On a CNN newscast today a reporter was broadcasting from the seat of a motorized scooter. As he explained how some citizens were parking their cars and resorting to scooters as their response to the high gasoline prices, a young man appeared in frame during the live feed and displayed his middle finger. The lad continued on to school (we can only hope) while the network skillfully explained that they have no control over idiots.

“Barbaro, you are my inspiration,” Patty Morgera wrote on a poster she left at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center.  Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner, had just been euthanized.  People from all over the world had followed the colt’s progress as he fought for eight months to overcome an injury he suffered during the Preakness.  An incredible outpouring of love, affection, and respect followed the news of Barbaro’s passing.

My wife and I enjoy a drive through new neighborhoods. In recent years we have been amazed at the number of large homes being built. In earlier times these homes were called mansions, and they were a rare sight. Today, they comprise entire neighborhoods. Mid to high six-figure price tags accompany the homes, sometimes the price tags spilling over one million dollars. We couldn’t understand how so many people were able to suddenly afford such luxury. Then articles began appearing in the media and we learned what was behind this sudden affluence.

The Society for Neuroscience reports that, “Nearly two-thirds of ailments seen in doctors’ offices are commonly thought to be stress induced; indeed, stress can both cause diseases and exacerbate existing ones. Surveys indicate that 60 percent of Americans feel they are under a great deal of stress at least once a week. Costs due to stress from absenteeism, medical expenses, and lost productivity are estimated at $300 billion annually.”

Are you horrified when newscast after newscast starts the same way, with the senseless shooting or stabbing of a young person?

How about the recent incident in Florida where a group of girls pummeled a classmate for 30 minutes!

I heard a fascinating story today.  After hundreds of hours of flying time, always with a co-pilot/instructor, Joe decided he wanted to get his pilot’s license.  All that was lacking was for him to fly solo.  But he needed to overcome his fear of taking his plane up by himself.  Joe thought about all of the flight hours he and his co-pilot/instructor had logged, the times he had taken control of the plane during takeoff and landing, all of the knowledge he had about his airplane, and one blue sky clear day he decided to fly solo.  Joe decided that he would make the 40-minute flight from Baltimore up to the Delaware  line, following Route 95 and the Susquehanna River, and then back to Baltimore.  This was a familiar route, one that Joe felt very comfortable with.  He knew the flight path so well that he could fly by sight and discard his charts and maps.