Downtown Los Angeles, circa 1983

Downtown Los Angeles, circa 1983
STMcC in downtown Los Angeles, circa 1983

Monday, October 30, 2017

NO POLITICAL TURTLES HERE (They All Stuck Their Necks Out!)

.
.
2Oth CENTURY HEROES
by American Opinion Publishing, Inc.
copyright: 2000
.
My family participates in a "Mystery Santa / Gift Theft" game every Christmas Eve. A few years back, I anonymously brought a copy of 20TH CENTURY HEROES for the game, hoping to swipe it for myself -- which I did. "Santa" knows what I like.
.
20TH CENTURY HEROES is a fine book, featuring well-researched and nicely written profiles of "25 extraordinary individuals [who] helped steer the course of history away from the tyranny of the Total State." These people were GREAT GIRAFFES, not POLITICAL TURTLES! The book is loaded with photographs and 5 to 10 pages are dedicated to each hero.
.
In his Introduction, Gary Benoit writes: "On the surface at least, the tragic history of the last century does not appear to offer much hope for the survival of our Christian-style civilization ... the 20th-century prologue to the new millenium could be described as the rise of the Total State -- the totalitarian "isms" (Communism, Nazism, Facism), under which the ruling elite exercise absolute power without any religious, moral, or legal constraints. ... Of course, none of the heroes honored in this book was perfect; all of them were sinners. Yet, by the grace of God, they were able to perform heroic deeds in spite of man's fallen nature and, in many cases, to rally their countrymen in defense of freedom."
.
The 25 individuals are profiled under the following categories...
.
MARTIAL VALOR:
Douglas MacArthur / George Patton / Draza Mihailovich / Henri Guisan
.
STATESMANSHIP:
Chiang Kai-shek / Francisco Franco / Antonio de Oliveira Salazar / Syngman Rhee / Moise Tshombe / Augusto Pinochet / Robert Taft
.
FAITH, COURAGE, CHARACTER:
Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty / John Birch / Charles Lindberg / Ezra Taft Benson / Booker T. Washington
.
SCHOLARSHIP, PHILOSOPHY, IMAGINATION:
Ludwig von Mises / G.K. Chesterton / C.S. Lewis / Taylor Caldwell / Yoey O'Dogherty
.
FREEDOM ACTIVISM:
John T. Flynn / Martin Dies / Joseph McCarthy / Dan Smoot / Robert Welch
.
I have an affinity for any book that sets the record straight concerning the calumny STILL being upchucked by the mass media about Senator Joseph McCarthy -- (TV Guide's Dec. 5-11, 2004 issue featured 'The 100 Most Memorable TV Moments!' Coming in at #39, "HAVE YOU NO SHAME?" [6/9/54]: "At the Army-McCarthy hearings, the lawyer's question for the senator finally shows who the real enemy is." *Anybody who believes that is in dire need of deprogramming!)
.
Although the man died before I was born, I feel an intense pain in my heart for McCarthy, and embarrassment for how this country turned its back on that truly heroic patriot. America was not worthy of him. Even less so now.
.
'The New American' magazine (an organ of the John Birch Society) is quite possibly the finest current events periodical in the country (see [link> 
www.thenewamerican.com). Since these essays first appeared in its pages, it is no surprise that John Birch and Robert Welch are included.
.
20TH CENTURY HEROES will be a valuable research tool in the bookshelf of any real American patriot concerned with the struggle between liberty and despotism, between the free enterprise system and State-controlled abject collectivism. However, my mind being devoid of Panglossian delusions, I am convinced that this book and the great truths it explores will remain largely ignored by this and future generations and to the detriment of global societies!

.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

ILLUMINATIng The Shadows

.
.
THE SHADOWS OF POWER
by James Perloff
published: 1988
.
The vast majority of Americans believe that the U.S. is engaged in a "Culture War". Indeed, this is true, but where they go wrong is in assuming that the war is carried out by two titanic forces known as the Democrat and Republican parties -- the white and black-hatted combatants, or the black and white-hatted combatants, depending upon where the observer stands. The truth is that BOTH parties are wearing black hats, and the raging battle played out daily in Washington and the various media outlets is for public consumption only. The REAL war theater is elsewhere.
.
My best analogy is a "Punch-And-Judy" show. While the audience (the public at large) is engrossed in the fisticuffs between two warring enemies, behind the scenes, a single entity controls both participants. If you wish to see beyond the marionettes and get a look at the puppeteer, you'll need to read printed material that exists outside of The Establishment's imprimatur. Such as James Perloff's 'THE SHADOWS OF POWER'.
.
I can hear a few of you balking already: "It sounds like he's referring to a... a...a... (shhh!)... conspiracy."

.
Welcome to the REAL world, friend! It's about time you woke up and smelled the arsenic! 'THE SHADOWS OF POWER' is a well-researched and well-written expose on the heart of the matter: The Council On Foreign Relations (C.F.R.) -- which is not "Ground Zero" of the Conspiracy, but it does represent the visible moving parts, the meshing gears, the framers and roofers and electricians building 'The New World Order' structure from the blueprint provided by the "architects" hidden from public view -- the "wizards" behind the curtain.
.
More than you know, you need to read this book if you...
.
* Have no idea what the C.F.R. is and wants.
.
* Think the Federal Reserve, which controls the U.S. economy, is a government agency.
.
* Wonder why the U.S. sent young men to fight Communism in Asia only 3 years after permitting (and assisting in) the establishment of a Soviet satellite just 150 miles off the coast of Florida.
.
* Still can't figure out how and why the U.S. lost that war with two-bit Communists in Asia.
.
* Were watching nice little stories on the Seven O'Clock news about Presidents Bill 'n' Hill [*See them tote their Bible to church and sing praises with the congregation.]; their nice daughter, Chelsea; and their nice little dog, Buddy, while sensitive technology with military capability was being sold to the Red Chinese without comment from the mainstream media.
.
One chapter of particular interest is 'A Second Look At Ronald Reagan'. Reagan "chalked up more government debt than all the Presidents before him COMBINED!" He was touted as an enemy of taxation and big government, and yet, although he did cut tax rates, he "also pushed through the largest single tax increase in our nation's history, as well as boosts in the gasoline and Social Security taxes." Although critical of Jimmy Carter for abiding by the Salt II Treaty, which the Senate didn't ratify, later as President, Reagan ordered two Poseidon ballistic missile submarines DISMANTLED to ensure we stayed within Salt II limits. And that's just the beginning!
.
'The Media Blackout' chapter is also very enlightening. Here we learn of Nicaragua's former President Anastasio Somoza's complaint about the deliberate hatchet job he received at the hands of Dan Rather and 60 Minutes. It reveals the power to promote an agenda and sway the public perception that major print and media outlets possess. And it should force most Americans to reconsider how many of their current beliefs might have been artificially induced by the manipulative mainstream media.
.

Although the book was published in 1988, it's every bit as relevant now as it was then because the C.F.R. program hasn't changed -- evidenced by today's headlines, and discerned by anyone who knows how the game is played.
.
If there's ONE thing I've learned in studying politics over these many years, it's this: It's NEVER what politicians SAY that counts; it's strictly what they DO. To the detriment of the People of the United States, when the Democrat party takes power, it usually keeps its campaign promises. Equally detrimental, the Republican party doesn't. And because I love the U.S. Constitution, I despise them both! Get this book and see who is standing in the shadows and pulling the strings on those two puppets.
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

"THERE'S A SADNESS IN THE HEART OF THINGS"

.
.
[Originally published on 2005, Feb. 16th]
.
SENTIMENTAL HYGIENE
by Warren Zevon
released: 1987
.
Although I'm not a hardcore WARREN ZEVON fan, I owned several of his albums back in the era of Licorice Pizza (vinyl records). And I did catch him live once in the late '80s -- a fairly mundane performance, and this in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles. When I sold off my LPs and made the transition to compact discs, his eponymous album was the only recording I reacquired.
.
On vacation this past July, I heard SENTIMENTAL HYGIENE in a store and bought a copy -- it having reminded me of my youth and those daze of "Liquid Sedation."
.
I've never listened to ZEVON so much for the music. He's not terrifically "melodic" much of the time and his sandpaper-edged vocals lack range. It's Zevon for the lyrics, for his wry take on life. He was Rock's Grim Reaper on Laughing Gas! Zevon's writing didn't just put angst on the table, it presented it as the entree, but usually with rich jocularity sauce ladled over the top for seasoning. A pint glass of arsenic with a "twist" of humor (or perhaps that ought to be "with a twisted humor"). He always gave us the WAR-IN-ZEVON: that interior knock-down, drag-out struggle of a warped man in a totally insane world.
.
Overall, this is the warped boy's hardest rocking disc. After a much publicized stint in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, this was a "comeback" album designed to show that he had indeed gotten up off the canvas swinging! For me, the standout tracks are:
.
BOOM BOOM MANCINI -- A thunderous anthem to the lion-hearted, Youngstown, Ohio pugilist. It is driven by an appropriately over-amped, bruising guitar hook and uppercut! I can still remember the car radio announcement that informed me of Mancini's 14 round loss to Alexis Arguello in 1981. I bawled for the brawler. But then I was "LIQUIDATED" at the time -- some evil man at Dodger Stadium having sold me 2 beers an inning for 9 innings. (Don't hate me; I wasn't driving!) THE WAR-IN-ZEVON: "Some have the speed and the right combinations; if you can't take the punches, it don't mean a thing."
.
RECONSIDER ME -- A plaintive and moving ballad sung straight on the rocks, no "twist." THE WAR-IN-ZEVON: "If it's still the past that makes you doubt, darlin' that was then and this is now. Reconsider me."
.
BAD KARMA -- A very funny song about picking up the gauntlet thrown down by life and coming to grips with disillusionment. THE WAR-IN-ZEVON: "Was it something I did in another life? I try and try but nothing comes out right for me. Bad karma, killing me by degrees."
.
EVEN A DOG CAN SHAKE HANDS -- Ya gotta love the enthusiastic energy of this one. It starts out with "YEAH!! WOO-OOO!! HEEEEEY!!" Good stuffs about the tie-wearing parasites in the music biz. Now, if you've lived in L.A., you know that the San Fernando Valley is where you take up residence just prior to limping out of town with yer head down and yer tail tucked between yer legs. So it's pretty funny when our singer is warned to play the game properly or he'll "end up dead, living in The Valley someday". As though the two are synonymous. THE WAR-IN-ZEVON: "Abandon all hope and don't rock the boat, and we'll all make a few hundred grand. Everybody's trying to be a friend of mine. Even a dog can shake hands."
.
THE HEARTACHE -- Another ballad on the rocks, no "twist." The subject is unrequited love, which in common parlance means, "unsuccessful open-heart surgery." 'The Heartache' contains one of the greatest lines in song: "THERE'S A SADNESS IN THE HEART OF THINGS". This one line has haunted me ever since I first heard it in 1987. In all these years, not a month has passed that I didn't find myself silently reciting it in response to some unfortunate situation, or while merely contemplating the setting of the sun. If you don't get it, then consider yourself lucky and rejoice in your insensitivity. THE WAR-IN-ZEVON: "There's a sadness in the heart of things" ...of course! Why, it's only the most poignant moment on the entire album!
.
I would dig SENTIMENTAL HYGIENE a lot more if the songs that I don't care for, I felt merely neutral about. But I actively dislike DETOX MANSION, Zevon's noisy, irreverent attempt to make light of his drug and alcohol rehab. To plagiarize one of his earlier songs: It ain't that funny at all. The attempt at humor sounds forced. Many years ago I wrote a poem called 'The League Of Soul Crusaders' which included the lines, "THESE BOYS DON'T CRY WHEN THEY SHOULD / AND LAUGH WHEN THEY SHOULDN'T". I feel that 'Detox Mansion' is a good example of that.
.
One of my pet peeves in music is when lifelong Rock Stars with Champagne and Brie on their breath sing about the tough life of 'the working man'. Boys, give it a rest! Don't let your conscience convince you that we need to hear your understanding. If you want to sing to us about how difficult it is to have 13 groupies a night but only 2 hotel suites, or how the bad concert promoter forgot to remove the brown M&Ms from the backstage candy bowl, or how room service is too slow at the Hilton, fine. But don't be telling us about punching a time clock with the bossman looking over your shoulder! Don't gripe about the 8 to 5 'blue collar' life, because you don't know it like we do! (Are you listening Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon & Jackson Browne?) 
.
Zevon commits this cardinal Rock Music sin in the unconvincing and unmusical THE FACTORY. Aside from all that, the first four lines are poorly conceived: "I was born in '63 / Got a little job in the factory / I don't know much about Kennedy / I was too busy working in the factory." (Give that some real thought. What happened to the Child Labor Laws?!)
.
Overall, SENTIMENTAL HYGIENE is a very solid effort. His self-titled album 'WARREN ZEVON', however, remains his essential release. It includes his real masterpiece, DESPERADOS UNDER THE EAVES, and also CARMELITA, with its reference to the infamous "Pioneer Chicken Stand". Which, incidentally, once stood on the Southeast corner at Alvarado and Montana Streets in L.A., a few blocks north of Echo Park. The spot is now just the upper corner of the Vons Supermarket parking lot. But if any of you Zevon diehards ever make the pilgrimage to this "legendary" location, don't tell anyone that you heard from Stephen T. I hear the cops, a one-eyed bartender, and thirteen angry waitresses are still hunting for me.
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

AVOCADO: IT'S NOT JUST ANOTHER CALIFORNIA "FRUIT"

.
.
[Review written and published at

Amazon.com on October 1, 2005]
.
AVOCADOS

.
The [link:> Hass Variety From California Preferred
.
I found myself with a little spare time and decided to write an Amazon review. Ah, but what to apply my computer keyboard to? Certainly it needed to be important -- something with social relevance, and worthy of my time. Plato's 'REPUBLIC'? Nah, too old.

.
'THE ANTI-FEDERALIST PAPERS AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION DEBATES'? Too stuffy.
.
G. Edward Griffin's 'THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND: A SECOND LOOK AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE'? Too depressing.
.
'THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE' by William James? Nah, too remote for "Six-Pack" Sam and "Max Factor" Mary.
.
And then, just as I was salting my avocado, I hit upon the porridge that was "just right". Why, avocados of course! The answer was right there under my nose all along. "Why not share with your Amazon pals 'The Southern California Experience'?" I asked myself. "There is nothing in which you have more expertise." And when I failed to find an adequate reBUTTal, I planted mine on the chair and clicked the "Write A Review" button.
.
Say the name "California" and immediately "nuts" and "fruits" come to mind. After all, California produces 40% of America's produce. And yet, one rarely thinks specifically of that most delectable California fruit: the avocado.
.
The old joke is that "When California sneezes, the rest of the country catches a cold." But when we're talking avocados, it's no joking matter to me -- this is SERIOUS business! I fear, however, that some may not approach this matter with sufficient solemnity. And granted, my attitude in the past may be partially responsible.
.
In the 2005, April 25 issue of Time magazine -- that paragon of nonpartisan journalism published by the C.F.R. corporate sponsor AOL Time-Warner Inc. -- the cover story featured Ann Coulter. She revealed in the interview that when her editor suggests cutting a line from a column to save space, she asks him, "But is it funny?" And if he says it is, she'll cut an actual fact instead.

.
Now, in some respects, Ann Coulter and I are quite dissimilar. For instance, she is more liberal and politically diplomatic than I am, while being physically less attractive and less muscular. However, we both appear to be slaves to our own sense of humor. Perhaps I occasionally say or write something I ought not, but if it strikes me as funny, I "out with it" anyway. And I feel that because of my brand of humor, I am often misunderstood by those who march to a drummer who keeps a steady, though unadventurous 4/4 beat. You see, the "drummer" in my head -- when he's not trying to sell me some trinket I don't need -- keeps a rather quirky, irregular time. But if you'll take me seriously for once, I'll take you on a No-Expenses-Paid vacation to Southern California. Having been born and "razed" there, I'm the best tour guide you'll find... (at this price!)
.
Here's what you'll need:

.
1) One copy of Bruce Brown's seminal surfing flick 'THE ENDLESS SUMMER' (1966).
.
2) One copy of any Beach Boys album, but preferably the anthology 'ENDLESS SUMMER'. (You can substitute 'MORRISON HOTEL' or 'L.A. WOMAN' by The Doors if you require a slightly harder edge, but I recommend you go the traditional route.)
.
3) One bottle of California's BEAULIEU VINEYARD "Rutherford" Cabernet Sauvignon. You can substitute SIERRA NEVADA Pale Ale, brewed in Chico, California, if you prefer to quaff liquid cereal than liquid grapes.
.
4) Two slices of WHITE TOAST.
.
5) Two pats of butter.
.
6) One CALIFORNIA HASS AVOCADO, as pictured above. It should be HASS -- identifiable by its very bumpy, thick, almost leather-like skin.
.
7) One shaker of salt (which one should keep handy anyway whilst reading Stephen T. McCarthy).
.
Here's what you do: A) Put on the surfing movie and turn the sound DOWN. B) Put on the Beach Boys music and turn the sound UP. C) Occasionally sip your liquid California grapes or liquid California cereal, while you...
.
* Spread the butter on the toast while it's hot, so the butter melts.
.
* With a round-tipped dinner knife (a pointed steak knife will only "butcher" the project) cut into the ripe (!) avocado at its tapered end, and cut around the fruit (or guide the avocado around the knife's blade) to create two equal halves. Pull them apart.
.
* Carefully cut around the inner seed and gently pry it out of the avocado's center.
.
* Insert the knife carefully and deeply just between the flesh and the avocado's shell and gently saw through the flesh while slowly rotating the fruit around the knife. Make two revolutions to be thorough, and then use the knife to pry the inside flesh out of the outer shell and onto a piece of toast. If you did it properly, you should have the flesh of half of an avocado in one piece, sitting on the toast.
.
* Now slice the avocado up into multiple segments and mush it all together until the top of the toast is entirely covered.  (It should look something like guacamole on toast.)
.
* Finally, salt the top very, VERY generously, and eat.
.
* Repeat the process for the second piece of toast.
.
You are now as close to being a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, Old School Californian as any outsider can ever hope to be.
.
This delicacy which you have just enjoyed is a McCARTHY FAMILY TRADITION, which I grew up savoring. I got it from my Pa who got it from his Pa who got it from... who knows where?

.
1) I have yet to meet anyone outside of the McCarthy Family who had eaten avocado in THIS particular manner.
2) I have yet to meet anyone who didn't imagine it to be unappetizing when described.
3) I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't loved it after finally giving it a try. (Key: Again, lots of salt!)
.
I freely admit that I'd find ideologically abhorrent the ordering of California avocados from New York. And the current $2.99 price tag would only add injury to insult. That's like getting "Californicated" by a New Yorker! Back when I was growing up in the "Dogtown" section of Los Angeles, we often pulled 'em right off the trees which were growing EVERYWHERE. Got 'em free from God! But if your only choices are California avocados from New York at $2.99 apiece, or no avocados from anywhere at any price... get "Californicated".
.
If I were scheduled to be executed (and someday I probably will be), AVOCADO  ON  TOAST would be my "last supper" request. And hopefully they'd have to order the avocados from New York while I'm imprisoned in some Scandinavian country. (More time to make good my escape, ya un'erstan'.)
.
In closing, I'll suggest the same thing to you that the four-time national surfing champion, Yoey O'Dogherty, once suggested to me in 1977 while we were "hanging ten" on a nine foot wave in sunny Malibu, California: "Dude, like, let's go get some avocados, man!"
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.

Monday, October 9, 2017

PRIME PRIMA!

.
.
THE CALL OF THE WILDEST / THE WILDEST SHOW AT TAHOE
by Louis Prima w/ Keely Smith, Sam Butera & The Witnesses
released: 1990
.
Although he's likely listening to the ethereal harmonizing of an angel choir now, when my Pa (who was truly one of my best friends) was still with us, his favorite vocalists were Nat King Cole and Dinah Washington. But the records I remember him most often playing were 'Golden Hits' by Roger Miller (he had a penchant for waking us up for school by blasting, 'You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd') and the two LOUIS PRIMA albums collected here on this one compact disc.
.
As a little kid, I was fascinated by the cover photo on 'THE CALL OF THE WILDEST' and I spent a lot of time scrutinizing it. I thought that the over-the-top rambunctiousness of the song THERE'LL BE NO NEXT TIME was hilarious (and I didn't even know what adultery was!)
.
The second album, 'THE WILDEST SHOW AT TAHOE', recorded live at Harrah's Club in 1958 always reminds me of our family vacation to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, about fourteen years later: Out on the lake in a small boat, my Pa says, "Look at the size of that fish!" Stephen, like the idiot he was and is, peers over the side of the boat and gets the predictable shove in the back.

.
My Pa knew he had erred when I resurfaced bluer than the lake. Cold? Folks, you don't even know what cold is until your Pa has pushed you into the notoriously frigid Lake Tahoe! My brain was instantaneously transformed into blue raspberry Jello. Forget swimming! I couldn't even remember how to dog paddle! But over the years, that regrettable little event gained me great leverage -- "What do you mean you won't buy me a stereo? Pa, you remember that time in Lake Tahoe when you...?" Ah, such fond memories this disc calls to mind for me.
.
The music produced by this top-notch small jazz band (featuring Sam Butera on tenor sax) is consistently good. It's performed fast and loose with a sense of humor and an eye toward the novelty. But they play it straight (and quite well) on most of those numbers that feature Keely Smith. Two things about Keely that cannot be disputed: 1) She was perpetually in great need of a decent hair stylist. 2) The lady could really sing! I like her renditions of AUTUMN LEAVES and THE BIRTH OF THE BLUES, but I love FOGGY DAY and I GOTTA RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES with its shifts in tempo. This may be the definitive take on these songs.
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.

Friday, October 6, 2017

DANGER! YOU ARE SKATING ON THIN ICE!

.
.
THE EDGAR CAYCE COMPANION
compiled by B. Ernest Frejer
published: 1995
.
As a third generation 'Cayce-ite', I spent the better part of two decades intensely studying the Edgar Cayce Readings. I was a long-time member of a Cayce 'Search For God' study group, and for two years I was a volunteer correspondent for the Cayce Foundation's (Association for Research And Enlightenment - A.R.E.) Prison Outreach Program. So, my personal history with this material is extensive. But after circumstances compelled me to initiate an objective re-examination of my metaphysical teachers and their teachings, I arrived at a conclusion that forced me to back off and entrust my Spiritual development exclusively to Bible study, prayer, meditation, and the Divine Guidance ensuing from these practices.
.
To be sure, there is much information of great value within these pages. Cayce was a benevolent soul whose psychic readings helped bring physical healing to scores of people. This is documented fact and The Holy Bible tells us "a tree is known by its fruit" and "a house divided will not stand". (Matthew 12:25, 33) THIS work was of God. 
.
In one reading (#1152-5) Cayce stated, "DID YOUR LORD BLEED WHEN THE NAILS WERE DRIVEN IN HIS HANDS AND FEET? DID HE GIVE UP THE GHOST? DID HE DIE? YEA. FOR AS HE GAVE, WITHOUT HIS DEATH -- YEA, WITHOUT HIS RESURRECTION -- THERE IS NO HOPE IN MAN'S ESTATE.' And in another (#422-1) he said that spirits or entities must be tested: "IN EACH EXPERIENCE ASK THAT THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THE LIFE, THE DEATH, THE RESURRECTION OF THE JESUS, THE CHRIST... OTHERWISE, GET THEE BEHIND ME, I WILL HAVE NO PART WITH THEE." 
.
According to The Holy Bible (1st John 2:22; 4:1-3; 5:1) Cayce could not have made statements like these but by inspiration of The Holy Spirit. 
.
That the Light of God can be found in many of his readings is indisputable and clearly evident in this collection of excerpts which includes a valuable section on SPIRITUAL IDEALS and gems such as these: "Why worry when ye may pray?" (#2981-1); "You'll not be in Heaven if you're not leaning on the arm of someone you have helped." (#3352-1); "When individuals hold a grudge they are fighting the God within themselves against the God within the individual... towards whom such is held." (#1304-1); and the EXCEEDINGLY IMPORTANT WARNING: "(In meditation) never open self... without surrounding self with the Spirit of The Christ, that ye may ever be guarded." (#440-8) 
.
The section on HUMOR is very brief, but it's a hoot! For example: 
.
Q: woulD it be better fOr the body to remain in bed without movinG about? 
A: It'll move when you give it the Castor Oil. (#348-18)

Q: How much better am I? 
A: 37.3% (#567-4)
. 
Hide not skeletons in thine own closet, for they rattle when ye least expect them. (#3246-1) 
.
So, what's the problem then? Cayce's readings are NOT ALL correct and they sometimes originated from spiritual darkness! In reading #1472-14 he said, "IT IS NOT MEANT THAT INFORMATION GIVEN THROUGH THIS CHANNEL SHOULD BE INTERPRETED AS BEING INFALLIBLE." In #531-2 he posed the question, "WHAT PREVENTS THE INFORMATION FROM ALWAYS BEING ACCURATE, OR BEING WHOLLY OF UNQUESTIONABLE NATURE?" before continuing on with an impossibly convoluted answer! 
.
This is YOUR Spiritual development we're talking about here; no small matter! Do you REALLY trust your own judgement sufficiently to always be able to discern which of Cayce's readings are Divine and which are a demonic deception? MANY of his Earth changes prophecies have proven to be inaccurate. Jesus did not return in 1998 (#5748-5); The poles did not shift in 2000 or 2001 (#826-8), et al. 
.
Yes, I know experientially that Cayce's 3-Day Apple Cleanse Diet is efficacious, and clearly he supernaturally gained insight into the anti-cancer Vitamin B-17 content of (bitter) almonds (see #1158-31 and read WORLD WITHOUT CANCER by G. Edward Griffin and ALIVE AND WELL by Dr. Philip Binzel, Jr.
.
And yet, in another reading (#3180-3) he inexplicably makes the absurd statement that "AN ALMOND A DAY IS MUCH MORE IN ACCORD WITH KEEPING THE DOCTOR AWAY... THAN APPLES. FOR THE APPLE WAS THE FALL, NOT THE ALMOND." Not only does the apple have nothing whatsoever to do with the "Fall" of mankind (the word "apple" does not even appear in the entire book of Genesis), but in fact, apple seeds contain as much or more concentrated Vitamin B-17 than bitter almonds do! 
.
In other readings (#1152-11 & #470-10) Cayce dubiously praises things that my independent studies have conclusively shown to be luciferian in nature! In #364-1 he says of Theosophical literature: "AS TO WHETHER THIS INFORMATION IS TRUE OR NOT, DEPENDS UPON THE CREDENCE INDIVIDUALS GIVE TO THIS CLASS OF INFORMATION." Is this not bovine excrement of the highest order? Can a less helpful and more non-committal position be conceived? 
.
Over the years I developed a theory to explain how Cayce's God-given Gift became polluted and why his 'HEALTH' readings are considerably more reliable than his 'LIFE' readings. But the bottom line is this: Do you really wish to risk the condition of your mind and soul by trusting in these pages when a sincere appeal for (and faith in) The Father and Son's Guidance, serious Bible study, prayer and PROPER (!!!) meditation is all that's required in order to get you SAFELY where you want to be? Not to mention saving you $16.00 (See my online guide titled "Would You Like To... DEVELOP A REaLATIONSHIP WITH GOD" Parts 1 Through 4.) 
.
Naturally, it is for each person to decide just what course they wish to sail. I apologize for the unseemly length of this review, but I felt that this was important and that I ought to share my thoughts with you. Thanks for considering them. 
.
HOSANNA!
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.