People sometimes wonder why I'm moving toward the "just kill them all" position, meant rhetorically, of course. (I would never, never suggest that anyone actually kill the criminals McCain or Kerrey, or the other 533 criminals, but they have surely all richly earned whatever befalls them.) Besides the blizzard of new crypto laws, some proposed, some passed, similar nonsense can be found in almost every other area of life. Here in Kalifornia, not even the cops and district attorneys seem to know what's happening with gun laws, knife laws, insult speech laws, and so on. And here in my little piece of Paradise, a recent law made it illegal to "discriminate" against those with rings through their noses, studs through their tongues, etc. (Some of you, being "punks," may actually be so adorned. I hope you understand the deeper point that what I do with my property, including who I hire, is my business, not the "Committee Against Appearance Discrimination's" bussiness.) The real problem is that the thousands of professional politicians, the organized crime families of politics, and the hundreds of thousands of cops, narcs, judges, bureaucrats, drones, and other criminals keep on writing more laws, trying to patch the broken aspects of society with more and more laws. Anyway, one of my occasional interests is following the knife community. After recent warnings that the knife laws in my area may make it illegal to carry a folding knife either in my pocket ("concealed") or clipped to my belt ("brandishment"), I started paying close attention to what the clowns in Sacramento are doing to resolve this situation. As might be expected, they are screwing things up further. As with crypto, the laws keep getting more and more complex, with layers upon layers of cruft making nearly any interpretation a DA (District Attorney, or Prosecuting Attorney) might want to push possible. As the famous saying by a corrupt (as most of them are) DA went, "I could get an indictment against a ham sandwich if I wanted one.") Here's an insight into the knife laws in California. It makes me want to climb a tall tower and start shooting. (I won't, of course, but I am confirmed in my view that the politicians in Sacramento and D.C. ought to be disposed of as quickly as possble. Hang the bastards.)
From: James & Toni Mattis <jkmtsm@earthlink.net> Newsgroups: rec.knives Subject: Re: California cuttery enthusiasts, support AB 78 Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 20:52:41 -0700
BUD LANG wrote:
I am publishing an article in the October 1997 edition of Knives Illustrated, written by Chris Micheli, the gent in Sacramento who is fighting the battle for Buck Knives. The Calif DA's association and the Sheriffs are seeking to have that bill changed again. Why? They claim everyone and his cousin is now on the streets using these knives in combat. We all know this is bull pucky, but they want to change it back. Bud
Latest news on AB78: After another conference with law & order types, they've removed from the bill the part that says it's OK to carry a fixed blade knife in a container like a backpack, toolbox, purse, etcetera. The part that decrminalizes folders is still there, but if you buy a chef's knife in the mall, you can't carry it to your car in a shopping bag. You'll have to carry it openly through the mall and scare lots of people instead.
This isn't a stretch. The Los Angeles public defender's office has a pending case where they busted a homeless guy for having a steak knife in his backpack. Unofficial word is that he's a little too crazy to stand trial, but I can't get it in writing that they'll only do that to crazy poor people, and crazy poor people need to eat, etcetera, too.
The law is an ass. I've squawked to the lobbyist, and my squawk to some other people goes out tonight.
James K. Mattis http://home.earthlink.net/~jkmtsm "If the law supposes that . . . the law is a ass, a idiot" - Dickens
-- There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."