Craigslist: Chose A Category And Take A Chance ! What's the Worst Thing That Could Happen ?

I'd like to tell you a few things that I know about Craigslist. A few month's ago, one of my friends wanted to purchase an automobile and was searching different sites on the Internet for deals. He went to Craigslist and then called me with a deal that looked great. Since neither of us had any experience with Craigslist, I told him that I wasn't familiar with the site but would investigate it.

As it turns out, the SUV was about $10,000 below all other autos of the same year and class. Reading the comments from the "owner," she was a single mother of three children, who was losing her home due to foreclosure. In email conversations, the "owner " wanted the buyer to email monies via Western Union and stated that you could purchase insurance which would guarantee delivery of the vehicle.

I then checked the Internet for ruses often used in these types of transactions and lo and behold, there was an announcement from Craigslist stating that one should never wire monies via Western Union for any automobile transactions. Further investigation found the so-called insurance was also a scam. Other listings had similar "sad" stories and my friend reported the situation to Craigslist and marked all future emails as spam.

Craigslist is well aware of these types of scams and is notorious for not doing anything about eliminating them. Add to that, the recent arrest of Phillip Markoff for the murder of a pretty New York masseuse ( read "prostitute") who advertised on the site and you have a good idea of what to expect when you go there. There are 9,000 listings on Craigslist “Erotic Services” category in the New York region alone.

It's relatively easy for most people to ignore scams such as the daily email offers from the Nigerian street monkeys. They are usually poorly worded and unsophisticated, but some of the more subtle scams sometimes are quite successful. Automobile scams and erotic services aside, you should always investigate any offer that appears too good to be true.

The economy is so bad that: 1) Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. So, the guy that made $50 billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $750 billion disappear. 2) CEO's are now playing miniature golf. 3) Even people who have nothing to do with the Obama administration aren't paying their taxes. 4) Hotwheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM. 5) PETA serves chicken wings at their meetings. 6) People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names. 7) A truck of Americans got caught sneaking into Mexico. 8) Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting. 9) Motel Six won’t leave the light on. 10) The Mafia is laying off judges.

The Cat's Ass Trophy (CAT) Award is still open for nominees and if someone or something comes to mind, feel free to make a nomination. The CAT Award is open for nominations until Monday at noon.

This Date In History: 1792; “La Marseillaise” (“The Song of Marseille”), the French national anthem, is written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, in Strasbourg. 1898; Spain declares war on the United States, ignoring an ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. 1915; The Armenian genocide, which sees at least 1 million Armenians deported and murdered, begins. 1916; Irish nationalists rise up against British rule in Ireland. 1990; The Hubble Space Telescope is launched.

Picture Of The Day: Today's pictures are from National Geographic Magazine and the site offers a myriad of beautiful pictures, including wallpaper, that can be downloaded free. The site offers award winning pictures of people, places and things and is one of my best sources. I tend to lean toward landscapes and the flora and fauna within, but you will be amazed at the diversity of the site. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Birthdays: Edmund Cartwright, inventor of the power loom 1743, Anthony Trollope, novelist 1815, Hugh Dowding, leader of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain 1882, Willem de Kooning, American painter 1904, Robert Penn Warren, American novelist and poet 1905.

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I have realized that if it weren't for marriage, I would have gone through life thinking I had no faults at all. 2) Watching those commercials showing how detergents take out bloodstains leads me to believe that if you've got a T-shirt with bloodstains all over it, maybe your laundry isn't your biggest problem. 3) My first car was a 1955 Midnight Blue Ford with a three speed floor mounted transmission. There were other things mounted in the car, but I defer to the title of this paragraph. 4) I used to collect empty soda bottles from construction sites on the way home from elementary school. At two cents each, ten empty soda bottles paid twenty cents, which bought a RC Cola and two moon pies. 5) Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation. The other eight are unimportant.

The Hits Just Keep On Coming:

A very attractive young lady was sitting in a fine restaurant one night. Waiting for her date as she was, she wanted to make sure everything was perfect. So, as she bends down in her chair to get the mirror from her purse, she accidentally passes gas quite loudly just as the waiter walks up.

Sitting up straight now, embarrassed and red faced, knowing everyone in the place heard her, turns to the waiter and demands "Stop That!" The waiter looks at her dryly and says "Sure lady, which way was it headed?"

A lady walked into a jewelry store, just to browse. Suddenly, she spotted the most beautiful gold bracelet that she had ever seen. She bent over to inspect it more closely and unexpectedly passed gas.

Embarrassed, she anxiously looked around to see if anyone had heard her and hoped a sales person wasn't around. As she turned around, there, standing next to her, was a salesman. With a pleasant smile, the salesman said, "Good day, Ma'am, how may I help you today?"

Trying to maintain an air of sophistication and acting as though nothing had happened, she smiled back and asked, "Sir, what is the price of this lovely gold bracelet?" Still smiling pleasantly, the salesman replied, "Ma'am, if you farted just by looking at it, you're gonna shit when you hear the price."

A blonde motorist was about two hours from San Diego when she was flagged down by a man whose truck had broken down. The man walked up to the car and asked, "Are you going to San Diego?" The blonde said, "Yes, do you need a lift?" The man said, "Not for me. I'll be spending the next three hours fixing my truck. My problem is I've got two chimpanzees in the back which have to be taken to the San Diego Zoo. They're a bit stressed already so I don't want to keep them on the road all day. Could you possibly take them to the zoo for me? I'll give you $100 for your trouble." The blonde said, "Sure, I'll be happy to help out.".

So the two chimpanzees were ushered into the back seat of the blonde's car, were carefully strapped into their seat belts and off they went. Five hours later, the truck driver was driving through the heart of San Diego when suddenly he was horrified!! There was the blonde walking down the street and holding hands with the two chimps, much to the amusement of a big crowd. With a screech of brakes he pulled off the road and ran over to the blonde.

The truck driver said, "What are you doing here? I gave you $100 to take these chimpanzees to the zoo." The blonde said, "I did, but we had money left over, so now we're going to Sea World."

That's it for today my spicy little chicken wings. I'm going to AREA 51 and do some undercover investigations. Have a great weekend and more on Monday.

Stay Tuned !