More from Photography is not a crime:
First, Andrea Mears called police on a man for flying his remote control quadcopter over a public beach in Connecticut.

Then, when police didn’t respond in seconds, she attacked the man

“He’s taking pictures of people on the beach … with a helicopter plane,” she told the cops by phone.

“Can you guys hurry? I already talked to him, just come.”

Seconds later, she attacked him.

The man, who goes by Hogwit on Youtube, began recording the encounter on his iPhone as his quadcopter was flying overhead, capturing her clawing at his face and pulling at his shirt.

“You want to take pictures?” she asks him as she jams her fingers into his mouth. “Yeah, you’re going to see how it feels when police come.”

Then she has the audacity to tell him “let go of me” as she is all over him.

“If you wouldn’t be assaulting me, I wouldn’t be touching you,” he responds, remaining exceptionally calm considering the circumstances.

“He’s taking pictures of people on the beach!” she yells as she continues to rip his shirt. “I’m going to kick your ass, you little motherfucker.”

“Can someone call the cops!” the man yells. “I’m being assaulted! Help!”

Police arrived and arrested her for assault in the third degree and breach of peace. The incident took place May 12 at Hammonassett State Park in Madison.



Here are more details from the man who was flying the drone that he posted on a forum shortly after the incident:

I went to a nearby beach that is a whopping 2 miles long, set up, talked to some people that were curious what my “thing” was, demonstrated the loiter feature (pulling the quad to one direction or another), demonstrated rtl (flying it away then having it return), and make a lot of people think the quad was just awesome. I never went below 50 feet save for take off/landing, then after the end of my last flight, some crazy lady came over and started taking pictures of me…and dialed 911 for the 3rd time in 15 minutes…she said something to the effect of, “There’s a guy here taking pictures at the beach with a helicopter plane.” (I distinctly remember her saying, “with a helicopter plane,” because that just sounds hilarious.) They basically said that they’d send someone when one gets free during each of the 3 calls she made, she decided they didn’t care enough about someone obeying the law so when no one was around she assaulted me and she decided to stop when she got a phone call. I called the police to report the assault, and boy was the response big…10 or more vehicles arrived (cops, DEEP, and an ambulance)…They first listened to her story of lies (she claimed I was taking close ups of people in bikinis, and that she had asked me to stop flying before calling the police, and that I was the one that assaulted her, and and and). The police approached me very aggressively, believing her full story, and before anything else was said I brought up something that she missed… The fact that the cell phone in my hand has a camera…that was recording. I had video evidence that she went nuts completely unprovoked, and was the one that assaulted me. She was then charged with assault, and breach of peace and I gave the cops a copy of the video for their prosecution. I then also showed them my last flight where you can make out her colorful shirt getting up from the beach then following it until it lands which proved that she lied when claiming that she asked me to stop flying before calling the police.
At the end of it all, one of the officers said to me basically, “Flying that thing the way you were is fine, you’re not in any trouble. You can come back and fly, but just be aware that some people can be alarmed.”


*fail, *lies, *wtf

I'm sure the camera men running all over the pitch and the rig for those overhead shots didn't give anybody any hints that somethin might be up.

Your video, Pirate Ship Vs Overhead Power Lines, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Fuck it.

I am going to go live in a cabin while it is still safe and serene.

Flying war machines are just overhead ( heh)

While I see where you're coming from, I have a few issues with what you're saying:

1. The organization you're referring to is staffed, has offices and overheads. Assuming it isn't corrupt and skimming and holding multi-million-dollar appreciation nights and galas (and we probably shouldn't assume that it isn't), the money you're giving this organization still gets portioned off quite a bit. Your point about helping on the systemic level is quite valid (provided you are channelling your concern into actually doing so), but I'd look more into local community health centres or the nonprofit down the street, and still, that money isn't guaranteed to reach the person in front of you. Much as a social worker can help him connect to essential services, advocate for fair and affordable housing, counsel him on trauma, etc, he will still need money for a lot of basic needs.

2. You are vastly oversimplifying the needs and situation of every person on the street. That person may actually depend on money from strangers to make rent (being that welfare barely puts a dent in even the lowest affordable housing costs), feed kids, buy food that isn't McDonald's or canned food, get a haircut, or a million other things that everyone needs money for.

3. Even if that person intends to spend some of your money on oxy or crack, it is not in your right to judge that. While addiction can very generally be called "bad", this person may suffer from chronic pain, trauma, mental illnesses, or some combination and short of governments finally realizing that housing and caring for the poor is cheaper than incarcerating them and treating emergency health conditions, self-medicating is the only reasonable way they can continue functioning for another day. This isn't even an unlikely scenario; think how easily someone can go from your (or my) comfy life to homeless, poor and desperate. It isn't always "bad decisions"; you could be a contractor that falls and gets a serious injury, hit by a car, stricken with a mental illness you have no control over, traumatized earlier in life, born into a high-risk environment or social strata, or anything else, and then start sliding from there. You develop an addiction, your income comes to a screeching halt, your loved ones can't or get too tired to support you, bills that were routine become suffocating, and there you are on the street, pain exploding relentlessly in your body/mind, on the other side of the decision, seeing chins turned up and eyes turned away from you and hearing people mutter "Don't give anything to him; he's just gonna use it to get high," to each other.

4. Not a single person in the video (and really, in just about every situation you see on whatever street you're on) speaks to or even looks at the guy.

While I wouldn't expect that everyone gives money to folks on the street (I myself have only done it a few times), it frustrates me to hear people insist that nobody should. "He's just going to use it for drugs/booze" is a presumptuous and ignorant statement and mindset.

One more thing: if you really care about urban poverty and those suffering from it, the biggest thing (IMO) you can do is vote for politicians/parties who openly and strongly support social services and welfare, then hold them to their promises. I don't make a ton of money, but I am happy to pay higher taxes and lose some luxuries if it means people who need help just to get by get it.

Also in Africa, in the remote deserts of Niger and a bit over 1000 kms away, is another desert sculpture. The monument to Flight 772 was designed to be visible from overhead, from passing aeroplanes, and is also visible in Google Maps at 16°51′53.748″N 11°57′13.362″E.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25643103

*length=540

@ChaosEngine

Yeah, my dad and I tried it when I was a kid and we went to a Boy Scout camping event together. For a skinny 12-year old like me, it was pretty freaking difficult even with the two-handed overhead throw.

You are free to disagree with me, but you cannot disagree while agreeing with me. And make no mistake, we DO agree. If I was unclear, be like @ChaosEngine and ask me to clarify before you respond.

I said two things in my post. One directly and concisely pointed out my view. Universal Healthcare is a must for everyone born or who have come to the states! (This includes Illegal Immigrants, but that is a whole other topic.) It should be everyone's freedom.

The second thing I said in my post was more implied (But it wasn't vague.) I said it wasn't a right, but then went on to explain the difference between "rights" and "freedoms." The conclusion? It should be everyone's freedom. Here is why I feel the way I do:

1a-As you say it is cheaper, and Medicade and Medicare prove that here in the states. No overhead, no profit to be made.

1b-Every human being deserves it as a "freedom." It is just compassionate and human to give it.

2-The second point, as to why it should be a freedom instead of a right is two pointed as well.

2a-It can be willingly given away or two it taken away in extenuating circumstances. "Rights" are imposed, by force if necessary, ironically. Yet a man deserves to be able to end his own life, with dignity, in his own house if he so chooses. But if Healthcare is a "right," as opposed to "freedom," he does not get that choice. He has to enjoy his terminal cancer. A mother's "freedom" to give home remedies to her deathly ill child, also, can be taken away. That is a good thing for the children. Yet honey and alfalfa would be the top cure for sick and dying children in some households if healthcare were a right.

2-There are some classes I don't think deserve Healthcare. To me Julie Schenecker does not. Nor does Kenneth Jackson. He, for example, denied "healthcare" to a woman when he raped her. And just for good measure he then slashed her throat because she was screaming. I know him and he is not insane or someone to be pitied. He just doesn't give a fuck about human dignity or rights. If he were released he would gladly do it again. (I do believe he has the "right" to a fair trial, so a trail should be forced.)

In fact inmates all around the country hurt themselves just to make life difficult for guards, and they know they will be fixed up. They inflict suffering upon others, and then cost money to taxpayers so they can do it again. So no, I don't think the worst of the worst deserve it. (Even though, ironically, they get it far better than those on the streets who try hard to make it.)

So in summary, we agree on the most prolific and most important parts...at least here in Lawdeedaw land...

@Trancecoach
i am going to have to disagree with your "free market" argument.(i snooped on your commentary on @eric3579 page).

and here is why:

since we both agree that what we have now is NOT a free market health care system and it is rife with corruption.we can move on to the real meat of the argument.

in my opinion the basic flaw in your argument is the base question.
free market or socialized medicine?

this is the wrong question.
because the questions ignores the very essence which we should be addressing.
the REAL question is "what is the purpose of a health care system"?
NOT "which market system should we implement for health care"?

so,
what IS the purpose of the health care system?

ah...
see where i am going with this?
not so easy to answer and impose your model of the "free market" at the same time.

because they are incompatible.
you cannot have "for-profit" and "health-care" work in conjunction with any REAL health care.

my family is in the medical field (as i know you are as well),and i have had this discussion with them many,many times.

when i have asked them "what is the best way to optimize a persons long term health"?
they have always answered,without exception "preventive care"."early diagnosis"."education on the benefits of diet and exercise".

and i suspect you would agree with their assessment.

but if we use your "free market" model against a more "socialized model".which model would better serve the public?

if we take your "free market" model,which would be under the auspices of capitalism.
where is the profit in a healthy society?
answer:there is none.
disease is where the money is at,THAT is where the profit lies,not in preventive medicine.

cancer,anxiety,obesity,drug addiction.
all are huge profit generators and all could be dealt with so much more productively and successfully with preventive care,diet and exercise and early diagnosis.

it is ineffecient and morally despicable and the costs are counted in dead bodies.

but when we consider that the 4th and 5th largest lobbyists are the health insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry is it any wonder that america has the most fucked up,backwards health care system on the planet.

so if we used your "free market" model instead of the corporate welfare system we are using now.
the results would STILL be the same.
because BOTH systems are for-profit.

now,
let us examine medicare.
runs on a 3-5% overhead,while in contrast the health insurance industry runs between 25-35% and are..for-profit.

IF we made medicare available to ALL american citizens we would see a shift from latter stage care to a more aggressive preventive care and early diagnosis.
the savings in money (and lives) would be staggering.

this would create a huge paradigm shift here in america and we would see results almost instantly but more so in the coming decades.

i dont feel i have to list them because i respect your intellect.

i feel very strongly that health should be a communal effort.a civilized society should take care of each other.
a corporation cares nothing for my health nor yours.they care about profit.

and preventive care is NOT profitable,yet death and disease are.

so.
socialism>free market

Jesus Christ. I wish I knew why I cared about this so much but it's late and I'm tired so, fuck it:

The fucking kid's head is laying on the ground for three fucking seconds after he falls. You're fucking delusional.

There is no HD res for this video. Are you trolling or are you an idiot?

The concrete is pretty standard throughout the park with a few exceptions. That's your argument? This whole thing is a skate park from the parking lot at the south to the street at the north? Seriously?

Obstacles (in this case concrete benches throughout the entire park) that have marks on them do not qualify as a skate park. There are marks from skating on every bench, rail and staircase in my entire city. I assure you, the whole city is not a skate park because there are marks.

There are no ramps out of the skate area. If you can't see it on the overhead, look at the pic I posted. Seems like a small distinction? Nope. Stairs, not ramps. In fact, I can't see one ramp the entire place.

The "clear separation" comes from the stairs, wall, trees and fucking garbage cans surrounding the entire skating area which, by the way, has been sunk below the grade of the whole rest of the park! I mean, I guess they could've built a fence too but how clear does it have to be?

The kid was heading in the direction of the street, yes. But whose to say he wasn't going toward the fucking swings or anything else? Are you really now trying to imply that the mom was letting her kid run through the fucking street? Also, you don't have to start referring to him as "the child" now.

Nice way of avoiding the "barrels" question. I was expecting you to say he came out from behind that Greyhound bus that's so clearly present.

And enough with the fucking proximity of the fucking mom already. Kids are allowed to run through parks. And the guy who hits a kid with a fucking skateboard is the one who bears responsibility for hitting a kid with a fucking skateboard. Ahhh!! Seriously, what fucking world do you live in?

Alright, sorry. I'm cooked. Later.

trumped by the bubble wrap plane overhead...

Honestly, That'd be a selling point for me. I live by an airport right now, and we get a few planes in daily (nothing major) but I LOVE them.

Every year we go down to Detroit for the Thunder over Michigan airshow and we stay in a hotel by the Detroit Airport, and one of my favourite things to do is sit by the pool and watch the planes go overhead.

"If there was a revolutionary power distribution technology, somebody would be building it and profiting by it."

Not necessarily-Yours is a naivete shared by scores of peeps dosed continuously by propaganda while a proper gander would serve much better-

They couldn't make any $$ off a conventional carburetor retrofit that netted100 miles to the gallon back in 76' either, the patents were bought and suppressed. Countless other similar stories lend credence to the notion that knowledge is power. Profit isn't everything, but the consolidation of power in the hands of a few IS.

Why do you imagine we still use copper hard lines for internet when fiber is cheaper and more efficient? Follow the power.

The Tesla motors example is weak as they have only now been able to compete with oil-Had the R&D been forward-thinking with a view to conservation and efficiency in 1950, we'd already see a transition in the industry making a difference.

We don't need to transmit power with overhead lines, but the infrastructure and the power concerns are controlled by those who own them-Combine that with governments available to the highest bidder and you have a technomonopolistic cabal of behind-the-scenes power-mongers.

I've always been guilty of thinking badly of charities with large overheads. Learn something new every day.

Very well shot and entertaining... but I kept thinking: planes don't work like that... physics doesn't work like that... that can't happen... who opened all those overhead bins? Why is that kid still playing on the escalator? etc...