Thought for the day...

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." -Mark Twain.

as a weapon, it can really hit its target when a person feels laughed at "And then it turns into a kind of peace healing when a person feels they weren't being laughed at after all, but laughed with, really laughed with." -Marc Twang

(I'm not laughing... but I'm certainly smiling.) Leplep... are you and Marc related? Does Jah ghostwrite? Those sentiments just sound so familiar... .ok

Maybe Leplep is a "witch" and Jah IS his familiar...

Witch way did he go, George. Witch way did he go??

when i get the itch, Jah scratches it when it's in season, Marc attaches it must be the season of the witch

and, you can't hide your witchy I's...

and your smile is a thin (withcy) disguise...

I thought by now we'd realize LePlep hap-pens to be a witchy guy...

woo woo -- that was Eagle witchalicious!

Rather than create a new topic, I am gonna post some curious and interesting trivia: At -90 degrees Farenheit the moisture in your breath will freeze in midair and fall to the ground. Research indicates that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches in the world. Everyday more money is printed for the game of Monopoly than for the U.S. Treasury. Men get hiccups more often than women. Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better than men. Scientists say the average person eats about 2 pounds of bugs a year. That's mostly because insects accidentally get ground up in foods like peanut butter, strawberry jelly, and spaghetti sauce. They won't hurt you, they're actually full of protein. The glue on postage stamps in Israel is certified kosher.

FEB. 29 -- TUESDAY * Happy Leap Day! This is the first leap day in a year ending in -00 since 1600, nine years before Galileo used his first telescope. This page gives a basic explanation of leap year: http://www.digtl.com/leapyr.htm Here's a slightly different version from the Royal Observatory Greenwich: http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/leapyear/leapyear.html This one includes information that not everybody added 10 days in 1582, that was the Catholics. Britain and its colonies didn't change until 1752 and then went from September 2nd to Sept 14th, adding 11 days. Did you know that there are also Leap Seconds added to many years? Here is a rather complicated explanation from the US Naval Observatory: http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/leapsec.html Were you born on Leap Day? Did you know that there is an Honor Society of Leap Day Babies? http://www.leapdaybabies.com/ There is even a Leap Year Capital of the World - Anthony, New Mexico/Texas USA. They are going to have one heck of a bash there this year. Here's a snip from the site: "The Leap Year 2000 Festival will include a Leap Year Day Parade, Hot Air Balloon lift off, Chuck Wagon Breakfast, hayrides, Antique Tractor Show, golf tournament, Hunch (Washer) Tournament, tours of the valley, Golden Oldies 'Big Band of the Rio Grande' Concert and dance, Square Dancing, 10K Run, 2 mile walk, carnival, petting zoo, juried Arts and Crafts Festival, International Food Booths, fireworks, and, of course, the biggest Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Party ever held. In addition, a special feature will be a personal concert by Graham Nash of "Crosby, Stills and Nash." http://www.zianet.com/snm/leapyear.htm This one has some articles and explanations and links: http://www.emailman.com/leapday/index.html

U

Here are several one-liner items of trivia... The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Windmills always turn counterclockwise. A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand. The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' head enables it to see all four feet at all times. Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning. Human teeth are almost as hard as rocks. A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night. Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone. A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside. A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has one less groove. A hummingbird weighs less than a penny. Until 1796, there was a state in the United States called Franklin. Today it is known as Tennessee. The Earth weighs around 6,588,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons. A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off. Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 calorie. The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year. One in every four Americans has appeared on television. The average American will eat about 11.9 pounds of cereal per year. It's against the law to burp or sneeze in a church in Omaha, Nebraska. You're born with 300 bones, but when you get to be an adult, you only have 206. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

