Human tafficking
Failing Allure Magazine Rallies for Backpage Crime Syndicate in Washington.
March 9, 2018 March 11, 2018 Designated Survivor#SESTA, Alana Massey, Allure Magazine, Backpage, child trafficking, Conde Nast, Hayley MacMillen, Human tafficking, Media Industry, online sex trafficking, payola, Propaganda
Headlines a few months ago revealed a bloodbath at Conde Nast that foretold of trouble ahead, and behind for Allure Magazine.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40490665/bloodbath-at-conde-nast-magazine-giant-slashes-almost-80-jobs-kills-teen-vogue-print
Condé Nast to Cease Teen Vogue in Print, Cut 80 Jobs and Lower Mag Frequencies
Allure magazine is the poster child for all that went wrong in the magazine publishing world.
Allure by itself has been considered the Walmart of glossy advertising, mainly with products available at Walmart or discount and modestly priced outlets.
Which is not a bad thing at all. And many savvy shoppers that shop at these outlets find great merchandise for their wants and needs. But behind the advertising one must offer something more than a glossy ad. Walmart does that. Allure Magazine does not.
Long gone are the days Tina Brown could rock an erection statistic on the circulation of a periodical by leafing through a current issue.
There is rumor around town that magazines are dying because of the Internet. Don't believe it. Every woman loves to kick back and browse through periodicals that inform, amuse, and bring on the wants and dreams. We even need it. Magazines are for the leisure class. And every American at some part of their day or week is part of the leisure class.
That said, we are already burdened daily with opinions, attitudes, misinformation, and miseducation. It is a constant task to sort these and keep them filed in places where they bring meaning and bright choices. Or dispose of them as unuseful tools that are no longer workable. The last thing we want or need is to open a magazine loaded with opinions, attitudes, miseducation, and misinformation. And the magazines are heavy with it. And we have a very small % of the population that volunteers to be misled and misinformed.
The dynamic that causes any industry to flourish is imbued with professionalism and ethical social intercourse. And if you take a look at the Code of Ethics for journalists, it becomes clear why journalism and media are not only in a rut but dragging down industry as media can no longer perform well enough to carry advertising.
The economy is not affecting media, the media is affecting the economy. if Retailers had not circumvented this by having own magazines, and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, we might have been sunk into a depression.
Most people have no idea there is a code of ethics for a journalist and if they saw it, they may be shocked.
Journalist Code Of Ethics
Seek Truth and
Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. The ethics codes are explained here:
https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
If you read through that you get some idea of just how unholy the sphere of "journalism" and "journalists" has become. The very underbelly of it all is when a journalist violates all of the above, and plows forward like a cult leading to dominate his or her readers, and even issue marching orders. The lowest underbelly of that is when they mislead and miseducate, then demand action from their readers based on that. Such as ordering their customers to call senators and demand action on legislative Bills the customers have never even read.
That brings us to the current underbelly of magazine publications, Allure Magazine.
Not only are they or some of their employees apparently on the payola of Backpage Sex Trafficking Syndicate for promoting propaganda. But they are also acting as hit men to target, harass and humiliate activists for child victims of Backpage. There is a Bill in Washington now called Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers. #SESTA Which targets Backpage.
The owners Mike Lacey and James Larkin, used politicians for years until Backpage was discovered to be promoting and enable selling children for sex. Since then politicians will not touch donations from Backpage.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/4/nancy-pelosi-linked-pac-returns-backpage-donation-/
http://ktar.com/story/1541873/democrats-kyrsten-sinema-should-be-ashamed-accepting-backpage-donations/
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/04/18/rep-kyrsten-sinema-says-she-giving-away-backpage-owners-donations/100584648/
Given that Backpage cannot even get politicians to take their money, they have been relying on journalists and bloggers for support in exchange for cash infusions. Somehow, someway, Allure magazine got on the gravy train. Not only they did give marching orders to their followers, they wallowed in sadism as they photoshopped activists to mock humiliate and target them for abuse.
I kid you not, this is from the "Health and Wellness" at Allure:
Anti Celebrity rants in Allure Magazine? This one is definitely not tracking with the rest of the team. Celebrities are what they put on their covers to sell their magazines. Not to mention the people pushing this Bill ARE the SURVIVORS. So they are miseducating and misinforming.
And this rampage alongside advertisers such as Kohls, Keils, and other reputable hard-won goodwill industries whose name should not be on the same Twitter feed with Backpage Child Sex Trafficking Crime Syndicate. Whos owners, founders, and staff are currently under the scope of the F.B.I. and Homeland Security.
This isn't just bag industry, this is walled with treason to readers, customers, and sponsors.
This is why Allure Magazine is falling south. Because of unprofessional standards and unethical practices. Not to mention sadistic disregard for advertisers, sponsors and reader, and subjects.
I reached out to Allure Magazine, Haley MacMillan, and Alana Massey for comments. They have all gone invisible. I guess accepting cash infusions from children being for sex on the Internet is out of Vogue currently. (Excuse the pun)
If you want to subscribe to a good magazine, pick up Vanity Fair. Where Tina Brown's high standards still reach out to curious and intelligent minds, who don't care to be screamed at and dominated, ordered about, miseducated and misinformed.
For more information on Backpage see I Am Jane Doe Film or read the Senate Investigations Report.
Senate Investigations Report:
Click to access 2017.01.10%20Backpage%20Report.pdf
The Gawker Archives On Village Voice Sex Slavery and Ashton Kutcher
May 10, 2017 May 10, 2017 Designated SurvivorAshton Kutcher, Backpage, Child exploitation, child sex trafficking, child trafficking, Human tafficking, Human trafficking, James larkin, Mike Lacey, Online human trafficking, online sex trafficking, The Gawker, Tony Ortega, Village Voice, Village Voice / Backpage
Gawker was an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. It was launched in January 2003.
Whereas the Village Voice was a paper for newly minted New Yorkers, meaning people that moved into New York with identity issues and bought the Paper to "be cool", the Gawker was a blog for New Yorkers.
The Gawker closed down in 2016 after thirteen years. The blog never catered to advertisers or "sold out" for greed. I was a regular reader and found it to be a straight forward New York smart blog.
I have had some difficulty lately finding certain issues they published. As if the archives are being scrubbed. If you follow any sequence at the Web Site you will notice some pages "Can't be found".
This has been frustrating me since I considered the reporting from that blog valuable information. So being, I am taking the liberty to share some of the articles here for the purpose of preservation.
Ashton Kutcher Will Destroy Newspaper Over Sex Slavery Article
Adrian Chen
Filed to: FEUDS
Famous Twitter user Ashton Kutcher is extremely upset at the Village Voice. The paper wrote a cover story making fun of him and bashing his anti-sex trafficking efforts. Now he will make sure no company advertises in the paper or on its site, ever.
There must be no digital entertainment conferences happening this week, because tech guru Ashton Kutcher has spent much of the last couple days locked in a fierce Twitter battle with the Voice over its article debunking the sex slavery panic he has done much to promote, with his incomprehensible "Real Men" ads. Of course, Village Voice Media makes tons of money from its Backpage.com classifieds site, which has itself been accused of facilitating the trafficking that the paper says is not a big deal.
Ashton and Demi Are the Horsemen of the Tech Apocalypse
How do we know Silicon Valley is inflating an unsustainable tech investment bubble? Because…
There have been plenty of good jabs on both sides—Kutcher pointing out the 15-year-old who is suing Village Voice Media for allegedly allowing her to be trafficked on Backpage, the Village Voice tweeting a link to a story about Ashton and Demi chilling with "confessed pimp" Snoop Dogg.
Village Voice Has a Child Prostitution Problem (Updated)
Craigslist shut down its Adult Services section, caving to Attorneys General and anti-sex…
But now, Ashton Kutcher has decided to get serious, resorting to the Twitter-favorite tactic of whining to advertisers when an outlet publishes something you don't like.
"Hey @AmericanAir," Kutcher tweeted, "are you aware that you are advertising on a site that supports the Sale of Human Beings (slavery)?"
Whatever poor social media person was running American Airlines' Twitter account must have had a heart attack over their Subway footlong, because they responded instantly with, "We will address this IMMEDIATELY. Can you please DM us detail of the site, including link?" It's going to be a let down when they learn it's just the Village Voice, not something like humanbeings4sale.com.
It's hard to take sides in this conflict. I'm inclined to support the Village Voice, because the article marshaled convincing evidence even if it was transparently self-interested, and running to advertisers over an article you don't like is some schoolyard bullshit. And since Ashton Kutcher has as many followers as a small country, he may actually succeed in killing off the Village Voice, which wouldn't be good for anyone.
Just shut up, and start your own newspaper dedicated solely to stomach-churning underaged sex slavery stories, Ashton Kutcher.
Updates: Wow, like Ashton Kutcher's Twitter freakout has convinced American Airlines to stop advertising with the Village Voice. Sex slavery problem: Solved.
[Photo of Kutcher via Getty]
Mike Lacey And James Larkin Own Big City.Com and EvilEmpire.Com. As Back Doors to Backpage.
