Do you know James Arthur Ray? If the name is unfamiliar, events surrounding him may bring to mind why his name has been in the news. Ray was a "New Age Guru" preaching the gospel of The Secret with its revelation of the Law of Attraction to his well-heeled followers. Energetic and charismatic, he made lots of money, and perhaps developed a bad case of hubris. He apparently thought he knew how to run a traditional, Native American sweat lodge. He didn't. Of the fifty-five people who entered the lodge (two to four times what is usually practiced) after a day-and-a-half of fasting, nineteen had to be hospitalized with symptoms that included vomiting, trouble breathing, hallucinations,

Logic that is Illogical The psychology of argumentation and public speaking is filled with clever tricks. One that you'll often see is the setting up of a false choice between two possibilities. In philosophical logic this is expressed by saying: "Either A or not-A, you can't have both." For example, a person is either pregnant or not. Nobody can be a "little bit pregnant." But sometimes, the answer to a question is not yes or no, left or right, or a similar clear choice. "You're with us or you're against us!" shouts the politician. But why can't I be with you on some things and against you on others? A modern presentation of this is the approach of some politicians who say, "Either

In my first post in this series to greet the season of Spring, I explained why what most people think of as a love spell (cast the spell to make someone love you) is ultimately self-defeating. You'd always know that the only reason that person was with you was because of the spell, not because he or she really cared. There are other reasons why such a spell isn't a good idea, too. However, real love spells are possible, practical, and useful. As I wrote in my previous post, A far better way to perform a love spell is to make the universe aware that you’re ready for an influx of true love energy. This also involves making yourself ready for love and being open to accepting this energy

For about two years I worked full time in the computer industry. I worked in quality assurance for two computer game companies (including Disney Interactive) and then taught basic computer operation, graphics and 3D animation at USC. Later, I returned to QA (quality assurance) at another company and also did some customer support. When you help consumers, to keep track of how you spend your time, you keep a record of each call and how you handled it. There is an abbreviation often seen in the record: RTFM. Without going into details, it basically means that the consumer could have avoided their problem and not wasted our time if they had just Read The Freakin' Manual. (The "F" doesn't