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Politics: The Chaos of DOGE

photo of the US capital aerial view — US Capital Building

The Chaos of DOGE

How Elon Musk’s Obsession is Disrupting America’s Federal Workforce

In recent years, Elon Musk’s fascination with Dogecoin (DOGE), the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, has transcended mere personal interest and begun to ripple into unexpected areas—including America’s federal workforce. What started as a series of playful tweets has evolved into a disruptive force, creating chaos for federal employees and raising questions about the intersection of cryptocurrency, corporate influence, and government operations. This chaos reached a boiling point recently when 21 employees at SpaceX, one of Musk’s companies, quit their jobs, citing concerns over his erratic behavior and the growing influence of DOGE on their work environment.

The trouble began when Musk, a self-proclaimed “Dogefather,” started using his massive social media platform to promote DOGE. His tweets, often cryptic and humorous, have caused wild fluctuations in the cryptocurrency’s value. While this has been a boon for some investors, it has created a volatile environment for businesses and employees tied to Musk’s ventures. Federal employees, particularly those working on contracts with SpaceX, have found themselves caught in the crossfire. SpaceX is a major contractor for NASA and the Department of Defense, and its operations are critical to national security and space exploration. However, Musk’s preoccupation with DOGE has reportedly led to distractions, shifting priorities, and a lack of focus on mission-critical projects.

The recent exodus of 21 SpaceX employees highlights the growing frustration among workers. According to reports, these employees left due to Musk’s increasing focus on DOGE and his unpredictable management style. Many felt that his obsession with the cryptocurrency was diverting attention and resources away from SpaceX’s core objectives. One former employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the work environment as “chaotic and unsustainable,” with Musk frequently pushing for DOGE-related initiatives that seemed disconnected from the company’s mission. This sentiment was echoed by others, who expressed concerns about the long-term impact on SpaceX’s reputation and its ability to fulfill its obligations to federal agencies.

The fallout from this situation extends beyond SpaceX. Federal employees working on joint projects with the company have reported delays and disruptions, as Musk’s focus on DOGE has led to missed deadlines and shifting priorities. This has created tension between SpaceX and its government partners, with some officials questioning whether the company can maintain its commitment to critical national projects.

The chaos caused by DOGE also raises broader questions about the influence of cryptocurrency on traditional industries and government operations. While cryptocurrencies like DOGE offer exciting possibilities, their volatile nature and the cult-like following they inspire can lead to instability, particularly when influential figures like Musk champion them. For federal employees, whose work often depends on stability and predictability, this unpredictability is deeply unsettling.

In the end, the DOGE saga serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of allowing personal passions to overshadow professional responsibilities. As Musk continues to navigate his dual roles as a tech visionary and a cryptocurrency evangelist, the challenge will be to balance his ambitions with the needs of his employees and the federal agencies that rely on his companies. Until then, the chaos caused by DOGE is likely to persist, leaving federal employees and the public to wonder what the future holds.

Skateboarding: From Sidewalks to Skate Parks

Venice Beach Skate Park Los Angeles California — Skate Park, Venice Beach. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

From Sidewalks to Skate Parks

The History of Skateboarding and Its Evolution in Venice Beach

Skateboarding, a sport born from surfing’s spirit of rebellion and freedom, has traveled a remarkable journey from its humble beginnings in the 1950s to the cultural phenomenon we know today. Few places are as central to this journey as Venice Beach, California—a mecca for skateboarding culture and innovation. The story of skateboarding, and its evolution in Venice Beach, is a tale of creativity, persistence, and community.

Skateboarding began in California during the 1950s when surfers, looking for a way to replicate the sensation of riding waves on land, attached roller-skate wheels to wooden planks. Dubbed “sidewalk surfing,” the activity quickly gained traction, particularly in Southern California, where the laid-back surf culture thrived.

By the 1970s, advancements like urethane wheels and specialized boards transformed skateboarding into a legitimate sport. This era saw the rise of legendary figures such as the Zephyr Skate Team, or the “Z-Boys,” who hailed from the Venice Beach and Santa Monica area. Using the empty swimming pools of the drought-stricken region, they pioneered vert skating and pushed the limits of what was possible on a skateboard.

The Venice Beach skate park at dusk — Venice Beach Skate Park at Dusk. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

Venice Beach, with its bohemian vibe and gritty streets, became the epicenter of skateboarding culture in the 1970s. The Z-Boys, led by icons like Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, used the neighborhood’s urban landscape as their canvas, redefining skateboarding as not just a sport but an art form. Their influence helped popularize skateboarding globally, and Venice Beach became a pilgrimage site for skaters worldwide.

However, as skateboarding grew in popularity, challenges emerged. Public spaces once used for skating, like parking lots and empty pools, became harder to access due to legal restrictions and gentrification. By the late 1980s, skaters in Venice Beach were advocating for dedicated spaces where they could practice their craft without interference.

The journey to establish the Venice Beach Skate Park was a community-driven effort. Local skaters, activists, and community members united to demand a safe, legal space for skateboarding. Politicians, initially skeptical, eventually recognized the cultural and economic value of skateboarding in Venice Beach.

After years of lobbying and planning, the Venice Beach Skate Park was completed in 2009. Located steps from the Pacific Ocean, the 16,000-square-foot park features bowls, ramps, and rails that pay homage to the area’s skateboarding legacy. It was designed to echo the curves of the waves and the pools where the Z-Boys first made history.

Today, the Venice Beach Skate Park stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of skateboarding. It is a symbol of the sport’s evolution from counterculture activity to global phenomenon and a reminder of the power of community collaboration.

Skateboarding has come a long way from its origins, but Venice Beach remains its beating heart—a place where the art of motion, rebellion, and creativity continues to inspire future generations.

Lifestyle: How to Keep Your Ass in Shape

young black woman wearing g-string with beautiful ass in shape — Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

How to Keep Your Ass in Shape with Diet and Exercise

Keeping your glutes in shape doesn’t have to mean spending hours in the gym or following a strict diet. With a few targeted exercises and smart dietary choices, you can strengthen and tone your backside while maintaining overall health. Here’s how to shape your glutes through balanced lifestyle habits and workouts.

Glute-Focused Workouts

Squats: The squat is a classic move for good reason. Variations like sumo squats, jump squats, and goblet squats help target all three glute muscles while also working your quads and hamstrings. Aim for three sets of 12-15 reps, and remember to engage your core and keep your chest up for maximum effect.
Lunges: Lunges not only tone the glutes but also improve balance. Walking lunges, reverse lunges, and Bulgarian split squats all target the glutes from different angles. Try three sets of 10 reps per leg, ensuring your knee stays aligned with your ankle for proper form.
Hip Thrusts: Hip thrusts and glute bridges are great for isolating the glutes. For added challenge, place a weight on your hips. Perform three sets of 12 reps, squeezing your glutes at the top of each rep.
Deadlifts: Deadlifts are fantastic for building strength in the glutes and hamstrings. Romanian and sumo deadlifts specifically target the glutes. Aim for three sets of 8-10 reps, focusing on proper form to protect your lower back.

Diet for Toned Glutes

Lean Proteins: Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth. Incorporate lean sources like chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and plant-based proteins to support your workouts.
Healthy Fats: Fats are essential for hormone production and recovery. Include sources like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil to keep your body fueled.
Complex Carbohydrates: Carbs provide energy for your workouts. Opt for whole grains, sweet potatoes, and quinoa, which offer sustained energy and aid in recovery.
Hydration: Staying hydrated is key for muscle function. Water helps with circulation, digestion, and energy levels, so aim for at least eight glasses a day.

Consistency is Key

Keeping your glutes in shape requires consistency. Aim for a combination of resistance training and a balanced diet, and remember that gradual progress is more sustainable. Set realistic goals, and adjust your routine as you get stronger. With commitment and the right approach, you’ll see results that boost your strength and confidence.

Beauty at a Cost: The Dark Side of the Modeling World

Portrait of young asian woman looking very thin like anorexia — Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

Beauty at a Cost: The Dark Side of the Modeling World

The modeling industry has long been associated with glamour, beauty, and the pursuit of perfection. From the runway to glossy magazine covers, models are celebrated for their ability to embody an ideal of elegance and allure. But beneath the surface of this high-profile industry lies a disturbing reality: the pervasive pressure on models to lose weight, often to dangerous extremes, leading to the onset of eating disorders such as anorexia.

For decades, the fashion industry has promoted a narrow standard of beauty that equates thinness with desirability. Models are often expected to maintain an extremely slender physique, which many fashion houses and agencies believe complements their clothing designs and appeals to the industry’s aesthetic sensibilities. As a result, models—particularly women—face relentless pressure to stay slim, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. While the fashion world publicly touts its commitment to diversity and body positivity in recent years, the deep-seated demands for ultra-thinness persist in many corners of the industry.

The pressure to conform to these standards can have devastating consequences. Many models resort to extreme dieting, exercise, and even dangerous practices such as starvation or the use of appetite suppressants to achieve and maintain the desired weight. In some cases, agencies and designers directly encourage or even force models to lose weight, placing their careers on the line if they don’t comply. The relentless pursuit of a certain body type can lead to a host of physical and psychological issues, with one of the most severe being anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia, an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image, affects many individuals in the modeling industry. The condition is marked by extreme food restriction, leading to significant weight loss and severe health risks. Those suffering from anorexia often experience a range of complications, including malnutrition, weakened immune systems, bone density loss, cardiovascular problems, and in some cases, death. Mentally, the disorder can lead to anxiety, depression, and a pervasive sense of inadequacy, as individuals struggle to meet the industry’s unattainable standards.

The fashion industry’s fixation on thinness has drawn widespread criticism in recent years, with many advocates calling for systemic change to protect models’ health and well-being. Some countries have even introduced legislation to combat the issue. In France, for example, a 2015 law requires models to present a medical certificate attesting to their health, and digitally altered images in advertising must be labeled as such. These measures aim to reduce the glorification of dangerously thin bodies and promote a healthier, more realistic portrayal of beauty.

However, these efforts are only part of the solution. Changing the culture within the modeling industry requires a fundamental shift in how beauty is defined and represented. Designers, agencies, and media outlets must embrace a broader spectrum of body types and promote a healthier, more inclusive vision of beauty. This includes valuing models of different shapes, sizes, and ethnicities, and rejecting the harmful notion that extreme thinness is synonymous with attractiveness or professionalism.

The industry also needs to provide better support for models who are struggling with eating disorders or the pressure to lose weight. This includes offering mental health resources, promoting body-positive initiatives, and fostering environments where models are valued for their individuality and talent, rather than their adherence to unrealistic body ideals.

Ultimately, the issue of forced weight loss and anorexia in the modeling world is not just a problem for the individuals affected—it reflects broader societal pressures around body image and beauty standards. As the fashion industry evolves, it has the power and responsibility to lead the way in promoting a healthier, more diverse definition of beauty—one that celebrates all body types and prioritizes the well-being of its models.

Only by addressing these deep-rooted issues can the modeling industry move forward into a future where health, confidence, and true beauty reign supreme.

Bob Shell: Cicadas

A-vertical-painting-of-a-giant-cicada-depicted-in-a-detailed-and-realistic-style.-The-cicada-is-shown-with-its-wings-spread-wide-showcasing-intricat.webp — Cicada. Illustration by AI.

Cicadas

The TV news has been full of stories about the simultaneous emergence of two different broods of periodic cicadas. One brood emerges after thirteen years underground, and the other after seventeen years.

My original training and occupation was as an entomologist, an insect specialist. I worked in that capacity for the Smithsonian Institution in the 1960s. Cicadas were not my main subjects of study, which were Indo-Australian butterflies and tropical beetles, but I did read a lot about all insects in my studies, including cicadas. It is interesting and puzzling that all periodic cicadas have life cycles that are prime numbers, numbers divisible only by themselves and one. There has been much speculation as to the reason for this, but no one really knows the answer.

One piece of misinformation that I’ve heard over and over on TV is that the deafening noise male cicadas make is to attract the females. That’s nonsense. Cicadas, male and female, are deaf. The earsplitting noise is much more likely intended to fend off predators. If the females could hear, there’d be no need for such loud noises. Crickets and grasshoppers get along just fine without such volume.

Cicadas are mostly harmless. They cannot bit or sting. It is true that female cicadas cut deep slits in branches to lay their eggs. This can damage and weaken branches so they break off in high wind or loads of snow. But it is sheer nonsense, as one TV ‘talking head’ reported that their ovipositors (egg layers) are metal! I don’t believe any living creature, at least on Earth, has metal parts, although one wasp does line its nest with a polymer, a plastic.

If you want to know the truth about an insect, ask an entomologist, not a TV news reporter.

About The Author: Bob Shell is a professional photographer, author, former editor in chief of Shutterbug Magazine and veteran contributor to this blog. He is currently serving a 35 year sentence for involuntary manslaughter for the death of Marion Franklin, one of his former models. He is serving the 15th year of his sentence at Pocahontas State Correctional Facility, Virginia. To read additional articles by Bob Shell, click here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/bob-shell-the-usps-is-destroying-freedom-of-the-press/