From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 00:30:21 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Distributing food without a license
In-Reply-To: <199708110653.AAA21997@wombat.sk.sympatico.ca>
Message-ID: <v03102804b014e9f5d0b9@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 10:56 PM -0700 8/10/97, TruthMailer wrote:

>  The government claimed they only wanted to ban the *bad* guns,
>but as Tim May pointed out, now it is theoretically illegal in
>some places for a citizen to carry a paring knife home from the
>store. Of course, in practice, these laws will only be used
>against *bad* people. Mary Tyler Moore has nothing to worry about.

Cops here in California are quite open about the law being a law they can
use to bust or harass undesirables. Like an increasing number of laws, the
law is applied capriciously and politically.

A related example is the arrest, ticketing, jailing, etc. of so-called
"homeless activists" for the crime of distributing soup and other forms of
food in Santa Cruz (and San Francisco, other cities, etc.)

The apparent crime is not that they were trespassing or blocking traffic,
or somesuch, but that they were "preparing and distributing food without a
license."

I attended a City Council meeting and spoke up on this point. I asked that
if the "Food Not Bombs" folks were being arrested for distributing food
without a license, that the cops also make arrests of the various groups at
church picnics, Boy Scout outings, family picnics, etc., who also prepare
and distribute food to groups. (Cooked under the same conditions, and
distributed the same way.)

The Council showed no reaction to my point, not that I expected to have any
effect (dozens of others made similar points, that this was selective
enforcement). The cops were told to keep busting people for distributing
food, but no orders were given against church and social groups.

"Some food distributors are more equal than others." Selective enforcement
is the real power of the State.

And they wonder why McVeigh said "Enough!!."

--Tim May

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
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."