Who Are You - the Who

I'll Be Watching You - the Police

Don't Stand So Close To Me - the Police

We Will Bury You

A man sometimes has to take drastic measures in order to protect his family, home, and himself. The history of this planet and civilization shows that no man is entirely safe from those who choose to intrude upon him. So it is with man, and so it is with nations. President Ronald Reagan was noted, among other things, for a speech in which he said “trust but verify”. Back then he was talking about Russia. Today he would be talking about the general subject of illegal immigration.

The United States is a nation of laws. That is why we are still free. But, it is also why we are loosing more of our freedoms every day. On July 4, 1776 a handful of patriots gave us a republic. One of those men added, “If you can keep it”. And, we celebrated. But, on July 5, 1776 some of those same men began making laws that encroached on the freedoms they had just given us. Today we have so many laws that, with as many law enforcement agencies as we have and with an army of law enforcement officers, our government (You know, those politically minded people with houses in Washington, D.C. and homes in different states and countries that were paid for by the taxes you pay.) finds itself unable to protect the citizens that each of them are sworn (by oath of office) to protect.

There are other reasons why we are loosing our freedoms on a daily basis. But, while there are many reasons why this is happening, they can all be listed under a few simple reasons. They are: complacency, denial, stupidity, ignorance, faith in God, trust in knowledge, and the simple fact that if we do not learn from history we will parish when history repeats itself. The reason for these reasons can probably be summed up by the simple fact that most of us who are alive today had absolutely nothing to do with earning the freedoms that we have. And, therefore, we do not respect and protect them.

The United States of America was once a beacon of freedom that the rest of the world looked to for guidance and protection. Today the United States is considered the home of a herd of sheep being led to slaughter by a pack of greedy politicians. Like all politicians, Ronald Reagan accepted donations from agenda driven corporations and organizations. And, he spent that money as rabidly as any politician could have. But, Ronald Reagan was able to get Russia to “tear down that wall’ because he spent tax payer money giving the United States the mightiest military in the world. Today our politicians are running a welfare office for every failing corporation in this country that is controlled by contracts with union labor, and by failing to protect our borders, our states, our communities, and our families from the hordes of criminals crossing our borders every single day. Russia said they will destroy us from within. And, even though it may not be them who are destroying the United States, we are being destroyed from within.

There are still those who will argue that the illegal aliens are contributing to our society, and should be forgiven for the misdemeanor offense of crossing our border illegally. (Why is it a misdemeanor in the United States and a major offense in Mexico?) They do not stop to consider that the governments of these countries are using their civilian population as a means of invading our country, as any country with a weaker military would logically do.  
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Keith Birmingham grants permission to use this “opinion piece” in exchange for a credit line being used with the article. To suggest or request opinion pieces or articles on other subjects please contact Keith. Other web work and writings by Keith: HKB Photo, HKB Photo Studio, HKB PhotoBlog, Trucks * Truckers * Trucking, Notes From a MadDad, Fitness Notes From Maddadkeith, and Writing For The Masses.

Restored Blogs

A couple of weeks ago I deleted 4 out of 5 of my blogs, leaving only my HKB PhotoBlog. I did this because I simply have too much work to do, and cannot devote the time I want to devote to each blog. But, as of today, I have restored all of my blogs. The reason I have restored these blogs is because my subjects vary too much, and will not go well with the basic format of HKB PhotoBlog

Here is a list of the blogs that I have just restored:

Trucks * Truckers * Trucking
Notes From a MadDad
Writing For The Masses
Fitness Notes From Maddadkeith

I will do my best to devote as much time to each of these blogs as possible. That is all I can promise.

See How Lucky You Are

d.016735: Home Sweet Home

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Although the past few months have been rough for me I am thankful that my home is a little nicer than this one. I took this photo in Richmond, California from the cab of my truck. This is the bucket of an antique front-end loader. It is placed facing a fence. Bushes and a vine completely cover the fence, and this serves as a shelter for at least one person every night. 

Do you think that this should be a normal sight in the United States? It is.

Gretchen Plays Ball

Gretchen using a neon filter on a GIMP 2 editing program. Re-sized on PhotoShop Elements.7.

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What you should learn from this photo is that you should be glad you are not the ball. But, this is a family pet of my now deceased brother-in-law. The only way this dog would hurt anyone would be accident. She was like a bull in a china closet when she was playing around. But, they never had problems with intruders on their farm.

Hurry Up and Wait

Hurry up and Wait.

d.006723: 12.31.2006, file size = 3MB, D70s, 1/320 seconds at f/9, 300mm, ISO 200.

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The storm was over, but the waiting had just begun. It was not a nice way to spend New Year's Eve. My forward progress had been stopped the night before in Tucumcari, New Mexico. The New Mexico DOT had closed the highway west of Santa Rosa because the next town (Santa Rosa) had no more room for stranded motorist. This is just one of the three stops we made due to closed roads, caused by traffic unable to move up the hills.

This photograph tells at least part of a story. Every successful photograph will tell a story, or at one part of a whole story. You can judge the success of a story by how much you can set down and write about the photograph, or simply by how much information you can take away from you view of the photograph. And, if a writer does not know the true facts of a story he can surely fictionalize his own story from what the photograph tells him.

Get Over It - by The Eagles

I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin’ ’don’t blame me’
They point their crooked little fingers ar everybody else
Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma’s too thin; your daddy’s too fat

Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin’ and cryin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it

You say you haven’t been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, old billy was right
Let’s kill all the lawyers, kill ’em tonight
You don’t want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn’t owe you a thing

Get over it
Get over it
If you don’t want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, get over it

It’s like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You’re makin’ the most of your losin’ streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak

You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin’ everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I’d like to find your inner child and kick it’s little ass

Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin’ and moanin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it

Get over it
Get over it
It’s gotta stop sometime, so why don’t you quit
Get over it, get over it

Humming Bird at Feeder

d.016608.1

File size=3.5MB, Nikon D200, 1/125 second at f/8, shutter priority, 190mm focal length, spot metering.

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This shot was taken last summer from my sisters apartment. Most people are completely unaware of the number of these creatures simply because of their speed. Once you spot them they are fun to watch.

Las Vegas Blvd. - North Bound

Northbound, Las Vegas Blvd.
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One of the things I like about the new "design" feature on Blogger is the size feature. Note the way it works with this "large" photo. It published the full photo even though it throws the size of the post out of whack. To me, this helps draw attention to the photo.

Maneuvering Through Construction

d.006577,  file size: 3.5MB, Nikon D70s, 1/400 @ f/10 @ 60mm, ISO 320,  white balance on AUTO.

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Joe Cocker - High With a Little Help From My Friends