Tased & Confused in North America
December 10th, 2007 by 5cents
By now internet/current-affairs mavens have seen the two most recent clips involving the abuse of Tasers, namely, that of the clueless Polish immigrant, Mr. Dziekanksi, at Vancouver airport (how many Polish jokes will this spawn?) and the poor husband, Jared Massey, pulled over by a Utah state trooper. Mr. Dziekanksi, who is now deceased, was the victim of a right excessive zapping (read the BBC report HERE) while Mr. Massey, who is alive and well, was the victim of a wanton, no-holds-barred series of Taser-bitch-slaps. The latter has since filed a formal complaint against the state trooper (read about it HERE). Videos of both incidents are available on Youtube.
What must the state of law enforcement be to justify such acts? Watching both videos confirms neither individual could possibly have been threatening enough to warrant Read On! »
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In a further confirmation that the so-called allies in the “War Against Terror” are a manipulative and simultaneously mindless bunch of fear mongers, the 
Propounded by the founding fathers of the United States of America and then later codified into the Bill of Rights, the right to bear arms has become a touchy subject as of late. The latest event to stimulate this debate were the Virginia Tech shootings. Since I personally know people on both sides of this issue, I thought I’d take a stab at it.
Before you even attempt to read this article, be aware, clicking the link at the end of this post will take to a website that has actual graphic footage of a young girl being stoned to death. DO NOT watch if you queasy in the slightest or if you are easily offended. It is very graphic, very disturbing footage.
By now, everyone and their mother has heard about the killings at Virginia Tech. It hits particularly close to home because one of the two Indians who died lived just down the street from my parents in Bombay. Funny how small the world is. Anyway, my issue right now is with the media’s portrayal of the suspected killer (I say suspected because he hasn’t been properly linked to the shootings though at this point it seems a mere formality). Supposed experts, pundits, psychologists and other “learned” persons have all commented on how South Korean Cho Seung-hui was a disturbed individual who hated the people around him. They say he was a loner, a stalker and a cold, calculating killer. Consider this quote from CNN:
I’m a little behind the curve here since this is almost old news now but a couple days ago, the BBC website (as well as CNN, Fox News and the others) was plastered with news that Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind to the 9/11 attacks, had confessed to his crimes. I was a little tickled to see this as the man was arrested some four years ago. Arrested perhaps isn’t the right word since it generally applies if the suspect is in custody awaiting his day in a court of law. In this case, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed (KSM henceforth) had been held at undisclosed locations (by US intelligence in former East Bloc countries, Pakistan and some Arab states, a process lovingly called extraordinary rendition) for some 1400+ days before news of his confession broke forth.
For those of you that think the next big disaster (terrorist attack, nuclear winter, earthquake, super-cold-reverse hurricane a la “The Day After Tomorrow”) is just around the corner (that’ll be fully 50% of the US population then), you’ll want to purchase your very own ICE-Qube.