Photographer Meets Homeland Security Agents

[dostacos]

What? No train pictures? Do I need to change my avatar? Geeeeeeez....... 🙁

Walker

no it is fine JUST don't update it to a diesel 😱 😀

 

[dostacos]

I recently discovered that threads could be sorted by the number of views instead of by most recent posts.

My point: Why are we restricted from taking photographs on the ground while anyone in the world can view Google satellite imagery showing the entire refinery complex! What are the authorities "protecting" anyway? 😕

Is it possible that we are being conditioned to accept the rules of a police state? If a government has little regard for international law, shouldn't that be a red flag to us? Governments have played their citizens for suckers in the past.

The simple camera exposes the truth. Photographs have resulted in profound social changes. Is it any wonder why tryants would want to control the use of cameras?

R.J.

google does not show shift change, security details, traffic flow etc.

if you think homeland security is tough, think about the "no pictures allowed" signs around Israeli prisons, THEY get serious about it 😉

 

[RJBender]

google does not show shift change, security details, traffic flow etc.

if you think homeland security is tough, think about the "no pictures allowed" signs around Israeli prisons, THEY get serious about it 😉

It's similar to owning a trained pit bulldog, isn't it? If he's your dog and he follows your commands then you're proud of him. He gives you a sense of power. If someone else's pit bull has his jaws clamped on your leg, then you're screwed.

R.J.

 

[RJBender]

google does not show shift change, security details, traffic flow etc.

A video camera would be better suited for that purpose, don't you think?

if you think homeland security is tough, think about the "no pictures allowed" signs around Israeli prisons, THEY get serious about it 😉

Is it really a prison or a place to store nuclear weapons? If you can't photograph it how can you analyze the images?

R.J.

 

[Kevin]

RJ,

If you can prove your ancestry back to Germany, you can obtain German citizenship or at least a permanent resident visa to start. Lots of people from the FSU have done so already.

Europe (still) has a lot more to offer over an american life, as many members here already know or suspect. I am speaking of a middle-class life, of course.

Moving here, adjusting to a new culture and getting financially situated are the hard parts for a new immigrant.

But once you have accomplished all that, you will find that you take more vacations and have a more balanced, diverse life.

I didn't intend to spill the beans, but most expats I have met (it they were patriotic to begin with) are happy they made this life-saving change. They are different people now, but it took them a few years to become so.

After many years, there might come a time when you feel it's not all that it's cracked up to be. But by then you should have been able to save enough money to move on again.

There was a time a few years ago when my rent was only 1/10th of my net pay. Do you see where I am going with this?

Tyranny, democratic obfuscation and the deterioration of civil liberties are all signs that you might want to start thinking about new options.

Battling injustice/evil at home just begs the question. Is it really YOUR home to begin with? Is it feasible to organize enough lobbying pressure to reverse the laws that make simple acts of life criminal?

I suspect that most people in your system have too few resources for that kind of political commitment. Usually the very rich invest because they have a lot to lose if they do not.

Sometimes it better to vote with your feet if you feel you are fighting a losing battle. And it looks to me like you non-elite Americans are fighting a losing battle.

But it is comforting to know that many people are waiting to be given their lands back. I think about these people all the time. Many people here do so as well.

Good luck if you ever consider this option.

Kevin

 

[sf]

RJ,

If you can prove your ancestry back to Germany, you can obtain German citizenship or at least a permanent resident visa to start. Lots of people from the FSU have done so already.

Kevin

Hey. That would be nice. How much German ancestry is necessary? How about 1/3? Probably not enough. Trouble with being a mutt.

I said that I would love ot leave the US, and Bmattock made a very good point. I jump to say things without thinking them through. I just sometimes want to leave the US and go somewhere that isn't so . . . . but he's right. If we leave, there won't be anyone left to change things for the better.

 

[bmattock]

RJ,

If you can prove your ancestry back to Germany, you can obtain German citizenship or at least a permanent resident visa to start. Lots of people from the FSU have done so already.

Europe (still) has a lot more to offer over an american life, as many members here already know or suspect. I am speaking of a middle-class life, of course.

Moving here, adjusting to a new culture and getting financially situated are the hard parts for a new immigrant.

But once you have accomplished all that, you will find that you take more vacations and have a more balanced, diverse life.

I didn't intend to spill the beans, but most expats I have met (it they were patriotic to begin with) are happy they made this life-saving change. They are different people now, but it took them a few years to become so.

After many years, there might come a time when you feel it's not all that it's cracked up to be. But by then you should have been able to save enough money to move on again.

There was a time a few years ago when my rent was only 1/10th of my net pay. Do you see where I am going with this?

Tyranny, democratic obfuscation and the deterioration of civil liberties are all signs that you might want to start thinking about new options.

Battling injustice/evil at home just begs the question. Is it really YOUR home to begin with? Is it feasible to organize enough lobbying pressure to reverse the laws that make simple acts of life criminal?

I suspect that most people in your system have too few resources for that kind of political commitment. Usually the very rich invest because they have a lot to lose if they do not.

Sometimes it better to vote with your feet if you feel you are fighting a losing battle. And it looks to me like you non-elite Americans are fighting a losing battle.

But it is comforting to know that many people are waiting to be given their lands back. I think about these people all the time. Many people here do so as well.

Good luck if you ever consider this option.

Kevin

I'm getting tired of this. Can you lay off America for awhile? I don't trash your government with every other post.

 

[bmattock]

Hey. That would be nice. I would love to leave the US. How much German ancestry is necessary? How about 1/3? Probably not enough. Trouble with being a mutt. I would just like not to be in a country where its politics and foreign policy so heavily contrasts with my own beliefs. Strange that being an American has become a stigma. Maybe not so strange from some perspectives.

I'm an American, and I have no stigma. I'm not ashamed and I'm not afraid and I won't apologize to anyone with their nose in the air that I'm a citizen of the USA. I may not like my nation's direction, I may not like my nation's elected politicians, but I still have the means to change that every four years. I don't stop being an American in the years when the government is doing things I dread, fear, don't agree with, or am embarrassed by. I still won't apologize for being a US citizen.

Half German and half Welsh-by-way-of-Ireland, and so what? I'm an American first, foremost, and always. Anybody who has a problem with that knows where I live.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[yankeedoll]

Amen, Bill, Amen.

Doll

(And I have German ancestry, too.)

 

[Socke]

Is it possible that we are being conditioned to accept the rules of a police state? If a government has little regard for international law, shouldn't that be a red flag to us? Governments have played their citizens for suckers in the past.

R.J.

If you ask my mother who was one year old when the Nazis took over germany, you'll get a very strong YES as an answer.

I demonstrated against certain laws which gave the police more power when we had our own terrorsits in germany.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I don't like McDonald's; I know they're not fascists because they still let me in when I go in there with friends, despite the fact that I don't like McDonald's.

And Amon, Ra, and Amen, Bill. I agree, RFF, we should all remember that. We should all remember that what makes RFF stand out among most forums (forae?) is that discourse is for the most part rather civilized, and we don't like to get derailed into 2nd Grade -style "yo mamma / no! yo momma!" bickering and name-calling, specially the kind that PNet is famous for.

So...where were we?

 

[cp_ste.croix]

Tyranny, democratic obfuscation and the deterioration of civil liberties are all signs that you might want to start thinking about new options.

you know, I wonder how many Germans fleeing the same things left and have returned?

while i probably tend to agree with you, i'm not sure that any government can be held to any scrutiny.

 

[ch1]

Amen, Bill, Amen.

Doll

(And I have German ancestry, too.)

Amen, Amen, and Amen again....

I am an American

I have German ancestry (and thank goodness it's in the past).

I work for a German bank and through that connection find little about current German culture or society to recommend itself. Deutscheland is a now near-bankrupt and "coddled" society filled with people constantly looking for someone to take care of them. Quick - name a German Microsoft, or Google, or eBay or....well you get the picture - no entrepreneaurs there!

Yes, I do not like my current government and think they are a bunch of duplicitous and unscrupulous b-stards. I wish a pox on all of them.

But I am an American and have every intention of sticking around and changing things!

And BTW, go back where? I was born in America. So was my dad. So was his dad. And beyond that I don't know and couldn't give a damn.

Europe is a nice place to visit but, really, does anyone want to move to France right now and join the riots?

Remember when the French used to "tsk, tsk" us about our urban problems?

And please, you Germans and Brits etc. - wake up - it's no better where you are. You're sitting on social powder kegs.

As they say, the ambitious Europeans moved to America generations ago. Just as do the Latinos, Asians, Africans etc. today.

Only the priviledged and the losers stay behind.....

Bill M. and I have little in common or to agree upon with each other - except we really are both not interested in know-nothing Euros trying to give us "lessons" on civilized behavior (espescially from Germans)! 😡

 

[bmattock]

Oh Lord...

I am proud to be an American. That does not make me anti-German or British or French or whatever. True, I do not like being told how awful my country is by people who don't live here and don't know the first thing about it. I'll return the favor and not tell them how awful I think their countries are, because I don't know the first thing about that, either.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[resummerfield]

.....Is it possible that we are being conditioned to accept the rules of a police state? If a government has little regard for international law, shouldn't that be a red flag to us? Governments have played their citizens for suckers in the past.....

My Mother-In-Law would certainly agree with this. Current trends in America remind her of growing up in occupied Holland in the '40s.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

As they say, the ambitious Europeans moved to America generations ago. Just as do the Latinos, Asians, Africans etc. today.

Only the priviledged and the losers stay behind.....

Wow. Isn't this how it all started in Germany, similar mentality, different nouns, early 1920s? Very proud and patriotic they were too.

 

[RJBender]

Kevin,

Thanks for your advice. 🙂 To everyone who thinks Kevin was "trashing America" sorry, I didn't see it. Constructive criticism with an invitation, perhaps.

I have friends who have dual citizenship, Spanish and American. Some, born in America, plan to retire in Spain. Are they Un-American for wanting to leave?

When it seems like half the world is screaming anti -American slogans and rioting in the streets, do you stick your fingers in your ears and start singing "God Bless America" or do you listen to what these people are saying? 😕

George, how often do you drive through Bedford-Stuyvesant? Do you feel safe walking through all the boroughs of New York? If you don't, why not? This is America, not Europe!

...we really are both not interested in know-nothing Euros trying to give us "lessons" on civilized behavior (espescially from Germans)!

What lessons? If you're mad at Germans quit your job at the German Bank! Sell your Mercedes, BMW or AUDI! Take your Rolleis, Leicas and Contaxes and donate them to the Good Will! 😀

Back on topic... cameras. Thank you! :angel:

R.J.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

This is America, not Europe!

Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, etc. all of them is America, yes...

Back on topic... cameras. Thank you! :angel:

Yes, check, please.

 

[RJBender]

Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, etc. all of them is America, yes...


Yes, check, please.

Not according to the lyrics. Follow the link to God Bless America. Pay particular attention to the reference to Woody Guthrie, father of Arlo who was recently mentioned on another thread. 🙂

R.J.

 

[nwcanonman]

Wasn't this supposed to be a discussion of opinions about photography and Homeland Securtiy??? Not bash USA/EU/Peru discussion/argument?
Remember, as previously stated, this is RFF - the good natured, common-sense forum ~ ; - )