June 1 History World Milk Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—June 1, 2015 Trust your weekend was a great one and your Monday is off to a good start. As always, I hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Iggy Azalea, a relevant quote by Horace Mann, looking forward to enjoying a slice of hazelnut cake, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. Heimlich Maneuver Day—celebrating the abdominal thrust developed by Henry Heimlich in 1974 and known by his last name, which maneuver has save thousands who would have otherwise choked to death due to food particles lodged in the trachea while eating.  
       2. World Milk Day—created by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to promote consumption of dairy products—great day to have a cold glass of milk unless you are lactose intolerant.  
        3. 2014 Number One Song—celebrating the last number one song outside the rock and roll era which children of the 60’s were addicted to, the number one song in 2014  on a seven  week run Fancy  by Iggy Azalea (featuring Charli XCX), an Australian born hip hop singer and model active since 2011. Here is a link to Ms. Azalea performing Fancy: https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w  
       4.  National Hazelnut Cake Day—definitely a novel way to utilize a great nut.
       5.  Everyone Likes It Hot—celebrating not the pursuit of the warm sun in California but the birthday on this day in 1926 of the iconic sex symbol of the 50’s Marilyn who died of an overdose of barbiturates in 1962; one of her classic movies was Some Like It Hot  costarring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.  
On this day in:                                           
       a. 1495 Friar John Cor recorded the first batch of Scotch whisky.
       b. 1813 James Lawrence the captain of the USS Chesapeake after being mortally wounded uttered his immortal command—“Don’t give up the ship.”     
       c. 1890 the U.S. Census Bureau began using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count Census data.
       d. 1967 the Beatles released their iconic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
        e. 1980 Cable News Network (CNN) began broadcasting.                  
Reflections on cable TV: “Habit is a cable; we weave each day a thread of it. At last we cannot break it.” Horace Mann, noted 19^th Century American politician and educational reformer. Watching too much TV, cable or otherwise, is a habit which is difficult to break.  
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 160 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. o to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© June1, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift       

May 31 History World No Tobacco Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—May 31, 2015 Trust your weekend is off to a good start. As always, I hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, a relevant quote by David Byrne, looking forward to enjoying a mint julep watching a tape of American Pharaoh winning the Kentucky Derby, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. World No Tobacco Day—a worldwide observance of for 24 hours a complete absence of use of tobacco in any form—a first step for those who quit today to have a chance to not join the list of at least 6,000,000 who will die from tobacco use and the estimated 600,000 nonsmokers killed by second hand smoke.
       2. Save Your Hearing Day—although most of the words spoken in Washington, D.C. are not worth hearing, hearing loss, especially as one ages, is, to use a bad simile, not a pretty sight. Ear plugs at INDY 500’s or Who rock concerts (120 decibels) or when working with heavy construction equipment is a great idea.  
        3. 2013 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 2013 on a five week run Can’t Hold Us  by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, featuring Ray Dalton, an American rap band whose song Thrift Shop has garnered an estimated 750 million YouTube views. Here is a link to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis with Dalton performing Can’t Hold Us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zNSgSzhBfM
       4.  National Macaroon Day—definitely a tasty treat which is made from coconuts and leavened egg whites and may have originated in Italy in the late 18^th Century.
       5.  Make My Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1930 of that iconic director and actor Clint Eastwood.  
On this day in:                                           
       a. 1790 to the joy of artists and writers then living and in the future, the United States passed its first copyright act, the Copyright Act of 1790.
       b. 1889 over 2,200 people died when a dam above the town of Johnstown, PA was breached unleashing a 60 foot high wave of water.     
       c. 1909 the National Negro Committee, the forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People convened for the first time.
        d. 1977 to the great joy of Americans seeking U.S energy independence, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed.
        e. 2005 Vanity Fair revealed that Mark Felt was Deep Throat for Woodward and Bernstein’s exposing the Watergate Scandal. If only there is another Deep Throat in the IRS wanting to come forward on the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups.                  
Reflections on the need to eliminate tobacco usage: “The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror - not the glamour and sophistication the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray.” David Byrne, noted musician with the Talking Heads. Definitely his thoughts expressed above are directly on point. Anyone who continues to smoke despite the warnings and evidence better hope that that he or she do not develop arthritis in the thumbs and has great hand strength in order to operate on continuous demand a morphine pump in the last stage of lung cancer.
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 160 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. o to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© May 31, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift     

May 30 History National Mint Julep Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—May 30, 2015 Trust your weekend is off to a good start. As always, I hope you enjoy the holidays and observances (which are really meager and have really challenged me to find), factoids of interest, a music video by Gotye, a relevant quote by Audie Murphy, looking forward to enjoying a mint julep watching a tape of American Pharoah winning the Kentucky Derby, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. Water Your Flower Day —marking the end of spring with the need to water one’s flowers although most flowers in Texas are under flood waters and given the drought induced watering restrictions in California, most flowers are probably counting the days before being replaced by cacti.
       2. Loomis Day—celebrating not a plug for Loomis and their armored truck transport services but rather the granting Maholn Loomis of a U.S Patent for wireless telegraphy on this day in 1872.  
        3. 2012 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 2012 on an eight week run Somebody That  I Used to Know by Gotye, featuring Kimbra, a Belgian indie pop singer and songwriter. Here is a link to Gotye and Kimbra performing Somebody That I Used to Know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY
       4.  National Mint Julep Day—definitely a holiday that one would think would be celebrated not today but the day on which the Kentucky Derby is being held.
       5.  Why Listen to a Few Voices When You Can Listen to a Thousand—celebrating
not that great singing talent show on NBC The Voice but rather the birthday on this day in 1908 of voice actor Mel Blanc, aka The Man With a Thousand Voices, including such luminaries as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Pepe le Pew, and Foghorn Leghorn to name just a few.  
On this day in:                                           
       a. 1883 a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is about to collapse causes a stampede with twelve people being crushed.
       b. 1922 the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.    
       c. 1958 the unidentified remains of two servicemen killed in World War II and the Korean War were interned at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
        d. 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Reed that prosecutors do not have legal immunity in providing legal advice to the police.
        e. 2014 General al-Sisi, who unlike our president has identified the threat of  radical Islam to Islam, was elected president of Egypt.                        
Reflections on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier appearing on the wall of the wall of the Tomb Guard Quarters:
 “Alone and far removed from earthly care,
The noble ruins of men lie buried here,
You were strong men, good men,
Endowed with youth and much the will to live,
I hear no protest from the mute lips of the dead,
They rest there is no more to give.”
Untitled poem by Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Audie Murphy  
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 160 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© May 30, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift       

May 29 History World Digestive Health Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—May 29, 2015 Trust your Friday is all ready to be the perfect springboard to a great weekend, unfortunately for drought stricken California a weekend of sunny skies. As always, I hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Adele, a relevant quote by Susan Rice, looking forward to enjoying a serving of coq au vin with friends, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. International UN Peacekeepers Day —commemorating the formation by the UN of peacekeeping forces in areas of strife; brave men and women in blue helmets to try to enforce truces and keep warring parties from killing each other and sadly taking a lot of innocent civilians with them.
       2. World Digestive Health Day—created by the World Gastroenterology Organization to create awareness of gastro-intestinal problems that affect us all, regardless of where we reside. This year’s focus is heart burn which can cause severe problems if untreated.  
        3. 2011 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 2011 on a seven week run Rolling in the Deep by Adele, a British born pop singer and songwriter, who, in addition to selling a lot of records, won an Oscar for her original song Skyfall in the Bond movie of the same name. Here is a link to Adele performing Rolling in the Deep (with an apology to the vitamin C ad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw
       4.  National Coq au Vin Day—definitely a great way to get rid of your two buck Chuck wine from Trader Joes that your wine connoisseur friends will not deign to drink.
       5.  Where There Is a Road, There Is Hope—celebrating not another freeway or lane on one but the birthday on this day of comedian, actor and dedicated USO performer who entertained us with such movies as “Road” movies with Bing Crosby and ended his career  in 2003.
On this day in:                                           
       a. 1942 Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and John Trotter’s Orchestra recorded Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, which resulted in more sales of a single record than any song in history and is still selling millions each Christmas.
       b. 1953 Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tanzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.    
        c. 2001 in a victory for handicapped persons, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that PGA golfer Casey Martin could compete using a golf cart.
        d. 2004 the National World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.                        
Reflections on UN Peacekeeping from the “it’s a video queen”: “Well, Nigeria has played a constructive role in peacekeeping in various parts of West Africa. But unless and until Nigeria itself is democratic and respects human rights, it too may well be a source of much greater instability as political repression limits the ability of the people of Nigeria to achieve their full potential.” Susan Rice, National Security Advisor whose opinions on the world are usually off the mark or who is usually surprised by events but here is reasonably profound.  
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 160 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© May 29, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift       

May 28 History Amnesty International Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—May 28, 2015 Trust your Thursday (Thankful Thursday to one of my good friends) is proving to be a great one and better yet let us hope that Oklahoma and Texas are dry today and we in California are not.  As always, I hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Usher and will.i.am, a relevant quote by Geraldine Brooks, looking forward to enjoying a juicy hamburger with all the trimmings, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. Amnesty International Day —commemorating the formation of Amnesty International, U.S. in 1964 to promote amnesty for persons convicted or held in prisons without the benefit of fair trials or sentences that are not linked to the severity of the crimes and/or the political nature of those offenses.
       2. Sierra Club Day—celebrating, or perhaps if a developer with a short sided view as to profits bemoaning, the formation of the Sierra Club on this day in 1882 whose 128 original members elected John Muir as its first president. The group has grown to become a powerful force in protecting the environment and the ecosystems, including us humans, that are found therein.  
        3. 2010 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 2010 on a three week run OMG  by Usher featuring  rapper will.i.am, another hip hop/ rapper of the late 90’s and 2000’s. Here is a link to Usher and will.i.am performing OMG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnPB76mjxI
       4.  National Hamburger Day—definitely the American classic to put on the grill—if in Coeur d’Alene, stop at Hudson’s Hamburgers still going strong after over one hundred years; if in Costa Mesa stop at Tom’s Place on corner of 17^th and Placentia for their 1/3 pound mushroom burger.
       5. Dancing with the Mayors Day—celebrating not a new competitor to Dancing with the Stars but the birthday on this day in 1969 of the very colorful, crack smoking mayor of Toronto who often danced in City Council meetings, probably still high, and is now recovering from cancer.
On this day in:                                           
       a. 1588 the ill fated Spanish Armada with 130 ships of the line and 30,000 men began setting sail from Lisbon, Portugal for its ultimate destruction in the English Channel.
       b. 1934 the Dionne quintuplets, the first quintuplets to survive infancy, were born in Canada two months premature and two of them are still alive today. After four months with their parents after leaving the hospital, they were made wards of the King and exploited by the government and not returned to parental custody until nine years later only as disclosed in 1995 to have been sexually molested during their teenage years by their father.    
        c. 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge after one day of pedestrian only traffic was officially opened to automobiles by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
        d. 1964 the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded.                         
        e. 2002 the last steel girder from the rubble of the World Trade Center was removed and the official clean up duties came to an end.

Reflections on the inhumanity exposed by Amnesty International: “Even the classics that we read to our young children are full of wolves' fangs and burning ovens and bloody feet and ice shards piercing hearts. Even the New Testament climaxes with an act of unspeakable torture. Might as well just read to our kids from the Amnesty Annual Report and be done with it.” Geraldine Brooks, noted Australian American author and journalist and 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner. Sad but given the torture and imprisonment throughout the world, a true observation of horror.        

Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 160 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© May 28, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift       

May 27 History World MS Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—May 27, 2015 Trust your Hump Day is proving to be a great one and better yet let us hope that Oklahoma and Texas are dry today and we in California are not.  As always, I hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Black Eyed Peas and opposing relevant quotes from Rachel Carson and Dr. Ed Remmers, looking forward to enjoying a grape popsicle, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. World MS Day —creating awareness of and seeking funding for research to find a cure for multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease affecting more than 2.5 million people by attacking the protein sheath protecting the nervous system. Cause is not known but some indication that smoking may be a contributing factor.
       2. Sun Screen Protection Day—creating awareness of the need to utilize sun screen as the ozone protection in our atmosphere may becoming more and more depleted.  
        3. 2009 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 2009 on a long twelve week run Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas, another hip hop band formed in Los Angeles in 1993 but who achieved little success until 2003 after which it is claimed the band has sold more than 75 million records and sadly for us rock fans is still performing today. Here is a link to Black Eyed Peas performing Boom Boom Pow: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m48GqaOz90
       4. National Grape Popsicle Day—a great way to beat the summer heat especially if outside fully protected with sunscreen.
       5. Sounds of Silence—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1907 Rachel Carson, the author of the landmark book Silent Spring  which detailed some of the adverse effects on DDT usage and other pesticides. Unfortunately, for people living in malaria prone regions the law of unintended consequences may have condemned millions to coming down with malaria due to restrictions on the utilization of the chemical in fighting mosquitoes.
On this day in:                                            
       a. 1703 Tsar Peter the Great founded the city of St. Petersburg.
       b. 1933 the Securities Act of 1933 was signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission before being able to be issued to the public.   
        c. 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic.
        d. 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Paula Jones could pursue her action for sexual harassment against President Clinton while he was still in office (if Hillary is elected and Bill Clinton becomes The First Man, for the sake of the office of the presidency one would hope that he controls his libido especially in his dealings with White House interns.                         
        e.  2014 in a shades of Dodds-Frank moment, Christine Lagarde, the President of the International Monetary Funds called for “tougher regulation and increased supervision” of the banking sector.
Opposing reflections on the use of DDT in the fight against malaria: “DDT was banned primarily on the basis of myths–myths having to do with cancer in humans and thin eggshells… Certainly, the millions of people who have died unnecessarily from malaria and typhus and other diseases that can be readily controlled through the use of DDT, these people really face a silent spring.” Dr. Ed Remmers, Vice President of the American Council on Science and Health “How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind?”
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring Tough choices always when the only species human beings with the power to do so seeks to control or alter nature.
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 160 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© May 27, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift