I wouldn’t bother to buy anything. It’s not like terrorists don’t have access to the Internet. Questioning tourists photographing national monuments (or anything else) is as likely to nab a terrorist as throwing darts at random phone book pages. All it does is provide the general public with the sense that Something Is Being Done, nothing more.
Isn’t it lovely how colourful the world is.
Up there in the US you are worried about sneaky picture taking bomb delivering types. Down here we are worried about creepy crawlies and germies.
Not long ago my mum went to France and Italy on a walking tour. Basicaly her and her friend wandered from village to village in Italy and France for 6 weeks.
When she arrived home and had escaped the wonderful world of customs etc we were ready to take her home. No that would be too easy. “I have to wait for my boots” she informed us.
Almost an hour later her boots were handed over. Soggy but free from dreaded European germies and bugs with a death wish.
We had a reality tv programme here about customs and the wonderful work they do 
I am happy knowing our airports are patrolled by fruit sniffing beagles.
Yes enviromental security is important (very important for a lil island or 2) but jeeez must the fruit dogs sniff everything! I think it would be easier to bring a bomb in here then an apple D)
Don’t give them ideas, lol…
I had mixed feelings about this when I read the OP… But my commitment to American ideals has won me over. The country was founded on the principle of being free to do what you want so long as you don’t infringe upon the rights of others. If we start curtailing those freedoms, even in the name of national security, I say we are destroying America as much as we are protecting it.
Soft smile. Luckily, I claimed no monopoly. And I claim none now. Rather, I pointed out my point of view, experience and perspective vis a vis the entire situation. Just as you have your feelings on the logistics of security, so may I.
As for the fact that you feel it is “schtick”, there’s nothing productive to be said. You continue to personally attack me in the wrong forum. It’s considered poor form as a member of the SDMB to attack someone personally outside of The Pit. You hav almost as many posts as I do and this comes as news to you?
To try to steer this back from personal attack and to the O.P., I will reiterate. There are patterns of behavior, and the discovery methods that reveal those patterns don’t always have to be justified to the general public. I’m a huge fan of my rights to privacy, but if I want to fly from JFK Airport in New York to Tel Aviv in Israel and I book a ticket on El Al, I’d best keep my yap shut and allow their security screeners to do the incredibly careful job they’ve always done.
If you want to go to G.D. and open a Debate on the merits of heightened security, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so. The O.P.'er was dismayed at how photographs were handled, and how their use of them was questioned. By the way, I believe that they were harmless and touristy with zero ulterior motive so please don’t even think of suggesting I am impugning the good name of the O.P.'er or same’s relatives.
If someone wanted the disk of my photos, I would surrender them to that person without question. As the past week’s news has shown us all, it’s better to disseminate images than try to hide them away. N’est pas?
Eep. As a tourist who’s interested in non-standard tourist things (i.e. metro systems… how could you go to a city and not check out its metro system?!), I’m guessing I’m in for a lot more of this in the future. Thank Gourd I’ve got a digicam, but you can bet I’ll be checking into permission verrrrry carefully in the future.
Verbal Hints of Terrorist Activity:
“It’s a Kodak moment.”
“Take a picture–it’ll last longer!”
And if you see Jim Croce walking about, please inform him that, despite his likely “death”, the FBI would like to speak with him about a little ditty he wrote.
Sorry, but you specifically implied that you had some insight into the issue that everyone else lacks, to wit:
This is completely irrelevant to the issue at hand in this thread, and as such i’m gonna continue to call it “schtick.” If you you don’t like it, then either stop suggesting that you have some special insight, or report it to the mods.
Complete non-sequitur. Show me where i complained about airport security. And, in fact, i firmly believe that any increased security measures should have to be justified to the general public, especially if they involve incursions on our liberties.
That’s what this whole thread is about, my friend–the fact that some security measures are unjustifiable because they do nothing to increase our security while causing hassle and inconvenience. I have no trouble with the inconvenience caused by security measures at airport check-in or other places where the dangers are high, but i still want there to be justifiable reasons for using those security measures.
Never suggested that either. I’m simply suggesting that your first post in this thread was a knee-jerk reaction that took no account of whether or not confiscating someone’s holiday snapshots of common tourist attractions in any way increases our security.
And you still fail to demonstrate what possible use that confiscation could have served, or why it doesn’t deserve to be ridiculed.
Another non-sequitur. How do the photos of torture in Iraqi prisons equate even remotely to some anonymous American’s tourist photos of New York City?
