The Why ePistle

 Famous First Words: Four score and seven years ago... Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address

Happy World Philosophy Day! You Kant beat these jokes. / When the big bad wolf began studying philosophy he became a self-awere-wolf.

..........Let us begin, what, where, why, or when.........Boogie Down …..My Philosophy

All the world is made of music. We are all strings on a lyre. We resonate. We sing together. --Joe Hill

It is a cold (29°) Friday morning. The sky is a swirl of thin white clouds hardly moving although the wind is making the willow branches dance and any leaf still clinging to its tree giggle. It sounds like giggling anyway. Near empty branches are still and calm beside the willow. Grass and some bushes are still green but leaves and trees are turning brown and yellow. They sail across the yard like out of control fairy boats. Even the catnip patch is looking cold and sad. Birds are about urging the sun to chase away the clouds, and generally gossiping about the neighborhood. Puck is cold and hurrys us back home. The wind encourages us to find shelter. The house smells of brewing coffee and I lose no time in doctoring it, ½ n ½ and sweetener. I take a long sip standing by the coffee maker. Ahh, yes, and now I am ready to write to you.

Hope your weekend is free of ambiguities and vagueness, ePistliers.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My life needs editing. --Mort Sahl

Math students always carry a pencil, paper, and an eraser. A philosophy student only needs a pencil and paper. / A physics joke in a philosophy class is called blasphemy.

..........Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table.........Monty Python …..Philosophers Song

Trivia Questions: Happy Birthday to Rocky and Bullwinkle !

^ Who created Rocky & Bullwinkle?

^^ Who were R&B's nemesis and where were they from?

^^^ Who were Gidney and Cloyd and where were they from?:

^^^^ How long did the show run?

^^^^^ What was Bullwinkle's alma mater?

Big Hello: Sannu – Hausa (Nigeria & Niger) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. --Saul Bellow

Max Picture of the Week: Max as mom

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: A librarian's obsession with keeping the reference desk clean is inversely related to how clean they keep their own desk. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

A monk who gets a philosophy degree is called a deep friar. / The student dropped out of 19^th Century Socialist Thought 101 because of poor Marx.

..........Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box.........Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians …..What I Am

Moonbeam: In the Far East, compulsory labor can work wonders, just like here... If only Belgium wanted to see that. --Ferdinand De Lesseps

Meditation Seed of the Week: If you were going to a famous historical figure dress-up party, who would you go as?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I wonder if Trump tried to grab Mike Pence by the patriot. Mike Pence now claims he has no problems at all with his former boss, so I guess Trump was right. --Jimmy Kimmel

Week of the Week: Medical Cannabis Week (16-20) –Doctor, what can you prescribe for the pain, nausea, and lack of appetite of my side effects? Round trip airline tickets to Colorado as needed. / You can't spell healthcare without THC.

Nihilists, nihilists, if not for Nihilism you'd have nothing to believe in. / My local philosophy club offers free why-fi.

..........Man does not eat by bread alone.........Chenoweth & Levine …..My New Philosophy

^ The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was created by producer Jay Ward and cartoonist Alex Anderson, who had worked together on the Crusader Rabbit series. Their initial vision was a show called The Frostbite Falls Revue about a group of animals running a TV station, but the project never got beyond the proposal stage. The next attempt at a new series began with the pilot Rocky the Flying Squirrel. General Mills came on as a sponsor and Rocky and His Friends was born.

Almanac: It is Friday, November 19, 2021. The moon was full (Cold) this morning around 3:30 am and is in Gemini. It is American Made Matters Day, Equal Opportunity Day (aka Gettysburg Address Day), Have A Bad Day Day, International Men's Day, Rocky and Bullwinkle Day, Women's Entrepreneurship Day, World Philosophy Day, and World Toilet Day. In Mali it is Liberation Day and in Monaco it is Monegasque National Day.

Among those born on this day were Charles I of England (1600), Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770), Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805), Jose Raul Capablanca (1888), Allen Tate (1899), Tommy Dorsey (1905), Indira Gandhi (1917), Roy Campanella (1921), Larry King (1933), Dick Cavett (1936), Ted Turner (1938), Calvin Klein (1942), Lovely Elizabeth (1960), Meg Ryan (1961), and Jodie Foster (1962).

On November nineteenth Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address (1863), Boss Tweed was sentenced to 12 years for fraud (1874), Carrie Nation attempted to address the US Senate (1903), Joe Hill was murdered by the authorities of the state of Utah (1915), US Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles & the League of Nations (1919), Ford cancelled the Edsel (1959), Apollo 12 crew walk on the moon (1969), and Reagan and Gorbachev met for the first time (1985).

Night Sky, 11/19: For us in North America, the partial lunar eclipse will take place late at night on November 18, or in the early morning on November 19, 2021. The moon will be high in North American skies, to the west. In this illustration, the white disks represent partially eclipsed moons. Watch for the dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster near the eclipsed moon. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/partial-lunar-eclipse-november-19-2021/

Image of the Week: Have the best turkey day...

This Week: Saturday, November 20- Name Your PC Day & Universal Children's Day

Sunday, November 21- Mother Goose Day & World Hello Day & Stir Up Sunday

Night Sky, 11/21: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest celestial objects after the Sun and the Moon, blaze during and after twilight a little less far apart every week. Venus is low in the southwest; Jupiter is high in the south. Saturn glows less than halfway from Jupiter to Venus. Watch this line of three shorten for the next month. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Monday, November 22 – Do Dah Day & Humane Society Day

Tuesday, November 23 – Doctor Who Day & Fibonacci Day & National Espresso Day

Wednesday, November 24 – Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day & National Jukebox Day

Night Sky, 11/24: Neptune (magnitude 7.9, at the Aquarius-Pisces border) is already high in the southeast at nightfall.

Thursday, November 25 – Thanksgiving Day & International Hat Day & National Play With Dad Day

Failing a course in Empiricism is Hume-iliating. / A skunk's philosophy is I stink, therefore I am.

..........Everything they'll ever know.........The Crabs …..Jean Paul Sartre

^^ Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale were from Pottsylvania.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Smoking pot doesn't make me a bad person just like going to church doesn't make you a good one.

Moonbeam: There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. --Indira Gandhi

Video of the Week: Paul Robeson singing Joe Hill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Kxq9uFDes

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Ollie and the submarine of a different color

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: It's very funny what presses their buttons; but the Republicans are really against imaginary creatures. They were upset about Mr Potato Head and now we've got Big Bird. I Don't know who's next to set them off. --Alanxo Bodden Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 11/16/21

If the workers took a notion they could stop all speeding trains; every ship upon the ocean they can tie with mighty chains. --Joe Hill

I was dating a solipsist but he ended it. He said, “It's not you; it's only me. / How many surrealists would it require to screw in a light bulb? Fish

..........No one ever wrote a tune for godless existentialism.........Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers …..Atheists Don't Have No Songs

^^^ Gidney and Cloyd were aliens from the Moon.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's not my fault you thought I was normal. That's on you. --Submitted by mja of ks

Collective Nouns of the Week: a Pretension of Intellects and a Confusion of Philosophers

Vintage Players One Liner of the Week: Old age is when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Get short-term relief from nicotine withdrawal symptoms. As long as you're not on a low-sodium diet or have peptic ulcers, drink two Alka-Seltzer tablets dissolved in a glass of water at every meal. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/alkaseltzer.html

Puzzle of the Week: Name a variety of songs and a genre of music (6,4). Switch the initial consonant sounds of these two words, and, phonetically, you'll name an object found in the kitchen (6,4). What is it?

I took my Marxist friend to a Japanese restaurant for the tea ceremony. But she got up a left before it even started. She said proper tea is theft. / You know, Nietzsche complained that Egypt was way to Nile-istic.

...........I don't think humans are made for this world.........Ingrid Yeung …..Aristotle

^^^^ The current Rocky title was imposed for home video releases more than 40 years after the series originally aired and was never used when the show was televised; television airings of the show were broadcast under the titles of Rocky and His Friends from 1959 to 1961 (and again in Canada in 1963), The Bullwinkle Show from 1961 to 1964, and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (or The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) in syndication. So, 5 years

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Every time you smoke a cigarette God takes away one day of your life and gives it to Keith Richards. ~~FYI: Keith Richards is four months older than I am and Willie Nelson is ten years older than Keith.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Fantastika 2021 (19-21, Stockholm) There are many descriptions of what is fantastic, but a simple one is that there is something in the story that is not realistic today. https://fantastika2020.com/om-sf-kongresser/

Name That Poet of the Week: If I should labor through daylight and dark, Consecrate, valorous, serious, true, Then on the world I may blazon my mark; And what if I don't, and what if I do?

Actual Science Conference of the Week: 1173^rd International Conference on Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (ICCBE) (11/19, Cambridge ...find international linkage for future collaborations... https://conferencealert.com/conf-detail.php?ev_id=496650

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Ballad Soul --> Salad Bowl

Voltaire liked his apples candied. / Barb ran a pub with absolutely no class. It was named Marxist Utopia.

..........It's a sign of the time that we're in.........Emperor X …..Schopenhauer in Berlin

^^^^^ Bullwinkle attended college at "Wossamotta U" on a football scholarship. He is a long-time supporter of the Bull Moose Party, and at one time was the part-owner, part-governor of the island of Moosylvania.

My Own Writing of the Week: Stringman and I played games...board games, card games, and pen and pencil games. Once a friend gave him two decks of cards that were stamped onto tiles - like dominoes. We made up games to play with them. He was also a master of string figures and taught adults and children alike to make them too. He read anthropology journals to find descriptions of string figures displayed by tribes and peoples in obscure places and times. He and a friend did a stand up 'comedy' routine...with string. Every couple of years, I get out my string - it hangs near my computer - to remember a few of the old tricks, 2 diamonds, 3 diamonds, 4 diamonds aka Jacob's Ladder. 1,000 diamonds was the standard trick still to be learned. --from The Philosopher

Poet of the Week: Dorothy Parker Philosophy

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Happy International Men's Day.-- When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping; men invade another country. --Elayne Boosier / Is it a coincidence that International Men's Day and World Toilet Day fall are celebrated simultaneously

Today's Peace of History, November 19, 1977: In an unprecedented move, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat traveled to Israel to seek a permanent peace settlement with Egypt's neighbor after decades of conflict.

I bought a reflective jacket. Now it sits in the corner and reads Descartes. / If you cross a philosopher with the godfather you get an offer you can't understand.

..........I want a god who stays dead, not plays dead.........The Dandy Warhols …..Nietzsche

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle November 19, 2021, Why ePistle? Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves. --Larry King

Cost of War:

As of 11/18/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,931,678,289,833.

As of 11/11/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,930,789,012,529.

As of 11/18/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,089,688,911,521.

As of 11/11/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,089,079,669,501.

As of 11/18/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $163,856,493,958.

As of 11/11/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $163,295,696,794.

As of 11/18/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,016,771,659,261.

As of 11/11/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,015,204,951,627.

As of 11/18/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,132,652,869,886.

As of 11/11/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,120,774,450,647.

As of 11/18/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,334,650,244,204.

As of 11/11/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,318,848,455,713.

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

I will die like a true-blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning – organize. --Joe Hill

Famous Last Words: But, Bullwinkle, there aren't any more woods. --Rocket J Squirrel

..........What's the sound of one hand clapping.........Van Morrison …..Enlightenment

Does it feel solipsistic here or is it just me? / I attended a philosophy convention and there was a convention of comedians there at the same time. I laughed more than I thought.

May Peace surround you

And Joy center you

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

unbearable ePistle

 Famous First Words: Help me off the pedestal. Grace Kelly as Tracy Lord in High Society

It's Polar Bear Week! Paul Polar meant to write jokes for you; but he's still waiting for the seal of approval. / Polars catch fish with their bear hands.

..........But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead........Neil Young …..Rockin' In The Free World

The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being. --Lech Walesa

It is a chilly (39°F) Friday morning. The sky is a very pale blue with the sun rising below a flock of fluffy clouds slowly working their way south. A fierce north wind drives the cold between the buttons and up the sleeves of my coat. It strips leaves from branches and sends them flying around the neighborhood. The little maple tree that was the first to change it's dress to red and brighten the block, has only a dozen or so leaves left, small yellow, unhealthy looking leaves. What a change. Puck barks at the blowing leaves and at the world in general. He doesn't seem to mind the wind as he sniffs his way down the block. There are no birds singing the praises of the morning. There is only the sound of machinery tearing up the street to replace the scarred pavement, grinding and drilling that sets my teeth on edge. So we return home to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and freshly harvested catnip drying on the counter. I ignore the catnip but fix a cup of decaf, creamed and sweetened, dark and rich. I sit down and take a long, hot gulp. Ahh, and now I get to write to you. What a great morning.

Hope your weekend is warm and cozy, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The Devil whispered in my ear: “You're not strong enough to withstand the storm.” I whispered back: “At least I didn't lose my golden fiddle to some hillbilly from Georgia.”

Polar bears keep their money in snowbanks. / Paula Polar was very sad; she felt ice-olated.

..........I've been to Hollywood, I've been to Redwood........Neil Young ….Heart Of Gold

Trivia Questions: Ellis Island – what do we know about it?

^ Where did Ellis Island get its name?

^^ Where did immigrants actually land before going to Ellis Island?

^^^ What exams were given to incoming immigrants?

^^^^ How busy was Ellis Island, anyway?

^^^^^ To what purpose was Ellis Island put during WWI & II?

Big Hello: Bonjou – Haitian Creole https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When I was young I was scared of the dark. Now when I see my electricity bill I am scared of the light.

Max Picture of the Week: Max and Mom making cautionary art

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: Instead of a flask at their desk 34% of librarians hide a box of wine in an unused magazine box. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

When Peter Polar got caught in a rainstorm, his mates called him drizzly bear. / Petunia Polar loved 10 pins. Her nickname was Bowler Polar.

..........We took our souls and we flew away.........Neil Young …..Comes A Time

Moonbeam: "To live for a principle, for the triumph of some reform by which all mankind is to be lifted up—to be wedded to an idea—may be, after all, the holiest and happiest of marriages." --Elizabeth Cady Stanton on her friend Susan B Anthony

Meditation Seed of the Week: What would you do with the ability to become invisible for a day?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I wonder how bored people have to be to play a game of Type This and Let the Computer Finish

Week of the Week: Children's Book Week (8-14) --What's the Cat in the Hat's favorite Red Lobster order? One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish / Dr Seuss once treated a fellow doctor, Dr George Forten, who was afraid of the number 3. Forten fears a few... ~~Sigh

Perry Polar claimed he wore his thick, white coat fur protection. / Pearl Polar is a gossip columnist. She specializes in compromising polar-oids.

..........I've been first and last.........Neil Young …..Old Man

^ Ellis Island was named for its last private owner, Samuel Ellis. Long before it became a way station for people looking for a new beginning it was used for pirate hangings in the early 1800s.

Almanac: It is Friday, November 12, 2021. The moon was in the first quarter yesterday and is in Pisces. It is Chicken Soup For The Soul Day, Fancy Rat & Mouse Day, National French Dip Day, Sigma Gamma Rho Day, and World Pneumonia Day. Because it is the second Friday, it is Domino Day. In Austria it is Republic Day (1918) and in Saudi Arabia it is Coronation Day. Finally women's organizations everywhere celebrate Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day. She was born on this date in 1815.

Among those born on this day were Juana Inés de La Cruz (1651), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815), Bahá'u'lláh (1817), Auguste Rodin (1840), Lord Rayleigh (1841), Sun Yat-sen (1866), Jack Oakie (1903), Kim Hunter (1922), Grace Kelly (1929), Charles Manson (1934), Neil Young (1945), and Nadia Comaneci (1961).

On November twelfth the Origin of the Era of Alexander began (324 BCE), the Origin of the Era of Ascension began (295), George Washington forbade recruiting blackmen (1775), Britain annexed Gilbert & Ellice Islands (1915), Notre Dame's Fighting Irish changed their color from blue to green (1927), Trotsky was expelled (1927), the Oakland Bay Bridge opened (1936), the first drive-up bank window opened (Chicago, 1946), Song of the South was released (1946), Ellis Island closed (1954), date returned to in Back to the Future (I & II, 1955), Paula Murphy set the female land speed record (225.37/mph, 1964), Justice William O Douglas retired after 36 years (1975), the Polish government freed labor activist Lech Walesa (1982), and Yuri Andropov succeeded Leonid Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union (1982).

Night Sky, 1/12: At nightfall Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, and Venus form a long, ragged diagonal line in the south to southwest, in that order from upper left to lower right. The largest asteroid, 1 Ceres, is currently passing through the Hyades near Aldebaran this week http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Image of the Week: The new fridge

This Week: Saturday, November 13 – World Kindness Day & Sandwich Day

Sunday, November 14 – International Girls Day & Operating Room Nurse Day & National American Teddy Bear Day

Night Sky, 11/14: Vega is the brightest star high in the west on November evenings. Its little constellation Lyra extends to its left, pointing as always to Altair, the brightest star in the southwest. Three of Lyra's stars near Vega are interesting doubles. Barely above Vega is 4th-magnitude Epsilon Lyrae, the Double-Double. Epsilon forms one corner of a roughly equilateral triangle with Vega and Zeta Lyrae. The triangle is less than 2° on a side, hardly the width of your thumb at arm's length.

Monday, November 15 – America Recycles Day & I Love To Write Day & National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day

Tuesday, November 16 – International Day for Tolerance & National Button Day & Family Day

Wednesday, November 17 – Take A Hike Day & Homemade Bread Day

Night Sky, 11/17: Uranus (magnitude 5.7, in southern Aries) is well up in the east by 7 pm standard time. Neptune (magnitude 7.9, at the Aquarius-Pisces border) is already high in the southeast at nightfall.

Thursday, November 18 – World Philosophy Day & Use Less Stuff Day & Mickey Mouse Day

Patrick Polar was getting very old, his coat was yellow and he was afraid of losing his teeth and becoming a gummy bear. / Patricia Polar was a scientist studying bear-ium. She was known for never taking a vacation; she preferred hi-bear-nation.

..........A dreamer of pictures.........Neil Young …..Cinnamon Girl

^^ The waters surrounding Ellis Island were too shallow for transatlantic ships to navigate, so most docked and unloaded their passengers in Manhattan. During the detour, American citizens and first and second-class passengers were allowed to enter the country after only a brief inspection, but steerage passengers were herded onto ferries and shuttled to Ellis Island for further processing.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Bumper Sticker on Grandma's Car: I'm speeding because I have to get there before I forget where I'm going. --Submitted by cf of ks

Moonbeam: “I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives, but as nouns.” --Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Video of the Week: What if the Beatles were Irish with Roy Zimmerman https://www.facebook.com/100045196264954/videos/10156256246798762/

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Ollie has had enough

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: A dad on Tik Tok realized that Disney+ had edited the popular Australian kids cartoon Bluey for sensitive American audiences For example, they removed just a moment of a scene that showed what? ... What is perfectly fine in Australia but they decided American audiences simply could not handle this/ --Peter Sagal Oh, a character getting the vaccine. --Negin Farsad ~~The answer was a unicorn pooping. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 11/6/21

It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness. and a mood of helplessness prevails. --Lech Walesa

I have a recurring dream about being attacked by polar bears. The doctor says it's just a bite-mare. / Pamela Polar invented the polar roller coaster. They call her the Roller Bear.

