Ridley's Believe It Or Not--This Day In History: April 2019

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

April 30, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Jazz Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 30, 2019 Schumer and Pelosi met with Trump on the issue of infrastructure spending and signs are looking like a $2 trillion effort with a further meeting in 3 weeks to consider how to pay for it (Pelosi coy about whether they could come to an agreement while in a froth to investigate the president for his alleged transgressions); thousands upon thousands of Venezuelans are protesting in the streets demanding Maduro leave office as the U.S. ratchets up its demands that he resign in favor of Guiado who has called for a military uprising to overthrow Maduro; CNN aka the Cack News Network is seeing its rating being dumped in the ratings toilet as Fox continues to dominate cable news; Schiff has indicated he will send a criminal referral to the DOJ alleging that the founder of Blackwater and brother of Betsy DeVos Erik Prince perjured himself in front of Congress concerning a meeting with a Russian banker (Prince is also in the news for advocating private mercenaries to be engaged to overthrow Maduro); Pete Buttigieg is polling second in New Hampshire while being the subject of a hoax orchestrated lobbyist Jack Burkman and blogger Jacob Wohl claiming a man named Hunter Kelly was sexually assaulted by Buttigieg; Sanders is in the news calling for Disney to share the profits from its Avengers: Endgame with its workers while videos have surfaced of him in the 80’s praising the socialist revolutionaries in Nicaragua, Chile and Cuba; The New York Times which was caught with its anti-Semite pants down corrected an op-ed that claimed Jesus was a Palestinian not Jewish; shades of Valeriy Borzov winning the 100 and 200 meter dash in the 1972 Olympics, white high school sprinter Mathew Boling of Strake Jesuit College Prep high school in Houston, Texas won a 100 meter dash in 9.98 seconds but did not set a high school record because the tailwind exceed acceptable limits; Rod Rosenstein has announced he will be leaving the DOJ on May 1; Trump has filed suit to block two banks from releasing financial information subpoenaed by the House; the FBI announced that it had thwarted a planned terrorist attack by an Army veteran who was radicalized and wanted to avenge the New Zealand mosque attacks; through April 29, 2019 675 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 132 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, music links to TLC and Johnny Horton, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you will not commit a parapraxis, and a relevant quote from Brian Vian on jazz, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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. Honesty Day—created by M. Hirsch Goldberg to promote honesty and straightforward communications in politics, relationships, consumer relations and historical education. Why on April 30? Appropriate to mark the end of a month that begins with April Fool’s Day to celebrate falsehoods and honors the inauguration of George Washington on this day in 1789.

2. International Jazz Day—created by UNESCO in 2011 to promote jazz and its role in uniting societies.

3. 1999 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1999 on a run of 4 weeks in that position was “No Scrubs” by TLC. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrLequ6dUdM. The creative driver of the three girl band was “Left Eye” Lopez who was killed in an automobile crash in Honduras on April 25, 2002 at the age of 30,

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “parapraxis” which means blunder which describes our political climate to a tee.

5. Go North Young Man—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1925 of noted country western and ballad singer Johnny Horton best known for such songs as”Battle of New Orleans”, “Sink the Bismark” and my favorite “North to Alaska” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSt0NEESrUA Sadly his career at the peak of his fame was cut short by a drunk driver on November 5, 1960.

On this day in:

a. 1927 Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first two celebrities to have their footprints cast in concrete outside Grumman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

b. 1939 NBC began regularly scheduled television broadcasting in New York City with its first showing the opening ceremony with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the New York World’s Fair.

c. 2008 the skeletal remains found at Yekaterinburg, Russia were confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of two of Tsar Nicholas’ children Alexei and Anastasia murdered by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.

d. 2009 Chrysler filed for Chapter XI Bankruptcy.

e. 2019 Emperor Akihito of Japan abdicated his throne to be succeeded by his son Nuruhito.

Reflections on jazz: “There are only two things: love, all sorts of love, with pretty girls, and the music of New Orleans or Duke Ellington. Everything else ought to go, because everything else is ugly. ” ― Boris Vian, artist manager at Association Management Consultants
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 www.Alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com for just This Day in History.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Workers Memorial Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 28, 2019 AOC may tout herself as a breath of save the planet fresh air but her ethics are that of a typical political hack for which she has been snared in having a fund run in Queens and pocketing the registration fees for her campaign; she has also waded in to support Bernie Sanders’ plan to allow felons to vote including terrorists like the Boston Bomber while they are still in prison; the Poway synagogue shootings John Earnest was supposedly motivated by the New Zealand mosques killings (another example of deranged people wanting to ape in a copycat fashion while a hero wounded in the leg was found in the likes of Almog Peretz who led several children to safety while the gunman was spraying bullets); Kamala Harris is back in the news pandering that she will fight to end right to work laws which are a great engine for growth and grant workers the ability not to join a union (SCOTUS has just ruled that unions cannot force nonmembers from paying union dues) and true to form threatened Congress that if they did not act, she would be executive fiat implement gun control regulations like background checks; Arnold Schwartzenegger is a proud father as his “love child” son has graduated from Pepperdine University; the Oracle of Omaha must have great genes in addition to his stock picking skills as his daily diet includes 5 Cokes, MacDonald’s and Dairy Queen; Trump and White House staffers will again skip the White House Press Conference Dinner (who can blame him for not wanting to listen to some politically biased comedian personally attacking him); the child sexual abuses plaguing the Catholic Church are alive and well as the Archdiocese of New York released the names of 115 priests and 5 deacons against whom there is credible accusations that they have sexually abused children; through April 27, 2019 659 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 127 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Celine Dion, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you are free of paranym, and a relevant quote from Joe Klein on torture at Abu Ghraib, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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. Workers Memorial Day—created by the AFL-CIO to honor the memory of the thousands of workers killed or maimed while on the job and to promote worker safety.

2. Great Poetry Reading Day—celebrating reading great poetry especially in conjunction with romantic poems written on Kiss Your Mate Day with a suggestion that www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com is the place to go.

3. 1998 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1998 on a run of 2 weeks in that position was “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNIPqafd4As.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “paranym” which means a word whose meaning is altered to conceal evasion which describes many of the slogans and speeches of politicians to a tee.

5. Burns Had An Eye For Talent—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1941 noted singer, dancer and actress Ann-Margaret Ollson better known as Ann Margaret who was nominated for an Academy Award in the movie Carnal Knowledge and was discovered by George Burns in Las Vegas.

On this day in:

a. 1952 General Dwight Eisenhower resigned as commander of NATO.

b. 1967 Mohammad Ali refused induction into the army and was stripped of his title and banned from boxing.

c. 1975 Cao Văn Viên the South Vietnamese head of the armed forces for South Vietnam departed for the U.S. as North Vietnamese forces approached Saigon.

d. 1994 Aldrich Ames pled guilty to giving secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole where he now rots.

e. 2004 CBS aired a documentary on the sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib detention facility by American soldiers.

Reflections on the torture at Abu Ghraib: “If there was one fact that sent me hurtling off to write 'Politics Lost,' it was when I learned that John Kerry had focus-grouped Abu Ghraib. We knew about the Justice Department memo in June of 2004, and Kerry didn't raise that in any one of his three debates with George Bush.” Joe Klein, noted political columnist for Time Magazine.
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 www.Alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com for just This Day in History.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Veterinary Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 27, 2019 Billionaire Tom Steyer has been blasted by Trump for his impeachment push that can’t find any buyers; William Rose attending the NRA speech by President Trump has proved the adage that guns and alcohol do not mix as he was arrested for allegedly throwing a cell at Trump while he was approaching the podium (he is undergoing mental evaluation while the Secret Service is investigating whether he meant any harm; all is not calm with the NRA as its president Oliver North announced that he would not serve a second term (Dana Loesch would be a logical choice to succeed him); Senator Kyrsten Sinema has indicated she is a no vote on impeachment (she won a close race in a Red state and can read the tea leaves and probably would like a second term); breast cancer surgeon Rachel Wellner was awarded $1.2 million against the NYPD for excessive force; on the academic PC front Cal State University Long Beach is ditching its mascot Prospector Pete on grounds that the California Gold Rush harmed indigenous people (without the Gold Rush California would still be part of Mexico); China is funding a 250 mile railroad from its Yunnan Province to the capital of Laos Vietianne with work done mostly by Chinese; on the anti-Semite front, a man has been arrested for a shooting incident that killed 1 and wounded 3 at a synagogue in Poway, California; through April 25, 2019 643 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 126 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to The Notorious B.I.G., factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you are free of any paralogising, and a relevant quote from Whitney Houston on being a teacher or a vet, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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 Veterinary Property Day—created by the World Veterinary Association in 2000 and celebrated on the last Saturday in April to honor the contributions of veterinarians to the health and well being of our pets.

