Ridley's Believe It Or Not--This Day In History: May 2020

Sunday, May 31, 2020

May 31, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World No Tobacco Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 31, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 75,665 new cases (a 1.23% increase compared to a 2.65% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 6,224,516 cases, 3,073,654 of which are active, 3,150,862 of which have been closed with 2,778,361 recoveries (88.18 % compared to yesterday’s 88.04%) and 372,501 deaths (11.82% compared to yesterday’s 11.96%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 12,544 have brought total cases to 1,828,308 (a .69% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.67% increase) with 1,183,803 active cases and 644,505 closures, 105,918 of which have been deaths (16.43% compared to yesterday’s 16.59%) and 530,477 of which have been recoveries ( 83.57% compared to yesterday’s 83.39%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die); the Crew Dragon capsule has been renamed Endeavor by its two astronauts in honor of the fact their first flight into space was on Space Shuttle Endeavor as Endeavor has successfully docked to the International Space Station; peaceful in orbit but the nation below is in riots and flames across it with 5,000 National Guard deployed, large numbers of cities in curfew, widespread looting and fires, total disregard of curfews imposed by Blue city run mayors, shootings and killings, 60 Secret Service officers injured while protecting the White House and to be expected on both sides massive blame finger pointing (Mayor Bottoms perhaps said it best that looting and rioting is destroying the memory of George Floyd); Trump has moved to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization; De Blasio is clearly inept with now no supporters on left or right as he defended NYPD officers for driving through a protesters’ barrier igniting social media trends to have him resign; the Minnesota Freedom Fund a group which seeks contributions to bail out people who have been arrested but cannot post bail had raised less than %$75,000 before George Floyd’s death has raised $20 million in 4 days following his death, and included in that group of donors, 13 staffers of Biden’s campaign (Biden opposes cash bail calling it debtors’ prison and has now blamed Charlemagne Tha God for baiting him which prompted his “you ain’t black” remark ( if he was baited his handlers should be shuddering over what Trump will do to him in the debates if they cannot somehow prevent them from occurring); the it’s a video lying queen Susan Rice is back in the news claiming Russians are behind the violent protests over the death of George Floyd while still hanging on to her delusions that the Russians were conspiring with Trump to win the election; Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter believes in “Twitter fact checks thee but as CEO and founder of Twitter not me” as he retweets a blatantly false tweet from the Mayor of St. Paul claiming all of the agitators were from out of state when in fact 38 of the 45 people arrested lived in Minnesota; Trey Gowdy and the family lawyer for George Floyd’s family see eye to eye with both claiming Officer Chauvin should be charged with 1^st degree murder; in Chicago, as of May 30, 2020, 1123 shootings of whom 206 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); 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 now 79 behind Chicago with 127 murders (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 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, the fact that the weather allows you to store your palatot and a quote from Tom Steyer not on politics but smoking, 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. World No Tobacco Day—created by the World Health Organization in 1987 to promote awareness of the adverse health effects of the use of tobacco including second hand smoke which leads to 8 million painful ways to die and sadly includes 1.2 million nonsmokers exposed to this filthy and disgusting habit.

2. National Necrotizing Fasciitis Day—first declared by Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan to promote awareness of this bacterial caused disease that eats flesh, muscle and organs and if not treated quickly can lead to loss of life.

3. 1940 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1940 on this day on a run of 7 weeks in the position was “The Woodpecker Song” by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8BnLWFwq9I. Sadly, for music lovers this member of the Army Air Force Band on December 15, 1944 disappeared at the age of 40 over the English Channel in foul weather en route to France to entertain the troops.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “palatot” which means a loose overcoat which with our warmer weather can be stored in the closet until the late fall.

5. Bang the Drums Quickly--celebrating the birth on this day in 1948 of John Bonham a self taught drummer starting at age 5 who became the drummer for Led Zepplin and with due regards to Ringo Starr was ranked by Rolling Stone as the number one drummer of all time but battled successfully heroin addiction only to consume 40 shots of vodka in 24 hours during and after a rehearsal before starting a North American tour and die in his sleep from asphyxiating on his own vomit on September 25, 1980.

On this day in:

a. 1889 a private dam acquired by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club to create a private lake, Lake Cavanaugh, experienced a catastrophic collapse, sending a 60 foot high wall of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing some 2,200 people.

b. 1977 to the joy of an oil hungry, foreign oil import dependent U.S. the Trans Alaska Pipeline was completed.

c. 2005 Vanity Fair revealed that FBI agent Mark Felt was the “Deep Throat” in the Watergate Scandal that forced Nixon to resign rather than be impeached and then convicted.

d. 2017 President Trump tweeted “Despite the constant negative press covfefe” and then stopped with the use of the word “covfefe” going viral and even though deleted 6 hours later became an internet meme.

e. 2019 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, 40 year old DeWayne Craddock, a disgruntled city engineer who had tendered his resignation hours earlier, entered the city’s Municipal Building Complex armed with legally purchased weapons and shot and killed 11 city employees and one outside contractor and wounding 4 others before being shot and killed by police in a shootout on the premises.

Reflections on smoking on World No Tobacco Day: “My mother, Marnie Fahr Steyer, was a lifelong smoker - up to three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day. I like to think that, if Mom were still with us today, she'd be happy with the strides we've made to protect our children from the ongoing health crisis of tobacco addiction.” — Tom Steyer, venture capitalist and failed Blue presidential candidate, who like Bloomberg, tried to buy his way into the nomination.

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.

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Saturday, May 30, 2020

May 30, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World MS Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 29, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 158,753 new cases (a 2.65% increase compared to a 2.14% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 6,148,851 cases, 3,050,059 2,992,616 of which are active, 3,098,312 of which have been closed with 2,727,833 2,632,351 recoveries (88.04% compared to yesterday’s 87.82) and 370,479 deaths (11.96% compared to yesterday’s 12.18%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 29,881 have brought total cases to 1,815,764 (a 1.67% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.36% increase) with 1,179,751 active cases and 636,113 closures, 105,536 of which have been deaths (16.59% compared to yesterday’s 17.17%) and 530,477 of which have been recoveries (83.39% compared to yesterday’s 82.83%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 17,992,192; violent protests continue across the nation as rioters ignore the pleas of leaders like Mayor Bottoms of Atlanta who intoned that rioters burning buildings and looting stores are destroying the memory of George Floyd and destroying the very places that many residents will be looking to find work as the nation reopens; Mayor Frey is hiding in the sand and pointing blame at “white supremacists and out of state agitators” and demonstrating total ineptness while of the meager arrests of 36, 86% were from Minnesota; AG Barr has weighed in to remind potential rioters that crossing state lines to engage in such conduct is in violation of federal law and they will be arrested and prosecuted by the DOJ; Floyd’s death was tragic and he and his fellow officers will be accountable but not amount of riots, burning and looting will bring him back but for the small businesses with their goods, services and jobs destroyed in the riots may never come back; the official autopsy on Floyd found that Floyd’s death was not caused by strangulation but the cause of death was contributed by being restrained, potential intoxicants in his system, and underlying health conditions which prompted Floyd’s family to engage Doctor Baden of independent autopsy fame of Jeffrey Epstein to perform an independent autopsy; private enterprise for the first time has launched 2 human beings into orbit in Crew Dragon on top of a Falcon 9 for docking with the International Space Station 19 hours later; SCOTUS in a 5-4 majority with Chief Justice Roberts siding with the liberal minority has ruled against a church seeking emergency relief against Newsom’s order limiting church services to 100 worshipers; Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the CV pandemic in New York is rapidly fading given his ineptness creating thousands of nursing home deaths and his brother’s ratings are sinking faster than a hot rock following his return to the Cack News Network; in Chicago, as of May 29, 2020, 1101 shootings of whom 201 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); 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 now 76 behind Chicago with 125 murders (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 Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, the fact that you rarely palaver and a quote from Carmen Ambrosio issues like MS that people learn to cope with, 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. World MS Day—created by the International Multiple Sclerosis Foundation in 2009 to create awareness of the disease and the issues faced by people suffering from the disease and to promote the raising of funds to find a cure for it.

2. National Creativity Day--created in 2018 by Hal Croasman and ScreenwriterU to promote creativity regardless of whether you can make a living doing so and perhaps appropriate as we celebrate the creativity that launched Crew Dragon today into orgit for docking with the International Space Station, 19 hours after launch.

3. 1939 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1939 on this day on a run of 4 weeks in the position was “And the Angels Sing” by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra with Martha Titon on the vocals. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heXQ-zgyfQY. The King of Swing dominated the big band airways for decades until the Swing finally stopped and came to and end at the age of 77 on June 13, 1986. Martha Tilton had a long career until the Angels called her to join their choir at the age of 91 on December 8, 2006.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “palaver” which means to talk profusely or idly which is unfortunately a trait far too many politicians are cursed with.

5. Hard to Block a Train--celebrating the birth on this day in 1982 of Eddie Griffin who basketball for Seton Hall and was drafted after his freshman year to play 6 years in the NBA but sadly died while trying to beat a train across a crossing on August 17, 2007 with a blood alcohol limit of .26%

On this day in:

a. 1937 striking steel workers marched on the Republic Steel Plant in Chicago to be met by police who opened fire on the demonstrators, shooting 50, 10 of whom died and clubbed brutally dozens in what would be termed a police riot for which no one was ever prosecuted on the Chicago Police Department.

b. 1963 in what should have been a wake-up call that backing Catholic Diem as president was a bad idea in a predominantly Buddhist country, the first anti pro-Catholic demonstration was held in front of South Vietnam’s National Assembly..

c. 1974 to the dismay of Boeing the Airbus 300 entered service.

d. 1998 Pakistan conducted an underground plutonium bomb with a strength of 20 kilotons in the Kharan Desert of Pakistan.

e. 2008 the Convention on Cluster Bombs banning their production, ownership and use was signed to become effective on August 1, 2010, 6 months after 30 nations had signed and although the number of signatories has increased to 108, many nations like the U.S., China, India, Russia, North and South Korea have not.

Reflections on MS: “I was inspired to write (Life Continues) to tell people dealing with MS or any other illness that if opening your eyes, or getting out of bed, or holding a spoon, or combing your hair is the daunting Mount Everest you climb today, that is okay.” Carmen Ambrosio, Life Continues: Facing the Challenges of MS, Menopause & Midlife with Hope, Courage and Humor

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May 29, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Day of UN Peacekeepers929

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 29, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 125,693 new cases (a 2.14% increase compared to a 2.16% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 5,990,098 cases, 2,992,616 of which are active, 2,997,482 of which have been closed with 2,632,351 recoveries (87.82% compared to yesterday’s 87.7%) and 365,131 deaths (12.18% compared to yesterday’s 12.3%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 23,952 have brought total cases to 1,785,873 (a 1.36% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.53% increase) with 1,179,433 active cases and 606,440 closures, 104,135 of which have been deaths (17.17% compared to yesterday’s 17.22%) and 502,305 of which have been recoveries (82.83% compared to yesterday’s 82.78%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 16,672,107; Derek Chauvin the Minneapolis police officer shown in an 8 minute video with his knee of George Floyd’s neck has been charged with 3^rd Degree Murder and the D.A. indicated the other 3 officers who did not intervene may soon face criminal charges (understandably but without justification Minneapolis has endured 3 days of riots, fires and looting which will be detrimental to the cities comeback and do nothing for the interests of justice but has forced the city to call in the National Guard and declare a curfew at 10:00 p.m.; we may be heading into a trade war with China but Beyond Meats has announced that it is partnering with KFC and Pizza Hut to market its product in China; Trump has announced that the U.S. will terminate its relationship with W.H.O.; on the stimulus wars Red House and Senate members have introduced legislation to bar states like California from making cash payments to illegal aliens from stimulus funds (will not be sent to Trump’s desk due to Blue House majority and Blue cloture proof number in the Senate but a good platform plank to run on against Biden); in Chicago, as of May 28, 2020, 1084 shootings of whom 197 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); 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 now 77 behind Chicago with 120 murders (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 Swing and
Sway with Sammy Kaye, the fact that your meals are palative and a quote from John F. Kennedy on the powers mankind possesses, 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. World Digestive Health Day—created by the World Gastroenterorology Organization to promote awareness of and the need to raise for the treatment and prevention of gastroenterologic diseases.

2. International Day of the UN Peacekeepers--created the General Assembly of the UN to honor the sacrifices made by the soldiers wearing the Blue Helmets of the UN Peacekeepers trying to keep the peace between warring factions.

3. 1938 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1938 on this day on a run of 4 weeks in the position was “Love Walked In” by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgQMw8UGtQs. The swing and sway came to and end at the age of 77 on June 2, 1987.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “palative” which means pleasing to the taste or the palate which something we want all food to be.

5. Camelot Pennants to Fly at Half Mast--celebrating the birth on this day in 1917 of President John F. Kennedy who brought us Camelot, a pledge to reach the Moon, and the New Frontier but if alive today his ideas and platform would not get him a spot on the Blue ticket for president.

On this day in:

a. 1985 in a testament of the human spirit to overcome adversity Canadian amputee Steven Fonyo ended his run across Canada at Victoria, British Columbia that he had started 14 months earlier.

b. 1988 President Reagan visited the Soviet Union for the first time to meet with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.

c. 1999 the Space Shuttle Discovery completed the first docking at the International Space Station a feat which the manned Crew Dragon will hopefully replicate 19 hours after its scheduled 3:22 p.m. launch on May 30, 2020.

d. 2004 the World War Two Memorial was opened in Washington, D.C.

e. 2015 One World Observatory opened at One World Trade Center.

Reflections on the powers mankind possesses: “We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or make it the last."

- John F. Kennedy.

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Thursday, May 28, 2020

May 28, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Hamburger Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 28, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 124,177 123,232 new cases (a 2.16% increase compared to a 2.19% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 5,864,505 cases, 2,936,020 of which are active, 2,928,485 of which have been closed with 2,568,160 recoveries (87.7% compared to yesterday’s 87.44%) and 360,325 deaths (12.3% compared to yesterday’s 12.56%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 26,598 have brought total cases to 1,761,921 (a 1.53% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.58% increase) with 1,163,155 active cases and 598,766 closures, 103,117 of which have been deaths (17.22% compared to yesterday’s 17.38%) and 495,649 of which have been recoveries (82.78% compared to yesterday’s 82.62%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 16,231,514; Nevada Blue Senator Cortez-Masto who does not want to be tagged with being a running mate of someone looking more and more like a mental corpse has withdrawn her name from any consideration of being on the Biden ticket; protests in Minneapolis yesterday turned into a mini-riot as evidence surfaces that Derek Chauvin a police officer with 19 years on the force shown with his knee on a subdued and handcuffed Floyd’s neck that led to his death has a record of 10 conduct complaints and 3 shootings for which he has never been reprimanded and Tou Thao with 10 years on the force and the other police officer shown on the video has had 2 complaints and a police brutality law suit which was settled (to defuse this situation the D.A. needs to pedal to the metal and determine whether facts merit arresting Chauvin and the other 3 officers before riots get out of hand); the chaos in Minneapolis is likely to get worse as complaints are pouring in over the death of Floyd as Colin Kaepernick weighs in by pronouncing “that when civility leads to death, revolting is the only answer”); Trump who has long castigated social media for bias against conservatives and censoring has just signed an executive order seeking to remove the liability protection against social media under Section 230 of the Communications Decency and an end to censorship (social media platforms have become like utilities and unless someone advocates violence and crime tweets and postings should not be banned); Twitter is in hot water for its “fact checking” of Trump’s tweets when its fact checker Yoel Roth has a history of rabid bias against him and his supporters who he claims are “actual Nazis’; Pompeo after the attempt by the Chinese to stifle dissent in Hong Kong has stated that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China and put an end to waivers in 60 days of sanctions against countries continuing to work with Iran’s nuclear program; Julian Castro, a failed Blue presidential candidate, has announced the formation of a progressive PAC but still has refused to endorse Hidin’ Biden; in Chicago, as of May 27, 2020, 1071 shootings of whom 193 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); 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 now 73 behind Chicago with 120 murders (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 Billie Holiday with the Teddy Wilson Orchestra, the fact that during the pandemic you will not be sitting on a pais and a quote from Julia Child on hambergers, 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 Hamburger Day—celebrating that great American meal, the hamburger which some people believe was created by Louis Lassen at Louis Lunch at New Haven. Connecticut on July 28, 1900 but its popularity soared during the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Easiest way to celebrate is to go to one of the many restaurants that serve them and given the CV pandemic shutdowns find one that offers take out.

2. Amnesty International Day—created Peter Benenson on this day in 1961 to promote the freeing of political prisoners and the ending of the death penalty.

3. 1937 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1937 on this day on a run of 2 weeks in the position was “Carelessly” by Billie Holiday with the Teddy Wilson Orchestra. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofFRvGNmmC8. “Ladie Day” was a very popular jazz singer who battled drug and alcohol problems and died of complications from cirrhosis and died on July 17, 1959 at age 44 with $.70 in the bank. Teddy was one of the few black musicians to play with white and his Orchestra was formed for a short period of time in the 30’s. He died on July 31, 1986 at the age of 73.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “pais” which means a panel from which a jury is chosen and while the pandemic is upon us is not being used because of the need for social distancing.

5. Seized Way Too Soon--celebrating the birth on this day in 1999 of noted up and coming young actor Cameroon Bryce who died as his acting career was taking off from an epileptic seizure in his sleep on July 6, 2019 at the age of 20.

On this day in:

a. 1892 John Muir founded the Sierra Club in San Francisco.

b. 1937 Volkswagen was established in Germany.

c. 1996 President Bill Clinton’s former business partners Jim and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker were convicted of fraud in the Whitewater Scandal.

d. 1999 after 20 years of restoration work, Leonardo’s masterpiece The Last Supper was put back on public display.

e. 2002 the last steel girder from the World Trade Center was removed from its site, marking the end of cleanup activities at the destroyed World Trade Center which collapsed on September 11, 2011.

Reflections on the hamburger on the day we celebrate it: “It is the Americans who have managed to crown minced beef as hamburger, and to send it round the world so that even the fussy French have taken to le boeuf hache, le hambourgaire.” Julia Child, noted cooking teacher, author and television personality.

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Wednesday, May 27, 2020

May 27, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Gray Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 27, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 123,232 new cases (a 2.19% increase compared to a .97% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 5,740,328 cases, 2,916,635 of which are active, 2,823,693 of which have been closed with 2,468,975 recoveries (87.44% compared to yesterday’s 87.28%) and 354,718 deaths (12.56% compared to yesterday’s 12.72%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 27,058 have brought total cases to 1,735,323 (a 1.58% increase compared to yesterday’s .45% increase) with 1,151,975 active cases and 583,347 closures, 101,359 of which have been deaths (17.38% compared to yesterday’s 17.69%) and 481,988 of which have been recoveries (82.62% compared to yesterday’s 82.31%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 15,677,011; the Orange County Sheriff has announced his department will not enforce Orange County’s mandatory mask wearing requirement; Astronauts Hurley and Behken have climbed aboard the Crew Dragon capsule on top of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket only to have the mission scrubbed and rescheduled for Saturday’s American return to orbit space before rendezvousing the ISIS carried by a commercial American rocket launched from American soil; De Blasio is warning of a multi-billion dollar deficit due to the CV pandemic and pleading for federal aid (big problem is that he is inept and incompetent and NYC is the only part of the state still in massive shutdown mode); Cuomo is finally being blasted for his nursing home death sentences that may have caused upwards of 10,000 deaths after signing legislation to protect nursing homes and hospitals from civil and criminal liability due to CV deaths (wonder how persuasive the $1,000,000 campaign contribution by a hospital association to his 2018 campaign influenced his support for the legislation?); Hidin’ Biden still reeling from his “you ain’t black” comment was quick to praise the mayor of Minneapolis for firing the 4 officers involved in the death of George Floyd but demanded a FBI investigation of their deaths; Anderson Cooper is reeking cack again aping Pelosi’s fat shaming of Trump (such a little man when it comes to “journalism”); Governor Northam of Virginia is so typical of the “do as I say not as I do Blue politicians” after being forced to apologize for going to a beach while not wearing a mask last weekend but signing an executive order effective this Friday to mandate the wearing of masks while in public indoor settings; in Chicago, as of May 26, 2020, 1064 shootings of whom 192 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); 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 now 72 behind Chicago with 120 murders (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 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, the fact that you not a patrone and a quote from Deisaku Gattai on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 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. Sunscreen Protection Day—now that summer has unofficially started and beaches and public outdoor areas formerly closed due to the CV pandemic are now reopening, this is a day to remember to apply sunscreen to protect you from UV radiation that damages the skin and can cause skin cancer and to continue the habit each and every day when outside for any prolonged period of time.

2. National Gray Day—created by Voices Against Brain Cancer and celebrated since 2014 to promote awareness of brain cancer that has claimed such people as John McCain and to raise funds to find a cure for this devastating and deadly disease.

3. 1935 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1935 on this day on a run of 1 week in the position was “You)” by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qswsE5MlTY Dorsey was known as the “Sentimental Gentleman of Swing” and a hit in the Big Band Era but after a big meal and taking sleeping pills choked during his sleep and died on November 26, 1956.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “padrone” which means an innkeeper a profession that has been hard hit by the pandemic as people are not traveling much these days for recreation and doing more and more business by teleconference.

5. Drugs Intercept Lives--celebrating the birth on this day in 1988 of Tyler Sash who played safety for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, played for the New York Giants for two seasons, was released on August 31, 2013 and died September 8, 2015 from an overdose of drugs. Like too many football players, an autopsy revealed he was suffering from Stage 2 encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition caused by too many head traumas.

On this day in:

a. 1937 the Golden State Bridge linking San Francisco to Marin County was opened to pedestrian traffic.

b. 1941 the German battleship Bismarck was sunk in the Atlantic trying to run to the coast of France by British warships.

c. 1967 the aircraft carrier the USS John F. Kennedy was launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.

d. 1984 the Danube-Black Sea Canal started in 1950 with forced labor by enemies of the state from Romanian prison camps was opened to traffic.

e. 2016 President Barack Obama became the first U.S. President to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bomb attacks.

Reflections on the atomic bombings of Japan: “Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.” Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese Buddhist philosopher, anti nuclear disarmament advocate and honorary president of Soka Gattaii, Japan’s largest new religious movement.