If someone wanted my photos, they should at least provide me with a reason for wanting them. It’s not up to some jobsworth at the local photo outlet to decide that my holiday pics are unacceptable. Christ, the OP says that even the cop who dealt with the case thought the whole thing was a bit of a joke. I’m gonna keep following that cop’s example. Don’t like the “satire, comtempt and rebuke”? Well, tough, because that’s what the case deserves.
Indeed, I do. I will not ever back down from that fact. You may call it whatever derogatory thing makes you feel more like a man but the simple fact remains: You did not witness what I did, you lack the insight that the experience produced, and you’re apparently pretty angry about that fact. For this, I am so very sorry.
Why would I report my factual knowledge to the mods? Interesting. At any rate, I am allowed to not like having my experiences referred to as “schtick”, and at the same time continue to believe as I do.
As for the reaction from the police officer, I respectfully suggest you do some hard Searches in the SDMB archives and read up on some of the behaviors that police officers are capable of. Finding one cop who has contempt for heightened security measures doesn’t equal all cops, or all law enforcement officers holding heightened security concerns up for contempt. It equals one snarky cop.
Nothing more.
No, not angry at all. In fact, pretty relieved that i wasn’t in New York on that terrible day.
But you are still yet to explain exactly what insight your experience gives you in terms of evaluating the efficacy of particular security measures. You are also yet to explain why someone who was not in New York on 9/11 might be somehow deficient in evaluating those security measures.
If there is some correlation that i’m missing between witnessing dead bodies and understanding security protocols, you’ll have to explain it to me, i’m afraid.
I was talking about my use of the term “schtick.” You said that you believed that my use of this term constituted a “personal attack.” I’m saying that if you really feel that’s true, then report me to the mods, because i’m going to keep using the term until you demonstrate that your 9/11 experience is relevant to the issue at hand.
Schtick! Schtick! Schtick! Happy now?
Sure you are. But as long as you fail to offer even the smallest logical basis for your beliefs about those security measures, i will continue to insist that your contribution to the thread is silly and irrelevant.
In your increasingly laughable opinion.
As far as i can see, it equals one sensible cop.
YMM, and obviously does, V.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Cartooniverse, but I seem to recall your experience in this regard was the fact that you happened to be in NYC when the WTC collapsed, and where able to help some people out because of your first aid experience. Now, I’m glad you didn’t get hurt that day, and I cannot imagine how difficult that day must have been for you.
But that experience alone does not give you any special insight into the security measures discussed by the OP. Mhendo et al are right in this regard. I understand this must be an emotional topic for you, but that alone is no reason to display a misplaced air of authority.
I’m speaking as a poster, I might add. So far, anyway. Some of the posts in this thread are on the edge of what we’d consider acceptable in MPSIMS - if you feel the need to call people stupid or naive, there’s probably a better forum for it.
Now, for my own anecdote, which amusingly is about fruit rather than explosives and such, much like calm kiwi’s story. I was flying into Newark a couple of years ago (post 9/11), and was asked if I had anything to declare in my carry-on. My bag was inspected after I answered “no”, just routine I suppose. To my shame, I had forgotten about the banana that was still inside of it. I know you’re not supposed to transport perishables into the US, and obviously I had meant to eat the banana on the plane - I’d just forgotten.
“Where is that banana from, sir?”, asked the security clerk.
“Errr, well, I bought it in the Netherlands.”, said I.
“Wow, they grow bananas in the Netherlands too?”, he asked.
“Heh, no, not that I know of”, I answered, checking the sticker on the banana, “this one’s actually from Costa Rica! But I’m sorry for not disposing of it sooner, I just forgot all about it.”
To which the security guy said, “I would have looked the other way for a Dutch banana, but not for a South American one, what with all the diseases they have.”
I just said, “OK”, muttering “Central American, you moron” under my breath as he threw away my biohazard.
But hey, he was doing his job, and I was the real moron for not thinking of the banana in the first place. No harm done.
Unlike the scenario in the OP, which is just insane. Wow.
Noted. Sorry 'bout that. I’m usually pretty careful about forum rules.
All i can claim in mitigation is that i was responding to Cartooniverse’s first post, in which it was implied that no-one else in the thread has any spine, and stated that our mirth is “sickening.”
Having carefully re-read my posts, I find no instance where I singled any member out and used disparaging comments in regards to them.
Nevertheless, I apologize to the mods and members. It is not necessary to win every argument.
“Photographs and Memories”? “New York’s Not My Home”?