Legendary Sheriff Brands Trans Prostitute 'Uglier Than A Mud Fence'

Florida's Polk County Sheriff is one of the most admired lawman in America. Results of his performance and treatment of convicted felon has been praised worldwide.

Recently, Sheriff Grady Judd paraded the results of a recent crackdown by his Florida department which saw nearly 250 people arrested for alleged human trafficking. One of those was Jason Balthis, a 43-year-old who Sheriff Judd said was charged with "offering to commit" as part of the "Fool Around and Find Out" crackdown.

Holding a picture of Balthis as a woman up, he said: "This Jason Balthis, when he walks in you think 'well I have set up a deal with an ugly woman', and I think you'd all agree he's an ugly woman."

He then held up a mugshot of Balthis without any makeup on or his wig, showing a bald man with remnants of what appears to be lipstick still on him.

Judd continued: "This is what you really get when the makeup comes off. I want you to think about this, you decide you're gonna hook up with a woman, she comes in and she's already uglier than a mud fence.

"Then as you start to engage you find out this dudette is a dude, and look what he really looks like. He looks like he should have been in the Scarface movie.

"This is what is happening, people think they are getting this, and many times they are getting a really bad guy. This is the before and after."

He added: "When you find them in the bar at night and you try to drink them pretty and you wake up the next morning and you see this, that's what we call Rolex ugly."

Sheriff Judd explained: "You wake up the next morning and they're laying on your arm and your Rolex is there.

"You just chew your arm off and leave the Rolex, you gotta get outta there. You don't care about the Rolex."

According to Polk County data, Balthis has been arrested eight times in the past 11 years.

Some charges include possession of drugs including crystal meth and cocaine, violating a probation, and his most recent for alleged prostitution. His inmate profile states his race and sex as a white male. He is currently being held in custody.

Balthis was one of 244 suspects taken in during the nine-day operation which started earlier this month.

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Why Internet is Not Growing in the US?

When you can afford it and has public opinion on your side, then by all means go for it. This is the mantra that we see in many democratic countries with free market economies.

However, a group representing giants in the cable industry is trying to suppress that right to consume whatever one can afford by shutting down two U.S. municipalities' proposals to expand their public broadband networks. The cable companies argue that that public broadband has a "mixed record" and can be harmful to taxpayers, despite these two networks already being successful where they're already operational.

Laws in 20 states prevent municipalities from from creating their own broadband networks — much to the pleasure of private cable companies, which have shown an impressive dedication to avoiding any competition and any suggestion that their service is merely a utility. Municipalities have on occasion created their own public networks to make up for shortcomings from local internet providers, and it's easy to see why private providers wouldn't want that around.

The two municipalities, those of Chattanooga, TN, and Wilson, NC, have petitioned the FCC to allow them to work around state laws that block their broadband service's expansion. The FCC has previously said that it plans to use its powers to invalidate these laws, but there's some contention over whether it can do that.

In a filing and blog post, USTelecom — which the Guardian says represents Comcast and Time Warner Cable, among other industry giants — argues that the FCC doesn't have the power to do this. That's hardly the only reason that USTelecom provides for why these municipalities should remain blocked, however, generally arguing that it should be up to the state to decide. For what it's worth, state governors are in agreement. The National Governors Association also submitted a comment on Friday asking that the FCC "honor the longstanding partnership between states and the federal government" and reject these two municipalities' petitions.

While USTelecom is right that some public broadband networks have turned into blunders, many have been incredibly successful and have actually proven to be legitimate competitors to private networks. In fact, Chattanooga offers gigabit internet to every home and business in its community — a speed that's still incredibly rare to see from private providers in the US. Community Broadband Networks says that 40 communities in 13 states are currently offering gigabit service.

With the FCC having said that it will allow municipal broadband networks to work around these laws, it seems that the cable companies may have an uphill battle. Still, it's not clear when the FCC will find time to rule on this — and, if the cable industry loses, it wouldn't be surprising to see it continue the fight from there.

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A New Email Phishing Scam Is On The Rise

An email hits your inbox from an unknown sender that includes a picture of your house and address, followed by this threat: "Don’t even try to hide from this. You have no idea what I’m capable of ... I’ve got footage of you doing embarrassing things in your house (nice setup, by the way)."

Sounds like a scene out of a horror film, right? Instead, it’s one of the latest phishing scams.

Like many other email and text scams, this particular extortion scheme uses specific personal information to deceive people into sending money. The email convinces people the hacker knows more about them and that they must exchange payment or Bitcoin in order to keep their information safe.

"I received a PDF over email that included my address and photo of the address and made outrageous claims about my private behavior, and claimed to have video documentation captured from spyware on my computer," Jamie Beckland, a chief product officer at the tech company APIContext, told HuffPost. "The scammer threatened to release the video if I didn’t pay them via Bitcoin."

