I was just going to respond "goddamn communist hippie" but you were a lot more eloquent.

I am still trying to figure out why we still have honor boxes when there doesn't seem to be much left ... it must cost more to develop and maintain a device that will provide one paper per payment than the newspapers lose in inventory.

The guy who maintained the honor boxes at my college wrote on the glass windows of all of them ... "PLEASE DON'T STEAL MY LIVELYHOOD."

I don't know if anyone ever listened, but I thought that perhaps that does indicate that the boxes are individually maintained rather than by the newspaper itself ... that it's a concession, and by taking all the papers out of the box you're zinging one struggling guy rather than the big evil corporation.

I have a hard time believing that I will end up bankrupting USA Today. The reasons you stated are why I don't liberate local papers (though the only decent one, the Pittsburgh City Paper, is already free so that doesn't matter much). Also, do keep in mind that those reasons I stated are simply a flimsy defense mechanism I've constructed to justify why I do this...it's more just for the fun of screwing with someone more powerful than me, and for the fun little bonus that I imagine other people get when they don't have to drop the 50p to pick up their daily paper. It's like finding a quarter in the change return of a pay phone: it makes no difference whatsoever, but it's just kinda nice.

I enjoy screwing with powerful people as much as the next person, but I kinda draw the line at taking something that doesn't belong to me (whether it's as a gift to others or not). If you find a quarter in phone, that's different--somebody left it there, it's there for the taking. I don't know, I guess it's just the whole karma thing. If I steal a newspaper, somebody will steal the stereo out of my car. Maybe it's just how I've trained myself, but it certainly keeps me out of trouble. :3eye:

That's funny cos when I was a paperboy, sometimes I would find the boxes shorted. That pissed me off so I would randomly shoot people on the way home.

It didn't solve the problem but it did make me feel better.

Actually now that I think about it - if I came across a paper box with the papers lying on top of it, I'd pay the 50 cents to open the box, put the papers back in it, and take the one on top.

Now that I know it's really a strike back against "the man", maybe I'll behave differently.

Due to some complicated shennanigans at UPS, I just got a second shipment of clothes from Cabela's that I was not charged for. AFAIK, Cabela's is taking the hit, because their packaging failed. Meanwhile, the honest folks at UPS scooped up the errant clothes from their floor, along with the packing slip, put 2+2 together and now I've got twice as many chamois shirts as I wanted.

Yeah, the thought crossed my mind that I could keep them and be in the clear, but that would mean that my integrity could be bought for the bargain basement price of ?$95.00.

There are a lot of ways to justify stealing, but ultimately it is still stealing and when you are making up your rationalizations it is the same thing as preaching to the choir.

If Cabela's tells me "no sweat keep the threads. they're on us." I won't force the cash on them, but it is really their call, not mine. I'd rather send them back or pay for them.

So you can ask yourself: Is your integrity worth only $0.50?

From June 11, 1996 - Washington, DC, USA

Minor traffic stops can be used as justification for detaining motorists and searching their vehicles for drugs, ruled the Supreme Court in an unanimous decision. Critics argue that the ruling will encourage police to use phony pretexts to invade the privacy of motorists -- particularly minorities -- while proponents maintain that it provides law enforcement with an additional weapon to combat illicit drugs.

And from Federal Appeals Court Rules Traffic Stop Drug Dog Search Illegal 12/5/03
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that police may not detain motorists until a drug-sniffing dog arrives unless they have a reasonable suspicion that some crime has been committed. The ruling came in the case of Jody James Boyce, a New Jersey man who was pulled over for a traffic violation on I-95 in Georgia in 2001, issued a warning ticket by Officer David Edwards, but then detained until a drug dog could arrive after he refused to consent to a vehicle search. The drug dog signaled that drugs were present, police recovered 10,000 ecstasy tablets and two large containers of marijuana, and Boyce was subsequently convicted of possession with intent to distribute the drugs and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

First you say you will, then you won't.
First you say you do, then you don't.
You're driving, me out of my mind. :bonk:

See what drugs will do? Just talking about reefer and I go off on a wild tangent.

It's perfectly legal to stop and search a commercial motor vehicle (tractor-trailer) for drugs or anything else with NO reasonable suspicion. It's written into the laws governing licensing. Sucks, but there it is.

The laws vary from state to state. In Pennsylvania a search warrant is required to search a vehicle unless there is quite probable cause.

True, but PA will not only detain you while they get that warrant, if they deem your location a traffic hazard (like anywhere along the side of the turnpike) they'll tow your rig into their station. Tractor and trailer, hook 'em up, head 'em out. :eek3:

Interesting posts are never unwelcome, even wild tangents. :)

I think it depends on the paper. When I was in college I had a route for a while distributing the Boulder Daily Camera to various machines throughout town. All I did was put the papers in the machines (I didn't take the money out), and I was paid a flat fee per week by the newspaper - didn't matter how well or poorly the machines did.

I thought I made it abundantly clear, from the beginning, that I'm full of shit and I acknowledge that the reasons are defense mechanisms for justification. To be frank, this is just something I do because I'm bored and have a lot of unresolved, directionless anger. It's fun for me, non-destructive, and if you want to pay the 50p to put the papers back and save the world from me, have a blast!

Actually, you are talking in a straight line. It's the drug laws that go off on wild tangents.