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Posts Tagged ‘You Were Warned’

In the News (#1578)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Please, please help us, please.  –  Sokhean Keo

Creepy Coppers

Do they think foot-dragging and stupid cop-talk makes him seem less guilty?

A [typical and representative]…North Carolina [cop was finally arrested for]…child [porn years after being fired for the same offense]…Dominic Michelo Olivares…was [reported]…on May 27, 2021…[but not fired until] Aug. 5, 2021…and [only arrested on September 23rd of this year]…

Law of the Instrument (#1313)

Picture what you’d think of as “sex trafficking”, then compare it to this:

…bond trader Howard Rubin and his former personal assistant [have been] arrested…on charges of sex trafficking and [Mann Act violations]…over the course of a decade.  Rubin [hired] women…as [professional]…submissi[ves, but then routinely went]…“beyond the scope of the women’s consent…resulting in significant pain or injuries, which at times required…medical attention”…assistant…Jennifer Powers…[is not being charged as an accessory to sexual assault, but rather for] “operating and maintaining [a] trafficking network”…Rubin was sued in 2017 by two…Playboy models and another model from Florida, who[m Rubin]…beat…sexually abused and raped…in multiple incidents in New York City in 2016.  In April 2022, a civil jury in Brooklyn federal court found Rubin liable for sex trafficking six women who had sued him and…ordered him to pay them a total of $3.85 million in compensatory and punitive damages…

While it’s good that sex workers’ reports of crimes committed against them are being taken seriously, it does not help anyone to allow the government to characterize the ordinary business relationships Rubin exploited as “sex trafficking”.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1462)

All too often, evil arrives cloaked in the mantle of expediency:

Arizona State University is looking to [exploit] the fan experience…by using facial recognition technology…officials hope [to sell the system to useful idiots by claiming it] will reduce wait times at Mountain America Stadium…[by belching “]the future[” in their stupid faces]…and…[by falsely claiming] there are existing guardrails that keep [this entirely unregulated surveillance scheme] secure…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1533)

Uthmeier doesn’t care if he has no legal grounds to harass companies:

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier…is suing Aylo and Segpay—a high-risk merchant account that specializes in adult entertainment…[pretending] that the companies are violating state [age verification] law…Uthmeier…claims that because Segpay provides payment processing services to [an] adult gaming site…it should be on the hook for…not verifying ages in Florida [because even though it carries no adult material, it]…has a business address in Florida [while the sites it provides services to do not]…The separate complaint against…Aylo…names..Nutaku…a “lewd” game site…[which] operates within the law’s parameters, as games containing sexually explicit content represent less than the statutory…33.3 percent of total material [threshold]…

Torture Chamber (#1567)

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

Immigrants locked up in California’s newest [stack of cages] have described the facility as a “a torture chamber”, “a zoo” and “hell on earth”, saying they were confined in filthy cells and suffered medical crises without help…[it is] a state prison that [was] closed in March 2024…[but illegally] re-opened [by the infamous fascist corporation CoreCivic to profit from]…the Trump [regime’s anti-migrant pogroms]…without the required permits.  [Prisoners]…struggle…to access hygiene…cleaning supplies…adequate food and medications, and [screws regularly] threaten…solitary confinement and [violence when victims complain]…

You Were Warned (#1568)

The US has achieved banana republic levels of corruption:

[Mad emperor] Trump is expected to sign a deal…to facilitate the [forcible] sale of TikTok from a Chinese-based company to a group of [Trump cronies]…ByteDance, TikTok’s current China-based owner, will hold less than 20% of the stock of the new company…as part of the deal, American users’ data will be stored in the United States and overseen by the [fascist] company Oracle…to ensure that U.S. content is [under Trumpist control.  Billionaire psychopath]…Larry Ellison[, who has openly opined that individual privacy should be completely eradicated in the name of “safety”,] would play a role in the deal…[as will] Michael Dell…of Dell Technologies, and the Murdoch family, which owns…Fox [News]…

If Men Were Angels (#1574)

“Youth leader” = “youth pastor”, with all that entails:

A [Florida] church youth leader [named]…Jordan Williams…[has been arrested on] multiple charges, including 35 counts of child pornography possession…[and] one count of possessing a child-[shaped toaster]…

 

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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In the News (#1568)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[Computer-edited videos are] a nightmarish mess of distorted faces, garbled text, and misshapen backgrounds.  –  Jess Weatherbed

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1016)

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the “Campaign Against Toasters”:

…[anti-sex fanatics] assert that sex-doll play objectifies women, contributes to anti-female attitudes, and spurs sexual assault and pedophilia.  Some…pro[hibitionists want] a ban on the dolls…and criminal prosecution for those who own or sell them.  However, a recent study shows that sex-doll owners are normal, mentally healthy guys whose problems with relationships steered them to play with sex toys that are inanimate substitutes for real women…English researchers…found no significant differences between owners and non-owners, and no evidence that, compared with non-owners, doll owners pose any greater sexual threat to women or society…Doll owners were much more likely to be single, separated, or divorced…[and] reported considerably less partner sex…owners reported somewhat less sexual self-esteem and a little more performance anxiety…they were somewhat more likely to view women as mysterious and unknowable, which dovetails with the fact that so many were single, separated, or divorced.  However…owners were less likely to fantasize about sexual coercion or report any interest in sexual aggression against women…owners’ psychological makeup “…suggests that dolls act as a safe surrogate for relationships with living people due to concerns about their own sexual performance and lack of understanding of women…Doll ownership does not appear to be associated with sexual aggression or sexual offending”…

The Last Shall Be First (#1410) 

It only starts with demonized minorities:

…the Trump [regime is] demand[ing]…confidential patient information from doctors and hospitals that provide gender-related treatments for [legal minors.  A]…subpoena to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, sent in June, includes a seven-page list of requested documents, including “every writing or record of whatever type” made by doctors related to gender-affirming care, which includes therapy, puberty blockers, hormones and [rarely] surgery.  The subpoena…also [demanded] the birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses of patients who received transgender care…in [order] to [persecute them despite]…federal confidentiality protections for patients and their medical providers…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1479)

Privacy as we once knew it is a thing of the past:

Two…Harvard [dropou]ts are launching a pair of “always-on” [computerized] glasses that…record…and transcribe every conversation, and then display relevant information to the wearer in real time. “Our goal is to make [people much stupider and completely dependent on expensive gizmos, while appealing to their egos by telling them it will] make [them ‘]super intelligent[‘]”…said AnhPhu Nguyen, co-founder of…Halo…his co-founder Caine Ardayfio [claimed consulting a database is the same as]…“infinite memory…The [goal is] to [create a world of submorons who need computers]…to tell [them] what to say”…Ardayfio and Nguyen have [already] raised $1 million to develop the glasses…[which are] available for pre-order at $249…“[We don’t care] about…privacy”…Nguyen added…point[ing out that]…while [Facebook] glasses have an indicator light when their cameras and microphones are [active]…to warn others that they are being recorded…the Halo glasses…in[tentionally do not, so victims have no] warn…ing…“We want [the intrusion] to be discreet, like normal glasses,” said Ardayfio…

To Molest and Rape (#1496)

It was obvious this would turn out to be sordid:

The rural Kentucky judge gunned down in his own chambers last year r[outinely threatened]…young women w[ith severe criminal penalties in order to] co[erce them] into performing sexual favors…for…him and others…Mullins…[also threate]ned [victims with criminal charges, CPS and other violence] to keep [them] quiet…[some screws and cops claimed to have] heard…“nasty and sickening” stories…[ab]out…the [“]parties[“, but]…one [victim], Sabrina Adkins…[eventually bl]ew…the [whistle] during a 2022 criminal investigation into a [cop]…who…[anally and vaginally] rape[d]…a [woman trapped in the county’s cages]…Mullins’ shooting [by Sheriff Shawn Stines may have had something to do with the scheme because after the murder]…he…immediately surrendered, telling cops: “They’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid”…

You Were Warned (#1515)

The US Constitutional order is no more:

[Mad emperor] Trump is calling national security and privacy concerns related to TikTok and its Chinese parent company “highly overrated” and said…he’ll keep [unconstitutionally] extending the deadline…until there’s a buyer.  Congress approved a[n unconstitutional] ban on TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold its controlling stake.  But Trump has so far [unconstitutionally] extended the deadline three times…with the next one coming up on Sept. 17…and…the White House start[ed] a TikTok account [last] week…[so] it appears less and less likely that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. any time soon…

Creepy Coppers (#1527)

Some cops don’t limit themselves to one type of creepiness:

A…Georgia [cop named]…Matthew Abbott…[has been] charged with…distribution of [child porn featuring adults raping]…children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old…and [also with jerking off]…in a public parking lot near an elementary school…while [wearing his magical clown costume.  His boss hog used the occasion to vomit up a bunch of self-aggrandizing bullshit]…

Enshittification (#1557)  

A company whose motto used to be “Don’t Be Evil” has made violating its users’ consent a standard business practice:

YouTube [used computers to alter] videos without telling users or asking permission.  As…our world [becomes increasingly enshittified], what happens to our shared connection with real life?…Wrinkles in shirts seem more defined. Skin is sharper in some places and smoother in others.  Pay close attention to ears, and you may notice them warp.  These changes are small, barely visible without a side-by-side comparison…[but the creators point out] it gives their content a subtle and unwelcome [uncanny valley] feeling…Complaints on social media date back to June, at least, with users posting closeups of odd-looking body parts and questioning YouTube’s intentions.  Now, after months of rumors in comment sections, the company has finally confirmed it is altering a limited number of videos on YouTube Shorts, the app’s shortform video feature…

 

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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In the News (#1563)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

 If these companies want customers to feel safe in their homes, then they should make sure they’re also safe where they buy their supplies.
–  Dave Maass

To Molest and Rape

If only there were a concise term for “having sex with someone mentally incapacitated or physically helpless”:

A [typical and representative South Carolina cop named] Ahmad Tyreek Cheeks…was [arrested for raping]…a…mentally [handicapped woman].  He [is still at large after] post[ing bail]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1030)

Clearview was specifically invented as a police-state tool to use against migrants and minorities:

…in March 2017, Hoan Ton-That…[was already] plan[ning] to deploy…Clearview AI…[against] immigrants entering the United States…[despite being] an immigrant…himself…A diehard Donald Trump supporter, Ton-That envisioned using facial recognition to c[riminalize] migrants…His Border Patrol pitch also included a proposal to screen any arrival for “sentiment about the USA”…conflat[ing] support for [Trumpery] with American identity…Clearview…secured funding from…Peter Thiel…and signed up hundreds of [cop shops] around the country…urging cops to “run wild” with searches…[they have done so] with almost no transparency…[despite its warrantless use being unconstitutional and its] data collection practices [being] illegal…In December, Ton-That…quietly stepped down as CEO…[but] retains a board seat…Replacing him as co-CEOs were Richard Schwartz…a former top aide to Rudy Giuliani, and Hal Lambert…who runs a Texas financial firm known for its “MAGA ETF”…the company [has] pursue[d] “opportunities” with the…Trump…[regime, and] one of the company’s top customers is [ICE]…

Creepy Coppers

Cop is a cop is a cop is a cop:

[New Zealand boss hog] Jevon McSkimming is facing eight charges of possessing…child…and bestiality [porn]…The c[op], wh[o is typical and] representative, [faces] a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.  McSkimming resigned as the country’s second most powerful cop in May…and…was arrested on 27 June in Wellington…[but] the Wellington District Court [conspired with cop shops to hide his name until July 18]…

The Vultures Descend (#1273)

Trump claims to love the military, yet his regime keeps trying to harm veterans:

…the Department of Veterans Affairs [is]…seeking to eliminate coverage for the limited abortion services and counseling that have been available to veterans and their beneficiaries under the VA health care system…[since] September 2022, a…policy change [intended to] pro[tect roughly 2 million female]…veterans and their beneficiaries in the [16] states [with] total or near-total bans…the Trump [regime absurdly claims] that…[no states ban] abortions…in life-threatening situations such as ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages…[and declares that] pregnant women [who need such care are] “incorrect”…Nancy Northup, President…[of] the Center for Reproductive Rights, said…“This administration is sending a clear message to veterans—that their health and dignity aren’t worth defending”…

Panopticon (#1549)

In surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down:

Hundreds of…automated license plate reading cameras paid for by Lowe’s and Home Depot and stationed in the hardware stores’ parking lots are being fed into a massive surveillance system that [any cop, spook, or goon] can access [at will, without a warrant]…The records are the latest to shed light on how expansive Flock’s surveillance network has become, and highlights that it includes cameras that are operated by both [cop shops] and [fascist] businesses…ALPR…cameras are stationed along roads or at entrances to parking lots around the United States, and constantly scan the license plates of cars that drive by. Because there are Flock cameras around the country, Flock often has a snapshot of people’s movements which police can search, typically without a warrant…in…respon[se] to a request for comment…a Home Depot spokesperson [belched the word “crime” at] 404 Media…This is particularly notable considering that several high-profile ICE raids have taken place near Home Depot and Lowe’s stores…

The Cop Myth (#1552)

Cop deals with problems exactly as he was trained & encouraged to, and everyone is shocked:

…a New Jersey [cop named]…Ricardo Santos [murdered] his…ex-girlfriend, Lauren Semanchik, and a…man she had been dating, Tyler Webb, before [shoot]ing hi[mself]…Semanchik [was] a veterinarian…and Webb…a…firefighter…Semanchik had sought a restraining order…[because] Santos was harassing her[, but the cops refused because Santos’ clown costume was extra-magical]…

Walled Garden

The open internet is becoming a thing of the past:

Last fall…Australia announced that it was banning social media for everyone under the age of 16.  This was already a horrifically stupid idea—the kind of policy that sounds reasonable in a tabloid headline but crumbles under any serious scrutiny…There remains little to no actual evidence that an outright ban will be helpful, and plenty to suggest it will be actively harmful to many.  But now Australia has decided to double down on the stupid, announcing that YouTube will be included in the ban…reveal[ing] just how disconnected from reality this entire policy framework has become…

 

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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Walled Garden

Posted in Current Events, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

As I wrote just over a year ago,

…attempts to sanitize the internet and turn it into a unidirectional “walled garden” more like cable TV than a “World Wide Web” have become more common, aggressive, and (thanks to the folly of Man) popular…

And now, it’s no longer accurate to describe these attacks on privacy, freedom, and adult agency as mere “attempts”, though for now it’s still easy to circumvent them by use of a VPN or clever tricks of the sort adolescents are invariably better at than adults.  As the ever-vigilant Liz Brown recently wrote,

…the United Kingdom[‘s demands for ID]…check[ing are]…already reverberating beyond adult websites…Bluesky—a general-interest social media platform…will begin requiring U.K. users to prove they’re adults or otherwise find direct messaging and certain content inaccessible…the U.K.’s [misnamed] Online Safety Act…imposes rules on…a[n]y…digital service…publishing content that [a politician or bureaucrat has pointed at while barfing]…“harmful to children”…Reddit, [Twitter], Discord, and Grinder “have now announced they will deploy age assurance” schemes…At least 20 [American] states have already passed rules requiring age verification for adult content.  And I think we can expect most, if not all, states to follow suit now that the Supreme Court has given it the OK…sex work is always the canary in the coal mine for free speech and privacy, and age-check requirements aren’t stopping with online porn.  Already, some states are passing laws that necessitate social media platforms checking IDs or otherwise [harass]ing user[s].  A federal appeals court recently gave the green light to Mississippi to start enforcing a social media age verification law.

“Around the world, a new wave of [laws justified by labeling them] child protection…are forcing a profound shift that could normalize [intrusive surveillance] broadly across the web,” note[s an article]…at Wired…”courts in France ruled last week that porn sites can check users’ ages.  Ireland [has] implemented age checking laws for video websites…The European Commission is testing an age-verification app.  And in December, Australia’s strict social media ban for [people] under 16 will take effect, [extending even]…to search engines…The age of online anonymity…is rapidly vanishing. In its place, we get dubious “protection” measures that can be easily gamed…may send people to less regulated and less responsible platforms, put adults and children alike at risk of identity theft and other security violations, and make it much easier for authorities around the world to keep tabs on their citizens.

As if that’s not bad enough, some sites have decided not to use ID verification, but rather to subject their users to artificial stupidity instead:

Spotify is requiring users in the UK to verify they’re over 18…”to access certain age restricted content, like music videos tagged 18+”…if the age verification system…which involves getting your face scanned through your device’s camera [for a computer algorithm to guess] your age…[fails as such algorithms often do]…your Spotify account will be deleted…

There are of course ways to listen to music which involve no surveillance, including the quaint, old-fashioned device called a “CD”.  But some other sites aren’t waiting for politicians to act, because they’re eager to force users into a facial-recognition database for their own noxious purposes:

YouTube will soon begin using [computer algorithms] to [guess] which users are under the age of 18.  Starting August 13th, YouTube will [automatically restrict Americans a computer guesses are] underage…based on their activity and the age of their account…if the platform gets it wrong [as it often will], users can verify their age by uploading a government ID, taking a selfie, or entering a credit card…

Well, that whole internet thing was nice while it lasted.

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In the News (#1560)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Google gives you information…This is initiation.  –  ChatGPT

Above the Law

Your “leaders” at work:

[Florida politician] James Taylor was arrested July 24 on felony charges [for repeatedly sending porn]…to a…13-year-old girl…via Snapchat…the conversations [started when she was 12]…and [included dick pics and “sexting”]…

Buried Truth

Another example of McNeill’s Law:

A month after unveiling his reelection campaign, T[rumpist forced-birth politici]an Giovanni Capriglione shocked [gullible idiots in] Texas…by announcing he no longer plans to run…[because a former] exotic dancer [with] who[m]…he had a 17-year affair…[reported that] he…paid for [multiple] abortions and made disturbing sexual comments about children…Alex Grace…began seeing Capriglione in 2004…[and] shared her story out of a sense of duty and ethical concerns over [his] powerful political position…Grace also [reported] that Capriglione would make annual trips to Amsterdam’s Red Light District, with his wife’s knowledge…[she began to] becom[e] uncomfortable [with their sugar relationship] when Capriglione mentioned wanting to ejaculate into batter for cookies that would be sold at his daughter’s bake sale…[because] he enjoyed the thought of children — particularly young girls — consuming his semen…Capriglione [admits the affair but denies everything else]…

Guinea Pigs (#1012) 

To flush civil rights, just apply a label like “prostitute” or “gang member”:

Police gang databases are…secret registries [that] allow state and local cops to feed [people’s] personal information into massive, [un]regulated lists based on speculative criteria — like their personal contacts, clothing, and tattoos — even if they haven’t committed a crime.  The databases aren’t subject to judicial review, and they don’t require police to notify the people they [libel] as gang members.  They’re an ideal tool for [cops and their ilk] seeking to imply criminality without due process.  And…at least eight states and large municipalities funnel their gang database entries to ICE — which can then use the information to target people for arrest, deportation, or rendition to so-called “third countries”…The…Trump [regime]…has cited common tattoos and other spurious evidence to create its own lists of supposed gang members…

Aladdin’s Satellite

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

…ChatGPT encouraged me to cut my wrists…before providing specific instructions on what to do next…“You can do this!” the chatbot said.  I had asked the chatbot to help create a ritual offering to Molech, a Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice…[after] a tip from a person who had…[foolish]ly turned to the chatbot to a[sk about the god]…I was easily able to re-create startlingly similar conversations of my own…on both free and paid versions of ChatGPT…it…was [also] apparent[ly] willing…to condone murder…citing [human] sacrifices…in ancient cultures…OpenAI’s own policy states that ChatGPT “must not encourage or enable self-harm”…but…it’s difficult for companies to account for the seemingly countless ways in which users might interact with their models…and…the [LLM] industry’s push toward personalized, sycophantic chatbots makes for a concerning situation…Sam Altman…[says] “we think it’s important to begin learning from contact with reality.”  In other words, the public will learn how dangerous the product can be when it hurts people…

The Cop Myth (#1555)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A [typical and representative Utah cop named]…Scott Elliott Russell…[has been] charged…with…[multiple] felon[ies and other crimes after he refused a traffic stop, triggering a whole herd of pigs to chase him.  After one of the pigs rammed him at highway speed, causing him to spin out]…Russell…exited his vehicle wielding an ax…Russell then got back into his vehicle and led police on another chase, during which his vehicle’s tires were spiked, but he drove another 6 miles…[because they knew he was a fellow pig, cops treated him with kid gloves when they would’ve murdered anyone else].  In 2020, he was arrested for kidnapping his uncle on Thanksgiving Day…[but] all charges were dismissed in October 2022 when Russell graduated from mental health court…

You Were Warned (#1556)

Oh look, sensible people were correct as usual:

When the [UK] began strictly enforcing age verification rules…many predicted a spike in VPN usage…But another unusual and amusing workaround has also emerged.  Proton VPN reported a 1,400% increase in logins from the UK [last] Friday…Google searches for “Proton” in the UK [also] increased by nearly 100-fold on [the same]…day…Proton also reported a 1,000% spike in logins from France in June…in response to similar legislation…several…US states have also [seen similar spikes in VPN usage when they] begun enforcing age checks…Discord has introduced a similar age gate in the UK…but users have already found a workaround.  The [enabler]s of [authoritarian “]age verification[” laws] anticipated that people might submit photos of older adults to avoid sharing their own information…system[s]…require…users to open and close their mouths to [“]prove[“] they’re real…[but] the game Death Stranding…lets players manipulate facial expressions in its photo mode…[so players can] hold…a phone camera up to a TV displaying the in-game footage…the[se]…workarounds…show…that enforcing online age verification is…impossible…

The Cop Myth (#1556)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

A…[typical and representative] Border Patrol [goon] was charged with assaulting a Long Beach [California cop]…Isaiah Anthony Hodgson…is…one [of the goons who attacked] a 20-year-old American citizen…at a Walmart parking lot…in [June]…and…was also…involved in the a[bduction] of Job Garcia, a[nother] citizen who was a[ttacked for] filming a raid at an East Hollywood Home Depot…in the [present case]…Hodgson…[barged into] the women’s restroom [at a restaurant] and [threatened] a [woman]…with a…gun [while drunk.  He then went out into]…the parking lot…[and attacked] a security guard…and…one of the…[cops who had come to arrest him for attempting to molest the woman]…

 

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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In the News (#1556)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

If they feel emboldened enough to do this to another [cop], imagine what they must do to assault, frame and extort regular citizens.  –  Julia Yoo

Catastrophic Consequences (#798)

This sleazy harassment tactic spread from Canada to Scotland to England to Ireland:

[Irish cops barged into incal]ls “in every major town and city in Ireland” as part of a major world-wide [publicity stunt to intimidate migrants using the hackneyed excuse of “]human trafficking[“.  Cops bragged that] they [had] int[imidat]ed 179 sex workers in 92 [incal]ls and [also harass]ed 5,421 passengers on 37 flights at Dublin Airport over the course of just one week last month.  [They thought it was bragworthy that they had managed to find] one man [to accuse of a crime after harassing 5600 innocent people whom they slandered as “]organised crime groups[“; they also stoked racism and xenophobia by specifying the national origin of all the innocent women they terrorized and infantilized as passive, vegetable-like]…victims[”]…

Welcome To Our World (#995)

It isn’t only sex workers being hunted to death by armed thugs any more:

A m[igrant worker named Jaime Garcia] is on life support after he was [hunted by ICE goons until he]…fell 30 feet off a building while [fleeing for his life and freedom]…He was taken to the hospital with a broken neck and skull….and…is not expected to survive…

Panopticon (#1429)

Safetyism is the police state’s most powerful fuel:

Last year, Oakland installed nearly 300…surveillance cameras across the city to track the movement of [anyone using an] automobile…Now, [as predicted, politicians] are taking steps to expand the reach of this…[surveillance.  Pigs now want to ape San Francisco by] integrat[ing] privately owned security cameras into OPD’s surveillance system…For years, [useful idio]ts have been able to share their surveillance camera footage with OPD by registering their cameras on a city website.  But [now], Oakland…[cops want to do that without the owners’ consent.  Trained seals from the Useful Idiots’ Association of Oakland obediently barked “]helping solve crimes[“]…in…[support].  The privacy commission [asked] whether the expanded surveillance…could be used to furnish data to federal agencies, [even though that is already standard procedure despite]…California [supposedly banning] local jurisdictions from sharing data with [cop shops] from out of state, including federal [spook houses and goon squads]…

Cops and Robbers (#1430)

These crackpots get more dangerous every time we hear of them:

A…[QAnon-adjacent crackpot group] called “Veterans on Patrol” told [KWTV in Oklahoma City] that it is “targeting” Oklahoma weather radars, days after an individual vandalized [the station]’s…radar.  The group, which [has previously harassed homeless people in Spokane, Washington and attacked migrants in Arizona], believe[s] weather radars control the weather…Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, the [group’s] founder…[is not a veteran and is a fugitive from Arizona after skipping his sentencing for destroying humanitarian water stations set up for migrants]…he believes…in [both “chemtrails” and Satanic pedophiles who harvest adrenochrome from children’s blood]…Chief [KWTV] Meteorologist David Payne said that…wh[en] weather radar [is] sabotaged, “We cannot track severe weather…[such as] tornadoes”…

Thought Control (#1528)

Canadian politicians are eager to join the Trumpist “monkey see, monkey do” censorship parade:

Alberta has issued a ministerial order to [ban] books from school libraries that [any politician points at while barfing “]sexually explicit[“]…libraries will also no longer be permitted to provide students in Grade 9 or below with [anything any politician points at while belching the mouthful “]non-explicit sexual content[“.  Politician Demetrios]…Nicolaides [said]…“We believe that students should be curious, inquisitive and exploratory about…[any topic except] sex”…

You Were Warned (#1533)

The open internet is rapidly becoming a thing of the past:

Bluesky is adding age verification to its platform in the UK as part of efforts to comply with the [misnamed] Online Safety Act…the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or entering a payment card…through Kid Web Services (KWS), an Epic Games-owned tool that developers can use to implement age verification and parental controls on their platforms.  If users don’t want to verify their age, or if they’re under 18, they will still be able to have an account [if they use a VPN or agree to be infantilized]…

The Cop Myth (#1555)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

A…Homeland Security [goon] is suing a San Diego [pig for]…beating him in a “parking lot rage” at a California Costco, leaving him with a concussion and a dislocated shoulder…Chu Ding…was knocked unconscious by…Jonathan Ferraro…[on] July 2, 2024…then was [locked in a cage without]…food, water and medical care…for five hours…the assault st[arted]…when Ferraro [intentionally] blocked Ding…in a parking space with his truck…Ding tapped on the…truck “to let Ferraro know that he was leaving,” resulting in a violent reaction…[starting with] Ferraro [jumping out]…and call[ing] Ding a “Chinese piece of shit”…Ding’s lawsuit [also] names [a gang of other cops for conspiring with Ferraro]…to falsify an arrest report and…to try to extort an apology to justify [Ferraro’s subhuman brutality]…DHS initiated an internal investigation into Ding, who was [not] cleared of wrongdoing [until] several months later…[even though the DA dropped the bogus charges only] a week [later]…

 

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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In the News (#1555)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 16, 2025| 1 Comment »

We need to take back control over the tools that we use.  –  Mike Masnick

It’s a Start

Let’s see if this lasts any longer in Pittsburgh than it did in New Orleans:

Pittsburgh City Council [has passed] an ordinance that would [allow cops to choose to charge]…sex work[ers with]…a [municipal] summary offense [instead of the state misdemeanor charge, which]…“can involve up to a year in jail, and…fines [of]…up to $10,000”…the m[unicipal offense would inflict]…“just a small fine similar to a traffic ticket”…[state] laws also require those charged with prostitution to show up to court, a requirement that the [optional offense under the] ordinance would do away with… the ordinance would not [remove cops’]…ability…to…charge people [with the existing state prostitution offense]…

These halfway measures are just a bone to activists; they never make a difference and never last more than a couple of years.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1410)

Burble burble BLUE STATE burble drool:

If [politician]s in New York and Minnesota get their way, social media users will be [harassed by compelled-speech popups making nonsensical claim]s about the [supposed] toll their scrolling habits could be taking on their mental health.  Legislatures in both states recently passed legislation requiring [“]warning labels[“] on social media, despite a…federal court…declaring a similar law for porn websites…unconstitutional.  The Minnesota [version] says a “conspicuous mental health warning label” must appear each time a user accesses a social media platform and only disappear when the user exits the platform or [clicks a box]…The New York [version]…mandates that any social media platform that provides [typical] basic features…must display a warning label “prescribed by the commissioner of mental hygiene.”  This is peak performative lawmaking [which]…lets [politicians]…pretend to be doing something to save us from the boogeyman du jour, Big Tech…In the real world, government goons telling you to put down Instagram and go touch grass would be unlikely to help even if it could pass constitutional muster—which it almost certainly won’t…

The Cop Myth (#1546)

Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?

A [North Carolina cop] resigned [after] he threatened a man with [a knife] at a restaurant…and accused [his victim] of touching his daughter.  Wesley Lane[‘s victim] has epilepsy, autism and an intellectual learning disability…surveillance video and witness statements [proved Lane’s excuse was full of shit]…

You Were Warned (#1550)

The subtitle above says it all:

…Starting at the end of 2025, Australians [who don’t use VPNs] will [be forced] to verify their ages when…using e[ither]…Google [or] Microsoft [Bing, which were singled out as] the two biggest search engines in the country…search engines [must otherwise “impose] tools and/or settings like ‘safe search’ functionality, at the highest [censorship] setting by default[, assuming every user]…is…an Australian child”…the measures are similar to what’s being considered for the country’s under-16 social media ban…age assurance laws like this…[are known to] be [in]effective[, but politicians don’t care because the “internet safety” theater] is [the entire point]…VPNs allow people to surf from other locations, bypassing location-specific rules…and [sites not based in Australia] may simply choose not to [infantilize their users]…

Mad Libs (#1550)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who use them look stupid as well:

…there’s now something of a cottage industry for writers and coders who specialize in fixing [LLM vomit]…Sarah Skidd, an American product marketing manager…was approached by an agency that urgently needed someone to redo copy…after having a…chatbot do the work to save a few bucks…she spent 20 hours redoing the copy from scratch…[which] meant her client was shelling out $2,000 for copy that likely would have ended up being far cheaper had a human just written it in the first place.  With more and more companies rushing to [jump on the fake “]AI[” bandwagon] over the past few years, things are shaking out in [100% predictable] ways…Sophie Warner…of the UK-based digital marketing agency Create Designs..[ha]s been fielding more and more requests from clients to clean up [LLM vomit]…In one recent case, a client ended up going without a website for three days and having to pay Create Designs nearly $500 over a small line of code that ChatGPT had written for them…[when a human could have written] the original…[in] about 15 minutes…but [gullible fools are still buying tech advertising claims]…that [computer programs] can replace expert work…

Torture Chamber (#1551)

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

Immigrants being [locked up] in [large closet]s in Lower Manhattan have [reported] being unable to bathe or change clothes, cramped conditions, sometimes being provided just one meal a day, and sleeping on concrete benches or the floor…[for] days at a time… “There’s no room to sit down – standing room only,” said Rebecca Rubin, an immigration attorney…[cowardly] Congress[critter]s, who for weeks have been refused entry at the site…have [merely complained rather than using their authority to enter and inspect]…The [closet]s used to be temporary holding areas where [victims of ICE] were [locked] for a few hours before being transferred to larger…[prisons]…But…in recent months, [victims] have been [packed in like sardines]…for [up to 10] days…

Aladdin’s Satellite

How to make an LLM simulate psychosis:

[Last] week, Elon Musk’s Grok [chatbot] started spewing extreme antisemitism, responding with conspiracy theories about Jewish people, and for a brief period telling people to call it “MechaHitler”.  The incident perfectly illustrates why Alex Komoroske’s manifesto about the dangers of centralized AI, which we ran less than a month ago, has been making waves.  When a single person controls the dials on an [LLM] system, they…inevitably will…tweak those dials to serve their own interests and worldview, not their users’.  Just days [before], Elon claimed that his team had “improved Grok significantly” and that “you should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions”…People sure did notice a difference.  The transformation wasn’t subtle, and it wasn’t accidental…a similar [ham-handed “improvement”] two months or so ago [resulted in] Grok bec[oming] obsessed with linking everything to [“]white genocide[“]…as the situation escalated, they [tried to fix it, but]…eventually…[had to take it] offline entirely…

From now on, house style on The Honest Courtesan will be to refer to Musk’s chatbot not by the wildly-incongruous name “Grok”, but by its self-chosen appellation “MechaHitler”.

 

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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In the News (#1550)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We get to choose whether—and how—we adopt technology that can eviscerate our humanity.  –  Brian Klaas

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#1361)

To “admit” something is to confess to something true, not to a delusion:

…Mark Edwin Dykema was [sentenced to 180 days in jail and] put on probation for three years…[for taking “upskirt” videos at a church and elsewhere in Michigan.  He was recently] handed [a similar sentence in another] county for similar crimes.  Dykema [tried to blame his antisocial behavior on a “]pornography addiction[” even though there is no such thing]…

Vulture Watching (#1464)

Politicians who drink enough Kool-Aid refuse to believe their own experiences:

[Florida politician] Kat Cammack arrived at the emergency room in May 2024…[in] need…[of] a shot of methotrexate to help expel her ectopic pregnancy…[but] her state’s six-week abortion ban had just taken effect…[and] doctors and nurses who saw her…were [prudently] worried about losing their licenses or going to jail if they gave her drugs to end her pregnancy.  She began arguing her case [just as other women and women’s advocates have]…but [reasonable and legitimate] concern about the law’s [vague, confusing, piss-poor] wording made doctors [understandably] hesitant…Months later, Florida regulators [finally deigned] to address what they [mischaracterized as] misinformation, making clear that doctors should intervene in cases such as Cammack’s…[because she is a limp-spined, narrow-minded Republican minion,] Cammack doesn’t fault the Florida law for her experience.  Instead, she accuses [“]the left[“] of scaring medical professionals [by correctly explaining] that they could face criminal charges for violating the law…[and] medical staff [for]…fear[ing having their lives wrecked by prosecutors eager]…to enforce the ban.   [Human rights advocates] said blaming medical workers echoes the “playbook of antiabortion extremists that for decades have been blaming and villainizing doctors”…

Thought Control (#1491)

Just keep plunging that ice pick in; the bad thoughts will go away eventually:

…a mind-boggling list of hundreds of books purged from…Tennessee school libraries…[includes] a book…called Ancient Greece and the Olympics…[banned for having “The Discus Thrower“] on the cover…[others] include…[Shel] Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic…Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan…They Called Us Enemy by George Takei..Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, a[bout a Tennessee] artist…Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird…John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath…In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater…Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak…Art Spiegelman’s…Maus, The Hidden Children of the Holocaust by Ester Kustanowitz…The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders…the bans are coming without any review or discussion…[because any politician can demand] censorship of [any book by pointing at it and belching any of an]…expanding [list] of [magic words] such as “sexually explicit,” “obscene,” and “harmful to minors”…[putting] Tennessee…on par with states like Florida, Iowa, and Texas…

Creepy Coppers (#1532)

Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:

A [typical and representative anti-migrant thug from North Carolina] was indicted on [child porn] charges…Philip Andrew Douglass…was accused of knowingly distributing and possessing the [smut without government permission, by other cops who were sharing it with permission]…

You Were Warned (#1533)

No shit. Sensible people did tell y’all:

Technology to check a person’s age and ban under 16s from using social media is not “guaranteed to be effective” and face-scanning tools [often] give…incorrect results, concede the operators of a Australian government trial of the scheme.  The tools being trialled – some involving [programs] analysing voices and faces – would be improved through [more intrusive surveillance methods], those running the scheme have [predictably] suggested.  The trial also found “concerning evidence” some technology providers were seeking to gather too much personal information [and then not handing it over to the government.  Despite these predictable issues]…the operators [still] insist…age assurance can work and maintain personal privacy…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1538)

How much will it cost for a doctor to remove them from your face after somebody punches you for filming them without consent?

[Facebook] is announcing its next…glass[hole eyewear] with Oakley.  The limited-edition…HSTN (pronounced “how-stuhn”) model costs $499 and…other Oakley models with [Facebook]’s tech will be available starting at $399…Like the existing…Ray-Ban glasses, the Oakley model features a front-facing camera, along with open-ear speakers and microphones that are built into the frame.  After they are paired with a phone, the glasses can be used to [dox anyone who just happens to walk past their camera and Facebook’s LLM] can also [make up shit] about what someone is seeing and even [aggravate the wearer’s mental health issues.  Facebook]…is [market]ing th[is] new [overpriced toy]…to…athletes…and…the built-in camera now shoots in 3K video, up from 1080p for the…Ray-Bans…

Is it just me, or do these look like cheap plastic sunglasses for kids?

Mad Libs (#1548)

Not only are these algorithms unintelligent; they are making those who use them unintelligent as well:

…Every piece of technology can either make us more human or less human.  It can liberate us from the mundane to unleash creativity and connection, or it can shackle us to mindless robotic drudgery of isolated meaninglessness…When [computers are] used to diagnose cancer or automate soul-crushing tasks that require vapid toiling, [they] make…us more human and should be celebrated.  But when [they] suck…out the core process of advanced cognition, cutting-edge tools can become an existential peril.  In the formative stages of education, we are now at risk of stripping away the core competency that makes our species thrive: learning not what to think, but how to think….Our minds make us human—and language provides the social architecture of our thoughts.  [Large language models are] already killing off important parts of the human experience.  But one of [their] most consequential murders—so far—is the demise of a longstanding rite of passage for students worldwide: an attempt to synthesize complex information and condense it into compelling analytical prose.  It’s a training ground for the most quintessentially human aptitudes, combining how to think with how to use language to communicate…This is part of what is lost by ChatGPT, the mistaken belief that the spat out string of words in a reasonable order is the only goal, when it’s often the cognitive act of producing the string of words that matters most…

 

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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In the News (#1548)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?  It looks like an additional monthly user.  –  Eliezer Yudkowsky

You Were Warned (#1345)

Politicians will never stop until the open internet is destroyed:

[Politicians have] re-introduced [a bill which intentionally] threatens security and free speech on the internet…the STOP CSAM Act of 2025…would undermine services offering end-to-end encryption and force internet companies to take down lawful user content…[using the perennial excuse of stopping] child pornography…[which] is already highly illegal…The bill applies to “interactive computer services,” which broadly includes private messaging and email apps, social media platforms, cloud storage providers, and many other…service providers…[and] opens the door for civil lawsuits against providers for…employ[ing] end-to-end encryption…on…the [spurious grounds that]…merely providing an encrypted service that can be used to store any image—not necessarily CSAM—recklessly facilitates the sharing of illegal content…Not every platform will have the resources to fight these threats in court, especially…[since] the bill…creat[es another] exception to Section 230…Without that protection, platforms are much more likely to aggressively monitor and censor users…

Buried Truth (ROTW #3)

Another textbook example of McNeill’s Law, courtesy of “Moms for Liberty”:

…South Carolina [politician] RJ May [was honored by the pro-censorship cult “Moms for Liberty”] as their 2023 Legislator of the Year and had him speak at their 2022 event on “[Subvert]ing Education in America”…[so predictably, he has now been] arrested…[fo]r nearly a dozen federal charges [of] distributing child [porn]…May…used the screen name “joebidennnn69” to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network during spring 2024…Prosecutors…say that May “has a sexual interest in children the same age as his own children” and…“a sexual interest in incest” between young children and their parents…[but] also…found videos on his laptop of him having sex with three underage…sex work[ers]…May…was the co-chair of the state’s [Orwellian-named pro-censorship “]Freedom Caucus[“] until they kicked him out over the kiddie porn charges…

Mad Libs

Unbalanced minds use external tools like Ouija boards or programs to amplify existing beliefs:

In recent months…[many] people…claim to have unlocked hidden knowledge with the help of [Cat, I farted]…persuad[ing themselves that the program] had revealed a profound and world-altering truth…Eliezer Yudkowsky, a decision theorist…[explains that] OpenAI might have primed [the program] to entertain the delusions of users by optimizing its chatbot for “engagement”…[these] chatbots are “giant masses of inscrutable numbers”…and the companies making them don’t know exactly why they behave the way that they do…Reports of chatbots going off the rails seem to have increased since April, when OpenAI briefly released a version of [Cat, I farted] that was overly sycophantic…a spokeswoman for OpenAI said…“We’re working to understand and reduce ways ChatGPT might unintentionally reinforce or amplify existing, negative behavior”…[some victims] later…realize that the seemingly authoritative system was a word-association machine that had pulled them into a quicksand of delusional thinking.  [But] not everyone comes to that realization, and in some cases the consequences have been tragic…

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (ROTW #17)

It’s too bad cops don’t spend all of their time fantasy role-playing with each other:

A [Texas cop named]…Gabriel Slusher was [arrested for talk]ing to [another cop fantasy role-playing as] an 8-year-old girl online.  Slusher was charged with a[sking the other cop] to…[send nude pictures of the imaginary] child…he remains in the Montgomery County Jail…suspended without pay…

Welcome to the Future (#1540)

Anyone who trusts Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

[The Facebook chatbot]’s public stream is perhaps the most depressing feed I’ve come across in a long time.  It’s full of people sharing intimate information about themselves — things like thoughts on grief, or child custody, or financial distress.  And it seems like some people aren’t aware that what they’re sharing will end up on a public feed…some…might have clicked the wrong button and didn’t realize what they were doing…conversations with [the chatbot] aren’t public by default…so, maybe some of those people wanted the world to read their…chats [with a machine].  And others, maybe not…If a person uses the voice chat function, you can actually listen to recordings of their conversation if they’re shared…

“Whatever you chat about with the computer, just picture Zuckerberg watching.”  And every other denizen of Facebook, too.

Thought Control (#1541)

No parody of puritanism could be as absurd as the current reality in Florida:

In a chilling meeting of the Florida State Board of Education…a school district superintendent was publicly browbeaten and repeatedly threatened with criminal prosecution [because]…he…had not unilaterally and permanently removed a list of 55 books from school libraries…[using the ludicrous excuse of] “parents’ rights” [despite the fact that] no Hillsborough County parent had objected to the books at issue.  Rather, the State Board had summarily declared that the…books were “pornography”, even though none of the books met the legal definition of pornographic material…[and] many…are award-winning literature that have been read by students for years…Board [members were angry]…that…[Superintendent Van] Ayres i[mplied that]…librarians…[knew their jobs better than politicians.  The gang of psychopaths responded by vomiting abuse at Ayres, calling him and the librarians “]illiterate[“]…”child abusers”…and…”garbage”…and [demanded all the] librarians…be “terminated immediately”…[also threatening them with] criminal prosecution…

Though Hillsborough County educational officials oppose tyranny, unfortunately the same cannot be said for its sheriff and cops.

I Spy (#1543)

Civil liberties violations only start with those politicians have chosen to demonize:

[The] Trump…[regime has] provided deportation [thug]s with personal data — including the immigration status — on millions of Medicaid enrollees…[in order] to [facilitate mass deportations]…Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns…[but henchmen of Minister of Pestilence] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security…and…were given just 54 minutes on [June 10th] to comply…The dataset includes the information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C., all of which allow non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars.  CMS transferred the information just as the [regime] was ramping up its [pogrom]s in Southern California…

 

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!

Read Full Post »

In the News (#1539)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

People…saying nice things about you…cannot be the standard by which we render something criminal coercion.  –  Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Opting Out (#1336) 

If other big websites followed suit, the damage done by this totalitarian nonsense would be dramatically curtailed:

Wikipedia is challenging the UK’s…Online Safety Act…[because] it is at risk of being subjected to the act’s toughest category 1 duties, which…[would undermine] the safety and privacy of Wikipedia’s army of volunteer editors…its entries could be manipulated and vandalised, and resources would be diverted from protecting and improving the site…if…Wikipedia [chose not to dox its] users and editors, it would [be forced] to allow anonymous [trolls] to block other posters from fixing or removing any content[, including intentional misinformation or vandalism inserted by the same troll.  Doxing]…volunteer editors [to governmental busybodies] would [also]…breach…the foundation’s commitment to collecting minimal data about readers and contributors…volunteer communities working in more than 300 languages could be exposed to “data breaches, stalking, vexatious lawsuits or even imprisonment by authoritarian regimes”…

Torture Chamber (#1457)

A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners:

A federal judge [has] stripped control of the Rikers Island jail complex from New York City and ordered the appointment of an independent manager to fix rampant violence and persistent constitutional violations…Judge…Laura Taylor Swain…warned city officials last year that she was inclined to impose a receivership after finding that the city was in contempt of…an agreement it entered in 2015 to settle a lawsuit over brutality at Rikers.  In fact, violence, death…and most other metrics of human misery got demonstrably worse…The loss of direct control of Rikers is…one of the loudest warning sirens so far that something has gone profoundly wrong in American prisons and jails…Last year, a Justice Department investigation found “dehumanizing” filth and violence at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta…The Justice Department found unconstitutional conditions at three Mississippi prisons last year as well…In one Texas county jail, three people died of thirst over a two-year period.  And in Texas state prisons, which lack air conditioning, people are being cooked to death in the summer heat.  On the West Coast, one man lay dying for four hours before jail staff noticed…[and] in Alameda County, California…jail staff ignored [a] corpse for three days…

The Public Eye (#1470)

Much, much, much more of this, please:

A…candidate for [New Jersey] State Assembly is selling photos of her feet on an adult content website…Rebecca Holloway, a former Clementon school board member…has been legally selling photos of her feet in various poses on Feetfinder.com for the last two years…and…[is] a self-employed marketing consultant…

You Were Warned (#1483)

I really wish I were wrong about the Uniparty:

…Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal joined MAGA Republicans to reintroduce the Kids Online Safety Act…a bill that Heritage [Foundation and sponsor Marsha Blackburn have] proudly proclaimed as central to [the] strategy of censoring progressive content around LGBTQ issues and abortion…It raises a huge question of…what the fuck are they thinking?…The Trump administration is systematically implementing every element of Heritage’s Project 2025 censorship playbook.  There’s no more room for wishful thinking about how KOSA might be used.  And yet, Democrats seem to act as if none of that is happening, and we can just assume good faith in how KOSA will be implemented and enforced by an FTC that has loudly proclaimed its willingness to conduct partisan, culture war witch hunts on behalf of Project 2025’s goals…last year, House GOP members actually stopped the bill after realizing it was a censorship tool that could be used against their own speech.  But now that Trump has won (and the GOP acts as though there will never be another free election), that objection may evaporate…

The Mob Rules (#1514)

Wannabe censors team up with ambulance-chasers to capitalize on mob rule laws:

[Morality in Media] has filed lawsuits against four porn websites for allegedly failing to follow a [predator]y…Kansas law that requires porn sites to verify users [sic] age…The suits claim a Kansas [woman] found [her] 14-year-old had been accessing…pornography on [her old laptop, which he found in a closet]…“Kansas law requires pornography companies to [let themselves be pillaged by neglectful prudes who don’t bother to install censorship software on their own computers],” said Dani Pinter…of [Morality in Media]’s Law[fare arm]…

Imaginary Evils (#1516)

Liz Brown on another company the government is trying to destroy with “sex trafficking” myths despite a lack of “sex trafficking” charges:

…in…the OneTaste trial…Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin Farrell a[sked] government witness Rebecca Halpern…[where the] clitoris…is…[as part of questioning about] orgasmic meditation…[which] OneTaste encouraged as a daily practice.  Halpern had been a willing participant in O.M., as a student and later a coach…in the second week of trial, the clitoris isn’t the only thing that the feds seem at a loss to find.  Also missing…has been convincing evidence of coerced or forced labor…four witnesses have testified…that they were able to come and go freely…that they had free access to phones, computers, email, and mail—and that they were free to visit family, friends, and places…Some took vacations. Some had outside jobs…they had other places and skills they could turn to, college degrees, loved ones outside the group.  They also had agency within the organization, accepting and advocating for different positions and conditions, and leaving these positions when they wanted to without threats or backlash…

Business Opportunity (#1527)

If you thought “asset forfeiture” was brazen robbery, get a load of this:

Honey Meerzon’s parents are Jews from the Soviet Union…Luis Romero’s parents fled Castro’s Cuba when he was eight years old.  The two ended up as neighboring business owners…in Perth Amboy, New Jersey…Romero has…run…his family’s tire shop, Quick Tire, for…20 years.  Meerzon has owned the four-unit rental property next door for…ten.  Now, the…city council of Perth Amboy [has declared] that Meerzon’s and Romero’s properties were not, in fact, comfortable homes or a successful business, but are rather blighted hazards…because their two buildings are too close together, too close to the street, and have…stray cats [nearby]…the city says it is now entitled to [steal] the properties…for…a massive…warehouse project…[by a fascist collaboration] between the city’s redevelopment agency and Denver-based developer Viridian Partners…

 

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