Organic Consumers are Anti-Taser (and other Taser notes)

News of the May 30th Tasering of UO student and pesticide protestor Ian Van Ornum has made its way to the Organic Consumers Association and they are not happy .

Van Ornum was Tasered while rallying to call attention to the use of pesticides on Oregon highways. The OCA is providing a letter for people to sign and send to the Eugene Police Department. The letter cites Taser-death statistics from Amnesty International (277 deaths since 2001). The EPD has a history with the human rights group — the Eugene police were accused of “torture” about 10 years ago after excessive use of pepper spray against a protestor .

On another note, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (and Suzi who is up on science fiction references), the word "Taser" comes from a kid's book series: Tom Swift. Taser is the first letters in the phrase: Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle.

On a kinder gentler literary note, Tom Swift also originated the "tom swifty," which is a kind of Wellerism in which a quoted sentence becomes a kind of pun through its adverbial attribution.

Examples:

"We must hurry," said Tom swiftly.
"I have a split personality," said Tom, being frank.

A Eugene example might be:

"I'm going to Tase you!" said the policeman shockingly.