for those of you who chat or post ads on a site that is used extensively in California (particularly the Central Valley and originated in San Francisco) and a bit in Nevada, the FBI shut it down today and locked up some of the principals. something to do with alleged child trafficking.
Just watched a news conference.... The Child Trafficking is the headline grabber. The actual charges against the two are tax evasion, money laundering and racketeering. Stupid asses were charging for memberships...traceable income... And not paying taxes.
"Operation Choke Point" and now this. I'm highly skeptical of any actual child trafficking going on in this case. This is all just the government using its immense power to curtail activities of which it does not approve--or of which it doesn't receive it's "fair share" (= tax revenue).
When is this stuff going to end? When will people realize that a government that is powerful enough to give you everything you "need" is powerful enough to take away everything you have?
One of my favorite friends is based in northern CA--and now she's thinking of taking a break until some of this stuff dies down--which will certainly diminish the quality of my life.
"No, let's give the government even more power! It's for our own good. Those smarty smart-pants who went to Yale are far more qualified to make decisions for us than we ever could for ourselves..."
The gov't would be better served by giving the IRS a big server to backup its e-mail boxes.
Or (per law)...give them some printers and paper to print off their e-mails. I hold out hope - that eventually they will legalize the hobby - of course taxing at the same time.
Usually there is nothing but crickets chirping on the SF discussion board. Now that TER is the only game in town, it's come to life.
Damn, I really miss Las Vegas.
Yeah seriously, usually all that board would get is those "I'm coming from out of town, where should I stay should should I see" posts. It was dead. I even would plug TER on the other site because TER had better coverage of things like East Coast, South and pornstars. But that other site was king of the Bay Area and arguably king of CA,.
"Operation Choke Point" and now this. I'm highly skeptical of any actual child trafficking going on in this case. This is all just the government using its immense power to curtail activities of which it does not approve--or of which it doesn't receive it's "fair share" (= tax revenue). When is this stuff going to end? When will people realize that a government that is powerful enough to give you everything you "need" is powerful enough to take away everything you have? One of my favorite friends is based in northern CA--and now she's thinking of taking a break until some of this stuff dies down--which will certainly diminish the quality of my life. "No, let's give the government even more power! It's for our own good. Those smarty smart-pants who went to Yale are far more qualified to make decisions for us than we ever could for ourselves..." Sigh.....
Unfortunately it looks like your attempt to purchase VIP membership has failed due to your card being declined. Good news is that we have several other payment options that you could try.
VIP MEMBER
, you are now a VIP member!
We thank you for your purchase!
VIP MEMBER
, Thank you for becoming VIP member!
Membership should be activated shortly. You'll receive notification!
(eom)