NYC Photography Ban? Cui Bono?

Current news reports from the New York Times state that the city of New York wishes to ban all public filming and photography done without a permit from the city. This is curious considering how ubiquitous camera devices are, including cellular phone cameras. This ban would obviously be tyrannical and would be an attempt to give the city control over all visual media recording in New York City. What do they wish to hide from the public? Since it would be unrealistic to enforce such a ban except in sporadic instances, it seems likely that the ban would be used to punish and intimidate independent journalists who gain footage of city corruption or anything the public is expected to be in the dark about.

If we look back to 9/11/2001 we can see how citizen filming puts the establishment control of information at risk. It could give us unadulterated footage to show what aircraft actually struck the WTC towers and the Pentagon, when and where there were explosions at those locations, and how public officials responded to the supposedly unforeseen tragedy. Remember the Booker Elementary video of George W. Bush sitting silently listening to children read while NYC & Washington D.C. were apparently under attack and the President was at an unsecured location? That footage set off warning lights in many minds about Bush Administration complicity in the events of 9/11. The media coverage of the 9/11 events as they happened was much more revealing than what was reported days later when anything not in line with the official lies was censored. All reports of bombs going off and the appearance of controlled demolition at the WTC were silenced while conflicting eyewitness accounts of the aircraft were soon filtered to ensure only statements supporting the official story were reported; so then the only question for the media to debate would be how soon should the USA attack Afghanistan.

It's amazing how governing bodies constantly seek to give themselves monopolies by taking rights away from citizens and reserving those rights for themselves. This includes restrictions on private arms possession, monetary instruments, surveillance, drugs, and education. Yes, you even need government approval to home school your children since they can't have you teaching your kids subversive ideas about subjects such as science and history. Governments now wish to place surveillance cameras all over the place but want to fine you and confiscate your camera if you are filming without their permission.

What are Americans celebrating this July 4th? Oh, Independence Day... it seems that many Americans don't really understand what independence means and will happily shoot off government approved Chinese-manufactured fireworks to express their mistaken belief that they are free. Perhaps government cameras won't catch them if it happens to be the case that the devices they detonate aren't authorized by the state.