AZ Mother of Seven Arrested in Mexico for Drug Smuggling

[_honorentheos]

I typically see Republicans bemoan America turning into a medieval s***hole when a Democrat is in office, and the Democrats bemoaning America similarly when a Republican is in office. Not sure I expected that from Kish.

Interesting. Outside of the party politics, I've heard the hum of concern regarding American decline for a while and it seems to have less to do with one party or the other. Regarding politics it seems to be more of a concern that the system has become dysfunctional such that both parties tend to look the same on many issues while the areas where they differ most are fringe issues at best.

But beyond this the spreading of the wealth gap, the commoditizing of the education system, the collapse of public discourse into sound bites and jingles, the infantilization of adults into the 13-39 age demographic, etc., etc., are non-partisan concerns in my opinion. Anyway, that's a pretty blatant derail from the OP, and I apologize to Equality.

I hope the US leans on the Mexicans to let this lady go or produce some clear evidence that she actually put the drugs there herself, not just that she happened to take a seat in a bus that had drugs underneath it.

Me, too. I feel really sorry for this family. Based on the article, it sounds like they were the last to get on the bus so it seems likely everyone else knew or suspected where the "wrong" seat was. And being Mormon, they probably never even suspected anything. I'm a little suspicious that no one could smell it when that close, even when wrapped, but who knows. It could be that their Mormon innocence played a role in that case.

[_Kishkumen]

Not sure I expected that from Kish.

Expected what?

[_Kishkumen]

Outside of the party politics, I've heard the hum of concern regarding American decline for a while and it seems to have less to do with one party or the other. Regarding politics it seems to be more of a concern that the system has become dysfunctional such that both parties tend to look the same on many issues while the areas where they differ most are fringe issues at best.

But beyond this the spreading of the wealth gap, the commoditizing of the education system, the collapse of public discourse into sound bites and jingles, the infantilization of adults into the 13-39 age demographic, etc., etc., are non-partisan concerns in my opinion.

Exactly.

[_Darth J]

But beyond this the spreading of the wealth gap, the commoditizing of the education system, the collapse of public discourse into sound bites and jingles, the infantilization of adults into the 13-39 age demographic, etc., etc., are non-partisan concerns in my opinion.

Exactly.

No! This cannot be true! If it's not all Autobots versus Decepticons, then how can I possibly make sense of the world?????

[_Sethbag]

For all the "woe is America!" wailing and gnashing of teeth I read, about our inevitable decline and so forth, I have to recall that for every ignoramus growing up clueless, self-centered, and unable to contribute to the progress of the nation as their parents and grandparents did, I have to remind myself that there are yobs in Britain growing up just as bad (or worse), huge social problems in France, now Sweden, Holland, and everwhere else in Europe between poor uneducated (and unwilling to *be* educated), unassimilated muslim immigrants, restless youths, etc.

Ok, so it's all about China and so forth, right? Sure. To some extent it is. But they've got social problems of their own, from a wealth distribution gap that is widening every day (China's poor are far poorer than our poor, and their rich are quickly catching up to our rich), a shortage of women due to abortion of female children that will leave tens of millions of restless men unable ever to marry, continuing internal social problems like Tibet, some muslim minorities, massive internal migration of dirt-poor farmers moving into huge cities in search of work that turns out to be nigh on slave labor in prison-like shithole sweatshops, etc. How long do you suppose Chinese workers will be willing to be worked to death in crappy conditions so their masters can live like Western rich elites?

Anyway, I grant we've got problems in this country. But everyone else has their problems too. And I become more and more convinced that we've always had problems of one sort or another, and so has everyone else in the world. I'm not convinced that our problems are worse than everyone else's, that ours are more inevitable than anyone else's, or that the United States is doomed to fall into some shithole-like condition.

I think it is more likely that the US will drop somewhat in how we live, and other countries will rise somewhat in how they live, and somewhere the twain shall meet.

Of course, I do think that with population growth the way it's been, and the ability of the world to support such a large population being as tenuous as it is, when the crap really hits the fan, I think we're all going down. We couldn't all go back to living off the land as subsistence farmers or hunter/gatherers, so when our food and energy distribution systems ever fail on a massive scale, modern society will simply disintegrate.

I guess that means I'm bullish in the short to medium term, and bearish in the long term. And I have no idea what time scale we're looking at for the long term. And if we can stabilize world population growth there's a chance this might be avoidable, though as long as nuclear weapons exist, I think it's impossible to take "post apocalyptic" off the table as something that may be in our future.

[_keithb]

Wow, the article certainly makes it sound like she was set up, big-time. What a nightmare for that family.

I visited Mexico a couple times as a child, but I'll almost certainly never go back. Not unless they get their s*** together and turn into a real country again, and not some medieval s***hole.

Yeah ... everyone has been setup -- at least that's what they say through tears at the police station. I'll be the first to admit that there is a lot of corruption in Mexico, but there are also a lot of Americans who think that they can get away with murder in foreign countries because of their nationality. Combine that sentiment with a sympathetic press core, and all situations where American get in trouble across the border suddenly become a conspiracy.

[_Kishkumen]

I don't think keeping up with the Joneses is quite the point. I am concerned about quality of life, an effective political voice, and other, similar substantive issues. I don't like what I see, and, no, I am not sunny about the future. Our legislature is a joke, our presidency increasingly imperial; corporate and plutocratic power are destroying the Republic.

[_bcspace]

I remember during the discussion of the Jodi Arias murder conviction that some of the more vocal TBMs round these parts got up in arms about any mention of the fact that the accused was a member of the LDS church. I wonder if they are equally offended at the mention of this couple's Mormonism.

The problem is that the teachings of the Church are incompatible with such behavior and posts like these are used to smear the Church because of the behavior of a few members. In this case though, having a bale of MJ tied to the post underneath a seat seems hardly to be actual evidence.

[_Bob Loblaw]

I just feel bad for this woman. What a nightmare. She sounds more than a little scared, which I would be, too.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/29/justice/m ... ?hpt=hp_t1

[_malkie]

Why didn't the Spirit prompt them to sit somewhere else?

They didn't know what weed smells like?

I grew up & went to university in the 60s, 70s & 80s, and couldn't reliably recognise the smell of weed till a few years ago.

From about 2000 to 2010 I spent between 2 and 6 weeks in Mexico every year, and had planned to split my retirement between Mexico and Canada. Not any more - it's just not a secure place to be, as far as I'm concerned.

Now I need to find somewhere warm to spend the winters where I can afford health insurance.

Any suggestions?