They Are Fear-Mongering Idiots!
When you read this CNN headline, Machete-wielding woman outside White House, what is the vision in your mind? The Rwanda massacres? The Moro running amok in the Philippines? A crazed woman running towards the gates of the White House with a machete raised over her head?
Well, forget it, because that has nothing to do with what actually happened.
“Spokeswoman Kim Bruce said Ashwak Saleh was taken into custody and charged with possession of a prohibited weapon after she displayed a 13-inch machete on the sidewalk outside the White House.”
“Witnesses said Saleh was sitting on the sidewalk when she pulled the machete out of a leather sleeve and began sharpening it on the edge of the sidewalk.”
I have to assume that the blade was 13-inches, because most chef’s knives are much longer than that overall as they generally have blades in the 10-inch range. My machete has a 24-inch blade, which seems to be the standard down here. Locally they seem to be imported from Brazil.
Apparently CNN thinks fear sells.
8 comments
I wondered about that, too. My father brought back a machete from New Guinea after WWII.
That thing never went up anyone’s sleeve.
I assume she’s homeless and that was her self-defense weapon. Most of the homeless women have them. They probably meant sheath vice sleeve, but didn’t know how to spell it or didn’t know the proper term.
I have a couple of kitchen knives with 13-inch blades, but they are from a meat market in a store that belonged to a friend and are really high quality knives for dealing with carcasses. They sharpen really well with a steel.
When I was a kid, my dad had a machete for certain kinds of lawn work, and one would have to have a very, very long arm to put that blade up one’s sleeve, if by sleeve they meant part of one’s clothing… improbable. Dad also had his ceremonial sword from his Navy days; I’m rather glad that disappeared from his mother’s house long before he died.
If I were homeless in a large city, I’d want a blade, my commitment to nonviolence notwithstanding. Just showing the thing would probably prevent some assaults. And I’ve read that the shelters are often more dangerous than the streets.
The whole thing got blown out of proportion by the “terror threat”.
Well…a long while back in River Forest, the principal called the police on an old man…he was doing a Tai-Chi Sword Form (with a wooden Sword) in the park in the early morning!
Sheesh…first not to recognize the sword as piece of wood might be forgivable…but not to know a Tai-Chi exercise routine (it’s almost a ballet) – she was such a DIP…but a *better-safe-than-sorry* DIP. *smirk*
I can’t imagine that someone hasn’t seen Tai-Chi at some point in their lives. While it is a martial art originally, Tai-Chi is hardly offensive. It is one of the most popular forms of exercise for older people.
Yes, I was going to add that my 91-yr-old mother does a bit of Tai-Chi at the elder care center, occasionally armed with a quad cane for balance. Homeland Security really should look into this dire threat.
Andante, I wouldn’t let them know that she might have pictures of landmarks in a scrapbook.
People are losing it.