April 6, 2017 Ridley's Believe It Or Not New Beer's Eve

 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 6, 2017  Just when you thought the theater in D.C. involving unfounded colaims of collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia and Susan Rice switching stories on unmasking like a chameleon could not get anymore muddled, Nunes has recused himself in the probe of Russian hacking (behind the scenes one can only hope that the DOJ is impaneling a grand jury on Susan Rice’s potential crimes) and Gowdy will take over the probe; some progress on bridging the gap among Reds on repealing and replacing Obamacare but not there yet (why in heaven’s sake is Ryan not keeping Congress in session until a bill is hammered out?); Blues are forcing McConnell to implement the nuclear option to confirm Gorsuch (Blues better start praying that Ginsburg stays alive and that the Trump agenda on recovery and jobs fails because they will be looking at maybe two more vacancies that Trump will be able to fill); in a great do as I say not as I do moment, news that Senator Warren that progressive ideologue is one of the worst offenders for paying her female staff less compared to men; Trump is off to Florida to meet with the leader of China and one has to expect intense discussions on trade and what to do with North Korea; outrage continues over the chemical weapons used by Assad possibly with Russian help against citizens; news out of St. Petersburg is that Russians have arrested 3 accomplices of the Islamist suicide bomber; in another example of a complete lack of value in higher education, a survey at Harvard the cost of which for tuition, room, board and fees is over $63,000 a year finds that students believe that Trump is more of a danger than ISIS, still swallowing the delusional line of Obama that it is a JV team; while California seems hell bent on making itself a sanctuary state, some sanity reigns in Pinal County, Arizona which openly cooperates with ICE; almost like a stuck record or a remake of Groundhog Day, Chicago style,  the carnage in Chicago continues unabated with total shootings in 2017 through April 4 increasing by 9 to 785 and the death toll rising by only 1 to 144 (God help those poor minorities being shot mostly by minorities when the weather gets warmer and the shooters’ aim gets really better and there is more daylight to find and shoot victims) and yet nothing, absolutely nothing, appears to be occurring to address this blight on blacks and minorities which is what racism from a black mayor really looks like who appears to care only about the rights of illegal aliens in his sanctuary city  (when will Chicago residents through the city council try to impeach this pathetic, inept mayor?). 

    As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Gloria Gaynor, factoids of interest for this day in history, a relevant quote from the director of Bill Bryson,  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.  New Beer’s Eve—celebrating the eve of the  end of Prohibition and the legalization of the sale of wine and 3.2 beer which went into effect on April 7, 1933. 

2.  Tartan Day—commemorating by people of Scottish heritage the execution on April 6, 1320 of the Declaration of Abroath, a letter to the Vatican proclaiming the  independence of Scotland.  

3. 1979 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1979 on a run of 3 weeks in that position “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor.  Here is a recording of her performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYkACVDFmeg The song definitely still has legs as she recently made a cameo in a Capital One commercial with lines from the song.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “paraph” which means a flourish after one’s signature often used to prevent forgeries.

5. Who Wants to Change the World-—celebrating the birth on this day in 1939 of the youngest CEO to run Pepsi and who was lured to Apple by Steve Jobs by asking him “Do you want to keep selling sugar water or come with me to change the world?” He did and in a ten year run in which he was criticized for forcing Steve Jobs out increased Apple’s sales from $600 million to over $6 billion before he too was forced to resign by the board in 1993.  

On this day in:                                                                                   

a. 1712 slaves in New York City revolted, killing 9 whites and injuring 5 others prompting a harsh response by the whites who tried and convicted 21 blacks and condemned them to death, 20 of whom were burned at the stake.

b. 1841 Vice President John Tyler was sworn in as President of the United States two days after President Harrison died after only 31 days in office.  

c. 1896 in Athens after a 1500 year absence after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I, the Olympic Games were held.

d. 1947 the first Tony Awards for theatrical achievement were awarded.    

e. 1968 a natural gas leak exploded in Richmond, Indiana’s downtown district killing 41 people and injuring 150 and devastating a six block area of the town. The silver lining in this tragedy was that the Congress on August 12, 1968 passed the 1968 Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act imposing much more stringent regulations to prevent future accidents.   

Reflections on Prohibition on the anniversary of its end: "There'd never been a more advantageous time to be a criminal in America than during the 13 years of Prohibition. At a stroke, the American government closed down the fifth largest industry in the United States - alcohol production - and just handed it to criminals - a pretty remarkable thing to do.” Bill Bryson, noted Anglo-American best selling author of books on science, travel and other subjects of nonfiction. 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.

© April 6, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 

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