When I was in junior high, I was given an assignment to interview a veteran for Veterans Day. Since my dad was one, I interviewed him. One of the questions I asked him was "What was the funniest thing that happened while you were in the Army?"

His response (which I paraphrase) was that there was a Lt. Colonel who was in charge of fire safety training—and yet, despite this, his tent burned down one night*. During winter war games. In Alaska!

Yeah, that takes a special kind of stupid . . .

-------

*No one was in fact in the tent when this happened, so no one was hurt.

This is a friends-only post, because I don't want to deal with the nut-bars. I've opened it up to the public so that I can use it to illustrate some points to people who aren't LJ users.

1. The military: 42.2% To further subdivide this category, 28.7% is spent for the current military (all personnel, materiel, supplies, transportation, etc., including the prosecution of current wars); 10% goes to pay interest on military debt; and 3.5% goes to veteran benefits.

   Why are these good things? Well, without a functioning military, we'd be sitting ducks. Now, I personally believe that our current military is more than a little bit overfed, but I'm not one of those radicals who calls for all military spending to stop. We need armed forces. Similarly, paying interest on debt helps keep us financially solvent, and veteran benefits help retired or injured military personnel live full and happy lives. I think not enough is spent on veteran benefits, and that what is spent currently is poorly managed, but they are nevertheless important.

2. Healthcare: 22.1% This includes Medicare and all of the other government health programs, such as the medical benefits for Federal employees and elected officials and, of course, the ACA. These are all good things, because access to quality medical care is a fundamental human right. The implementation of said programs may not be ideal, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing at all. Without these programs, millions would die—mostly children and the elderly.

3. Interest on non-military debt: 10% This, again, keeps the country financially solvent. Not paying this interest would result in default, and whenever a country goes into default, economic disaster usually follows.

4. Anti-poverty programs: 8.7% This includes food assistance programs, supplemental income for low income families, foster care assistance, and adoption programs. All of these make up our "safety net", as meager as it is. There are those who say that any safety net at all makes people lazy, but the science doesn't support that position. The government can only exist with the support of the people, so it's the government's duty to support the people in turn. I feel that this category could use a significant boost, but what we have—as little and as uncoordinated as it it—is still better than nothing at all.

5. Education, training, and social services: 4.4% This includes primary, secondary, and higher education, employment training centers, and other such programs. A well-educated population contributes significantly to a nations economic power and stability. A well-educated population is also less likely to fall under the sway of demagogues. Iceland knows this: when they had their economic collapse a few years ago, they cut everything to the bone except education, which they boosted as much as they possibly could. They are now well on the road to recovery. We could learn from them.

6. Government and law enforcement: 3.9% This includes all costs of keeping the government and Federal law enforcement running, including salaries, overhead costs, facilities, etc. This benefits the court system, the FBI, government agencies, elected officials, and all the people whom these entities serve. Without a functioning government, and without enforcement of the nation's laws, everything falls into anarchy. It may be a popular pastime to criticize the government, and much of that criticism is warranted. But government and law enforcement is necessary, and we all benefit from them.

7. Housing and community development: 3.3% This goes hand-in-hand with the anti-poverty programs as part of the safety-net. These programs help low-income and homeless people get housing. All of the arguments in favor of the anti-poverty programs also apply to this category.

8. Environment, energy, and science: 2.6% This includes environmental programs (including the EPA), energy exploration, and programs and facilities that do scientific or technological research and/or development. NASA is included in this category. Without scientific and technical innovation, our economic power dwindles. With significant investment in science and technology, we "future-proof" our economy.

9. Agriculture, commerce, and transportation: 1.5% Roads! Food! Trade! All good things.

10. Foreign affairs: 1% This includes international humanitarian aid, the diplomatic corps, and international financial programs. Basically, our interface with the rest of the world. There are a lot of people who say things like "Why should we help other countries when there are starving people here?" But look at the percentage here: 1%. And humanitarian aid is only a part of that. If it were folded into the anti-poverty programs, above, it would likely only make a 10% difference at best. But by providing humanitarian aid abroad, we build positive relationships with the rest of the world. And that's important, because we are not all alone here. We have to work with everyone else, all 6.9 billion of them, in order to survive.

So there you have it. These are the reasons that I don't mind paying taxes. Yeah, it's a pain, and it's always better to have more money, but I feel that the value I receive outweighs the amount I pay for it. You may disagree, and that's okay, but this is how I feel.