TODAY'S ALMANAC - Friday, March 10, 2000 "The History, Days and Events that Shape Your Life" *----------- A Thought for the Day ------------* Thomas Paine wrote, "My country is the world and my religion is to do good." *----------------------------------------------* Today is Friday, March 10, the 70th day of 2000 with 296 to follow. The moon is waxing, moving toward its first quarter. The morning stars are Mercury and Venus. The evening stars are Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. ------------------------------------------------------------ Born on this date under the sign of Pisces: They include actor Barry Fitzgerald in 1888 French composer Arthur Honegger in 1892 Jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke in 1903 Poet Margaret Fishback in 1904 (age 96) Playwright David Rabe and actor Chuck Norris, both in 1940 (age 60) Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, and journalist Bob Greene, both in 1947 (age 53) Actresses Sharon Stone in 1958 (age 42) Jasmine Guy ("A Different World") in 1964 (age 36) Britain's Prince Edward in 1964 (age 36) ------------------------------------------------------------ On This Date in History: In 515 B.C., the re-building of the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem was completed. In 1862, the U.S. Treasury issued the first American paper money, in denominations from $5 to $1,000. In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. In 1987, the Vatican condemned human artificial fertilization or generation of human life outside the womb and said all reproduction must result from the "act of conjugal love." In 1991, former POWs held by Iraq returned to the United States to a hero's welcome. In 1992, President Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton got sweeping Southern victories in the Super Tuesday primaries. Former Sen. Paul Tsongas won in New England. In 1993, FBI agents arrested a third person, a 25-year-old Kuwaiti-born chemical engineer, in connection with the World Trade Center bombing. Also in 1993, rapidly melting snow and ice jams forced rivers out of their banks and hundreds from their homes in Nebraska in the worst flooding in 15 years. In 1993, an anti-abortion demonstrator fatally shot a doctor at a Pensacola, Fla., clinic. In 1994, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevented reported the number of new AIDS cases in the United States had more than doubled in 1993. In 1995, retired Air Force Gen. Michael Carns withdrew from consideration to head the CIA after an FBI background check turned up potential violations of labor and immigration law involving a young family friend Carns had arranged to bring to the United States from the Philippines. In 1997, The Citadel announced that 10 male cadets had been disciplined for mistreating two female cadets; the women later resigned from the South Carolina military academy. In 1998, Indonesian President Suharto was re-elected to a seventh term.

ACCORDING TO LEGEND, WHAT DID CLEOPATRA HAVE HER MATTRESSES STUFFED WITH EVERY NIGHT? Fresh roses. ------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT DID A MAN NAMED GEORGE HARRISON SELL FOR $50 IN 1886? The Rand in South Africa - the world's major source for gold? HOW MANY SIDES DOES A NAVAJO HOGAN HAVE? Six; the entry always faces east, toward the morning sun. ------------------------------------------------------------ WHY DO OLD FIREHOUSES HAVE CIRCULAR STAIRCASES? Because in the days of yore the horses that pulled fire engines were stabled on the ground floor of fire houses and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

A man who says marriage is a 50-50 proposition doesn't understand two things: 1 - Women, 2 - Fractions *** I wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's one called brightness, but it doesn't work.

Einstein couldn't speak fluently when he was age nine. You're more likely to get stung by a bee on a windy day than in any other weather. The average person laughs about 5 times a day. A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 600 mph. The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night. Only 55% of all Americans know that our sun is a star. The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in Jell-O. In 75% of all American households, women manage the money and pay the bills.

A Severe Strain on the Credulity As a method of sending a missile to the higher, and even to the highest parts of the earth's atmospheric envelope, Professor Goddard's rocket is a practicable and therefore promising device. It is when one considers the multiple-charge rocket as a traveler to the moon that one begins to doubt ... for after the rocket quits our air and really starts on its journey, its flight would be neither accelerated nor maintained by the explosion of the charges it then might have left. Professor Goddard, with his "chair" in Clark College and countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action to re-action, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react ... Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools. -- New York Times Editorial, 1920

"If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning is not very exciting." -- Dick Vermeil

The difference between a smart person and a wise one is that a smart person knows what to say,but a wise persons knows whether or not to say it. --The Lion May, 1998

In chapter 20 of the just-released, 2nd edition of The Owner's Manual for the Brain, Dr. Pierce Howard spotlights some fascinating research by Dr. Martin Seligman of the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies. According to Seligman, optimists and pessimists are easily identified through their explanations of adversity and success. The principal differences in their respective outlooks revolve around the issues of personalization, permanence and pervasiveness. When adversity happens, the pessimist thinks, "It's my fault (personalization). It's gonna last forever (permanence,) and it will affect every area of my life (pervasiveness.)" Whereas the optimist believes, "It's someone else's fault. It's only temporary and it won't affect other areas of my life." When success happens however, the explanations are reversed. The pessimist believes, "Someone else made it happen. It's gonna last forever and it won't help me in any other area of my life." The optimist, on the other hand, believes the same things about success that the pessimist believes about adversity! "I made it happen (personalization.) This is one in a line of many successes (permanence,) and the effect will ripple throughout my life (pervasiveness.)" from http://www.WizardofAds.com

