Should kitchen knives be registered and controlled weapons?

[Doc]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school ... say-n77191

Stabbing Suspect Alex Hribal Motivated by Rage and Adrenaline, Criminologists Say
By Erin McClam

The high school student who stabbed 21 classmates and a security guard at a Pennsylvania high school was probably simmering with rage before the rampage and pumped with adrenaline as he moved through halls and classrooms to confront his victims, up close and one by one.

Those are the early conclusions of outside criminologists sifting through what little is known about Alex Hribal, the 16-year-old accused in the attack, and trying to piece together a rough profile and an explanation for the brutal spree.

What set the suspect off remained an open question Thursday. Hribal’s lawyer said that the teenager was not considered “a loner or a weirdo,” did not use drugs and had no history of mental health problems.

“People don’t just snap. There’s a buildup that takes place,” said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler. “There was some final catalyst, one last psychological straw that got pulled from under this guy.”

One day after the rampage at Franklin Regional High School outside Pittsburgh, little was known about the suspect. His lawyer, Patrick Thomassey, said that he stands 5 feet 3 inches and weighs 110 pounds. He did not keep a cellphone.

Thomassey, who spoke with Hribal on Wednesday and spent hours with his family, described the teenager as a soft-spoken, shy, “nice young man.”

Slasher Suspect a 'nice young man,' says attorney
NBC News

Hribal has no history of trouble with the law or mental health problems, and his parents knew him well enough to know what movies he watched and whom he hung out with, the lawyer said. Thomassey said he planned to seek a psychiatric evaluation.

It was also not clear why the attacker chose to execute the attack with two knives — ordinary kitchen knives, wide enough to open wounds more than an inch across, and long enough to puncture organs.

The criminologists said that the knives could have been chosen deliberately or could have been “weapons of opportunity,” selected simply because the attacker had no access to guns or explosives.

There are significant differences, though, between stabbing sprees and shooting sprees, they said.

“Using a gun is not as personal as using a knife,” said Eric Hickey, who worked on the FBI’s Unabomber task force and advises federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on criminal investigations.

“When they stab someone, that’s a different dynamic,” he said. “It’s much more up close.”

Stabbing Suspect Charged
NBC News Channel

A gun gives a shooter the chance to stand at a cold remove and with a degree of anonymity, and given the preparation required — securing a gun and ammunition, getting the weapon into school — makes it more likely to be premeditated, Van Zandt said.

Stabbers have a much greater “rage quotient,” he said in a briefing memo prepared for NBC News.

“They have to see their victims, be prepared for blood,” he said. “And it takes a lot of physical work to wave knives and attack people.”

Van Zandt said that he once interviewed a teenager who had been stabbed 60 times with an ice pick, and who said that his attacker had to keep switching hands because his hands were getting tired.

Surging adrenaline and the element of surprise — the stabber moved quickly from classroom to classroom and into the halls — would have allowed a 5-foot-3 attacker to get to almost two dozen victims, many considerably larger than him.

Police have said that they are looking into whether Hribal was bullied. His lawyer said Thursday that the parents were unaware of bullying, and he said that Hribal himself made no mention of it when they talked on Wednesday.

You have other kids that are just solid individuals and some that are just shy and don’t know how to handle society.

But in a moment of compassion and reflection at a press conference on Thursday, Amanda Leonard, whose son was stabbed in the back at Franklin Regional, raised the possibility.

“I think in this time in this age that we live in, in all honesty, there’s more bullying than what anybody wants to say,” she said. “You have other kids that are just solid individuals and some that are just shy and don’t know how to handle society.”

“In that way,” she concluded, “we need to look and see how are children coping with social skills these days.”

Sitting by her side, her son, Brett Hurt, said that he had met Hribal a couple of times but “never really talked to him.”

“Maybe if he had more friends or somebody to help him out, to show him a different path, maybe it would have been different,” he said.

[Mr. Perfect]

I don't know that I've ever seen an article dripping with more failed liberalism.

But yes, I think it is well past time for common sense knife control.

[Doc]

I don't know that I've ever seen an article dripping with more failed liberalism.

But yes, I think it is well past time for common sense knife control.

Of course Killing people with guns is bad enough but killing by knives is so far removed from killing with gas chambers it is unimaginable. Oh the humanities of it all !!

[Simple Minded]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school ... say-n77191

Stabbing Suspect Alex Hribal Motivated by Rage and Adrenaline, Criminologists Say
By Erin McClam

I think the clue is in the article title. I thought hate crime laws made rage illegal. Maybe adrenaline is the problem?

