Jots & Tittles: It's On The News

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I thought I'd begin by reading a poem by Shakespeare, but then I thought, why should I? He never reads any of mine.
--Spike Milligan

On the PBS Newshour's Rundown I read, "Islamic State group earning more than $3 million per day." The article went on to say, "Islamic State militants, who once relied on wealthy Persian Gulf donors for money, have become a self-sustaining financial juggernaut, earning more than $3 million a day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion, according to U.S. intelligence officials and private experts."

And...

"Such riches are one reason that American officials are so concerned about the group even while acknowledging they have no evidence it is plotting attacks against the United States."

These are supposed facts reported to me and to the TV watching public. But are they really 'facts' or are they merely items that have been passed on to the media by government representatives, possibly people with a political agenda of their own?

This is an ongoing problem, this expectation that whatever we are told by the Public Broadcasting System is always the absolute truth.

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Did You Know . . .?

The world's longest ectopic pregnancy belongs to a woman from India who unknowingly had the skeletal remains of an inborn baby inside her for 36 years.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveiled its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade. USS Enterprise was named for the starship NCC-1701 (Star Trek starship). In 1977, the Enterprise became the first space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000 feet by a Boeing 747 airplane and then released, gliding back to Edwards Air Force Base on its own accord. Enterprise was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight

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WORD FOR TODAY

dissuade [dih-SWAYD]
verb
persuade (someone) not to take a particular course of action.
"his friends tried to dissuade him from flying"
synonyms:
discourage from, deter from, prevent from

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter

(Sept 17, 1948 - Sept 11, 2003)

John Ritter was an American actor, comedian, and voice-over artist. Ritter was best known for playing Jack Tripper on the hit ABC sitcom Three's Company, for which he won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award in 1984. He was the son of famous country/western star Tex Ritter.

Anastacia Lyn Newkirk

(born September 17, 1968)

Anastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful around the world outside the United States.

Kyle Martin Chandler

(born September 17, 1965)

Kyle Chandler is an American film and television actor best known for his role as Deputy Jackson Lamb in the film Super 8, and in the television shows Early Edition as Gary Hobson, Grey's Anatomy as Dylan Young, and as Coach Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights,

Cassandra Peterson

(born September 17, 1951)