it's been bugging me



Lately, it's been hard for me to relax and get restful sleep. I can't seem to stay asleep for more than a couple of hours, and even when I get 6+ hours of sleep, I'm still waking up not feeling refreshed. I even had a dream about being in Nara again and being followed around by a bunch of noisy deer. Very strange.

I suppose it's the stress of life, the particular combination and convergence of my current spiritual life, relationships, grad school, work, car, etc. that is sapping my energy, but I can't exactly pinpoint a single cause. I sorta feel like my friend up there in the photo... stuck in place that I can barely reach out to touch while at the same time, I can't see it or hear it blocking me in. It's a silent and invisible confinement. Sometimes I just want to rage against it and break out... but lately, I just sorta feel resigned to things being how they are.

Self-defeating, I know...


.:.


New Orleans police brutality... on video

Anybody remember Mr. King?

I read this blog posting and I was shocked that I hadn't heard about this incident yet. The full CNN article is here, with video clips of assault. [WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE]. Don't watch the 2nd clip if you can't take blood.

For those of you who are too lazy to read the full article or scared to watch the clips, basically an African American man (Robert Davis, 64 years old, retired schoolteacher) is walking in the French Quarter of New Orleans when he exchanges some words with officers. The police have claimed that Roberts was intoxicated, but it's difficult to see on the video - you can't hear what's being said. A mounted officer moves in and out of the shot, obscuring the action, but clearly, there's a group of officers attacking him, punching him and slamming his head against a wall. At least three of the officers assaulting him appear to be white.

Later, another officer pushes a newscaster against a car and verbally berates him (with lots of 4 letter words, of course), saying "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep myself alive. ... Go home."

In a second video, "the aftermath", Davis is handcuffed and laying on the street in a pool of his own blood. Two uniformed officers casually walk up to him, but don't immediately render any medical assistance - in fact, one officer uses his foot to try and keep Davis pinned to ground.

The Justice Department is already opening up an investigation and three officers have been charged. Expect to hear more about this soon in the news.
posted by G at 11:12 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33