NEWS: Doctors call for long pointed kitchen knives to be banned in UK.

Get used to eating pudding with rubber spoons, after all the knives and forks are banned.

Oh well, my career as a murderer now has some kinks in it. Hmmm, I'll just push people off of high cliffs.

Just my luck, they'll probably ban rope too, so I cann't tie my victims up.

On a serious note, if you want to slice a watermelon you need a big knife.

This world is so freakin' silly sometimes. If I wanted to kill someone, I could run over them, torch them, poison them, etc. And heck I got the chain saw out in the shed. You might as well put a straight jacket on all of us, if you are going to ban everything.

Did any of you AOL users see that topic on your welcome screen about taking pictures, and raising the question if it was a security issue? I didn't read it, but by the time I took the time, I didn't find it. Folks, this is wierd stuff we are witnessing on planet earth.

Do "the powers that be" want us to look like wild animals that thoughtlessly lash out on a moments notice and kill people. My god, we aren't a pack of wild rabid dogs.

Troy

[edit on 28-5-2005 by cybertroy]

Funny how no one can form a rational argument against this without resorting to humour or insults.

Guns/knives dont kill people, people kill people? So what?

Nuclear weapons dont kill people, people kill people. Lets let every get them as well. How about mortars and rocket launchers?

Lets hand out C4 explosives for one and all, C4 doesnt kill people you know, people kill people.

There is a perfectly legitimate argument that removing long sharp knives that are not needed would save lives. How would our daily life be affected by not using these large blades? When was the last time you used one? Could you of used a smaller knife instead?

This kind of over the top reaction being presented here is indictitive of the problems society face today. No one can come up with a good reason to have these large blades, only ridicule.

subz
I can come up with one good reason to keep long sharp implements in mankind's repetoire...

Evolution.

Is that a good enough reason for you?

How about watermelon? Making sashimi fresh? Bone crackers? Fending off a burglar who doesn't abide by the rules banning weapons?

Originally posted by subz
This kind of over the top reaction being presented here is indictitive of the problems society face today. No one can come up with a good reason to have these large blades, only ridicule.

it's a slippery slope, the loss of freedom is. a little at a time, until there is none left. i am not ridiculing. i am providing the ad absurdum arguement. people have had access to long sharp knives for thousands of years. banning them is a further removal of personal accountability and responsibility. you see, in the NWO, you are OWNed. you will be harmless to the state, because they will have predator drones lining the skies, surveillance cameras EVERYWHERE, and only the police will have weapons(i plan to sharpen some plastic sporks). we are cattle to them. it's going to be an automated factory 'animal farm'.

funny how some of you are claiming to be insulted just because other are pointing out how silly your idea of banning knives are, and it is very silly.

personal responsibility means nothing to you people? thats what free society is about, not forcing regulations and rules on others just because you dont trust them with their own decisions, if you cant handle freedom then you deserve a dictatorship, youre already heading that way with your tyranny of the majority thinking, next thing you know europe will be letting cities vote on exiling people they dont find acceptable to society, or banning religion, or anything 'not acceptable' or 'dangerous' because how SOME people MIGHT act to it/with it.

equality and safety is all you'll get with such attitude, not freedom and not responsibility, if someone wants to kill or hurt you they'll find a way, simple as that.

Originally posted by Wyredone
Evolution.

Is that a good enough reason for you?

Not really no. And watermelon, you need a sharp point for that? Wont a dull pointed long knive cut that just as well as a sharp ended one?

Originally posted by namehere
it is very silly.

OK folks, discussion is over. We have the clincher. /me smacks forehead "how did I miss that?"

I dont know how other peoples thought patterns work with this issue, but I'll attempt to illustrate mine.

Facts
Hundreds of people are stabbed to death every year in Britain ->
Half of them are with kitchen knives ->
Most of the stabbings are "heat of the moment", use of whats at hand there and then ->
Long sharp ended knives have a greater chance of hitting internal organs ->

Reasoning
Do we need long sharp ended knives? No. Short or round ended knives do everything that these sharp ended knives do. The 10 top chefs in Britain themselves say they are not needed in cooking any more. The traditional use of them for stabbing pieces of meat and dragging it to your plate no longer exists.
Would my life be adversely affected by banning these kind of knives? No. I dont use any and dont want any.
Would any ban save atleast 1 life? Yes. Most probably dozens of lives would be saved eventually if these sorts of knives were removed from our kitchens.

Conclusion
I dont mind if long sharp ended knives are banned. I dont view it as a matter of national security for or against a ban but I think it has merrit.

[edit on 28/5/05 by subz]

Is this a direct result of the strict gun laws in Britain? Did knife assaults climb since those laws were implemented?

If there is any truth to the questions above then Britains people are indeed on the slippery slope to benevolent (if lucky) social dictatorship IMHO.

Whats next? ban 2"X4" lumber over 16" in length, how about rocks over 2" diameter? Hammers?

Where doe's one draw the line on this insanity?

What happened to personal responsibility?


Even though many may claim to be advanced, enlightened and civilized they will resort to desperate measures when they percieve their situation as dire.

If you think the police will protect you- you are sadly mistaken, ask the next one you see if they are legally bound to do so.

I ask - are you prey or predator?

This is idiotic, why do people seem to think the government is going to turn into a dictatorship because we are banning knifes half the size of a machete?

Guns were never freely available in this country any way so there was no change to the law.

Our homocide rates are amongst the lowest in the developed World. Something we are rightly proud of. Our police are unarmed and rarely killed and when shootings occur they are that infrequent that it makes headline news.

Im not for signing civil liberties away for saftey. I disagree with control orders and think the Patriot Act is the biggest single threat to American democracy in existance. I dont think banning long sharp ended knives is the same league as control orders yet that is readily touted as neccesary by those who mock this knive ban suggestion.

This knive ban isnt being sold as an end to all murders like some of you assume. Its merely removing one more unnecessary weapon from an already too violent society. Of course any one could find a replacement weapon for these banned knives but thats not what the ban is for. Most of the stabbings with kitchen knives are not pre-meditated. They are from people in blind fury that see a knive, grab it and stab with it.

If there was no knive there it is highly probable the arguments would go no further than a fist fight. I can live with that. I cant live with some preventable deaths because some people think having long sharp ended knives is some kind of right and losing them shackles us to some NWO conspiracy!

[edit on 28/5/05 by subz]

The Best Defence

Originally posted by subz
Guns were never freely available in this country any way so there was no change to the law.

As funny as I think this story is -- and as cautionary -- I hate seeing anyone put in a position where they feel compelled to defend their country in such a way.

Astute members have pointed out that this whole “long pointy knife” business is just a recommendation from some doctors, not a matter of British law.

Yet.

I love Britain, and I love Britons. Part of that no doubt comes from the uncanny ability of some Brits to make me wonder if they aren't pulling my leg ala Monty Python, but hey, that's yet one more thing to love.

The endless debate between Britons and Americans about how one another should run our countries is age old and will no doubt continue for as long as both nations exist, which I pray will be for much longer than I do.

I had hoped these sorts of things had been resolved back in the Eighteenth Century, or, failing that, during the spectacular rematch in the early Nineteenth Century, but alas, it was not meant to be.

We declare ourselves a proud nation while our previous rulers declare us insufferable rebels (and, dare I say, vicious barbarians? Coo!).

I suppose that's proof enough that war never truly solves anything.

The truth is that Britain is being run the way the British see fit, and America is being run the way the Americans see fit.

There is, of course, disagreement about that, but that's just a healthy symptom of self-government in both instances.

Ideally, we can all be equally unhappy with ourselves.

God bless Democracy, God bless Britain, and God bless America.


[edit on 5/28/2005 by Majic]

You have voted Majic for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

Originally posted by Majic
The Best Defense

... snip...

God bless Democracy, God bless Britain, and God bless America.

Huzzah! The return of sanity! Good post Majic.

Now please excuse me as I have to hand over all my pencil sharpeners to an official-looking man at the door.

Trinityman you vote him for a WATS award yet end your post with the very thing Majic was posting against. If you bothered to understand his post you wouldnt of included that useless attempt at a jibe.

Linguistic Difficulties

Originally posted by subz
Trinityman you vote him for a WATS award yet end your post with the very thing Majic was posting against. If you bothered to understand his post you wouldnt of included that useless attempt at a jibe.

Actually, I think he got it just right.

My point is that you can ban whatever you want, all the live long day, and I really have no problem with that whatsoever.

Honest!

That doesn't mean I won't think some of the things you fine folks decide to do aren't positively outlandish, nor that I won't say as much.

I just want you to know that no matter what you do, I really do love you Brits. And let's be candid: you are very easy to love.

Besides, the nation which gave birth to poodle skirts, hippies, yuppies, dot commies and Pauly Shore really has little cause to point fingers, don't you think?

So if a bunch of swaggering, gun-toting, tobacco-spitting, unkempt, foul-mouthed and ill-mannered cowboys from across the pond should brandish their long pointy and decidedly unnecessary knives while deriding your high-cultured ways in their harsh, guttural tongue, I hope you can take it for what it's worth, which is, when all is said and done, not a damn thing.

We have no end of advice for one another.

I'm reminding us all that neither of us need take it.

How you say in your country? “Ace?”




P.S. For fun, I changed the word “Defense” in my priour post heading to “Defence” in honour of my English cousins, and to make my post more readable to those who prefer the English language over the foul flavour of colonial patois. You Brits have such delightfully quaint ways of spelling things.

P.P.S. I should hope that my tone will not be mistaken for acridity (though its pH may be a bit low) because I actually think this whole affair is riotously funny, from the stereotypical behavior of my countrymen to, well, the stereotypical behavior of your countrymen. When we forget how to laugh at ourselves, we have lost our zest for life. Cheers! -- M

[edit on 5/28/2005 by Majic]

Hmm I guess I did read more into your post than I should of

As an aside to the differences between English and American English; why do you find the need to remove the "u" from "colour" due to its superfluousness but leave the "h" in "honour" but also remove its "u"?!

Is there some concerted effort to limit the amount of "u"'s in American English?

"On a serious note, if you want to slice a watermelon you need a big knife. "



Ahhh, but look at how much wealth and jobs will be created when they have to train all these "certified watermelon cutters" so they know how to safely use thier knives, and then offer their services to those WHO NEED someone to cut their watermelons for them.....

Which is a point worth considering here......if you treat adults like young children who don't know how do to anything without endangering themselves, well, you are going to need some people to take care of all these overgrown children!!!

Its rich coming from Americans who've given up all their rights to the executive branch to protect them from boogey men

If its childish to want to protect ourselves from knives then surely the Patriot Act is a big security blanket and night-light.

Jollye Olde Englishe

Originally posted by subz
As an aside to the differences between English and American English; why do you find the need to remove the "u" from "colour" due to its superfluousness but leave the "h" in "honour" but also remove its "u"?!

Well, when in doubt, take it out, is the American way.

I was playing with our “ours”, and am particularly fond of the British way on that due to my longstanding infatuation with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, an American horror writer (or as I like to put it, “horrour”) who had a literary affectation of using some Britishisms, such as “colour”, but not all of them.

Whatever the connexion may be, I can assure you that though I may occasionally favour British spellings in certain contexts, I am known to stray far from centre in all matters linguistic.

As is my custom.

National Obscurity

Originally posted by subz
Is there some concerted effort to limit the amount of "u"'s in American English?

I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to comment on that per 3 USC 285; Statutes Related To Linguistic Security.

You may be able to find out more through a NATO liaison, however, since we do share many important secrets with our dearest allies.

So what does this have to do with the topic?

I offer these posts as examples of long, pointed humour.

Am I next to be banned?



P.S. Sorry, I really am a bit too much “four” my own good, aren't I?

Originally posted by subz


This knive ban isnt being sold as an end to all murders like some of you assume. Its merely removing one more unnecessary weapon from an already too violent society. Of course any one could find a replacement weapon for these banned knives but thats not what the ban is for. Most of the stabbings with kitchen knives are not pre-meditated. They are from people in blind fury that see a knive, grab it and stab with it.


[edit on 28/5/05 by subz]

"They are from people in blind fury that see a knive, grab it and stab with it."

Exactly why attempting to control an object rather than the behavior will never work.........

Substitute the word knive for chair, frying pan etc. etc. and the folly is readily noticed.

8 MILLION ways to die, pick one.

Im sorry but some of the puns in your posts make me WANT to reach for said pointy knives

See, if those knives werent there I wouldnt be able to vent my anger over the American persecution of the letter "u"! Wouldnt it be in America's interest that we are unarmed when the inevitable 'vowel wars' come to fruition?

Afterall the blatant favouritism over allowing "h" to remain silent while "u" is ditched is glaringly obvious. Also the usurping of "s"'s historical home land which Americans gave to "z" is the root of all thats wrong in the World



[edit on 28/5/05 by subz]