To the low life thieves that stole my old trusty 2 ton rated engine hoist last night. Since it was much heavier than a typical harbor freight engine hoist. I sure hope you have permanent damage to your back. Carrying it for block worth up hill through the woods at night.

My son just had his Kaw 250 Ninja stolen. It was a great learner and commuter bike. Worth as much today as the day he paid for it.

I.HATE.THIEVES

I need to go check my blood pressure now.

And it is is only getting worse as these vermin get bolder and less concerned about the consequences.

I watched a kid locking up his bike a few weeks ago - after locking it up he took the front tire and seat with him.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
And it is is only getting worse as these vermin get bolder and less concerned about the consequences.

I watched a kid locking up his bike a few weeks ago - after locking it up he took the front tire and seat with him.

My wife was riding her bike yesterday for exercise, stopped at a light, right after the car passed a 25 year old guy walked up to her. brandished a knife and stole her bike and rode off with it, but nothing else (phone, etc. etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
My wife was riding her bike yesterday for exercise, stopped at a light, right after the car passed a 25 year old guy walked up to her. brandished a knife and stole her bike and rode off with it, but nothing else (phone, etc. etc.)

Why is your wife not carrying concealed?

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
My wife was riding her bike yesterday for exercise, stopped at a light, right after the car passed a 25 year old guy walked up to her. brandished a knife and stole her bike and rode off with it, but nothing else (phone, etc. etc.)

Why is your wife not carrying concealed?

I'm all for every able bodied person to carry concealed & be willing to defend themself. I doubt the partner who can compel their spouse to carry, can also pull off keeping them alert to danger & able to respond at all times.

This board is replete with stories of folks who can't influence their significant others into carrying, though they strongly wish otherwise.

With the rare exception for those who steal food in the U.S. due to hunger, I despise all other thieves.

In this day and age of those who fail to grasp just how subjectively wealthy and blessed we are as a nation, and a growing contempt for property rights, it's become all too common place to simply dismiss thieves, especially when they steal from large retailers or even small businesses.

I realize that this is not a popular sentiment but, if it were up to me, catching an adult thief in the act of stealing anything but small quantities of food would be justification for the use of lethal force. Something along the lines of what Texas allows.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
My wife was riding her bike yesterday for exercise, stopped at a light, right after the car passed a 25 year old guy walked up to her. brandished a knife and stole her bike and rode off with it, but nothing else (phone, etc. etc.)

Why is your wife not carrying concealed?

I was about to type "even if she was, it's not worth ending someone's life over." Then I thought about it, there is no way to know in the heat of the moment that he only wanted her bike, or wasn't psychotic and going to stab her for no reason. In hindsight it's really easy to say it was just a transnational robbing.

Just be glad she's ok, sure it's traumatic for her
and hopefully it taught her about how to recognize these situations in the future.

So sometimes I post things that seem like the right thing to say, then looking back I’m kind of like well, my wife would have handed over the bike.

And as Jesse pointed out, it sure as hell isn’t worth living with knowing you killed someone over a bike. I’m sure I’ll be told I’m an idiot for that statement, and I’m not sure how I would react.

Jimmy, I’m glad your wife is okay. That’s really all that matters at the end of the day.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
...if it were up to me, catching an adult thief in the act of stealing anything but small quantities of food would be justification for the use of lethal force.

One way or the other, there'd be a lot less of them around.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
...if it were up to me, catching an adult thief in the act of stealing anything but small quantities of food would be justification for the use of lethal force.

One way or the other, there'd be a lot less of them around.

It's not necessarily the value of the item being stolen...it is the precedent that it sets.

One of the axioms of economics, is that which you subsidize you get more of, and that which you tax you get less of. well, that same principle can be extended to non-economic issues as well. If crime, any crime, becomes so permissable that criminals are not held to account, there will obviously be more crime (subsidize), and crime that is severely punished results in less crime (taxation), and this concept extends to stealing.

I maintain that we are so wealthy a country with such high expectations of becoming even wealthier, that respect for property rights has been eroded. Many in this country simply shrug off theft, with the expectation that the item can be replaced, either out of their own pocket, or the pocket of the insurance company, in which case insurance rates go up and items become more expensive.

But what about those who can't afford to replace the stolen item and it isn't insured? Does their hard work represented in the stolen item not matter?

In the Lounge there is a story about a Nebraska farmer who recently had several pieces of expensive farm equipment intentionally torched and completely destroyed, as well as the loss of the value of the grain contained in them. While not technically theft, in a real sense it is theft, both because of the loss of value of the grain and because of the loss of both the value and use of the equipment. Likely the loss of millions of dollars. While it's unknown if he was insured I'd bet he was, but he will likely still lose money due to depreciated value and other ancillary costs not insured. And this loss occurred near the end of harvest, with crops still in the fields and contracts yet to be filled. In this instance, neighboring farmers came to the rescue and helped harvest his remaining crops, and crowd funding and benefits will likely offset his losses...but who is going to come rescue every single person who loses a valued item that is stolen, or one that they depend on to make a living?

Valued property represents hard work, and, in many cases, is depended upon.

There was a reason that horse and cattle thieves used to be hung.

I absolutely hate a thief. The only form of scum I hate more are animal abusers.

quote:

Originally posted by tleo205:
I absolutely hate a thief. The only form of scum I hate more are animal abusers.

Sorry about your loss Jelly. To the quote from tleo205, since you bring up the animals. If there was anything good that comes from living in a suburban neighborhoods with many families that have fenced in yards with barking dogs, is that typically they will alert all the other dogs in yards and from their barking alerts, you can usually follow the direction of the cause, especially if it's somebody walking their dogs, that gets a lot of dogs attentions.

I have neighbors one 3-sides that have dogs with fenced in yards, and though the real annoying "yapper" next door can be a bit trying at times, they will drive away or deter any unwanted intruders because they constantly "yap" until the unwanted disturbance is completely clear of the area. This includes neighbors coming home from late shift work, cats, or even some anomalous noise...thats the part that gets a little long in the tooth at times.

But the dogs and lighting have a positive impact as being a deterrent over all.

quote:

Originally posted by tleo205:
I absolutely hate a thief. The only form of scum I hate more are animal abusers.

Thieves don't steal "things."

They steal lifespan. They steal the time you spent working to earn money to buy that "thing," or the time you'll spend to find a replacement (if you can find one at all) or the lifespan you burned through to build/maintain the "thing,"

Lifespan is your most finite, non-renewable asset. You get x. You can spend it working, or studying, or enjoying your family and friends, or in a hobby, or watching midget porn, or whatever. You commonly trade bits & pieces of lifespan for "things." When a thief takes "things," they're taking the irreplaceable lifespan that "thing" represents, even if it's a $1.00 candy bar you can replace at the stop'n'rob.

When 18th/19th-century England hanged common thieves by the dozen, they had the right idea.

Correct. Thieves actually steal your life

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Just be glad she's ok, sure it's traumatic for her
and hopefully it taught her about how to recognize these situations in the future.

I hope so. If she was aware I doubt it would've happened. Of course wearing ear buds while riding your bicycle isn't a great idea (but she wouldn't listen). Wearing yoga/workout pants and a sports bra type top also nowhere to conceal anything. I'm glad she's ok, and she was riding in an area where I told her not too. There is a 6 mile public bike path that always has a lot of people on it 2 short blocks closer to the house than there.

I do agree that the guy could've really harmed her with a knife and if armed I would've responded because you just don't know what they're going to do.

I have cameras installed all around my house.
As well as being back in the woods.
If you're stupid enough to come down my driveway to the house to steal, I'll have your license plate.

Low Life thieves is redundant.

Most of us carry for defensive purposes. We are talking about a segment of society that looks upon weapons as having an offensive purpose. A tool for a predator.

I don't want to kill someone over a bike either. But I'd like more options than just rolling over and I think most here would agree.

From a societal point of view, just giving up property is, at the very least, only ever encouraging this behavior to recur. In that context, it's not just a bike. Bad judgement shouldn't be painless. If you're a thief, I don't want you around, it's as simple as that. Dead is usually up to them.