Full story here here and here

This incident occurred when Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student, refused to show ID when he was using a campus computer lab. When he did not immediately leave, the University Police were called. According to one article:

“Tabatabainejad was walking with his backpack toward the door when he was approached by two UCPD officers, one of whom grabbed the student’s arm.“

Thats right, the cops attacked him as he was attempting to leave the premises. When Tabatabainejad told them to let go of him to cops tased him. Tabatabainejad then repeatedly shouted, “I’m not fighting you” and “I said I would leave”, but yet they kept on tasing. The police also told him, on more than one occasion, that if he did not stand up they would tase him again. And they did. Multiple times. If that is not the definition of assault and police brutality then I do not know what is.

The Daily Bruin also had this to say:

according to a study published in the Lancet Medical Journal in 2001, a charge of three to five seconds can result in immobilization for five to 15 minutes, which would mean that Tabatabainejad could have been physically unable to stand when the officers demanded that he do so.

The cops continued to demand that Tabatabainejad stand up when it is very likely that they knew it was not possible. These officers are put through training. They know how powerful these things are yet they continued to demand that Tabatabainejad stand up after tasing him for approximately 3-5 seconds. It seems like these sadistic bastards just wanted to keep tasing to make an example out of him. They wanted to put their power on display.

Towards the end of the video you can also hear a student asking the police for their badge numbers. At this point the officer threatened the student that he would tase him too. This cop is clearly threatening an innocent bystander and refusing to divulge his badge number. What has this country become? Since when can these overzealous, authoritarian assholes threaten witnesses?

I would also like to know where the student outcry is. At one point in this countries long and forgotten history these students would have stood up for the rights of their fellow student. I can see that this is not the case anymore. This just goes to show how strong of a hold the police-state has on us. When the youth of the country does not stand up for their rights, I am afraid that no one will.Towards the end of the video you can also hear a student asking the police for their badge numbers. At this point the officer threatened the student that he would tase him too. This cop is clearly threatening an innocent bystander and refusing to divulge his badge number. What has this country become? Since when can these overzealous, authoritarian assholes threaten witnesses?

This grotesque abuse of authority is a crystal clear example of what happens when you give power hungry fools authority over others. Power corrupts and that will always be the case. I just hope that every single person involved in this blatant disregard for civil liberties will be prosecuted and put in jail for assault. I doubt it will happen, but I am still free to dream.

The Libertarian Party. Look it up in the dictionary and you will see the word ‘failure’. Not a single Libertarian was elected to the House or Senate during this midterm election. A self-proclaimed Socialist was elected to the Senate in Vermont and the Libertarians can not even get someone into the House. I think this is a very strong sign of the direction this country is headed.

I was looking through the LP website and they did win a few campaigns. They got a couple commissioners in various places and a state house seat in Alaska. The candidates they hyped the most during the campaign process managed to obtain 4 or 5 percent of the votes. Michael Badnarik, for example, only received 4.3%. He had $400,000 worth of campaign funding, a well-known name amongst Libertarians and a lot of support. He even had a couple of billboards in his district. Despite all of this, he could not get into double digit percentages.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and it comes in the form of a beacon of liberty shining from the free state of New Hampshire. A few early movers have won state house seats in New Hampshire with a very interesting strategy. In Manchester New Hampshire a man ran as a Democrat and won a seat in the state house. Manchester is one of the largest cities in New Hampshire and he still managed to win the seat. He was not the only one either. A few other free state project members also won positions in the New Hampshire government guised in one of the two main parties. Maybe this is the real way to work inside the system. Either way, the free state project is the only way that I can see to beat the system.

Yesterday, while I was studying for round two of my exams, I was listening to my iTunes library on shuffle. To my surprise, the Gary Jules remake of ‘Mad World‘ started playing. About an hour or so earlier, I finished listening to a Free Talk Live podcast. Just as the first chorus of ‘Mad World‘ began, a thought occurred to me. Some of the issues addressed in that particular podcast meshed very well with the tone and meaning of the song that I was currently listening to. So, I decided to make this mix. Its not put together very well, Its just quotes from the episode dubbed over the song, but I think it strikes a very emotional chord. The parts quoted are actually from an on-air reading of the article ‘In Case I Disappear‘ by William Rivers Pitt. It addresses the term ‘enemy combatant’ and the recent bill passed by congress to define it. Take a minute or two and listen. If you have even more time, read the article. I think you might just learn something.

Here is the link to the song in case you missed it the first time:
http://www.filelodge.com/files/room48/1403115/ftlmadworld.mp3