Do you remember stepping outside your door and being hit with a sound that produces a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools? This distinctive noise is the mating call of the cicada or commonly known as “locust”. A single male’s shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels which is equivalent to a blender. You may recognize them as the common red-eyed, shrimp-sized insects that don’t bite or sting but make a helluva lot of noise. The annual or dog-day cicadas that appear every summer are common around the world. However, there is a special kind of periodical cicadas which are only found in the eastern half of North America and are considered among the longest-lived insects in the world. Well, anyone living in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana better be prepared for a massive re-emergence of billions of the Brood XIII. It sounds kind of like a horror flick, doesn’t it. But it’s not.

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It’s funny how isolated we are from the horrors of war. American citizens have never really had to get their hands dirty, especially in more recent wars where sacrifice and the raw horrors of war hasn’t touched us, but there are those who have soldiers coming home for which those horrors are coming home with them. What’s different now is the soldiers are not only coming home with mental scars permanently etched into their psyches, but oftentimes they come home with photos and videos that can be played right in the living room. If you are easily upset, you may no want to continue reading this because included in this article are graphic details of the ugly side of war that no one wants to talk about.

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Have you ever wondered about those people who get transplanted organs from other people and whether or not they feel any different with someone else’s organs? Well, researchers are finding out that there may be something with having another’s organ within you. There have been startling reports of how people have taken on personality quirks, mannerisms and desires from people from whom they received their hearts. Some of these reports are truly remarkable and will really make you think. I have read in a couple of sources that the mind is not in the brain. Scientists have studied, sliced, magnified and electrified the brain to exhastion, and in the end, there is still no central source or processing unit. Meaning, no one is behind the wheel, so to speak. So if it is not in the brain, where does it exist and what makes us… well, us? Is it in every organ, tissue, cell? Is our mind encoded in our DNA?

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With a “Simpsons” movie premiering this summer, its 400th episode airing this week, and more episodes scheduled for another season, Homer Simpson has truly become a celebrity. He is uniquely one of those bumbling idiots who has endeared us with his endless antics. He has deceived his friends, blown up his hometown, divided his neighborhood, and driven his wife, kids, pets, pastor, bar buddies, co-workers, and his bosses to distraction. Homer is the kind of person who seems to get into and out of everything. Matter of fact, his philosophy is…”Weaseling out of things is important to learn…it’s what separates us from the animals, except the weasal.”

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If you haven’t been following the news, you may have missed an earth changing press release that warns of the arrival of the Antichrist for whom Christians believe could be an indication of the “end times.” According to Wikipedia, the Antichrist has to do with those who believe that “he, inspired by Satan, will attempt to win supporters with great works, and will silence anyone or makes enemies of any country that refuses their allegiance”. Well, all I have to say about this is it’s about time. What we need in this world today is a total collapse of religion, so that we can just simply scrap it all and start all over again. So, who is this Antichrist and what is he up to?

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I don’t know if you have heard of Justin Kan yet, but he is becoming the new rage in reality programming on the internet. It’s called Lifecasting. It’s reality programming with a twist. This time it’s from the perspective of Kan who wears a videocam strapped to his head all day recording his every waking moment. And, at night a stationary video camera records his every sleeping moment. This provides a live Web feed to his fans every day. You can live Kan’s life by going to justin.tv right now. You can not only watch him 24/7 but you can chat with him and other fans through online iming at the same time, giving him feedback and advice as he goes through his day. So this isn’t just evesdropping, it’s living vicariously through someone else real time. Why is this odd form of voyeurism catching on?

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