So here we go, the best 10 movies about ‘magic’ of ‘all time’. That’s a tall order and will of course become a list that will be challenged by many.

What I have tried to do is collate a list of movies that feature films which have magical themes or very obvious magical references in them. Of course the rash of Harry Potter films, the excellent Lord of the Rings trilogy and even Star Wars could be included. However, from a desire to expand the list of magician inspired or magically themed movies I have left these out as being ‘too obvious’.

For reasons of brevity I have also not included fully animated movies in this list, so the likes of Fantasia, Sword in the Stone and even The Illusionist (Sylvian Chomet’s 2010 film) are not considered.

I’ve also ignored television series, such as The Magician (Bill Bixby trained by Mark Wilson), Jonathan Creek, the quirky 1970’s TV series Ace of Wands as well as specific Colombo, Midsummer Murders, One Foot in the Grave episodes that were based around magic and magicians.

So this brings us to a quick round-up of some of the best of the magician-in-the-movies films I am aware of. Starting with those just outside the Top Ten – not because of any lack of quality, just because they are a little peripheral to the main list.

Passport to Pimlico (1949) directed by Henry Cornelius and featuring great performances from Stanley Holloway and Margaret Rutherford. This great Ealing comedy contains a sequence on the tube train where magician of the day The Great Masoni, drops his case allowing his doves to escape adding to the surreal nature of the comic moment.

Dead of Night (1945) directed by Alberto Cavancanti is a superb Ealing portmanteau horror movie which contained a series of stories about a dream told by a guest arriving at remote farmhouse. The film is said to have influenced cosmologists Hoyle, Gold and Bondi to develop the ‘steady state theory’. They were inspired by the circular nature of the films narrative. However the movie contains a story about a ventriloquist and a less than charming dummy. Ventriloquism is related to the magical arts, hence its inclusion here. The story is the forerunner of one that is actually in the list, Magic, starring Anthony Hopkins.

Thirty Nine Steps (1939) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The original and perhaps greatest version of this film the climax of which is takes place as in a theatre where a ‘memory man’ is performing. The Memory Act can be considered as a subset of the magical art of Mentalism. The great magician Harry Lorraine is world famous not only for his ‘magic’ act but also for his contribution to the training and development of the human memory.

The Raven (1963) directed by Roger Corman sees the great Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff as medieval magicians involved a magical duel. This fun, camp and colourful movie loosely based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem The Raven, is not the greatest example of the Corman-Price collection, but is great fun.

Night of the Demon (1957) Jaques Tourneur. This great movie is an adaptation of M R James’ story “Casting the Runes”. Starring Dana Andrews as a sceptical psychologist ‘cursed’ by the Faustian looking magician and ‘cult’ leader Julian Karswell (Nial MacGinnis). In one sequence Karswell dressed as Dr Bobo performs magic at a children’s party. The conversation which then ensues between the psychologist and the magician holds within it a host of performance frames and ideas for budding bizarrists out there!. Tourneur apparently never wanted the audience to ‘see’ the demon. I many ways I wish he had had his way. The film would be even creepier and scarier if the terror was left to the imagination – again bizarre magicians take note!

The Magician (1958) directed by Ingmar Bergman. The only reason that film is outside the top ten is because of the possibility of being considered as being ‘pretentious’ if it is placed where I think it belongs – in the top 5 at least! Max von Sydow plays a travelling magician and ‘magnetic-healer’ (harkening back to the days of Mesmer) caught up in a tale about prejudice, honesty, the class system and….. well the whole thing is multilayered. Sydow is brilliant, he rarely speaks, and Bergman’s visuals are great. The film has been called a ‘thinking mans horror movie/. It is creepy surreal and brilliantly acted and directed.

The Great Buck Howard (2008) directed by Sean McGinly is built around John Malkovich’s character who is in turn based upon the mentalist Kreskin.

Next (2007) directed by Lee Tamahori sees Nicholas Cage as a man who can see a few minutes into the future and disguises his gift by working as a lounge magician. Cage is seen as another kind of ‘magician’ in the fantasy movie The Sorcerers Apprentice (2010 directed by Jon Turtletaub) which makes direct references to the Disney Sorcerers Apprentice in Fantasia.

Magic Man (2010) directed by Roscoe Lever stars Billy Zane who plays Darius, the Magic Man of the title. Billed as a thriller, this movie hasn’t received the best of reviews. As I’ve not seen it yet I can’t comment – but maybe a future review of this list may see it included.

So onto the Top Ten

10. Excelsior Prince of Magicians 1901 directed by Georges Melies. This pioneer of film making was a magician before turning his hand to cine-magic. He produced many short films of which this is only one, but many of which featured movie versions of stage tricks that magicians would love to be able to actually do. He was one of the first film makers to feature stop frame, time lapse and multiple exposures. He also hand painted many of the black and white films he shot. A true innovator.

9. The Grim Game 1919 directed by Irvin Wilat. Not the greatest of movies to watch, but from a magician’s point of view a must. It featured Harry Houdini in the title role showcasing his feats of escapology. Houdini, not only a great magician but a great entrepreneur embraced early cinema but to be quite honest he made little lasting contribution to cinematic art. In some ways, perhaps, Melies earlier ‘trick photography’ lessened some of the dramatic impact Houdini’s live performances will have had.

8. Lord of Illusions (1995) directed by Clive Barker and based on his novel of the same name. This film is notable for its magical references. Not only does the ‘evil’ lead character Nix have supernatural powers, but his disciples have them. One of his disciples, Swann, after Nix’s early demise (prior to his later resurrection) uses his magical powers to become a popular illusionist. The staged magic sequences are well done, there is a cameo appearance by the great Billy McCombe and the Magic Castle is represented as a place of secrets. The basic concept that ‘magic is a dangerous reality’ is a great theme for the Bizarre Magicians out there.

7. Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) directed by Martin Cambell, sees Detective, Harry Philip Lovecraft (played by Fred Ward) living in a 1940’s Los Angeles where magic is common place. He is recruited by a rich man to find a lost book – yeap, you’ve got it… The Necronomicon! It’s really a Bogart-esque film-noire with a magical flavour, of course by definition then there are magicians. It’s witty, fun and full of Lovecraftian references. Unfortunately at the time of writing it, unlike its less sharp sequel (Witch Hunt) is not available for purchase on DVD.

Witch Hunt (1994) directed Paul Schrader. A sequel to Cast a Deadly Spell in which detective, H. Phillip Lovecraft played by Dennis Hopper combats the evils and corruption of a magic wielding senator. As a sequel not shoddy, but perhaps not quite as fun as the first movie.

6. The Great Kandinski (1995) directed by Terry Windsor. This ‘made for TV’ movie must be included in this list, not only for its charm and humour, but for its sensitivities. Richard Harris (whose work is admirable) plays a retired escapologist living in a nursing home. The story revolves around Kandiski’s desire to ‘chase one more secret’ and do one ‘final show’. The escape featured is Houdini’s Water Torture cell, which is a testament to the iconic nature of that one illusion.

5. Nightmare Alley (1947) directed by Edmund Goulding. An impressive movie and perhaps one of the all time greatest examples of film noire. Tyrone Power plays a ‘psychic con man’ Stanton Carlyle whose trail of deceit and self deceit take from rags to riches to rags. Of course the magicians out there will immediately see a link to a performer who used to go out under the name Rinaldo, but was better known professionally and now to mentalists’ world wide as Stanton Carlisle. (1928 – 1990). Stanton insisted, despite many good natured challenges, that that was his real name and was not influenced by the Goulding film.

4. House of Games (1978) directed by David Mamet. OK not really a magic film, but features a performance of one of my all time magic heroes, Ricky Jay. Ricky is one of a group of con-men in this Hitchcockesque thriller. Mamet, as always does a great job in capturing mood and the movie explores human motivations and behaviours. Ricky Jay is of course no stranger to the big screen, with roles in the Bond Movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, Magnolia, Buck Howard, The Prestige and many more. This, I believe however was his first venture onto the ‘big screen’

3. Houdini (1953) directed by George Marshall with Tony Curtis in as Houdini. This movie does have a lot to answer for in that it creates some of the longer lasting myths about the life of the genuinely ‘mythic’ Houdini. His death on stage as a result of performing the ‘water torture cell’ is not fact, but the movie certainly hints at it. The ‘brush with death’ in a frozen river; the first performance of the ‘straight jacket’ at a Magicians Society dinner almost surely never happened – but the romance and innocence of the moment saves it. The magical advisor on this movie was Dunninger.

I suppose it is worth mentioning in passing that in 1998 there was a TV movie about Houdini (directed by Pen Denshem) and an earlier attempt at a biopic remake in 1976 with Paul Michael Glaser in the title role (directed for television by Melvile Shavelson). The movie Death Defying Acts (2007) directed by Gillian Armstrong focuses on Houdini’s documented interest in mediums and psychics and he is really the vehicle through which another story can be told.

2. Magic (1978) directed by Richard Attenborough and staring Anthony Hopkins. In the film Hopkins’ character starts out as a magician, but sees success as a ventriloquist. The movie charts the fall into insanity as the relationship Hopkins has with his dummy ‘Fats’. It’s a classic movie with some of the creepier overtones being softened by, what some claim to be, slower sequences of sentimentality.

1. The Illusionist (2006) directed by Neil Burger and staring Ed Norton. The pace and the feel of this film is wonderful. It is a love story with some great performances from a superb cast. The magical advice came from Ricky Jay and Michael Webber. Norton as Eisenhiem is the ideal stage magician. The cinematography is brilliant, the plot nicely involved and with, perhaps a few surprises.

1. The Prestige (2006) directed by Christopher Nolan. Whilst The Illusionist is sumptuous and engaging and at its core ‘hopeful’ and ‘romantic’, The Prestige is darker and deals with revenge, envy and competitiveness. Great performances from Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as the feuding magicians each with a ‘secret’ and a narrative that is non-linear make the film engaging and well worth the little effort you need to keep up with the tangled web of intrigue. The ‘prestige’, the finale of the film, contains revelations that may surprise. Intelligent scripting brings the emotional tension to life and the rich magical references (Chung Ling Soo, The Bullet Catch, The Water Torture) make this film a must for magicians. Ricky Jay appears as an established stage performer and Michael Caine is great as the illusion builder – although I would never ask him to build me a vanishing bird cage!

I really can’t separate these two films in terms of quality of acting, direction and story so they share first place billing with the less serious….

Magicians (2007) actually deserves a Gold Star in this list. Directed by Andrew O Connor and with script written in collaboration with David Britland, Andy Nyman and Anthony Owen and others this is a magical tour de force. Opting for a comic look at the world of the conjuror, Magicians, sees Mitchell and Webb rattle through some great one-liners; pay homage to some key magicians and have a real knock at some of the oddness that is part and parcel of the magic scene. The great Pat Page makes an appearance, and most of the magic ‘stalls’ at the magic convention hosting the competition at the centre of the films plot were provided by well known magic dealers.

1. If you are a teenager living on Elm Street what should you never do?

A. Go to sleep

B. Play with dolls

C. Go to the prom

D. Have sex

A. Go to sleep

TOPICS: We all know from “Nightmare on Elm Street” that your dreams can get you killed by Freddy Krueger. Written by Craven, a former English teacher, the film’s premise is the question of where the line between dreams and reality lies. The villain, Freddy Krueger, exists in the “dream world” and yet can kill in the “real world”.

2. If you are up on your movie lore, then you also know that you should never accept what job on Halloween?

A. Hotel clerk

B. Baby sitter

C. Camp counselor

D. Traveling salesman

B. Baby sitter

TOPICS: Halloween (also known as John Carpenter’s Halloween) is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional Midwest town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween. Originally titled The Babysitter Murders, the film centers on Michael Myers’ escape from a psychiatric hospital, his murdering of teenagers, and Dr. Loomis’s attempts to track and stop him.

3. What should tip you off to a bad motel to check in to?

A. No one else has checked in for weeks

B. The clerk talks too much about his mother

C. The clerk’s name is Norman

D. You are a thief

B. The clerk talks too much about his mother

TOPICS: At the end of the film, a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Fred Richmond (Oakland), explains to Lila, Sam and the authorities that Bates’ mother, though dead, lives on in Norman’s psyche. Norman was so dominated by his mother while she lived, and so guilt-ridden for murdering her eight years earlier, that he tried to erase the crime from his mind by bringing his mother back to life.

4. If you are looking for a job on Crystal Lake what offer should you not accept?

A. Mailman

B. Truck driver

C. Camp cook

D. Camp counselor

D. Camp counselor

TOPICS: In Friday the 13th, we learn it is a bad job to be a counselor at Camp Crystal Lake where the counselors die extremely bloody deaths at the hands of an unseen killer who turns out to be the cook whose son Jason drowned 25 years earlier while neglected by romancing counselors.

5. British actor Boris Karloff created a cinematic icon when he played the role of what monster?

A. Dracula

B. Werewolf

C. Frankenstein

D. Alien

C. Frankenstein

TOPICS: British actor Boris Karloff played the role of the monster in the 1931 film “Frankenstein”. The ghoulish makeup he wore and the lurching walk he adopted in the film have become conventions, even cliches, of horror films. And beyond the individual techniques Karloff used when playing the role of the monster, he created a feeling of sympathy for the character, a technique that has since become a more general trait of successful horror films, whose monsters often gain intensity by fascinating audiences as well as repelling them.

6. Béla Lugosi was a Hungarian/American actor best known for his portrayal of what monster?

A. Dracula

B. Werewolf

C. Frankenstein

D. Alien

A. Dracula

TOPICS: Béla Ferenc Dezso Blaskó, better known as Béla Lugosi, was best known for his portrayal of Count Dracula in the American Broadway stage production, and subsequent film, of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story.

7. In this 1970s book and novel, a mother believes her child (played by Linda Blair in the movie) is what?

A. An alien

B. The devil

C. Possessed by a demon

D. Bearing the devil’s baby

C. Possessed by a demon

TOPICS: Novelist William Peter Blatty based his 1971 best-seller on the last known Catholic-sanctioned exorcism in the United States. Blatty transformed the little boy in the 1949 incident into a little girl named Regan, played by 14-year-old Linda Blair in the 1973 movie. Suddenly prone to fits and bizarre behavior, Regan proves quite a handful for her actress-mother, Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn, although Blatty reportedly based the character on his next-door neighbor Shirley MacLaine). When Regan gets completely out of hand, Chris calls in young priest Father Karras (Jason Miller), who becomes convinced that the girl is possessed by the Devil and that they must call in an exorcist: namely, Father Merrin (Max von Sydow). His foe proves to be no run-of-the-mill demon, and both the priest and the girl suffer numerous horrors during their struggles.

8. In a horror movie, you should worry if you encounter a doll named what?

A. Smiley

B. Bonnie

C. Chucky

D. Dolly

C. Chucky

TOPICS:Charles Lee Ray, or Chucky for short is a fictional character from the Child’s Play series of horror films, the original screenplay was credited as written by Don Mancini, John Lafia and Tom Holland. He is the primary villain featured in the series. Chucky is a doll that was possessed by means of voodoo magic by serial killer Charles Lee Ray, the notorious Lakeshore Strangler. During most of his time as a doll, Chucky chased after a boy named Andy Barclay because Andy was the first person he told his real name to as a doll.

9. Movies also teach us that if your son warns of “redrum” you better distance yourself from your husband pronto. But in “The Shining” all the husband is worried about is what?

A. Working too hard

B. Playing too hard

C. Becoming a murderer

D. Being murdered

A. Working too hard

TOPICS: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” — or, rather, a homicidal boy in Stanley Kubrick’s eerie 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel. With wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son Danny (Danny Lloyd) in tow, frustrated writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker at the opulently ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. Before the Overlook is vacated for the Torrances, the manager (Barry Nelson) informs Jack that a previous caretaker went crazy and slaughtered his family. Settling into their routine, Jack sets up shop in a cavernous lounge with strict orders not to be disturbed. Danny’s alter ego, “Tony,” however, starts warning of “redrum” as Danny is plagued by more blood-soaked visions of the past, and a blocked Jack starts visiting the hotel bar for a few visions of his own. Frightened by her husband’s behavior, Wendy soon discovers what Jack has really been doing in his study all day, and what the hotel has done to Jack.

10. You can never really go home again, or at least you shouldn’t if your neighbors belong to this profession?

A. Slaughterhouse workers

B. Morticians

C. Chefs

D. Veterinarians

A. Slaughterhouse workers

TOPICS: Tobe Hooper’s influential cult classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, continues the subgenre of horror films based on the life and “career” of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. When Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) hears that the Texas cemetery where her grandfather is buried has been vandalized, she gathers her wheelchair-bound brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) and several other friends together to see if grandpa’s remains are still in one piece. While in the area, Sally and her friends decide to visit grandfather’s old farmhouse. Unfortunately, a family of homicidal slaughterhouse workers who take their job home with them have taken over the house next door. Included amongst the brood is Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), a chainsaw-wielding human horror show who wears a face mask made out of human skin. Sally’s friends are rapidly exterminated one-by-one by the next-door neighbors, leaving only Sally left to fight off Leatherface and his clan.

The top opera house in all of South America is the Teatro Colón (Columbus Theater) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It took more than 20 years to build, finally opening to the public on May 25, 1908. Since then it has continued to draw the greatest opera singers in the world to what some have called The Forgotten Continent, mainly because it is such a great distance from major opera houses in Europe and North America.

The Teatro Colón was constructed during a time when Argentina was one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The current building is actually the second opera house in Buenos Aires to bear this name. The original Teatro Colón, located on the Plaza de Mayo, opened in 1857 with the Argentine premiere of La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, a mere four years after the opera had enjoyed its world premiere at La Fenice in Venice, Italy. This first venue boasted 2,500 seats and remained the city’s primary opera house for close to 30 years. The age of the first building, plus the desire to build a more opulent showcase, provided the impetus to create this successor that occupies an entire city block and has its main entrance on Libertad Street.

The current building, seating 2,700 patrons, was designed to emulate the famous Teatro alla Scala (La Scala) of Milan, Italy. Early critics insisted the Argentine version actually possessed better acoustical properties than its European counterpart. Although construction began in 1889, numerous setbacks served to seriously delay the completion of this new Teatro Colón. The primary architect, Francesco Tamburini, died less than two years after the cornerstone was laid. His pupil and successor, Vittorio Meano, was killed in 1904, followed not long thereafter by the death of the Italian businessman who had provided much of the funding for the building, Angelo Ferrari.

The first production in the new house was also a Verdi opera, Aida, presented by a touring Italian company that included Lucia Crestani in the title role and Amadeo Bassi as Radames. The next performance was Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, starring baritone Titta Ruffo. The first season also featured such legendary singers as Feodor Chaliapin in Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele, plus the world premiere of Aurora by Argentine composer Hector Panizza.

The continuing list of world-class singers and conductors to have graced the stage and the podium (respectively) of Teatro Colón are a veritable Who’s Who of opera. In particular, legendary soprano Maria Callas sang many of her most famous bel canto roles in this house. The theater has also served as an effective platform for homegrown opera singers; some of them have gone on to extraordinary careers, such as José Cura and Marcelo Alvarez. Other Argentine citizens who performed at Teatro Colón before enjoying recognition on the stages of the world have included cellist Sol Gabetta, pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, ballet stars Jorge Donn and Paloma Herrera, and renowned tango composer and bandoneon (accordion) player Ástor Piazzolla.

The management team of Teatro Colón began a lengthy restoration process in late 2006, mostly to correct the disrepair the building had suffered during years of neglect due to several economic collapses and changes in government. The exterior has since been returned to its former grandeur, and interior features such as the French-made stained glass windows and Italian pink marble staircases have been fully refurbished. The final opera performed prior to its temporary closing was Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov on October 28, 2006. This remodeling took four years to complete, double the original estimate, and cost US$100 million. The Grand Reopening, set to coincide with Argentina’s bicentennial festivities, took place in May 2010 with a gala performance of excerpts from the Puccini opera La bohème and the ballet Swan Lake by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

Russia’s ignoble policy of intolerance and eliminating by all means possible every form of opposition has again manifested by the recent poisoning of Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader and a well-known President Putin’s critic. Mr Navalny, 44, suddenly fell ill on a flight to Moscow from Tomsk, a city in Siberia. He had a black tea at an airport coffee shop before getting on the plane that morning and it is believed that he was poisoned. His plane later made an emergency landing in Omsk and he was treated in Omsk Emergency Hospital. And later he was flown to Berlin and the German experts and authorities have since confirmed, after detoxicological test, that he was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group, a military-grade neurotoxin – the same biological weapon that was used in the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in the U.K about two and a half years ago. This is not the first time Mr Navalny would be poisoned. The German government and the world leaders have since condemned the attack. German chancellor Angela Merkel has demanded that the Russian government should provide an explanation on the incident and also threatened to stop the gas pipeline project by the two countries. The very expensive and ambitious, but controversial project is currently at the final stage. The European Union officials are also said to be weighing up how to respond and the appropriate action to be taken against Russia.

Sadly, as we mentioned above, this is not the first time that Russia is being accused of using nerve agents, poison against the opposition in recent times. In 2018, this same poison was used against a former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and the daughter in Salisbury, UK. Mr Skripal, a double agent incurred the wrath of Kremlin when he started spying for Britain and also passed the identity of dozens of his country’s spies to the U.K.’s MI6. The then British Prime Minister Theresa May was reported to have said that it was highly likely Russia was behind the poisoning. And an intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, who formerly worked for MI6 also said that he believed the case has the hallmarks of Putin’s involvement. Listen to him, “For this to be in a shopping mall, for this to be in public, and for the fellow himself to be a former intelligence officer, immediately one looks to potential attackers, ultimately that would be as the result of President Putin authorizing it,” In fact, the surveillance footage of the movement of those Russian intelligence operatives that flew into UK that period also pointed to the same conclusion. The whole world saw it. And I hope you still remember the slow but painful death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006 also in London. Litvinenko, 43, was also an outspoken critic of Putin who fled Russia for Britain six years before he was poisoned. He died after drinking green tea laced with the rare and very potent radioactive isotope at London’s Millennium Hotel. In a report published in 2016, a British judge found that Litvinenko was killed in an assassination carried out by Russia’s security services – with the likely approval of President Vladimir Putin. As usual, Russia denied any responsibility for Litvinenko’s death. The other guy’s was black tea and for Litvinenko it’s green tea. Russian tea!… All these where investigated and reported to have Russian finger prints on them. We don’t want to talk about others like the murder of another opposition politician Boris Nemtsov’s in Moscow, etc. Yes, today it is the Russian citizens, but tomorrow it can be other nationals, these weapons could also be used in external conflicts or even be transferred to rogue nations and terror groups.

Unfortunately, Russia’s aggression does not stop with the elimination of internal dissenting voices. Look at the annexation of Crimea, the invasion Ukraine, the claim of the Arctic and the natural resources, its constant provocative intrusion into other countries’ air and maritime space. American air force is always scrambling fighter jets to intercept and wade off Russian surveillance planes of the coast of Alaska. As I write, the dust is yet to settle on the recent confrontation between a US and Russian military convoys in Syria. Or should we talk about Russia’s reported vexatious meddling in the 2016 American presidential elections? The issue has simply refused to go away in the US. And, unfortunately, again, this same Russia, with Iran and China are being accused of launching another cyber attacks on US 2020 presidential campaign just two months to the election. Today, in violation of UN embargo, there are about 5,000 Russians mercenaries in Libya and it is also being accused of supplying arms to one of the warring factions. Russians are notorious for violating treaties, resolutions and agreements. The international community, especially the West, is always suspicious of Russia. There is that mutual distrust, perpetual struggle and competition, constant spying and permanent sabotaging of interest between them.

Now, there is this fear that Russia may soon (if not already) start exporting these very lethal substances and the likes to others as it is seen as a country that is desperate and ready to do everything, anything to earn money and remain relevant. Will the United Nations, European Union, NATO and the world continue to watch as this happens? Each has a role to play in stopping this threat. Or will they again back down as soon as the Russians flaunt their nuclear strength? Remember Mr Putin did that as the EU was talking about sanctions during the Litvinenko incident. He told them to remember that Russia was a nuclear state and everybody scampered home immediately. What happened to all the treaties against development of such biological, chemical and nuclear weapons? Are they unenforceable?? Unfortunately there is already proliferation of chemical and nuclear weapons. We saw chemical weapon used by Syrian government against her people. And I was surprised recently to hear that it was also used in the first Gulf war. A soldier friend of mine and a victim who is still battling with the effects till today brought that to my notice. She said she is today the only surviving victim from her unit. Presently, Russian mercenaries in Libya are also been accused of using chemical weapons, a nerve agent against GNA forces in Salah Al-Din area in southern Tripoli. These weapons are just everywhere.

We believe that Russia’s internal and external aggressive actions stem from a people trying to survive, compete and regain their lost glory. But they are going about it in a wrong way. I believe that what they basically need now to take their rightful place is an urgent economic and political reform. They must get these two right if they really want to stage a comeback. Presently it looks like it is agitated on all fronts and this is affecting its behaviour and relationship with others. She must look inwards to solve her problems and also learn how to move on with the rest of the world in a positive competitive way. First it must free up the political space. Russians must be allowed to express themselves politically. You cannot claim to be a democracy when you gag and eliminate all forms of opposition. Democracy thrives on freedom and rule of law. There must freedom of speech, freedom association and freedom movement and when you feel that somebody has done something wrong then charge him to court for trial. Don’t suspect, torture and eliminate as is the current situation. No. Secondly, the country must decisively deal with corruption. The problem of Russia is corruption. Corruption has become a way of life for Government officials and the corrupt political class in Russia. Bribery, organized crime, Mafiya and oligarchy influence must be checked immediately. For now, it looks like corruption is lawful and that there is a partnership between the government and the criminals. And more frightening is that the Mafiyas are moving out, extending their activities to other countries. And I am afraid that with their powerful influence and access they can easily steal and transfer or sell these nuclear and biological weapons.

This is a country well-endowed with natural and human resources, but has been overtaken by corruption and mismanagement. Aging infrastructures: from energy to transport, industries to military. There is dilapidation, mismanagement and decay everywhere. It has some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world. But over dependence on this has also become a problem with the constant fluctuations in the energy market. We advice that it should also use some on these resources it is currently investing in arms race to build ventures that will create jobs for the citizens. The unemployment in the country is terrible high rate. And it has left its well-educated populace stranded or forced into crime and other nefarious activities. This is what needs to be done urgently and not silencing and eliminating critics and the opposition. The country should also avoid those actions that attract sanctions and alienate them from other countries and investors. Like now, the Germans are already talking about abandoning a near- finished multi-billion joint project because of the current poisoning incident. No country prospers like this. All these are avoidable with the right behaviour.

Interestingly, the Russians are currently advertising their COVID 19 vaccine – Sputnik V. Their Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin recently gave the samples to the Nigeria Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire in Abuja during the former’s visit to the ministry. Other countries have also received same. But I see more of a country that is desperate for resources and name. Otherwise, why the haste to announce and market such a sensitive product when it has not fully gone through all the trial stages? The world and experts were shocked recently when President Putin hurriedly announced that Russia has produced the first world vaccine for the devastating virus without the due and complete procedure for coming up with such. At the time of announcement we learnt that the Russian vaccine had not gone through the last stage of trial – the third stage. And please what is the position now? Has it gone through it? A wrong or badly produced vaccine will sure wreck more havoc than the virus itself. But Mr Putin and his Russia can make the world to believe and relate better with them by always playing by rules. You cannot be giving out vaccine (life) and poison (death) at the same time and still expect people to trust you.

Gabriel is the author of the books / audiobooks: Never Again! Move forward, Power of Midnight Prayer https://www.amazon.com/Power-of-Midnight-Prayer/dp/B0887ZB34G/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1593877396&sr=8-2

Where is your family from and why did they come to America?

Have you ever visited the communist countries of China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, or Vietnam?

I’ve had the honor of traveling to many parts of the world, and fell in love with the people of nearly every country. My heart broke for those who were unable to enjoy the freedoms of choice and self direction that Americans take for granted every day.

What do you do for a living? Whether you are a doctor, teacher, mechanic, IT person, or full time parent; I would imagine you chose that path for your life because you enjoyed certain aspects of that work, and you are able to be compensated for it.

What if you had no say in the direction of your life, and your future was solely dictated to you by the government?

I cannot think of a faster way to snuff out the spark of life in one’s eyes than completely removing their own agency from their lives. Unfortunately, that is what happens in communist/socialist countries.

Do you want to move there permanently and give up your American freedoms and opportunities?

Do you want to make America into another China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, or Vietnam?

Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives:

1) Dedication to growing the stability and strength of their country.

2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.

Why do people leave a country?

-Fear of safety for themselves and their family from violence.

– Fear of persecution for their beliefs.

– Extraordinary poverty and no opportunities for changing it.

– Government corruption and overreach that stifles individual choices and growth and forces conformity.

Are you and your family looking to import where they came from to America?

What are the differences between their home country and America?

Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?

1) Be dedicated to growing the stability and strength of their country.

2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.

Get the facts, think carefully before you act and vote for President of the United States on Nov. 3, 2020!

I have enjoyed visiting, teaching, and performing on my violin and viola throughout the world. This includes communist countries. I have always been happy and delighted to come back home to America and our many blessings and freedoms! It is a true eye opener to see how fortunate we are in America.

We have many opportunities here to start a business, choose the work we would like to do, to own property, pray as we choose, protect our rights to free speech, protect ourselves and our home and property, the right to think and share our thoughts with others.

We have good sanitation, plumbing, drinkable running water, electricity with bathrooms that work which allow you to wash your hands with soap and water to keep bacteria and sickness from running through entire cities.

After visiting these foreign places, I was always so grateful for the blessings and freedoms of living and working in America.

“In Communism the government owns all property and pays its citizens equally. Citizens own nothing. The government chooses your work and tells you what to do. They own you! There is no free will!”

Communism/Socialism is frequently thought of in academic and media circles as an “everything is free because it is a right”. There is no freedom when you depend on the government to dictate what you deserve.

The American Revolution has stood the test of time because we are reminded that our freedoms come from God, not man.

Communism removes all your rights, your property, your opportunities, your choices, and your freedoms. This includes thinking, worship, association.

Birds Eye View on Communism in Russia:

The movie, Moscow on the Hudson” (1984) was written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starred Robin Williams, as Vladimir Ivanoff, a saxophonist with the Moscow Circus who is performing and visiting in New York City. He decides to defect while shopping at Bloomingdale’s in New York City. Director Mazursky said the idea for the film came from his own grandfather emigrating to the United States from Russia.

He says, “Most Russians, are just trying to survive. Yet, all Russians who leave their country, leave behind something they treasure and love. It’s a terrible conflict for them, so the act of bravery is overwhelming.”

The film opens with Vladimir in Russia living “in a crowded apartment with his extended family.” Then “he stands in line for hours to buy toilet paper and shoes.” It takes so long to buy the toilet paper and shoes that he’s late to rehearsal. Boris, the communist party member, KGB,

“criticizes Vladimir for being late to rehearsal and suggests Vladimir may miss the approaching trip to the United States.”. Vladimir immediately hands over to Boris, the shoes from the store that made him late. After rehearsal Vladimir goes with his friend to buy gasoline for his car from a “black market dealer.”

After Vladimir defects he has several American citizens who have immediately agreed to help him. They give him a place to stay with their family, assist him in finding work, and a recent American citizen from Cuba who his lawyer.

Blessings of America: America is not perfect, but it is our last beacon of hope!

America was built on Judeo/Christian values, law and order, righteousness, capitalism, entrepreneurship, and free markets. America is a land of opportunities. Our United States Constitution protects our freedoms. The framers of our Constitution were wise enough to realize that our unalienable rights did not come from government or man; they came from God. They were also wise enough to create the Constitution and Bill of Rights to be exclusionary (explaining what Government cannot do, rather than all the things it could do).

The very freedoms that most of us take for granted like the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition the government to right wrongs are what make this country great. It is also why this great nation of ours is a magnet for people from all over the world who answer the “battle-cry of their souls to be free by seeking citizenship.”

Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?

1) Dedication to growing the stability and strength of their country.

2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.

What is Kristallnacht?

Kristallnacht, (also called the Night of Broken Glass). On November 9-10, 1938, Pogroms, violent riots, (attacks, looting, arson, mass arrests, and death) were carried out against the Jews by SA paramilitary forces (storm troopers) and civilians throughout Nazi Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Slovak, Bohemia, Poland, and Moravia. These rioters destroyed, attacked, looted, and demolished Jewish businesses, homes, schools, hospitals, and Synagogues with sledgehammers. After the attacks smashed glass was left on the streets.

“British historian Martin Gilbert wrote that no event in the history of German Jews between 1933 and 1945 was so widely reported as it was happening, and the accounts from foreign journalists working in Germany sent shockwaves around the world.”

The Times of London observed on November 11,1938: “No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday.”

Communism is total government control. Breaking down of law and order, looting destruction, arson, death. Pogroms, Kristallnacht, eradicating statues (erasing history), inculcating the young, (brain washing), no accountability, against independent thinking, against self-reliance, against family values, against religion, against human spirit. Tramples on constitution. Takes all your rights and freedoms away.

Where is my family from?

My family is from Russia and Hungary where there were no rights, no choices, no opportunities, no free speech, no right to a fair trial. You did what the government officials told them to do. There was no freedom of expression. No owning of property. There was no choice in anything. The government decided what your career would be. When you argued to try and protect yourself, they would throw you in prison and kill you.

America is the only place you can go from rags to riches. In other countries if you were born poor you stay that way for life. Mark J. Quann, author, said in 2017, “Immigrants Are Four Times More Likely to Become Millionaires in America.”

How many immigrants arrive in the United States each year? “More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. In 2017, the top country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was India, with 126,000 people, followed by Mexico (124,000), China (121,000) and Cuba (41,000).” https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

Ages 18 or Older: What if what you are being told is Not 100% true? Do you question what you are told and seek to check the truth? Do you educate yourself? Are you accountable for your actions? What is your goal or dream?

Only in America will you be given the opportunity to choose your dream and work for it!

Rebecca Walser, expert author of “Wealth Unbroken”, says, In America “you are empowered to take control of your life, your destiny, and that is something billions of people do not have.”

Communist China in 2016 had a population of 1.4 billion. “Their citizens had only an average per capita disposable income of $3,469 in 2016.” Compare this “to 320 million Americans who had $43,536 per capita disposable annual income that same year.” (Walser, Wealth Unbroken)

Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?

1) Be dedicated to growing the stability and strength of their country.

2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.

Why have so many millions of people come to America? America is Not Perfect, but it has opportunities and amazing possibilities that communism does not have!!!!!

These immigrants from Russia, China, Laos, and other countries who have become citizens of America are “Not begging” to go back to the countries they have escaped from!

These 5 plus months of the pandemic and being homebound has brought stress and anxiety to America with civil unrest, rioting, looting, and murder. This is a reminder of pogroms in Russia and Kristallnacht, (Night of Broken Glass) in Nazi Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Slovak, Bohemia, Poland, and Moravia.

Think and get the true facts, before you vote for President of the United States on Nov 3, 2020!

Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?

1) Be dedicated to growing the stability and strength of their country.

2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.

Remember what President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction… It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

Think and get the true facts before you vote on Nov. 3, 2020.

Do you want to keep your rights and privileges in America or give them up?

Dandruff affects the scalp and causes the scalp to flake – it is a common condition. Our skin cells are continually renewing themselves. When the skin cells on our scalp are renewed the old ones are pushed to the surface. If you are a person who suffers with dandruff the renewal process is faster, making the dandruff more of a noticeable problem.

The exact cause of dandruff is not known, although it is believed by some professionals to be associated with an over-growth of Malassezia, which is a fungus commonly found on the skin and scalp. Dandruff can be a long-term problem or it can be the result of certain lifestyle changes or stress. If you have dandruff you may also notice itching and redness on the scalp. Excessive flaking may be caused by an underlying illness or condition, such as psoriasis, a fungal infection, or even head lice.

Having dandruff can be a real blow to a persons self-esteem, knocking ones confidence. Therefore, finding an effective treatment for dandruff may be important for both physiological and psychological reasons.

How to help prevent Dandruff.

Before we start with the cures and for getting rid of dandruff let’s have a quick look a some of the steps we can take to help prevent dandruff.

1. When you shampoo your hair, try not to scratch your scalp too much.
2. Try to avoid putting to many chemicals on your hair such as hair dye.
3. Try to manage your stress better. Good quality sleep and meditation could help you de-stress.
4. Brush your hair at least once a day. Shampoo it at least three times a week.
5. Cut down on your use of hair products such as gel and spray until your dandruff calms down.
6. Clean your comb everyday. Try using a good quality barbicide (The blue liquid you may have seen your barber or hairdresser using to store their combs and clippers etc)
7. Get more Vitamin B in your diet. Include more seafood, fresh vegetables and nuts in your diet.
8. Don’t wash your hair in hard water. If you live in an area with hard water, have a filter fitted, or wash your hair with bottled water.
9. Change your shampoo. Sometimes you may be using a shampoo which just doesn’t agree with your scalp and can actually agitate the sebaceous glands and cause dandruff. Once you’ve found a shampoo that works for you, stick with it.

Okay, that’s the preventative stuff out of the way… what about the cures?

How to get rid of Dandruff Naturally.

For those of you who prefer to do things the natural way there are plenty of options available to you. If you prefer to using commercially available medicated products instead of going the home remedy type route, then you can skip the next few paragraphs.

• Yogurt makes an excellent hair conditioner. After washing your hair, try rubbing some plain yogurt into your scalp. Leave it for 10 of 15 minutes to do its stuff. Rinse your hair through with a vinegar water mix (you don’t need much vinegar, just a tablespoon in a bowl of water). After you’ve rinsed with the vinegar water, rinse it again with warm water until it’s clean. You can then wash your hair through with a little shampoo if you wish.
• Boil the peels of a lemon or two in 1 liter of water for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool and rinse your hair with this solution about once a week.
• Mix the juice of half a lemon with 4 tablespoons of warmed olive oil (obviously not hot, just warm. You don’t want burn yourself). Rub the mixture into the roots before washing your hair with a mild shampoo.
• Get some boric acid powder. This is available at the chemist or online and it is usually used as an eye wash. Warm any natural oil such as olive oil, coconut oil or castor oil, add one teaspoon of boric powder and allow it to dissolve. Part your hair into separate sections and apply the oil and massage it well into the scalp. Keep it on for 2-3 hours or ideally overnight if you can, and then wash your hair in the morning. Do this procedure once a week and if your dandruff is stubborn, try it twice a week.
• Mix two tablespoons of malt or cider vinegar into a mug of warm water. After you have washed your hair and rinsed it of shampoo, do a final rinse with this vinegar mix. Do this two of three times a week.
• Take 2 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds, leave them to soak overnight. In the morning grind them into a fine paste. This paste should be applied on the scalp and left for half an hour. The hair should be then washed thoroughly with mild shampoo.
• Add a drop of tea tree oil to your regular shampoo. Tea tree oil has been used for centuries and is a highly effective anti-septic and anti-fungal substance. It’s works great to combat dandruff.

Over the Counter Remedies.

If the natural home-remedies aren’t helping to get rid of dandruff, you might want to try some of the many medicated shampoos that are available over the counter, T-Gel and Head & Shoulders being two which spring to mind. Try to get a trial sized sample of any brand medicated shampoo before making a purchasing. Some brands my work better for you than some others, because they can be quite harsh some medicated shampoos may even worsen your dandruff problem by irritating your skin. So shop around until you find one that works.

What if treatments don’t work?

If you have tried all the above methods and nothing has seemed to work for you it could mean there are underlying problems. You may need to speak to a doctor or dermatologist so that they can diagnose what the problem is exactly.

It is ironic now to think that in 1958, when American scientist Charles Townes showed that a MASER could theoretically be made to operate in the visible region of the spectrum, his colleagues told him “that his work would have little relevance to the real world”. The year was 1958, the ‘hula hoop’ was all the craze in Europe and Russian author Boris Pasternek declined the Nobel Prize in Literature as he feared the authorities would expel him from his motherland. I am sure the world had changed a lot when Charles Townes received the Nobel Prize in Physics four years later. Today, lasers are used in every aspect of life including a ever increasing number of cosmetic treatments, including skin resurfacing for wrinkle reduction and acne scars, removal of tattoos, removal of hair, removal of pigmented blemishes (age spots and moles) and the treatment of vascular lesions (port wine stains and spider veins).

In fact the real story of lasers started many years before. In the year of 1917, the great physicist, Albert Einstein postulated that atoms could be persuaded to emit tiny packets of energy called ‘photons’ in his treatise “On the Quantum Theory of Radiation.” This sentinel piece of physics laid the groundwork for the theory of stimulated emission of radiation, which was later used by the by American physicist, Gordon Gould to coin the acronym LASER. In essence, the word is an abbreviation of the phrase light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

The year was 1957 and the Russians had just launched Sputnik 1 into the skies above a horrified US nation. Senator Lyndon Johnson spoke for the nation when he said “soon, they will be dropping bombs on us from space like kids dropping rocks onto cars from freeway overpasses!”. The newspaper headlines of the day reflected his fear when one stated, “Soviet satellite circles globe every 90 minutes”. In that year, plans were made to start the space race and America ushered in a new age of political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The Government formed the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and huge grants were poured into private and public laboratories across the United States to fund the creation of a new spacecraft and the first working laser.

In 1960, their efforts paid off when a physicist called Theodore Maiman working with the Hughes Electric Corporation in California, created the world’s first working Ruby laser. The acronym LASER, although appearing theoretical is of more than passing interest, because it means a laser device must be able to make a new form of light. This light must be composed of one wavelength (colour), it must pass in one direction (coherent) and its waves must be parallel. These unique characteristics can be used by doctors to achieve different results. We know the different wavelengths can penetrate various depths of skin and they can also cause dissimilar effects by targeting differing coloured lesions. This means that laser A could be used to target haemoglobin (red) in the broken blood vessels (telangiectasia) of rosacea, while laser B may be used to target melanin (brown) in the hair on an upper lip of a female with hirsuitism. It also means that lasers could be used to vapourise water in tissues, thereby causing resurfacing and later collagen stimulation with significant improvements to wrinkles in the skin.

In 1961, research was focused on this new technology continued with the production of a new laser made from crystals of yttrium-aluminum-garnet treated with 1-3% neodymium. The worlds first Nd:YAG laser was developed. This laser emitted energy in the near infrared (IR) spectrum at a wavelength of 1060 nm. Although many Americans felt safer to have more powerful lasers being developed, doctors tried to harness its power as they found its high-penetration emission to be useful for vapourising tissues and thermally coagulating large blood vessels. It is interesting to see that the laser is still widely used in cosmetic medicine today. It has even found a new role targeting hair follicles in darker coloured skin. The following year, the first experiments into depilation by laser took place when Dr. Leon Goldman used the principle of selective target destruction with ruby lasers in an attempt to destroy the melanin in hair follicles.

Unfortunately for him, although the idea was good, he did not take into account that the laser emitted a continuous wave more adept at shooting down Sputnik and it also targeted melanin in the skin and burnt his patients. The other patients in the experiment suffered from post inflammatory hyperpigmentation and the experiment was abandoned. In that year, the argon laser was also developed. This laser emitted energy in the blue-green portion of the visible spectrum, making it more readily absorbed by melanin and hemoglobin than by the surrounding tissue. It was 1962 and the American public waited with baited breath as President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nakita Khrushchev waged a battle of nerves over the Cuban missile crisis.

In 1963, the ruby laser became the first medical laser when Francis L’Esperance from the Columbia- Presbyterian Medical Centre used it to coagulate retinal lesions. In 1965 he began working with Bell researchers Eugene Gordon and Edward Labuda to design a better laser for eye surgery as the blue-green light of the argon laser is more readily absorbed by blood vessels than the red light of the ruby laser. After further refinements and experiments, they developed a laser that is still used to this day to treat patients with diabetic retinopathy. It also has a use in the treatment of port-wine stains. As the cold war developed, the US Government funded projects that covered research into more powerful lasers, ones that had the power to cut through steel.

In 1964, Patel at Bell Laboratories developed the CO 2 laser. This laser operated at 10,600 nm and it was similar to the Nd YAG in that it could be used for cutting materials like stainless steel. The advantage was that it could also be focused onto a smaller spot; a function that one day could be useful in space. Thankfully for cosmetic medicine at this wavelength, energy is also heavily absorbed by water, which everyone knows is the primary constituent and chromophore of cells in living tissue. This particular function made the energy generated by the new CO2 laser suitable for tissue vapourisation and a whole new era of wrinkle removal by skin resurfacing began. The experiments on trying to find the ‘Holy Grail’ of being able to remove hair by laser light followed the path of the emerging Beatles throughout most of the rest of the sixties.

In 1967, while Dr. Chris Barnard carried out the world’s first human heart transplantation at the Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town, attempts made to reduce the potential damage to background skin by directing the light energy to individual follicles through the use of a wire-thin fibre optic apparatus. Many of these devices were sold illegally in the United States throughout the late sixties until the FDA banned their use. In 1968, Union Carbide’s commissioned a study by Dermascan (manufacturer of the Proteus thermolysis machine) of the effects of applying laser energy applied directly to each hair follicle. The results were largely unsuccessful in that the perceived depilation may have been related to a type of electrolysis effect. Today the company is more famous, for those three nights in 1984, their chemical plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate into the atmosphere exposing half a million people to the gas, resulting in the eventual deaths of 20,000 people.

During the 1970’s research into finding a means of hair removal with laser continued with Omnicron Corporation producing a photo epilator that used coherent light to epilate hair. The device never produced marketable results and things remained that way until another attempt was by Lasertron inc. in the 1980s when they used an Argon laser to direct energy at the haemoglobin surrounding individual hairs. The device was marketed before proper clinical tests were done to establish its efficacy and before long patients were complaining as it proved to be unsuccessful for permanent hair removal. In 1983, Oshiro and Maruyama noted that hair was lost from after pigmented nevi were treated with a ruby laser. Whenever the increased the laser power to affect the hair follicles, the epidermis became severely damaged. These observations led to Anderson and Parrish developing the theory of ‘selective photothermolysis’. This theory was based on the fact that a laser of particular wavelength and pulse duration of light could be used to target a particular chromophore, selectively destroying it while sparing the surrounding tissue. The space race started by the launch of Sputnik continued and in that year, Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut landed aboard the Challenger space shuttle.

While tumultuous things were happening on the world stage, including the fall of the Soviet Empire, the freeing of Nelson Mandela and Saddam Hussein’s fateful annexation of Kuwait, the development of laser hair technology seemed to have reached an impasse. There were some highlights when Thermolase Corporation built and tested a low-power Nd: YAG laser for the removal of tattoos and birthmarks.

During the mid nineties the quest to find the ‘Holy Grail’ laser seemed to quicken when a company called ThermoLase used a topical suspension of carbon particles applied to skin followed by treatment of a Q-switched variant of this Nd: YAG laser called the SoftLight(TM) to treat hair. The laser certainly produced some results and within a short time it received FDA approval and became the first device for hair removal in the United States. ThemoLase went all out to market the product and within a short period they starting using the device in a chain of clinics called Spa Thira. It soon became apparent that this was not the ‘Holy Grail’ laser as the device seemed to only delay hair regrowth by 3-4 months, but it did not provide permanent hair reduction. This led to several lawsuits against the company and in the period1998-99; they closed most of their spas.

However, all was not lost for TheroLase because it is apparent that many clients who had unsuccessful hair-removal reported improvement in their skin’s texture. It appeared the heat emitted by the laser in association with a lotion that was employed caused a form of skin resurfacing. Before long, Thermage exploited this benefit by obtaining FDA approval for SoftLight(TM) resurfacing, marketing it as a safe, fast and effective alternative to CO2 and erbium skin resurfacing.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa. It was the same year that Doctors Anderson and Grossman working with Palomar Medical Technologies, first used a water-cooled delivery handpiece during epilation with a long pulsed Ruby laser. The laser was developed at Massachusetts General Hospital and the chilled head meant the laser did not thermally damage the surrounding skin, leaving it less irritating than other methods and relatively pain free. This EpiLight ® Ruby laser is still in use in many US clinics today.

In 1995, the world was gripped by the live television coverage of the Los Angeles trial of a former American football star and actor ‘O.J.Simpson’. Further upstate in the small town of Los Gatos, dermatologist Patrick Bitter had other things on his mind. He postulated that if he used a Xenon flashlight to emit broad-spectrum light made up of multiple wavelengths, he could use a cutoff filter to restrict the bandwidth to a certain range. By applying different filters, he could imitate laser action by using the shorter wavelengths to clear pigment spots (lentigines) and broken vessels (telangiectasias) and the longer ones rejuvenate and smooth the skin. By using a range of wavelengths and some clever software a company could produce a device that could cure many ailments at once. In these moments the new concepts of Intensed Pulsed Light (IPL) and photorejuventation were born and the world moved closer to finding the ‘Holy Grail’ laser. Ironically, these devices would not be real lasers, as they were in reality flash lamps giving off white light, similar to that of a light bulb with wavelengths in the range of 400- 765nm.

In 1998, ESC Sharplan announced the introduction of the Vasculight ® and the concept of IPL ® technology for photorejuvenation. In the year 2000, this company became Lumenis and they introduced the Quantum SR as the pioneer IPL of the new Type I Photorejuvenation procedure.

By 2001, numerous companies began to produce IPL machines and market the photorejuvenation procedure. Later that year some of the people who had helped form ESC/Lumenis scientists created a new company called Syneron. In 2002, this company announced the introduction of the Aurora RF, a new type of laser that promised to enhance photorejuvenation by using the addition of RF (bipolar radiofrequency) to the pulsed light source. This action brought both companies into the U.S. District Court with Lumenis bringing a preliminary injunction against Syneron’s sale of Aurora devices. In 2004, Lumenis granted Syneron unlimited non-exclusive worldwide licenses for Lumenis patents relating to the use of incoherent light in aesthetic and medical applications, including all of its IPL related patents. It was the same year that a tsunami spread throughout the Indian Ocean, killing nearly a fifth of a million people and devastating coastal communities across South and South East Asia.

A high-tech, secret city has been said to exist in a remote jungle crater in South America. If so, who might the scientists be who run this James Bond-type super fortress?

The story begins with the great Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1973), a former student of Nikola Tesla. Marconi studied radio transmission theory with Tesla and made his first radio transmission in 1895. Marconi and Tesla are both accredited for the invention of the radio. Marconi’s historical radio transmission utilised a Heinrich Hertz spark arrester, a Popov antenna and an Edoliard Bramely coherer for his simple device that was to go on to become the modem radio.

Marconi was a mysterious man in his later years, and was known to perform experiments, including anti-gravity experiments, aboard his yacht Electra. Marconi’s yacht was a floating super-laboratory, from which he sent signals into space and lit lights in Australia in 1930. He did this with the aid of an Italian physicist named Landini by sending wave train signals through the earth, much as Nikola Tesla had done in Colorado Springs.

In June of 1936 Marconi demonstrated to Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini a wave gun device that could be used as a defensive weapon. In the 1930s such devices were popularised as ‘death rays’ as in a Boris Karloff film of the same name. Marconi demonstrated the ray on a busy highway north of Milan one afternoon. Mussolini had asked his wife Rachele to also be on the highway at precisely 3:30 in the afternoon. Marconi’s device caused the electrical systems in all the cars, including Rachele’s, to malfunction. The car motors would not function for half an hour, while her chauffeur and other motorists checked their fuel pumps and spark plugs. At 3.35 all the cars were able to start again. Rachele Mussolini later published this account in her autobiography.

Mussohni was quite pleased with Marconi’s invention however it is said that Pope Pius XI learned about the invention of the paralysing rays and took steps to have Mussolini stop Marconi’s research. According to Marconi’s followers, Marconi then took his yacht to South America in 1937, after faking his own death. A number of European scientists were said to have gone with Marconi, including Landini. In 1937, the enigmatic Italian physicist and alchemist Fulcanelli warned European physicists of the grave dangers of atomic weapons, and then mysteriously vanished a few years later. He is believed to have joined Marconi’s secret group in South America. Ninety-eight scientists were said to have gone to South America where they built a city in an extinct volcanic crater,in the southern jungles of Venezuela. In their secret city, financed by the great wealth they had created during their lives, they continued Marconi’s work on solar energy, cosmic energy and anti-gravity. They worked secretly and apart from the world’s nations, building free-energy motors and ultimately discoid aircraft with a form of gyroscopic anti-gravity. The community is said to be dedicated to universal peace and the common good of all mankind. Believing the rest of the world to be under the control of energy companies, multinational bankers and the military-industrial complex, they have remained isolated from the rest of the world, working subversively to foster peace and a clean, ecological technology on the world.

We have information on this astonishing high-tech city from a number of sources. In the South America the story is a common subject among certain metaphysical groups. Says the French writer Robert Charroux in his book The Mysteries of the Andes (1974, 1977 Avon Books),”… the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes (CSA), which is discussed in private Caracas to Santiago.” Charroux relates the story of a Mexican journalist named Mario Rojas Avendaro who investigated the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes (Underground City of the Andes) and concluded that it was a true story. Avendaro was contacted by man named Nacisso Genovese, who had been a student of Marconi and was a physics teacher at a high school in Baja, Mexico.

Genovese was an Italian by origin and claimed to have lived for many years in the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes. Sometime in the late 1950s he wrote an obscure book entitled My Trip To Mars. Though the book was never published in English, it did appear in various Spanrsh, Portuguese and Italian editions. Genovese claimed that the city had been built with large financial resources, was underground, and had better research facilities than any other research facility in the world (at that time, at least). By 1946 the city was already using a powerful collector of cosmic energy, the essential component of all matter, according to Marconi’s theories.

“In 1952,” according to Genovese, “we travelled above all the seas and continents in a craft whose energy supply was continuous and practically inexhaustible. It reached a speed of half a million miles an hour and withstood enormous pressures, near the limit of resistance of the alloys that composed it. The problem was to slow it down at just the right time.” Genovese located the city in a crater at thirteen thousand feet in the jungle mountains of the Amazon. Genovese claimed that flights to Mars were made in their ‘flying saucers,’ and that this secret city is still in existence!

There have been many reports of UFOs in South America, especially along the edge of the mountainous jungles of the eastern Andes, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Is it possible that some of these UFOs are anti-gravity craft from the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes? In light of highly reliable sources who claim that a ‘last battalion’ of German soldiers escaped via submarine in the last days of WWII to Antarctica and South America, it is possible that the Germans may have high-tech super-cities in the remote jungles of South America as well. A number of modem military historians, such as Col. Howard Buechner,author of Secrets of the Holy Lance and Hitler’s Ashes, maintain that the Germans had already created bases in Queen Maud Land, opposite South Africa, during the war. Afterwards. German U-boats, in some reports as many as 100, took important scientists, aviators and politicians to the final fortress of Nazi Germany. Two of these U-boats surrendered in Argentina three months after the war.

In 1947, the US Navy invaded Antarctica, mainly Queen Maud Land with Admiral Byrd in command. The Americans were defeated and several jets from the four aircraft carriers were said to have been shot down by discoid craft. The navy retreated and did not return until 1957. According to the book, Chronicle of Akakor, a book first published in German by the journalist Karl Brugger, a German battalion had taken refuge in an underground city on the borders of Brazil and Peru. Brugger was assassinated in the Rio de Janeiro suburb off panema in 1981. While the secret cities of South America manufacturing flying saucers and battling the current powers of the world from their hidden jungle fortresses may sound too much like the plot of a James Bond movie, it appears to be based on fact!

Perhaps a final showdown between the ‘last battalion’ and the current political system will be a battle waged with flying saucers and space-based weapons systems.. What part will the peaceful scientist-philosophers of the Secret Underground City of the Andes play in the coming changes on planet Earth?

The hallmark of science is its willingness to discard outmoded theories when a better, more explanatory model comes along. But today, science practices this principle only within the paradigm of materialism. By this term I mean a model of the universe based upon the assumption that matter came before mind, that the universe and all living things are nothing but particles in motion, and that the world we see, from the tips of our fingers to the farthest galaxy, exists independently of the mind and operates beyond its control.

This materialistic model brings us the Big Bang theory, dark matter, dark energy, reductive materialism, and the search for the “God” particle in atom smashers and for the origin of life in test tubes.

Modern scientists use the model of materialism because they believe it is necessary to practice science. For example, in a classic article on quantum physics, entitled, “Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?” the authors, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen, write, “Any serious consideration of a physical theory must take into account the distinction between the objective reality, which is independent of any theory, and the physical concepts with which the theory operates.”

The late Ernst Mayr, one of history’s leading biologists, expressed the subject this way:

“Despite the openness of science to new facts and hypotheses, it must be said that virtually all scientists-somewhat like theologians-bring a set of what we call “first principles” with them to the study of the natural world. One of these axiomatic assumptions is that there is real world independent of human perceptions. This might be called the principle of objectivity (as opposed to subjectivity) or common-sense realism. This does not mean that individual scientists are always “objective” or even that objectivity among human beings is possible in any absolute sense. What it does mean is that an objective world exists outside of the influence of subjective perception. Most scientists-though not all-believe in this axiom.”

Even though the objective-world model is a popular viewpoint — since everyone wants there to be a “real world independent of human perceptions” — it does suffer from one notable flaw: no one has ever shown it is either true or necessary. Indeed, no one has shown that science cannot be practiced within a different conceptual model. If there is one criticism modern scientists deserve is that they have convinced the public at large that only within the materialistic model is the practice of science possible; using any other approach, they announce, veers off the road into unscientific religious dogma and new-age hocus-pocus.

Another drawback of the materialistic model is that it has forced modern science down a series of dead-end streets as it attempts to piece together a complete theory of the cosmos while being shackled by its own model. Here is a short list of the conundrums material science now faces:

• The origin of the matter and energy that exploded in the Big Bang
• The mechanism for inflation
• The source of the laws of nature
• The character and existence of dark matter and dark energy
• The difficulty of reconciling the particle/wave duality of quantum physics with objective reality
• The incompatibility between quantum physics and gravity
• The origin of life and the DNA molecule
• The origin of consciousness
• The manner in which nature’s laws appear fine-tuned just so life can exist.

Despite these deep quandaries, modern theorists give no thought to the notion that the source of the problem might not be their incomplete understanding of a mind-independent material world, but rather the very model of materialism.

Would scientists be willing to try a new model of the universe if it explained more but made them discard many of their materialistic-based theories? Or, are modern scientists so wedded to the model of materialism that they would rather practice science within this comforting — but ultimately false — model rather than try something different that might ultimately explain more and lead to a better theoretical framework?

Suppose we took the view that matter emerged from mind rather than the other way around? If this alternative viewpoint is in fact true, should we ignore the world’s make-up and go on practicing science only within the materialist model, or should we at least determine whether science can be practiced in this mind-generated, dream world and see where that leads us?

What is Science?

Science is commonly defined as “any system of knowledge that is concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation. In general, a science involves a “pursuit of knowledge covering general truths or the operations of fundamental laws.” Empirical science,

“seeks to explore, to describe, to explain, and to predict the occurrences in the world we live in. [Scientific] statements, therefore, must be checked against the facts of our experience, and they are acceptable only if they are properly supported by empirical evidence. Such evidence is obtained in many different ways: by experimentation, by systematic observations, by interviews, surveys, by psychological or clinical testing, by careful examination of documents, inscriptions, coins, archeological relics, and so forth.”

Another feature of science is that seeks to furnish natural explanations for physical phenomena, as opposed to supernatural or immeasurable, untestable, or unverifiable explanations. This feature helps explain why scientists generally prefer Darwin over Genesis for accounting for the variety of life-forms present on the Earth: Darwin offered an explanation verifiable by observation; Genesis simply says God did it, without explaining how. As we will, we will not need to discard any of these features of science if we change to a mind-created or dream model of the cosmos.

Why the Independent World Assumption is False

There are several critical problems with materialism’s assumption of a mind-independent world. But while modern scientists show no hesitation in questioning theories and ideas framed within the materialist model (such as string theory, multi-universes, or the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics), they never once question the underlying assumption of their own materialistic model. This is the critical error of modern science.

The materialistic model is implausible for three fundamental reasons:

First, the history of philosophy teaches us a threshold fact about the mind that most people either ignore or have never thought about. This fact is that the mind is only capable of knowing about itself. Even under the tenets of modern science images of the (assumed) external world ultimately form in the mind; since we can only know the mind, we must assume that an independent world exists outside of the mind that is the cause of the mental ideas and images that form in the mind. Some view this question as a matter of sanity: how can someone actually question whether a world outside the brain exists? But this framing of the question mis-states the issue: We may not be able to tell the difference if the mind, instead of passively receiving images of an external world as in Locke’s famous blank tablet, actively projects the external world like a grand, 3-D movie projector.

This particular question — can the mind know anything other than itself — was the subject of one of the great philosophical debates of all time, starting with the British empiricist John Locke and ending with the metaphysics of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich W.J. Schelling, and others. Even though the analytical inquiry ended with virtually all of these thinkers concluding that the mind can only know itself, the project ended with either solipsism (the world is all in my head) or some form of mysticism. Idealism was unable to solve the problem of the multiple dreamers: if the world is a dream, then do we each live in our own dream world?

If our entire scientific worldview is based upon knowing about a mind-independent world, when it is also true we cannot in fact know that world, then should not scientists at least exhibit a bit more humility when pronouncing their latest versions of the “theory of everything?” If, indeed, it is unalterably true that the mind can only know itself, then we might want to develop a science — a methodological system of thought — that accepts this principle as given?j

The second reason we should doubt materialism is a matter of common sense and leads many people to believe in a supernatural power: where did all this supposed “mind-independent” stuff come from? This very basic question is most directly presented in the Big Bang theory, materialism’s version of a creation story. Under that theory, what we now perceive as the universe of stars began in a fiery blast of matter, space, and time roughly 14 billion years ago. To account for the trillions upon trillions of stars in the sky, scientists assume that at one time all of this matter was condensed into a primordial seed, also known as a “singularity. ” To ask where all the stuff that makes up the universe comes from is the same as asking where the primordial seed came from since both contain the same amount of matter and energy.

Material scientists have done an impressive job of avoiding this critical weakness to the very foundation of the scientific enterprise. When pushed, some scientists talk about “quantum fluctuations” — “vacuum energy”– but these theories themselves also assume some sort of energy field, and most likely an observing mind. Some scientists, such as Nobel prize-winning physicist, Leon Lederman, are more candid on the topic:

“A story logically begins at the beginning. But this story is about the universe, and unfortunately there are no data for the Very Beginning. None, zero. We don’t know anything about the universe until it reaches the mature age of a billionth of a trillionth of a second, that is, some very short time after creation in the Big Bang. When you read or hear anything abut the birth of the universe, someone is making it up. We are in the realm of philosophy. Only God knows what happened at the Very Beginning[.]”

Coming up with a logical, credible explanation for how enough matter to decorate the heavens sprang from the dark void is no simple task, and close enough to impossible to in fact be impossible. And again, that material scientists have no explanation for how this miracle happened should create more humility on their part than it has.

The third reason to doubt seriously the independent-world assumption of material science concerns the laws of nature. The material world, as we know, follows precise and predictable laws, such as gravity, the laws of motion, electricity, gases, and chemistry, which are describable in the language of mathematics, constant and regular. But once science disconnects mind from matter, this mind, the only intelligent force in the universe over which we have direct knowledge, can give matter no help in arranging itself into the laws of nature. The quest for the source to the laws of nature — or the source of mathematical constancy — remains one of science’s greatest challenges.

The Independent World Assumption Leads Scientists Astray

It can be seen that many of science’s more bizarre theories result from its adherence to a materialistic conception of reality. It is as if any twist or contortion to a theory is permissible so long as it is framed within the material science worldview. This practice simply perpetuates a foundational error.

In some theories, such as the Big Bang theory, material scientists simply assume the necessary (near-infinite) amount of matter and energy to fill out the theory. But other theories show how scientists encounter multi-layered puzzles when, after having made the independent-world assumption, they then use it to explain other phenomena. For example, one outcome of the standard Big Bang model is that scientists have no credible explanation — other than plain coincidence — for why the wildly chaotic Big Bang led to a universe that is almost completely flat; specifically a universe in which the repulsive force from the Big Bang precisely cancels out the attractive force of the exploding stellar debris (the “flatness problem”). Nor does the standard Big Bang model explain why vastly separate regions of outer space have exactly the same temperature, when there is no physical means for the separate regions to have shared information. (the “horizon problem.”) Rather than view these two critical problems in their theories as rooted in the unnecessary independent-world assumption, material scientists use them as reasons to devise more complicated theories requiring more ad-hoc assumptions.

Thus, their solution to the critical problems in the standard Big Bang model is the inflationary Big Bang theory. With this convenient modification, the universe just so happened to inflate by a factor of 10E51(the number 10 with 51 zeros after it) in 10E-36 seconds — and then paused to track the normal expansion of the universe predicted by the Big Bang. This wild expansion occurred in an unimaginably brief time — one-billionth of the time it takes light to cross the distance of an atomic nucleus. Inflation allows scientists to maintain the materialist model by using a wildly speculative, ad hoc concept as the solution for the flatness and horizon problems.

Of course if scientists did not make the independent world assumption in the first place they would have no need to make matters worse by resorting to the unrestrained speculation of the inflationary universe model.

A remarkable feature of nature is that its laws appear finely tuned just so life can exist. This observation, known generally as the anthropic principle, strongly suggests that “something is going on:” the deeper scientists delve into the fundamental constants of the physical world, the more it appears as if some force turned the dials to the precise settings just so life can exist.

To escape the mystical overtones of the anthropic principle, some scientists (most notably Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their book, The Grand Design) have advanced theories which predict that inflation caused not one but 10E500 universes to spring from the void. (Of, course, so far we have found firm evidence for only one of these many universes, which seems to be enough.) In one of these multiple universes, the authors explain, the laws of nature would have turned out just so life can exist. But, again, if the one universe we see is in fact mind-created, we would have no need to postulate the existence of 10E500 other ones to explain the odd fit between humans and the universe.

Another example of how the independent-world assumption creates untold difficulties for material science theory comes from the field of biology and concerns the origin of life. Having disconnected mind from matter in their theories, material scientists are left to speculate how mindless residue from the Big Bang arranged itself into intricate workings of living cell, including the codes of the DNA molecule.

According to Occam’s razor, the fewer assumptions in a theory the better the theory. Would not then a theory that explained the world without making the independent world assumption be a better theory than one which does make the assumption?

Science is supposed to be the emotionally detached search for truth. If a better theory came along that managed to explain the physical phenomena of the world without the independent world assumption of material science, would not this theory at least deserve a look? In different words, if the metaphysical assumption of material science is not true, it would be necessary to re-work many of its theories, but it would not eliminate the field of science. Instead it would re-orient science upon a stronger footing, while also joining the field of science with philosophy and religion.

Material science is like an extremely slow, diligent portrait artist who insists that his model remain perfectly still throughout the lengthy session; to capture the moment, the artist, like material science, must assume the model is independent of the artist’s creative powers; he is painting a figure of the natural world; fixed, self-sustaining; independent. In the same way, scientists objectify the physical world because they believe doing so is necessary to study it.

In summary, material scientists assume the independence and objectivity of the natural world (e.g., stars, planets, living bodies) to study its composition, movements, and history, and their test results indeed show the unchanging nature of the physical world.

Science Remains the Best Approach for Finding Truth in a Mind-Generated World.

But both of these elements of scientific knowledge remain in place if the source of the external world is the united mind as opposed to some mysterious, energy-generating external force (whatever caused the Big Bang per the creation theory of material science.) Scientists can still assume the independent existence of external objects in order to study them. They can still calculate the regularity of the planetary orbits; falling projectiles; spiraling galaxies; electrical forces; gas pressures; chemical reactions; quantum mechanics; and virtually every other physical force or life process. But in the end the picture they draw is a self-portrait. What changes is simply our perspective and the depth of our understanding.

Of course, viewing the world as a dream or mind-created will alter certain theories of modern science but it will not change the fundamental purpose of science which is to describe the workings of the physical world according to coherent theories. In the end, explanations of the existence and regularity of the external world lead to the mind as the ultimate cause, but it does not change the fundamental task of cataloguing the regularities of nature.

Science in a Dream

If the universe we live in is indeed a dream, then there is no doubt that some theories of modern science will need to be overturned, and others overhauled, while some remain unchanged.

Among the theories that must be overturned completely are those dealing with what might be called quasi-creative processes, such as the Big Bang theory (including the inflationary theory), galaxy formation, dark matter and dark energy. Why each of these theories will need to be overturned outright may be self-explanatory.

For example, the Big Bang would be false because the universe of stars would not have originated from a mind-independent force, but as a projection of the mind. Accordingly, science would have no need to resort to the radical inflationary Big Bang theory in order to account for the present universe of stars. Note here, by the way, that science does not end by simply saying “well it’s all in the mind, so who cares about anything else?” Rather, we look at the stars and wonder how this particular arrangement appeared in the form it did: why did the Mind create this particular universe, rather than another one?

Dark matter, another peculiar theory, also goes by the wayside. Dark matter is an add-on assumption used to account for the observed lack of the necessary gravitational mass to hold galaxies — and thus the universe — together. Dark energy, another unobservable force, would also be unnecessary. This mysterious force has been presented as a means to account for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe. The problem with dark energy, like dark matter, is that scientists cannot observe a physical source for the repulsive force. But again, if the universe is mind-created, the fact that far-away galaxies appear to be drifting away at an accelerated speed may show, among other things, the mind in a constant state of creation, or in fact nothing at all.

Now the point here, it must be remembered, is not (yet) to prove that in fact the world is a dream, but to remove any resistance against “dream-theory” based on a fear that science can no longer be practiced. No such thing happens. Instead, viewing the world as a dream simply eliminates many of the unnecessary assumptions of modern science and dispenses with its most bizarre theories.

In addition to eliminating materialism’s beginning-of-the-world theories, dream-theory also eliminates materialism’s end-of-the world theories. These theories are based upon the sun running out of fuel and dying, the universe reversing its expansion and retracting into a Big Crunch, or some other theory modeled after an aging machine. Now, if the world is instead mind-created, the “out-of-fuel” scenario is no longer valid because the sun and other stars in the sky are ultimately fueled by the mind’s desire to live and dream, not by the quantity of hydrogen in the star’s core.

Medical science is another field of material science that will have to undergo dramatic modification if the world turns out to be a dream. This one we should rejoice over. As noted, the underlying assumption of material science is that the physical world exists outside of the mind and operates beyond its control. This supposed independent physical world includes the human body. As most of us know, medical science, contrary to quite a lot of evidence, assumes that the human body operates on its own accord and is unaffected by any positive or negative thought in the mind. This is why science tells us that no matter how much we believe otherwise, we are doomed to wrinkle and die; and, of course, if the human body is a machine independent of the mind, this thinking is likely true.

But if the world is a dream, then the entire physical world, including the human body, would be a projection of the mind, and therefore controlled ultimately by the mind. This simple fact would explain the workings of the “powerful placebo,” and the long history — though mostly anecdotal — of how strong belief heals.

Now on this point, one would need to question why a material scientist, and for that matter anyone, would at least not consider the truth of dream theory. Like Pascal’s famous wager that it is better to believe in God than not, just in case one really exists, so one might want to place a few chips on the space marked “dream theory” just in case the world really is a dream. Upon further thought, it might even be wiser to go “all in” on dream theory, as the rewards may very well be limited only by the imagination.

So science can indeed still be practiced if the world is really a dream. Therefore, if the main (perhaps unspoken) reason you have rejected the thought that this world may be a dream is because science would cease to exist, then some reconsideration is necessary. It seems better to build a worldview upon the correct metaphysics and then carry out science, rather than to assume one must believe in an erroneous world model as the price for carrying out a logical, systematic, objective study of the world.

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