ForwardThink Solutions is running a test on an internet marketing model that we want to implement. If you have a phone verified Craigslist account, email me to join a small group of just 10 business owners and get this for free.

Likelihood that you will increase your business at least 40%. Only qualifications are that:

1). You MUST have at least one Craigslist phone verified account.

2) You MUST email us your industry, product and service.

3) You MUST be a group player.

If that sounds like you email me here: akinawb@gmail.com

CNET news of http://www.download.com reviewed and published about my browser extension for Craigslist.

Make car shopping on Craigslist less cumbersome

As cold weather begins to creep though the streets, prostitutes everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief. Unbeknownst to most who partake in the sex-trade industry, they have won a small victory in the war on cyber-prostitution. In late October, Federal Judge John F. Grady dismissed a lawsuit seeking to have Craigslist remove its “adult services” advertisements. This decision no doubt has huge implications for internet-based “adult service” websites.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by Chicago Sherriff Thomas Dart. Dart has stated “Craigslist is the single largest source of prostitution in the nation.” Many have also likened Craiglist to an “internet brothel.” These types of sites offer a cheap means of advertising, which also provides the anonymity that helps facilitate prostitution.

Long before Sherriff Dart’s lawsuit, Craigslist was under pressure to remove its adult ads. Due to public uproar, Craigslist has made a few policy changes to cut down on illegal activity. The company decided it best to remove the “erotic services” category and replace it with an “adult services” section In addition, a $10 fee is now charged for the ads and each is reviewed by a Craigslist employee (who removes graphic sexual images). Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark has stated the site does not promote prostitution. Newmark has said “We don’t want it there. It’s wrong, and that’s why we have the help of the general community and the law enforcement community getting rid of things like that.”

Judge Grady’s ruling said Craigslist is not “culpable for aiding and abetting” those that use the site for illegal activity. The ruling further states that law enforcement “may continue to use Craigslist’s Web site to identify and pursue individuals who post allegedly unlawful content,” but Craigslist cannot be sued for their conduct. One could translate the ruling to state that police officers can punish those who work the street corners at night or cruise the alleys looking to buy sex. However, law enforcement officials cannot hold the city (where the prostitution takes place) liable for these people who have decided to perpetrate a crime.

The Federal Court’s ruling in this case will most likely open the floodgates for other “adult service” websites. In the same way that a municipality cannot be punished for having streets where a prostitute sells sex, the city can hope to cut down on prostitution by strengthening the police force that patrols those high crime areas. The best law enforcement can hope for is a policy to better regulate these sites.

“Well, dude, I guess I won’t be offering an apartment for rent on craigslist anytime soon.”

“I guess not, dude. On account of because all you have to offer is chewing gum for rent, on craigslist or anyplace else.”

“Ewww, dude. Chewing gum for rent?“

“Why else would you be leaving it on the bedpost overnight? Speaking of ewww. I suppose I should be grateful you’re not leaving it on the mailbox. What’s wrong with craigslist, anyway?”

“You mean crookslist, dude? Lookit this. Dude lists an apartment for rent, gets three inquiries from responsible-looking tenants, and then finds out they’re trying to scam him. It’s a dangerous place, this craigslist. Who can trust it?”

“In this world, dude, you can’t even trust the trust company.”

“What’s a …”

“Later, dude. But aren’t you overlooking a couple of things in this story?”

“Like …?”

“Like, here’s a person in Honolulu trying to rent an apartment and getting inquiries from people who claim to be professionals, from places so far away that it’s practically impossible that anyone will know them. But they do claim to be professionals, professors even. And they name their University. Two minutes on Google and you’ll know whether that University has Professor So-and-So on its faculty, and probably get a contact phone or email – which had better match what the inquirer sent you, or wee oh wee oh wee oh. Why didn’t …”

“OK, that’s one.”

“And the other is, where did you get this story?”

“Um, the newspaper.”

“Right. The editorial section, no less. Where did you find it?”

“Online …”

“Because you can’t find the print version with a microscope any more. And why is that?”

“Because they’re selling papers to amoebae?“

“Very funny. You’d better hope that OC’s not in a command-X kind of mood.”

“CONTROL-X!!“

“Even with Vista?”

“Only when you don’t want it to.”

“I rest my case. No, the papers haven’t shrunk because they’re selling to protozoa. They’ve shrunk because nobody’s paying them to advertise their stuff any more. And that’s because …”

“Because why?”

“Because all the ads are going to craigslist, dude! That editor’s going to hit craigslist every chance he gets, fair or not. Before his job goes the way of all the journalists who he had to fire and are walking the streets these days.”

“D’ya think it’ll work? People will dump craigslist and pay the paper for ads again?”

“Dunno, dude. I’d like to believe people would listen to us and learn how to use craigslist safely. But they might see that chewing gum and think again.”

  - O Ceallaigh
Copyright © 2009 Felloffatruck Publications. All wrongs deplored.
All opinions are mine as a private citizen.

Originally, I posted this anonymously on Craigslist in my town.  Within 20 minutes, I had over 30 hate mails and only 6 “love letters”.  I am sharing it here with you, just because it’s part of me, and my life and my daily struggle.  Unedited except for a few details to anonymize other people.  Not that they’ve done me the same courtesy…also, be aware there’s a few off-color words.  Hey!  I was feeling pretty bad and I’ve never pretended to be holy).

A General All-Purpose Rant on Life in the Biggest Little City (posted on CL)

I have lived here for almost twenty years. In that time, I have made exactly 1 lasting friendship. I am not counting acquaintances. Just what we used to call “friends”, as in loyal friends, as in meaningful friendship. I have lived in third world countries that were more friendly than this town.

So one day, I saw I had a new neighbor, and I waved –”Hello!” I said.
“Do I know you?” His voice was terse, rude and unbelievably harsh. I lowered my hand and thought “oops…sorry! didn’t mean to intrude on your bad day.” I felt genuinely bad for him. So then I thought, well maybe another day. A few days later, I saw him again so I waved! “Hi!” I said. and I kept walking, just so he wouldn’t think I’m a stalker — just another freindly soul out for a stroll…

“DO I KNOW YOU???”

I don’t know what got into me, becaue I’m normally fairly unassuming. But I couldn’t resist.

“YES!!! WE MET THE OTHER DAY…” (under my breath: asshole!)

You try to be friendly and people here just literally spit in your face. I live a really quiet life. I don’t do drugs and don’t go to bars — I don’t have wild parties at my place.
And the people in my apartment building literally make shit up about each other. I can’t believe the lies they tell — play this one against that one, and that one against this one.

And the internet is no better. I’m still trying to recover from the beating I took on Facebook.  (edit — I may have deserved.  That’s not the point.)

But back to Reno …the subject at hand.

This town is very isolating…I happen to be a part time artist —meaning, I can’t afford to give up my dayjob…From my experience in “Art Town’ you would think this is New York or Paris. Give me a break!!!

. Don’t get me wrong: i meet seemingly ‘nice’ people all the time. But no one is ever really interested in being actual friends. They say breezily, as if it were the most sincere thing in the world, “Oh yes…let’s have coffee sometime.” And then when you actually try to extend a hand in friendship, they literally either try to take advantage of you or they dismiss you as being beneath them.

A person is left feeling like : do I even have a right to exist??? I am amazed at how far downhill our society, and in microcosm, how horrible RENO has become. When I first moved here, it was still a pretty small town, and yeah, you had your douchebags, but everyone was fairly nice, and friendly…people didn’t say “DO I KNOW YOU?” if you waved and said “hi!”

I read an article on a blog somewhere that talked about how we are more isolated than ever before since the internet began. I am beginning to think it’s true. People used to say, “Well, sometimes people say things on the internet they would NEVER say in person.”
Well guess what? I think “never” has come. It has arrrived. They really DO say things in person that they should not say. And they do things to other people that I know ALL our moms would be livid about if they knew.

I guess I’m just feeling it now. i guess I’m just realizing that this world really is evil. And Reno is a corner of it, just like Wall Street, just like every other corrupt and unforgiving society.
(you wait, I’m gonna lots of hate mail for this.)
Originally, I posted this in the “Rants’ and Raves” section…but you know what??? There are so many evil people that I’ve already received 12 hate mails from that, in less than 15 minutes. that’s almost 1 per minute. So I thought I would post it here, for other lonley souls so they would know that they are not alone.

You are NOT alone! This town has become an asylum — and I’m beginning to think that the very second my kid is enrolled in college and on her own, I’m getting the hell out of here and finding some small town in the middle of Nevada (because I really do love the state) where people aren’t like this.

To all the true lovers of peace out there, I say : PEACE!
One Hope – One Love (yeah, remember Bob Marley??? Or did we forget his lessons so quickly???)
Oh well.

God bless.

ps: As an artist, when I look at this picture, I don’t really notice the lights. I notice the darkness between them.

It’s going to take a while for this blog to get picked up by search engines, so in meantime, I’m just documenting this for myself.

I haven’t been able to do too much yet. Been busy with a newborn and a full-time job.

Again, I must mention I hate the cluttered layout of the homepage. I’m going to need to take a whole day just to figure out all the features.

I ended up signing up for the Mailbox-Cashbox program. Even though I hate junk mail, I figure each piece is like a little check – so bring it on! I took a 30 question survey to determine my interests. Now I have to wait 30-90 days for the first offer from Peoplestring to verify my address. Then I’ll begin receiving possible 5+ pieces of mail a day with codes to plug in on the website. I made sure I am eligible to receive email offers. Just for taking the survey, I earned $1.50.

I noticed that I’m beginning to earn “People Points.” I’m at around 100 now. After searching the FAQs, I found out these are points you earn for being active on the site. The more you login, the more you earn. That’s way you’ll see people suggest you set it to your homepage.

I’m not sure, but the number of People Points you earn determines the percentage of the ad revenue you receive. I’ll need to do more investigating.

Unfortunately, I found out you can’t post MLM type ads on Craigslist or a number of other free classified sites. While I don’t think this is a typical MLM scheme as there is no selling involved, I can understand why these sites wouldn’t want to be clogged with recruitment ads.
I did find one classifieds site that would like you post under the “Business Opportunities” section. I decided I would start posting in the largest cities first. I started with Georgia.

I noticed there is quite a bit of competition out there. Even some other Peoplestring recruiters on these sites. I had to think about how I would differentiate myself. I thought I would do more the explain how the process works, i.e. by sharing in the profits. This would hopefully show that this wasn’t a scam, whereas some other MLM schemes really don’t tell you anything about how the system works until you send them some money. In the future, when I’ve made more money, I’ll also link to this blog. I added the ubiquitous “WORK FROM HOME” and “EASY MONEY” in the title, which may work for or against me (but hey, it’s true), and a line about advertisers paying you.

Then it was cut and paste, cut and paste. Man this can get tedious… After posting just 3 ads the website stopped my by saying I wasn’t allowed to post the exact same ad more than 3 times in the same city within 7 days. Even though, it wasn’t the same city, I guess they meant, the same vicinity???

Anyway, after that I stopped for the day. I’ll cut and paste more later in the week.

Finally, I still haven’t accepted those 2 friend requests I received. I really can’t see myself using this the way I do Facebook. Right now most of my friends are there. I don’t want to have to duplicate all my status updates anyway.

TOTAL PEOPLESTRING EARNINGS TO DATE: $1.53

reading craigslist > personals > missed connections

At Wegmans. Your nose was bleeding. – m4w – 37 (Reading)
Reply to: pers-gd33c-1264565935@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-11-04, 11:35PM EDT

You are a stunning blond, about 4′2″ with a large forehead and receding hairline.

You wore a white baseball cap that said “Thug Life” on it in plastic diamonds, a BINGO 4 LIFE t-shirt and black pleather pants.

Your nose was bleeding and there was the cutest little bit of coke dusted on your upper lip.

You yelled “You ain’t got no pancake mix!” to the girl at the checkout, threw some candy bars at her and stormed out.

You looked like an angel.

Please…if you by some miracle of God read this message…please contact me. I’ve got all the pancake mix you need.

Location: Reading

Here’s another great one:

http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/sub/1438760715.html

$650 SURF PAD UCLUELET/TOFINO (FROM JAN-END OF MAY) (2km from ukee/tofino jct. ‘MILLSTREAM’) ——————————————————————————– Date: 2009-10-26, 1:44PM PDT Reply to: hous-4ptgw-1438760715@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] ——————————————————————————–

so here’s the scoop, i’m going to school for 5 months and would like to rent my pad out. it’s a groovy two story duplex but the basement in under infinite renovations…perfect for storage.

i have lots of indoor plants and a bird named ‘lil’ chirp chirp who needs minimal maintenance.

it’s a wicked location for ready available surf and just minutes away from secret breaks if you can get someone to tell you where they are. huge ass deck and carport and the best neighbors on the coast! the phone is in and there’s dial-up internet if you can remember what that is and wood stove, make nice with the neighbors and they’ll happily let ya do laundry as well!

rent is 650$ a month flat. i’ll get on posting pics asap. pets are totally ok. the place is all ready to go….furnished and all….and anything you don’t want around i’ll be happy to box up and store downstairs

you are-

someone wanting to surf or learn, musician/artist

preferably a woman or two gals or a loving couple

nerdy laid back clean d00d will suffice

not a crack head

and just generally a good person

e-mail 1st or try calling 250.726.4445

***

Surfers are just awesome.

Let’s see if any Phoenix, Az. area moving companies respond in a positive way ?

Most moving companies do not like accountability, unless it is the American Moving & Storage Association…which is a joke for the consumer…it’s run by moving company owners !

****** http://www.arizonamovingassociation.wordpress.com or
http://www.arizonamovingandstorageassociation.wordpress.com
(basically the same sites)
whether you have consumer complaints about moving companies , or
you need a moving company ranked…let me know your opinions, complaints, etc.
( I will also be analyzing how long it takes (if at all) that a moving company responds to a request that
I have made to get involved in the association (most companies do not want accountability)…joining the American Moving  & Storage Association is not good enough (it’s extremely political and is run by moving company owners).
even though I have 30 years in the moving industry, I do not work for a moving company, therefore I have impartial
opinions.——————————
http://www.movingscam.com The site has a lot of inaccurate information on Arizona movers because they are only going off the opinion of a couple of former customers, or “somebody know knows somebody who works there”

• Location: arizona
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Picture by: zee smith Submitted by: dunno source via Fail Uploader

“I question your judgment.” This used to be something my mother would say to me. Well maybe not always, maybe specifically when I was eighteen years old and working at the Dockside Seafood Bar and Grill. An air conditioning repairman with manly air conditioning repairman hands kept coming in during my quiet afternoon shift for coffee. I liked our conversations.

One day, as I cleared his table, I saw he left a note for me on the butcher paper. In a tiny, meticulous pen he gave me his phone number. I forgot what else he said. I know there was a whole paragraph and I was charmed. Maybe I blushed as I stood there in my dirty waitress apron reading it.

What I remember most about my time spent with him occurred in his apartment. He swooped me into his arms, cradled me in his lap and kissed me. I loved being swooped. I was at the age where I didn’t have a sense of a good person with whom to share such a peak moment. And so I shared it with my mom.

“I question your judgment.” That’s where this line came in. And the questioning was due to the fact that I went to his apartment without knowing him that well. He was much older than I and had a kid. Interestingly, the air conditioning repairman also questioned my judgment. He had aspirations to be a cop and was safety conscious.

I’m not eighteen anymore and my mom’s opinion of my judgment has changed, but I still have this mom character in my head that still questions my judgment. The voice of this mom character was certainly activated as I poised to click on that CraigsList link.

Click.

I found a respectful posting. It was written in a low key, non threatening style. The poster offered just what I wanted – to watch two guys having oral sex. I wrote: If you haven’t yet found a match, I’m interested to know more. Soon I was on the phone with a guy.

My first impression was that he stuttered. This made him human; I knew he was nervous to speak to me. Beyond the stutter I heard an adorable accent. South African. First of all, I must know – is he bisexual? He explains he likes women and is not bi. His excitement has to do with the woman finding the scenario erotic. Perfect! I like how this South African thinks.

I learn that he doesn’t have a guy in mind to suck his cock. I’m shocked. What exactly is he proposing? Clyde (the South African) suggests we post on CraigsList to find the other guy. He has done this once before and it actually worked out well. I was riveted by the story. After a few good phone conversations, I felt comfortable meeting Clyde.

We chose to meet at the American Chicken Café. Why? Because it’s public, well lit, convenient, friendly, safe and normal. It was after work on a Tuesday evening. I was both excited and nervous, freshly showered in jeans and a t-shirt. I arrived on time; he was early. Clyde was clean cut, and extremely quick witted. So am I. He was friend material! What a wacky jackpot.

