It just keeps getting better and better.

A 55-year-old grandfather and Sunday School teacher gets hit three times with a Taser. Why? He was accused of “public intoxication” and “resisting arrest.” (Can you be guilty of “public” intoxication in your own back yard?)

Why was he being arrested? The Prince William County (VA) police were called to his house by a neighbor complaining about a noisy party. The party? A baptism celebration for his twin godchildren. The police report claims he was drunken and uncooperative. The family claims he had given his ID to police when they hit him with the Taser and pushed him to the ground.

While he was on the ground, friends rushed to his aid. One of those friends – 25-year old Leticia Elias, described in media reports as the pregnant mother of the recently baptized boys – was also hit with a Taser, arrested, and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. She’s now being held while Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigates her immigration status, while the grandfather has been released on $2,500 bond.

What. The. FUCK!

You can read the story or just watch the video below:

[flvplayer http://www.noiselabs.com/blog/images/tasers.flv 400 300]

Has this been posted?

The infectious nature of Lolcats…

Since we’re posting Venn diagrams… this one came to mind. I’m aware that it may spark controversy, but how else can you represent it so clearly?

From the author: “The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are the only two sovereign states in this image. They are shown in red. Ireland and Great Britain are both islands and are shown in green. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are constituent countries of the United Kingdom and are shown in orange.”

Oh… and technically it’s really an Euler diagram because it shows relationships other than pure intersections.

This article came my way this week. It reminds me of antics I used to employ against the catholic church. Like the time a large group of us dressed up as doctors with gunshot wounds at a catholic parade in downtown Boston to counter the church’s anti-abortion stance. (There was a period about 10 years ago when doctors who provided abortion IN SAFE SETTINGS, LEGALLY, were getting shot, some killed, by radical anti-abortion folk.)

At that time, I also lived across the street from a hospital where one could obtain an abortion, should one choose or need, legally, on Thursday mornings. So every week, a group of tired and washed-up catholic freaks were out there with their disgusting posters of, theoretically, aborted fetuses and signs of damnation. Absurd response was a good way to get under the fanatics’ skin and a fun (for us) way to blow off steam. So the parade was 30,000+ catholics marching for anti-abortion vs. 30 of us doctors with gunshot wounds, clowning around to point out real problems and a very serious matter.

The clowns of Knoxville serve me with fond memories. I’m glad to see clowning around with serious matters lives on. Because, in the face of hyper-insanity (whether it comes in the form of racism, dogmatic/conservative religion and belief systems, or violent vigilantes, clowning around and dressing up the absurdity of self righteousness can be a great answer!

“Unfortunately for [VNN] the 100th ARA (Anti Racist Action) clown block came and handed them their asses by making them appear like the asses they were.”

Clowns at KKK rally

An article in today’s NYT details why the “puffers” have been canceled.

Personally, I’m glad to hear it.  I was screened with one once, and it was a strangely invasive experience.

Here’s the article in its  entirety:

An Airport Screening Program Is Killed
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 21, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is scrapping a post-Sept. 11, 2001, airport screening program because the machines did not operate as intended and cost too much to maintain.

The so-called puffer machines were deployed to airports in 2004 to screen randomly selected passengers for bombs after they cleared the standard metal detectors. The machines take 17 seconds to check a passenger and can analyze particles as small as one-billionth of a gram.

They also break down when exposed to dirt or humidity, theTransportation Security Administration said in a statement Thursday. Since 2005, maintaining the machines has cost the government more than $6 million.

Ninety-four of the machines were deployed to 37 airports in 2004, and the government had planned to deploy 113 more. Because of the performance problems, however, the government decided not to continue the rollout.

Not to buy in to the hysteria or anything, but I’ve heard a couple of reports that WHO, the World Health Organization, has raised its pandemic alert level, but no one explained exactly what the levels mean. Here’s their explanation: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html

Special bonus fact: People I know who work in epidemiology (e.g. Steve Goodreau) refer to WHO as “WHOm” when it is the object of a preposition.

The WHO influenza pandemic alert is currently at phase 4.

So, on the heels of the Iowa Supreme Court striking down Iowa’s ban on same-gender marriages, and Vermont’s activist legislators legislating from the Legislature to allow “teh gays” to marry in their socialist kingdom… things are really heating up in right-wing-nut-land.

Did you know that there’s an organization called the National Organization for Marriage, or NOM? (I did, but I’m a nerd.) They’re devoted to STOPPING “teh gays” from marrying. They have started a new campaign which they’re calling – and I am not making this up – 2M4M. In their cloistered little world, this means “Two Million For Marriage.” But when it comes to “teh gays”, “M4M” has a very particular meaning involving a person of the male persuasion seeking another person of the male persuasion to engage in the sorts of activities that made Sodom such a fun place to visit (especially in the summertime). Obviously, 2M4M is just double the pleasure (and double the fun!).

It’s just stunning. A supporter of “teh gays” has already registered the domain 2M4M.org. And if you search for the National Organization of Marriage by its self-chosen acronym NOM on teh Google, you get this:

(h/t: Joe.My.God.)

I was recently invited to learn how to hop a freight train out of Los Angeles with master hobo Bo Keely. I’ve mentioned Bo before: veterinarian, world traveler of over 100 countries, racquetball champion, writer, desert rat and man of infinite inspiration. I admit that the train hop was one of the most intense series of scary moments I’ve ever experienced, but it was also exhilarating and a chance to truly learn how to weave all five of my senses into a powerful antenna. Bo is over 60 years old and has been hopping trains since he was in his late 20s. He knows what he’s doing and I had a hard time keeping up with him although I’m more than 30 years younger. He posted our story on Daily Speculations.

Before our trip we spend some time with two other “executive hobos” in the desert. We hiked up to Panamint City and hung out with old miners in the ghost town of Ballarat.

Our crew in Panamint City:

The smelter stack built in the 1860s still stands:

George the gold miner in Ballarat:

Bo describing the hike up:

I’ve spent the last week sharing my life with Bo and I’ve been inspired to travel, live more healthfully and to open my mind to all the adventures this world has to offer us.