Free Republic

DALLAS (AP) -- Some find Jackson Potts II's photograph of a nightstick-wielding policeman beating a fallen, bleeding child violent and offensive, conjuring images of police brutality and child abuse. But to Jackson, a talented 10-year-old Houston photographer, and a cadre of art lovers, the disturbing image has religious symbolism. Jackson shot the photograph for an exhibit depicting the Stations of the Cross, but the show's organizers rejected it, sparking a controversy some say is overshadowing remembrance of Jesus' final hours during the season of Lent. Jackson was the only child among 15 artists invited to participate in the exhibit.

I-75 Lake City bill-board The photo below is of a billboard recently established on I-75 just south of Lake City [ Florida ]. They gathered there to celebrate its unveiling. The cost of 10 months rental of the billboard and doing the artwork was $6500. We feel that is a reasonable cost to reach out to 1,000,000 vehicles per month and perhaps motivate their participation in the electoral process to get our country on a sound footing.

"The year 2009 will be marred by recognition of the Untied States and United Kingdom as failed states, beyond remedy. My description is for the US-UK to have morphed into crime syndicate control of government bodies in a widespread sense. They have strangled their hosts, and sucked them dry. The nations of the world will embark on a mission to protect themselves from the imploding giants. The natural progression in failed nations is from democracy to fascism, from capitalism to the Fascist Business Model, from free societies to martial law. A tragedy has already begun. It will run its full...

Professor Rahe has promised us a column for Power Line readers on his new book when he gets access to a library. In the meantime, he has forwarded us his thoughts on the photograph of President Obama (above) that was posted on the Drudge Report yesterday:

Rare photo of the ‘end’ of the rainbow We received several storm photographs from readers Saturday, including one that depicted something that’s very, very rarely seen, especially in Southern California — the end of the rainbow. A reader, who has finally been identified as Jason Erdkamp of Lake Forest, took this photo while traveling north on the 241 Tollroad in northeast Orange County.

HUNTSVILLE, ONT. — ARTICLE SNIPPET: "On Friday, Aug. 8, a vehicle pulled into the Pow Wow parking lot and discharged six men, all dressed in what the locals would call "city clothes" - including dark slacks and leather-soled dress shoes. Without bothering to check with the office, they went down to the beach and began taking photographs of each other, each time with Deerhurst - including the cupola that rides over the main building - in the background." ARTICLE SNIPPET: "These six English-speaking men appeared to be of Middle-Eastern origin. But what really set them apart was their complete unfamiliarity...

Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party... as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a Democrat black bear in Montana nicknamed 'Bearack Obama'!

Nearly everyone carries a cell phone and it’s hard to find one without that camera feature.  It’s convenient when you want to take that impromptu photo, but a Tri-Cities area man ended up behind bars after snapping a shot of a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop. The cell phone photographer says the arrest was intimidation, but the deputy says he feared for his life. “Here’s a guy who takes me out of the car and arrests me in front of my kids.  For what?  To take a picture of a police officer?” said Scott Conover. A Johnson...

YOWIE hunter Paul Compton has long believed a giant animal lives in the Glen Innes district - and he claims he finally has photos to prove it. Two days before Christmas, Mr Compton set up a wild view trail camera in an area north west of Glen Innes he has been watching for some time. A week later he returned, finding the camera - triggered by movement - had shot 921 images, including two showing a blurred black figure he claims to be the elusive animal. “There had been a lot of activity there - rocks moved, broken tree limbs...

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Police asked for help identifying a man in surveillance pictures whom they want to question in connection with the killing of Eve Carson, 22, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lt. Kevin Gunter, a spokesman for the Chapel Hill Police Department, called the man a suspect after the press conference Saturday morning. Police Chief Bill Curran described the photos as “the biggest break” and “strongest lead” in the case yet. Two photographs show a black man in his late teens or early 20s. He is riding in a sport-utility vehicle with...

Amazing photo of a human Statue of Liberty, comprised of 18,000 military men in uniform. Not sure of exactly when it was taken, but the uniforms are WWI era.

Interesting photo taken from an airplane window. Anyone with better photo enhancing skills want to give some feedback?

Pictures of soldiers making Statue of Liberty, etc.

this New York Times photograph of a crowd of Lebanese refugees: This is probably nothing. If it’s photo manipulation, it’s certainly an incredibly mundane example, and I can’t think of a reason why anyone would do it. I’m tossing this to the lizardoid community for comment from the other photoshop geeks out there, without rendering any judgment yet. In other words, I am not saying this is a definite fake; I know we’ve got quite a few experts at digital manipulation among our readers, and I’m sincerely asking for their opinions. But look at the image of the man in...

On Sunday, we showed you a sequence of photographs, four in all, depicting an incident in which it was claimed that a civilian driver of a vehicle carrying bread had been targeted by an Israeli air strike. Above, now, is a fifth photograph in the sequence, with the body being photographed in Tyre hospital. It rather speaks for itself. Including the person who took the photograph, I count no less than ten "snappers" (or their cameras) in the frame in what could not be a more obvious example of a staged photo-opportunity. Note, as always, the presence of "Green Helmet",...

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez today said Cuban leader Fidel Castro was now able to leave his bed and hold conversations following stomach surgery that required him to temporarily hand over power to his brother. "This morning I learned that he's doing well, that he's already standing up out of bed, he's talking - more than he should, because he talks a lot," said Mr Chavez during a conversation with Bolivian President Evo Morales broadcast on television. "He has sent us regards." Venezuelan government sources yesterday said Mr Chavez does not have a trip to Cuba on his agenda despite media...

MIA Peter Arnett magically appears in Vietnam journo reunion pic In its December 2005 issue, Vanity Fair magazine manipulated a photograph to make it appear that veteran journalist Peter Arnett was among a group of war correspondents gathered on a teeming Ho Chi Minh City street during a reunion of the Vietnam press corps. In fact, according to a source familiar with the photo shoot, Arnett was not present when photographer Jonas Karlsson shot a group portrait of eight journalists last April. Instead, the former CNN star (who covered the war for the Associated Press) was subsequently photographed solo and...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A photograph of a pond taken by Edward Steichen sold for more than $2.9 million, easily setting a world record for the highest-priced photograph ever auctioned, Sotheby's said. "The Pond-Moonlight," taken on Long Island in 1904, sold on Tuesday for $2,928,000, including the buyer's premium, Sotheby's spokesman Matthew Weigman said. The buyer's identity was not immediately disclosed. The photograph shows a pond in a wooded area with light coming through the trees and reflected in the water. Pre-sale estimates priced the photo, which is slightly bigger than 16 inches by 19 inches, at up to $1...

PARIS (AFP) - US astronomers said they had pinpointed the moment and location when one of the most famous landscape pictures in photographic history was taken. "Autumn Moon, the High Sierra from Glacier Point," taken by Ansel Adams in Yosemite National Park, is a thrilling view of the American West, featuring a waxing Moon rising over dark, ice-tinged peaks. But precisely when Adams took the iconic black-and-white picture has never been clear, and dates for it range from the mid to the late 1940s.

Mother's Day is less than a week away and one Toledo mother has a special and spiritual story to share. She gave birth to her first child Friday, but this story begins with an ultrasound with a heavenly twist. At 5lbs. 1oz., 3-day-old Aaliyah is a big blessing to her mom and dad. The proud parents say they received a sign she is special in an ultrasound photo taken about a month ago. After taking a closer look at the ultrasound they say there's an image of Jesus Christ in it. It's an image mom and dad say they can...