Paul Wood says that the headaches were so bad that he couldn't walk down a hallway without using the walls for support. X-rays showed a malignant brain tumor was the problem, although his neurosurgeon thought an aneurysm might have caused bleeding on the brain. His surgery was abruptly canceled after new x-rays revealed the tumor had vanished. Medical professionals refer to this phenomena as "spontaneous remission." One day the patient is dying of some incurable malady, and the next day has completely recovered. Statistically speaking, survival is not the expected outcome. When a person has what is normally considered a fatal illness or injury, we should naturally expect that person to die within a relatively short period of time, or at least have surgery or other treatment to save that person's life. There is no natural explanation for a tumor (and all symptoms) to simply disappear. But rarely, it does happen. According to the pastor of Gravity Church, Paul had inspired his fellow congregation members by saying, "No matter what happens to me, I'm going to be okay. I trust God." Nothing that anyone could possibly say would ever convince Paul Wood that he had not received a miraculous cure from God, facilitated by the power of prayer. Skeptics might argue that Paul's condition was inaccurately diagnosed and his doctors were incompetent, or might look for some other way to explain the inexplicable, but while Paul's recovery might be the exception and not the rule, it's hardly the only exception. Miracles appear to happen relatively frequently, once we start looking … [Read more...]
The ghost brother of Twisted Sister
(Image: © Paul Natkin\/WireImage) I must admit that the strongest memory I had of the “heavy metal” rock band Twisted Sister was not actually of the band, but a National Lampoon magazine I once owned. The cover bore the picture of an adorable but pitiful-looking dog with a .38 revolver pressed to its head. The cover threatened, “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog!” It's a well known fact that I'm a sucker for dogs, so I bought a copy. Even years prior to my involvement with animal rescue, I couldn’t resist the idea of saving that poor dog’s life. In retrospect, it may have been the best investment under five bucks I've ever made. That issue wasn't just funny; virtually every word was hilarious. There were spoofs of arcade games like Space Invaders but called “Sperm from Space”, longer articles such as “The Death of Ed McMahon”...even the fake "Letters to the Editor" were priceless. When I read that issue of National Lampoon, I laughed so hard I cried, some of the jokes were so funny. Then my friends passed it around the room and read it in turn, shedding tears of laughter as well. Only our friend Jarvis read the whole magazine from cover to cover and never even cracked a smile, but he was the exception. There was a point to be made here, and it's about Twisted Sister. One of the fake letters to the editor went something along these lines (from memory, so this is not a verbatim quote): Dear Sir: I would like to completely disavow myself from any association with the bands AC/DC, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Motley Crue…after a long … [Read more...]
A black life that mattered
On Saturday, October 20, 2018 in broad daylight, Gwinnett County police officer Antwan Toney was murdered in cold blood. He was investigating the report of a suspicious vehicle at the intersection of Bethany Church Road and Shiloh Road, not too far from metropolitan Atlanta. Officer Toney never had a chance--on his approach toward the stopped vehicle, one or more of the occupants inside opened fire, fatally wounding him. The California native recently celebrated his 30th birthday and was only six days shy of celebrating his third anniversary of service with the Gwinnett County Police Department. My question is pretty simple--did his life matter? If not, why not? It certainly matters to me. I happen to live in Gwinnett County. This man died helping keep people like me safe from violent criminals. But you know who probably doesn't care about this man's murder? The people involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. They only seem to care about criminals and the rare innocent victim, and only then according to the color of their skin. They only see Officer Toney's uniform and ignore the smiling, handsome young man wearing it. Officer Antwan Toney However, if suspected gunman Tafarhee Maynard is killed resisting arrest by police who know he's already murdered one of their brothers in blue, you can bet your bottom dollar that the BLM will be protesting his death. Obviously, the leadership of the Black Lives Matter movement doesn't care about every black life. They only care when deadly force is used by the police, not by criminals. That's why I loathe the BLM … [Read more...]
Amy Schumer: a portrait in liberal hypocrisy
Amy Schumer is a Hollywood actress and comedian who made her film debut in 2015 by starring in the movie Trainwreck. As this article continues, please do not forget that she also wrote the script for the movie. The photo below shows Amy with a couple of other protestors at the Senate confirmation hearing for Judge (now Supreme Court Justice) Brett Kavanaugh. Ms. Schumer later agreed to be arrested by the police. Now if her last name sounds awfully familiar even though you've never seen Ms. Schumer perform, you'd be correct if you guessed it was because her uncle is none other than Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck (You) Schumer. Before we unpack the idea of Ms. Schumer protesting the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, let's take a little bit closer look at the plot of her big Hollywood debut, and the script she wrote. In fact, we can learn all we need to know simply by watching the official trailer. Note that her character (named Amy) says in a voice over, I'm just a modern chick who does what she wants. Last week, it was this guy. Wow. What a great role model! </sarcasm> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_KP9x80Z9Q Ms. Schumer plays a woman who frequently gets drunk and has shallow sexual encounters with a never-ending succession of strange men. If her character had been male, he would have (or at least should have) been labeled a Lothario or Casanova personality who should be understood to be a sexual predator, or seen as a serious alcoholic with low self-esteem and a complete lack of control over his inhibitions. In real … [Read more...]
Anger management
Writing is cathartic. I express my thoughts and emotions with my fingers using the keyboard, not using my fists to rearrange someone else's face, even though the thought does prove tempting at times. It's okay to be unhappy when things don't always go your way. There's nothing wrong with getting angry when you feel an injustice has gone unpunished. It's even okay to peacefully protest an grotesque injustice and try to inspire others to motivate necessary change. Remember the TEA Party? However, it's not okay to scream like a jackass at the top of your lungs six inches from the face of someone you don't like. Nor is it okay to hit that person when his or her back is turned, like a coward is often tempted to do. And it's not okay to destroy private property belonging to someone who disagrees with you...in fact, that's criminal behavior called assault, vandalism, theft, and whatever the legal term is for felony destruction of private property. Oh...I guess the technical term would be arson. This is how liberals "disagree" with other people. It's also not okay to stand in the middle of the street forcing traffic to stop and redirect in order to avoid you, while you scream profanity at the people in the car. These people have completely lost their minds. Like a virus, this irrational, out-of-control anger coming from liberals, progressives, radicals, and anarchists has been threatening to spread out of control because the response from rational and reasonable people has been rather calm and understated, which only emboldens these crazy people. In November … [Read more...]
