Bob, this is getting rather political now, but so be it! You are of course right, but then, what COULD they do effectively? The sad truth is that, regardless of how much money you spend on combatting crime, it's there to stay. This is especially true for crimes that are not rationally planned attempts to gain an economic adavantage but motivated by the sexual urges of the perpetrator. I very much doubt that there's a way to deter such people. Also, such "perverts" often strike in a non-public setting of special trust, - it may be a relative, a teacher, even a catholic priest... Quite possibly, many people just do not want to admit that they are helpless against crime and actually WANT to be fooled by the politicians. Maybe they feel safer seeing a cop dragging away a harmless photographer :-( On a larger scale: do you think the maesures introduced by Ashcroft et al. are effective in combatting global terrorism? I very much doubt it. Same mechanism. But, before this becomes a political forum rather than a photo group, I'd like to invite everybody interested over to http://groups.msn.com/GlobalAffairs/ . Returning to the photo aspect of this topic: when travelling, you are in constant danger of violating local laws when taking pictures. I had problems in Algeria and in the Spain of the Franco era when photographing public buildings. I read that plane potters were detained in Britain because they looked suspicious. And then there's the story about the guy who was arrested for taking photographs near Cheney's hotel. No telling whether this actually happened though http://zem.squidly.org/weblog/article/2553 . So, presumably , it's always best to inform oneself about regulations and cultural sensitivities before going on that photo trip to a foreign country. best regards Laurenz Bobke http://www.travelphoto.net/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Talbot" <snapper@st-abbs.fsnet.co.uk> To: "List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students" <photoforum@listserver.isc.rit.edu> Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 10:13 AM Subject: Re: Well, all photgraphers are perves after all, right? > > > I remember having read this story last year. > > Is this real or just another hoax? > > > > Season's Greetings to all! > > Roland > > This is no joke: the BBC don't go in for that sort of thing (April 1st excluded) > > You might have read a similar story about one school last year: this is different in that it is a whole area ... > > Try reading it again without laughing ... > ... to put it in perspective, paedophiles often use cars, but we don't see any moves to ban parents using cars for the school run "unless they all agree". The reality is they are trying to be seen to address a problem without actually doing anything effective. > > > > Bob
