News - Student Tasered For Questioning John Kerry

Bringing back strong memories of this incident, John Kerry has released a statement about the University of Florida student who was tasered for vigorously questioning Kerry during a speech at the university on Tuesday.

Police used excessive force on the unarmed 21-year-old man who was heard to yell, "Don't tase me, bro!"

Most of the audience sat still and watched as police tasered him and dragged him from the room. We would have thought liberal college students would have yelled or protested the use of excessive force the way students in the library at UCLA did when a student who'd forgotten his library card was tasered by campus po-po there.

We are in fact, very concerned that they did absolutely nothing. In fact, many members of the audience aplauded when the man was carried away by the police and were laughing as he was tasered. One woman in our posted video called the man "an idiot" - how sad to think that we're viewed as idiots when we try to change our world.

The guy was asking a lot of questions even heckling Kerry, but he was not violent and he was exercising his right to free speech - something that is often made a joke out of (like the guy at our school who wanted to post homemade porn on CCTV that was piped into patients at the local hospital,) but when freedom of speech regarding political opinion is violently repressed like this we freak and rightfully so.

John Kerry was heavily criticized on MSNBC's Tucker and elsewhere online today for his lack of outrage on the student's behalf and on the behalf of free speech. We aren't surprised - this is a man who has committed war crimes. Like a little taser action is going to bother him?

Kerry was heard to ask the officers to let him answer the student's question; we think totally knew how bad this was going to look for him.

The student has yet to release a statement.

Click here to watch the disturbing video of the incident. Six officers were on one guy. Amazing.

PS. Did you know John Kerry is from one of those dynasty families that are what's wrong with the world? Again, we're so naive but it was total news to us. "His first cousin Brice Lalonde, a future Socialist and Green Party leader in France...ran for president of France in 1981." We are so sick of familial nepotism. And not just in Hollywood and in politics - it's everywhere!

PPS. This article on Kerry in CounterPunch is amazing. We think it's a must read.

PPPS. The moral of so many of these lessons is 'Don't go to Florida.'

News - Spielberg May Quit Beijing Olympics

"Does Mr Spielberg really want to go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games?" wrote Mia Farrow in a letter to director, Steven Spielberg, who is currently in bed with the Chinese government over the production of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Them's fighting words and we love it!

Leni Riefenstahl was the "Nazi-backed filmmaker who chronicled the 1936 Olympics in Berlin."

The letter was published in March's issue of the Wall Street Journal and spurred the controversy surrounding the mega star director's collaboration with world superpower and human rights violator, China. Now, Spielberg has indicated that with China's ongoing financial support of Sudan and the providing of weapons that have been used in Darfur (where a genocide is happening right now) he may back out of their partnership.

But not yet. People continue to die while Mr. Spielberg takes the several coming weeks to make up his mind. We are reminded of a moment in a film about another genocide (Schindler's List) where a powerful man regretted not doing his all to help those in need.

This is a man who has preached to the world - through his film making - about right and wrong. We're calling hypocrite but he still has a chance to make this right. We're thinking that maybe, like many others, Mr. Spielberg only cares about causes where the people affected remind him of himself.

We're behind Ms. Farrow 100% on this one. What's it gonna be, Steve?

PS. Richard Gere has also called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, stemming from his support of Tibet and his criticism of the treatment of Tibetans under Chinese rule.