'Freedom'

'Mexicans are rapists; build a wall'; 'Corporate America is raping the

common man,', 'vote for a continuation of the status quo', and so forth. The

political season is upon us, and the Fourth of July will soon be here,, and

each one will see the United States flag is in his/her own way, shown here in

a very ambiguous presentation. Your ratings, critiques and observations are

invited and most welcome. If you rate r critique harshly or wish to make a

remark, please submit a helpful and constructive comment; please share

your photographic knowledge (and cultural/political too, if you dare), to help

improve my photographic knowledge and underlying cultural context.

Thanks! Enjoy! john

We live in a confusing time, but looking back in history, there are many periods that were confusing, dangerous or difficult, always in a different way. Your pic gives certainly cause for thought!  Also, we are in danger of losing our "Freedom" to trumped up fear. Remember, one's freedom to swing one's fist extends only to the next person's nose.

I have only dim memories of having taken this photo, long ago, though I know where.

It was not until my current review of ALL my photos (between 1/2 and 1 million) taken over the last 11 years, that I came across and understood that it really (in my mind is a very good and 'fine art' photo.  I submitted it to an agency, and they immediately curated it to among their very best, so my guesstimate was vindicated.

Few here seem to understand or care for the worth of the ambiguities that this photo -- a flag behind bars -- represents.  It was probably just as powerful a statement during the Bush years shortly befor etaken as during current times when your statement was made.  

Conservatives see things one way, liberals another, conspiracy theorists, especially those who are white, poorly educated and out of work, see things entirely another way.  Each will see his/her own vindication or world view in this 'flag behind bars' in this photo, and that's the strength I see in it.  I'm glad you told me about your world view . . . . I won't review mine, but if you've followed my work as long as you have you probably have divined it (though I am white and out of work  -- but better educated than most.  

And I don't continue to think that Obama was a Muslim born in  Africa like so many conspiracy theorists do -- they're entitled to their beliefs, but God help us, they're voters too.  Worse, there is another country in the world that is dedicated to sewing the flames of discord with those who have a thoroughly confused view of the world, for that country's view is what is bad for the US is good for them.  

It's a 'one - pie view and that pie's a certain size, so if someone takes a slice by whatever means, it's less for the other guy, and vice versa.  Can you guess what that country is and which sows the seeds of misunderstanding and discord, largely now through Internet trolling, but in other ways too if allowed?

That country would delight to see the US flag behind bars.  And I'm no militarist, though I've taken photos in two wars, been medivacced from one and a prisoner in another.

I always appreciate your comments; shows you two have been thinking, and I like it when certain of my photos inspire some to think of more than 'pretty picture'.  

They can't all be 'pretty pictures'.

;~))

john

John (Crosley)

It seems we generally, at least on this topic, think similarly. And, yes, we do have an idea of the country about which you are talking. Stay safe, and keep posting!

G+V

I try to keep my politics as neutral as possible when it comes to foreign affairs -- when it comes to domestic affairs, I'm a little more forthcoming, since I've fought legal cases for a decade and a half as an attorney a quarter century ago, and won some cases that were so opposed by the government that when I won them the Congress immediately passed laws preventing anyone else from pursuing the same path to victory.  In other words, my clients were then the only winners ever.  

I never did 'class actions' preferring to garner 'extra value' for my clients by learning and keeping secret the dastardly conduct of the wrongdoers which done 'em in, rather than broadcasting for new clients -- even when putting together a class might have made me a multimillionaire over time in attorney fees, but tied my clients up in a legal fight for a half decade to a decade and in which they would have won less money than by settling for much, much more for taking the settlement and walking away without more cases  . . . . .I put the client first in those situations.  

A lot of attorneys hung onto clients who 'always got into trouble' and looked on them as a sort of 'annuity' and never gave them advice on how to live their lives free from trouble.  

Instead of that, when I practiced, I identified clients who were reckless and error-prone and lectured them on why and how they had got into trouble in the first place costing them a great deal of money, how to avoid that in the future, and then reviewed their actions for a while to see if they could stick to a safer plan . . . . and ultimately almost to a one, they did so.  I cut off my own 'annuity' of reckless clients who always seemed to be 'in trouble' knocking on my door or calling me to get themselves out of trouble, because they would always have been in trouble.

But in return, the majority of these clients sent me new and great cases worth a great deal of money in new attorney fees . . . . as a sort of reward for being faithful and good to them.  I reaped the reward of being a 'good guy' and my clients lived happy lives -- the ones who initially came to me when they were 'in trouble' because they 'messed up' in some way or another -- largely because of the way they did their personal affairs.  They got a lesson from me and lived without trouble from them on, and then I got new clients with clear, bigger cases, that rewarded me and my family well.  

And a clear conscience that I did the right thing.

I hired secretaries that worked for big corporate law firms, and they complained to me about their bosses' billing practices where the attorneys were supposed to keep track of their time so each hour and 10 minute segment could be billed at hourly rates.  

But the attorneys never really kept the time records.   The secretaries made it all up in almost all instances after reviewing the file and saying 'I suppose the (attorney) spent this much time on this and that much time on that, and voila a huge bill was generated.  

That's from interviews from secretary candidates.  I heard that story over and over each time I hired new secretaries from the very experienced secretaries who had worked for huge firms in San  Francisco and Silicon Valley where I practiced.

I almost never billed by the hour; almost always by the outcome or by the task.  It was easier to explain to the client rather than 'I spoke to the judge and told him a joke, and I billed you $125 for telling the judge a joke that made him like me more which will help him rule in your favor in the future -- no one understands that, but that's the way it works sometimes . . . . and nobody wants to pay such a bill.  But they will pay for results, and I delivered results, almost 99+%.

In one case where I took an indigent disabled woman to 13 hearings without pay to the end, she finally prevailed, the Congress passed a new law which meant no one else after her could win the same way she did . . . . I took 1/3 of my cases on the basis I would make no or little money, just to keep in practice, since they never settled and always went to trial or hearing . . . which regular cases I had never did (I over prepared them and they always settled almost always for far more than they were worth).

I've been out of the game for a quarter century; good lawyering makes for bad personalities.  

I'm a recovering attorney in a 12-step program and basically I think I've graduated.

I take photos.

They draw on my past life, though, and lessons I've learned.

john

John (Crosley)