ALRIGHT, I'm trying to get my blog on, but it seems as if it might come slowly. I forgot that it was actually somewhat difficult, after a long period of not blogging, to dredge up interesting pieces of writing from the bowels of my brain on subjects you may be interested in.
the middle three of this bunch like torture
I've started watching the republican debates, starting with the wimpy one on May 4th; wimpy because the debates, in this infant stage of their development, does not really have a full cast yet. I debated whether I should even watch this one, or skip straight to the recent June debate, but ultimately decided it would be worth watching the first episode. I am not a Republican, but I'm not a Democrat either. In fact, I take deep pride in not voting in nationwide elections, for various reasons that do not belong in this blog post. I'm sure I'll unveil them as we get closer to the 2012 elections, but now isn't quite the time.
ANYWAY, I was going to watch the May 4th debate by Fox News and then write some character analysis of the contenders, which I may do. But then, I witnessed a Fox News anchor ask the five presidential contestants if they would support torture, and to raise their hand in they did. Like watching an incredible science fiction, dystopian novel, I watched Herman Cain and Tim Pawlenty raise their hands, with Rick Santorum hiding a proud smile in favor of some sort of seriously fucked up, twisted false modesty about how awesome he was for supporting torture. Then, the crowd went crazy with roaring applause:
Yeah. That's really the terrifying world we live in.
You know, I like this practice of mounting cameras on tasers. That's a pretty good idea, especially considering rampant, abusive tasering going on by cops all over the country.
Here is an example. This Marin County, California man tripped down some stairs on the way into his house. His wife called paramedics, who were nearby and came over to help. While in pain he exclaimed something to the effect that he would shoot himself because of the paid, a hyberbolic statement let out after some slight but painful injury.
As the paramedics were leaving, some cops busted their way into the house, to fulfill whatever coply duty they had in hyperbolic circumstances. A joke about killing oneself, these days, apparently requires a mandatory trip to the hospital, enforceable by electroshock weapons.
Of course, the 64 year old wasn't about to go to the hospital, he told the officers to leave, got up to go to bed, and was tasered THREE times. THREE. Watch the video below:
It's like cops aren't even being trained in how to properly use a taser. With 334 deaths related to taser use (improper and proper) between 2001 and 2008 in the United States alone, I think a much closer look at police taser practices is in order. It can not just be a tool to use any time anyone is disobeying a police officer, it should be last resort, the same way a gun should be last resort. Gun use is to taser use is the same as murder is to torture. Neither are or should be particularly acceptable.
