COOK COUNTY, IL - The world’s oldest profession is alive and flourishing in the new media business paradigm. The doubters have been proven wrong! According to Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Thomas Dart, sex and the Internet are a profitable mix. Dart sued the popular bartering website three weeks ago, claiming that Craigslist promoted prostitution and demanding that the ‘erotic services’ section be removed.

What's a little innocent commerce between consenting predators?

The site has come under further scrutiny following the stabbing murder of Brooklyn, New York, newsman George Weber. Weber apparently ran a personal ad on Craigslist seeking heavy duty sexual playmates.

The site’s terms and conditions attempt to weasel out of any responsibility for content and consequences found on Craigslist: “It’s not possible for a centralized staff to effectively review each of the more than 30 million free postings submitted per month.”

This disclaimer seems disingenuous at best. If the typical office environment means anything, one dedicated perv working alone can cut a pretty wide swath through that stuff while also maintaining a full-time job.

KING COUNTY, Wash. - Teens throughout the country seem to think they can get away with any form of disrespect that enters their formative minds. Callow transgressors should make a note (assuming they’ve remained in school long enough to learn to make a note) not to mess with the adult world of King County, Washington.

A 15-year-old girl was taken into custody for the grave offense (in King County, at least) of driving her mother’s car. Compounding her disregard for the social contract, the tenderfooted scofflaw was also wearing basketball shoes.

Deputy Paul Schene, 31, directed the 15-year-old girl to remove the offending shoes. She did so, but not with the correct attitude. Boy, does the video below ever show how clearly she wished she’d showed a little more class and a little less sass!

Oddly, with the release of this taped display of his devotion to decorum and justice, Deputy Schene, an eight-year veteran, is up for assault charges rather than a raise.

And just as oddly, Boing Boing seems to think he had that coming to him.

Omaha stoners swear by kitty litter high.

OMAHA, Neb. - Pet lovers around the country are sure to unite in defense of an Omaha, Nebraska, man who was cited on suspicion of animal cruelty. Police claim that 20-year-old Acea Schomaker was observed smoking marijuana through a garden hose attached to a “bong” home made from duct tape and a plastic box.

Aside from the ingenious improvisational skills displayed in construction of the “bong,” Lancaster County sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Andy Stebbing noticed that a six-month old feline, Shadow, had been enclosed in the smoke chamber of the “bong.”

The cat’s owner revealed that concern over his pet’s hyper state had inspired him to treat the animal through marijuana immersion. The treatment was apparently successful.

“She was on the front seat of the cop car, wrapped in a blanket, and never moved all the way to the humane society,”said Sgt. Stebbing, but not in praise. Rather than congratulate the inventive 20-year-old, the sheriff’s deputy seems perversely inclined to testify against him in open court.

Bummer!

For a diverging opinion, go to Boing Boing.