dIverse ePistle

 Famous First Words: It was spring without voices. --Silent Spring by Rachel Carson Published 9/27/1962

September 27 has at least 16 commemorations assigned to it. Let's begin with International Forgiveness Day! Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee and I'll forgive Thy great big joke on me. --Robert Frost Sometimes the first step to forgiveness is understanding the other person is a complete idiot. I'm praying for forgiveness. Kansas summers have taught me I do not want to go to hell.

..........I think that any love is good lovin'..........Guess Who with Randy Bachman …..You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

The real weapons of mass destruction are the hardened hearts of humanity. --Leonard Cohen

It is a delightful Friday... is it still morning?...with 73°F temperature and the sunshine enlightening a beautiful pale blue sky. Next week, I am going to go stay with Jo. She is having a hip replacement in December but needs help now because one can't bend, walk straight, lift things, etc. So I was at her house this morning while we made some decisions. I'll be moving on the first of October. Also on the first, Jeff is moving to his new apartment 3250 Michigan St, Apt 9-306, 66046. Big changes. Puck is going with me and will make two new friends, Mary and Martha, Jo's Shih Tzus. (I am taking my computer so the ePistle will continue.) Jeff is a little anxious about living on his own but he's also looking forward to it. Puck doesn't know yet so he's fine (sleeping on the recliner). Also, there is a new roof on our house – it looks great and the roofers have just finished cleaning up so they'll be gone soon. And this sums up my week pretty well.

Hope your weekend celebrates everything, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Crush A Can Day! I used to work for a recycling plant. My job was crushing cans. It was soda pressing.

Save The Koalas Day! Koalas: The epitome of cuteness and the koalaty of cuddliness. I am a koala in the bedroom; I sleep 22 hours a day. Koala bears aren't bears; they are children in bear pajamas.

..........Sparkle someone else's eyes.........Guess Who with Randy Bachman …..American Woman

Trivia Questions: Family Health and Fitness Day!

• ^ How many calories are burned by muscle compared to fat?
• ^^ What is the average number of steps taken per person per day?
• ^^^ What is the recommended time for children to spend exercising daily?
• ^^^^ What is the most common blood type?
• ^^^^^ How many times does the human heart beat in a day?

Big Hello: Wes hāl – Old(e) English https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: National Scarf Day! When its human converted to Existentialism, the scarf had to learn to wrap itself around a bunch of new ideas.

Image of the Week: Puck explaining to mom why he had to pee on the floor. (It was raining outside and I was afraid my pee would cause a flood.)

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: You aren't a real librarian until you've been shushed by a patron. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

National Bakery Day! John Lennon worked in a bakery while he was in high school. That's what inspired “Loaf is all you knead”. You can recognize alt bakers' they always go against the grain. The latest television hit is a series about dead bakers. It's called The Walking Bread.

..........I love to work at nothing all day.........Bachman Turner Overdrive …..Taking Care Of Business

Moonbeam: How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words. --Samuel Adams

Blasphemy of the Week: Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than of neighbors to be loved. ---Mark Chape

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Rawson Scheinberg, of Northville, Mich. Name a US state capital. Then name a world capital. Say these names one after the other and phonetically you'll get an expensive dinner entree. What is it? NPR Sunday Puzzle 9/22/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If people make you sick, maybe you should cook them longer. --Submitted by sb of ar

Ancestor Appreciation Day! If you know the words Birth, Marriage, and Death in several different languages, you are probably a genealogist. Those little leaves on your Ancestry.com tree are cruel minions sent to make sure you stay up four hours longer working on genealogy. I'd rather look for dead men on Ancestry.com than living ones on Match.com.

..........You can see the morning but I can see the light.........Bachman Turner Overdrive …..Let It Ride

^ A pound of muscle burns three times more calories than a pound of fat.

Almanac: It is Friday, September 27, 2024. The moon went into the last quarter last Tuesday (9/24) and is in Leo. It is Ancestor Appreciation Day, World Tourism Day, Crush a Can Day, Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National Bakery Day, National Brave Day, National Day of Forgiveness, National Doodle Day, Fall Astronomy Day, National Scarf Day, National Walk to Work Day, Native American Day, and Save the Koalas. Because it is the fourth Friday, it is American Indian Day. Finally because it's the last Friday in September it is Vegan Baking Day, and Support Purple for Platelets Day.

Among those born on this day were Samuel Adams (1722), Thomas Nast (1840), George Raft (1895), Sam Ervin (1896), Louis Auchincloss (1917), William Conrad (1920), Jayne Meadows (1926), Randy Bachman (The Guess Who, 1943), Meatloaf (1947) and Shaun Cassidy (1958).

On September twenty-eighth the Jesuit order was founded (1540), John Adams was appointed to negotiate peace terms with Britain (1779), the Democratic National Convention voted to admit women (1919), the US officially recognized the Nationalist government of "China" (1928), the QEI was launched (1938), the Tonight Show with Steve Allen premiered (1954), and Sierra Leone became the 100th nation to join the UN (1961).

Night Sky, 9/27: This is the time of year when the rich Cygnus Milky Way crosses the zenith about an hour after full dark (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes). The Milky Way extends straight up from the south-southwest horizon, passes overhead, and runs straight down to the north-northeast. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Two boys and two rabbits and two legs and a lot of straw

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Extra Funniest Thing of the Week: Tonight Show Survey: Question: Are you planning to… Response: 100% - vote early. Yes~

This Week: Saturday, September 28 – International Lace Day & National Good Neighbor Day & World Rabies Day

Sunday, September 29 – Gold Star Mothers Day & National Coffee Day & Michaelmas

Night Sky, 9/29: Face south and look high these evenings after dark. The brightest star there is Altair, the southernmost point of the Summer Triangle. The other two are Deneb and Vega more nearly overhead. A marker for Altair is always its little neighbor Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae), currently a finger-width at arm's length to Altair's upper right.

Monday, September 30 – Ask A Stupid Question Day & Orange Shirt Day & Recovery Day

Tuesday, October 1 – International Music Day & National Lace Day & National Walk Your Dog Day

Wednesday, October 2 – Guardian Angels Day & Name Your Car Day & World Farm Animals Day

Night Sky, 10/2: Annular Solar Eclipse: Visible in the Pacific and in South America/ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2024-october-2

Thursday, October 3 – Bring Your Bible To School Day & Techies Day

Vegan Bakery Day! Most ghosts are vegan because it's super natural. My girlfriend really changed after she became a vegan. It's like I've never seen herbivore. Almond milk is called “milk” because not one can call it “nut juice” with a straight face.

..........Really love that rock and roll.........Meatloaf …..Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul

^^ The average person walks about 7,500 steps per day.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: WWI: When a Serb kills an Austrian in Bosnia so you, an Englishman, must fight the Germans in France.

Moonbeam: The president seems to extend executive privilege way out past the atmosphere. What he says in executive privilege is nothing but executive poppycock. --Sam Erwin

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: First she gets the vote, then she gets your wife. The belief that voting will turn women into lesbians: https://medium.com/history-of-women/a-review-of-some-anti-suffragette-postcards-from-the-early-1900s-f4f7adb6b84

Video of the Week: Jack Kerouac with Steve Allen on the Tonight Show 1959 (5:21)

If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiringf men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin. --Samuel Adams

World Tourism Day! Remember both the common tick and the Eiffel Tower are Paris sites. We are visiting the pyramids in Egypt because they were too heavy to transport to the British Museum. The story that the Great Wall was built for defense was a cover up of the fact that it was really built as a skate royal board park.

..........but I just won't do that.........Meatloaf …..Anything Thing For Love

^^^ Children should spend at least an hour a day exercising...Jump rope, hop scotch, walking, biking, running games, etc.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I will have the English major's breakfast – eggs over easily.

Weird Word of the Week: Omnishambles – an insult implying an organization has made several serious policy and public-relations blunders... https://www.worldwidewords.org/tp-omn1.html

Dragon of the Week: Not sure if this is a dragon or Godzilla, but it's cool either way.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Moisturize skin. Rubbing ChapStick on your face protests the skin from wind burn while snow skiing. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/chapstick.html

National Brave Day! We're all brave until we realize that cockroaches have wings. Do you know that story of the brave German boy who could only count to three; he knows no vier. Bravery: Chancing a fart when you've had diarrhoea.

...........I'll be gone when the morning comes.........Meatloaf …..Bat Out Of Hell

^^^^ O Positive (O+) is the most common human blood type.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Meanwhile in Kansas the temperature went from 90° to 65° like it just saw a state trooper. --Submitted by RHOZ

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Capclave24 (27-29, Rockville, MD) ...a small relaxed literary convention... https://capclave.org/capclave24/

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Annual Conference (9/26-10/1, Chicago, IL) ...leaders in museums and science centers... https://astc2024.eventscribe.net/

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Dover (Delaware), and Seoul (Korea) → Dover Sole

Save Your Photos Day! The picture of Einstein with his tongue sticking out was taken for comedic purpose, and the quote “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. “ is a signature line of his. --Monique A thorough survey of the crowd at the Trump rally revealed that 97% of the crowd was photographers hoping for a shot of the next attempted assassin. The Portrait Photographer specialized in youies.

..........I'll tell you about the magic; it will free your soul........Shaun Cassidy …....Do You Believe In Magic

^^^^^ The heart beats around 100,000 times per day.

Quote of the Week: Is Capitalism your religion? --Dr Butch Ware, Green Party Vice-presidental candidate https://www.ays.media/podcastnoor/butchware

Final Hip Replacement Update of the Year: OrthoKansas has declared me well. They scheduled me for a one year check up next June and sent me on my way. Yay!!!

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Furniture Store named Shack of Sit

Today's Peace of History, September 27, 1990: The last US Pershing II tactical nuclear missiles were removed from Germany, fewer than ten years after their installation provoked a massive anti-nuclear movement across Europe.

Ancestor Appreciation Day! --because the last section was really about genealogy. My great grandma was 80% Irish. They called her Iris. Today I'm going to go see my 81 year old grandpa for the last time. Tomorrow he'll be 82. I'm told my great, great grandma began walking 2 miles every day. She was 74 and lived in Kansas City. She died at age 86 somewhere around Seattle.

..........I met her on a Monday and my heart stood still........Shaun Cassidy …..Da Doo Ron Ron

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, September 27. 2024, dIverse ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Ours is a government of checks and balances. The Mafia and crooked businessmen make out checks, and the politicians and other compromised officials improve their bank balances. --Steve Allen

Cost of War:

• As of 09/26/24 State Department Costs: $246,722,840,295
• As of 09/19/24 State Department Costs: $246,163,433,960
• As of 09/26/24 Homeland Security: $1,179,698,986,548
• As of 09/19/24 Homeland Security: $1,179,091,356,643
• As of 09/26/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,248,226,030,502
• As of 09/19/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,246,163,299,899
• As of 09/26/24 Military Costs: $3,107,412,399,484
• As of 09/19/24 Military Costs: $3,106,225,825,459
• As of 09/26/24 Veterans Care: $3,887,134,195,158
• As of 09/19/24 Veterans Care: $3,875,290,058,974
• As of 09/26/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,669,195,067,787
• As of 09/19/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,653,436,281,854

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

Liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals. --Samuel Adams

Famous Last Words: ...nature exists for the convenience of man. --Silent Spring Rachel Carson

..........Do you remember when we were young and unashamed........Shaun Cassidy …..Walk Away

Fall Astronomy Day! The Dog Star decided to go into stand-up comedy. He failed because he was too Sirius. How many astronomers does it take to change a light bulb? Only one because they've got all night as it's ****ing cloudy. That's my last Astronomy Convention. It was creepy. There were a bunch of black holes in the corner discussing dark matters.

May Peace define your demeanor
And Joy establish your manner
prairie mama
christine

Last Laugh: National Doodle Day!

eDucated ePistle

 Famous First Words: For the fourth time in the history of the Republic... Chester A Arthur Inaugural Address 1881

It's the International Day of the University! My daughter went to the University of Colorado and joined the hiking team. So now I call her the Walking Debt. A history professor and a psychology professor were members of the local nudist colony. One day the history professor asked the psychology professor if he had read Marx. The Psych professor answered, “Yes, I think it's from the wicker furniture”.

..........You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.........John Lennon …..Imagine

Nothing is a bigger waste of time than regretting the past and worrying about the future. –James Meredith

It is a beautiful Friday morning. I woke up with a little dizziness and went back to sleep. Now the morning is well underway. Temperatures have risen to 83°F smothering the cool of the morning with heat and humidity. A wind is blowing around the yellowing, withering mulberry leaves and wildly whipping the willow branches still dressed in their summer greens. The Kansas sky is a pale blue without a cloud to hide its glory. I am listening to Odetta sing Water Boy and watching the leaves dancing to that rhythm. My coffee is cold, but I'm still enjoying it, savoring every sip. The delightful field sunflower in the neighbor's yard has finally lost its top flowers and the friendly yellow circles are consigned to the bottom, hard to see, areas. It seems like an excellent metaphor for autumn's treatment of summer. Suddenly an old Zen joke leaped to my mind. Two monks are sitting zazen in the garden. One says to the other, “Life is such a gas.”

Hope your weekend is as much fun as spring break, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Get out there and be the surprise onion ring in somebody's French fries today. --Submitted by INRITH

I think university athletes should get paid to play. Except Tennessee, of course, they're the Volunteers. A university professor of geology was very worried about his recent paper on earthquakes. Seems his research was on shaky ground.

..........Say you want a revolution. We better get one right away.........John Lennon …..Power To The People

Trivia Questions: Happy National Punch Day

• ^ Where does the word punch come from?
• ^^ How did punch get to England?
• ^^^ When did punch get to the new world?
• ^^^^ What made “punch” go Hawaiian? ~~My AI insists that a “the” should be inserted before punch, but it settled for quote marks.
• ^^^^^ Who currently makes Hawaiian Punch?

Big Hello: chuu wuganabaira - Okinawan https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I need someone to explain to me why it's always “if you can't pay the rent, buy fewer lattes and avocado toasts: AND NOT “if you can't pay your employees a living wage, buy fewer yachts, rockets, and spacecrafts.” Explain it to me like I'm in kindergarten.

Image of the Week: Haiti Celebrates Cats. This sculpture is from a “rural town” in Haiti (Either the town or the artist is Dickson.)

Book Humor of the Week: Life Hack: Don't buy more books first and then stress about where to put them. Buy extra bookshelves first and then the only practical thing to do is fill them up with more books. https://www.instagram.com/librarian.humor/

Employer: To succeed here you'll need to forget everything you learned in college. Me: I never went to university. Employer: Then you're not qualified to work here. I asked my history of science professor if she could tell me what happened before the Big Bang. She said, “Sorry, no time”.

..........It's time to spread our wings and fly.........John Lennon …..(Just Like) Starting Over

Moonbeam: It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence. --Upton Sinclair

Blasphemy of the Week: All religions are paths to reach God. They are --to make a comparison—like different languages, different dialects, to get there. But God is God for everyone. --Pope Francis to children in Singapore. ~~In the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew Chapters 5-7) Jesus says the same thing “Seek and ye shall find”. If you go looking for God, you find God.

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Michael Schwartz, of Florence, OR. Take the name of a watercraft that contains an odd number of letters. Remove the middle letter and rearrange the remaining ones to name a body of water. What words are these? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 9/15/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Running feels great. Unless you compare it to not running. --Submitted by sb of ar

What do you call a test tube with a university degree? A graduated cylinder. For a while the Biology professor and the Physics professor were an item. But they finally broke up because there was no chemistry.

..........I don't believe in the Beatles.........John Lennon …..God

^ Punch comes from the Hindustani word panch which means five. The original 5 ingredients were alcohol, sugar, water, lemon, and tea or spices.

Almanac: It is Friday, September 20, 2024. The moon was full (Harvest* aka Sturgeon) on Wednesday (9/18) and is in Taurus. It is National Punch Day, Constitution Day/Pledge Across America, International Day of University, National Bakery Day, National Care for Kids Day, National Fried Rice Day, and National String Cheese Day. Because it is the third Friday it is also International Grenache Day, National Concussion Awareness Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and National Tradesmen Day.

*The Harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. In 2024 the equinox is on the morning of September 22. Sometimes the October full moon is closer.

Among those born on this day were Upton Sinclair (1878), Jelly Roll Morton (1885), Red Auerbach (1917), Joyce Brothers (1928), John A Wismont (1941), Fran Drescher (1957), and Matthew and Gunnar Nelson (1967).

On September twentieth Magellan started off to sail around the world (1519), USS Constitution launched (Old Ironsides, 1797), the electric range was patented (1859), Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as president (1881), the Equal Rights Party nominated women as candidates for both president and vice president (1884), James Meredith was kept from entering Ole Miss (1962), Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs (1973), NASA launched HEAO (1979), and the NFL players began a 57 day strike (1982).

Night Sky, 9/20: Arcturus shines in the west these evenings after twilight fades out. Capella, equally bright, is barely rising in the north-northeast (depending on your latitude; the farther north you are the higher it will be.) They're both magnitude 0. Later in the evening, around 9 or 10 pm depending on your location, Arcturus and Capella shine at the same height in their respective compass directions. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Tree Huggers

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: At some point, there's only so high you can raise the volume before you admit you're never gonna understand what British detectives are saying.

This Week: Saturday, September 21 – International Coastal Cleanup Day & International Red Panda Day & National Dance Day

Sunday, September 22 – Hobbit Day & Ice Cream Cone Day & World Rivers Day

Night Sky, 9/22: Autumnal Equinox: Earth crosses the September equinox point in its orbit at 8:44 am EDT (12:44 UT). This is when the Sun crosses Earth's equator on its six-month apparent journey south. Fall officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere, spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Coincidentally, as if to mark this transition every year, Deneb is gradually taking over from brighter Vega as the zenith star after nightfall (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes).

Monday, September 23 – Celebrate Bi-sexuality Day & International Day of Sign Languages

Tuesday, September 24 – Punctuation Day & National Woman Road Warrior Day

Wednesday, September 25 – World Lung Day & National Daughters Day & Open The Magic Day

Night Sky, 9/25: Saturn (magnitude +0.7, in Aquarius) is a few days past opposition. Look for it glowing fairly low in the east-southeast as the stars come out. It's to the lower right of the Great Square of Pegasus, which is balancing on one corner. The Square's upper-right edge points diagonally to Saturn, two fists at arm's length away.

Thursday, September 26 – Johnny Appleseed Day & World Contraception Day & National Dumpling Day

The definition of an optimist is a college student who opens her billfold and expects to find money. I'm not sure about our biology professor. He's sloppy and dresses funny, but he claims his are designer genes.

..........If you ever change your mind about leaving it all behind.........John Lennon …..Remember

^^ Sailors en route to England via India are believed to have created and imported punch.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In England, “booster shot” is spelled “borchestershire shot”. --Submitted by sb of ar

Confession of the Week: I'm not only tired of Trump in the news, I'm tired of people making fun of him. This limits my late night talk show choices.

Moonbeam: You don't have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it. I didn't like the way I found America some sixty years ago, and I've been trying to change it ever since. --Upton Sinclair

Fun Fact of the Week: On September 20, 1973 the body of Gram Parsons, the guitar player for The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds, was stolen and taken to Joshua Tree National Park, where it was set on fire. https://calendar.songfacts.com/september/20/17622

Video of the Week: Jelly Roll Morton playing Tiger Rag (3:11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujFWZrs6pow

Liberal whites are the greatest enemy of African Americans. --James Meredith

The answer to “what's your son taking at the university?” is every penny I have. I think the head of my department is the best professor joke there is.

..........Some kind of Druid dude, lifting the veil.........John Lennon …..Mind Games

^^^ Punch was brought to the Western world around the time of Columbus, suggesting that he carried it on his voyages.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If Taylor Swift is what it takes to beat MAGA then sequin my ass and call me a Swifty. --Submitted by ff of ks

Weird Word of the Week: Nocebo – something that induces a feeling of ill-health for no very good medical reason, the opposite of a placebo. https://www.worldwidewords.org/tp-noc1.html

Dragon of the Week: This is Blaze who is the mascot for Tiffin University in Tiffin, OH.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Lubricate a zipper. To make a zipper zip smoothly, rub ChapStick along the teeth of the zipper on trousers, jackets, backpacks, tents, or sleeping bags. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/chapstick.html

The difference between an American student and an English student is about 3, 000 miles. The difference between a university professor and a terrorist is that you can negotiate with a terrorist.

...........What in the world you're thinking of..........John Lennon …..Instant Karma

^^^^ Hawaiian Punch syrup was created by 3 guys (Leon,Yeats, & Harrison) in a garage in Fullerton, CA in the 1930s as an ice cream topping.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences. --Robert Lewis Stevenson

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Edmonton Expo (20-22, Edmonton) Find your fandom family... https://fanexpohq.com/edmontonexpo/

Actual Science Conference of the Week: TECHSPO Singapore (19-20, Singapore) Where Business, Tech and Innovation collide... https://techsposingapore.sg/

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Gondola → Lagoon

At the university some students are here on scholarship and others on second mortgage. A parent called the dean of women's office and expressed her concern that her daughter didn't have much money and so couldn't afford a sorority. Without money who could she hang out with. The dean suggested she could hang out with the faculty.

..........Two spirits dancing so strange Ah, Bowakawa, pousse pousse.........John Lennon …..9 Dream

^^^^^ Hawaiian Punch is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper. Hawaiian Punch contains orange, pineapple, passion fruit, guava, and papaya. So it still has 5 ingredients. However the punch is currently available in 14 different flavors.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect charged in connection with the second “assassination attempt” on Trump, self-published an e-book on Ukraine in which he said Iran was “free to assassinate Trump as well as me”. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/trump-assassination-attempt-conspiracy-theories

Quote of the Week: Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you! --Dr Seuss

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm not antisocial, I'm vibrationally selective.

Today's Peace of History, September 20, 1997: 3,000 protesters helped to rip up the railroad tracks leading from Krummel nuclear power station to the main Hamburg-Berlin line.

My son, who's nickname is Tabby, says he's going to college to study string theory. Physics professors have theories. Economics professors have concepts of theories.

..........After all, I'm forever in your debt.........John Lennon …..Woman

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, September 20, 2024, eDucated ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: One of the necessary accompaniments of capitalism in a democracy is political corruption. --Upton Sinclair

Cost of War:

• As of 09/19/24 State Department Costs: $246,163,433,960
• As of 09/12/24 State Department Costs: $245,612,107,605
• As of 09/19/24 Homeland Security: $1,179,091,356,643
• As of 09/12/24 Homeland Security: $1,178,492,512,841
• As of 09/19/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,246,163,299,899
• As of 09/12/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,245,123,742,465
• As of 09/19/24 Military Costs: $3,106,225,825,459
• As of 09/12/24 Military Costs: $3,105,056,984,372
• As of 09/19/24 Veterans Care: $3,875,290,058,974
• As of 09/12/24 Veterans Care: $3,863,618,301,659
• As of 09/19/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,653,436,281,854
• As of 09/12/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,637,905,328,706.

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

What I did at Ole Miss had nothing to do with going to classes. My objective was to destroy the system of white supremacy. --James Meredith

Famous Last Words: I love you. Jim ~~Jim Croce died 9/20/73 He had posted a letter to his wife which she did not receive until after his death.

..........revolution, evolution, mastrubation, flagellation, regulation, integrations.........John Lennon …..Give Peace A Chance ~~On September 20, 1969, John Lennon announced he was leaving the Beatles. Today's songs are all hits after he went solo.

My college roommate was obsessed with trying to discover the largest known prime number. Wonder what she's up to now? I once taught an 8 am French 101 class. So many grandparents died that semester. Next term I taught at 3 pm. No more deaths. And that, my friends, is how I save lives.

May Peace be your text
And Joy be your mentor
prairie mama
christine

Last Laugh:

mAthematic ePistle

 Famous First Words: Here comes Charlie... Roald Dahl Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Dedicated to Math Teachers everywhere! Never argue with a 90° angle; they're always right. The two teachers that died for their subject in the Georgia shooting were mathematics teachers. Circumstance or revenge

..........And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.........Mel Torme …..Blue Moon

One of the basic causes of all the trouble in the world today is that people talk too much and think too little. --Margaret Chase Smith

It is a gorgeous Friday morning. The sky is spotted with thin fluffy clouds. There is very little breeze to make the foliage wave and the 70°F is a near perfect temperature. A whiff of brewing coffee fills the house making my mouth wake up. One of the mulberry trees is beginning to thin and some leaves are transitioning to yellow. But the willow is still very green and uses every small gust as dance music. Birds came early and sang us a morning song, but now they are home taking naps or singing in someone else's yard. I am drinking my decaf – sweetened and creamed - and Puck is sleeping on the recliner resting his “weary” head on the Hogwarts express blanket. Another wonderful day here – hope it's true there too.

Hope your weekend adds up to fun, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I don't need a recipe for disaster. I usually just eyeball it.

I've decided to become a math teacher, but I really want to make a difference so I will only teach subtractions. Never trust a math teacher; they're always calculating.

..........I've got you deep in the heart of me.........Mel Torme …..I've Got You Under My Skin

Trivia Questions: Happy Peanut Day

• ^ About how many peanuts does it take to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter?
• ^^ Which two peanut farmers have served as president of the United States?
• ^^^ Which astronaut took peanuts to the moon?
• ^^^^ How many of the 6 cities in the US named Peanut can you name?
• ^^^^^ Why are peanuts called goobers?

Big Hello: Aniin - Ojibwe (Canada) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Decaf coffee is like a hairless cat, it exists, but that doesn't make it right. --Submitted by Coffee With Humor

Image of the Week: I watch a lot of basketball and I've seen a lot of buzzer winning shots. But the Chiefs winning after time had run out is a first. One toe over the line, sweet Jesus...

Library Humor of the Week: I'm not a book hoarder. I'm prepping for the possibility that one day I might have 173 years to do nothing but read. --Jonathan Edward Durham

When the math teacher retired she became a farmer; now she is pro-tractor. Obtuse angles are often depressed. It's because they are never right.

..........Grab your hat and we'll head up in the blue.........Mel Torme …..Swinging On The Moon

Moonbeam: The deadliest weapon in the world is a marine with his rifle. --John J Pershing

Blasphemy of the Week: Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the concept of a literal hell is how badly Christians want it to be real. --Deconstruction Girl

PreQuel to Quote of the Week: I must remind you that starving a child is violence. Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence. --Coretta Scott King

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Ethan Kane, of Albuquerque, N.M. Name a famous TV personality of the past. Drop the second letter of this person's last name, and phonetically the first and last names together will sound like a creature of the past. What celebrity is this?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Until a drag queen walks into a school and beats eight kids to death with a copy of “To Kill A Mockingbird”, I think you're focusing on the wrong shit. --Wanda Sykes

You know, math puns are the first sine of madness. I'd tell you my best math joke but you're 2² to get it.

..........I'd like to coo with my baby tonight.........Mel Torme …..Too Darn Hot

^ It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12 oz jar of peanut butter.

Almanac: It is Friday, September 13, 2024. The moon went into the first quarter on Wednesday (9/11) and is in Capricorn. It is Bald Is Beautiful Day, International Chocolate Day, Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day, National Celiac Awareness Day, National Peanut Day, Roald Dahl Day, Scooby-Doo Day, and Uncle Sam Day. Because it is the first Friday the 13th of the year it is Blame Someone Else Day. Finally, because it is the second Friday it is also Hug Your Boss Day and Cloud Appreciation Day.

Among those born on this day were Grigory Potemkin (1739), Walter Reed (1851), John J. Pershing (1860), Sherwood Anderson (1876), Roald Dahl (1916), Ray Charles (1918), Mel Torme (1925), Barbara Bain (1931), Judith Martin (1938), Jacqueline Bisset (1944), and Nell Carter (1948).

On September thirteenth work began on Hadrian's Wall (122), New York City became the capital of the nation (1788), Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress (1948), the LPGA formed (1949), The Outer Limits premiered (1963) and for the first time Today was broadcast totally in color (1965).

Night Sky, 9/13: Bright Vega now passes the zenith an hour after sunset during late twilight, for those of us at mid-northern latitudes. Vega is bigger, hotter, and 50 times brighter than our Sun. But at a distance of 25 light-years, it's 1,600,000 times farther away.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Keepers of the Flame...well, at least...Appreciators of the Flame

This Week: Saturday, September 14 – Fall Astronomy Day & National Sober Day & Prairie Day

Sunday, September 15 – International Day of Democracy & National Day of the Cowgirl & Mawlid AL Nabi

Night Sky, 9/15: The waxing gibbous Moon forms a nearly equilateral triangle with Saturn to its left and Fomalhaut to its lower left. The triangle is about 20° on one side.

Monday, September 16 – National Guacamole Day & National Stepfamily Day & Trail of Tears Commemoration Day

Tuesday, September 17 - Citizenship Day & Responsible Dog Ownership Day & Time's Up Day

Night Sky, 9/17: Partial Luna Eclipse https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2024-september-18

Wednesday, September 18 - International Equal Pay Day & National Ask An Atheist Day & National Respect Day

Thursday, September 19 – International Day of Listening & National PawPaw Day & Talk Like A Pirate Day

Mathematics: The only subject that counts. Is arithmetic pre-math?

..........Let the blue skies be your coverlet.........Mel Torme …..Mountain Greenery

^^ Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter were both peanut farmers.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Everybody Is Wrong But Me: A Beginner's Guide to Arguing Theology on the Internet. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian

Moonbeam: If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. --Roald Dahl

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: King Charles II is a vampire. 1) He is a distant relative of Vlad the Impaler. 2) He has Porphyria, an iron deficiency disease that causes people to be sensitive to sunlight. https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/05/06/king-charles-a-vampire-why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories

Video of the Week: Why is Friday the Thirteenth Considered Unlucky: (1:28) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr_fOOjpt7Q

Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. --Margaret Chase Smith

Geometry teachers are always tired. They have way too many angles to cover. I'm glad I'm not a mathematics textbook. They have way too many problems.

..........Just as wonderful with both feet on the ground.........Mel Torme …..Second Time Around

^^^ Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Walmart thinks I want to put up my Christmas tree and eat turkey while wearing my Halloween costume. --Submitted by bc of tx

Weird of the Week: Meliorism: the belief that we can contribute to positive change and improve the world through acts of love, creativity, compassion, and kindness. https://themeliorist.ca/2023/01/06/what-is-meliorism/

Dragon of the Week: Patio Dragon

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Prevent car battery corrosion. After cleaning corrosion from car battery terminals, smear ChapStick on the clean terminals to prevent the terminals from corroding again. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/chapstick.html

Mathematics Teacher: A person who helps you solve problems you would never have had without them. I don't trust my math teacher. Today he said x equal 43. Yesterday he said it equaled 5.

...........I'm wild again, beguiled again.........Mel Torme …..Bewitched

^^^^ 1) Peanut, CA 2) Lower Peanut, PA 3) Peanut, PA 4) Upper Peanut, PA 5) Peanut, TN 6) Peanut West, VA

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: You should sit in nature for twenty minutes a day. Unless you're busy, then you should sit for an hour.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Return To Hill Valley 2024 (14-15, Jamestown, CA) Railtown, 1897 Historical State Park https://www.visittuolumne.com/eventdetail/2142/back-to-the-future-return-to-hill-valley

Actual Science Conference of the Week: IMTS 2024 (9-14, Chicago, IL) International Manufacturing Technology Show https://www.imts.com/

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Dinah Shore → Dinosaur

Not all math puns are terrible. Just sum. How did the hypotenuse get ready for Hogwarts? She went to Diagon Ally.

..........Skin as smooth as milk..........Nell Carter …..White Boys (Hair)

^^^^^ The nickname, goober, comes from “nguba”, the Congo language name for peanuts. Peanuts are also sometimes called “ground nuts” or ground peas.

Fun Fact of the Week: Across the globe, including in the United States, Mawlid al-Nabi, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, is celebrated on the twelfth day of the month Rabi’ al-Awwal.

Quote of the Week: When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to differentiate between good and evil. --Hannah Arendt

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My emotional support dog ate my comfort food.

Today's Peace of History, September 13, 1982: The European Parliament voted to phase out promotion and advertising of war toys throughout the 25 countries of the European Union (formerly European Economic Community).

You know what seems odd to me? Number that can't be divided by two. When the math teacher told her students they couldn't use tables for the test, they all sat on the floor.

..........I'm invisible..........Nell Carter …..I'm Black (Hair)

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, September 13, 2024, mAthematical ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Somewhere inside of us all of us is the power to change the world. --Roald Dahl

Cost of War:

• As of 09/12/24 State Department Costs: $245,612,107,605
• As of 09/05/24 State Department Costs: $245,066,291,307
• As of 09/12/24 Homeland Security: $1,178,492,512,841
• As of 09/05/24 Homeland Security: $1,177,899,568,641
• As of 09/12/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,245,123,742,465
• As of 09/05/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,243,598,821,977
• As of 09/12/24 Military Costs: $3,105,056,984,372
• As of 09/05/24 Military Costs: $3,103,899,029,607
• As of 09/12/24 Veterans Care: $3,863,618,301,659
• As of 09/05/24 Veterans Care: $3,852,056,368,318
• As of 09/12/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,637,905,328,706.
• As of 09/05/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,622.518,923,815.

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

Every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration. Constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought. --Margaret Chase Smith

Second Quote of the Week: We need to sit on the rim of the well of darkness and fish for fallen light with patience, --Pablo Neruda

Famous Last Words: Let the sunshine in. --The Final words of Hair

..........Then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars.........Nell Carter …..Aquarius

At my seventy first birthday my old math teacher told me not to give up hope. One of these days algebra WILL be useful to me. If I had a dollar for every time algebra has helped me, I'd have x dollars.

May Peace guide our planet
And Joy steer our stars
prairie mama
christine

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