Good Morning!
And a 🎆 Happy 58th Anniversary!!! 🎆 to Chas and Elvera! 🙂
💓 🌹 🌻 🌹 🌻 🌹 🌻 🌹 💓
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On this day in 1860 the Ms. Ann Stevens book “Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter” was offered for sale for a dime. It was the first published “dime novel.”
In 1931 Robert H. Goddard patented a rocket-fueled aircraft design.
In 1945 Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki declared that Japan would fight to the last rather than accept unconditional surrender.
And in 1946 Mel Ott (with the New York Giants) became the first manager to be ejected from both games of a doubleheader.
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Quote of the Day
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m just a guitar player, and my job is to go out there and play and entertain and do my thing.”
Les Paul
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First up, Les and Mary.
And then some Carl Nielsen, since it’s his birthday too.
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Wandering Views 
On this day in 1957, Charlie Shull and Elvera Collins walked down the aisle of FBC Columbia and Dr. Archie Ellis turned them into a family.
She says, “I can’t believe I’ve been married to the same man for 58 years!” “Nowdays they swap them like library books.”
I suspect she plans to keep me.
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🙂 I now know KarenO’s last name.
I have an e-mail from Facebook asking if I know Karen O……
They want me on Facebook.
I tried that for a couple of days.
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But it puzzles me that Facebook knows to connect me with Karen in some way. I have seen others of you too. But it never occurred to me, to wonder.
How do they know?
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Congratulations, Chas and Elvera!
Chas, you have been on FB before, so they know who you are. They look at who you were friends with and then look at who those people are friends with and find repeated names. So, if you were friends with two people who are friends with Karen O, you are more likely to be asked if you know her. This link has more to say about how the internet tracks you and your preferences: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/hyper-targeting-br-how-brands-track-you-online-1.2801818
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Al Mohler Q&A: http://www.worldmag.com/2015/06/mohler_on_marriage_and_not_giving_up
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Roscuro, Someone once said, “If you aren’t the customer, you’re the product.”
Much of their advertisement is misdirected, but they don’t know it.
For example. They know my car is eight years old. That makes them think I’m a potential customer. Maybe in another eight.
Think I’m kidding? My truck is a 2001 Ranger.
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Good Morning and a most blessed Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Shull!! ❤
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Karen, in reply to your question about marijuana use on yesterday N&P thread: I would say that first of all, setting aside the question of legality, smoking marijuana is not a healthy thing to do. Absorbing a narcotic, whether nicotine (tobacco), cannabis (marijuana), heroin (opium), or cocaine (coca), via smoke inhalation does horrible damage to the respiratory tract. Drinking a glass of wine is much less dangerous, purely in terms of health. I speak as an asthmatic, who finds people who smoke any substance in my presence to be very inconsiderate in endangering my health (my recent attack was precipitated by someone smoking just outside a store entrance).
Marijuana certainly has medicinal properties. I’ve read lately about how it has been successful in treating intractable childhood seizures. However, it is much more powerful in it’s psychoactive effects when smoked, than alcohol when it is drunk. I fail to see why anyone would wish to impair their mental functions so much for fun, but then I also fail to see how getting wasted on alcohol is fun. For safety reasons, it shouldn’t be used recreationally, or there should at least be the same stigma to using it while operating equipment that there is to drinking and driving.
Finally, there is the question of legality and social perception. This is especially valid for Christians, who for the purposes of being salt and light, are to avoid the appearance of evil and obey the government. I would say the reason that there is a correlation between teens who smoke marijuana and commit crime, is the rebellious indifference towards authority. That also applies to adults who engage in recreational use. In flouting the law and showing an indifference to whether they will be perceived as potheads, they show a willingness to put their own preferences and desires ahead of every other consideration, which does not speak well of how their character will be displayed in other life situations.
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It’s weird coming on here from the west coast; I’m used to waiting for AJ to put up the threads for the day, not waking up to a bunch of comments already. And the cockroaches superseded my date with Donna last night!
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Felicitaciones Chas and Elvera. May you have many more years together.
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Chas, same way they know what ads to put up when you look at anything else on here.
Linda, does that mean she was too busy cleaning the mess under her desk to see you, or does it mean you refused to see her out of fear of cockroaches in her bag?
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Roscuro- I have read that there are many good uses of the hemp/marijuana plant, but unfortunately, the medicinal and hallucinatory uses are all that get press. The fibers of hemp are stronger than most and can be used for rope or other materials. President H. W. Bush had a hemp parachute that saved his life in WWII. The fibers also burn hotter than corn alcohol, so can be used for fuel. And marijuana is good for those with arthritis. I am all for medical marijuana, but think it should be put in pill form instead of smoked.
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Now I know I will be fifty eight this year. Peter L is too busy to tell me anymore and Kevin B is too young to know.
Congratulations Chas and Elvera, you set a fine example!
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Kamiah is called the city of ropes because that is where the Nezperce would camp and make ropes from the hemp plants growing there. Lots of people would like to try medical marijuana but don’t want the mind altering effects so want to be certain that part is removed first. And they would prefer not to inhale it for the lung damaging effects as well.
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Peter, hemp is a legal field crop here in Canada, and textiles and food products are made from it. I’ve occasionally eaten hemp seed on my cereal. Hemp is not the same as marijuana; they are actually two closely related plants, but the psychoactive ingredient is very low in hemp – you would have to eat an enormous amount to notice any effects. Marijuana, on the other hand, is an illegal field crop here – but growers try to get away with it anyway (marijuana is not legal here, except for medicinal use). They will sometimes go into the middle of a farmer’s corn field and rip out the corn to plant marijuana. Some idiotic growers tried that with one of our friend’s soybean fields. Well, of course, marijuana is quite obvious in the low growing soybeans, so our friend just sprayed it with Round-Up. We also have a huge problem with hydroponic grow-ops in houses. The growers buy up houses in subdivisions and turn them into marijuana greenhouses. The constant warmth and moisture cause mould to grow in the houses, and they are often condemned after a grow-op is discovered. British Columbia is said to produce the highest grades of marijuana; but the rural areas in south-eastern Ontario actually produce the most.
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Praises to God for 58 years for Chas and Elvera. May He bless you with many more years together.
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Happy anniversary Chas & Elvera!
Linda tells me she may come back out in July when it should be easier for me to hopefully nab a day (or half a day) off. Yesterday wound out of control (as so often happens) and I didn’t get out of work until 7:30 p.m. Frustrating being so close, and yet … with schedules & L.A. traffic …
One of my FB friends, a guy who’s perennially “stuck” in the ’60s, his glory years apparently, says he’s a Christian (though of the extremely liberal variety and he frequently puts down orthodox christians whom he sees as hypocrites and uncaring for the poor), and is politically very partisan & outspoken — is a big booster of medical marijuana, although I suspect it’s used recreationally by him as well.
Odd because he frequently mentions how he’s been alcohol free for so many years, but it would seem (to me) that he’s just replaced one substance for the other. He frequently posts about the evils of alcohol and the wonderful, glorious benefits of marijuana.
Funny how people on FB have their own particular hobby horses that they trot out every day.
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I have no problem with prescriptions for medical marijuana being available. But the way it’s handled out here is through “pot shops” opening up everywhere (which L.A. is now trying to control with little success). We have several in our area, they come and go quickly, but when one shuts down another one opens up.
Often you’ll see mostly kids on skateboards hanging out around them. None of them look very sick. 😉
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Cute critters in the photo!
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Weird weather today. I think it’s raining. El Nino must be in the air …
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Weighing in on the marijuana issue….I know there are many good uses for medical marijuana. Have seen it used successfully in the hospice setting…..Recreational use..IMO..it is better than alcohol. I have never seen a domestic violence victim in the ER whose husband was high on pot. I have seen them when hubby was drunk, or high on meth.
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Isn’t marijuana supposed to relax you? And that seems to lead to lack of motivation which seems to lead to lack of going to work which seems to lead to….but I don’t know. I have never used it and would not recognize it if I saw it or smelled it. But, all of our children’s other parents were users of that and other things so I don’t encourage it. I don’t think I would go into some kind of panic if my children were using it though.
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Happy Anniversary to the Happy Couple. I have friends who are celebrating 25 years today. They were legally married in February of that year because even though their wedding was planned for June 9th, they found out the Navy wouldn’t wouldn’t move him from Florida and her from here unless they had been married a certain amount of time. It was a cross country move to either Idaho or California.
I am at the beach today and it is stormy. The wind is something else. I am on the 14th floor and between the stairwells, the elevator, and the balcony it is creating some sort of screaming noise.
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Happy 58th Anniversary, Charlie & Elvera!
Chas – If the name you saw had three names (Karen K_________ O________) then that was me. I’ve seen other Karens with the same last name on Facebook.
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Thanks for the congratulations everyone.
In a few minutes I’m going to take Elvera to Spartanburg. There she will go to the mall, among other things. We likely have dinner down there somewhere.
Their mall is much larger than Blue Ridge Mall.
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Karen, it was you.
But I deleted it. I don’t do facebook.
Kim, my sister married a navy man. They planned to get married on Valentines Day. But he got his orders, so they moved the wedding up a week. They had a week together before he left for a few months.
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Playing “devil’s advocate” here. It has been pointed out to me that the same people who get into trouble (committing crimes or other kinds of trouble), & have smoked marijuana also most probably drank alcohol, too, but no one seems to link that to the later behavior.
Over-use of marijuana does have an effect on one’s motivation & such, as does over-use of alcohol. But, just as there are casual users of alcohol who are responsible people, there are also casual users of marijuana who are also responsible people. (I’ve known some in my own life.)
Having said all that, I do also see the downsides of it that have been pointed out. (In case anyone is wondering: No, I do not smoke it, nor partake of it in any other form.)
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I guess I should have said recreational “abuse”. True, Mumsee, if they are abusing it they are generally on the couch eating rather than doing productive things.
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Happy Anniversary to Chas and Elvera!!
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Air Force son and Air Force daughter in law planned to get married when she graduated from college but as he was going to have to go in as enlisted and she was going in as officer (he dropped out of school, though he is the first of our children to then get his degree and go on to get his Master’s) and due to fratrinization policy, they went to the JP five months earlier so they would be legally married before he went in as enlisted and before she graduated as an officer. All very complicated when you involve the State.
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rkessler, my point was simply that it would make sense they were not involved in altercations if they were just using marijuana. It seems to be the other stuff that brings out the monster. But perhaps it affects some that way, I don’t know.
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Happy anniversary, Chas and Elvera.. May you both have many, many blessing from the Lord in your new year of being together.
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RKessler, you have a good point. I was thinking more in terms of Karen’s original question, of the effects of one glass of wine compared to the effects of one smoked joint of marijuana. It is hard to find concrete statistics, but what I’ve read on the subject would indicate that a whole joint is more impairing than a single glass of wine. Of course, alcohol consumed in large quantities is very impairing. I have a healthy fear of excessive alcoholic consumption, having seen in real life what chronic alcoholism does to the human body.
Karen, as I pointed out, the teen who smokes marijuana is displaying a pre-existing contempt for authority. I would say that is the same with a teen who drinks alcohol illegally (here the legal drinking age is 19) – they are showing they don’t care what the law says. The smoking, drinking, and criminal behaviour are just symptoms of the real problem.
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Happy Anniversary, Chas and Elvera!
On Sunday we had prayers at church for four couples celebrating wedding anniversaries this week. Together they’ve been married a total of 182 years (25 + 43 + 54 + 60), or an average of 45 1/2 years. You and Elvera would have upped the average, Chas. 😉
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Interesting discussion on marijuana, etc. As far as the dangers vs. benefits of substances like alcohol or marijuana, I’m curious about what the Bible says about these things. I know there are many positive references to wine in the scriptures, and that we have the freedom to drink in moderation, if we choose to partake.
What I’m wondering is if there are similar positive references to using something like marijuana? (Not that there have to be in order to make it OK — the Bible is silent on some things, obviously.) Or, are there general principles we can apply that help us determine guidelines for usage that wouldn’t violate scriptural norms?
I do think that the attitude behind our actions is important to consider. Yes, I believe a lot of underage drinking and the like is symptomatic of disregard for authority, as Roscuro points out. However, I don’t think a young adult, of whatever age, drinking a glass of wine at the dinner table with one’s family, for example, is a matter that the law should establish. I think parental discretion in when alcohol consumption is appropriate in one’s offspring is more fitting than “Nobody under [whatever age] is allowed to consume alcohol, whether publicly or privately”
States, of course, have different guidelines for these things, but some laws are too restrictive on families, IMO.
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OK. So I once (or two times) smoked marijuana. The first time I smoked it, I was 23. I was curious and my husband got it, took me home and let me smoke it. It didn’t ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for me. I was tired anyway so I went to bed. That was Saturday night. Monday morning the phone rang, it was the bank offering me a job. I just needed to come in and take the drug test. God reached down from heaven and THUMPED me on the head. The second time I was 27ish at a trade show and everyone else was doing it so I tried it again. Again, NOTHING, What’s the point?
Now a good glass of Pinot Noir is a totally different story. I love, love, love it. Especially with a good cut of red meat. Currently, I am not drinking any wine because I can lose a few pounds that I don’t want to carry around or I can waste 200 calories on wine instead of solid food. I also think that the closer I get to the age my mother was when she tumbled over the edge to full blown alcoholism the more wary I become. I only recently realized that–like in the past month.
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On to other more pressing things. Mr P saw a surgeon at the Spine Institute. That doctor does not want to do surgery. He says the risks outweigh the benefits of going back in and trying to replace what is there. He wants to install a neuro-transmitter to control the pain. I am at so much more peace about this path than I was with the idea of surgery. Of course he is to see another doctor for another opinion on Thursday and I told him I wasn’t the one in pain so it was his decision, but the thought of him having surgery makes my stomach hurt. The thought of just controlling the pain sounds so much better and doesn’t make me want to throw up.
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A non-surgical option sounds better to me too, Kim.
It’s hot here today — in the 90s right now, and one of the hottest places in the country, which doesn’t happen often.
One of my piano students has a morning lesson time in the summer, and was here today. I rather like teaching piano at that time. A lot of natural light coming through the big window on the eastern wall of our living room, in which room the piano resides. It’s a very cheery place in the morning, and hearing the piano sing makes it even more delightful. 🙂
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I notice that when I refresh the page, the little graphics AJ typed around the anniversary announcement at the top of the post don’t change into their colored form right away. The fireworks graphics look like little black spiders before they turn white in their blue boxes. 🙂
Or are those cockroaches? 😉
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In his remarks last Sunday before the Lord’s Supper, our pastor (as he’s done before) made the point that the Bible portrays wine as both a blessing and a curse, depending on how one uses it. (And, by extension, partaking of the Lord’s Supper itself also is portrayed in Scripture as both a blessing to those who participate in faith — but a curse to those who take carelessly or unworthily.)
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No cockroach sightings, but they must be anxiously waiting in the wings for us to all leave — big newsroom party today with pizza & cake.
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I saw an article in the paper the other day that of all the groups encouraging marijuana use NOT A SINGLE ONE was a medical group–as in the AMA, the Pediatrics Association of America and so forth. When the medicinal marijuana ballot initiative came up, I asked one of my relatives, an oncologist, which way to vote. I didn’t want to be cruel to those in pain, was it a valid argument?
I was told no. In that doctor’s opinion, it was just an excuse to smoke pot. I voted no.
17 years later, the initiative passed in that county and the county is a mess. Drop out rate has soared, no lessening in the number of drunken arrests, etc. and the awful smell of marijuana plants close to harvest makes it a chocking experience to walk down the street.
Lawlessness and contempt for the law has increased, too, and all the water that was diverted from our community downstream to flow into the Eel River for the salmon was stolen by pot growers before it ever got close to the sea.
Mellow, sure. Kill the fish. I would always vote no on principle, but also because while it may help a few, writing laws for the exceptions rather than the majority has demonstrated time and again, that it only destroys.
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We’ve got Donna’s weird weather up here–blowing, dark skies, humidity and heat. Unpleasant for sure. I think I’ll go to the air conditioned library . . .
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6 Arrows, I think a good place to start is Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” That is not a command not to drink, but to not be drunk. As this discussion has pointed out, wine can lead to impairment, but so can other mind altering substances – in a sense, drugs make you drunk. We should not be under the control of any of them, but under the control of the Holy Spirit. When we listen to His leading, we will know, as Paul knew, that all things are lawful for me… but I will not be brought under the power of any (I Corinthians 6:12) – not even caffeine. I am in favour of using things like opium, coca, and marijuana for medical purposes, following the advice of Proverbs 30 to give wine to those who are dying. I am currently taking a powerful medication to relieve my asthma attacks, but the possible side effects include mental changes, hallucinations, and suicidal ideation (so far, thankfully, none of those effects have shown up); but I would not want to take a substance just for fun which produced such mental effects. God, in His mercy and wisdom, provided substances to relieve our pain; but to allow ourselves to be controlled by such substances is a form of idolatry, placing them in a position which is only rightly filled by God.
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We had a nice day for our anniversary. It’s also the third anniversary for middle GD and her husband.
In discussions of the miracle at Cana where Jesus changed the water to wine, Pastor Steve said it was a custom in those days to always mix some wine with the water because they didn’t have reliable water sanitation and they always mixed some wine into the water to kill germs. They didn’t know about germs, but, as Paul said, they knew that the unmixed water was not good for them.
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Very weird weather, it looks like Florida
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95° is weird weather for us. 🙂
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Thanks for your comment, Roscuro. Good thoughts.
Oh, BTW, I ordered Philip Glass’s The Hours last week, and they called today from the music store and said it’s in. Looking forward to picking that up!
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Michelle – I keep seeing articles about how everything has been fine in Colorado since marijuana was legalized.
That’s one of the problems with our so-called Information Age – one can find “evidence” for either side of an issue.
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Interesting blog post on wine in biblical times (with a comment on the use of marijuana at the end, for what it’s worth … )
My take (as is the writer’s, apparently) is that the argument that wine in biblical times was diluted and thus little more than grape juice became popular during the temperance movement that so heavily influenced U.S. Protestantism, at the time.
From the blog: http://dispensationalist.blogspot.com/2007/11/alcohol-content-of-wine-in-bible.html
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Those who argue that some or all of the wine in the Bible was non-alcoholic or low-alcoholic are operating from a presupposition: alcohol is sinful. Both prohibitionists and abstentionists read the Scriptures through this presupposition.
However, material things are not sinful. Sin does not reside in objects, but in the human heart. Sin comes from the misuse of God’s gifts, not the godly use of God’s gifts. As we will see in the next chapter, alcohol is a gift from God. There is a godly and moderate use of alcohol.
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I don’t think legalizing marijuana is a good thing, but they might as well just go ahead and do it now. It’s essentially legal already. Then will come the next drug … My concern, again, is whether this is a positive or a negative for our neighbors and their children.
But I’m beginning to take more of a “we’re in Babylon” viewpoint, I think — and with that, I’m developing more of an acceptance that these things simply will come to pass in the culture in which we now live.
We vote, we try to persuade … But much of it will be against the tide for now and we shouldn’t expect otherwise, perhaps.
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Probably a better link from Sproul:
http://rcsprouljr.com/blog/ask-rc/rc-jesus-serve-fermented-unfermented-wine-grape-juice-supper/
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Until 150 years ago, virtually no one in the church ever took the position that drinking alcohol in moderation is a sin. No one. There are no ancient exegetical studies of these accounts of Jesus and wine breaking down the words because no one bothered to do so. Everyone knew it was wine. The question simply wasn’t asked, because there was no reason to ask it.
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Our congregation hashed a lot of this out at length when our church switched from a split tray (serving both, either/or wine and grape juice) to serving wine only a number of years ago. Biblically, the answer seemed very clear.
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If the wine in biblical times was only fermented grape juice or whatnot, then we wouldn’t have to be warned not to get drunk on it. 🙂
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Donna – Did you see the article I had shared on the news thread about Portugal’s experience with decriminalizing (but not legalizing) drugs? After many years, drug use has been cut in half, & crime is down.
We should end the never-ending, & very expensive, War On Drugs, & give decriminalization & treatment a try. Some will complain about tax dollars going to treat & help drug addicts, but I think that’s a better use for our money than throwing them in prison, which helps create criminals.
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Great links on drinking wine, Donna. The comment section on the first one was a good read, too, though I didn’t read all of them.
And I like Sproul’s no-nonsense, concise explanation.
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Karen, I think so. I don’t really have strong feelings on the whole “war on drugs.”
I remember one of our photographers years ago (1990s) was very big on that whole issue. I’ve just never read much about the issue and I don’t sense that it’s a much of a focus now as it maybe was in the 80s or 90s.
So I’m kind of an “agnostic” on that one. 🙂 But I don’t think they should be outright legalized.
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Interesting discussion today. Husband and I voted no on medicinal marijuana here, but it passed.
I once dated a really intelligent former Georgia Tech engineer grad who said he came to the conclusion that he had to cut out the pot smoking because he was losing the motivation to keep up with the reqirements of his studies. I neve4 smoked it myself. I had no desire to smoke anything.
Miss Bosley has been a bad kitty today. She decided to chew on the cord of my Smartphone charger. It now has little chew marks all over it. She is obsessive.
Our high was 88 and when a storm came in the temp went down to 70. So it has continued to be pretty pleasant.
I know it is late, but
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, CHAS&ELVERA
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57!!!
Oh, never mind, I see Janice slipped in while my computer was giving me posting problems.
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They say heroin has taken a huge swing upwards as they are so freely prescribing Oxycontin and hydrocodone or whatever they are called. Husband was prescribed both. The first did nothing the second helps with the pain but nothing else.
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On the question of not smoking marijuana, roscuro makes a good point concerning Eph 5. My former pastor pointed out the the words “drunk with” (wine) and “filled with” (the Spirit) are the same Greek word, having a meaning that has to do with “controlled by”. So we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, not mind-altering substances.
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One of the concerns law enforcement had with marijuana was that the only way to measure intoxication while driving was with a full-on blood test. There is (or was at that time, a few years ago) no accurate breathalizer-style tool that could be used at the scene to determine if someone was driving under the influence of marijuana.
Biblically, as several have pointed out, it’s drunkenness or being controlled by alcohol via abusing it that is the issue, not the wine — which is a blessing to man when used rightly — itself.
And my sense is that they’re really cracking down on prescription drugs which is fine but that can also go too far and be unbalanced — to the point that sick people don’t get the pain relief they should have.
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Coming in from the dog walk tonight, I caught this line on an old Law & Order show that was playing (I forgot to turn the TV off when we left): “He’s the biggest conservative bigot around,” speaking of some high profile character in the plot (which had to do with homosexuality, of course).
He was probably a creepy Christian pastor, too. 🙂 I changed the channel, so I’ll never know.
Can a liberal ever be the bad guy?
Nah.
You can see how entertainment media has played a huge role in bringing about the change in attitudes over the past years, though.
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And on heroin, I believe it’s also now very cheap which has driven its newfound popularity.
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Just got back from a Little League game. The earlier game was tied and since this is the playoffs, they played a couple of extra innings. So our game started an hour late. At 10:30 they decided to end the game and continue tomorrow. It was tied and everyone was tired.
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