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FBI Offers $25K Reward For Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Painting Heist (networkworld.com)

coondoggie quotes a report from Networkworld: The FBI today said it was offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the recovery of seven Andy Warhol paintings stolen from the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri. The collection, which has been owned by the Springfield Art Museum since 1985, is set number 31 of the Campbell's Soup I collection and is valued at approximately $500,000. Each painting in the screen print collection measures 37 inches high by 24.5 inches wide and framed in white frames, the FBI stated. The FBI says that seven of 10 Andy Warhol paintings Campbell's Soup I collection, made in 1968, were taken. Since its inception, the FBI's Art Crime Team has recovered more than 2,650 items valued at over $150 million.

109 comments

  1. just curious by ganjadude · · Score: 1

    where does the FBI think it has 25K to offer up?? I mean yes its a shame, but shouldnt reward money be paid for by the victim, not the taxpayer???

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    1. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Why not just Xerox a new one, like Warhol did?

    2. Re:just curious by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

      Seconded. It's not like a Pollock where you need actual talent.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re: just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're the thief!!!!!

    4. Re: just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's curious you'd mention Pollock, because some of his works look like cans of paint randomly thrown onto a canvas. Not all of them, but some certainly do.

    5. Re:just curious by Sowelu · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's in the best interests of a state and its citizens to stop crime, so we employ people to do it. If a reward can get the authorities a lead more efficiently than paying an investigator that much salary for the time it would take, then it's in the peoples' best interests to see their taxes used that way.

    6. Re:just curious by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Couldn't Mr Burns spare a few grand?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    7. Re:just curious by KiloByte · · Score: 2

      In this case, the taxpayer is the victim. Using government money to promote this scam "art" means more will be produced, which is a tragedy.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    8. Re:just curious by lgw · · Score: 2

      I really hope the money for the reward was funded by the insurance company, not the taxpayer. Otherwise that's taking corporate welfare to a whole new place.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    9. Re:just curious by stephanruby · · Score: 2

      where does the FBI think it has 25K to offer up?? I mean yes its a shame, but shouldnt reward money be paid for by the victim, not the taxpayer???

      Most likely, it's the insurance that is offering that reward and the FBI is just acting as an intermediary.

      And saying that the FBI is offering that money ensures that people don't flood the insurance company's normal business phone number.

    10. Re: just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think that was the point. Are you new to the internet, or irony in general?

    11. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      where does the FBI think it has 25K to offer up?? I mean yes its a shame, but shouldnt reward money be paid for by the victim, not the taxpayer???

      If they catch the thief via a tip, maybe it saves more than $25K in the costs of running an investigation.

    12. Re:just curious by Sowelu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If someone assaults you and breaks your leg, should your health insurance pay to find and arrest the guy who did it? If a serial arsonist is going around torching homes, should individual victims pay for the police to track him down?

    13. Re:just curious by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      hmm, interesting theory. i suppose i can agree with that to a degree

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    14. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a public art museum, not a private collector. When something available to the public is stolen, it's in the public's interest to recover it.

      Not to mention it's in the public's interest to catch criminals. Do you really want art thieves roaming around stealing art?

    15. Re:just curious by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      where does the FBI think it has 25K to offer up?? I mean yes its a shame, but shouldnt reward money be paid for by the victim, not the taxpayer???

      I suspect it's considered cost effective. If you can tempt someone to squeal, that's a whole lot of police work you don't have to do to catch the perps.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    16. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because unless the theft makes the news, you'll never get a buyer to believe the one you're selling is "genuine". If they left a counterfeit they'd risk no one realizing there had been a theft.

    17. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It doesn't matter.
      Think of the children.
      The world will be a safer place.

    18. Re:just curious by Harlequin80 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Are you serious or am I being trolled?

      The FBI will expend resources to find the person / people who committed this crime. That is what the FBI exist to do. In order to do this they will have to use man hours and equipment which will have a $ value and, through extensive experience, they will be able to make a remarkably accurate estimation of how many man hours and resources they will consume and what their % chance of catching the person will be.

      If they can spend $25k on a tip, and that reduces the man hours used and or it increases the % chance of capture then it is the FBI spending money on what it is required to do.

      Unless of course you are trying to argue that some criminal law shouldn't be enforced because you don't think it's important or the victims are a people / group you think aren't worthy of receiving FBI support.

    19. Re: just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm talkin out my ass here, but take into consideration what the insurance company has to pay out if they aren't found. $25k is a small price to retrieve 7/10 of a half million dollar set.

    20. Re:just curious by lgw · · Score: 1

      A reward is different. Also, violent crime actually matters, while this theft is only a curiosity (a point well made by the Thomas Crown remake, I thought).

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    21. Re:just curious by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Informative

      where does the FBI think it has 25K to offer up?? I mean yes its a shame, but shouldnt reward money be paid for by the victim, not the taxpayer???

      They had $15k to spend on an iPhone, and that data was of far lower value than this would be. After all, if it's a tip that proves useful, then they'll pay you the $25k. So $25k gets them a guaranteed recovery and/or arrest, versus spending $15k on a dubious recovery.

      One could also argue the $25k to recover the art would be of far more value to society than the $15k they spent on the iPhone.

    22. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If someone assaults you and breaks your leg, should your health insurance pay to find and arrest the guy who did it?

      Lousy HMO, I'd expect my insurance company to hire someone to find and break both legs of whoever assaulted me.

    23. Re:just curious by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      If someone assaults you and breaks your leg, should your health insurance pay to find and arrest the guy who did it? If a serial arsonist is going around torching homes, should individual victims pay for the police to track him down?

      You can pay for a private investigation of crimes. You can't interfere with the police though.

      So, with a lot of money on the line, yes, an insurance company might do that. And check out and mandate certain security features first, etc.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    24. Re: just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His works have actually been confirmed to be based on fractals. Art is all subjective, but Pollock's work is not easily duplicated.

    25. Re: just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Outsourcing strikes again! Is no job safe?!

    26. Re:just curious by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      You have a point, but it has not kept people from trying to do just that. Although, I imagine the most usual use for a fake is simply to cover your tracks so that it isn't as clear when the theft happened, and perhaps to give some time to get away.

    27. Re:just curious by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Art insurers *will* often do just that. This sort of art is very pricey and the pay out is very large. Offering rewards and also employing investigators is something insurers will regularly do in this sort of case.

    28. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anyone who pays money for a Warhol is the victim.

    29. Re:just curious by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Using government money to promote this scam "art" means more will be produced, which is a tragedy.

      Given that Andy Warhol is dead, I don't think there's much of a risk of more Warhol paintings being produced any time soon.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    30. Re:just curious by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

      Yes. Why buy insurance if someone's going to pay for it for you.

    31. Re:just curious by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

      I think the reward should be paid by Campbell Soup and instead of $25K it should be free soup.

    32. Re:just curious by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      The Andy Warhol estate is getting staggering amounts of free publicity from this. Probably worth way more than any $25k reward fee. Maybe they are putting it up.

      Reminds me of the Starbucks christmas cups that were just a solid color "to avoid controversy". Thus creating it and getting oodles and oodles of free press from it.

      --
      I come here for the love
    33. Re:just curious by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      The Campbell's Soup legal department is probably who stole the works.

    34. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Corleone and Sons?

    35. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a waste of 25K! I'll post a reward of two cents.

    36. Re:just curious by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      The use of excessive force in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers... has been approved.

    37. Re:just curious by Talderas · · Score: 1

      Do you really want art thieves roaming around stealing art?

      Yes, but only because their capers serve as great inspiration for movies based on real life.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    38. Re:just curious by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      In this case, the taxpayer is the victim. Using government money to promote this scam "art" means more will be produced, which is a tragedy.

      "Whenever somebody puts quotation marks around the word art, I imagine a stuffy guy with a square jaw glaring at a Maplethorpe photograph. And through his twisted, disgusted sneer he says "they call this 'art'! Can you believe it! 'Art,' they call it!" And he stands there, being disgusted for hours on end, just staring at it..."

    39. Re: just curious by partofthepuzzle · · Score: 1

      For those that don't appreciate it, I suggest seeing the movie "Pollack", esp. on a large screen. Putting aside all of the personal bio aspects of the movie (yes, he was a major asshole), I think it does a great job depicting the beauty and enhancing the appreciation of some of his work.

    40. Re:just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you really want art thieves roaming around stealing art?

      Yes, but only because their capers serve as great inspiration for movies based on real life.

      And it adds to the perceived value of the art stolen (and probably to art in general), and least financially : )

    41. Re:just curious by Patent+Lover · · Score: 1

      How about they just do their job for their salaries?

    42. Re: just curious by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      His works have actually been confirmed to be based on fractals.

      So is broccoli, but at least you can tell which way up it goes.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. Just scan all art and put it online by frnic · · Score: 2

    That way everyone can enjoy it and no one can steal it.

    1. Re:Just scan all art and put it online by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're stealing my ones and zeroes!

        lol
          I download something from Napster
          And the same guy I downloaded it from starts downloading it from me when I'm done
          I message him and say "What are you doing? I just got that from you"
          "getting my song back fucker"

      http://bash.org/?104052

    2. Re:Just scan all art and put it online by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck that I'd record a video of myself burning it then uploading the video to vine, liveleak, vimeo, and youtube among others.

    3. Re:Just scan all art and put it online by demonlapin · · Score: 2

      Yeah, well, this is a pretty good scan of Van Gogh's Irises. What it doesn't show you is that the paint is heavily textured - it's up to 5 mm thick or so. I thought I knew the painting pretty well until I saw it up close. Completely different in person than on computer or in art book. If you're ever in LA, the Getty is well worth the visit.

    4. Re:Just scan all art and put it online by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Sorry but there's a big difference between looking at an artwork on a screen and seeing it in real life.

      For example the Mona lisa is a garbage small piece of crap and looks much better on a monitor, and I don't understand why people put it on its pedestal

      Gustav Klimt's the Kiss on the other hand is an awe inspiring masterpiece the height of a room which wouldn't even be done justice on a large 4K TV let alone a small computer monitor.

  3. Should of replaced it with the fake one you painte by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Should of replaced it with the fake one you painted

  4. â(TM) = apostrophe? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    ...or is that a Russian ATM?

    1. Re: â(TM) = apostrophe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a failure on so many levels, that's what it is.

  5. Why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone else seeing â(TM) where you'd espect an apostrophe? Which is broken, the site or the editors?

    1. Re: Why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Both?

  6. Just make some more by The-Ixian · · Score: 0

    I saw Exit through the gift shop... I know how easy it is to create this type of "art"

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  7. What's with the (TM)'s? by davidwr · · Score: 0

    The editor really should have stripped those out, it makes it read like a press release.

    Check that, the editor really should have checked to see if this was a press release, and if so, bin-spammed it.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  8. Re:Should of replaced it with the fake one you pai by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or just a high resolution picture of the painting itself really...

  9. Hypothetical question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How much of the estimated value do paintings like these sell for on the black market?

  10. Smell my finger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I didn't touch my anus with it.

  11. value? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll give you a buck fitty...

  12. Given the location of the theft... by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

    Given that it happened in Springfield, may I suggest investigating one C. Montgomery Burns, and possibly "Fat Tony" D'Amico?

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Given the location of the theft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could have been a drifter saving modern art from the shithole that is Springfield.

    2. Re:Given the location of the theft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      C. Montgomery Burns, and possibly "Fat Tony" D'Amico?

      Hey, those guys are legitimate businessmen, OK? As is Don Vittorio Di Maggio.

    3. Re:Given the location of the theft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not Sideshow Bob?

    4. Re:Given the location of the theft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet Snake yoinked it.

    5. Re:Given the location of the theft... by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      Doctor: Mrs. Simpson, I'm sorry, but your husband suffers from a persecution complex, extreme paranoia, and... bladder hostility.
      Marge: Doctor, if you just talk to him for five minutes without mentioning our town Springfield, you'd see how sane he is.
      Doctor: You mean there really is a Springfield? Good lord!

    6. Re:Given the location of the theft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why does art hate me?

  13. Mmm, mmm, good by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    crunchy frames, too.

  14. As the other shoe drops by dissy · · Score: 2

    And the FBI implores the public to allow them access to their iPhones and to disable disk encryption to assist them in finding these terroristic painting thieves before more innocent lives are lost!

    We can't budge on this people! Encrypt your phone and owners of campbell's soup paintings will starve dead in the streets!

  15. Wrong use of the money by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seems to me that if the FBI has $25k to offer in reward money, it would be better spent on recovering the stolen cars of people who can barely make ends meet and needed their cars to get to work.

    Or is that not how these things work?

    1. Re:Wrong use of the money by Harlequin80 · · Score: 2

      Love or hate warhol there is a massive difference between a commodity car, where the victim would consider themselves made whole with another car, and a piece of artwork which is impossible to replace.

    2. Re:Wrong use of the money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Artwork > Human life and livelihood

    3. Re:Wrong use of the money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The FBI does not investigate vehicle theft. That is up to the local PD.

    4. Re:Wrong use of the money by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

      Artwork > Human life and livelihood

      I'll say.

      http://www.museumofbadart.org/...

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    5. Re:Wrong use of the money by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      Also the cars are likely unrecoverable. Car theft of low end cars are either for parts or for the use in another crime. If it is use in other crime it will be recovered if they solve that crime, if it's for parts the cars are stripped and destroyed almost immediately.

    6. Re:Wrong use of the money by nbritton · · Score: 1

      This is a non sequitur. You state the people can barely make ends meet, yet they have cars worth stealing.

    7. Re:Wrong use of the money by blindseer · · Score: 1

      Or maybe their car was merely convenient. The closest one without a car alarm but still with tires worth money on the grey market.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    8. Re:Wrong use of the money by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      $25000 on recovering something worth less than $25000 is not how things work. That instantly legitimizes a business model of stealing cars and effectively is using taxation money in place of insurance.

  16. Re:Should of replaced it with the fake one you pai by lgw · · Score: 1

    Thomas Crown was not available for comment.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  17. Only $150m? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    11 years, 16 agents and they've only recovered $150mm? $850k per year per agent sounds like abysmal performance.

    A high school dropout repo man still recovers 300 vehicles per year worth more.

    1. Re:Only $150m? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Abysmal? That's above average for the federal government.

    2. Re:Only $150m? by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      According to another site I found it numbered the amount of items recovered between 2004 & 2010 at 2400.

  18. Yeah, if I run across them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I run across them while dumpster diving, I'll give them a call...

  19. Art is where you find it by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's curious you'd mention Pollock, because some of his works look like cans of paint randomly thrown onto a canvas. Not all of them, but some certainly do.

    I agree with you completely. There's a Pollock at the museum in Omaha that looks for anything like a cat puked on the canvas.

    OTOH, a famous Pollock painting will draw you in, and have a sort of fundamental emotional appeal that keeps you wondering why the painting is so engaging.

    Scientific American once did an analysis of some of Polluck's paintings, along with other painters who painted in the same style but which aren't as successful as Pollock.

    The analysis found that Pollock's paintings have a fractal quality that other painters (in the same style) don't have, leading to the conjecture that it's this quality that makes his paintings so engaging.

    There's a Picasso at the Currier Gallery of Art which I think is awful and completely pointless, yet I can stare at Guernica all day.

    And finally, if you ever go to the Detroit Institute of Art you'll find Fuseli's The Nightmare, which is completely and totally ho-hum in any reproduction, including images on the internet, but which is captivating when seen in person.

    (And I was astonished when I saw my first real Rembrandt portrait (the one at Omaha). These are also ho-hum from a distance and through the internet, but to see one in person... wow!

    Many people don't get why art is so pleasing. I suspect it's because they only have 2nd hand exposure, through reproductions, the internet, TV, and so on.

    So in summary, I agree with you completely, but note that "art is where you find it". Not every work of every master is a masterpiece, and if you dig in the dirt you'll eventually uncover a few treasures.

    1. Re:Art is where you find it by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      I think you have an excellent point. Images in print or on the internet do not do any justice to a lot of art work.

      Also, many of the sizes of the works are not what you'd expect. At least one portrait that I had seen in a book before I went to see if in the museum I hadn't realized was a life-sized portrait. And since it was a head to toe with background and a little foreground, it was a very big painting.

      Technique, materials, and the colors that they are able to create are something to see. Most oil paintings are very much 3D works of art in the sense that the images are layered colors and texture, but it's all flattened out in a book or an image.

    2. Re:Art is where you find it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A vase of roses on a polished mahogany table. That hoary old set-piece. [...]
      The proportions of the table would have distressed Superintendent Hale,
      he would have complained that no known roses were precisely of that shape or colour.
      And afterwards he would have gone about wondering vaguely why
      the roses he saw were unsatisfactory, and round mahogany tables
      would have annoyed him for no known reason.
                      - Agatha Christie, Five Little Pigs

      captcha: economy

    3. Re:Art is where you find it by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Also, many of the sizes of the works are not what you'd expect.

      I think that is part of the appeal of the Mona Lisa. If you haven't seen it in real life it is much smaller than you would expect given its fame. In my mind I always expected it to be on the physical scale of Liberty Leading the People or the Madonna of the Rocks. My only beefs with the Mona Lisa is the huge crowd of people around it as well as the security. The other painting in the Louvre you could touch if you wanted to see what French jail looks like but the Mona Lisa had guards next to it encased in it's own enclosure of bullet proof glass and ropes to keep people out of arms reach.

      --
      Time to offend someone
  20. Why isn't this done more? by swb · · Score: 1

    I can possibly see the objection to art by living artists (or a single generation dead) who in theory make money off it, but art by artists dead 2, 3, 4+ generations? It makes no sense. Especially when its held by museums who publicly display it -- or worse, have it in their collection and *don't* display it because they haven't the wall space.

    I got sad news for 99% of the museums out there, me viewing or even printing life-size versions of their collections isn't going to be why I don't ever pay the admission fee to their museum, buy a snack in their snack bar or shop in their gift shop.

    I once read an interesting piece by an economist about art museums that said that most of them should sell a lot more art -- especially what they don't display, and even a good chunk of what they do display to generate capital. IIRC, he thinks the reasons they don't boils down to ego (museums and curators are judged by acquisitions and size of holdings), a certain amount of collusion with art dealers (who fear falling prices) and their own fear that once a lot of pieces start being sold their paper capital will collapse.

    1. Re: Why isn't this done more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Artists come in and out of favour so a£10,000 art work may become worth £1,000,000 and thus too expensive to acquire to draw in a crowd. £10,000 wouldn't be worth it for capital sale and selling the £1,000,000 works would mean no draw to the gallery. You can only sell a work once.

      More sensible would be deriving an income from the middle ranking works by offering undisplayed works to be displayed in corporate offices for a regular fee, which many galleries also do.

      For short term cash flow loans can be secured against the value of works and sold only if things get dire, in which case turning profit into a relatively large body of artwork appreciating in value is a smart move.

      To me it would seem the only reasonable sources of long term income possible from sales are

      1. Buying work from unknown artists for £1000 and selling those that get to £10,000. But it would need a decent hit rate. It would support artists but might inflate the market too

      2. Small galleries sell the works which are high value such that they cannot insure them relative to the level of viewing and paying customers the gallery can support.

  21. Federalism 101 by westlake · · Score: 1

    Seems to me that if the FBI has $25k to offer in reward money, it would be better spent on recovering the stolen cars of people who can barely make ends meet and needed their cars to get to work.
    Or is that not how these things work?

    No, it isn't how these things work,

    The most basic distinctions between state and federal jurisdiction escape the geek --- and he never learns and better. The FBI becomes involved on crimes that have a plausible interstate and foreign dimension.

    The clunker car you've been driving to work is probably worth more dead than alive.

    So you drown it in the lake or set it on fire and file a claim for the insurance. It's a crime, but not a federal case.

    1. Re:Federalism 101 by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      The clunker car you've been driving to work is probably worth more dead than alive. So you drown it in the lake or set it on fire and file a claim for the insurance. It's a crime, but not a federal case.

      that would likely only be the case if you had a loan on it but if you don't and it runs then it's utility value is likely more than the insurance money. It seems that the low end for vehicle that move under their own power is in the $500-$1,000 range and while they look like shit on tires, can actually be fairly reliable vehicles (I've owned several). These are also the same sorts of vehicles that you don't get comprehensive coverage on but only the bare minimum so even if you did set it on fire they you are left burnt out pile with no salvage value and no insurance money.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    2. Re:Federalism 101 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GP is pretty disconnected from reality if he thinks you keep full coverage car insurance on a clunker. But we should proceed to let him lecture us on jurisdiction, eventually he will probably put his foot in his mouth again. The utility value of cars is grossly misunderstood. Today a car can be worth two to three thousand US dollars and only have 100k miles on it and be an excellent vehicle.

    3. Re:Federalism 101 by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      When I think clunker I think of a vehicle like the Jeep I owned or the Bronco II before it. The Jeep was a $1000 vehicle lots of dents and scratches and rust. The engine ran great until the fuel pump went out and with it being in tank and the amount of rust on the under carriage it wasn't worth fixing. I did own and use that thing as a beater and hunting/haul vehicle for 3 years without problem. It went off to the salvage yard with 379K miles on it and some plywood for a floor. The Bronco II faced a similar fate but that was when the front brake caliper hung up and boiled the brake fluid. It was a $500 vehicle and I used it as a beater, hunt/haul vehicle for 4 years and it got scrapped with 285k miles. The sad part is the locks didn't work on either one and also the tumbler for the ignition was so worn you could star them with anything you could slide in the key slot and turn.

      --
      Time to offend someone
  22. crime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If a little lady get shot in the ghetto there are no news reports, if rich man arts and treasures wanders off there is something terrible happening.
    Whoever can pay $500k for a painting has ill-begotten money. FBI are their do-boys.
    I bet a facsimile of the original will be just as appreciated by the art lovers.

  23. Non-violent crime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of all people Ice-T explained the myth of non-violent crime. He explained when he was a teenager, he became a (de facto) emancipated minor. He made money selling weed, as he put it. Then he got a small apartment.
    So, marijuana/weed is the epitomy of a non-violent crime. But then he hears of some gang bangers going around ripping other people off for their weed, sometimes using beatings or shootings to make it happen.
    So, here he was, just selling weed, and pretty soon he has to consider getting a gun to protect himself and his weed. Cause he, like, can't call the cops.
    So, you start off trying really hard to be a pacifist art thief, stealing paintings worth 1/2 million. I can think of a lot of scenarios where someone ends up getting killed.
    BTW, I want to believe in victim-less and non-violent crimes, I want to be soft of criminals. But masturbation has already been mostly decriminalized, and there's not much truely non-violent crime left.
    And, here we go, Godwin's Law Alert, the biggest art thieves in history were the Nazis.

  24. Obligatory Seinfeld by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    The whole concept of [rewards] has gotta be the most wildly optimistic crime-fighting idea. I mean, so how does it work? Okay. I'm on line at the post office. I see [a poster of the stolen item]. I check [around]. If it's not [there], that's pretty much all I can do. Okay? It's not that I don't want to help.

    1. Re:Obligatory Seinfeld by Harlequin80 · · Score: 2

      It works in two ways. The first is:
      "I know dave stole the painting. But cops are fucking pig scum bags. Like fuck I'm gunna tell them anything. Not to mention if I did it would be a total fucking hassle. But for $25k, I never liked Dave anyway"
      The second:
      "Pretty sure I saw a car like the one they were talking about yesterday but I'm sure someone else will have got a better view of it / will be the person to call let the cops know. And I'm probably wrong anyway so I wont bother" "But $25k reward. Well it can't hurt to make a quick call and see if I can get it"

  25. Why did they take 7? by mveloso · · Score: 1

    It's weird - why didn't they take all 10?

    1. Re:Why did they take 7? by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      If I had to take a guess it will have been because they couldn't carry them all in 1 trip. Get in, alarm starts, grab the paintings. 2 paintings per guy with the last guy also carrying a bag with their tools. You don't go back for the others as it will take to long.

    2. Re:Why did they take 7? by Plus1Entropy · · Score: 1

      You seem to know a lot of details about how this crime went down...

      --
      Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
  26. kind of thing there should be a death penalty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For.

  27. Not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not telling them where I have the paintings for less than $50k.

    Try harder.

  28. Two dimensional thinking. by westlake · · Score: 2

    That way everyone can enjoy it and no one can steal it.

    It is enormously difficult to capture a sense of depth and texture in a scan. It is no coincidence that Jackson Pollack began as a muralist. The 23" 16:9 screen doesn't do him justice.

  29. I'll Offer $50,000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To not turn anyone in so the world is protected from the ugly thing that masquarades as "art."

  30. Time Crime by tersegon · · Score: 1

    From the article:
    "Last year, nine original Warhol prints worth an estimated $350,000 from the late artist's "Endangered Species" series were quietly stolen from a Los Angeles movie business and replaced with color copies, in an art heist that went undetected for years."

    So, we're looking for someone either in a phone booth or a 1980s sports car if we want that cool $25k?

  31. "paid by the victim" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone but you, right?

    Hey, let's forget that the $25,000 reward may help prevent other such thefts.
    Hey, let's forget how much will be spent, per year, to house the caught thief, or to prosecute him or her, and how little that reward is in comparison to the overall total.

    Nah, let's whine about "the taxpayer's burden" in daring to have a functional society.

    Fuck off

  32. I'm sure it really spruced up someone's pantry! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Soup... yum.

    Has anyone done Progresso yet?

  33. Ob "The Big Lebowski" reference by DrYak · · Score: 1

    (naked) Maude Lebowksi: - Vagina !

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Ob "The Big Lebowski" reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > (naked) Maude Lebowksi: - Vagina !

      "Johnson"...?