They should have been smart enough to have somebody above them to roll on. Perhaps involved themselves in a terrorism or drug ring so when the time came they could work a sweetheart deal out.

Or... how about we just legalize marijuana for personal use and put an end to all these shenanigans?

The really telling thing in the affair is the support of their neighbors. It looks like they are losing their jobs because of the public face of them. I know on the one hand, businesses do not want to employ former felons but on the other hand, you wonder how much longer people will be so short cited as to care about a marijuana conviction.

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

I know on the one hand, businesses do not want to employ former felons but on the other hand, you wonder how much longer people will be so short cited as to care about a marijuana conviction.

That is kind of why I believe in second chances once people get out of prison again. Barring a life sentence you almost always have to give people that chance to reform and prove themselves a decent member of society again. If somebody screws up and robs somebody and does 10 years when they are 'square with the house again' there should be as few barriers as possible to getting back on their feet if they are willing to work hard.

Perhaps that is why I am so against Sex Offender Registries. If a judge sets the sentence as X years to get back in societies' good graces then that is what it should be. No 'punishment plus a little more just to make sure you can never get it together again and then cycle back through a life of crime so we can feel smug and superior.'

Cops are generally not used to dealing with people who can hire a competent defense attorney.

Of course they knew better, they just thought they could get away with it before I noticed; this is in addition to me being related to a healthy number of cops and corrections officers in this town.  This is how we roll in Aztlan (Arizona).  You catch a dude like me, a gringo making some OK money out in a neighborhood populated with the Rightful Owners® of this part of North America, you got to do some investigating.

And had something turned up, and had I been some working class dude, or a minority or whatever group the War on Some Stuff Sometimes targets this week, I would have been fucked anyway- you said any "good defense attorney" could have gotten whatever thrown out.  But "good defense attorneys" cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Had I been a day laborer, there wouldn't have been a "good defense attorney" anywhere in my future.  Even had I been a $12/hr wage-slave at a retail outlet or call center, missing work to defend myself in a bullshit trial over something would have resulted in me at least losing my job.  How do i know?  Because I used to be a manager at a bullshit call center, and as soon as someone missed the prescribed amount of shifts, due to court or whatever, I was instructed to get rid of them.  Sure, the rules say you have to have a "reason," (or not, as this is a right to work state), but believe me, there is always a reason if you look hard enough.

I often wonder about this. Perhaps the best way around it would be to make a complete acquittal by a jury (on all charges) acceptable as a finding of fault in civil court. That way the wrongfully accused could go in afterwards and sue (probably with the help of some lawyer on contingency) for the damages caused by missed time in work, etc. There could even be multipliers based on the amount of press your case has received, damage to reputation and any blatant malpractice by the police or DA.

Taxpayers could then see how much the shenanigans of those in law enforcement covering their jurisdiction has cost them. Everybody wins.

"You have to be near the right rural area.  And since I am mostly either in SF or NY these days and both those cities are near food-growing rural areas (SF being  within a week-walk of peach orchards, almond trees, strawberry growers and all sorts of organice produce; and NY being near the abundance of Hudson Valley), I will fare better than many people in the heartland of U.S."

I live in Chicago - heartland central.  Within 100 miles in almost any direction you can find a wide variety of produce grown on rural farms.  Sure, there's also "industrial" agriculture, but that land is not ruined.  It might require some fallow time, but it can grow things other than GM corn and soybeans.  We are also relatively close to good grazing land, which is important for the non-vegetarians.

I'd worry about Western farms - you know, the "crop circles" you see from the airplanes.  Farms so dependent on irrigation that the crops only grow within the circular arc of the irrigation sprinklers.

You don't have to take in everybody...that's why there's a mob outside.

If you have an organized group, you can "forage" more safely than if you are alone, so you don't actually need the 300 cases of spam, just enough to act as a starter.

Rather than spending money on survival gear, can't we just have our parts replaced by bionic parts?  Then, we could do the high jumps and running!

Wow.  Honestly I bet the ability to run across rooftops and land high falls gracefully would probably be an excellent survival skill to have in an urban-society-breakdown scenario.  Those dudes could outrun any mob.

That kind of physical fitness and resiliency would definitely be an asset in a survival situation.  A couple guys I used to work out with were into free-running; much like the guys in the video their size is deceptive- short, wiry guys, but they had a ton of upper-body and core strength (plus their cardio was unreal).  The guys I knew looked like they were built like sprinters, but they were monsters in the weight room.  It's pretty funny to see a guy that looks like a defensive lineman come in and show off on military press, flys, stuff like that; and then get one-upped by someone who looks like Jet Li.  

I can't see that kind of strength/endurance and overall fitness being anything other than an advantage in a survival situation.  Plus the videos are cool ;)

    Have you ever fired one? I have shot a cheaper one, and since you do a lot of target shooting, you may want to try one out before you lay out any serious money for one. The big difference, at least with the cheapies I shot, was that instead of a kick a crossbow has a pull, something that was easy enough to compensate for if you didn't shoot guns often-- but I could see it really throwing off a more instinctive marksman if you did it enough.
    If you're serious about the survivalist aspect as well, I'd point out that the quarrels/bolts are a lot shorter than for a bow, and hence won't be nearly as common, if you're scrounging and all. With pulley technology, you can probably get a bow that's just as powerful, and which you could still hold in a ready position for a long time with minimal effort.
    Don't get me wrong-- this old D&D player thinks crossbows are damn cool little devices, but they're definitely a luxury item, in all senses of the word. YMMV.

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

"I have shot a cheaper one, and since you do a lot of target shooting, you may want to try one out before you lay out any serious money for one."

No, I'm unlikely to get a crossbow.  I was just tossing that out as an idea.  After shooting for as many years as I have, and owning close to $10K in firearms, I think I'm covered!  ;-)

there's only one way to find out...

I'd point out that the quarrels/bolts are a lot shorter than for a bow, and hence won't be nearly as common, if you're scrounging and all.

In a survivalist situation, you ought to have the tools to fletch your own arrows.  Otherwise, you're stuck with what you have on hand and can loot from the local sporting goods store.  One longbow arrow = two crossbow quarrels.

I think it will be more along the lines of police/NG just shooting people on sight if they are armed.  House-to-house confiscation would never and will never work.  But the second some jackass kills an armored cop (whether the cop is looting or not) there will be a massive crackdown & things will get real ugly real fast, regardless of what that bill says.  "Rednecks" will become "terrorists" or "white supremacists" and be dealt with accordingly.  As for minorities, well, we've already seen what happens to minorities in disaster situations; and how they're treated by the government.  I won't be surprised if it happens, either; police-issue kevlar is laughably ineffective against rifle fire.  .30-06? .270 Wby?  .338?  Nigga please- you might as well be wearing a wedding dress for all the good a level II or even IIIA vest is going to do.

.30-06? .270 Wby?  .338?

Or .17 Remington for that matter.  

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Yes, well it's the same old ballistics question either way...

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