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Posts Tagged ‘Without Let or Hindrance’

The real debate [is] whether technology this dangerous should even exist.  –  “Ban Facial Recognition”

If Men Were Angels

Another fine example of McNeill’s Law:

California [youth] pastor Joshua David Kemper [has been] arrested…[for repeatedly molest]ing a 15-year-old girl…in his…church…[after grooming her with] explicit messages, photos and videos…Kemper [has] a…[history of spreading propaganda on] Facebook [claiming] LGBTQ+ people [a]re a danger to youngsters…

Without Let or Hindrance (#1459)

“Child protection” has become an all-purpose excuse for state violence:

Teams of armed federal [goons] have been making unannounced [raids on] the homes of immigrant families across Memphis [us]ing…the [excuse] of…“wellness checks’’…[on] undocumented children…[and barfing the magic formula “]human trafficking[” at their victims as a]…pretext to…arrest as many immigrants as possible…The FBI…confirmed it is co[llabo]rating [with]…the Department of [Father]land Security…in…the [scheme]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1461) 

It’s much too late for this in the US, but it may inspire activists in less-fascist countries:

Facial recognition technology is unreliable, unjust, and a threat to basic rights and safety…which is why we [should have] act[ed] to stop it [years ago]…Like nuclear or biological weapons, facial recognition’s threat to human society and civil liberties far outweighs any potential benefits…Industry-friendly and government-friendly oversight will not fix the…inherent [dangers]…we need an all-out ban…Facial recognition is unlike any other form of surveillance…[because] it enables automated and ubiquitous monitoring of an entire population, and it is nearly impossible to avoid…

The Last Shall Be First (#1518) 

Oklahoma politicians want to foist liability for their unconstitutional laws onto local governments:

Oklahoma[‘s new bill]…H.B. 1217 d[oes] not explicitly mention drag performers.  But [its] supporters…such as…Dusty Deeversmade it clear that…”We’re basically banning drag shows in front of kids”…[censorious politician]s have taken to using the term “obscenity” colloquially to describe all sorts of sexual…content…they don’t like, particularly…homosexuality or gender bending…But the…average drag show does not rise to the level of [legal] obscenity…so…[politicians are] threatening to hold municipalities criminally [li]able for allowing “obscene” performances…[by demanding they]…make sure [any approved event] “will not be obscene.”  [But] whether a performance or art work is obscene is something to decided by juries after the material exists.  Government authorities can’t decide in advance of a performance or event that it might contain obscenity and therefore can’t happen…Technically, H.B. 1217 doesn’t require prior review or prior restraint.  It just [threatens] that a government body that allows a…[performance later deemed] obscene…can be prosecuted for it…

Sexcrime (#1519)

It’s been less than seven years since the UK lost in court the last time it tried this:

The UK government has o[nce again reintroduced]…the…porn ban [struck down in court in February 2019, excusing the attempt by barfing the magic formula “]violence against women[” and defaming people who enjoy this kind of porn as “]criminals[” regardless of consent.  Politician]…Alex Davies-Jones [spouted out threats against both individuals and]…firms [extending] even [to] prison sentences…[belching “]Ofcom can go after the platform]….and…[“]children[“], then…[unscientific nonsense about how what lay people “]believe[” about porn [trumps actual facts]…

Just laws are intended to correct wrongs, not to allow governments to persecute (“go after”) people who have not actually harmed anyone.

Walled Garden (#1573)

Psychopathic techlords are giving psychopathic politicians new excuses for surveillance and censorship:

The…CHAT Act of 2025 is Washington’s newest attempt to regulate speech through mandatory age checks…[in order to] normalize showing a government ID for basic online speech.  The CHAT Act [claims] to target fictional role-play bots [of the type that regularly drive fragile minds into psychosis, but]…defines a chatbot so broadly that anything that “simulates emotional interaction” could be restricted…[including] some video game characters…or…customer service bot[s.  Since nothing will stop tech companies’ insane crusade to cram their fake “AI” garbage into everything, the likely result would be the imposition]…of…ID verification…into nearly every digital product…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1586)

These things are designed to appeal to the dregs of humanity:

A number of Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views…upload…videos filmed with [Facebook]’s Ray-Ban glasses [that] show men entering massage parlors across the country and soliciting the workers…In some cases, the women laugh at the men [or] dismiss them…but in a few cases they discuss specific se[rvices] and [prices]…the women [clearly don’t] know they are being filmed and that the videos are being shared online…This is extremely dangerous [because] the women…can be targeted by both [violent rapists who work for the state] and [those who don’t.  Facebook]…has built an entire supply chain for dangerous, privacy violating content on the internet.  It sells glasses that allow people to surreptitiously film others in public and operates a social network where inflammatory, outrageous content is rewarded and monetized, and [nothing is done about it until]…journalists reach out for comment…the company [hides behind the fact that]…“our glasses [show] an LED light [when]…recording”…[ignoring the fact that] people can pay $60 for a modification to…disable that…SWAN…[reports these] disgusting and dangerous…videos, and…use[s its] Abuser Alert system to notify workers…

 

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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Resubmitting the same materials does not alter the outcome.
–  Taylor Bruck

Without Let or Hindrance

Children abducted by the state are typically harmed more than children left in their homes:

…Ke’Torrius “K.J.” Starkes Jr. [was killed by]…the Alabama [“]child protective services[“] agency [when]…he [was]…left inside a car…in Birmingham for [more than five] hours during the middle of the day [in July during a heat wave]…Courtney French, the family’s attorney, [said]…“He died a brutal death”…during the 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. window when [the incompetent bureaucrat]…left [him] in…the car…heat index values…ranged from 101 to 105 degrees…the [state had abducted the toddler from his family for unreported reasons, and were forcing]…his [parents to jump through expensive, time-consuming, and degrading hoops]…as part of a court-ordered process…to [get] their [child back from the incompetent bureaucrats whose negligence eventually killed him]…“This would have never happened had K.J. been with his parents,” French added…

HIV Cure (#1129)

Not a cure, but the next best thing:

…the first HIV drug that offers 100% protection with…twice-yearly injections [has been approved by the US FDA and]…stands to save millions of lives across the globe.  The makers…[have] sign[ed] royalty-free licensing agreements with six generic manufacturers to produce and supply it…lenacapavir…[belongs to] a class of drugs known as capsid inhibitors, which provide almost 100% protection against HIV infection…the capsid is a protein shell that houses and protects viral genetic material…once inside the host cell, the capsid is shed, and the virus begins copying itself.  Lenacapavir stops that from happening…In 2022, lenacapavir was approved…to treat HIV in those already infected, but long-acting prevention medication has been much more difficult to realize…

Feudalism Redux (#1500)

Forced-birth fanatics are trying to extend their crazed jihad outside their own borders, so as to establish ownership over their subjects:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [keeps trying to impose]…Texas…abortion laws…on…[citizens of] New York [by suing]…Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck for refusing to [rob]…Dr. Margaret Carpenter [of $100,000 and give it to Paxton]…in accordance with the New York State Shield Law…[in response] Paxton [had a fit in which his head spun 360o and he projectile-vomited vile totalitarian propaganda about how he personally owns every woman] in…Texas [and he will put a curse on anyone who disagrees]…

No Escape (#1537)

The human and financial costs of our society’s sick infatuation with incarceration are staggering:

Three [typical and representative] Oregon [screws] are named in new lawsuits…[because they] sexually abus[ed] young prisoners at [two juvenile dungeons]…more than a decade ago…[as is typical in such cases,] the…victims…reported the…abuse but were ignored or “actively silenced”.  Three women who were teenagers between 1999 and 2008 [were abused by a screw named] Scott J. Scrabeck [who repeatedly] groped them, forced them to [give him hand jobs] and masturbated while watching them shower…“[They wanted it],” [Scrabeck] said…Another woman sued…[a “]group life coordinator[” named] Alex Blevins…[for] sexually abus[ing] her [at least] 10 times between 2009 and 2011, starting when she was 16…Blevins…was fired…in 2014 after [he sexually harassed female] staff…A third suit…[is against a screw named] Robert L. Blacksmith…[whose victim was silenced] by threatening to withhold family visits…Blacksmith was fired in 2006 after he was caught [stalking another potential victim via] the state computer system…and…was indicted…on…child sex abuse [charges] around th[at same] time…[but] fled the state…and [was] arrested…and [imprisoned in California for similar crimes]…

The Cop Myth (#1540)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

[A Connecticut cop named] Gregory Zach…was arrested [on July 23 for repeatedly]…threatening…[and] assault[ing his girlfriend, but]…was [also rewarded with a paid vacation.  Some of his fellow cops]…”began to hear rumors” that Zach…had…spit [in the woman’s face] “in front of numerous witnesses”…and she…detailed multiple occasions where Zach became angry with her for talking with other men, threatened her and took her phone from her…in…April…he grabbed her arm and [threatened]…to punch her, then shoved her onto a bed before texting her “Too bad I didn’t break your [fucking] arm the other night.”  [On] June 8…he [attacked her to]…keep her from [going out with friends, then]…on June 26…showed up at her home unannounced…in [his magical clown costume], walked in, and slapped her on the face, then grabbed her by the shoulders, threw her on the bed, and began choking her…On July 2…he [stalked her]…to…her workplace…[and] began insulting her…before…spit[ting] in [her] face…Zach was previously suspended…after…[punch]ing a woman…in the face [in 2009].  The city of Stamford settled the case [for $230,000] in April 2014

The Cop Myth (#1560)

Do I really need to say, “Don’t let one live with you, either”?

A [typical and representative New York cop]…is being held without bail [for the] murder [of his roommate].  Edison Irizarry…[shot]…Casey Cuddy…a psychiatric mental health nurse and actor who…in November 2022…[accepted Irizarry’s response to his] classified ad…seeking a roommate…Irizarry[‘s motive, if any, for the murder of Cuddy is unknown]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #22)

A whole gang of sexual predators specifically targeting traumatized girls:

Five women who were abused as children by Rotherham grooming gangs were also raped by [cops] when they were as young as 12 years old…Three [typical and representative cops] have been arrested [so far]…while a fourth [rapist cop]…has since died.  One [cop]…raped [his victims] in a [pigmobile and got her to submit by]…threaten[ing] to hand her back to a gang to suffer “multiple rapes” i[nstead of just the one by him.  Other cops either]…turn[ed] a blind eye or participat[ed] in the grooming between the mid-90s and early 2000s.  The wider scandal affected at least 1,400 girls in Rotherham and continued until at least 2013…

 

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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Technologies funded to police sex work now monitor everyone.
–  Kate Zen & Chanelle Gallant

See How Well It Works?

Years after the end of the hysteria, fanatics still pretend their dissemination of fantasies is the reason those fantasies never materialize:

A [scam outfit belatedly set up to profit from hysteria over “]sex trafficking[” tried to drum up “gypsy whore” panic over] the NFL Draft in Green Bay[, Wisconsin]…HER Alliance, formerly known as Awaken…says they didn’t see a large uptick [of “victims”] during the draft thanks to [their propaganda about “]the signs of trafficking[“]…

Without Let or Hindrance

Everyone victimized by “child protection” agencies needs to sue:

A Georgia couple whose children were [abducted by the state] for two years following a [malicious accusation] of child abuse have filed a lawsuit…in 2023…Matt and Tuckey Hernandez took their youngest daughter, 3-month-old Emma, to the doctor after noticing some swelling on one of her legs…X-rays found that Emma’s leg and ribs were fractured in several places…[pediatrician] Stephen Messner…[immediate]ly diagnosed Emma with “non-accidental trauma”…[despite] no evidence of abuse on the couple’s 3-year-old…Messner never reviewed any of Baby Emma’s…medical history…the state [immediately abducted both]…daughters…placed the[m]…in a series of foster homes…[and] charged [the parents] with child abuse…DFCS…refus[ed] to place the girls with relatives or family friends…Emma had very low vitamin D, which…had caused her to develop neonatal rickets, weakening her bones…Genetic testing also indicated that Emma had defects in her collagen genes, possibly causing conditions associated with fractures in infants.  But these [facts] were…ignored by the DFCS, which continued to attempt to sever Matt and Tuckey’s parental rights [to sell] the girls…[to] another family…Last month, Matt and Tuckey were acquitted of all charges, and their daughters were finally returned to them…

Rotting Fruit (#894)

The first interesting development in this whole affair since ever:

QAnon didn’t start in a vacuum; it followed two decades of mainstream media and politicians…using the flimsiest evidence and most distorted data to falsely claim that America was in the midst of a sex trafficking epidemic.  And then along came Jeffrey Epstein…[whose] well-documented crimes involving teenage girls, and his roster of rich and powerful friends, could be read by motivated audiences as backing up QAnon claims…Trump…[and his henchmen] began to actively encourage the idea that Epstein’s client list was being deliberately withheld by Democrats with something to hide…But…now, Trump is telling people to forget about Jeffrey Epstein entirely…so…the whole “release the files” business seems slightly less preposterous now that Trump and his lackeys seem desperate to draw attention away from them…The theoretical files were useful as a tool to raise suspicion about Trump’s opponents.  But the actual files…could be a liability or an embarrassment…in that they don’t actually prove anything nefarious about any Democrats…As a political tool, the Epstein files are much more useful if they remain hidden…

Thought Control (#1109) 

Western countries have criminalized fiction the government dislikes for years:

Pingping Anan Yongfu…is among at least eight [writers] in recent months wh[o] have shared accounts on Chinese social media platform Weibo of being arrested for publishing gay erotic fiction…At least 30 writers, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested…since February…some are still [locked] in c[ages, and]…many more…[including some readers,] were summoned for [interrogation]…Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-hosted platform known for its “danmei”, the genre of so-called boys’ love and erotic fiction…has cultivated a fiercely devoted following, especially among young Chinese women.  These authors are being accused of breaking China’s pornography law for “producing and distributing obscene material”.  Writers who earn a profit could be jailed for more than 10 years…Although authors of heterosexual erotica have been jailed in China…Gay erotica…seems to bother authorities more…

Enshittification (#1524)  

Another factor in the coming dark age: computer-generated garbage making records of this period unreliable:

…the [CGI] slop endgame, for social media companies, is creating a hyper personalized feed full of highly specific [fiction] about anything one could possibly imagine.  Because [CGI] slop is so easy to make and because social media algorithms are so personalized, this means that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube can feed you anything they…want…Case in point: Facebook…slop…shows [LSU] football coach Brian Kelly assisting in the Texas floods…[on] a Facebook page called LSU Gridiron Glory…[which] is [also] churning out slop that includes Brian Kelly…reacti[ng] to last month’s tragic Air India crash…getting his lost wallet returned to him, donating to the homeless…in the hospital with a rare illness…being deported by Trump, talking to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and…secretly “paying off the debt owed by a struggling gardener”…fans of the NBC show The Voice…[are being fed] slop of judge Blake Shelton saving dogs in the Texas flood…carrying a girl out of a medical clinic…donating to an animal rescue shelter, etc…many of these bizarre images link out to [LLM]-generated “news” websites…overloaded with ads…

Blunt Instrument (#1543)

“Sex trafficking” hysteria laid the groundwork for Trump’s anti-migrant pogroms:

Since January…raids on massage parlors have intensified, targeting immigrant women suspected of sex work…[yet] these workers — among ICE’s most systematically targeted — are largely excluded from community defense…On June 11, ICE and local police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, raided nine massage parlors, d[isappear]ing 10 Chinese women…into ICE’s sprawling detention system…yet not a single organization called for their release…nearly 1,000 arrests in Queens, New York, targeted immigrant sex workers and street vendors.  In Arizona, over 200 arrests were made.  In Texas, 11 parlors were closed in February and May under emergency powers that bypass criminal charges…In other labor sectors, worksite raids sparked massive outpourings of solidarity and creative resistance..but sex workers are left to fend for themselves…the…immigrant rights movement calibrates its messaging to appeal to moderate respectability — complying with lines drawn between the “deserving” and the disposable…To some, the…[current anti-migrant pogrom]s appear unprecedented.  But for those organizing with sex workers, they’re all too familiar.  For years, ICE has used migrant sex workers as testing grounds for its most aggressive tactics

I Spy (#1543)

Wave bye-bye to the last remaining shreds of your privacy:

…ICE…is now using data from the Insurance Services Office’s ClaimSearch, a private industry service for detecting car and health insurance fraud…ClaimSearch includes 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills—along with the personal data attached to them, including addresses, tax identification numbers, and license plates.  ClaimSearch…[openly admits]…that it grants full access to [any cop shop or spook house which wants it, yet]…Verisk, the company that runs ClaimSearch, [l]ied [by claiming]…ICE…is [somehow an exception, probably because]…ICE has access…through another government agency…[given that] the Trump [regime issued] an [illegal diktat] to tear down “information silos” between federal agencies, and…Palantir…has a contract with ICE to…target [human beings for abduction]…

 

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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We deserve to know who is shooting us in the face even when they have their badge covered up.  –  Kyle McDonald

Pyrrhic Victory (#1275)

The very first prosocial application of facial recognition technology I’ve seen:

A new site, FuckLAPD.com, is using public records and facial recognition technology to allow anyone to identify [LAPD cops] they have a picture of.  The tool, made by artist Kyle McDonald, is designed to help people identify cops who may otherwise try to conceal their identity, such as covering their badge or serial number…The tool allows users to upload an image…to search over 9,000 LAPD headshots obtained via public record requests…image processing happens on the device, and no photos or data are transmitted or saved on the site…“This data has been provided in response to either public records requests or public records lawsuits…[so] fucklapd.com is not scraping any data”…Clicking “view profile” under the result[s sends users] to the Watch the Watchers site by the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition…In 2018 McDonald made another tool called ICEspy which…does much the same thing as FuckLAPD.com…That tool originally used a Microsoft API, b[ut] Microsoft [censored] it…[so] McDonald…recently relaunched the tool to run locally on devices…

I Spy (#1533)

The writer of this article is one of those fools who thinks anything involving gadgets is laudable:

[Trump] He[nchman] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants [to force] everyone to wear a smartwatch, fitness tracker, or other [medical surveillance device] as part of his…agenda [to ban vaccines].  “My vision is every American is [subject to my surveillance] within four years,” he [bloviated, absurdly characterizing government surveillance as]… “people taking control over their own health”…[and further explaining that he wants every meal to become a bean-counting ordeal.  Fascist]…companies stand to benefit from a government-backed [demand] for Americans to buy their products, and Kennedy plans to soon [waste tens of millions in] “one of the biggest advertising campaigns in HHS history to encourage Americans to use wearables”…Kennedy [also] plans to use [the] data…[to] track…and [persecute]…autis[tic people]…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

I’m fine with this as long as it’s only tech companies harming each other:

As Scale AI seeks to reassure customers that their data is secure following [Facebook]’s $14.3 billion investment, leaked files and the startup’s own contractors indicate it has some serious security holes.  Scale AI routinely uses public Google Docs to track work for high-profile customers like Google, [Facebook], and [Twitter], leaving…training documents labeled “confidential” accessible to anyone with the link…the…method [is] efficient for its vast army of at least 240,000 contractors and presents clear cybersecurity and confidentiality risks…sensitive details about…[those] contractors [were also exposed], including their private email addresses and whether they were suspected of “cheating”…There’s no indication that [the company has yet] suffered a breach because of this….[but] such practices…leave the company and its clients vulnerable to various kinds of hacks, such as hackers impersonating contractors or uploading malware into accessible files…

Property of the State (#1545) 

How long will Western society allow cops and prosecutors to terrorize traumatized women?

…Women have faced pregnancy criminalization for decades, especially under drug laws…Pregnancy Justice has tracked more than 1,800 pregnancy-related arrests and detentions between 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided, and 2022, when the decision was overturned.  But in the first year after Dobbs, Pregnancy Justice documented 210 pregnancy-related prosecutions, the most they’d found in a single year since they started this research.  And 22 cases involved…miscarriages, [mostly] in states with bans, like Idaho, but also in states with more liberal abortion policies…Alabama prosecutes more pregnant [women] than any other state…[especially] in Etowah County, wh[ere politicians and cops routinely abuse]…a 2006 chemical endangerment law intended to protect children from meth labs…[because] these cases are…more about emotion than science…serious charges are often dropped or reduced [due to lack of evidence], but by then, many of the harms of incarceration have already taken hold…[including bond fees,] reputationally damaging news headlines, [state abduction] of their other children, [and loss of] housing and employment…

Torture Chamber (#1546)

This will continue until the evil US immigration policy is reformed:

…911 calls from 10 of the nation’s largest…migra[nt dungeons] found that serious medical incidents are rising [in most] of the [cages]…at least 60 percent of the c[age stack]s…had reported serious pregnancy complications, suicide attempts, [and rapes].  Since January, these 10 [dungeons] have collectively placed nearly 400 emergency calls…50…involved…cardiac episodes, 26…seizures…17…head injuries…seven…suicide attempts…[and] six [rapes by screws.  But]…experts [say] the true number of medical emergencies is far higher…[because] many serious incidents [are ignored by staff, who prefer to yell “Stop faking!” at their victims instead of helping them]…Even among those that did [deign to call for] outside help, a third of all the calls had vague or nonexistent descriptions, with details often [censored] by authorities…

Creepy Coppers (ROTW #21)

Your “leaders” call this “correction”, but you don’t have to:

A [typical and representative Kansas screw named]…Brice Berk…[has been] arrest[ed for making]…and distribut[ing] child pornography…after a [report from] the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children…

Welcome to the Future (#1548)

Another of the many reasons not to play with chatbots:

…For years, OpenAI gave users the option to delete their conversations with ChatGPT, rather than let their personal queries linger on corporate servers.  Now, they can’t.  A badly misguided court order in a copyright lawsuit requires OpenAI to store all consumer ChatGPT conversations indefinitely—even if a user tries to delete themChatGPT’s 300+ million users submit over 1 billion messages to its chatbots per dayoften for personal purposes…reveal[ing] personal details that, in aggregate, create a comprehensive portrait of a person’s entire life…Putting users in control of their data is a fundamental piece of privacy protection.  Nineteen states, the European Union, and numerous other countries already protect the right to delete under their privacy laws.  These rules exist for good reasons: retained data can be sold or given away, breached by hackers, disclosed to [rooting cops], or even used to manipulate a user’s choices through online behavioral advertising…The court granted the order based on [the authoritarian assumption] that users who delete their data are probably copyright infringers looking to “cover their tracks”…

 

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

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There is no legal mechanism…that allows [the government] to intervene while a fetus remains in somebody’s body.  –  Harrison Stark

Property of the State (#431) 

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

The Vermont Department for Children and Families went to extraordinary and illegal lengths to [abduct a newborn] from its mother…aided by a…[secret surveillance] program that monitors the pregnancies of multiple Vermonters, [provoking] a new lawsuit…[from] the…ACLU…[centering] the case of one mother, identified only as A.V., in which [bureaucratic busybodies]…used confidential medical information to [get a judge to grant permission to abduct] her daughter before she had even given birth…[including] a court order for the hospital to [violate her body by] perform[ing] a caesarean section [against her will]…DCF [abducted] the infant…immediately after she was born…only to have the child returned by court order months later…the [ordeal began when] A.V. temporarily moved from her…apartment to…a homeless shelter…[whose] executive director…[took it up on herself to report “]concerns about her mental health[” to]…DCF…[which] conducted an “assessment” of A.V…[including snooping into her] confidential [medical] records…without A.V.’s knowledge or participation…“Tragically, A.V.’s experience is not unique,” the suit reads. “She is only one of many expectant Vermonters who have been ensnared in DCF’s speculative surveillance and brazen intervention into their pregnancy and birthing plans”…

O, Canada! (#934)

Canadian cops still use long-debunked “sex trafficking” tropes to sell their grotesque sex worker intimidation tactics:

“The goal today is to save and rescue people from human trafficking,” [oinked a herd of silly pigs and sows at credulous “reporters”, before moving on to a whole lot of propaganda long past its sell-by date, including words and phrases like]…trafficking victims can…be…put on a circuit…human trafficking is…growing…“in Calgary…everywhere you look someone’s being trafficked”…“It’s the second biggest crime”…“I use a…program called Traffic Jam”…“The crown means most likely they’re being trafficked“…ALERT calls [lying to women trying to earn a living] “interventions”…They are on the lookout for a trafficker who might be waiting and watching…

These wanking fantasies are so 2012, I checked the date on the story several times.  Perhaps it fell down behind a file cabinet and when it was recently found, somebody decided to just print it anyway?

A Moral Cancer (#1249)

The government is intentionally trying to create a black market so as to start a horrific new front in the drug war:

…the Biden administration [recently] proposed a rule that would effectively ban cigarettes by requiring a drastic reduction in nicotine content…to 0.7 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco.  That cap technically complies with a federal law that bars the FDA from banning tobacco products or “requiring the reduction of nicotine yields…to zero.”  But the negligible amount of nicotine allowed under the rule would amount to both in practice…current smokers would be apt to inhale more deeply, take more or bigger puffs, or consume more cigarettes to get the nicotine dose to which they are accustomed, which would increase their exposure to the toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke…If “NNC cigarettes” are added to the list of proscribed drugs, we can expect many more examples of people entangled in the criminal justice system…it is unclear wh[at] Trump’s pick to run the FDA, Marty Makary…thinks about the nicotine cap…

The Mob Rules (#1436)

Forced-birth fanatics are now actively attempting to empower abusive men:

As [forced-birth fanatic]s launch legal efforts to stop abortion pills from reaching women in states with bans, they are increasingly turning to one group with uniquely intimate and specific information to help them find cases: [abusive] male sex partners of women who decided to end their pregnancies.  The strategy [has] propelled a…lawsuit filed last month by [serial legal system abuser] Ken Paxton that cited first-hand information from an [abusive partner] to accuse a New York doctor of illegally providing abortion pills to a woman in the Dallas area…Paxton’s office…[i]s…searching for potential plaintiffs [for similar opportunistic lawsuits, and]…next month…Texas’s largest [forced-birth] organization [will] launch…an advertising campaign on Facebook and [Twitter] to reach the [abusive] husbands, boyfriends and sex partners of women who [want revenge on]…those who assisted the women in ending their pregnancies…The effort is the latest indication that, nearly three years after the fall of Roe v. Wade…[sociopath]s have remained largely stymied in their quest to [force women to give birth whether they like it or not so as to create more tax cattle for the State]…

Opting Out (#1438)

It was inevitable that British politicians would join the currently-fashionable “monkey see, monkey do” parade:

Websites that host porn…or other…content [bureaucrats choose to point at while belching out the word “harmful”] must have “robust” age verification in place for UK users by July at the latest, Ofcom has [proclaimed]…services which host their own pornographic content “must begin taking steps immediately” to bring in age checks.  Other “user-to-user” services, such as social media, which allow porn…and…other…content [politicians dislike], will have to enforce the age checks by July…the new [demands are] “the next step” in implementing the Online Safety Act, [but will not remotely be the last]…

Checklist (#1489)

Airlines:  do you really want to keep accepting liability for employees harassing passengers due to the government propaganda you force-feed them?

A Black [cop is suing American airlines because] he was falsely accused of trafficking his wife, who is White…while on their way to…their honeymoon…Anthony Williams…and his wife…Katsiaryna Shasholka…were on a flight from Phoenix to Miami in September 2022 when…a [busybody] passenger accused Williams of human trafficking and reported him to airline employees…wh[o]…upon landing…falsely imprisoned…the [couple]…[who are also suing] the [busybody] passenger…and two airline employees [who enacted their creepy sexual fantasies against the plaintiffs]…

I Spy (#1504)

The point of this delay is to let public outrage die down before they quietly restart the same offenses:

General Motors…and its subsidiary OnStar agreed not to disclose sensitive vehicle geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years…[after it got out that GM] collected, used, and sold…[the] information from millions of vehicles…without notifying consumers and obtaining consent…agencies used the data to compile reports that insurance companies then…used to deny insurance and…raise rates…[as part of the settlement,] the company must [henceforth] obtain driver consent to collect data, and allow [car owners] to delete or limit data…

 

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

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When a police department says there’s nothing to worry about unless you’re a criminal, there definitely is.  –  Will Freeman

If Men Were Angels

This was directly caused by people teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

…sexual abuse [is a pattern among typical and representative]…members of Trinity Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho…John “Beau” Summerlin…a founding member and former deacon…has been charged with [molesting teen girls]…between 2012 and 2015…the victim first disclosed the abuse to her mother in 2015 [but] pastor…Stuart Bryan [swept it under the rug]…Summerlin [fled to] Mississippi and [was later arrested there]…Josiah Bryan, son of [the] pastor…[raped] multiple siblings…rep[ea]tedly…between 2005 and 2010…and…was [recently] arrested…in Texas…

I Spy (#1461)

Now that word of automakers’ nonconsensual surveillance of their marks is getting out, here come the excuses:

For researchers…data [from surreptitious auto surveillance] is a “game changer”…Unlike…data sold to the insurance industry [without the victims’ permission], the data that researchers see is [supposedly] anonymized…But…Even if the data is [claimed by busybodies to] be…used for the public good, [consumer advocate Jen] Caltrider [points out the obvious fact that] drivers should know it is being collected and have an easy way to stop it from happening, because…“Anonymized data is never anonymous, especially when location is included…people aren’t used to getting in their car and thinking they need to play with the settings to protect their privacy”…

Panopticon (#1479)

Privacy as we once knew it will soon be a thing of the past:

Some Motorola automated license plate reader surveillance cameras are live-streaming video and car data to the unsecured internet where anyone can watch and scrape them…a privacy advocate then developed a tool that automatically scans the exposed footage for license plates, and dumps that information into a spreadsheet, allowing someone to track the movements of others in real time…these ALPRs are deployed all over the United States by cities and police departments…and…many of them are misconfigured to stream to the open internet rather than a private network…the[ir]…IP addresses can be found using the Internet of [Shit] search engine Censys…So far, roughly 170 unencrypted ALPR streams have been found…

I Spy (#1493)

Why every company wants you to download its “app”, and why you shouldn’t:

Each time you see a targeted ad, your personal information is exposed to thousands of advertisers and data brokers through a process called “real-time bidding”…the most privacy-invasive surveillance system that you’ve never heard of…The ads you see are the winners of milliseconds-long auctions that expose your personal information to thousands of companies a dayBid requests containing more personal data attract higher bids, so websites and apps are financially motivated to harvest as much of your data as possible…As a result, entire businesses have emerged to harvest and sell data from online advertising auctions…RTB is [also] regularly exploited for [illegal, warrantless] government surveillance…For example, the data broker Near Intelligence collected data about more than a billion devices from RTB auctions and sold it to the U.S. Defense Department.  Mobilewalla sold bidstream data to another data broker, Gravy Analytics, whose subsidiary, Venntell, likewise has sold location data to the FBI, ICE, CBP, and other government agenciesPatternz, another surveillance tool built on bidstream data, was advertised to security agencies worldwide as a way to track people’s locations…

Stalkers in Blue (#1495)

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

An Ohio [cop] has [su]ed a sheriff’s office [for abduct]ing her young child…and then spreading…explicit images of her from her cellphone…Miranda Brothers…[was harassed starting] on January 1, 2024…using the [excuse that she had supposedly left] the child alone with a registered sex offender…The child was [abducted by cops] and Brothers was charged with child endangerment…the[n cops stole]…her phone and…shared [her nudes] with…the [rest of the herd] and “potentially further”…

Shame, Shame (#1502)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

Instagram has begun testing a feature in which [Facebook computers] will automatically generate images of users in various situations and put them into that user’s feed.  One Redditor…told 404 Media that at one point he had uploaded selfies of himself into Instagram’s “Imagine” feature, which is [Facebook’s] image generation feature…“Once you access that feature and upload a selfie to edit, you’ll start seeing these ads pop up with auto-generated images with your likeness”…A [Facebook mouthpiece said] the images are not “ads,” but are a new feature…[Facebook] has begun testing live…“You may see images…created just for you (based on your interests or current trends),” an announcement post from September read…The Reddit post…came on the same weekend that [Facebook’s computer]-generated profiles went viral and were ultimately deleted from the platform.  [Zuckerberg and his henchgeeks have convinced themselves] that people want to be shown more and more [computer]-generated content and [are] finding new ways to [cram] people’s feeds [full of electronic masturbation]…

Cops and Robbers (#1503)

The legacy of To Catch a Predator just keeps on hurting people:

Five…Massachusetts…[students lured] a man to the Assumption University campus in a plot [to attack him] that…was inspired by the television show To Catch a Predator and a fad on TikTok.  The students were part of a [mob] that chased the man from a campus building after he was invited there by a student on the dating app Tinder…[members of the mob fantasized that] the man [was] a sexual predator..[even though] the woman who invited him to the campus, Kelsy Brainard…[truthfully] said on her Tinder profile that she was 18…The [mob]…grabbed him and blocked him from leaving the room…[but] he escaped, and…[fled in] his car…[instigators] Easton Randall…Isabella Trudeau…Joaquin Smith..[Kelsey] Brainard…and Kevin Carroll [have been charged with crimes including kidnapping, conspiracy, and assault]…

 

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

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The hospitals are at fault. The clinicians are at fault. Our policies are at fault.  –  Dr. Davida Schiff

The Truth About “The Truth About…”

At first, I believed her, until it became clear that Nifong was showboating:

Crystal Mangum, the former exotic dancer who accused three Duke men’s lacrosse players of rape in 2006…now [admit]s she lied…“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t…And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said on the web show “Let’s Talk with Kat“…The interview took place at the North Carolina [prison]…where Mangum is serving time for [the] 2013 [knife] murder…[of] her boyfriend…she said she hopes the three men will forgive her…[Mike Nifong,] the district attorney [who turned] the case [into a circus,] was convicted of criminal contempt and disbarred…

If Men Were Angels

Preacher can’t or won’t behave like a moral person; what a shock:

A [typical and representative Oklahoma] pastor…[named] James McMillan was arrested in late November…[becaus]e he unzipped his pants and began touching himself in front of a…[teen girl] while [driv]ing down a Cleveland County highway.  McMillan was arrested again [on December 9] for [show]ing [porn]…to a minor…he…has been [repor]ted [for] sexual abuse…in multiple [social] services and [criminal] cases dating back to 2003 [but nothing has ever been done]…

Cops and Robbers (#1328)

Cops don’t like it when non-cops ape their entrapment schemes:

Police are …[hu]nting teenage gangs [which are] terrorizing gay men in “pedo hunts” in the Sydney area…Nearly a dozen organized attacks have been connected to the…gangs, likely a fraction of the actual number…the victims were gay men who arranged to meet in public parks with someone they met on a dating app like Grindr.  Instead of a consensual hook-up, they were confronted by multiple teenagers, who then taunted, beat, and robbed the victims, sometimes using [guns Australian politicians like to pretend don’t exist in Australia]…Several of the victims were forced [by threats] to c[laim they were] pedophiles while being filmed, [so the attackers could post the]…videos…online, in…[places such as] an Instagram account called “pedohunting_syd”…At least five boys, ages 14 to 17, have been charged in connection with the assaults and robberies, as well as…possessing unauthorized firearms.  Police are describing the gang as a terror group…

Thought Control (#1460)

I was destined to be threatened with state violence regardless of career path:

After years of culture war battles in school and public libraries, the campaign by [pro-censorship] “parent rights” groups has succeeded in casting a nationwide chill over the market for children’s books…During the 2023-24 school year, there were more than 10,000 book bans in public schools — a 200% rise over the previous year.  The books overwhelmingly included LGBTQ+ themes and characters of color, according to PEN America.  Many of the same books are banned over and over across the country, through coordinated efforts by [pro-censorship] groups…Teachers and librarians, facing threats and fearful of losing their jobs or even going to jail…are hesitating to put [any] books that include LGBTQ+ characters or discussions of racism on their shelves…sales of such books are down significantly…and authors have seen school visits canceled, leaving them without a crucial income stream…[wannabe thought controllers vomit out the word “]pornography[” at sane, moral people, and opine that “authors and publishers]…should be imprisoned.  Educators and public librarians who [stock any book we point at] should be classed as registered sex offenders”…

Thought Control (#1468)

Politicians really do believe they can control people’s thoughts via threats:

Karen Cahall…who teaches third grade [in Ohio], was recently suspended for three days without pay and threatened with termination…for [hav]ing four books in her classroom library [of about 100 books] that contained LGBTQ characters…Ana On The EdgeThe Fabulous Zed Watson!Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea, and Too Bright to See…[were on a list used by busybodies to harass teachers] and…on October 30, 2024, a [wannabe thought-controller took it up on herself to compare every title in Cahall’s library against that list, then]…sent an email complaining to…every [school board] member…Superintendent Tracey Miller, who [has neither spine nor principles, claimed]…Cahall’s inclusion of these books in her classroom library violated school district policy…[against books about] “topic[s] on which opposing points of view [exist]”…Cahall has filed a…lawsuit against Miller and…School District…[because] their actions were [blatantly] unconstitutional…

Property of the State (#1474) 

How long will society accept its medical system being used as a tool of state violence?

Across the country, hospitals are dispensing medications to patients in labor, only to report them to child welfare authorities when they or their newborns test positive for those very same substances on subsequent drug tests…The[se]…are…medications routinely prescribed to millions…every year…includ[ing] morphine or fentanyl for epidurals or other pain relief, anxiety medications, and two different blood pressure meds prescribed for C-sections.  In a time of increasing surveillance and criminalization of pregnant women since the end of Roe v. Wade, the hospital reports have prompted calls to the police, child welfare investigations and even the [abduction] of children from their parents…

You Were Warned (#1483)

Politicians will use any trick to gain control of the internet:

[Pro-censorship politician] Mike Lee has introduced a bill to…forc[e unconstitutional] age verification on app stores and mobile devices, with [the] goal of chilling sex-related speech.  Lee [misuses the word] “accountability” [to weirdly represent]…”big corporations”…[as public] “moral[ity agencies” despite the fact that]…big corporations like Google and Apple already ban apps featuring sexual content…[for] everybody…[so] this legislation is about…age-gating…social media…and making tech companies even more afraid of allowing anyone to access adult content…[by inventing] a private right of action for parents and guardians [to file nuisance lawsuits] against app stores…If minors download a web browser and visit porn websites, their parents can sue.  If minors download X or Bluesky or Reddit and happen upon some sort of sexualized image, their parents can sue.  If minors download a chat app and peers direct message them GIFs featuring cartoons committing violence, or inappropriate selfies, or any message at all, their parents can sue.  All a parent has to [do is belch out the word “]harm[“]…or “lewd”…

 

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

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The government has such loose standards that they let people weaponize them.  –  J.D. Lott

Torture Chamber (Chamber of Horrors)

The State tortures thousands of people for crossing an imaginary line:

For years, federal investigators…immigrants, and advocates have called for ICE to shutter the Winn [Migrant Torture] Center…[due to rampant] abuse, mismanagement, and inhumane conditions, [yet] in May, the Biden administration temporarily extended the facility’s contract…and..ICE will likely extend it again for five more years…During…a…protest [in January the prison sent in a goon squad]…dressed in black riot gear…who…began deploying canisters of pepper spray without warning…[while yelling] “Shut up motherfuckers!” [at] the[ir victims]…then [swarm]ed through…[the dungeon, pepper-]spraying detainees in the face…they…then exited the [scene of their crime], locked the doors and windows, and cut power and water.  For three hours or so, the immigrants…were denied medical care, aside from a few individuals who had [been beaten unconscious by the thug gang]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1373)

These evil schemes need to be completely shut down as unconstitutional:

Detroit police can no longer s[teal] cars through civil asset forfeiture unless they can show that the car was used for trafficking drugs…the Michigan Supreme Court ruled…that…it is not enough to merely claim that a car was near a suspected drug crime or that a passenger possessed drugs for personal use…The ruling is the second recent court decision limiting the asset forfeiture powers of Wayne County, which encompasses Detroit, and the second one specifically involving [Stephanie] Wilson’s Saturn Ion…[which cops stole] in 2019 because she gave rides to her daughter’s father to or from a residence [cops had pointed at while oinking “]drug activity[“, but]…Wilson was never cited, arrested, or charged with a crime…Wayne County s[tole] over 2,600 vehicles  between 2017 and 2019 and raked in over $1.2 million in [ransom] revenues…

You Were Warned (#1383)

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

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…[is about to] force a vote…on…KOSA…a[n internet-censorship bill which invents]…a “duty of care” for a huge swath of digital companies…to protect minors from exposure to anything that [politicians decide is a]…”harm”…The only way to “prevent and mitigate” services from contributing to these [politically-designated “]harms[“] is for companies to either drastically censor every user’s speech or to block minors from using [thei]r service, which means checking IDs for everyone.  Even if used in the most neutral and narrow of ways possible, the potential disruption of free speech and anonymity online is cataclysmic.  And…the political appointees at the Federal Trade Commission…will wind up…[using] KOSA to further specific political agendas—including crusades against abortion, LGBTQ rights, second-amendment rights, sex worker rights, big businesses, language that progressives deem disrespectful, and sexuality broadly…

Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1388)

Cops won’t drop this fantasy until “news” media stop obediently parroting it:

A…[whiny-baby cop in] Southport [Indiana had a panic attack while harassing a motorist]…Tony Wilson…[was root]ing [through his victim’s] car…[and saw] a dollar bill [with traces of white powder]…he [fantasized] was fentanyl…he [was so terrified he pissed himself]…and [then fainted]…his bosses [used the non-event as an excuse for swaggering and oinking out a lot of hysterical self-aggrandizing nonsense]…

Without Let or Hindrance (#1392)

Calling “child protection” on people is merely a quieter form of “swatting”:

J.D. Lott…his wife Britney…[and] their eight kids…[were] three years into a cross-country, home-schooling, Instagram-documented road trip in a bus they refashioned into an RV…wh[en]…online trolls…[decided] to weaponize child protective services…a group, FundieSnarkUncensored, that makes fun of people it believes are Christian Fundamentalists…had been…armchair diagnosing…the[ir] healthy newborn [Boone, claiming he] had “severe sunburn,” “was lethargic,” and had “jaundice”…they used a…video the Lotts had posted from their Florida campground stay to geolocate the[m]…then…called the local Florida DCF office and repeated, verbatim, the accusations…the [agency] decided t[o destroy their lives and]…threatened to issue a nationwide order to [abduct all of their] kids…Lott called the Family Freedom Project…a Texas nonprofit that helps families wrongly accused of abuse by child services…the FFP…found a…[lawyer and] a…[non-government] doctor…to have [a] child welfare evaluation…As soon as the Lotts pulled into the parking lot, a cop car pulled in behind them, lights flashing…the [doctor] took a look at baby Boone and determined that he did not have jaundice, severe sunburn, or lethargy.  The other seven children were examined and found to be in good health as well.  The doctor informed the family that the cops would not be [abduct]ing the kids…But when the state threatens to take away your kids, it’s not exactly no harm, no foul, sorry for the inconvenience.  The experience still gives some of the kids nightmares…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1447)

Everyone abused by cops using this error-prone surveillance system needs to sue:

In 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested after facial recognition software incorrectly identified him as the person responsible for a 2018 shoplifting spree.  Detroit, Michigan, police jailed Williams for more than 30 hours—even after it became clear that he was not responsible…Williams ultimately sued.  Last month, the case was settled, with Williams set to receive a $300,000 payout for his wrongful arrest…Donald Bussa, [the pig] who conducted the investigation, relied almost exclusively on the facial recognition software, not even looking into Williams’ whereabouts at the time of the crime…or interviewing [store] employees who were [actually present]…After Williams was arrested…he was held for hours before being interviewed…[and] once he was…the case against him quickly unraveled…[but] even after police [admitt]ed they had the wrong person, Williams still wasn’t released for another eight hours.  It took nearly two weeks for the charges against him to be dropped…

To Molest and Rape (#1457)

“Lewd and lascivious conduct” sounds so much nicer than “raping a 10-year-old”:

A [typical and representative] Vermont [cop named Todd Chisholm] has been [let off with a mere] 30 days in prison a[fter making a sweetheart] plea [deal] in which he pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct…[after repeatedly raping his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter starting] in…2003…Chisholm…[also has] 6 years of probation…[but] if [he hadn’t been a cop], Chisholm could have been facing life in prison…

 

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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They just threw him out like trash.  –  Gretchen Hankins

If Men Were Angels

This will continue until fools stop teaching children unquestioning obedience to “authority”:

A [typical and representative] pastor of an independent Baptist church in…Warsaw [Virginia] is facing 30 felony charges [for molesting and even raping children]…at the church between 1981 and 1997.  Albert Benjamin Wharton…has [worked for]…seven churches in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida over the past four decades[, so there may be many more victims]…

Don’t Call It Trafficking (#667)

It’s never called “trafficking” when the government or a crony corporation does it:

Universal Health Services…is the nation’s largest psychiatric hospital chain, with 185 inpatient…facilities and dozens of acute care hospitals…More than 21,000 inpatient psychiatric beds—or one in six across the country—are operated by UHS, which brought in $13.4 billion last year.  In recent years, the company has been the subject of several high-profile lawsuits and investigations…UHS facilities admitted patients who didn’t need to be there…failed to provide adequate treatment…billed insurance for unnecessary services…improperly used physical and chemical restraints and isolation….[and] used suicidal ideation to “justify almost any admission”…thousands of foster kids have been [condemn]ed in recent years to UHS’s psychiatric facilities, where they typically stay for weeks or months, sometimes leaving far worse off than when they arrived…a symbiotic relationship has developed between…[“]child welfare[“] agencies, which have too many kids in custody and not enough places to put them, and [fascist] companies like UHS…Kids often come back to facilities again and again, acting out more with each admission…To UHS and its competitors…foster kids are “a gold mine”…

Believe Them

Mississippi demonstrates exactly what it thinks of its subjects:

Some 215 bodies were found in a pauper’s cemetery… just outside of Jackson, [Mississippi]…intended for people who have no known family, but…relatives…were never contacted by officials.  Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the families of Marrio Moore, Dexter Wade, and Jonathan Hankins, who were all buried in the cemetery without the knowledge of their families…the deceased are put in body bags and placed into…graves [so shallow that]..the stench [of decomposition is]…drawing buzzards…Wade was [not a prisoner; he was run over by a cop driving a pigmobile, then his]…identification [was ignored and his]…family was not notified…[so they] thought he was missing until…recently…

The Mob Rules (#1322)

Partisan fanatics want you to believe this is fundamentally different from very similar laws in Arkansas and Utah, because “red and blue”:

…the supposed “harm” of social media to teen mental health just isn’t supported by the data.  But it seems it’s never enough to stop savior-complex folk…[like] Jim Steyer, who has more money and ignorance than sense, trying to quietly push a California ballot initiative that would adjust the California constitution in an unconstitutional (by the US Constitution) manner to falsely claim that social media is deliberately harmful to kids, and that people should be able to sue social media for a million dollars any time any kid anywhere is “harmed” in a manner…that the…company should have magically stopped.  He submitted the proposal…right before the holidays when most people weren’t paying attention, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta has a comment period open that ends on January 17th…Bonta’s office has supported a variety of problematic “protect the children online!” laws, including the Age Appropriate Design Code that a district court has already noted was pretty clearly unconstitutional

Winding Down (#1342)

Politicians are terrified that the state is losing ways to destroy peaceful citizens’ lives:

California’s…governor…Gavin Newsom…[vetoed] bills that would have decriminalized four naturally occurring psychedelics and authorized Amsterdam-style cannabis cafés.  Senate Bill 58…was similar to a groundbreaking ballot initiative that Colorado voters approved in 2022, [and] would have eliminated criminal penalties for adults 21 or older who use psilocybin, psilocyn, mescaline, or dimethyltryptamine…But [Newsom claims]…it would be [“]reckless[“] to stop threatening psychedelic users with arrest and jail…Assembly Bill 374…would have allowed dispensaries, with local approval, to serve marijuana along with noncannabis food and beverages, which is currently illegal.  It also would have explicitly allowed live music…[but] Newsom [is] “concerned this bill could undermine California’s long-standing” [war on]…smoking

A Moral Cancer (#1388)

SCOTUS says it’s OK for politicians to specifically target black people with prohibitionist laws:

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a California law that bans the sale of flavored cigarettes, leaving the state law in place…The ban’s challengers…told the justices that the law “has shut the doors to one of the Nation’s largest markets for flavored tobacco products and thereby banned a product (menthol cigarettes) that has been lawfully sold for nearly a century,” [and which are used by 77-88% of black American smokers]…

Vulture Watching (#1394)

SCOTUS also says it’s OK if deranged Idaho politicians let women die and ruin doctors’ careers if they try to prevent that:

The Supreme Court [has] allowed Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, while a legal fight continues.  The justices said they would hear arguments in April and [if any women die before that it’s just tough luck]…the Biden administration has argued that hospitals that receive Medicare funds are required by federal law to provide emergency care, potentially including abortion, no matter if there’s a state law banning abortion…

 

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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He got so excited that I was bisexual, like, maybe he needed to change his underwear.  –  “Alison”

Without Let or Hindrance

Some still believe these sociopaths are motivated by “child protection”:

…an…anonymous caller, whom L.B. believes to be a former acquaintance with a grudge, has [repeatedly called] New York’s state child welfare hotline….[to] make outlandish, often already-disproven claims about her…[in order] to…trigger a government intrusion into her domestic life…Over the past three years, the agency either has [raid]ed her home or [molest]ed and [interrogat]ed her son at school more than two dozen times.  [Bureaucrats] have sought a warrant for only three of these searches, most recently in August.  All of those requests have been rejected by judges…[yet] it keeps happening, and it’s nearly always the same routine…[busybodies with cop henchmen] demand entry into her apartment, ringing her doorbell and, embarrassingly, sometimes those of her neighbors as well, at all hours of the day and night.  They [leer at] her child’s unclothed stomach and thighs, and sometimes take pictures.  And they interrogate him without her consent, covering topics like whether she has sex around him…L.B. [has now] filed a federal lawsuit against the commissioner of ACS and the city of New York…[because] her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures has been repeatedly violated by the agency’s warrantless incursions…

If Men Were Angels

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

Luis Mendoza…was arraigned…on multiple counts of…grooming and [molest]ing…a minor…[he was reported by the victim’s] parents…

Paint By Numbers (#1070)

Dumb “anti-trafficking” events are now mostly ads for sports:

[Several professional golfers collaborated with]…Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for a celebrity golf tournament with a focus on [promoting “]sex-trafficking[” propaganda.  Funds raised from the Teeing Off to Stop Human Trafficking golf tournament…will [be given to cops to conduct pogroms against sex workers while spewing talking points and nonsense statistics]…

Monsters (#1300)

Never forget that this started with censorship of internet porn:

Russia’s justice ministry has filed a motion with the country’s Supreme Court to ban the activities of what it calls the “international LGBT public movement” as extremist…[due to] inciting “social and religious strife”…The extremist label has been used in the past by Russian authorities against rights organisations and opposition groups…The top court will examine the motion on 30 November.  The ban would make it impossible for LGBT organisations to operate and put activists and employees at risk of criminal prosecution…

Stupor Bowl (#1311)

It’s no longer unusual to see this type of article on “sex trafficking”myths:

Every year…a…public relations blitz repeats the long-discredited myth that major sporting events such as the…[Super Bowl] are a magnet for sex trafficking.  There’s not a shred of evidence to support it…so why does it keep coming back?…federal and local law enforcement agencies use this “trafficking hysteria” as an excuse to mount lucrative vice stings…renaming prostitution as human trafficking, pretending to rescue “sex trafficking victims” and saddling people with prostitution arrests…We are asking the media to ask critical questions.  Do not simply repeat whatever the police might claim.  Do not be complicit in this annual ritual.  Instead, speak to the sex workers who are being rounded up, harassed and criminalized to provide extravagant headlines for the police.

The End of the Beginning (#1373)

What kind of moral imbeciles condemned him to the registry in the first place?

In 2012, when Adam Nesteikis was 25 years old, his friend [a younger neighbor who had been molesting him, encouraged] him to pull down his pants in front of a young girl…Adam is intellectually disabled, which means he didn’t realize he had done something wrong.  He also didn’t understand what it meant when, after a trial, he was placed on the sex offense registry.  He just knew that for some reason, he lost the job he loved wiping tables.  He could no longer participate in the Special Olympics.  And he couldn’t scuba dive—his very favorite activity—because the club practiced in a high school pool and he was no longer allowed to be near young people.  Thankfully, this injustice has finally been remedied: This year, he received a full pardon from…Gov. J.B. Pritzker [of Illinois].  His record will also be expunged…

Served Cold (#1382)

The schadenfreude of watching Tim Ballard’s reputation go down in flames is so very sweet:

A female [“]operator[” for]…OUR…spent time with [Tim Ballard] on a private island, where he claimed to directly communicate with God, before shadowing him as he trawled massage parlors and strip clubs across the British Virgin Islands, despite there being no intelligence to suggest that…any trafficking was going on at all…In planning and execution, the [organization’s] work was amateurish and dangerous…it became clear to her that the OUR hierarchy was fully aware of what Ballard was doing…and…other top members of the organization…were themselves participants in the couples ruse…[her] story…depicts an organization focused on allowing its celebrity founder, who had become completely detached from reality, to live the lavish lifestyle of a wealthy sex tourist and sexually manipulate and abuse volunteers under the guise of saving children….

Looks like the cops are getting involved as well:

A woman…[has reported fallen rescue industry con man] Tim Ballard [for] sexually assault[ing] her, the first known instance of a…[criminal] accusation…after similar [attacks on women have led to] two civil lawsuits…

 

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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