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POPSABC Reporter Arrested in Denver Taking Pictures Arrested for taking pictures in a public space of public officials. It's just like the spy novels I read as a teen, except now this sort of thing occurs in the US instead of the Soviet Union. Basically the law these days is "Whatever the hell I say it is" if you are a police officer. If this had only been a single isolated incident, I wouldn't be so hot about this issue, but it's happening more and more every day. I read at least 1 article a week about the police abusing their power when it comes to photographers. So now I have to ask myself what I as a citizen should do. I know that patriotically I should never stand for abuse of power, but realistically I can't imagine how to even stand against this level of national fascism.
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POPSPolice Eject a Man from Yankee Stadium for Trying to Use the Bathroom During "God Bless America" When I was in High School, I would refuse to bow my head in prayer: I'm an atheist and refused to pray to any god, especially while at school, during regularly scheduled school hours. Once, some "Christians" a few seats away from me started eying me and telling me to "Bow your f***ing head you Satan worshiper or we'll kick your f****ing ass!"… This is exactly like that, except this time the "Christians" are "Police" and kicking your ass means telling you what and who to pray to or face police harassment by ejection and threats of bodily harm.
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POPSBoy Dies From Urinary Tract Infection While Parents Pray I never understood this logic. I mean, if you believe in the sheep-god, then surely you believe the sheep-god gave mankind the knowledge to heal. Healing is a positive thing right, so not likely of Satan. (Geez, trying to apply logic to Christianity is like trying to apply gauze to a porcupine.) So why avoid doctors? Ignorance can be fatal. When I was 14 and suffering from migraines my mother wanted me to go see a priest and get a "laying on of hands." I made it clear we should go see a doctor and I would have none of her medieval cures, that to me sounded about as good as passing a baby under a horse three times.
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POPSThe Terrorists Have Just Won The REAL terrorists have just stripped away our 4th amendment rights. The "terrorists" we "fight" couldn't have done it better themselves. In 20 years I will look back and recount this day as the day America fell, the day citizens saw their hard-fought rights stripped away in an attack on our liberties that pales in comparison to the attacks of 9/11.
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POPSDo US Internment Camps Really Exist? The really big question is which one of us reading this will be interned in one of these camps? Considering the size and scope of the ones we know about, compared with the already 1 in 100 prison population we currently have, you have to imagine that the near future will see a much higher ratio. Can you imagine 1 in every 50 citizens in a camp or prison? Hell, even 1 in 75 would be astounding. With a ratio that high you can be assured you are someone you know will be classified an "Enemy Combatant." Also, since REX 84 handed us over to NORTHCOM, we no longer have any sovereignty any way. It's all very frightening when you start questioning the reasons behind this sort of wholesale US sell out.
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POPSObama Vows to Continue Bush's Assault on the Constitution! I am speechless. I was going to vote for Obama until I learned this. I simply can not vote for anyone who sells out our constitutional rights. I feel a little crushed right now (only a little, I am primarily an anarchist). I just wanted an eloquent, seemingly humanist, president for a change. but now I see my old belief still holds true; Obama is just another head of the same beast, all be it more literate and better dressed. This is beyond the pale! I guess I needed this to wake me from my romanticized stupor. I was swayed by his charisma but now see his true colors and they are not red, white and blue. The linked article summed it up best: "as a Constitutional Law Professor, he knows full well what a radical perversion of our Constitution this bill is, and yet he's supporting it anyway. Anyone who sugarcoats or justifies that is doing a real disservice to their claimed political values and to the truth. "
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POPSharassment in the UK is off the charts -- worse than in former Soviet states. As a photographer myself, this absolutely enrages me. Nobody ever harasses people with cheap digital cameras, but if you have an SLR you are suddenly a terrorist. I was harassed a few years ago by the police for taking pictures on public property. It was in Pt. Arthur, Texas near my home town. I was taking pictures of a sunset behind the refineries from across a lake, too far away for any sensible person to confuse it with "surveillance." The cop who harassed us told us that what we were doing wasn't illegal but if we kept it up he would haul us in for "disturbing the peace" and "criminal mischief", the latter being almost impossible to contest. I am seriously afraid these days to practice my beloved hobby and have found myself carrying my camera less and less. Screw the terrorists! It's the police that are taking away my liberties, not foreigners.
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POPSTexas Education is Doomed I really can't wait to escape this state. I went to school in a small, small town in SE Texas. The sheep-god was often brought up in pep-rallies and by the student christian council. Fortunately even these hicks kept god out of the classroom and I was grateful. Seems the current generation won't be so lucky. I doubt the next batch of great scientist will hail from Texas, that's for sure. And Who needs science when you can fairy-tale everything away with your magic sheep-god. Abracadabra Amen.
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