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More Taser death.

In the United States, more than 290 people have died since June 2001 after being struck by police Tasers, according to the human rights group Amnesty International. It said in October that only 25 of the 290 were armed, and none had firearms.

One wonders why cops need to use a Taser to bring down a suspect, when most of them didn’t even have weapons. Especially if you consider the usual Taser usage scene: 4 cops against 1 dude -> Obviously, it’s Taser time.

Once again to all ye police officers out there: The Taser should not be used just because you are in a bad mood, or too tired, or just not too good at your job (i.e. protecting innocent people).

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Technorati Tags: taser

I heard a funny announcement on the PA at London Heathrow.

Passenger [...], please return immediately to the Central Search and Security area!

I feel safer already.

In this case the passenger’s name was Abdul. I wonder if his middle-eastern name was causing him trouble again? Or was he himself the troublemaker? Or is it all just a big conspiracy misunderstanding…

Amusing nonetheless.

Ledare i Svenska Dagbladet som diskuterar Sveriges väg mot ett övervakningssamhälle.

Under året har dessutom en rad lagar trätt i kraft – och förslag lagts - som går i samma riktning: statsnyttan går före den personliga integriteten.

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This article about the security measures that we have to go through before boarding an aircraft caught my eye.

The heart of the article focuses on how we, humans, continue letting ourselves be subjugated by the government with ineffective and often humiliating security measures, yet protests to this new opression are few and far between. Our newfound right to freely travel far and wide is being put to the test, and the outlook is bleak.

In questioning the effectivity of today’s airport security, the article talks about how airport staff (who are generally contracted from outside companies) rarely undergo screening and have virtually unlimited access to aircraft (where they can plant nail clippers, toothpaste and shoes). Pilots and crew (who are subject to background checks and training) on the other hand, have to suffer the same humiliation as the passengers. It is hard to find the logic.

There is more, of course, so go read it. I especially enjoyed this paragraph:

consider for a moment the hypocrisy of T.S.A.’s confiscation policy. At every concourse checkpoint you’ll see a bin or barrel brimming with contraband containers taken from passengers for having exceeded the [liquid] volume limit. Now, the assumption has to be that the materials in those containers are potentially hazardous. If not, why were they seized in the first place? But if so, why are they dumped unceremoniously into the trash? They are not quarantined or handed over to the bomb squad; they are simply thrown away. The agency seems to be saying that it knows these things are harmless. But it’s going to steal them anyway, and either you accept it or you don’t fly.

Although the focus is on the TSA which is a US agency, the same can be said for most of the world’s airports. Mostly because their policy is dictacted by the fact that everyone wants to fly to the USA, and for that, they have to follow the USA’s rules.

Read it, and weep.

2008 is the year of ten fingers. Soon you will have to leave all your ten fingerprints at the US immigration, not just your two index fingers (not thumb as the article states).

Not only that, but the data is now stored by the FBI, and used in criminal investigations, not just for immigration purposes. So by going to the states, your fingerprints automatically mingle with those of murderers and thieves.

I think the worst part is that people don’t seem to be complaining or taking this seriously. I fear the future. And here I thought I could have a nice, relaxing day, instead the world is going to hell. I should stop reading the paper.

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Every year brings us closer to a surveillance society…

Some people say that they feel safer when they are being surveyed by the government rather then a private company. I feel differently. It’s much easier to hide from a company then from the state, and, a company can be influenced by money and shareholders.

Then there is the argument that you can use elections to remove bad governments, but a government is a government. They are all the same, they just follow the leash of the USEU and it doesn’t matter if they are blue or red. In the end, we’re the suckers, and the politicians just keep lining their pockets with cash, while your freedoms are being cast in the bin one by one.

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Women in Denmark are working hard to be permitted to bathe topless in public swimming pools. Several “topless actions” have already been undertaken and now the issue has reached the walls of city hall.

One has to wonder why women have to hide their breasts in the first place. As I understand it, women enjoy looking at [well trained] men’s chests in much the same way men do when it comes to women’s breasts.

Way to go danes! Link

This is an interesting article where researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine have debunked several common medical myths. I am especially fond of the one concerning mobile phones in hospitals.

Physicians understand that practicing good medicine requires the constant acquisition of new knowledge, though they often assume their existing medical beliefs do not need re-examination. These medical myths are a light hearted reminder that we can be wrong and need to question what other falsehoods we unwittingly propagate as we practice medicine. We generated a list of common medical or medicine related beliefs espoused by physicians and the general public, based on statements we had heard endorsed on multiple occasions and thought were true or might be true. We selected seven for critical review:

• People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day
• We use only 10% of our brains
• Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
• Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser
• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
• Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy
• Mobile phones create considerable electromagnetic interference in hospitals.

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A fascinating, perhaps somewhat obvious take on where evolution might take us… Link

It seems that there may as of yet be hope for the Swedish people. According to this DN article, the Swedish people seem to be aware of the overpricing and DRM restrictions on music that is available for purchase online.

It feels good to know that people are not as oblivious to these issues as I always assumed.

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