Ventnor Beach - July 2005

Ventnor Beach
Originally uploaded by giftos.

I thought this photo turned out nicely. It was taken a few weeks back at Ventnor Beach, just south of Atlantic City. The boat, which was about to be used in a life-guard challenge, nicely framed and gave some context to the photo. It was neat (and unplanned) to see the wheels reflecting in the ocean water.

Subway Photography

Pat in Camden Subway
Originally uploaded by giftos.

This photo of the infamous Patrick Mcgroarty was taken at the 9th @ Locust stop in Philadelphia. Given the recent tragedy that took place in London, subway photos like this might sadly become hard, if not impossible, to take.

That said, if you're concerned about your rights as a photographer (there are quite a few surprisingly) check out this link.

Costco, the anti-Walmart?

Harlem Protest - March 2005
Originally uploaded by giftos.

This is a terrific article describing Costco's business practices. A few salient figures:

Costco on average pays it's employees $17 an hour, 42% higher than it's competitor, Sam's Club. Costco's employees pay only 8% of their health care benefits while the retail average is 25%. Lastly, the CEO of Costco, Jim Senegal, receives an annual salary of $350,000 which is less than 10% of what most CEO's make despite Costco ranking 29th in revenue amongst American companies.

To quote the article,

"I've been very well rewarded," said Mr. Sinegal, who is worth more than $150 million thanks to his Costco stock holdings. "I just think that if you're going to try to run an organization that's very cost-conscious, then you can't have those disparities. Having an individual who is making 100 or 200 or 300 times more than the average person working on the floor is wrong."

"One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco 'it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder.' . . .

. . . it seems perfectly fair to me.

Marxism

NYC Protest - Anciano - Hi Res
Originally uploaded by giftos.

I've received some comments of late concerning the Marx quote that once adorned the top of the page. Although I appreciate the frustrations of those who were offended by my quoting Marx, I still can't help but believe that the whole world would be a little better off if everyone read a little more socialist literature. The failures and ills of Soviet Communism have cast a dark shadow on the socialist movement and sadly, anything that contains even a whiff of Marxism is considered evil by the majority of society. This is tragic. So much can be learned from a careful study of Marxism and to eschew the socialist movement flat out on the basis of a failed communist empire results in a great loss to humanity, particularly to the poor and the marginalized. Socialism and Social Democracy deserve our time academically. That said, the quote isn't even "Marxist" . . .

Valeria

Valeria
Originally uploaded by giftos.

I've had a few comments on this photo of late so I thought I might post it. I need to be honest here though: I love the photo, the framing, content, etc. but I'm just very frustrated that I let the flash go off. Notice the brightness of the cake in contrast with the low light on Valeria's face. A good one that got away you might say.

Collingswood-filtered

Collingswood-filtered
Originally uploaded by giftos.

This is a night photo that I took outside the Treehouse Cafe in Collingswood, NJ. A good friend of mine used photoshop to increase saturation and reduce the noise, both of which greatly improved the photo. Thanks again Larry.

Teaching positions available in Cofradia, Honduras '05-'06

Computers in Cofradia
Originally uploaded by giftos.

Bilingual Education for Central America, the program through which I taught in Honduras last year, is still looking to fill its 1st and 5th grade teaching positions. If you might be interested feel free to check out their website for details, email me with questions (giftos@riseup.net), or directly contact the director Jaime Tackett (jtackett@becaschools.org).