It is with profound regret that we must inform you of the sudden death on Monday of our fearless leader, the manager of the store for the last few years, Susan Eckert.
We are all still in shock.
Sue, we miss you so much.
No details yet on services. We will keep you informed.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Pre-, Post- or Amillennialism Prophecy
The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook: All the prophecies of Scripture explained in one volume, by John F. Walvoord (HC, 1990, 809 pages, $5)
According to Walvoord, the importance of prophecy has changed over time, and so has its interpretation. Of course, the main interpretation question is whether to consider prophecy literally or allegorically.
In the New Testament, the question is which theological belief is true: premillennialism, postmillennialism, or amillennialism. (Premellennialism theology says Jesus will physically return to earth prior to the beginning of the millennium. Postmellennialism theology says Jesus' second coming will be after the millennium. Amillennialism theology sees the second coming as only figurative.)
Of less importance are the questions of which prophecies have already been fulfilled, of which are conditional and may never be fulfilled, or which might be fulfilled in more than one way. All this is confusing to someone like myself who comes from a liberal background, where hardly any attention is placed on prophecy, much less the end-times. So, does that make me an amillennialistic?
Walvoord writes in this 1990s book, "amillennialism continues to be the majority view of the church". Is that still true? I don't think so.
I was interested to learn that Augustine (354-430) reintroduced the church to literal interpretation of the Scriptures, but not to literal interpretation of prophecy. How could he interpret one literally, but not the other?
Reading parts of this book helped me explore my beliefs. It can also be used as a reference book. Either way, look for it on the non-fiction table. (L-r)
According to Walvoord, the importance of prophecy has changed over time, and so has its interpretation. Of course, the main interpretation question is whether to consider prophecy literally or allegorically.
In the New Testament, the question is which theological belief is true: premillennialism, postmillennialism, or amillennialism. (Premellennialism theology says Jesus will physically return to earth prior to the beginning of the millennium. Postmellennialism theology says Jesus' second coming will be after the millennium. Amillennialism theology sees the second coming as only figurative.)
Of less importance are the questions of which prophecies have already been fulfilled, of which are conditional and may never be fulfilled, or which might be fulfilled in more than one way. All this is confusing to someone like myself who comes from a liberal background, where hardly any attention is placed on prophecy, much less the end-times. So, does that make me an amillennialistic?
Walvoord writes in this 1990s book, "amillennialism continues to be the majority view of the church". Is that still true? I don't think so.
I was interested to learn that Augustine (354-430) reintroduced the church to literal interpretation of the Scriptures, but not to literal interpretation of prophecy. How could he interpret one literally, but not the other?
Reading parts of this book helped me explore my beliefs. It can also be used as a reference book. Either way, look for it on the non-fiction table. (L-r)
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monty Roberts, the real "Horse Whisperer"
Monty Roberts, A Real Horse Whisperer (VHS tape, produced by the BBC, 1997, 48 minutes, $.50)
This is one amazing story. I not only watched it twice, I also introduced my friends to it. Who knew that a man could "break" a wild horse in such a short period of time. Who knew how awful the usual way of taming horses could be. The scenes of horses with their legs tied up will haunt me for a long time, but I will also remember the man who turned away from such violence. Mr. Roberts had won riding awards as a child. As an adult he won rodeo championships. All the while he was observing horses, and how they communicated to each other. Walter Farley, gasp, was wrong! It is not the stallion that leads a herd- it is an older mare. Using the insights from his observations, Roberts developed a way to tame horses, not with violence and fear, but with gentleness.
His techniques don't just work with horses. Yes, he did advise Queen Elizabeth on her horses, but he also helped raise more than 40 foster children, most of whom came to him as angry teenagers. Fortune 500 companies also use him to train their people. I am not sure how old he is, but he is still giving demonstrations all over the world. (This year he's going to Australia and the UK.)
This tape teaches you a lot about horses, but it also teaches you a lot about making the world a better place. Start with anything positive that someone does. It doesn't make a difference how small the behavior is, just as long as it is positive. And make sure negative behaviors have consequences. For Mr. Roberts, someone's glass might contain only one drop of water, but for him, that one drop of water is where he starts.
An amazing man. An amazing story. Look for this tape on top the VHS shelves at the front of the store.
This is one amazing story. I not only watched it twice, I also introduced my friends to it. Who knew that a man could "break" a wild horse in such a short period of time. Who knew how awful the usual way of taming horses could be. The scenes of horses with their legs tied up will haunt me for a long time, but I will also remember the man who turned away from such violence. Mr. Roberts had won riding awards as a child. As an adult he won rodeo championships. All the while he was observing horses, and how they communicated to each other. Walter Farley, gasp, was wrong! It is not the stallion that leads a herd- it is an older mare. Using the insights from his observations, Roberts developed a way to tame horses, not with violence and fear, but with gentleness.
His techniques don't just work with horses. Yes, he did advise Queen Elizabeth on her horses, but he also helped raise more than 40 foster children, most of whom came to him as angry teenagers. Fortune 500 companies also use him to train their people. I am not sure how old he is, but he is still giving demonstrations all over the world. (This year he's going to Australia and the UK.)
This tape teaches you a lot about horses, but it also teaches you a lot about making the world a better place. Start with anything positive that someone does. It doesn't make a difference how small the behavior is, just as long as it is positive. And make sure negative behaviors have consequences. For Mr. Roberts, someone's glass might contain only one drop of water, but for him, that one drop of water is where he starts.
An amazing man. An amazing story. Look for this tape on top the VHS shelves at the front of the store.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
James White's 384-level hospital in the sky!
3 "Sector General" Omnibuses by James White (HC, 2001, 2002, and 2003, $2.50 each)
1. Beginning Operations-
which includes:
Hospital Station, Star Surgeon, and Major Operation.
2. Alien Emergencies-
which includes:
Ambulance Ship, Sector General, and Star Healer.
3. General Practice-
which includes:
Code Blue-Emergency and The Genocidal Healer.
I read my way through the three novels of this first book in only two days. I don't usually read science fiction, but for these stories I made an exception. The weirdest part was realizing afterwards that I had read two of them before, one in the 1970s when I was in high school, and one more recently. I loved them then, and I love them now. Try 'em, and you'll love 'em too!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Shop not open this weekend
Due to volunteer scheduling problems, we will NOT be open 8/11 and 12. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. Our volunteers have compiled a great track record of being open every summer weekend (thank you, Saturday and Sunday teams and subs), but this time a couple of different unexpected circumstances combined to make staffing impossible. Again, we apologize. Normal hours resume on Tuesday.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
G. M. Loeb's 1952 war of investing survival!
The Battle for Investment Survival: A straight-forward, uncompromising revelation of stock-market technique and philosophy that you can apply profitably to your own investment thinking, by G. M. Loeb (HC, 1952 edition of 1935 work, enlarged by 18 additional chapters, $59, which is a steal, because the listed internet price is $505!)
Writes Loeb, "When I started investing about 1921, it seemed a peaceful enough occupation. By 1943, I started calling it a 'battle', though a lot of people might have used that term much earlier during 1929 to 1932. But now in 1952 it seems to me a 'war'.
The person who studies a problem from every angle and defines the risks, aims and possibilities correctly before he starts is more than half-way to his goal.
Atom bomb or no, there is nothing really new in 1952's investment hazards, though they seem so novel and terrifying. Inflation and deflation, taxation, social reform, regulation, war, rationing, confiscation, even revolution all have played their parts regularly in the past. It is only that at times these forces seem to be quiescent, and at other times dynamic."
What would he say about today's stock market? Do his techniques still work?
Be sure to catch the table on changes in the Dow Jones Industrials- a wild swing down from 1929 to 1930 (381 to 41), and then up and down but generally upward until this book was released (41 to 280). Hey, you mathematically inclined, how much of drop is it anyway when you go from 381 to 41 in one year? And we complain when the market drops a few percentage points!
You can find this book in the front glass case.
Writes Loeb, "When I started investing about 1921, it seemed a peaceful enough occupation. By 1943, I started calling it a 'battle', though a lot of people might have used that term much earlier during 1929 to 1932. But now in 1952 it seems to me a 'war'.
The person who studies a problem from every angle and defines the risks, aims and possibilities correctly before he starts is more than half-way to his goal.
Atom bomb or no, there is nothing really new in 1952's investment hazards, though they seem so novel and terrifying. Inflation and deflation, taxation, social reform, regulation, war, rationing, confiscation, even revolution all have played their parts regularly in the past. It is only that at times these forces seem to be quiescent, and at other times dynamic."
What would he say about today's stock market? Do his techniques still work?
Be sure to catch the table on changes in the Dow Jones Industrials- a wild swing down from 1929 to 1930 (381 to 41), and then up and down but generally upward until this book was released (41 to 280). Hey, you mathematically inclined, how much of drop is it anyway when you go from 381 to 41 in one year? And we complain when the market drops a few percentage points!
You can find this book in the front glass case.
"Don't Mean Nothing" in Vietnam
Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam, by Susan O'Neill (HC, 2001, autographed, $15, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
These are stories from a female perspective, a nurses perspective. Our soldiers were in Vietnam to save the world from communism. Our nurses were there to save people's lives, no matter who they were.
"For these women and the men among whom they worked and lived, a common defense against the awful onslaught of dead and dying, wounded and maimed, was a feigned indifference, the irony of the helpless. 'Don't mean nothing' became their mantra, a small bunker in the real war- the war against total mental breakdown."
O'Neill served in Vietnam, served for one year and one month. She survived to now share with us a little of what it was like to be there. We, who were not there, can never really understand. When my friend would talk about his time there, sometimes I would just feel confused and conflicted. When he would realize this, he would touch my shoulder, and quietly say, "It's OK. I don't understand it either." The sadness and far away look in his eyes never quite went away. (Don, I haven't forgotten you.)
Of interest here is a post-it to the initial owners, from the couple who gifted it to them. O'Neill was their relative. In a way, she is related to all of us. Look for this book on the new fiction table. (L-sh.st.)
These are stories from a female perspective, a nurses perspective. Our soldiers were in Vietnam to save the world from communism. Our nurses were there to save people's lives, no matter who they were.
"For these women and the men among whom they worked and lived, a common defense against the awful onslaught of dead and dying, wounded and maimed, was a feigned indifference, the irony of the helpless. 'Don't mean nothing' became their mantra, a small bunker in the real war- the war against total mental breakdown."
O'Neill served in Vietnam, served for one year and one month. She survived to now share with us a little of what it was like to be there. We, who were not there, can never really understand. When my friend would talk about his time there, sometimes I would just feel confused and conflicted. When he would realize this, he would touch my shoulder, and quietly say, "It's OK. I don't understand it either." The sadness and far away look in his eyes never quite went away. (Don, I haven't forgotten you.)
Of interest here is a post-it to the initial owners, from the couple who gifted it to them. O'Neill was their relative. In a way, she is related to all of us. Look for this book on the new fiction table. (L-sh.st.)
American Militias and their Politics of Hate
A Force Upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate, by Kenneth S. Stern (HC, 1996, some underlining, autographed, $5, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
I started reading this book, but couldn't make myself finish. It was just too upsetting. Yet how can we fight something without being able to look at it?
"A Force upon the Plain explains how this country has gotten to a point where thousands of well-armed men and women have become so certain that their country is under siege and their leaders cannot be trusted that they believe the only possible defense lies with them and their guns. It uncovers the ways in which these men and women have used newsletters, the Internet, short-wave and political campaigns to spread their message of hate across the country and even into the halls of Congress...
We all know what happened in Oklahoma City. What we need to know now is why and what may come next."
When you read this, expect to be disturbed. Look for it on the new non-fiction table. (L-AH)
I started reading this book, but couldn't make myself finish. It was just too upsetting. Yet how can we fight something without being able to look at it?
"A Force upon the Plain explains how this country has gotten to a point where thousands of well-armed men and women have become so certain that their country is under siege and their leaders cannot be trusted that they believe the only possible defense lies with them and their guns. It uncovers the ways in which these men and women have used newsletters, the Internet, short-wave and political campaigns to spread their message of hate across the country and even into the halls of Congress...
We all know what happened in Oklahoma City. What we need to know now is why and what may come next."
When you read this, expect to be disturbed. Look for it on the new non-fiction table. (L-AH)
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