A police attack

There was the Rodney King incident in California where four cops had batting practice. The officers escaped court justice and a brutal riot took place in Los Angeles. Rodney King was a troubled character, none-the-less he was brutalised by police. The anger and frustration exploded in senseless group criminal action. Some primarily, remember the reaction, the riot, and forget the action, police license unconditional to attack. King was fleeing and had a previous record. The possible existence of police brutality was not considered, by the american public, for some time. The jury involved, effectively, denied it. Some people believed, that oh yes, it existed, and there was no penalty.

In Passaic, New Jersey, a man, described as mentally defective and peaceful, was assaulted by a thug, on 29 May 2009. The thug was a uniformed, on duty, member of the local police force, Joseph R. Rios III. Now, we live in a society that has surveillance cameras in abundance. After some time of beating, passerbys witness the action. Often, such future testimony is suppressed, and an active search is not done, unless to scare off witnesses. The camera cannot be pressured, destroyed yes, lost yes. But, since the camera was visible, and assumingly within the repeated path of the police, one would think there was cognition of its existence and function.

Ronnie Holloway, aged 49, is standing on the curb of an intersection. A police car stops. A female cop tells/instructs/orders/commands/asks? him to zip up his jacket. As he does so, the other cop, comes up from behind and begins the attack. Now, at this point one should stop and think. Why does the first cop tell Holloway to adjust his clothing? Is there any known dress code that is enforceable, in New Jersey? One is often reminded that in strict moslem societies there are. Are police free to invent laws? Or is it meant to occupy and distract Holloway, so as the other cop has a clear and free shot to pummel Holloway?

Holloway was thrown into a cell for the night to heal. He was charged with resisting arrest. The surveillance camera shows no resistance of any kind, there has not been noted a word, that, Holloway may have said. Clearly, it is the routine and nonsensical charge that blankets false arrests. The auxiliary charge of disorderly conduct is similar, and was tagged on. The victim was also charged with the even vaguer, and mind reading, charge of “wandering for the purpose of obtaining controlled dangerous substances.” Does Passaic not have an ordinance of failing to comply with a lawful order? Oh, he was zipping up his jacket.

Mister Holloway’s defense is that walking is his chief pastime. Oh, what these wild youth do for kicks. This has been reported to be Holloway’s first legal trouble. The police do not want to talk to the press, or the world about this.

There are always people to defend the most outrageous, stupid and vicious police actions. Many of these people will decry the laxness of punishment for criminals. One standard for one group, another standard for another is not equal justice for all.

Police versus priest, cameras contradict cop

The area about New Haven Connecticut has had a new source of population coming from the south of the Rio Grande. This is not new, but yesterday, the Associated Press picked up a story from East Haven. On the 19th of February, police accused ecuadorian storeowners of abusing government property. The police then had the owner, of My Country Store, remove five dozen car license plates from display on a rear wall. A priest, Father James Manship, pastor of Saint Rose of Lima church in New Haven, was inside the store, and began filming.

The police accused the storeowners of abusing government property, and the priest of pointing a weapon on the police. Store surveillance images, and the priests video too, have surfaced onto YouTube, and other internet sites. Oddly, the videos contradict the police. At first the police were not aware of security cameras, the police wanted the surveillance images or to erase the hard drive, but could not secure it, over the owner’s insistent refusal. The owners received a $372 ticket, and the confiscation of most of the plates.

Conversation on the priest’s camera:
policeman David Cari: "Sir, what're you doing? Is there a reason you have a camera on me?"
priest: "Yes."
police: "Why's that?"
priest: "I'm taking a video of what's going on here."
police: "Well, I'll tell you, what I'm going to do with that camera."
--end of recording

The priest pled not guilty on the 4th of March (there was not a police report until then) to creating a public disturbance and interfering with police. There is to be a trial on the 27th.

The police have ‘lawyered up’. Hugh Keefe says the video does not show what happened after the camera went off, and the priest is “creating controversy where none needed to be.”

“He refused two or three times and at that point Officer Cari approached him wanting to check out if it was a weapon. He wouldn't tell him, the officer went up to him and grabbed him and finally saw it was a camera.”

