THE GREAT $25
FINE FOR VIOLATING
NATIONAL SUBWAY SECURITY
GROUND
ZERO PLUS 1195 DAYS,--New York, NY, Monday, December
20, 2004--On
the heels of President Bush signing a new 9-11 Intelligence
Bill to increase the security of each of America's nearly 300
million citizens, the New York City Mass Transit Authority (MTA)
is about to enforce a new regulation designed to penalize potential
subway terrorists.
The
New York City subway system is about to enforce a new
regulation designed to penalize potential subway terrorists
The regulation
prohibits taking pictures in the New York City subway system.
Not everyone
is in agreement that such a ban is anything more than an attempt
to over regulate the rights of citizens, especially the shutter-happy
New York tourists who flood and ebb daily into the city.
This past
Saturday a group
of protestors defied the new regulation by boarding en mass
and shooting countless photos in film, digital and video violation
of MTA rules.
The irony
of the regulation is that the penalty for performing a "potential
act of terrorism"--i.e. taking pictures in the subway--carries
a stiff penalty of twenty-five dollars.
In the
greater scope of individual rights, it would seem that if the
city of New York and its 8,643,437 inhabitants were truly at
risk of some major terrorist plot as a result of taking a picture
in the 722 miles of subway, that a fine of $25 would do little
to discourage such action.
Let's assume
that Omar The Terrorist wants to take a photo of the 8th Street
Subway platform where thousands of people come and go each day
to the East Village. Omar is plotting to blow up the station.
Will he be worried about a $25 ticket issued by Transit Authority
cops?
Hmmmm?
New York's
subway system handles about 3.1 million passengers each day,
with 6,500 scheduled trains stopping at 468 stations that allow
passengers in and out through 3,200 turnstiles to go here and
there.
Could Omar
The Terrorist clandestinely take pictures of the trains
at any of the 468 MTA stations?
Now, could
Omar The Terrorist clandestinely take pictures at any of these
stops? More importantly, could he crank up the web and find
pictures of about any station taken by someone at some time?
I suppose if you can find the formula for making an atomic bomb
on the internet, you ought to be able to find pictures of New
York subway stations.
The protestors
against the MTA fine of $25 may be fighting for far more than
just the right to take pictures. If the rights of the citizens
is represented by a block of granite, each chip made weakens
the whole structure. A chip here and a chip there eventually
reduces the monolith to a sliver.
The insanity
of fining someone $25 for taking pictures in the subway under
the ruse of "terrorism management" is about as far
fetched as trying to stop a serious madman from frothing at
the mouth.
The "victims"
of such a law are the people and the rights they allow to be
whittled away through the enactment of such ludicrous regulations
as the MTA is proposing.
A subway
is a subway is a subway.
It's a
hole in the earth with tracks and tunnels, occasioned by turnstiles
and stations spotted here and there. The subways in New York
aren't different from those in France, Italy, Japan or any other
place on the earth that uses underground transportation.\
Even more
absurd is the access anyone has to the diagrams and blueprints
of the subway system, foiling any idea there is some "secret"
to be withheld below the New York earth.
Ultimately,
the MTA is overzealous. The injury is to the rights of the citizens.
If there
is a Terrorist in this scenario, it is the MTA. By making the
taking of pictures in the subway a ticketable offense carrying
a feeble fine of $25, the MTA has bitten off its own foot.
Complacency
over the MTA's absurd photo ban eats away at the foundation
of human rights
The absurdity
of its own price tag signals the world the photo ban is nothing
more than a vain attempt to mask a potential revenue generator
behind Terrorism's clothing.
Only the
most foolish person would not bark loudly against such government
intrusion. But, Complacency, Terrorism's greatest ally, usually
is the great termite that eats away the foundations of human
rights.
One of
those rights is the right to take a photo in a subway.
Unfortunately,
that right is in dire jeopardy.
We should
stand up for the rights of future generations to take
pictures in the subway
Unless
one takes heed to the duty of being a Sentinel of Vigilance.
If one stands up for the rights of future generations to take
pictures in the subway, one will shout and scream against the
regulation.
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