Meter Maids looking for Terrorist/Photographers

[sd_woods]

<p>It's obviously just a political ploy designed to console the American equivalent of a Daily Mail reader</p>

[mark_tate]

<p>well I once got question by a police officer for taking a shot on the beach , It was only a few minuts walk from home and a nice evening and I didnt have any ID on me , all I wanted was a few shots at this time of day ,</p>

<p>Even though it is not a legal requirement to carry ID in Australia I was arrested for not being able to prove who I was .</p>

<p>once back at the police station I was strip searched and they ruined 3 rolls of exposed film , all this because I wanted to photograph a beach .<br>

They gave me every thing from terrorist to child pornographer, all I wanted to do was photograph a beach .</p>

<p>When they said they wanted to come search my home I really cracked it with them and bought in my lawyer . where I lived then is now short two young (not very good ) police officers .<br>

I have never ever been in trouble with the law and I was not doing anything ileagle .</p>

<p>It just seems that now if I go out with my camera I am either a terrorist or a child pornographer</p>

[john_jennings2]

<p>The main thing I look for in meter maids is bodacious ta-tas.</p>

[waite_watson]

<p>The trouble is a person can come on here and say,"we are at war" & that 'radicalized' Muslims committed this terrorist act or that and so there is justification for the loss of civil liberties,that's OK. But if someone were to suggest that people should question who was really behind these terrorist acts (911,7/7 etc.) and ask who really benefited from them. Well, Then the post will likely be deleted as I except this one to be. Test.</p>

[alan_ginman]

<p>"If they were really smart, they would train street photographers to take photos of suspicious looking people"</p>

<p>The people who worry me the most are the police, so I'd photograph them.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>Alan</p>

[leigh_youdale]

<p>I thought the idea of being apprehended by one of our Gold Coast (Queensland) Meter Maids might make the prospect more appealing. http://www.metermaids.com/</p>

<p>And to Mark Tate, given the sensitivity of this whole subject it wasn't very smart not to carry some ID. Nevertheless in addition to that I also carry a copy of this - http://4020.net/words/rightssummary/nswphotorights.pdf </p>

[sanjay nasta]

<p>Bruce Schneier's recent Crypto Gram newsletter has an excellent editorial on worst case thinking and the problems associated with it. </p>

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<p>

<blockquote>

 

<p>There's a certain blindness that comes from worst-case thinking. An<br />extension of the precautionary principle, it involves imagining the<br />worst possible outcome and then acting as if it were a certainty. It<br />substitutes imagination for thinking, speculation for risk analysis and<br />fear for reason. It fosters powerlessness and vulnerability and<br />magnifies social paralysis. And it makes us more vulnerable to the<br />effects of terrorism.<br /><br />Worst-case thinking means generally bad decision making for several<br />reasons. First, it's only half of the cost-benefit equation. Every<br />decision has costs and benefits, risks and rewards. By speculating about<br />what can possibly go wrong, and then acting as if that is likely to<br />happen, worst-case thinking focuses only on the extreme but improbable<br />risks and does a poor job at assessing outcomes.<br /><br />Second, it's based on flawed logic. It begs the question by assuming<br />that a proponent of an action must prove that the nightmare scenario is<br />impossible.</p>

 

</blockquote>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>

<blockquote>

 

<p>You can find the complete article at http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/05/worst-case_thin.html</p>

 

</blockquote>

</p>

[dave_b15]

<p>The thing that gets me is that the security people never consider folks with great memories or sitting in a car a sketching out a diagram; which, if you're a smart terrorist you'd do something like to attract the least amount of attention as possible.<br>

I was once running into my credit union, and there was a Wackenhunt security person on her walkie talkie, standing over a "suspicious package", frantically talking to "base". There was this huge production over a package - package in a no name office building in an area that wouldn't have caused much damage if there were some sort of explosive device. <br>

It was nothing, of course. <br>

So much for living normally, huh?<br>

The folks who are in charge of security really need to stop watching so much TV.<br>

Me? I'm more concerned about getting killed on the highway by someone not paying attention because they're yakking on their cell phone.</p>

<p>Here's how you'll die:<br>

Traffic accident.<br>

Heart disease.<br>

Cancer<br>

Bolt of lightning.<br>

Space aliens sucking out your brains.<br>

.<br>

.<br>

(several hundred thousand other things and then ...)<br>

.<br>

terrorism.</p>

<p> </p>

[mike_hitchen]

<blockquote>

<p>Here's how you'll die:<br />Traffic accident.<br />Heart disease.<br />Cancer<br />Bolt of lightning.<br />Space aliens sucking out your brains.<br />.<br />.<br />(several hundred thousand other things and then ...)<br />.<br />terrorism.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Jeez! That's an awful lot of bad luck.</p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>Sketching is included in the espionage statues. Of course, the laws on the subject go back a long ways. It's pretty clear that they have evolved over time but certainly predate convenient photography. So does blowing things up.</p>

<p> </p>

[Two23]

<p>Scott, you are a pinhead. Dick Cheney had absolutely nothing to do with photographers being hassled during the past ten years. Your source for that, please? You are simply making very divisive political propaganda. In fact, after numerous complaints of us railfan photographers being hassled, the Dept. of Homeland Defense under Bush began instructing local law enforcement to stop wasting time on photographers and start paying more attention to other more important "warning signs." It was Obama's replacement for the job, Janet Napolitano, that sent out memos telling local law enforcement to question photographers. You really need to pay attention and get your facts straight, if you want to be believeable. <br>

<a href="http://nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2009/08/security.html">http://nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2009/08/security.html</a></p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[thomas_sullivan]

<p>Photography is Not a Crime.....period! Anything that comes close to implementing policy in this way should be the crime.</p>

[AndyMiller]

<p>A very US centered post so here are some words from the UK - Over here photographers are hounded by ignorant law enforcers who do not understand the directives from their own bosses, who keep pointing out that street photography is not illegal. Still you always get one or two over zealous types in most professions. But my point is this - the most common street photographer you will see today is the Traffic Warden, as we call them - they all have cameras to take pictures of violations and provide evidence of the regulation breach for a court, should it come to that. So I ask you - are all traffic wardens to be regarded as potential Al Qaeda spies? </p>