On July 12, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the conference of the U.S. Army’s Medal of Honor. This award would come to be known as the highest military honor in the nation. The first recipients of the medal were six Union soldiers who, during the Civil War in 1862, penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy major infrastructure between Chattanooga, TN, and Atlanta, GA

According to an old joke from the socialist and frequently underfed Soviet Union, Stalin goes to a local wheat farm to see how things are going. “We have so many bags of wheat that, if piled on top of each other, they could reach God himself!” the farmer told Comrade Stalin. “But God does not exist, “ the dictator angrily replied. “Exactly!” said the farmer. “And neither does the wheat.” Nobody knows what happened to the farmer, but at least Stalin died in 1953.

PRIDE:
One would think that men would not be so vain as to consider themselves more than just a man. Yet, it appears that prideful spirits must be taught humility by lessons only Divine Providence can teach. Crowns leave their wearers, but men. Degrees in eminent learning do not make the owners more than men. Valor, bravery, medals, or conquest cannot elevate the holder above “but men.” All the wealth of Rockefeller, the wisdom of Solomon, the power of Alexander the Great, and the eloquence of Cicero, added together, would still leave the professor but a man. Remember that we should not think more of ourselves than we ought. Don’t get a big head or too big for your britches, assuming you are more than you are “but a man.”
~~~ from Psalm 9:20, The Treasury of David

NEWS IN BRIEF

90 DAYS
Peruvian authorities have declared a 90-day emergency over an “unusual increase” in Guillain-Barre syndrome. This disorder is linked to certain vaccines, the Zika virus, COVID-19, and other viruses, according to reports.

71,007 BRANCHES
In 2022, there were 71,007 bank branches, down from a peak of 85,834 locations in 2009, according to the FDIC.

Partly because of bank mergers and acquisitions, 9% of all branch locations in the United States closed between 2017 and 2021; this amounts to a loss of about 7,500 brick-and-mortar locations, according to a report by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Divers in Taiwan film a rare encounter with a giant “Doomsday Fish” believed to be a harbinger of earthquakes. See link below:
https://t.me/DrTenpenny/28818

Roller coaster riders were trapped upside down for hours after mechanical failure

July 5, 2023 – Emily Olson, NPR

QUOTES – Misc.

“It’s the beauty within us that makes it possible for to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see.”
~~~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1892)

KNOWLEDGE
”Miss a meal if you have to, but don’t miss a book.”
~~~ Jim Rohn

“The book you don’t read won’t help.”
~~~ Jim Rohn

COURAGE:
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.”
~~~ Mark Twain

GOVERNMENT
“In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give it to the other.”
~~~ Voltaire

SUCCESS
“Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other.”
~~~ Brian Tracy

WORK OPPORTUNITIES
“If you’ve mastered a useful skill, if you’re willing to think like an entrepreneur, and if you’re willing to go to where the work is, then I don’t think there’s ever been a better time in the history of the country to be looking for work, because the opportunities are everywhere.”

“Everybody wants job satisfaction, and everybody wants happiness in their personal life, but if you start your quest with the notion that there’s a dream job, and you can’t be happy unless you get that job, it’s going to be a hard road – just as it’s going to be very difficult to find happiness in your personal life if you think there’s only one person on the planet walking around who’s capable of making you feel that way.”
~~~ Mike Rowe, article entitled Coming Clean, appearing in the April 2023 issue of American Essence

WORRY
“The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.”
~~~ Robert Frost