Digital Cancer, Analog Reality

Photo: © Stan B.

Imagine waking up, walking down your block and finding Darth Vader's Headquarters right smack in the middle of what was once a picture book, beautiful, American town. Past tense. Just look at that cancerous, oversized monstrosity that metastasized at its very center practically overnight- breaking every environmental and zoning law that once existed, and every promise its creators swore not to do. More of these monstrosities will be coming to yet more towns and neighborhoods throughout the country, gobbling up people's water, land and peace of mind- government sanctioned and without restriction. This is rule by billionaires, for billionaires in a country released of all environmental and corporate regulation(s), where greed is paramount, and people... its servants.

"Greed Is Good!" -GG

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy..."  Elon Musk

...Republicans who shrug when told that millions will die because of the cutoff of USAID assistance to poor nations that cost a mere .3% of our federal budget. 

The Epitome Of Assholes Show!

I thought we all tolerated this guy's asinine behavior because, well, after all, he is... A Genius! No doubt of that, especially with all that money. So naturally, we all cut the guy some slack. But, uh... what if, he's not? What if he's just another scammer deluxe? What if the reason he acts like an utter asshole is because he's an actual utter asshole- another BS artist currently supporting yet another BS artist! 

Like so many others, I had naturally assumed (exactly what one should never do) the guy was: an engineer, physicist or some failed genius, scientist, whatever- but genius all the same. And he's- none of the above! He's got Bachelors in physics and economics- Bachelors! Fuck, even I gotta Master's! Another 2 bit con who takes other people's ideas, and then calls them his own. He's not deserving of leeway, but of scrutiny of the highest bloody order...

And then, there's this human shit- Trump loving ("I hate him passionately"), bow tie sporting, M&M defending, son of an heiress guy...

Obscene, Yet...

Hilarious all the same. When your insecurity demands you separate yourself from your fellow man by seeing just how high you can stick your nose up your ass!

And uhh, speaking of Penthouses...

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed

A truly great David and Goliath story, and its totally based... on a true story! Nan Goldin is a definite known name in the photography world, but when tackling the powers that be, Multi-Billion Dollar powers that be (with international connections), an artist in a niche genre is not exactly on a level playing field with the gods of finance.

Throughout their legal proceedings, The Sacklers never once expressed remorse, or any semblance of human emotion or empathy, for the real life victims of their greed- avoiding bad publicity and further financial consequence were their only considerations. But All The Beauty And The Bloodshed is not just about the mostly triumphant victory* of art over blood money, that is, how Goldin waged a ridiculously uphill battle against the financial purveyors of America's ongoing opiate epidemic, it is also about her tragic youth and upbringing, the travails of her adult life, and finally, about the art she continued to make despite the personal trauma. Brave woman, braver warrior, brave human being and artist.

*The Sacklers will still have more money at the end of the time allotted by the court to disperse their $6 Billion dollar fine- than they do now thanks to the careful manipulation of their monies.

Addendum: The Fraenkel Gallery currently has an exhibition of Goldin's more recent work (including a slide show) till 4/29.

2 Phones

I have two phones now, and not because I need them, or because my life is all that complicated. I was simply bequeathed one from work; it's a smart phone, unlike my personal phone, the one I now officially call my "spam phone," which is exactly what it excels at. Lately, the calls have progressed from Medicare benefit inquiries to those of the funeral service variety. Since I never quite persevere long enough (if at all) to avail myself of what exactly they're offering, it's still endearing to know they constantly have my best interests in mind...

I'm just sorta worried about them is all, they've kinda painted themselves into a corner. I mean what's possibly left after my funeral concerns? Maybe something to do with... wills!? I can't seem to think of anything else- perhaps I should pass that on to them! 

Wait, I'm getting a call...

Jo-Anne McArthur

When we think of "animal photographers," someone like this never comes to mind- and one has to ask... why not? Because it make us feel uncomfortable? It should- and for good reason!

I love bacon, but the way they treat pigs in factory farms is inhumane, immoral and well beyond cruel.

 

War Criminals, And... War Criminals

Most rational, civilized people realize Vladimir Putin is a war criminal; a war criminal who starts completely, unnecessary wars that result in untold destruction and the deaths of countless innocent men, women and children. Not exactly a hard call.

And yet, where were all these rational, civilized people throughout the world when it came to George W. Bush starting a completely, unnecessary war that resulted in untold destruction and the deaths of countless innocent men, women and children? A war that was so obviously and transparently fabricated on a swollen mass of lies and innuendo. UN weapons inspectors, in one of the few instances where anyone from the UN actually had the authority, manpower and resources to legitimately achieve their stated goal of determining whether Iraq had WMD or not, were ridiculed daily by the likes of FOX News. The manly voices at FOX (like that of Big Ass Bill O'Reilly) were practically calling the diligent inspectors flaming pansies for being the only people on earth not capable of finding the purposely rumored WMD. These freakin' UN girly girls were actually trying to stop the US of A from getting it's goddamn war on!!! And it only took $2 TRILLION and up to a million deaths to prove otherwise...

Of course, after NO WMD were found, W actually joked about it, pantomiming looking for WMD under furniture- people dying by the hundreds of thousands for-no-goddamn-reason always makes good fodder for jokes. And while the sycophants laughed, the Bill O'Reilly posse of FOX News claimed they couldn't possibly have known there were no WMD, after all- "We were lied to!" Of course, they conveniently left out the part that they constituted the most dominant contingent of... liars.

Now we reminisce about Ol' W like a kindly ol' uncle with his quaint little hobby of painting in his bathtub. Wonder if those who forever lost: children, parents, limbs and minds feel the same?

The Year In Review

 

It is What it is... Photo: © Stan Banos

What's that? Too early? Yeah, suppose so, nevertheless... Last year round this time, I was all frettin' and a fussin' that I couldn't possibly survive another year of empty streets, no travel, etc etc and that the year had to change for the better- no matter what! I was tired of making lemonade outta lemons and had pretty much depleted my emergency bag of photo taking alternatives. In other words, like everyone else- I just wanted a return to normalcy or some small modicum of semblance thereof. And just when we thought that maybe, just maybe, we were finally...

Well, here we are in 2022, right back where we were in 2021- except we gotta vaccine, but not everyone's taken it (voluntarily here at home, involuntarily word wide where they still can't get it). Those who haven't gotten it can die, and even if ya got it, you're not really immune. And while I'm all for "following the science," taking your mask off only to eat and drink while indoors in public is nothing but a mockery of said science! We were also steered into getting a booster for Omicron, and they're soon coming out with a separate vaccine just for Omicron- which I'm sure we'll also be encouraged to take... And this is how people's trust can break down, in a reasonable kinda way- not a Q Conspiracy Whacko kinda way.  No, I'm not an anti-vaxxer/anti-masker by any means- but I do kinda sense a wee tad of mission creep, if not outright greed starting to rear its ugly head. But lord knows Big Pharma would never do anything just for money. And who'd ever thought one could miss a sweaty, crowded, city street in August?

Millenium Farce!

I walked past this week and noticed the site eerily... quiet. Today, I saw the video below. Now let me guess- this option had nothing whatsoever to do with being the cheaper, quick fix!

Puerto Rico- La Isla del Encanto

But hey, it's just so much easier to blame everything on just another bunch of brown people while sipping a Pina Colada on their beach...

Deep Blue Insanity...

I knew this would be quite informative, but I held off watching it for months, because I knew it would also be incredibly depressing, and hard to watch. It is. And if you eat fish, use plastic, or just plain don't give a shit... you-are-culpable! Point being, dead oceans = dead planet. Translation for Trump supporters- it means you're dead as well: no matter how much you deny, scream "Fake News," try to ridicule, or shoot on full automatic...

Looking For Leo...

Power, Greed, Money, Politics, International Intrigue, Sex... No sex. Huh!? Nope, No Sex- actually, not even a little. Weird, right? But you can easily double down on all the rest. All involving this one little painting originally bought for a few grand and ultimately sold for... $400,000,000! Ladies and Gentlemen: Leo's Salvator Mundi; yeah, that Leo- da VInci. So, who bought it, and... did Leo really paint it? Yup- fun and educational!

 Addendum: And can't leave this one out either!

The End of Democracy...

Republicans are no longer satisfied with gerrymandering extremes and suppressing the vote at any cost- they are now actively pursuing and effectively passing laws meant to legally and directly subvert, negate and overturn our votes.

This-is-no-exaggeration!

Bargains & Consequences

A while back when I had an excruciating case of GAS, I did what I often do to ward off this perennial nightmare- I bought a camera bag... a pretty decent bag... at a drop dead bargain price of just under $20.00! I was all set to review it- but I then noticed it had gone up to... $45.00! Still a fair price for the overall package- but nothing to jump up and down about as before. Then I saw it for... $15, and realized that it was probably gonna fluctuate wildly in price for the remainder of its existence. As I write this... it's back up to $40.00! A little patience and it'll be back down to peanuts, again...

The thing is, this medium sized package is a whole lotta bag for $20. Well constructed, well padded and pockets and sleeves galore to stick in iPads, water bottles and innumerable small accessories- the camera/lens compartment is actually detachable as a padded and self contained, zippered unit! In fact, my only complaint is that it's perhaps a little too well constructed for protection, at the cost of room for an extra (or larger) lens or body. But for that price- go cry on someone else's shoulder! Did I mention the handy-dandy top zipper that lets you dive into the main contents without undoing the top cover? Nice. And I've currently taken the separate camera compartment out and use it as an excellent day bag... 

PS- As with any Amazon purchase- I'm torn between saving $$$ (if I'm honest), and supporting one of the few venues for readily available, if stupefyingly petty, sources of employment in the US of A. Why does the richest bastard in the world insist on being the biggest fucking miser in the world?* Why can't he treat his workers in a humane fashion, instead of as non-biological androids? Even Henry Ford made his workers feel as if they were, at the very least, needed. Bezos can more than afford: decent bathroom and lunch breaks, workers benefits, health care and... unionization!  

BTW- Why did workers recently lose a Unionization vote? Because even if one ignores the behind the scenes shenanigans with worker intimidation... turnover is so fucking high at Amazon that by the time they're finally set to vote, the people who originally organized and set things in motion, have already long burned out and left!

* Yeah, I know- I answered my own question.

Fuck Apple!

Photo: ©  Stan Banos  

Why shouldn’t I trust  Apple’s  new security  assurances? Or Google’s or FB’s? Maybe... their history? Recently, anti-mask/vaxxers have been in a tizzy about vaccine tracking aps- they're gonna get access to our personal info and medical histories! Lawdy-Lawdy... You seriously think they don't already have access to whatever personal info they want of our tawdry little lives?!? Puh-lease!!!  

We gave up any semblance of privacy a long, long time ago with our ever present smart devices and social media...

Good Questions...

 Once you get past this guy's hair- he asks some damn good questions!

He's Taking Over The World...

And like Lex Luthor: is bald, has no real super powers, but yeah, basically taking over the world-
And no Superhero but us to stop him..."

Addendum: Beware fake Amazon supporters!

Food For Thought

 Because Bullshit like this never stops,
and Americans are always dumb and eager enough to buy in...
"...the poverty that causes so much misery is also causing the growth that makes everybody get out of poverty."

 

Eat Shit, Bob Murray!

Speaking of extreme, low life, fuck wads, it took me well over a year to find this, but it was well worth the wait. Why? Because I have full well known what a massive, all out, shit stain Bob Murray is on the brief history of humanity, and what an out right comedic genius John Oliver can at times be. The former is so obnoxiously vile, words simply do not suffice- although the fact that he and someone with the initials DJT are fast friends gives one more than sufficient cause to suspect the worst said humanity can offer.

As informative and entertaining as the entire video is, it's but one long wind up to a completely over the top, grand finale, spectacular; but the 15:00 minute mark begins to detail just how disgusting this subhuman subterranean really is...