May 5, 2017 May 27, 2017 Designated SurvivorBackpage Muders, Backpage pimps, backpage/village voice, bigcity.com, child trafficking, Criminals, evilempire.com, Exploitation, Exploiting homeless children, Honeypots, human rights abuses, Human tafficking, James larkin, Mike Lacey
http://www.trademarkia.com/bigcitycom-75561626.html
EvilEmpire registered in Denmark. No surprise there.
Just when you thought Lacey and Larkin couldn't get more evil. Do you know how many kids that are Star Wars fans Google "Evil Empire"?
The content creators of bigcity.com and evilempire.com are Mike Lacey and James Larkin. Owners of Backpage.
Worldwide revenue from sex ads topped $3.1 million in just one week in 2015, according to a court affidavit. It says Ferrer (The C.E.O. for Lacey and Larkin) expanded Backpage's share of online sex marketing by creating affiliated sites including EvilEmpire.com and BigCity.com with related content.
Their big hit was Backpage, the classified section of the Village Voice they put on the Internet and floated around the world. It turns out Big City . com which has been registered since 1998, links into Backpage. As well as EvilEmpire.com. So people are linked onto Backpage when they Google those sites.
Big City. com is a tool for pimps to sell women and children. As the domain states: ADVERTISING FOR OTHERS VIA ON-LINE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.
Backpage also sponsors Big City.com. The "security and vetting" is a button you push for terms of use. Like anyone lurking there is going to call the police to report a minor being sold on it?
Permanent Subcommittee Senate Hearings On Investigations – Findings On Backpage
April 26, 2017 May 27, 2017 Designated SurvivorBackpage, Backpage pimps, Backpage.com, Carl Ferrer, child sex trafficking, Human Rights Violations, Human tafficking, James larkin, Mike Lacey, senate hearings, senate investigation, sex trafficking, Stephen Lemons, Tony Ortega, Village Voice / Backpage
After an 18-month long bipartisan investigation, which cost United States taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars, The Senate Subcommittee on Investigations released the following stunning report.
You can watch the live Senate hearing with testimony here:
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/hearings/human-trafficking-investigation
For more than twenty months, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations investigated the problem of online child sex trafficking.
The investigation led the Subcommittee to focus on Backpage.com, the leading online marketplace for commercial sex. Operating in 97 countries and 943 locations worldwide—and last valued at more than a half-billion dollars—Backpage is the world's second-largest classified advertising website.
Backpage is involved in 73% of all child trafficking reports that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) receives from the general public (excluding reports by Backpage itself).
The National Association of Attorneys General has aptly described Backpage as a "hub" of "human trafficking, especially the trafficking of minors."
This report contains three principal findings. First, Backpage has knowingly concealed evidence of criminality by systematically editing its "adult" ads. As early as 2006, Backpage executives began instructing staff responsible for screening ads (known as "moderators") to edit the text of adult ads to conceal the true nature of the underlying transaction.
https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=5D0C71AE-A090-4F30-A5F5-7CFFC08AFD48
Witness and victim testimony found here:
http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/search/?q=backpage&search-button=Search&access=p&as_dt=i&as_epq=&as_eq=&as_lq=&as_occt=any&as_oq=&as_q=&as_sitesearch=&client=hsgac&sntsp=0&filter=0&getfields=&lr=&num=15&numgm=3&oe=UTF8&output=xml_no_dtd&partialfields=&proxycustom=&proxyreload=0&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&requiredfields=&sitesearch=&sort=date%3AD%3AS%3Ad1&start=0&ud=1
Watch hearing live here:
Rep. Joe Kennedy III
"From its earliest days, the Village Voice has run adult classifieds. Today, those classifieds are hosted online at Backpage.com." Tony Ortega June 29, 2011
"We're being told that there's a widespread, growing and out-of-control problem to fear in our country. And it has a catchy name: 'trafficking,'" wrote Tony Ortega, editor-in-chief of The Village Voice, in an editorial last year. "The actual data behind this 'epidemic' is wanting in the extreme. It involves guesses by activist professors, junk science by nonprofit groups trying to extract money from Congress, and manipulation by religious groups hiding their real agendas about sex work." Tony Ortega July 06, 2011
"Backpage exists solely so that people can freely express themselves—sometimes in ways that make other people uncomfortable. We're First Amendment extremists that way. Always have been." Tony Ortega July 06 2011
"I helped turn a weekly newspaper with a Web site into a digital enterprise." Tony Ortega Former editor in chief of the Village Voice brags to Media Decoder @ N.Y. Times Sept 14 2012
Know more. http://www.iamjanedoefilm.com
Complete Findings On Senate Investigation Into Backpage.com
April 24, 2017 May 27, 2017 Designated SurvivorBackpage.com, child sex trafficking, digital pimps, Human Rights Violations, Human tafficking, James larkin, Mike Lacey, online sex trafficking, senate investigation, sex trafficking, Tony Ortega, Village Voice, Village Voice / Backpage, Village Voice Front, Village Voice pimps
Below is the Senate findings, statistics, and other relevant data discovered on Backpage.com human trafficking.
