And speaking of Tasers...

The University student in Florida who was Tasered for running over his time at a campus meeting where John Kerry was speaking has bowed to Authority, written apologies to the cops, the university and and the university president, and escaped jail for whatever charges the state of Florida was going to bring against him.

"I wrote those letters of apology sincerely. There was rules in place. I did not follow the rules and that’s my fault," said Andrew Meyer. "I love Big Brother." [Well, scratch the last sentence--that was Winston Smith, who finally got it right.]

Meanwhile, in other news:

What they do about a suspended licence in the US.



Women seem to attract this kind of officially-sanctioned sadism:





Don't fail to show ID to cops in a campus library:



Or get out of line, young (11 years old)



or old: here three cops Taser an unarmed senior citizen, 78 years of age:



And don't think holding a newborn baby will help you:



Or being in a wheelchair:



Here a man is Tasered for wearing a baseball cap:



And for using a skateboard:



And filming the cops doing their thing can be risky in itself:



Just more of what passes for law enforcement in the Land of the Free, not that police are slow to use their new toy right here at home, as at least one grieving mother knows all too well. The striking thing about many of these clips, though, is the lack of outrage on the part of so many of the commentators, their neutral tone. Torture has been normalized. You paying attention, Canadian Cynic and Red Tory? Good. Rock on.