Is this exploitation or genuine concern?  37 year old homeless man Tim Edwards has roamed the streets of Houston for the past five years.

Sean Dolan and his father Kevin saw an opportunity, and ‘hired’ Tim to be a part of their new website Pimp This Bum, soliciting donations for him.  People can donate everything from food to a college education, and Tim receives $100 a day from the Dolans. 

According to the Dolans, all proceeds from the website go directly to Tim.  So why are they doing this?

Their theory is if they can make Edwards popular, they can make anything or anyone popular, a bankable skill to attract big businesses.

“Take a homeless guy on the side of the street that has a sign, ‘I should have used Monster.com,’ and Monster. com just turned (someone) into a walking billboard,” Sean Dolan said.

Link – via ascendgence

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.