Do you attempt to verify things you see on social media before sharing them, or just dismiss things that seem to be unlikely? Sometimes I see things that are meant to be funny but it forces me to think about them and then I have to do research. So here’s the deal with bananas:

Anything that contains potassium-40, as bananas do, produces antimatter as the isotope decays. Carrots, red meat, beer, lima beans – you and I – also produce tiny amounts of positrons. The thing about antimatter though is that it does not exist for very long. Every time a single atom of antimatter is created, it immediately cancels out one of atom of regular matter. So if a bunch of bananas lay on your kitchen counter for a week, the total amount of antimatter they contain is still net zero.

You are supposed to just scratch your head and move on. The post was meant to be funny but my curiosity was piqued and I was determined to find out, if that was even possible. According to Word Detective: There was a book labelled Book of Origins that indicated the phrase “Hell in a handbasket” referred to the gold rush of 1849 *(see footnote) where men were lowered by hand in baskets down mining shafts to set dynamite. If there was a problem or they did not get out quick enough, it was referred to as going to Hell in a handbasket.

Viewership of this year’s Super Bowl was up, 101.1 million, over last year’s 95.2 million t.v. viewers. Another 11.2 million streamed the game putting total viewership at 112.3 million. Whether it’s the game, halftime show, commercials or Super Bowl party food, the big game has something for everyone. The Doritos ad was my favorite, my wife was creeped out by Jim Carrey, and that screen saver QR code was pretty much ignored by everybody. I thought good or bad people would be talking the next day but nothing. Crickets. As for the halftime show I think Americans fall into one of three camps. “That was garbage” and “Rap isn’t really music” represents the over 50 crowd, my age demographic was taken back 20 years on a nostalgia trip, and anybody under 30 was like “who are those people?”

Shut up in the name of Jesus. If it was just a random guy with a funny tshirt we’d stick it in a Happy Monday post. But that’s my friend IRL and local church pastor Bryan Davis. He shared a clip with me that the shirt is based on. (Watch on YouTube.) Kinda makes me wish I say something someday that gets printed on a tshirt.

Update: We covered the Reverend Arango story last week about the use of “we baptize” instead of “I baptize” invalidating thousands of baptisms. More news outlets picked up the invalid baptism headline this week and now the church adds that other sacraments, such as confirmation and marriage, may be affected as a result. If you were never baptized then you can’t have a Catholic Church wedding. Now, pragmatically speaking, the first several years of Arango’s ministry were in Brazil. He hasn’t been in the United States long enough for infants that he baptized to be old enough to marry. The individual states in the US wouldn’t care as far as the legal union is concerned. Literally anyone can get ordained online and marry whoever the same day. But if babies were baptized 18, 19, or 20 years ago in Brazil, and are now walking around with invalid confirmations and wedding ceremonies in a South American country where everybody is Catholic, that could be a big deal. Even if you don’t think it matters, it could matter a great deal to them.

Russia’s Kamila Valieva was allowed to continue competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance in December. She had one prescription medication plus two other supplements that are not banned in her system, but the three together are considered “performance enhancing” in the way they help the body use oxygen more efficiently. Keep in mind that Russian athletes already compete under the banner of the Russian Olympic Company rather than the Russian flag because of a state sponsored doping scandal that goes back to 2014. I think the message from the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is clear: We allow cheating now. And if it’s allowed, is it even cheating?

There is a large church, relative to the size of our community, currently in the processing of replacing their pews with chairs. There has been very little pushback as members were given the opportunity to push back before the vote was ever taken. Repainting the walls, replacing the carpet and removing the pews in lieu of chairs passed by an overwhelming majority… in a small town Southern Baptist Church. The universe no longer makes sense to me.

If you don’t know Jon Acuff you may remember a website/Twitter feed called Stuff Christians Like. Apparently he does not wish to look younger but that doesn’t sound right. I wonder if I bought a funny looking hat, shaved off my beard, and had my kid take pics of me from awkward angles if I too could look 12 years old. I don’t know and may never find out but it worked for Jon.

This item was listed in our local Facebook Marketplace. I wonder if he would be interested in a hairbrush chewed up by our dog or if he if he is looking to move away from the bitten and chewed segment.

It’s Girl Scout Cookie Weekend so look for stands and/or booths set up in high traffic areas in your local community. I like Tagalongs myself, the new Adventurefuls are pretty good, but let’s face it none of them are terrible.

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*The Word Detective website referred to the gold rush of 1949 but that was obviously a typo. I also corrected the spelling of problem.