Homeowners associations suck.

Here is an example why:

May 27, 2008

CLERMONT, Fla. -- A Central Florida war veteran faces a lawsuit for flying the American flag on a pole in his front yard." I don't understand why it would bring down the values of our homes by flying the American flag from a pole in my front yard," homeowner Jimmie Watkins said.Watkins and his wife, Ria, received a final notice from the Sussex homeowners' association in Clermont that they must remove the flag or face legal action.The former retired U.S. Navy communications officer said he refuses to back down for the American flag."Our people are serving today to give us freedom to do as we like here within the law of America," Watkins said. "It is my right to fly my flag from my pole and until a court of law tells me to haul that down, I will not haul it down. I think about all of the people who have served our nation and all of the lives that it's cost and all of the friends that I've lost."Local 6 reported that all surrounding subdivisions in Kings Ridge allow a flag pole display in a person's front yard.Jim Hart, who handles property management for 1,500 properties, including Sussex, said it is the association's call and not his."Each sub-association has its own set of documents and they can differ," Hart said. "The rationale for that only exists within the minds of the folks that are doing it. I can't sit here and tell you why."The homeowner's association is not commenting about their rules. But state law said anyone can display a flag in a "respectful manner" as long as it is removable.

Today is Memorial Day

Let us never forget...

Clcik here for some Sci-Fi fun

A smooth change of gears is in order. The above link provides an interesting insight for those that are science fiction fans. I was never a big sci-fi person myself, but I do enjoy a good space fight and such. My favorite parts of the Star Wars movies were the space battles, and my biggest disappointment on the Star Trek episodes/movies was that they didn't show more space battles. I figure that the coolest Star Trek movie would be one in which the capital ships slug it out for two hours, and the perfect Star Wars movie would be two hours of light sabre fights and space battles.

Anyway, let your imagination soar and take a break from reality at this website. Oh, it is best viewed with Internet Explorer, since the creator hasn't adapted the graphics for Firefox or Opera (Not a plug for IE, since I am typing this in Firefox).

A man had been drinking for several hours in his neighborhood bar when the bartender started to close up. The drunken man got off his stool and fell to the floor. He pulled himself up on the stool, took one step toward the door and fell again. "Oh, hell. I'll crawl then," he said. He crawled to the door, pulled himself up by the doorknob, worked his way outside and fell again when he let go. He decided to crawl around the corner to his home. He pulled himself up to let himself in, managed to close the door, but fell again when he stepped toward the couch. After crawling to the couch he pulled himself up on it and went to sleep. An hour later his wife turned on the lights and woke him up.

"You've been drinking again, haven't you?" she said angrily.

"No, honey. I was out with the guys late and did not want to wake you..."

"Right," she said. "The bar just called to let me know you forgot your wheelchair."

Words fail me

There really isn't much to say about this picture. The rodeo clown looking guy on the left is the high Sheriff of Onslow County. Seriously! See his badge clipped to the front of his bib? Anyway, you have to commend the Sheriff for at least wearing a tie to meet a presidential candidate from his own political party.

This is one reason why I'll never support Obama

That's right. Obama is a friend of that piece of shit to the left. Actually, calling Al Shartpon a piece of shit is insulting to feces everywhere.

Hmmm...

Bye, bye, Ted Kennedy (I hope....)

Ahhh! Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy had a seizure and is in a hospital. As cruel is it may sound, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he either 1) kicks the bucket, or 2) becomes so invalid that he doesn't return to Congress. Why? Well, whenever you start to question why things are so "screwed up" in the country, don't forget that the dumbasses in Massachusetts keep putting this asshole in the Senate, where he has been since 1962. This piece of shit defines liberalism. He is always wanting to socialize things (welfare, free health care, etc), and is a strong proponent for gun control. Ole Teddy has killed more people with his car than I have with my guns. Remember Chappaquiddick? If not, click on the link above. Not only is he an asshole, and a piece of shit, but he is also a pussy for letting Mary Jo die.

Keeping my fingers crossed...

My life? No complaints.

We received our economic stimulus package Friday and spent a big portion of it today. Today was one of those days that make you sit back and realize just how lucky you (umm...err...me, actually) are. Notwithstanding the fact that I was awakened around 0445 this morning by work calling needing help. I had just gotten dressed and was getting ready to walk out the door when they called back and said that I wasn't needed. Oh, well. Looks like the city is going to pay me for 2 hours of work due to the callback policy. Anyway, went back to bed and got up late before heading to the Wally World. I decided that I wanted a new HD LCD TV. I originally wanted a 42 inch TV, and the costs ran from about $950 to $1800. While at the store, I got to thinking about how big a 42 inch TV would look in my small family room. My father has a 42 inch plasma, but his primary seating position is approximately 16 feet from the screen. The primary seating position in my family room is only 7 feet away from the screen. Did more thinking and decided that 42 inches would dominate the room instead of complimenting it, so I settled for a 37 inch TV. After getting it set up in the family room, I see that 37 inches is a comfortable size for the room. A 42 inch would have also worked, but would have been unnecessary. The up side? Saved some money! Of course, I still have to replace the wife's laptop (guess what? Still using the linux computer!). Some time this week I'm going to upgrade my Direct TV to the HD system. Get this: The old family room TV was a 31 inch stereo TV, and I put that one in the office. The office TV was a 27 inch TV, which I put in my son's room. My son, who is 7, has one heck of a setup. In his room he has his big stereo TV, with his PS2 hooked to it, along with his own Dell desktop with flat panel monitor. We are probable going to either get a Direct TV hookup for his room, or pay $10 for a basic cable hookup. I also did the online thing to obtain two of the $40 coupons for a digital TV tuner in anticipation of the switchover. Yes, I know that cable and satellite customers are not affected, but the TV in my shop is open air receiving, and I'm going to need one of the DTV tuners. Walmart had them for something like $42, so purchasing one will really be cheap!

Anyway, what does all of this have to do with my headline? Well, isn't life great that I can buy a nice TV, drive home, stop at a fast food joint to feed the family along the way, hit a grocery store, and grill out some tasty steaks with baked potatoes and salad, followed by strawberry shortcake?!?

Life is good for Patrick, too. He got to use his money and bought a large model of a FW190 and another BB gun. He's been smiling all day.

Penguins, part two

Well, I've discovered one of the biggest difference between Ubuntu linux and a Windows system, and that is the installation of a codec, plug-in, etc. In windows, you click a link and everything is done automatically. Not so with Linux. Took me a while to figure out how to download something so simple as Flash (about 30 minutes, to be exact). Took more work to get the system to recognize a WMA file (music).

Ubuntu has some of the coolest screen savers I've ever seen, and much more entertaining installed games than Windows.

The experiment continues...

The world of the penguin...

If you have been a frequent reader of my postings, then you will probably notice that this post doesn't look any different than any other, and you would be correct. But what is behind this post is significantly different. I am typing this on my wife's dying laptop that I installed a Ubuntu operating system on.

The wife unit got up with me a couple of days ago about her 5 year old Toshiba laptop locking up, BSOD, things like that. I couldn't get it to work, so tried to reinstall XP. Did that, but system still wouldn't work. So I hit upon the idea of trying out the Linux ISO disk I had made several months ago. It took about 20 tries to get the OS to load (system still locked up during the installation process), and I don't know how long this computer will last with this system, but it gives me time to play around. I'm not sure if the hard drive is dying (don't think so), if the RAM is bad (don't think so), or if the motherboard is giving up (most likely). I've cycled the computer through a couple of reboots, and it is still working (obviously!).

Now, why Linux? Why not? I've heard stories about its geek factor, but how it is nearly impervious to the normal Windows weaknesses, and even some of the Mac weaknesses. I made the Ubuntu OS disk by downloading the ISO file and burning my own install CD.

Strangest thing so far is the fact that this computer I am typing on does not have built-in wireless. In the past, you would have to insert a Linksys wireless card into the card slot. That meant that I had to utilize an install CD with the XP operating system. Once I got this thing running with Unbuntu, I was trying to figure out how to get the appropriate driver for a wireless B card that is no longer supported, and for Linux! On a whim, I plugged the card in, and it immediately recognized my wireless system and logged on. Why can't Microsoft make things that simple?

Well, it's time to play around with Ubuntu. I don't know if I'll ever have a use for it, or if it will just be a geeky toy. I don't even know how long this laptop will last before it dies completely. But I'm going to have fun, knowing I'm using something that only about 1% or less of the population use to log onto the Internet.

Oh, now I have to buy the wife a new laptop. Crap! At least she's not a gamer. She just needs to surf the Net and do Powerpoint presentations. Can you say, "Low budget laptop from Best Buy?" I thought you could...

Summa cum loony

Where's Al Sharpton? Why? Read on...

By: Kristin Butler

It seems anyone can get a college degree these days-especially if they go to North Carolina Central University.

Standards of integrity there have long been dismal: This is, after all, the school that gave violent felon Solomon Burnette a diploma in 2007. Burnette, you may recall, robbed two Duke students at gunpoint in 1997.

After finishing a 13-month prison sentence, he had the audacity not only to enroll in Arabic classes on our campus in April 2007; Burnette also penned a column I and many others interpreted as inciting physical violence against white Dukies in his student newspaper.

Unfortunately, however, 2008 marks a new low... even for NCCU.

Just this month, the university graduated Crystal Mangum, the drug-addled, mentally unstable prostitute who falsely accused three lacrosse players of raping her two years ago.

Mangum is an accomplished liar and criminal, and a credible school shouldn't have allowed her within 50 miles of its graduation ceremony.

Indeed, this is a woman who has maintained for more than two years that 20, five, and finally three Duke lacrosse players violated her orally, vaginally and anally in a bathroom the size of a broom closet. In her final version of the "assault," Mangum claimed this was possible because she was magically suspended in midair (by hooks and pulleys, perhaps?) as the three men attacked her.

In reality, Mangum-who arrived at the lacrosse players' party so drunk and high she could barely stand-may have feared another psychiatric commitment the morning of March 14, 2006, and so she accused three men of rape to garner sympathy.

As an aside, if anyone at NCCU still believes her story, I would invite them to review court records indicating Mangum had DNA from two unidentified men in her rectum; two more in her pubic region; one man in her vagina; and four to five men on her panties-none of whom were lacrosse players (a physical impossibility because Mangum said her attackers wore no condoms during the "rape").

And although her bold-faced lies ruined three young men's lives, they were a jackpot for Mangum: Within days, she was already using the "assault" to hustle pain meds from emergency room doctors, claiming "excruciating pain from the... beating." Sensing a lucrative civil settlement on the horizon, Mangum even bragged to a security guard at her strip club that she was "going to get paid by the white boys."

Unsurprisingly, those actions constitute flagrant violations of NCCU's honor code, which prohibits: "lewd, indecent or obscene conduct (whether public or private)"; "violation of the alcohol policy, including binge drinking, use or personal possession of alcoholic beverages by undergraduate students;" and the real doozie, "knowingly making in public a false [oral or] written or printed statement with the intent to deceive and/or mislead or injure the character or reputation of another."

NCCU also touts itself as a "drug-free academic community," a claim that's hard to take seriously when one of the college's own students admits to turning tricks and getting high four or five nights per week. In fact, Mangum had overdosed on flexeril and booze when she was first picked up by police the night of March 14.

And that's what makes Mangum's latest milestone so infuriating: It demeans the accomplishments of thousands of hard-working, law-abiding Eagles who also graduated this May.

A Duke student committing even a fraction of those crimes would have been summarily expelled; being accused of them would be enough for an emergency suspension.

Because of the university's blatant refusal to enforce its own rules, I will never again take an NCCU degree seriously, and neither should any other self-respecting Dukie. NCCU's "seal of approval" no longer guarantees good character, and it's just too hard to tell the thugs and liars (like Burnette and Mangum) apart from the high-performing majority.

Now to be fair, NCCU is hardly the first public institution to give Mangum a pass. Durham police, prosecutors and even Attorney General Roy Cooper all opted not to indict her for filing false police reports, reasoning that she was too crazy to stand trial. (No word yet on how many legally insane people maintain a 3.0 GPA at a nationally accredited university.)

Still, NCCU's actions are morally bankrupt and far eneath the dignity of a nationally recognzed university. The damage that NCCU has done to its reputation is very serious, and it insults thousands of upstanding alumni.

With three kids, a nasty drug habit and psychiatric and criminal histories longer than my arm, Crystal Mangum probably needs all the good fortune she can get. But until she owns up to her malicious lies, she deserves no special favors-least of all from a publicly funded university.

Crystal Mangum is not a victim, and her actions meant two other former members of the Class of 2008 (their names are Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, for the record) didn't graduate last weekend. Mangum's lies stole a year of their college careers, and it makes me sick to think of her celebrating her achievement while they (along with millions of legitimate rape victims harmed by her dishonesty) struggle to piece their lives back together.

Crystal Mangum may now have a signed and sealed police psychology degree, but she'll always be Public Enemy No. 1 in my book.

Soft core loses a hot one

Click the above link. If you know and are a fan of Erica Campbell, then today is a sad, sad day. A simple Google search of her generates thousands of pictures. She is one of the most beautiful softcore models out there, and she has a certain "girl next door" quality that made her so appealing. I wish her the best on her new choice in life.

Okay, I have to ask this question: Who...in...the...hell...watches...golf...on...television!?!? Can you find a more boring subject on TV. That ranks up there with watching paint dry and waiting for water to boil.

Befriend him, or avoid him like the plague?

Here's the story of how the world's unluckiest man turned his fate upside down. Frane Selak, born in 1929, is a Croatian music teacher who used to be famous for his numerous escapes from fatal accidents:

• In January, 1962, Selak was traveling via train from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik. However, the train had suddenly derailed and plunged into an icy river, killing 17 passengers. Selak managed to escape, and only suffered a broken arm and minor scrapes and bruises.
• The following year, while traveling from Zagreb to Rijeka when the door blew away from the cockpit, forcing him out of the plane. Although 19 others were killed, he suffered only minor injuries and had miraculously landed in a haystack.
• In 1966, he was riding on a bus that crashed and plunged into a river. Four others were killed, but Selak managed to escape unharmed.
• In 1970, he managed to escape before a faulty fuel pump engulfed his car into flames.
• In 1973, another of Selak's cars caught fire, forcing fire through the air vents. He suffered no injuries save the loss of most of his hair.
• In 1995, he was hit by a city bus, but once again suffered minor injuries.
• In 1996 he escaped when he drove off a cliff to escape an oncoming truck. He managed to land in a tree, and watched as his car exploded 300 feet below him.

But then, in 2003, the heavens seemed to review his case: he won $1,000,000 dollars in the Croatian lottery!

"I know God was watching me over all these years." he said, and has reputedly refused to fly to Australia to air on a Doritos commercial, saying he "didn't want to test his luck." Frane also said that he can either be looked as "the world's unluckiest man, or the world's luckiest man," and prefers the latter.

I thought this was a cool story.

Stolen laptop leads victim to alleged thieves

Richard Liebson
The Journal News

WHITE PLAINS - Smile, you're busted.

A tech-savvy White Plains woman whose apartment was burglarized solved the crime herself after she was able to log on to her stolen laptop, photograph one of the suspects with it and get photos of another, police said.

Edmon Shahikian, 23, of 13 Cobbling Rock Road, Katonah, and Ian Frias, 20, of 1609 E. 174th St., the Bronx, were picked up at their homes Wednesday night after the victim turned the pictures over to police. The police said they recovered most of the $5,000 worth of electronics stolen in the burglary.

"Our victim did a phenomenal job," said Lt. Eric Fischer, commander of the Detective Division. "She knew her computer, and she let us know as soon as she obtained the information. We rolled on it immediately, and the result is the arrest of two burglary suspects and the recovery of most of the stolen property."

The burglary was reported April 27, when three roommates returned to their Ridgeview Avenue apartment about 10 p.m. to discover that it had been ransacked.

Among the items taken were two laptops, two flat-screen televisions, two iPods, gaming consoles, DVDs and computer games. Police found no sign of force.

On Tuesday, police said, one of the victims, who works at The Apple Store in The Westchester mall, received a call from a friend asking her if she was online.

The victim said no, and was told by the friend that his computer showed her as being logged onto the Internet.

At that point, police said, the victim signed onto another computer and used the "Back to My Mac" program to determine that her stolen MacIntosh laptop indeed was signed onto the Web and that someone was using it to shop online. She then activated the stolen computer's camera, allowing her to "see" what was in front of the laptop.

At first, police said, she saw only an empty chair. But a short time later, they said, she was able to photograph a man, Shahikian, sitting in front of her stolen laptop. The victim then was able to find photos of Frias using the computer after it had been stolen, police said.

Fischer said the victim did not know either man but showed the photos to one of her roommates, who recognized them as having attended a get-together at the apartment a few weeks before the burglary.

Police said Shahikian and Frias apparently are friends of a friend of the victims.

The computer-savvy victim contacted police, gave them the tell-tale photos, and the arrests were made a short time later.

Shahikian and Frias are charged with second-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies.

Screw those people

As I am typing this, the country of Myanmar, or Burma, or whatever the hell their name is, is currently suffering from the aftermath of a tropical cyclone that has the current death toll projected as high as 100,000. The "international community" is up in arms over the ruling military junta not letting aid in, though they have finally relented and let some UN planes to come in. Off the coast of Myanmar is a US fleet waiting to provide aid to the country, but the Myanmar government still will not allow any US forces to approach the country. You know what? Screw those people! I honestly don't give two shits about some homeless Burmese people when we have veterans starving on our own streets. Turn our fleet around and give the Burmese government the international middle finger.


In this current presidential election time, the following is something you really need to watch.

The questions below about Australia are from potential visitors.
They were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have a sense of humour.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK).
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad tracks (Sweden)?
A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)
A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not ... oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is ... oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)
A: You are a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. (USA)
A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in Tasmania where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
A: Yes, gay night clubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.

Q: I was in Australia in 1969 on R+R, and I want to contact the girl I dated while I was staying in Kings Cross. Can you help? (USA)
A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.

Better than gold

My wife needed to get an injection of a drug called Lupron. Well, one injection of 3.75 milligrams of Lupron costs $700!!!(I rounded down to an even $700). Seven freakin' hundred dollars!!!! Are you shitting me?!? By my quick calculations, that means that one pound of Lupron would cost $84,670,575.73!!

