The Patriot Guard Riders, who exist SOLELY to honor the fallen heroes of this nation are considered a security risk by POTUS and staff? For the love of……I really am speechless:

WV Mining disaster

Considering that those of us (yes, I’m a proud PGR member) who ride in honor of our veterans and are committed to a 100% Americanism would be offended by this, I’m aghast that there hasn’t been an official apology for what should be a fecal storm of outrage aimed at our President.

Where’s the outrage? Hopefully it will happen during the mid-term elections in November 2010.

The American Legion Legacy Scholarship is one of the finest programs this great institution has ever put forward. Simply put, the Legacy Scholarship Fund pays the full college tuition for children of our armed services members who’ve given their lives on or since 9/11.

Please help the American Legion Legacy Scholarship by voting for them and helping them to obtain a grant from Pepsi Corporation. It’s free to do…it’s the right thing to do. It is the LEAST we can do.

http://pep.si/ab6Rnf

In the words of my nephew (the weird in Illinois): Dutch!

Cinestud 2010 Trailer from Chris Christodoulou on Vimeo.

An amazing time had by all, over 1300 bikes up and down Lee Street in little LaBelle, FL. This really is what a home run feels like and I’m thrilled to have been a part of it.

For those interested in bike games and how much fun they can be to participate in (or just watch!), check out what our friends from bikerspost.com did on youtube – posted here for your viewing pleasure.

For those of you who don’t want to hear me rant, move on because that’s what this post is going to turn into.

I’ll start by saying that while I consider myself a biker, I’m not hard-core. I love riding my Heritage…and I do it at every turn. But I also work (more than just a few jobs) and I volunteer a LOT at the American Legion. It is with the American Legion Riders that I found the mixture of patriotism, volunteerism and riding that makes me very happy and I’m honored to be the Director of Chapter 130 for the 2009-2010 season.

====BEING ANGRY RANT====
Now…the rest of this is going to be harsh, but I’m sick and tired of holding it in and it has to be said..more than once…and directly to the whiney little bitch (hereinafter referred to as the WLB) who’s going so far out of her way to try and make it all about her.

The past 3 years at Swamp Cabbage Festival (SCF) there’s been a bike event hosted first by Full Throttle, then by GoFAR magazines; the rags got involved because of one of their ‘affiliates’ (the aforementioned WLB). This year, as before, the SCF Committee went to her to do the bike event. After all, it’s been successful and has drawn lots of bike traffic to our city and the festival. All good, right?

Well, one would think so, but of course there’s a twist. Here it is. The SCF Committee let her know that, for reasons which really don’t matter here, the entire event was being shifted from Main Street (where there are churches, houses, the library where the bike stuff used to go on) to Lee Street, two blocks east.

Mind you, this is the entire event being shifted, not just the ‘bikes’. All foot traffic is going to be going up Lee Street which makes this an ideal location. But all that mattered to ‘her’ was that she was being moved. She didn’t wait around to hear the details, just started ranting by email, phone and other means – telling people that just because it wasn’t ‘her’ event, it wasn’t happening.

Ok, I’m ok with sour grapes from small minds. I get that she’s all about her self-promotion and as a capitalist I support that. But if you’re FROM LA BELLE, don’t TRASH LA BELLE. DON’T TRY TO SABOTAGE THROUGH LIES AND DECEPTION. BE UP FRONT. YOU TOOK A PASS AND WE MOVED ON. YOU SHOULD TOO.

This WLB needs to hear one thing, if nothing else, from this post – I’m borrowing this phrase from a friend who made this statement at the SCF Committee – which, btw, the WLB hasn’t attended since she started stomping her feet and whining in high gear: The City of LaBelle and the SCF Committee has NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR. The City has, as they always do, conducted themselves above board and in the best interest of the City and the citizens. Their agenda is not about you, WLB, only yours is. Calling what you used to do at SCF the KwK SCF Bike Event is just self aggrandizement. Pure and simple. You’re not about LaBelle, you’re about you. The American Legion Riders are about LaBelle, our Veterans and their families. That’s what we do. When we’re a part of SCF, as we have been since the first year we were in existence, it’s not for any other reason than our desire to foster 100% Americanism and freedom. We stand for your right to be a WLB, even though I, for one, hate the sound of your whines.

There are those of us who ride who will NEVER participate in another event with which you’re associated. That’s our personal display of distaste for you and your self righteous bullshit. The difference between the way you do things, with lies and deceit, and the way I do things is pretty straight forward. I won’t tell people to stay away from your events. You’re entitled to do what you want. I won’t lie and say you’re not doing an event. I won’t go out of my way to defer traffic from your events. I speak for me..and I do it honestly. My ‘dollars’ vote anywhere you’re not. It’s that simple.
====END ANGRY RANT====

Thanks for reading so far…please don’t stop just because I’ve stopped ranting

Now here’s the truth about the 44th Annual Swamp Cabbage Festival and Bike Event. When the WLB took a pass, some professionals stepped up. I was skeptical when a Ft. Myers company, Events x D’Zign, stepped in and offered to promote the event. After all, it’s a LaBelle event and ‘who are these guys’, right? Well, wrong, actually. As it turns out, they’re all about keeping the SCF a LaBelle event. They turned to the American Legion Riders and we to them and we’re working (get this, WLB – something you don’t really understand) TOGETHER to make the Event (not either of our organizations, but the event) a really great thing for LaBelle. Thanks to Events x D’Zign, the Latin American Motorcycle Association (LAMA), are doing the bike show…this is going to be fantastic event.

On March 1, when the dust settles, the City, the ALR and the bikers in our community will see what cooperative efforts and selflessness can do. Viva SCF and the Bike Event therein. Thank you SCF Committee, City of LaBelle and all who help to make this about *all of us*, because after all, it is.

-Bouncer

Well, its November 2009, which means October just passed and Ubuntu’s release cycle (April/October) has generated a new shiny version for us to try.

I’ve got to say that coming from CLI land and server management, having a desktop Linux that’s as polished and complete as Ubuntu gives me a great deal of pleasure.

I read the Ubuntu Technical User’s Mailing List religiously, and while I’m truly saddened that it degrades into childish tripe more often than not, there are some really knowledgeable and helpful folks that consistently answer questions with tact and forethought. The degradation into flaming/pissing contests is surely something I can do without, especially after enjoying the pure professionalism of other technical lists such as the CentOS lists to which I subscribe. But I digress….

Upgrading
There are lots of people who’ve had experiences like mine – really good ones. I entered the world of using Ubuntu as my primary OS during the middle of Intrepid Ibex’s reign and have done two in-place upgrades of my own desktop and laptop systems without any issues. Let me state that again clearly for those who thing 9.10 is a baaaad thing: I have had NO problems with the in-place upgrades from 8.10->9.04->9.10.

Try that with an operating system from Redmond and see what you get. BTW, have I re-mentioned that as with most things Linux, the price is a grand sum total of nothing?

Yes, you have to install it yourself – the Redmond bunch pushes WAY too much money at OEMs for Ubuntu/Canonical to be a force in the pre-installed OS market (though we’ve made some headway with Dell, thank goodness!). Yes, its Linux..and as they say if you break it you get to keep all the pieces.

What you don’t hear often is this: The Linux Community ROCKS!

I’ve helped numerous folks who had never even considered using Linux to do just that…and every last one of them LOVE IT.

So go ahead…back up your most important stuff (This is good practice no matter what you’re doing, btw), and give Karmic Koala, Ubuntu 9.10, a try. I bet you’ll be very very pleasantly surprised.

While you’re at it, read this from one of the Ubuntu devs…

For help with Ubuntu, please contact me. I’m into spreading the word and the idea that free (as in coffee and as in freedom) is a good thing.

I can’t tell you how many times I’m asked that question.  Or worse…”Hey..is that a MAC?”…”That must be the new Windows 7, right?”

No, its Linux…running on my laptop.

<rant>
And yes, I’d always considered Linux a server operating system.  I mean, I’m a systems administrator…never really used a window manager (that’s a small w, Microsoft…I’m not using your product’s name) under Linux as they always seemed cheesy or had risks I didn’t want or need on a server platform.  All that changed a few days ago when I got so fed up with that product who’s name I didn’t use just now that I decided to take the leap.  I mean, what changed was that I no longer consider Linux to only be a server operating system.  Desktop/laptop users…read on.

So good reader(s), how does a command line guy decide to put Linux on a laptop?  Easy.  I went with what I knew…decided that since I run CentOS on my servers, I’d do that on my laptop.  As usual, I hit the forums and mailing lists to read about potential speed-bumps or worse…and immediately decided not to load CentOS on my laptop (a Dell 9400/E1705, which originally shipped with the media-center edition of that M$ product).

More research led me to a Debian derivative called Ubuntu.  Ok, says I to me, I’m going to dedicate 3 hrs to install and configure this disto on my laptop – in that time I want the core OS, updates and wireless to work.  If I can do that, I figured I’d won.

Enter the most pleasant computing surprise I’ve experienced in recent years.  25 minutes to install from CD…and Ubuntu 8.10 was installed…and wireless worked <get this> OUT OF THE BOX (figuratively speaking, of course, as there was no box..I’d downloaded the ISO image for free from the Ubuntu.com website).

I’m still amazed at how well this distribution determined and configured all of my hardware.  CD/DVD-RW, Bluetooth, WiFi…it just all..um..worked!  Linux…that just worked without tweaking (much).  Sure, I did have to do updates, but that’s to be expected.  But it friggin’ worked…this has always been the complaint of entirely non-technical users when it comes to Linux. Too much had to be ‘tweaked’ or ‘figured out’. This just worked.

Considering that I got a fully functional, rock solid Operating System, a complete Office Suite (OpenOffice) and the ability to add a myriad more applications if I choose, I consider the price (FREE!!!) to be a bargain and a half. Oh, and add to that that the exploits for malware and viruses (virii?) that are so ever-present in that ‘other’ operating system have no place in Linux…out of the box, its more secure.

Downsides?  Well, as I mentioned I’m a RHEL guy, so learning the differences between yum and apt-get, as well as re-learning why sudo <command> works differently on a Debian derivative were curveballs, but not downsides.

I’m wholly impressed…and for an operating system to impress me is, well, impressive  (if I do say so myself).
</rant>

As mentioned in a previous post, 22 November 2008 was spent honoring the memory of a young man who, through his selfless acts, gave his life so that others might live.  His heroism and dedication to his comrades has become a gauge for me….of the type of man I want to be…the example set to which we should all aspire.

Am I suggesting that we need to die?  Of course not.  What I mean is that Nicholas Cutinha, whom his comrades in Charlie company called ‘Porky’, demonstrated on a regular basis, that character is something one displays in all they do.

At the far-too-young age of 23, Nickie displayed the type of courage and loyalty that anyone should admire…and I certainly do.

On 2 March 1968, arguably the worst day in terms of loss of life during the Viet Nam conflict, this young man fought a fight he must have known he could not win.  He fought against odds which were clearly and definitely tremendous…and he did it with “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

Those words are taken directly from the Medal of Honor which was presented posthumously in honor of his actions on that fateful day, in service to a grateful nation.

There is a wealth of information on Charlie company and its history…as well as that horrible day in our nation’s past.  For those interested, start your journey at Manchu website and consider purchasing the book, written by Larry James, entitled ‘Unfortunate Sons’  which is a most compelling read, imnsho.

For those interested in the wealth of pictures taken as a record of our Medal of Honor ceremony, I’ve posted all of them, unedited, here…but will be putting together a selection for the American Legion Post 130 on their site soon.

I’ve rambled in this post, but will end with my most sincere thanks to those who contributed to the success of our ceremony and helping to properly commemorate the life and sacrifices of one Nicholas Cutinha.

I won’t name names, as I’ve not received permission to do so, but thank you all for making 22 November 2008 a day I am most proud of….not only because of the ceremony’s success, but because of the connection to the past which it has created for those of us who did not serve but appreciate those who have and do.

As I’ve grown older, experiences have led me to truly believe that we in the US do live in a most uniquely wonderful nation, ripe with freedoms and rights which have been won through both peaceful and not-so-peaceful battles.

Growing up in the Viet Nam era in a solidly blue-collar, democratic voting household, I was entrenched in the anti-war movement. While I’ve changed party affiliations, as I look back, I admire even more the fortitude of my parents who, even when it was common for their political ilk to trash not only the administration but also the service men and women, never said anything but positive and glowing things about those who served in our armed forces during that conflict.

Recent events in my life have led me to participate in an event as part of my role in the American Legion, Post 130, LaBelle Florida.

Let me say here that I am not a veteran, but I hold sacred the truth that those who serve our nation in our armed forces deserve nothing less than our respect and admiration because it is through their willingness to sacrifice that we enjoy the freedoms and rights we too often take for granted.

I currently serve as the 2nd Vice Commander of the Sons of the American Legion, Squadron 130 and also as the Secretary/Sgt at Arms of the American Legion Riders, Chapter 130, both attached to American Legion Post 130, LaBelle, FL.

Our post is honored to serve as the guardian and custodian of a Medal of Honor which was presented posthumously to US Army Specialist Class 4 Nicholas Joseph Cutinha for his intrepidity and heroism on 2 March 1968.  

I am personally humbled to be participating in the ceremony commemorating this true American hero; I’ve been involved in the organization of this event which will be held on 22 November 2008 at the Ft. Denaud Cemetery in Ft. Denaud, FL with a reception to follow at the American Legion Post 130 in LaBelle, FL.

For any who are interested in reading more about this heroic and noble young man who’s life was taken in defence of his comrades and his nation, please read the text of the citation which is reprinted on page 2 of our press release.

I’ll be reading this citation at the ceremony and know that, as I have each of the over 100 times I’ve read it so far, I will not get through it smoothly.  I find myself in awe of such selfless and heroic acts and grow overly emotional which, I suppose, is not such a bad thing.

There is a wealth of information about that fateful day and the other heros and martyrs who were involved in one of the worst losses of human life to have occured during the Viet Nam era.

There are no words to truly describe how I feel about this young man…so I’ll just end here hoping that anyone in southwest Florida on 22 November 2008 will attend and join us in celebrating the memory of a true American hero.