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Ferguson No-Fly Zone Revealed As Anti-Media Tactic
The AP (here, carried by the San Francisco Chronicle) reports that recorded conversations reveal flight restrictions requested in August by the police force of Ferguson, MO, and agreed to by Federal aviation safety officials, were specifically intended to limit the access of journalists to the area, rather than purely in response to safety concerns. One FAA manager in Kansas City was recorded saying police "did not care if you ran commercial traffic through this TFR (temporary flight restriction) all day long. They didn't want media in there."
"There is really ... no option for a [Temporary Flight Restriction] that says, you know, 'OK, everybody but the media is OK,'" he said. The managers then worked out wording they felt would keep news helicopters out of the controlled zone but not impede other air traffic.
The conversations contradict claims by the St. Louis County Police Department, which responded to demonstrations following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, that the restriction was solely for safety and had nothing to do with preventing media from witnessing the violence or the police response.
Police said at the time, and again as recently as late Friday to the AP, that they requested the flight restriction in response to shots fired at a police helicopter.
But police officials confirmed there was no damage to their helicopter and were unable to provide an incident report on the shooting. On the tapes, an FAA manager described the helicopter shooting as unconfirmed "rumors."
Somebody should go to jail over this.
It won't happen, though.
a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
If they knew the police were just trying to impede the media, why did they go along? Heads should roll at multiple levels.
I wonder what the legal requirements for filing these restrictions are, I know most similar documents require those filing them attest to the real reason for the request under penalty of perjury. If that's the case for these documents then someone effectively committed a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Also a quick browse of the relevant advisories in regards to Temporary Flight Restrictions does not suggest there is any allowance for "because we don't want the media to see", National security (specifically mentioning the DOD), High ranking politicians movements, Spacecraft launches, major sporting events, hijacking incidents & wildfires, but nothing about the press so I doubt that was the reason put down on the forms.
http://www.faa.gov/documentLib...
Don't start bringing up statistics. They mean nothing when blacks are systematically targeted far more than any other group in human history. Before British colonialism crushed black societies in Africa, they were the pinnacle of human achievement and were making scientific breakthroughs that disgusting white pigs could only dream of.
Despite the staggering levels of oppression, blacks are near the top in all sports and scientific endeavours and white women throughout the world have come to accept our superiority. The greatest President in the history of this nation is now black too!
What relevance does this story have with respect to nerd news? The answer: none. Where were your other Ferguson stories??
Timothy, this is not your personal blog. Post this on your own soapbox.
This is outrageous political trolling and you should be ashamed and fired.
Nerds and geeks and general information-types are all about the free exchange of ideas. Censorship is anti-nerd.
No, what they did was disingenuous and immoral but not illegal - they really didn't want the eyes of the world judging them if they had to pull out the beanbag rounds and teargas (i.e. Everything is legal if no-one catches you doing it).
They're behaving like children when caught stealing candy or going out joyriding. They don't understand that what they're doing is wrong and they don't respond with remorse. They basically respond by trying to cover up what they're doing. Point at someone else. Choose a different time next time. Just do anything so as not to get caught. The one thing that was overlooked completely is that "maybe they shouldn't be doing that".
It's basically an upscaled version of what Right To Be Forgotten is doing, or how companies threaten lawsuits if negative reviews and bad press aren't removed from public view. None of this addresses the problem, it just makes it harder to find the truth.
Okay, I'm open for suggestions at this point. Horses, maybe?
Ok, here's a really radical concept. Lets institute laws that apply to EVERYONE equally, it doesn't matter if you are a citizen, the rich, the poor, a police officer, a government official, or a corporate executive. If you are found guilty, the punishments actually apply (including prison time, I'm tired of listening to the excuses of judges who refuse to punish police who are caught red-handed committing perjury).
Since when is a suburb allowed to declare "no-fly" zones.
Not only have we militarized local police, but it looks like we've now given them the power generally reserved for the State Department and Justice Department.
If we had an Attorney General who was worth a damn, there would be a bunch of Ferguson officials and police facing charges and civil rights suits right now. Instead, we've had an AG who was only concerned with making sure that no Wall Street banking criminal got his hair mussed.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I wouldn't call it news for nerds or stuff that matters. Many cities already ban news flights over them and have done so for years. The reasoning seems to be with police flights and reletive dangers of closeness when they respond to incidents.
No they don't. You are wrong. Cities don't have the authority to ban flights, only the FAA does. I'm a commercial pilot, airplane owner and a flight instructor, so I know what I'm talking about.
Aiming guns at currently non-violent protesters was not enough to cause outrage (among a great many more blatant violations, but this is?!
Face it, those in charge will get a slap on the wrist at best at this point. Power has corrupted, and it is too late to do anything meaningful. If you try expect to get on a secret list and have your life screwed with royally. Hunker down and hope you aren't alredy on a list to get "disappeared".
What on earth would make you say something like that? Everyone who isn't blinded by ideology knows that Ferguson is a mountain made out of a mole hill for political reasons and ratings. Shit like what happened there happens all over the place with at least three incidents i know of happening after it and no one is excited about them. Ferguson just happens to be in the right place to muster the troops so to say.
It has nothing to do with anyone's citizenship and everything to do wiyh motivating the right people to the polls. We've already seen the flyers claiming some are will be turned into ferguson if certain people are elected.
And what do you propose we do when all the people in power have decided to solve their Prisoner's Dilemma and collude?
Ideals are a fine thing, in theory. In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, theory and practice are nothing alike.
Funny, I always assumed that that only applied to handset printing presses such as existed during the 18th Century, and reporters who travelled by sailing ship, horse, or foot to find and spread the story....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"