Lazy, lazy, lazy

Ok, I have just taken the next step into the realm of laziness. For those of you who don't know, I have several computers in the house. In the office is the main desktop. It is a one year old Acer dual core processor with widescreen flat panel monitor and all in one printer attached, along with an external hard drive for storage and the router. The wife has a four year old Toshiba laptop that she carts around. Her laptop is not the best treated computer in the world, what with her leaving it in a 120 degree car interior in the summer, or a below freezing trunk in the winter, and then cramming too much stuff into the case she carries it in, crushing the monitor down onto the keyboard. The abuse her laptop can take is what prompted me to purchase myself a Toshiba laptop two years ago to replace a three year old HP laptop that died (and prompted me to decide to never buy another HP laptop). In my son's room is a compact Dell desktop with flat panel monitor that I purchased for $100. It only has a 40GB hard drive and a gig of RAM, but it serves its purpose. Plus, I have a wireless USB dongle I can attach to it. This little computer is perfect for the little one to play games or surf the 'net when I can monitor him. In my bedroom is a Dell pocket PC that I can log into my wireless network to check news and weather. In my shop outside is an ancient (8 years old!) Dell with a 19" CRT.

Anyway, my normal sitting spot is in a glider rocker in the living room, which is in the opposite end of the house from the office (I sit in the centrally positioned love seat when I watch movies on the surround sound; gotta have the full experience!). Next to my seat is a small table that I keep my laptop on. Traditionally, I would have to lean over to do any surfing or typing, unless I picked it up and put it in my lap, which isn't very comfortable once the thing starts putting out heat (I used to have a chill pad, but it died). So I went to the local Staples and found the Microsoft Wireless Laser Keyboard and Mouse 6000 for a cool price of $30 (normal retail is $100). I can now sit back in a completely relaxed position, let my head roll off to the right, look at the monitor, and type on the ergonomically correct keyboard resting lightly on my lap. Talk about lazy! I reckon my last, final move into the realm of laziness will be when I get my HDTV. I'm thinking of getting the correct connectors to attach my computer to the TV. Then, with the power of remote controls, I will be able to kick back and watch TV, movies, or do computer stuff all from the comfort of my chair and never have to get up.

Lazy, lazy, lazy...

An easy workday...

Here is a picture of me with my boys. We are a hard working division, and they always give 100%. With the airshow being put together, we planned a day where they could do some PR work and basically visit the airshow during the media/practice day when there was limited visitation allowed. Behind us is what we referred to as "the Osprey Boneyard." There were approximately a dozen MV-22 Ospreys parked behind the vehicles, including one with a special anti-radar paint job. We took additional pictures with various aircraft, including one in which we got to stand on the wing of a B-25! It was an easy day of "work," but they deserved it.

WTF?

God bless the American Fighting Man

Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor on Wednesday received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest valor award, for his actions during a 17-hour battle in Afghanistan.

The 47-year-old Special Forces medical sergeant spoke with humor and humility after the medal was pinned on his uniform in a ceremony at Bank Hall on Fort Bragg.

“My word!” O’Connor said, reacting to praise by a three-star Army general and a four-star Navy admiral. “My name is Brendan O’Connor, and I didn’t fully approve that message.”

In his self-effacing remarks, O’Connor apologized to his children for missing birthdays and thanked his wife, Margaret, for what she has done in raising their family in his absence.

Margaret O’Connor writes a Home Front column for The Fayetteville Observer.

Master Sgt. O’Connor, who resigned his commission as an officer and then took the rigorous training to become a Special Forces medical sergeant, said his “momentary courage” pales in comparison to people who cope courageously with difficult situations daily, such as Capt. Ivan Castro, who is blind, and Harry Hubbard, a friend who suffered a stroke in his mid-30s.

The audience included former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy, a friend of the O’Connor family, and former 7th Group commanders.

The heroism of O’Connor and his team in the face of an attack by 300 Taliban fighters received national attention April 20 in a segment on the CBS news show “60 Minutes.”

Adm. Eric Olson, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command at Tampa, Fla., pinned the award on O’Connor’s uniform.

Olson hailed the contributions of the Green Berets and said the demand for Special Forces may grow as conventional forces are reduced overseas.

“Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor exemplifies the spirit of these warriors,” Olson said.

The admiral wore his white Navy dress uniform. O’Connor was in his green Army dress uniform.

O’Connor led a quick reaction force June 24, 2006, in Kandahar province’s Panjwai District, described by Special Forces as one of the most hotly contested areas of southern Afghanistan.

He maneuvered his force through Taliban positions and crawled alone through enemy machine-gun fire to reach two wounded soldiers, the citation said. He tied a signal cloth to his back to identify himself to aircraft overhead. While under fire, he provided medical care and carried a wounded soldier more than 150 yards across open ground. He climbed over a wall three times under enemy fire to help wounded soldiers seek cover. Then he took over as the operations sergeant and rallied, motivated and led his team.

“Thank God for men like Master Sgt. O’Connor,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Wagner, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg.

Maj. Sheffield Ford said after the ceremony that O’Connor picked up Sgt. Joseph Fuerst and carried him over his shoulder and ran while under fire.

“Knowing that bullets were coming in all around him, he didn’t hesitate,” Ford said. “He continued to get up and move because he knew he had to get Joe back if he was going to have a chance to try to save him.” Fuerst died, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Binney survived, Ford said.

Former Sgt. 1st Class Abram Hernandez received the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest award for valor, on April 17 on Fort Bragg for his actions in the same battle. Master Sgt. Thomas Maholic was killed in the fighting and received the Silver Star posthumously Nov. 15.

During training, Special Forces medics, who have extensive training and upon whom the entire team depends, are told to wait for others to bring the wounded to them, but O’Connor realized the soldiers needed immediate help and the battle was not going to stop, Ford said.

Staff Sgt. Charles Lyles said O’Connor paused before going out on the mission to make sure he was taking everything he would need.

“The seconds he took to make sure he had everything ready, I believe, made the difference,” Lyles said.

Staff Sgt. Brandon Pechette remembers O’Connor being “calm and cool and very intelligently funny while we were there, keeping the morale high, which is very important because we were such a small force against overwhelming odds.”

The award came 40 years after O’Connor’s father was killed in Vietnam.

The last time soldiers of the 7th Special Forces Group received Distinguished Service Crosses was in July 1964, Wagner said. Capt. Roger Donlon received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest valor award, for his actions in the same battle, he said. He was the first Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War.

Sometimes you can bargain without doing a thing

Several months ago, I decided to let some of my magazine subscriptions expire, since I was receiving three computer magazines, four aviation magazines, National Geographic, Air&Space, Popular Science, and some others. As you might recall, paying the newsstand price for a magazine over time can get expensive when the magazine retails on the rack for $6 a month. You don't think about it, but at that rate, you are paying $72/year for 12 issues, plus tax. When you subscribe, you often obtain substantial savings, and the same magazine might go for $20/year. But then you get caught up in the "that's too expensive for a subscription" mindset, when you think paying $20 is too much for one year, when in reality it would cost nearly $100 through newsstand purchases. That is what happened to me. I was going to drop one of the computer magazines I get. I tried to decide which one, and ultimately I felt that paying $24/year for a monthly magazine was too much. Too much! Are you serious? $2 a month? Yeah, I did...Anyway, when I didn't renew, the company sent me a second, third, and fourth renewal form, and I didn't bite. So then they send me a "we miss you, please come back" form for $14. Hmmm...nope, I didn't bite. Then I received a couple more notices asking for either $20, or $24, and back to $14 for one year. Nope. This went on for two months. Finally, last week I get a mailing from the company asking me to come back for $12 for a one-year subscription. What the heck, and I filled out the form. Just as I was getting ready to cut a check for twelve bucks, I see the fine print that says double the offer for $24. So...by showing a little patience, and not doing anything but waiting, I am now getting a two-year subscription for the price of one year (realistically, the equivalent of two years for the cost of a six-moth subscription). Or, in other words, I'm paying something in the area of only 10% of the newsstand price.

If you want an interesting read, click on the link above to read about a conspiracy theory involving the quick retirement of the F-117.

Movies as seen by kids

The above link is good for a Saturday laugh.