If you get a similar email, here are the steps you can take to figure out if it’s a scam so you protect yourself:

1. Confirm the house and street imagery on Google Maps
   Many phishing emails are often riddled with grammatical errors and poor formatting, which make them easier to identify. However, this scam, which includes images of people’s homes, is a newer, darker twist.
   You might be asking yourself, how exactly was the scammer able to identify your house address? According to Al Iverson, a cyber expert and industry research and community engagement lead at the software company Valimail, the sender likely found your address from a prior data breach that leaked personal data, and then used a Google Maps photo to put together an email.
2. Examine the email address and check for legitimacy
   Iverson recommended checking the email address’ legitimacy whenever you receive any correspondence from unknown users.
   "Check whether the sender’s email domain matches the official organization’s website," he said as one example.
   "Also, if using Gmail, look for ‘show original message’ and review SPF, DKIM, and DMARC results." These are essentially methods that verify the emailer’s domain to prevent spam, phishing attacks and other email security risks. To do this, click on the three-dot hamburger menu at the top right of your email and click "Show Original."
3. Don’t click unfamiliar links, especially related to payments
   If an email seems legitimate, you might accidentally click on the links it contains for more information. Zarik Megerdichian, founder of Loop8, a company that protects personal data and privacy from data breaches and hackers, strongly cautions against this.
   "Exercise caution any time you’re asked to click on a link in an email," Megerdichian said. "Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, as are many other common payment methods including Cash App and Zelle."
   Further, scams that demand remuneration should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission by filing a report online or via phone. Megerdichian also noted that if a hacker has obtained details about your financials, monitor your bank accounts closely and dispute fraudulent charges with your bank, cancel your cards and preventatively stop future charges.
4. Update your password
   It’s also highly advisable when confronted with an elaborate scam to change all of your passwords.
   According to Yashin Manraj, CEO of Pvotal Technologies, a company that creates secure tech infrastructures for businesses, it’s important to protect your data right away if you suspect it’s been compromised.
   "Use a new email address if possible and move critical financial or utilities to it, and then start reporting the case to the local police, the FBI and making sure your family is aware of the potential threat of a public shaming in the unlikely event that they did manage to steal some compromising data," Manraj said.

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Opera's Browser Battle With Microsoft Starts In Brazil

Opera has filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft in Brazil, alleging it creates an unfair environment for alternate browsers to compete with Edge. The Norway-based company claims Microsoft's deals to make Edge the exclusive pre-installed browser on Windows machines creates an unfair environment for alternate browsers to compete.

Opera also argued that Microsoft uses design tactics and dark patterns to further discourage people from downloading and using rival products. It is asking Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) to pursue remedies against Microsoft.

"Microsoft thwarts browser competition on Windows at every turn. First, browsers like Opera are locked out of important pre-installation opportunities," Aaron McParlan, general counsel for Opera, said in a statement. "And then Microsoft frustrates users' ability to download and use alternative browsers."

This isn't the first time these two companies have clashed. Opera sued Microsoft in the EU all the way back in 2007 with a similar argument that bundling Internet Explorer was anticompetitive. Last year, it also argued (albeit unsuccessfully) that Microsoft should have gatekeeper designation for the Edge browser under the EU's Digital Markets Act.

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It's Now Called The Wigged National Basketball Association (WNBA)

A funny thing happened in a WNBA game last Sunday, 29 July. One of the players lost her crowning glory: her wig. That was hilarious.

Late in the third quarter in the game between the Washington Mystics and Phoenix Mercury, All-Star Phoenix Kahleah Copper tried to get open by maneuvering around a screen set by her teammate. As she rounded the screen, her wig flew off her head.

Copper quickly scooped up her locks and ran towards the locker room, and a time out was called on the floor.

Commentator Mehgan McPeak reacted to the incident by repeating two words.

"Oh no," McPeak reacted, "Oh no, Oh no, she’s going to head to the back. Oh no."

Mercury teammates then picked up on a fan mocking Copper about the situation. It led to the team asking the officials to notify arena security to have the fan ejected.

As security moved toward the Mercury bench, players pointed out the offending fan who was then booted from the game.

"They made fun of her for the situation on the floor," the refs and officials can be heard saying to each other. Why are fans prevented from poking fun at the players when it was comedic?

Also, why was a technical foul not called? There was no dead ball situation, there were no official timeouts, the player just ran out of the court. Doesn't this merit a technical foul?

A more serious question is who would wear a wig in a competitive game? Why is the WNBA allowing this? If an NBA player wears a wig in a game, everyone would consider it a health hazzard that increases the risk of injury. If a wig falls off and somebody steps on it and falls, whose fault is it?

Maybe it is time to rename the league the Wigged National Basketball Association (WNBA).

As for the game, Copper and Co. expanded that lead to 10 by the end of the third quarter on their way to an 88-72 victory.

WATCH: WNBA game is halted after a player's wig fell off, & a fan was ejected for making fun of the incident. 🤣

pic.twitter.com/HRNq6D4Brg

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 28, 2025

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