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We've had a run on orange croissants during the game, and supplies are limited. If you're still drinking and discovered that booze and orange croissants don't mix, grab one anyway and save it for breakfast.
Well the diary title this evening is a bit ambiguous. Consider this an open thread if you like, not that Top Comments isn't always so. But to at least touch on a specific topic, let's talk about, oh, I dunno, ... Craigslist.
Pop quiz time. Is Craigslist:
- A great place to find a job.
- A way to exchange goods and services that is both cheaper and more localized than, say, eBay.
- A place to find someone for quick, anonymous, sex.
- A cesspool that attracts thieves, rapists, murderers, and other n'er-do-wells.
If you picked
cesspool, you already know where we're headed. Or maybe you just like cesspools. To each their own.
It seems that on a regular basis we read stories like this, recently diaried by annieli. The fact that the diary is titled "Another Craigslist killing" is revealing in itself. There's a pattern here that repeats itself: people do business online with some anonymous buyer or seller, and when they meet to exchange whatever was being advertised, foul play happens.
To be sure, not every transaction results in something evil. But there's enough of it going on that police departments are starting to get involved in transactions. More on that in a moment.
The personals section on Craigslist is broken down into sub-categories including "casual encounters", and "gender seeking gender", where you can substitute the genders of your choice. Seems to be lot of people on there searching for casual sex. As you might expect, and as one article explains, "Craigslist contributed to increase in reported HIV cases: Study":
More than 6,000 HIV cases and treatment costs estimated between $62 million and $65.3 million can be linked to Craigslist, a U.S. study claims.
...
After conducting a series of tests to eliminate other possible causes that might be driving the HIV trends, the researchers say they discovered the increase was influenced by ads in Craigslist's personals sections.
Not everyone engaging in risky behavior does so via Craigslist, nor does everyone who uses that site spread sexually transmitted diseases. It happens often enough to be a thing. (Side note: the referenced study was published in December, but from the brief snippet here seems to be based on data up to 2008.)
How can you protect yourself? Is there such a thing as "safe Craigslist"? First of all, meeting at a well-populated public place rather than your home might be advised. And at least for the exchange of physical goods, some police operations are taking steps to provide a safe environment.
In Columbia, MO, the police department has made its lobby open for business 24/7, for people exchanging goods via Craiglist or other online services.
Columbia Police public information officer Bryana Maupin told the Missourian that the police department lobby has surveillance cameras running 24 hours a day, plus the obvious bonus of a constant police presence. “People with stolen items may not want to meet at the police department,” she said.
In Virginia Beach, VA, a
similar program is called "Find a Safe Place", operating from 9AM to 9PM:
“If you attempt to make that transaction and the person you are making the transaction with says ‘No, I don’t think I want to meet at the police station,’ it’s probably a good indication that you should look elsewhere for that item,” Cason added.
The concept seems to be spreading, slowly, as this is something new. Over at
slashdot.org, the discussion is heating up. There's the usual combination of snark, thoughtful points, and lunacy.
At the end of the day, if you want to avoid a cesspool of thieves, thugs, and murderers, and have the protection of being recorded on video, where better to go than a police station?
Oh.