Think on These Things

Via breibart.tv, a man in a Vancouver airport was tazed to death after being held in a security checkpoint for almost ten hours. As you’ll see in the video report, the man is agitated and begins throwing objects, but once the police arrive the man abruptly stops throwing things. The man does not take any aggressive action toward the  police, yet they taze him anyway. The police continue to taze the man even after he has fallen to the ground screaming.

I’m going to follow this story, I’d like to see how these police officers are punished. Most likely they will not be punished very harshly if at all. I don’t think police nor government authorities realize that tazers are not safe “non-lethal” weapons. It’s a shame a man had to die for it, but hopefully the incident will force them to realize this.The police officers, from what can been see in this video, had no reason to use such excessive force on this man.

This goes beyond excessive force, what happened in that airport was plain murder.

If I have to, I’ll go alone, but damn I’d sure like someone to experience it with me. After seeing many travel blogs here on wordpress, I can’t stand thinking that I am not doing the same thing.

I have decided to pursue obtaining citizenship from Portugal, therefore hopefully becoming a dual citizen of the United States and Portugal. I am a bit excited by this, because there are some great benefits.

If I obtain a Portuguese citizenship, I would be able to vote in political elections, run for office (not likely), obtain a Portuguese passport, and wouldn’t get deported (wee!). There are more benefits, thanks to the recent unionization of Europe. By becoming a Portuguese citizen, I will also be able to enjoy the rights provided by the European union, including the ability to live, work, or retaire in any member state of the union, for an unlimited period. Which means if I ever get a bit of money my way, I might be able to have a summer home anywhere in Europe in the future.

Of course there are a few reservations I have. I wonder if obtaining a Portuguese citizenship might mean I have to pay some taxes to Portugal, or participate in mandatory military service. I don’t think it’s likely that either of these things will happen. My father has dual citizenship and does not pay any taxes to the Portuguese government, and I believe Portugal has a voluntary military.

The Men Who Stare at Goats. A documentary by an English filmmaker, on the topic of some nutty people in the government and military. Pretty odd, hilarious, and mildly disturbing.