QUARANTINE BLOG # 123

July 31, 2020

A follow-up from QB 121: Kyle was not adopted.  We used to tell each other – more to aggravate Mom than anything – “Mama told me not to tell you, but you were adopted.”  And the response was, “Yes, but Mom and Dad chose me.  They were stuck with you!”  People have more fun than anybody.  Bros do for sure!

👉  Let’s take a look back at historical events from the month, picking and choosing.

July 1 – Canadian Independence Day

On this day in 1867 the autonomous Dominion of Canada was officially recognized by Great Britain with the passage of the British North America Act.  July 1 will later become known as Canada Day.

July 03 – Battle of Gettysburg ended

On this day in 1863, the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s last attempt at breaking the Union line ended in disastrous failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end.

July 4 – Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence

On this day in 1777, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king.

July 6 – Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game was held

On this day in 1933, Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game took place at Chicago’s Comiskey Park.  The event was designed to bolster the sport during the darkest years of the Great Depression.  It was originally billed as a one-time “Game of the Century.”

July 9 – Wimbledon tournament began

On this day in 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club began its first lawn tennis tournament.  Twenty-one amateurs showed up to compete in the Gentlemen’s Singles tournament, the only event at the first Wimbledon.

July 12 – Medal of Honor created

On this day in 1862,  President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, “to noncommissioned officers and privates.”   In 1863, the Medal of Honor was made a permanent military decoration available to all members of the U.S. military, including commissioned officers.

July 17 – Disneyland opened

Disneyland, Walt Disney’s metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy and futurism, opened on this day in 1955.  The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California.

July 18 – FDR nominated for unprecedented third term

On this day in 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, America’s 32nd president, was nominated for an unprecedented third term. Roosevelt is the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms, dying before his fourth term could be completed.

July 25 – World’s first “test tube” baby born

On this day in 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world’s first baby to be conceived via in vitro fertilization was born in Manchester, England, to parents Lesley and Peter Brown.  The healthy baby weighed in at five pounds, 12 ounces.

July 30 – President Johnson signed Medicare into law

On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare, a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law.

July 31 – Labor leader Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing

On this day in 1975, James Hoffa, one of the most influential labor leaders of the 20th century, was reported missing.  Though he is believed to have been a victim of the Mafia, conclusive evidence was never found and his fate remains a  mystery.

👉  From our “Unfinished Business Department,” a reader asked me why Charles Schulz was so irritated at the name Peanuts for his strip.  Schulz said it would be better if there were a character in the strip whose name was Peanuts, otherwise confusion would result.  A friend of his went to buy a paper the day Peanuts appeared and asked the vendor if he had a paper with Peanuts in it.  The vendor said, “No, and I don’t have one with Popcorn either.”  Schulz said that proved his point.

👉  Georgia Governor Brian Kemp withdrew his emergency request for a court to stop enforcement of Atlanta’s requirement that faces masks be worn in all public places.  In a statement, the governor’s office said that the motion was withdrawn, “to continue productive, good faith negotiations.”  Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said that she would continue to defy the governor’s orders, but hoped that the two sides could find a solution.

👉  Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises have extended their global sailing suspensions through October 31, going beyond the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s “no-sail” order, which is set to expire on September 30.  In an effort to deal with the coronavirus, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings launched the “Healthy Sail Panel” with Royal Caribbean Group, with the goal of looking at every facet of safety, from whether ultraviolet lights can effectively kill the virus to how to improve meal service.  There’s “not one silver bullet” when it comes to making a ship safer, said Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. “This is layers on top of layers on top of layers.”

👉  Speaking of a “silver bullet” – a term referring to an action which provides an immediate solution to a problem – what is the origin of that phrase?  This figurative use derives from the use of actual silver bullets and the widespread folk belief that they were the only way of killing werewolves or other supernatural beings.

The most famous user of silver bullets was of course the Lone Ranger.  Silver bullets fitted well with the masked hero’s miraculous persona.  He typically arrived from nowhere, overcame evil and departed, leaving behind only a silver bullet and echoes of “who was that masked man?”


👉   Psalm 48:1-2 NKJV

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
In His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.”

We need to be as familiar with the city of God – the place of God’s rule – as with the town in which we live, so that we can point out familiar landmarks to newcomers, and provide clear directions for any who ask about “the way, the truth, and the life.”

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