It has cost the taxpayers of America millions of dollars to investigate and discover the criminality behind the Village Voice giveaway paper. Prior to its separation from backpage.com late 2012.
https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=fd56bb15-565e-4af4-9f4f-736d083917c5
Stephen Lemons Throws Pity Party For "Hero" Mike Lacey Of Backpage.Com
April 24, 2017 May 30, 2018 Designated SurvivorBackpage.com, child sex trafficking, Escaping justice, Exploiting homeless children, Human Rights Violations, Human tafficking, Kamala Harris, Mike Lacey, Phoenix New Times, pimping, Stephen Lemons
Above are various mug shots for Mike Lacey, recently arrested on pimping charges. He was the owner/investor of the Village Voice along with James Larkin, as well, the owner of Phoenix New Times and several other websites.
Like the Village Voice, Phoenix New Times became a "giveaway" flyer. The "paper" was the front for the online advertising of Backpage.com.
In 2010 the paper was already a pimp's rag. Oct 19, 2010 – "They say pimpin' aint easy. Sometimes it's so hard that a pimp is forced to take drastic measures to keep his pimp hand strong."
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/alleged-phoenix-pimp-keeps-pimp-hand-strong-by-throwing-cheeseburger-at-prostitute-6667509
As far back as 2011 protesters stood in front of Phoenix New Times as it was the other front for Backpage.com prostitution/child sex trafficking Internet site.
The executives and staff that worked at the Village Voice and Phoenix New Times gaslighted anyone stepping forward concerned about the children being trafficked on Backpage.com, as "religious zealots", religious nuts", "politically motivated" or "greedy for funding from Congress". In other words, they were all crazy, hallucinatory, or filthy with hidden agendas.
Anyone exploiting women and children through sex trafficking would probably not be aware that others could sincerely care about these women and children.
Lacey was arrested along with James Larkin on pimping charges and their pity plea has been, "Freedom of Speech".
"The actions of the California and Texas Attorneys General are flatly illegal", Liz McDougall, general counsel for Backpage, said in a statement to CNNMoney Friday evening. "They ignore the holdings of numerous federal courts that the First Amendment protects the ads on Backpage.com."
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/06/news/backpage-ceo-carl-ferrer-arrest/index.html
Hmmm, that would not be Lacey's "freedom of speech". It is the freedom of speech of the people placing the ads sex trafficking. None of them are complaining, are they? Never mind, let's not get reasonable at this late date.
According to a criminal complaint filed in California, Backpage accepted at least $2 million a month between October 2014 and May 2015 in payments from people posting adult ads in California, including payments for postings that featured minors. There was solid evidence Backpage.com staff were actively engaged in aiding and amplifying sex trafficking of women and children.
Lacey founded the Phoenix New Times in 1970 — and a dozen weeklies in cities across the country. Lord knows he had decades between that, the Village Voice, and other media investments, to run his mouth until his tongue dropped out, and to speak freely as often he cared. But he has now included human trafficking and child sex trafficking as part of his "freedoms".
In these new conditions, with the Internet up, and newspapers folding, he, and his staff relied on human/sex trafficking dollars paid for advertising in the classifieds sections of the papers, for selling women and children. The papers became "giveaways" (free flyers) And this became a platform for "freedom of speech". Pimping, investing in selling children and women, became "freedom of speech".
Backpage.com was called "the world's top online brothel" by California Attorney General Kamala Harris in October when she filed the charges against the company's chief executive officer, Carl Ferrer. "Backpage and its executives purposefully and unlawfully designed Backpage to be the world's top online brothel."
In court, however, Lacey pleaded the fifth. He did not care for any "freedom of speech".
