And it makes you proud.

Here's the beginning of a story from today's paper about a wounded Marine:

"After Marine Lt. Nathan Jeffcoat was hit by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on June 30 and traveled back to the states, doctors went looking for him in his hospital room to do physical therapy.

"The Adams County resident, a platoon commander in the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, was nowhere to be found.

"Turns out, in true commander fashion, he had escaped and made his way through a quarantined hospital area to check on one of his men who had been injured two weeks before him."

Read the whole story here.

Semper fi, indeed.

This is from a story in today's paper about a guy who was caught allegedly cheating on a drug test:

"In February, a York County probation officer was supervising a urine test by Justin Paul Bupp when he noticed a few strange things.

"Bupp 'was struggling' to produce 'a steady stream of urine' and his penis appeared 'rubbery' with 'an odd color (and) texture. . .,' a county detective reported in Bupp's criminal complaint.

"When he was confronted by the probation officer, Bupp, 20, admitted he had a strap-on prosthetic device he had bought over the Internet for $130 and filled with his own clean urine before using heroin."

There is probably a lot to say about this, but whatever they pay probation officers, it's not enough.

Before the Steve Earle-Hot Tuna show at the Strand last night, a guy was handing out cards advertising a movie playing at the Capitol this weekend, "The Rise And Fall Of Their American Dream."

It's a story about three young men, two immigrants, a Mexican and an Indian, and the nephew of a mob boss. Looks pretty cool, in a Quentin Tarantino kind of way. It's won awards at film festivals in Hoboken and Mexico.

Anyway, the guy handing out the cards was Nash Bhatt. He directed the movie.

He was asking people, "Please come see my movie."

So, go see this guy's movie. It plays Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m.

Saw Hot Tuna and Steve Earle at the Strand last night.

Excellent show. Steve Earle played a long solo acoustic set. The guy can write some songs and has a weird sense of humor. He played a tune about having a good time in the self-destructive zone and when he finished he said, "That song makes it sound like a lot more (bleeping) fun that it was. So whenever I play that song, I have to play this one. Welcome to my world." Then, he played a tune about the damage done.

Hot Tuna was electric. Jorma and Jack, of course, joined by Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin and G.E. Smith. Learned, via Jorma, that G.E.'s first name is George.

Before the show, the Strand CEO said he'd like feedback. How's this: More shows like this one. Here's a list of artists: Los Lobos, John Hiatt, Richard Thompson, the Drive-By Truckers, the BoDeans, Son Volt, the Black Keys, Hayes Carll, Hank III...

I could probably think of others, but that would be a good start.

Being the tech experts we are, we were able to quickly troubleshoot the problem and get right back to it.

It took extensive testing and such. Turned out to be dead batteries.

So this week, the team tackles spiders on a boat, Asian carp, Asian tiger mosquitoes and tigers and assorted bad guys in our town.

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So Harley announces that its net income tripled from last year.

That's good news.

I'm wondering, then, if the company plans to call back any of its laid-off workers or make up some of he concessions its union workers gave back to keep their jobs.

Jeez. Who am I kidding?

The Farm & Natural Lands Trust of York County is having what they're calling a downtown hoedown to raise money.

You know, that could be taken a couple of different ways.

For more information, go here. It sounds like a good time. They booked Waitin On A Train and those guys are a lot of fun.

Former Penn State quarterback Daryl Clark signed to play in Calgary in the Canadian Football League, our own Frank Bodani reports.

Good luck, Daryl. I thought he had the makings of an NFL quarterback. He has more talent that a lot of quarterbacks now starting in the NFL. Perhaps a season or two in Canada will help him develop that talent.

Remember, Warren Moon started in the CFL. He turned out to be pretty good.

Last week, finally, BP was able to stop the gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

And now, oil is seeping from other spots in the sea bed.

From the AP:

"The seal atop BP's well was applied Thursday, and appeared to stop all of the oil from leaking into the Gulf for the first time in 85 days.

"But the federal government is worried that it could create problems of its own. Specifically, if the well's underground pipes are cracked, the seal could exacerbate the flow of oil through them and up to the sea floor, creating a potentially unmanageable multitude of leaks."

It's always something,,,

My Monday column is about a guy who had his car towed, apparently by mistake, from a lot near Sovereign Bank Stadium. He has a handicapped placard and was towed from a handicapped lot. The tow truck driver told him he didn't see the placard and said the guy had to pay $220 to get his car back.

Clearly, the tow truck driver -- employed, of course, by Intown Motors -- made a mistake. Instead of admitting the mistake and giving the guy his car back, Intown remained steadfast. The guy had to pay.

I bring this up because there was a story in today's paper about a bill that would require towing companies to notify people when their cars are towed.

As it is, towing in Pennsylvania is not regulated. This is a good first step to get at predatory towing companies, but more regulation is necessary. How about giving car owners some rights when their cars are towed by mistake?

The What Have We Learned team responds to the breaking news that these two kids have gotten back together and are going to get married.

Good times.

That and jokes about the heat, goats and people acting strange in Dover Township.

This story, from the AP:

PERTH, Australia--A man ejected from a pub in Australia broke into a zoo and climbed onto the back of a crocodile named Fatso, which bit him on the leg but then let him go. Police said they're surprised the croc didn't inflict worse damage. The 36-year-old man, who police said had just been thrown out of a pub for being drunk, told officials he scaled the barbed wire fence surrounding the Broome Crocodile Park in remote northwest Australia on Monday night because he wanted to give the 16-foot Fatso a pat.

I know some Aussies, hung out with a bunch during a Harley ride to Milwaukee a few years back. This story seems about right.

Here's the Boss on "Seinfeld."

Funny guy. Had a sense of humor about himself.

This is from writer Tom Scocca's blog on Slate:

"This vehicle is a joyless piece of slag. Driving it is like sitting on top of a refrigerator while it is being pushed by a guy who can't see around it. These absurd trucks made six million people feel like they were buying something strong and safe? You can feel it trying to roll over as soon as you put the key into it. It is the only thing you can feel, because everything else about the car is like a novocaine enema.

"The Ford Explorer is an awful vehicle. America is stupider, and a little more dead, for having produced and driven it."

I'm guessing he didn't like it. Novocaine enema?

Well, he's free to move about, the Swiss having rejected the U.S. request to extradite him to face prison on his conviction for raping a child.

I guess the lesson is if you're going to commit a heinous crime, make a few good movies and all will be forgiven.