Thank God

While this country advocates free speech in it's many shapes and forms, quite frankly some speech carries consequences with it. Today, the Westboro Baptist Church which has gained infamy for holding demonstrations during funerals for military members killed in Iraq, was ordered to pay nearly 11 million dollars to Albert Synder, whose funeral for his son they protested. Interestingly enough, the net worth of the church is said to only be less than a million dollars, so it is unclear that they will ever collect the damages awarded. What is clear is that this verdict will send shock waves out to exactly how free speech can be practiced. Clearly, as a member of the armed forces, I have no love for this group and truly am disgusted by the message of hatred they are spewing as well as their method of expressing it. Nothing is more disrespectful than to hold a hate rally at the funeral of a soldier who died protecting your right to do so. Quite frankly I feel that religion is one of the worst things in this world, especially when groups use it to fuel their own personal agenda. However, that is just me exercising my own modicum of free speech in a public forum.

One night, some time a yonder...



An old photo from earlier this year, but was recently rediscovered on Flickr. Not sure what captivates me about it, but it's one of my best captures, strangely before I even knew much about photography. I think now I get too much into the technical aspect of the art and have lost a bit of the creativity I had when I was still exploring and experimenting. Would love to get a film camera just for the fun of taking pictures again. Its no secret that many of my newer images I have tried to give an old film effect to them. More to come.