It's the system that killed you, not the taser

Today I'm reading the New York Times, an article titled "In Japan, New Jobless May Lack Safety Net." It's about the approximately 131,000 layoffs that have been announced since October, from Canon and others, where employees often earned about $3,000 below the poverty line. "To make ends meet, even when employed, Mr. Hirano said he usually cooked a small stew of cabbages and carrots every night in the tiny kitchen in the corner of his one-room apartment."

Japan's social safety net is simply unprepared to deal with the 34.5 percent of Japan's 55.3 million workers who are 'nonregular employees,' sent by staffing agencies or hired on short term contracts with lower pay, fewer benefits, and no legal protections against layoffs. "'We did our best, so Canon should have taken care of us, said one 32 year-old laid-off worker who was so ashamed of his situation that he asked that only his family name, Murakami, be used. 'That is the Japanese way. But this isn't Japan anymore.'"

Yesterday I listened to 'The Hidden News' on CFUV radio and heard host Medhi Najari talking with (well, listening to) a local police officer who swears up and down that tasers are not killing people. All the documented reports, he claims, show that those who've died after being tasered are often malnourished, in poor physical condition, perhaps addicted to some substance.

The lesson: if you're poor, or old, or infirm, and you get angry because you're suddenly unemployed while greedy corporate executives give themselves bonuses, watch out for the taser toting police. They won't kill you, but they will push you over the edge.

It reminds me of the Einsatzgruppen (?) in WWII. They travelled around Poland, dug holes, lined men up facing them, and then shot them in the back. They would likely claim that it was the fall, not the gun, that killed them.

Nice attitude, Vic PD. Real caring, compassionate. I hope the old expression - "careful what you wish for" - is still in effect.