Here is a little comedy to lighten the mood a little… I thought, why keep all the laughs to myself? As we know, President Bush’s reign is soon to be over but the after affects of this administrations’ policies will felt around the globe for a long time after. I have also posted an interesting debate from MSNBC on the argument that George W. Bush is an idiot. Watch and decide for yourself (if you haven’t already!).
“Common sense is both rare and a lot more important for successful leadership than intelligence”
~ Voltaire

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Last week Philadelphia Police were on the hunt for car-jacking suspect, 30-year-old Thomas Jones and his two accomplices. The three triple shooting suspects were pulled over, dragged out of the car and then beaten by twelve Philadelphia police officers during a traffic stop. The police assault was caught on film by the local news helicopter. No weapons were found in the vehicle and five of the police officers were later removed from street duty. Mmm. Seems like the odds were really fair on this one, huh? I read a relevant comment, that sums it up pretty nicely…

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A friend emailed me the link to this video, which depicts an incident that went down between some lions, crocodiles and wildebeests. It’s an interesting moment of conflict, and one can certainly watch it simply to observe the behavior of the animals, though, since my thoughts so often turn to politics, I was left thinking about Nature as a metaphor. Starting in the mid-1800s, those in favor of laissez-faire economics used Nature as a metaphor to explain the benefits of competiton. Herber Spencer came up with the phrase “survival of the fittest” to suggest a world in which progress resulted from the relentless struggle of all against all. The metaphor rested on an understanding of Nature as a place in which animals struggled against one another - alone, as individuals, without any kind of solidarity. But what happens to the metaphor if Nature is not like that? What if Nature is, in fact, full of solidarity? What if the conflict is tribe versus tribe, rather than individual versus individual? How does the metaphor change?

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Shark fin soup? Sushi anyone? Maybe a little Whale?
We have all heard that the world’s fish populations are rapidly declining but what does that really mean? Who is over fishing? What are they fishing for? How do they get away with it if it is supposed to be illegal? How severe will the ecological impact be for humans if fish populations continue to decline? Why isn’t there an International Open Water Police keeping these criminals out of shipping vessels and out of the seas? It is obvious that we need nations to sit down and agree to a set of International Open Water Fishing laws but that is only the first step. Once laws are in place, who will stand up and face the ruthless organizations that fish illegally? I don’t think they will give up a multi billion dollar income very easily.

South Eastern Australia has been devastated for the past five years with drought. Farmers are fighting to stay afloat. Australia has often faced drought, but this time it seems longer and more severe than in the past. Many blame climate change and global warming. It is certain that more government regulation on the international stage is needed to deal with the environmental threats the world now faces. Here are two outlooks from two different farmers…

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In this nasty tale a Stark County woman, Hope Stephie, calls 911 to alert police of an attack on her second cousin. When the police arrive there is a case of mis-identity and Hope is taken back to the Police Department for questioning. Once in custody of Stark County police, Hope is handcuffed to the floor, forcibly strip searched (with men and women present) and then left naked for 6 hours in the cell. This is a disturbing video clip.

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A Shreveport Louisiana woman, Angie Garbareno, is hauled to the Shreveport police station after a car wreck for suspicion of DWI. Her time in police custody is recorded by a video camera… at least until Officer Willis detaining her turns it off. When the camera resumes recording, the woman is lying in a pool of blood. Garbareno suffered a broken nose, broken teeth, a severe cut on her forehead and bruises on her arms and shoulders. A Police Department spokesman said Garbareno fell down the stairs. Officer Willis was fired shortly after the incident. He was not charged with any crime.

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How long can you use a taser on a human before they expire? Last year at Vancouver International Airport a man in his forties was tasered for acting in an unusual manner. He was waiting for his luggage at 1:30 am and was described as sweaty, screaming (apparently he had a Eastern European accent), throwing chairs around and grabbing a computer off a desk, obviously very dangerous behavior (side note: I can’t tell you how many times I have fantasized about doing these very actions whilst waiting at the luggage carousel). This behavior was dangerous enough to warrant him being tasered by police… four minutes later the man was dead. Go Team!

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In my search for videos that’ll make you squirm I have come across a plethora of video posts on the interactions of skater kids and the police. Many skaters film their skate sessions in order to know what tricks they need to work on so cameras are always on hand ready to shoot any action. I was shocked by how these 13 year olds were treated by the police when they were accused of breaking the law.

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A police officer in South Carolina pursues a speeding vehicle for 8 miles. The driver claimed she was not sure that the pursuing car was an officer so she kept driving until she found a more populated area to stop. An excellent example of excessive force.

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Moveon.org… is running a competition for 30 second video ads for Obama. My friend Johnny St. Ours has an entry in the competition:

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We’re going to start a section of this site that posts videos. Mostly these will be new videos that focus on civil rights abuses or raise questions about the need (or lack of need) for government regulation. To start this section, we are posting two videos that you’ve probably already seen. These were two videos that got a great deal of attention during the last year. One is of a student being tazered for asking John Kerry a question, and the other is of sick cows at a meat packing plant.

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