August 26, 2021 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Women's Equality Day

 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 26, 2021       

            CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 215 million at  215,143,620 cases (214,670,628 yesterday); 18,211,057 of which are active, 196,932,563  closed with 192,449,805 recoveries (97.72% and 97.72% yesterday, and 4,482,758 deaths (2.28% and 2.28% yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
            CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 39 million at 39,178,558 (39,145,788 yesterday)  with 7,848,514 active cases of which 24,676 are serious or critical, (24,579 yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now on a serious upswing due to Delta virus to .314 % of active cases and to decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 4,595, 31,330,044 closed, with 649,800 deaths (2.07% and 2.07% yesterday) and with 30,680,244 recoveries (97.93% and 97.93% yesterday). Our death rate percentage is no longer stuck at 2.08% since July 12, 2021 and now .21% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady   but slow climb to 1950 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (5912 the new number 1 which has had a quantum leap in deaths previously unmatched which was a change in the classification to give Peru the a new method of reporting to have a fatality rate of 9.26% of total cases now; Hungary the new number 2 has had a huge continuing surge in deaths with the increase now slowing down and improving slightly to  3.77% of its closed cases have died (3120), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2702),   Brazil (2691) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us and Italy, Argentina (2430),  Columbia newly added to the list  (2417),   Belgium (2176), Italy (2136),  Poland (1993), and Mexico (1958) and slightly better than the UK which we just passed on the 18^th  (1935),  Chile (1905), Romania (1806), Ecuador newly added to list (1790), Spain (1793), Portugal (1739), France (1738), Bolivia (1548),  Sweden (1439) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1256). 
              Tests: We have now conducted 573,846,521 tests (1,722,069/M) just passed by France at 1,856,968 who is now 1^st  on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 3,890.297/M.
               CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys  that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has been passed by Argentina and newly added Columbia but passed the UK  to move up to 10^th  on my list of deaths from the pandemic  tied with the U.S. at 1958/M with a fatality rate of 8.92% of closed cases and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported (regardless of number we need no more cases):
                     Guatemala:  Active Cases:  51,158 Deaths/M 635
                     Honduras:    Active Cases: 217,996 Deaths/M 868
                     El Salvador:  Active cases:   11,448 Deaths/M 440   
             US Vaccinations: As of 8/26/2021 365.8 million doses, up from .860 million per day to .878  million per day (down to 4 months to go for 75% of population vaccinated) and in California 98,026  per day (95,556 yesterday) which means if the rate does not increase it will take us still some 3 months to have 75% of the population of California vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 47,513,170 total doses have been given (87.3%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 84.3%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has  not moved from 13^th tied  of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 55.3% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 51.9% has  not moved from 16^th  Place. A  long way to go still to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
              Non  CV News: The State Department with its warning yesterday of terrorist threat hit the nail on the head as today a suicide bomber believed to be from ISIS-K who was able to pass through Taliban checkpoints detonated a suicide vest to kill 12 Marines and 1 soldier and wound 15 plus killing and wounding an unspecified number of Afghans ( the death toll is three times the number KIA in 2020 and Biden will addressed the nation today at 2:00 as some 1000 Americans are still awaiting evacuation and took questions after revealing he was instructed to call on certain reporters); Biden insisted that the mission of evacuation will continued and announced the U.S. would “hunt those responsible for the bombing down” raising the obvious questions of how when after the 31^st we will have no assets in country;  if body language could speak at Biden’s press conference we saw the picture of a man acknowledging defeat:   

Pelosi in her typical fashion tweeted not about the bombing but Women’s Equality Day as the House fled the Swamp for Labor Day Weekend (sadly in the Woke cancer that is infecting our Armed Forces, the Sergeant Major of the Army, Michael Grinston was extoling the virtues of diversity by having female soldiers);  Canada has suspended its evacuation efforts after evacuating 3,700 with great regrets it cannot continue; sadly do not be surprised if as a result of the attacks and the likelihood of more that Biden will announce the end of evacuations of Americans (the evacuation of Afghans has been already effectively stopped due to Taliban checkpoints); as Niki Haley and other Reds demand Biden resign over the Kabul attacks we now know why he picked this inept chuckler—best insurance policy against impeachment as she would be even worse than Biden and with her misguided brain still functioning would be more able to implement them; the terrorist attack rattled the markets and after opening and advancing up in the opening hours, tanked with the Dow down almost 200 points at the close; we have been spared the idiocy of seeing vaccinated Newsom supporters wearing masks stuck in their cares at a Newsome/Harris rally as it has been cancelled; in a aping the cartels charging $5,000 to bring an illegal across our South border, Erik Prince the former Navy Seal who founded Blackwater has offered to pick up stranded Americans and drive them to the airport to flee in a chartered aircraft for $6,500 a head (howls of outrage from Psaki over private enterprise profiting on Biden’s failures; on the Woke front under the guise of diversity Verizon is pushing CRT on employees forced to take the class and adding defunding the police to curriculum (deprived black and brown communities of police protection while proponents of CRT have access to private security is racism of the n^th degree; as Biden grovels to the Taliban leave it to political cartoonist to graphically display how pathetic Biden has become:

