Random

...Religious conservatives give away a lot more money than liberals according to a new book by behavioral economist Arthur Brooks.

...An incredibly disturbing video of UCLA police officers tasering a student who refused to produce his student ID or leave the library is showing up everywhere on the Internet. The incident was captured on video by a bystander -- apparently using a cell phone. Regardless of how uncooperative and obnoxious the student was he didn't appear to threaten the officers in any way.

It looks like both the student and the officers were out of line. This is one of those situations where some wisdom coupled with professional negotiating skills could have resolved the situation without any "show of force."

I suspect that at the very least the department will lose authoritization to use tasers. Furthermore, the student has hired a lawyer and plans to file a lawsuit. There have been student demonstrations since the Tuesday night incident and the acting chancellor has brought in an independent investigator.

What a needless mess.