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Backpage Pleads Guilty to Human Trafficking, CEO Arrested for Money Laundry

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Backpage

The CEO of Classifieds site Backpage.com has been declared guilty of Money Laundering Charges in California on Thursday. However, the company itself is in bigger trouble as it is charged with Human Trafficking and has pleaded guilty of the said crime in Texas.

Carl Ferrer, a 57-year-old man from Frisco Texas will be taking a break from his criminal activities, facing up to 5 years in prison. Part of his plea agreement with federal and state authorities includes forfeiting all corporate assets related to the website and making sure it’s permanently shut down.

The defendant has also pleaded guilty to multiple counts of Money Laundering and one count of Conspiracy. Of course, this 5-year sentence is a reduced one under the condition that he helps in the prosecution of two shareholders of the site.

All of this happened after last week when authorities seized control of the site.The site has previously been linked to being an “Online Brothel” where people were able to sell sex services and thus, being able to freely perform Human Trafficking on the site.

PHOTO: A notice placed over the website of backpage.com on April 6, 2018.

“For far too long, Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex, a place where sex traffickers frequently advertised children and adults alike,” Attorney General, Jeff Sessions said. “But this illegality stops right now.”

What’s even more shocking about this is the fact that, according to the Department of Justice, Backpage has earned “Hundreds to Millions of Dollars in revenue from publishing ‘escort’ and ‘adult’ ads.”

In other words, this site has been making a profit out of said illegal activities for far too long. I suppose that late is better than never in this case. I sincerely hope that crimes like these don’t take 14 literal years to resolve next time. You know, considering that in this case “Later” isn’t better.

I always wanted to be a journalist who listens. The Voice of the Unspoken and someone heavily involved in the gaming community. From playing as a leader of a competitive multi-branch team to organizing tournaments for the competitive scene to being involved in a lot of gaming communities. I want to keep moving forward as a journalist.

Industry and Service

Republican lawmakers and Apple CEO Tim Cook meet in Washington

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Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with Republican lawmakers who will probably lead committees that regulate the tech sector.
Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Darrel Issa of California, and Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington are among those with whom Cook has booked meetings.

The meetings were probably planned several weeks, if not months, beforehand. Top conservatives have criticized Apple since the beginning, and many of them have joined with Twitter CEO Elon Musk in their recent dispute with Apple.

Jordan has publicly expressed his support for Elon Musk, as Bloomberg notes.

When the GOP wins over the House in 2023, Jordan is also set to serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman is most likely to be McMorris Rodgers.

They both will play a key role in developing the GOP’s technology policy agenda for 2023.

What is particularly on the agenda is unclear. Even when he is not called to testify about big tech, Cook travels to Washington, DC, on several occasions each year.

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Gadgets

EPA establishes a new office devoted to civil rights and environmental justice

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The goal is to make sure marginalized people are considered in environmental decisions.

According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a new office to assist underserved communities in coping with the additional responsibilities of pollution and climate change. 200 EPA workers from the Washington headquarters and 10 regional bureaus will work in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.

“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” remarked Kamala Harris, vice president of the US.

As part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice, one of the main responsibilities of the new office will be to supervise the distribution of $3 billion in grants for environmental justice that were made possible by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, it will ensure that other EPA initiatives adhere to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of certain government spending go to underserved communities. Finally, it will assist localities in obtaining funds, upholding human rights legislation, and resolving environmental disputes.

The opening of the new office took place in Warren County, North Carolina, the scene of demonstrations against the disposal of toxic waste there in 1982. While the 22-acre dump was not stopped as a result of the civil disobedience actions and arrests that followed, the current environmental justice movement was born. Participants remembered the protests’ 40th anniversary last week.

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Politics

Pewdiepie has Gotten into Trouble Yet Again

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Pewdiepie

The competition between Pewdiepie and T-Series has been going on for quite a while. I say this mostly because if Pewdiepie was in the middle of a smear campaign, I would certainly believe that it was all a ploy by T-Series in order to make him lose popularity. However, it seems like T-Series doesn’t have to do much as Pewdiepie is no stranger to getting himself into trouble.

So, what did Pewdiepie do this time? Well, in his most recent edition of “Pew News,” a semi-satirical series where Pewds offers his own take on news events or YouTube discussions, he dedicates the last portion of the video to shouting out smaller YouTube creators he enjoys watching. One of those creators is E;R (otherwise known as “EsemicolonR”), an essayist who often includes anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, and cruel language in his videos.

At least that’s what TheVerge and so many outlets/other YouTubers are saying. I took a look at E;R’s content and saw mostly meme videos about political stuff. The guy even made a tribute to Tay AI. You can see a whole documentary made about this by Internet Historian down below:

However, the subjects tackled in the videos can be a bit more problematic because of the current political climate with Pewdiepie. As such, we can assume that a lot of people don’t find this very funny and even reprehensible. Especially when the US is caught in the middle of tension thanks to laws like FOSTA, which are an indirect cause of Tumblr’s collapse right now.

Ever since Pewdiepie has made the shoutout, the channel has gained over 15,000 Subscribers. Of course, this also means that the ire of the people who are against him has risen even more. As such, we’re in this situation where Pewdiepie has gotten himself into trouble yet again despite knowing that the current situation is tense. I guess some people will never learn.

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