Thank you to all who served in the United States armed forces and everywhere else. Freedom is never free.
Category Archives: News
Quote of the Day
“For the first time we can remember, a bureau of the federal government seems to be radically intruding on what the term of a church is.”
– Roman Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, explaining lawsuits by Catholic bishops and universities against new federal rules requiring them to furnish birth control coverage.
Is he kidding? This is the same Roman Catholic Church that feels it has the right to tell grown people what to do in their own bedrooms. And, this bastard is pissed off that the U.S. government is now telling them how to treat people?!
Filed under News
Pictures of the Day
In the midst of this Memorial Day weekend, I want to acknowledge all the military troops in the U.S. and its allies who have fought in Afghanistan and Iraq during the past decade. At long last, those conflicts are winding down, and most military personnel are coming safely to their families. Sadly, thousands of others are returning home in wheel chairs and body bags. So, while our elected officials and media talking heads wrap themselves in the American flag and cry freedom and patriotism; while bleeding heart liberals worry more about what’s happening in Africa and India; and while the youth of our nation lounges around on their fat, lazy asses typing on cell phones and watching “American Idol,” here’s to the real heroes and heroines who’ve done the dirty work. Please take a look at the video clip at the end. It’s especially touching.
Filed under News
Quote of the Day
“[North Carolina’s] Amendment 1 is ridiculous. It’s an invasion of people’s rights. North Carolina, why do you care if somebody wants to marry who they love? Same sex marriage should be legal. The fact it’s illegal is embarrassing. Divorce rate is at least 50% between men and women, so don’t give me the values angle. Making same sex marriage illegal is the same as having segregated drinking fountains. Embarrassing. The human race is embarrassing.”
– Phillip Jack Brooks, aka “C.M. Punk,” World Wrestling Entertainment champion, on North Carolina’s Amendment 1, which would ban gay marriage.
He eventually apologized for the outburst, but stands by his support for same-sex marriage. He has his facts right: roughly 50% of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce.
Filed under News
In Memoriam – Eugene Polley 1915 – 2012
Eugene Polley with his “Flash-Matic” in 1997.
Eugene Polley, the inventor of the TV remote, died of natural causes on May 20 at a suburban Chicago hospital. He was 96. I’m not mocking him; the TV remote is truly one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, next to the automobile, air conditioning and television itself. Before 1955, if you wanted to change channels – among the 3 or 4 that were available – you had to get up from the couch or chair and crank a knob. But, the 1950’s saw the birth of the space age and the glorious technical innovations that came with it to make our lives easier. Polley’s “Flash-Matic” debuted in 1955 and was considered a luxury option, like color TV.
Polley long felt he was denied proper credit for the remote control, said his son, Eugene Polley Jr.
The remote he invented used a beam of light directed at sensors in the corners of the set to change channels or turn the picture and sound on and off.
In 1956, another Zenith researcher, Viennese-born physicist Robert Adler, developed the Space Command remote. The Space Command relied on a series of high-frequency chimes that keyed a sensor to change channels. Both devices had drawbacks, but Adler’s design was embraced by Zenith.
Today’s infrared signal remotes, however, have more in common with Polley’s device, said John Taylor, a spokesman for Zenith. “I think that there’s no question that Gene Polley is the father of the wireless remote control. There are some news reports that made it seem like he was overshadowed by Dr. Robert Adler. Zenith always considered them the co-inventors.”
Polley and Adler, who died in 2007, shared an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1997 for their contributions to Zenith’s introduction of the wireless remote.
Polley, a resident of Lombard, Illnois, was preceded in death by his wife, Blanche, and a daughter, Joan. In addition to his son, Eugene Jr. of San Diego, he is survived by a grandson.
I was born in 1963 and actually remember what life was like before the TV remote control, just like I remember when telephones were used for talking to other people far away. It’s amazing, though, how people take such technology for granted – especially younger folks. Damn, I’m starting to sound old!
Filed under News
Quote of the Day
“That’s possible. Or the other option would be I would ask all the other candidates, including the president, maybe to submit a certified copy of their birth certificate. But I don’t want to do that.”
– Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, on the likelihood that President Obama won’t be on the ballot in Arizona this November, if the state of Hawaii doesn’t provide absolute proof the president was born there.
Here we go again! The assholes who comprise the self-righteous “birther” movement just won’t let that go and turn their attention to real issues like, you know, the economy, the war in Afghanistan, education, etc. Bennett declares he’s not a “birther,” but still doesn’t seem to be satisfied with the long-form birth certificate that was released last year.
Filed under News
Top 10 Bestselling Fiction & Nonfiction This Week
Hardcover Fiction
1. “Stolen Prey” by John Sandford (Putnam)
2. “11th Hour” by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown)
3. “The Columbus Affair” by Steve Berry (Ballantine)
4. “Deadlocked” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
5. “Calico Joe” by John Grisham, (Doubleday)
6. “The Innocent” by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
7. “In One Person” by John Irving (Simon & Schuster)
8. “The Wind Through the Keyhole” by Stephen King (Scribner)
9. “Bring Up the Bodies” by Hilary Mantel (Holt)
10. “The Road to Grace” by Richard Paul Evans (Simon & Schuster)
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. “The Amateur” by Edward Klein (Regnery)
2. “The Skinny Rules” by Bob Harper with Greg Critser (Ballantine)
3. “The Passage of Power” by Robert A. Caro (Knopf)
4. “The Art of Intelligence” by Henry A. Crumpton (Penguin Press)
5. “The Charge” by Brendon Burchard (Free Press)
6. “My Cross to Bear” by Gregg Allman (Morrow)
7. “Most Talkative” by Andy Cohen (Holt)
8. “I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)” by Stephen Colbert (Grand Central)
9. “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton M. Christensen et al (HarperBusiness)
10. “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard (Holt)
Filed under News
Cartoon of the Day
What kid needs monsters under the bed when they have politicians?
Filed under News
Chief Writing Wolf 