I brought my computer, we connected to the internet and together we wrote a post. We were both meticulous writers and this becomes the strangest experience. I am co-writing a post with this stranger to have an unusual erotic encounter with another stranger. The synapses of my brain are exploding, my paradigm is being forever yanked in a new direction.

As the hours go by in this first meeting, I become so high, so fizzy with joy that it becomes a challenge to drive safely. Clyde has suggested that we leave the Chicken Café and head for a Starbucks. “Better ambiance for our purposes,” he explained.

Once situated at Starbucks, we checked responses to our post every few minutes. We were getting the usual fake spam responses. And a few real ones. You wouldn’t believe how many people will send a picture of just their hard cocks. Very nice, thank you, but if you please we’d like to see your face. We are very proper Clyde and I. We question the judgment of the cock photo senders and dismiss them immediately. We want someone who has some common sense.

It’s getting late and I’m feeling a little hung over from being so high for so long. We want an adventure, but where’s our third? I feel comfortable enough with Clyde by now to invite him to my place. In a pinch we decide that having sex with just the two of us would still be an adventure. And it was.

Clyde and I would certainly be meeting again to plan an adventure. Thank you CraigsList for bringing me a playmate.

The school year in Kenya has now been over for 4 days (we go January to late November/early December).  I have finally had time to get in some perusal of news in education outside of my immediate school and would like to take the following article and opinion letters in the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html?scp=1&sq=lesson%20plans%20online&st=cse

one step further.

In Kenya, many teachers do not write lesson plans in the way Americans are used to doing.  Kenya has schemes of work which is a broad ‘lesson’ if you will, with few details indicating the steps, methodology, etc. of delivering education.  Part of the reason for this is the fact that everyone must use the Kenyan mandated textbooks. The lack of access to other books and materials makes it difficult to teach something that is not in the ‘textbook’.   Since there is no true difference, teachers have a tendency to copy the rough syllabus and direct quotes from the text book, do a few limited elaborations/examples and call it a day.  This then promotes the chalk and talk mentality common in many classrooms. It also increases the likelihood of education not ‘improving’ to the degree that it can from one generation to the next as direct copying from a text is not an effective method of learning.

To add insult to this stupefying lack of depth in  lesson planning, it is also common for teachers to buy whole sets of exams from another school so that teachers can avoid having to construct meaningful exams. Learners  in high schools are graded on two exams – middle of term and end of term, material being cumulative from Form 1 (freshman year) to Form 4 (senior year).   Because there are very few ways to ask the same questions, especially when using memorization, listing and repeating back said copied notes, the bought exams are nothing more than a money making scheme.

I explained to my teachers it would be much more effective to get a cadre of teachers from a variety of schools to craft an exam, deliver it, and have another teacher (not yourself) grade your exam and in exchange you do the same.  This process allows for teachers to develop their skill set, to share information and essentially improve/overhaul the education system.

What I find terribly sad/disturbing about the American purchasing of lesson plans is the lack of effort on the part of teachers to construct a meaningful lesson and improve their skill set in understanding, delivery of ideas to students. No, it is not easy to do lesson planning – it is also not easy to be a neurosurgeon, airline pilot, member of the armed forces or farmer.

The logic which teachers are using for selling lesson plans (not taking a vow of poverty to be a teacher) is merely obscuring the flagrant misuse of capitalism.  It is this same abuse of logic that allows Kenyan teachers to purchase exams.

For the sake of education, I look forward to working with teacher colleagues who are willing to put in the effort, time, energy to improve their craft and create a learning environment in their classroom.  Merely facilitating/ imparting a pre-measured portion of information (standards in the states and syllabus in Kenya) is insufficient to raise up students to the level of being ever inquisitive and applying their knowledge.

I believe the comments American teachers might want to think about would be the implications of being lazy and uncommitted in the face of doing one of the most important jobs in the world- passing on knowledge, culture and improving the conditions of living standards for everyone.  For my Kenyan teachers, it is not necessarily about ease of work as lack of exposure to what actually needs to happen.  Kenya has only had compulsory education for 11 years. It will take somewhere in the vicinity of another 40-90 years to ‘push’ education through the population to make it a force of bringing improvements in Kenya.

