Wildlife Update: Just Messin' Witcha

Although I recorded it for later, repeated viewing, I watched most of the 2008 Tony awards last night. Drug addicts in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and rappers dominated the night. I remember a few years ago when, shortly after revealing her African American heritage, Carol Channing presented an award with a rapper and opened with "What up, baby love?" We have Carol to thank for paving the way so that a show like In the Heights can take the top prize for musical.

August: Osage County is being heralded as a new Long Day's Journey Into Night. I hope we see many more seething dramas about large, dysfunctional Okie families. My favorite county in Oklahoma is Ofuskee County. October: Ofuskee County is just waiting to happen. Isn't it great that after 30 years Broadway has just discovered rap? One of the winners thanked his minions with a rap. There was also a new Disney musical with a fin-adorned singing woman. I'm waiting for the staging of Song of the South.

Speaking of rappers, does anyone know Strong Armed Robbery? I've heard second hand from Friendatella that San Francisco has been engulfed by recent strong armed robberies. I came across this definition (of the act of crime not the rap act) on No Nonsense Self Defense:

Many people do not realize that 40% of all robberies are committed by strong arm tactics.

That doesn't sound too bad until you realize that this means you are being mugged by a wolfpack. A varying number of individuals surrounds you and then either threatens to, or proceeds, to savage you for you possessions. That means ten or so people proceed to pummel you, and often once you are on the ground, they continue to kick and stomp you.

Furthermore most states recognize both an extreme disparity of force and the shod human foot on a downed individual as legal justification for the victim to use lethal force in order to protect himself from immediate death or grievous bodily injury. Both of which can, and often do, occur during a strong arm robbery. It doesn't matter if they don't have weapons, ten people stomping you can kill or hospitalize you for months just as well as one person with a weapon.

Packs of young toughs roaming or loitering in an area are a serious danger sign. One that should be strenuously avoided whenever possible. And do NOT walk into their midst. That is literally walking into the lions jaws.

What makes these kind of robbery's even more difficult is how often the interviews of these kinds of robberies will be explained away as "they were just messin' witcha." And since no weapons have been displayed it is difficult to prove intent in such cases. Until the robbery has actually occurred there is no overt crime such as displaying or menacing with a weapon.

That's a helpful definition, but I got a little confused on how you could be captured in the "lions jaw" when attacked by a wolfpack.

UPDATE: This live-journal blog by Julie Klausner gives some great insights, including a spooky picture of Mandy Patinkin in which he appears to have advanced from playing the young Che to the contemporary former Cuban leader in the new Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Fidel!