Ridley's
Believe It Or Not—June 6, 2014: Hope you
have time today over coffee and a donut (hopefully free in honor of National Donut Day) to reflect on the sacrifices
of those men who landed in Normandy by sea and air on June 6, 1944 and that you
enjoy the holidays, factoids, quote and two links to two poems written by me in
honor of D-Day.
1. D-Day—commemorating the landing on the
Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944 by U.S., British, Canadian and Free French
forces, the greatest amphibious landing of all time, immortalized in the movie The Longest Day and enjoyed in this
poem: http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2014/06/rhymes-on-newsworthy-times-70th.html
2. UN Russian
Language Day—commemorating one of the six working languages in the UN
and celebrated on the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, great Russian poet and author
(ironic that if D-Day had failed, most of Europe would be speaking Russian
today and the UN as we know it might not exist).
3. National Yo-Yo Day—celebrating
the Yo-Yo, popularized in the U.S. by Donald Duncan who was born on this day in
1892; if you own one today is a great day to “walk the dog” or “shoot the moon”.
4. Drive-in Theater Day---celebrating the establishment
of the first drive-in movie theater in Camden, New Jersey on this day in 1933.
Going to a drive-in with a date in the 60’s was one of the great rites of
passage for a teenager; sadly, today less than 400 drive-ins remain and may
soon become an extinct method of enjoying a movie experience.
5.
National Donut Day—a holiday created
by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor those who served donuts to GIs in WWI
and observed today by many donut chains offering a free donut; jog on down so
you can burn off the calories of these tasty morsels.
On this
day in:
a. 1932 the Revenue Act of 1932, creating the first federal gasoline tax (one
cent per gallon, rising to 18.4 cents today even as the Highway Trust Fund will
soon run out of money) was enacted into law.
b. 1984 Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all times was released.
c. 2004 Ronald Reagan, who on the
40th anniversary of D-Day at Pointe du Hoc had delivered one of the
most inspirational speeches of all times, died. For a tribute to the soldiers
who accomplished the impossible at Pointe du Hoc go to http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2013/09/lost-poem-pointe-du-hoc.html
d. 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court in
one of its less than humane moments in the case of Gonzales v. Raich
upholds a federal law banning the cannabis, including medical marijuana.
Words just as meaningful
today as in 1984 as the U.S. seems to be withdrawing from the world stage as a
leader: “We in America have learned bitter lessons
from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than
to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is
lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable
response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. We in America
have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready
to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to
respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was
and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist
intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter
aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; and, yes, prepared to
reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so,
together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.” Ronald Reagan at
Pointe du Hoc June 6, 1984
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 to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy
Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of
interest.
mridley@octechlaw.com www.twitter.com/alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not Rhymes On The Newsworthy
Times
© June 6, 2014 Michael P. Ridley
aka the Alaskanpoet
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