Monday, June 29, 2009

Planning for Shade

Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Warren Buffett

Friday, June 26, 2009

Some Days..

Some days you’re the pigeon, some days you’re the statue.

Droogling in the Corner

"Just because you're old, that doesn't mean you can't do fun stuff. And you don't want to sit around drooling in the corner. And so it's a wonderful release."
George HW Bush commenting on his skydive on his 85th brithday. The former president plans to take the plunge again when he turns 90 years old.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

7 Social Sins

The seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.

Mahatma Gandhi

Voter Fraud in Iran

Was the vote count in Iran manipulated?

The fact there were more votes counted in some parts of the country than people living there is a hint. But there is also the numbers seven and five to consider. What can they tell you about the election? Apparently, more than you would expect.

In legitimate elections, the distribution of numbers is random. But when people make up numbers, they have a tendency (studies have shown) to select some digits more frequently than others.

According to two political science students from Columbia University, there are too many 7s and not enough 5s in the last digits of Iran's vote totals. The digit 7 shows up 17% of the time while the number 5 appears just 4% of the time. That will only happen 4 times out of a hundred.

To give you a comparison, the last US Presidential election vote total shows these digits coming up no more than 14% of the time or and no less than 6%. That's just what you’d expect to happen in a real election 70% of the time.

But Iran also has a problem with sequential numbers. When we make up figures, we tend toward 3-4 or 5-6 or 8-9. We naturally use numbers that are right beside of each other. When you look at the votes from the various Iranian provinces, you notice that adjacent numbers come up too often.

The Columbia students say the chances that the same two issues would come up in a legitimate election is less than .005.

Hiding the truth is quite a difficult task, isn't it?

"You may be sure that your sin will find you out."

Numbers 32:23


Read more on what the students found by clicking here.

Stephen Goforth

Monday, June 22, 2009

Respect People

Respect people for who they are, not for what their titles are.

Herb Kelleher

Friday, June 19, 2009

Everyday Choices

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

Charles Swindoll

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Re-Framing

Reframe the other side’s accusations as opportunities to talk about problems.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

In Different Ways

"I don't consider myself a genius. There are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way."

Moshe Kai Cavalin who earned his astrophysics degree from the East Los Angeles Community College with an A-plus average.. at the age of 11.

Monday, June 15, 2009

The Limits of Reason

Reason is not omni-competent.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Reward for Being Positive

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Herm Albright

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Optimism and Opportunity

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Sir Winston Churchill

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Wrapped up in a Daydream

Daydreaming may bring you closer to a solution to problems rather than further away. New research shows letting your mind wander will give parts of your brain time to do a little problem solving.

The University of British Columbia study put people in an fMRI scanner. The less subjects were aware that their mind was wandering off a simple task, the more parts of the brain associated with complex problem-solving lit up. Researchers believe this shows the brain is very active when we daydream – more than when we are simply focused on routine tasks. So while letting your mind wander may hurt your performance in the task at hand, it allows you to work on more significant issues and goals.

Details of the study are in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Stephen Goforth

Monday, June 8, 2009

Daily Motivation

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing -- that's why we recommend it daily.

Zig Ziglar

Friday, June 5, 2009

Holiness

The path to holiness lies through questioning everything.

M.Scott Peck

Thursday, June 4, 2009

In God We Trust

"Our Nation's motto - 'In God We Trust' - was not chosen lightly. It reflects a basic recognition that there is a divine authority in the universe to which this nation owes homage."

President Ronald Reagan

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Silence

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King, Jr