How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on. ***Unknown

Foreign Aid: taxing poor people in rich countries for the benefit of rich people in poor countries. -Bernard Rosenberg

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

"Always retain your values, principles, and beliefs. They will guide your actions with more surety than whim, emotion, or desire." -- Wess Roberts

All the taxes paid over a lifetime by the average American are spent by the government in less than a second. -Jim Fiebig

I posted this elsewhere, but it is good to be reminded again... "Never, never, never, never give up." - Winston Churchill

This was sent to me by John, but he says it is just modified by him and not original. I think a lot of it is him... The top 11 Hints for Life: 1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return. But what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that person know how you feel. 2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go. 3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had. 4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives. 5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. 6. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth, even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. 7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do. 8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the person too. 9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may heal and bless. 10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. 11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

"To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind." --Paul Aubuchon

"There are two kinds of talents, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while." --Pearl Bailey (1918-90) American singer, actress

It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things still safe to eat. -- Robert Fuoss

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. --John Muir

Ask not what the cost of doing this will be. Ask what the cost of not doing it will be. --Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." -- G.K. Chesterton

From: TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU Amendment IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, support by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. --Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America tftd is pleased to live in a country governed by a Constitution protecting us from armed agents of the federal government breaking into your house under cover of darkness without proper judicial authorization. Oh, they did WHAT? (For 30 hours the government spokespeople stated a warrant was not needed. After 30 hours now they have 'suddenly found out' that they did have a warrant. In the words of the Church Lady, 'How convenient'.)

This I know - if all men should take their troubles to market to barter with their neighbors, not one when he had seen the troubles of other men but would be glad to carry his own home again. --Herodotus, (c.484-c.420 BC) Greek historian

Carelessly planned projects take three times longer to complete than expected. Carefully planned projects take four times longer to complete than expected, mostly because the planners expect their planning to reduce the time it takes. --Unknown

There is danger in reckless change, but greater danger in blind conservatism. --Henry George, (1839-1897) American economist

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." --Babe Ruth

We seem to have a compulsion these days to bury time capsules in order to give those people living in the next century or so some idea of what we are like. I have prepared one of my own. I have placed some rather large samples of dynamite, gunpowder, and nitroglycerin. My time capsule is set to go off in the year 3000. It will show them what we are really like. --Alfred Hitchcock

To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others. - Albert Camus

Without comment...*smile* Permanent Proof of Temporary Insanity --Message on Sign Board Local Tattoo Parlor

"Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of character." - --Hosea Ballou

"Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable." -- Lord Chesterfield

"Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage." --Victor Kiam

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Yonder palace was raised by single stones, yet you see its height and spaciousness. He that shall walk with vigor three hours a day will pass in seven years a space equal to the circumference of the globe. --Samuel Johnson English lexicographer

"And God said: 'Let there be Satan, so people don't blame everything on me. And let there be lawyers, so people don't blame everything on Satan.' " -- John Wing

If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed." -Mark Twain "It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing." -Gertrude Stein "In the republic of mediocrity genius is dangerous." -Robert G. Ingersoll "I want to know God's thoughts. The rest are details." -Albert Einstein "The mosquito knows full well, small as he is he's a beast of prey. But after all he only takes his bellyful, he doesn't put my blood in the bank." -D.H. Lawrence, "The Mosquito Knows"

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been. -- Alan Ashley-Pitt

Words of wisdom from Andy Rooney I've learned.... that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. I've learned.... that when you're in love, it shows. I've learned.... that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day. I've learned.... that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world. I've learned.... that being kind is more important than being right. I've learned.... that you should never say no to a gift from a child. I've learned.... that I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way. I've learned.... that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with. I've learned.... that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. I've learned.... that simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult. I've learned.... that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end,the faster it goes. I've learned.... that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for. I've learned.... that money doesn't buy class. I've learned.... that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. I've learned.... that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved. I've learned.... that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can? I've learned.... that the facts aren't always the whole truth. I've learned.... that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you. I've learned.... that love, not time, heals all wounds. I've learned.... that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am. I've learned.... that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. I've learned.... that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks. I've learned.... that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them. I've learned.... that life is tough, but I'm tougher. I've learned.... that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss. I've learned.... that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere. I've learned.... that I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away. (in my case it's my Dad, but the sentiment still applies...) I've learned.... that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them. I've learned.... that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. I've learned.... that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.

Pythagorean theorem: 24 words. The Lord's prayer: 66 words. Archimedes' Principle: 67 words. The 10 Commandments: 179 words. The Gettysburg address: 286 words. The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words. The US Government regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words. Your government at work.

Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year's time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. -Andre Maurois (1885-1967) French writer [AKA Emile Herzog]

Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand. --Mark Twain

It is well documented that for every minute that you exercise, you add one minute to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5000 per month.

The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself. -George Bernard Shaw

"Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working." -- Anonymous "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." -- Thomas Edison "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." -- Arthur C. Clarke, Technology and the Future

Golden Rules for Living If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off. If you unlock it, lock it up. If you break it, admit it. If you can't fix it, call in someone who can. If you borrow it, return it. If you value it, take care of it. If you make a mess clean it up. If you move it, put it back. If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission. If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone. If it's none of your business, don't ask questions. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it will brighten someone's day, say it. If it will tarnish someone's reputation, keep it to yourself.

A Canadian psychologist is selling a video that teaches you how to test your dog's IQ. Here's how it works: if you spend $12.99 for the video, your dog is smarter than you.

"Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." - General George S. Patton

From a friend in Canada, My name is Bob, and I am Canadian. I am a minority in Vancouver, Banff, and every casino in this country. I was born in 1972, yet I am responsible for some Native's great great grandfather who screwed himself out of his land in the 1800's. I pay import tax on cars made in Ontario. I am allowed to skydive and smoke, but not allowed to drive without a seat belt. All the money I make up until mid July must go to paying taxes. Although I am sometimes forced to live on Kraft Dinner and don't have a pot to piss in, I sleep well knowing that I've helped purchase a nice six figure home in Vancouver for some unskilled Chinese refugee. Although they are unpatriotic and constantly try to separate, Quebec sill provides my nation's Prime Ministers. 95% of my nation's international conflicts are over fish. I'm supposed to call black people African Canadians, although I'm sure none of them have ever been to Africa, or east of Halifax for that matter. I believe that paying a 200% tax on alcohol is fair. I believe that same tax on gasoline is also fair. Even if I have no idea what happened to that old rifle my grandfather gave me when I was 14, I will be considered a criminal if I don't register it. I DO know Jeff from Toronto. I'm led to believe that some lazy ass unionized broom pusher who makes $30 an hour is underpaid and therefore must go on strike, but paying $10 an hour to someone who works 12 hour shifts at forty below on an oil rig is fair. I believe that paying $30 million for 3 stripes (The Voice of Fire) by the National Art Gallery was a good purchase, even though 99% of this country didn't want it, or will ever see it. When I look at my pay stub and realize that I take home a third of what I actually make, I say "Oh well, at least we have better health care than the Americans" I must bail out farmers when their crops are too wet or too dry, because I control the rain. My National Anthem has versions in both official languages, and I don't know either of them. Canada is the highest taxed nation in North America, the biggest military buffer for the United States, and the number one destination for fleeing boat people. I am not an angry white male. I am an angry broke taxpayer. My name is Bob, and I am Canadian.

TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU X-UIDL: eP)!!8ad"!E@p!!;mM"! US Code as of: 01/23/00 Title 4, Sec. 8. Respect for flag No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. ... (b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise. (c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free. (d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, ... -http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/4/8.html ***** tftd would like for the US Olympic Committee to instruct the US athletes on proper conduct including respect for our flag.

"A FEW WORDS OF WISDOM" If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. If your parents are still alive and still married...you are very rare, even in the United States. If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful...you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not. If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder...you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch. If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all. Have a good day, count your blessings, and know that you are loved.

"An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing." - Samuel Smiles

"I've continued to recognize the power individuals have to change virtually anything and everything in their lives inan instant. I've learned that the resources we need to turn our dreams into reality are within us, merely waiting for the day when we deceide to wake up and claim our birthright." - Anthony Robbins

Not to stray too far from the point of this topic but I have an actual personal thought for the day... ready everyone... Here's goes... "Naps are good." ~ Stacey

That's deep, Stacey.

and so is my sleep... (not really, I just thought that would be an appropriate thing to add!)

Have you seen the "Dr. Phil" bits on Letterman?

Still no television set in this household... so 'nope'. I've heard of him though... isn't he a regular on Oprah??

He was and then he got his own show. Letterman's having a field day with some of his one liners.