Photography with Joe

 Inspired by  Chaplin’s famous speech from  The Great Dictator : We have put machines before men, mistaking efficiency for progress. Self-checkout was promised as an advancement, a liberation—but it is a lie. Once, a single clerk could master their craft, serving thousands with skill and speed. Now, that burden is scattered among the people, each one forced to fumble, to learn, to struggle alone. What was once the work of one, refined and swift, is now the work of many—slow, frustrating, and impersonal. They tell us this is improvement, but at what cost? The hours saved by corporations are stolen from the people, their time chipped away, their dignity reduced to error messages and beeping machines. We are not machines! We are human beings! We seek connection, not cold transactions. We are meant to speak, to smile, to share a moment—not to stand in silent frustratio n before lifeless screens. Efficiency without humanity is no progress at all. Let us not be fooled by their ...

  CITIZEN CANADA PRESENTS 🔴 "BUY, BELIEVE, OBEY" 📰 The Magazine That Reads You Back 💬 Culture is a battleground. Advertising is the artillery. Propaganda is the air we breathe. 🛍️ Are you consuming the media, or is the media consuming you? 🎭 Satire or reality—does it even matter anymore? 💡 Where influence meets illusion. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: "Fake It Till You Make It" – The Business of Selling Reality "Ad or Art?" – How Capitalism Repackages Rebellion "The Algorithm Knows Best" – Are You Choosing, or Being Chosen? "Nothing Is Authentic (And That’s Okay)" – The Death & Rebirth of Culture 📸 Featuring exclusive visuals from the #GreatguyTV Project 🔍 Decoded: The Symbols You Don’t Even Notice Anymore 🖼️ Available Everywhere… Whether You Like It or Not https://joe-average123.blogspot.com/2025/03/culture-is-battleground-advertising-is.html

Why We Can't Stop Thinking About Memes... Or Emails We’ll Never Send Memes used to be the digital equivalent of a quick snack. A harmless, empty calorie fix for bored kids. Now? They’re the soul-searching equivalent of staring into an abyss. A dark abyss that looks strangely like a YouTube comment section. Remember the Roman Empire meme? That thing crept up on us like a Shakespearean twist — asking, “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” Simple, right? No. It was an emotional grenade. Suddenly, men everywhere were admitting they had a shrine to Caesar and a secret fantasy about being gladiators. It was like Rome was this hidden, collective wound we didn’t know we had until someone prodded it. And when that grenade went off, we all realized we’d been thinking about Rome ... a lot. Here’s the deal: The Roman Empire meme was philosophy in disguise . It wasn’t just about history; it was about us . It took the kind of deep introspection you’d get in a therapy session...

Austin Russell: China's Newest Useful Idiot? The Billionaire Who Bought Forbes with Foreign Pocket Change So, Austin Russell, the self-proclaimed wunderkind behind Luminar Technologies , a company that makes lasers for cars that don’t drive themselves properly, just became the proud owner of Forbes . Yes, Forbes — the magazine most famous for putting every attention-seeking billionaire on a “rich list” like it’s an achievement, not a global indictment. The Setup: Nothing to See Here, Just Foreign Money Let’s be clear — Austin didn’t buy Forbes out of his own piggy bank alone. No, the $800 million deal came laced with foreign funding . His partners? The Sun Group (India-based) — whose Vice Chairman had former ties to Russian government advisory roles , which in spy-speak is code for “drinks vodka with spies.” Also onboard: GSV Ventures , a Silicon Valley fund — because no shady deal is complete without the blessing of people who invest in ed-tech scams. The previous o...

 The show The Last of Us got me wondering: Is fungi intelligent? How can a non-intelligent life form take control of an intelligent one, even if its intelligence is low? How the Zombie Ant Fungus Works The Ophiocordyceps fungus doesn’t give precise step-by-step movement commands like a remote control. Instead, it hijacks the ant’s nervous and muscular systems, subtly manipulating behavior while allowing the ant to appear mostly normal—until the final “climb-and-bite” stage. How It Moves Without Being Detected: Preserved Locomotion – The fungus doesn’t fully disrupt motor functions; the ant continues walking in a mostly natural way, reducing suspicion from nestmates. Stealth Mode – Infected ants avoid erratic movements, making it less likely that others will detect and remove them before the fungus matures. Neural Hijacking, Not Brain Control – The fungus primarily affects muscles, not higher brain functions, allowing the ant to navigate obstacles as if making its own choices. ...

Dave Mason and is Fascist buddies.   The world protests minor issues, in the hundreds of thousands. The USA enters fascism and 5 thousand people, less than who read this blog show up. What the hell? Here is a more comprehensive timeline of protests from 2024 to 2025 in chart form: Date Country Issue Numbers Jan 2024 Israel Judicial overhaul plans 100,000+ Jan 2024 France Pension reform plans 1 million+ Feb 2024 Peru Political crisis and demands for new elections 10,000+ Feb 2024 Greece Economic crisis and cost-of-living increases 20,000+ Mar 2024 China COVID-19 restrictions and government policies 1,000+ Mar 2024 Sudan Military coup and demand for civilian rule 10,000+ Apr 2024 South Africa Economic crisis and high cost of living 5,000+ May 2024 Paraguay Economic crisis and corruption 3,000+ Jun 2024 Afghanistan Women's rights and girls' education 500+ Jul 2024 Nepal Political crisis and corruption 2,000+ Aug 2024 Kenya Economic crisis and high cost of living 5,000+ Sep 2024 H...

 # The Photographer's Dilemma: A Saint Patrick's Day Conundrum The streets were alive with the sound of laughter and music, as partygoers celebrated Saint Patrick's Day. Amidst the sea of festive faces, a photographer navigated the crowd, camera at the ready. The goal was to capture the essence of the celebration, but a familiar dilemma loomed large. As the photographer raised the camera to frame the shot, a group of revelers stumbled into view. The photographer's instincts screamed to trust the moment, to let the camera capture the unbridled energy of the scene. But experience whispered caution, reminding of the countless times when neglecting the basics had led to disappointment. The camera settings, a crucial aspect, held the power to make or break the shot. Yet, in the chaos of the party, they were often forgotten. A split-second decision could mean the difference between a captivating image and a missed opportunity. As the photographer wove through the crowd, a gro...

  Susan Sontag/Philosophical Photography Style – Theoretical, Meditative, Examining the Image A photograph is not just an image; it is evidence. Evidence that something happened, that a moment was charged with meaning, that time, for an instant, paused in anticipation. The act of play, especially play that mirrors violence, is a performance of power and recognition. A duel, even in jest, establishes a hierarchy, or at least tests one. The raised cane is both an invitation and a command: respond, or be left out of the story. The photograph of two women in a bar, canes clashing, is not simply a record of an event. It is part of a lineage of images—sword fights in paintings, gentlemanly duels, staged Hollywood combat. But unlike those, this moment was not choreographed. It happened because human beings, when given the opportunity, will always reenact the mythologies they have absorbed. The dueling canes are not just objects. They are symbols. They mean something because we believe...

Here’s a shot that screams St. Patrick’s Day at Fionn MacCool’s in Richmond Hill, right near Highway 7, where the party’s always on! I’m talking big vibes here—groups of people celebrating, laughing, and soaking up that classic Irish pub energy. It's all about the hearty drinks, great food, and that live music making everyone feel like they’re in Dublin (or at least pretending). Caught this one during the madness of St. Pat's season—two women, full of life, celebrating with their crew, feeding off the hype that only Fionn’s can serve up. For the full Irish pub experience, check them out on Instagram @fionnsrichmondhill . Trust me, it’s a good time! #GreatguyTV #CitizenCanada #CaneSeries #StPatricksDay #PartyVibes #IrishPub #edscholzgallery Here’s a shot that screams St. Patrick’s Day at Fionn MacCool’s in Richmond Hill, right near Highway 7, where the party’s always on! I’m talking big vibes here—groups of people celebrating, laughing, and soaking up that classic Irish pub...

  March 15, 2025 – Saturday Save A Jew St. Patrick’s Day is around the corner—a day when people celebrate Irish heritage by drinking so much they forget where Ireland is. I went out to mark the occasion, though my mind was on other things. Namely, whether anyone was keeping track of Trump’s latest shopping list. He’s publicly said he wants Panama, Greenland, Canada, and Mexico. Most people treat it like the ramblings of a man who thinks the Louisiana Purchase was a checkout option on Amazon. I figured Panama was already in the bag, bought out like a Vegas casino. Turns out, not quite. The country’s still pretending to be independent while BlackRock quietly buys up both entrances to the Panama Canal. They don’t own the canal, but once they control the gates, they can charge whatever they want to let ships through. It’s the geopolitical equivalent of Airbnb: technically, they don’t own the house, but they decide who gets to sleep there. If an AI summarized it, it’d say: Trump’s c...

  High-Density Canada? Or a Grim Future We Can Avoid? Ah, the dream of living in a high-rise where you can practically reach out and touch your neighbor’s cereal bowl. What a time to be alive! As we scramble to house the masses, we’re apparently taking notes from Japan—where the average apartment might be smaller than the average person’s ego. But hey, why not follow the forward-thinking approach of cramming people into boxes? After all, who doesn’t want to live in a glorified closet? Let’s explore this brilliant plan for our future! What We Have Now: A Vanishing Dream Canada is proud of its vast spaces. The kind where you can drive for miles without seeing another soul, or, heaven forbid, someone encroaching on your lawn. The dream of a detached house with a driveway, where children can play outside without being squashed into a concrete jungle, remains the heart of the Canadian ethos. Yet, as we all know, this idyllic existence is shrinking —both literally and metaphoricall...

  Mapping China's 50-Year Cycle with American Historical Cycles Both China and the United States exhibit cyclical patterns of political, economic, and social upheaval , but their cycles operate on different rhythms: China follows a ~50-year crisis cycle , marked by peasant uprisings, revolutions, and government crackdowns. The U.S. follows an 80-100 year cycle , aligning with Strauss-Howe’s Fourth Turning theory and Turchin’s Secular Cycles , with major conflicts roughly every 80 years (Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWII, and a potential crisis in the 2020s-2030s). By overlaying these cycles, we can compare their timing, causes, and predicted future events . 1. Timeline of Chinese and American Cycles Time Period China (50-Year Cycle) U.S. (80-100 Year Cycle, Strauss-Howe & Turchin’s Secular Cycles) 1850s-1860s Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) – Peasant uprising against the Qing, 20-30 million dead. Civil War (1861-1865) – North vs. South, slavery abolished,...