Over the talk show the other day a discussion was going on about democracy and how wonderful it is, when a caller called claiming to have visited 2 dozen countries and how it was only Judea Christian nations that were capable of democracy.
I find that comment to be blinding stupid. Here is a list of non-Judea non-Christian countries :
- India
- Turkey
- South Korea
- Japan
- Taiwan
- South Africa
While they may not be perfect, democracy works in those coutries. Another example of imperfect democracy? United States of America.
In my book tasering is one of the worst tools given to the authorities, especially the police. Sure it is effective in controlling unruly and potentially dangerous behaviour but the exponential abuse of this tool renders it ineffective. I mean we have had incidents where people have died after being tasered by trigger happy police who respond by saying tasering was necessary for the their and otherès safety. I mean why call it “non-lethal” when one – third of tasered persons have required medical attention? Or does non-lethal now mean that the person did not die? In that case what about this :
Robert Dziekanski
Robert Knipstrom
Michael Langan
Quilem Registre
And then you have incidents like this :
Parents of a 16-year-old boy in intensive care with a broken back want to know why police Tasered their son 19 times rather than calling an ambulance for help.
Citizens noticed Branson, Mo., teenager Mace Hutchinson walking alongside the road and, fearing for his safety, called 9-1-1.
“We called the police. My wife was afraid he was going to get ran over or hit,” said witness Doug Messersmith. “He looked a little agitated but, other than that, he didn’t look to be falling down drunk or anything like that.”
When police arrived, they found Hutchinson under an overpass on U.S. 65 Saturday morning, Springfield’s KY3 News reported. The boy had fallen 30 feet off the overpass and was lying on the shoulder.
When the boy didn’t respond to police, they Tasered him, repeatedly.
“I’m not an officer, but I don’t see the reason for Tasering somebody lying there with a broken back. I don’t consider that a threat,” his aunt Samantha said.
Hutchinson was later admitted to the hospital, where he was put under intensive care for his injuries and is listed in fair condition. His family believes police added to the trauma after he fell from the overpass.
“According to the doctors, all injuries are consistent with a fall,” Samantha said.
I have the utmost respect for the police but incidents like this just make me wonder if power actually makes the authority figure trigger happy?
Wow!!
Right from the word go these guys just rocked. The concert started at 9:10pm and they did not let up until 10:45pm. The music was awesome, the showmanship by Chris Martin and Will Champion was exceptional and the way they engaged the crowd was captivating. The quietest of the four was Berryman, the bass player. The liveliest was, according to me, the drummer Champion. Probably because he was really into the concert.
One thing I noted was that they really attempt to connect with the fan on personal levels. From performing a couple of songs (acoustic, of course) in the nose bleed section to commenting on a person s camera (“Hey! I have that camera. Isn t it great?”). I always have respect for musicians who make the whole show somehow about the audience and not about themselves.
On the whole, I highly recommend their concert and will probably go see them again.
