Interesting: Ann Romney trust fund invested in sex site

[Aerows]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/ann-romney-trust-goldman-sachs-backpagecom_n_1399204.html

Such wholesome Americans. Investing in a sex site that Goldman Sachs left.

[MineralMan]

1. To be fair, backpage.com isn't just a sex site.

It's a poor competitor of Craig's List, and has all kinds of classfied ads. I never use it, because it doesn't do as well as CL, but it's not just a sex site, although it has similar ads as Craigs's List in that category.

[Aerows]

2. A large portion of their ads

ARE for sexual services, though. If it's too dirty for Goldman Sachs, obviously something is wrong there!

[MineralMan]

3. Yes, they have lots of sexually-oriented ads.

So does Craig's List. So does City Pages, our alternative newspaper in the Twin Cities. So do just about every alternative paper in the country. backpages.com is a poor investment, I'd think.

[Whisp]

14. we are not talking about sex.

but trafficing in kids for the sex trade.

apples and volkswagens.

[bayareamike]

4. Calling backpage.com a "sex site"

is terribly misleading. Bad journalism. It's nothing more than a cheap way for the HuffPo to take a shot at Romney.

Investing in backpage.com seems like a horrible business decision, however.

[Aerows]

7. I'm on board with that

bad business decision.

I'm honestly not judging except that she one of those "religious asshole" people.

[Whisp]

11. melissa perry covered this story this morning.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/47049927/#47049927

backpage is mentioned

[bayareamike]

19. The NYT writer featured in the piece is also missing the point.

To call it a sex site is missing the point. Logically, if it were a "sex site" its purpose would be to explicitly sell or facilitate the sale of sex. This is not the case.

Now, having a discussion about the merits of whether or not sites like backpage -- and Craigslist and the rest -- should be more heavily regulated or prevented from allowing these sorts of ads to be posted is another thing entirely.

In fact, I agree that Backpage.com should restrict those sorts of ads from being posted. MHP is entirely correct in pointing out that Backpage.com offers sex traffickers a platform upon which to operate.

[LoZoccolo]

5. I found appliances for sale on the "sex site".

http://chicago.backpage.com/AppliancesForSale/

[Aerows]

6. I found a happy ending massage

I'm not judging. I'm female. It kind of rocked from another female.

[Egalitariat]

8. It was a blind trust, and backpage.com looks just like Craigslist to me. I was hoping she had

invested directly in Hustler.com based on your subject line.

You could be a headline writer with that kind of talent.

[Aerows]

9. I'll be honest

I mangled the headline since it was so long. My apologies.

[Whisp]

10. backpage.com? there was a thing on MSNBC this morning

that said backpage.com was involved in the child sex trade.

pretty sure it was backpage.com.

here is the link:

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/47049927/#47049927

[Aerows]

12. Ann Romney was an investor

in BackPage.com. But heaven forbid I provide information that is bad for RMoney and his sainted wife.

[Whisp]

13. this will never see the same kind of light from the Blitzers of the world

it's easier to be harsh with Rosen and what she didn't really say, than to actually report on news like this.

this makes me so sick, and I thought I about heard it all.

[Aerows]

17. Whisp, It makes me sick, too

I just have to stand up and say something. I wonder sometimes if people listen, but I step up and say so anyway.

[XanaDUer]

15. It was

Melissa Harris-Perry had Mira Sorvino and other guests discussing sex trafficking and underage females, and that exact site was mentioned.

[Whisp]

16. wasn't Mira wonderful?

she is so dedicated and affected by this horribleness. I love her

[XanaDUer]

18. She was

Very well- spoken and empathetic. Her parents should be proud of her. As for backpage, I've heard other bad things about underage sex slaves, pretty much, being advertised on it. How interesting she had investements in it. To her credit, however, she may not have known. Still, pretty gross.

[Aerows]

20. They all were standing up

And it is something I deeply appreciate. When people stand up and say what needs to be said, that's actually having dialogue in the country, not this business of "oh, I thought so and so said" and "governed by a filter of blah blah blah".

We need to move beyond that discourse and mature into a nation of adults.

[Whisp]

21. yes, they were all wonderful

but sometimes a recognizable name does make more people pay attention. and boy does this need attention.

omg. sometimes I think that veneer of civilisation we think we have is just a big fat fake facade and underneath lies all the horrific things we think we can only imagine in our nightmares - but they are real.