If American teachers truly wanted to obtain recognition and achieve something, they would do a stint in Peace Corps and go to a third world country.  Once one sees what happens when people are not educated (by  politics, government, poverty, etc.) and have to survive by ignorance, then they are able to reframe how they look at the SIGNIFICANCE of their career.  Education is not about test score numbers or profits (those are business concepts – see The Black Swan -by N. Taleb), rather it is about improving the human condition.

With today’s technology more is done through the use of Internet. An example is purchasing items or services. Craigstlist.com is one of the most popular sites for classified listings. Almost everything you need, they have. The site offers job advertisements, furniture, personal ads, ads for artists and so on. It was founded in San Francisco in 1995 and has grown so rapidly that there are now sites in 450 cities and countries throughout the world. 

Craiglist.com also has an erotic section, which has caused quite some complaints. In March 2009, Chicago’s Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called Craigslist ‘one of the countries largest sources of prostitution’. He asked the federal court to force Craigslist managers to remove their erotic services section.

In an interview with CNET News, Tom Dart said that the sex services that are being advertised on Craigslist.com frequently involve people forced into prostitution against their will as well as minors. Further claims say that the erotic section is a powerful marketing tool for prostitutes and pimps and also makes it easier for criminals to avoid the police.

I for one completely agree with Tom Dart in this situation. These kinds of illegal services cannot be accepted trough the Internet like this, especially not on the same page where your child is looking for a new bike. 

Chicago’s Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart:

Law student posts craigslist ad for erotic companionship:

An international crackdown on the use of woods from the world’s rain forests to make musical instruments bubbled over to Music City on Tuesday with a federal raid on Gibson Guitar ’s manufacturing plant, but no arrests.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Webb said the search warrant was obtained based on information in a sealed affidavit outlining the investigation.

Agents of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service made a midday appearance and served a search warrant on company officials at Gibson’s Massman Drive manufacturing plant, where it makes acoustic and electric guitars.

Some hardwoods traditionally used in making premium guitars, such as rosewood from the rain forests of Madagascar and Brazil, have been banned from commercial trade because of environmental concerns under a recently revised federal law.

Under the U.S. Lacey Act, trading in such banned woods is a federal offense, punishable by civil and criminal penalties or the seizure of property. Last year, the U.S. Congress amended a turn-of-the-century wildlife protection law (the Lacey Act) to extend its reach to endangered timber species and plants. See the next post Where Were You When Wood Became A Felony?

The following is a excerpt from the Classical Values Blog. It is very interesting and I highly recommend you read the entire article at http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2009/10/where_were_you_2.html

The 2008 Farm Bill (also known as the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, aka Public Law 110-246).

This amendment [to the Lacey Act] deals with illegal plants — the primary thrust being illegal wood. Henceforth, all wood is to be a federally regulated, suspect substance. Either raw wood, lumber, or anything made of wood, from tables and chairs, to flooring, siding, particle board, to handles on knives, baskets, chopsticks, or even toothpicks has to have a label naming the genus and species of the tree that it came from and the country of origin. Incorrect labeling becomes a federal felony, and the law does not just apply to wood newly entering the country, but any wood that is in interstate commerce within the country. Here are some excerpts from a summary:

The Lacey Act now makes it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions, taken in violation of the laws of a U.S. State, or any foreign law that protects plants. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to make or submit any false record, account or label for, or any false identification of, any plant.

The definition of the term “plant” includes “any wild member of the plant kingdom, including roots, seeds, parts, and products thereof, and including trees from either natural or planted forest stands.”

[...]

Anyone who imports into the United States, or exports out of the United States, illegally harvested plants or products made from illegally harvested plants, including timber, as well as anyone who exports, transports, sells, receives, acquires or purchases such products in the United States, may be prosecuted. In any prosecution under the Lacey Act, the burden of proof of a violation rests on the government.

[...]

Violations of Lacey Act provisions for timber and other plant products, as well as fish and wildlife, may be prosecuted through either civil or criminal enforcement actions. Regardless of any prosecution, the tainted plants may be seized and forfeited.

Everyone means everyone, which includes every reader of this blog.

