Dupe: Did Lady Gaga rip off her latest look?

The Lady Gaga pic on the right was taken from her 2010 music video for Telephone. The photo on the left, featuring Tiffany Randol clad in caution tape, was snapped in 2005 during a photo shoot with her former band Valeze. Rumor has it that both artists used to perform together in NYC. Is Gaga recycling somebody else’s look?

WTF: You! Pull over that Go-Kart!

In South Carolina a man was attempting to avoid the police on a go-cart. Spartanburd sheriff’s deputies report having arrested the 29-year-old Edward Matthew Sweezy after stopping him on a go-cart at an intersection in Union.

Deputies had received a report of a stolen go-cart and went searching spotting it less than a half mile from Sweezy’s home.

Sweezy was charged with: resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, drunk in public and paraphernalia.

Later the deputies had returned the go-cart to Sweezy’s wife. Sweezy had no comment on why he decided a go-cart was the best way to avoid the cops. A minivan probably would have been more stealth.

Dope: Why do Nigerian scammers still try?

————————Scammer—————————————————–
Hello,

Our company invests in Internet projects and domain names. What is your price for the domain name twitorio.us?

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,
Scott Withrow
CEO

————————–Me—————————————————

Thanks for getting in touch Scott. Twitorio.us is on sale for $3k.

Best,
Mike

————————–Scammer—————————————————

$3000? Ok.

Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name?
Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? I will only accept valuations from independent sources I and my partners trust.

[he gives me a web address to get an appraisal]

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to obtain it) we’ll continue our negotiations.

Looking forward to your reply.

—————————Me————————————————–

[At this point, I know I'm dealing with a bullshitter]

Glad you’re ok with that price. As you can see from a simple visit to the site, there is no content currently associated with the domain.

As for method of payment, I’d like three crisp, unmarked thousand dollar bills delivered in a money bag. I prefer bags with dollar signs printed on them — like in cartoons. Upon receipt, I will transfer the domain. Looking forward to doing business.

————————–Scammer—————————————————

It’s a standard practice to show independent valuation to buyers/resellers.
Nobody will do business without it.

Manual valuation is a “must” too.

Thank you for understanding. I’m looking forward to do business with you

—————————Me————————————————–

I just paid for a manual valuation of the site two weeks ago. I paid my cousin JJ $3.50 and a container of salsa to run an analysis on the domain name. He said that the domain is actually worth $3 Billion, so you’re getting a good price at $3k.

JJ is a trusted source. Please let me know if you’d like to see his credentials. I’ll gladly send over his CV, along with a picture I took of him while he was sleeping.

Best,
Mike

————————-Scammer—————————————————-

It’s a big risk to proceed without professional valuation. I already spoke
to industry experts and they prohibited me to do business without
valuation..

I’m still interested in your domain. Hope you’ll change your position. I
simply don’t want to take additional risks.
Thank you for understanding. I’m looking forward to do business with you.

————————-Me—————————————————-

Mr Withrow,
As I said, I’ve already had my cousin JJ evaluate the domain name’s
financial value.

JJ is as qualified as they come — he has a degree from Devry University,
where he majored in Internet and minored in pre-Algebra. In addition, JJ
was co-manager of the University’s volleyball team, so he’s clearly
capable of providing a professional valuation on a domain. We’re all very
proud of him, so I hope you were not implying that he’s a fraud with that
last e-mail.

Please let me know if all this works for you, and if the original deal is
still on. If you’re having trouble finding a money bag, I can lend one to
you gratis.

- Mike

————————-Scammer—————————————————-

As a seller you should provide me with an appraisal first. This is a reasonable practice.

I don’t trust $14-$20 services. Nobody will do a research for $14. We need a real manual service.

I researched several companies and here are the results:

[a list of scam appraisers]

Looking forward to getting this deal done,
Scott Withrow

————————-Me—————————————————-

Hmm. You make a good point. If we’re talking about a $3k transaction, I should probably be spending more to get an appraisal.

I talked to my cousin JJ earlier, and he agreed to re-evaluate the domain name, this time for $250. I have already paid him in full, along with a pending bonus (I’m taking him to Ruby Tuesdays next Wednesday).

Now that he has conducted a more careful analysis, he stands by his original valuation: $3 Billion dollars. That said, I’m an honest business man, and will not hike up my original price of $3k.

Love,
Mike

————————–Scammer—————————————————

Without manual valuation nobody will buy. You’ll sit on your domain for years in this case, paying renewal fees to your registrar. Just think about it. So sooner or later, you’ll have to obtain an appraisal. Why waste time now?

————————-Me—————————————————-

I think I’m starting to understand what’s going on here. No need to beat around the bush, just say it… You want to come to Ruby Tuesdays too. That’s fine. It’ll give you an opportunity to meet JJ.

First, can we finish the transaction? When can I expect the money?

————————Scammer—————————————————–

No deal without appraisal from a trusted source. This simple rule has saved
me a lot of money and time. Feel free to contact me when you change your
position and let’s do business the right way.

————————Me—————————————————–

Sounds good. I trust JJ. Do you?

————————Scammer—————————————————–

Go fuck yourself.

(’’)