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Pollomacho is a MeFite who works at State in the human trafficking department. He was involved in the case as soon as he heard about it, and stated quite clear

by Vivtek 16y ago

Pollomacho is a MeFite who works at State in the human trafficking department. He was involved in the case as soon as he heard about it, and stated quite clearly that it was nice to be able to help somebody in this situation before two or three months had passed. Bingo omits this entirely, because Bingo thought it would be cool to visit this club and come back and say how histrionic MeFites were being. Now, from what Pollomacho said later, he talked to the girls and there was information he didn't feel free to share (personal in nature) that indicated very, very strongly to him that this was in fact a human trafficking case, and as he is not known to be a twit in other instances, I'm inclined to take him at his word.

callahad 16y ago
It's also worth noting that many trusted members of the site have vetted the story, and the members involved. Part of that trust is evident in the willingness of folks to let Fake stay at their place, sight unseen, as he drove from WY to CA. And I'll actually be meeting up with one of those hosts this Sunday for brunch. So there's a little more context behind the members involved than in a normal interweb forum. Imagine if epi0Bauqu had a friend in a weird situation, patio11 stepped in to help out, and pg was frequently posting updates and coordinating communications. Meanwhile, cperciva and a number of other major names were also doing what they could to mobilize aid. And now imagine if a large portion of the site's posters had some sort of real-world connection to at least someone involved.
jerf 16y ago
Thank you. That is a compelling argument. I, too, am not a big fan of vague "smart authorities of an unspecified nature are on it, shut up" assertions, so if you heard a note of skepticism in my original post, yes, it was there. But specific "this specific experienced authority with years of experience in this field was concerned and directly replied that it was a problem" can be compelling. I am particularly impressed by the fact this person fed back directly, and not through a press release.
- Vivtek 16y ago
  Well, the fact that the specific experienced authority is a well-known poster on Metafilter (by which I mean, I already knew his name and associate it favorably with well-considered commentary) helped a lot. I'm not convinced the NYPD was really in control of the situation, for instance. Pollomacho, though, I trust. I had no idea he did this for a living. That was a pretty cool bonus.

by Vivtek 16y ago

callahad 16y ago

It's also worth noting that many trusted members of the site have vetted the story, and the members involved. Part of that trust is evident in the willingness of folks to let Fake stay at their place, sight unseen, as he drove from WY to CA. And I'll actually be meeting up with one of those hosts this Sunday for brunch. So there's a little more context behind the members involved than in a normal interweb forum. Imagine if epi0Bauqu had a friend in a weird situation, patio11 stepped in to help out, and pg was frequently posting updates and coordinating communications. Meanwhile, cperciva and a number of other major names were also doing what they could to mobilize aid. And now imagine if a large portion of the site's posters had some sort of real-world connection to at least someone involved.

jerf 16y ago

Thank you. That is a compelling argument. I, too, am not a big fan of vague "smart authorities of an unspecified nature are on it, shut up" assertions, so if you heard a note of skepticism in my original post, yes, it was there. But specific "this specific experienced authority with years of experience in this field was concerned and directly replied that it was a problem" can be compelling. I am particularly impressed by the fact this person fed back directly, and not through a press release.

Vivtek 16y ago
Well, the fact that the specific experienced authority is a well-known poster on Metafilter (by which I mean, I already knew his name and associate it favorably with well-considered commentary) helped a lot. I'm not convinced the NYPD was really in control of the situation, for instance. Pollomacho, though, I trust. I had no idea he did this for a living. That was a pretty cool bonus.