Photo of The Day – San Francisco Stay

San Francisco Stay a photo by Thomas Hawk on Flickr.

Well, I finally found the willpower to do another one of these! I think I’ll go back to my standard Newsspot and photo scheme from today onward. I’ll have to go back and review how exactly I did it though…

Anyway, today’s photo comes from another one of my contacts (American, this time) called Thomas Hawk who’s real name is Andrew Peterson!

I’ve always loved photos like this one, with the ‘miniature’ effect due to the DOF and focal length (or simulated via application). The vivid colors on this photo make it stand out, too, with it’s contrasting whites, reds, and array of colors. Of course, the ‘stay’ sign sticks out the most, with it being the only noticeable words in the photo, and the item with the most color, and I like that. It gives a viewer some definite thing to focus on in a cityscape-like photo, which can be very rare these days.

Nice job Andrew!

Photo Of The Day – Eternal Hope

Eternal Hope a photo by memories of time on Flickr.

Morning guys! Yeah, so apparently today it’s back to the daily grind for me. I’m not sure wether to laugh or cry, to be honest. The positives are that I can get back into routine, and get up a lot earlier, and the negatives are a drastic cut back on laziness and gaming. Well, all good things must come to an end, as they say.

Today’s photo comes from another one of my Flickr contacts known as Kiyoshi Noguchi or, as many may know, Memories Of Time. The name that he gave to this fantastic photo perfectly fits it to a t. The warm sunrise look perfectly displays the message of ‘Eternal Hope’, and I hope that all our hopes can be eternal too.

亞歷克斯的！

Newsspot – U.S. Will Give Immunity to Some Young Illegal Migrants

Yeah, it’s been a while  since I did something like this, I know. Sorry for the wait and all, it’s just been exceptionally busy lately, and I’ll be away all of next week too. Anyway, enough with futile apologies, today’s article spiked my interest quite a bit. It’s always seemed a tad unfair to illegal immigrants when they get deported, even after living law-abiding lives all the time they’ve been in the states. Yeah, I guess the whole point is that they illegally immigrated, but you never know. Some might’ve had good reason to do so, though some people would argue that sticking to morals and law is more important that anything. What do I know though, I’m only 15 myself, and this sort of area is definitely not my best forté, so I’ll leave you lovely readers to decide what should be done, and whether this is a right or wrong move. You never know…I might even get a few comments!

U.S. Will Give Immunity to Some Young Illegal Migrants

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: June 15, 2012 at 9:36 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.

The policy change, described to The Associated Press by two senior administration officials, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was to announce the new policy Friday, one week before President Barack Obama plans to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials‘ annual conference in Orlando, Fla. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to the group on Thursday.

Obama planned to discuss the new policy Friday afternoon from the White House Rose Garden.

Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED, or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. The officials who described the plan spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it in advance of the official announcement.

The policy will not lead toward citizenship but will remove the threat of deportation and grant the ability to work legally, leaving eligible immigrants able to remain in the United States for extended periods. It tracks closely to a proposal offered by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as an alternative to the DREAM Act.

“Many of these young people have already contributed to our country in significant ways,” Napolitano wrote in a memorandum describing the administration’s action. “Prosecutorial discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.”

The extraordinary move comes in an election year in which the Hispanic vote could be critical in swing states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida. While Obama enjoys support from a majority of Hispanic voters, Latino enthusiasm for the president has been tempered by the slow economic recovery, his inability to win congressional support for a broad overhaul of immigration laws and by his administration’s aggressive deportation policy. Activists opposing his deportation policies last week mounted a hunger strike at an Obama campaign office in Denver, and other protests were planned for this weekend…

As you can probably tell, this is still only a small portion of the full article. If you want to carry on reading from where you’ve left off, look no further than here: NY Times – U.S. Will Give Immunity to Some Young Illegal Migrants.

I should be posting later on with maybe a personal post or photo of the day…but don’t be watching those inboxes too much, or there’ll be another ‘Great Disappointment’ if I fail to find the time.

亞歷克斯的！

Photo Of The Day – Yellow Rose Vine

yellow rose vine. a photo by howard-f on Flickr.

What a beautiful photo…is it not? I love it, personally. The yellows, in contract with the night time tones make the flowers really stand out. That, coupled with the fact that even in low light I see no signs of shake makes this a excellent picture, and a worthy wallpaper. Well done Howard!

Via Flickr:
nikon d700 + nikkor af-s 35/1.8g dx.

tumblr bw | tumblr color

Newsspot – A Father’s Example Guides Tebow

Hello there! You know, this article caught my eye today. Now I dont’ have much deep to say about it, but it always warms my heart when I hear stories like this. The bond between the west and places like this is pretty weak at its best, so when I see things like this, it’s an instant improvement to my mood, seeing how people actually go out of their way, take time to visit these children, and treat them like brothers and sisters. The be honest I’d never heard of Tim before, but to me he seems like a good, decent guy…but I’ll leave you to be the judge of that, seeing as I only know him from this article.

A Father’s Example Guides Tebow

 

Children at an orphanage founded in the Philippines by Bob Tebow.

By SETH MYDANS

Published: May 15, 2012

LAMSUGOD, the Philippines — The last time Tim Tebow visited his father’s orphanage here in the remote hills of Mindanao island, he stood at the edge of a grassy yard and told the children to make a loop with their arms. Then, to their amazement, he threw a football right through them.

“He’s really good at throwing!” said the Rev. Roberto P. Gauran, 67, who runs the orphanage with his wife, Raymunda, 65. “At 30 meters he could hit dead center, or even farther.”

That was three years ago, before Tebow’s professional stardom cut down on his time for travel to the Philippines. But the boys and girls here still toss around a football he left behind for them — among the very few youngsters in the country who know how.

“Kuya Timmy taught us how to throw it,” said Jessa Berbo, 16, using a local term for big brother. The word here at the orphanage is that Tebow himself singled her out as the child with the best arm.

Tebow’s father, Bob, founded the orphanage in 1992 as part of his missionary work in the Philippines with the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. He visits several times a year, sometimes bringing with him a group of American volunteers to preach in distant towns and villages.

On a recent visit, Bob Tebow showed the children a video of his son on the field and the orphans watched with a mixture of excitement and puzzlement, said Roberto Gauran Jr., 28, the oldest of the pastor’s seven children, who also works here.

“The children here know he is famous, but we don’t play football in the Philippines and sometimes we don’t know what is going on,” he said. “We watch Fox News sometimes, so we know what is happening in the States with Tim and we know that people are mocking him for his faith.”

But most Filipinos, obsessed with basketball rather than football, have not heard of Tim Tebow, or of his father’s foundation. His name rang a bell with one academic here who said, “Oh, is he the one who puts biblical verses under his eyes?”

 

As always, this is only a long excerpt from the real thing. To carry on reading, go over here: NY Times – A Father’s Example Guides Tebow