@AbandonedAmerica

Excellent writeup. That one has everything: capitalism, racism, child abuse, willful neglect of the underclass, etc. Such a gorgeous facility.

i refuse to do anything for the time being—the time being is already far too powerful

The story of the Ascension of Our Lord Church in Philadelphia isn't exactly a happy one, but it does a good job of illustrating why churches close and the tragic fate that often awaits them afterwards. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/ascension-of-our-lord

RE: https://mastodon.archive.org/@internetarchive/117469467122942911

Once in a while, an online jokester will quip that I should photograph a defunct website or failing social media empire. It always reminds me how glad I am that the Internet Archive does the equivalent. Our online spaces may not be physical locations like the buildings I photograph, but that doesn't make them less worthy of documentation and preservation.

Yeesh, I misread my own article when I posted the description here. Pepper closed after 37 years. It opened in 1976 and closed in 2013. Way to go, me.

Hopefully it goes without saying that the offensiveness of graffiti in abandoned buildings is outside of my control.

The abandoned George Wharton Pepper Middle School in Philadelphia was built with a fatal flaw that would lead to its closure just over 40 years after it opened. Find out what went wrong at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/george-r-pepper-middle-school

Edit: Misread my own article. It was open 37 years.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@AbandonedAmerica/117470243293281228

Thank you for all the kind words and commiseration last night, I appreciated it. I was pretty upset and knowing that people care helped turn my mood back around. Amazon is removing the titles from sale in the US so even if YouTube isn't doing anything to help, at least there's that.

RE: https://universeodon.com/@JimKofron/117473275201139565

Thank you! It's funny you should mention that. The print system on my website just got a significant redesign, now you can just click on any image in a gallery and the print order option is directly beneath it. You can also save images to come back and look at them later if you're on the fence
https://www.abandonedamerica.us/

@AbandonedAmerica What really makes this change nasty, is that it’s all a choice.

All that narrative — propaganda to be honest — about ’inevitability’ of this kind of bullshit AI is a choice that corrupt governments and courts made again and again: A choice to NOT enforce existing laws that could have protected the people.

None of this was inevitable. This is purely a choice, because we live in a deeply corrupt oligarchy that cosplays democracy & ’technological singularity’ 🤮

When your favorite websites or YouTube channels or whatever go offline, hide behind a paywall, or just stop producing because all their public work is stolen with AI, the Internet is going to be such a miserable and shabby place - devoid of the only spark that made it truly magical years ago.

Well, nice knowing you all, I guess. The work I spent 20 years creating will drown in a sea of AI impostors using models that pilfered my writing/photos to create their garbage. I don't have the money to hire lawyers to chase phantoms. I'm sure this is coming soon to every small artist with a brand

Here's exhibit A: a "German" "guy" who somehow is releasing 3 entire text-based books in two weeks. His author photo and cover "art" are exactly the same AI style of the supposedly Scottish guy who started an Abandoned America channel on Youtube
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3FVR5PJ?binding=paperback&qid=1792454998&sr=1-4&ref=dbs_dp_awt_sb_pc_tpbk

Very happy to know that my Abandoned America trademark has been coopted by not one but two different AI slop "creators", both based out of Europe to circumvent my legal protections. I love this new world we live in.

The beautiful sanctuary of the abandoned Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church in Philadelphia. More at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/macedonia-free-will-baptist-church

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think ceilings are supposed to do that.

Photo taken at an abandoned tuberculosis hospital. Read more at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/seaview-tuberculosis-hospital

Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia is kind of like Eastern State Penitentiary's lesser known yet more violent younger sister. That's not even counting the years of unethical medical tests conducted on the inmates. More at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/holmesburg-prison

One of the coolest surprises I've found in an abandoned building: the narrow gauge railroad for transporting coal on the top floor of the former Westport Generating Station in Baltimore. More at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/baltimore-gas-and-electric

At an abandoned auto parts manufacturer, a closet filled with vintage Playboy magazines is slightly ajar next to a wall plastered with photos from magazines. Seems like a weird thing to have at work. More at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/r-j-loock-auto-parts

Is Prince the handsomest cat the world has ever known?

That's a rhetorical question. Of course he is.