Quote of the week…
AFTER a man was shot by an electric stun gun (also known a taser) recently in Belfast, a PSNI spokeswoman said: “The victim remains shocked by his experience”. Nice.
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Do Words Matter?: Book Review of Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution – Debating Peace in Northern Ireland
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Stay out of Libya: counterinsurgency doesn’t work
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I thought that was very funny!
Stunning in fact!
Electifying even.
An unfortunate phrase to use in the circumstances.. and in those circumstances, with the man also being beaten with baseball bats and with (blank) shots fired, I find it difficult to join in the amusement. That’s not a reflection on others, btw.. just my own reaction.
Ok, I didnt find it funny
I can imagine how horrible it would be to be hit with a taser in that kind of a situation. You would lose complete control and could offer no defense(I’m not sure for how long, but even 5 seconds would have to feel like an eternity.)
Miss Fitz
I’d almost suspect Gonzo was being deliberately mischievous by not including the full details of the attack in the original post.. almost..
I thought he was being scarcastic…I thought Miss Fitz was too. God I’m 0 for 2 today.
Application of a tazer by a trained police officer can be absolutely brutal, just think what it would be like when administered by a group of mindless thugs!
I no longer find it funny either. Since there was no link I assumed that it was the Police who used the taser.
I haven’t heard of any tasers being in criminal hands over here in north america, surprisingly.
Any Moderators around?
Comment 46 on the UUP/UVF post might be libellous.
A name as given as the shooter.
“… haven’t heard of any tasers being in criminal hands over here in north america”
That’s because they can get guns Joe.
TL
True TL
But to some of the young thugs who like to flash their guns around, A taser might display some cachet.
Perhaps the Tasers are more strictly controlled, but I just don’t know.
Well the linked Belfast Telegraph report helpfully points out that tasers are being sold on eBay.
And there was at least one firearm used in the attack.
You can buy them online to be delivered to any but four or five states in the US. Or you can pick ‘em up at police type supply stores. You can get them fairly cheap too. Frankly I’m surprised you don’t see them everywhere.
I live in Canada TL. It’s not so easy to get firearms either.
Well, unless you live in one of the big cities where you can buy one stolen from a collector or one smuggled from the US.
Amazingly, a couple of weeks ago, one collector had over 100 stolen from his house.
100 guns sounds more like an arsenal then a collection ; )
Yes TL
That’s why I said “amazingly”. I wasn’t referring to the heist.
And that wasn’t an isolated incident. One would think it had to have been an “inside” job.
Gotta love those loyalist paramilitaries !!
Drugs, extortion, prostitution, shootings, beatings, stun guns.
And they wonder why the Newtownards Road has turned into a slum ??
Problem families are even refusing Housing Executive houses in the area.
Nasty business right enough, but in fairness to Gonzo, it was also an incredibly poor choice of phrase by the PSNI spokeswoman. That’s the problem with police jargon, though, it becomes ingrained. I remember a policeman here in NZ once telling me about a flasher in the lcoal park when I was doing the police calls one morning. He said the cops went to investigate but “by the time we got there, he’d come and gone.” I’m still not sure whether he was being a smartarse or not.
I live in the newtownards road.
Two streets away from the incedent infact. It doesn’t suprise me that this could happen at 11pm on a saturday night. Police patrols are scarce, and since last september, foot beat patrols are non existent. Yet when i leave my town centre local at that time, there are more police than you can shake a stick at. Don’t be expecting any eye witnesses….!
How on earth do we stop these thugs from having their way? Thugs are what they are, the vast majority of the community DO NOT see them as protectors.