In early June Sam Woodruff retired to his home hoping to make it to his 53rd wedding anniversary. Sam had been undergoing radiation treatment for lung cancer. The therapy left him so weak and in such pain that he had decided to call off the efforts and let nature run its course. That's when a miracle bolt from heavan changed his future. Sam was on one of the walks that he had so often enjoyed but now was forced to shorten when lightning struck. Literally, I mean. Lightning struck him. He escaped the incident without serious injury and settled back into his routine at his comfortable cabin style home.   more »

With Iraq war costs passing 357 billion dollars , American casualties exceeding 3,600 and Iraqi civilian deaths beyond 74,000 perhaps now is the time for us to reexamine our rational for the war. The Bush administration argued Iraq was actively seeking to procure an atomic weapon. This is a claim we now know to be false. Ironically Iran is actively seeking nuclear weapons with little more than a whimper of protest from the United States. We were told that Iraq was harboring and supporting terrortist. It now appears that there was no link or active support between the Iraqi government and Al Qaida. Ironically, Iran continues to arm and support terrorist networks. Including those that are active within Iraq killing American soliders. Again, Bush states that war is not the answer in dealing with the recalcitrant Iranians. The question then demands an answer why was Bush a hawk with the Iraqis and a dove with the Iranians when the facts support a reversal in those nations treatment.   more »

Many people view life as a competition. Indeed, Western culture encourages this view. If life is a competition then there are two ways to win. One can play defense or one can play offense. This is true in any game. Offense is when you seek to achieve. Defense is when you seek to block or belittle your opponents achievements. With this world view you can only celebrate your success when it is greater than your opponents.   more »

The Mars rover “Spirit” still operating three years after its mission was planned to end is digging up new discoveries. The irony is that the most impressive discovery to date is a direct result of the aging and malfunctioning robot. The “Spirit” has six wheels and one of them no longer rotates.   more »

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. Scientists call this the Law of Conservation of Energy. Another way of putting this is that energy has no beginning and has no ending. The electrical impulse that started in your brain and traveled to a muscle cell causing it to contract had a life of its own a million years before your physical body came into existence. In fact the energy that made that muscle contract resulted from a different source then the one you used to contract the same muscle last year or even last week.   more »

I was beginning to look a bit scraggly so I made my way back to the barber shop. Upon entering I noticed an unfamiliar face. A sixtyish looking man with long gray hair tied back in a pony tail. This was my third visit to the barber shop and I new instantly who the man was. He was 'Doc'. The owner of the establishment and the butt of many jokes while he was away recovering from an injury. On my previous trip to the shop one of the barbers who fancied himself a comedian had replied to a patron's question, “Where is Doc,” by stating. “You havn't heard. Doc is hurt.” “What happened” the patron replied with a look of concern. The barber continued, “Well, he took a terrible fall while stage diving at the Elton John concert.” “He would have made it to, except that those huge glasses threw off his depth perception.” “Even then he might have made it but his cape got caught under his feet.”    more »

Most card tricks involve slight of hand or visual deception of some kind. Perhaps the performer hides cards under his sleeve or palms cards out of clear view. There are ,however, a handful of tricks that involve a far more sophisticated form of illusion. These tricks deceive the mind and not the eyes. These mental illusionist convince the audience that they saw something that they did not see at all.   more »

On August 14, 1862 a group of men filed into the oval office. They were perhaps the first black men to address the President in such a fashion. Mr Lincoln began by elucidating that he had been granted money by Congress with the goal “of colonizing people of African descent.” The President explained, “You and we are different races.   more »

While in graduate school I attending a seminar with a successful doctor who gave a rather convincing self motivation talk. He spoke of visualization and insisted that we all try a technique that would absolutely change our lives. He implored us to make a notebook filled with images of the things that we really wanted in life. “Rummage through old magazines and clip out images that you want to achieve. Each day pull the notebook out and imagine that those things are yours. Raise your hand if you will do this today. Do not do it tomorrow. This will decide if you are successful or a failure. Each day open the binder and visualize those things as yours.” He was a charismatic speaker in a one thousand dollar suite. The audience was spellbound. I sat at the back of the room and for a moment he made me believe I could have anything that I wanted.   more »

Today I needed a haircut and decided to try a new place that I passed while performing weekend errands. The old wood frame building had a large painted sign propped against the side wall which read “Doc's Rendezvous Barber Shop”. I entered the business and one of the two barbers asked me to have a seat as he worked his clippers on a young blonde boy. I took a seat and began to relax to the barber shop banter. A selection board in front read “Regular Cut $10, Good Cut $15, Oak Tree Cut $30.” Oak Tree being a selective country club in town that hosts PGA events.   more »