The implication is that [edible] manufacturers want to trick kids into getting high, although it’s not clear why that would be a sensible business strategy. – Jacob Sullum
The Dutch Cabinet’s plan to register sex workers…will…worsen their situation, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) warned…The Cabinet’s proposal would allow municipalities to [demand]…sex workers…register their personal data, and to require businesses operating in the space to force their workers to do the same. The Cabinet [justified] the [scheme by barfing out that all-purpose excuse for violating women’s rights, “]human trafficking[“, but in reality]…sex workers would wind up plying their trade underground “for fear of registration and loss of privacy.” As a result, they would fall out of view of authorities…
[Mike Jeffries,] the ex-CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner [Matthew Smith]…used a middleman to find young men for…events, [and now eight] of [them] allege…they were exploited or abused…the couple’s middleman denied any wrongdoing and said men went into these events “with their eyes wide open”. Abercrombie & Fitch…[bloviated pearl-clutching nonsense against Jeffries to protect its] brand…Two former US prosecutors…have called for an investigation to determine whether charges for sex trafficking could be brought…
It’s October, which means it is time for alarmist cops and credulous reporters to start [attempt]ing [to panic] parents about the purported menace of cannabis edibles in trick-or-treat bags. KSNT…in Topeka, Kansas, got a jump on that annual rite last month, when it amplified a “community advisory” from the…[local cop shop] about “THC-infused gummies and snacks marketed to children ahead of the holidays”…
It’s hard to overstate how little mainstream news attention has been paid to…problems with the [“child welfare”] system, which…is more akin to law enforcement than social services, given its ability to surveil parents and hand down the ultimate punishment — terminating the legal bonds between parent and child. Families ensnared in the system lack many basic due process rights in navigating a punitive bureaucracy, and they typically don’t receive a lawyer until the state seeks temporary or permanent custody of their child in court. Regardless, children…aren’t actually made safer; the rates of maltreatment for children in foster care are abysmal, and research has repeatedly found that children who enter the system fare worse on multiple measures than children left in their homes…
A woman has been [condemn]ed to life in [a cage] after [a gang of whiny-baby cops had panic attacks while rooting through]…Jessica Thomas[‘ possessions without her permission after using]…a…traffic stop [as a pretext]…Douglas County sheriff Dan Coverley [spouted a lot of pseudoscientific nonsense about an “]increase in pressure from transporting the drugs from low elevation to high elevation[” somehow magically changing the physical and chemical properties]…of…fentanyl [so it would behave as cops imagine it does rather than as it actually does in the real world]…
American Airlines has apologized to a Black musician who…was [harassed using the asinine pretext] that he was trafficking his own children, [based solely on their being] biracial…David Ryan Harris…and two of his children, Truman, 12, and Hendrix, 7, were flying…from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Sept. 15…[when an air hostess started peppering] his children [with nosy] questions…After the plane landed, Mr. Harris…and his children were [confronted] at the top of the jet bridge by an American Airlines employee and [a pack of] four [scowling cops]…They…were eventually allowed to continue on to the baggage claim area, but were not given an apology….[until] he p[ublicized the harassment on] Instagram…
The Minneapolis Police Department is looking into a [female cop] who moonlights as an OnlyFans model. [Local news] is not identifying the [cop, though they would never extend the same courtesy to any other sex worker]…
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!
[Sex worker] Geila Ibram…was [murdered] in Limerick…[by] Habib Shamel, an Afghan national…on April 4, [Shamel pretended to be a client in order to trick]…the victim [into] provid[ing] her address…CCTV footage shows [Shamel] entering [her] flat just before 1.30pm, and leaving “approximately one minute 52 seconds later”…[during which time he] stabbed [Ibram] numerous times in the neck, face and abdomen…in…a “vicious and frenzied attack”…[he] the[n fled to]…Belfast…before being arrested on April 6…
Predictably, the ghouls of Ruhama are already trying to make political coin from her barely-cold corpse.
…Dallas parents Temecia and Rodney Jackson opted for a home birth for their newborn daughter, Mila, with licensed midwife Cheryl Edinbyrd…Shortly after [her] birth…she…developed a case of jaundice—a highly common condition in newborns…which typically goes away without treatment within one to two weeks. The Jacksons opted to follow Edinbyrd’s guidance to care for Mila in their home rather than leave her at the hospital. Within days…Dallas [cops] and CPS [thugs] arrived at their doorstep at around 5 a.m., informing the family that their pediatrician had reported them and demanding that they [surrender their child]…the Jacksons refused…and..reached out to their midwife…[who in turn] reached out to the pediatrician…[and] gave him all the credentials he…requested from her…he [the withdrew from the case]…but [a week later the cops]…returned…arrest[ed the father, stole] his keys, and used them to enter his home [without permission to abduct] Mila…the…warrant…didn’t even list their own names, instead listing her parents as a different couple that’s previously [been targeted by] CPS. The Jacksons still don’t even have Mila’s birth certificate because she wasn’t born in a hospital…
Jonathan Simon, [a London cop assigned to] Redbridge…and [adjacent areas, escaped with a mere] 16 weeks imprisonment suspended for 2 years for stalking…a…woman…[at her] home and workplace in…a…year-long campaign of harassment…he…also bombard[ed] her with messages and voicemails despite being repeatedly told to stop…After [she] block[ed] him, he began to use his police phone…he…[also] us[ed London’s dystopian network of] CCTV cameras to spy on her and t[old] her…to intimidate her. He [also] groped her…and…tried to get…he[r]…to engage in sex work w[ith him as her pimp]…
On the fifth anniversary of the government’s demolition of Backpage for hosting completely-legal, Constitutionally-protected speech politicians didn’t like, the unsinkable Liz Brown has published a thorough look at the past, present, and possible future of the wildly-incompetent, shockingly-illegal, and wholly tyrannical prosecution, complete with a plethora of quotes from many sex workers and other interested parties (including yours truly). As so often happens with Liz’s articles, there’s too much good stuff here to even attempt a block quote, so you’ll just have to read it yourself (and I strongly urge you to do so).
…in…Thailand…a new government-led plan…calls for repealing the 1996 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, which [was enacted due to pressure from the US], and replacing it with…the Protection of Sex Work Act, affirming the rights of sex workers and their places of business to sell sex. The bill’s proponents hope it will help the country’s sex workers — estimated to number anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 — ply their trade more safely and earn higher wages…Jintana Janbumrung…of the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development…[said] by giving sex workers legal status…“they can…have access to the same welfare as other occupations, whose rights will not be violated, who will not be exploited by their clients or sex business operators [and have] a better quality of life”…
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk [has] suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime approval of key abortion pill mifepristone…approved…more than 20 years ago to be used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, to terminate pregnancies at up to 10 weeks…if the stay…goes into effect, the drug would no longer be [legally] available…in the U.S. That would leave a surgical procedure or off-label use of misoprostol on its own as the only options in states where abortion is legal….though the one-drug approach has been shown in clinical trials to be somewhat less effective than the two-pill regimen…the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals…[as did] Danco Laboratories, which manufactures mifepristone…Even if the 5th Circuit Court…does block Kacsmaryk’s ruling, the challengers could ask the [same] Supreme Court…[which] overturned Roe v. Wade…to [reinstate the ban]…
A [typical and representative Missouri cop named]…Matthew N. Skaggs…was…arrested…[for] convinc[ing] three minors…to a[llow him to molest them]…he [also] gave vape cartridges to one…in exchange for pornographic images…and paid another [hush money] not to reveal [the molestation. As is typical, the government thinks the most important factor was that he was wearing his magical clown suit at the time]…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
…after their son Cooper…[was sexually] assault[ed by a cop named Brandon Cook, Tim & Heather]…Hill…[were subjected to] an ever more complicated web of [retaliatory] legal proceedings [by Missouri “child welfare” goons under the direction of a bureaucrat named Spring] Cook…[seven months after a] Review Board…reversed Cook’s finding of neglect…FBI agents knocked on their door…[to interrogate] Cooper’s [sister about his] sex life, much like DSS had. They left and never came back…but [to head off more retaliatory]…investigations, the…[Hills] filed a federal civil rights lawsuit…claiming Cook’s investigation was conducted in retaliation for the family standing up against Scott County after Deputy Cook “groomed Plaintiffs’ minor son through the Scott County Sheriff’s Explorer program”…In June 2021, a federal judge dismissed most of the Hills’ claims. But in a surprising and rare move, she ruled [Spring] Cook wasn’t shielded from a…suit under [qualified] immunity…a…jury [later] found [Brandon] Cook guilty of [molesting Cooper and he]…was sentenced to two years in prison…
…personal data [from] using the internet…are collected by website cookies, social media platforms, mobile applications, and myriad other digital information hoovers. This information is collected, processed, and sold by data brokers….to the government. The…CDC…for instance, purchased location data to [spy on people using] COVID restrictions [as a pretext]…In 2017–18, the…IRS…paid to access location data to [enable surprise raids]…The Wall Street Journal reported, “In many cases, the data is precise enough to clearly identify the home address of the phone’s user, which can then be cross-checked against public databases showing property ownership records or rental address history.” Under modern case law, the Fourth Amendment does not constrain the government’s purchasing of [this data], as such transactions require neither search nor seizure…
The FBI has opened an investigation into…following the deaths of two [prisoners] at the Harris County Jail in Texas…Jaquaree Simmons…died in February 2021 and Jacoby Pillow…died in January 2023…Houston…attorneys Ben Crump and Paul Grinke…request[ed] the…investigation. “It’s appalling that you would have 32 detainees (die) in the Harris County Jail in a 14-month period,” Crump said…21 [human being]s died [while locked] in [filthy cages in Houston] in 2021, and…at least 28 [last year]…the total number of deaths [so far] in 2023 is “at least four”…”We have credible reason to believe that Jacoby Pillow died from compression asphyxia from being restrained…that [is also] evidence that he was beaten multiple times by [screws]”…
A [London cop who sexually assaulted] a woman…claims DNA could have been transferred to her chest after she shook his hand…[in actuality,] Fabian Aguilar-Delgado…followed her upstairs and sexually assaulted her after he was called to a domestic incident at her home in Croydon…most of the DNA found on a swab taken from the woman’s right nipple [belong]ed to Aguilar-Delgado…
A [typical and representative] Atlanta[-area cop] has been arrested in connection with the death of a 16-year-old girl who vanished from Gwinnett County more than six months ago. Susana Morales…vanished…on July 26, 2022…[she] texted her mother at 9:40 p.m…and was not heard from again…[until her] remains were found [on February 6th], more than 20 miles away…Miles Bryant…has been arrested…[but so far only] charged with concealing the death of another and false report of a crime [even though cops suspect him of raping and murdering her]…
Rep. Chris Stewart…introduced a bill that would require social media platforms to verify the age of every registered user and prohibit registering [users] younger than 16…the bill would…require…platforms to verify age using government identification, such as a birth certificate or a driver’s license…[and] would apply to any platform that allows users to make accounts for posting, sharing, or viewing user-generated content…This spacious definition of “social media” could be interpreted by regulators to include messaging, video, and email services, none of which are explicitly excluded from the statute’s provisions. And unlike many recent proposals to regulate online life, the bill does not…spare smaller platforms from having to collect sensitive information from users—which would be costly to protect and would threaten users’ privacy…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
The number of [incalls, labeled “]illegal brothels[” by French police]…has tripled in the past two years…[because the “Swedish model” exposes]…street prostitution [to debilitating police harassment]…With hotels and the concierges of apartment blocks now extremely vigilant about rooms [rented by sex workers out of fear they will be]…pros[ecuted as “]pimps[“, sex workers] are increasingly opting for detached houses in…the [suburbs of Paris]…police…[of course vomited out bizarre fantasies about “sex trafficking”, but this outcome was predicted by those warning about the consequences of the so-called “]Nordic model[“] of [asymmetric criminalization]…
