UCLA Taser Victim Files Suit

mostafa tabatabainejad ucla taser incidentMostafa Tabatabainejad, the 23-year-old UCLA senior who was tasered repeatedly after he refused to show his campus ID at Powell library, filed a federal lawsuit today.

Tabatabainejad alleges the campus officers used excessive force, and that they violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Tabatabainejad said he “felt utterly humiliated in front of my fellow students at the library that night and terrified because I knew something horrible was happening to me.’

“We need campus officers to protect us, but we need individuals who perform those tasks with sensitivity, understanding they work on a university campus and are dealing with students,’ he said.

Condi Speaks of Dignified Capital Punishment?!?

Sec. State Condoleezza Rice’s voice trembled as she was inclined to sort-of apologize for the lack of “dignity given to the accused” at a news conference in Egypt today. Perhaps the shakiness of her comment can be pinned to its sickening irony.

Saddam Hussein and two of his aides were executed by the Iraqi government within weeks of being sentenced to death for the killing of 148 civilians in the Iraqi city Dujail. Saddam was hanged a mere 56 days after his sentencing — so quick, in fact, that it necessitated the dropping of a separate case charging Hussein with the murders of some 100,000 Kurds.

The average length of stay on U.S. death is up to 12.86 years for current inmates (as of Oct, 2006). Capital punishment is officially sanctioned in 38 of the 50 states, although court appointed doctors are consistently questioning the ethics.

Last month in Florida, it took Angel Diaz 34 minutes to die in a botched execution that left him talking and gasping for air for a good 11 minutes. The last execution in California was that of 76-year-old Clarence Ray Allen, a blind, wheelchair-bound man who spent 26 years on death row.

So what’s this about “dignity” Ms. Rice?

Wire reports fail to adequately reflect Rice’s halting and uncomfortable statement to Middle East diplomats in Egypt. So I’ve…um…. posted…the…uh… audio… below.

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Nat’l Conference for Media Reform w/ Bill Moyers Video

More than 3,000 people came together for NCMR2007 in Memphis this weekend and though I wasn’t able to attend, I would like to channel the messages and motivation expressed at the conference. The Free Press Action Center, which organized the event, is hosting some video and audio of all sessions on its conference page. More on the conference blog

Additionally, they’ve released calls for action regarding stopping big media, saving the internet, and promoting media reform and justice.

Part two of the above video of Bill Moyers‘ opening plenary is available here.

More from Nieman Watchdog, BuzzMachine, Memphis Commercial Appeal, SavetheInternet. Photos here and here.

Mark at News Corpse provided a brief summary:

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John Gilmore’s Airport ID SCotUS Challenge Fails

Thus ends — onen would think — Gilmore’s valiant effort to uncover a secret law. Read the article:

The Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a challenge to the federal government’s policy of requiring airline passengers to show identification before they board flights, spurning arguments that the well-known but unpublished policy would lead to more secret laws.

My interviews with Gilmore are here and here.