Want proof of luck, ESP, and psychic powers?

By John Silveira Issue #40 • July/August, 1996 We were riding down the Pacific Coast Highway— Mac, his girlfriend Carol, and I. Mac's the poker playing friend of Dave Duffy, the fellow who publishes this magazine....

Real-life heroes

By John Silveira January 15, 2000 TV programs and movies are often about heroes. Here's the thinnest of plots: someone's in trouble and a John Wayne-type character shows up to rescue him--or her. In the meantime...

The world is ending! … Again?

By John Silveira Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 People love to talk about scary stuff. Especially when it's end-of-the-world scary, such as the big asteroid recently in the news that was supposed to hit Earth and...

Why bureaucracy will likely destroy America

By John Silveira Issue #50 • March/April, 1998 "Civilizations rise and fall," Dave said and I turned around to see if he was talking to me, but he was still staring at his monitor. I looked...

Our energy crisis Part 2 — Nuclear energy is sensible and safe

<!-- Our energy crisis Part 2 of 3 Nuclear energy is sensible and safe By John Silveira --> By John Silveira Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 When an atomic bomb was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945, the amount of energy...

A brief history of health and medicine

By John Silveira Issue #100 • July/August, 2006 As little as a century ago, the average life span in the United States was 49 years. Today it is 77. Fifty years ago, the average life span...

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 4 — Cunning, vindictive, and one may have...

By John Silveira Issue #35 • September/October, 1995 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) Do you think we'll ever have a woman as President?" I asked....

Baked Macaroni and Cheese to Kill For

Recipe of the Week  Baked Macaroni and Cheese to Kill For  Courtesy of John Silveira  Ingredients 2 cups uncooked elbow Macaroni 3/8 cup Butter 1/2 cup Flour 1-3/4 cups Milk 1/2 cup Sour Cream 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese...

Money can buy happiness

By John Silveira Issue #72 • November/December, 2001 The results are in: money can buy happiness, but it doesn't come cheap. Not only that, the amount of happiness your money can buy can be measured. I know...

The coming ice age

By John Silveira Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 As little as 30 years ago the talk wasn't about global warming, it was about an imminent ice age. Is an ice age likely? Even possible? Consider this:...

The coming ice age

By John Silveira Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 I'm putting my apocalyptic ice age novel, Danielle Kidnapped, on Amazon's Kindle and also producing a paperback version on Amazon's website. (See the ad on page 65.) The...

Who were the best…and worst U.S. Presidents?

By John Silveira Issue #49 • January/February, 1998 It was one of those days I love. We were between deadlines and Dave, Bill, Mac, and I had gone fishing on the lake. Dave, of course, is...

The unheralded roots of America’s freedoms

By John Silveira Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 I've just finished reading a fascinating book by Charles C. Mann. It's titled, 1491, and subtitled New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. The book has turned what...

Zombie Apocalypse

By John Silveira Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 "Can you survive a zombie apocalypse?" a familiar voice asked. I turned in my seat to see O.E. MacDougal, Dave Duffy's poker-playing friend from Southern California, walking toward me....

Can we make a Tyrannosaurus rex from a chicken?

By John Silveira Issue #169 • January/February, 2018   Do you have chickens, ducks, turkeys, or geese in your yard? They’re not “just birds” because scientists now realize birds are dinosaurs. Real dinosaurs! For 150 million years,...

The Coming American Dictatorship revisited

By John Silveira Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Mac's back. After a long absence our poker-playing friend from southern California, O.E. MacDougal, walked into the Oregon offices of Backwoods Home Magazine. Poof, and there he was. No...