Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Ridley's Believe It Or Not-This Day In History-May 1 National Day Of Prayer



Ridley's Believe It Or Not—May 1, 2014:    As always, after some searching, I found these holidays worthy of mention or celebrating in culinary fashion, to go with the factoids and quotes to enjoy as you are nearing the weekend and are spiritually refreshed by your observance of National Day of Prayer.
             1. International Workers’ Day (aka May Day) –celebrating the working class and its struggle for better working conditions  against capitalism in a holiday observed in over 80 countries and by children with ribbons of multi-hues dancing around the Maypole.
             2. Law Day—celebrated in the United States and implemented first in 1958 through the efforts of President Eisenhower to promote the rule of law.
             3. National Day of Prayer—occurring on the first Thursday in May and codified in 1952 and calling on men and women of all faiths to turn to God in prayer and meditation—given the chaos in the world and the partisan rancor in this country, a great holiday to observe.
             4. International Guerrilla Sunflower Gardening Day—first celebrated in 2007 by “guerrilla gardeners” planting sunflowers on land not owned by them, such as parks, vacant lots, freeway medians, etc. Great way to beautify the neighborhood but wonder in places like Denver or Boulder if the sunflower seeds are being replaced by seeds with more potent plants.
              5. National Chocolate Parfait Day—celebrating one of this poet’s all time favorite desserts, especially when served with blackberries.
On this day in:
              a. 1927 the first cooked meals were served on a scheduled airline, Imperial Airways, on a flight from London to Paris; today in coach it’s only peanuts and a soft drink.
              b. 1953 in an apparent conflict with National Day of Prayer, the Humanist Manifesto I written largely by Raymond Bragg was published to promote the replacement of deity based systems that those observing National Day of Prayer were praying to.
              c. 1956 the Salk polio vaccine is released to the public to begin the end of a parent’s worst nightmare that a child or young adult would be out of the blue be struck down like FDR by polio.        
To be a real triple threat in the sport of life: “He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. -- St. Francis of Assisi Let’s hope we have the surplus to enjoy the works of the artists, including of course, poets. 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 poems on the 2014 Boston Marathon; on the Mustangs going to the Dance with a losing record; to honor Cindy Abbott, a half blind 54 year old mother suffering from a rare disease who competed in last year's Iditarod until forced out with a broken pelvis after 600 miles; on Bode Miller and the human spirit; to honor Cory Remsburg to join a great collection of my poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for poems on the just released non-redacted Benghazi emails; Kerry’s apartheid characterization of Israel; Obama’s admission that he does not know whether new “sanctions” will work against Putin; the scandal of vets dying in Phoenix while waiting to see a doctor; Blues in Illinois caught in questionable procedures and forced to rescind $100 million to Obama Presidential Library; coffee as the new wonder drug to curtail Type II Diabetes;  the futility of aiding Ukraine with MRE’s to join numerous other comments on news events always in rhyme of course.

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