Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For January 14, 2017 John Lewis may be a hero as a result of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement but his childish outburst that by being scheduled as the last witness in the Sessions confirmation hearing was like “being sent to the back of the bus,” was totally out of line (whatever happened to the old adage “save the best for last?) and his arguments that President-elect Trump is not a “legitimate president” are even more so; President-elect Trump as is his style fired back that Lewis’ 5th District was falling apart and crime infested (17.3% of the households have income below the poverty level compared to one in nine nationally, the unemployment rate is higher than the state and national averages and Atlanta which lies completely within the 5th District ranks 12th in terms of violent crimes per 100,000 residents (Lewis should be happy that a law and order president with a top priority of job creation will be helping his district); the world continues to be getting more dangerous as 3500 American troops are now in Poland (shades of 10,000 troops in Berlin during the Cold War as a trip wire to the Soviets and full scale MAD); the left is alive and well in the form of storm trooper like threats on the UC Davis Campus to force the Republican Club there to cancel a speech by a conservative talk show host; a report recently released revealed that 70,000 birds have been killed near New York’s three major airports in response to the bird strikes that brought the flight that Captain Sully was piloting into the Hudson River; through the 13th of January 115 people in Chicago have been shot of whom 19 have died (where is the mayor and why in the DOJ’s response limited to finding the CPD uses excessive force against minorities?); on an ending note that must have made Elon Musk a happy man a SpaceX rocket carrying ten communication satellites for Iridium successfully launched from Vandenberg and returned to land on a ship at sea.
As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Gregory Abbot, factoids of interest for this day in history, an observation on our founding fathers by Christopher Hitchens, looking forward to being able to avoid the plague of the Word of the Day “nagware,” blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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. Ratification Day—this is a day celebrating the ratification by the Confederation Congress in 1784 of the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War.
2. National Dress Up Your Pet Day—even though the news today featured a pit-bull biting members of a family in Tampa who were trying to dress it in a sweater, today is the day to dress up your pet, hopefully in clothes your animal finds fashionable and to its liking.
3. Number One Song in 1987—celebrating the number 1 song in 1987 on a short run of 1 week in that position “Shake You Down” by Gregory Abbot. Here is a link to him performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc8wmLul3uwe
4. Word of the Day—the word of the day is “nagware” which means software you download for free for a trial period and then continues to nag you to pay for it or upgrade.
5. Give This Ship a Wide Berth—bemoaning the birth on this day in 1946 of Doctor Harold Shipman, a British family practitioner who suffered from pain pill addiction and before he was caught killed over a prolonged period of time at least 215 patients by administering lethal doses of morphine. Sentenced to three life sentences, he hung himself in prison.
On this day in:
1. 1639 Connecticut adopted the “Fundamental Orders” the first written constitution to establish a government.
2. 1943 Japan, acknowledging it had been defeated in its attempt to take Guadalcanal, began Operation Ka, the evacuation of all of its forces on the island, literally right under the nose of the American forces.
3. 1943 President Franklin Roosevelt became the first president to fly in an airplane, flying from Miami to Morocco to be with Winston Churchill to plan joint actions against the Axis Powers.
4. 1952 NBC’s long running news program Today debuted with host Dave Garraway.
5. 1967 the Human Be-In was held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and attended by some 20-30 thousand attendees. It was the prelude to the Summer of Love and introduced main street America to the hippie movement and flower children and a growing protest against the Vietnam War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bch1_Ep5M1s to capture the essence of the event.
Reflections on why we must never forget our Founding Fathers and their contributions to this nation: “Without Thomas Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence, there would have been no American revolution that announced universal principles of liberty. Without his participation by the side of the unforgettable Marquis de Lafayette, there would have been no French proclamation of The Rights of Man. Without his brilliant negotiation of the Louisiana treaty, there would be no United States of America. Without Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, there would have been no Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom, and no basis for the most precious clause of our most prized element of our imperishable Bill of Rights - the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Christopher Hitchens, noted Anglo-American author, essayist and critic of Christianity. 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.
© January 14, 2017 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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