..........There's calm in your eyes and I'm getting' blown away.........Neil Young …..Like A Hurricane

^^^ Upon arrival at Ellis Island, immigrants were ushered into a room called the Great Hall and paraded before a series of medical officers for physical inspection. Most were allowed to pass by in a matter of seconds, but those whom the doctors deemed physically or mentally deficient were marked with chalk and taken away for additional screening. Questionable candidates were forced to submit to more detailed questioning and medical exams, and any signs of contagious disease, poor physique, feeblemindedness or insanity could see an immigrant denied admittance on the grounds that they were likely to become a ward of the state. In later years, doctors at Ellis Island even devised puzzles and memory tests to ensure that certain immigrants were intelligent enough to find work. New arrivals could also face rejection if they were anarchists, had a criminal record, or showed signs of low moral character. Despite the litany of guidelines for new immigrants, the number of people denied entry at Ellis Island was quite low. Of the 12 million people who passed through its doors between 1892 and 1954, only around 2 percent were deemed unfit to become citizens of the United States.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Things I trust more than Ted Cruz: Flint, MI tap water, Bill Cosby's drinks, anything from Chipotle.

Distant Cousin of Video of the Month: Domino Day – video of 32,000 dominoes falling into beautiful patterns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I7doqtpDq8

Extra Peace Quote of the Week: Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide. --Henri Barbusse

Vintage Players One Liner of the Week: Cats are in charge, accept it.

Collective Nouns of the Week: An obscurity of Poets and a Pomposity of Professors

Puzzle of the Week: This challenge came from Michael Shteyman, of Freeland, Md. Think of a popular tourist attraction in two words (5,6). The second, fourth and sixth letters of the second word, in order, spell the first name of a famous author. The last four letters of the first word spell the author's last name. Who is the author, and what is the tourist attraction? NPR Puzzle Sunday 11/7/21

When Pierce Polar learned that the Antarctic was not the same as the Arctic, he was stunned. He'd never heard of polar opposites. / Whenever her friends asked what she wanted to do, Priscilla Polar would say, “North Pole and Chill”.

...........Just like children sleepin' we could dream this night away.........Neil Young …..Harvest Moon

^^^^ From 1900 to 1914—the peak years of Ellis Island’s operation—an average of 1,900 people passed through the immigration station every day. Most successfully passed through in a matter of hours, but others could be detained for days or weeks.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: OmegaCon 2021 (12-14, The Lodge at Crooked Lake, WI) Now calm down and bear with us... https://www.facebook.com/OmegaCon/

Name That Poet of the Week: In Honor of Fancy Rat and Mouse Day Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste, An' weary Winter comin fast...

Actual Science Conference of the Week: International Online Symposium on Environmental Microplastics (10-12, Chicago) MOS aims to ...discuss the gaps... https://10times.com/e1zp-31zh-10gp

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: : Grand Canyon --> Ayn Rand

Percy Polar worked very hard all week, but he only did the bear minimum on weekends. / Polar bears tend to find snow jokes unbearable.

..........Now your crosses are burning fast.........Neil Young …..Southern Man

^^^^^ Shortly after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, the government turned a suspicious eye toward all German-born, non-naturalized citizens residing within its borders. Potential “alien enemies” were placed under harsh restrictions, and those suspected of harboring pro-German sentiment were rounded up and detained. Since immigration had tapered off World War I, officials designated Ellis Island as one of the main holding centers for would-be enemies of the state, and some 1,500 people were eventually detained there.

My Own Writing of the Week: Stringman became a mushroom hunter and joined with other fungus-heads and finally, wrote a book on identifying mushrooms in the area. I went on forays from time to time but lacked the essential drive to find the next wonder smut. I do have a much clearer picture of the diversity of the species and appreciate the beauty and flavor that is out there. However, I did not find an answer to the question: why do we have no problem going to a grocery store and buying mushrooms grown and harvested by total strangers but we are suspicious of any mushroom given to us by a dear friend?

Poet of the Week: Robert Burns To A Mouse https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43816/to-a-mouse-56d222ab36e33

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Farmer Joan asked her partner what he did with the chicken she brought him. “I made the chicken soup”, he said. “What did you make for me”, Joan asked.

Today's Peace of History, November 12, 1989: Tens of thousands of Americans joined “Mobilize for Women’s Lives” in more than 150 cities and towns nationwide. They sought protection of women’s rights to reproductive choice, including abortion. ~~31 years ago...it is estimated that 2.6 millon women marched in August 2021. When will we be free?

Parsley Polar missed the school bus and rode there by icicle instead. / The polar bears are very worried about global warming; however, the views are thaw dropping.

..........This summer I hear the drumming.........Neil Young …..Ohio

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, November 12, 2021, Unbearable ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: “Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving.” --Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Cost of War:

As of 11/11/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,930,789,012,529.

As of 11/04/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,929,364,113,594.

As of 11/11/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,089,079,669,501.

As of 11/04/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,088,503,551,196.

As of 11/11/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $163,295,696,794.

As of 11/04/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $162,765,230,181.

As of 11/11/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,015,204,951,627.

As of 11/04/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,013,723,337,709.

As of 11/11/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,120,774,450,647.

As of 11/04/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,109,544,306,428.

As of 11/11/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,318,848,455,713.

