iDea_l ePistle

 

Famous First Words: We, the people of the eastern division... Constitution of the State of Ohio, 1802

March is International Ideas Month. Authorities seem to agree that the first big technology idea was the wheel. Have you read about the invention of the wheel? It was revolutionary. Actually the woman who invented the wheel was fired from her job for cutting corners.

..........I love you in buckskin and shirts that I've homespun.........Dinah Shore …..Buttons and Bows

Dare to imagine what peace will look like.

It is a windy Friday morning. The empty willow branches are nearly horizontal waving and dancing in a stiff southern breeze. Above it the sky is slate gray with only a few patches of darker or lighter gray and no spots where the sun is trying to get in. Birds are silent but a dog barks from a distance and is answered from still further away. 41°F is not cold but does combine with the wind to send a chill up a coat sleeve or under a hat. Me? I sit at my desk, warm and cozy, watching the day wake up while sipping decaf, creamed and sweetened, and nibbling a chocolate donut. As the mulberry tree takes up the dance of the wind, I light a cone of sandalwood. Now comes the best part, I begin to write to you.

May your weekend be filled with great ideas, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If wisdom comes with age are my wrinkles really wise-cracks? --Submitted by INRITH

Gutenberg's Printing Press is touted as the next biggest idea. Gutenberg once got his hair caught in the printing press. You may have heard about it. It was all over the papers. After that he stopped saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

..........I really wanna know.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Who Are You?

Trivia Questions: Happy 64^th Birthday to the Peace Corps

• ^ Who first proposed the idea?
• ^^ People marvel at how short a time it took to organize the Peace Corps. How long was it?
• ^^^ What former government employees are banned from serving in the Peace Corps?
• ^^^^ In 2005 an exception was made to the “overseas only” rule for volunteers. What caused that exception?
• ^^^^^ What are the age limits for serving in the Peace Corps?

Big Hello: Assalaamu Alaikum – Maldivian https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I will never understand some people's fascination with their ancestry. Isn't knowing your current family bad enough. --Submitted by INRITH

Image of the Week: This is my dog Puck. He is either consulting the gypsy greyhound about the March Madness Brackets or he's hiding from the vacuum.

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: Only 8% of librarians really mean it when they respond “Wow!” to a patron's story. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=tsT

The invention of the compass allowed for long sea voyages and better maps. Last week I got lost in the woods and kept going around in circles. Yes, I had a compass; it turned out to be the wrong kind. I do have a compass that helps me find mushrooms. It's my Morel Compass.

..........'Cause she's playin' all night and the music's alright.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Squeeze Box

Moonbeam: and I am awaiting retribution for what America did to Tom Sawyer --Lawrence Ferlinghetti I Am Waiting

Question of the Week: How do I get my own dragon? ~~This is a fairly frequently asked question on the website For Love Of Dragons: For the LOVE of Dragons | Facebook

Puzzle of the Week: Came to us from listener Andrew Chaikin of San Francisco, also known as the singer Kid Beyond. Think of a famous character in American literature. Change each letter in that character's name to its position in the alphabet — A=1, B=2, etc. — to get a famous year in American history. Who is this person and what is the year? NPR Sunday Puzzle 2/25/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The 1300 folks who own 94% of Earth's wealth, should pay 94% of Earth's bills. --Timothy Michael Florez --Submitted by MMS

The light bulb was an enlightening invention giving us nightlife and light bulb jokes. Apparently, Edison made 1000 attempts at the light bulb before he got it right. Those must have been some dark times. But then, both Edison and Musk got rich off Tesla.

..........I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Magic Bus

^ Wisconsin Representative Henry Reuss pushed for the creation of a “Point Four Youth Corps” in the late 1950s. In June 1960, meanwhile, Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey coined the name “Peace Corps” when he introduced a bill advocating for a program to send “young men to assist the peoples of the underdeveloped areas of the world to combat poverty, disease, illiteracy and hunger.” Neither of the earlier proposals gained traction, but they played a key role in inspiring Kennedy and his staff to begin researching the idea during the 1960 presidential campaign.

Almanac: It is Friday, March 1, 2024. The moon is in Scorpio and will be at the last quarter on Sunday (3/3). It is Baby Sleep Day, Black Women's Day, Endometriosis Day aka Wear Yellow Day, Horse Protection Day, National Horse Protection Day, National Peanut Lovers Day, National Speech & Debate Education Day, National Sunkist Citrus Day, Shabbat Across America, Peace Corps Birthday, Pig Day, Plan a Solo Vacation Day, Self-injury Awareness Day, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Day, World Compliment Day, World Seagrass Day, and Zero Discrimination Day. Because it is the first Friday in March it is also Dress in Blue Day, Employee Appreciation Day, National Salesperson Day, and National Speech and Debate Education Day. Finally because it is the nearest school day to Dr Seuss's birthday (3/3) it is the NEA's Read Across America Day.
Among those born on this day were William Dean Howells (1837), Glenn Miller (1904), David Niven (1909), Ralph Ellison (1914), Dinah Shore (1917), Robert Lowell (1917), Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919), Harry Caray (1920), Yitzak Rabin (1922), Judith Rossner (1935), Roger Daltrey (1944), Alan Thicke (1947), and Ron Howard (1953).

On March first the revised Julian calendar came into use in Rome (1 BCE), Pennsylvania outlawed slavery for newborns (1780), the US Articles of Confederation were adopted (1781), the first US census was authorized (1790), Ohio became the 17th state (1803), the US annexed the Republic of Texas (1845), (most of) Nebraska became the 37th state (1867), the Library of Hawaii was established (1879), the first federal land bank was chartered (1917), Rwanda was ceded to England (1921), Captain America first appeared in the comic books (1941), the first permanent auto license plates were issued (CT, 1937), the International Monetary Fund began operating (1947), the Peace Corps was established (1961), K-Mart opened (1962), Uganda became self-governing (1962), NBC announced the return of Star Trek (1968), Johnny Cash married June Carter (1968), Pirate Radio began operations (1969), the Watergate grand jury indicted 7 Nixon aides (1974), and Russian Venera landed on Venus (1982),

Night Sky, 3/1: Sirius blazes high in the south on the meridian by about 8 pm now. Using binoculars or a scope at low power, examine the spot 4° south of it (directly below it when on the meridian). Four degrees is somewhat less than the width of a typical binocular's or finderscope's field of view. Can you see a little patch of speckly gray haze? That's the open star cluster M41, about 2,300 light-years away. Its total magnitude adds up to 5.0. Sirius, by comparison, is only 8.6 light-years away — and being so near, it shines some 400 times brighter than the entire cluster. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Shelter from UAS – Unknown Airborne Stuff ~~I am not sure what they are sheltering under...I'm not even sure if it's Ollie under all that yellow.

This Week: Saturday, March 2 – National Play Outside Day & Sock Monkey Day & World Teen Mental Illness Day

Sunday, March 3 – Princess Day & Simplify Your Life Day & World Wildlife Day

Night Sky, 3/3: Look east after dusk this week for the constellation Leo already climbing well up the sky. Its brightest star is Regulus. The Sickle of Leo (about a fist and a half tall) extends upper left from there.

Monday, March 4 – Brain Injury Awareness Day & National Grammar Day & World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development

Tuesday, March 5 – Peace Corps Day & Unique Names Day

Wednesday, March 6 – Day of the Dude & National Dentist's Day & Oreo Cookie Day

Night Sky, 3/6: Mercury and Saturn are both out of sight in conjunction with the sun.

Thursday, March 7 – National Be Heard Day & National Flapjacks Day

The nail is a very useful invention. Nails only seem to drink a lot because they get hammered their whole. Every nail I've ever known has had attachment issues.

..........They tried and tried and tried.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Happy Jack

^^ By the time he was inaugurated Kennedy’s Peace Corps had become one of the most talked-about aspects of his platform. University students circulated petitions and pledges to serve, and more than 25,000 letters arrived from prospective volunteers. Faced with such an overwhelming response, Kennedy placed his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, in charge of a special task force to create the new organization. Shriver and a brain trust of academics issued a report on the program in just a few weeks, and Kennedy officially established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961. Work continued at a frantic pace over the next few months as Shriver—the organization’s first director—interviewed applicants and enlisted the participation of foreign governments. By August 30, a little more than seven months after Kennedy’s inauguration, the first contingent of 51 Peace Corps volunteers had already arrived in Accra, Ghana, to serve as teachers.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: Meatless foods can alter human DNA. This would cause human beings to no longer be classified as humans. Which would make it impossible for them to be saved by Christ. --Rick Wiles, Christian tv host: Vegetarian hamburgers are a “Lucifarian” plot to change human DNA

Pre-Obligatory Alabama Embryo Joke of the Week: According to experts life begins the minute one leaves Alabama. --Submitted by 98%

Moonbeam: Inequality is as dear to the American heart as liberty itself. --William Dean Howells

Obligatory Alabama Embryo Joke of the Week: Just to clarify what's happening here, tens of thousands of women have children by using IVF every year, and since it's not possible to do that without creating some excess embryos, the state of Alabama has now ruled that starting a family is basically murder. You know, pro-life. Last time I checked, you're not allowed to store kids in the freezer. --Desi Lydic The Daily Show

Video of the Week: Lawrence Frelinghetti reading I Am Waiting (3:59) Bing Videos

Imagine Peace - Again

The battery has been a great idea. Scientists have created the world’s smallest battery, which is the size of a grain of dust but capable of powering a computer. Its design is based on a swiss roll, meaning the creators hope it'll become more popular once they work out how to make a chocolate version. Remember, dead batteries are always free of charge.

..........I hope I die before I get old.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..My Generation

^^^ Since it was founded during the height of the Cold War, the Peace Corps was often subject to speculation that it was a front organization for the Central Intelligence Agency. The Kennedy administration ordered the CIA not to meddle in the Peace Corps’ affairs, but many host countries still believed rumors and Soviet propaganda that the program’s volunteers were undercover spies. In the interest of avoiding any connection to the espionage community, the Peace Corps has always maintained a blanket ban on former CIA employees becoming volunteers. Former members of other intelligence outfits are allowed to serve in some cases, but only after a 10-year waiting period.

Follow Up Alabama Embryo Joke of the Week: Alabama sucks so hard they literally have to force people to be born there. --Submitted by SDS

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Calling bigotry and “opinion” is like calling arsenic a “flavor”. --Deep Space Nine

Weird Word of the Week: Marthambles – a diseases (marthambles at sea, gripping of the guts by land) World Wide Words: Marthambles

Dragon of the Week: Ice Dragon

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Eliminate skunk odor from a dog or cat. Mix 3 cans (12 oz) Budweiser beer and two tablespoons of McCormick Vanilla Extract, saturate your pet's fur with the solution, rub it in well, and let it sit for five minutes, making sure the animal does not lick off any of the alcoholic beverages. Rinse clean with warm water, Budweiser®: Wacky Uses ~~FYI I skipped 3 uses of beer. 1) Set your hair with it ..because it didn't actually say what the beer did for the do 2) fertilize a lawn ...because it also used Epsom salts, ammonia, soap, and mouthwash. and 3) kill fruit flies ...because you trapped them with beer and then poured boiling water on them. But they are available if you want to look them up.

The plow was a groundbreaking idea. The city snow plows have been plowing around the clock when they should have been plowing around the streets. First time I plowed my garden, I noticed something shiny in one of the hunks of dirt. Upon rubbing it, I found the whole hunk of dirt was shiny on the inside! I repeated this on other hunks of dirt and each one was shiny on the inside! That made me realize... Every clod has a silver lining.

...........That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Pinball Wizard

^^^^ The Peace Corps is designed to work in the developing world, but a lone exception to its overseas mandate came in 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast. In the wake of the storms, the Peace Corps dispatched nearly 300 veteran volunteers to Louisiana to distribute food, search for survivors and clear debris. The relief efforts marked the first time in Peace Corps history that the organization carried out operations on home soil. Information on fallen Peace Corps volunteers and staff can be found at fpcv.org

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Ever wonder what your cat named you? --Submitted by mja of ks

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Ret-Con 2024 (1-3, Raleigh-Durham, NC) quest: Nicole Givens Kurtz - genre polymath Home | Ret-Con

Actual Science Conference of the Week: SIAM Conference on Uncertainty Quantification (2/27-3/1m Trieste, Italy) SIAM Conference on Uncertainty Quantification (UQ24)

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Ahab → 1812

The flush toilet has made life much pleasanter. The reason your water bill is so high is that your teenager is flushing blunts down the toilet. I dropped my GPS system down the toilet; now I'll never lose my shit again.

..........We'll be fighting in the streets with our children at our feet.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Won't Get Fooled Again

^^^^^ You must be 18 years old to volunteer for the Peace Corps. The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 28, but the organization has no rule preventing the middle-aged or the elderly from serving. President Jimmy Carter’s mother Lillian famously joined the Peace Corps at age 68, and roughly 7 percent of all current volunteers are over age 50. As of 2016, the Peace Corps’ oldest active member was Alice Carter, an 87-year-old Boston grandmother serving in Morocco.

Blasphemy of the Week: If I go to heaven, I'm not gonna wear a white robe and sing mediocre Christian songs. If those people are there, I'm gonna need a drink. --John Prine (1946-2020)

Quote of the Week: The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible. --David Ogilvy

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Ecology without Class Struggle is Gardening. --Chico Mendes

Today's Peace of History, March 1, 1943: A huge rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden called on the US government to reconsider its refusal to offer sanctuary to Jewish refugees of Nazi Germany.

The airplane was a world changing idea. It only took us only 66 years to get from Kitty Hawk to the moon and only 58 years to get from the moon to exploding airplane doors. An optimist invented the airplane and a pessimist invented the parachute.

..........The way the beach is kissed by the sea.........The Who with Roger Daltry …..Love Reign O'er Me

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, March 1, 2024, iDea_l ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Education is all a matter of building bridges. --Ralph Ellison

Cost of War:

• As of 02/29/24 State Department Costs: $230,050,060,212.
• As of 02/22/24 State Department Costs: $229,481,778,768.
• As of 02/29/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,201,659,835,080.
• As of 02/22/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,200,070,188,248.
• As of 02/29/24 Homeland Security: $1,161,590,031,815.
• As of 02/22/24 Homeland Security: $1,160,971,771,481.
• As of 02/29/24 Veterans Care: $3,534,154,563,786.
• As of 02/22/24 Veterans Care: $3,522,098,373,137.
• As of 02/29/24 Military Costs: $3,034,159,269,129.
• As of 02/22/24 Military Costs: $3,072,057,371,827.
• As of 02/29/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,199,519,432,672.
• As of 02/22/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,183,475,099,801.

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

Imagine Peace Always.

Famous Last Words: ...the third year of the Independence of America. --Articles of Confederation 1777

..........See the USA in your Chevrolet.........Dinah Shore …..Commercial from her tv show.

Nuclear energy and weapons are one of the last earth shaking ideas. The Pentagon has just changed the nuclear codes to more than 140 characters. So Trump can't tweet it. Two aliens were flying near earth. Zoka said, “The dominant life form here has developed satellite based nuclear weapons; so they must be an emerging intelligence.” Zoko answered, “I don't think so, they have it aimed at themselves”.

May Peace brighten your mind
And Joy lighten your heart
prairie mama
christine

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