Suspicious Activity Reporting program . . .

This is actually good.
We can start tabulating how many FBI agents have nothing better to do than sh#t like this. Obviously the FBI has way way too many agents with no meaningful work.

Hmmm.... who's that at my door ....
 
I support his efforts. What our government is doing in the name of anti-terrorism is threatening our rights. I only hope that people wake up and put their collective foot down before it is too late.
 
This is the kind of thing terrorists are after... getting us to beat each other up over nonsense! Is the FBI running down everyone that takes a picture of the Washington Monument or the Golden Gate Bridge?? What a waste of time.
 
Jamie Pillers said:
This is the kind of thing terrorists are after... getting us to beat each other up over nonsense! Is the FBI running down everyone that takes a picture of the Washington Monument or the Golden Gate Bridge?? What a waste of time.
Click to expand...

I don't this is *precisely* what terrorists are after, to be honest. The installation of a global caliphate? Sure. Martyrdom? Almost certainly.

But annoying photographers is probably quite low on Al Qaeda's 'to do' list.
 
edge100 said:
I don't this is *precisely* what terrorists are after, to be honest. The installation of a global caliphate? Sure. Martyrdom? Almost certainly.

But annoying photographers is probably quite low on Al Qaeda's 'to do' list.
Click to expand...

It is not the annoying that the terrorist is trying to achieve, it is seeding suspicion against each other throughout the population and causing the government to suspect honest people. They waste their time and money monitoring the citizen's activities. This in turn causes the citizen to distrust their government. In the long run it foments a much better environment for breeding more and more local terrorists.

It is annoying to have to stand in hour to get on an airplane.
 
I think that the point being missed by all this is that it's the small minded Bureaucrats who are the problem and should be the target of the lawsuit more so then the administration. After all it's they who run the government not necessarily those in the ivory tower.
 
I say who gives a crap; %$#@ 'em. As long as it's legal according to the letter of the law, I'm making my photos where ever the hell I please.

Don't sweat these pencil necks men.
 
First I heard of an iconic rainbow swash. So much for iconic. But I don't get up to Boston that much. Truly, it's not much to see.

I read the article twice, as well as the link to the lawsuit, and nowhere do I see that this photographer was added to any security list (although he is apparantly a part of a lawsuit), nor do I see that any FBI agent did anything more than leave his business card after being called by some hot shot security guards. No one was questioned (the photographer called the FBI guy, which I would have never done), no one was arrested, he was simply shooed away by idiot renta a cops, which happens every day. So to me it sounds like this is one of them "there's no such thing as bad publicity" things. Move along folks, nothing to see here but over hyped stuff.
 
Steve M. said:
First I heard of an iconic rainbow swash. So much for iconic. But I don't get up to Boston that much. Truly, it's not much to see.

I read the article twice, as well as the link to the lawsuit, and nowhere do I see that this photographer was added to any security list (although he is apparantly a part of a lawsuit), nor do I see that any FBI agent did anything more than leave his business card after being called by some hot shot security guards. No one was questioned (the photographer called the FBI guy, which I would have never done), no one was arrested, he was simply shooed away by idiot renta a cops, which happens every day. So to me it sounds like this is one of them "there's no such thing as bad publicity" things. Move along folks, nothing to see here but over hyped stuff.
Click to expand...

It seems you may have read the documentation too quickly to have caught the 3rd sentence in the first paragraph, to wit;

...The plaintiffs are five U.S. citizens whose information has been entered into counterterrorism databases for engaging in lawful conduct, and who have been subject to unwarranted law enforcement and scrutiny...
 
Pioneer said:
It is not the annoying that the terrorist is trying to achieve, it is seeding suspicion against each other throughout the population and causing the government to suspect honest people. They waste their time and money monitoring the citizen's activities. This in turn causes the citizen to distrust their government. In the long run it foments a much better environment for breeding more and more local terrorists.

It is annoying to have to stand in hour to get on an airplane.
Click to expand...

The stated goal of Al Qaeda is to remove apostates and non-believers from the 'holy land', and to install a worldwide caliphate.

I guarantee you that when KSM and OBL were planning 9/11, they weren't saying, "Well, if this doesn't work out, at least the US government will waste precious resources monitoring its law-abiding citizens, thereby eventually eroding the trust the average American has in his or her government, leading inexorably to an ever-present state of near panic amongst the citizenry."

It is annoying to stand in line for an hour to get on an airplane, and one could argue that doing so does not make the skies any safer. But that's beside the point of the ultimate goal of terrorism (at least the guise in which it currently afflicts the Western world).
 
McCarthyism reborn ... FBI stupidity?

I'm putin' on my tinfoil hat and heading for the bunker. :)
 
I think the 86 year-old guy is crazy -- how can you sell 200K photo books? I demand the FBI investigate that claim!

From 1999-2001 I was working on a project for a newspaper -- the project entailed photographing schools, structures and neighborhoods -- all of which were named after people -- the newspaper would run the photo and a short article about how the place got its' name. After 9/11 the newspaper had to provide me with an official letter and some printed pieces to show to people questioning my activity. I wouldn't call this McCarthyism -- but what can you do in this environment? People are anxious.

I think the photographer in question should have interacted with security in a different way. He should have given them his business card. And he could have asked to speak with someone at the company in public relations. Guy shows up in rental car at facility and some security guard who doesn't like his attitude, even though he should know the guy's not a problem, decides to f with him by going by the book and filing an incident report -- or whatever he does.

One bad outcome for a photographer or anyone in such a situation is getting on a list that might make it more of a pain to travel by plane.

The whole matter is one huge waste of time, money, and resources. The photographer should use his energy to take more boring uncreative photos :) He's no Rosa Parks. And if he was a VP exec for major companies he should have developed better diplomatic skills.

Oh and I see this event is from 2004 -- the guy's name Prigoff really fits :) Way to spend one's last years -- litigation! Comedian Jackie Mason when asked what he'd do if he knew he only had one day left to live replied: "I'd sue!"
 
Sounds like local lunacy. I live a block south of the Washington state capitol. I've photographed it, in it, around it, small tripod for time photography (I use film, can't just just jack up the ISO to 10 billion on demand), this inside the building to get the beautiful dome.

The only places you cannot take pictures is the Senate and House gallery and that is posted on a sign outside the entry doors. The sign covers rules that are just good manners, no talking on you cell phone, political banners and signs, etc.

In all this I've never had the state police who patrol the Capitol and grounds even give me a sideways glance, much less approach me to ask what I doing.
 
1. I dislike government intrusion.
2. I seriously dislike dumb ass security guards.
3. Business Insider falls in the same category.
4. It isn't simply a public art installation - it's a 140ft high tank of LNG which could level a good chunk of Boston. It's basically equivalent to a nuclear weapon that could be set off with a kitchen match. It's protected by two idiots and a chain-link fence. Great. Hey, I got an idea - let's put a giant, colorful painting on it! Make it much easier to hit.

Just saying'....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom