University of California Los Angeles Police Department officers shot Mostafa Tabatabainejad (a UCLA student residing in L.A.) several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library at 11:30 p.m. when he was unable to produce student ID during a random check.  Video shot from a student's camera phone captured the student yelling, "Here's your Patriot Act, here's your f*** abuse of power."

Full Story: http://secretcommunique.blogspot.com/2006/11/ucla-police-use-stun-gun-on-student.html

PS: The man in the video is of Iranian-American descent, according to my analysis of his name.  That may or may not be important.

This is a collection of the books that have been discussed on OlyBlog.

I'm sure some of you have read this, it just seemed nice on a day like today.

     An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life and he explained it like this....

     'A fight is going on inside of me. It's a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil, he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, jealousy, resentment, weakness, lies and ego. The other wolf is good, he is love, serenity, strength, will peace, generosity, truth, compassion, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, joy and faith.

      This same fight is going on inside of you, and in ever other person as well.

      The grandson then thought about it briefly, and he said to his grandfather, "Well, how do we know which wolf will win?"

      The old Cherokee smiled, and he replied, "The wolf that will win will be...

The One You Feed

Please read POLDF's comment -- it contains some information that is pertinent to the debate about proposed city ordinances.

Some Americans Lack Food, but USDA Won't Call Them Hungry

By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 16, 2006; Page A01

The U.S. government has vowed that Americans will never be hungry again. But they may experience "very low food security."

Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has consistently used the word "hunger" to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year.

Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said "hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey." Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, "We don't have a measure of that condition."

The USDA said that 12 percent of Americans -- 35 million people -- could not put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year, the USDA has determined "very low food security" to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group.

READ MORE

Jazz News

LaVon Hardison Celebrates Release of ’Choices’Jazz vocalist LaVon Hardison will celebrate the release of her debut solo CD Choices with a gala show and dessert party on Dec. 12. To be held at the Capitol Playhouse in downtown Olympia, the show will feature Hardison performing songs from her new album along with many of her musical collaborators, including veteran pianist Joe Baque, Steve Luceno (guitar, bass), Lorree Gardener (bass), and others.

Hardison's eclectic CD includes covers of jazz standards including "Ain't Misbehavin', " "Perhaps, " and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." Also included the Hardison original "The Owl and The Pussycat, " which finds the two Lear poem characters in a sometimes-awkward dating situation, wrapped in an arrangement that sounds like a just-hatched jazz standard. Other songs covered include Stevie Wonder's "Superstition, " "Don't Fence Me In, " and the Joe Baque original that gives the album its title.

The multi-talented Hardison is also currently appearing in "The Twelfth Night of Stardust, " the annual holiday musical by Harlequin Productions at the State Theater in downtown Olympia.