Firefighting is one of those absolutely basic parts of civilization who's importance is obvious to everyone. If people are robbing firefighters then social cohesion is completely dead.
Best I can think of is that parent commenter was referring to the fact that many fire and EMS vehicles use a Freightliner chassis/engine?
Our fire department needs a new ambulance. There is a two year waiting list for one.
The ineptitude of the automotive industry in dragging its heels relying on outdated semiconductor manufacturing is just mind-boggling, but so is the lack of action by the administration to order prioritizing parts and vehicles for public safety, followed by cargo and mass passenger transportation.
Can they do that? I mean they could buy things on the open market sure, but force sellers to sell (at presumably a lower price since if ambulance manufacturers aren't winning bids now they probably aren't paying the most) to particular consumers and not others.
Please rethink using "bad apples" in this context in the future. The saying about bad apples is a warning about the corrupting influence of a single corrupt person on a group.
It's always confused me, too. You don't leave rotten apples in your fruit bowl.
I’ve given this quite a bit of thought recently because, well…
The common usage of “a few bad apples” has changed to mean the group isn’t responsible, as a whole, for the actions of a few instead of the old warning about removing the bad ones before they corrupt the bunch.
Like during the “peaceful” protests a couple years ago. It was the “bad apples” who were burning police cars and looting stores, the group has no responsibility for their actions.
Not so for the Capital Insurrection though. They don’t get to claim “a few bad apples” and the people who were there to peacefully protest and merely held up a sign on the lawn were equally as guilty as the ones who entered the capital to forcefully stop the election results.
I hated the rioting of 2020 as much as the next guy, but it’s worth remembering that the bad apples doing the rioting because another group of bad apples kept killing black people and getting away with it.
You do have a point about the flattening of everyone who came to Washington on January 6th down into a caricature of the worst of them. That happens a lot in the media these days. See also, protestors, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, etc. One side highlights the worst of each group, and the other selectively highlights the best.
Sucks, but apparently everyone decided we have to pick sides about everything, and stick to them at all costs.
Many of these thefts are related to economic issues but they come and go. Here's the NY Times in 2008 talking about an epidemic of catalytic coverter thefts
That appears to be ramping up again. One of the people on a project I'm working with them on just had theirs stolen.
And it could total their car!
People driving used Hondas may find out insurance won't cover, or will want to just total used cars due to the converter being worth more than the paper value of the car, despite a used market valuing the car much higher!
Cost $1,200 to $2,400 to replace and due to the last round of this theft happening, the legal requirements are now stiff. One can't just go get one of these and install anymore. Has to be done in a shop, and there is traceability on everything. Expensive.
Yet the thieves can still somehow trade the metals.
> Yet the thieves can still somehow trade the metals.
It isn't hard to melt down the metals and extract the valuable ones. A proper factory can do a much better job (get more of the valuable metals out), but it is something I could profitably do in my backyard over a fire. I haven't looked into the details of refining platinum, but I doubt is is much different from any other metal. (when I looked into it I lived in an area with a lot of iron deposits, I've since moved and no longer have access to iron ore so that potential hobby is dead to me)
Once you have raw metals you can claim any source you want. Just form them into a ring and say you were saving it for your anniversary, but your wife left you - I'm sure you can come up with other ways to make it look like got a legal source.
I don't understand the legal requirement thing. In my state, I'm pretty sure I could put a straight pipe down there and I'd never have an issue. In fact, I'd probably look into it if it happened to me. That said, I know my state is pretty lax about that sort of thing. Curious how it's actually enforced in others.
You might need to install a downstream O2 sensor simulator to prevent an OBD2 failure to verify function of the (now missing) converter, but those are readily available for off-road use as I’m sure would be your application. ;)
The law changed to prohibit the sale of used converters for installation or the installation of used on a different car, but I can still buy a new one and install it in my driveway if I want. (You might have a law in your state to prevent that, I guess.)
