With the recent purchase of tasers, some law enforcement officers in western Nevada County have cultivated a strong respect for the pain stun guns can inflict.

"It's the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life," said CHP Officer Earl Cummins, shaking his head. "It's like a full body cramp, but worse."

Cummins volunteered to be a guinea pig at a training session Tuesday for Grass Valley California Highway Patrol officers where they learned to use seven new stun guns, purchased by the state of California at $788 each.

When Cummins was tased, he dropped to the ground, fellow CHP Officer Dina Hernandez said.

"I will never, ever, ever, ever do it again," Cummins said. "After they did it, all I could think about was, 'please don't let them do it again.' But then it's over."

The taser attacks a person's central nervous system, shooting 50,000 volts of electricity.

Valley public radio station leaders threaten to cut services

Home values advanced on a curve never before seen. This led to market speculation which caused demand to go up much higher than should have. Another factor was the subprime mortgages being sold as securities. Some subprime borrowers should have never qualified for loans. Easy mortgages also caused home values to rise because of higher demand. Rising home values led to home equity loans which led to excessive spending. Now comes the bill for all the partying. Everybody is talking recession, we will be lucky to avoid an all out depression. Home values are starting to fall with no end in sight. People will not start buying until home values hit bottom. This will cause buyers to have the attitude, I will wait until the price comes down more. I have already heard this line and heard it from more than one person.

Obama, Clinton campaigns tout vigorous volunteer efforts in Central ...

Austin-area volunteers for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are doing far more than the typical telephoning of voters at dinner time.

Politicians’ actions in face of sagging economy is hard to explain

He is a former local newspaper reporter, editor and columnist and served as Pima County Assessor from 1973 to 1980. He is a regular Monday guest on the John C. Scott radio talk show, which airs from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 690-AM. This column appears weekly in Inside Tucson Business. .

JDSU Unveils All-In-One Solution for Optical Transport

MILPITAS, Calif. and SAN DIEGO, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JDSU NASDAQ: JDSU TSX: JDU today announced that it is creating a single-slot blade solution for delivering all major functions required for optical network transport, called the Agile Optical Network (AON) Superblade. The new platform will integrate major transport functions that used to require multiple blades onto a single blade, dramatically reducing size, cost and power requirements for network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) and service providers.

The AON Superblade will include very small blocks of wavelength selective switch (WSS) technology that JDSU has invented called the Nano WSS, erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) technology, and an optical channel monitor technology into a single-slot device.

Syspine Small Business VoIP Phone System Combines Ease of Use with ...

RENO, Nev., Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- A new, all-in-one, IP (Internet Protocol) phone system is now available for small businesses. The award- winning Syspine(TM) Digital Operator Phone System from Quanta Computer is an advanced IP PBX system featuring Microsoft(R) Response Point(TM) phone system software.

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Ken Schram: Another way to enshrine Dave Niehaus

He's been selected as the 2008 recipient of the Ford C. Frick award for excellence in baseball broadcasting.He'll be inducted at Cooperstown on the 27th of July.The way I figure it, that gives the Mariners 5 full months to order up the necessary number of ceramic likenesses and have them available for, say, the weekend home series against Baltimore.That'd be the first weekend in August.To be honest, I don't think this is an idea that has to be sold, just suggested.To that end, I think if we all emailed the Mariners and asked them to do this I believe they'd understand how much it would be appreciated by the fans. (You can e-mail the Mariners here)For 31 seasons, Dave Niehaus has been through the thick and thin of Northwest baseball and he's brought us along with him.Way to go Dave, way to go.Have something to say to Ken? E-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com.And be sure to join Ken, along with John Carlson, on "The Commentators", which airs every weekday from 3-6 p.m.

Touting Geraldo, ABC's Cuomo Rips Anti-Illegal 'Fear'

"Good Morning America" co-host Chris Cuomo used an interview with Geraldo Rivera on Tuesday to once again showcase his liberal views on illegal immigration. Touting the Fox News host's new book "His Panic," Cuomo gushed over the "beautiful" title and immediately accepted the premise of the book by stating, "But it is about why Americans fear Hispanics in the U.S.--You believe to be the case."

Later in the segment, he again dropped any objectivity and opined, "There is a lot of history, a lot of fact in this book. Interesting in a discussion that's usually fueled by passion--" In comparison, the host offered no such accolades to Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, a foe of illegal immigration. During a June 2007 interview with the then-presidential candidate, Cuomo asked if Tancredo, who fought for tough border security bills, was "driving anti-immigrant sentiment?" He also chided Tancredo for using "scary" words in regard to the contentious subject.

Can Hip-Hop Erase The Color Lines?

We are so anti-homosexuals that we created and special catch phrase to end our statements with (no homo) out of fear of it being taken as a admission of being gay. We dont even have to get into the way we view women do we? Of course not. Yet thats not necessarily the subject at hand is it. Hip Hop has always had an underlying racist vibe towards the Caucasian persuasion, if we want to admit it or not. As much as we bash whites for calling us ni**ers and whatever other terrible thing you can think of we go right back at them. Disguising our hate as free expression of our souls in music. Think about how many times an MC has referred to whites as crackers, devils or whatever derogatory term possible. MCs ranging from Tupac, Krs to even Jay-Z have made comments under the belief that it is purely our passion and that somehow we are right to say such things because we are the minority and consider somewhat powerless.

Pakistan takes baby steps to filmdom

Pakistani cinema is entering the international age with moves to normalize the country's own movie industry and the reversing of a 43-year embargo against Indian films.

Caretaker minister for industries, Salman Taseer on Saturday announced that the entertainment sector has been granted 'industry status' following a decision by the Cabinet.

Spanning studios, production companies and animation, the status is intended to allow the sector to build infrastructure, conduct research and engage in training schemes.

"Duty-free import of equipment related to this industry will also be allowed," he said.

Industry status may also allow normal financial interaction with other parts of the economy. Neighboring India's granting of industry status eight years ago foreshadowed bank lending and outside financial investments in the sector and a modernization boom.