June 5, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Cancer Survivors Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 5, 2016 Finally only 229 more days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. The tributes to Muhammad Ali are still flowing in http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2016/06/ali-could-no-longer-rope-dope-against.html but the hiatus in political theater is back with Sanders and Clinton scrambling in California in a very tight race; if Sanders beats her all the super-delegates in the world will not salvage this flawed candidate. Outside of political theater and a testament to the theory that Neolithic man domesticated plants not primarily for food but to have the ability to brew beer, the city of Bruges is raising money to build a pipeline to a bottling facility outside its medieval protected city landmark to enable the transport of beer without the need of thousands of trucks to despoil the ambience.

As always I trust your weekend is off to a great start with your weekend plans set and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to the Beach Boys, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Ryan White (very brave and courageous innocent victim of AIDS),  while  looking forward to enjoying some gingerbread (killer recipe below), blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, GRADUATIONS, 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 Environment Day—another UN observance for worthwhile causes, this one being awareness for preserving the environment created by the General Assembly in 1976. Wonder how many trees were sacrificed to create publications extolling the goals of the event and how much carbon was spewed into the atmosphere to generate the emails to publicize the goals and on the dark side how many jobs might be lost promoting wars on fossil fuels under the mantra of climate change.      

2. National Cancer Survivors Day—celebrating for 29 years that with early detection and progress in medical treatment cancer is no longer the certain death sentence it once was and with a steady decline in smoking due to laws restricting the places where those bent on long term, slow suicide can smoke and campaigns creating awareness of the dangers and social ostracization due to smoking, lung cancer is no longer the grim reaper it once was.       

3. 1965 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1965 on a run of three weeks in that position “Help Me Rhonda” by the Beach Boys.  Here’s a link to some very young looking Beach Boys performing another one of their classic songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Te_lCF69Aw  

4. National Gingerbread Day—celebrating that today no need to run to try to impossibly catch the gingerbread man as you have here a failsafe recipe to create a great snack with the added bonus of cream cheese.   http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/MAIN/cookies/cookies2/gingerbread-cake-recipe.asp 

5. Hard to See the Invisible Hand—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1723 of the noted economist Adam Smith whose capitalist precepts have brought incredible prosperity to the world as opposed to the siren call of socialism which dooms those living under its yoke—look only to its latest failure Venezuela which despite incredible oil reserves faces starvation and even more critically a complete collapse of its beer industry due to socialism.

On this day in:

a. 1851 Harriet Beecher Stowe’s serial Uncle Tom’s Cabin started its 10 month serial run in National Era, an abolitionist newspaper.    

b. 1883 in a classic example of bringing luxury to train travel, the first Orient Express departed from Paris.    

c. 1947 in a speech at Harvard University proposed a massive economic aid program which became known as the “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Europe.  

d. 1968 after winning the California primary and congratulating Don Drysdale for his record of consecutive scoreless inning, Robert Kennedy leaves the podium at the Ambassador Hotel only to be shot by Sirhan Sirhan, moments later and then die the next day.   

e. 1981 the Center for Disease and Prevention Control reported that five people in Los Angeles had a rare pneumonia associated with persons of severely weakened immune systems; this was the first sign of AIDS in the United States.   

Reflections on AIDS which thanks to research and medical advance is no longer the death sentence it once was but given the cost of treatment should be a powerful inducement for all of us to practice safe sex in our lives. “Aids  can destroy a family if you let it, but luckily for my sister and me, Mom taught us to keep going. Don't give up, be proud of who you are, and never feel sorry for yourself.” Ryan White, one very brave child who after a blood transfusion contracted AIDS at 13 but with a tremendous amount of courage fought the disease before dying at the age of 18.

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

© June 5, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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