[Nesster]

The thing about having a side-issue forum: we all are united by our photography interest and Pentax in particular. So we get people from all corners of the political and religious spectrum, mixing and not always being able to tolerate other views, but often learning and being challenged.
The purpose-political and purpose-religion/philosophy/metaphysics boards tend to cater to one view / one approach, where challengers are banned.

[magkelly]

If you're desperate you can always try Redditt. I'm sure there's plenty of that discussion going on on there....

[Tom S.]

If you were only here for the P & R section, you shouldn't have been here in the first place. So if someone is leaving because the section is closed, I don't see it as a big loss to the forum.

[jeffkrol]

Google+ has launched a new "Communities" section which is already huge for photography and politics. There is a Pentax Community (a couple of them) as well as a world of specialty communities for film, Medium Format, Street, Portrait, B&W, HDR...... you name it.

They also have several political and economics communities.... Even a community for MMT'ers like Jeff https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/115648015225495790417

I already use G+ for most things related to photography, business, politics, & economics. Anyone can use G+ to start a community if you can't find one you like.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/s/Pentax/communities
https://plus.google.com/u/0/s/politics/communities

Thanks btw.........

Problem usually is is you either are 1)preaching to the choir or 2)fighting semantics and ideology tooth and nail.. Places like this where p/r is a sideshow are just more fun and usually more enlightening..

not to mention in a sense the group has a "common bond" to wrap uncommon ideas around.........


Like the difference between talking to an extended family vs a street corner soapbox...........

also is sort of a "resting place" (as others have pointed out) for those just not in to discussion the latest Pentax camera related "crisis".........

As most may have noticed I have been here since 2006 .... and joined for camera and related discussions.. I currently just use my *ist-D (care to reopen discussions on the stupidest camera name...) for home snaps and a K200 for work related purposes.. i.e. advertising..

But current tech discussions and the ENDLESS discussion on FF has lost most relevence nd importance to me.. And like politics can be equal to hitting ones head against a wall..

Ther is no differnce but subject..........

Adam can do what he wants.. his sandbox.. Just hope it is his choice..or his idea of the right thing..

I'm certainly not going to go completely away.. never been a quiiter.. and there are too many that I consider relevant to me. for one reason or another..

But photography has to become more important in MY life.. not being blessed w/ gobs of discretionary money to buy the latest toy.. or to buy the latest overpriced lens (assembled in some low wage 3rd world) and compare it to someone elses overpriced lens..
I've never posted to win a popularity contest.. just to bring ideas/facts/theories to light and to HOPE to make things just a teeny tiny bit different..I certainly never expect miracles.. (except maybe the cold fusion thing)

Pentax was special because they were "Japanese old school" and had history..and were the perennial overachiever and under-hyped...and different.

Anyone know if the Pentax Museum has been sold off?? Does anyone care???

From my dpreview comment;

Re: Pentax museum closing after 40 years
In reply to markolw, Jun 30, 2009

If true, as it seems to be, that is very sad. Though not unexpected from the bean counting HOYA organization.
--
360 minutes from the prime meridian. (-5375min, 3.55sec) 1093' above sea level.
(my favorite quote)
'The exposure meter is calibrated to some clearly defined standards and the user needs to adjust his working method and his subject matter to these values. It does not help to suppose all kinds of assumptions that do not exist.'
Erwin Puts

Funny though.. when I bought my first NEW camera I had limited my choice between a Ricoh (Kr-5 I believe) and Pentax Super Program. Picked the SP.. Circle of life??

It's not all about cameras, and religion, and politics.. but how we perceive it.. but perception should be based on facts.. throw in a dash of ideology/history and that's ok. It is how we function best..

blah blah blah for the morning........

Economics for the 99%
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/81-more-blog-posts-from-...ics-for-the-99

You think to yourself, this guy is getting ridiculous. Sure, the massive network of expressways, airports and public buildings may in principle be assets and worth far more

than the federal debt. But a house you can sell. To whom would the federal government sell Kennedy Airport in New York City or the 2500 mile I-40 expressway from North Carolina to southern California? Well, quite a queue of buyers would show up double quick, as the airport privatizations in Britain demonstrated. We do not usually think of these public structures as assets because federal, state and local governments do not in most cases charge us to use them. We can be confident that the Massachusetts Turnpike, which does charge, would attract corporate buyers like bees to honey, eager to snatch up that asset, jack up the tolls and drive home with a tidy profit.

A federally built and owned road is an asset (like a private home), and it could be sold to a private buyer ("privatized"). But, even when the government borrows for a sound purpose, the debt that results represents a burden for future generations, does it not? Actually, no. The present debt does not represent a burden on future generations. How can that be? No future burden because every debt is simultaneously a credit, and every asset also a liability (Accounting 101). A US federal government bond, the form our public debt takes, is an asset for he or she that buys it. Interest payments on the public debt (or any debt) involve an income transfer, not between generations, but between those who pay taxes and those who receive the interest payments funded by those taxes.

Consider the simple, if slightly silly case, in which we distribute the federal debt among households proportionally to the taxes households pay. Each tax paying household receives interest to compensate for the tax that funds the interest. No burden there, on future generations or anyone. The example is not totally silly, because this was close to the situation at the end of World War II, a conflict financed by sales of "war bonds" across income classes.

Even today, over twenty percent of federal bonds can be found in the Social Security Fund (bought by our compulsory contributions), and these pay incomes to the retired. Federal government agencies hold another twenty percent. The interest on this second twenty percent of the debt merely shifts funds from one federal pocket to another. "Off the top", so to speak, forty percent of the debt involves no burden. More important, the income distribution effect of the interest on that forty percent is progressive (Social Security has been called the largest poverty reduction program in American history). As for the remaining sixty percent, that requires a Heresy column of its own. Does it follow that governments should only borrow to invest? If so, the federal government currently acts in a very irresponsible manner. The budget deficit subtracting out investment expenditure is about five percent national income. Should we demand that the federal government behave like a responsible household with its finances? Strange as it may seem, that current expenditure deficit does not differ from what households do.

---

Last edited by jeffkrol; 12-14-2012 at 07:42 AM.

[les3547]

The thing about having a side-issue forum: we all are united by our photography interest and Pentax in particular. So we get people from all corners of the political and religious spectrum, mixing and not always being able to tolerate other views, but often learning and being challenged.
The purpose-political and purpose-religion/philosophy/metaphysics boards tend to cater to one view / one approach, where challengers are banned.

Yes, the photography and Pentax connection between us provides a common ground, while worldwide participation provides a variety of perspectives. I've learned a lot from hearing how the world views the US.

Problem usually is is you either are 1)preaching to the choir or 2)fighting semantics and ideology tooth and nail.. Places like this where p/r is a sideshow are just more fun and usually more enlightening..

not to mention in a sense the group has a "common bond" to wrap uncommon ideas around.........

Like the difference between talking to an extended family vs a street corner soapbox...........

also is sort of a "resting place" (as others have pointed out) for those just not in to discussion the latest camera related "crisis".........

Well said.

If you were only here for the P & R section, you shouldn't have been here in the first place. So if someone is leaving because the section is closed, I don't see it as a big loss to the forum.

I don't think that is a fair sentiment. My participation in photography here is primarily to read what others are doing. I don't have a lot of time for doing much photography, but I like being around it, hearing about it, keeping up on new stuff . . . I also love Pentax. That PF provided an avenue for peoples' intellectual side was very much appreciated. Rather enlightened, I thought, for a dedicated forum.

[altopiet]

I don't think that is a fair sentiment. My participation in photography here is primarily to read what others are doing. I don't have a lot of time for doing much photography, but I like being around it, hearing about it, keeping up on new stuff . . . I also love Pentax. That PF provided an avenue for peoples' intellectual side was very much appreciated. Rather enlightened, I thought, for a dedicated forum.

Ditto!

[Blue]

Ditto!

It wasn't necessarily directed at Les. It was directed at those that are planning to leave permanently due to the section getting closed. The participation there waned over the years anyway regarding the actual numbers of members yet generates over 50% of the moderation problems. On top of that, moderation is far more hands off in P & R than the rest of the Forum.

[mikemike]

I'm going to sell all my Pentax gear and move to Trentecinq, Quebec, Canonada as a political refugee.

[Parallax]

I'm going to sell all my Pentax gear and move to Trentecinq, Quebec, Canonada as a political refugee.

Once you get there, renounce your U.S. Citizenship the sneak back in as an illegal. For maximum benefit sneak into California. You'll get free health care, housing, food, no taxes to pay; you'll have it made!

[audiobomber]

Once you get there, renounce your U.S. Citizenship the sneak back in as an illegal. For maximum benefit sneak into California. You'll get free health care, housing, food, no taxes to pay; you'll have it made!

It's a good thing you said this in the P&R forum, or I'd report you to the mods.

[Parallax]

[kenafein]

I disagree with the decision, but I am aware this is not a democracy and there are other avenues for political discussion. I'll stick around in hopes that I'll continue to improve my photography.

[Parallax]

I'll stick around in hopes that I'll continue to improve my photography.

We hope everyone will.

[audiobomber]

I just checked the DPR Off-Topic forum. It does not feel like home but I'll give it a chance. There's this big difference, "discussion of religion is no longer allowed in this forum".

[les3547]

Well, there is still a "General Topics" category. Can't world news topics, such as, say, China's growing power, or general philosophy be discussed there if religion and politics are not the theme?