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So sorry to hear that GM. Will put you in our prayers!!

In another post one of our memvbers brought to our attention a rather visable mistake tlhat I had made iln a post. In my response, I corrected the error and mentioned that I was slowly going blind. (Actually it is presently faster than that.) I t hought that I might tell my story here from the perspective that I might be helpful rto others. My story has two partss. I will leave thils th read closed until I have filnished wilth both parts. Once it is open, feel free to ckomment as you chose. Part 1: Over a decade ago I developed a growth in one of my eyes. I had surgery inside that eye to detach that growth. The instrumenets wqere viewed w ith a microscope ad the surgeon entered my eye through anl 18-guage needle hole. That left me w ith a permant scar on lmy retna and distorted vlision in that eye. Part2: I have develped Age related Macular degeneration (ARMD) in both eyes and Geographlic Atrofly (GA) (A new name for an old diease). On a regular basis I recieve injections into mly eyes. They do not cure the disease, they slow it down. Presently, my good e ye is eperiencing a decrease lilnlvision. It is becomming harder for me to read and use the computer. I will never totally lose my vision. But, my life and vilsion are becomming much more limited. I am fo rtunate to have available to me medical care tlhqt malny woulld not have.

In lkpart kof kTexas, Amazon ils using 80 pound drones tok deliver packages to homes. In the following v ideo, Amazon drops the kpackage into the swimmingl pool. https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/artificial-intelligence/i-can-t-stop-watching-this-amazon-drone-drop-someone-s-package-in-their-pool/ar-AA2aHDao?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=DCTS&cvid=6a89ac8c9afe40c19c9983e0e20527a5&ei=20

Its been one year since we have had a TRULY HISTORIC change in leadership in the Adventist church. I thought it would be good to reflect upon changes that have taken place. You may not realize it but we have a new website. It has many new pictures of the GC building, witch I find fascinating. As someone who has never been there, and likely never will go there, this is very interesting to me. I can now see and enjoy the building. Old website : https://web.archive.org/web/20250302060246/https://www.adventist.org/ New website: https://gc.adventist.org/ It is still a WordPress website, but the content has completely changed. It looks like every page has changed and many new pages added. It is very well done. It clearly reflects the new leadership. It's purpose has changed from a boring institutional statement to a living document meant to clearly inform the members of the church what the vision is and how it is being carried out. The level of transparency is boldly refreshing.

I fear it is already too late.

There is a economics guru, by the name of Martin Armstrong who has a very sophisticated computer model that claims the American Republic will fall in 2032.

I can tell you the feelings from the leadership in Asia. They are so weary of this topic. They are so frustrated that it keeps coming up. This refusal to accept the 3 or 4 previous votes only further isolates these people from the world church.

with ? [Thank you for bringing this to my attention, so I can correct it. On a personal note, I am slowly lgoing blind and it is affecting my ability to use the computer and to correctly spell words--GM]

You might find articles here worth reading : https://www.adventistsaffirm.com/articles/9scsqk78rge9qzlckzc9re7gz7dych Another Perspective on the Pandemic

There is also Perspective Digest https://www.perspectivedigest.org/ And a less well known Adventist Affirm https://www.adventistsaffirm.com/

August 20, 2026 Your first month is free in The New York Times app. Download now → By Sam Sifton Good morning. America’s gross national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time yesterday. And Prince Harry and Meghan are moving back to Britain. There’s plenty more news below. But first, I want to turn things over to my colleague Jodi Rudoren for a look at a new study about Americans’ use of cannabis. Janelle Jones for The New York Times High anxiety By Jodi Rudoren I never take drugs at work. For the last few years, I’ve been trying to develop a casual weed habit. Like many of my over-50 friends, I’d been finding that even a single cocktail or a glass of wine with dinner gave me a headache the next morning. Plus, I prefer not to drink my calories. With marijuana now legal for recreational use in half the country, why not experiment? I started with a vape but kept forgetting to use it. Then last summer I dabbled in THC seltzer — refreshing, low-cal and a nice little buzz. A couple of months ago, after a detailed consult at a dispensary, I walked away with a tincture for my arthritic feet, some gummies for play and other gummies for sleep. Those work — and don’t leave me groggy when I get up at 5 to go to the gym. So it was distressing to learn yesterday that a growing number of Americans are developing cannabis use disorders — that’s health care speak for addiction or abuse. A national study found that 9 percent of American men and nearly 6 percent of women reported symptoms of the disorder in 2024, up from about 7 percent of men and 5 percent of women. Some people with the disorder can’t quit. Others can’t even cut back. And some keep doing the drug despite it hurting their relationships. The main reason for the spike, experts say, is that a lot of weed now contains much higher doses of THC. “The notion that cannabis is not addictive may basically be incorrect,” said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the paper’s senior author. “The higher the content of the drug, the higher the risk for addiction.” By the numbers Jim Wilson/The New York Times Usage: In 2024, 26 percent of men in the United States reported using cannabis, up from 22 percent in 2021. Among women, it was 21 percent in 2024, up from 18. It’s highest, unsurprisingly, among those ages 21 to 34 — 37 percent of those men and nearly 34 percent of the women report using marijuana in 2024. That still pales in comparison to alcohol — more than half of Americans drink at least occasionally. Abusage: What’s alarming is that the rate of problematic use is higher than with alcohol. Of those who said they use cannabis, about 30 percent showed symptoms of the disorder; among the drinkers, it’s less than 20 percent. (Alcohol abuse is still a larger problem overall, affecting nearly 13 percent of men and 8 percent of women.) My people: Women over 50 showed the biggest spike in cannabis use over the three years of the study — it jumped 40 percent between 2021 and 2024. (We’re still the lowest consumers of cannabis, though; about 13 percent reported using the drug. Just under 60 percent said they drink alcohol.) Behind the numbers I talked to Lori Leibovich, who runs our Well desk, about what this all means. The jump in use is no surprise, she said, given that cannabis has become legal in more places at the exact same time that scientists are finding more and more connections between drinking and deadly diseases like cancer. Some groups say there’s no safe amount of alcohol, Lori told me. Weed has also been linked to increased risk of stroke or heart attack, as well as memory loss, though studies also suggest it can reduce pain. I know a lot of menopausal women reaching for gummies to relieve stress or help with sleep. We’re in that sandwich-generation moment, caring for aging parents and cranky teenagers alongside our careers and fitness regimens, and we can’t waste even an hour in the morning recovering from a hangover. The problem, Lori pointed out, is that we have grown up believing marijuana is not addictive, because it’s natural. That may have been true back at Woodstock, but the weed that people are smoking or swallowing now is up to 15 times stronger. And while there are a lot of rehab programs for alcohol addiction, resources for cannabis crises are scarce. Addiction, memory loss, stroke. Maybe it’s OK that I keep forgetting to use that vape. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Jennifer Hegseth and Pete Hegseth. Doug Mills/The New York Times Jennifer Hegseth, the wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has taken an unusually active role at the Pentagon, advising on communications and attending meetings with foreign officials. Republicans in deep red Wyoming rejected hard-right candidates in this week’s primaries, including a candidate for governor backed by President Trump. A series of losses by Trump-endorsed candidates has raised questions about the president’s control over the party. The Economy Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and U.S. Office of Management and Budget | Note: Data is seasonally adjusted | By The New York Times The United States’ gross national debt keeps piling up as the government borrows to cover military spending, social programs and tax cuts. The Treasury Department calmed a jittery bond market by doubling the amount of its own debt that it can buy back from investors. Changes to student loan repayment rules will force some borrowers to pay more, and for a longer term. Health An experimental mRNA vaccine prevented the return and spread of skin cancer in high-risk patients, the pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck said. Trump nominated Dr. Heidi Overton, a White House aide and MAHA proponent, to serve as the next F.D.A. commissioner. A former adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded guilty to conspiring to hide records related to the origins of the coronavirus. The D.E.A. joined the investigation into the death of Hayden Panettiere, who died of an apparent drug overdose. Data Centers Voters across the country are using recall campaigns to oust local officials who approved massive data centers. Loudoun County in Virginia hosts more than 250 data centers. In the video below, Cecilia Kang, who covers technology and regulatory policy, describes how the A.I. boom is affecting the county, known as the “data center capital of the world.” Click to watch. The New York Times The Middle East The U.A.E. said it was cutting off all trade and financial transactions with Iran. The U.S. Navy has been running a stealth operation to guide oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s how it works. The Israeli military has opened criminal investigations into the killings of Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl, and more than a dozen medical workers during the war in Gaza. Iran and the United States have settled into an uneasy, in-between state that risks either a return to fighting or a hardening stalemate. Around the World Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Daniel Leal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images It’s unclear where Prince Harry, Meghan and their children will live or what they will do when they return to Britain after six years in the United States. Here’s a timeline of their departure and planned return. Russia stepped up its air campaign, taking advantage of Ukraine’s lack of defensive missiles. Overnight strikes on Kyiv killed at least 13 people. The sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, dismissed Trump’s decision to scale back major military exercises with South Korea, saying the reduced exercises were still “provocative and aggressive.” OPINIONS Trump’s election meddling is eroding American democracy, the editorial board argues. They’ve analyzed 12 benchmarks, like declaring false emergencies, to keep an eye on. The essayist Will McGrath road-tripped with his family this summer to visit cemeteries throughout the Midwest. It’s a special way to recognize your own ephemerality, he writes. Free this week: Play all 3 Crosswords. You can access every new crossword puzzle through August 23. Whether you have seconds or 60 minutes, there’s a puzzle for everyone. Start solving today. MORNING READS Maria-Ines Gul We’ve made these links free for you. Famous last words: One Times obituaries writer is skeptical of them, but admits that some are too good to be disregarded. Take the playwright Eugene O’Neill’s: “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room and — goddamn it — dying in a hotel room!” Read more dubitable examples here. Grumpy old man: A German grandpa who complains about matcha has became a social media sensation among young Germans. How did he go from heartbroken widower to partying on a yacht? Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about the presidential aide Natalie Harp. Hip-hop cop: Derrick Parker’s love of rap music and deep knowledge of New York’s music and celebrity scene made him the N.Y.P.D.’s go-to expert for crimes involving entertainers like Sean Combs, Jennifer Lopez and Lil’ Kim. He died at 65. TODAY’S NUMBER 29 — That is the percentage of all new cars sold around the world this year that are expected to be powered by electricity. It is a sharp rise from just 4 percent in 2020. See where it’s happening. SPORTS Football: A judge granted a temporary restraining order that could allow the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Jack Pyburn and other N.F.L. players to return to college play this season. Cycling: A driver crashed into a Tennessee university’s cycling team training on a mountain highway, killing two riders and injuring seven others. RECIPE OF THE DAY Davide Luciano for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Gozde Eker. I thought it might be possible to come up with a recipe for a vegetarian patty melt that was pretty good. I never thought I’d prefer it to the Los Angeles original. Check it: portobello patty melts. Make sure you get a nice crisp, buttery crust on the rye bread at the end to contrast with the melted Swiss, soft, caramelized onions and beefy mushroom meatiness. HOLD ON Vincent Tullo for The New York Times Alabama Shakes was one of the breakout rock bands of the 2010s: Grammy winners, festival mainstays. Then the band went on hiatus for an extended stretch, and the frontwoman, Brittany Howard, pursued a solo career. Now the band returns with its first album in more than a decade, “I Must Be Dreaming,” out this month. Jon Pareles, who has covered pop music at The Times for four decades, talked with the trio about their return, and about the difficulties of writing excellent songs. “If I’m ever reincarnated, I do not want to be a writer ever again,” Howard told him. “I want to become a mathematician or something — something stuck and true. One plus one equals two. Something uncreative. Maybe a mechanic.” More on culture Helen Shaw, our theater critic, has been soaking up the delicious chaos of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, taking in close to two dozen shows (out of roughly 4,000!) and reveling in the power of artists watching other artists work. Read her account of a whirlwind trip to Scotland. In June, a Russian drone struck the Dormition Cathedral at the center of Kyiv’s oldest monastery, causing a massive blaze. Volunteers — mostly parishioners, military veterans and charity workers — have since worked alongside Orthodox priests to clean it up, and the results are stunning. Late night hosts joked about Trump’s efforts to rekindle his bromance with Kim Jong-un. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Sleep better at home. Make your bedroom more like a hotel room, with advice from the blacked-out somnologists at Wirecutter. Plan for retirement long before you retire, in part to protect against cognitive decline. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was provolone. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. If you’re not currently a subscriber, would you consider becoming one today? Subscriptions support our work and allow it to continue. Appreciate it. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 20 1619 First enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown, setting the stage for slavery in North America Some 20 Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrive in the British colony of Virginia and are then bought by English colonists. The arrival of the enslaved Africans in the New World marks a beginning of two and a half centuries of slavery in North America. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1804 Corps of Discovery suffers its only death Arts & Entertainment 1918 “Valley of the Dolls” author Jacqueline Susann born Civil War 1862 Horace Greeley’s “The Prayer of Twenty Millions” is published Cold War 1968 Soviets invade Czechoslovakia Crime 1989 The Menendez brothers murder their parents Early U.S. 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers European History 1940 Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky assassinated in Mexico Inventions & Science 1911 Blazingly fast around-the-world telegram sent, 66 years before Voyager II launch Space Exploration 1975 Viking 1 launched to Mars Sports 1920 Early football leagues consolidate into precursor of the NFL 1945 17-year-old becomes youngest to hit MLB home run U.S. Presidents 1974 Gerald Ford selects Nelson Rockefeller as vice president 1833 Benjamin Harrison is born Vietnam War 1954 United States decides to support noncommunist nations in Southeast Asia World War II 1944 Soviets thwart German army in Romania

Farm Belt pain Data: AAA. Chart: Ben Geman/Axios Diesel prices are soaring just as the energy-thirsty peak of harvest season looms for many of the country's largest crops, Axios' Ben Geman writes. Mid-August diesel prices (charted above) are at their highest in the last decade, according to AAA data. Between the lines: It's a double whammy for farmers. The Iran war is also causing much higher fertilizer costs that hit months ago.

🚨 Bessent's bond alarm Data: Mortgage Bankers Association. Chart: Courtenay Brown/Axios Axios' Courtenay Brown, who co-writes our midday Macro newsletter, explains why you should pay attention to chaos in the bond market: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved to calm the bond markets yesterday after a recent selloff made mortgages and other consumer loans more expensive. Why it matters: The bond market impacts how much it costs everyone — the government, consumers, and companies — to borrow money. The rising borrowing costs could deepen the affordability crisis, a political problem for President Trump heading into the midterms. Bessent's move to increase repurchases of long-term government notes and bonds (increasing demand for them) is largely symbolic but could still help bring those costs down. 🖼️ The big picture: The bond market is getting squeezed from multiple directions. War in the Middle East is reviving inflation fears, deficits are ballooning, and the AI boom is gobbling up cash — all pushing up the rates investors demand to lend the government money for decades. 🔮 What's next: Wall Street is skeptical the relief will stick, given that the Treasury Department's purchases are tiny compared with the roughly $30 trillion market for government debt. But the signal is important: Washington is showing it is willing to step in as high borrowing costs become an economic and political liability. More on Bessent's move.

🇺🇸 Milestone: $40 trillion debt binge Data: U.S. Treasury. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios America's national debt crossed an ominous threshold yesterday: $40 trillion — and rising by about $100 billion a week, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes. Why it matters: It's not sustainable. The inevitable reckoning means some administration, some day — perhaps sooner than later — will have to make tough choices to get the public finances in order. 🧮 By the numbers: The debt has doubled in the last 10 years and quadrupled in less than 20. It's the equivalent of almost $117,000 of debt for every single person in the United States. Front pages of today's Wall Street Journal, New York Times. Between the lines: It's a psychologically important milestone that underscores the real problem: the debt's incessant, rapid growth. Both obvious options to tackle it — spending less or taxing more — are politically treacherous. 🧐 What to watch: By some estimates, at the current pace, a $50 trillion national debt is only about six years away. How we got here (WSJ gift link).

Data centers scramble midterms Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images A populist fever is coursing through the midterms, forcing campaigns to retreat and recalibrate as they confront a groundswell of hostility toward AI data centers, Axios' Zachary Basu, Alex Isenstadt and Maria Curi write. Why it matters: Grassroots pressure is breaking the bipartisan consensus that enabled America's AI buildout. Candidates in both parties are racing to distance themselves from projects their own leaders spent years courting. 🖼️ The big picture: What started as scattered, localized NIMBYism is scaling into a national cross-partisan movement that could slow America's race for AI supremacy. In Ohio, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has spent millions on a summer ad campaign branding Republican Sen. Jon Husted as "the face of data centers," weaponizing Husted's years of courting the industry as lieutenant governor. As we scooped in AM yesterday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned AI companies a Husted loss could chill support for data centers nationwide. (Read the memo.) In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — who once declared Texas "the epicenter of AI development" — is now pushing to restrict data centers in rural areas and strip away tax incentives after Democrat Gina Hinojosa branded the state the "Wild West of data centers." In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro — who spent years courting data center investment — imposed sweeping guardrails this week after Republican challenger Stacy Garrity accused him of "rolling out the red carpet" for developers. In Wisconsin, GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany is running ads attacking his Democratic opponent as "data center David Crowley." That puts Tiffany, a close President Trump ally, on the same side of the issue as Crowley's former primary rival, democratic socialist Francesca Hong. In Wyoming, Republican Chuck Gray won Tuesday's primary for the state's open House seat after running ads promising to "stop data centers" and calling for a federal ban. 👀 Behind the scenes: The backlash has caught the industry and political establishment flat-footed, triggering finger-pointing over who failed to see it coming — and who should pay to contain it. One Republican operative unloaded on GOP groups that spent months raising money from tech companies while holding back resources that could help candidates weather the attacks. "Maybe they should stop trying to shake down these tech companies and start putting the money that they raised from them into these elections," the operative said, pointing to the NRSC. "What are they waiting for?" New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — who last month imposed the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers — told Axios the NRSC's push for AI companies to improve their messaging is "tone-deaf" and "wildly inappropriate." Data: Morning Consult. Chart: Sara Wise/Axios The other side: The White House and AI companies know they have a serious political problem, and moved earlier this year to address the biggest grievances at their source. Trump's ratepayer-protection pledge requires companies to cover the power generation and grid upgrades their projects require, rather than stick local customers with the bill. Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon have all signed on, keenly aware of the threat to their massive AI ambitions.

The only window that opens on the presidential car is the driver’s window. It also has no keyholes, and only the Secret Service knows how to open the doors. James

Prince Harry and Meghan are returning to the UK with their children LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have decided to return to the United Kingdom for an extended stay starting this fall, but they won’t resume their roles as working members of the royal family, The Associated Press learned Wednesday. https://apnews.com/article/prince-harry-meghan-lilibet-archie-2a26920acb7ed33bb590654bfd57702b

What beats seeing eclipses from space? Try the northern and southern lights Eclipses may be wondrous, but nothing beats seeing the northern and southern lights from space. Read More.

New CDC director acknowledges agency problems in first large staff meeting In her first large staff meeting, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promised Wednesday to advocate for the agency while acknowledging that congressionally funded programs lacked staff and employees were feeling burned out. Read More.

UN rights chief is concerned about arrest of opposition figures in Zambia's election The United Nations human rights chief said Wednesday he is concerned over the arrest of opposition officials in connection with last week's troubled election in Zambia. Read More.

What to know about the outbreak of a rare kind of Ebola An Ebola outbreak in Congo has surpassed 5,000 confirmed cases, making it one of the largest outbreaks of the deadly disease ever recorded. Read More.

'Many' Fed officials think higher rates will be needed if inflation stays high Many Federal Reserve officials think the central bank will have to lift its key short-term interest rate in the coming months if inflation doesn't subside, minutes of the Fed's meeting last month showed. Read More.