from Bruce
Anecdotes
Sermons
• While in Edinburgh, Sydney Smith gave a sermon. After noticing that the congregation was composed mostly of women, he preached on this verse from the Psalms, “O, that men would therefore praise the Lord.”
Sunday School
• As a child in Sunday school, Michael Thomas Ford and the other students were fascinated by the Flannelgraph — a board covered with felt on which Bible stories could be enacted using paper dolls which stuck to the felt because of a material on the back of the dolls. One Sunday, when the teacher was out of the room for a few minutes, young Michael and the other children got a chance to enact their own scene with the paper dolls. However, the scene they chose to enact was not wholly appropriate for a Sunday school — they enacted a scene from Saturday Night Fever using the St. Paul paper doll to represent John Travolta’s character.
• In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, young Tom wins tickets each Sunday by reciting a few Bible verses — the tickets, when numerous enough, can be exchanged for a plainly bound Bible. Mark Twain’s Sunday school had the same system except that the tickets entitled a child to borrow a religious book from the Church library. In his later years, Mr. Twain claimed that he won his tickets by reciting the same five Bible verses each week.
Theft
• Nicholas Waln (1742-1813) was both a Quaker and a wit. While living in Philadelphia, he became aware that someone was stealing wood from his woodpile. By keeping careful watch, he learned that his next-door neighbor was the culprit, so he arranged to have a load of wood delivered to the neighbor. Instead of being pleased with the gift, the neighbor felt insulted and angrily demanded of Mr. Waln what he meant. Mr. Waln replied, “Friend, I was afraid thee would hurt thyself falling off my woodpile.”
• While on a Boy Scout trip as a young boy, Matt Groening took a Gideon Bible from a motel — he thought that it was free. He then underlined all the “dirty parts” in it. Of course, he got into trouble. Incredulous, his scoutmaster screamed, “You stole this Bible on top of everything else?”
Tobacco
• Charlie W. Shedd used to have two collections. One collection consisted of portraits of Jesus. As a young pastor in Houston, Texas, with the help of his congregation, he had collected these portraits, which now are displayed in the “Faces of Jesus” room at the Jekyll Community Presbyterian Church on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The other collection consisted of pipes, which he enjoyed smoking. However, one day, while sitting in the Faces of Jesus room, he started wondering, “In which of these faces would a pipe look good?” The answer was none, so he decided to get rid of his pipes and stop smoking. While on vacation at Playmore Beach, Rocky Mount, on the Lake of Ozarks, he put his pipes in a bag, rowed out onto the lake, and dropped the bag overboard. The next day, the bag of pipes had washed up on the beach in front of his cabin. But pastor Shedd was not to be dissuaded. He and his wife rowed back out on the lake, where they dropped the pipes one by one into the lake. This time, the pipes stayed put.
• Rev. Gustave Weigel, S.J., once lit a cigar and began puffing on it contentedly following an interfaith dinner. A fundamentalist Protestant looked on, disgusted, and asked, “Don’t you Catholics believe that the body is a temple?” After the priest replied, “Yes,” the fundamentalist asked why he was putting smoke in it. Father Weigel replied, “You put sausage in it.”
War
• During World War II, Gertrude Babilinska helped save the life of a Jewish boy named Mickey in Poland during the Holocaust. His parents had died, and she had promised them that she would take care of him. During the war, Mickey became ill and Ms. Babilinska was forced to take him to a German doctor. After the doctor had treated Mickey, she tried to pay him, but he refused payment, saying, “No, you have helped feel like a man.” Because of this, she realized that he knew that Mickey was Jewish. After the war, Ms. Babilinska took Michael to Israel so she could fulfill her promise to his parents to raise him as a Jew.
• When World War I broke out, the Austrian emperor asked Pope Pius X to bless his country’s cause. The Pope declined, saying, “I do not bless war; I bless peace.”
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. was first, and correct, with:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Wonder"
Album: WILDFLOWER
Artist: Emma Kiernan
Artist Location: Niwot, Colorado
Info:
“Folk-influenced singer-songwriter Emma Kieran creates music that tells stories of life’s endless ups and downs and the inherent goodness within everyone. Having grown up in Colorado and now attending Grinnell College in Iowa, she’s inspired by the people and places she encounters along the way.”
“This album is a compilation of original songs written, recorded, and produced by Emma Kieran. They’re songs that recognize both the darkness and light of our world and the resilience and goodness within each of us.”
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $10 (USD) for 11-track album
Genre: Singer-Songwriter. Folk.
Links:
WILDFLOWER
Emma Kiernan on Bandcamp
Emma Kiernan on YouTube
Emma Kiernan Official Website
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Quiet day at the laundromat-of-the-darned.
Celebrates 81st Birthday
Ringo Starr
Sometimes the peace-and-love message has to be celebrated in near-drive-by status, at least when there’s still a pandemic going on and you’re a Beatle trying not to draw a crowd. And so Ringo Starr’s annual birthday celebration happened in somewhat furtive fashion Wednesday, as he met with press and posed for photos in front of his peace-sign statue in the park at the corner of Santa Monica and Canon in Beverly Hills.
Starr’s birthday gatherings are usually bigger, pre-announced affairs, with a lot more than the 20 fans who had sussed out the location and were watching from behind a barricade Wednesday. Probably more fans were staking out the Capitol tower in Hollywood, where the star(r) led global “peace and love” shouts at noon Pacific time in 2014-17 and 2019. (Last year, the event was online-only, and in other years, it’d been based at Hard Rock Cafes around the world.)
He was turning 81 Wednesday, but said he didn’t pay any mind whether it was an odd number like that or last year’s major round number. “Birthdays are birthdays, you know — you’ve got to live with it, you know?” he told Variety before posing with guests including in-law Joe Walsh and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. “I mean, emotionally, sometimes I’m 18. We were laughing in the car saying I’m 18 today because it’s 81 in reverse.”
As it turned out, Starr and his wife Barbara Bach had stopped by the statue last year at this time, but without any fans or press in attendance, as attention turned toward the streaming special he presented in lieu of a live countdown. “Actually, last year, at the height of the pandemic,” Starr said, “because we live here, just Barbara and I ran down here to do it, to keep the tradition up, by the hand. And today we’ve got quite a few more. I do have a mask here if anyone’s complaining,” he joked, pretending to reach inside his jacket for complimentary faceguards. “It is what it is today. Two years ago we were at Capitol Records with a lot of guests playing for me and hundreds of people outside. But things have changed.”
What had he been doing to celebrate turning 81? “I woke up this morning,” he said, drawing laughs.
Ringo Starr
Prime Time
Ratings
More than 8 million people took in Fourth of July fireworks on television this year, watching NBC’s coverage of the Macy’s New York City celebration in one of two helpings.
Traditionally, the week encompassing Independence Day is one of the least-watched television weeks of the year. The only other program to reach more than 7 million viewers in prime time was NBC’s summer favorite, “America’s Got Talent.”
ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.5 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 6.4 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.8 million.
For the week of June 28-July 4, the most popular prime time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 7.08 million.
2. NBA Conference Finals: Phoenix at L.A. Clippers (Wednesday), ESPN, 5.86 million.
3. NBA Conference Finals: L.A. Clippers at Phoenix (Monday), ESPN, 5.75 million.
4. NBA Conference Finals: Atlanta at Milwaukee (Saturday), TNT, 5.24 million.
5. “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks,” NBC, 4.9 million.
6. NBA Conference Finals: Milwaukee at Atlanta (Thursday), TNT, 4.84 million.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 4.66 million.
8. NBA Conference Finals: Atlanta at Milwaukee (Tuesday), TNT, 4.63 million.
9. “NCIS,” CBS, 3.72 million.
10. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 3.64 million.
11. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 3.59 million.
12. “Hannity” (Wednesday), Fox News, 3.54 million.
13. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 3.49 million.
14. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 3.37 million.
15. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 3.32 million.
16. “The Price is Right,” CBS, 3.29 million.
17. “FBI,” CBS, 3.27 million.
18. “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks” (Sunday, 10 p.m.), 3.252 million.
19. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 3.25 million.
20. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 3.21 million.
Ratings
Japanese Billboard
3D Cat
An enormous 3D cat has gone viral after appearing on a Tokyo billboard.
The animal is visible on a 1,664-square-foot curved 4K LED screen in the Shinjuku district, CNN reports.
The feline’s activities change throughout the day. In the morning, the cat wakes up, progressing through a period of standing and meowing. In the evening, it lies down and eventually falls asleep with its head on its paws.
This is not the only 3D broadcast that has gone viral; in South Korea, a giant wave was displayed on the country’s biggest digital billboard.
It appeared for one minute every hour, with impressive realism, developed by “d’strict”, which specialises in immersive technology to create art.
3D Cat
Official Cheese Of Wisconsin
Colby
In cheese-obsessed Wisconsin, which proudly touts itself as America’s Dairyland, the dairy cow is the official domestic animal, milk is the official state beverage and cheese is the official dairy product.
But believe it or not, in a state that produces more cheese than any other at 3.4 billion pounds (1.5 billion kilograms) each year, there is no official state cheese.
A bipartisan bill heard by a state Assembly committee on Wednesday would change that.
The measure makes colby, which was created in Wisconsin more than 100 years ago, the official cheese. Colby may be as “gouda” choice as any, but the choice threatens to turn fans of cheddar, swiss, provolone and other varieties red, or perhaps blue, in the face with rage.
Colby also holds a special place in Wisconsin cheese history. It was created in the central Wisconsin city of, you guessed it, Colby in 1885. Joseph Steinwand created the cheese and named it after the township where his father built northern Clark County’s first cheese factory, according to a state historical marker in the city located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Wausau.
Colby
Impossible Without Climate Change
Northwest Heat Wave
The deadly heat wave that roasted the Pacific Northwest and western Canada was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change that added a few extra degrees to the record-smashing temperatures, a new quick scientific analysis found.
An international team of 27 scientists calculated that climate change increased chances of the extreme heat occurring by at least 150 times, but likely much more.
The study, not yet peer reviewed, said that before the industrial era, the region’s late June triple-digit heat was the type that would not have happened in human civilization. And even in today’s warming world, it said, the heat was a once-in-a-millennium event.
But that once-in-a-millennium event would likely occur every five to 10 years once the world warms another 1.4 degrees (0.8 degrees Celsius), said Wednesday’s study from World Weather Attribution. That much warming could be 40 or 50 years away if carbon pollution continues at its current pace, one study author said.
This type of extreme heat “would go from essentially virtually impossible to relatively commonplace,” said study co-author Gabriel Vecchi, a Princeton University climate scientist. “That is a huge change.”
Northwest Heat Wave
Op-Ed
Hillary
Republicans are openly involved in a campaign to delegitimize and destabilize American democracy in full view of the US public, Hillary Clinton has argued in a new op-ed.
In the piece published in Democracy Docket on Wednesday, the 2016 Democratic nominee for the presidency excoriated Republican efforts in legislatures around the country to restrict voting, such as bills that restrict early voting and mail-in ballots.
“Since the 2020 election with its historic turnout, lawmakers across the country have introduced nearly 400 bills making it harder to vote: purging voters from the rolls, making it more difficult to register, cutting back on early and absentee voting, getting rid of ballot drop boxes, even banning giving out food or water to people waiting in line at the polls,” wrote Ms Clinton.
“We are witnessing a concerted attempt to destabilize the democratic process and delegitimize our multi-racial democracy, carried out in full view of the American people. As Democrats, it’s not enough to push back one law, one court case or even one election at a time. We need to fundamentally change the way we think about and fight back against this blatant, sweeping effort,” she continued.
“We need to call these attacks on voting what they are: part of a clear attempt to move away from a pluralistic, multi-racial democracy and toward white supremacist authoritarianism,” Ms Clinton argued.
Hillary
Climate Crisis
Male Dragonflies
As global temperatures continue to rise, we find ourselves having to think up creative new ways to keep cool. Maybe you’ve bought a paddling pool or a desk fan, or maybe you’ve developed a penchant for ice lollies at lunch. Dragonflies are no different – they’ve evolved their own unique way of coping with the heat. A new study has found that dragonflies lose their “bling” wing decorations as climates get hotter, and predicts that as the climate crisis worsens, the more the pretty patterns will fade.
Dragonflies have ornamental black patterns on their wings, which vary within and among species and help them to attract a mate. Males with greater pigmentation are typically more successful at this and are better able to scare off rivals. But, unfortunately, when it comes to wing pigmentation, more is not necessarily merrier, as it can heat male dragonflies by up to 2°C (3.6°F), damaging their wing tissue, reducing fighting ability, and even resulting in death by overheating. The evolutionary struggle between natural and sexual selection has been well documented and it seems, in this particular battle, natural selection might just come out on top.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, created a database of 319 dragonfly species and examined wing ornamentation in different species using photographs and known climate information. The researchers also cross-referenced pigmentation of nearly 3,000 dragonflies, from 10 species, with information about their location and climate. They compared how wing color varied among dragonflies of the same species, depending on the climate in which they were born. The database spanned 14 years (2005 to 2019), which allowed the team to track changes in wing pigmentation of the same species over time – male dragonflies spotted in warmer years generally had less wing pigmentation than those of the same species in cooler years.
Whether they compared individuals of the same or different species in different climates, male dragonflies almost always evolved less wing coloration in response to warmer temperatures.
"Our study shows that the wing pigmentation of dragonfly males evolves so consistently in response to the climate that it's among the most predictable evolutionary responses ever observed for a mating-related trait," said lead author Michael Moore in a statement. "Given that our planet is expected to continue warming, our results suggest that dragonfly males may eventually need to adapt to global climate change by evolving less wing coloration."
Male Dragonflies
Just One Dose
Psilocybin
Psilocybin, the active psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, has some curious effects on the human brain. There's the obvious, of course - hallucinations - but of increasing interest to scientists is its potential effectiveness as an antidepressant.
A recent trial showed that psilocybin was just as effective at managing depression as the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant drug, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). There have been hints that psychedelics can induce neural adaptations, yet what psilocybin actually does to the brain and how long the effects last isn't exactly clear.
Researchers have now investigated this in mice, and found that the compound triggered an immediate, long-lasting increase in neuronal connections after just a single dose. It's a finding that could help explain psilocybin's antidepressant effects, according to the team.
"We not only saw a 10 percent increase in the number of neuronal connections, but also they were on average about 10 percent larger, so the connections were stronger as well," said neuroscientist Alex Kwan of Yale University.
Depression is thought to often be linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin, a hormone that helps transmit signals between regions of the brain. The action of psilocybin (and other serotonergic psychedelics, such as ayahuasca and mescaline) is also strongly tied to serotonin. This has led scientists to explore their potential as antidepressants - and, fascinatingly, they appear to be quite effective.
Psilocybin
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