Wednesday, February 11, 2015

February 11 History

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—February 11, 2015 Trust your Hump Day is off to a great. As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids and a relevant quote by Alan Dershowitz,  with a smile on your face, enjoying a peppermint patty, blessed with a positive attitude even though you know you will have to wade through tons of spam in your inbox, and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for a memorable event like Valentines’ Day soon approaching, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient.  You need only contact me for details.
       1. Inventors’ Day—proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan on this day in 1983 to commemorate the contributions to the economic welfare of this country and the world of inventors and celebrated on the birthday on this day in 1847 of Thomas Alva Edison whose creative mind produced over a 1000 patents. 
       2. White Shirt Day—commemorating not the legions of IBM managers who had to endure the dress code of the white shirt but rather the brave workers at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan donned white shirts worn by management immune to the workplace dangers of an assembly line and went on strike over safety issues, which was settled on this day in 1937 in favor of the UAW.
       3. 2010 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 2010 as part of a 9 week mindless  run Tik Tok by Ki$ha, a young blonde female rapper and songwriter who has sold over 25 million records.  
        4. National Peppermint Patty Day—celebrating a great way to head to a sugar high with great breath afterwards.
         5. If You Don’t Fit Time To Quit—celebrating or bemoaning the birthday on this day in 1964 of the vice presidential candidate who ran with McCain and  former governor of the State of Alaska who resigned that office, Sarah Palin, who was born in Sandpoint, Idaho just north of Coeur d’Alene. 
On this day in
     a. 1812 to the joy of future politicians who view office as a career not a public service, Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts redrew legislative districts to protect incumbents, giving us the pernicious addition to the English language—“gerrymander” and yet another reason why we need term limits for all elected officials, federal and state.
     b. 1916 in another dark day for women’s rights, Emma Goldman, a noted anarchist and feminist was arrested in New York for advocating birth control devices.   
     c. 1978 in a welcome back to the civilized world moment, China lifted the ban on its people being able to read the works of Aristotle, Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
     d. 1979 in a sad day for the advocates of separation of church and state Iran established a theocracy under the rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini.
     e. 2013 Pope Benedict XVI became the first sitting Pope to resign.         
Reflections on why theocracy as promoted by the likes of Iran is a total repudiation of freedom: "The very concept of an Iranian university is an oxymoron. There are no free and open places of learning in that repressive theocracy. Dissenters are not given tenure; they are murdered, after first being tortured. Blasphemy, which is broadly defined, is punished. Gays are not only excluded from Iranian universities, but are imprisoned and killed.” Alan Dershowitz, noted Constitutional law professor and scholar and on this issue with Iran is completely on point.
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© February 11, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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