Omnibologist targeted as terrorist and/or pedophile!

[Griff]

Three references for this story;

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... 331234.ece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2182246 ... hobby.html

http://focalplaneblog.blogspot.com/2008 ... orist.html

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He says 'Mr McCaffrey, who is married, added: "We just want to enjoy our hobby without harassment. I can deal with the fact someone might think I'm a terrorist, but when they start saying you're a paedophile it really hurts....../ Last September in Pontypridd, Wales, a bus driver became angry after he was caught in shot and called the police, who demanded to see Mr McCaffrey's photos.'

I agree with the point that someone might think he was a terrorist but lets face it, and I am not accepting or praising their actions in any way but what self respecting terrorist would want to target a bus driver or bus in Pontypridd, Wales, I mean come on!

The point that apparently he is a paedophile for taking pictures of buses..so are we to believe that these young childing are in full view of the bus windows exposing themselves? I'm not trying to make it seem funny but on buses you can see what..the people's head and shoulders and that is about it, how the heck does a picture of a bus with a child's head in it somewhere make him a paedohpile. Clearly the people who complain to the police or call him a paedo are just plain w***.

Opinions?

[michael blunck]

Opinions?

Well, I think it´s just the amateur style giving cause for concern in Britain. I´d suggest him to change over to some more expert equipment, like e.g. fixed (TV) cameras, omputer-based analysis, etc.

regards
Michael

[Kevo00]

Its amusingly ironic that one of the articles cited is from the Sun, one of the main organs of Peadophobia.

[Griff]

That is true, either the sun likes to either expose paedophiles, fill it's pages with Big Brother "news", immerse itself in Madeleine McCann which hasnt cropped up in a while, or their latest quest to bring this Nazi to trial...which is fair enough but just seems to have cropped up out of nowhere.

Though the article is not really saying he is a paedo for taking pictures of buses, it does seem to be a more of 'what is the world coming to?' sort of article. Though interestingly it does draw attention in the headline that he gets called a paedo rather than a terrorist or both.

[athanasios]

Journalists have no news and just fill the pages...

[Kevo00]

Well, the world's only coming to that because papers like the Sun run scare stories about terrorists and pedophiles! And helps to create a culture where 'spotters' are viewed negatively as freaks too.

[JamieLei]

As far as the law goes, taking photos of people in public places is not illegal, no matter what age they are, and whether they give consent or not. A man a few months ago was punched in the face by the unwilling subject of the photo (luckily, the police used the photo to track him down!)

However, the police are growing more and more oppressive to photographers of all types, as it is the high-quality big Japanese cameras that draw the most attention. The BBC ran a Magazine report on the subject two months ago, which really shows how photographers are often being thought of being shifty. Police also have no right to force people to delete photos.

"There's a general alarm about terrorism and about paedophiles, two heady cocktails, and police and PCSOs [police community support officers] and wardens and authorities generally seem to be worried about this."

Photographers have every right to take photos in a public place, he says, and it's crazy for officials to challenge them when there are so many security cameras around and so many people now have cameras on phones. But it's usually inexperienced officers responsible.

"If a decision is made to crack down on photographers, it should be made at the top. It's a general officiousness and a desire to interfere with people going about their legitimate business."

[Parkey]

How old was the bus?

[Dave]

How old was the bus?

What difference does it make?

[Ameecher]

How old was the bus?

What difference does it make?

Someone missed the paedo joke...

[Dave]

How old was the bus?

What difference does it make?

Someone missed the paedo joke...

Yeah it was your mother.