Now, of course, there are always two sides of the story: what actually happened and the official story. Certainly there are many who will support all armed authority, and there are people who believe catholic priests brandish guns, and are meddlesome dangers to the community, and the safety of police officers. Then there are the left wing troublemakers, who invent stories of racial and ethnic harassment. Where in the second amendment are people allowed to carry dangerous cameras?
____________________
Postscriptum: Father Manship appeared in court on the 26th of March. The state prosecutor admitted there was not evidence to prosecute. The judge dismissed the case. That day, parishioners petitioned the federal government to investigate the East Haven police for harassment of civil rights. Now, since the busheviks, presumably, are not running the Justice Department, perhaps some justice will come.

What have we seen in Minnesota?

Fascist stormtroopers patrolling the outside, while fascist adherents rant inside, but the fascist-in-chief is ignored during their worship and bacchanal. Are these fascists schizophrenic? They still believe in their scripted fascism, even when their leader (führer) has kept to the script and is known to be a failure. Einstein, and sometimes Franklin, is famously, though incorrectly, quoted in giving a definition of insanity as, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”*

Inside, they say the war is keeping America free, while police thugs trample the first amendment outside. When, anywhere in this land, one tries to publicly witness to peace, thereby, being against war; they are surely verbally abused by taunting, war approving, nationalists. These self-defined ‘patriots’, will tell them to leave America and go to France, or see if they could protest in China, or the middle east. The state and many americans do not respect the first amendment, they fear it.

Why is it that Republicans hate the Constitution, except for the second amendment? The demonstrators, and journalists and spectators, outside, believe in the Constitution, but did not, even, consider to attempt to exercise their second amendment rights. If even one did, they would have been slaughtered.

The armed stormtroopers, ah ... police, raided a rented hall, the friday before, with a secret warrant. The only violation they found was a fire code item. The US does, now, practice pre-emption. It is part of bush junior’s regimen. During the week of the convention, at least 800 were arrested. In that number, there were several photographers and journalists. Such individuals are of danger to the authorities and were dealt with accordingly.
_____________________
*Rita Mae Brown, Sudden Death, 1983.
noto bene: the photographer, Matt Rourke, of the photograph above, was one of the arrested.

Tayside police dog

To-day is the middlemost day of the year, as many days have passed, as our left to come this year. Not much, but a curious and trivial note. I had no particular thing I was planning to type. But, last night, because of the quickness information travels, I heard and saw, that, the cute advertisement above, had set off the mohammedan anger alarm.

Now, Tayside contains Dundee in Scotland, and Scotland within Britain. Dundee sits on the Firth of Tay. Historically, the town is known for the Jacobite, Bonnie Dundee, and for marmalade.

They employ hounds in their constabulary. They are promoting their german shepherd pup, Rebel, in public relations. A clever and pleasant action. He is available on their public computer site. One would think, this would be welcomed by the community. They had grade school (Saint Ninian’s, though in eastern Scotland, they do have many of the auld faith) children name the animal. He has appeared on placards and/or postcards informing the public of a new telephone.

It is proverbial that the anglais and, by extention, all britons really like dogs. Dogs and horses make marvelous good will ambassadors, and they, often, make the people around them better. Sounds as it would be a simple success, but, no! Besides, the usual catholics, protestants and non-believers, there are mohammedans. And some portion of them have made a stink, and here is the oddest part: the police apologised. Do you know how rare that is? Police, disgustingly often, do horrid things and make great errors, that are really travesties; and this often brasenly and without remorse. Yet, for this innocent thing, they are sorry.

Some maintain that dogs are grandly unclean. To be very simple: don’t harbor them. And don’t be a dictatorial, asinine prohibitionist for others, whom, do harbor them.


_______________________________________
The mediæval persians had other great poets than Omar Khayyam alone. One was Nizami *1141,†1203. Perhaps, the poem was based on a passage from al-Ghazali’s †1111, The Sayings of Jesus, where he translated aramaic into arabic.

The Eye Of Charity

One Evening Jesus lingered in market-place,
Teaching the people parables of truth and grace,
When in the square remote a crowd was seen to ride,
And stop with loathing gestures and abhorring cries.

Master and his meek disciples went to see
What cause this commotion and disgust could be,
And found a poor dead dog beside the gutter laid:
Revolting sight! at which each face its hate betrayed.

One held his nose, one shut his eyes, one turned away:
And all among themselves began aloud to say,
"Detested creature! he pollutes the earth and the air!"
"His eyes are blear!", "His ears are foul!", "His ribs are bare!"

"In his torn hide there's not a decent shoe-string left!"
"No doubt the execrable cur was hung for theft!"
Then Jesus spoke, and dropped on him this saving wreath,
"Even pearls are dark before the whiteness of his teeth!"

The pelting crowd grew silent and ashamed, like one
Rebuked by sight of wisdom higher than his own;
And one exclaimed, "No creature so accursed can be,
But some good thing in him a loving eye will see."

May Day

Avanti popolo, alla riscossa
Bandiera rossa, bandiera rossa
Avanti popolo, alla riscossa
Bandiera rossa trionferà

Bandiera rossa trionferà
Bandiera rossa trionferà
Bandiera rossa trionferà
Evviva la pace e libertà *

Many working agreements have similar language to “eight hours shall be the normal working day.” This has not always been true. Many martyrs were made for advocating that idea. The welshman Robert Owen proposed the slogan, Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest, in 1817. It had became a chief demand of labor. Ship carpenters in Boston had it in 1842, the building trades in New York City in 1872, federal employees, theoretically, in 1868, an extremely weak law in 1867 was passed in Illinois in1867 to that purpose. There were Eight Hour Leagues across the country.

The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, soon to be the A. F. of L., in 1884 pushed for an eight hour work day. A parade and strike would be organised for the 1st of May 1886 centered in Chicago, Illinois, but nationwide. The strike would last till that demand was met. The moneyed interests were alarmed. The newspapers were in league with the money. The police were also on board to crush such a thing. The establishment had their solidarity with all the power of the state and their own full coffers.

That first May Day parade in Chicago had 80,000. Others marched in Cincinnati, New York and elsewhere. At a demonstration and lockout at the McCormick Reaper†, on the 3rd, the police fired into the crowd and people were killed. The next day, the 4th of May, at Haymarket Square a bomb was thrown. A policeman was killed by the bomb. Other police were shot by police as they fired into the crowd. The crackdown by the state went full force in Chicago and nationwide. It ended with show trials and hangings. Worldwide protest was ignored. Men were hanged for rioting, who were, not present at the riot.

At an international labor conference, the Second Internationale in Paris, May Day was adopted as a day of commemoration. Beginning in 1890, the world recognised Labor Day as May 1. In the United States and Canada a day at the end of summer is marked, which began in New York City as an annual celebration in 1882. It is now not much more than a three day weekend.

We have the eight hour day, minimum wage and some other guarantees, because of Franklin Roosevelt and the heavily Democratic Congress of 1938 (Fair Labor Standards Act). It was one of the many programmes that came from the New Deal, that made life livable in this country; one of the things the moneyed interests and their lackeys in the Republican party have continually tried to strip from us. Unfortunately, we have members in union leadership, and in the ranks, that have given in to employers’ demands and requests that have weakened and betrayed that commitment. Too many men have died, had their heads cracked and bodies jailed so that men, women and children can have an eight hour day instead of a ten, eleven, twelve or sixteen. The May Day parade is a pure representation of the First Amendment.
____________________
* The original, though often and widely adapted, lyrics were written by Carlo Tuzzi, in 1908, as a workers’ anthem. It has been used as a marching song, particularly by anti-fascists, whom, sometimes, interposed a ribald insult to Mussolini.
†A strike for an eight hour day was held there 1 May 1867. McCormick also owned the Chicago Times paper. He was a very tight fisted robber baron, who cut wages and always wanted more gain. He had come to Chicago early, and became a partner with the city’s first mayor, Wm. Ogden, and his money. McCormick had the largest factory in town and it was the first to be rebuilt after the fire of ’71. The Chicago police, Pinkerton agency thugs, national guard and federal troops were engaged to control, kill and battle workers several times in the city in the 19th century. McCormick reaper became International Harvester in 1902.

noto bene: May Day had previously been a rustic celebration.

radioactive cats

Danny Westneat, in the Seattle Times, has recently shared with the world, a most illuminating tale: a federal border agent told a group of citizens of an incident, where, “government now has the ability to detect radiation in a cat inside a car going by at 70 miles per hour.” A motorist was stopped and had his vehicle searched. There was radiation in his car. The source was a cat, which had had undergone medical treatment, three days prior. Apparently, we can assume, after this was satisfactorily ascertained, he was then free to go. Fortunate he.

Radiation lingers. When the cat has left the vehicle, there still would be radiation. How sensitive was, or can be in the future, the police detecting equipment? By accident, what if the police personnel were to be both overzealous and given to harshness and rudeness [read brutality]? The possibilities of cascading mistakes could be horrendous. Washington state is a calm place, what if Joe Motorist and his feline companion were negotiating a road outside Baghdad? What if a human, previous occupant, of two hundred pounds more in weight than the cat, were to have such medical treatment? Would not his larger, radiation signature linger?

In that article, the relating officer, was depicted, as rational and experienced, yet, he too, was worried about certain aspects of the new police powers, and so too the writer. If paranoia is active in the powers of the state, alongside such technological sophistication, are not our civil rights and freedoms endangered? There are criminal bandits, and would be assassins, wanting to do harm, there are also governmental forces willing to do other types of harm, constantly and thoroughly, and argue that their actions protect us from the other dangers.

The odds, that I, will encounter Osama and his comrades, whom are hiding in a central asian cave, are infinitesimally small. The odds, that, I can avoid the surveillance of the police and the state are smaller still.

parma politics

Other than the marquee elections, which may be of national importance, there are many inferior elections that touch some individuals specifically, while 300 million residents are unaffected. Ohio has many elected judges. Judges are supposedly impartial. In reality, they are biased towards the state in criminal cases, and towards the moneyed interest in civil cases. Many judicial candidates use the prosecutor's office as a jumping board for a judgeship. The prosecution is, by definition, biased towards conviction. The moneyed interests can finance campaigns far more easily, than non-moneyed interests. The office is a difficult to achieve bailiwick for one primarily interested in justice alone or for one who is friendly to civil liberties and social and economic justice.

There is often, a very close relation amongst, executive, judicial, police and prosecutorial agencies. Functional peer pressure and group think exist and contrary patterns of thought and behavior are inhibited, discouraged or punished. Mistakes are not admitted. Leniency is a point that is attacked if, it is, apparent or suggested. Surely, there exists breaches of justice, where, the guilty gets away or gets away lightly. But, it is far rarer that unjust harshness is exposed and rebuked. I can, hardly remember a judge, at least locally, where he met a penalty of even mild approbation of being harsh.* It is considered a badge of merit, for a judge, to be judged ‘tough’. I cannot remember a judge being negatively viewed, in the contemporary, local, press, as a hanging judge or despot.

This past Friday, a Parma judge, Timothy Gilligan, appeared,on television videotape, demonstrably outraged that he could not punish an individual, for a felony, for spitting on an off duty policeman's private car. There was more to it than that, but the level of histrionics to suggest that a petty offense to a member of the public, whom happens to be a city policeman, is of great and serious magnitude is to suggest, amongst other things, that different sorts of law are applicable to individuals of different status and vocation.

Within the last two years in Parma, a few different incidents involving police have transpired. The mayor (Dean DePiero) agitated, heavily for increased funding, for additional police. A determined and aggressive, telephone, poll took place before last year's vote to push for the tax. Before that poll, in the supposed under policed suburb, on a Sunday morning, that was forecast to break a temperature record into the 60s, police gave out parking tickets, in front of residential homes, for snow ban parking violations, for an up to then dry December.

A television exposé had previously shown some police taking hours long coffee breaks in public coffee and donut shops. This on top of a department, that for years, was padding overtime and had supposedly ended that practice.

There was suppressed, until after that election and tax levy, the story of patrolman Mark McCombs. For an April fool's prank, he raped a drunken woman in his patrol car, behind a school, while his partner watched on 1 April 2007. A mistrial was declared 22 January.†
_________________________________
*Except, there was Judge Patricia Cleary, who in Cleveland, in 1998, kept a girl locked up, so that, she would not have her child aborted. Yuriko Kawaguchi was sentenced to six months, after pleading guilty to a forgery charge. In Ohio that was a felony. Judge Cleary was voted out by angry feminists. People often skip voting for some ballot spots, and an, organised minority can achieve their ends. By saving a life, she lost her job. So, kindness does not benefit a career.

†postsriptum: 25 April 2008 found not guilty, but found guilty of tampering with evidence, he destroyed the trophy pictures. Verdict came, virtually, at the same time as the murder trial in New York, which let off cops who fired fifty times at Sean Bell. The busheviks can rest easier; it is nearly impossible for malefactors in government to be held responsible in the United States. It is almost a victory to bring them to trial.

Police and the First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. — ratified 1791.


Department of the Interior. 31 January 2008. Point for the police.
Now, the police are not constitutional scholars, nor enthusiasts. Their tendency is to follow a certain teutonic ideal of, „verboten ist alles, was nicht ausdrücklich erlaubt ist“.* Some people want an Endangered Species Act listing for the polar bear. This man found out what the agents of the government think of the First Amendment. He tried quietly through humor to advance his argument. The police were not amused.

U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood ruled, on the same day, that the Ferndale† police are not permitted to ticket peace activists, who encourage drivers to toot toot, and such car drivers who do. Such police and civil action is a violation of law. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan had filed the lawsuit. The residents of Michigan, now have legal precedence, that a display of a sign, that reads, "Honk for Peace", is not a threat to public order. The police and city argued, creatively and duplicitously, that such aggravating behavior was a danger to public safety. Of course, since the war began, no accident happened there, not so in Iraq. — Point for the Constitution and the citizenry.
_________
*everything is forbidden, that is not explicitly permitted
†a suburb of Detroit Michigan

The police, the citizenry and the law

There is a lot of thankless and difficult travail in the routine of a law officer, whom works the ugly streets and neighborhoods of America. This has to take much anguish and stress in body, mind, soul and social and family life. Such men often view corrupt, degraded, wretched and horrible aspects of society and the people within that society.

Still a policeman is a member of the commonwealth. He is not outside humanity, but within. He is of the same blood and sinew as the rest of men. He is not more than or less than other folk. Yet, he transgresses, quite often, without limit. I have heard in the southern idiom, "... the law", in reference to the person and his office. This may be metaphorically, and unfortunately de facto, true; it is not de jure and intrinsically true.

There are some artistic creations of american popular art and theatre that are wonderful. In the black and white era of the cathodique cinema comedy, there were three programmes with three prominent lead actors ― Jackie, Lucy and Andy. Andy Griffith portrayed Andy Taylor, Andy of Mayberry. I believe he was and is unrecognised in his ability and sly, gentle cleverness. Shakespeare had Dogberry as a gendarme buffoon. Andy was iconic. The english bobby is recognised for not carrying a gun (he is armed with club) and people who have not been to England know and expect this. No one thinks of an american cop without his prop. Andy of Mayberry is an ideal, he is not the one you will meet at a traffic stop or on the street.

I try to speak circumspectively on this, police perform a necessary duty in society. There is much temptation in weakness of temperament and love of liberty and justice. That failure has the police act without constraint. A good and respective society does not allow this. The individual has to realise this, sometimes in advocacy and sometimes in self-protection.

The first amendment is our cloak of protection. It is not an armour of miraculous inviolability. We are legally guaranteed its domain, more so in theory than in reality. Also, law is to be reflexive, commutative, and distributive. Of course, when we open our eyes and lift our fingers to the wind, we see this is not so. We are required to mouth "liberty and justice for all", but honest and aware men know that is a fiction. It is the totalitarian party line.

There is an ancient joke, where the immigrant plaintively tells:

Yea, yea, free contree. Evryvone say free countree. I go vrk -- boss yell na me, I go na street -- polees yell na me, I go home -- vife yell na me. Yea, yea, free countree -- my a**.

The first part is the materialist, and here the capitalist system, that uses men and their labor as only means of production. The second, is my concern, the police as a demi-tsar that is used by government, and allowed by the government, to inflict its and his will on the citizenry. The policeman is also a citizen. What is for the one, must be for the other.

The written law recognises free speech and free assembly. Police, and this extends to the national guard, hired thugs, "called security", and other agents, have this wicked tendency not to so recognise. Why crossing the street can avail a dozen indictments. And beyond this, they often commit criminal acts, in their own right, having nothing to do with lawful exercise. And, further, the state, being the courts and the other two branches of government, are loathe to exercise their office to prohibit, prosecute and punish the errant officer of the law.

There are categories of falsity to persecute the citizenry: resisting arrest, interfering with a law officer, provoking a riot, unlawful assembly, failure to disperse and other creative charges. Then there are complete lies: assault and battery of an officer, and the entire canon of criminal behavior when NONE transpired. The state, without consideration, rubberstamps guilty as charged. The word of the cop is assumed as the word of God and non-assailable.

When there is a camera, permanent visual witness exists. The police and state make effective use of it. When an arrestee is shown the tape, he concedes and surrenders, far more often then not. But when the film shows the citizen wrongly used and the perpetrator wears the badge, the matter is different. When made public, the police and their defenders twist credibility beyond rationality in defense, while the common citizen had he Ciceronic tongue and Aristotelian logic still would not prevail his innocence when accused. The police are quite willing to have others under picture surveillance; they do not want pictures of themselves taken. The Rodney King and the Los Angeles Police batting instructors should be an obvious example of such. The light of justice throws the deeds of darkness to view. God's first recorded words were, "fiat lux".* People have the right to use a camera. If the camera and its user are taken, that is theft and kidnapping. People have the right to photograph and film police, buildings and everything else. The orwellian Patriot Act is non-constitutional in many of its protocols.

In travel, we often use automobiles. The police act as highwaymen. The stops are investigative expeditions. Being right is of little and, often, counterproductive defense. Prudent and preventative judgment suggests certain protective measures. Every possible light needs to be operating correctly. Again and again, the statement, whether accurate or no, is used, "Your ____light was out". Take this lead away from them. Another thing that provokes cops are bumper stickers. Tactfully, do not display your opinion, especially if it is considered "liberal" or "critical of the establishment", you have walls in your abode for that purpose, try not to make your residence a jail cell. The true proof of these stops being against legal propriety is not when one is cited or arrested, but when no action is taken, not even a warning is issued or spoken. That is an admission you were stopped, in order, to be stopped.

An allied area are sobriety checks. I have been stopped several times. Some cars are stopped and some are not. I am questioned to why I am on the road, where my travel began, where my residence is, where is my destination, have I been drinking ... You have the right to remain silent because everything can and will be used against you. Being non co-operative is perilous. There are half a dozen patrol cars, more cops, light stands, et cetera ... This is defended, applauded, sponsored and defensively justified by the government, the media, MADD and other jasagers. The whole process casts out a large net and comes up with a small catch and our civil liberties are trashed.

Another is the issuing of tickets for revenue gathering. This is another form of taxation, a taxation by extortion. There are certain municipalities that use this as a major source of income. The officers' of government livelihood are maintained by that income. People object to a bum begging a dollar, yet they are required to pay a bogus citation or a warrant for their arrest appears. The next traffic stop your license, et cetera are processed and you are arrested.
_________________________________________
*Genesis i. 3 dixitque Deus fiat lux et facta est lux
And God said: Be light made. And light was made. — drc
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. — kjv

walmart steel mill

Margaret Bourke-White. Otis Steel. 1928. Cleveland, O.
Today, just before nightfall, which this time of the year is late afternoon, I joined with some seventy people in a peaceful assembly to speak freely to Walmart, to ask them to treat their employees justly. The speakers in the crowd included a lutheran, and a baptist minister, and a communist high school student. The event was co-ördinated by an inter religious task force, a sales clerk local and national labor justice organization. The last speaker was an older, possibly retired, steelworker, who told the group what had been on the grounds before: Otis Steel Co., then Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., then LTV steel mill and dumping lagoon. The lagoon was part of the Cuyahoga river. A man was dressed up in full Santa Claus regalia, people held up placards and lit candles in cups. A couple tunes were sung with appropriate lyrics praying on the behalf of Walmart and their workers.

The assembly stood upon a grass strip next to a bus stop, with part of its throng facing the street, attracting some attention and honks from passing motorists. There was an outline of remaining snow piles along the edges and the air was windy with the temperature near 33°F.

A republican state representative was amongst the protesters. No media coverage was to be seen. This is not the sort of activity they cover. They had been down here covering the opening of different stores and the pre-opening waits for electronic consumer items, the day after Thanksgiving, and other shopping stories, but they have no interest in showing to any audience, any interference with commerce: for these outfits pay for advertising in their mediums and as Coolidge said, in his statement which defines fascism, "the business of America is business". Shopping center and store security and management huddled, at a distance from the group, towards the back of a huge parking lot. Two cops, with bullet proof vests and vice squad identification, joined that group and then, suddenly, four police cruisers came and parked ajumbo about this knot of co-ordinating apprehension.

A police peloton came forward and their spokesman announced that the assembly was to break up and disperse, they were free to go and demonstrate beyond the shopping center drive. A group organizer told him that the action was very near ending. The policeman held up six fingers and said you have five minutes. In a short time people went on their ways. The largest business in the United States was free and the forces of the state kept it so.

Don't tase me, bro'

An honest man must call a thing what it is. Coming up with a clever name to call something to distract from its reality is lying. Lying is intertwined inexorably with violence.* That device which is called a "taser" is an electroshock weapon.

As a wireman, I do electrical work. I have not met one wireman who likes to be electrocuted. They use other words: bit, caught, hit. In common parlance, people understand electrocuted to mean killed, but that is not necessary, it is to be shocked. A strong or long enough shock will kill.

Now, an electroshock weapon is advertised to mete out 50,000 volts. In America, domestic usage is 110-120 volts, in Europe, twice that. A lightning bolt can produce millions of volts.

Power emitted or consumed is the product of voltage (intensity) and current (amount of electron flow). They are inversely proportional. For the same power usage a higher voltage has less current.

Now, 120 will annoy you, and shake you up, but unless your wet and/or unable to extricate yourself -- you live. Now, 277 (another common voltage) will grab you and hold you, and your life is endangered. 480 volts will pick you up and throw you. Greater voltages, that are used, are quite deadly, there are many colorful and gruesome terms to use; simply you are on fire or incinerated. It's not me and my shadow waltzing down the avenue, your shadow is solo and only a penumbra of you is silhouetted on the concrete.

This electroshock weapon is either applied on you directly with two terminals or with two darts attached to wires shot from the weapon. A car battery of 12 volts has two terminals,any dyslexia concerning cars is never good. Two mini arrows attached to a car battery piercing your flesh is not a good thing.

Such devices make and are used as torture devices. If one encounters an excited, fearful or sadistic policeman, should he have such a weapon available? You are unlikely to meet Andy from Mayberry, who did not carry a gun and was fictional.

Because of cheap and available camera technology, incidents have been photographed. Police have cameras behind their windshields, in their holding rooms and booking rooms. Often when suspects are arrested and see themselves on video, they make no attempt to deny charges of guilt, but when police are caught, all sorts of denials, rationales, defenses and outright absurd idiocies are used.

Electroshock weapons are prone to misuse. There have been other such devices: the electric cattle prod and the electric chair.
__________
* Near the end of Solzhenitsyn's Nobel speech: Let us not forget that violence does not and cannot flourish by itself; it is inevitably intertwined with LYING. ...Whoever has once announced violence as his METHOD must inexorably choose lying as his PRINCIPLE. ...usually it demands of its victims only allegiance to the lie, only complicity in the lie.

postscript: Today 21 Dec '07, I heard in spanish language broadcast the more accurate term, pistola electrica.