The overwhelming majority of photographers, even those who derive income from their images, practice the craft alongside their primary gig. And celebrities are no different. While they certainly have fewer budget constraints than the rest of us and easy access to fellow A-listers, there are quite a few with real talent who take their photography seriously. Here's a look at a few of them. (via PhotographyTalk.com)
We love the work of LA-based street photographer Eric Kim, and we're big fans of his regularly-updated blog. In this 2-page article, originally published on his website, Eric explains how the work of famed street photographer William Klein has taught him valuable lessons that inform his own outlook, and his photography. Click through to read more.
Electrikmonkrjswant!
ElectrikmonkrjsI actually had to think about this for a second.
The groundbreaking movie was made by manipulating individual atoms with a high-tech scanning tunneling microscope.
Next week, otter pops!
Submitted by: twistedt
Tagged: thermostat , cheese , thermodynamics , science , g rated , School of FAIL Share on Facebook 
Remember ACTA, the terrifying, secret SOPA-on-steroids copyright treaty that the US government tried to ram down the world's throat? Well, it's back, only this time it's called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and it's limited (for now) to the Pacific Rim. The TPP negotiators are meeting (in secret, natch) in Peru to twirl their mustaches and cackle, and EFF has posted a great infographic summing up their nefarious plan (see the whole thing after the jump):
The TPP is likely to export some of the worst features of U.S. copyright law to Pacific Rim countries: a broad ban on breaking digital locks on devices and creative works (even for legal purposes), a minimum copyright term of the lifetime of the creator plus seventy years (the current international norm is the lifetime plus fifty years), privatization of enforcement for copyright infringement, ruinous statutory damages with no proof of actual harm, and government seizures of computers and equipment involved in alleged infringement. Moreover, the TPP is worst than U.S. copyright rules: it does not export the many balances and exceptions that favor the public interest and act as safety valves in limiting rightsholders’ protection. Adding insult to injury, the TPP's temporary copies provision will likely create chilling effects on how people and companies behave online and their basic ability to use and create on the Web.
    
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Do you, like me, have a secret love for straight-ahead 70’s rock? If so, that means we can enjoy together the blues guitar and gruff vocals of The Shouting Matches.
The singer and songwriter of The Shouting Matches is Justin Vernon, who you probably know better as the frontman for Bon Iver. He’s busy with a wide variety of musical projects including the collective known as Gayngs, and is featured on a few Poliça songs (including this brand new one). The Shouting Matches played their first show nearly seven years ago, but have just now released their debut record. It’s called Grownass Man and it’s a shit ton of fun.
Go ahead and download “Avery Hill” by The Shouting Matches below.
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Credit: Sports Illustrated NBA Jason Collins: I'm Gay
This is big news in the sports world. Jason Collins becomes the first male professional athlete to come out of the closet and admit that he's gay to Sports Illustrated:
I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand. My journey of self-discovery and self-acknowledgement began in my hometown of Los Angeles and has taken me through two state high school championships, the NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight, and nine playoffs in 12 NBA seasons.
---Why am I coming out now? Well, I started thinking about this in 2011 during the NBA player lockout. I'm a creature of routine. When the regular season ends I immediately dedicate myself to getting game ready for the opener of the next campaign in the fall. But the lockout wreaked havoc on my habits and forced me to confront who I really am and what I really want. With the season delayed, I trained and worked out. But I lacked the distraction that basketball had always provided.
The first relative I came out to was my aunt Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco. Her reaction surprised me. "I've known you were gay for years," she said. From that moment on I was comfortable in my own skin. In her presence I ignored my censor button for the first time. She gave me support. The relief I felt was a sweet release. Imagine you're in the oven, baking. Some of us know and accept our sexuality right away and some need more time to cook. I should know -- I baked for 33 years.
It's really sad that more gay athletes haven't come out yet, but the climate in America hasn't given them the support to feel like they can survive this admission. Jason Collins is a very brave man and feels things are finally changing.
The strain of hiding my sexuality became almost unbearable in March, when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for and against same-sex marriage. Less then three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future. Here was my chance to be heard, and I couldn't say a thing. I didn't want to answer questions and draw attention to myself. Not while I was still playing.
I'm glad I'm coming out in 2013 rather than 2003. The climate has shifted; public opinion has shifted. And yet we still have so much farther to go. Everyone is terrified of the unknown, but most of us don't want to return to a time when minorities were openly discriminated against. I'm impressed with the straight pro athletes who have spoken up so far -- Chris Kluwe, Brendon Ayanbadejo. The more people who speak out, the better, gay or straight. It starts with President Obama's mentioning the 1969 Stonewall riots, which launched the gay rights movement, during his second inaugural address. And it extends to the grade-school teacher who encourages her students to accept the things that make us different.
I wish him well. I hope his admission won't deter a team from signing him to a contract.
Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start. It all comes down to education. I'll sit down with any player who's uneasy about my coming out. Being gay is not a choice. This is the tough road and at times the lonely road. Former players like Tim Hardaway, who said "I hate gay people" (and then became a supporter of gay rights), fuel homophobia. Tim is an adult. He's entitled to his opinion. God bless America. Still, if I'm up against an intolerant player, I'll set a pretty hard pick on him. And then move on.
The most you can do is stand up for what you believe in. I'm much happier since coming out to my friends and family. Being genuine and honest makes me happy.I'm glad I can stop hiding and refocus on my 13th NBA season. I've been running through the Santa Monica Mountains in a 30-pound vest with Shadow, the German shepherd I got from Mike Miller. In the pros, the older you get, the better shape you must be in. Next season a few more eyeballs are likely to be on me. That only motivates me to work harder.
It does take an awful lot of energy to live a lie and hide a secret. Please read the whole article. Jason is a smart man and his words will resonate with everyone, gay or straight.
Huffington Post reports that David Stern applauds his decision:
NBA commissioner David Stern applauded Collins in a statement cited by ESPN, noting, "Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue." Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld felt similarly, calling Collins "a leader on and off the court and an outstanding teammate throughout his NBA career" in a statement.
GLAAD's Aaron McQuade echoed those sentiments, calling Collins a "new hero" for young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes in an email statement. "'Courage' and 'inspiration' are words that get thrown around a lot in sports, but Jason Collins has given both ideas a brand new context," McQuade said. "We hope that his future team will welcome him, and that fans of the NBA and sports in general will applaud him."
The issue of gay players in professional sports has been a matter of heated debate in recent months, after San Francisco 49ers player Chris Culliver told Artie Lange thathe would not welcome gay players in the NFL or on his team. "I don't do the gay guys, man," Culliver is quoted as saying. "I don't do that. No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do."
As usual Ben Shapiro is an idiot from Breitbart.
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President George W. Bush’s former chief strategist Matthew Dowd on Sunday lashed out at Congress for moving so quickly to fund air traffic controllers because lawmakers were personally "about to get delayed at the airports," while they couldn't pass background checks to protect children from mass shootings.
During a panel discussion on ABC's This Week, Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile noted that Congress had rushed through a bill to avert air traffic controller furloughs caused by automatic budget cuts in the so-called sequester, but ignored the pain the cuts were causing less-wealthy Americans.
"This sequester will have real impact on real people in real time, not just members of Congress, but people that work for the park service, medical research as the NIH begin to make those cuts, it's impacting Meals on Wheels, kids who are in kindergarten," Brazile explained. "So I really do think that Congress needs to take a second look at this."
Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, however, called the air traffic controller bill "a real victory for fiscal conservatism" because Congress moved funds around, instead of undoing any budget cuts.
"Doesn't that mean the politically weakest are going to bear the biggest burden?" ABC host George Stephanopolous wondered.
"Not necessarily," Gingrich insisted. "It may mean the most corrupt are going to bear the biggest burden. It may mean the dumbest are going to bear the biggest burden. When you look at a $4 trillion government, you can find lots of really stupid things to quit paying for."
But Dowd found it "amazing" that the bitterly partisan Congress could only find a way to work together when they personally faced the possibility of spending some additional time on the tarmac.
"The only way they're bipartisan is to do something for themselves," he quipped. "It's amazing the speed at which they did that. We have this horrible shooting where all these children die in Connecticut, we can't pass gun control legislation. But oh by the way, you're about to get delayed at the airport through some small budget cuts -- which I still don't understand why we make policy the way we make policy. Everybody knows there's a fiscal crisis in this country, everybody knows we don't have the revenue to meet the expenses in this country, somebody has to bear pain, but we act in Washington like nobody has to bear any pain. So as soon as anybody bears any pain, we're going to take it back from them."
"I think many members of Congress have bought into a myth that doesn't exist anymore," he added. "I think most of what's gong on in gun control is there's not this huge vehement group of people saying I'm going to defeat you if you vote for background checks, I'm going to defeat you if you vote for high-capacity magazines... What there is, though, is a group of folks in Washington that are scared of their shadow on this issue, both some Democrats and a lot of Republicans."
"The myth doesn't exist anymore, but they're afraid to go launch themselves through it and do something about it."
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From this Wednesday evening's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart took the bed-wetters over at Faux "News" to task for wanting to shred our Constitution and Bill of Rights, ever since the suspect was arrested for the Boston Marathon bombings.
As Stewart noted at the end of the segment, they're ready to rip just about every amendment to shreds, there is one of course that they're willing to defend -- the 2nd.
STEWART: God help us if the Muslims ever decide to form a well-regulated militia.
In 24 charts, the Washington Post reveals how George W. Bush's presidency screwed up the country and the rest of the world for many years to come. Health, employment, the GDP, public services, the Middle East, and almost every other measurable condition of civilization's health and welfare were severely damaged by Bush's policies, all of which were enacted to make rich people richer. In achieving that goal, Bush's presidency was a resounding success.
Even if you don’t blame the [debt] crisis on Bush, at least half the debt is directly attributable to his policy choices. Racking up debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and some have even argued that surpluses can be economically dangerous, but for whatever it’s worth, Bush played a big role there. It’s also worth noting that Bush was increasing the deficit at a time when the economy was expanding — which is exactly the opposite of what Keynesians believe makes sense, and which also made it more difficult for the country to respond to the recession.
George W. Bush’s presidency, in 24 charts
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