February 18, 2017 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Whale Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For February 18, 2017 President Trump is in Florida at a rally speaking directly to voters and bypassing the media which he continues to rail against and calls them a enemy of the state (time perhaps to ratchet down the rhetoric and stay focused on the issues the American people want to solve); one less jihadist to feed and the blind Sheik linked to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing has died in prison at the age of 78; the King must be rolling in his grave after hearing the news that his only daughter Lisa Maria Presley has filed for divorce and charged her husband with sexual abuse of their 8 year old twins (sadly a certainty in all too many high profile divorces the charges of abuse fly far too quickly); on the music front Mariah Carey after her disastrous New Year’s Eve fiasco is bouncing back with a new boyfriend, tour and single; in another example of the leftist iron curtain against free speech, a coalition of students at the University of Chicago is demanding that the university not allow Lewandowski to speak there; in another never doubt the creativity of drug smugglers, a truck bring mesquite firewood from Mexico was found to be carrying 100 pounds of marijuana inside the logs; Vice President Pence is in Europe urging NATO members to commit to increasing their defense budgets to 2% of GNP; Bill Gates has come up with an interesting topic for discussion, namely that if a robot replaces a human being that robot (read employer of the robot) should pay income taxes and social security taxes (not sure if the idea will fly);  the number of  mostly blacks who  were shot by mostly blacks in Chicago in 2017 through February 17 now totals 449, 83 of whom have died but from Mayor Emanuel and the BLM nothing but the sounds of silence and the fact that of the shooting deaths in 2017  less than 3.5% of the homicide have cleared (no wonder President Trump was moved during his press conference). 

        As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars,  factoids of interest for this day in history, a quote from Joanne Woodford, hoping that you are not in need of a saucier to save your slaved over entrée, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like, birthdays, graduations, 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 Whale Day—celebrated first on this day in Maui in 1980 to promote awareness of the need to protect wm loss  of habitat.           2.  In a Day Almost Devoid of Holidays I Had To Scrape the Bottom of the Holiday Barrel For this One-Thumb Appreciation Day—celebrating the opposing thumb that humans possess that have enabled to grab useful objects since we arrive on the Earth from clubs to cell phones a to our displease by signifying thumbs down or approval with a thumbs down.   

          3. Number One Song in 2015 —celebrating the number 1 song in 2015 on a long run of 1 weeks in that position “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.  Here is a link to the duo performing the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0
          4. Word of the Day—the word of the day is “saucier” which means a sauce chef as there is nothing like a magnificent sauce to otherwise save a miserable and bland entrée.  

          5. Is There a V—celebrating the birth on this day in 1957 of TV Hostess Vanna White who has been walking back and forth touch spaces to reveal the existence of letters in the Wheel of Fortune game which follows my favorite Jeopardy.

          On this day in:

 1. 1885 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published by Mark Twain.

 2. 1911 the first official use of planes to deliver the mail occurred when Henri Pequet flew over 6000 letters in  his plane from Allahabad to Naini in British India on a 6.2 mile trip.

 3. 1930 Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to be flown and milked while in the air to promote the air transport of stock animals (I am sure the cows were mooing in pleasure over the idea of getting to the slaughterhouse faster).

 4. 1954 the first Church of Scientology was founded in Los Angeles.  

 5. 1972 the California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson invalidated California’s death penalty commuting all persons on death row, including Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan to life in prison.  

Reflections on the death penalty in California which last executed a convicted murderer 26 years after his conviction in 1980 and now has probably close to 1000 death row inmates costing the state millions upon millions in costs trying to advance their death sentences: ““The death penalty serves no one. It doesn’t serve the victims. It doesn’t serve prevention. It’s truly all about retribution….There comes a time when you have to ask if a penalty that is so permanent can be available in such an imperfect system. The only guarantee against executing the innocent is to do away with the death penalty.”-Jeanne Woodford, former warden of San Quentin prison Very astute observation on a penalty that does not deter the criminal act of murder.

© February 18, 2017 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 

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