Oregon girl hospitalized for Bubonic Plague (16th Case in U.S. this year)

A teenaged girl in Oregon is being treated for plague, state health officials say. She's the 16th U.S. case this year.
The highest annual number of plague cases in the U.S. this century was 17 cases in 2006.
"The girl is believed to have acquired the disease from a flea bite during a hunting trip near Heppner, OR in Morrow County that started on Oct. 16," the health department said in a statement on its website.
"She reportedly fell ill on Oct. 21 and was hospitalized in Bend, OR on Oct. 24. She is recovering in the hospital's ICU.
Plague is easy to treat with antibiotics if patients are diagnosed in time, and only about 16 percent of patients die, usually because they are diagnosed too late, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Plague has killed four people in the U.S. this year.
"Many people think of the plague as a disease of the past, but it's still very much present in our environment, particularly among wildlife," said Emilio DeBess of the Oregon health department.
"Fortunately, plague remains a rare disease, but people need to take appropriate precautions with wildlife and their pets to keep it that way."
The CDC says doctors should think about plague when they see patients with flu-like symptoms who have been outdoors where they might encounter fleas.
Rodents such as squirrels and prairie dogs can carry the fleas that transmit plague. So can household pets such as cats and dogs. Experts caution staying clear of rodents in the wild -- especially dead rodents.
Plague caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria has infected people for at least 6,000 years.
Globally, 1,000 to 2,000 cases are reported to the WHO.

A young filmaker (Super 8 and then internationally known feature films) born on Oct. 31, 1961

Peter Jackson was born as an only child in a small coast-side town in New Zealand in 1961. When a friend of his parents bought him a super 8 movie camera (because she saw how much he enjoyed taking photos), the then-eight-year-old Peter instantly grabbed the thing to start recording his own movies, which he made with his friends. They were usually short, but they already had the trademark that would make Jackson famous: impressive special effects, made at a very low cost. For example, for his film "World War Two" which he made as a teenager, he used to simulate a firing gun by punching little holes into the celluloid, so that, once projected, the gun gave the impression of displaying a small fire. Jackson's first step towards more serious film-making came with an entry in a local contest to stimulate amateur and children's films. For this film, he used stop-motion animation to create a monster that ruins a city in the style of Ray Harryhausen.  (part of IMDb biography)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001392/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

The LINCOLN HIGHWAY was dedicated Oct. 31, 1913

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
The Lincoln Highway was dedicated Oct. 31 in 1913. It was the first automobile road to traverse the entire continental United States. The man behind the plan was Carl Fisher; no stranger to automobile-friendly surfaces, he had recently enjoyed great acclaim as a result of his Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which hosted the new Indianapolis 500 race on its brick-paved track. He envisioned a gravel road that would run from coast to coast, from California to New York. He called it the Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway, and the price tag was reasonable even by 1912 standards: $10 million. Fisher planned to fund his project by soliciting contributions from automakers, but Henry Ford refused to get on board. He believed that the people should pay for the public roads, and the public would never get used to the idea of paying for roads if there was a hint that the business community would do it for them. It was Henry Joy, the president of the Packard Motor Company, who came up with the idea of calling it the Lincoln Highway and asking Congress for the money. Formally dedicated in 1913, and running from New York City's Times Square to San Francisco's Lincoln Park, it was the first national memorial to Abraham Lincoln, predating Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial by nine years.

Gettysburg, PA re-enactment and "dedication day" (third Thursday Nov. in 2015)

from National Park Service website:

Garrison Keillor, host and producer of A Prairie Home Companion, a weekly radio program heard nation-wide on over 600 National Public Radio stations, will present the Dedication Day keynote address on November 19, 2015 in Soldiers' National Cemetery, Gettysburg National Military Park. 

Keillor commented, "It is something of a miracle that the prosperous Illinois railroad lawyer who won the 1860 election turned out to be Abraham Lincoln. He was a better man than anyone knew and a masterful writer, who gave us the Second Inaugural ("With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right"), and the classic of Gettysburg, on 11/19/63. Poor Edward Everett stood up and orated for two hours that day and went down in history as a pretentious gasbag and Lincoln gave his address that thousands and thousands of schoolchildren have memorized and learned what greatness sounds like. But it is his plain humanity that so impresses us today. He feels like a contemporary." 

On November 19, each year since 1938, the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania has commemorated Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and rededicated Soldiers' National Cemetery where Lincoln spoke. In the intervening years this annual event has grown and is now co-sponsored by Gettysburg National Military Park, the Gettysburg Foundation and Gettysburg College. It is presented outdoors on the historic rostrum located in the cemetery. 

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942, Anoka, MN) is the founder and host of A Prairie Home Companion on public radio and the author of numerous books, including several about the town of Lake Wobegon, and a collection of verse, O What A Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound. A member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters, he lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.  

The anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and the Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery was formally designated as Dedication Day, by a joint resolution of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, on November 19, 1946. Over the years, many influential and noteworthy national figures including: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Tom Ridge, John Hope Franklin, Shelby Foote, Carl Sandburg, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephen Lang, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ken Burns, Steven Spielberg and others have spoken at the ceremony to help all of us remember Lincoln's words and to rededicate ourselves to the ideals Lincoln conveyed there in 1863. 

