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Some thoughts on my new theme

The Psalms are my “go to” book in the Bible when I develop my blog.  Psalm 102 was my devotional last week, and as I read it, I thought many possibilities to develop. I wondered if it was not “too bleak” in content. After all, aren’t Christians supposed to be joyful?  But then, my blog is not intended primarily for Christians but for those among us who are still searching, or not searching at all.  People who have never encountered God’s love through...

Nineteenth Century American flag

WHERE DID THE DOMAIN NAME “WATCH-FIRE” COME FROM?

Where did the domain name watch-fire come from? The domain name watch-fire comes from the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” which was written by Julia Ward Howe on the eve of the Civil War. It is specifically taken from the verse: “I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling campsThey have builded him an altar in the evening dews and dampsI have read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lampsHis truth is marching on.” Watch...

Summertime Blues

SUMMERTIME BLUES

Summertime blues for many Millennials represents that point in August when they know the fun is soon to be over and summer with its endless partying is about to come to a close; college resumes, resorts shutter their doors, and vacationers have run out of holiday days—and money. For many, summertime can be described in terms of baseball, beaches, babes, beer and barbeque.  Those who “party hearty” might add bud and blow to the list.  So, how’s that working out for you?...

TWO TICKETS TO PARADISE

My wife and I decided a year ago to join our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons on a vacation for ten days on Oahu.  We purchased two tickets to paradise. We hoped to find a “window” between surges in the Pandemic and we booked a stay at the Hale Koa, a military hotel, which was actually a much nicer facility than the adjoining Hilton (See information at the end of this post.) We flew to LAX, dodging bad weather in the...

Continuing Education

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Last Wednesday (May 10, 2023) Dr. Armine Smith of the Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine presented a webinar on “Minimizing Bladder Cancer’s Impact: Organ Preservation in Male/Female Cystectomy” via Zoom. I attended the session and it was very worthwhile, especially the Q&A. Dr. Smith presented what any doctor might say frankly about the topic, neither “dummying the material down” nor making it impossible for a layperson to understand. Dr. Smith’s presentation began with an overview of the...

ON ABORICULTURE AND ARMEGEDDON

Sixteenth Century Protestant reformer Martin Luther is commonly believed to have said once: “If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today!” I’ve read different parts of Luther’s Works, and this remark sounds like something he “might” have said in the book “Table Talk” if he said it at all. But it does not appear there (or anywhere in his writings, apparently.) So, whether he actually said those words or not...

THE HISTORY OF CANCER

Cancer through the ages: (A brief and not-so-brief history) With thanks to The Wiley Online Library I thought I’d spend a little time discussing the early history of cancer. When I was in the military, we were taught to always know your enemy. To that end, here are some fact and factoids that you may find interesting. ~ 70 million B.C. Cancer was fairly common in the hadrosaur (dinosaur) population. Mostly fibromas, hemangiomas and osteoblastomas have been discovered. Also, osteosarcoma,...

BLADDER CANCER BLUES

Last September, my wife and I sat in the office of a neurologist are she was writing out a prescription for Levodopa. She had confirmed that I had early Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and that I would need the medicine hence forth. Deena had been reading about Parkinson’s Disease, including first person accounts of women whose husbands had it and she also recalled my brother who has advanced PD. I mentioned that there are worse things to have besides PD and...

The River

THE RIVER

British musical artist Cliff Richards once recorded a song called “The Water is Wide.” I understand that the song was actually based on an ancient ballad, but I cannot personally vouch for that. Yet, it is a very lovely, even haunting song which presents this Christian singer at his very best. The song opens with the lyrics: “The water is wide I can’t cross over And neither have I got wings to fly Give me a boat that can carry...

Mythology of War

THE MYTHOLOGY OF WAR

In a widely read interview with Politico Magazine, Dr. Fiona Hill, former Senior Director at the National Security Council and a Russian policy expert said of Vladimir Putin on the eve of his invasion of Ukraine: “I’ve kind of quipped about this but I also worry about it in all seriousness — that Putin’s been down in the archives of the Kremlin during Covid looking through old maps and treaties and all the different borders that Russia has had over...

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