ROLEY

  • Framing Matters

    Any photographer—any storyteller—will tell you that how you frame something can tell a quite a different story from reality.  For example, here’s a wide shot of Independence Hall from Biden’s speech.

    Here’s the photo that’s circulating over on Right Wing Media.  Notice a difference?

    This photo is a close and cropped shot to exclude the blue panels on either side, and it’s been Photoshopped to make the red backdrop behind him darker and more sinister.   Biden’s body language is meant to portray something evil, but since this photo has clearly been, uh, selectively edited, I find myself wondering if Biden actually did this.

    Don’t believe everything you see.  Question Everything.

  • Judge Rules Business Doesn’t Have To Cover PrEP

    Buzzfeed:

    Hotze’s attorneys argued that he believed PrEp “facilitates and encourages homosexual behavior, intravenous drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman,” and that providing such preventive medicine would make him complicit in that behavior

    O’Connor agreed with that argument and found the Department of Health and Human Services had failed, under the provisions of the RFRA, to show it had a compelling governmental interest to substantially burden Braidwood’s religious beliefs, and that this was the least restrictive means for doing so.

    In response to government arguments that there was no factual support for Hotze’s beliefs that PrEP facilitates anti-Christian behaviors, O’Connor ruled the courts were required only to test the sincerity of these beliefs, not their correctness.

    This guy is old enough to have lived through the 1980’s.  I certainly remember that time.  I also remember Ryan White, and he didn’t end up with AIDS because of a behavior or a lifestyle. He got a tainted blood transfusion.  Magic Johnson wasn’t gay either, although you could make the argument that his was a behavioral issue.   Two examples that illustrate the point Mr. Hotze and Judge O’Connor would like you to forget: HIV / AIDS is not limited to the LGBT+ community.  It’s people who needed blood transfusions, it’s promiscuity without protection, it’s addicts who share needles, and most importantly, it’s people who used to do those things, straightened up, and might be attending your church today.  

    PrEP saves lives.  As with all things Christofascists, the cruelty is the point.  

  • Thoughts On Apple Day

    Apple will host a reveal party at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino for the first time in a couple of years for the first time in a couple of years for the first time in a couple of years.  I have to tell you that I’m going to miss the very well-produced videos that Apple has done throughout the pandemic, and I hope they continue those in some capacity.

    Despite being a happy Apple customer, I am getting less and less interested in these occasional product reveals.  It might be because there are no longer any surprises, no more ‘one more thing,’ but I suspect it’s that the designs are largely the same with only slight adjustments to ensure you need to buy one more thing.  A new case, a new dongle, a new charging cable.  I suppose that is the one thing we can expect from any Apple product reveal:  We’re going to have to adapt, and that usually means our wallets.  I’m not bitter about it, that’s just a fact of life when you’re in the Apple ecosphere.

    I’m less and less interested because I am not an Apple Fanboy, nor am I an Android enthusiast.  I am a cheerleader for using the tool that gets the job done.  I don’t care what it is.  If you can do what you need to do with the device you have, mazel tov.

    I’m gonna need a new reason, a new product, and a new thing to be as excited as I used to be.

    UPDATE:  Apparently they changed their mind, and this is a video presentation like the past two years.

    UPDATE 2:  There are only two features that caught my attention: First, Action Mode on the iPhone 14.  Built-in stabilization is something I’ve been looking for.  It’s the reason I folded and bought a Go Pro.  Aside from that, there’s no reason for me to trade my iPhone 12.  Second: the new oval cutout on the iPhone 14 Pro.  It’s pretty, but it’s a gimmick.  I don’t need that.  Sorry Tim, I have a blue iPhone 12, and I’m not giving it up yet. 

  • Rethinking The News

    From Wajahat Ali’s Twitter:

    Right-wing take over of Politico and CNN, plus mainstream outlets like CBS News and others actively courting Trumpers and pulling their punches for sake of GOP “access” reveals everything terrible about mainstream media and its normalization of fascism. It’s going to get worse.

    …

    Last year, a producer told me how low the bar had become for conservative voices on TV. They had to 1) Accept Biden won the election and 2) Not support white supremacy or be overtly white supremacist. It was very difficult to find these voices.

    Mainstream media outlets like those listed above aren’t moving rightward, but they are normalizing “bothsides-ism”.  That’s the problem; there aren’t both sides to be had here if you’re a sane person.  Anyone who insists that there are both sides to this issue either doesn’t get it or is paid not to.

  • I’m Not That Fancy

    So, here’s a little bit of a switch. As some of you may be aware, I’ve been a Squarespace customer for almost a decade. I like them, and their customer service has been excellent. However, over the course of the pandemic I’ve been thinking about what it is I actually *need* for a site, and that feeling has intensified over the last few weeks. I’ve also been giving thought to the anxiety I give myself trying to make my multimedia talents a thing, and I just don’t need to do that. I need to have fun doing this stuff, and this hasn’t been fun for a while.

    So I’m scaling back. I have made the switch back to a WordPress site, and the first decision I had to make was to whether or not to go look for a fancy theme or not. I don’t need some magazine theme or a portfolio theme, and I don’t need something that has my face plastered all over it like my last Squarespace site did. I need the content to be front and center; more steak than sizzle. This theme does that. It also serves as a platform for me to relearn some of the WordPress development things that I lost over the past ten years or so.

    This new experiment—and let’s be clear, this is me playing mad scientist for the first time in a dozen years or so— is meant to do one thing: force me to look at a blank background until I get annoyed enough to fill it with something. I make no promises, but if you’ve been with me for a while, you know this. Of course, you know where the door is if you’ve had enough.

    I haven’t.

     

  • Lesner Bridge, July 9th, 2022

    Cloudy Day at Lesner. I happen to think those are great days for taking a camera around. Enjoy.

  • Rt 12, Pea Island Road, Dec 15th 2021

    About This Photo:

    iPhone 12 4.2mm f/1.6 1/6135

    The drive to Rodanthe, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, is my favorite drive, and this road is the most barren and beautiful stretch of it. If you’ve ever heard of this road, it’s likely because it’s been flooded out after a hurricane.

    On the left side about fifty yards beyond the dunes, is The Atlantic Ocean. On the right, between 25 and fifty yards beyond the light poles, is the Ablemarle Sound. This is a narrow and salty piece of land, and it’s one of my happy places.

  • The Sole Inhabitant, Dec 15th 2021

    About This Photo:

    iPhone 12 4.2mm f /1.6 1/7813

    As we walked back from the beach, this gentleman was walking towards it to do just what I had done, take pictures. I’m just about at the road, when I turn back and see this shot. It just looked so…I don’t know. Stark may not be the right word, but a lone figure in that cutaway was irresistible.

  • Footbridge, Corolla NC, Dec 15th 2021

    About This Photo:

    iPhone 12 1.55mm f/2.4 1/978

    This is the historic footbridge at Whalehead Resort in Corolla, NC. This is on the northern end of the Outer Banks, and it’s as simple as taking a left at the first major light once you cross the bridge. In almost 40 years of going down to OBX, I’d never taken that left.

    This is a gem I didn’t expect to find. Amazing.

  • Bodie Island Light, OBX, Dec 15th 2021

    About This Photo:

    iPhone 12, 4.2mm f/1.6 1/7299

    Bodie Island Light is at the Northern End of Rt 12. While most people think of Hatteras Light when they think of OBX, I find Bodie Island more photogenic. Especially on an overcast day like this. Just beautiful.