Plastic Cross and Hands

@Observing: Thank you.

@Amir: I know what you mean. For me it sort of depends on my mood. Sometimes I just don't feel like having to deal with any kind of confrontation and I avoid the possibility. Other times I just shoot what the law says I can shoot. People literally have been killed in this country for taking photos, legally, and in public places, though I'd guess that is extremely rare (not too long ago some college kid on spring break took a photo of some thug at the beach in Hawaii --I think-- and was beaten to death for it).

If it's a photo you really want, asking for permission can sometimes avoid trouble, though the response can itself be a hassle. Obviously, you have to use some judgment. I find people in Austin to be much more camera tolerant than most other places I go, though Houston didn't seem too bad (or I was just lucky and haven't shot enough in Houston to really know the environment).

And btw, I've been hassled just as much, if not more, for taking pictures of objects, as I have been for taking pictures of people.

@danthro: Here the evening light was finally beginning to approach. The D40 doesn't have a DOF button, but this is not so important with LCD screens as it used to be in the film days. This is one of those flat ground level grave stones. I had to lay down to take this shot.

@Melissa W.: Thanks. The road was actually pretty far away --a good 100 yards or so.

@JoeB: The Graduate is one of my favorite movies.

I kept wondering about the guy taking the video. He is obviously close to the action and the cops look right at him. I wonder if his camera was hidden? Some people are uplinking video like this so their imagery can't be confiscated. The most disturbing thing to me is that the cops blatantly lied in their arrest affidavits --which is perjury and a clear violation of the law-- yet are apparently allowed to get away with it.

@Mortola: I think I would have asked them to name one "terrorist" attack anywhere in the world on an industrial target? Come on. Just one? If, for instance, this was a big problem, you'd expect to see a lot of these kinds of attacks in, say, Israel. Are the terrorists attacking factories there, or do they blow up buses and night clubs and restaurants?

The whole psychology of terrorism is to attack soft public targets: people. One guy can set off a bomb in a nightclub in a dramatic attack that kills a lot of people. Did the IRA blow up factories or nightclubs? The same bomb in a refinery would do little or nothing. The damage might well be repaired overnight.

The kind of access and resources necessary to get dramatic results from attacking infrastructure are way beyond a guy walking around OPENLY taking photos. They're way beyond any "terrorist" group in this, and most other countries, if for no other reason than the fact that the same amount of resources necessary to have any affect on some industrial target could be used for 10, 20, or 100, more dramatic attacks on soft targets. If anything, terrorists are looking for the biggest bang for the buck.

Furthermore, a "terrorist" or "subversive" would be smart enough not to draw attention to himself. If photos were necessary to his plans (and this is just another absurdity in itself) he'd take them surreptitiously. Granted, some small town cop may be too dumb to understand all this. But I can't believe little ole' me can figure all this out while it eludes people from the DA's office, the FBI, Fatherland Security, etc. Therefore, their purpose in interrogating you obviously has NOTHING to do with "terrorism."

And on top of all this, since taking photos in and from a public place is entirely legal, no matter how many power plants, refineries, or factories are in the frame, and taking photos in public places is not in and of itself a "suspicious" activity, the Gestapo had no "probable cause" for questioning
you. But then, I guess that's the point, isn't it? The Gestapo doesn't need probable cause. They don't need to obey any of the legal restraints developed in America over two centuries.

So, let that be THE lesson to you, and everyone you tell your story to: in today's Amerika, EVERYONE is a suspect; and you don't have to do anything illegal or suspicious for Fatherland security to descend upon your doorstep. In other words, we're being conditioned for the fact, that unlike in the old America, where you didn't expect to be interrogated by the cops if you weren't doing anything wrong; in this Amerika, you're subject to interrogation at any time for any reason.

The next step in this inevitable progression is to arrest those who aren't "cooperative" (subordinate) enough --sort of like the cops did in the video. So, should you not show the "authorities" the "proper respect," that, in and of itself, will be your crime. And believe me, there are plenty of "freedom loving" Americans out there who think insufficient servility to authority should be a harshly punished crime against the State.

And oh yeah, they don't care about the photos because that was just a pretext. You might want to consider what kind of ticket you buy though, if you're going to fly anywhere. Better spring for the kind where you can get a full refund if it turns out you're on the "no-fly" list.