Post-Obamacare Motivation

This week the US Supreme Court listened to oral arguments surrounding "Obamacare." Let's assume for argument's sake that it completely strikes it down as being unconstitutional.

What other policy points does the GOP have?

"Obamacare"'s defeat has been a huge fundraising source & rallying point for them. Its dominated the public discussion so much (especially during the primaries) that it makes me wonder if they have any other policy points they want changed.

What are they gonna do talk about contraception for the next seven months?

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In other news...
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This here is Stashi, doing her quirky thing.



Feel free to comment away on this if you so choose.

Payback's a Bitch

Last week after 9.5 years, the US finally killed Osama bin Laden & captured his body.

The death of this individual acted as a national catharsis. Not since the fall of the Soviet Union has any one individual been immersed in our psyche as the bogeyman. Ye unlike the Soviet despots, Osama has actually killed Americans.

There are very few individuals in this world whose death I would openly cheer. Bin Laden is one of those. Though I am, nor was I one of those people who actually celebrated his death, I entirely empathize w/ where they're coming from.

I still remember as if it was yesterday smelling the chemical stench of lower Manhattan when I made my pilgrimage down there 2 months to the day after the Trade Tower attacks. I still remember persuading in vain in to getting my family to go up the Twin Towers (I know I could get a shot of them w/ Liberty Island in the background) after watching our crappy Red Sox get beat by the Yankees that very same weekend. I dreaded losing sleep over being recalled back to the Marines (I'd been "honorably discharge" 1 year minus a week on the day of the attacks). I remember drinking a beer in sorrow upon discovering that one of my Marine brothers (as well as the rest of his C-130 crew) died during a mission in Afghanistan when their plane had mechanical problems & crashed.

A part of me is disappointed we weren't able to (or willing...the reports are kinda fuzzy at this stage) capture him alive. I would have loved to have seen his ass on trial after the Eichmann model, stripping him of his mythology & revealing to the world yet again what has been called "banality of evil". Unfortunately, history will never be able to record that. However I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

All I can say is payback's a bitch. May you rot in hell, Osama.

Below is a scanned image of a print (I was shooting film back then), taken outside Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, Nov 2001:



Below is another scanned image Ground Zero looking north. Again taken in Nov 2001:



Comment away on any part of this if you so choose.

Why are we Still in Afghanistan?

This October will mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the US-led war in Afghanistan.

During the debate for the Afghan troop "surge" in 2008(?), I kept hearing rhetoric about "winning the war in Afghanistan". It begs the question because no one has bothered to define it, not W's administration, nor Obama's, nor the Pentagon.

Does it mean crushing the operational capacity of al Queda? If so, we're losing pitifully if the White House's own statements is any account. The Pakistan-Afghanistan border region has the great no-man's land. Furthermore the Pakistani government is becoming more assertive in protecting its own borders from US operations.

Does it mean putting in place a functioning democracy as we know it in the West? That sure isn't it. Afghanistan is still tribally led & (arguably) has reverted back to a narco state. On top of that, international elections observers declared the latest elections held back in 2009(?) to be so flawed as to be invalid, a result of which Kharzi simply ignored.

Does it mean catching bin Laden or his #2, Mullah Omar? If so, they're still very much alive according to the countless video & audiotapes they release.

Does it mean installing a government that will ask us to leave? That sure sure hasn't happened & if the public statements by "President" Kharzi is any indication, he ain't going to. Furthermore Vice-President Biden has publicly stated that unless the Afghanis ask us the leave, US troops will be there until 2014.

We the taxpayers aren't questioning why we're still spending the money on (now) 3 wars YET think nothing of cutting our own salaries, cutting money to fund our educational system, eliminating helping the poor, eliminating the social contracts the government has made w/ the American people since the Great Depression. There's something wrong with this picture.

Do we not owe it to the GI's we're putting in harms to be asking these questions?


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In other news...
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This is Ally & Nicki, enjoying some inpromptu giggle time.



Feel free to comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

the Day the Administration Died

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the very 2004 Massachusetts law passed to prevent Republican governor Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican to the US Senate was the very law that got a Republican candidate ELECTED to that very same governing body?

I am also amused how people are crowing that the Obama Administration is dead, this w/ just about 75% of his first term left. People seemed to say the exact same things about "Slick" Bill Clinton after the Great Washington Massacre of 1994. "His" loss seemed to strengthen him, not to mention his revised tactic of "triangulation" (for better or worse) helped win him a 2nd term. Will this have the same effect on Obama? Dang if I know.

God forbid, ya know, that the voters just didn't like one candidate & voted for the other. God forbid, ya know, the electorate expressing its frustration w/ the status quo the only way they know how...at the ballot box. God forbid, ya know, that people being fed up w/ virtually 1-party rule in the state of Massachuesetts. Can't be any of that. Those reasons just aren't sexy enough.

*rolls eyes*

What's this means for Health Care? Danged if I know. All sides agree that there's a problem & something needs to be done to alter the status quo. One side has come up w/ a host of ideas (some would say to many). While the other side has been strangely silent. There's been much of what they don't want (public option, less coverage - higher premiums, higher taxes) but have been pretty thin on what they DO want.

All I know is everyone complains about crooked doctors & lawyers, until the very moment they need it. Unfortuantely to many American do not have or cannot get access to the later (let alone being able to afford one). I can guarantee you though, if this falls apart, no one will even attempt to touch this issue for the next 20 years.

What a strange world we live in.

*sigh*

In other news...

This is Ashley participating in my ongoing Breast Cancer Awareness series. Her mom has it or had it or beat it or something like that (haven't heard from them in awhile, not that I'd expect to).

It was tough trying to showcase the tattoo because of where it was inked but I think this one works.



Feel free to opine, comment, whatever if you so choose. Just leave a name if you do, so I know who I'm talking to.

The First Family Portrait

I am quite amused at the chatter I'm seeing regarding this Annie Leibovitz picture of the First Family:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/4035513827/

Some of the comments I've heard.

1- "Its crap. She's breaking all the Photo 101 rules, chopping off hands, bad cropping, white outfits. My professor would be rolling over in his grave."

2- "That's the best she could do for the most important family in the world? That's it?"

3- "Sorry it’s a crappy shot. I could do a better job."

4- (paraphrasing) Another was bitching about how a control image freak like the Obamas could let crap like this get by.

5- "No forethought was put into this at all."

6- "Where's the dog? People trust their Presidents when they have a dog...well, except for Nixon."

My responses...

1R- There's more to an image than following the rules. There's a thing called capturing your subject's emotional connection w/ the camera & (if applicable) to each other. Lord knows if we viewed Diane Arbus's work in the same way, they'd all be thrown in the trash bin.

2R- I guess this responder has never heard of playing to your audience. In this case its Miss Leibovitz's employer, Vanity Fair, & by extension, its readers. The First Family, if they had any say in the matter to start w/, were probably looking for something that makes them look semi-normal but also showcases their familial connections to each other.

3R- I hear this a lot when people criticize Richard Avedon's work. Yes, something may be crap. If you can do a better job, put your money where your mouth is & do it. People forget (or choose to ignore) that being a good businessman is not really about producing the best product overall, its about producing the best product you can but more importantly, being the right fit for your client.

4R- Had this person said this during the 2008 Presidential campaign, I probably would have agreed. But things have changed, for better or worse. A bickering legislature, 2 wars that are still dragging on, appointees having considerable dirty laundry of their own, being embarrassed on national TV by Representative "You Lie."

5R- If no forethought was put into this image, that would mean that she got lucky. I could only dream of being even 1/4 that lucky & on a consistent basis as she. I'd also disagree about the no forethought opinion. The children are grouped closest to the parent that resembles them. Older daughter & mother dressed in predominantly a black wardrobe. Younger daughter & father dressed in predominantly white. Hands interlocking & our leaning on the parents to draw a further connection as a family.

6R- Ok, I've got no real answer for that. LOL

I'm certainly no cheer leading fan of the President but I can certainly empathize w/ him & by extension his family. Anyone who in less than 7 days can go from being vilified for "losing" an Olympic Games selection & turn around & still be vilified for "winning" a Nobel Peace Prize (decisions neither of which he had any control of whatsoever), all I can do is shrug my shoulders & shake my head.

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

I like a lot of people were stunned Friday morning in learning that President Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his work to improve international diplomacy and rid the world of nuclear weapons."

Congratulations to you, Mr. President.

Not to take anything away the honor (its not like Obama lobbied for it anyway) but it certainly makes people wonder what the Nobel committee was thinking, considering that the nomination deadlines were due 2 weeks AFTER he took the oath of office! Ok, many people thought it was a good inauguration speech but I doubt anyway thought it was Nobel worthy. LOL

This leads to a couple of theories.

1. There are some title holders who likely get nominated every year regardless who holds it, in the hopes they'll actually do something to warrant it. The UN Secretary General, the President of the United States, the British Prime Minister, the Dahlahi Lami, the Pope, Director of Unicef, etc.

2. It just goes to show you that EVERYTHING is relative. During last Autumn's Presidential Campaign, I told nearly everyone that either canidate could do an absolute lousey job as President but since they'd be succeeding George W. Bush, they'd come off looking like a million bucks.

Think about it. Reagan was maybe mediocre to an above average President but because he followed Carter's lousey administration (particularly the last year & a half) & combine that w/ him making everyone feel better about themselves, the Old Gipper comes out looking like gold. Same w/ Clinton in a different respect. This is not to say that Bush, Sr was a lousey President, Clinton had that unique ability to A. get people to believe in his vision & B. HELPED create the conditions for people to prosper. If people are prospering, they likely feel good about themselves & their future.

Winning something like the Nobel Prize, any of them for that matter, so early in ones career/life has gotta be pretty dang tough. Its like any author winning the Pulitzer for his debut novel. Its like how the heck does everything that follows measure up?

Good luck to you, Mr President. I certainly do not envy your job.

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Taken this past July during my stay in Boston. Its specifically of Government Center. The day inching towards dusk.

Political Irony & Jeanette

As I look at the self-proclaimed Tea-Baggers of the right protesting the policies of the current Obama administration, I really have to scratch my head.

They're fearful of losing their individual freedoms. Ok, I get that. But like where were they when AT&T, Verizon, & other major phone carriers in collusion w/ the Federal Government were listening in on your phone conversations w/o a court order? Or when torture, extraordinary rendition, & Gitmo were going on?

They're fearful of losing their tax dollars. Ok, I get that. But where was the outrage when federal government's spending more than doubled from what the Clinton Administration spent?

They're simply exercising their first amendment rights. Ok, I get that. But where was the empathy when Cindy Sheehan was exercising her own right to free speech?

They're worried about government incompetance about what might happen. Ok, I get that. But where was their outrage at ALL levels of government when Katrina flooded New Orleans?

They're worried about government giving away free hand-outs w/ nothing in return. But where was their outrage when the Congress from the President's own party awards defense contracts over the Sec of Defenses own recemmendations to axe systems like the Crusader artillery? Or the BS how Uncle Sam is now being a majority stakeholder in GM? Or what about the TARP bailouts pushed through in the closing days of W's administration & blessed off w/ little debate by a Democratic Congress?

They're worried about government intruding into people's personal lives, making decisions for them like "killing dear ol' Granny". But isn't that exactly what they were doing since 2002 when they ramrodded all these initiatives onto state ballots that define marriage being between a man & a woman? Isn't that also what a Republican Congress did in the Terri Schiavo case, interfering what should have been a very private family decision even after the courts ruled upon it?

Make no mistake, I completely get what's going on. The outrage is only just when its your side is the one doing it (whatever "it" is defined as). But like when the other guy is in power, you assert your rights because they're being trampled on. Don't believe me? The left is just as guilty. If it was about the war as they claimed for the last 6 years, then why did these Anti-War supporters stop protesting the Iraq War when all of a sudden their guy gets inaugurated? Or how Sen Chris Dodd (D-CT) created massive loopholes in the aforementioned TARP legislation for the applicable companies to take advantage of?

The Right say the current system needs change but the President's are to atrocious to even consider. What do they propose? I for one cannot think of a single thing because, for the life of me, I cannot remember them publicisizing a single proposal. Don't get me wrong, I know EXACTLY what they're doing. They're using the old defense attorney strategy in poking so many holes in the prosecution's case to win via "reasonable doubt." If that's the case, they're not really in favor of change at all like they claim but like the status quo. Ironic to say the least.

& people wonder why so many Americans are turned off by what passes for political discourse. Its so predictablely phoney.

Personally, I don't give to squats about one political ideology or another. My vote will go to whoever sorta are along my own beliefs system but more, for who can get the job done & bring results. If that means voting for the "other guy" or voting for a third party then so be it!

& people sometimes wonder why I'm so ornery. :-)

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Outdoor location shoots are always interesting in the sense that I'm never really sure if Mother Nature is going to cooperate or not. Unless its like winter & there's some sort of snow storm on the horizon, the weather report is borderline useless, even when its 3-6 hours before start time. It just is what it is.

My shoot w/ Jeanette last Autumn was one of those days. It was partly cloudy which means the sun was jetting in & out as the clouds moved. Extremely annoying particularly when shooting in the unforgiving digital medium...but certainly not impossible.

I'm choosing the shot below for a number of reasons. I really felt everything came togther at just the right moment. Her expression, the location, the color palette, the brief gust of wind to blow her hair in front of her face.



Feel free to opine about any part of this entry if you wish to do so. Just keep it civil.