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    Click on this link to go to my photo site. Find out why some call me one of the causes of societal degradation. Oh well, what can you do?

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Albany Bulb

  • Albany Bulb
    These photographs are just a few I have taken over the last ten years at The Albany Bulb, also known as the Landfill, the Waterfront and just The Bulb. It is a place I feel passionate about. That much is obvious. There are many of us who believe that this piece of the much hyped Eastshore State Park should have been left untouched and unmanaged - because it is a unique example of what happens when a place naturally and organically self regulates. But the dogma of 'preservation' and 'conservation areas' 'resource protection', 'habitats' and 'liability' overrules all individual identity. They cannot leave anything untouched, un-designed. It is as if if they (the park planners) didn't make it, it has no value. Rules, guidelines, regulations, interpretive signage, fences, safety, sanctioned art - it leaves nothing to the imagination. That is what the landfill meant to us - a place of unlimited imagination.
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« how things change and stay the same | Main | people who harm animals rarely stop there »

August 15, 2009

Comments

themacinator

i love your blog. i look forward to your new posts. but this one sealed the deal. who knew you were ALSO a baseball fan? and for all the right reasons. professional sports: a culture of money in all the wrong places.

keep up the good work.

Steve Feinberg

The acceptance of Michael Vick by much of the general public, and their belief that he paid for his crimes, is why things are the way they are. Rotten. Money rules and ignorance thrives. Vick is like a bad boy who's been coached and bribed to play it good. At heart he is who he is, a vicious animal murderer. His problem was he got caught. If it was up to me, Vick's punishment would've been being chained to a tree in lion country. But, in the twisted sentiments of those who forgive Vick, that would make the lions look bad.

Jill

Steve, the thing is: Vick did pay for his crimes in the way in which we currently define that particular crime in our legal structure. And the system of 'money rules and ignorance thrives' well, yeah - welcome to the western world. You and I don't disagree.
The two surviving guys who taunted the tiger in SF Zoo got close to a million dollars in a settlement. One of them recently got arrested again for felony cocaine posession and being under the influence while driving. Yes, getting caught. That IS the problem. People who cheat on their spouses, hit their children, rape their niece or slaughter a dog. But those who DO get caught have a chance for redemption, no? We are not innately 'moral' that's for sure.
But I can't go down that road with you in tying a man to a tree and let him be torn to pieces by hungry or angry lions. We've had this conversation, you and I - waiting for a lost and terrified dog to walk into the trap we set for him one night. I love your passion for animals, regrettably I think that the sentiments of revenge are the twisted ones.
Because who gets to decide which 'crimes' are punishable by this sort of rough justice? Ancient law which stones a woman to death for her husband's infidelity?
Vick lives in a society which values virtually nothing that cannot be bought and then disposed of. You know I think what Vick did was beyond comprehension, just as the Abu Ghraib crimes were beyond our belief - but we must surely believe that there is a chance he will never do anything like this again. And to extend that chance to him.

Steve Feinberg

Jill: The question is...did Vick TRULY pay for his crimes...for which, directly or indirectly, he's now about to be rewarded. The law does not always serve justice. It's random and bribable and has loopholes. Vick's time in prison was an investment: 'Do your time (soft time by the way, not hard), satisfy the law, say you're sorry, play it humble, and we'll have you back on the field before you can say paycheck.' It was all quite predictable.

Yeah...forgiveness is a virtue, but does everyone deserve it? Vick didn't simply make a mistake for which we like to forgive people. He willfully, continually and joyfully perpetrated cruelty. And if he wasn't caught he'd still be doing it! That's not a mistake, it's a lifestyle. It's evil. The passion I have for animals, which we share, is born of empathy. Empathy is what allows us to feel the pain of other beings. But psychopaths like Vick don't feel that. He's not sorry for what he did. He's only sorry for himself. He hasn't been rehabilitated, only restrained. He won't kill dogs anymore only because it's not in his best interest.

"Revenge" you say. Well yeah. Revenge is sweet. But why? Because it can represent justice where all else fails. It failed with O.J. Simpson whom I once greatly respected. I might also add that I'm a football fan. But here's another prediction: When Vick makes his first appearance on the playing field, he will be cheered. Mark my words. So much for justice. The dogs Vick tortured and killed might forgive him if they could, because they're man's best friend. But I am not.

Steve Feinberg

PS. If Michael Vick took a lie detector test, you can bet it would show that his "sorrow" for the dogs he abused is a lie. It should be no surprise that those who have no trouble killing have no trouble lying.

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