Newsami

With mid-term elections coming up quickly, I thought it was time for a good reminder about why we need a change in Washington. This top 10 list was generated from the stories on digg and are ranked by popularity.

1) 3600 diggs. T-Shirt with Arabic Script = Terrorist?
While traveling through JFK airport, Arabic blogger Raed was told he must change his t-shirt. Raed asked “Isn’t this my constitutional right to wear it?” with which Inspector Harris responded “you can’t wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads “I am a robber” and going to a bank”. Weblink

When I first read this it reminded me of the guy who got kicked off a plane for wearing a “Meet the Fuckers” T-Shirt with Bush, Cheney and Rice on it. Then T-Shirt hell came out with offer (and a bit of encouragement) that if wear their shirt and aren’t allowed to get on an aircraft, they will fly you to your destination on their private jet, free. Obviously they would need to get something out of this deal, which would probably be a lawsuit against the airline company that told you no. People need to get with the times and realize that just because you can’t read it or don’t understand it doesn’t make it evil, bad or wrong.

2) 2310 diggs. First Amendment apparently doesn’t cover the “F” word
A kid holding a sign on a sidewalk with the words “Fuck Bush” on it is first given a citation, then when the cops notice a cameraman filming they arrest him and take him away. Since when did we lose our freedom of speech?

These guys clearly knew their rights and it made the police officers a little uneasy when they were confronted with that. This is a must see video.

3) 2149 diggs. Bush: Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11
President Bush was in the midst of explaining how the attacks of 9/11 inspired his “freedom agenda” and the attacks on Iraq until a reporter, Ken Herman of Cox News, interrupted to ask what Iraq had to do with 9/11. “Nothing,” Bush defiantly answered. Weblink

So after all the dancing around the bush (and even the straight up admissions), the Bush Administration is going to try to convince us they never said there was a link between the two. And one quote I remember very well from George; “You can’t distinguish between Saddam and Al Qaeda in the war on terror”. Why are we still standing for this shit?

4) 1979 diggs. Black students ordered to give up seats to white children
Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children. The nine children had to share only two seats, meaning the older children had to hold the younger ones in their laps. Weblink

5) 1962 diggs. 17 year old gets two years for 1 marijuana joint
Keeping him in jail will cost tax payers (you) close to $100,000. All because of $20 worth of Pot.

This is just another reason to get out and VOTE! I know colorado has an initiative that will de-criminalize 1oz of marijuana for persons 21 years of age and older. There are many similar initiatives all over the country so find out if there is one in your area and let the government know this is getting out of control.

6) 1832 diggs. Programmer blows whistle on voter machine fraud
A programmer who has worked for NASA admits he was asked by the Speaker of the Florida House to write a hidden program to “control the vote in south Florida.”

So everybody suspects it happened, twice now. People are coming forward saying they were asked to do it. CNN is showing videos of how easy it is to hack these new government-required diebold machines. Are you going to sit here and watch a machine decide who runs this country? Make sure your vote counts.

7) 1828 diggs. Man arrested for taking cellphone photo of police activity
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia family said they are outraged over the arrest of one of their family members. The family of Neftaly Cruz said police had no right to come onto their property and arrest their 21-year-old son simply because he was using his cell phone’s camera. They told their story to Harry Hairston and the NBC 10 Investigators. Weblink

“He opened up the gate and Neffy was coming down and he went up to Neffy, pulled him down, had Neffy on the car and was telling him, ‘You should have just went in the house and minded your own business instead of trying to take pictures off your picture phone,’” said Gerrell Martin. Cruz said police told him that he broke a new law that prohibits people from taking pictures of police with cell phones. “They threatened to charge me with conspiracy, impeding an investigation, obstruction of a investigation. … They said, ‘You were impeding this investigation.’ (I asked,) “By doing what?’ (The officer said,) ‘By taking a picture of the police officers with a camera phone,’” Cruz said.

8) 1557 diggs. Ten major news stories the media is ignoring
[adv]The San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper has printed a list of stories we in the media seem to have largely ignored over the past year. The story is gleaned from an annual list developed by Project Censored, a media research group out of Sonoma State University that tracks the news published in independent journal. Weblink

Sadly most of the United States is clueless to a lot of these issues not only because the media is “ignoring” them, but because this administration has done such a good job convincing people they’re just wrong. The top three are “The worlds oceans in extreme danger”, “Haliburton charged with selling nuclear technology to Iran”, and “The feds and the media muddy the debate over internet freedom”. These are things everybody needs to know.

9) 1551 diggs. I came to Iraq because I wanted to kill people
“I shot a guy who wouldn’t stop when we were out at a traffic checkpoint and it was like nothing,” he went on. “Over here, killing people is like squashing an ant. I mean, you kill somebody and it’s like ‘All right, let’s go get some pizza.’ Weblink

Mission Accomplished.

10) 1476 diggs. The senate must not pardon President Bush for breaking the law
This week, the Senate is planning to quietly hold a vote that would pardon President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping innocent Americans. So far, Democrats and some Republicans are holding strong against the bill, and there are good chances to stop it if enough of us speak up. Weblink

We all need to make sure this guy does not get away with all what he’s doing. Even though he’s our president, he’s not better than you or me, and he’s still not above the law. Remember, the only way things are going to change is if we all speak up and tell them we’re not going to take it anymore. Also, remember to vote this November!