[monster_gardener]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school ... say-n77191

Stabbing Suspect Alex Hribal Motivated by Rage and Adrenaline, Criminologists Say
By Erin McClam

The high school student who stabbed 21 classmates and a security guard at a Pennsylvania high school was probably simmering with rage before the rampage and pumped with adrenaline as he moved through halls and classrooms to confront his victims, up close and one by one.

Those are the early conclusions of outside criminologists sifting through what little is known about Alex Hribal, the 16-year-old accused in the attack, and trying to piece together a rough profile and an explanation for the brutal spree.

What set the suspect off remained an open question Thursday. Hribal’s lawyer said that the teenager was not considered “a loner or a weirdo,” did not use drugs and had no history of mental health problems.

“People don’t just snap. There’s a buildup that takes place,” said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler. “There was some final catalyst, one last psychological straw that got pulled from under this guy.”

One day after the rampage at Franklin Regional High School outside Pittsburgh, little was known about the suspect. His lawyer, Patrick Thomassey, said that he stands 5 feet 3 inches and weighs 110 pounds. He did not keep a cellphone.

Thomassey, who spoke with Hribal on Wednesday and spent hours with his family, described the teenager as a soft-spoken, shy, “nice young man.”

Slasher Suspect a 'nice young man,' says attorney
NBC News

Hribal has no history of trouble with the law or mental health problems, and his parents knew him well enough to know what movies he watched and whom he hung out with, the lawyer said. Thomassey said he planned to seek a psychiatric evaluation.

It was also not clear why the attacker chose to execute the attack with two knives — ordinary kitchen knives, wide enough to open wounds more than an inch across, and long enough to puncture organs.

The criminologists said that the knives could have been chosen deliberately or could have been “weapons of opportunity,” selected simply because the attacker had no access to guns or explosives.

There are significant differences, though, between stabbing sprees and shooting sprees, they said.

“Using a gun is not as personal as using a knife,” said Eric Hickey, who worked on the FBI’s Unabomber task force and advises federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on criminal investigations.

“When they stab someone, that’s a different dynamic,” he said. “It’s much more up close.”

Stabbing Suspect Charged
NBC News Channel

A gun gives a shooter the chance to stand at a cold remove and with a degree of anonymity, and given the preparation required — securing a gun and ammunition, getting the weapon into school — makes it more likely to be premeditated, Van Zandt said.

Stabbers have a much greater “rage quotient,” he said in a briefing memo prepared for NBC News.

“They have to see their victims, be prepared for blood,” he said. “And it takes a lot of physical work to wave knives and attack people.”

Van Zandt said that he once interviewed a teenager who had been stabbed 60 times with an ice pick, and who said that his attacker had to keep switching hands because his hands were getting tired.

Surging adrenaline and the element of surprise — the stabber moved quickly from classroom to classroom and into the halls — would have allowed a 5-foot-3 attacker to get to almost two dozen victims, many considerably larger than him.

Police have said that they are looking into whether Hribal was bullied. His lawyer said Thursday that the parents were unaware of bullying, and he said that Hribal himself made no mention of it when they talked on Wednesday.

You have other kids that are just solid individuals and some that are just shy and don’t know how to handle society.

But in a moment of compassion and reflection at a press conference on Thursday, Amanda Leonard, whose son was stabbed in the back at Franklin Regional, raised the possibility.

“I think in this time in this age that we live in, in all honesty, there’s more bullying than what anybody wants to say,” she said. “You have other kids that are just solid individuals and some that are just shy and don’t know how to handle society.”

“In that way,” she concluded, “we need to look and see how are children coping with social skills these days.”

Sitting by her side, her son, Brett Hurt, said that he had met Hribal a couple of times but “never really talked to him.”

“Maybe if he had more friends or somebody to help him out, to show him a different path, maybe it would have been different,” he said.

Thank You VERY Much for your post, Doc.

FWIW similar has been tried in the past and worse may be tried in the future.......

The Tanakh/Old Testament recounts how the Palestinians oops I mean Phillistines tried to keep profits high and the Jews subjugated by not allowing any smiths in Israel forcing farmers to go the the Phillistine cities on the coast to get their farm tools made or sharpened.

19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” 20So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sicklesf sharpened. 21The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

http://biblehub.com/kjv/1_samuel/13.htm


Rulers in medieval Japan conducted Sword Hunts to try to prevent peasant revolts (understandable with tax rates as high as 90% ) and other insurrections.......