At 10:00 a.m., the day's events will begin with the Dedication Day Program at the rostrum in the Soldiers' National Cemetery, followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Soldiers' National Monument. Lincoln portrayer George Buss will recite the Gettysburg Address and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service will hold a naturalization ceremony for citizen candidates.  

This event is free and open to the general public. http://www.nps.gov/gett/learn/news/2015-dedication-day-speaker.htm

Conference office loses power -- Cloud-based and Internet server-based services are "down"

Due to the heating and ventilation system failing within the Conference Center, all of the network drives, internet service and phone services inside the Conference Center will be going down after 1:45 p.m. today, Thursday, October 29th.

 

Because of the IGRC website being located outside the Conference Center, it will remain online as will IGRC email service located on the cloud. Access within the building will not be functional.

 

We hope to have service restored when the technicians responds to our service call request. It appears a restoration of service will be tomorrow morning at the earliest.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience but believe this is the best course of action to take at this time.

 

Paul Black

Director of Communication Ministries

Illinois Great Rivers Conference

www.igrc.org -- try after November 2, 2015

October 27 is last "Honor Flight" for Land of Lincoln group (78 total plus sGuardians) in 2015

from Morton (IL) Courier online article:
Land of Lincoln Honor Flight (LLHF), serving central and southern Illinois, will take their sixth and final flight for 2015 on Tuesday, Oct. 27. On this Flight #36 on a chartered 737 jetliner will be 13 World War II, 51 Korean and 14 Vietnam War eras, consisting of nine who served in the Air Force, 49 in the Army, nine in the Marines and 11 in the Navy. On this no-cost, day long trip to Washington, DC, to visit and reflect at their national memorials, all the Veterans will be accompanied by a volunteer escort. These Guardians pay their own way and are responsible for the comfort, logistics, mobility and safety of their doyen for the day.




These 78 heroes come from 47 Illinois cities and communities, consisting of Alsey, Alton, Auburn, Beecher City, Benld, Bethalto, Bloomington, Breese, Buckley, Bushnell, Carmi, Cham-paign, Charleston, Clinton, Concord, Congerville, Danville, Decatur, Dorsey, Edinburg, Ef-fingham, Findlay, Flora, Gifford, Godfrey, Hillsboro, Jacksonville, Jewett, Lawrenceville, Lerna, Lincoln, Litchfield, Meredosia, Morrisonville, Moweaqua, New Douglas, Onarga, Paris, Paxton, Peoria, Shelbyville, Sherman, South Jacksonville, Springfield, Taylorville, Wheeler and Win-chester

Departing Springfield shortly after 6 a.m., the Veterans and Guardians will land at Ronald Reagan National Airport in DC, then be transported on three coach buses designated Red, White and Blue for the day. Their itinerary includes the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War National Memorials, the Air Force and Marine (Iwo Jima) Memorials, the National Air & Space Museum and Arlington National Cemetery, where they will view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and Changing of the Guard. During the day they will also have the opportunity to visit the Lincoln Memorial, as well as see the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the Pentagon and much more from the bus prior to departing back to Springfield, IL.
Friends, family and the general public are encouraged to come to the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport that evening to show your appreciation for the service and sacrifices these Veterans gave to the country. They are expected to return around 9:30 p.m., although it is suggested to be to the airport at least 30-45 minutes earlier. Show your patriotic spirit with red-white-blue clothing, balloons, posters, small flags, handshakes, hugs, etc.
Although Land of Lincoln Honor Flight will have completed this year's flying season with the October 27 flight, Veteran applications continue to be accepted and flights will begin again next spring. Priority is given in the following order: World War II (person enlisted by 12/31/1946), then Korean War Era (01/01/1947 to 12/31/1957), followed by the Vietnam War Era (01/01/1958 to 05/07/1975). Any certified, terminally ill Veteran should contact LLHF directly.
http://www.courierpapers.com/morton_courier/article_ea3e1a28-775e-11e5-b164-cf84ee684ffa.html

What happened to the real-life Monuments Men? (trackers of Nazi Art heists in Europe during W W II)

www.nj.com (News of New Jersey and citizenry):
The U.S. Congress on Thursday said thanks to Harry Ettlinger.
One of the six remaining survivors of a 350-member, 13-nation force sent into World War II to track down and return cultural artifacts stolen by the Nazis, Ettlinger, a resident of Rockaway, NJ traveled to Capitol Hill to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
These "monuments men" were the subject of a movie starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray and John Goodman.
The four members able to make the ceremony all stood on stage with the congressional leaders of both parties to a standing ovation. They received the honor thanks in part to U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the lead Senate Democratic sponsor of legislation to give them the gold medals "Far beyond my expectations, way way beyond," Ettlinger, now close to 90 years old, said of the ceremony, which featured speeches by Menendez, the other congressional sponsors, and the congressional leaders.
A refugee from Nazi Germany, Ettlinger joined the U.S. Army in August 1944, and became part of the monuments men in 1945 because of his German language skills. Two of them were killed in action.
The group was tasked by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower with recouping art treasures looted by the Germans and returning them to their rightful owners.
"Instead of taking things, we spent our efforts returning it," Ettlinger said.
He was the only one of the four survivors to speak at the ceremony.
"What this small group discovered was nothing less than the greatest plunder ever perpetuated in the history of civilization," he said.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/10/rockaway_monument_man_gets_congressional_gold_meda.html

Edison's improved Electric Light technological breakthrough (On This Date in History)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):
It was on October 21, 1879 that the inventor Thomas Edison finally struck upon the idea for a workable electric light. People had been trying to make electric lights since the 1820s to replace kerosene and gas lamps, but they had chosen the wrong material for the filament: platinum. And Edison tried carbonized cotton thread, carbon filament that worked much better. He later improved the design with a tungsten filament that lasted longer and glowed brighter.
One of the effects of the invention of the electric light is that people sleep less than they once did. Before 1910, people slept an average of nine hours a night; since then, it's about seven and a half. Sleep researchers have shown in the laboratory that if people are deprived of electric light, they will go back to the nine-hour-a-night schedule.

Astronomy Night (October 19, 2015)

from White House dot-gov announcement (Aug. 21, 2015):
the White House will host another Astronomy Night on October 19. The event will bring together scientists, engineers, and visionaries from astronomy and the space industry to share their experiences with students and teachers as they spend an evening stargazing from the South Lawn.  In addition to inspiring students and stargazers from across the country to learn about the newest astronomical discoveries and the technologies that enable us to explore and live in space, we are continuing progress on the President’s call to action to expand access and opportunities for students and adults to participate in the wonders of science and space.

On this day in history: 1987 Stock Market Precipitous Fall

On October 19, 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value - its second-biggest percentage drop.

Dictionary Day -- Happy Birthday to Noah W! (He was born in 1758)

Today is Oct. 16, 2015 -- the 257th Birthday of Noah Webster!  Have a great Dictionary Day!
NOTED at Twitter Page for Merriam Webster Publishers -- Dictionarists

Robert Fitzgerald (influential translator of ancient poet Homer)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):
Happy Birthday to the poet and translator Robert Fitzgerald, born in Geneva, New York (1910), best known for his beautiful English translations of Homer's Odyssey (1961) and The Iliad (1974). He was also an influential classics professor at Harvard, and he believed that Homer's work should be always read aloud. One of his students said, "Every Tuesday afternoon, he'd start [class] by saying to us, 'Listen to this, now [...] It was meant to be listened to.' The 12 of us would listen, very quiet around the blond wood table, our jittery freshman muscles gradually unclenching."
Robert Fitzgerald described Homer as "a living voice in firelight or in the open air, a living presence bringing into life his great company of imagined persons, a master performer at his ease, touching the strings, disposing of many voices, many tones and tempos, tragedy, comedy, and glory, holding his [listeners] in the palm of his hand."

Angus Deaton - Nobel laureate in Economic Science - how rich and poor choose to spend

Oct. 12, 2015 (WASH. POST dot-com article):
Angus Deaton, a professor at Princeton University, has won the Nobel Prize in economics for his research into how rich and poor people make decisions about how much to buy and how much to save.

The Nobel Prize committee said it was awarding Deaton the prize "for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare." His theories have influenced how economists think and conduct their research — helping bridge the divide between those who study the choices of individuals and those who study the greater economic forces that shape countries.
"He has consistently tried to bring theory and data closer together through his mastery of measurement and statistical methods," the committee wrote in its announcement of the prize.
Deaton is also significant for his research on poverty in developing countries, often in conjunction with the World Bank.
His work on surveying poor households — investigating malnutrition and whether parents discriminate between boys and girls — has helped economists better understand the lives of those who live on less than a dollar a day.

"I'm so delighted, not just for myself, but that this sort of work is being recognized," Deaton said Monday, phoning into a press event.

Asked about the refugee crisis sweeping Europe, Deaton expressed sympathy for those who have been uprooted by poverty and war. "What we're seeing now is the result of hundreds of years of unequal development in the rich world, which has left a lot of the world behind," he said.
The Nobel Prize in economics comes with an award of about $976,000, and most winners have been American. Edinburgh-born Deaton has joint British and U.S. citizenship. In 2014, economist Jean Tirole of France won the prize for research into market power and regulation.

How did the 12 disciples die? Early church traditions (some contradictory)

from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC special (The Killing of Jesus - 2015):


what happened to the 12 disciples who were his closest followers? Not as much information has survived about their fates, but here is what’s available from various sources, including the New Testament itself, apocryphal texts, early Christian historians, legends and lore.

• Simon, AKA Peter: Simon-Peter, who was appointed by Jesus the leader of the new sect, is viewed by Roman Catholics as the first pope, was eventually martyred in Rome during the reign of the emperor Nero. As the story goes, Peter asked to be crucified upside down, so that his death would not be the equal of Jesus and the Romans supposedly obliged.
• Andrew: According to 15th Century religious historian Dorman Newman, Andrew—the brother of Peter—went to Patras in western Greece in 69 AD, where the Roman proconsul Aegeates debated religion with him. Aegeates tried to convince Andrew to forsake Christianity, so that he would not have to torture and execute him. But when that didn’t work, apparently he decided to give Andrew the full treatment. Andrew was scourged, and then tied rather than nailed to a cross, so that he would suffer for a longer time before dying. Andrew lived for two days, during which he preached to passersby.
• James (son of Zebedee, AKA James the Greater): Acts 12:1-19 says that James was killed with a sword. The newly-appointed governor of Judea, Herod Agrippa, decided to ingratiate himself with the Romans by persecuting leaders of the new sect. After James was arrested and led to place of execution, his unnamed accuser was moved by his courage. He not only repented and converted on the spot, but asked to be executed alongside James. The Roman executioners obliged, and both men were beheaded simultaneously.
• John: John was the only one of the original disciples not to die a violent death. Instead, he passed away peacefully in Patmos in his old age, sometime around 100 AD.
• Philip: Philip, the first of Jesus’ disciples, became a missionary in Asia. Eventually, he traveled to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, where he was scourged, thrown into prison, and crucified in 54 AD.
• Bartholomew: Bartholomew supposedly preached in several countries, including India, where he translated the Gospel of Matthew for believers. In one account, “impatient idolaters” beat Bartholomew and then crucified him, while in another, he was skinned alive and then beheaded.
• Thomas: Apparently Thomas preached the gospel in Greece and India, where he angered local religious authorities, who martyred him by running him through with a spear.
• Matthew: According to legend, the former tax collector turned missionary was martyred in Ethiopia, where he was supposedly stabbed in the back by an swordsman sent by King Hertacus, after he criticized the king’s morals.
• James (son of Alphaeus, AKA James the Less): According to Foxe, James, who was elected by his fellow believers to head the churches of Jerusalem, was one of the longest-lived apostles, perhaps exceeded only by John. At the age of 94, he was beaten and stoned by persecutors, and then killed him by hitting him in the head with a club.
• Thaddaeus, AKA Lebbaeus, Judas or Jude: According to several stories, he was crucified at Edessa (the name of cities in both Turkey and Greece) in 72 AD.

• Simon the Canaanite AKA the Zealot: Simon preached in Mauritania on the west coast of Africa, and then went to England, where he was crucified in 74 AD.
• Judas Iscariot: According to Matthew 27:3-6, the treacherous apostle quickly felt remorse over his betrayal of Jesus and went to the Temple to recant. When the high priests ignored his plea, he threw down the 30 pieces of silver that he had been paid, and went off and hanged himself.  But Acts 1:15-20, gives a different and even grislier version of Judas’ demise. He says that Judas used the blood money to purchase a piece of land and then fell headlong from a high place there, so that “he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.” Jerusalem residents subsequently named the place Aceldama, which means “the field of blood.”
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/killing-jesus/articles/how-did-the-apostles-die/

South Carolina Flood Response (Oct. 8, 2015 general notification from Disaster / Crisis Team Leadership) - UMCOR & Conference

Dear Friends,

 

Here in South Carolina, we are sincerely grateful for the outpouring of care and support that is coming our way from all over the United States.  We need your help in a key matter.  We are being inundated with requests from outside the state to come in and work.  Here is the information that needs to be shared with ERT coordinators, Disaster Response Coordinators, and UMVIM Coordinators in your annual conference.

 

1.  We are still in the emergency stage of this disaster.  Roads are closed, bridges are down, and flooding is still unpredictable.  Access is limited in affected areas.  At the present time, we are adequately staffed through South Carolina's excellent ERTs.

 

2. We are in the process of establishing our systems for volunteer management and coordination.  This includes identifying host churches for teams and determining how teams coming in can most efficiently be deployed.  We need your patience.

 

3. By the end of the week, we will have our disaster hotline set up so that teams who want to come can be logged in our system and contacted when we are ready for them.  Be watching the Disaster Recovery page on our website.  I will also email you as soon as this is up and running.

 

4. Please communicate with your people not to come to South Carolina until invited, not to call churches in Columbia to try to get in, and not to bring donations that have not been requested. 

 

Gregg Forrester with UMCOR estimates that our recovery period could last as long as 3 years.  There will be much work to do in the coming weeks, months and years and ample opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people after the cameras have shifted their focus elsewhere.  We need every single team that wants to come.  We just don't need them this weekend!

Tunisian Leadership Quartet - Co-winners of Nobel Peace Prize 2015 - to be awarded this December in Oslo, Norway

from NPR "Morning Edition" (www.npr.org/) :
National Dialogue Quartet, a group that helped preserve Tunisia's dreams of democracy in 2013, has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, with the Nobel Prize Committee citing its "decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia."
"We are here to give hope to young people in Tunisia, that if we believe in our country, we can succeed," said Ouided Bouchamaoui, president of The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, a group that's part of the Quartet.
Talking by phone with a Nobel representative today, Bouchamaoui was asked if the group has a leader; she replied, "No, it's a collaboration. We did it together, the four of us."  The Nobel committee echoed that sentiment, saying that there is only one laureate, and that this year's peace prize is not being split four ways.
Many people are likely surprised by the Quartet's win: Before Friday's announcement, oddsmakers such as Britain's Paddy Power and Ladbroke's had favored German Chancellor Angela Merkel to win, for her country's accommodation of refugees and its role in the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Other favorites included Pope Francis, Eritrean priest Mussie Zerai, and Dr. Denis Mukwege of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Tunisia, the Quartet stepped in at a time when the country was sliding toward civil war in the wake of its 2011 Jasmine Revolution. With representatives from a wide range of Tunisian society, the Quartet calmed a fledgling nation that was being torn apart by violence – and by distrust between Islamist and secular leaders.
NPR's Leila Fadel reports for our Newscast unit:

"The Quartet, made up of the General Labor Union; the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Human Rights League; and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers, was formed in the summer of 2013 to act as mediator between the warring parties."
"The committee held Tunisia up as an example of a peaceful transition to democracy in a region mired in violence."

The Quartet was chosen from a list of 273 candidates, with the committee praising the group's use of its moral authority to bring about change.
The Quartet was "instrumental," the Nobel Prize committee said, in establishing a constitutional government "guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief."
In her brief interview this morning, Bouchamaoui also said that the group knows its job isn't over.
"We will continue our work," she said. "We are here to help our country. We are here to boost our investments."

Interfaith cooperation and community service (United Methodist input from German pastor in Reutlingen)

from UM News Service (www.umns.org/news-and-media):

German theologian makes White House connection    

By reporter-contributor Linda Bloom
October 8, 2015 | (UMNS)

For a United Methodist theologian from Germany, an invitation to a U.S. forum for educators on interfaith cooperation and community service came at an opportune time.
The current European refugee crisis calls for an interfaith response, said the Rev. Achim Härtner, the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism and Christian Education at Reutlingen School of Theology.
Härtner was one of 50 international guests from 24 countries invited, for the first time, to join more than 450 students and staff from U.S. colleges and universities at the “Fifth President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge” held Sept. 9-11 in Washington.
“With conferences like this one, everybody wins,” he told United Methodist News Service in an email following the event. As participants share their experiences with their peers in their home settings, he added, “an initiative becomes a movement.”
In a videotaped welcome, President Barack Obama reminded the gathering that “one of the things that makes America great is while we’re free to hold different religious beliefs, we all agree that together we can make a difference.”
The international participants agreed. “Interfaith cooperation for the common good is not an option, but a must in our day and age,” Härtner said.

His invitation to the gathering came from the Rev. Kenneth Bedell — a United Methodist minister currently serving at the U.S. Department of Education. Bedell was on the faculty of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, when Härtner was a student there.
A year ago, Melissa Rogers, director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, asked about including a global dimension to the President’s Campus Challenge event.
After holding meetings in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, Bedell said, a “clear consensus” developed to invite “people from around the world who are developing opportunities for students in seminaries, colleges, and universities to have interfaith service experiences.”
Fundraising would be necessary to support selected international participants and insure broad representation. The Rev. Bud Heckman, a United Methodist clergyman who works for the International Shinto Foundation, connected the foundation with other funders to sponsor at least 30 international attendees at the 2015 gathering.
Hartford Seminary and the Berkley Center at Georgetown University were recruited to make arrangements for foreign guests, Bedell said.
Härtner said the “urgent need” for religious cooperation in community service was emphasized in lectures and panel discussions at Howard University and Georgetown University as well as receptions in the White House and Turkish Embassy.
The international guests appreciated the opportunity for mutual learning, understanding and networking, he added. “In our group, everyone was impressed by the far-reaching success of the president’s initiative on a national level within only four years. Extraordinary work has been done.”

As a resident of Germany — where thousands of refugees have been streaming in since early summer — Härtner is well aware of the global migration crisis, which he said was “a key issue” in many discussions and conversations at the gathering.
“In my view, the streams of refugees will change the European continent more comprehensively and sustainably than the falling of the Iron Curtain in 1989,” he said. “We need a new paradigm for Europe that goes far beyond national interests and exclusion of others. This may take generations.”
The interfaith community “can set a signal in the right direction,” noted the professor, who leads his schools diversity department, simply by doing good and “talking encouragingly about it.”
The United Methodist Church’s position of “Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors,” Härtner said, can be a guiding force for this new mission.
“As I hear from numerous congregations here and there, the crisis is often seen as being more than a crisis: a chance to share ‘faith expressing itself in love’ (Gal. 5,6 NIV) in a Wesleyan spirit.”

In Härtner’s Reutlingen community, a Monday night interfaith prayer service in the city center over a three-month period in 2015 drew an average of 100 participants from the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Bahai’i communities, a success that he would like to see continued.
The local United Methodist congregation opened a Friday afternoon meeting point for refugees last April, he said, and students and professors from the theological school have offered German language and culture courses for refugees since early summer.
The Reutlingen School of Theology has established a new lecturer’s position on “intercultural communication” and is initiating a new study track, “Christian spirituality in an interfaith perspective,” in 2016.
Upcoming events at the school include a public discussion on xenophobia, the fear or hatred of people from other countries, in early November, and a day of interreligious dialogue and theological reflection in October 2016.
An “open concern,” Härtner explained, is how to include non-believers “since the motherland of Reformation is becoming more and more secularized, alongside with other countries in Central Europe.” 

Billy Graham's 33rd Book "Where I Am" -- does it reflect his "Last Crusade" sermons - interviews in 2005 and approach?

from Charlotte Observer Article -- (Oct. 8, 2015):
At nearly 97 years old, Billy Graham has a new book out.
The cover of WHERE I AM (Thomas Nelson, 2015) features the face of Graham in his grandfatherly years, when the Charlotte-born evangelist appeared to mellow, emphasize God’s love and even offer what some interpreted as an inclusive vision of the afterlife.

But on many of the 259 pages of Graham’s 33rd book, the words about heaven and especially hell echo his hard-line sermons from the 1950s, when he stressed God’s judgment, man’s sin and the lies of the devil.
One Billy Graham scholar said the book reads like it was written not by Graham but by his son, Franklin, an evangelist who has a combative style.

But Franklin Graham, in an interview with the Observer, said his father is the author: “It’s all him. Nothing in the book was written that’s not in his words.”
In “Where I Am,” heaven is reserved for Christians who commit their lives to Jesus and hell is real and delivers fiery punishment or worse.
“Hell is a place of sorrow and unrest, a place of wailing and a furnace of fire,” the book says. “And it is where many will spend eternity. If you accept any part of the Bible, you are forced to accept the reality of hell, the place for punishment for those who reject Christ.”

Franklin Graham acknowledged that his father “stressed certain things more than others” during different times in his life. But he said Billy Graham “never backed away from” the message in the Gospel of John that belief in Jesus’ divinity is necessary to get to heaven.
Graham added that his father originally wanted his latest book to focus entirely on hell.
“Maybe this was a burden, that he felt he didn’t preach (about hell) strong enough in his latter years. I don’t know,” the younger Graham said.
Franklin Graham, who is outspoken these days in his condemnation of Islam and same-sex marriage, wrote the foreword to “Where I Am.” And his former longtime secretary, Donna Lee Toney, helped write the book with Billy Graham.

Graham’s son said he didn’t write any of the book – “I don’t have time for it” – and that his role in the project “was to encourage Daddy to do it ’cause it was on his heart.”
But some Billy Graham scholars say the book echoes the stands and style of Franklin Graham rather than his famous father.
“It (is) clearly, indisputably Franklin,” said Grant Wacker, a professor emeritus at Duke Divinity School who authored America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation (Belknap Press) a well-reviewed study/biography released last year. “Over the course of (Billy) Graham’s career, he talked less and less about hell until the end (of his career), when he barely mentioned it.”
The reason? “He wanted to bring people to Christ, not scare them away,” said Wacker, who added that Graham had stopped talking about a literal hell of fire and referred to it as a state of being separated from God.
Though there is plenty in “Where I Am” about God’s love and forgiveness, its tone is harsher overall than the one Graham projected in the latter years of his public ministry.
In 2005, as Graham was preparing for his final crusade, in New York, CNN’s Larry King asked him whether Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians would go to heaven.
“That’s in God’s hands. I can’t be the judge,” Graham said.
King followed up by asking Graham how he felt when he saw Christian leaders on TV saying “you are condemned. You will live in hell if you do not accept Jesus Christ”?
In his response, Graham said such leaders had a right to speak and what they said was “true to a certain extent.” But he told King that he drew a distinction between himself and such fire-and-brimstone preachers.
“That’s not my calling,” Graham said. “My call is to preach the love of God and the forgiveness of God and the fact that he does forgive us. That’s what the cross is all about, what the Resurrection is about. That’s the Gospel. And you can get off in all kinds of different side trails. In my earlier ministry, I did the same. But as I got older, I guess I became more mellow and more forgiving and more loving.”

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article38008473.html#storylink=cpy

From October 8 - 10, 1871, three-day conflagration (Great Chicago Fire) levelled central business district

from History dot-org:
The Great Chicago Fire
The summer of 1871 was very dry, leaving the ground parched and the wooden city vulnerable. On Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, just after nine o'clock, a fire broke out in the barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary at 13 DeKoven Street. How the fire started is still unknown today, but an O'Leary cow often gets the credit. The Rush for Life Over the Randolph Street Bridge, 1871 (Harper's Weekly, from a sketch by John R. Chapin) The firefighters, exhausted from fighting a large fire the day before, were first sent to the wrong neighborhood. When they finally arrived at the O'Leary's, they found the fire raging out of control. The blaze quickly spread east and north. Wooden houses, commercial and industrial buildings, and private mansions were all consumed in the blaze. The Rush of Refugees through the Potter's Field
toward Lincoln Park, 1871 (Harper's Weekly, from a
sketch by Theodore R. Davis) After two days, rain began to fall. On the morning of October 10, 1871, the fire died out, leaving complete devastation in the heart of the city. At least 300 people were dead, 100,000 people were homeless, and $200 million worth of property was destroyed. The entire central business district of Chicago was leveled. The fire was one of the most spectacular events of the nineteenth century, and it is recognized as a major milestone in the city's history.

Non-fiction writer wins Nobel Prize for Literature (2015)

article by Ron Charles (Wash. Post Book World):

Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich has won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature for her work, which the Swedish Academy described as “a monument to suffering and courage in our time.”
The Nobel committee rarely chooses nonfiction writers for the literature prize. Alexievich is the author of, among other books, “Voices from Chernobyl,” about the survivors of the nuclear plant disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius, made the announcement this morning in Stockholm.
In a televised interview immediately afterwards, Danius called Alexievich “an extraodinary writer. . . . She’s actually devised a new genre, a new kind of literary genre.”
The Nobel secretary went on to say, “For the past 30 or 40 years, [Alexievich] has been busy mapping the Soviet and post-Soviet individual. But it’s not really about a history of events. It’s a history of emotions. What she’s offering us is really an emotional world. So, these historical events that’s she’s sort of covering in her various [ways] — the Chernobyl disaster, the Soviet war in Afghanistan and so on — these are, in a way, just pretext for exploring the Soviet individual and the post-Soviet individual. She’s conducted thousands and thousands of interviews with children, with women and with men, and in this way she’s offering us a history of a human being about whom we don’t really know that much. . . . And at the same time, she’s offering us a history of emotions, a history of the soul.”

When Alexievich got the call that she had won the Nobel Prize, she reportedly exclaimed, “Fantastic!”
Danius said her favorite book by Alexievich is “War’s Unwomanly Face” about the female soldiers in WWII.

The Nobel Prize is worth about $960,000.

Black Bear returns to Michigan City, Indiana (honey farm before Hibernation in Northern Michigan) - October 2015

report from WSBT dot-com (South Bend, IN CBS affiliate):
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says it appears the bear is back in the Michigan City area.
DNR officials say the black bear was actually in Michigan for more than a month. All indications were that he was up in Michigan and was going to stay there, but there is something about Indiana that keeps him coming back.
“It had been about a month or more since we had last heard anything about his presence in Indiana,” said Phil Bloom of the Indiana DNR. “He had gone a little further north into Michigan this last time around but now appears to have returned."
“I would definitely say it's cool that he's still here. Actually, I’m kind of happy he's still coming around," said Pete Livas.
Livas is the owner of a honey farm in Michigan City, IN that the bear visited Thursday night. He says that was actually the bear's fourth visit to his farm.
In past visits the bear had eaten several pounds of honey, which forced Livas to move his beehives, but this bear is smarter than the average bear.
"He was looking for the bees. He didn't find them, so he came over here and got the peanut butter jars out of the garbage can,” Livas said.
"Well. He will head back somewhere,” Bloom said. “We would have anticipated that he would have moved back north by now, but he appears to have found some stuff to his liking."
More specifically, the bear's found a lot of food around here. That's also been pretty good news for some of the businesses that sell that food as well.
"There's more interest to our place than ever, yes,” said Livas. “As far as business? Sure. They come out and they feel terrible I guess, because they buy a pound of honey."
For Livas, this bear is the kind of publicity you can't buy.
"It's a very big endorsement. We're doing farmer markets and we'll put out a sign that says 'bear approved honey.”
According to the North American Bear Center, this is around the time of year that bears would gather up some more food right before they start hibernating.
Officials with DNR say they expect the bear to head back up north to Michigan soon.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/black-bears-back-alright/35754758

Nobel for Chemistry -- DNA experts - October 7, 2015

from NY TIMES article:
On Wednesday, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three scientists who unraveled some of the secrets.

Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar were awarded the prize for having discovered how cells repair their DNA and protect it from waves of punishment that the body and the environment dish out more or less continuously.

The three pioneers “have explained the basic mechanisms that help to guard the integrity of our genomes,” Claes Gustafsson, chairman of the Nobel chemistry committee, told reporters in Stockholm.

       

Dr. Lindahl, 77, of the Francis Crick Institute and Clare Hall Laboratory, near London, was honored for discovering how cells generally fix DNA damage. Dr. Modrich, 69, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University School of Medicine, was recognized for showing how cells correct mistakes in DNA replication during cell division. Dr. Sancar, also 69, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was cited for mapping how cells repair DNA damage from ultraviolet light.

Episcopal Church (Fairfield, CA) blesses the animals for Sunday morning worship (Oct. 4, 2015)

from FAIRFIELD Daily Republic dot-com:
From the small, a teacup Yorkie, to the tall, a yellow Labrador, about a dozen dogs were blessed Sunday at Grace Episcopal Church.
The annual event celebrates St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. The service took place in the outdoor courtyard.
Unaccompanied critters were present, too.
A dragonfly and hummingbird came closest to the humans. A squirrel ran up a nearby power pole while a few pigeons flew overhead.
The canines sat close to their humans, occasionally releasing a sound.
Alyssa Reardon came with two dogs, her own, MJ, on a leash. In her hand she carried Marley, a friend’s dog.
“I’ve never seen anything like this (before joining this church),” Reardon said of the blessing of the animals.
Alice Paoli carried in her dog, Corrina. Like Reardon, she’s attended the event before with pets who have since died. This was Corinna’s first year.
http://www.dailyrepublic.com/news/fairfield/every-dog-has-its-day-even-at-sunday-worship/

Closing of Illinois Church Camps (October and November 2015): Epworth, Jensen Woods, Living Springs

www.igrc.org (Events-Full list serv):
The IGRC Camping Office has announced that closing services will be held at the three 

    campsites which have completed their mission.

    A Celebration of the ministry of Epworth Camp was held Oct. 4. and a Celebration of the ministry      of Jensen Woods Camp will be Sunday, Oct. 18, at 4 p.m. A Celebration of Ministry at Living      

   Springs Camp has been announced for Sunday, Nov. 8, at 3 p.m.

   All three camps have completed their final IGRC Camping Season and were approved for 

   closure at the 2015 Annual Conference. (June 10 - 12, 2015 session at Peoria, IL Civic Center).

Neutrino research and discoveries (Nobel Prize Physics 2015)

Kajita, McDonald win physics Nobel for work with neutrinos

The Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald for the discovery of neutrino oscillations.

Shared award -- Physiology and Medicine (2015)

from News Agencies:

Three awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura were honored for research into therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites. Youyou Tu was honored for her work on malaria treatment.

Happy Birthday, Rutherford B. Hayes!

from White House HISTORICAL Association:

Rutherford B. Hayes

1877-1881

Beneficiary of one of the most fiercely disputed elections in American history, Rutherford B. Hayes brought to the Executive Mansion dignity, honesty, and moderate reform. To the delight of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Lucy Webb Hayes carried out her husband's orders to banish wines and liquors from the White House.
Born in Ohio in 1822, Hayes was educated at Kenyon College and Harvard Law School. After five years' law practice in Lower Sandusky, he moved to Cincinnati, where he flourished as a young Whig lawyer.
He fought in the Civil War, was wounded in action, and rose to the rank of brevet major general. While he was still in the army, Cincinnati Republicans ran him for the House of Representatives. He accepted the nomination, but would not campaign, explaining, "an officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer . . . ought to be scalped."
Elected by a heavy majority, Hayes entered Congress in December 1865, troubled by the "Rebel influences . . . ruling the White House." Between 1867 and 1876 he served three terms as governor of Ohio.
Safe liberalism, party loyalty, and a good war record made Hayes an acceptable Republican candidate in 1876. He opposed Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York.
Although a galaxy of famous Republican speakers, and even Mark Twain, stumped for Hayes, he expected the Democrats to win. When the first returns seemed to confirm this, Hayes went to bed, believing he had lost. But in New York, Republican National Chairman Zachariah Chandler, aware of a loophole, wired leaders to stand firm: "Hayes has 185 votes and is elected." The popular vote apparently was 4,300,000 for Tilden to 4,036,000 for Hayes. Hayes's election depended upon contested electoral votes in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. If all the disputed electoral votes went to Hayes, he would win; a single one would elect Tilden.
Months of uncertainty followed. In January 1877 Congress established an Electoral Commission to decide the dispute. The commission, made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, determined all the contests in favor of Hayes by eight to seven. The final electoral vote: 185 to 184. Northern Republicans had been promising southern Democrats at least one cabinet post, federal patronage, subsidies for internal improvements, and withdrawal of troops from Louisiana and South Carolina.
Hayes insisted that his appointments must be made on merit, not political considerations. For his cabinet he chose men of high caliber, but outraged many Republicans because one member was an ex-Confederate and another had bolted the party as a Liberal Republican in 1872.
Hayes pledged protection of the rights of African Americans in the South, but at the same time advocated the restoration of "wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government." This meant the withdrawal of troops. Hayes hoped such conciliatory policies would lead to the building of a "new Republican party" in the South, to which white businessmen and conservatives would rally.
Many of the leaders of the new South did indeed favor Republican economic policies and approved of Hayes's financial conservatism, but they faced annihilation at the polls if they were to join the party of Reconstruction. Hayes and his Republican successors were persistent in their efforts but could not win over the "solid South." Hayes had announced in advance that he would serve only one term, and retired to Spiegel Grove, his home in Fremont, Ohio, in 1881. He died in 1893.

United Way (Roseburg, Oregon) calls for Blood Donations

from KATU TV (Portland, Oregon station):
ROSEBURG, Oregon -- While the Roseburg community grieves following Thursday's Umpqua Community College massacre, relief efforts to help victims and their families are underway.
The Douglas County Sheriff's office has recommended two official donation websites where you can help with the shooting relief: The Greater Douglas United Way and The Umpqua Community College Foundation.
The Community Health Alliance is also offering drop-in grief counseling services from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Tuesday, October 6 at two locations in Roseburg:
1. Community Health Alliance Annex B, at 2700 NW Stewart Parkway
2. The Ford Family Foundation at 1600 NW Stewart Parkway
Hospitals treating the shooting victims are also in need of blood.

On this date in the Civil War era (1861 - 1865): National Day of Thanksgiving

from www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/


October 3, 1863 President Lincoln proclaims a day of Thanksgiving, setting the precedent for the national holiday.