https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1273654782797008897
I've been speculating the same thing: Technically, the cops didn't do anything criminal.

They were going after someone who they were TOLD was a suspect, and they had a legal right not to knock on the door. But that means that Taylor's boyfriend didn't act illegally, either -- he had a right to defend themselves from what he believed were home invaders.

The people responsible for the information and communication breakdowns that led to the cops being misinformed are the real culprits.


rocktivity

These will have no plot, no dialogue -- just trading gun-less violent acts? There's a moral difference between blowing someone to pieces with a gun, blowing them up with TNT, and dicing them with a blade -- even in cartoon land? Growing up watching Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam shoot at Bugs Bunny didn't turn me into a mass murderer, and here's why: those older cartoons had a moral subtext.

I never held it against Elmer Fudd that he wanted to kill Bugs -- he was simply "doing his job" as a hunter. But I also supported Bugs' right to do his job: stay alive by employing the most effective weapon he had at his disposal -- his wits. Predator versus prey; survival of the fittest; balance of nature.

Bugs Bunny versus Yosemite Sam, however, was Good versus Evil. Sam was indisputably a villain: a lawless bullying terrorist. Without his big guns and his even bigger mouth, he was a pea-brained undersized nobody totally unworthy of the respect that he so boisterously demanded. It delighted me that Bugs refused to be intimidated and would put him in his proper place -- especially when he did so by manipulating Sam's ego into outwitting himself!




rocktivity

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/1002815391


And this?





https://www.democraticunderground.com/10021218111


What do you say that we make this a "thing?"






No graphic skills? Post your ideas for quotes and if somebody skilled likes them enough, you'll have it made!


rocktivity

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1255224730342350852

(Tweet) Seeing Mike Pence without a mask at the Mayo Clinic, while every other human in the room wore one, and he was WARNED about the policy, tells you everything you need to know about WHY we have 1 million cases and over 57,000 dead.

By George, I think he's got it!

Because he and those around him are tested regularly, Pence can walk around with full confidence that he will definitely not infect anyone else and that they probably won't infect him. Suppose that could be elevated to occurring nationally, or even globally? Test everyone in the U.S., isolate the infected, and turn the uninfected loose to retake the streets, re-open the country, and ignite herd immunity. If only that was possible without a lot of cost, effort, or invasive swab sampling!

It's started happening in New Jersey: https://yourhhrsnews.com/nj-mass-covid-test

You've done it, Pence! Mission -- and perhaps a second term -- accomplished, especially Trump needs to be, ah, "replaced" ahead of schedule!


Well, let's take it one step at a time...


rocktivity

In the absence of a vaccine, an antidote, mass testing, and a more robust healthcare infrastructure, there's not much left to do except "hunker down" and "ride out" the "inevitably worse." The real issue is that "the line" we're trying to hold against the virus should have been drawn four months ago, when "flattening the curve" via social distancing AND border closing would have had a chance to be effective. I think that's why people have started "cheating" at social distancing -- not out of boredom, ignorance, or defiance, but from subliminally realizing that curve flattening was a fantasy, and that staying home now does too little, too late.



This could have happened in the U.S. -- but it can't now because no one either saw the smoke on the horizon or pulled the fire alarm in time.


rocktivity

The bad news: I didn't pack my camera accessories bag, giving me a seven-hour concert to shoot with just one battery to my name.

The good news: I did pack my (15-ounce) charger and my tablet, into which I'd put a PDF of my camera's user guide.

The great news: I had bothered to read enough of the user guide to know that my camera is capable of on-board battery charging. So instead of "calling in sick," I simply looked up the instructions: all I had to do was buy a USB/micro cable and connect it to the charger and camera between band performances.

Lessons learned:

1. Keep an extra (fully charged) battery, and either an extra camera battery charger or a USB cable and wall plug adapter, in another part of your bag.

2. Thou shalt know thy camera as thyself.

rocktivity

In the "olden days" of film-based rock photography, I generated enough experience and skill to fill a shoebox with photos. I thought that transitioning to digital rock photography would simply be a matter of finding a camera in my price range -- but it's been more like being a piano player who's been handed a synthesizer. Suddenly, I was a clueless amateur again, which I resented. Fortunately, I faced the fact that I was NOT going to be able figure it all out within a few days, weeks, or even months.

For instance, it turned out that I'd bought the wrong kind of camera -- twice. Just as "serious" rock guitarists are supposed to restrict themselves to playing only Gibsons and Fenders, pro photography employs a similar "brand snobbery" about Nikons and Canons. I've used Canons almost exclusively, but I had to face another fact: the Canons and Nikons that I could afford just didn't supply enough of the features needed for digital rock photography.

It looked like I was sunk, and nearly took my Canon to a pawn shop to invest the proceeds in a self-pitying boozefest in honor of my latest failure. But I simply could not believe that the camera I needed at the price I needed didn't exist: instead, I did some additional homework outside of the Nikon/Canon "aristocracy," went to a camera a pro shop, asked the right questions, and worked a trade-in deal on a Panasonic. From there, it was simply a matter of investing in the "Five P's" -- preparation, patience, and what the bands I photograph are expected to do: practice practice practice.

Which brings us to the sixth P: the payoff. After seven months, I think I've reached the tipping point where I'm less occupied with the operational aspects of the camera and getting back into the business of "capturing moments." Pics of the bands I've photographed are starting to turn up on their Web pages, and most recently in a local band Facebook "10-photo artist challenge." And just in time for the holidays, LOL!




rocktivity

While I am very much a veteran of "serious" photography, I'm a rookie at digital photography, which is why I joined the DU Photography Group recently -- and why this has taken me so totally by surprise.

I saw the girl getting her face painted while on my way to photograph a band, and absolutely wanted to take her picture. But by the time I was ready to, she had left the painting booth. I literally hunted her down -- that's why the picture made me happy! Well, it paid off in more ways than one, LOL! Thanks, all!


rocktivity

If I had been you, I would have quit. But if I had been the bassist, you wouldn't have had to.

I would have considered the "non-musical" nature of the "new" compliments to be a serious problem -- and I would have tried to solve it by turning down the dial on my "stage presence" AND turning up the dial on my musical skills.

As talented as she may have been, she clearly wasn't talented enough to either offset her looks OR help contribute to the continuation of comments about how good the entire band was -- which your other bandmates should have noticed.


rocktivity