In Our Community

Bulldog Drummond was developed from the Paramount films of the 1930’s, following the cases of the British inspector who weekly stepped “out of the fog, out of the night and into his American adventures.” The show premiered September 28, 1941, on WOR, New York. Mutual carried it for six years, and again in 1953.

Most notable about Bulldog Drummond was its opening: hollow footsteps and the intermingling blast of a foghorn; then-two shots! — three sharp blasts of a cop’s whistle! — and again Drummond was ready to step out of the fog.

With his sidekick Denny, Captain Hugh Drummond solved the usual run of murders, collected the usual run of bumps on the head, and ran afoul of underworld characters.

Another well-remembered piece of radio, Bulldog Drummond ranks higher today for nostalgia value than as entertainment. Interesting was the frequent appearances of the Mercury Theatre alumni as Ray Collins and Agnes Moorehead. Through most of the run, Drummond was played by those old pros Santos Ortega and Ned Wever with Luis Van Rooten playing Denny.

The series was produced and directed by Himan Brown, best known as the creator of Inner Sanctum Mysteries.

​Tune into KDTH 1370 on Sunday evening and you may hear the blasts of a cop’s whistle as Drummond steps “out of the fog.”

Veterans Needed for Gulf War Illness Study

The Department of Veterans Affairs has just hooked up with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to do a five-year study of Gulf War Illness (GWI). The war (Operation Desert Storm/Operation Desert Shield) was from August 1990 to June 1991, and there are nearly 200,000 veterans still suffering the effects. Perhaps you can help.

The symptoms of GWI include headaches, rashes, gastro problems, muscle and joint pain and more. The IN-DEPTH project will be split, with the VA recruiting veterans to participate in the study (veterans who do and don’t have GWI) and the NIH doing the research. To be noted, in bold type on the NIH’s description page for the study reads: “Participants in the study will not receive treatment.” It’s all testing that will hopefully lead to treatments.

If you’re interested in participating, you must be between the ages of 48 and 70. You’ll be admitted to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for 14 days, during which time you’ll be tested from one end to the other. Some tests might be performed as outpatient.

To join the program, you’ll first do a phone interview and your existing medical records will be checked. They’ll do an at-home visit to check your vitals and review your medical questionnaires. If selected, you’ll check into the clinic, where you’ll undergo tests that include physical exam and strength testing, questions about food preferences, memory tests, wearing a heart monitor, stress tests on a stationary bike and much more. Once back at home, you might be asked to wear a monitor for a little while and to keep a health diary.

It doesn’t cost anything to be in the study, but you’ll be compensated and your travel may be paid for.

And, since the question will come up, if you’ve had Covid, you can’t be in the study. They’ll test you for antibodies during the screening.

If you have questions about the study, send an email to the NIH at gwiindepth@ninds.nih.gov. For the VA, send email to vhawas.indepth@va.gov.

​© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.

The Cosmic Creator’s Love

Diann and I were married over 50 years ago. It was June 2, 1972, in Leota, Minnesota, at the church in which Diann grew up. Just minutes before the ceremony, when Diann was ready, all the women cleared out of the bridal dressing room, and according to plan I was invited to go in and see my bride for the first time in her wedding dress, alone with her. Wow! This was my bride! How I delighted in her at that moment, and still do over 50 years later!

I have spent most of a lifetime reflecting on God, relating to Him, studying about Him, and teaching and preaching about Him. Although I have yet so much to learn and apply, what amazes me is how often God (in the Bible) uses the analogy of a groom and bride, a husband and wife, to portray the kind of relationship He wants with us. Human love stories have captivated people ever since we’ve been telling stories. But the greatest love story of all is of God’s love for the people He’s created!

As a groom I promised to be a husband who would love, honor, and cherish my bride. This is the kind of love, but raised to an infinite level, that God has for us. Wayne Grudem, a theologian, writes, “God’s love means that God eternally gives of Himself to others.”

When we think of a relationship with God we often think about what we have to do for Him, how we have to work at connecting with Him, thinking we have to take the initiative. It’s the other way around! He’s taken the initiative at reaching out to us. The great Christian thinker C.S. Lewis wrote of God, “He loved us not because we are lovable but because He is love.” Love is one of God’s wonderful attributes, it’s just who He is.

Many believe that God created and sustains our universe. But what if God is more than creator, sustainer? What if He is also personal, with the intention of wanting the best for what He has created, including the best for us, who, the Biblical accounts say, He’s created in His own image? This means that this world and the vast cosmos is awash in His love!

It was the English theologian John Owen, in the 1600s, who wrote, “The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay upon the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him, is not to believe that He loves you.”

There is no more important paradigm shift to make in life than to shift from seeing existence as “sound and fury, signifying nothing,” to use Shakespeare’s words, to instead embracing the belief as expressed in the words of song writer William Cowper (1731-1880), “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace; behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.”

This universe and all of existence can be seen as being here by chance, mindless, with no purpose or meaning. Or the universe and all of existence can be seen as being here by choice, God’s choice, for His purposes, His good intentions for us, ablaze with His glorious love!

​“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:5b)

It’s unbelievable how many commercials are run during regular aired programs. Even during an alert news broadcast telling about a tragedy, a commercial may pop up. This bothers me because serious is serious and there is no comparison between a tragedy and a commercial that may show a happy event along with a sad announcement of death and injury!

Well, now that I have gotten that bit of negativism out of my system I can write about my original thoughts that I have to share with the readers of The Golden View. Have you ever thought about all the dogs and cats’ commercials aired during every program you watch? I checked on animal commercials and found out that more cats and dogs are filmed then all the other animals. Of course, I believe most Americans have at least one dog or cat in their homes, perhaps both. Sometimes a dog or cat is used in a program and I think this causes the shows program rating to go higher just because the pet is a cast member.

Actually, many other pets and wild animals have been used in commercials. Recently, one particular commercial airing an emu in action causes me to laugh a lot. As you know, the emu is a flightless bird, native to Australia. And to see this animal doing people-like activity is a blast! Another commercial showing a baby elephant walking between its mothers’ huge legs for protection from outer dangers is heart-warming.

Personally, of all the animals shown on TV I have never seen a commercial using a manatee. A manatee is a large water animal. Also, referred to as a sea cow because it grazes on marine grasses and other water plants. Manatees live in small family groups but often travel in herds of 15 or 20. And because of their huge size they have few enemies.

Actually, I have never seen a manatee but I have seen pictures of their round bodies. Another picture I saw showed a mother and her calf nuzzle together face to face. It was a touching scene. In reading about the manatee I learned that in manatee sanctuaries some younger ones will swim up to a diver and give him or her a little kiss. But I understand the manatee will not warm up to a diver unless the manatee touched the diver first. I also heard that once rapport is established, a manatee might roll over on its back and let the diver scratch its tummy.

​I think if a commercial were to be done using a manatee, it should be a mattress commercial. I can just see the round body of a manatee rolling around on a bed with a comfortable atmosphere welcoming a perspective buyer of a new mattress. I hope you enjoyed our casual written conversation in this column. I certainly enjoyed sharing with you.

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