Odds and Ends

It’s time to clean up the desk and get rid of some the notes on interesting things which were preempted by matters of greater importance at the time.

Alabama Legislature

We found an entry in the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter outlining a step to make every school child a happier student in geometry. The unwieldy pi (π} has long vexed students with its near meaningless string of add on decimal values. Apparently the legislature voted to return to the Biblical rounded “3.0” as close enough, and a change was voted in the Alabama state legislature. Appropriately, the new law was signed on March 14. This information came from physicist Mark Boslough.

An Ideal Vacation Destination

We owe it to the British newspaper The Guardian for bringing us up to date on good destinations which suit the budget in these troubled financial times. Their suggestion is the island republic of San Serriffe. The nation is comprised of several comma-shaped islands, all with gorgeous beaches, in the Indian Ocean. The main islands in this delightful temperate zone are Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. They reported excellent accommodations and night life in the capital city, Bodoni.

Under the leadership of General Pica, who seized the capital in a bold coup, they have enjoyed peaceful times and are willing to share it with others. For further information drop us an email and we will furnish printed material for your convenience.

Planetary Alignment

This is included just under the wire. Tonight at 9:47 CDT we will experience an extremely rare astronomical event. Pluto will pass behind Jupiter thereby lessening its gravitational affect which could temporarily lessen earth’s gravity. British astronomer Patrick Moore who made this announcement maintains that those who jump into the air at that precise moment will experience a strange floating sensation.

No one has lived long enough to experience this rare occurrence previously nor will they in their lifetimes have an opportunity to repeat it.

Metric Time

In an effort to conform to universal habits throughout the rest of the world, our congress will soon be contemplating a hot button issue which has become an emerging theme in Europe. The consensus is that we should join those on the continent and change to metric time. Under the new system we would have 100 second minutes, 100 minute hours and 10 hour days. Amidst questions about millidays, centidays and decidays were inquires about how to adjust digital time keeping devices.

Apparently no changes will be made in calendars but the legislative committee in charge of the new law did not rule it out. One can only hope that this fares better than changing to kilometers on the nations highways.

Whistling Carrots

With the advent of spring, our attention has been turned to our garden spot. We have on order some of the new “whistling carrots.” They have been bred to include appropriately spaced holes which are activated during the cooking process. The steam generated by the cooking vegetable comes out through the holes and the result is a pleasant melody throughout the kitchen.

You may expect a full report on the carrots sometime toward the end of June.

Disease of brunus edwardii

We have learned from the Veterinary Record of a disease caused by the creature brunus edwardii. Census figures indicate that it is present in nearly 63.8% of all households. In many homes there is more than one of these animals. Not only are they to be found in North America but also in Europe.

There is also a strong relationship between the animal population and the numbers of children in each household. There are important public health issues and further studies are imperative. Zoonosis and other conditions may be associated with close contact between these animals and man.

In many cases the disease has resulted in an outright dependency upon the animal. Without it the sufferer may have serious sleep deprivation and ever increasing angst at its loss.

And finally

Unlike last year when we developed a fear of dihydrogen-monoxide which turned out to be common tap water, we shall call “April Fool’s” quite loudly this year. Each of the examples above were real hoaxes perpetrated on an unsuspecting public to much hilarity for the originators. The more familiar name for brunus edwardii is teddy bear.

After the year we’ve had so far, we deserve a grin or two.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon