Cutlery control in Worcester
You’ve got to be fucking shitting me.
Something that was just a running joke less than a week ago is now headed toward becoming actual public policy.
“What we want to do is get rid of the perception that it is all right to carry a knife, and get the message to the young kids that it is not OK to have a knife in your possession,” Mr. Early said.
I was half way through writing up a grandiose explanation of how this logic is inherently flawed, but I did that on WTAG last Monday with Mike Messina and repetition makes me feel like a crazy person. Plus WoMag did a wonderful job this past thursday. So instead I’ll just point out that the problem in Worcester is not ‘knife violence’, it’s that D.A. Early and WPD Chief Gemme are two simpletons who possess such a small, provincial world view they’re unable to parse the possibility that they are just ineffectual and more importantly intellectually ill equipped for the job they’ve been hired to do. It is OK to carry knives, just as it is OK to carry guns, regardless of the sophomoric opinions held by our Chief and D.A.. It remains unacceptable to hurt people without cause, but the overwhelming majority of us know that and as a result there is no shortage of laws to deal with such unacceptable behavior. What we do have a shortage of in Worcester are leaders bright enough to realize implements used in any particular act of violence are not the cause of violence.
I can’t remember the last time I left the house without a knife but I believe I was 7 when my Grandfather, then a Worcester Firefighter, gave me my first. It was one of those cheap little chromed keychain pocket knives you used to see at the counter at CVS. Since then I’ve carried all sorts of blades for all sorts of reasons and the only person who has been injured as a result is me. I wasn’t a threat to polite society when I was 7 and I’m not one today but between the official City stance on guns and now cutlery I’m starting to feel as though my city believes otherwise.
Increased marginalization of non-threatening members of society is not the way to build strong ties between law enforcement and the general public.
CHAPTER 269. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC PEACE
(b) Whoever, except as provided by law, carries on his person, or carries on his person or under his control in a vehicle, any stiletto, dagger or a device or case which enables a knife with a locking blade to be drawn at a locked position, any ballistic knife, or any knife with a detachable blade capable of being propelled by any mechanism, dirk knife, any knife having a double-edged blade, or a switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which the blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches, or a slung shot, blowgun, blackjack, metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles, nunchaku, zoobow, also known as klackers or kung fu sticks, or any similar weapon consisting of two sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather, a shuriken or any similar pointed starlike object intended to injure a person when thrown, or any armband, made with leather which has metallic spikes, points or studs or any similar device made from any other substance or a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand, or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends; or whoever, when arrested upon a warrant for an alleged crime, or when arrested while committing a breach or disturbance of the public peace, is armed with or has on his person, or has on his person or under his control in a vehicle, a billy or other dangerous weapon other than those herein mentioned and those mentioned in paragraph (a), shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the state prison, or for not less than six months nor more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction, except that, if the court finds that the defendant has not been previously convicted of a felony, he may be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s last name is spelled “Osama” on some 300 absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer County hilltowns.
Is it a Freudian slip, intentional gaffe or a mistake? Voters are sure to have opinions, and one politician pointed out that the letters “s” and “b” are not exactly keyboard neighbors.
The ghost of solid leads past
People are really eating up Obamas solid lead in the polls, no doubt this is exciting stuff for supporters who have worked their asses off during this campaign. But before you start to get comfortable with recent poll numbers, lets all take a step back to October of 2000…
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Thursday’s CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll indicates that Vice President Al Gore may be opening a solid lead over Texas Gov. George W. Bush, after nearly two weeks of neck-and-neck competition. Today’s figures — 51 percent for Gore to 40 percent for Bush — represents a significant margin for the vice president.
October is always the longest month in Presidential politics and this year still has many cards to be played, the likes of which haven’t been seen in decades.
Just sayin’
When crazy people don’t know they’re crazy
Actual headline, from actual mainstream news outlet.
Palin pre-empts state report, clears self
Alaska lawmakers expected to release ethics probe findings FridayANCHORAGE, Alaska - Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report Thursday that clears her of any wrongdoing.
Next up, preemptive pardons!
Please take it back, Alaska.
Political advertising for humans
Brilliant.
Salvia headed for ban in Massachusetts
Looks like Massachusetts is warming up to join the growing list of states in the US to move Salvia divinorum to it’s list of controlled substances. On 9/29/2008 legislation (H 4434) proposed by Reps Vinny deMacedo (R) and Daniel Webster (R) of Plymouth County got one step closer to a Senate vote after deMacedo agreed to strip language that would classify blunt wrappers as drug paraphernalia from the year and a half old bill. If there is anything interesting about this legislation it’s the motivation behind the move.
“Once I saw (on YouTube) the effects of the drug, I realized it isn’t just a small thing,” said Rep. DeMacedo, who has introduced a bill to ban the compound in the Bay State. “All the young kids know about it, and none of the parents know anything about it — so it’s clearly becoming an epidemic of sorts insofar as kids are accessing it and talking about it frequently. By us doing nothing, we’d be sending the wrong message.” (link)
Youtube killed this buzz. Seriously. Debating the need to ban Salvia would certainly be an effort in futility; conversion to the team that believes prohibition in any form is bush league public policy happens on its own schedule, but does Vinny really think banning this particular substance is going to protect Plymouth County kids from their worst enemy, themselves? Anyone who has tried Salvia knows it poses no threat to ones health simply because it makes doing anything at all nearly impossible for it’s meager but awe inspiring 20 minute duration. Impossible to the degree that Salvia is the running gag in one comedians online series:
Gardening on Salvia
Driving On Salvia
Writing A Letter To Congress on Salvia
The point is, concerned parents, banning salvia wont make your kids any less dumb. Your daughter is still going to have compromising camera phone pics taken of her at some point and chances are 50/50 your son has pictures of him circulating school passed out, drunk and covered in permanent marker. They’ll do these things for the whole world to enjoy and then act shocked when the admissions officer at the Ivy League school of his/her choice knows they did these things. And guess what? Salvia, alcohol, weed, soda, video games, porn and religion are not to blame. Kids are stupid you see, and while it’s our job as adults to help them with that, simply trying to remove all the sharp corners from their lives only means they’ll grow up to bruise easy. If you want to ban something it should be access to anything that would allow them to add to their “permanent record”.
I’d suggest if you really want to keep your kids from doing salvia, let them try it. In fact I’ll bet you one, nearly worthless American Dollar it’ll be the first and last time. Wade Davis, author of Serpent and the Rainbow once described hallucinogens of the caliber of Salvia as “… rather like being shot out of a rifle barrel lined with baroque paintings and landing on a sea of electricity” and trust me on this one folks, that’s not how you describe the next big party drug. So while your local law enforcement officer will be likely to categorize Salvia as analogous to LSD or mushrooms, lets be honest, they’re no more well informed than your kids who are putting videos of themselves getting high online.
This may be irrelevant to most but we have an interesting and rare opportunity on our hands to regulate a substance for minors and let it find it’s own way into obscurity for adults instead of that natural process being held up by receiving extra attention from media, law enforcement and politicians. Since I may be the entirety of the ’save salvia’ movement in Massachusetts, I’m sure that wont be the case so I guess I’ll just be happy with the the results of Question 2 on next months ballot. But make no mistake, this legislation will do nothing to keep your kids from doing stupid shit and posting the videos online. One step forward, one back; last one out don’t forget to think of the children.
I believe this text is from The State House News, as it was forwarded to me from Beacon Hill:
TO OUTLAW SALVIA, REP ABANDONS EFFORT TO THWART KRATOM, BLUNTS
In a bid to build broad consensus around his bill outlawing a certain hallucinogen, Rep. Viriato DeMacedo moved Monday to strip out language that would have designated blunt wrappers and certain “rose bud” pipes as drug paraphernalia. During Monday’s House session, the House adopted DeMacedo’s amendment, which removed from his bill provisions to outlaw kratom, a hallucinogen derived from tropical trees in Southeast Asia, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The only remaining provisions in DeMacedo’s bill (H 4434) would classify salvia divinorum, a legal hallucinogen, as a class C narcotic. The drug, illegal in a handful of states, is “one of several vision-inducing plants employed by the Mazatec Indians” – a Oaxaca, Mexico-native species, according to the DEA. It is described as invoking short but powerful hallucinations, and proponents of outlawing it say it has grown in popularity among youth as an alternative to illegal drugs. After adopting the amendment, the House advanced DeMacedo’s bill, now one favorable vote away from reaching the Senate.
Polar Classic Sodas
At some point during todays 508 podcast I mentioned a line of Polar Classics ‘premium sodas’ I’ve been buying at Russo’s in Watertown. Does anyone know where I can pick these up in Worcester? The sodas are delicious, made with cane sugar instead of HFCS and the screened bottles are nice to look at. But I’ve never seen them around here, although I admit I haven’t looked very hard.
(pics ripped from this site)
Elected criminals
The Senate was kind enough to pass for us a credit line for Wall St that they need far more than we do. Here’s a preliminary list of pork tucked into this version of the package:
Sec. 105. Energy credit for geothermal heat pump systems.
Sec. 111. Expansion and modification of advanced coal project investment credit.
Sec. 113. Temporary increase in coal excise tax; funding of Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
Sec. 115. Tax credit for carbon dioxide sequestration.
Sec. 205. Credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles.
Sec. 405. Increase and extension of Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund tax.
Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 501. $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
Sec. 503 Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
Because what Wall St is really in desperate need of is wooden arrows designed for use by children. Thank you United States Senators, for creating this mess out of greed and then proving you have yet to learn a thing. I think this time ’round we should skip burning effigies and move straight to the real thing.
Unruly city councils
We live in a city being managed like a very small town.
WORCESTER— Nine city councilors have joined forces in pushing for an “unruly gathering” ordinance, intended to help the city crack down on out-of-control house parties by targeting the owners of the homes.
Councilor-at-Large Michael J. Germain, who is spearheading the effort, said the councilors are asking the city administration to look into establishing an ordinance similar to one in Narragansett, R.I. He said that ordinance applies to any group of five or more people who cause a disturbance in any manner on private or public property, regardless of the time of the day.
Mr. Germain said police are allowed to hold the owners of the houses where such public nuisances occur liable for the offense, whether they were home at that time or not, and they can be fined $300 for the first offense. Fines increase for subsequent offenses, reaching a maximum of $500 for the third offense.
So now we’re basing Worcester ordinances on Narragansett? Population 17,000? Really? ‘disturbance of any manner on private or public property’? The council has lost it’s collective mind.
While we’re at it, lets tax smiles on babies. Those fucking no-necks are having way too much fun as well.
On a larger level, how would this not violate the the right of assembly?
oh. and cue idiotic PILOT talks in 3…2…1…
link
Does any of this really matter?
On April 18, 2006, Palin and I sat together in a hotel coffee shop comparing campaign trail notes. As we talked about the debates, Palin made a comment that highlights the phenomenon that Biden is up against.
“Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, ‘Does any of this really matter?’ ” Palin said.
Former Alaskan State Rep and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Halcro offers his take on the headache Joe Biden may be facing Thursday night. This is a war for the minds of stupid people, on both sides; don’t forget that.
