Here’s a story that most of us know but may have forgotten.  It’s a sad story about a boy who became famous in Hollywood but his life ended tragically.  His name was Carl Switzer. At the age of 7, Carl began his acting career.  Already an experienced singer and musician, he would take on a… Read More »

When traveling abroad, the CDC either mandates or strongly recommends certain immunizations, depending on where you are going.  One set of recommendations to a particular country says that should be vaccinated for:  Tdap, MMR, Varicella, Hep A, Hep B, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, and yellow fever. There was no way to be prepared, though, for… Read More »

The English language boast 1.5 billion speakers throughout the world.  It is rapidly becoming the lingua franca or LWC – language of wider communication – of technology.  And, yet, it is one of the most difficult languages to master.  Now, those of us for whom it is our native tongue may take exception to that… Read More »

This past Christmas, it’s almost certain that you received a gift card from someone.  Gift cards have become the go-to gift.  In the past, gift cards were thought to be impersonal, given by those who didn’t want to take the time to thoughtfully shop.  However, the attitude is changing with 90% of the population fully… Read More »

Oops!  My bad!  These are expressions you never want to hear from your doctor.   There are all sorts of scenarios that might come to mind right now where you wouldn’t want to hear the doctor mutter those words under his breath during the exam.  And even though you would be anesthetized while on an operating… Read More »

If you enjoy looking into the night sky and provided there is little to no cloud cover, you will see a waning crescent moon tonight.  The next full moon will be on February 1st.  This unique celestial body is neither a star or planet.  It is considered as Earth’s natural satellite. The moon is considerably… Read More »

In 1915, the United States Industrial Alcohol Company (USIA) built a storage tank in Boston to hold imported molasses from which the alcohol would be developed.  The tank towered 58-feet into the air and was 90-feet in diameter.  Industrial alcohol is essentially denatured alcohol or ethanol and it is unfit for human consumption.  With WWI… Read More »

Dr. Jesse Bennett is credited with performing the first successful caesarean operation, commonly known as a C-section.  He was only 24-years old.  The surgery was done without “any equipment, and no antiseptics, in a humble home in the backwoods of Virginia.”1  Adding to this amazing feat is the fact that C-sections had been attempted in… Read More »

I am writing today’s devotional on 12/23/25, Christmas Eve Eve.  Something was in the news yesterday that by now, 1/13/26, will be old news and we will know how the story developed.  But it’s worth talking about and revisiting. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the governor of the state of Arkansas.  On December 16, 2025, she… Read More »

Suppose you walked into work today and the boss says, “Starting today, I’m going to give you a 113.68% pay raise plus I will reduce your work day from 9 hours to 8 hours – but there are some conditions.”  To give you an idea of what this might look like, minimum wage is $11.00/hour… Read More »