Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 14, 2018 After numerous predecessors had campaigned on the promise to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, President Trump kept that promise and as Israel celebrates its 70th anniversary of its founding, the American Embassy will open today even as Israel girds for violence from Palestinians protesting the move (35,000 Palestinians were protesting along the Gaza as 37 Palestinians were killed on the Gaza border with Israel with Israel claiming they were armed terrorists trying to plant bombs along the Gaza fence); on the Haspel nomination front, 100 former ambassadors who had served under both Republican and Democratic Administrations sent a letter to the Senate protesting her nomination while on the optics front a former Green Beret had himself water boarded on camera to prove the practice while uncomfortable was not torture but rather only the fear of water with no injury https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/05/13/watch-former-green-beret-ufc-fighter-gets-waterboarded-on-live-video-to-prove-it-isnt-torture; on the litigation lottery front a manager at a Chipolte restaurant in Fresno who was fired for allegedly stealing $626 from the restaurant’s safe was awarded almost $8 million in damages in a wrongful termination lawsuit (evidently the defendant could not produce the video relied upon to fire the manager); on the fleece the taxpayer front a Blue Congressman has introduced a bill to convert a residence hall located in an upscale neighborhood owned by the government formerly used by high school pages but vacant since 2011 into residences for Congressmen earning $174,000 a year while the Swamp has over 6,000 homeless and paying $80,000 a night to house some 600 families in hotels; lava flows in Hawaii are continuing forcing thousands to evacuate as Trump declares the island of Hawaii to be a disaster; in Chicago through May 12, 2018, 873 people mostly of color have been shot by mostly people of color, of whom 143 have died with incomplete returns on Mother’s Day showing that 7 mothers will have learned their child has been shot of whom 2 have died (when will Chicago get serious about this carnage or is this the case of true racism as a Blue run city turns a deaf ear and a blind eye to the slaughter of people of color by people of color?)
As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Paul McCarthy and Wings, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that Trump is trying to drain the Swamp of malversation and a relevant quote by Sofia Coppola, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’s 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. National Women’s Checkup Day—celebrated on the Monday of the second full week in May and since it follows Mother’s Day a good reason for women to have a physical checkup to stack the odds in favor of being here for another Mother’s Day in the following year.
2. Underground American Day—created by architect Malcolm Wells in 1974 to commemorate the growing trend to move underground to decrease energy costs, reclaim abandoned structures like missile silos, public restrooms abandoned tunnels and escape the noise of urban bustle above ground.
3. 1978 Number One Song— the number one song in 1978 on a run of 2 weeks in that position was “With A Little Luck” by Paul McCartney and Wings. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzH-2NgtaZk
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “malversation” which means corruption in office which sadly crosses the aisle and with the huge amount of federal, state and local spending is a huge magnet for dishonest elected and bureaucratic officials.
5. Like Father Like Daughter—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1971 of Sofia Coppola, noted actress, director and producer who happens to be the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola.
On this day in:
On this day in:
a. 1878 in a you have to be kidding me moment in the law, the last witchcraft trial was held in Salem, Massachusetts to her the claim of Lucretia Brown, a Christian Scientist, against Daniel Spofford whom she claimed was trying to influence with his mental powers. This travesty ended with the judge dismissing the case.
b. 1939 in a you are too young to be a mother moment, Lina Medina at five years, seven months, seven days became the youngest mother ever recorded by giving birth to a six pound boy delivered by Cesarean; she is still alive in Lima today having survived her son born on that day who died in 1979.
c. 1961 in a dark moment of our history the Freedom Riders bus which had left Washington, D.C. to protest the failure of the ICC to enforce its ruling banning segregation in interstate commerce was fired bombed after leaving Anniston, Alabama and the riders attacked by an angry mob which were only deterred from lynching the riders by shots fired into the air.
d. 1973 the United States first space station Skylab was launched.
e. 1988 Larry Mahoney driving drunk on Interstate 71 the wrong way hit a converted school bus carrying a church group near Carrollton, Kentucky killing 27 and injuring 34; Mahoney was sentenced to 16 years, served 11 and the accident was instrumental in the formation of MADD.
Reflections on imagination from a director’s eye: “It's always more intriguing to imagine what's happening, as opposed to seeing everything, because then you can use your imagination.” Sophia Coppola She is spot on as the mind is far more creative and not bound by the optics of what the eyes see. 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.
© May 14, 2018 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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