My Second Karmic wallpaper

 

It has occured to me that even the most rabid Microsoft believer would have to concede that Koala's (and penguins) are both cuter than Bill Gates. Could this mean then that Mr Gates will be spotted next Halloween trick or treating around Redmond in a Koala bear mask? Inquiring minds want to know.

Another half hour's worth of gimping!

Explosion (gimpified)
Originally uploaded by h_dwight_beers

Another piece of work from my most recent photo jaunt around  the village. It look's a bit like a little "big bang".

All this and free Wi-Fi! (gimpified)

All this and free Wi-Fi! (gimpified)
Originally uploaded by h_dwight_beers

This is the Sun Village Rec Center building, which is where I generally hang out during much of the day. There's an excellent restaurant --My Favorite Martin's inside and free Wi-Fi is available throughout the building. As with the earlier picture, taken at about the same spot, I just applied the Cartoon filter followed by the Oilify filter. This one required the one additional step of "cloning" out an obtrusive stop sign near the entrance of the building right near the center of the picture.

A pithy comment on the possible impact of the Mexican spray can on the beautiful game.

For the new season in the Mexican football league the referees have added paint spray cans to their refereeing equipment.  Whenever a free kick is awarded somewhere near the penalty area the referee sprays the spot where the balll is to be placed and he/she walks off ten paces and then sprays a line on which the defensive wall must be placed.  So far, this does seem to speed things up a bit, so it's probably a good thing.  But, I am wondering, what's going to happen when(not if) the referee pulls out the spray can (in lieu of a yellow or red card) to respond to a player whose "unsporting behavior" includes references to the said referees mommy or testicles (or lack thereof)?

Sun Village Scenic (gimpified)

Sun Village Scenic (gimpified)
Originally uploaded by h_dwight_beers

Most residents see this as the signature view of Sun Village, I suppose because of the waterfall. I was just fortunate enough that on my last jaunt over there with my camera there happened to be an assortment of the white puffy clouds beloved of photographers everywhere. The gimping involved boosting the colors a smidgen, and then applying the Cartoon filter followed by the Oilify filter. I like it!

Finally, I'm feeling old in my retirement village

I guess, it was bound to happen eventually, people who live in retirement villages are supposed to feel old at least occasionally. But, up to now at least, it had not happened to me, even after spending a significant amount of time over the past several years watching the sons of football players whose fathers I remember from their playing days (i.e. Frank Lampard, Sr). Yesterday, however, Joseph-Claude Gyau grandson of Joseph "Nana" Gyau signed his first professional contract.

Hoffenheim signs U.S. teens Gyau and Renken - U.S. Soccer - ESPN Soccernet

Joseph-Claude's grandfather was one of the first players signed by the old Washington Whips (DC's first professional team) way back when. I went to their first game and all of their subsequent home games--and even on one occasion got to meet "Nana" and shake his hand. "Nana's" son Phillip--Joseph-Claude's father-- was also a player and I managed to see him play a number of times, although only on TV.

Good luck to you then Joseph-Claude! I am very much looking forward to seeing you play someday soon--even though my old bones will probably feel their age a little bit more than usual.

Faded Roses (gimpified)

Faded Roses (gimpified)
Originally uploaded by h_dwight_beers

I went out on a little photo jaunt around Sun Village this morning, and this is the first photo I've uploaded to Flickr .com in a while, and the first new one I've uploaded to the blog. Hope you like it.

Another Modest Proposal from Surprise!

First, form a commission made up of all the physicians* currently serving in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.

Second, bring in former Sen. Bill Frist to chair this newly assembled commission.

Third, charge this commission with writing 10 pieces of health care reform legislation, which they can unanimously agree on before October 27, 2009 (My birthday).

Fourth, assign each of these 10 pieces of newly proposed legislation to the appropriate House and Senate committees and give each committee 10 legislative days to hold hearings on each of the newly proposed bills  Any amendments to the bill must be agreed on unanimously, and each bill must be voted on on the 10th day.

Fifth, on the 11th legislative day the first bill must come to the floor of the House, receive one legislative day for debate (any amendments must, again, be by unanimous consent) after which the bill will receive an up or down (recorded) vote. A like process will take place for the remaining 9 bills.

Sixth, each of the 10 measures (assuming they have passed the house) will proceed to the Senate under the same rule--one day for debate per bill and an up or down vote on each bill at the end of that day.

Seventh, send all of the newly passed legislation on to the White House.

*I would have no objection to including all former health care providers (nurses, etc.) if there are such currently in the House or Senate.

An absolute stunner!

An absolute stunner! (gimpified)
Originally uploaded by h_dwight_beers

I've always wondered why this photo on Flickr.com has had nearly twice the viewership of all the other 400 or so pics I've posted. Could it be, that people searched Google Images for "absolute stunner" hoping to find photos of dozens of gorgeous women. If so, I guess I should apologize for any inconvenience incurred. Or, perhaps, I should try the same trick on my blog. Apologies in advance.

Senator Kennedy, please send us a word back..

and, answer one question you've left unanswered for the past 40 years.  Did
Mary Jo Kopechne have a "right" to health care when she was dying in that Oldsmobile all those years ago?

A trillion a day keeps the Doctor away!

Or at the very least, the possibility of trillion dollar per month budget deficits may scare the poop out of enough "blue dog democrats" that at least for a few more years we will be able to prevent the arrival of Federal doctors all across the fruited plains.  A small silver lining in our cloudy outlook, but not bad for a sunny August in Arizona--I'll take it!

Why MLS has complicated my life--and a modest proposal to aid my situation.

A few short years ago, before MLS (Major League Soccer) began playing, keeping track of players eligible to play for the American national team was a matter of following just few teams in Europe (some of which I'd never heard of).  Today, in order to think of myself as well informed, I need to follow MLS, as well as several teams in England, Germany, Mexico, Scandinavia, etc.  The internet has made the job at least possible*, but really, following 2 or 3 games via the internet, while switching between two or more games on TV can give a guy a bit of a headache sometimes.

A modest proposal: it would definitely help if the teams owned by Americans, would initiate a Buy American program for their clubs. How about we start by sending Tim Howard back to Manchester United and Wayne Rooney back to Everton. We could then bring Charlie Davies in from Socaux, Gooch from AC Milan, etc.  And, there would still be several slots available for Yanks at Fulham and Aston Villa and a whole lot of them at Liverpool.  If we need more slots, perhaps we could find an American buyer for Hull City. Of course MLS already has a couple of teams in Texas, which would be a natural home for the Yanks in Mexico who are from Texas.  Think about it--don't those of us who have been decades long supporters of America's team deserve this little bit of help in our declining years?

*BTW--the following site   has been extremely helpful:
http:://yanks-abroad.com

Mr. Obama--the moral high ground is already occupied!

Those who have supported, and still support, the Supreme Court's Roe v Wade decision, and who therefore have always supported the ultimate in health care rationing by government fiat--will never be able to occupy any moral high ground on health care.

Some of us have seen it all before!

Its nearly 50 years since the debate about healthcare began in this country. No one, before or since, has stated the case against single payer health care better than the immortal Dr. Edward R. Annis.

YouTube - JFK- Annis 1962 Medicare debate- Part 1
YouTube - JFK- Annis 1962 Medicare debate- Part 2

Today I got a little surprise, here in Surprise!

A very nice surprise.  I've just discovered this website, where someone has made a nice presentation of some of my photographs from Flickr.com.

h_dwight_beers photography from Flickr at Lurvely.com

This probably puts me a few nanoseconds closer to my 15 minutes of fame.

How about rationing Obama's lies about healthcare?

"None of the bills that have been voted on in Congress and none of the proposals coming out of the White House propose giving healthcare coverage for illegal immigrants - none of them. . . . That is simply not true."--Barack Obama

If this is so:

Why not begin by rationing any health care currently being provided to undocumented workers by Medicaid, Medicare, S-Chip, etc. by providing these patients with transportation to the country of their citizinship?  Such a reform, I think, could easily pass the House and probably garner 80 votes in the Senate.  You could then subtract 9 million or so from the 47(50) "uninsured" figure being bandied about by your minions after which you could declare "ahhhhhh Mission Accomplished".

The Lilywhites tackle Russian fertilizer in London.

Fulham FC vs Amkar Perm:

A game in London between a team owned by Mohamed el Fayad and a team founded by a Russian fertlizer factory. The players include two Brazilians, a Norwegian international born in Houston, Texas and an American international born in Nacogdoches Texas.

There simply has to be a blog in here somewhere.

A recipe for stimulating Guantanamo.

Let's see now:

We have 100's of unused naval vessels in the Navy's "mothball fleet".

We have a long chain of islands running off the coast of Alaska (known as the Aleutians).

We have billions of unspent "stimulus" money.

We have 100's of unemployed or underemployed shipyard workers from Maine to California.

We have 100's of incarcerated individuals, some in Guantanamo, Cuba and others in prisons around the country that apparently no one has room for.

My modest proposal:

Why not convert a few dozen unused ships into prison ships, park them off the Aleutians, move the least desirable Federal prisoners (terrorists, Bernie Madoff, etc.) to the new facilities and rent out any additional space to states with overcrowded prisons?

Happy 40th Birthday to the Unix Operating System!

I've been running some form of Linux since my old Radio Shack computer crashed with the "millennium bug" some 9 years ago. I'm currently running the Alpha 4 version of Ubuntu's Karmic Koala--and not feeling in the least bit old.

First post from a veteran "mobster".

The first time I remember being called a "fascist" was during the 1964 presidential campaign. I was then a member of the Teen Age Republicans, and along with a small group of my fellow TARs was handing out Goldwater leaflets in the Northgate Shopping Center parking lot, just a bit north of Seattle. We were approached by a group of 4 "adults", apparently concerned that we were disseminating "mis-information", and asked to leave or risk incurring gross bodily harm. We left of course, and later were able to discover that the Fab 4 were members of a local union (I'm afraid I don't remember which one) and that we had not been the only group to experience a bit of "re-education" that day.

What I've learned since that day, is that there is really is nothing new under this Arizona sun, and that if today I were to head over to my local Wal-Mart parking lot and try to hand out copies of HR3200, the SEIU/ACORN storm troopers would probably be around to greet me.