Dumbass GOP Congressman Puts Topless Photo on Craigslist, With Predictable Results

Is this guy playing with a full deck? He's from the Buffalo area, so you'd think he'd know to stay covered up this time of year.

Rep. Chris Lee, R-Amherst, resigned from Congress this afternoon after an Internet tabloid published a shirtless picture of him that the married congressman had sent to a Maryland woman on Craigslist.

Matthew Harakal, Lee's spokesman, confirmed that he had resigned as of 5 p.m. today.

And in a statement released an hour later, Lee said: "It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people of Western New York. I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.

"The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately," Lee concluded.

Lee's resignation ends what had been a brief but promising congressional career -- that is, until Gawker, an Internet tabloid, published its story about an email exchange between the congressman and a woman that the tabloid did not name.

The woman provided Gawker with a chain of e-mails in which someone using Lee's Gmail address identified himself as a 39-year-old lobbyist and "a very fit fun classy guy."

Lee is 46.

The photo accompanying that e-mail showed Lee in a baby-blue polo shirt, prompting the woman to reply: "Are you sure that's not a photo from a J.C. Penney ad?"

The reply from Lee's email address said: "Lol...no...Here...I just took one... i'm relaxing at home."

That photo, taken with a BlackBerry, shows Lee shirtless.

And in a later e-mail from the congressman's e-mail address, the writer laments that an earlier date he had gone on did not go well.

"She was not as advertised. Lol," he said. "How do people think you aren't going to figure it out once you see them in person?"

The author later identified himself as "divorced." But according to the Gawker story, the woman then searched for Lee online and found that he was neither divorced nor a lobbyist -- and then decided to forward the e-mails to Gawker.

Assorted ridicule here.

'I'm the Creative Type! Maybe We Can Help Each Other!'

Looks like some fans of the Philadelphia Phillies will do most anything to support their team.

A 43-year-old Pennsylvania woman was busted today for allegedly posting an Internet ad offering sex in exchange for World Series tickets, authorities said.

Police in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem claim Susan Finkelstein placed an ad on the Web site Craigslist, saying she was a die-hard Phillies fan and buxom blonde in desperate need of two ducats, police said.

Police said her ad claimed the price was negotiable.

"I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!" the ad read.

The Associated Press reported that an undercover cop responded to the ad on Monday night.

That's when, police said, Finkelstein offered to perform various sex acts in exchange for the tickets between the Phillies and the Yankees.

"She was willing to do anything, she said," Bucks County public safety director Fred Harran told Philadelphia's KYW Newsradio. "And she told the officers that she would engage in sexual activity with two individuals for two tickets."

She really drives a hard bargain. One can only imagine what she'd do for a private box.

Her Craigslist ad is still up.

Diehard Phillies fan -- gorgeous tall buxom blonde -- in desperate need of two World Series tickets. Price negotiable -- I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!

I guess Craigslist isn't big on truth in advertising.

Connecticut Man Puts Parents Up for Sale on Craigslist

Ouch. Only asking for $155 or best offer.

Got lots of use out of these guys over the past 50 years but it's time to move on. Excellent overall condition. Still plenty of life left in them. Will consider trade for newer model, hot blonde under age 40 or an Erector Set in good condition. MUST SEE! Please email or call Michael for additional details and pics. $155.00 OBO-

Of course, it's just a gag. Or we think it is.

A Connecticut man put his parents up for sale on Craigslist as a joke to pass the time on a rainy weekend.

Michael Amatrudo, a 51-year-old Madison resident and insurance executive, says in the ad that he's gotten "lots of use out of these guys over the past 50 years, but it's time to move on." He says he'll take $155 or a trade for a younger set of parents, an Erector set or a "hot blonde."

Amatrudo says he's gotten dozens of responses from around the country, including inquiries about who would pay the shipping cost and how many days it would take to receive them.

Watch What You Buy at That Yard Sale

Bet you didn't know yard sales are now subject to government regulation. Well, they are. I can't say I'm necessarily opposed to these rules and some might complain this is just more unnecessary government intrusion, but let the buyer beware.

A question for anyone who’s planning a yard sale this summer: Are you having a safe sale?

A consumer-product safety law signed last year makes it illegal to sell recalled products—and that applies to goods sold at yard sales, as well as flea markets and Internet sites like Craigslist. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is charged with enforcing the law, is urging consumers who buy and sell products at garage sales to research the goods and make sure they’re are safe.

The product-safety agency acknowledges that it doesn’t have the resources to actually police yard sales, stoop sales and the like; its focus is on making sure that larger retailers and manufacturers comply with the new rules. “We’re an agency that has a certain number of employees,” says spokesman Scott Wolfson. Still, the agency, which just issued a handbook clarifying the rules for resellers, aims to set a standard that will be incorporated into communities of buyers and sellers—perhaps forcing noncompliant sellers to lose credibility.

“Why pass [questionable goods] on to another family that could be harmed? It doesn’t take much work to know that a product was recalled,” says Mr. Wolfson.

Amid the recession, more sellers are trying to wring some cash out of their old possessions. Listings on Craigslist for garage sales have increased 60% in the past year, and another resale site, Tagsellit.com, has seen a rising trend, with 3,000 listings for tag sales in the month of June. Large-scale yard sales have actually declined as fewer people have moved in the weak housing market. But those who monitor the resale industry say that more sellers are trying to get cash for smaller-ticket items.

“People are trying to generate income in any way that they can,” says Helaine Fendelman, former president of the Appraisers Association of America and a fine art and antiques appraiser. “If they can make some money by selling their unwanted treasures, they are doing that.”

The sheer variety of products being recalled in a given year can make it hard to guess what products might be unsafe. The ten biggest recalls of 2008 included toys, cribs, electric blowers, cosmetic accessory bags and window blinds. But buyers and sellers who want to check for recalls can search on cpsc.gov, which offers searches by product type, company name, or hazard, among other categories, or on recalls.gov, a site that lists recalls by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and five other federal agencies. They can also sign up with the safety commission to receive recall alerts by email.

Here's a good rule of thumb. If it was made in China, pass it by.

Still, people need to self-regulate. The last thing we need are teams of government snoops fanning out across America checking out what people are trying to dump off on their neighbors. And if you've got some recalled product you're trying to rid yourself of, either return it or burn it. Unless, of course, it's loaded with toxic lead.

More Good News for Craigslist

Nothing like becoming an online service for rapists.

The Oscar-winning composer of the schmaltzy hit "You Light Up My Life" raped 11 young women he lured to his apartment with Craigslist ads promising to turn them into stars, authorities charged yesterday.

Joseph Brooks, 71 -- who traded on his fame from the 1977 Academy Award for Best Song -- convinced his victims to take off their clothes on his personal casting couch, and when they needed an extra push, pulled out his Oscar and put it in their hands, police said.

"This could be you. This could be you holding the Oscar. I could make you a star," NYPD Lt. Adam Lamboy of the Manhattan Special Victims Squad quoted Brooks as saying.

Authorities said he had his 42-year-old female personal assistant, Shawni Lucier, from Washington state, help him choose his victims.

"We are looking to have someone who we want to turn into a star," his ads said, according to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Lisa Friel.

The ads -- posted on Craigslist and talent sites -- said an "Oscar award-winning composer" was looking for a "new face," a "young girl between 18 and 22" who is beautiful, but did not mention Brooks by name.

He turned himself in to police yesterday to face 82 counts of rape, sexual assault and many other charges. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $500,000 bond.

One of his accusers -- a 24-year-old student who lives in Brooklyn and spoke on condition of anonymity -- said she was happy that Brooks might finally face justice.

"If he were put in jail for the rest of his life, I'd be happy," she said. "I just don't want to see this happen to any other girl. He is just a very sick old man on a power trip."

More Good Publicity for Craigslist

The hits just keep on coming for Craigslist. Last week we noted the case where a monster hired someone to rape his wife through the online service, and now comes this gruesome news.

A pregnant 21-year-old found dead with her baby no longer in her womb befriended through Craigslist the woman charged with killing her, her mother said yesterday.

Police said they found Heather M. Snively's body Friday in a crawl space in Korena Elaine Roberts's home in Beaverton, a Portland suburb. They'd been called there because a newborn wasn't breathing. The baby later died.

Roberts (see photo) told officers she'd recently given birth to the baby boy, said Sergeant David Thompson of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and both were taken to a hospital. Doctors could not save the baby, and they alerted authorities after determining Roberts had not given birth.

Roberts, 27, was charged with murder in Snively's death and could face charges in the baby's death as well, Thompson said. She was being held without bond and the jail did not list an attorney.

Autopsy results were scheduled to be released today and Thompson would not say whether Snively gave birth before she died or if the baby was removed. Police have not released a motive for the killing.

Snively's mother, Heidi Kidd of St. Albans, W.Va., said Snively met Roberts a few weeks ago through Craigslist, the online classified service. Roberts told Snively she was pregnant and wanted baby clothes, Kidd said. They befriended one another and kept talking online.

"I guess they decided to meet and I guess that was the wrong thing to do," she said. "But Heather's always been a very trusting person."

Classy: Man Uses Craigslist to Hire Someone to Rape His Wife

There really are some sick SOB's out there.

A man used the online advertising service Craigslist to enlist another man to rape his wife in the couple's home, police said Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Kannapolis man faces first-degree rape and other charges. The Associated Press is not naming him to avoid identifying his wife, a victim of sexual assault.

His wife called police early Sunday morning and said a man with a knife raped her in the bedroom of their home in Kannapolis, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, authorities said. Her husband was in the room, police said. Their two young children were also home, but were unaware of what was happening, authorities said.

The husband sought someone in the ads to come to his home and have sex with his wife using "scare tactics," police said. It was without her knowledge or consent, police said.

Authorities are still investigating the identity of the man who attacked the woman and it wasn't known if the husband paid him to do it. The woman was not seriously injured, but was treated at a hospital and released.

Investigators turned their suspicions to the husband after his statement didn't add up and because there were no signs the attacker broke into the home. The husband was jailed Wednesday on $200,000 bond.

"We share the public's horror that such a crime was committed, and our heart goes out to the victim," said Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best.

If this nonsense with Craiglist keeps up pretty soon they're going to find themselves sued out of business.

Thanks to Ace for the link.

Newspaper Ad Revenue Continues Death Spiral

Coming off record losses in 2008, things are getting even worse this year. Still, every media report continues to ignore the relentless leftwing slant of major newspapers as even the slightest factor.

US newspaper advertising revenue fell more than 28 percent in the first quarter of the year with both print and online posting declines, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

Print advertising revenue fell 29.7 percent in the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year to 5.9 billion dollars, according to figures posted on the NAA website.

Online advertising revenue declined 13.4 percent during the period to 696.3 million dollars.

Print and online advertising revenue were down 28.3 percent to 6.6 billion dollars during the quarter while classified advertising revenue alone declined by 42.3 percent during the period to 1.46 billion dollars.

The weak revenue figures for the first quarter come on the heels of the worst year ever for the US newspaper industry.

Total newspaper advertising revenue fell 16.6 percent in 2008 over the previous year to 37.8 billion dollars, according to the NAA.

The US newspaper industry has been struggling with competition from free classified ad sites such as Craigslist and the migration of readers to free sites online.

Ohio State Advisor Ran Prostitution Ring

Getting a real bang for your academic buck.

Undercover vice officers busted a prostitution ring that was run on the Internet and in the Brewery District, 10TV News reported Saturday.

Police said Christopher Johnson, an academic advisor at The Ohio State University's School of Nursing, used his office computer to run a chat site that catered to women who sell sex and men who buy it, 10TV's Glenn McEntyre reported.

Johnson was charged with managing a brothel.

Police said Johnson used the website craigslist.com to recruit the women and started a lottery to sell sex.

Vanise Dunn was one of the women who was offered as a prize. She worked as a caseworker for the Franklin County Children Services and faces a solicitation charge, McEntyre reported.

Vice officers said realtor Rusty Blades offered to host parties for the service at his house.

"Chris began to run a monthly raffle in which one girl would offer a one-hour session with the winner of the raffle. The raffle tickets were ten dollars a piece," and undercover officer said. "They started inviting specified members of the board to this party. Prostitution was encouraged and conducted at the party."