2. Independent Bookstore Day—celebrated on the last Saturday in April to promote shopping at independent bookstores and used bookstores that expose a wide range of selections to the reading public and are alive and well in the era of digital books.

3. 1997 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1997 on a run of 3 weeks in that position was

“Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glEiPXAYE-U.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “paralogise” which means to reason falsely which describes AOC’s thought process to a tee.

5. Who Is Spartacus—celebrating or bemoaning as the case may be the birthday on this day in 1969 of Senator and Presidential primary candidate Cory Booker who for a gift on his 50^th birthday needs to be freed of his proclivity to paralogize when in comes to immigration and the economy.

On this day in:

a. 1974 10,000 marched in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of Richard Nixon.

b. 1981 Xerox PARC introduced the computer mouse.

c. 1987 the U.S. Department of Justice banned former Nazi Austrian President Kurt Waldheim and his Nazi wife Elizabeth from entering the U.S. due to his role as a Nazi deporting Jews to death camps during World War II.

d. 2005 the Airbus 380 flew its test maiden flight.

e. 2018 the Panmunjom Declaration was signed by North Korea and South Korea bringing an end to the Korean conflict.

Reflections on dreams of becoming a veterinarian: “I wanted to be a teacher. I love children, so I wanted to deal with children. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian. But by the age of ten or eleven, when I opened my mouth and said, 'Oh, God, what's this?' I kind of knew teaching and being a veterinarian were gonna have to wait.” Whitney Houston What a great voice and what a tragedy her early death was.

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 www.Alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com for just This Day in History.

Friday, April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Intellectual Property Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 26, 2019 Brennan is outraged that allegations are swirling that the CIA was instrumental in using the Anti-Trump Steele Dossier to obtain FISA warrants, calling Trump sociopathic (of the great derelictions of duty by Mueller and his band of Blue hacks was his failure to probe in the creation and dissemination of the dossier); Cook County Judge Marc Martin has castigated Kimberly Foxx for a double standard of justice by prosecuting a woman for filing a false police report but dropping charges against Smollett as her ethics head has resigned (wonder if the fact that Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff’s contacting her had anything to do with the decision?); the gaffer in chief Joe Biden has opened his campaign with a softball appearance on the clueless The View while one of his top campaign advisers Simone Sanders has been caught on tape in November of 2016 after the November 2016 election that the Democratic Party should not be led by white men (time for Biden to start appearing in black face?); on the issue of immigration finally the rays of sanity are being revealed in the Sunshine State as a bill banning sanctuary cities is moving toward being voted on; Newton, Massachusetts District Court Judge Shelley Joseph and her court officer Wesley MacGregor have been indicted for obstruction of justice by aiding an illegal to escape from ICE out the back door of her court room; on the anti-Trump 24/7 front the Washington Post has slammed Sarah Sanders for holding a mock press conference for children of the press corp and staffers on Bring Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day; Illegal alien from Honduras Carlos Zuniga Aviles, who has been charged with murdering a 4 month old infant after paternity tests proved he was not his son, had been previously deported 5 times through our porous open border; an illegal alien has been arrested in the brutal murder of San Jose resident Bambi Larson in February and in a brilliant sting operation at a bogus University of Farmington in Michigan over 600 illegal aliens from India have been arrested or are voluntarily leaving after signing up for computer classes (when will the Blues come on board with border security so we can create more opportunities for merit based immigration to fill the jobs that are open?); on the public health front, hundreds of students have been quarantined at UCLA and Cal State L.A. due to measles (painful reminder what can happen when the vaccination rate falls); through April 25, 2019 639 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 125 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you are free of any paragnosia of why socialism is doomed to fail, and a relevant quote from Svetlana Alexievich on the Chernobyl disaster, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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 Intellectual Property Day—created by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2000 to promote awareness of how patents, copyrights, trademarks and designs impact our daily life and to celebrate creativity and the contributions of creators and innovators to society.

2. National Arbor Day—celebrated on the last Friday in April and started in 1872 Julius and Caroline Morton who proposed that the state of Nebraska create a day dedicated to the planting of trees which was a great success such that it became a state holiday on April 22, 1875 the day of Morton’s birthday.

