[PRCo] Re: OT: Prohibition of photography from trains and police action taken

[Fred Schneider]

I doubt that the people running Amtrak really care.

These are the same loons who, when

1)  I suggested a way to improve service, the manager in this area  
told me if I didn't like the way he ran the trains, I should get in  
my car and use it instead.   His subordinate, who gave me the name of  
his superior, agreed with me but said there was nothing he could do  
because it was policy to hold a local train with commuters for a long  
distance train going to New York City in spite of the fact that it  
would make the local passengers 20 minutes late for work and  
reversing it would make the New York passengers only five 5 minutes  
late.   It was policy because Amtrak wasn't supposed to haul  
commuters.   Because I didn't like to be late for work, I did switch  
to commuting by car.

2)  When I asked for a copy of the law that required me to show  
identification in order to buy a ticket, the station agent in  
Lancaster called the policeman over who pulled me out of line and  
told me that, "there is no law and if you don't like our regulations,  
you don't need to buy a ticket.   You don't have to use the  
train."    I might point out that SEPTA and New Jersey Transit does  
not require ID for their passengers riding their trains over the same  
tracks, and the infrastructure is owned by Amtrak.

It doesn't matter what they do because Amtrak will periodically put  
their hands in my pocket to get the money they need to continue  
operating and paying the wages and salaries of their employes.

I also doubt that there is any concern over loss of foreign tourist  
dollars because, while I am unable to prove it or do not wish to take  
the time to research it, I suspect that any loss in Euros or Yen or  
Pounds or other currencies coming into this country is probably  
offset by U. S. dollars spent at home by people who are fed up with  
TSA hassles at airports and have chosen to spend vacations here.     
If the motel and restaurant owners were making a huge stink over  
these idiots because of lost business, one might suspect it would  
stop.   On the other hand the President is so determined that he is  
correct that it might just not stop.

On Nov 20, 2007, at 11:59 AM, Boris Cefer wrote:

> I think this story won't attract many foreign visitors to your  
> country...
> Most people believe in good people but they also remember what they  
> hear and
> read.
>
> B
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Holland" <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
> To: "- 1714 PRCo__WP__JTC -" <pittsburgh- 
> railways at lists.dementia.org>; "-
> 1714 PRCo__WP__JTC -" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>; "- 1717
> PRCo__WP__JTC -" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 12:56 PM
> Subject: [PRCo] OT: Prohibition of photography from trains and  
> police action
> taken
>
>
>
> http://www.episcopalcafe.com/daily/war_and_peace/ 
> every_day_diplomacy.php
>
> Episcopal Café
> November 3, 2007
>
> Joel Merchant is a teacher, business consultant, and essayist. He is
> currently working on "The Other Side of Time; Letters to My  
> Daughter" at
> a-reminiscence.
>
> Posted by Jim Naughton on 4:15 AM | Permalink | Digg this
>
> Every day diplomacy
>
> Note: we are receiving many insightful comments on this article from
> folks who aren't signing the comments using their real names. We are
> delighted to have your comments, especially from first-time visitors,
> but in the interest of transparency and accountability, we do require
> you to sign your posts with your real name. Thanks. The editors.
>
> By Joel L. Merchant
>
> Countries, like people, make friends with others one at a time.  
> This is
> a story of one failure. In fairness to an unknown visitor to our
> country, imagine yourself in his place. The scene is on a recent  
> Amtrak
> trip between New York City and Boston. The conductor collects tickets,
> requests identification, folds destination stubs into seatbacks, moves
> on to other cars. An older man across the aisle, traveling alone,  
> shows
> his passport. It is clear from their conversation he doesn't know
> English. After decades as a frequent traveler, I have thousands of
> pictures -- scenery, buildings, people, architecture, from around the
> world. Today the train passes a lovely stretch of Connecticut shore,
> tidal marshes, nesting ospreys, the Long Island Sound. What little
> attention I pay as the visitor takes pictures, is that I'm impressed
> with his equipment. He and I, unknown to each other, are members of a
> picture-taking culture, fellow citizens of a show-and-tell world. I
> wonder if his will join the thousands on YouTube. I imagine, after his
> return home, how many friends he will impress with stories and  
> pictures
> of this mild, early autumn, Saturday morning journey along the New
> England shoreline.
>
> The train is a half hour west of New Haven when the conductor, having
> finished her original rounds, reappears. She moves down the aisle,
> looks, stops between our seats, faces the person taking pictures.  
> "Sir,
> in the interest of national security, we do not allow pictures to be
> taken of or from this train." He starts, "I……." but, without English,
> his response trails off into silence. The conductor, speaking louder,
> forcefully: "Sir, I will confiscate that camera if you don't put it
> away." Again, little response. "Sir, this is a security matter! We
> cannot allow pictures." She turns away abruptly and, as she moves down
> the aisle, calls over her shoulder, in a very loud voice, "Put. It.
> Away!" He packs his camera. Within a minute after our arrival in New
> Haven, two armed police officers entered the car, approached my
> neighbor's seat. "Sir, we're removing you from this train." "I….;"  
> "I……"
> "Sir, you have breached security regulations. We must remove you from
> this train." "I…," "I….." "Sir, we are not going to delay this train
> because of you. You will get off, or we will remove you physically."
> "I….." Nearby passengers stir. One says, "It's obvious he doesn't  
> speak
> English. There are people here who speak more than one language.  
> Perhaps
> we can help." Different ones ask about the traveler's language;  
> learn he
> speaks Japanese. For me, a sudden flash of memory -- a student at
> International Christian University in Japan, I took countless pictures
> without arousing suspicion.
>
> The police speak through the interpreter, with the impatience of
> authority. The conductor asked this man three times to discontinue. We
> must remove him from the train." The traveler hears the  
> translation, is
> befuddled. Hidden beneath the commotion is a cross-cultural drama.  
> With
> the appearance of police officers, this quiet visitor is  
> embarrassed to
> find he is the center of attention. The officers explain, "After we
> remove him from the train, when we are through our investigation, we
> will put him on the next train." The woman translates. The passenger
> replies, "I'm meeting relatives in Boston. They cannot be reached by
> phone. They expect me and will be worried when I do not arrive on
> schedule." "Our task," the police repeat, "is to remove you from this
> train. If necessary, we will do so by force. After we have finished  
> the
> investigation, we'll put you on another train." The woman translates.
> The traveler gathers his belongings and departs.
>
> My earlier suggestion that you imagine being in his place leaves you
> free to respond and draw your conclusions. Remember: you've been  
> removed
> from the train, are being interrogated, perhaps having your equipment
> confiscated; while I continue to do what I take for granted –  
> traveling
> unimpeded, on to Providence.
>
> The more I replay the scene, the more troublesome it is. It is the  
> stuff
> of nightmares. Relations between people and countries lie at the heart
> of the issue. The abstract terms that inform political and social  
> debate
> appear, as if in person, unexpectedly, near enough to hear, touch,  
> feel.
> Taking no position is not an option. As an educator, I would  
> prepare and
> deliver a lecture on how others perceive America in the world  
> community,
> then seek an audience. I'll spare you. But -- I just watched armed
> police officers remove a visitor from the train for taking pictures. I
> don't understand this. I'm disturbed no, shaken – to bear witness to
> these events. Other passengers react with surprise and anger. "Since
> when is it illegal to take pictures?"
>
> "Nobody's ever bothered me about it." "Is the only photography allowed
> from the space station and Google Earth? These people take pictures of
> everything, including my house, without my permission, and they're
> instantly available on the internet." An older traveler reflected, "I
> witnessed this personally in police states during the war in Europe."
>
>
> In The Terror Presidency, Jack Goldsmith says it is right for a  
> country
> to meet a threat in a way that keeps us safe, but must also "minimize
> unnecessary intrusion on …life, liberty and property.... and all those
> who are enjoying them with us." One passenger asked, "Would someone
> please explain the threat posed by taking pictures from the train?"
>
>
> In Matt Stoller's review of A Tragic Legacy, he says the current
> administration has "transformed the way (people) speak about our  
> country
> and its role in the world." The good-versus-evil mentality has  
> "altered
> the political system of our country" and our relationship with the  
> rest
> of the world – in ways which are "inappropriate for a modern power  
> in a
> time of global turmoil."
>
>
> It doesn't take more than five minutes, in any airport in this  
> country,
> before I hear the loudspeaker, "The current terror threat is  
> elevated."
> We hear "terror" endlessly – traveling, at home, on television, in the
> news. Recent political campaigns have reminded no, badgered – us,  
> to be
> very afraid. What did Franklin Roosevelt say, that "the only thing we
> have to fear is fear itself." Terror. Paranoia. We can no longer
> differentiate between terrors. Is this our generation's enlightened
> contribution to American culture?
>
>
> Watching police escort a visitor off the train, I felt anger, not
> comfort. This action was beyond irritating. It is intolerable,
> unacceptable. If it bothered me, it paled in comparison to the way it
> inconvenienced, and will long trouble, this visitor to our country. We
> disrupted his travel plans and family reunion. Even greater than the
> psychological damage we inflicted is the harm we've done to ourselves.
>
> We missed an opportunity to show kindness, to be ambassadors of
> goodwill. The visitor will return home. He will indeed impress many
> people – not with pleasant memories and pictures of a quiet morning  
> trip
> along the New England coast, but with a story of being removed and
> detained by American police for taking pictures. Do we imagine we've
> gained anything because a single visitor returns home with stories of
> mistreatment?
>
>
> We engage in diplomacy whenever we have contact with visitors or  
> travel
> abroad ourselves. If we conduct ourselves poorly as daily ambassadors,
> it is no wonder our country suffers a tarnished relationship with  
> the world.
>
>