An interesting thing I didn't know until today

[Satchmo Distel]

Is Mary and Joseph's the only platonic marriage ever recorded from biblical times? You'd have thought the Angel would have let Joseph know he wasn't going to get laid. Maybe lay on some side action?

Speaking of which, when did Jewish society of that era stop being polygamous?

[Patrick Thistle]

One reference to Jesus's brothers and sisters is from an incident when his mum and siblings turned up to take him home because they thought he was mad.

In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, four of his brothers are named.

[Satchmo Distel]

Also Mark 3:31-35:

Then His mother (that is, Jesus' mother) and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, 'Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.' Answering them, He said, 'Who are My mother and My brothers?' Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.'

[Balderdasha]

They're sometimes known as the adelphoi / "of the same womb" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_of_Jesus

With that many brothers, it seems likely that there would be living descendants of Mary but no-one kept track of Jesus' siblings' descendants. Some of my husband's ancestors have their names carved into the wall of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Who knows, maybe my children are somehow related to Mary (that would be total blasphemy for most Catholics though).

[caja-dglh]

One reference to Jesus's brothers and sisters is from an incident when his mum and siblings turned up to take him home because they thought he was mad.

In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, four of his brothers are named.

If George Lucas had done Jesus the movie they would all have their own spin-off series.

[Patrick Thistle]

If George Lucas had done Jesus the movie they would all have their own spin-off series.

Well someone did a redactors cut special edition of the gospels for re-release.

[Hot Pepsi]

They're sometimes known as the adelphoi / "of the same womb" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_of_Jesus

With that many brothers, it seems likely that there would be living descendants of Mary but no-one kept track of Jesus' siblings' descendants. Some of my husband's ancestors have their names carved into the wall of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Who knows, maybe my children are somehow related to Mary (that would be total blasphemy for most Catholics though).

Some traditions claim they weren't his literal biological brothers - cousins perhaps - in order to maintain the perpetual virginity of Mary.
That seems like a stretch. I accept the most straightforward idea that they were supposed to be his younger siblings.

[Hot Pepsi]

If George Lucas had done Jesus the movie they would all have their own spin-off series.

That's what all the stories of the saints are. Just more content for the Jesus Christ Expanded Universe.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Just watched the original Assault on Precinct 13.

Apparently the film did well in the UK so Carpenter decided to name one of the characters in his next film after the main guy at the British distributor, Miracle Films, a Mr. Michael Myers.

[San Bernardhinault]

So, today I learned that my town has some pretty downplayed notoriety in the history of the US.

I went down a wikihole about which Presidents lost primaries (none of them), and then to which weren't renominated by their parties. Four who acceded to the Presidency from VP didn't get renominated, but only one elected President didn't. That was our formerly third worst President, Franklin Pierce.

So, down the wikihole I was reading about him and discovered that between him getting elected and taking office he was involved in a train crash which killed his son. Apparently his mourning and loss of confidence was one reason he was so utterly ineffectual as President, which is one reason for James Buchanan getting office and the total chaos and disaster that abounded at the time and the eventual secession of the confederacy. Basically, the train crash was a minor causal factor in the civil war.

And, in passing, it was mentioned that the train crash happened here. It appears (although it's not 100% clear) that it was about a mile from where I'm sitting. Somehow there are no plaques or banners or memorials for it, no streets named for it, very little in the town's lore as far as I can tell, refers to it.

[ursus arctos]

Fatal railway accidents were appallingly common at the time and not something that the powers that be were interested in drawing attention to.

[San Bernardhinault]

It seems that Bennie Pierce, the son, was the only person who died in this crash. He was standing looking out of the window when the train hit some rocks and rolled down the embankment. Both parents were completely unharmed.

[ursus arctos]

My recollection is that the evidence that Pierce was shattered by the experience is quite strong, and that his wife was even more severely affected,

All three of their children died in childhood.

[San Bernardhinault]

That's what my reading today suggests, too. Apparently Jane Pierce's sister lived really close to the crash site, and the son went to Phillips, so she was very linked to the town and ended up dying here.

[ursus arctos]

Of that miserable run of pre-Lincoln presidents, there is a good case that Pierce had the most potential, but he never was in a condition to build upon it.

He doesn't deserve to be paired with Fillmore and Buchanan, who were just awful.

[Hot Pepsi]

Buchanan is PA’s only president. I’ve driven past signs for his birthplace. I don’t think it is a big tourist draw.

[ursus arctos]

I imagine that Pennsylvania will eventually claim Biden

[Hot Pepsi]

I imagine that Pennsylvania will eventually claim Biden

I suppose they will.

[San Bernardhinault]

I'm amazed that PA only has one President. Is there any good reason, do we think? I would have thought Philly was just as much a center of power as NY and Boston and Washington and Baltimore, nurturing cynical power-hungry politicians. Is it the Quaker influence making them less combative? I doubt it - the state isn't famed for its lack of combativeness.

[ursus arctos]

It is a decent question

Franklin was certainly prominent from the outset, and both he and Gouveneur Morris were important framers of the Constitution, but the state just doesn't have a history of nationally significant Senators or Governors. Nor did it produce important Generals at times when that was an important qualification.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Which states claim the top three spots in the presidential stakes?

[ursus arctos]

Virginia, Ohio and New York

[Sporting]

Also (as of 2015):

"A total of 44 of the nation’s 912 Senators who have been elected or appointed since popular vote elections were introduced were born in the Buckeye State, or 4.8 percent, including Alaska’s Dan Sullivan (Fairview Park) and current Ohio delegation members Rob Portman (Cincinnati) and Sherrod Brown (Mansfield).

New York is second with 39, including 10 serving in the 114th Congress, each of whom caucuses with the Democrats: Barbara Boxer of California, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Al Franken of Minnesota, Bob Menedez of New Jersey, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and the Empire State’s own Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

That means more than one-fifth of the Democratic caucus (10 of 46 members) were born in New York.

Missouri has given birth to 35 U.S. Senators in the direct election era followed by Illinois with 33, Massachusetts with 32, Kentucky with 30, Iowa with 29, North Carolina with 28, Pennsylvania with 27, and Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana with 23.

And which states have produced the fewest number of Senators?

Aside from Alaska (two) and Hawaii (six), New Mexico and Washington have given birth to the fewest Senators with six each.Many other western states appear at the bottom of the list including Arizona, Idaho, and Montana with seven, Wyoming with eight and Nevada with nine.

New Hampshire has also produced eight Senators during the last century with Delaware and Oklahoma at nine each.

And why have there been so many Ohio-born U.S. Senators over the last 100 years?

There are three main factors influencing the high frequency of Ohio-born U.S. Senators: 1) the state’s propensity to elect Ohio-born candidates to the chamber, 2) high turnover in Ohio U.S. Senate seats, and 3) the generally large population of the state which has produced a large number of Ohio-born politicians who have gone on to serve in the Senate from other states."



More info here:

https://smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/20...ow-many-us-se/

[Sam]

I like that the last of those reasons basically boils down to 'lots of Ohioans have served in the US Senate because lots of Ohioans have been elected to the US Senate.'

[Sporting]

Hah!

Has there ever been a thread here on the best and worst US States to live in? The criteria would be very wide-ranging and extremely subjective but as always the posts would be more interesting than the results.