1. Understand that you, yourself, are biased. If you have any opinion whatsoever on a topic, you are biased. Period. If you believe otherwise, then there is no way for you to get unbiased information, because the bias filters that you don't believe you have will prevent you from seeing anything that doesn't match your bias. The only things that you can possibly be completely unbiased about are things about which you have absolutely no opinion. And even then, it's iffy. So start with the understanding that you are already biased.


2. Be willing to examine any and all data on the subject at hand. Not all of this data will be in agreement. In fact, it is almost certain that you will find data that supports a wide variety of opinions. But you must be willing to examine all of it, even if it supports an opinion you that you a) don't believe, b) find offensive, or c) are actively working against. And the easiest way I've found to do that is to say to myself "This goes against my biases, and I find that I am uncomfortable with it, but I will only understand the issue if I know what this information means." If you find yourself rejecting data because you don't agree with its conclusion, then it is impossible for you to get unbiased information.


3. Do not rely on any one source of information. Remember, everyone is biased. If you rely on only one source, even if it's a primary source, you are basically copying the biases of that source. The more independent sources you get your information from, the easier it is to weed out the biases and figure out what the data actually point to.


4. Be wary of outliers. Don't dismiss outliers, but be aware that the farther away from the "average" a piece of information is, the more likely it is to be biased. This does not mean it's untrue, so the best thing to do with outlying information is to test it. For example: Is it anecdotal? Then it's probably not valuable info. Is it scientific? Check up on how rigorously the scientific method was followed. Is it statistical? Go look at the raw data that the statistics are based on, then try to find out if there are any inherent biases in the data selection. Et cetera.


5. Above all, be willing to accept that you, your family, your friends, your mentors, and your role models may all be completely wrong. Believing that we are right is a survival trait. Believing that our figures of authority are right is also a survival trait. As social creatures, we have a strong instinct to believe as those around us believe. No one is immune to this. One can overcome it, but it takes effort and determination. And unless one overcomes this instinct, one's bias filters will prevent one from seeing information that doesn't agree with what one believes is right. This is why it usually takes generations for new ideas to take hold: sometimes, enough people who believe the old thing have to die before the new thing can be accepted, because sometimes people would rather die than stop believing something. Don't be one of those people.

Also, all of this is really hard! For all that I've written this, I find it almost impossible to put into practice more often than occasionally, because nearly every mechanism of human psychology works against it. So don't beat yourself up if you find that you can't do it all the time. No one can, really. We just try to do it as much as we can, and hopefully we get better at it the more we try.

I've always known this, but I found myself recently thinking about morphological diversity in canid and feline species and saying to myself, "Huh. I wonder why that is."

Canid species in the wild have a certain amount of mass a shape diversity, ranging from the fennec fox (massing between 2/3 and 1.6 kg) up to the gray wolf (massing between 36 and 45 kg). However, domestic dogs have a much larger variety of sizes and shapes, ranging from the Chihuahua (between 1.3 and 2.7 kg) to the English mastiff (massing up to 113 kg!).

The morphological variation of feline species, on the other hand, lines up in the opposite way. Domestic cats can range in mass from 2.7kg (the Singapura) to 11.3 kg (the Maine coon). But wild cats have a range of sizes that dwarfs even domestic dogs by comparison. The title of "smallest wild cat" is shared by two species, the rusty-spotted cat and the black-footed cat, both massing between 0.9 and 1.6 kg. And, of course, the largest wild feline in the world is the Siberian tiger, which can mass up to 325 kg!

Crazy. The largest dogs in the world are about the same mass as a large human, but there are four species of wild feline that consistently outmass humans: the cougar, the jaguar, the African lion, and the tigers (yes, there is more than one kind of tiger, but they all outmass humans by a large margin!).

Oh, but guess what? Humanity has outdone nature in one respect: it has bred the single largest feline species in the world, the Liger, which can mass up to 410 kg.

Here, kitty, kitty...

DISCLAIMER: If this post makes you angry, that's because it scares you. So before you go emailing me with an angry retort or an ill-considered counter-argument, sit back for a little while and figure out why it scares you. You will do yourself a great deal of good, whether your mind is changed or not.

[I]n the United States, we do not negotiate as aggressively as other countries do with healthcare providers and drug manufacturers and medical device-makers.... [W]e don't have ... centralized negotiation, so we don't have as much leverage [as other countries where the government funds health care]....

So basically, in the United States, providers charge whatever they think they can get away with; and they can get away with a lot, because it's really difficult to put a price on, like, not dying. This is a phenomenon called "inelastic demand"; if you tell me that this drug that will save my life costs $7 a month, I will pay you $7 a month for it; if you tell me that it costs $124 a month, I will find a way to find $124 a month to pay for it. You can't negotiate effectively on your own behalf for healthcare services because you NEED them [emphasis mine], and not like you need a new MacBook Air or the new season of Sherlock, but actual, physical need....

So basically, until and unless we can negotiate as effectively with the people providing healthcare as [the] Australians and British people [can], US healthcare costs will continue to rise faster than anywhere else in the world, and we won't get better healthcare outcomes.

--John Green, "Why Are American Health Care Costs So High?", vlogbrothers

Here is a list of his sources:

• "What makes the US healthcare system so expensive? by Aaron Carroll on The Incidental Economist
• "Explaining High Health Care Spending in the United States" [PDF] by David A. Squires on The Commonwealth Fund
• "The $2.7 Trillion Medical Bill" by Elisabeth Rosenthal on NYTimes.com

By the way, I've turned comments off, because I really do want you guys to think before you respond, and forcing you to have to email me any response you have will help ensure that you take said response seriously.

BuzzFeedVideo on YouTube usually posts short "informational" videos that are entertaining but not really all that informative. However, yesterday, they posted this video, entitled "Photoshopping Real Women Into Cover Models". It shows four women's reactions to having photographs of them 'Shopped the way that advertisements and magazine covers are. The results are . . . eye-opening. And cool.

As I mentioned in passing in my last post, this past Saturday (November 2nd), I drove up to Long Beach for Wendy Levin's "Studio Lighting" class at D.M. Gremlin Studios. The models were Merrique and Hourglass (NOTE: links go to NSFW deviantArt profile pages, although any photos tagged 'mature' won't display unless you have an account and are logged in). The class lasted 8 hours, 10am to 6pm—however, although the students (five of us) and the instructor were there for the whole 8 hours, the models were only there for 4 hours each: Merrique from 10 to 2 and Hourglass from 2 to 6.

The class was incredible! I went in with a very rudimentary understanding of studio lighting, but I learned enough in that class to begin to feel as if I have a basic grasp of the subject. Coming from a place of "Yeah, lights are those bright things you turn on and point at your subject", now I feel like I know at least a little bit about:

1. when, where, and how to use soft-boxes, and what kinds are good for different applications;
   
2. how to place accent lights, and how bright to make them, for specific effects;
   
3. focusing and narrowing light using specialized soft-boxes and light grids;
   
4. the use of colored gels;
   
5. how different kinds of light interact with wardrobe, props, sets, and models;
   
6. when to use deliberate over-exposure and under-exposure to achieve specific effects;
   
7. how and where to use fill-light and side-lighting to either soften or strengthen shadows;
   
8. sillhouetting techniques;

and probably more that I'm just not thinking of right now. It was a chock-full class, and I snapped around 450 images over the course of the day. It would have been more if there hadn't been the issue of seven people in one rather small studio space. We tended to get in each other's way at times. In fact, there was one particular shot that I really wanted to get, but first one guy stepped in front of my camera, then another guy stepped in front of my camera, and then the model changed poses, so I ended up not getting it. The model tried to go back to it, but it wasn't quite the same. Ah, well. I did get a lot of good images, so I'm not really complaining.

If you want to see some of the images I took at this class, I'll be posting them to my deviantArt account over the next few days. However, in order to see them, you have to have a deviantArt account yourself and be logged in. An account is free, though, and I can say from experience that dA is very good about not emailing you if you bloody well don't want to be emailed.

Last night, my brother and I discovered that we have a rodent problem. Either very large mice or very small rats, we can't quite tell. I've called the exterminators I have a contract with, but they're closed on Sundays, so I won't be able to talk to them until tomorrow. I seriously did NOT need to be dealing with this shit right now.

And of course this is on top of being in no small amount of pain today, owing to a) sinuses that won't leave me the fuck alone and b) sore muscles from the somewhat acrobatic photography class I took yesterday (Studio Lighting, in case anyone is interested--and yes, photography can be a serious workout, especially when it involves kneeling and crouching for extended periods, climbing ladders and furniture, holding stock still for minutes at a time to make sure the camera doesn't shake, and moving props and furniture and lighting equipment around multiple times).

I'm supposed to be at a game in a half hour, but I'm really not sure I'm up to going.

I've had the pleasure, over my 25-year span of doing figure photography, to work with several professional models. Working with pro models is great because they already know what they're doing, and "directing" them is a breeze. There are drawbacks (it's a little bit harder to get "natural" expressions and poses, though not much, really), but I've found that my time working with them has been quite productive and quite fun.

But one aspect of working with pros that is ... "worrisome" I suppose is the right word ... is when they tell tales of how they've often been treated by other photographers. Now, I'm sure none of these stories they tell are in any way the norm, but the fact that they happen at all is appalling to me.

