C’mon now… Let’s start off the week with a laugh for a change. We ALL need it! ~ Editor
In his essay, Benjamin Franklin requested experts to find a way to make the farts ‘not only inoffensive but agreeable as perfumes.’
Engraved portrait of a younger Benjamin Franklin by HB Hall, 1868. From the New York Public Library.
In 1780s, Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, wrote an essay that showed he had perfectly mastered the art of sarcasm. The topic of the essay was important scientifically – flatulence, or as many call it, farting – but it came with a touch of humor. The reason why he chose the amusing topic was a question posed by the Royal Academy of Brussels, which was formed in 1772. In its early years, the academy organized several intellectual contests for which it devised questions and awarded medals. The questions were believed to be intellectually important, having a ‘practical value.’ However, in 1799, the academy presented one mathematical question which Benjamin Franklin found ridiculous. In response to it, he wrote the essay, which is famously known as “To the Royal Academy of Farting” or “Fart Proudly.” Continue reading
We had our American Revolution over two centuries ago and the years have done something to it. The legends remain, and the statues and the grassy earthworks and the great body of tradition, but a good deal of the reality has been filtered out – revised! When we look back to see Washington crossing the Delaware on a cold winter night, or kneeling in prayer in the snow of Valley Forge; we see the Minutemen, or a lanky Virginian rifleman picturesque in fringed buckskin; but somehow it all seems out of a pageant, and neither Washington nor the men who followed him quite come alive for us. 
It is my right to be uncommon… if I can; I seek opportunity…not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stole calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, – This I have done, and this is what it means to be an American.
The wife was very upset about this, and decided to talk to her about the raise. She asked: “Now Maria, why do you want a pay increase?”
October 19, 2002 ~ The opinions and commentary are still coming in from every corner of our debauched society, and while The Federal Observer continues it’s coverage of the debate from both sides of the aisle – we find that other stories of importance are being ignored – and depending on the length of this column – we may be choose to ignore them as well.
COVID hysteria is slowly happening again. First, Lionsgate Film Studio put back on the mask. Then, Morris Brown College in Georgia put back on the mask. Next, President Joe Biden put back on the mask. And finally, schools across the country are trying to adopt masking yet again.
