Thomas Jefferson Comments on Andrew Meyer’s arrest from the grave:

“When the government fears the people there is LIBERTY;
when the people fear the government there is TYRANNY.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Click here to see the Youtube video of University of Florida student Journalist, Andrew Meyer, being handcuffed and tasered for asking a question of US Senator John Kerry after a structured Q and A session in Gainesville, FL last week.

Only Privately held copy of Magna Carta to be auctioned off in New York.

UK paper, The Independent, reports today that the only privately held original copy of the Magna Carta, dated to 1297, is to be auctioned in New York this December. Auction experts conservatively estimate the document will sell for at least 15 Million British Pounds. –That’s $30,268,481.9700 US Dollars. (over 30 million dollars.), by the 26 Sep. 2007 exchange rate.

The article points out that 1297 is the year that the final versions of King John’s ground breaking charter were ratified and that all but one of the other 16 surviving original versions of the manuscript are held by public trusts in England -with one original copy also existing in Australia.

“Magna Carta” is latin for “Great Charter,” it is also known as “Magna Carta Libertatum,” “Great Charter of Freedoms,” because, as Wikipedia puts it, it is commonly regarded as having had,”…the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today. Magna Carta influenced many common law and other documents, such as the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and is considered one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy.”

Military Families Speak Out in response to new Army report claiming soldier suicide rate is highest in last 26 years.

‘New American’ reported this week concerning the newly released 2006 Army Suicide Event Report which acknowledged that Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in twenty-six years. According to the report: “There was a significant relationship between suicide attempts and the number of days deployed.”

Rod Powers, About.com’s guide to the U.S. military, shared the following details of the report:

“The 165-page 2006 Army Suicide Event Report lists 99 deaths by suicide, with 27 of the deaths occurring in Iraq and three in Afghanistan. There were also 948 of what the report terms “serious attempts at suicide.” While the vast majority of the “completed suicides” in 2006 involved males, 10 of the victims were females, the report said. Seventy percent of the Soldiers were under 25, 98 percent were enlisted and 91 percent were from the regular Army. And while the suicide methods included drug overdoses, strangulation and poisoning, the vast majority – 71 percent – involved firearms.”

Military Families Speak Out Co-founder, Nancy Lessin, had this to say in response to the Army’s suicide report:

“It’s no coincidence that troops who are repeatedly deployed to a combat zone in a war that cannot be won and never should have started, are traumatized by the experience.” She added, “This report only shows the tip of the iceberg, as it does not cover those who took their own lives after leaving active duty service. Until the war in Iraq is brought to an end, we think this tragic reality will only become worse.”

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of 3,600 families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones in the military.

Journalist Andrew Meyer Tasered and Cuffed for asking a question in America?

University of Florida student, Andrew Meyer, is the latest Youtube insta-celeb.

Video of him being restrained and telling a police officer, “don’t tase me bro!” before screaming in pain after a Taser shock, has been viewed over 400,000 times already.

Mr. Meyer was handcuffed and tasered after asking Senator John Kerry some questions during a structured Q and A session following Kerry’s speech in Gainesville this week.

Wire Services report that Senator Kerry released a statement about the event on Tuesday, saying:

“In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way.” Kerry said. “I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted.” See Video by pressing play here:

I think Mr. Kerry was understandably embarased by the police officers’ use of excessive force at his event and I would hope most Americans would agree that what happened should never happen to a journalist in the United States.

I could be wrong, but I can’t believe that there is anything really illegal about a journalist asking hard questions (Click to hear Dan Rather’s view concerning the need for “spine transplants” in American Journalism.), or being a jerk , or even swearing during an interview question. If you know of some precidents that support these officers (click here to see one!) actions please send them my way, thanks. It will be interesting to hear why these officers thought they were doing the right thing. (ever heard of “The First Amendment?”)

The officers involved have been placed on paid suspension while an investigation is carried out.

Patriots and Belichik fined. lose draft picks for cheating.

NFL Commissioner, Roger Goddell finally handed down the punishment for the New England Patriot’s cheating against the Jets last Sunday. The New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick were fined a total of $750,000 and the team might lose a first-round draft pick for spying on New York Jets coaches during a game. Good for Mr. Goddell, he has once again done the right thing. Refreshing….does this taint the Patriot dynasty? They probably woudn’t have won a single super bowl were it not for stealing signs…or at least that’s what I heard. 🙂 …but then again, Keyshawn Johnson said that, although the league rules specifically banned video taping signs (as described here), he considers what was done “advanced scouting” that doesn’t give them an edge over any other team, and is not really cheating.

When you think about Keyshawn said, I want you to also consider this point made by an e-mailer to Colin Cowherd today: It is “legal” to count cards in your head at a blackjack tabel in Vegas, but as soon as you introduce any sort of video equipment and outside analysis in your counting, you are immediately banned from the casino….interesting point….good job Roger. 🙂

US B-52 “mistakenly” flies 6 live nuclear warheads over central US!!!!

I could not believe this story when I read it today.

….UNBELIEVABLE, –COULD NOT BELIEVE IT WHEN I READ IT, SIMPLY Unacceptable;

In a story first reported by Military Times newspapers, at ArmyTimes.com, and then later at The Washington Post, government officials have confirmed that a crew of US service men and women mistakenly flew 6 nuclear war heads, mounted on cruise missles beneath a “Stratofortress Bomber” from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007….

Absolutely unacceptable. No excuse. Not good enough. Embarasing.

What’s worse is, CNN reports that, according to retired US Air Force major General Don Sheppard, “the United States had agreed in a Cold War-era treaty not to fly nuclear weapons. “…”It appears that what happened was this treaty agreement was violated,”

The scary world just keeps getting scarier, maybe Pentagon Press Secretary, Geoff Morrell could tell us why today.

Bento Boy Here.

America, meet the Bento Box. –“Waste Less, Spend Less, Eat Well!” –That is the slogan for ‘Laptoplunches: Bentoware for Everywhere,’ where DW recently ordered a “laptop bento”, which I now covet.

When I first saw it I laughed and thought, “that is tiny, what kind of a lunch could you even get in there. (Click here to see 100 pics of what people are packing)” But then I watched over several days as she continued to pack marvelous creations of artistic and culinary wonderment day after day and began to grow jealous. She was eating healthier and having fun doing it.

Not to mention, it allowed her to avoid generating unnecessary plastic and paper baggie waste everyday this week.

And the truth is, it really controls your portions and helps you eat healthier foods during your workday by giving you an alternative to “just grabbing a bag of chips” or convenient processed foods and fast food.

The sad truth is, I have weighed 165lbs. for the past 10 years and suddenly I am over 180lbs. for the first time in my life, and I know I feel better when I eat better, so why not make the effort?

….So, the bento era has begun……thinner me, here I come!