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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 2nd, 2023

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  • In short, since this is somewhat near term, you probably want as little risk as possible, so stocks are not recommended.

    Said longer, a high interest savings account or bond fund at 2-3% is probably your safest bet, but you also need to consider the opportunity cost— tariffs WILL increase the price of a new vehicle this time next year, so are you planning to buy new? Does it make any sense to buy now and refinance later? Tariffs could be as high as 25%, depending on which way the wind blows (country of origin, assuming new, etc).

    Opportunity cost aside, what’s your spending target, how much do you have saved already, and how much does optimizing on interest rate actually help?

    From $0, saving $300/mo for 3 years at 0% interest is $10,800.

    At 3% interest, the same total after 3 years is $11,127, which nets you $327. That’s not nothing, but even an insanely optimistic 10% is ~$1100, but you would be just as likely to lose money.

    Your needs and risk profile are yours alone, we’d need a lot more information to say more than “low risk and buy used”.





  • I’m seeing some analogies between second degree predation and drug possession charges. In the latter, it is written as the willful possession of illegal substances, meaning the prosecution must demonstrate mens rea, or the guilty mind. If someone is not aware that they are in possession of an illegal substance, or are not aware that the substance is illegal, they have a valid defense against the crime. What happens in your world if someone plants meat in someone’s home? Would they need to prove they were not guilty of predation, or can they maintain a presumption of innocence despite being “caught red handed” in possession?

    Ultimately, for any felony crime, text messages, photos, letters, history of past usage, discarded or used paraphernalia, etc., all can be used in establishing mens rea in the case. Even song lyrics or poetry written by a defendant have been entered into evidence, see the recent murder case against YNW Melly.

    Thus, the prosecution must prove to the jury that the defendant willfully intended to commit the crime, which depending on prevailing public opinion, may be an easier or harder bar to clear depending on jury composition. For instance, as has been described in that article, the current trend is against accepting “artistic expression” as evidence, however, 30-50 years ago, such evidence would have been used with no qualms whatsoever.