Craigslist / Ebay scam

There is someone who uses Craigslist, purportedly a woman, but probably not, who advertizes bobcats skid loaders for an extremely cheap price as though it is local and easy to pick up. They respond to inquiry by saying that it is on ebay. Then then "open a ebay case" for you, soliciting information. They have a fake ebay site with a false IP address, but genuine "name" information on the email/website. It looks just like the ebay protection program.

They then offer to deliver it to your door. JUST SEND MONEY. (of course). I notified both craigslist and ebay about the scam, but that won't help since nothing actually goes through them except the initial suck-in ad on craigslist. I did not get taken but I wonder how many people have sent their money to a Russian or Nigerian bankaccount and received nothing.

Blog Action Day - Water - Its clean because we're rich

I know participating in Blog Action Day was my idea, but I have been having a hard time coming up with what to post about. I have already posted about my current favorite causes, being anti-plastic and a locavore. With most of my other favorite issues, our blog readership are already on the same page. Since the official Blog Action Day theme for 2008 is poverty (I didn't mention it on my other post, because I wanted to see what you would come up with), I decided to post about water.

Water is necessary for all forms of life, it is one of the most basic human needs. Clean water is now more precious then ever before. The facts are staggering. Over one billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. Millions of people spend hours a day collecting water, and it is often unsafe and polluted. A kid dies every 15 seconds from a water-related disease. 88% of all diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. Yikes.

$25 will provide one person, clean water for life. It may not feel like it lately (or ever), but if you have money in the bank, cash in your wallet and spare change hanging around somewhere you among the 8% of the most wealthy people on earth. WaterPartners is a non-profit organization that funds community-based, sustainable water supply and sanitation projects in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines. That definitely is not local, but it is a good cause.

I'd still like to hear from the rest of you for Blog Action Day, especially those of you who haven't posted yet (Hallie, Andelle - this means you!).

Links:
Poverty Facts
Water Facts
State of the Village Report
Donate to WaterPartners International