What’s more disconcerting?
I’m not sure what’s most disconcerting …
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sharing military operational details in a Signal group chat.
- Kristi Noem’s, secretary of Homeland Security, inability to define habeas corpus.
- The budget bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, which will result in the loss of Medicaid coverage for 7 million people and add $3 trillion to the deficit.
- The attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.
- The Trump White House ignoring or defying U.S. Supreme Court orders.
Or:
- The continued assault on Harvard University and its foreign student population.
One wonders if our democracy can withstand this constant barrage of immoral, misguided and illegal assaults.
Robert Evans, Murphy
No risk, no $1K reward
Last month, I offered pastors $1,000 if they could show me the King James Version Bible verse that states, “And I will bless them that bless Israel, and curse him that curseth Israel.” Not one pastor has provided evidence to claim the $1,000.
Why? Because the verse doesn’t exist.
Genesis 12:3 is referring to Abram, not Israel, not the Jews.
Galatians 3:6: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many, but as to one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.”
Christ was Abram’s “one” seed. Not “to seeds,” Israel’s 12 tribes.
Galatians 3:29: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Read Matthew 21:33-46. Verse 43: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”
How can the Jews remain the chosen people when Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you?” Was Jesus a lying anti-Semite?
Wake up. Your Zionist pastor has lied to you. Have your elders confronted your pastor’s lies? Or are they spiritually spineless eunuchs?
Not only have pastors lied, but they also condone Israel’s holocaust – the murder of 188,000 Palestinians, with 60,000 being children. Murdered by bombings, starvation and lack of medical care, as Israel has bombed hospitals.
How is it possible that a Christian can condone the murder of children? How can we reach Muslims for Christ when we support Israel’s slaughter?
As Zionist Christians support genocide, America has been devastated by wildfires, hurricanes, 1,295 tornadoes, devastating floods, hailstorms, soaring crime and inflation. God is judging America for this monstrous sin.
Repent, lest the blood of the innocent remain stained on your hands.
Mary Mason , Murphy
Truth, justice & U.S. ideals
O Superman, where art thou? My 52 years of voting in presidential elections include Nixon, Ford, Carter, Mondale, H.W. Bush, H.W. Bush, Clinton, Gore, Kerry, McCain, Obama, Clinton, Biden, Harris.
Ideologue? Nope. Occasional errors in judgment? Yep. Such is life, live and learn.
It takes a group of people working in cooperation to design, plan, coordinate and implement the construction of a house, with a steady hand at the helm with the end goal in mind and for adjusting as needed. It takes one person with a wrecking ball one day to take that same house to a pile of rubble. That is true in building about anything.
Truth, justice and the American way? Most everyone is in favor. The Superman movie comes out in July. Will a real Superman show up for us? O brother, O sister, O institution, where art thou?
Meanwhile, truth, justice and the ideals of the American way are going to depend on us. Let’s get rolling toward that goal.
Curt Wheeler, Hayesville
Honor the U.S. flag on June 14
Good afternoon, Cherokee and Clay counties. Please don’t be too rough on this author, compared to me he is still a youngster. He is old, but he wasn’t present when history was made, so he is taking much of the information from online sources.
Oh, I go by many names: Old Glory, Stars & Stripes and the American flag, to name a few. But know this; wherever I go, I am known.
It seems only yesterday that the Continental Congress organized a committee to develop my style, shape and color. But it has been 249 years since Elizabeth Griscom, aka Betsy Ross, cut out 13 five-pointed stars and sewed everything together. That was the beginning of my life.
Now there are several legends about the process: who designed me, what the original design was. But because I am a dignified lady, I’ll not add to the gossip.
The fact is on June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the first Flag Resolution, and the Betsy Ross Flag was made the national emblem. It had 13 five-pointed stars on a blue field, 13 alternating red and white stripes.
The following years saw some changes, like adding stripes and stars.
“Then in 1818, the third Flag Act was signed that started the precedent of adding another star to the flag after each state’s entrance into the Union. In addition, that act reduced the number of stripes from 15 to 13.”
Because of the First Flag Resolution, Flag Day is celebrated each year on June 14. The third Resolution in 1818 confirmed the basic design.
Through the years, I have been protected and honored by millions of veterans.
One of my favorite veteran organizations, American Legion George Lee Post 532, is hosting a special celebration in my honor Saturday, June 14.
Everyone is invited to join my friends and me on June 14 at the Clay County Veterans Memorial Park at 11 a.m. I understand there will be speakers telling my story and how I should be treated. I even plan to make an appearance so you can learn about my folds. Not to mention, refreshments will be provided.
Mitchell Shields, Murphy
The writer is a veteran and retired adjutant with American Legion Post 532.
Grateful for all help at hospital
Greetings from Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital, where I landed after a recent accident at the Murphy market. It involved my dog, Fern, and my falling hard onto the concrete and gravel surface. I fractured my left hip and shoulder.
Victoria Ivie, executive director of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, took Fern with her until I could make other arrangements.
Anngee Quinones-Belian of the Cherokee Scout gave me her contact information for anything I might need.
My friend, Renae, took my car home, and a nurse from the crowd checked my neurological status. From there, I was in Erlanger’s hands.
From the EMTs to the surgical team to the therapists, the overall care has been excellent. After two weeks, I should know. I received timely attention to my personal needs, questions and feelings. I saw that it’s possible to maintain perfect intentions in an ever-changing environment.
Fern has been at Cadillac Kennels, safe and well cared for; and soon we reunite. Being forced to trust strangers has been good for her, in the same way that my calamity threw me, body and soul, into Erlanger.
As it turns out, the staff carries a blanket of fondness for one another that extends to every patient who is receptive. Some of us are a little too independent for our own good, but we all get warm blankets even if we didn’t ask for one.
Also, I’ve been humbled and fortified by the response of my Brasstown community and by John C. Campbell Folk School folks, who have set up a meal train and donation site. I look forward to recovering so I can respond in kind, and I mean that sincerely.
When there are complaints about hospitals, they may or may not be justified. My take is that we, as patients, should claim our share of the responsibility: by educating ourselves, by communicating respectfully and by adjusting our lifestyles and attitudes. This gives their efforts meaning, and their efforts are unwavering.
Between Good Samaritans, Erlanger’s staff and friends known and anonymous, I have worried little and lacked for nothing. When Dr. Victoria gave me a thumbs-up and said, “You never looked hurt to me,” I knew I’d be all right.
I have renewed faith in human kindness, and an even stranger connection that personal connection is the greatest healer of bones and so much more.
Please know the extent of my gratitude.
Dawn O. Davis, Murphy
Thankful for beautification
Dear beautification sponsors:
We write this letter to say thank you for your sponsorship toward the Town of Andrews Beautification Project.
The 1,800 residents of Andrews and all Western North Carolina truly appreciate your contribution and efforts in making Andrews a Town of beauty.
We are pleased to report a total of 98 businesses, civic clubs, individuals and churches are participating this year for a total of $24,500 in donations.
The flower baskets will be hung the week of May 12, weather permitting.
Thank you.
James Reid, Nola Cooper, Bill Anderson, Andrews
The writers are mayor of the Town of Andrews, former executive director of the Andrews Chamber of Commerce and a longtime member of the Beautification Project, respectfully.
‘Phase Two’ of life begins
As of the June, I entered my life’s Phase Two. My Phase Two brain takes no pleasure in its frequent shortages of blood and oxygen.
I’m expecting to beat “It,” but my driving judgment yesterday suffered. We drove down to Gainesville, Ga., the good way: up through the Chattahoochee National Forest on the Zell Miller Scenic Parkway to Cleveland, Ga., which hosts the Cabbage Patch Doll Museum & Showroom. (Becky has her friend, Martha Nelson’s, first Cabbage Patch doll, but, decades ago, Becky’s cat ate the doll’s nylon face off.)
After successfully concluding our Gainesville business, we drove back north, around Cleveland, on the bypass; but, due to my brain fuzziness, and the general lack of road signs in Georgia, we got on the wrong road. (It’s my theory that, ever since Sherman’s Civil War March through Georgia, there’s little interest in erecting road signs in this state: even two blocks off the freeway through downtown Atlanta, there are no signs pointing to the On Ramps.)
Once on the road toward Dahlonega, I/we had no interest in turning back. We used to like Penny Hikes, and Great Circle Trips, and still believe in Divine Providence, concluding that we probably avoided a horrible accident by going this way. The sun was shining, the weather clear; but the problem was, after driving the winding hour to Dahlonega, we were still the same distance from home; and the road got insanely windier, the embankments much steeper.
Then we got to Blood Mountain, near the scene of an ancient bloody battle between the Cherokee and the Creek. The favorite road for racing motorcyclists. A definite Twilight Zone, leaving us shaken, baked and stirred, promising ourselves, if we made it home would never go this way again.
Harry Holdorf, Blairsville, Ga.
Institute gem for learning
I would like to commend a gem of an opportunity here in the mountains: the Institute of Continuing Learning – ICL.
This community nonprofit organization was founded in 1990. ICL is housed on the campus of Young Harris (Ga.) College with an all-volunteer staff. It is dedicated to offering cultural and intellectual forums that stimulate learning and discovery.
The diversity of classes offered four times a year at a nominal fee is astounding. The instructors bring a wide range of expertise and experience to the class format, and never a test to worry about.
You can choose from a wide variety of classes that range from hands-on crocheting and games to book studies and/or lecture format. A sample of recent classes includes: book discussions, astronomy, wild flower identification walks, paint with water color, Bible study with a Rabbi, photography, gaming-like Talk Across the Table Bridge and Mah Jongg, Georgia history, blacksmithing and elder law just to name a few. The classes change quarterly.
Consider joining ICL to continue your learning by clicking oniclyhc.org. Summer quarter begins June 22.
Jill Long, Hayesville