Which I have read was a major factor in the development of martial arts systems: empty hands or weapons derived from agricultural tools.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_hunt


In his Known Space series, Larry Niven writes about a time line in which all weapons are prohibited (even martial arts training) for non-police on Earth. People are taught/programmed to be non-violent or leave for the asteroid belt if they don't want to end up in the Organ Banks.

Things get dicey when an aggressive alien race, the Kzinti, shows up which looks and often acts like intelligent two footed tigers ....... For a time Earth has to depend on the dissident settlers in the Asteroid Belt (who have not been programmed into passivity) to hold off the invaders with improvised weapons............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Space#ARM

FWIW I think A.E. VanVogt put it well in his Weapon Shops of Isher series: "The right to buy weapons is the right to be free". *

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weapon_Shops_of_Isher

*I would extend it to possess/buy/make & if necessary, use weapons....

[Nonc Hilaire]

The Tanakh/Old Testament recounts how the Palestinians oops I mean Phillistines tried to keep profits high and the Jews subjugated by not allowing any smiths in Israel forcing farmers to go the the Phillistine cities on the coast to get their farm tools made or sharpened.

The manufacture of iron was a Philistine trade secret. The Israelites were a bronze age society, and didn't even have much bronze. The Philistines were protecting their military technology and controlled all Israelite trade in iron, limiting it to small pieces.

[Nonc Hilaire]

Sorry about that last post. I drifted off topic. To get back on subject: kitchen knives.

A good way to not cut yourself when slicing onions with a kitchen knife is to have somebody else hold the onion.

Thank you for accepting my apology.

[monster_gardener]

The Tanakh/Old Testament recounts how the Palestinians oops I mean Phillistines tried to keep profits high and the Jews subjugated by not allowing any smiths in Israel forcing farmers to go the the Phillistine cities on the coast to get their farm tools made or sharpened.

The manufacture of iron was a Philistine trade secret. The Israelites were a bronze age society, and didn't even have much bronze. The Philistines were protecting their military technology and controlled all Israelite trade in iron, limiting it to small pieces.

Thank You VERY Much for your post, Nonc Hilaire.

That is my understanding too but offhand weren't the Hittites pretty near the first with iron for all the good it ultimately did them

[monster_gardener]

Sorry about that last post. I drifted off topic. To get back on subject: kitchen knives.

A good way to not cut yourself when slicing onions with a kitchen knife is to have somebody else hold the onion.

Thank you for accepting my apology.

Thank You VERY Much for your post, Nonc Hilaire.

Thank you for accepting my apology.

No problem.

A good way to not cut yourself when slicing onions with a kitchen knife is to have somebody else hold the onion.

Or better yet to have a cutting surface with a spike.......

[Doc]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school ... say-n77191

Stabbing Suspect Alex Hribal Motivated by Rage and Adrenaline, Criminologists Say
By Erin McClam

I think the clue is in the article title. I thought hate crime laws made rage illegal. Maybe adrenaline is the problem?

Adrenaline? No. It may be an inherent cause but it is inherent not something that anything can be done about. Something else has changed since historically such mass violence in school really did not exist. The problem is presenting children with too little structure and too many personal choices that should be left until they are adults. .

[Zack Morris]

Knives aren't sufficiently lethal to warrant control. Lots of people stabbed, few (if any) mortally wounded. It's generally the same pattern in Chinese knife attacks, which are very frequent, but much less lethal than comparable shooting rampages.

[Mr. Perfect]

Knives aren't sufficiently lethal.

By what standard. Don't tell us you just make it up as you go.

[monster_gardener]

Knives aren't sufficiently lethal to warrant control. Lots of people stabbed, few (if any) mortally wounded. It's generally the same pattern in Chinese knife attacks, which are very frequent, but much less lethal than comparable shooting rampages.

Thank You Very MUCH for your post, Zack Morris.

Glad we agree about not controlling knives...(For different reasons ... Lots of people end up Very Dead from knives)

But it seems that the TSA and many other authorities are absolutely NO on the subject of knives.....

IIRC one point they were banning nail files.......

I think they have eased up but need to check........

GOOGLE!

They have ........

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2002/ ... pands-list

Though I would advise checking again before any air travel........

LOT' of other things on that list and one might have a VERY BAD Day if you have something prohibited and don't know it.......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scot ... 606969.stm


OTOH Per Myth Busters within ~15 to 20 feet a knife wielder can take someone with a gun.........

And a knife usually takes longer to run out of ammunition


Passing on one bit of First Aid advice.......

I have been told that if one is stabbed, Do NOT attempt to attempt to remove the knife/other impaling object unless it is absolutely necessary *...... Too much danger of doing more damage without access to critical medical care.....

Let qualified medical personnel do that unless you are one and hopefully operating on someone else...


*If you absolutely must move the victim and the impaling object prevents that (such as broom handle or similar gone through the body), see if you can carefully cut off enough on either/both ends to allow the victim to be moved to safety while disturbing the wound as little possible after stabilizing the impaling object if possible.
If possible leave some of the object protruding to help with later extraction...

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor do I play one on television . Double check any advice given here with qualified medical personnel..... Before you need it......

[Zack Morris]

Knives aren't sufficiently lethal.

By what standard. Don't tell us you just make it up as you go.

Firearms, despite being costlier and more difficult to procure, are used far more frequently in homicides than knives (67.8% to 13.4% according to FBI statistics for 2011). It is very difficult to kill large numbers of people with knives (or to do so at a distance) without being quickly subdued. Mass attacks involving assailants with knives result in fewer fatalities than comparable attacks with firearms. There is a reason why every military in the world switched from cutting instruments to firearms several centuries ago. I'm surprised that this needs to be explained to you.

[monster_gardener]

Knives aren't sufficiently lethal.

By what standard. Don't tell us you just make it up as you go.

Firearms, despite being costlier and more difficult to procure, are used far more frequently in homicides than knives (67.8% to 13.4% according to FBI statistics for 2011). It is very difficult to kill large numbers of people with knives (or to do so at a distance) without being quickly subdued. Mass attacks involving assailants with knives result in fewer fatalities than comparable attacks with firearms. There is a reason why every military in the world switched from cutting instruments to firearms several centuries ago. I'm surprised that this needs to be explained to you.

Thank You Very Much for your post, Zack Morris.

It is very difficult to kill large numbers of people with knives (or to do so at a distance) without being quickly subdued.

Sadly not true........ Has happened a lot in History........

Depends a lot on whether the victims resist and how they are armed.....

A recent example......

Remembering a description of an image from the Rwanda Genocide......

A stack of machetes with a half empty bottle of beer on top of them.....

GOOGLE!

Close.......... Minus the bottle of beer .....

Rwanda machetes 7163581.jpg (32.7 KiB) Viewed 838 times

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of traveling around Rwanda is the ghost of the genocide. One might not know the particulars of what took place in a particular place back in 1990-1994 but one quickly gets a sense. Before going to the country, I read all the books, articles and memoirs I could find. I also saw a tremendous number of pictures of dead bodies – partially buried or floating. I even saw the brief video made by Belgians traveling with the Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF (the Tutsi rebel organization invading from Uganda) which showed the chaotic, sporadic and highly communicative behavior of those involved in the violence.Individuals came out of the jungle, would say something to one another (likely chiding each other on), a person would hack on a body for a while, walk off, have another screaming match and someone else would hack. They would then walk away and you could see that the body was still alive. What the hell were they saying? Why didn’t they just kill the person? Why did they do it at all? What kind of sick f@%er hacks someone? Who films it, and why didn’t the RPF have some snipers? How can you hack someone? [Note: Like so many artifacts, this video now appears to be lost. If you know where it is posted, please let me know.]

While the genocidal and non-genocidal violence is yet to be explained, part of the explanation needs to be that Rwandans practiced all the time: machetes were everywhere. They were used to hack fruit from trees, to hack limbs for firewood, to hack meat (no butcher, just a blood-red wooden stub); they were used on the side of the road, on the side of a building, in markets, at restaurants, in bars (for lemons – for real), in hospitals, in schools. In fact, I cannot think of one place where I went and did not see a machete.

This reality made one feel surrounded by 8 million potential axe murderers. Sorry to say it but that's the deal. Now, I knew that I did not know who specifically had hacked anyone: even if someone was in jail, had confessed to the crime and sat there in a pink prison outfit (given to those involved in the genocide to embarrass and emasculate), you never quite knew which end was up. People were just arrested because their neighbor wanted their property, because they owed someone money, because someone wanted their spouse or because they had challenged the government. You never knew.

http://christiandavenportphd.weebly.com ... nda/1.html

There is a reason why every military in the world switched from cutting instruments to firearms several centuries ago.

Actually they did not switch....

Firearms were added but knives and other edged weapons were kept......

Hand held edged weapons* still have their place when up close & personal/silent work is needed...

Or when the ammo is gone......

*Ranged edged weapons remained superior in accuracy & fire rate to firearms for a long time...... The problem was the time it took to train an expert archer..

[Doc]

Knives aren't sufficiently lethal.

By what standard. Don't tell us you just make it up as you go.

Firearms, despite being costlier and more difficult to procure, are used far more frequently in homicides than knives (67.8% to 13.4% according to FBI statistics for 2011). It is very difficult to kill large numbers of people with knives (or to do so at a distance) without being quickly subdued. Mass attacks involving assailants with knives result in fewer fatalities than comparable attacks with firearms. There is a reason why every military in the world switched from cutting instruments to firearms several centuries ago. I'm surprised that this needs to be explained to you.

Thank You Very Much for your post, Zack Morris.

It is very difficult to kill large numbers of people with knives (or to do so at a distance) without being quickly subdued.

Sadly not true........ Has happened a lot in History........

It seems I have been remiss in my poll question I should have mentioned pressure cookers as well as knives.

ONEhP53ulvI

Perhaps even all kitchen implements to be safe.

Depends a lot on whether the victims resist and how they are armed.....

A recent example......

Remembering a description of an image from the Rwanda Genocide......

A stack of machetes with a half empty bottle of beer on top of them.....

GOOGLE!

Close.......... Minus the bottle of beer .....

Rwanda machetes 7163581.jpg

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of traveling around Rwanda is the ghost of the genocide. One might not know the particulars of what took place in a particular place back in 1990-1994 but one quickly gets a sense. Before going to the country, I read all the books, articles and memoirs I could find. I also saw a tremendous number of pictures of dead bodies – partially buried or floating. I even saw the brief video made by Belgians traveling with the Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF (the Tutsi rebel organization invading from Uganda) which showed the chaotic, sporadic and highly communicative behavior of those involved in the violence.Individuals came out of the jungle, would say something to one another (likely chiding each other on), a person would hack on a body for a while, walk off, have another screaming match and someone else would hack. They would then walk away and you could see that the body was still alive. What the hell were they saying? Why didn’t they just kill the person? Why did they do it at all? What kind of sick f@%er hacks someone? Who films it, and why didn’t the RPF have some snipers? How can you hack someone? [Note: Like so many artifacts, this video now appears to be lost. If you know where it is posted, please let me know.]

While the genocidal and non-genocidal violence is yet to be explained, part of the explanation needs to be that Rwandans practiced all the time: machetes were everywhere. They were used to hack fruit from trees, to hack limbs for firewood, to hack meat (no butcher, just a blood-red wooden stub); they were used on the side of the road, on the side of a building, in markets, at restaurants, in bars (for lemons – for real), in hospitals, in schools. In fact, I cannot think of one place where I went and did not see a machete.

This reality made one feel surrounded by 8 million potential axe murderers. Sorry to say it but that's the deal. Now, I knew that I did not know who specifically had hacked anyone: even if someone was in jail, had confessed to the crime and sat there in a pink prison outfit (given to those involved in the genocide to embarrass and emasculate), you never quite knew which end was up. People were just arrested because their neighbor wanted their property, because they owed someone money, because someone wanted their spouse or because they had challenged the government. You never knew.

http://christiandavenportphd.weebly.com ... nda/1.html

There is a reason why every military in the world switched from cutting instruments to firearms several centuries ago.

Actually they did not switch....

Firearms were added but knives and other edged weapons were kept......

Hand held edged weapons* still have their place when up close & personal/silent work is needed...

Or when the ammo is gone......

*Ranged edged weapons remained superior in accuracy & fire rate to firearms for a long time...... The problem was the time it took to train an expert archer..

[Zack Morris]

The counterpoints so far to my supremely insightful quantitative analysis have been 1) something about the Rwandan genocide (a highly coordinated, systematic genocide involving organized militias and all manner of weapons, including guns, grenades, and machetes) and 2) something about pressure cookers.

I rest my case: guns are far more lethal and pose a greater societal threat than kitchen knives. That's why kitchen knives don't need to be regulated yet and guns do.

[Doc]

The counterpoints so far to my supremely insightful quantitative analysis have been 1) something about the Rwandan genocide (a highly coordinated, systematic genocide involving organized militias and all manner of weapons, including guns, grenades, and machetes) and 2) something about pressure cookers.

I rest my case: guns are far more lethal and pose a greater societal threat than kitchen knives. That's why kitchen knives don't need to be regulated yet and guns do.

Actually and with more than a little laughter I would just point out that banning all guns simply means a different weapon of choice. You leftists just don't get that.

[Zack Morris]

Where's the evidence that suggests murder rates remain constant despite weapons regulation? Generally, societies with low murder rates have more restricted access to weapons. I don't think anyone will mind if we become a little more like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the United Kingdom -- all culturally similar and ethnically diverse countries.

[Doc]

Where's the evidence that suggests murder rates remain constant despite weapons regulation? Generally, societies with low murder rates have more restricted access to weapons. I don't think anyone will mind if we become a little more like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the United Kingdom -- all culturally similar and ethnically diverse countries.

HInt: Why is it alway sthe "Murder rate" that anti-gun leftists always cite rather than rates of violence? Especially compared to Europe?

[Zack Morris]

Where's the evidence that suggests murder rates remain constant despite weapons regulation? Generally, societies with low murder rates have more restricted access to weapons. I don't think anyone will mind if we become a little more like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the United Kingdom -- all culturally similar and ethnically diverse countries.

HInt: Why is it alway sthe "Murder rate" that anti-gun leftists always cite rather than rates of violence? Especially compared to Europe?

Because homicide is both less ambiguous and more feared than "violence", whatever that even means. Europeans don't feel as threatened day to day as Americans do.

[Doc]

Where's the evidence that suggests murder rates remain constant despite weapons regulation? Generally, societies with low murder rates have more restricted access to weapons. I don't think anyone will mind if we become a little more like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the United Kingdom -- all culturally similar and ethnically diverse countries.

HInt: Why is it alway sthe "Murder rate" that anti-gun leftists always cite rather than rates of violence? Especially compared to Europe?

Because homicide is both less ambiguous and more feared than "violence", whatever that even means. Europeans don't feel as threatened day to day as Americans do.

Yeah Thats it is ticket !!! If the facts are against you claim they don't anything !!!

The U.S. has a violence rate of 466 crimes per 100,000 residents, Canada 935, Australia 92 and South Africa 1,609.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... a-U-S.html

[noddy]

in this modern world of shrink-wrapped supermarket goodness prepared by train professionals it really is an anachronism to have primitive butchering implements in the home purely to indulge the crude joy of destroying organic items.

i wonder what the cost to society of amateur cooks slicing their fingers is in terms of treatment and lost productivity, it must be huge across the 10's of millions in a large city.

[noddy]

Where's the evidence that suggests murder rates remain constant despite weapons regulation? Generally, societies with low murder rates have more restricted access to weapons. I don't think anyone will mind if we become a little more like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the United Kingdom -- all culturally similar and ethnically diverse countries.

well actually, their is no particular linkage at all with the australian murder rate and the banning of guns in 96.

sorry about that, we just dont like killing eachother as much as you merkins do, you might want to tackle that bit first.

[monster_gardener]

in this modern world of shrink-wrapped supermarket goodness prepared by train professionals it really is an anachronism to have primitive butchering implements in the home purely to indulge the crude joy of destroying organic items.

i wonder what the cost to society of amateur cooks slicing their fingers is in terms of treatment and lost productivity, it must be huge across the 10's of millions in a large city.

Thank You VERY Much for your post, noddy

amateur cooks slicing their fingers

Professional cooks too.......

Your post reminded me of........

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain.

The book, released in 2000, is both Bourdain's professional story and a behind-the-scenes look at restaurant kitchens. The book is known for its treatment of the professional culinary industry. The commercial kitchen is described as an intense, unpleasant and sometimes hazardous place of work staffed by what he describes as misfits. Bourdain believes it's no place for hobbyists and all those entering this industry will run away screaming if they lack a masochistic, irrational dedication to cooking.

The book alternates between a confessional narrative and an industry commentary, providing insightful and humorous anecdotes on the cooking trade. Bourdain details some of his personal misdeeds and weaknesses, including drug use and excessive lifestyle. He explains how restaurants function economically and the various restaurateur's tricks of which consumers should be aware. For example, he advises customers to avoid ordering fish on a Monday as the fish for Monday would be likely a remnant from the weekend or earlier. He also suggests avoiding beef well done: the meat is more likely to be from less-than-best grade as the substandard flavor would be masked in overcooking.

The book was well received critically and created a large public following. Bourdain consequently became a celebrity, even though, ironically, he is known for his put-downs of many so-called "celebrity chefs".

A follow-up book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, was published in 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Co ... Underbelly