Obviously, this means that in the future, the Fish and Game guys will be able to accompany SWAT Team raiders to check all wood in homes and businesses for possible violations. Even if they’re wrong in their suspicions about the wood, it can still be confiscated. (Might that be a goal? To beef up employment at Fish and Game?)

Just think about the law enforcement possibilities alone. After kicking through and impounding your illegal wooden door, a federalized army of government termites could literally strip all wood paneling and flooring from every raided house as suspicious contraband, and haul away all the furniture, wood carvings, picture frames, tools, musical instruments! I can’t think of a better harassment tool. The list of potentially regulated items is mind-boggling:

the scope of products that will require a declaration under the Lacey Act is broad and includes certain live plants, plant parts, lumber, wood pulp, paper and paperboard, and products containing certain plant material or products, which may include certain furniture, tools, umbrellas, sporting goods, printed matter, musical instruments, products manufactured from plant-based resins, and textiles.

[...]

After September 30, 2009, based on experience with the implementation of the electronic system for declaration data collection, we will phase in enforcement of the declaration requirements for additional chapters containing plants and plant products covered by the Lacey Act, including (but not limited to) Ch. 12 (oil seeds, misc. grain, seed, fruit, plant, etc.), Ch. 13 (gums, lacs, resins, vegetable saps, extracts, etc.), Ch. 14 (vegetable plaiting materials and products not elsewhere specified or included), Ch. 45 (cork and articles of), Ch. 46 (basket ware and wickerwork), Ch. 66 (umbrellas, walking sticks, riding crops), Ch. 82 (tools), Ch. 93 (guns), Ch. 95 (toys, games and sporting equipment), Ch. 96 (brooms, pencils, and buttons), and Ch. 97 (works of art). We will announce a specific phase-in schedule for those chapters in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

Did they mention shipping pallets and cargo braces? Wood is not only in stuff, it’s in the stuff that the stuff comes in! Nearly everything is regulated.

Oh, and you firearm owners out there, let’s not forget gun handles!

Ch. 93 Headings (arms and ammunition).
9302 — Revolvers and pistols.
93051020 –Parts and accessories for revolvers and pistols.
Ch. 94 Headings (furniture, etc.).
940169 — Seats with wood frames.
Ch. 95 Headings (toys, games, & sporting equipment).
950420 — Articles and accessories for billiards.
Ch. 97 Headings (works of art).
9703 — Sculptures.

Glad I don’t own an art gallery, but my picture frames are not labeled, which means there are probably multiple potential felonies in progress in my home. (Perhaps I should be more careful about what I say.)

And while the NRA might not have noticed the impending crackdown on gun handles, at least IKEA is starting to speak up.

Between Wood Control and the Consumer Product Safety Nazis, I pity anyone in the secondhand business, including all Ebay and Craigslist sellers as well as people holding garage or yard sales.

In short, I pity the American people. This is not their fault, though, for no one has any control over what is going on. Not even the despicable fools we call “legislators” who cannot read the “laws” they pass because they are not meant to be read. As to the enforcers, they are only doing their job. They have to earn a living. And we are supposed to respect them, because they lay their lives on the line, “protecting” the public! From felonious wood!

Obviously, the full implications of this dramatic loss of freedom are beyond the capacity of a single post. After all, I am just one blogger, doing this by myself, without the kind of access to data that media organizations and think tanks might have. So, I cannot possibly hope to analyze everything. As things stand, I became exhausted last night just reading through the Lacey Act Amendment stuff pertaining to wood — and that was one mere fraction of an execrable, unreadable monstrosity. I don’t mean to whine, but slogging through such horrors is not exactly my idea of Saturday night fun. But who the hell else is going to do it? Flooring and furniture industry blogs? Who the hell reads them except people in the business? They’re all greedy tree haters and have no credibility. Besides, all big business is the enemy right now. We need to stand up not only against Big Cereal, but now Big Flooring! Big Siding! Big Furniture! (Is there such an industry as Big Chopstick?)

To read the entire article please go to: http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2009/10/where_were_you_2.html

Making a hilarious  and unbelievably accurate rant about not getting laid – TWUP.

Let’s hope this was listed in the FREE category of craigslist otherwise…

Great, like new condition (nothing torn, ripped, etc. – book was looked at once.)  North Arlington off Spout Run (Arlington, VA)

emphasis mine, posting by jim

I think this will do it for today.  This is Simone’s classic gangbang series.  The story is one Christmas Simon and Simone placed a Craigslist ad and invited some random guys over to gangbang Simone while pictures were taken.  This isn’t the short collection they usually present, either.  This is all the pictures from that memorable Christmas, the full set.  I’m not sure how many guy are actually here.  I think it’s 5, but I’ve heard people claim between 4 and 8.

Craigslist is very much ideal for online business owners for many reasons.

For online business folks who are eager to generate and promote their company this is a great source and solution.

To start with we ought to know that marketing plays a substantial role inside every small organization and advertising is the starting point meant for increasing sales.  Craigslist is very much the form of advertising meant for online business owners.

Craigslist has a great deal of members with a broad range of classifications all around the planet.  So, persons can effortlessly promote or else advertise and sell every type of enterprise under the sun.

For instance, if you manufacture a wonderful product and held it in reserve, in some safe place, there would not be any buyers. You need to advertise your merchandise in order for people to become aware of what you have so that they can determine if they need it. 

Sales is the name of the game and without a communication vehicle such as Craigslist you are going to be sitting on your merchandize for a long time. 

If you have an online business you have an obligation to advertise.  Craigslist fills part of that obligation.  Without advertising your business will die! 

Craigslist is the finest solution used for an online business.  For the reason that you can advertise your creation at no cost. Their advertising is FREE.

Craigslist has an extensive range of categories for unique types of advertisements and so it is very much ideal for buying and promotion. Folks can bring into being an inordinate outcome by redistribution of the ads on Craigslist. Products get exposed very well both locally and worldwide because of the four million readers who visit this publication each month. It is a very widely held online classified ad place which attracts international visitors.  Did I mention that it is FREE!

Online business owners run their establishment on little investment and it is very much challenging for them to afford ads.  However, they still need to advertise their products to stay ahead of their competitors.  Craigslist helps them overcome this challenge since it offers FREE of charge ad posting. 

P.S.:  Here is a step by step guide on how to make money with Craigslist. 

My sister told me her friend Jen enjoyed the CL A-Hole video. Thoughts from anyone else? Anyone? …

That is one fancy tie at least, right?

Following my last two posts about pirated copies of Windows 7, I was going to let the topic drop for a few days. But, ….

Per my daily routine, I was checking out CraigsList this morning. I came across this Ad. in the ‘Computer Services’ section in the New Hampshire CL.

The title was: “Computer reformats, to windows 7 ultimate, 30$ (manchester, nh)”.

It had an image attached and when you opened the Ad. it was ‘The XBox Guy,’ with a nice picture of a pirate … BUT with a statement that he doesn’t support or condone piracy. Just fair use.

I flagged the Ad. to CL.

He was offering to sell STOLEN goods.

Actually not sure whether he is just using that subject line to get people to look at his XBox ad.

Doesn’t matter. I know that pirated copies of Windows 7 Ultimate is available, for free, on the Web.

I know CL. People are blatant in what they advertise and sometimes even ask.

Many are stupid. Yes, CL is being policed to an extent. But, they are unlikely to have spotted this … and I am not even sure that my FLAGGING of it would result in it being taken down.

Yes, there will be folks that take up his offer. Some will NOT realize that they are receiving stolen goods. I have no gripe against those. They probably, genuinely think, that upgrading to Windows 7 must just cost $30. Good for them.

It amuses me about those that KNOWINGLY will go to this guy and ask him to install Windows 7 Ultimate on their PC for $30.

But, there are a LOT of real dumb people out there, many of whom do a lot of transactions on CL.

You are going to an acknowledged THIEF and telling them to install software on your PC.

As I said before, this guy, like all those that deal in pirated Windows 7 have already established that they have no compunctions about thieving. It is just like that saying about whoring. “Yes, we have established that you are whore, all we are now doing is negotiating on a price.”

If he is willing to steal from MSFT, he will also steal from YOU.

Think about it.

This pirating is costing YOU money.

It is just like the health care debate. The uninsured that go to ERs … end up costing those that have insurance! That is how it works. Pirated Windows 7 just makes MSFT bump up their prices on those of us that BUY their software.

Cheers.

Anura Guruge
www.guruge.com