Conned ePistle

Famous First Words: Hear ye, lords, nobles and freemen... --Richard Wagner: Lohengrin

It's World Science Ficition Convention time (27-31). It's being held next week in Los Angeles. You know what a sci-fi fan with one hand in the future is called? A future-wrist. || Little Know Fact: Mordor had a National ORCestra.

..........Large blue-green footprints that glow in the dark.........The Byrds …..Hey, Mr Spaceman

Faith lifts the soul, hope supports it, experience says it must, and Love says...let it be! --St Elizabeth Ann Seton

If I see someone without a smile, I give them mine. --Dolly Parton

It is a lovely Friday morning. The sky is filled with fluffy white clouds floating peacefully along on very little wind. Our 63°F temperature is perfect for being outside to listen to the birds call. They may be warning each other that Veronica the cat is sitting just inside the slightly open door. Or they may just be enjoying the morning with a song. Puck has been out and is back in lying with his head under the bed, snoring and coughing as he does. Everything is still so green and lush. The trees seem to fill space solidly with branches and leaves that move and dance so easily. Flowers and fruits supply color contrasts to the green – purple poke berries, flashy yellow bursts of some sort in the neighbor's backyard, and small blue dots in the grass along the fence. I am sipping my decaf on this beautiful late summer day and writing to you. I'm doing well, hope you are too.

Hope your weekend is out of the world, Earthlings

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It was one of the dullest speeches I ever heard. The Agee woman told us for three quarters of an hour how she came to write her beastly book, when a simple apology was all that was required. --P G Wodehouse

Book Recommendations of the Week: My favorite Sci-Fi book is The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. ...A far future where humans have learned to teleport...Wonderful strange characters...Lots to think about. The only book I'm aware of about WorldCons is Charles Ford Never Mentioned Wombats by Gene DeWeese & Buck Coulson. It's fan fiction about AussieCon (1) in Melbourne in 1975. It's amusing and gives some insight into what the con is like. I'm reluctant to recommend books. Tastes are different and all tastes are valid. Both of these have an amusing and light voice and contain irony and fun. Extra Credit: Charles Fort

When technology gets in the way of progress it's called Science Friction. || Some fans get married during conventions and, amazingly enough, those marriages are actually valid. If a Trek fan married Seven of Nine, he'd have 999,999,999,777 in-laws.

..........Ground Control to Major Tom.........David Bowie …..Space Oddity

It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen. --Dolly Parton

Trivia Questions: What do we really know about WorldCon?

1. When was the first World Science Fiction Convention held?

2. How many people attended the first WorldCon?

3. How many people attended the 2025 World Con 84 in Seattle?

4. Who are the guests of honor this year?

5. Where is next year's ('27) convention being held?

Big Hello: Molo – Xhosa (South Africa) https://www.berlitz.com/blog/hello-different-languages

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If AI is so smart, why aren't we using it to design eco-friendly AI data centers that run on renewable energy? --am of co

Image of the Week: ConWeek Protest Sign: --Lawrence, KS

Doctor Who fans are so dedicated they will spend 40 minutes explaining how a wooden box is anatomically larger on the inside, but they can't explain why they are still single. || Men at WorldCon are like UFOs. You don't know where they're from, what their mission is, or when they might just take off.

..........Well, we had a lot of luck on Venus.........Deep Purple …..Space Truckin'

I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb -- and I'm not blonde either. --Dolly Parton

Moonbeam: The principle cause of war is war itself. --C Wright Mills

Blasphemy of the Week: A god that needs violent men to succeed is a god invented by violent men. --Benjamin Cremer --Submitted by MMS

Coffee Joke of the Week: I like my coffee like I like my alarm, strong enough to wake me up but not give me a heart attack.

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Yikes! The only vegetable they're not recalling is Mitch McConnell! --Submitted by mm

Science Fiction Ramble of the Week: I read Philip K Dick (A Scanner Darkly, The Man In The High Tower, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and more) and came to the conclusion that he must be the most paranoid person ever. Until I saw the latest generation of far right politicians. They make Dick look like a mindfulness guru. They are afraid of everything and everybody. How tiresome. So...do we think the secret service just got sick and tired of him and made up that missile stuff about his stupid airplane, just to mock him? “Oh No! Your fancy jet doesn't have anti-torpedo hardware. What shall we do? We've had threats. Right? You guys heard it, right? It was definitely a threat. Mr President, you need to hide in this catering scooter, to be safe, sir. Yes, we'll leave the food in there.” ~~How long have presidents been flying around with armed anti-missile missiles? It's not a thought that makes me feel safer.

Dr Brown was the first to notice that birds time travel in groups called flocks capacitors. || I love time travel jokes. Sometimes I laugh at them again, yesterday.

..........And the zipping white light beams.........The Killers …..Spaceman

Storms make the trees take deeper roots. --Dolly Parton

1) Organized by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), the first WorldCon was held on July 2, 1939 in New York City.

Almanac: It is Friday, August 28, 2026. The moon is full (Sturgeon) tonight and is in Pisces. Today is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Day, Women's Equal Pay Day, Crackers Over The Keyboard Day, National Bow Tie Day, National Power Rangers Day, National Thoughtful Day, National Weed Out Hate Day, Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day, Radio Commercials Day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day (lost pets), Read Comics in Public Day, and National Sport Sampling Day. Because it is the 241^st day of the year it is also Red Wine Day.

Among those born on this day were Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774), Bruno Bettelheim (1903), Roger Tory Peterson (1908), C Wright Mills (1916), Jack Kirby (1917), Donald O'Connor (1925), Ron Guidry (1950), Daniel Stern (1957), Scott Hamilton (1957), David Fincher (1962), Shania Twain (I965), Jack Black (1969), Jason Priestley (1969), and LeAnn Rimes (1982).

On August twenty-eight Herschel discovered Saturn's moon Enceladus (1789), Lohengrin was first produced (1850), UPS began service (Seattle, 1907), 10 suffragists were arrested at the White House gate (1917), golf's Walker Cup tournament was established (1922), Kalamazoo passed an ordinance forbidding dancers from gazing into each other eyes (1923). Strom Thurmond began a 24 hour filibuster against the civil rights bill (1957), 200,000 demonstrated for equal rights (DC, 1963), and police and demonstrators clashed at the National Democratic Convention (Chicago, 1968).

Night Sky, 8/28: The moon reached full at around midnight after the lunar eclipse.

Fraternal Picture of the Week: At the Chihuly Glass Museum

This Week: Saturday, August 29 – According To Hoyle Day & Individual Rights Day & More Herbs Less Salt Day

Sunday, August 30 – International Whale Shark Day & Jimmy Buffet Day & National Grief Awareness Day

Night Sky, 8/30: In the west in the evening the moon and Saturn get close and Venus is not far behind.

Monday, August 31 – International Day for People Of African Decent & Trail Mix Day

Tuesday, September 1- National Burnt Ends Day & National Toy Testing Day & Meteorological Autumn & World Letter Writing Day

Night Sky, 9/1: Mars and Jupiter can be seen high in the predawn sky.

Wednesday, September 2- Bison-ten Yell Day & V-J Day & World Coconut Day

Thursday, September 3- National Cinema Day & Pressed Pennies Day & Skyscraper Day

Night Sky, 9/3: Sunrise: 6:47 am Sunset: 7:55 pm 13 hours and 8 minutes of daylight. Moonset: 2:06 pm Moonrise: 11:19 pm

An EOU computer is one without AI. || Three conspiracy theorists walk into WorldCon at the same time. Don't tell me that's just a coincidence.

..........It's seventh from the sun.........Man-Or-Astro-Man …..Uranus

I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable. --Dolly Parton

2) About 200 people attended the first WorldCon which was named NyCon 1. The guest of honor was Frank R Paul. Also attending were John W Campbell, Isaac Asimov, L Sprague de Camp, Harry Harrison, Ray Bradbury, and others.

Dolly Parton Video of the Week: 9 to 5 (2:33) ~~Heads Up, campers, we're gonna need to double or triple our joy levels here to make up for the amount of joy that woman took with her. https://youtu.be/UbxUSsFXYo4

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Congratulations to our Orange Leader: Your approval numbers are now lower than your felon numbers. --Submitted by jl of ks

Moonbeam: People with advantages are loath to believe that they just happen to be people with advantages. --C Wright Mills

Fun Fact of the Week: The Walker Cup is a golf tournament held in odd numbered years since 1921. Participants are 2 teams, one from the US and one from Great Britain. In 2026 the tournament changed to being held in even numbered years. They did this by holding matches in both 2025 and 2026. Either they didn't say why they were changing it or I didn't read enough.

Kansas Fun Fact of the Week: Kansas had the first Imagination Library outside of Dolly Parton's native Tennessee.

Video of the Week: Rosie O'Donnell singing O Donny Boy while hosting the Jimmy Kimmel show (1:49) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1825139651802849

Cheerfulness prepares a glorious mind for all the noblest acts. --St Elizabeth Ann Seton

It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world. --Dolly Parton

I've loved and been loved. The rest is none of your business. --Tim Curry

To make their robots more human-like, Japan created AS – Artificial Stupidity. || Do beings on other planets watch Ancient Aliens and laugh?

..........'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.........Led Zeppelin …..Ramble On

3) The 2025 WorldCon 83 sold 5500 full convention tickets and about 2000 single day tickets.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Not even the footnotes know what Hegel is talking about. ----Submitted by Philosophy Matters

Weird Word of the Week: Ombrophile (n) – Someone who finds joy in rainy weather. https://www.dictai.org/w/ombrophile

Dragon of the Week: Elliot aka Pete's Dragon

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Neutralize skunk odor. Pour four two-liter bottles of Coke into a bucket, sponge yourself down in the shower and rinse clean. The acids in Coca-Cola kill skunk odor. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cocacola3.html

Clara the Clone was acting strange so the tech asked if she was beside herself. Now all the clones are acting strange. || I count Apollo 13 as my favorite science-fiction film because they sent those guys out there using slide rules. I find that hard to believe.

It costs a lot of money to look this cheap. --Dolly Parton

...........Have you looked at all of the galaxy of stars..........Jefferson Starship …..Have You Seen The Stars Tonight

4) Barbara Hambly, Ronald D Moore, Colleen Doran, Anita Sengupta, Tim Kirk, Geri Sullivan, and Stan Sakai are all guests of honor at LACon V.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: English is funny. We can say things like this and they're perfectly correct: The drinks we had had had had an effect... --Submitted by rl of ca

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: The 84^th World Science Fiction Convention: LAcon V (27-31. Anaheim, CA) Dare to Discover, Dare to Explore, Dare to be Uncharted! https://www.lacon.org/

A Look Back To Last Week: Bumper Sticker: No need to vaccinate all of your children, only the ones you want to keep.

Spark of Joy of the Week: If 5/4 is Star Wars day then 9/25 should be Dolly Parton Day. --Submitted by Catsonacouch

'Nother Spark of Joy of the Week: When Kurt Vonnegut told Joseph Heller that a hedge fund manager they knew made more money in a single day than Catch-22 had made over its history, Heller responded, “Yes, but I have something he will never have... enough”. --Submitted by Catsonacouch

Why is the Convention's Anime Suite always filled with 40 year old men? || How many Star Wars characters does it take to change a lightbulb. 12 Solo clones – many Hans make light work. || Are science fiction poems written in uni-verse?

..........Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.........Ella Fitzgerald …..Fly Me To The Moon

Love is something sent from heaven to worry the hell out of you. --Dolly Parton

5) WorldCon 85 aka Montréal WorldCon will be in Montréal, Québec. No dates have yet been released. LACon V votes on the con city for 2028. https://montreal2027.ca/

Protest Sign of the Week: Eggs Are Expensive Because All The Chickens Are In Congress

Quote of the Week: Time to ban viagra because if pregnancy is “god's will”, then so is your limp dick. --Bette Midler

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I was the first woman to burn my bra. It took the fire department 4 days to put it out. --Dolly Parton

Today's Peace of History: August 28 , 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of half a million people.

Harold went to WorldCon in his Mr Potatohead suit and called himself Darth Tater. || Two Doctor Who's just won't work. It would be a paradox. || It is estimated that at the convention this year there will be 1,547 people with a dog named Picard.

..........It had one long horn and one big eye.........Sheb Wooley …..Flyin' Purple People Eater

Smile – it increases your face value. --Dolly Parton

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, August 28, 2026: Conned ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Every revolution has its counterrevolution – that is a sign the revolution is for real. --C Wright Mills

Cost of War: Pentagon Spending 8/27/26: $923,572,255,537 ~~That's Nineteen billion, nine hundred and thirty-four million, three hundred and thirty-four thousand, eighty dollars this week.

Pentagon Spending 8/20/26: $903,637,921,457

Pentagon Spending 8/13/26: $883,965,942,581

Pentagon Spending 8/6/26: $864,530,913,011

Pentagon Spending 8/1/26: $847,776,457,111

Peace is not someone else's responsibility. --BHIKKHU PAÑÑĀKĀRA

Pentagon Spending in July 2026: $85,053,017,282

Pentagon Spending in June 2026: $82,621,957,422

Pentagon Spending in May 2026: $87,601,145,719

Pentagon Spending in April 2026: $81,264,897,194

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

Be attentive to the voice of grace. --St Elizabeth Ann Seton

Whenever you have the chance, go and find a horizon. It opens up the brain. --Tim Curry (1946-2026)

Find out who you are and do it on purpose. --Dolly Parton

Famous Last Words: Alas! --King and the chorus Richard Wagner: Lohengrin

..........Mars ain't no kind of place to raise your kids.........Elton John …..Rocket Man

Trekkies can't pick up dates at a Star Wars convention. It's just looking in Alderaan places. || Groan of the Day: A hologram walked into a prism. OOPS.

Threat of the Week: Sean Hannity warn the US could end up like Canada if the Democrats win the midterms. https://www.facebook.com/RiseUpAndResist

May The Peace strengthen you

And The Joy delight you

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Immuned ePistle

Famous First Words: Give us a peace equal to war... --Langston Hughes Give Us Our Peace Happy Poets Day!

Irony: Anti-vaxxer RFK Jr seems to have immunity from Trump's firings. / Inconvenient Fact: 99/99% of people that took the vaccine for the Spanish Flu (1918) have passed away.

..........I tore my mind on a jagged sky….......The First Edition with Kenny Rogers …..Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)

This is not your Average, Everyday darkness, this is ADVANCED DARKNESS. --Stephen Hillenburg as SpongeBob Squarepants

It is a beautiful Friday morning. Temperatures are rising slowly; right now it's 70°F. In spite of the recent heat the backyard is very green and lush with foliage. Trees, grass, flowers, and shrubs are all bright and clean and green. There is no breeze and the only movement is the neighbor's dog slowly sniffing his way around the fence. No birds or squirrels or rabbits are at the sunflower seed pile on the patio at the moment but seed casings suggest someone was there earlier. Such a peaceful scene and quiet. No bird song, no dog barks, no motors roaring off to engage the world beyond. Puck has been out and returned. He refused breakfast and now naps under my desk. I have made my coffee, read my comic strips, and checked my emails; all those little morning jobs are done. So now I sip my breakfast and prepare to write to you. Can't think of a better morning routine.

Hope your weekend is immuned from trouble, my lovely daffodils.**

**It seems to me late in the season for Daffodil Day; they're very springish to me.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life. --Fernando Pessoa

Invent a Word That English Needs So Badly of the Week: Dickmatized … the word is self explanatory. --dm

RFK Jr is proud of his lack of qualifications. His ringtone is a duck quacking. / Warning! The COVID Vaccine Side Effect: constantly telling people you have taken the vaccine.

..........You picked a fine time to leave me….......Kenny Rogers …..Lucille

Trivia Questions: Senior Citizens Day

1. If we define “senior citizen” as someone old enough to collect their Social Security, what age would that be?

2. What percentage of the US population is over 65 years old?

3. For comparison, what is the median age of the US population?

4. How many people in the US are over 100 years old, more or less?

5. What percentage of the US population over 65 is female?

Big Hello: Skiöe – Wymysorys (Poland) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you hold the sole of your foot up to your ear, you can hear the sound of your hip dislocating. --Steven Acree --Submitted by jm or ks

Image of the Week: The room that holds my office has large double closet doors that are mirrored. Rather than sit and stare at myself I have filled them with pictures and other things. Here is a detail from that.

I live with an anti-vaxxer. Yeah, my four-year-old. I thought she just hated needles, but then she drew a picture and said, 'This is just Bill Gates trying to inject his microchip into me, daddy.' I said, 'That’s it, no more YouTube and no more Joe Rogan for you. We’re taking a bath.'" / Idea: Release the vaccine in vape form. I Promise you no one will ask what's in it at that point.

..........I'm your knight in shining armor….......Kenny Rogers …..Lady

Moonbeam: My children are not royal; they just happen to have the Queen as their aunt. --Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden

Blasphemy of the Week: Has anyone ever thought of forming an organization that goes into Christian Nationalists' churches to convert them to Christianity? --Submitted by MPE

Coffee Joke of the Week: Coffee: It doesn't change my perspective of some people. It just makes me less likely to say it out loud to their face first thing in the morning.

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Pissed off women are a force of nature. --Submitted by bu of ks

An engineer and an anti-vaxxer walk through the woods and find a bridge over a crocodile-river. The anti-vaxxer asks, "What are the odds we make it across safely?" The engineer calculates and says, "There's a 99.97% chance we're fine." The anti-vaxxer says, "Forget that, I'm swimming!" / Unfortunately there is no vaccine for stupidity.

..........For God's sake, turn around….......The First Edition with Kenny Rogers …..Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town

1) At age 62 you can collect your Social Security with a monthly benefit drop of 30%. At 67 years old you can collect your full retirement amount. If you are 70 and benefit increases from your delay stop accruing.

Almanac: It is Friday, 8/21/26. The moon entered its first quarter on Wednesday (8/19) and is in Sagittarius. Today is Brazilian Blow-out Day, International Day of Remembrance and Tribute To The Victims of Terrorism, Internet Self-Care Day, National Spumoni Day, Poet's Day, Senior Citizen's Day, and World Daffodil Day. Because it is the third Friday it is also Men's Grooming Day and National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.

Among those born on this day were Augustin-Louis (1789), Aubrey Beardsley (1872), Bugs Moran (1891), Count Basie (1904), Friz Freleng (1906), Princess Margaret (1930), Melvin Van Peebles (1932), Wilt Chamberlain (1936), Kenny Rogers (1938), Clarence Williams III (1939), Jackie DeShannon (1944), Sharon Draper (1948), Kim Cattrall (1956), Stephen Hillenburg (1961), Usain Bolt (1986), and Kacey Musgraves (1988).

On August twenty-first Brahe took up astronomy (1560), Pueblos took Santa Fe from the Spanish (1831), Nat Turner revolted (1831), The venetian blind was patented (1858), The fourth Pan-African Congress met (NYC, 1927), The Dumbarton Oaks conference opened (1944), Hawaii became the 50th state (1959), and Gemini 5 was launched (1965).

Night Sky, 8/21: Venus shines brightly in the western sky after sunset. Saturn rises before midnight in the southern sky and Neptune rises late in the night sky.

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Spent a little time on the mountain

This Week: Saturday, August 22 – Be An Angel Day & National Tooth Fairy Day & World Plant Milk Day

Sunday, August 23 – Black Ribbon Day & To Topless Day & Find Your Inner Nerd Day

Night Sky, 8/23: Predawn Mars rises early in Gemini and Uranus can be seen near the Pleiades.

Monday, August 24 – Intentional Kindness Day & International Strange Music Day & Vesuvius Day

Tuesday, August 25 – Kiss and Make Up Day & National Park Service Day

Night Sky, 8/25: Sunrise: 6:39 am Sunset: 8:08 pm 13 hours and 29 minutes of daylight Moonset: 12:15 am Moonrise: 4:08 pm

Wednesday, August 26 – National Dog Day & Women's Equality Day & World Painted Dog Day

Thursday, August 27 – Just Because Day & National Cinema Day & World Rock Scissors Paper Day

Night Sky, 8/27: Partial Lunar Eclipse (96.2%) Visible North and South American Peaks 11:12 pm CDT.

A nurse, a doctor, and an anti-vaxxer walk into a bar. The nurse orders a Bloody Mary, the doctor orders a rum and coke, and the anti-vaxxer gets preventable polio. / I have a great vaccination joke; but you probably won't get it.

..........And why do we keep finding faults in everything we do….......Kenny Rogers …..Every Time Two Fools Collide

2) Older adults make up 18%-19% of the population; that's around 62 million people.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Men watch sports and think, “Man, I wish I could do that. Women watch murder mysteries for the same reason. --Submitted by Writers, Readers and General Tomfoolery

Moonbeam: Over time, you accumulate a lot of life material. --Melvin Van Peebles

Gentle Ramble of the Week: I came across a blurb about Stephen Gaskin so I've been thinking about him and Ina, and the farm, and hippiedom at its best. Gaskin loved like a firehose of soft warm fuzzies. Whole rooms felt that love. Sitting in his bus with his family was what you wanted smoking weed to be but it never quite made it. The memory has remained with me for several days. Love like a velvet chainsaw. Love like a nerf steam roller. So soft, so strong.

Video of the Week: 43 seconds of Usain Bolt running so fast so gracefully https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1042132188532846

Stupidity isn't a virus, but it sure is spreading like one. --Stephen Hillenburg as Sandy

For her birthday I got my anti-vaxxer cousin a t-shirt with the word LIFE inside a forbidden circle on the back. / I'm not sure that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine will work, but it's worth a shot.

….......I'm so glad I stayed right here with you….......Kenny Rogers …..Through The Years

3) The median age in the US reached 39.4 years. This is up from 30 years in 1980.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Archaeologists working at the city of Pompeii Italy uncovered the house Keith Richards grew up in. --Submitted by Writers, Readers and General Tomfoolery

Weird Word of the Week: Exulansis – the tendency to stop talking about an experience, emotion, or part of yourself because you realize others cannot fully understand it. https://www.thedictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/word/exulansis (Notice this address? The Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows)

Dragon of the Week: Famous Dragons: Smaug

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean grease from clothes. Pour a can of Coca-Cola in the washing machine with your regular detergent and launder as usual. The sugars and phosphoric acid in the Real Thing break down the grease stains. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cocacola3.html

No, there is no vaccine that protects you from anti-vaxxers. / I have absolute proof that vaccines aren't Bill Gates' method to control us. My partner had a flu shot yesterday and he still hates Microsoft teams,

….......Walk away from trouble if you can….......Kenny Rogers …..Coward Of The County

4) The US centenarian population (over 100 years)has reached nearly 89,000. A significant jump since the last census count.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Some people's two cents is why we got rid of pennies. –-avidreader8.sbsky

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Bubonicon 57 (21-23, Albuquerque, NM) Android and robots and droids, Oh AI https://www.bubonicon.com/

Spark of Joy the Week: Today I learned about a term called a "glimmer". Which is the opposite of a trigger. Glimmers are those moments in your day that make you feel joy, happiness, peace, or gratitude. Once you train your brain to be on the lookout for glimmers, these tiny moments will appear more and more. Glimmers --Submitted by Writers, Readers and General Tomfoolery ~~Ross Gay wrote a book about it called Book Of Delights. I have read it and it is, in fact, delightful. In one of delights he talks about pleasant exchanges with total strangers. ...exchanging jokes over the headline in the tabloid while in line at the grocery or a comment about the new window display as you wait at a stop light. He kept track of a daily delight for a year and published a bunch of them.

He's an anti-vaxxer, yet complains when he gets rabies. / Rushing vaccine safety tests is a very bad idea. Nobody likes premature inoculation.

….......Know when to walk away, know when to run….......Kenny Rogers …..The Gambler

5) There are about 81 older men for every 100 older women. It is up from 71 men/100 women in 2001.

Protest Sign of the Week: America Should Not Have To Protect Democracy From The President. --Lawrence, KS

Better Protest Sign of the Week: We Are All On The Decoy Plane --Submitted by jm of ks

Quote of the Week: The Future is certain. It is the past that is unpredictable. --Pieter-Dirk Uys

Final Funniest Things I Read of the Week: The wind blows freely through empty minds. --Ken Voska / When life hands you lemons, learn to juggle. --Eaton Kittrell

Today's Peace of History: August 21, 1998: Samuel Bowers, the 73-year-old former Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was convicted in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, of ordering a firebombing that killed civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer 32 years before. Bowers had also been instrumental in the killing of three other civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi for which he was never charged.

You're an anti-vaxxer? Isn't that the same as an anti-facts-er? / Did you hear the joke about mosquitos? It's ma'larious.

........How can we be wrong….......Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton …..Islands In The Stream

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, August 21, 2026: Immuned ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It's the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps. --Sharon Draper

Cost of War: Pentagon Spending 8/20/26: $903,637,921,457 That's nineteen billion, six hundred and seventy-one million, nine hundred, seventy-eight thousand, eight hundred and seventy-six dollars this week.

Pentagon Spending 8/13/26: $883,965,942,581

Pentagon Spending 8/6/26: $864,530,913,011

Pentagon Spending 8/1/26: $847,776,457,111

You are not an observer, you are a participant. --Thich Nhat Hanh Being Peace

Pentagon Spending in July 2026: $85,053,017,282

Pentagon Spending in June 2026: $82,621,957,422

Pentagon Spending in May 2026: $87,601,145,719

Pentagon Spending in April 2026: $81,264,897,194

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

Measles in the US: August: 2566 confirmed cases (335 new cases)

July: 2231 confirmed cases (158 new cases)

June: 2073 confirmed cases (231 new cases)

May: 1,842 confirmed cases (94 new cases)

April: 1,748 confirmed cases. (386 new cases)

March: 1,362 confirmed cases.

In the entire year 2010 there were only 63 confirmed cases. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

No one can change a person, but someone can be the reason for that person to change. --Stephend Hillenburg as Spongebob

Famous Last Words: With all thy Greatness, and thy Coldness too. Hymn to the Moon by Mary Wortley Montague who died on August 21^st 1762

..........For all the joy we share….......Kenny Rogers …..Goodbye

Two things that never grow old: Jokes about anti-vaxxers and their children. / Getting a pertussis shot sets your immune system to whoop ass.

May Peace heal your heart

And Joy cure you soul

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh: