How to steal a bicycle

Of course, I am not advocating for the theft of bicycles. Quite the contrary. Bike theft is a problem in Sacramento. Homeless guys are thought to be common culprits in this activity -- and I believe that there are more than a few homeless guys who do steal bikes (with "common culprits" being an overstatement).

Homeless guys, too, have their bikes snatched on many occasions. As the video shows, a bicycle can be stolen while the public watches. There are several reasons for this: In a crowd, if something that might be illegal occurs, each person will tend to believe that someone else will take on the responsibility (and the burden) of reporting the apparent crime. Too, it is easy to presume [that is, to adopt a self-serving rationalization] that someone trying to bust the lock on a bike (or jimmy the window on a car) is the owner of the bike (or car) and that the likelihood that a crime is occurring is small.

I think the moral lesson here is that we should all look out for each other and if we have a camera of some kind, take a picture or make a film of what's going down. And if no one else is evidently calling the coppers, we should -- even if our call seems pretty likely to end up being a waste of people's time rather than a day saver for some bike (or car) owner who is in the process of being victimized.

Comments

Unknown said…

Homeless guys do *some* of the crime, but it's the bankers and Wall Streeters and Pols and corporate types that rob people blind.

Now, c'mon, there, Cathar. You KNOW that mosta the raggedy boys are angels with feathery wings that flop out when their shirt come off. You KNOW it to be true, Cathar.

April 26, 2012 at 7:54 PM

Loaves & Fishes implicates Buddhism and Jack Kornfield in its June Donations Plea.

The Sukhothai Traimit Golden Buddha was found in a clay-and-plaster overlaid buddha statue in 1959, after laying in wait for 500 years. It's huge and heavy: just under 10 feet tall and weighs 5 1/2 tons. At the beginning of their June newsletter , Loaves and Fishes relates a story, taken from the beginning of renowned Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's 2008 book The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology . The first part and first chapter in Kornfield's book is "Part I: Who are you really?" and chapter 1 is called "Nobility: Our Original Goodness," which ought to serve as a clue to what the beginning of the book is about, not that that sentiment isn't strewn through-out the chapter, section and book such that what Kornfield is telling us should be crystal clear. Somehow, the not-ready-for-primetime management at Loaves & Fishes have managed to use Kornfield's wise and kindly words in a way that mangles th...

In an act of Collective Punishment, Loaves & Fishes closes its park in the morning on New Year’s Day

Calvin [a "green hat" in Unfriendly Park] makes the argument for continued incompetent management. Hobbes represents me — only, in real life, I don't have that good a coat . In an act of Collective Punishment, Loaves & Fishes closes its park in the morning on New Year’s Day In one respect — and only one — that I can think of, Loaves & Fishes is NOT hypocritical: The management hates the way America is run and wants to turn it into a backward communist country . Consistent with that, Loaves & Fishes’ management runs its facility like a backward communist country. The People’s Republic of Loaves & Fishes. A seemingly minor thing happened on New Year’s Day. A couple of people smoked a joint in Loaves & Fishes’ Friendship Park and one of the park directors, or both of them, determined, at about 10am, that, in retribution, they would punish all the homeless there by closing the park for the day. This is something the managers of the park do all the ...

Far-left visionaries at "Homeless Power Forum" hope to transform America [into Bulgaria?]

Poster from " Hobo Art Show " at Western Regional Advocacy Project website. Paul Boden, a keynote speaker at the Homeless Power Forum, is WRAP's Executive Director. Yesterday, "Homeless Power Forum: Vision & Survival" was held at the Delany Center at Loaves & Fishes. Thinking it was about to end (I should read my literature, dummy!), I stayed for only the first hour-and-a-half of a 5 1/2 hour program. But that was enough to hear the "keynote speakers," Ethel Long-Scott and Paul Boden, and to sound alarm bells about the direction of the Safe Ground effort. Today, I believe that the confusion that is implicit in the many meanings that have been given to safe ground , also spelled capitalized [Safe Ground], and as one word [SafeGround], is intentional: to lead people in the homeless community in Sacramento from the most positive and favorable meaning, a legal homeless campground, to a hopelessly-naive political far-far left Utopian vision o...

Sacramento Homeless blog

Search This Blog