Don't tase my granny!

In a scene reminiscent of the infamous "Don't tase me, bro" incident, certain members of American law enforcement have now been accused of excessive force in tasering an 86 year old granny.

In brief, some old bed-ridden granny wasn't taking her medication so her grandson called emergency services. However, instead of a medical technician, over a dozen cops showed up and, after a couple of exchanges with the "aggressive" grandmother, decided to step on her oxygen hose until she began to suffer oxygen deprivation before tasering her twice (hence the line "Don't tase my granny!").

Hmmm.

Generally, I'm hesitant to post about incidents of police brutality because it can be hard to determine what really happened from just reading news reports. Very often, things come down to a "he said, she said" kind of situation where the "victim" is painting a picture of police brutality while the cops version of events justifies their actions. The reality is that both are probably exaggerating events to support themselves and, without a video as evidence, its impossible to determine exactly what happened (particularly if all you have are news reports).

However, in this particular case, a couple of facts seem to justify the claims of police brutality. From the article, the officer stepping on the oxygen hose and the tasering of the granny are in the police report so the fact that these happened isn't in contention.

Which leads me to question what an 86 year old bed-ridden granny could do that would justify that kind of response? I don't see anything in the news report which indicates that she physically assaulted the police officers. All it says is that she adopted an "aggressive posture" which I guess means that she verbally assaulted the police while looking angry? Maybe?

And even if she did physically attack, unless she was armed with a weapon, I find it hard to believe that a group of trained police officers would fear for their safety. Also, do you really need a taser to subdue an 86 year-old granny who is suffering from oxygen deprivation? Bear in mind that the taser is effectively sending bolts of electricity through her system which doesn't sound like a good idea for an 86 year old granny. Granted, the taser is classified as a non-lethal weapon but there is enough controvery surrounding this that you would think the cops would be more careful about its use.

French farce

France have crashed out of the World Cup in humiliating fashion.

First off, I have to say that I'm not surprised that France went out in the group stage. Bear in mind, this was a team who went out of Euro 2008 in the group stage (and iirc, after scoring only 1 goal) and only barely managed to qualify for WC2010. In addition, it was well known beforehand that the players didn't particularly like or respect Domenech. Now throw in the fact that it was public knowledge that Blanc would take up the France manager role after WC2010. All in all, not exactly a great recipe for success.

So, as I said, not exactly a surprise to see them go out at the group stage. However, it is the manner in which the France team imploded which has really impressed me.

In case you weren't aware, Anelka (who isn't exactly known for being well behaved) went postal on Domenech after being subbed at half-time in a game which France went on to lose 2-0. His comments were leaked to the press and after a storm of bad publicity, Anelka was sent home in disgrace. At this point, Evra also decided to go postal (he was very upset at the "traitor" in the team who leaked the comments to the press) and got into an argument with one of the coaches. The end result of all this was Evra leading the players onto the team bus and the entire team refusing to train for a day.

Thats right - in the middle of the World Cup, one of the Worlds most prestigious sporting events, this bunch of "professional" footballers decided that they weren't going to train for a day. Tossers!

Maybe its because I can't stand to work with people who don't have a professional attitude but this kind of thing just staggers me. Regardless of what else is going on, you tossers have a job to do and to simply decide not to attend training because you are unhappy is outrageous.

Evra has said that he will hold a press conference (or something) where he will explain what exactly went wrong. I can't wait for this to happen so I can see exactly what kind of pathetic loser he is. I know I shouldn't pre-judge but I really don't see what possible justification he would be able to offer which would excuse his actions.

The thing that surprises me the most though is that, despite most of the press (rightly) blaming the players for this fiasco, a lot of comments on forums seem to blame either Domenech or the French FA. The rationale for this seems to be that Domenech should have been able to control his players or the FFA should have removed Domenech from control after realising that he had lost the respect of the players.

Whichigawa?

I can understand putting blame on Domenech or the FFA if you were only complaining about the poor performance of France, for example, if France had been tactically naive or the players had been clearly unmotivated on the pitch. However, for the players to decide not to train for a day - this is solely on the players.

At the end of the day, regardless of how the players feel about Domenech or the FFA, they are supposed to be professionals with a job to do. If they didn't want to do that job, they should never have gone to South Africa in the first place.

Gerry goes to Day Camp again - part three

At last, we enter the final furlong of pictures taken from Gerry's latest Day Camp.

Out of all the activities available to the kids, there was one activity which was most popular by far. It had the longest queue but despite this, the kids were all willing to wait in order to have a go.


Here you can see Gerry on his way to queue up. Can you guess what the activity is from his mask?


This picture was taken just before it was his turn. That hat he is wearing should be a dead giveaway as to the activity.


That's right - horse riding!


Obviously, kids shouldn't be let loose on horses willy-nilly so the handler is there to make sure the horse doesn't get spooked. This is really quite a cool activity though and Gerry really enjoyed himself.


Alas, we weren't able to capture the full size of his grin. Still, I quite like this picture. I also can't help but wonder what the horse makes of all these tiny little people riding on his back.

Gerry goes to Day Camp again - part two

One of the good things about Tai Tong Lychee Valley is that it had a pretty big outdoor play area where they had constructed a pretty impressive obstacle course and climbing rig.


Here you can see Gerry and myself on the top level. As you can see, the whole thing is made out of thick rope and planks of wood. As you walk across on the top, you have to make sure that you stand on the central rope otherwise you would fall off (and into the safety rope).


There was a bridge area where they had planks of wood instead of a rope for you to walk on. Unfortunately, there was a huge gap in the middle which proved extremely difficult for Gerry as he is still so small.


This is a picture of us climbing down the inside wall of the rig. The gap from the wooden platform to the wall of the rig was too big for Gerry to climb so I had to hold onto him with one arm while slowly climbing down.


The rig itself is built really well and has multiple entry and exit points. After climbing down the inside wall, I thought that I would be able to get a rest. Unfortunately, Gerry saw this climbing wall and immediately climbed back up into the rig.

Not wanting to face that one armed climb again, this is a picture of us wandering around inside the rig while looking for an alternate exit. At this point, we are just below the area where you saw us in the initial picture at the top of this post.