As of 11/04/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,303,903

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

He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed. --Lech Walesa

Famous Last Words: There ain't nobody looking back again Song of the South

..........In the mornin' when your rise.........Neil Young …..You Don't Have To Cry

Patches the Polar Bear liked cold butts and hot jazz. / What did Penny Polar eat right after the dentist straightened her teeth? The dentist.

May Peace warm your cockles

And Joy cool your jets

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

The Only ePistle

 Famous First Words: Red hair occurs naturally in roughly one to two percent of the population... --Red Hair Day Website

It is Play Monopoly Day! Monopoly is fun but it has some really old stuff that isn't valid anymore. There's free parking, a luxury tax, and rich people can actually go to jail. / My mom and I used to play with 2 Monopoly boards side by side. We called it Steropoly.

..........Pledging their love to the ground.........Roy Rogers …..Tumbling Tumbleweed

In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People. ― Eugene Victor Debs

It is a busy Friday morning and I haven't actually taken time to look outside. The new fridge arrives between 12 and 4 pm and we need to clear the rest of the stuff out of the old one into a cooler filled with the ice we've kept in the freezer compartment to help keep the milk cool. Then we need to move it out so we can mop the floor where it stood before we put something new in that spot. (I hope this is not the highlight of my day) There is weather here; it is 39°F. I'm looking forward to ice cubes in my near future.

I hope our weekend floats like a autumn leaf, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. --Submitted by INRITH

What's the opposite of monopoly? Polypoly. / My dad made a village of Monopoly hotels under the spice rack in the kitchen. He says it Subherbinn

..........And we're rolling, rolling, rolling on the river..........Ike & Tina Turner …..Proud Mary

Trivia Questions: It's Wiggle Jiggle Jell-O Day

^ Do you have any idea what the original 4 flavors of Jell-O were?

^^ Which state's residents eat the most Jell-O?

^^^ Would you care to guess what percentage of Jell-O is sugar?

^^^^ Care to guess how many households in the US have Jell-O in their home?

^^^^^ How many of Jell-O's current 22 flavors can you name?

Big Hello: Namaste – Gujarati https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Guilt – the gift that goes on giving. --Erma Bombeck

Max Picture of the Week: Max as Rio's Blu

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: Library staff write 90% of the submissions found in the library's suggestion box. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Last night my brother got all his properties taken away and he was thrown in jail. He resisted, refused food and drink, and then he began digging the mortar from the brings. We'll never play Monopoly with him again. / It was a rainy day so I asked my daughter if she wanted to play Monopoly. Then I took all the toilet paper in the house and hid it in the master bathroom.

..........You got to make the morning last….......Simon & Garfunkle …..59^th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

Moonbeam: There is no man more dangerous, in a position of power, than he who refuses to accept as a working truth the idea that all a man does should make for rightness and soundness, that even the fixing of a tariff rate must be moral. --Ida Tarbell

Meditation Seed of the Week: If you could go back in time and un-invent something; what would you erase?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Karma is a bitch? Oh, no, honey,,,,karma is a classy and wise elder that will calmly sit you down and serve you a tea you later realize was laced with the same poison you served others for years.

Week of the Week: National Fig Week (1-7) –The apple went out with the fig because he couldn't find a date. / I could have sworn I saw a fig flavored altoid, turned out to be a fig mint of my imagination.

Remember in Monopoly, when some insufferable kids couldn't agree who was banker, they'd refuse to play completely? They are the ones behind the government shutdown threat. / I once played Monopoly with an ex secret service agent. He kept holding the money up to the light to check for counterfeiting.

..........Come on, baby, what you waitin' on.........Ike & Tina Turner …..Baby, Get It On

^ The original jello flavors were strawberry raspberry, orange, and lemon

Almanac: It is Friday, November 5, 2021. The moon was new yesterday and is in Scorpio. It is Firewood Day, Guy Fawkes Day, National Love Your Red Hair Day, National Medical Cannabis Day, Play Monopoly Day, Wiggle Jiggle Jell-O Day, and World Tsunami Awareness Day. Because it is the first Friday it is also Fountain Pen Day, Love Your Lawyer Day, National (Football) Jersey Friday, and National Medical Science Liaison Awareness & Appreciation Day.

Among those born on this day were Eugene Debs (1855), Ida Tarbell (1857), Will Durant (1885), Joel McCrea (1905), Roy Rogers (1911), Natalie Schaeffer (Lovey Howell, 1912), John McGiver (1913), Vivien Leigh (1913), Moe Biller (1915), Ike Turner (1931), Art Garfunkel (1942), Elke Sommer (1942), Sam Shepard, (1943), and Tatum O'Neal (1963).

On November fifth the Gunpowder Plot was discovered (1605), El Salvador's war for independence began (1811), Honduras declared independence (1838), Susan B Anthony was fined for trying to vote ($100, 1872), Susan B Anthony was arrested for tying to vote (1875), Selden received a patent for an automobile (1895), the first transcontinental air flight arrived in Pasadena (1911), Britain annexed Cyprus (1914), the Supreme Court outlawed segregated housing (1917), the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered University of Maryland to admit a black student (Donald Murray, 1935), the Monopoly Game was launched (1935), FDR won an unprecedented 3rd term (1940), JFK was elected to the House of Representatives (1946), th Nat King Cole Show premiered (1957, the BART opened (1973), Ella Grasso became the first woman elected governor (1974), and George Harrison released "Gone Troppo" (1982).

Night Sky, 11/5: Here it is early November, but Deneb still shines right near the zenith as the stars come out. And brighter Vega is still not far from the zenith, toward the west. The third star of the "Summer" Triangle, Altair, remains very high in the southwest (high upper right of Jupiter and Saturn). They seem to have stayed there for a couple months! Why have they stalled out? What you're seeing is the result of sunset and darkness arriving earlier and earlier during autumn. Which means if you go out and starwatch soon after dark, you're doing it earlier and earlier by the clock. This counteracts the seasonal westward turning of the constellations. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Image of the Week: Lawrence KS newly elected City Commissioners ~~Multiple local sources believe that the last Black person to run for the commission did so in 1969, meaning it has been more than 50 years since Lawrence has seen a Black candidate, let alone a Black commissioner.

This Week: Saturday, November 6 – Bison Day & National Nachos Day & National Play Outside Day

Daylight Savings Time Ends – Fall Back

Sunday, November 7 – Employee Brotherhood Day & Notary Public Day & Zero Tasking Day

Night Sky 11/7 : I don't know why I always get confused trying to find the open cluster NGC 7789 in Cassiopeia, a.k.a. Caroline's Rose, with a finderscope or binoculars. I mean it's right there — a simple, short star-hop from the bright end of the Cassiopeia W. Maybe it's because it's a very dim, smooth glow despite being respectably large; the cluster is rich with stars but they're all very faint

Monday, November 8 – Abet and Aid Punsters Day & Dunce Day & World Orphans Day

Tuesday, November 9 – World Freedom Day & National Young Readers Day

Wednesday, November 10 – Area Code Day & Sesame Street Day & World Science Day for Peace and Development

Night Sky, 11/10: Jupiter and Saturn continue to shine in the south during the evening, 15° apart in Capricornus. Jupiter is the bright one at magnitude –2.5. Saturn, to its right or lower right, is mag +0.6. In twilight they're just beginning to tilt. As evening advances they tilt more steeply as they move westward. Saturn sets around 11 or midnight daylight-saving time, Jupiter about an hour later.

Thursday, November 11 – Armistice Day & Origami Day & Red Lipstick Day

I just found a monopoly game but the rules are missing. What are the chances? / I was investing in Monopoly games until I realized that there is no real money in it. / In the new Sherlock Holmes themed Monopoly the board is exactly 12 inches. The game is afoot.

..........One and one-half wandering Jews….......Simon & Garfunkle …..Hearts and Bones

^^ The people in Utah love their Jell-O! The state has an entire holiday week dedicated to the jiggly treat, and it’s even Utah’s official state food.

Preantepenultimate Funnest Thing I Read of the Week: I need that kind of coffee that's so strong when I take a sip, my ancestors wake up. --Submitted by cf

Moonbeam: Rockefeller and his associates did not build the Standard Oil Co. in the boardrooms of Wall Street banks. They fought their way to control by rebate and drawback, bribe and blackmail, espionage and price cutting, by ruthless ... efficiency of organization. --Ida Tarbell

Video of the Week: Excerpt from The Nat King Cole Show (1957) ..It's A Good Day & I'm Gonna Write Myself a letter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5tZrH2O4jc

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Ollie as an astronaut

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: That's right, cheating. Turns out bridge is much more than that card game the white women were playing in The Help. ...Cheating at bridge seems very complicated; and, If I'm gonna cheat at team-sports I'm doing it the old fashioned way by taking steroids and getting jacked. Because I don't think Mildred from next door is going to say anything when I slam my cards down with the force of 10 Mildreds. --Negin Farsad Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 11/30/21

While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. ― Eugene V. Debs

When they asked me to help design the first Monopoly board, I thought I'd give it a Go. / Never in my life have I seen so much corruption, bribery, blackmail, jealousy, theft, fraud, deception, and outright bloodshed. I don't know why I even play Monopoly with senators.

..........Boom-shaka-laka-laka.........Ike & Tina Turner …..I Want To Take You Higher

^^^ Did you know this jiggly dessert is made with nearly 90% sugar? (This explains why you might not want to eat dessert every day!) But without the sugar, Jell-O would be colorless and have no flavor or smell.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: A wrong note played timidly is a wrong note. A wrong note played with authority is an interpretation.

Collective Nouns of the Week: A Conjunction of Grammarians and a Erudition of Editors

Puzzle of the Week: Think of a two-word (8,4) phrase you might see on a laptop computer menu. Remove five letters. What remains, in order, is a three-word (1,2,4) phrase you might see on a restaurant menu. What phrases are these? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 10/31/21

I've been playing Bonopoly this evening. It's like Monopoly, but the streets have no names. / When it comes to board games about buying real estate...Hasbro really has a monopoly.

...........'Neath the halo of a street lamp, I turned my collar to the cold and damp........Simon & Garfunkle …..Sound of Silence

^^^^ Three out of every four American families have Jell-O in the cupboard. It’s budget-friendly, too, which makes it a great option for any family.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Everything will kill you, so pick something fun.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: ConJuration (5-7, Atlanta GA) A Weekend of Magical Experiences https://www.conjurationcon.com/

Name That Poet of the Week: But ash new or ash old, is fit for a queen with crown of gold...

Actual Science Conference of the Week: International Conference on Oil and Gas (11/4, Boston MA) The ICOG conference is an international forum for the presentation of technological advances and research results in the fields of Oil and Gas. https://www.allconferencealert.com/event-detail.html?ev_id=524411&eventname=international-congress-on-oil-and-gas-(icog)

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Airplane Mode + A la mode

The weird thing about the game Monopoly is that only one company makes it. / Being a High School Teacher is the equivalent of being a millionaire in Monopoly.

..........Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken.........Ike & Tina Turner …..What's Love Got To Do With It

^^^^^ Current Jell-O Flavors: Apple. Apricot, Berry Blue, Black Cherry, Black Raspberry, Blackberry, Blackberry Fusion. Bubble Gum, Celery. Cherry. Cherry Lemonade, Chocolate, Coffee, Cola, Concord Grape, Cotton Candy, Cranberry, Cranberry-Strawberry, Fruit Punch, Grape, Green Apple, Italian Salad, Lemon, Lemon-Lime, Lime, Mango, Maple Syrup, Margarita, Melon Fusion, Melon-Berry, Mixchief Grape, Mixchief Juice, Mixchief Soda Pop, Mixed Vegetable, Orange, Orange-Banana, Orange-Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Peach, Piña Colada, Pineapple, Pineapple-Grapefruit, Plain, Raspberry, Raspberry Mango, Root Beer, Seasoned Tomato, Sparkling Berry, Sparkling Mandarin Orange, Sparkling White Grape, Strawberry, Strawberry Daiquiri, Strawberry Punch, Strawberry-Banana, Strawberry-Kiwi, Triple Chocolate, Tropical Fruit, Tropical Fusion, Watermelon, Watermelon Candy, Wild Strawberry, Wild Raspberry.

My Own Writing of the Week: Stringman and I were an item for several years. Even before we became an item, he taught me about the "golly gee whiz" phenomenon in science fiction. He took me to my first science fiction convention (BYOB 5, KCMO, 1975). He wasn't a writer but he was a voracious reader. He remained a friend through everything, even moving on; he remains a friend to this day.

I met him when he was a graduate student. He had been a philosophy undergraduate and he introduced me to Husserl and phenomenology and other pre-post-modernist philosophies. He ended up in science as a electron microscope tech. --from The Philosopher

Poet of the Week: The Firewood Poem --Celia Congreve https://allpoetry.com/The-Firewood-Poem

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Starting your day off with a morning run is a great way to make sure your day can't get any worse. --Submitted by INRITH

Today's Peace of History: November 5, 1974: Ella Grasso became the first US female governor who was not related to the previous governor.

ABBA used to play monopoly in the green room while touring. That's where the got the inspiration for Take A Chance On Me. / I suspected my spouse of cheating and now I've found proof...Monopoly money hidden in the couch cushions.

..........Every day's an endless stream of cigarettes and magazines.........Simon & Garfunkle …..Homeward Bound

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, November 5, 2021, the Only ePistle Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS

Moonbeam: We were raising our standard of living at the expense of our standard of character. --Ida Tarbell

Cost of War:

As of 11/04/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,929,364,113,594.

As of 10/28/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,928,137,021,076.

As of 11/04/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,088,503,551,196.

As of 10/28/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,087,875,029,694.

As of 11/04/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $162,765,230,181.

As of 10/28/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $162,186,600,706.

As of 11/04/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,013,723,337,709.

As of 10/28/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,012,107,090,895.

As of 11/04/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,109,544,306,428.

As of 10/28/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,097,292,625,207.

As of 11/04/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,303,903,023,489.

As of 10/28/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,287,602,671,976.

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

A privately owned world can never be a free world and a society based upon warring classes cannot stand. ― Eugene V. Debs,

Famous Last Words: Joy cometh with the morning. --Eugene V Debs Statement to the court on his conviction. 9/18/1918

..........Keep smiling until then.........Roy Rogers …..Happy Trails

When I was a kid my older brother dared me to take a bite out of the Monopoly board. It was a little gamey./ Scrabble, monopoly, and cluedo were sitting around the bedroom feeling sorry for themselves. They hadn’t been played with in a long time and were feeling particularly frustrated and listless. They wanted something to do but just didn’t know what to do and so sat there with a mood on, not feeling happy at all. Betty and Bill came into the room and Bill picked up monopoly and started dealing money. Betty asked him what he was doing and he replied; “Playing bored games”

May Peace permeate your board

And Joy engulf your game

prairie mama

christine

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