.242Z
Look at the bright side; the next two or three generations will have new cartoon villains to use in fiction, so they won't have to reach all the way back to the historical German Nazis whom absolutely none of them are old enough to remember as anything BUT cartoon villains.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T17:59:01.208Z
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4-G…
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-03T07:57:38.253Z
No. Both used their votes to help THEMSELVES politically. The difference lies not in their motive, but in their interpretation of what kind of vote will improve their political fortunes.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-04T17:52:24.728Z
Actually, YOU don't choose which entity you're praying to; the content of your prayers does that automatically.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-05T17:16:41.634Z
Yes, that's the point.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-07T03:52:48.861Z
I like to think Grace was there in spirit, jamming along on a ghostly bass; Ozzy was probably her favorite musician.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-07T17:51:16.476Z
Trump declares that whales can fly.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-08T17:36:38.666Z
THIS. Reporters need to STOP using Trump's second-grade names for everything. STOP calling legislation that will result in millions forced into poverty and a metastasized police state as "beautiful". STOP using cutesy nicknames for concentration camps. Just fucking STOP.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-09T18:21:48.165Z
The most realistic part of this joke is Trump not knowing that $1000 bills were discontinued in 1969 and banks are required to send any they get to the Treasury to be destroyed.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-10T04:21:57.746Z
Reporters: are y'all ready to use the word "megalomania" yet?
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-11T07:44:20.516Z
"What we need is not a non-volatile storage medium which is impossible to change once created, allowing dependable preservation of their contents, but rather centralized digital media which can be surreptitiously changed by 'authorities' at will, possibly without people noticing."
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-12T17:08:42.978Z
It always astonishes me to see people making the equivalent argument to, "air travel, including both freight and passenger, should be a government monopoly, because billionaires."It *shouldn't* astonish me because people really are that stupid. But that's the last little pest in Pandora's box.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-13T17:27:32.516Z
Watching Trump name things has given me a new respect for the names Eternian villains choose for themselves.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-14T18:34:26.533Z
This looks like liquid fabric softener.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-15T08:15:13.976Z
The way I've explained it friends who don't live here is: "Seattle people drive on the highway as though it were a surface street; on surface streets as though they were parking lots; and in parking lots as though they were at a square dance and the caller has left the room."
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-16T08:22:47.910Z
Guys, I keep telling y'all that seeing escorts is less expensive in the long run.
— Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T19:08:26.779Z
Links #783
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Tyranny, tagged acting, animals, cops, Germany, I’m Sure You Feel Safer Now, Illinois, imaginative fiction, Maryland, Never Call the Cops, New Jersey, nostalgia, Ohio, Panopticon, Pyrrhic Victory, Under Duress, video, Washington (state) on July 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
People don’t even dare to go on holiday any more as they fear that the ants will move into their home in their absence. – Manfred Verhaagh
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been re-watching The Avengers lately, and perusing a venerable fan site; in the process I discovered a mention of this song I believe I vaguely remember from the MTV era. One interesting footnote: The Allies were a Seattle band, and I know this video was filmed there because I’ve been in that elevator many times! The links above it were provided by Radley Balko; Mike Siegel; IncarcerNation (x2); Jesse Walker & Mike Masnick; and IncarcerNation (x2 again), in that order.
- Paging Dr. Hellstrom.
- I hate when this happens.
- I’m sure you feel safer now.
- What part of “never” is so difficult?
- R.I.P. Gailard Sartain and Bill Moyers.
- Cops claim a 70-year-old woman “lunged with a knife”. Seriously.
- Cops “assist” man planning suicide by cop, murder bystander for fun.
From the Archives
- Pregnant women & new mothers are uniquely vulnerable to state coercion.
- Clearview specifically markets to those who claim a monopoly on violence.
- “Claiming age verification preserves online anonymity doesn’t make it so“.
- Supporters of restrictions on “offensive” speech helped create this lunacy.
- SCOTUS isn’t quite ready to allow full-on government censorship just yet.
- Cop violence is never limited to members of the public, nor to male cops.
- First it was supposedly about “terrorists”, then “sex trafficking”, and now…
- Maine defines women as moral imbeciles, and men as our moral betters.
- It’s too bad most authoritarian diktats don’t blow up in politicians’ faces.
- “Rescue” profiteers demand government conjure “victims” from thin air.
- Contradictory laws are an inevitable result of rampant authoritarianism.
- Pretexts for this would not remain limited to “child porn” & “terrorism”.
- Microsoft makes censorship easier, when it should be making it harder.
- Cops will ignore the Constitution until doing so is actually criminalized.
- Schools could best help the US by actually teaching basic math again.
- Cue “freeze peach” morons vomiting nonsense about fires & theaters.
- Cops, pizza, Julian Sands, Sue Johanson,Alan Arkin, and much more.
- shitty laws were used against an actual violent criminal for a change.
- Societies’ tendency to self-lobotomize will probably never be solved.
- “Search” is the most common government euphemism for “molest”.
- He wasn’t a “former” cop when he repeatedly raped a teenage girl.
- The war against drugs other than nicotine continues to wind down.
- Note that cases of actual coercion don’t look much like the myths.
- A short EN Brown piece on the legacy of the Assange persecution.
- Scientists who create weapons of oppression are moral imbeciles.
- Cops still use laws overturned in 2003 to harass gay men today.
- The sexual behavior of “pastors” closely resembles that of cops.
- Unfortunately, a new Chromebook means more enshittification.
- One reason I added on to my house was to host guests at will.
- Your “leaders” work hard to ensure this happens more often.
- It usually starts with sex workers, but it never stops with us.
- Another “youth pastor”, another string of underage victims.
- Crypto-moralists believe anything people enjoy is “unsafe”.
- Cops, artificial stupidity, Kinky Friedman, and much more.
- I’m happy to have been proven wrong about her chances.
- Cops should not be allowed anywhere near legal minors.
- Cops are not known for intelligence and good judgment.
- In surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down.
- The crusade to reduce Americans to serfdom continues.
- Some tyrannies are too loathsome even for some cops.
- It’s amazing how much faster work goes at floor level.
- If this shocks you, you haven’t been paying attention.
- This vulture feeding frenzy is going to get a lot uglier.
- Good grief, don’t volunteer to be around them either.
- It’s rare that a rapist cop stops at only a few victims.
- The headline writer omitted the word “temporarily”.
- Oh look, another “youth pastor”, what a surprise.
- My two previous columns for Independence Day.
- Anyone “shocked” by this must live in a cave.
- Cops, James Caan, Sweet, and much more.
- Such pro-life, very protecting children.
- Nearing the end of my annex project.
- A road trip with Mr. Spock.
- The Colossus of New York.
- The Return of Fridaystein.
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 (#1552)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged censorship, cops, domestic violence, fascism, Florida, holidays, Hungary, internet, Kentucky, law, New Orleans, Panopticon, politicians, porn, Pyrrhic Victory, scams, Secret Squirrel, Stalkers in Blue, surveillance, teachers, Texas, The Cop Myth, The Last Shall Be First, The Puritan Recrudescence, To Molest and Rape, Washington (state) on July 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
This isn’t constitutional interpretation; it’s constitutional gerrymandering. – Mike Masnick
Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:
A Miami [cop named Zamir Vargas Valerio]…is…facing criminal charges…for giving his ex-girlfriend a traffic ticket…when she…was…deployed overseas…by [fraudulent]ly using the computer credentials of a[nother cop. Not only was]…the victim…out of the country when the [supposed] violation [supposedly] occurred…the [cop] who supposedly issued the ticket was on disability leave at the time…Vargas Valerio is…a…[repeat offender who] was [previously] arrested…on Aug. 23, 2022…[for] domestic violence [because] he [tried to strangle a previous girlfriend]…in front of her son…the case was later dropped…
There is no “intelligence” in an automated high-resolution scanner:
The Hertz rental car company, along with its Dollar and Thrifty affiliates, are rolling out [computeriz]ed vehicle inspection scanners that scan [a] rental car as it exits or enters the rental lot for damage…But barely two months into the scanners’ initial deployment…there’s already a problem [with the company overcharging customers for scratches & dings barely visible to the human eye]…the…scanners [are built by]…Israeli…company, UVeye….[which] claims its system increases damage detection…by five times…Hertz…touts “transparency” as one of the main advantages its customers can expect from the tech, though it remains to be seen how transparent things remain when customers invariably require a live human to speak with to dispute the findings. To note, this is the same company that has left a rental desk unmanned for six hours, attempted to charge a customer $10,000 despite an unlimited mileage policy, attempted to charge a Tesla customer for gas, and settled for $168 million after falsely accusing hundreds of customers of stealing its cars—some of which led to innocent people getting arrested, charged with felonies, and jailed…
The Puritan Recrudescence (#1502)
SCOTUS has ruled that the First Amendment does not apply on the internet:
…In the FSC v. Paxton case, [SCOTUS] upheld the very problematic 5th Circuit ruling that age verification online is acceptable under the First Amendment, despite multiple earlier Supreme Court rulings that said the opposite…The practical effect: states can now force websites to collect government IDs from anyone wanting to view adult content, creating a massive chilling effect on protected speech and opening the door to much broader online speech restrictions. Thomas accomplished this by pulling off some remarkable doctrinal sleight of hand. He ignored the Court’s own precedents in Ashcroft v. ACLU by pretending online age verification is just like checking ID at a brick-and-mortar store (it’s not), applied a weaker “intermediate scrutiny” standard instead of the “strict scrutiny” that content-based speech restrictions normally require, and—most audaciously—invented an entirely new category of “partially protected” speech that conveniently removes First Amendment protections exactly when the government wants to burden them. As Justice Kagan’s scathing dissent makes clear, this is constitutional law by result-oriented reasoning, not principled analysis…The real danger here isn’t just Texas’s age verification law—it’s that Thomas has handed every state legislature a roadmap for circumventing the First Amendment online…
[A typical and representative Washington cop who also worked] as [a] girls basketball coach [in order to stalk prey shot himself after he was caught molesting a victim]…Charles “Rob” Gardiner…[was caught on April 23rd by] the girl’s parents [while he was molesting her] in her bedroom…he fled [after her father tried to physically stop him]…Deputies later found Gardiner dead in his p[igmobile] a few blocks away…the girl was reluctant to share information, but [admitted] she and Gardiner texted regularly, and he had sneaked into her house several times before…The girl’s parents [sensibly became suspicious when] Gardiner…bought her gifts, including an iPad, that they made her return…The iPad was later [found in] Gardiner’s [pigmobile]…the girl’s contact information [was] saved in Gardiner’s phone as “Wifey,” and his phone’s wallpaper [was a nude] photo of her…Gardiner was…[also] a football coach at…a…[nearby] middle school[, but currently does not appear to have molested any kids there]…
The Last Shall Be First (#1531)
This is what Pride should be: a gigantic “fuck you” to authoritarianism:
Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders…to march in what organizers called the largest…Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of…Viktor Orbán’s government…which…outlawed [the event] by a law passed in March…The massive size of the march…was seen as a major blow to Orbán’s prestige, as…polls [show] a new opposition force has taken the lead…Orbán and his party have [echoed MAGA] in…[trying to justify their censorship of] Pride…[by absurdly claiming it is] a violation of children’s rights to moral and spiritual development…[trumping] other fundamental rights, including that to peacefully assemble…
Compare this to what Pride celebrations had turned into in the US before Trump ascended the imperial throne and the fascist fair-weather sponsors predictably turned coat.
The New Orleans city council rewards the NOPD for criminal behavior:
The New Orleans City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow the city’s police department…[to use] the [magic word “]crime[” to justify the]…use [of] real-time facial recognition technology to find and track people as they move about the city…as the[y]…had already been secretly [doing]…via a private surveillance camera network…in…[flagrant] violat[ion of] an earlier city ordinance meant to protect the public’s privacy…the proposed city ordinance would [reward NOPD for violating the previous law by] mak[ing their criminal behavior] legal…the ordinance, as currently written, would allow the police to only “use facial recognition technology while investigating crimes and missing persons cases”…[but since NOPD ignored the previous law there’s no reason to assume this one would be any different], and…these protections could be overturned just as easily as the earlier prohibitions…are about to be…
Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to, and everyone is shocked:
[A] Kentucky [cop named]…Bearl D. Ashcraft Jr….[murdered] his girlfriend, Hayley Davidson…[then] killed [himself]…Davidson’s estranged husband, Travis Davidson, says there was…“a lot of domestic violence that was hidden”…Ashcraft tracked her whereabouts using a phone app and others…noticed bruising she tried to cover up with make up [sic]…
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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