Arizona [prisons are]…inducing the labor of pregnant prisoners against their will, according to three women [violated thus]…all three…were induced before their due dates…and…all three…were told…they were being induced because it was a policy…they believe it is being implemented to reduce liability for the prison system…two of the women said they were receiving medical bills…a common [indignity inflicted upon]…people [condemned to]…Arizona prisons…
[UK cop]s who preyed upon women and posted homemade pornography to social media are among hundreds allowed to keep their jobs…[as] the c[itizenry]…continues to be plagued by [violent, sociopathic cops]…Most received little more than a slap on the wrist after their behaviour came to light, with some facing no repercussions whatsoever…one former chief constable [admitted that these hundreds of cases are just] “the tip of the iceberg”…at least 921 [cops were] investigated for [online] conduct…[and] texts…since the start of 2017. Yet only six per cent…led to…dismiss[al, though]…many [involved rape]…sexual [coercion] and [harassment. Cops who saw any consequences at all]…routinely escaped with…“reflective practice” – thinking about what they have done – or “management action”, which amounts to [stern words from] a superior…in…many cases [cops]…faced “no action” at all for predatory…behaviour…[including the] target[ing of] vulnerable women…and stalk[ing]…
Laurie Schlegel is…a…[“]sex addiction[” profiteer turned pro-censorship]…Louisiana [politician who succeeded in]…pass[ing a law demand]ing age verification for any website that contains 33.3% or more pornographic material…[Even though the law adequately defines neither “pornography” nor how this percentage is supposed to be measured, that doesn’t matter because it is to be enforced by nuisance lawsuit like the Texas abortion statute SCOTUS has chosen to ignore]…Louisiana [residents can seek to cash in by claiming in a lawsuit that] “children are getting access to pornography”…
For the first time, retail pharmacies…will be allowed to offer abortion pills in the United States under a regulatory change made [on January 3rd] by the Food and Drug Administration…Until now, mifepristone…could be dispensed only by a few mail-order pharmacies or by specially certified doctors or clinics. Under the new…rules…patients will still need a prescription…but any pharmacy that agrees to accept those prescriptions…can dispense the pills in its stores and by mail order…the F.D.A. [also] removed the in-person requirement…The second drug in the regimen, misoprostol, has never been as tightly restricted as mifepristone and is used for many different medical conditions; it is easily obtained at pharmacies through a typical prescription process…
[A] Glasgow [Kentucky]…co[p was arrested] on New Year’s Day…Joseph Ramey…rep[ea]tedly assaulted h[is girlfriend, then]…handcuffed her…and held her against her will…
Once considered a last resort reserved for parents who abandon their children, the involuntary and permanent termination of parental rights [by the State] now hangs over every mother and father accused of any[thing the State chooses to call] abuse or neglect…No state terminates parental rights more frequently or [quickly] than West Virginia, [where]…one in 50 children [w]ere [violently and non-consensually abducted from]…both of their parents from 2015 to 2019…most…within 11 months of [the state abducting them] from their home for the first time…Nationally, the parents of about 327,000 children [had] their rights [ripped from them by the State] from 2015 to 2019…one-fifth…in less than a year. Over the past 25 years, [the State has]…increasingly turned to this ultimate consequence, partly in response to Clinton-era federal policies that…[financially incentivize these abduc]tions. According to a recent study, the [number of children permanently abducted by the State]…doubled from 2000 to 2016. One in 100 U.S. children — disproportionately Black and Native American — [are thus abducted]…through the [pretext of] child welfare…before they turn 18…Most of those [cases were justified by]…allegations of neglect, [largely] a [dysphemism for]…poverty…Just 15% of [these cases were based in]…concerns about physical or sexual abuse…
I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one. Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful. But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer. So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets. Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements. Thanks so much!
A woman who grabbed a transgender man’s genitals after demanding to know what sex he was has been convicted of sexual assault. Karen Waldron…claim[ed] she was just looking out for a friend who had “taken a shine” to the man. But Waldron…was ordered to pay her victim…£300 in compensation. She had approached him…[and] when…[she] grabbed his genitals and squeezed…he…told her that it was not appropriate.” Waldron replied “I don’t care”…
London [Ontario] police issued a public safety warning…about a [typical and representative cop] who spent two-thirds of his career [on paid vacation] before resigning last year…Steve Williams…already fac[es] eight charges for [rape and]…sexual assault [and is known for] choking [his victims]…William…[uses at least] a half-dozen [different] aliases t[o find victims] on dating and social media websites…[including] Will Stevenson, Will Stephens, Will S. Will, Where there is a Will there is a way and Will Si…Williams…was first [rewarded with a paid vacation] in November 2017…
South Africa has said it will decriminalise sex work, hoping to tackle high levels of crime against women…“It is hoped that decriminalisation will minimise human rights violations against sex workers,” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told a press briefing…“It would also mean better access to healthcare and … afford[ing] better protection for sex workers, better working conditions and less discrimination and stigma”…
The federal Bureau of Prison’s deeply flawed, backlogged system for investigating sexual assault fails to protect female inmates from rape while protecting [rapist] employees…[rapes are so pervasive at] FCI Dublin…in California, [that it’s known as “the rape club”…both the…warden and prison chaplain, among other employees, have been found guilty of [rape]…[at] FCC Coleman…in Florida…prison leadership created a “sanctuary” for guards who were known sexual predators. “The sexual abuse at these…prisons is rampant but goes largely unchecked as a result of cultural tolerance, orchestrated cover-ups and organizational reprisals of inmates who dare to complain”…Ostensibly, incarcerated people are protected from sexual assault by not only the Constitution and criminal law, but the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)…passed in 2003, [which] was supposed to create zero-tolerance policies for sexual abuse…However, in practice, PREA is toothless…Both Dublin and Coleman were found to be in compliance with PREA standards…
To varying degrees from state to state, low-income families…particularly Black, Hispanic and Native families…are inordinately subjected to child abuse investigations, says Anna Arons…[director of] the New York University School of Law…Family Defense Clinic… “statistics…estimate that 37 percent of all American children will be subjected to one of these investigations before they turn 18…That is a huge, kind of mind-boggling number that speaks to the scale of the system”…a vast, invasive surveillance apparatus is not necessary to keep children safe[, yet] “That experience is forced on millions of families around the country every year, and fewer than 20 percent of reports end up being substantiated”…In many jurisdictions…the case workers who handle child abuse investigations are trained by police, which shapes the way they approach their work…Many agencies will consider it a safety risk to the child if a parent objects to [being treated like a criminal or subjected to warrantless raids]…
Co-workers of Austin Lee Edwards, the Virginia [cop] who [murder]ed the grandparents and mother of a 15-year-old [California] girl he “catfished” online, removed a sheriff’s truck and a black trash bag from Edwards’ property the night before it was officially searched…Two deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office…arrived [just a few hours after]…the [murder]s…[without permission from] Smyth County (Virginia)…[where] the house [is located]…Washington County Sheriff’s Office had [no] warrant for Edwards’ property, [and]…there are few — if any — legitimate reasons for [cops]…from a different county to go onto a property before an official search…
A former [Florida] police chief was arrested…[for] the [aggravated rape] of a minor…William Ray Pruitt…[raped] a 14-year-old girl…while using a[n unidentified] deadly weapon…Pruitt…[w]as Center Hill Police Chief from March 1998 to Sept. 1999…
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!
Across the nation, child protective services agencies [violate] the home lives of roughly 3.5 million children [and teenagers] every year…only about 5% of them are ultimately [declared] to have been physically or sexually abused. With rare exceptions, all of these investigations include at least one [raid], and often multiple…Yet in a ProPublica and NBC News survey that drew detailed responses from 40 state child welfare agencies, all said they would only obtain a warrant or court order to search a home — or call the police for [backup] — in rare cases when they are denied entry…It’s a staggering reality — likely millions of warrantless searches a year — and one that has not been reported [adequately] before…
Kansas’ 2021 Officer of the Year has been indicted on charges of rape and aggravated sexual battery…Guillermo Gutierrez…[committed the crime] on May 19, 2022, in Dodge City…
The Home Office has taken the modern slavery brief away from the minister responsible for safeguarding and classed it as an “illegal immigration and asylum” issue…The move is seen as a clear sign that the department is doubling down on Suella Braverman’s suggestion that people are “gaming” the modern slavery system and…“derailing the UK’s policy on illegal migration”…
A bill introduced in the Michigan Legislature…could mean life in prison for any parent or doctor who “consents to, obtains, or assists with a gender transition procedure for a child”…[where “child” is used to mean “legal minor”]…Gender transition procedures are defined to include not just surgical interventions but also the prescription of puberty blockers and hormones…under the proposed change, prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to a teenager would be equivalent to severely beating a child. And it would be defined as a more severe form of abuse than starving or abandoning a kid…
Florida’s [Propagandist] General continues to…[drum up hysteria about migration, claim]ing that its effects are spilling over into all aspects of life…Ashley Moody [went on] Fox & Friends [to spread tall tales] about how transnational drug gangs are bringing in lethal narcotic cocktails, [imagin]ing that some of these concoctions may take the form of popular candies. “We’re seeing them put it in candy packaging, like Nerds packaging. And Halloween’s coming up and those of us with young children have to…start learning about the fentanyl crisis and warning our children”…Host Ainsley Earhardt [confused] the topic…[by say]ing…“so many people are sending their children off to college right now. It’s fall…and we worry that they’re going to take one little pill just because it looks like candy”…
Yes, these people are actually conflating young men and women of university age with children so young they’ll put anything that looks like candy in their mouths. I couldn’t have invented anything so imbecilic, infantilizing, and disconnected from reality even if I had money riding on it.
PayPay HK has halted services for the League of Social Democrats (LSD) – one of the remaining active pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong – due to unspecified “excessive risks”…[without] explain[ing] what the “excessive risks” are…Chow Ka-fat…of the LSD [sai]d…the group had not been able to accept any new donations via its PayPal account since the day it received the email, but they can still withdraw money from it…
A [typical and representative] Louisville [cop]…used [cop surveillance] technology as part of a scheme that involved hacking the Snapchat accounts of young women and using sexually explicit photos and videos they had taken to extort them…Bryan Wilson used his…access to Accurint, a powerful data-combing software used by police departments to [snoop in people’s private business without a warrant]…to obtain information about potential victims. He would then share that information with a hacker, who would hack into private Snapchat accounts to obtain sexually explicit photos and videos….Wilson would then contact the women, threatening to post the photos and videos online and share them with their friends, family, employer and co-workers unless more sexually explicit material was provided to him…Wilson…[has already] pleaded guilty to a cyberstalking charge as well as to a charge related to…[a scheme] in which Wilson and other [pigs] assaulted pedestrians by throwing beverages out of unmarked p[igmobile]s, sometimes filming their exploits…
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 very much!
Prostitution has a social value, and it’s necessary in a city.– Daniël Termont
Without Let or Hindrance
Those who have dealt with “Child Protective Services” know that they are granted powers of which the Inquisition would have been envious. They routinely abduct people’s children on the flimsiest of pretexts, often on hearsay and without even a warrant, and once this happens parents may never regain custody; if they do it is after years of jumping through ridiculous and ever-changing hoops, playing endless games of “Mother May I?” with power-mad bureaucrats, submission to outlandish violations of their rights and privacy, hundreds of hours in court and total financial ruin…and that’s not even counting the emotional damage to the children. On Wednesday, an activist named Kathi Duran began a hunger strike on the steps of the California state capitol to call attention to these abuses; as expected, she was arrested almost immediately. She asked me to call attention to her protest and share this press release, and I’m happy to do so and will provide updates as I get them.
An ex-Houston police officer [named Abraham Joseph]…was sentenced to life in prison…for raping a waitress…Joseph could have received as little as five years…but jurors chose the maximum sentence instead.
News articles always refer to criminal cops as “ex-cops”, implying they had already been fired when they committed the crimes.
The San Francisco Police Department announced…that [it] will [temporarily] stop using condoms as evidence in prostitution cases…Under current city policy, police cannot confiscate condoms…But…police sometimes broke the policy…A July report from Human Rights Watch criticized San Francisco, along with New York, Washington, DC and Los Angeles, for [the practice]…
Spam received by a reader; if this isn’t a hoax, the cops, voyeurs or pimp wannabes who set it up labor under truly mythic levels of ignorance and disinformation.
Sex educator Debby Herbenick on the need for more research on anal sex: “…In an incredibly short period of time, anal sex has become a common part of Americans’ sex lives. As of the 1990s, only about one-quarter to one-third of young [Americans]…had tried anal sex at least once. Less than 20 years later, my research team’s 2009 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior found that as many as 40-45 percent…in some age groups had…[yet] taboos persist and…the list of what we don’t know about anal sex is far longer than the list of what we do. This makes it difficult for sex educators to feel truly confident in answering people’s very real and important questions…”
Add Malawi to the list of countries whose legal experts understand human rights better than those in the US; one of them said that “Despite the fact that Malawi has not outlawed sex work…police officers on night patrols pounce on sex workers and…charge…[them] with rogue and vagabond…This is a clear violation of rights of sex workers…” He also commented on the unsanctioned compulsory HIV testing I reported in TW3 (#24), stating that it “is not recommended by…UNAIDS” and “it is impractical and unworkable and more effective results can be reached by supporting sex workers’…access [to] testing, prevention, and support…”
…Several [New York] attorneys have shared the craziest [prenuptial agreements] they’ve penned…[including] items like “no piano playing while the husband is home”, cash bonuses…if either is caught cheating and an agreement to terminate a pregnancy if one should occur…[some include]a weight clause…[another] said [the wife] would never wear green and if she did, her husband [could]…destroy the item…One husband demanded “wife not allowed to cut her hair”…
The article also mentions the wives’ demands, including husbands being home by a certain time and (surprise!) being paid for sex.
When Polaroid inventor Edwin Land introduced the first commercial instant camera…in 1948, he ushered in what Christopher Bonanos …in The Atlantic calls a “magnificent new era” in photography…for “instant, shareable nudie pics”…The new…format for…nude photographs—sexting—[is]…basically the same: instant explicit photographs, taken under the radar, shared between lovers and friends. In a recent report on a new study of teen sexting…dating “expert” Dr. Wendy Walsh favored terms like “embarrassment,” “shame,” “risky,” and “pressure” to describe the photographic form. And negative terms like those permeate the…discussion around teen photo sharing, though for years research has shown that the media-wide concern-trolling is overblown…
On November 6th Los Angeles county will decide whether to impose AHF’s “condoms in porn” measure; this video explains the real motive behind the whole thing:
This US Army report on the Santa Muerte belief refers to it as a “death cult” (technically true, but the phrase has false and pejorative connotations), declares that it isn’t a “true” religion and states that “Although not all members of the cult are criminals, all live an existence that is dominated by crime.” I’m sure that bartenders, taxi drivers and prostitutes (who are not criminalized in Mexico) might disagree that their lives are “dominated by crime”, though cops (another large segment of her devotees) probably wouldn’t.
