Bobby John

No more than 200 people lived in that unincorportated area in West Virginia. And it was Bobbie John’s kingdom. For years, for as long as anyone could remember, Bobbie John was the arbitrator and, like President Bush, the decider. Under his command were 200 living souls. Why did they come to Bobbie John to settle disputes, have him suggest whom to marry, all that day-to-day “important” stuff for those 200 living, breathing souls?

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Bad Directions are indeed recipes made for disaster. You’re doing something, making something, repairing something, going somewhere, and you become confused, not completely lost, just confused, so you stop and ask for directions. Guess what? Duh! Nine times out of ten someone gives you the wrong directions or you give yourself the wrong directions. These kinds of directions are Bad Directions when used in recipes that make for disaster.

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Ah, the corporate life.

Okay, they, and I mean they, have fired you because they had to do that in order for the company to weather these bad times and more bad times next year, perhaps. Did the boss even allow you to clean out your desk or locker of your personal items — a trust issue — or did he or she have the company security cops escort you right out the back door? Whatever; Never mind: You lost your job — pink slip, e-mail pink slip, or a verbal: “Get out here!”

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WHY?!!

What happened? Why did it happen? Why did we lose? Doc, I want a second opinion. The facts, madam, just the facts. The weather as a scapegoat. Who did it? What malfunctioned? Why? Why? Why? When, exactly, did he snap? Where was I then at that precise moment? What actually happened on November 22, 1863? Answers, answers, answers, we demand answers!

A plane crashes and after an investigation the public is told all 97 passengers died due to a ruptured hydraulic line. That solves the mystery and everyone except the families can get on with their everyday stuff. Also, everyone in on the know can erase that mind slate and … what? Forget about it! So was anything really learned; what steps were taken to prevent a history of these things happening again and again? Does it matter? Not really. Only being given an answer to why the plane crashed matters. Any answer would have satisfied just as well.

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Snipped from PhysOrg.com.

Short answer: maybe. It seems that physicians are not taking placebos as lightly as we once thought. The placebo effect, “a therapeutical effect based solely on the power of suggestion” that has showed up in all clinical trials and is commonly used scientifically in pharmaceutical research, is said to be used by 45% of Chicago internists when prescribing to patients.

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The catalyst for irrationality.

America’s future (maybe even the world’s), in my opinion, will all boil down to who will be elected the next president of the United States.

I strongly believe the world is watching and listening to what we are going to do with this constitutionally given elective power. 2008 will most likely be the most important political year in our generation, if not in the last 100 years.

If we elect another “everyday” political hawk, democrat OR republican, we will turn down a path that will lead us to a darker and more unAmerican future, and the point of no return will probably be passed. But, If we choose one of the unlikely candidates like Kucinich, Paul or maybe even Obama, we may be able to turn around this country, and potentially even our global image for the good.

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“I AM A MAN.” A sign worn by those
that wanted equal treatment.

The lynching tree and the Christian cross. This may sound like an antagonistic pairing of symbols, but after listening to a very enlightening man named James Cone, it made me not only see the light in its relationship, but how to bridge the gap of a century’s old American sin.

This man with his oddly raspy, slightly “Cosby-ish” voice speaks nothing short of volumes, you can’t help but be drawn into his story. Now that I have been educated to this “terribly beautiful” relationship of the two most powerfully evil and godly symbols, it is now upon me to share this newly learned perspective with the rest of my “brothers”, white, and black.

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Can we repair our bio-machine?

What if the human body had a warranty? Well, it may actually have one, but you are probably voiding it right at this moment. Mental stress and overly abundant food may two of the major culprits to our societies’ collective decline in health.

Ever wonder why stress is a killer, and why it plagues our civilization? What about why the foods that we crave are the worst for us? Our original blueprint for human survival may be a key to some of life’s ultimate questions. This blueprint for our bodies was designed by hundreds of thousands of years of evolution (unless you believe God created us just as we are right now, then your answer would be God didn’t think us through very well or is simply a cruel being). So we need to think back to the environment and lifestyle that triggered the evolutionary changes that made us what we are.

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Hi, my name is …

What’s in a name? Nothing. Nothing at all. And if you learn a thing’s name, you lose all of its thing-ness, its splendor, its mystery. It is all a matter of perception. This is my chance to play philosopher. Bear with me, and we’ll explore together.

What is reality? Again, what we perceive is what reality is, at least for us. We call a daisy a daisy and a dandelion a dandelion.

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Ready, aim …

You’re in a low-paying job, have few prospects and know there’s more to you than that job. You want a profession, a career. You want to be recognized. You want to be somebody.

What do you do? You might become an expert. An expert in what you ask. It doesn’t matter. Pick any subject, any area, any activity. Any one single thing. What you pick doesn’t necessarily have to interest you now in a great way. In time, interest will grow. You will be absorbed by what ever it is. Yes, you will.

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