3. 1996 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1996 on a run of 16 weeks in that position was “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXxRyNvTPr8.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “paragnosia” which means a misunderstanding which is what the left will gravely suffer if they believe socialists can win the presidency of this nation.

5. King of Queens--celebrating the birthday on this day in 1965 of noted comedian Kevin Knipfing better known to his fans as Kevin James and best known for his starring role on King of Queens. He is still making people laugh on the silver screen and on TV.

On this day in:

a. 1956 the SS Ideal X, the world’s first container ship set sail from New Jersey bound for Houston, Texas.

b. 1981 Doctor Michael Harrison at the University of California Medical Center performed the first open fetal surgery on a fetus still in the womb.

c. 1986 Reactor Number 4 at Chernobyl in the Ukraine experienced a core nuclear meltdown and spewed radio active material into the atmosphere making it one of the worst nuclear power plant disasters of all time.

d. 2005 under international pressure Syria withdrew the last of its 14,000 troops from occupation duty in Lebanon, ending 29 years of military domination of that ravaged country.

e. 2018 at Bill Cosby’s retrial following a mistrial, Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual abuse and later sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison which sentence and guilty verdict is under appeal.

Reflections on the disaster at Chernobyl providing a hint of the effects of socialism and communism: “It's certainly true that Chernobyl, while an accident in the sense that no one intentionally set it off, was also the deliberate product of a culture of cronyism, laziness, and a deep-seated indifference toward the general population. The literature on the subject is pretty unanimous in its opinion that the Soviet system had taken a poorly designed reactor and then staffed it with a group of incompetents. It then proceeded, as the interviews in this book attest, to lie about the disaster in the most criminal way. In the crucial first ten days, when the reactor core was burning and releasing a steady stream of highly radioactive material into the surrounding areas, the authorities repeatedly claimed that the situation was under control. . . In the week after the accident, while refusing to admit to the world that anything really serious had gone wrong, the Soviets poured thousands of men into the breach. . . The machines they brought broke down because of the radiation. The humans wouldn't break down until weeks or months later, at which point they'd die horribly.”
― Svetlana Alexievich, Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 24, 2019 the Sri Lanka Easter bombings are the terrorist gift that keeps on giving as the death toll has now risen to 359 as the FBI is on the ground there assisting Sri Lanka authorities after ISIS has claimed responsibility; AOC must be spending too much time with her two Congressional radical Muslim friends as on Sri Lanka Easter bombings only sounds of silence on her end; Scott Israel whose hands reek with the smell of blood of the students killed at Parkland while his deputies cowered outside the school has been slammed by the Florida Supreme Court who upheld the governor’s right to suspend him for malfeasance; the U.S. is being plagued with an e-coli outbreak in ten states from hamburger meat (time to make sure one’s burgers are cooked well done); AOC remains remarkably consistent when it comes to her making a complete fool out of herself by in a sparsely attended town hall claiming that the VA provides excellent medical care to veterans (she as a proponent like Sanders of a single payer system has to make that false claim as the quality and availability of health care under a government run health care system would be a disaster); Boeing is being hammered by the 737 Max groundings due to two fatal plane crashes with earnings down $1 billion; on the automobile safety front the U.S. is expanding its investigation to over 12 million autos where collision air bags may be defective and not deploying when a crash occurs; Kim is meeting with Putin today in Russia on economic issues between the two countries but probably not on the need to denuclearize North Korea (if Russia enters into new trade agreements do we have anyt additional sanctions to employ against Russia?); enroute to a opioid summit President Trump announced he would fight the subpoenas issued by the House committees which are hell bent on continuing to do a post Mueller investigation of him and his finances (impeachment is the new scarlet letter that will hopefully sink the Blues in 2020); through April 23, 2019 627 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 120 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to R. Kelly, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you enjoy parabolists’ parables, and a relevant quote from Patrick Kennedy on the Armenian Genocide, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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. Armenian Genocide Rembrance Day—commemorating the genocide by Turkey of its population of Armenians which began when Turkey started to expel Armenian intellectuals from Constantinople on this day in 1915 and which was first observed 1919.

2. Fashion Revolution Day— created in 2013 by two UK fashion designers Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro in response to the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1133 garment workers and injured another 2,000 on this day in 2913 and celebrated on this day in 2014 to urge safer working conditions for garment workers around the world.

3. 1994 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1994 on a run of 4 weeks in that position was “Bump ‘n Grind” by R. Kelly. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXxkNaRkp8

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “parabolist” which means the teller of parables, the most famous of whom was Christ.

5. A Sticky Wicket For Sure--celebrating the birthday on this day in 1973 of Sachin Tendular, considered by many to be the best cricket player of our life time who fortunately for opposing teams has retired from the sport.

On this day in:

a. 1953 Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

b. 1957 the Suez Canal is officially reopened after the insert of UB Peacekeepers.

c. 1990 8 U.S. servicemen died in a failed operation Eagle Claw designed to rescue the hostages held at the American Embassy in Tehran.

d. 1996 The Anti Effective Terrorism Death Penalty Act making it far easier to execute terrorists who committed terrorist acts against the U. S. was passed by the Congress.

e. 2004 in an act which Kim should take to heart, the U.S. lifted economic sanctions against Libya due to its abandonment of its nuclear weapons program.

Reflections on the Armenian Genocide which the Turks to this day have yet to accept as a fact: “Moreover, as the leadership of the House confirmed last year, the Administration remains opposed to a congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide due to Turkish objections. This approach sends absolutely the wrong signal to Turkey and to the rest of the world.’ Patrick J. Kennedy son of Ted Kennedy and from Representative

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

April 23, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not UN English Language Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 23, 2019 HRC continues to play the role of Marvin K. Moody and will not leave the political scene indicating that nothing could be clearer than Trump obstructed justice (if anyone can assert that anyone else would have been indicted it would be this nonindicted felon for her handling of classified material on her server and her destruction of emails subpoenaed); Sanders has expanded his call to let felons vote while in prison and included the Boston Bomber currently on death row (Sanders as the face of the new Democratic Party has lost his mind on this issue); Blues had their conference call yesterday as Pelosi is trying to put a damper on calls for impeachment of Trump which zealots like Maxine Waters and Elizabeth Warren (whose campaign seems to be going nowhere) are clamoring for (given what happened to the Reds after their failed impeachment of Bill Clinton this pro Trumper hopes that the Blues impeach Trump and then crash and burn in the 2020 elections); AOC’s delusions continue to defy any test of sanity as she defended the VA’s health care at a town hall (she obviously has not talked to any whistle blowers or the families of vets who had to bury a vet because of delay in seeing a doctor causing a disease to become fatal or a delay causing a suicide); AOC’s inane remarks have prompted three Red challengers in her district who are reputed to have the back of a wealthy donor (I am sure that Pelosi would leap for joy if AOC gets tossed in 2020); the city by the bay has become the city of feces, urine and used needles with a map showing their location in parks, sidewalks and streets to prove it; the death toll in Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings has risen to 321 and the number arrested now totals 40 as the government warned there are people with explosives still on the run (sadly the heinous ideology of radical Islam is still alive and well and defying all efforts to eradicate it https://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2019/04/sri-lanka-easter-bombings.html; on the measles epidemic front in New York City, five parents have filed a law suit to block the city’s requirement that children under the age of 18 be vaccinated before entering public places; Mohammed Zahran, a radical Muslim cleric whose on line sermons include the call that non-Muslims be eliminated, is being identified as one of the suicide bombers and the mastermind behind the eight bombings on Easter in Sri Lanka; Smollett is still in the adverse legal news was the two brothers involved in the hoax have sued his attorney for defamation; on the legal front the 6^th Circuit has ruled that chalking a vehicle of a public street as a basis for determining whether the vehicle has exceeded time restrictions on parking violates the 4^th Amendment and questions from SCOTUS in oral argument suggest that the court will overrule the 9^th Circuit and allow the Census Bureau to include questions on citizenship (California with the largest number of illegals will be hit the hardest if illegals are tossed out from the calculation in determining population and thereby determining the amount of federal aid a state receives and given the fact that illegals are costing the nation $100 billion in federal aid, reversal would be a good step in reducing the incentive to come here); through April 22, 2019 622 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 118 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Snow, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you are free from parablepis if you are a scribe, and a relevant quote from Frank da Cruz on the occupation of Columbia by students protesting the Vietnam War, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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.International Pixel-Stained Techno-Peasant Day—created by author Jo Walton on this day in 2007 to promote the posting on the internet of professional quality writings for free.

2. UN English Language Day— created by the UN to promote the usage of English as one of the organization’s six official languages.

3. 1993 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1993 on a run of 7 weeks in that position was “Informer” by Snow. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNsDDYY-C-o This Canadian reggae artist is still going strong at 49.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “parablepsis” which means an error by a scribe in copying text because of a mistake in skipping over it or looking to the side.

5. Induction May Kill You--celebrating the birthday on this day in 1936 of noted singer and song writer Roy Orbison best remembered for “Pretty Woman” and “Only the Lonely” who was a heavy smoker after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 died of a heart attack on December 6, 1987.

On this day in:

a. 1914 the Chicago Cubs played their first game at Wrigley Field then known as Weeghman Park.

b. 1941 King George II and the Greek government evacuated Athens ahead of the invading Wehrmacht.

c. 1968 students protesting the war in Vietnam took over the administration building at Columbia University and shut down the university for a week before being violent ejected by the NYPD with over 700 being arrested.

d. 1985 in a reaffirmation of the adage “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” Coca Cola changed its recipe in a move that was not well received by consumers and was forced to pull the new product off the shelves in three months.

e. 2005 the first YouTube Video “Me at the Zoo” was released by user “jawed.”

Reflections on the occupation of Columbia University by a student who was there: “I spent the week in Low Library. There was a carnival atmosphere the first day, with press photographers and reporters from magazines, the local newspapers, etc (the Post was fair, the News was atrocious, but the Times was beyond belief – small wonder, considering the connections. There was an unforgettable, Felliniesque visit from a faculty member who swooped the window in full academic regalia Batman like, to "reason" with us. Security guards and office workers brought us snacks.Life magazine (May 10, 1968) ran a cover story featuring pictures taken in Low, including my favorite: a group of us seated on the carpet, each with a Grayson Kirk face, complete with pipe (from President Kirk's desk drawer, which was stocked with dozens of 8x10 glossy book-jacket poses).” Frank da Cruz, student at Columbia in 1968

Monday, April 22, 2019

April 22, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Earth Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 22, 2019 ISIS may have been waxed in Iraq and Syria but as the coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter against churches and luxury hotels catering to foreign visitors, the ideology of radical Islam is alive and well, killing over 290 innocents and wounding over 500 (to compound the tragedy the government had prior warnings from international organizations and was caught asleep at the wheel); Otero C in New Mexico has declare a state of emergency over the tidal wave of illegal aliens; the State of Washington is set to become the first state to permit burials allowing for organic decomposition of the corpse (wonder if the body’s DNA is preserved if a exhumation is required due to a criminal investigation); Nadler has subpoenaed Trump’s White House lawyer as he is pedal to the metal on the investigate don’t legislate path; the Federation of American Immigration Reform has released a study conforming what most Americans suspect that illegal aliens are sucking over $100 billion in federal benefits not including the cost of border enforcement (federal grants to states based on population must be reduced based on the number of illegals residing in a state (SCOTUS must overturn the 9^th Circuit and permit the Census Bureau to question one’s immigration status); on the family law front, Nicholas Cage has filed for annulment of his 4 day old marriage to Erica Koike who surprise, surprise is seeking spousal support and legal fees (Cage has claimed that he was MUI (married under the influence); Patricia Heaton of “Carol’s Second Act” has slammed MSNBC for ambushing Robert Mueller as he was leaving Easter church services and Obama’s and Clinton’s condemnation of the church bombings for not indicating the murder victims were Christians; the Trump Administration announced it was eliminating waivers of sanctions for countries that continue to buy Iranian oil (turning up the screws on a despotic sponsor of terrorism); Bill De Blasio announced that steel and glass skyscrapers would be banned in the Big Apple and building owners must reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 or face huge fines yet he continues in the do as I say mode not do as I do mode driving a gas guzzling SUV from the Mayor’s Mansion 11 miles to his gym workout; on the abortion front, Kansas Democratic governor has just vetoed an abortion reversal bill and now faces Republican opposition that has more than 2/3rds of the votes needed to overturn her veto; through April 21, 2019 612 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 117 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Vanessa Williams, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you are free from papules, and a relevant quote from Gaylord Nelson on the environment, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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. Earth Day—celebrated internationally since 1970 to promote preserving and protecting the environment.

2. White House Easter Egg Roll— celebrated on the Monday after Easter on the White House Lawn since 1878.

3. 1992 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1992 on a run of 5 weeks in that position was “Save the Best For Last” by Vanessa Williams. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EdmHSTwmWY

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “papule” which means a pimple which is the curse of too many teenagers.

5. Comeback Kid--celebrating the birthday on this day in 1950 of British musical prodigy Peter Frampton, a singer and guitarist who once held the record for most albums sold, Peter Framption Comes Alive, and who is still performing today.

On this day in:

a. 1864 the Congress of the U.S. passed the Coinage Act of 1864 which required the phrase “In God We Trust” to be placed on all coins used as U.S. currency.

b. 1977 optical fiber was used for the first time to transmit telephone messages.

c. 1983 the German magazine Stern claimed that the Hitler Diaries had been found in East Germany, a claim which proved to be a hoax.

d. 2008 the U.S. Air Force retired the F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber from service.

e. 2016 the Paris Agreement designed to limit the increase of greenhouse emissions was signed (the U.S. under the Trump Administration announced in 2017 that it would be withdrawing from the agreement in November of 2020).

Reflections on Earth Day: “The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity… that’s all there is. That’s the whole economy. That’s where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.” – Gaylord Nelson former Senator from Wisconsin 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 www.Alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com for just This Day in History.

Saturday, April 20, 2019

April 20, 2019 Ridley's Believe It Or Not 420 Day (Cannabis Culture)

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 20, 2019 the Mueller Report is out, lightly redacted and as might be expected disappointing partisan zealots on both sides with Nadler personally attacking Barr and the MSM touting the fact that the Report did not exonerate the President on the issue of obstruction; Pocahontas is the first Blue presidential wanna-be on the impeachment warpath (Mueller’s part two on obstruction looks like a Comey’s déjà vu on HRC detailing her server misdeeds and then declining to prosecute; Eric Swalwell is rapidly becoming one of the most detested presidential candidates as he indicated that no apologies need to be given for illegally spying on the Trump campaign (Trump needs to release the FISA warrant applications so the American public can see the FBI’s illegality of using Steele’s unverified dossier to obtain warrants on Carter Paige); poor Joe Biden will have to face head on the question of whether he supports impeachment when he announces his run on Wednesday; in Paris Yellow Vest protestors battled police protesting the billions of francs being pledged to restore fire damaged Notre Dame which is undercutting their anti-wealth movement; Mueller announced on Friday that 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies had been indicted for supporting Trump, Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein (in Stein’s case not a good return on the ruble); Comey, McCabe, Yates, Ohr and Cohen must not be sleeping well as the IG announced he was investigating FISA Court abuses and the role of the Steele discredited dossier funded by the DNC and the HRC campaign; McConnell has indicated he will introduce legislation raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 as the use of e-cigarettes among teenagers continues to spike; through April 19, 2019 585 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 113 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Wilson Phillips, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you have some papeterie for your writings to impress people, and a relevant quote from David Cullen on Columbine, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college 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. 420 (Cannabis Culture)—celebrating a meeting of 5 high school students in San Rafael, CA looking for an abandoned marijuana farm and meeting to begin their search at 4:20 p.m. in front of a statute of Louis Pasteur.

2. UN Chinese Language Day— celebrated since 2010 as one of the six official languages used at the UN to encourage equal usage the official languages throughout the organization.

3. 1991 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 1991 on a run of 1 week in that position was “You’re In Love” by Wilson Phillips. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7gYii2unkg 2 daughters of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and 1 daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and Papas formed the group.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “papeterie” which packaged fancy stationery which one should use when one wants to standout with invitations or letters.

5. Pop Art Muse--celebrating the birthday on this day in 1943 of Edie Sedgewick who battled drugs and bulimia and appeared in several Andy Warhol movies and died from suffocation with her head in a pillow on November 16, 1971.

On this day in:

a. 1657 freedom of religion was granted to Jewish residents of New Amsterdam (later New York City).

b. 1998 Enoch Powell, a member of the Conservative Party made his “River of Blood” attacking mass migration from the Commonwealth into the United Kingdom.

c. 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 13 people while wounding 24 others at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado before taking their own lives.

d. 2008 Danica Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 to become the first female driver to win an Indy race.

e. 2010 The Deepwater Horizon Oil Platform exploded killing 13 workers and causing an oil spill that lasted for 6 months.

Reflections on the Columbine Shootings: “Psychopaths don’t act like Hannibal Lecter or Norman Bates. They come off like Hugh Grant, in his most adorable role. ―Dave Cullen, author of Columbine.