Flicker Fusion

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Here’s a problem folks in the news biz encounter every day: how do you explain the history of a big, complex story. And how do you put the day’s news in a broader context. And how do you do any of this on deadline while competing with everything else.

Most media orgs simply don’t. This isn’t an indictment, per se, more of an acknowledgement of reality – it’s simply impossible to give the backstory on everything while trying to report what’s happening right now.

Enter Newsbound. Their goal is to “slow down the news” and explain the particulars, jargon and massiveness of the big stories. It’s ambitious and, from the looks of it, pretty well done. Their collection of videos explaining the U.S. federal budget sure does seem smart.

I hope these guys have the steam to keep at it.

I asked CIA Director Leon Panetta for the facts, and he told me the following: The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times. The first mention of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti — the nickname of the al-Qaeda courier who ultimately led us to bin Laden — as well as a description of him as an important member of al-Qaeda, came from a detainee held in another country, who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed’s real name, his whereabouts or an accurate description of his role in al-Qaeda.

I asked CIA Director Leon Panetta for the facts, and he told me the following: The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times. The first mention of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti — the nickname of the al-Qaeda courier who ultimately led us to bin Laden — as well as a description of him as an important member of al-Qaeda, came from a detainee held in another country, who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed’s real name, his whereabouts or an accurate description of his role in al-Qaeda.

—John McCain, in an op-ed in the Washington Post, makes a compelling argument for why torture is not just unjustified but ineffective.

To recap: Goldman, to get $1.2 billion in crap off its books, dumps a huge lot of deadly mortgages on its clients, lies about where that crap came from and claims it believes in the product even as it’s betting $2 billion against it. When its victims try to run out of the burning house, Goldman stands in the doorway, blasts them all with gasoline before they can escape, and then has the balls to send a bill overcharging its victims for the pleasure of getting fried.

To recap: Goldman, to get $1.2 billion in crap off its books, dumps a huge lot of deadly mortgages on its clients, lies about where that crap came from and claims it believes in the product even as it’s betting $2 billion against it. When its victims try to run out of the burning house, Goldman stands in the doorway, blasts them all with gasoline before they can escape, and then has the balls to send a bill overcharging its victims for the pleasure of getting fried.

—Matt Taibbi’s latest Goldman takedown will piss you off but is worth reading all the same.

when i was visual communications student back in

When I was visual communications student back in the day, I bought a 70’s-era Canon rangefinder on eBay for $50 because I’d read that they were similar to the classic Leica M’s, which I’d never be able to afford. I loved it and I learned to be a better photographer because of the constraints.

Ultimately, dealing with film became a non-starter as everything went digital so I gave it to a buddy but I’ve long pined for a nice digital rangefinder. Epson made and discontinued one a few years ago that took Leica lenses, Leica of course built digital M’s still priced out of my reach and there are a few other fixed focal length kits out there but nothing has really turned my head.

This Fuji X100, though. Hoo, boy, now that looks like something, doesn’t it? Beautiful build, manual knobs, a fast f/2 35-mm equivalent lens, an optional TTL viewfinder mode, HD video and a few other tricks.

It sounds like it has a few quirks but this is the first digital rangefinder that I’ve gotten excited about.