I’ve been in the market for another universal remote control over the last few weeks. And that’s how I came to find this unit. So in an effort to share, I’m passing along this bit of info to all my tech-heads on the internet.
This is, by far, the best Universal Remote Control on the market… and it’s cheap too!
The President used this weeks weekly address to acknowledge Easter and Passover. In his message to the nation, President Obama said that this is a chance to embrace loved ones, give thanks for our blessings, and help those less fortunate as we celebrate our individual traditions as well as the thread of humanity that connects us all.
“In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”
Written in 1919 by Alfred Lord Tennyson, no truer words have ever been spoken. Ever wonder why this was so, though? I’ve got two words for you; seasonal breeding.
Once upon a time, we were a species that bred only at certain times of the year. That time of year allowed for the survival of infants in terms of factors such as climatic temperature, availability of food and water, and even when predators were more than likely to be hanging around the lair. The male species only came a-courtin’ during this ‘mating season’ and females would have nothing to do with their advances outside this period. And speaking of periods, female seasonal breeders would have one or more menstrual cycles only when “in season” when she would be fertile for mating. Of course males were part of the cyclical behaviour also. They exhibited changes in testosterone levels, their testes gained in weight and size (omg!) and their sperm would become super potent within that time of year. And what time of year was that? You guessed it, Springtime! The time when we dug out from our winter hibernation to find that Gaia had renewed, replenished and rejuvenated herself, budding with food, running with fresh water, bringing warmth from the Sun and creating in our souls the ravishing need to mate and procreate before the big chill set in, once again.
Ah, Mother Nature. She does so much to keep us propagating, we really should appreciate her a lot more than we do.
And although we are no longer, for the most part anyway, the one-track-minded-baby-making-machines we once were (we’ve actually evolved first as “opportunistic breeders”, who mated whenever the conditions of the environment were right and then further into what physiologist call the “continuous breeders“, which is what we are today and subsequently where a lot of our morality troubles started!) what becomes DNA, stays DNA for a long , long time and takes millions of years to come out in the wash. So for us modern-day Cro-Magnon, springtime will always bring with it that primitive longing for someone to hold and make new life with. We just call it “Love” now.
Hope I haven’t ruined all the romance for you. Happy Easter & Springtime everyone! ♥
Last week was not a good week for the Republican re-branding experiment, as more and more Republican leaders made their true feelings known. The week brought us comments from Alaska’s Republican Representative Don Young, who called immigrants “wetbacks,” and comments from a rising Republican star Dr. Ben Carson, compared gays to pedophilia and bestiality.
And now this. A Republican National Committee member from Michigan went on his Facebook page and called homosexuals “filthy,” and responsible for a majority of suicides and syphilis cases in America.
Dave Agema posted remarks on Wednesday that said the “homosexual lifestyle” is “filthy” and that it will reduce your lifespan. He posted statistics, will little backing evidence, that gays are responsible for over half of suicides, and 60% of all syphilis cases.
Agema told a local Michigan TV station that he didn’t agree with everything in the article he posted but that he was interested in many of the statistics in the article.
Several Michigan Republicans have called on him to step down from his post over the comments. One operative told the Detroit Free Press that you can’t “insult a wide swath of the electorate” and hope to win elections.
Agema told WWMT that he had no plans to resign from office over the controversial remarks and that he was standing his ground. “If the party doesn’t stand on its principle, we’ll lose our base.”
There is always a sense of urgency on the Los Angeles Lakers team every year from first tip-off to the last game of the season. Every year the team is built, taught, and coached in a “win now” mode. This year is no different and that sense of “win now” is even more urgent than any other time I can remember. The driving force behind this Lakers team to win a championship is once again Kobe Bryant, but this year he has very good reason to be willing himself and his team to victory. You see, father time is catching up with Kobe Bryant and he is in the twilight of his storied career.
Kobe Bryant, aka the “Black Mamba” is playing his 17th season as a pro and he is guaranteed to be around for one last season. In those seventeen seasons he has played 1232 games as of today, racked up over 45,000 minutes, and is currently 5th on the All Time Leading Scorers list with 31,415 points, and this man is 34 years old. Let that all sink in for a minute. Oh wait let me also add he is shooting a near career high field goal percentage, leading shooting guards in assists per game, and is on par to become the 4th leading scorer within the next couple of games. Alright now I will give you another minute to let that all sink in. While I can be treated to see the explosive play of Lebron James, the effortless scoring barrage from Kevin Durant, and other young NBA players every night, I am still amazed to see a man who has put so much wear and tear on his body still produce at these levels.
Many consider Kobe to be in the Top 5 greatest players to ever grace any professional basketball court, he is also considered the second greatest Shooting Guard (NBA icon Michael Jordan is of course number one here). Looking upon his earned accomplisments, records, and accolades it is easy to understand why his name comes up in such conversation. Bryant has earned numerous awards in his professional career, but let me just name the highlights. He is a 5 time NBA Champion, 2 time Finals MVP, 15 time NBA All Star, 4 time All Star MVP, and has two gold Olympic Gold Medals from Beijing and London. On top of those NBA accomplisments, Kobe is considered one of, if not the greatest, to ever play for the Los Angeles Lakers organization. The Black Mamaba holds the Lakers records for: career points total, most points in a single season, most played games, and most points in a single game.
Kobe is pursuing in tying if not surpassing NBA icon Michael Jordan in rings at six; While many around the league, myself included, do not see this Lakers team even reaching the playoffs, doubters only seem to fuel the Mamba into playing at an all time high for his career. This amazing play has earned him his newest nickname, “Vino”, referring to him only getting better with age. While father time still continues to tick against Bryant’s favor, seeing one of the greatest play in basketball history play at such a level is an honor.
While Byant himself has not confirmed his retirement after his 18th season, there is a lot of doubt of him coming back for one last hurrah. The day Kobe Bean Bryant hangs up his purple and gold armor while be a day of days, as an icon and face of the NBA finally can go home and rest.
Kobe Bryant can be followed on Facebook and his recent Twitter account
She was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanors, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.
h/t Washington Post
Now I’ve seen a lot of dumb criminals before, but this… this dude is definitely close to the top of the list.
Watch as the potential burglar walks up to his target, turns away so that he could put his mask on. Then tries to break the glass with a rock. An alarm sounds and the potential burglar trips over himself as he feebly runs away from his target. All the time, unaware that the entire episode was being captured on video.
Needless to say, this video – released by Redding police – has gone viral.
Pope Francis washed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, a remarkable choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus’ washing of the feet of his male disciples.
The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the Vatican said the 12 selected for the rite weren’t necessarily Catholic.
Because the inmates were mostly minors — the facility houses inmates aged 14-21 — the Vatican and Italian Justice Ministry limited media access inside. But Vatican Radio carried the Mass live, and Francis told the detainees that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in a gesture of love and service.
“This is a symbol, it is a sign —washing your feet means I am at your service,” Francis told the youngsters. “Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us. This is what I do. And I do it with my heart. I do this with my heart because it is my duty, as a priest and bishop I must be at your service.”
h/t TPM
The New Jersey man who won $338 million in the Powerball lottery last weekend is wanted on charges of unpaid child support, according to the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office.
An arrest warrant was issued for Pedro Quezada in 2009, the sheriff’s office said. He has five children ages 5-23 and owes a total of $29,000 in back child support, spokesman William Maer said. It is not clear which children the payments are for.
Quezada’s son, Casiano, said his father has hired an attorney and is “working through it.”
A child support warrant usually results in payment, an installment plan or arrest, Maer said. He declined to comment on the Quezada case because the investigation is ongoing.
Every person who wins more than $600 in the New Jersey Lottery is checked for outstanding taxes, liens, child support payments and the like, lottery spokeswoman Judith Drucker said. The funds owed are deducted from the winner’s final payment, she said.
Quezada has chosen a lump-sum cash jackpot payment that will amount to about $152 million after taxes.
Rep. Don Young of Alaska said Thursday that he “meant no disrespect” when he used the term “wetbacks” to refer to the migrant laborers who used to work on his father’s California ranch.
The Republican congressman dropped the racial slur during an interview with the Alaska radio station KRBD when talking about the changing market for U.S. labor jobs.
“My father had a ranch; we used to have 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” he said. “It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”
The term “wetback” was originally used to refer to Mexicans who entered the U.S. by swimming or wading across the Rio Grande.
After an uproar about his use of the derogatory term, Young issued a statement that walked back the remark without exactly apologizing.
“During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California,” he said, according to Alaska’s KTUU-TV. “I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.
Last year when Johan Santana tossed the first no-hitter in Mets history, Terry Collins was moved to tears by the display. Many had comments about Collins’ emotional reaction to Santana’s achievement. Even though this was a big day for the Mets organization, people said Collins didn’t have enough history with the club to be moved to tears. Some even went as far as making fun of him for it.
Now it has become a little clearer that maybe those tears had nothing to do with the club’s long history without a no-no until that day. Maybe Collins knew then what we are learning now. Johan was a lot closer to the end than anyone was willing to admit. Collins saw one last moment of greatness for one of the greats cut down by injury.
The Mets just broke the news that Santana has yet another tear in his pitching shoulder and his season is likely over. He will spend the entire year strengthening and rehabbing from his latest injury. But now the question is: is it worth it? Will Santana see the need in another difficult rehabilitation if another injury could be imminent. This latest shoulder tear could spell the end of Santana’s career.
Met fans can’t be mad at him either. You can be pissed at the situation and you can be disappointed that his Mets tenure was ultimately a bust. But comparing him to say Carl Pavano’s Yankee tenure would be inaccurate. Santana is a competitor. He’s a guy that gives 110% on the field and when he is trying to come back from an injury, he gives even more. His determination is something that has never been called into question. However, when talking about him, you can’t help but wonder what might have been if he could just stay healthy.
