August 2 History National Mustard Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not—August 2, 2014:  Another meager day of holidays but you are probably on vacation anyway and are already celebrating. Hope you enjoy what is posted, along with the factoids and quote from Fred Thompson which I hope the current occupant of the White House reads with a smile on your face and an ice cream sandwich in your hand.

           1. National Mustard Day—celebrating a favorite condiment believed to be over 5000 years old and mentioned in the Bible in Luke 17:6—And the Lord said “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you.”  

           2. Hunker Down In The Bunker Day—honoring not all those who have endured rockets in Israel but rather the birthday of Carroll O’Connor on this day in 1924 who played Archie Bunker in that humorous TV series All in the Family.

            3. If You don’t Succeed Try, Try Again Day---celebrating not a tribute to motivational speakers but the birthday of a great actor on this day in 1932 Peter O’Toole who starred in such great films as Lawrence of Arabia and was nominated for best actor eight times and failing in all but finally be awarded an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in film.

            4. National Ice Cream Sandwich Day—another great desert treat especially with ice cream as raspberries rule supreme.

On this day in

             a. 1937 the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was enacted rendering marijuana and its derivatives illegal.

             b. 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin North Vietnamese PT boats allegedly fired on the destroyer the U.S. Maddox which led to the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and our nine year nightmare with over 58,000 deaths of the Vietnam War.  

             c. 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait leading to its defeat in the Gulf War in less than 100 hours.

As you listen to our President on foreign policy and red lines in the sand, is there a sense of déjà vu? “We’ve made some mistakes in this country in times past - the Korean conflict proceeding that, some say proceeding the Persian Gulf War, where we were ambiguous as to what we would do.” Fred Thompson, former Senator from Tennessee and now starring in the Persecuted just out in theaters  As we continue to reduce our military we need to be crystal clear in what we will do and then do it.

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© August 2, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet