Famous
First Words: To
all to whom these Presents shall come... Articles
of Confederation
It
is National Book Award Week (10-16). Here's some awards that didn't
make the mainstream media: Best Books for Dogs Award (the Lassies):
The Best Butts by Charlie B Barkin Runner-up: As I Lay Panting by
Beauregard Bloodhound
..........Follow
the fellow who follows a dream.........Petula Clark …..Look To The
Rainbow Finian's Rainbow
True
peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of
justice. --Jane Addams
It
is a cold (32°F) Friday morning. The sky is pale and streaked with
thin jet trails that disappear before they fatten out. The sky is
also streaked with crows that are moving in circles so that it is
hard to count how many are about. There is no wind to move jet
trails or foliage still clinging to tree branches with golden gloves.
Puck barks because it's cold, he barks to say good morning to the
four little dogs who live in the corner house, and he barks at some
unseen menace behind the privacy fence. The crows do not answer. We
cut the walk short because dry air makes breathing hard and we return
to warmth and the aroma of brewing coffee and last night's incense.
Puck begins the never ending task of getting his blanket, folded on
the floor, just right. It takes a lot of pushing and pulling to make
a really good dog nest, apparently. I fix a cup of decaf and hold
it to my face to breathe the steam, to smell the coffee, and clear
the sinuses. I take a long, deep gulp and turn my attention to
writing to you. Pretty nice start for a day.
Hope
your weekend wins all the trophies, ePistliers.
Best
self-help book for women (The Bettys): Mom Jokes by Strong Woman
Runner Up: How To Succeed In Business Without A Penis by Karen
Salmansohn. Integrating humor with practical business advice.
~~This
is a real book
..........Is
that little brook still leaping there.........Petula Clark …..How
Are Things In Glocca Morra Finian's Rainbow
Trivia
Questions: Happy Anniversary to the League of Nations
^
What was the League of Nations anyway?
^^
Any idea who championed the LoN in the US and/or who opposed it?
^^^
What is the league's connection to the 1920s Geneva Protocol?
^^^^
What did the league do or not do to help nations avoid war?
^^^^^
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was part of the league's agenda, what do you
know about that pact?
Funniest
Thing I Read of the Week: The medical
term for owning too many dogs is roverdose. --Submitted by sd of ks
Fake
Library Statistic of the Week:
Instead
of a comfort animal, 39% of librarians carry a copy of their favorite
novel everywhere they go.
https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
Best
Basic Business Book (Chapos): Marketing Strategies for Cocaine
Sellers by Tony Montana Runner Up: Win
Bigly by Scott Adams
..........My
heart feels so sugar candish.........Petula Clark …..Something
Sort Of Grandish Finian's Rainbow
Moonbeam:
Unlimited power is apt
to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my
lords, that where laws end, tyranny begins. --William Pitt the Elder
Naturally
Occurring Mandala of the Week: A grain of sand
Big
Hello: Merhaba -
Turkish https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Next
Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If
you're an astronaut and you don't end every relationship by saying
“look, I just need space” then you're wasting everyone's time.
--Submitted by bk
Week
of the Week: International Fraud
Awareness Week (15-21) --...amid
reports of corruption and voter fraud, the UN has sent a delegation
to Kabul to verify the Afghanistan elections results. The UN council
found no evidence of tampering or voter fraud and have certified
Hamid Karzai as the winner with approximately 115% of the vote.
Millennial
Novel of the Year (the 21sts): Harry Potter and the Unshakable
feeling that he could have gone pro at Quidditch if he hadn't gotten
married and had kids by J K Rowling Runner Up: How to Show Someone
That You Hate Them If You Are Too Shy to Say It by Valiant Vibe
..........With
moons all around and cows jumping over.........Petula Clark …..If
This Isn't Love Finian's Rainbow
^
The
League of Nations was an international diplomatic group developed
after WWI as a way to solve disputes between countries before they
erupted into open warfare. A precursor to the United Nations, the
League achieved some victories but had a mixed record of success.
Almanac:
It is Friday, November 15, 2019. The moon was full (Beaver) last
Tuesday {And it was beautiful} and is in Gemini. It is National
Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, America Recycles Day, I Love to
Write Day, National Bundt (Pan) Day, and National Philanthropy Day.
In Belgium
it is King's Day and in Brazil it is Republic Day (1889). Japan is
celebrating 7-5-3
Festival Day
.
Among
those born on this day were William Pitt (the
elder, 1708), William Herschel (1738), Gerhart Hauptmann (1862),
Lewis Stone (1879), Georgia O'Keeffe (1887), Erwin Rommel (1891),
Averell Harriman (1891), Mantovani (1905), Edward Asner (1929),
Petula Clark (1931), Sam Waterston (1940), and Beverly D'Angelo
(1954).
On
November fifteenth the Articles of Confederation were adopted by
congress (1777), Pike first sighted “Pike's Peak” (1806), the
League of Nations held its first meeting (1920), NBC broadcast its
first show on a radio network (1926), the Cow Palace in San Francisco
opened (1941), Gemini XII returned to Earth (1966), and Leonid I
Brezhnev was buried (1982).
Night
Sky, 11/15: The
waning gibbous Moon is high by late evening. It's in Gemini, in the
dim feet of the Castor stick-figure. Much easier to spot are Castor
and Pollux, far to the Moon's lower left.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Max
Picture of the Week:
Max the hardware engineer with his assistant
This
Week: Saturday, November 16
– International Day for Tolerance & National Button Day &
Teddy Bear Day
Sunday,
November 17 – Homemade Bread Day & Take A
Hike Day
Night
Sky, 11/17:
The
Leonid meteor shower is annually active in the month of November and
it usually peaks around November 17 or 18. The shower is called
Leonids because its radiant, or the point in the sky where the
meteors seem to emerge from, lies in the constellation Leo. ...Up to
15/hour
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/leonids.html
Monday,
November 18 – Mickey Mouse Day
Tuesday,
November 19 – Have A Bad Day Day &
International Men's Day
Wednesday,
November 20 – African Industrialization Day &
Name Your PC Day
Night
Sky, 11/20: Vega
is the brightest star in the west early on November evenings. Its
little constellation Lyra extends to its left, pointing in the
direction of Altair, the brightest star in the southwest.
Thursday,
November 21 – Great American Smoke Out
Children's
Politically Correct Book of the Year (The Libtards): How the Grinch
Stole the Non-religion Specific Celebration of the Winter Solstice
Holiday. Runner Up: Grandpa Gets A Casket by Owen Geeser
..........When
a rich man doesn't want to work he's a bon vivant.........Petula
Clark …..When The Idle Poor Become The Idle Rich Finian's
Rainbow
^^
The League of Nations has its origins in the Fourteen
Points speech of President Woodrow Wilson, part of a presentation
given in January 1918 outlining of his ideas for peace after the
carnage of World War I. By December of the same year, Wilson left for
Paris to transform his 14 Points into what would become the Treaty of
Versailles. Republican Congressman Henry Cabot Lodge led a battle
against the treaty. Lodge believed both the treaty and the League
undercut U.S. autonomy in international matters.
'Nother
Funniest Thing I Read of the Week:
My child does not want to eat meat. What can I replace it with? --A
dog. Every dog eats meat. --A
Way With Words
Moonbeam:
I have looked further into space than ever human
being did before me. I have observed stars of which the light, it can
be proved, must take two million years to reach the earth. --Sir
William Herschel
Late
Night Snacks of the Week:
With
All Due Respect,
puts the former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former
secretary of state Rex Tillerson on blast for undermining Trump. On
the one hand, I understand where Nikki Haley is coming from. Trump
won the electoral college, so his policies are what people voted for.
His staff shouldn’t try to undermine him. On the other hand, this
is also the same president who suggested nuking hurricanes, so maybe
cockblocking him is a good idea? --Trevor Noah / A memo obtained by
Axios outlined Republican talking points to defend Trump throughout
the hearings – for example, that he didn’t do anything wrong
because he had an “innocent state of mind”. Something I think we
forget is that Trump wants us to believe the reason he held up the
aid money and demanded investigations is because he was concerned
about corruption in Ukraine. The guy who had to pay out $25m for a
fraudulent university wants us to believe he cares about corruption
in a country he definitely couldn’t find on a map. There’s no
way. --Jimmy Kimmel / The Texas congressman Mac Thornberry, for
example, said on ABC on Sunday that Trump pressuring a foreign leader
to investigate his political rivals was “inappropriate” but not
“impeachable” because “there’s not really anything that the
president said in that phone call that’s different than he says in
public all the time”. So what? Just because you publicly brag about
a crime doesn’t make it legal. The cops won’t leave you alone
just because you put up a sign that says: ‘I heart my murder shed.’
--Stephen Colbert / We’re living in an unprecedented era of
massive inequality, and there’s a hunger among voters for a
candidate who will fight for systemic change. Voters don’t seem to
want a self-appointed billionaire savior to ride in and save them and
if you think you are that savior, you might actually just be,” to
quote a heckler of billionaire potential candidate Howard Schultz, an
“egotistical billionaire asshole”. --Seth Meyers
Not
So Late Night Snacks of the Week: Contestant Harry McEnerny:
"The Apprentice" gets impeached. Segal: That's certainly
one of the titles they workshopped. But it is, of course, you're
right, the impeachment hearings. If you thought "The Little
Mermaid Live!" on ABC this week was impressive...You're going to
love next week's public impeachment hearings. It will be just like
"The Little Mermaid," except it'll be Rudy Giuliani who
suddenly starts singing.The hearings, which have taken place in
private for weeks now, will finally get some airtime on live TV.
Seriously, whoever thought Donald Trump would be on a trial show, and
it wouldn't be "Law and Order: SVU?" Wait,
Wait, Don't Tell Me
11/9/19
The
good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is
secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. --Jane
Addams
Best
Millennial Memoir Ebook of the Year (Memes): The Man Who Walked Away
From Facebook by Ryder Walkman. Runner Up: The Never Ending Showdown
by Boomer B Dam'd
..........I
love the girl I'm near.........Petula Clark …..When I'm Not Near
The Girl I Love Finian's Rainbow
^^^
The Geneva Protocol was devised in the 1920s to limit
what is now understood as chemical and biological weaponry. In the
1930s the World Disarmament Conference, which was meant to make
disarmament a reality, failed after Adolf Hitler broke away from the
conference and the League in 1933.
Worthless
Fact of the Week: This weekend at the Cow Palace in San
Francisco the Crossroads if the West is loading up. During
the last year, this show attracted more than half a million guests.
~~Wonder if Moms Demand Action will have a table there.
Wicked
Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I
want to make a documentary on Ken Burns. See how he likes it.
--Submitted by snh
Weird
Word of the Week:
Quinquagenary – fifty or fifty years
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-qui4.htm
Wacky
Uses for Common Products:
Childproof the sharp corners of furniture. Cut old Wilson Tennis
Balls in half or quarters and use Scotch Packaging Tape to tape the
sections over sharp corners of coffee tables, end tables, cabinets,
dining room tables, and other pieces of furniture that might be
dangerous to a small child.
http://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/wilson.html
Best
How-To Books for Children (Seussies): My First Methlab, A Ladybird
Easy Reading Book. Runner Up: Eggs, Toilet Paper, and Your School
...........Glory
times comin' for to stay.........Petula Clark …..That Great
Come-and-Get-it Day Finian's Rainbow
^^^^
The
League struggled for the right opportunity to assert its authority.
Secretary-general Sir Eric Drummond believed that failure was likely
to damage the burgeoning organization, so it was best not to
insinuate itself into just any dispute. When Russia, which was not a
member of the League, attacked a port in Persia in 1920, Persia
appealed to the League for help. The League refused to take part,
believing that Russia would not acknowledge their jurisdiction and
that would damage the League’s authority.
Penultimate
Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Do
not go gentle into this great fight, rage, rage against the lying of
the right. --Submitted by ra of hi
Science
Fiction Convention of the Week:
CONjuration (15-17, Atlanta) –Immersive, Fan Directed, Magical
Fantasy... https://www.conjurationcon.com/
Actual
Science Convention of the Week:
Seminaire Internationale de Biologe (16-19, Béchar, Algeria) Plantes
médicinales et substances
bioactives...https://www.gazettelabo.info/calend/fiche.php?fiche=8585
Puck
the Brave
Episode of the Week:
Here's our fearless Puck staring out at the November snow in the case
of the Chilly Chow
Chow.
Winner
Children's Tales Retold (Oldies): If You Give A Cyclops A Kitten. A
Little Golden Book Runner Up: Kick, Scream, Cry: How To Get What You
Want
..........Something
in your eyes I see, soon begins bewitching me.........Petula Clark
…..That Old Devil Moon Finian's Rainbow
^^^^^
The League was also involved in the Kellogg-Briand
Pact of 1928, which sought to outlaw war. It was successfully adapted
by over 60 countries. Put to the test when Japan invaded Mongolia in
1931, the League proved incapable of enforcing the pact.
Month
of the Week: November is National Peanut
Butter Lovers Month --Peanut butter is the glue that holds my life
together. / You can't make everybody happy, you're not a jar of
peanut butter.
Final
Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In
the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their
politicians and not to their poets. --Jonas Mekas
Grammar
Joke of the Week: Edit your essay well; our teacher is a
corrections officer for the grammar police.
Today's
Peace of History, November
15, 1957: U.S. Committee for a Sane
Nuclear Policy (SANE) was founded. Thirty years later on November 20,
SANE merged with the Nuclear Freeze organization (dedicated to
freezing all nuclear weapons testing worldwide) at a joint convention
in Cleveland to form SANE/FREEZE. Its successor is known as Peace
Action, the largest peace organization in the US.
Best
Cookbook for Cats (Furballs): Making Chocolate Mouse by Ann Fedimine
~~The cat couldn't read it anyway, she was il-litter-ate. Runner Up:
Who Shat In The Hat by Dr Seuss
..........Lordy,
Lordy, how they did begat, how they did begat even more than
that..........Quartet ...The Begat Finian's Rainbow
Masthead
of the Week:
Friday ePistle November 15, 2019, Accolade ePistle. Love, Laughs,
and Fake Books Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/
Exclusive
editor: Christine Smith. 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047
Moonbeam:
Americans wanted to settle all our difficulties with Russia and then
go to the movies and drink Coke. --Averell Harriman
Cost
of War:
As
of 11/7/19 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,975,561,950,774.
As
of 11/7/19 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,973,583,128,200.
As
of 11/7/19 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $931,537,306,979.
As
of 11/7/19 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $930,192,574,058.
As
of 11/7/19 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $720,732,701,103.
As
of 11/7/19 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $719,042,367,247.
As
of 11/7/19 Veterans Care since 2001: $319,439,268,657.
As
of 11/7/19 Veterans Care since 2001: $319,055,061,474.
As
of 11/7/19 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $4,947,272,082,304.
As
of 11/7/19 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $4,941,874,580,286.
For
action is indeed the sole medium of expression for ethics.. --Jane
Addams
..........To
the east with the lark, to the west with the sea.........Petula Clark
…..Look To The Rainbow Finian's Rainbow
All
Around Worst Book of the Year (Aaws): Unsolicited Bullshit by Rainbow
Brown Exploring a world where others have a surprisingly negative
reaction to your uninvited input and unpleasant personality.
Famous
Last Words: ...cease to be a Member of the League. The
Covenant of the League of Nations
May
your Peace be short-listed
And
your Joy win the day
prairie
mama
christine
Last
Laugh:
