Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For March 27, 2020 After a week of Pelosi grandstanding and resistance, the House in a voice vote passed the stimulus and sent it to the president for signature President but the markets, worried about the effects on the economy from the coronavirus pandemic were down over 900 points; AOC was in full rant mode attacking the bill on the floor for not providing for enough money to illegal aliens and too much for corporations that hire the Americans that we want to get back to work; the stench of bias from the Cack News Network was overpowering as it falsely claimed only Obama was calling for social distancing not Trump; shore leave for Navy personnel on foreign deployment used to be a great benefit but with the coronavirus pandemic now becoming a gamble as the USS Theodore Roosevelt has docked in Guam several days earlier due to 30 cases of the virus on board and another carrier in the Pacific is also reporting cases after visiting Japan; Trump who has previously defended not invoking the Defense Production Act because companies were falling over each other has slammed GM for reneging on its prior commitment to produce 30,000 ventilators and wanting more dollars for the 6,000 it is now proposing; “Creepy Feely” Joe Biden has been hit with a sexual harassment charge by a former Senate staffer which he adamantly denies (wonder if Hirono will be demanding she be believed or hide behind the sounds of silence); in a rebuff to corporate greed a growing number of corporate executives are either foregoing their salaries or reducing them; the coronavirus pandemic continues unabated with almost 600,000 500,000 cases and over 26,000 deaths worldwide with the U.S. now having the most cases and grim reminders with the news of infections of Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson that title or position is not respected by the virus; in Chicago, as of March 26, 2020, 496 people have been shot of whom 86 have died; Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths is 22 behind Chicago with 64 murders by shootings (when will Chicago and Baltimore 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 and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than random mass shootings?).
As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a musical link to Simon and Garfunkel, the fact hopefully your oneiric moments are peaceful, a quote by Claire Pontbriand on the Good Friday Alaska Earthquake, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’s Day, 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 Whisk(e)ys Day—created in 2008 to celebrate the production and consumption of Japanese, Scottish and Canadian whiskies and American and Irish whiskeys and given the anxiety and concern over the coronavirus a reason to enjoy a glass to ease your worries.
2. World Theatre Day—created by the International Theatre Institute to celebrate the importance of theatre in our culture since 1962 but today due to coronavirus pandemic not celebrated with live performances but only online.
3. 1970 Number 1 Number One Song— the number one song in 1970 on this day on a run of 6 weeks in the position was “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G-YQA_bsOU. Sadly, the song was from their 5th and final album together and was followed by a long period of acrimony interspersed with periods of touring together..
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “oneiric” which means of or pertaining to dreams which hopefully yours are of the peaceful kind.
5. Outrunning Gerard Was Easier—celebrating the birth on this day in March, 1931 of noted actor Richard Janssen best remembered for his role as Doctor Richard Kimble in The Fugitive but sadly was a heavy drinker and 4 pack a day smoker and died from a heart attack way too early on February 13, 1980.
On this day in:
a. 1915 Typhoid Mary, Mary Mallon, an Irish cook and the first asymptomatic carrier of typhoid in the United States, was placed in quarantine for a second time after being released after 5 years for returning to her banned profession of a cook where she would remain until she died on November 11, 1938.
b. 1941 officers of the Yugoslav Air Force in a bloodless coup toppled the country’s pro Axis government prompting the invasion and occupation of the country by the Germans who didn’t stop and conquered Greece.
c. 1964 on Good Friday, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America struck South Central Alaska near Anchorage, causing 125 deaths including deaths in Crescent City, California from its resulting tsunami, and destroying the city of Valdez.
d. 1975 after years of litigation and delay, construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System began which upon completion would be sending 2,000,000 barrels of oil to its southern terminus at Valdez.
e. 1998 in a let the good times return, the FDA approved the drug Viagra for use in male impotence, the first drug so approved.
Reflections on the Good Friday Alaska Earthquake: “Given Alaska's strategic importance in the Cold War, the U.S. government and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked feverishly to reconstruct south central Alaska-where roughly two-thirds of Alaska's population lived and most of the state's infrastructure was situated-before winter arrived. President Lyndon B. Johnson convened his cabinet to form the Federal Reconstruction and Development Commission for Alaska to upgrade facility standards and give due attention to mitigation. Johnson also requested that the National Academy of Sciences establish the Committee on the Alaska Earthquake, which led to significant documentation and study of this quake, addressing the damage, social and economic impacts, more stringent construction codes, and larger scientific questions raised by the catastrophe.” Claire Pontbirand, noted seismologist.
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.
© March 27, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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