Once Again, Crime Does Not Pay

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi folks,

Lots of theft of catalytic converters in this area:  “Anybody doing these petty thefts, it’s not worth your life.”

Catalytic converter thief suspect crushed to death by car | KOIN.com

Jerry Baumchen

[murps2000 86]

This also happened to a guy in Anaheim back in March. There was no sympathy from the guys on the Prius forums as that car is a particularly lucrative and common target. My cat got stolen in the Bay Area three weeks after I bought the the car. Yet another benefit of EVs will be not having to deal with converter theft.

[JoeWeber 2,299]

10 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi folks,

Lots of theft of catalytic converters in this area:  “Anybody doing these petty thefts, it’s not worth your life.”

Catalytic converter thief suspect crushed to death by car | KOIN.com

Jerry Baumchen

Interesting spin by KOIN. Here, the Curacao Times headline was: Local businessman killed by negligent car owner.

[ryoder 1,384]

4 hours ago, murps2000 said:

This also happened to a guy in Anaheim back in March. There was no sympathy from the guys on the Prius forums as that car is a particularly lucrative and common target. My cat got stolen in the Bay Area three weeks after I bought the the car. Yet another benefit of EVs will be not having to deal with converter theft.

Well, you could put a dummy converter on the underside of your EV, rigged up with an exploding dye pack (like banks use with cash bundles).

[murps2000 86]

14 hours ago, ryoder said:

Well, you could put a dummy converter on the underside of your EV, rigged up with an exploding dye pack (like banks use with cash bundles).

I wouldn’t be surprised if some thief would try to look for a converter under an EV at some point. Some of the Prius forum guys were talking about ways to hook the hybrid battery up to the converter to deliver some voltage to anyone trying to grab theirs. But it turns out booby traps are illegal. So now tilt sensors hooked to really loud audible alarms are a thing. I just welded stainless steel bars down my exhaust system to protect mine. 

[brenthutch 383]

18 hours ago, murps2000 said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if some thief would try to look for a converter under an EV at some point. Some of the Prius forum guys were talking about ways to hook the hybrid battery up to the converter to deliver some voltage to anyone trying to grab theirs. But it turns out booby traps are illegal. So now tilt sensors hooked to really loud audible alarms are a thing. I just welded stainless steel bars down my exhaust system to protect mine. 

Something tells me you might have the skills to rig up an acetylene/oxygen bomb...er... I mean alarm. 

[murps2000 86]

4 hours ago, brenthutch said:

Something tells me you might have the skills to rig up an acetylene/oxygen bomb...er... I mean alarm. 

I suppose I could given my chosen profession & experience but I think Lake Wales bonfire testing proved that a krylon spray paint can is all you’d really need. I also learned that night that snorting mustard looks like a bad idea. I’m pretty sure in any case it would be mutually assured catalytic converter destruction. Still, if I could have tossed a balloon out in the street when they were working on my beautiful hybrid baby that night I would have enjoyed the effect.

[brenthutch 383]

7 hours ago, murps2000 said:

I suppose I could given my chosen profession & experience but I think Lake Wales bonfire testing proved that a krylon spray paint can is all you’d really need. I also learned that night that snorting mustard looks like a bad idea. 

Ah....good times

[Phil1111 910]

Perhaps crime does pay. According to this news story trump's buddy Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and his fiance bought a sailboat. They had a survey done and then renamed the boat!

But now claim that somebody scammed them out of the purchase price. Seems kinda fishy to rename a boat whose title has not been transferred to you yet. What say you Joe?

Meanwhile their dreams of sailing away from their troubles seems to have run aground.

[SkyDekker 1,122]

1 hour ago, Phil1111 said:

Perhaps crime does pay. According to this news story trump's buddy Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and his fiance bought a sailboat. They had a survey done and then renamed the boat!

But now claim that somebody scammed them out of the purchase price. Seems kinda fishy to rename a boat whose title has not been transferred to you yet. What say you Joe?

Meanwhile their dreams of sailing away from their troubles seems to have run aground.

Just shielding money.

[JoeWeber 2,299]

1 hour ago, Phil1111 said:

Perhaps crime does pay. According to this news story trump's buddy Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and his fiance bought a sailboat. They had a survey done and then renamed the boat!

But now claim that somebody scammed them out of the purchase price. Seems kinda fishy to rename a boat whose title has not been transferred to you yet. What say you Joe?

Meanwhile their dreams of sailing away from their troubles seems to have run aground.

Well, I've often renamed the neighborhood kids in a brave effort, but without parental consent, and it went nowhere. In the real world of US registered vessels you need to file a name change with the US Coast Guard. That requires ownership proof. They then issue your official document. It's enough of a fiasco that people hire agencies to do the paperwork and filing. So, unless he has connections it sounds to me like he just said it to get laid.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

15 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Well, I've often renamed the neighborhood kids in a brave effort, but without parental consent, and it went nowhere. In the real world of US registered vessels you need to file a name change with the US Coast Guard. That requires ownership proof. They then issue your official document. It's enough of a fiasco that people hire agencies to do the paperwork and filing. So, unless he has connections it sounds to me like he just said it to get laid.

Hi Joe,

Typical male; no news here, move on, folks.

Jerry Baumchen

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi folks,

And here is where crime really does not pay:  Woman Cuts Off Boss’s Penis In Spain (euroweeklynews.com)

That hurts to just think about it.

Jerry Baumchen

[billvon 2,396]

3 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

Meanwhile their dreams of sailing away from their troubles seems to have run aground.

A true man of the people.  He's just dealing with problems everyday Joes have to deal with.  You know, like being accused of sex trafficking of underage girls, having trouble buying himself a yacht, getting your contributors million dollar marijuana deals, things like that.  Not like these out-of-touch liberal elitists who worry about climate change, COVID-19 and crime!

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

10 hours ago, RobertMBlevins said:

Well, I can say one thing for sure about today's Republican party. 

Both Dwight D. Eisenhower and Abe Lincoln are spinning in their graves. And it's a good thing for current GOP members that Reagan isn't around any more to give his opinion. 

Here is another thing I noticed over the last couple of years. 

Ever since Trump came along, people have stopped picking on George W. Bush so much. They even like his book, Decision Points, and go crazy for Laura Bush's book, Spoken From the Heart.

They used to bad-mouth the hell out of George Bush. Now it's like....

Or maybe it's like Joni Mitchell sang once:  "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone..."

Hi Robert,

Re:  Ever since Trump came along, people have stopped picking on George W. Bush so much.

It might have something to do with:  'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

Jerry Baumchen

 

[kallend 1,623]

3 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Robert,

Re:  Ever since Trump came along, people have stopped picking on George W. Bush so much.

It might have something to do with:  'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

Jerry Baumchen

 

I disagreed with many of GWB's policies (especially about Iraq) but quite unlike Trump, he was (and is)  an honorable, and basically honest human being, and has concern for the country rather than just  being out for himself.

[brenthutch 383]

On 6/3/2021 at 4:59 PM, kallend said:

I disagreed with many of GWB's policies (especially about Iraq) but quite unlike Trump, he was (and is)  an honorable, and basically honest human being, and has concern for the country rather than just  being out for himself.

That is not what you were saying 16 years ago. Don’t you remember “Bush lied people died” and “no blood for oil”? I had a relative complain about why we couldn’t get back to the civil discourse we had during the Reagan era. 

How did you guys treat Romney or McCane?

Edited June 8, 2021 by brenthutch

[BIGUN 1,053]

6 hours ago, brenthutch said:

That is not what you were saying 16 years ago. Don’t you remember “B

His exact words were: "I disagreed with many of GWB's policies (especially about Iraq) . . ." 

That's exactly what he was saying 16 years ago, BUT

He did not find Bush to be of self.   

[jakee 1,254]

20 hours ago, brenthutch said:

That is not what you were saying 16 years ago. Don’t you remember “Bush lied people died” and “no blood for oil”? 

I think you're right that John is looking at the Bush era with rose tinted glasses, but there's elements of both. On a personal level he genuinely does seem to be a decent man, but that doesn't take away from his horrendous political decisions. He may have convinced himself it was for the good of his country but 100's of thousands dead in Iraq and the surrounding area (never mind the rise of ISIS) from a war he started under false pretences and the full embrace of torture as a tool of the state alone were morally bankrupt choices he has to take responsibility for. I think the idea of him as just a convenient stooge for Cheney and Rumsfeld et al is both too charitable and an underestimation of his abilities.

[gowlerk 1,911]

5 minutes ago, jakee said:

I think the idea of him as just a convenient stooge for Cheney and Rumsfeld et al is both too charitable and an underestimation of his abilities.

Are you sure that's not a "misunderestimation"?

[jakee 1,254]

18 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

Are you sure that's not a "misunderestimation"?

Balls. Wish I'd thought of that now.

[brenthutch 383]

4 hours ago, jakee said:

I think you're right that John is looking at the Bush era with rose tinted glasses, but there's elements of both. On a personal level he genuinely does seem to be a decent man, but that doesn't take away from his horrendous political decisions. He may have convinced himself it was for the good of his country but 100's of thousands dead in Iraq and the surrounding area (never mind the rise of ISIS) from a war he started under false pretences and the full embrace of torture as a tool of the state alone were morally bankrupt choices he has to take responsibility for. I think the idea of him as just a convenient stooge for Cheney and Rumsfeld et al is both too charitable and an underestimation of his abilities.

I agree, when Powell presented his “evidence” to the UN, I thought it was so weak that they had to be holding something back to preserve methods and sources.  I was wrong. I also was against going into Afghanistan.  As we learned from the Princess Bride, one of the classical blunders is getting into a land war in Asia.  I think their motives were noble; remove a Tyrant and create a Jeffersonian democracy in the heart of the Middle East.  They were just too smart for their own good.(Think Robert McNamara)

Edited June 9, 2021 by brenthutch