Democracy is mob rule. Or "two wolves and a lamb, v****g on what to eat for lunch"— attributed to Franklin, but not confirmed... what he did say was “There is T***h in the Old Saying, That if you make yourself a Sheep, the Wolves will eat you.”

And as recorded on the events of the last day of the convention, September 18, 1778 “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” —Benjamin Franklin


John Adams wrote:
“Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide,” he wrote, before continuing, “It is in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy. It is not true in Fact and no where appears in history. Those Passions are the same in all Men under all forms of Simple Government, and when unchecked, produce the same Effects of Fraud Violence and Cruelty.”

So there you have what two of the most important founding fathers thought on the subject of democracy and wether or not we are a republic, and can pretty much ascertain what opinion they would have about those who disagreed with them... — But what did they know.

Excellent all around...

Perfect..

Pixel colors are numbers, the computer in your camera records each pixel as a number in each channel and saves them onto your memory card.

JPEG is a widely supported compression algorithm for images. (JPEG=Joint Photographic Experts Group", which is the name of the group who created the JPEG standard.) It works by pixel (number) averaging, ie pixels of nearly an identical color are gathered and all made the same- because the computer deals with numbers, and it looks at numbers and maps them out... less numbers = less memory.

The more compression you choose, the greater the swath of similarly colored pixels are averaged... also JPEG currently only uses 8bit. JPEG does an amazing good job at what it does... when memory was at a premium, it was needed to make image file sizes small. Thing is, every time you open and then save a jpeg, it applies this algorithm again to your already averaged image file... making more and more pixels the same color.

This is what you see as banding. Thus. because image information is lost, JPEG is considered a lossful format.


TIFF is also a compression algorithm, but is lossless...

From the internet: "Tag Image File Format, is a computer file used to store raster graphics and image information. A favorite among photographers, TIFFs are a handy way to store high-quality images before editing if you want to avoid lossy file formats."

In a lossless format, every unique colored pixel's numeric value is retained. Also tiff can work in 16 bit's making pixels even more accurate/unique as they use a bigger number. Unique is what you eye or the computer sees as detail.


So what do you need all this information for? Printing large or zooming in to a portion and cropping, or under exposed or over exposed, because even in the extreme highlights and darkest shadows, there (may be) detail.

Where a jpeg my say these dark ( or light) pixels are all .xxxxxxxx black... tif will retain that this pixel is actually .xxxxxxxxxxxxx1, the one next to it is .xxxxxxxxxxxxx2 . These subtle nuances are where detail exists and can be coaxed out in post production. Well it isn't magic, it can't make detail where none was captured, can't save a totally blown out highlight or filled in shadow..... but sometimes it can seem like it.

The bit thing is on a logarithmic scale. ( 8x8 vs 16x16 then because this happens in every channel (RGB) is really 8x8x3. vs 16x16x3. (while they say 16bit, it is really 12 or 14bit. has to do with how memory is stored- another subject... its takes up the room of 16 bit on your memory card).. wow technical huh? I won't pretend to fully understand it all, but can comprehend it enough to understand why it's important.


Here: from the internet!

"8-Bit vs 16-Bit: Key Differences
8-Bit and 16-Bit refer to the bit depth of an image. An 8-Bit image can display up to 16.7 million colors, while a 16-Bit image can display up to 281 trillion colors. 16-Bit images are more detailed and offer a wider range of colors, making them ideal for printing and editing.'

Here is the thing, you can go ahead and save the final you wish to send out as a jpeg as a final step using the least amount of compression- some places only accept it. The detail will be as much as they can print anyways... but working non-destructively in psd, or tiff to keep the original as it was - in case you ever wish to re-visit it. Think like they are the negative that you can continue to process and retouch or enhance as skill or software evolves and get future improved prints from.

TMI but this is what banding is.

lighting is perfect...

Dictators & countries with leaders who have unlimited power have cost so many more lives, the figures can't be compared... nobody who gave away a right at a time when it seemed like it never would be an issue, didn't have offspring that didn't regret it. "No existing government has the guts" was its exact intention- and it was no mistake- And as long as it is in place, no dictator is possible. I am so glad you have gleaned its purpose without intending to.

.

What we do have is an overall criminal problem, and that is something that needs taking care of. Just don't trust those in charge of your safety to have any respect or legal care for your individual safely or rights- because they simply can ignore or disregard them if they become overwhelmed... and at an average of 2.3 law enforcement people per 1000 citizens, ( Like 161 officers controlling the entire stadium of a Super Bowl) they can become overwhelmed by a storm or flood, or r**t or whim .... then you are on your own.

Difference is, in other countries, it's how you line up the statistical numbers after the fact to make YOU feel good. Here we still consider every single one of those numbers as people who have a right to defend themselves - all +300,000,000 of us.

So a 4x5 of a 2.25? ;) I truly miss transparency large format images. She was upside down in the ground glass...


I love the light... excellent.

Excellent...

Any money the foreign governments spent at facilities would have been a gift, if the business in question didn't charge them.... THAT would be the headline. Or of they paid in excess of what the typical bill was- you know like the great artist H****r selling his paintings at ridiculous prices ROFL! ( google the top buyers of his art- and their business and past relationships with Biden and the democrat party- This is called "laundering").

Or like getting the guy looking into the Burisma corruption, fired ( Gift) , or allowing the Russia >Eastern Europe Pipeline, or going soft on China at every turn and yet Son receiving how much???.... you know "gifts".... Then there are the multiple shell corporations and payments to family members game that have, by intention, been difficult to determine.... companies whose only purpose is to gather funds and move them... no product other than that.... especially if those looking into it don't really want to find anything.

Frankly, I find the comparison of net worth before and after presidency to be very interesting and revealing. Explain a difference of +5000% .... Go ahead and goole it your self, every place I looked at agreed with these figures give or take a few hundred thousand.. Or pretend it isn't true.

Before vs. after Presidency- Net Worth:

Donald Trump
Before: $3 billion
After: $2.3 billion
(-23%)

Barack Obama
Before: $1.3 million
After: $70 million
(+5384%)

George W. Bush
Before: $20 million
After: $40 million
(+200%)

Bill Clinton
Before: $1.3 million
After: $241.5 million

George H.W. Bush
Before: $4 million
After: $23 million
(+575%)

Ronald Reagan
Before: $10.6 million
After: $15.4 million
(+145%)

Jimmy Carter
Before: $2.3 million
After: $10 million
(+434%)

Gerald Ford
Before: $1.4 million
After: $7 million
(+500%)

Richard Nixon
Before: $2 million
After: $15 million
(+750%)

Lyndon Johnson
Before: $14 million
After: $20 million
(+142%)

NATO Membership obligates each member country to commit to pay a percentage of their GDP on their own defense. Countries other than the US have historically failed to meet this threshold- even the perfectly wealthy ones like Germany. That leaves the US to fund a large part of NATOs budget on the backs of US citizens and not on the backs of the people where NATO resides and is designed to primarily protect.

Trump wanted to leverage them to uphold their commitment to their own defense, he threatened to leave... because your legs are your most powerful negotiating tool- from buying a car to defense of foreign borders... and also because not like the other side of the aisle, he understands that money and munitions do not grow on trees, and NATO would be unassailable if they lived up to their word. This would force Russia to the table of being a trading partner as it would be better than remaining an adversary for them. We would benefit from a Russia as a strategic partner against China... Instead, Democrat policy drives all of them to one side and unites them, something dems are good at.

A strong NATO would avoid the very things going on right now without having to fire a shot. Who is funding this war that happened because Russia figured it would be easy while Biteme dozed?? ... a huge proportion by the US in billions of dollars because the other countries aren't pitching in as much as they said they would.

The problem with Ukraine is, it was corrupt all by itself... so we are supporting one corrupt government, ( not the people) against another corrupt government ( Putin- not the people), but not enough to really make them win...

Anyways- Thats the billions he was talking about, What part of this don't you understand? Commitment, Obligation, pay your fair share - but then I am not surprised.... a common & telling attribute of one political perspective-isn't it? See they don't spend the money, instead they help their domestic non-military economy- because spending money on government does not create prosperity, nor fix bridges... it doesn't even pay to wash off the democrat created excrement from the streets in San Fran & Portland ....

See graph below. You are looking at the light blue columns... the vast majority of countries failing to meet their obligations... in real dollars, because we have by far the biggest economy, the actual dollar figures are staggering ( see second attachment).

I have no particular issue with it per-say.

But the question in any photograph, IMHO, is, does it pass the hang test... would you hang it on your wall? Would you hang it on any wall? Would the model want it hung where people who know her would see it? Does it contain some special provocative light or a pose that evokes something, like a dance move is poetry, or does it tell a story. Is it beautiful...

I think she is attractive and a good sport... but out of respect for her, I wouldn't hang it in my house, nor find anything to be proud of it as a photograph.. I might be proud or honored that she trusted and invited me to take it.

I think this should be allowed... but I don't pretend its anything but exactly what it is, a snap shot of a naked lady, in a particularly intimate pose. People seem to be confused about what nude photos at a photography site are about... hint, nudity isn't the only important aspect, isn't really even the primary aspect- there are landscapes and there are LANDSCAPES... there should be way more.

What is very apparent is that they don't have clue to who is actually crossing nor why, nor where they go - and the current administration and apparently, all the anti-Christians like yourself, support and are comfortable with this staying the same...

Until it happens next door to you and starts to affect your pocketbooks. What they do know about should be very alarming... like the ones on the top of the terror watchlist they have caught.*

How many of the 1.7 million that they never processed at all have entered and from where and to where and what is their intention(s). Don't lie and pretend to know .** Just this fiscal year, 169 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were apprehended attempting to enter the country illegally, and at least 1.7 million known gotaways have evaded apprehension since FY2021.

ie; "Sanctuary cities" whose leaders make headlines and win e******ns stating how benevolent and welcoming they are and cry foul when the i******s actually arrive on their doorstep... typical liberals, they are very generous other peoples and othe [border] states money and resources as long as they alone have to deal with the problem... and express their generosity by fighting tooth and nail for them to keep being the only ones who should have to deal with your ineptitude and hypocrisy. My how quickly you all change faces and call the lawyers when they knock on your door...

*https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/number-people-terror-watchlist-stopped-mexico-us-border-risen-rcna105095

**https://homeland.house.gov/2023/10/26/factsheet-final-fy23-numbers-show-worst-year-at-americas-borders-ever/#:~:text=Just%20this%20fiscal%20year%2C%20169

What were the percentages it returned on those " human pics"... Ie 60-40%. 49-51% , I was looking to see if I could find a tool in case I was wrong. This one returned 0.82% human... so less than a percent.

Sicko's are making AI generated child porn, Law Enforcement has decided that it is still crime. I don't get child porn myself... but I can't wrap my head around who specifically is the victim if it is fake... I can understand the fact that that age group is adversely impacted - even if they are fakes... people would doctor real images, or law enforcement would have to prove they aren't real- and it creates a market-so I guess that is why. ...

Funny that fake nudes I think protect people who have been hacked or whatever, as they can say they are fake, and who could tell? .

This is what I found... did an image search- doesn't appear in this search by image at image.google.com or TinEye etc.

So I looked into detecting AI generated images... found several links.. here is one I did a screen capture of after uploading the image to it. .

to the OP..."Flack"?....

It isn't a photograph, It isn't an illustration... It's computer generated to a level that is getting scary. The old adage : "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see" will have to be rewritten --- where you can't believe anything.

Can't argue, she is a pretty and attractive arrangement of pixels!

(Download)

My wife's a teacher.

The apathy from parents, apathy until you reprimand their student, or fail them when they haven't turned in a single paper, or fail to use the right pronoun.. and they come out of the woodwork and threaten you with lawsuits, o r your job.And the power students and their parents have over teachers kinda need protection from that side, or to make an administrators life easy, teachers would be dumped no matter what happened. Yeah, the nuts are running the curriculum, and the rules and laws both in and out of schools... but if you don't toe the line, then you'd be fired if not for the protections the union offers.

Usually when someone asks for a pay raise that large, its to catch up, or shooting high, settling for a much reduced rate. Teachers aren't in it for the money... the vast majority genuinely want to teach kids, they have to deal with all sorts of inter-office politics as well as outside politics. And administrations who cut corners and put strain on class sizes, or are forced to accept kids who were never taught how to hold a pencil, or never learned to read, or have English as a third language, or have IEP's and a parent wishes to main stream them putting strain on everyone, students and teachers... teaching at the whim of an out an out-of-control principal/adminstration/superintendent.... and out-of-control parents and students over which you have no authority...

Unions do protect the i***ts... but also the very best teachers... guess that part is the same no matter where... Teaching sucks... if you make t it so unattractive you can't complain about the results, because people with a brain can take it where it is more appreciated.