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/01/10/backpage-founders-take-5th-senate-hearings/96397856/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/10/backpage-executives-refuse-answer-senate-panel-probing-sex-trafficking/96390352/
It didn't end there. Lacey was discovered sending checks to former staff that could actually receive a subpoena, making local politicians, and tampering with court proceedings. He was also held in contempt of court for refusing to comply with the investigation.
http://www.citypages.com/news/mike-lacey-backpagecom-and-the-mystery-of-the-5000-checks/396646721
http://www.chron.com/local/gray-matters/article/Lacey-9954156.php
https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2016/10/why-did-backpage-coms-mike-lacey-give-5k-checks-to-his-old-employees/
http://blog.truewestmagazine.com/2016/10/why-did-mike-lacey-give-me-5000.html
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/17/technology/backpage-contempt/?iid=EL
http://www.adweek.com/digital/new-times-mike-lacey-and-jim-larkin-arrested/
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/04/14/allegations-increase-against-backpage-founders-have-become-big-political-donors-arizona/100421528/
Stephen Lemons was one of the people that took 5000.00 of payola from Lacey while Lacey was on the lam.
All said Lacey and his partners played corporate shill games as well. Having the business placed under Carl Ferrer in Amsterdam. After they loaned him the money to buy them out.
After managing to escape justice through all manner of shady dealings including claiming to be a victim of having his first amendment rights violated, Lacey skipped out free to continue until he was further busted by Senate findings. It came to light that "moderators" (ad takers) for Backpage classifieds, were coaching people on how to place the ads while Lacey and his partner Larkin, were pocketing the revenue.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/emotional-senate-hearing-finds-backpage-complicit-underage-sex/story?id=44762342
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/04/15/emails-reveal-how-backpage-edited-sex-ads-will-it-be-its-undoing/100436762/
http://www.newsweek.com/backpage-adult-section-shut-down-540774
After getting busted by the discovery of emails proving Backpage.com staff were editing ads for prostitution, (actually pimping), Mike Lacey closed Backpage right before a Senate hearing to avoid the press of it all.
But Lacey pleaded "victim" that fell under "relentless pressure" from a government that trampled on his "first amendment" rights to invest in pimping and sex trafficking.
The most recent scandal involved Lacey and his partner Larkin giving tens of thousands of dollars in donations to local political figures in Arizona. Using their own spouses as shills.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/04/20/gop-pressures-kyrsten-sinema-on-backpage-donations/100683704/
Last week Lacey's paper (Lacey is "former owner" at this time, that possible corporate shilling I have not looked into yet) Phoenix New Times, ran a front page invitation to his pity party, gaslighting anyone that might have paid attention to his most recent criminality. The writer was Stephen Lemons.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/backpages-ex-owners-michael-lacey-and-jim-larkin-smeared-by-cronkite-school-arizona-republic-article-9258296
I do wonder how many hours Lacey spent viewing photos from the photo shoot, trying to decide which one would make him look victimized or human. At any rate, they chose this one.
And Stephen describes him as the victim in the fight for "freedom of speech". A freedom fighter! Backpage was making two million a month from sex trafficking near the end. Poor Mike.
Oddly, the same day this was published Stephen Lemons announced he is taking a new job in Alabama after thirteen years at the Phoenix New Times, hero worshiping Lacey and Larkin in his farewell, and lamenting that he was not able to extort sex, for publishing stories.
Good thing I grabbed a snapshot, after some taunting on Twitter about him publishing a story for Lacey pity the same day he leaves, (Severance pay? Bonus? ) he removed it.
In the event this has all become a very complex issue for you to wrap your head around, rest assured it was the intention of Lacey, Larkin, their legal representatives, and staff, to make it seem too complicated to understand this simple criminality. Organized crime and racketeering.
Stephen Lemons treks to Las Vegas, to explore the "Mob Museum".
Stephen Lemons If only justice were this swift.
Not everyone in Phoenix is sad to see him go.
https://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2017/04/21/a-vile-goodbye-from-a-sour-stephen-lemons/
A few days later, Phoenix New Times showcased a "successful pimp" in his 70's. "Not unusual," the article said. And now that Lacey is not the "proper" owner, and backpage.com has shut its adult section, sex trafficking is even addressed. Boasting of the rising demand for buying children for sex.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/sex-trafficking-crimes-on-rise-case-of-mesas-accused-75-year-old-pimp-not-unusual-9263329
Causes me wonder how much Lacey and Lemons would protect "Freedom of Speech" ads if folks could go online and hire a hit man without much ado?
UPDATE April 2018
As Mike Lacey is released on a million dollar bond after his partner Carl Ferrer comes clean with the feds, He is seen exiting the courthouse with his wife in Phoenix and who is lurking in the background? Steven Lemons. Creepy.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-investigations/2018/04/13/backpage-exec-michael-lacey-ordered-released-1-m-bond-while-awaiting-trial/514910002/
Update May 29, 2018 Stephen Lemons is writing the propaganda pieces for Mike Lacey:
https://frontpageconfidential.com/cambria-backpage-federal-bond-hearing/
For more information, become informed: