brian hainsworth's blog

    The Olympic opening ceremonies are on the tube (tv) and I'm sort of caught by the paradox of it all. A world-wide  athletic competition held in a country without personal freedoms or, very often, it seems, respect for human rights.

   If you're old enough to remember, the USA boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow because of the (former) USSR's war in Afganistan. Now, the USA is the aggressor in Afganistan (and Iraq) and our President is the first to attend an opening ceremony in a foreign nation. It seems politics do make strange bed-fellows.

   Like I said, I'm struck with a sense of paradox; the sight of enemy nations standing side by side and competing... putting their differences aside (at least within the scope of the Olympics), gives me an odd sense of hope for the future. Who knows? Maybe the President's attendance is a sign of hope too...

  To anyone who's actually read this junk (mine); I need to point out that although it might seem that I'm bashing on the USA, I'm not. I'm exercising the Right to Free Speech guaranteed in our Constitution, by pointing out some of the idiotic policies of the country I actually love.

  Ever known someone who you love, who does things that you just don't like?

  Ok, maybe I'm behind the times. Maybe, just maybe, I'm a certified window licker (ask if you're not too PC),  and I'm missing the up-side to all of this. Doesn't matter. Other than massive bribes to politicians, can anyone tell me why I (everyone else too) need to have a "digital signal" to watch the same crap I'm watching now!?

  The price of gas is through the roof, people are dying in wars that no one wants, we still haven't cleaned up the mess from Hurricane Katrina (as well as other natural disasters since), and our government has decided that I (all of us potatoes) need a digital signal to watch a few educational shows and otherwise, well... crap! Re-runs of movies I saw twenty years ago, re-runs of TV shows that first aired 50 years ago, and God help me, reality TV! How could I be so blind as to not see that I need to see the latest version of Clay Aiken in HD? What are we - a bunch of mindless tools?

  Don't get the wrong impression - I do watch TV (crap) frequently. I like the Discovery channel, the History channel, and a number of other educational (ok... semi - educational) entertainment providers. I also pay an exorbitant rate to my local cable company (about $100 a month for TV and internet access).  So, here's my beef; times are tight. If I lost my job, or had to take a pay cut, and couldn't afford to pay the cable company for that "digital signal", because I wanted to do  something silly, like... I dunno -  eat, I should just do without, right? What about TV news coverage? I know, there's always news radio, right? Anyone else out there notice that radio is going to satellite and HD, little by little, too?

  So, as of February 2009, there will be no more analog signal (poor reception but at least its a choice). The cable conglomerates, the growing fiber-optics based companies, and satellite signal providers will control 90% (just guessing, but it seems about right) of our mass media information sources.The internet is provided by these same sources. Radio is likely to follow. ...because our government says so. So, really, can anyone tell me why?

  This is for everyone; those of us in the United States, because this is our country at stake, and those who live in other countries, because we "ugly Americans" might not be so ugly if more people spoke up. 

  Our country is in a shambles. Don't take that the wrong way- I still love it and don't think I'd want to live anywhere else in the world... but let's face it, we've let things get away from us. When the USA declared its freedom and independence from Europe (particularly Great Britain) we stated that our country wouldn't suffer tyrant's rules. That our government would be one of the people. It's odd, but most of the "people" I speak to are NOT in favor of our troops being in Iraq or Afganistan or any other country who does not pose an immediate threat to us. And yet, every day, we (here in the USA) are bombarded with media messages potraying our troops as "protecting our freedoms". How? What threat does Iraq pose to our freedoms while in a state of civil war?

  I should point this out; I support our troops, just not the bullshit mission they've been given. I go out of my way to respect returning veterans and serving military personnel for what they've done and given up and faced, because our "country" ordered it. What I don't respect, is that in an age of Wi-Fi, childhood computer literacy, and secure servers, we, the people, don't have the right to vote directly on this issue. Hell, we don't even directly vote for our own president! Its decided by the Electoral College, which is just another name for the legislature. How often have we all seen an issue stalled because things weren't decided on merit, but along party lines?

  I doubt that any of this will change, any time soon. I don't claim to know the answer to solve all of this, or who will be the great leader, who might bring us out of this situation (Iraq, inflation, just the general mess our country's in). But, what I do know is that our country might benefit from actually listening to the people it supposedly governs "of, by and for".

  A little over a year ago, I stumbled onto a web-site called Flickr. It was my introduction to on-line photography sharing web-sites.  In that year, I've discovered that I really enjoy photography as a means to capture and remember the moments of my life. I've also gotten a great deal out of others' photography, from ideas and inspiriation, to some coaching on editting.

  More and more, I've seen censorship of photographs on that site in some strange places. I've had women add me as a "contact" when all they seem to post are pornographic material of themselves (which wasn't hindered by censorship), and I've seen people who post artistic nude photographs censored. It is all a bit confusing. One of the contacts who was censored as "moderate" had a mention of Ipernity as a site that is less morally confused, so I thought I'd check it out.

  Since I'm new here, I feel like I should mention a few things; if I want to look at porn, I know where to find it. Artistic nudity/ sexuality is a completely different animal to me than porn.  Also, if I add someone as a contact, its usually because I like what they do. Could be as simple as lights and shadows, the vibrant colors, or their editting. If I see something I like, I like to check back with that person's work to see more.

  Feel free to comment or critique what I have posted; I always like to hear if there's something I could've done to "punch up" the quality of a photo.