…Backpage’s critics say they are facilitating sex slavery…[but] all the figures quoted in the media come from a single source, a consultancy called AIM Group…[whose] methodology is shaky at best…they ignore major adult ad networks and mainstream ad networks that accept adult ads…and traffic, revenue and share-of-market numbers, even accurate ones, are no indication of how many…ads…actually convert into…transaction[s]…nor what subset of those…are with a minor or…coerced [person]…Backpage publishes about 3.2 million…ads a month…about 11 percent…are listed in…Adult Services…Backpage removes over a million ads a month…[mostly] for spam and fraud…Only 1.6 percent of the [removed] ads…are from the Adult Category…Only 2 percent of that 1.6 percent, or about 400…a month, are suspected of advertising a minor. Backpage reports those…immediately (and under no legal obligation) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). In other words, about 1/25 of 1 percent (.04 percent) of the ads Backpage removes…are suspected of advertising a minor for sexual services, a number that represents 1/100 of one percent (.01 percent) of its…ad volume…
Instead of the usual prohibitionists, the article interviewed folks like researcher Ron Weitzer and Kate D’Adamo of SWOP.
…Lucinda Latimer…whose real name is Jan…was…broke, isolated and almost suicidal… she had sold her car and had no idea where her next penny was coming from when she saw a documentary on former career women who turned to the sex industry to make a living. Previously, she had [earned] up to £1000 a night as a graphologist…but ill health and the break-up of her marriage forced her back to Perthshire…[she now does phone sex work and] what has struck her about the men is how normal and pleasant most are and how well educated…Trying to hide her work would have made it shameful and sordid…[so] Jan decided to speak out…she has written…The Diary of a Rookie Phone Sex Floozie, and is about to launch volume two…
Jezebel’s “sex advice” columnist gives a reader advice on how to shove her finger up a guy’s arse without his consent because she wants “to massage someone’s prostate goddamnit!”. Take note of the tepid protests to the columnist’s suggestions on how to trick and bully him into it, then imagine the firestorm if a male writer gave a man advice on how to pressure a woman into something because he wants “to fuck some chick in the arse goddamnit!”
I’m never happy to see a sister pilloried, but I suspect the police decision to expose her customers is going to backfire so badly that this may have some positive results in the long run:
[Alexis Wright has]…been charged with running a prostitution business out of her Zumba dance studio [in Kennebunk, Maine] and secretly videotaping her encounters…Police have begun issuing summons to Wright’s customers and will release the names in the weeks ahead. Townspeople say they’ve heard that lawyers, doctors, law enforcement officials, a television personality and other well-known people in town are included in a detailed clientele list police found. A lot of people would rather not see the names made public because it will hurt families, children and careers…
…In the Netherlands, prostitution is legal. Nonetheless, over 60% of the women involved in prostitution are involved in the sex trade illegally. The Mayor [of Amsterdam] and others refer to these as ‘trafficked’ – either because they are exploited and involved in the sex trade against their will…or because they are illegal workers brought to the country to work voluntarily in conditions different from those they expect…the argument for legalization included belief that it would…decrease trafficking, it has had the opposite effect…prostitution has gone from a predominantly home-grown industry to one very heavily dependent on illegal foreign workers…a [recent law criminalizes hiring]…a prostitute who is not registered with the government…But…this…means that…[the] information must be public so that…[clients] can verify that the sex worker is…licensed…[this] invades the privacy of both…prostitutes and…customers…
Prohibitionists intentionally confuse legalization and decriminalization, ignore the bottleneck effect of registration, pretend that correlation equals causation and conflate “unregistered” with “trafficked”, and the author, Dr. Nancy Darling, fails to question any of it.
…As I read through [the article] the stench of bovine excrement almost made my eyes water…street sex work doesn’t relocate itself to another suburb on the other side of town…there is not an itinerant population of these workers who move en masse from one place to the next like migrating wildebeest across the African savannah…It’s more comfortable for people to think that sex work doesn’t happen in their community…and…that street sex workers must board a shuttle from planet Whore to our neighbourhoods under the cover of darkness before disappearing as the sun rises…
If you want to donate but don't want a recurring charge, you can send any amount you like via PayPal to my email address (see below). Be sure to include a note so I can thank you!
All original content on this website (i.e. all of my columns, pages and anything else which I write myself) is protected under international copyright law as of the time it is posted; though you may link to it as you please or quote passages (as long as you attribute the quote to me), please do not reproduce whole columns without my express written permission. In other words, you have to say “pretty please with sugar on top” first, and then wait for me to say “okey-dokey”.