For instance, one model tells of a time she was asked to climb a tall rock and pose atop it. Not bad on the surface of it, perhaps, but it was also 50 degree weather (that's 10 degrees for those of you outside the U.S.) and pouring down rain, and she had to ford a chin-deep stream to get to it! And after all that, the photographer didn't want to pay her because the rain fell on his lens ruined most of his shots. DAFUQ?!? Dude, your bad planning does not excuse you from paying the person you HIRED TO DO A JOB THAT SHE DID AND THEN SOME!

Several models have mentioned being called to a shoot only to discover that they're not the only model present. Now, perhaps that doesn't seem like a big deal, but I mean, come on! If there are going to be more people at the shoot than you previously discussed, it's only common courtesy to notify everyone! Plus, some models have ... shall we say "adversarial" relationships with other models. (I've even heard of an American model who calls the ICE on any non-U.S. model she encounters on the grounds that they're "working without a visa".) What if the two (or three or ten or twenty) models you've hired don't get along?

Then, of course, there are the all-too-common tales of models being stiffed their fee, having passes made at them, being asked to do something on a shoot that they specifically say in their profiles or on their one-sheets that they will NOT do (like porn), being asked to work longer than they were hired for, being booked for all-day shoots where food isn't provided and NOT being informed of this ahead of time so they can make other plans, and other kinds of generally discourteous behavior and just plain NOT THINKING!

I have friends who are photographers, and I'm certain that they all treat their models well, but for anyone else reading this who might be a photographer (or a model, as something to show to prospective photographers), please...

Treat your models with respect, courtesy, and professionalism! This means doing the following:

• Pay the negotiated fee in the agreed-upon way at the agreed-upon time
  Don't write a check when the model expects cash. Don't hire the model for three hours, shoot for one, and then expect to only pay for one. If the model expects payment in advance, pay the model in advance!
  
  
• Tell the model what the shoot will involve before booking time
  It's not enough to say "this is a studio shoot" or "this is an outdoor shoot". You need to be specific. How many photographers will be there? How many models? Will there be crew, such as make-up artists, hair stylists, wardrobe people, or photographic assistants? Will the model need to do anything dangerous, like climbing rocks or swimming in the ocean or sitting under an ice-cold waterfall? If the shoot is going to be a long one, will you provide food and drink? If the shoot is going to be in the desert, are you bringing water and sunscreen? If the shoot is going to be in the snow, are you bringing coffee and blankets? Perhaps most importantly, if there are going to be other models present, how are you going to expect them to interact? Everyone (well, almost everyone) loves a good picture of two girls kissing, but, as with everything else, ask in advance if they're okay with it! Otherwise it gets awkward and uncomfortable for everyone.
  
  
• If the shoot is going to involve food or animals, ask the model about allergies
  It will not be fun if you book a model to do a shoot with a bunch of cats and then have to transport that model to the hospital for anaphylactic shock.
  
  
• Don't hit on your models!
  Unless the model is your girlfriend/boyfriend or husband/wife already—or you're really good friends for whom that kind of banter is normal—it is NEVER appropriate to make sexual suggestions, or even to flirt, with your model. Even if you find yourself seriously attracted to your model, just don't go there. It will not end well.*
  
  
• If you ask the model to do something, and the model says no, accept that answer and move on
  No one likes a bully, but all too often I hear of photographers essentially bullying models into doing something they don't want to do or are uncomfortable with under threat of not paying them or, worse yet, ruining their reputations as reliable professionals. If you're the kind of person who would do this knowingly and willingly, then you're scum. But sometimes you may not know that what you're asking or the way in which you ask it can come across as threatening, especially if you continue to press after the model has said no. Treat every "no" as final.

This is obviously not aimed at photographers who actively seek to treat models poorly, but I'm sure that those kinds of people are rather rare. This is aimed instead at photographers who just don't know any better. And guess what? Now you know better!

-------

*Yes, there are exceptions to this, just as there are exceptions to everything. DO NOT EXPECT THE EXCEPTIONS! They're called "exceptions" for a reason!

There won't be another “21 Ways” essay today. The next one won’t be published until Tuesday at the earliest.

However, I read this op ed piece on the New York Times website, and I found it quite compelling.

“Young, Gifted, and Neglected”

When I was going to school, I needed one of these schools. As it was, I got into the LAUSD’s Magnet program, which was marginally better than being in the general public high school population, but had I had the chance to get into one of these “exam schools”, I might have made it through college in less than seven years.