James Larkin Passed Away!

Backpage co-found commits suicide.

In 2018, the Washed Up 45 administration was getting "tough" on human trafficking. The U.S. Department of Justice issued an injunction to online classified website Backpage.

It seized it after allegations of the website looking the other way when it came to child prostitution and sex slavery. Backpage denied the claims and fought to reclaim its website. After ignoring the court order to testify to Congress, the government seized assets and permanently shut the website.

Its co-founder James Larkin committed suicide weeks before his federal trial. He was 74.

Larkin, who helped turn the alternative weekly Phoenix New Times into a chain that took over the venerated Village Voice in New York, died by suicide Monday, days before the trial was set to open in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.

Larkin, along with longtime New Times editor Michael Lacey, had dodged both criminal charges and civil penalties for years. They argued that they merely hosted ads and were shielded from liability by federal law and First Amendment protections.

Backpage earned $135 million in 2014, according to a U.S. Senate report. A February 2015 appraisal said the company was worth more than $600 million. In 2015, Larkin and Lacey reportedly sold Backpage to Ferrer for $603 million, with Lacey and Larkin loaning Ferrer the money to buy them out. Despite having sold it, Larkin and Lacey were subpoenaed (along with Ferrer and other contemporaneous company execs) to appear before the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), infamous for its onetime use by the former chair, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, to investigate alleged communists in the U.S. government.

Backpage was utilized (and loved) by countless independent sex workers. The platform banned ads for anything illegal, including consensual adult prostitution; it also worked hard to keep ads posted by or featuring minors off the site and cooperated extensively with law enforcement when bad deeds were facilitated through Backpage ads.

Every community in the United States will eventually have a legacy. A legacy of never ending tragedy. Gun violence, extremism and COVID-19 will affect your town, your family and your life. So I don't want to hear that bullshit about how gun reform is taking away your rights to own firearms.

I don't want to hear that protesting against police killing people of color is hate on cops in general. I don't want to hear talk about the coronavirus being a myth.

When you hear folks say "gun rights," what they really mean is that its white privilege. This good guy with a gun nonsense has to end. The cops didn't do nothing when children were shot inside a school. A security guard was shot dead trying to protect shoppers. A cop accidentally shot his own. The good guy who tried to stop a bad guy is outgunned and a part of the rule #3.

Remember #3 means: The "good guy with a gun" better be prepared to die if they want to stop a shooter.

Backpage was seized by the U.S. Justice Department in 2018.

I don't want to hear folks say masks and vaccine mandates impede their freedoms. It prevents a deadly outbreak from spreading. If you want to die from the coronavirus, that's on you. We lost over 1 million people from the coronavirus.

I don't want to hear the shit about guns saving lives. Cause a bullet does not have eyes and it's always likely gonna hit a target. These folks seem to not get it. These incidents are a tragic part of American history. Thoughts and prayers and your heart going out to the victims is not enough. It quite frankly is an insult. I am also tired of scapegoating Black on Black crime, Chicago, Baltimore and Democratic mayors for the nation's obsession to be numb to gun violence. You pretty much enable this nonsense by deflecting.

President Joe Biden is trying to curb gun violence. However, he has no support from Republicans. Most Democrats and America are for gun control measures. However one Democrat and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate refuse to change the filibuster rules and its holding us back.

The National Rifle Association is always pushing against it. They will not relinquish from the narrative that guns are not saving lives. The Republicans aided by a fickle junk food media are openly encouraging anarchy and disruption in a desperate attempt for the Republicans to win back Congress and the White House. These agitators are calling for Biden to curb crime but will not help him. They want more guns on the street. It makes no sense.

So in closing, expect more.

The website Officer Down is a memorial to those who were killed in the line of duty. Those who don't get their names mentioned in the junk food media. Also the website the National Gun Violence Memorial also keeps record of the many individuals killed by gun violence. 

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 988, or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline’s website or the Crisis Text Line’s website.

The call number to the U.S. Capitol is now going to be used. This is the official phone number, 202-224-3121. Let them know that "thoughts and prayers," "hearts going to" and "good guys with guns" are no longer acceptable and you want legislation to curb gun violence.

GUN VIOLENCE IS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES.