pOor little rich ePistle

 Famous First Words: These cases come to us from the states of Kansas... Brown v Board of Education decision

Tired of billionaires ruining your life, at least we can laugh at them. A 90 year old billionaire was dragged into the abyss by a long tentacle of an old Lovecraftian god. It was an elder rich horror. And what they actually contribute to society. We were so poor we couldn't even pay attention.

..........Home of the brave, land of the free.........Taj Mahal …..Bourgeois Blues

How many people in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, and countless other countries must die for the global powers to maintain this world order? --WILPF

It is a gorgeous Friday morning. 58°F is a near perfect temperature and there is no breeze to cool the air or make the willow wave. A clear blue sky without clouds is the background for the sun rising over the roof. It picks out the nearly ripe mulberries, red - not yet purple, clinging to the branches waiting for the birds to discover them. Bird chatter can be heard but the birds are unseen. Branches of far mulberry are bobbing and waving as wildlife enjoys a special breakfast. Engine buzzing sounds drown out the bird song but then travels on and leaves only the bird chorus once more gracing the day. It is like I have my own personal, organic music box in the backyard. Delicious! I light an incense cone and watch as the smoke slithers down the waterfall/smokefall and fills the room with pine scent. O, what a morning, and now I get to write to you. I certainly have a great life.

May your weekend be rich in coin and company, ePistliers.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: People often mistake me for an adult because of my age. --Submitted by INRITH

Do sick billionaires say “I feel like a million bucks?” We were so poor we couldn't even fly off the handle; we had to take a greyhound.

..........Paint my mailbox blue.........Taj Mahal …..Going Up to the Country

Trivia Questions: It is Endangered Species Day!

• ^ Who maintains the Endangered Species List?
• ^^ What kinds of species are included in the list?
• ^^^ How many species have completely disappeared since the ESL was first created?
• ^^^^ How many new species were added to the list last year?
• ^^^^^ How many species have recovered and been delisted?

Big Hello: Manahύύ – Mono (Uto-Aztecab – California) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I know five weird people and you are 4 of them. --Submitted by RHOZ

Image of the Week: Northern Lights in Kansas (5/10/24)

Ghost Conspiracy theory of the Week: Kansas (and other relatively southern states) skies have gone gay. It's because of woke.

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 25% of librarians will let you know about the typo in your post. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Billionaire space tourists are like buses...you wait ages for one to arrive and then two come along at the same time. We were so poor that my mom would make us Hamburger Helper without the hamburger.

..........Ain't been no lovin' since you been gone.........Taj Mahal …..Corrina

Moonbeam: Art has the power to reveal secrets and unlock truths hidden within our souls. --Botticelli

Blasphemy of the Week: Conservatives say subversive literature can make you liberal. For me, it was the New Testament. --Submitted by MMS

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Jim Bricker, of Wayland, MA. Think of three common six-letter words that have vowels in the second and fifth positions. The last five letters of the words are the same. Only the first letters differ and none of the words rhyme with either of the others. What words are they? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 5/12/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: A positive attitude may not solve all of your problems but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

I wish I was a billionaire just like my dad. No, he's not a billionaire, he just wishes he was one too. We were so poor, mom used to serve big bowls of steam soup.

..........one with the big wide screen.........Taj Mahal …..TV Mama

^ The Fish and Wildlife Service has maintained a worldwide list of endangered species since 1967. The FWS is a US federal agency that manages national wildlife refuges, maintains the list, and other wildlife tasks. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (fws.gov)

Almanac: It is Friday, May 17, 2024. The moon moved into the first quarter last Wednesday (5/15) and is in Virgo. It is World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (ITU), Endangered Species Day, International Virtual Assistants Day, NASCAR Day, National Bike to Work Day, National Defense Transportation Day, National Pizza Party Day, Pack Rat Day, Syttende Mai, World Hypertension Day, World Information Science Day, World Telecommunications Day, and World Neurofibromatosis Day (NF Day).

Among those born on this day were Botticelli (1444), John Penn (1741), Maureen O'Sullivan (1911), Archibald Cox (1912), Dennis Hopper (1936), Taj Mahal (1942), Sugar Ray Leonard (1956), and Bob Saget (1956).

On May seventeenth Halley's comet was recorded for the seventh time (218), the first merry-go-round was ridden (Turkey, 1620), Joliet & Marquette began their trip up the Mississippi (1673), the rubber band was patented (1845), the saxophone was patented (1846), the first Kentucky Derby was run (1875), Buffalo Bill Cody produced his first Wild West Show (1883), Alaska became a US territory (1884), the first weekly comic paper was published (London, 1890), Brown v Topeka Board of Education reversed the 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy v Ferguson decision. (1954), and Israel and Lebanon signed a peace treaty (1983).

Night Sky, 5/17: Tonight the dark limb of the waxing gibbous Moon occults Beta Virginis, magnitude 3.6, for telescope users across most of North America. The occultation happens after midnight in the Eastern and Central time zones, and late evening farther west. If you're near the West Coast the Moon will miss the star. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: The mom, the boys, and the mermaid

This Week: Saturday, May 18 – Buy A Musical Instrument Day & International Museum Day & Morel Mushrooms Day & Do Dah Day

Sunday, May 19 – May Ray Day & National Scooter Day & Pentecost

Night Sky, 5/19: The waxing gibbous Moon shines brightly in the south after dark. But not so brightly as to hide Corvus, the Crow, a little more than a fist directly under it. Cover the Moon with your hand to make Corvus easier to see. Its four main stars are all between magnitude 2.6 and 3.0. They're within 8° of each other, smaller than your fist at arm's length.

Monday, May 20 – National Rescue Dog Day & Victoria Day & Weights and Measures Day & World Bee Day

Tuesday, May 21 – American Red Cross Founder's Day & International Tea Day & National Waitstaff Day & World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

Wednesday, May 22 – International Being You Day & National Maritime Day & Sherlock Holmes Day & World Goth Day

Night Sky, 5/22: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are veiled by the sun's glare.

Thursday, May 23 – Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Day & National Taffy Day & World Turtle Day

The USA elected a billionaire that is appointing other billionaires to fix the system that made them billionaires. I laughed so hard thinking about this that milk came out of my nose. We were so poor we used to paint our feet to look like shoes.

..........Baby, do you want to go.........Taj Mahal …..Statesboro Blues

^^ Species included on the list are birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. Endangered Species | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (fws.gov)

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Saw a pack of gummy worms that read “No artificial flavor”. Who buys gummy worms hoping they'd taste as close to real worms as possible. --Matt Jenkins --Submitted by INRITH

Moonbeam: I confess that I cannot understand how we can plot, lie, cheat, and commit murder abroad and remain humane, honorable, trustworthy and trusted at home. --Archibald Cox

Video of the Week: Queen Bey: KC's Ambassador of Jazz and Blues. She will be missed.

Peace is prudent; peace is creativity in finding solutions. --WILPF

Billionaires are so eager to get to space because guillotines require gravity to operate. We were so poor we spelled poor with 5 o's.

..........My rig's a little old but that don't mean she's slow.........Taj Mahal ….Six Days On the Road

^^^ The extinct species include eight of Hawaiʻi's precious honeycreeper birds, the bridled white-eye and little Mariana fruit bat of Guam, a Texas fish, nine southeastern mussels, and the Bachman's warbler. They join the list of 650 U.S. species that have likely been lost to extinction.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: McDonald's now offers 36-month, 0% interest financing on all value meals. --Submitted by INRITH

Weird Word of the Week: Galanthophle: a collector or lover of snowdrops (the flower). Galanthophile (worldwidewords.org)

Dragon of the Week: Dragon Hookah

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Remove food stains from clothes. Immediately blot up the spills on any washable fabric, sponge with Canada Dry Club Soda, then wash the item in the washer through a regular cycle. Canada Dry® Club Soda: Wacky Uses

So I asked 7 billionaires, “What's the secret to your success?” and they all said the same thing. “How did you get past security?” We were so poor that to get a family photo we loaded in the truck and ran a red light. Sure enough, a week later it came in the mail.

...........And my baby's goin' fishin' too.........Taj Mahal …..Fishin' Blues

^^^^ Ib 2023, 26 new species were added to the list. Listed Species Count by Year (fws.gov)

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My friend Megan says she really believes in me; but then, she also believes in bigfoot and the tooth fairy.l

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Metrotham 2024 (17-19, Chattanooga, TN) The Magical World … the site has a very nice video of Disney princesses … ? … HOME (metrothamcon.com)

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Geological Society of America 2024 Northeastern Section Meeting (17-19, Manchester, NH) ...a broad scope of geologic topics... Home - Northeastern Section Meeting - 2024 (geosociety.org)

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Mallet (or pallet), wallet, and ballet.

A stretched billionaire is sometimes called “elongated”. We were so poor one year for my birthday I got two batteries and a note saying “Toys Not Included”.

..........O, she rock me to my soul.........Taj Mahal …..Queen Bee

^^^^^ According to the USFWS, “The ESA has been highly effective and credited with saving 99% of listed species from extinction and to date, more than 100 species of plants and animals have been delisted based on recovery or reclassified from endangered to threatened based on improved conservation.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: The United Nation is sending a fleet of black helicopters to bring the US under UN control. --Promoted by the John Birch Society in the 1960s.

Quote of the Week: I curled my aching fingers around fistfulls of maybe and called it hope. --Mira Hadlow

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's not rocket surgery. --Brian Bilston --Submitted by jm of ks

Today's Peace of History, May 17, 1919: The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was formally established in Zurich, Switzerland.

A lot of billionaires are really just rounded up millionaires. We call them the haves and the have yachts. We were so poor that at Christmas we decorated a stump.

..........I will mend your heart again.........Taj Mahal …..Giant Step

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, May 17, 2024, pOor lIttle rIch ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Before I fight, I always pray that no one gets hurt. --Sugar Ray Leonard

Cost of War:

• As of 05/16/24 State Department Costs: $236,164,891,934.
• As of 05/09/24 State Department Costs: $235, 598,449,740.
• As of 05/16/24 Homeland Security: $1,168,230,906,486.
• As of 05/09/24 Homeland Security: $1,167,615,588,912.
• As of 05/16/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,218,736,965,981.
• As of 05/09/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,217,154,451,149.
• As of 05/16/24 Military Costs: $3,085,022,572,885.
• As of 05/09/24 Military Costs: $3,083,821,040,473.
• As of 05/16/24 Veterans Care: $3,663,600,043,634.
• As of 05/09/24 Veterans Care: $3,651,604,145,559.
• As of 05/16/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,371,756,926,330.
• As of 05/09/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,355,794,892,293.

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

Peace is about building trust and restoring the sense of solidarity amongst us. --WILPF

Famous Last Words: Good night. --Bob Saget America's Funniest Home Videos

..........and I love to sing the blues.........Taj Mahal …..Leavin' Trunk

Buffett's mistress titled her autobiography “Warren's Piece” We were so poor that our aunt was Ayn Rand.

May Peace enrich your hopes
And Joy diminish your fears
prairie mama
christine

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