Thursday, January 12, 2012

The ugly and the beautiful

By now, I'm sure we've all read the news about the marines urinating on corpses.  I won't delve into this much, as far too much debate about who's right and who's wrong has already taken place.  All I will say is that (and this is something that we all forget so often, no matter how simplistic and cliche it is!) generalizations, by definition, include outliers.  The extent of which these marines are an outlier can be debated all day; many of my friends are in the marines, and they are great people (conversely, I know many Muslim-Americans who are -- wait for not -- not militant!  The ability of some people to acknowledge one group of people while spitting on another is a true exercise in doublethink).

In less partisan news, one of my old hobbies which I hope to resuscitate soon is scenic photography.  All of my pictures I've taken that I feel are worth keeping were on a low-grade digital camera; next month, I will be looking to invest in a DSLR (looking at Canon lately; my friend recommends the EOS 5D Mark II, but it may slight be out of my budget).  Anyway.  Here's a shot of the Southern California taken...I believe when I was around the San Bernardino area?  I was visiting a friend at the time, about seven years ago, so it definitely has been awhile.  Southern California, for all its muggy smog and traffic, can look nice at night:




24 comments:

  1. Great photos! And yes, I agree with the opposition to over-generalizations. At the same time however, this is seriously unacceptable behavior by soldiers of the country that still is considered the leader of the 1st world (Mightnot be for long, but thats another topic all together). Hoping they get their just punishment to maintain a decent image for the US Military.

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  2. Yeah, I saw that video yesterday... horribly depressing. In other news, looking forward to your scenic pics.

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  3. Even though I love New York I've always thought that the Cali/LA area with it's surrounding mountains were more beautiful, which you also more than prove with that pic. GJ!

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  4. War is war, I'm glad you didn't get into the right and wrongs... can you say "flame war"? Regardless, that photo is very beautiful. Definitely pick it up again man

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  5. Saw the video on a popular forum I frequent. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, did not have a problem with what the marines doing. Don't know if I agree with this or not

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  6. Wouldn't know there was smog there at all, and the traffic helps it light up at least. Great pic.

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  7. It`s a shame what those marins did.

    Scenic photography is cool, though. Southern California really does look nice at night.
    Looking forward to seeing more pictures like this from your blog. :) Good luck, mate!

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  8. Those marines have got themselves in a sticky situation. Very pretty photo!

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  9. Replies
    1. Indeed - sick photograph. HOWEVER - I am appalled at how the armed forces and how they think they can do WHATEVER THEY PLEASE whilst overseas - What kind of life is that?

      What about their superiours? Do they imitate them and act the same way? What happened to foreign policy, lol

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  10. it is a pretty sight at night. so cal ftw!
    following you :)

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  11. great post and ill keep looking to see your photo

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  12. Though what the marines did in that "sticky situation" was clearly wrong, I wonder if being in combat and under such stress for so many months does not give one a bit of temporary insanity every now and then.

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  13. thing is, way worse thing happen in a war, with innocent people... :(
    I found the wikileaks video (the chopper onslaught of innocent civilians in a van), for instance, much more shocking than this piss thing.

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  14. Like the post and I like the blog. From what I've read so far, great stuff. Followed. Keep it up.

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  15. Oooo nice camera and beautiful picture!

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  16. lol the first part had me all angry and then i was calmed by the picture ^_^ +following x

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  17. Incredible photo....I have came to look at it 3 times in the past day. HAHA... i'm just going to save it now...ok?

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