Please join me and dozens of other concerned bloggers, passionate to stop the abuse of Tasers. Already this year, there have been 50 Taser related deaths.

One of my colleagues calls Taser deaths “extrajudicial execution”: judge, jury and executioner all rolled up into a handheld 50,000 volt electric apparatus that’s considered “non-lethal”.
There’s a lot of talk these days about the glory of our American democracy. And its ideals are glorious. But when the pillar of our justice system is cracked the whole damn dream is shaky.
I hope you’ll join us.

I have a bit of empathy for the “birthers”. Really. I understand that not all of us have the emotional maturity or mental capacity to deal with deep disappointment in a rational, non-self destructive manner. Instead, like a two year old infant reacting to the calamity of not getting a much desired new toy; some of us default to blind rage, shrill tantrums and stubborn self-righteousness when things don’t go our way.
Whether you support his policies or not, there is a new sheriff in town, and you get to …

If you have been relying on print, cable or network news outlets for information on the Iranian uprising – you have been missing out. The real, heart gripping action/information has been most available on Twitter. Many of us following the Iranian activists (#iranelections #iran9 #irandemocracy) are also supporting them by retweeting (recirculating to our networks) information/images and taking actions like changing our account locations and timestamps to Tehran to help thwart the Iranian government’s attempt to identify protesters. I believe that instant contact social networks will become increasingly important in …

In getting ready for my role as blogger panelist at “Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union” this Saturday, I’ve just participated in one of the most frank, wide ranging and invigorating conversations on the state of ‘Black America’ that I can remember having. As a guest on my friend Kevin Ross‘ Blogtalkradio show, I hashed it out, no holds barred, with Kevin and fellow blogger Lenny McAllister – both black Republicans.
Listen to the Kevin Ross show on Blogtalkradio.
Kevin, Lenny and I will be blogger panelists on ‘Tavis …

If you haven’t heard, Blackbird is a brand new web browser created by a team of black entrepreneurs specifically for black people. Their tagline is "Blackbird: The browser for African Americans." I was a little insulted when I first read about this. I travel all over the web gathering all kinds of information and learning all kinds of things from all different kinds of sources and people. And initially, although it’s now been taken off the site, the market research touted by the Blackbird team made it very clear that …

Is it just me or do you need to see the police car video too?
From AP
JACKSON, Miss. (Dec. 8th) – A George County High School football star died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound early Monday after being pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy, authorities said.
It’s not clear why 17-year-old Billey Joe Johnson was stopped in Lucedale, but authorities say the junior tailback shot himself with a shotgun after the deputy walked back to the patrol car to run a license check.
“The deputy was sitting in his patrol vehicle … …

From Pop & Politics:

Since we launched PopandPolitics.com in 1995 (and yes, that is about a billion years go in internet time), the game has changed.There are literally millions of blogs now. And information wants to be free. We blogs cross-link to each other and quote each other. How about sharing even more information?
Well, we’re ready. As a special project of our Election 2008 coverage, Pop and Politics is offering an entire book download free of charge. It’s called “Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters,” and it was written in …

M takes on Jena 6 Developments over at Problem Chylde
Plea bargaining is the state’s most insidious power chip for filling the belly of the prison industrial complex. It embodies the essential difference between talking to the police and snitching – another dynamic that characterizes the criminal justice system as it stands now. The state holds liberty above a potential prisoner’s head because every person values his freedom – plea bargaining allows the person to state his price for standing as close to seeing the outside world as possible. Through the …