2009 is an off-year for elections. However, we want to encourage voters in California, New Jersey, New York and Virginia to take care of business on congressional and state races. The rest of us will need to surprise folks with high turn-out in our local elections for school boards, city councils and other local initiatives.
Bloggers all over the world are continuing a tradition from last year by participating in the 2nd annual Day of Blogging for Justice against the rising pre-trial electrocutions by police officers against Black children, women and men.
Did you know that 16 Americans have died so far in 2009 ... another 72 North Americans died in 2008 ... all from being tasered with a minimum of 50,000 volts of electricity from the police. [SOURCE]
To put it bluntly ... this shyt needs to stop! It is unacceptable for us to turn a blind eye to this growing trend of taser torture in America.
"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are non-lethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident."
In Miami, FL the police used a taser gun on a 6-year old boy at his school. In Cincinnati, OH the law says that a youngster can be shot with 50,000 volts of electricity from a taser gun. Efforts to raise the minimum age for this police action failed.
I've shared other examples on my blog in the past:
Valreca Redden (Trotwood OH) - pregnant Black woman tased by Officer Michael Wilmer when she went to police department for help.
Eugene Snelling (Austin TX) - tased by Officer Thomas O'Connor driving with his mother on Thanksgiving Day.
Donnell Williams (Wichita KS) - deaf Blackman tased in his own home.
Major Lemon (Madison WI) - Blackman tased while holiday shopping at the local mall.
Xavier Jones (Coral Gables FL) - Tasers deployed by two police officers killed this Blackman.
Darryl Turner (Charlotte NC) - unarmed 17-year old Black youth killed when Officer Jerry Dawson decided to fire at him with a taser gun.
James Garland (Miami FL) - unarmed and naked 41-year old Blackman killed by police taser gun while disoriented in the street.
Baron Pikes (Winnfield LA) - Police officer Scott Nugent indicted for murder because he tasered a handcuffed 21-year old Blackman to death.
Terrance Kennedy (Dallas NC) - Police killed another Blackman in North Carolina with their taser guns.
Marcus Moore (Freeport IL) - unarmed 40-year old Blackman killed by police with their taser guns.
Robert Mitchell (Warren MI) - unarmed 16-year old Black youth killed police taser guns.
Gary Decker (Tucson AZ) - unarmed 50-year old naked man killed by police taser guns while in his own hotel room.
Michael Jacobs (Ft. Worth TX) - unarmed, mentally impaired 24-year old Blackman killed by police taser guns on his own front yard in front of his parents.
The successes aren't the problem - the failures are.
Today is a Day for Blogging Justice so that we can bring as much attention as possible to this issue. I am not asking for elimination of all tasers by the police. I simply want:
Every police officer to remind themselves of the other levels of force that can be used before they pull out the taser.
Taser deaths to be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight. Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves.
This is the breakdown of the electoral college map according to recent polls. You can go to Real Clear Politics to create your own interactive map. Each candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to become President of the United States. In battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and Florida; the polls are changing daily. These three states may hold the key to the election. It's fun to play with the map to see what states are important to each candidate in order to win the election.
Again, as stated in yesterday’s post: If you’re not familiar with how voting works, you cannot just show up on electionday. You first have to register so that it can be confirmed that you are an eligible voter. If you have not registered by the registration deadline, you will not be able to vote in the upcoming elections.
From the ones I am aware of, Tennessee and Pennsylvania appear to have the earliest voter registration deadlines: October 6th.
If you’re not familiar with how voting works, you cannot just show up on electionday. You first have to register so that it can be confirmed that you are an eligible voter. If you have not registered by the registration deadline, you will not be able to vote in the upcoming elections.
In Pennsylvania, the deadline to register to vote is 30 days prior to each election. Applications received after that date will be processed for the next primary, special, municipal or general election. To participate in the 2008 Presidential General Election, register by October 6, 2008.
Make sure you’re registered in time for the next election. Confirm your registration.
If you live in Nashville you can come out to our "Voter Registration and Felon Rights Restoration". The info in the link is for the event we did on Sept 6th, but the one we'll be doing this Saturday is the same time, same place, same thing; just a different date (September 20th)
Another issue that most people are not familiar with; if you haven’t voted in the last two elections you will be purged from the voting rolls. You need to make sure that you are still registered even if you have previously registered. In Tennessee you can check your status here
Also, if you've moved you'll want to be sure that your current address matches up with your voting registrations; less you be caught in the same position as South Carolina’s Governor on election day:
Brothers and sisters ... TIME IS GETTING SHORT for you to register to vote in the November 2008 election! Some registration deadlines are just a few weeks away. Please encourage people to visit the new VOTE FOR CHANGE website.
At this site people will be able to find out if they are registered to vote; get registered to vote; apply to vote absentee; plus find early vote locations.
Registering someone can be a pretty quick and simple process. It literally takes about two minutes to get a registration form completed. If, you’re going to try to register voters, be sure to find out registration requirements for your area and also please remind people about the IMPORTANCE OF BRINGING PROPER I.D. WITH A CORRECT ADDRESS ON VOTING DAY.
Below is the link for each state's Voter Registration Site with information on the requirements to get registered. Also, with so much voter "trickery" many of these sites allow you to check to ensure that you are still registered and to check your polling place.
e local mall.
