Slow News Month

As you may have noticed (and I mentioned in “Silver Lining“), it’s become difficult to fill my news columns due to the pandemic; nobody’s talking about anything else (even though there are definitely other things to talk about), so there just aren’t enough stories to feature (because I have even less interest in writing a column about stupid epidemic memes than you have in reading one).  So for the time being, I’m rationing news items to seven per news column (instead of the usual nine to thirteen) until I start noticing the number of fresh items has increased again.  This also means I have fewer things to write full columns about, so you’ve probably noticed that most of them touch on the pandemic as well.  Since I’m not going to let some stupid collection of RNA that isn’t even actually alive (and its attendant hysteria) break a decade-long perfect record, you can be sure I’ll keep posting something every day (and look for The Essential Maggie McNeill, Volume II on Monday).  But until things get back to relatively normal, a lot of them may be meager pickings like this one.

Read Full Post »

Back Issue #81

Are you blind or just stupid?  –  “Deadbeats”

• Scum brothel owners push prohibitionist lies to further their own interests.
• More women than men support the violent policing of women’s sexualities.
• Key to understanding Sweden: the government thinks it owns the citizens.
• Songs by Queen, Bob Seger, the Who, Springsteen, Cole Porter & Blondie.
• Anti-sex control freak pays someone to publish a deeply-disturbed screed.
• A thorough debunk of the annual FBI “Operation Cross-Country” pogroms.
• New York Times still can’t understand how anti-sex crusades harm people.
• Anti-whore bigotry will soon be seen as vile as anti-queer bigotry is today.
• Politicians promise the impossible, and stupid people keep believing them.
• Yet another pogrom in the pocket police-state that is Polk County, Florida.
• Men like this are the norm in prosecuting sexual offenses & always will be.
• Cops will never stop trying to gain the power to rob and rape sex workers.
• Less harmful than the usual ignorant sex work “study”, but no less stupid.
• It’s been a while since we’ve seen this touted as a “sex trafficking” Mecca.
• Say your product “fights sex trafficking” & the stupid will give you money.
• Trump’s ideas mostly involve deporting people & giving cops more power.
• “Gain access to” = “break in”.  “Seek the services of” = “attempt to rape”.
• Major ethical problem, but did letting drug warriors handle it help anyone?
• Authoritarians refuse to admit that a child-shaped toaster is still a toaster.
• An attempt to rob a business using “sex trafficking” hysteria as a weapon.
• Bruises & rope burns “signs of trafficking”? More “signs of a fun evening”.
• Lenore Skenazy’s take on yet another hysterical “sex trafficking” fantasy.
• So good to see people who had a bad time in sex work attacking Asstoon.
• Say your product “fights sex trafficking” & the stupid will give you money.
• I’d be much happier if the money went to his victims instead of the State.
• Everyone harmed by “prostitution stings” needs to sue the cops for them.
• For those still laboring under the misbelief that Nevada is whore-friendly.
• Whores have been prohibited from entering the US for almost 150 years.
• If this is a “brothel”, then a room with a foosball table in it is a “stadium”.
• Remember this when politicians tell you anti-porn laws “protect children”.
• Daily Fail pretends to care about transwomen so it can print torture porn.
• TSA & cops are allowed to sexually assault citizens without consequence.
• “Protecting women” is usually code for either spying on or controlling us.
• Got an internet-connected device? Assume it can be used to spy on you.
• Dems: Ready to disavow this lunacy you helped create & cede it to GOP?
• So why can’t drug addicts get out of 20-year sentences for “possession”?
• No information this gimmick could record could improve sex in any way.
• Please, wives, stay in denial; if you listened it might reduce our income.
• I’m amused to see Hollywood-promoted hysteria coming home to roost.
• White prohibitionists use names of dead black icons to push racist laws.
• Please, ladies, don’t give cops evidence they can & will use against you.
• Prohibitionists exhume rotting corpse of the “Scottish model” yet again.
• Five years ago, Ipswitch was claiming to have “eradicated” street work.
• Did serial rapist Matt Hickey think ignoring this would make it go away?
• Missing woman last seen with gang member; family blames bogeymen.
• Who could possibly guess septic industrial sealant isn’t for internal use?
• I’d be interested in hearing what actual sex workers think of this show.
• Nuns shocked their magical proclamation didn’t erase economic reality.
• Article quoting violent prohibitionist still sounds sympathetic to whores.
• “Pop-up brothels” are the subject of UK cops’ favorite wanking fantasy.
• Has she sadfeelz about “forced smiles” of women in other service jobs?
• I doubt legislators can make a law immune to repeal or judicial review.
