pinhole photo, Santa Clara, California
I love photography, I study photography, and I make a lot of photos. I share a new photo on Flickr almost every day, and I also have a portfolio and a (rarely-used) Instagram. Or, if you prefer, I will mail you prints.
Here are some interesting web pages I have found:
If you have ever been to a port during a national holiday or a major celebration, you have likely seen a vessel looking like it is decorated for a massive party. This stunning display, where a ship is covered from bow to stern in colorful flags, is known as Full Dressing (or Dressing Overall).
The Reform Movement unequivocally condemns the preliminary vote in the Israeli Knesset to advance legislation that would criminalize egalitarian Jewish worship at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest and most-enduring symbols. If enacted, the proposed bill by MK Avi Maoz of the far-right Noam party would render forms of Jewish prayer not sanctioned by the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate punishable by up to seven years in prison.Israel has since its inception enjoyed (and, debatably, required) support of diaspora Jews such as myself. Yet the Israeli government's actions of late – actions inconsistent with Jewish teachings and practice – have made it troubling to continue that support, even before the abuse of Gaza. And now Israeli parliament takes another step in distancing itself from Reform Judaism, pushing Haredi practice into laws such as this. For a country asking us Jews to stand together in unity, they sure are working hard to dismantle that cohesion.
This alarming proposal represents an unprecedented attempt to criminalize mainstream Jewish worship in the Jewish state. It is a direct affront to Jews in Israel, North America, and across the globe who pray in egalitarian settings.
The ball gets thrown from the offices above Mark Webster estate agents at 3pm by a local respected member of the community and from 3pm to 4.30pm, it's for the women/kids to have a try, and it's very tame. When the claxon sounds at 4.30pm, that's when it gets feral. Whoever is holding the ball when the claxon sounds again at 5pm is declared the winner. The prize: being able to say you won it and a free pint at The Stag & Pheasant. All the shops down Long Street are boarded up in preparation. If the game falls during term time, schools close early for it! In the weeks running up to the game, the ball is taken to various places (shops, schools, businesses) for people to sign it.
...it has never made much sense as to why [m00t] would ban /new/ for being a racist hell hole and then, barely a year later, launch /pol/, a board specifically designed to be a racist hell hole. But buried inside the newest batch of files related to the Epstein investigation is a possible hint as to what made Poole change his mind. He met with Epstein the day before /pol/ was created./pol/ started by giving us GamerGate, then Qanon, before shitposting Trump into the presidency. It doesn't seem like Epstein and m00t were buddies or anything, but still, what the hell is this? Was Jeffrey Epstein behind Q?
As a side-effect of me having produced a lot of Open Source code over a substantial period, and that my code has been used in billions of products and devices, my name and email address are also shown in a lot of places. Usually as a direct result of license compliance when a manufacturer insert for example the curl license in the "About Window" of a car infotainment system.The emails are usually unpleasant. He includes examples.
The Last Dyes at David Zwirner marks the final group of photographs ever produced using this vanished process. When Kodak discontinued the dyes, paper, and matrix film in the early 1990s, Eggleston and his master printers Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli began hoarding materials. For the past 25 years, they've been rationing the last reserves. Now they're gone. These prints represent the extinction of a medium made relevant in the fine art realm by Eggleston, now 85 and still working.
Good evening.Just your latest reminder that our president is a wannabe fascist dictator.
On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings.
I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure.
This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress's oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.
This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.
I have served at the Federal Reserve under four administrations, Republicans and Democrats alike. In every case, I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment. Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.
Thank you.
Here's a sure sign I'm losing the plot: in a world increasingly wracked by hatred and divisiveness and war, I'm busying myself digging through YouTuber drama.
And what juicy drama it is.
While watching a recent hour-long video on the history of the TV show X-Play, I found out that G4 TV returned from the dead briefly in 2021~2022. And among the old hosts, some new ones included Jirard Khalil, aka The Completionist. I happened to have met Khalil years ago when staffing the fandom convention circuit, when "The Completionist" was Jirard but also this guy Greg Wilmot. And when several years later The Completionist returned as a guest but sans-Greg, naturally I wanted to know what happened. Except I dared not ask Jirard himself, and nobody else on Guest Relation convention staff would (or maybe could) tell me.
So now here we are, over a decade later and being reminded about The Completionist, I think to myself 'surely someone in that interval must have investigated this drama'.
Well. They have, just not how I expected. The original falling out is now documented suchly: Greg and Jirard in 2015 had a pretty severe if hazy difference of opinion, one which included Greg two years later going so far as asking all 120 of his episodes be removed from YouTube. Jirard complied, putting in what must have tons of work when re-completing all the games that previously featured Greg. And that's where things remained.
Until last year. Enter another video game YouTuber named Karl Jobst. Jobst is (in)famous for accusing video game celebrity Billy Mitchell of cheating at his Donkey Kong high score by using a modified arcade cabinet. Mitchell has since successfully sued Jobst for slander and bankrupted him. But Jobst also made a second investigation: Jirard Khalil's charity, Open Hand Foundation. Open Hand, through a fundraiser called IndieLand, raised over $600k for dementia research. In a 2023 video (with drama still ongoing) Jobst accused Jirard of never donating a single cent. And Jirard, unlike Billy Mitchell, admitted guilt, was fired from most of his engagements, took a long hiatus from YouTube, and is now subject to a criminal embezzlement investigation.
And in the fallout of all that, Greg reactivates his old reddit account to post a message explaining that all this is why him and Jirard had the falling out way back when.
Well... damn. That's not what I expected when I began this journey.