Ridley's Believe It Or
Not--February 24, 2014: The flame goes out at Sochi and
hopefully the Ukrainian games do not now begin in earnest. Tough loss for
Syracuse against Duke; wonder if some anger management classes might be in
their coach's future? Almost skunked as the shadow of St. Patrick's Day begin
to dominate, but managed to find these gems. Hope you enjoy the
holidays, factoids and quote for the day:
1. World Bartenders' Day--celebrating the masters of
libations and the psychologists dispensing advice without the need of a couch,
only a bar stool.
2. Museums Advocacy Day--museums are so important to
our cultural history, a two day celebration (23-24)--take a sack lunch to work
and spend your lunch hour exploring a nearby museum today.
3.
National Cupcake Day (Canada)--maybe the title of
Olympic hockey powerhouse gives them the right to a monopoly on the day--to
spite our ice skating neighbors to the North, put a cupcake in the sack lunch
you packed so you could go to a museum.
4.
Peace Corps Week (2/23-3/1)--celebrating one of the great
legacies of JFK, created on March 1, 1961 and still going strong and also new
sending volunteers into communities in the United States.On this day in:
a. 1868 the first parade in the U.S. with floats took place in a Mobile, Alabama Mardi-Gras parade.
b. 1917 in the straw that broke our neutrality back, the Zimmerman Telegram pledging Germany's support of Mexico to regain Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona upon Mexico's declaration of war against the U.S. was intercepted by Britain and delivered to the American Ambassador in London (war with Germany was declared on April 4, 1917.
c. 1989 in carrying the idea of censorship to new heights the Ayatollah Khomeini offered a $3 million bounty for the death of Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses. Even the Nazis in their heights of literacy folly, burned only the books, not authors.
Thank God in a world of wars
against expression and thought, we have a First Amendment although under some
assault, sometimes by our own government or ourselves under the euphemism of
political correctness: “Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by
policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?” Kurt
Vonnegut, noted American author, eulogized on his death in 2007 as the
"counterculture author".
Please
enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below
(if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers
and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and
entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for an
original poem to honor Bode Miller and the human spirit just posted; an
original poem for Cupid on Valentine's Day; an original poem to honor Cory
Remsburg, and original poem to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Just posted for
your enjoyment on Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times poems
on FCC plan to investigate diversity of news coverage to the great concern of
the media; Nebraska judge saving Obama by enjoining Keystone XL; Kerry
calling global warming the new weapon of mass destruction; chaos in the
Ukraine; OC Sheriff's Deputies getting paid for donning and doffing their
uniforms; the FAA grounding drone delivery of Valentine's Day Roses;
Chairman of OC Board of Supervisors double dipping; a Perfect Gift for
Valentine’s Day; Arctic Vortex slamming the U.S.; the freedom of the press
taking nose dive; weed slowing HIV in monkeys; Obamacare as an albatross for
Blues; whimsical note on Cordova, AK Ice Worm Festival to join a great list of
comments on the newsworthy times, in rhyme of course.
©February
24, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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