• Another group throws whores under bus to curry favor with their lords.
• Should I trust an escort who doesn’t have much of an online footprint?
• No Cambodian brothel story is too shocking for Westerners to believe.
• Nicaraguan whores can be officially accredited as “judicial facilitators”.
• It’s never called “trafficking” when the government or a crony does it.
• This is what robo-fetishists want you to believe will take my job soon.
• Presumably, those “outraged” would prefer boys be molested instead.
• 1st-amendment lawyers speak out against the Backpage persecution.
• I’m sure this “call for education” doesn’t include actual sex education.
• Harlots’ Ball, clothes sizes, dinners, cocktails & driving in Seattle rain.
• Dallas outfit cashing in on “sex trafficking” tours expands to Houston.
• In which a number of lucky folks get to sample my legendary kissing.
• Journalists love to pretend this is unusual, when in fact it’s the norm.
• These are the same cops politicians keep urging sex workers to trust.
• You mean healthy young men can’t merely be ordered to be asexual?
• What better job could there be for a queer sadist with control issues?
• A few sane people oppose the bizarre schemes of Oregon politicians.
• Sick fuck keeps laughing while facing the possibility of life in a cage.
• Great idea: make people unable to work & provide for their families!
• Another study shows what’s already been shown over & over again.
• Another step toward getting completely rid of these tyrannical laws.
• Sex work is not an evil to be tolerated, but a good to be celebrated.
• This wouldn’t be OK even if the notions it’s based on weren’t idiotic.
• On the myth that porn has become mostly violent & “misogynistic”.
• Any advice for a lesbian relationship that started as escort & client?
• A list of payment processors that are openly hostile to sex workers.
• It’s illegal to pay for sex in Sweden, unless you’re the government.
• Please don’t let non-doctors inject who-knows-what into your butt.
• A short interview with a dear friend, the superlative Savannah Sly.
• Which state can produce the stupidest “sex trafficking” nonsense?
• Dysphemisms and gawking abound in UK articles about sex work.
• Politicians hire male sex workers almost as often as female ones.
• The hypocrisy of arresting underage sex workers to “help” them.
• OMG THE SEX RAYS COULD HAVE HARMED THE CHILDREN^TM!
• It’s good to see academics in the afflicted countries saying this.
• “Sex trafficking” fetishists are becoming increasingly unhinged.
• Sometimes “trafficking” just means “bringing in brown people“.
• Fact: Young woman leaves hotel. Conclusion: “sex trafficking”!
• In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down.
• The word for government/corporate collaboration is “fascism”.
• This is a lot better than Vice‘s last article on leaving sex work.
• In mass surveillance, fascism beats communism hands down.
• Gee, I can’t imagine why a teenager would want a fake ID.
• Anonymity, hotels, STDs, and how many men pay for sex.
• “Rescue Two Step” by the lovely & talented Savannah Sly.
• Pigeonholes are fine for pigeons, but unsuited for people.
• Even in Ireland, the truth is dawning on many feminists.
• Is it a good idea for a newbie escort to hire a manager?
• A generous special and a tour that failed to materialize.
• The funniest unintentionally sexual album covers ever.
• Palantir helps cops spy on sex workers and minorities.
• How can I convince my wife to see an escort with me?
• Despite the pearl-clutching, I actually agree with this.
• Is anyone actually still surprised when this happens?
• Banks are looking for whores to rat out to the pigs.
• The old strip club business model is a dead duck.
• Seriously, has this girl been living under a rock?
• A rant against government-ordered clock-lying.
• How you can help support sex worker activism.
• Badass woman uses her badassery for justice.
• Where are all of these “trafficked sex slaves”?
• Only notable for the sheer density of bullshit.
• An absolutely fucking brilliant act of harlotry.
• What the hell is going on in my native state?
• More “grocery store sex trafficking” lunacy.
• More evil prohibitionist drivel from Nevada.
• An antecedent is a terrible thing to waste.
• Still another abomination from Alabama.
• The world isn’t “fair” and can never be.
• Another woman senselessly murdered.
• The story is the same the world over.
• A rare victory against prohibitionists.
• Norway, the other feminist paradise.
• Spanish city harasses streetwalkers.
• Rivers and McNeill and The Doctor.
• Two arguments about “trafficking”.
• Awesome whores being awesome.
• I don’t really care much for porn.
• More good news about bad laws.
• So much for human uniqueness.
• What could possibly go wrong?
• How can a man delay orgasm?
• A witch-hunt against comics.
• Rapist cops of March, 2017.
• Because NHI is so feminist.
• Charlie Sheen’s meltdown.
• Little by little, bit by bit.
• Only the first of many.
• A thorny BDSM case.
• R.I.P. Bob Guccione.
• On time-wasters.
• Vampire whores.
• Back so soon?
• Labioplasty.

Read Full Post »

Silver Lining

In order to keep my news columns reasonably consistent in length, I keep them to a minimum of nine news items and a maximum of thirteen, and I try not to let the number shift by more than two in either direction from one column to the next.  So if one column has ten, I try to keep the next one to no more than twelve; since they’re written half a week to one week in advance of publication, I can see how the queue is stacking up and move items from one column to another as needed.  Well, when I started working on “In the News #1022” on the 12^th, it had twelve items, but on the evening of Sunday the 15^th I realized that one was a duplicate of an item from #1021 (same story in a different source) and that there were only seven items in #1023.  So I eliminated the duplicate and shifted two items to #1023 to even them out, and as I started slotting stories for #1024 I noticed it was also probably going to be lean.  It didn’t take me long to figure out the reason:  COVID panic has pushed “sex trafficking” hysteria off of the internet’s “front page”, so to speak.  Usually about a third of the stories in any given column are directly related to “sex trafficking” hysteria, but in the past week and a half those have all but dried up; #1023 would’ve only had one such item had I not shifted two of them from #1022.  Now, it may be that this is only a temporary respite, and that once governments stop these dress rehearsals for martial law we will once again be inundated with crude sexual fantasies about pubescent “sex slaves” abducted from Ikea and raped by dozens of men a day.  However, the last round of “sex trafficking” hysteria ended in the UK because of the First World War, and in the US because of the Great Depression; it wouldn’t be at all surprising or unprecedented for this one to be killed by a pandemic.  We’ll have to wait and see, but if this indeed turns out to be the case, the dark cloud we’re all enshrouded in right now might well turn out to have a silver lining.

Read Full Post »

Every Four Years

This is only the third leap year since I’ve started the blog; since it doesn’t come around often, I don’t really have any set pattern for what it should look like.  But when I looked back at the last one, I found some guidance:

Where will I be on February 29^th, 2020?  Will I still be posting every day, or will I have wound down somewhat?  How many new books will I have written?  Will I still be living in Seattle?  What will my income be like?  What new experiences will I have had?  How well-known will I be?  Will the “sex trafficking” hysteria be over, as I predicted just before that last Leap Day?  Will I even be alive?  There’s no way to know, or even to guess; the only way to find out is to wait.

There’s been a lot of change since then, but fortunately not as much as over the four years before (though I’m traveling more than ever).  Obviously I’m still posting every day, but aside from news columns the average length is shorter and Fridays are sometimes quite short. My fourth book will be out soon, and I have plans for two more this year and three next year, including a third collection of short stories; I also have a documentary, The War on Whores, that was still in the talking-about stages last leap day.  I’m still spending most of my time in Seattle, though of course now I have my farm, Sunset; on the last leap day I hadn’t even decided to relocate yet (that didn’t happen until December of that year).  I’m making about the same as I did four years ago, but expending a lot less effort to do so; in fact, I don’t do traditional escort advertising any more except for my personal website and free ad sites, and I plan to mostly stop taking new clients at the end of this year unless they have impeccable references.  I’m still alive, but unfortunately so is “sex trafficking” hysteria; however, it has backfired on its creators and promoters in a way I didn’t quite predict, with over half of Americans now supporting decriminalization (many of them because of the hysteria rather than in spite of it), and strong pro-decriminalization momentum in a number of US states.  And as I head toward the tenth anniversary of this blog, I’m seeing a slow shift in the way I live my life (for the better, I think).  Will I be around to answer these same questions on February 29^th, 2024?  Only time will tell.  But as I look at all I’ve done over the past decade, I can say that I’m reasonably satisfied with my life and accomplishments.  And as that’s not something I’ve ever really been able to say at the end of any prior decade, I think it’s enough.

Read Full Post »

Back Issue #80

If they dressed as Playboy bunnies, would he claim it “bordered on bestiality?”  –  “An Enormous Big Nothing”

• Maker of fascist surveillance software uses Backpage as self-fellation prop.
• All the most enlightened countries have US-type anti-whore “crackdowns”.
• Indian feminists support sex workers & prohibitionists are minority cranks.
• Danger of a “tolerated” system: cops can suddenly decide to be intolerant.
• Claim your product “fights sex trafficking”; the stupid will give you money.
• The US tests oppressive tactics abroad before inflicting them domestically.
• It took 4 people to produce this one turd, perhaps human-centipede style.
• Cops are upset that the hysteria they helped create has inspired copycats.
• Is “the dangerous cycle of prostitution” a Harley bought by whore money?
• Another anti-pimp personal hygiene product, hawked by a megalomaniac.
• Cops and politicians are perverts who want to top others without consent.
• It’s good to see at least a few judges recognizing these fantasies as such.
• Newspaper publishes priest’s claim porn comes from “the depths of Hell”.
• Canadian prohibitionists really want to whip up “sex trafficking” hysteria.
• Seattle “officials” think harm reduction principles only apply to drug use.
• Two white women call tens of thousands of brown ones a “tiny minority”.
• Sex work app developers don’t bother to consult any actual sex workers.
• Another ridiculous “study” based solely in the researchers’ sex fantasies.
• Politicians promise the impossible & the stupid just keep believing them.
• I’m surprised the “forced sex trafficking abortions” trope didn’t catch on.
• Another futile attempt to wring a profit from anti-Backpage propaganda.
• The stories of several sex workers from Georgia, Armenia, & Azerbaijan.
• It’s always good to see different sex workers’ perspectives on this topic.
• Having sex is apparently the worst thing this bird-brain can conceive of.
• A theatrical production by whores designed to debunk prohibitionist BS.
• Politicians just can’t understand why whores refuse to believe their lies.
• Even some who support decrim feel the need to infantilize sex workers.
• Female free will is incomprehensible to “law enforcement” misogynists.
• Hotline calls reflect prevalence of beliefs & paranoia, not actual crimes.
• The number of myths, tropes & lies in this short passage is impressive.
• This is the norm in anything that involves prosecuting sexual offenses.
• Imagine the murder of any other person being described as a “scuffle”.
• It’s always “gangs”; women are too stupid to use AirBnB for ourselves.
• “Super Bowl sex trafficking” is dead, but not the “gypsy whores” myth.
• The woman who set up a home for retired sex workers in Mexico City.
• Governments weaken civil rights by urging profiteers to file civil suits.
• Mormon politician fantasizes that sex workers “force” cops to rape us.
• Authoritarians should’ve thought of this before letting that djinni out.
• Thoughtful people are coming to realize how awful anti-sex laws are.
• Who cares if a kid’s life is destroyed?  We need to “send a message”!
• Will Asstoon ever get professional help for his delusions of grandeur?
• Nobody wants to admit that a child-shaped toaster is still a toaster.
• The Pope continues to recklessly promote “sex trafficking” hysteria.
• A perfect storm of stupidity, sex fantasy and authoritarian violence.
• Barely a peep out of “Super Bowl sex trafficking” fanatics this year.
• We have many more vocal allies now than when I started blogging.
• If enough of these are thrown at the wall one may eventually stick.
• Sports Illustrated calls the “gypsy whores” trope a debunked myth.
• “Feminists” make a movie about a sex worker without her consent.
• UK cops fantasize “pimps” lurking behind every ordinary escort ad.
• Like terrorists forcing hostages to read denunciations at gunpoint.
• A constantly-updated spreadsheet of sex worker advertising sites.
• Losers try to cash in with debunked bullshit a year ahead of time.
• Sex worker subverts a pompous judge’s attempt to get rid of her.
• NYPD “guidelines” say majority of US citizens are “sex trafficked”.
• The usual total lack of “sex trafficking” at this year’s Super Bowl.
• A profile of Tara Burns, with emphasis on her activism in Alaska.
• Rescue industry dudes pretending to have been reluctant pimps.
• Even prudish Kiwis have to admit decriminalization is a success.
• A sleep mask, a feather duster and a scalp tingler as “sex toys”.
• An astronomer puzzles over his beautiful, mysterious employer.
• More on the useful idiots who are trying to destroy the internet.
• This will happen as long as anti-whore laws & procedures exist.
• A female “contributor” to GQ is paid to fellate Peter Qualliotine.
• Because just not being ashamed of one’s sexuality is too hard.
• It’s so nice to see sex work treated as the normal thing it is.
• Another of those cases whose reported details don’t add up.
• Whores will not carry water for those who don’t support us.
• Let’s hope more legal sex work businesses come on board.
• We’re seeing more editorials critical of the War on Whores.
• If you actually believe this, you are part of the problem.
• European media aren’t afraid to call rapist cops rapists.
• These are the kind of people who call us “bad” women.
• Prohibitionists chop down trees to get at sex workers.
• The Arizona anti-sex freakshow travels to Las Vegas.
• This is a huge move forward for a UK political party.
• Massage parlors are low-hanging fruit for vice cops.
• Regulated brothels in 19th-century St. Petersburg.
• Porn isn’t sex education, but Pornhub supports it.
• The truth about “air hostesses vs pimps” bullshit.
• Wendy McElroy on bitcoin and consensual crime.
• More absurd “air hostesses vs pimps” nonsense.
• Everything is a sign of lurking “sex traffickers”!
• A good, objective look at sex work in Bangkok.
• Sex workers reaching out to the public via art.
• An important observation from Mark Draughn.
• As the days get longer, my brain gets scarier.
• San Diego ramps up its anti-whore pogroms.
• Academic infantilizes Nigerian sex workers.
• “Human trafficking” is the new “23 skidoo”.
• Reporters collude with cops to spread lies.
• What is meant by “upscale” in escort ads?
• Ireland succumbs to the Swedish disease.
• Well, at least golf requires skill & activity.
• Sex rays could be harmful to sick people!
• “Human trafficking” can mean anything!
• A brief history of Japanese prostitution.
• Australian police practice “NHI” as well.
• This sets a really dangerous precedent.
• The law is an ass, and so is this judge.
• A review of Laura Agustín’s new book.
• Unusually sociopathic even for a cop.
• Thoughts on SASS and Mardi Gras.
• An introduction to Whoretography.
• Things not to say to a sex worker.
• Gee, who could’ve predicted this?
• Cops routinely rape sex workers.
• The strange but charming Linda.
• How long can this scam go on?
• A heffalump called “pedophilia”.
• An extremely productive week.
• Rapist cops of February, 2017.
• Sex workers help the disabled.
• Controlling male sexuality.
• Orwell would be proud.

Read Full Post »

Unsafe Space

Note for new readers:  My blog and Twitter feed are definitely not “safe spaces”, and cannot be made so with “trigger warnings” or “content notes”.  I am fighting a war against government oppression and police brutality, and war is never pretty or safe.  So if reading the truth about authoritarian violence upsets you, I suggest that this topic in general and my oeuvre in particular are simply not for you.  I do not and will not self-censor; if anything I will rephrase bureaucratic & journalistic euphemisms to make the ugly truths they’re trying to hide more visible.  So “confiscate” will be rendered as “steal”.  “Former police offcer” becomes “typical and representative cop”.  “Corrections officer” becomes “screw”.  “Have sex with” becomes “rape”.  “Die in custody” becomes “murdered”.  You get the picture.  If it’s more than you can handle, go in peace and I won’t blame you.  But I cannot and will not “tone it down” to avoid offending the easily-offended, nor will I respond to attempts to police my language with anything but the same lack of respect I respond to attempts by the state to police my behavior in real life.

Read Full Post »

Diary #503

Though last week was very busy (with work, other appointments, etc), I still managed to get everything done that I wanted to do, including preparing my tax stuff for the CPA, uploading the interior of The Essential Maggie McNeill, Volume II, setting up my other forthcoming book projects, and solidifying my travel plans for this month and next.  On top of all that, I managed to make time for another Star Trek podcast, this one called Enterprising Individuals; it’s been a lot of fun dipping into that audience, and I wouldn’t mind other fancasts contacting me!  On the travel front, I’ll be leaving for Orlando next week, then I’ll be in Austin for two days in March; it’s unlikely I’ll have much extra time to see anyone in either location, but if you are in either of those places and want to try, let me know and I’ll see what we can do.  I will certainly have availability when I visit New Orleans in May, and possibly when I go back to DC in March, so speak up if you want to see me either of those places as well!  I’ve got a lot of energy right now, and though I don’t really know why I think it might simply be that I’m in a good headspace and have a lot of confidence in my life strategies at the moment; one sign that this is the case is that two new stories popped into my head, and I got one of them written up over the weekend for inclusion in Lost Angels early next year.  Anyhow, I think that’s all for now; next week at this time I’ll be winging my way across to the other side of the continent.

Read Full Post »