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through August 25, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 2982 persons shot of whom 517 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a  music video link to  “Genie in a Bottle”  by Christina Aguilera, that your efforts to accomplish what you believe in are sempiternal and a quote by Betty Freidan on how to achieve goals, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Labor 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. Please contact me for details on pricing.
              1.  Women’s Equality Day—commemorating the signing of the proclamation by the Secretary of State on this day in 1920 that the 19^th Amendment granting women the right to vote and the creation by Presidential Proclamation signed by Richard Nixon on this day in 1972 establishing Women’s Right Day.
              2.  National Toilet Paper Day—celebrating that essential item of hygiene that the pandemic proved to be so valued that it was usually the first item to disappear from the shelves and was invented by Joseph Gayetty to first hit the market in sheet form in 1857. Some 30,000 trees are used daily to produce toilet paper.
              3. 1999 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1999 on this day was “Genie in a Bottle” by Christina Aquilera for 5 weeks in that position to join 14 other songs that achieved number 1 status and 10 other acts who achieved their first number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Here is a music video of “Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFlLybox4To   Christina, a  40 year old American singer and song writer, has been dubbed the  Voice of the Generation with 75 million record sales to her credit.

              4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “sempiternal” which means of never-ending duration which sadly describes what our war against terrorism seems to be.
              5.  Mission of Charity—celebrating the birth on this day in 1910 of Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu better known for her humanitarian work as Mother Teresa who founded the Missions for Charities, won a Nobel Peace Prize and was canonized by the Catholic Church.

              On this day in:
               a. 1983 the final eruption of Mount Krakatoa began its final paroxysmal stage which ended on the 27^th with over 70% of the island destroyed and collapsed into the sea.
               b. 1970 on the 50^th anniversary of the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, NOW organized a nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality with 50,000 protestors marching in NYC.
              c. 1980 as part of an extortion scheme Harry Birges planted a bomb with 1000 pounds of explosives in the Harrah's Casino at Stateline, Nevada which blew up when the FBI tried to disarm it, destroying most of the casino but killing and injuring no one. Birges was caught, tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison where he died from liver cancer.    
              d. 2009 Kaycee Dugard who was kidnapped when she was 11 was found after 18 years ; her abductor Philip and Mary Garrido were arrested and ultimately plead guilty to kidnapping and rape and Philip was sentenced to 436 years to life and Mary 36 years to life which means both will be eligible for parole in 2034 when Philip assuming he is not killed while in prison will be 83 years old.
               e. 2015 TV journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward, employees of the CBS Affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia were shot and killed by a former disgruntled employee of the station who had been fired while conducting a live interview. The killer fled but was cornered later and took his own life with a shot to the head.
               Reflections on the Women’s Strike for Equality: “The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own. There is no other way.” Betty Friedan, who organized the Women’s Strike for Equality March in 1970. 
              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.

© August 26, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients Receive a Lasting Lift

August 25, 2021 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Lamington Day

 

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 25, 2021       

            CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 212 million at  214,670,628 cases (213,665,862 yesterday); 18,179,992 of which are active, 196,490,736  closed with 192,015,737 recoveries (97.72% and 97.72% yesterday, and 4,474,999 deaths (2.28% and 2.28% yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
            CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 39 million at 39,145,788 (38,818,980 yesterday)  with 7,821,577 active cases of which 24,579 are serious or critical, (23,663 yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now on a serious upswing due to Delta virus to .314 % of active cases and to decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 4,692, 31,324,211 closed, with 649,625 deaths (2.07% and 2.07% yesterday) and with 30,674,586 recoveries (97.93% and 97.93% yesterday). Our death rate percentage is no longer stuck at 2.08% since July 12, 2021 and now .21% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady   but slow climb to 1950 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (5909 the new number 1 which has had a quantum leap in deaths previously unmatched which was a change in the classification to give Peru the a new method of reporting to have a fatality rate of 9.26% of total cases now; Hungary the new number 2 has had a huge continuing surge in deaths with the increase now slowing down and improving slightly to  3.77% of its closed cases have died (3120), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2702),   Brazil (2691) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us and Italy, Argentina (2430),  Columbia newly added to the list  (2417),   Belgium (2176), Italy (2136),  Poland (1993), and Mexico (1950) and slightly better than the UK which we just passed on the 18^th  (1933),  Chile (1902), Romania (1805), Ecuador newly added to list (1789), Spain (1789), Portugal (1739), France (1738), Bolivia (1546),  Sweden (1439) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1256). 
              Tests: We have now conducted 573,510,688 tests (1,721,089/M) just passed by France at 1,856,179 who is now 1^st  on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 3,876,207/M.
               CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys  that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has been passed by Argentina and newly added Columbia but passed the UK  to move up to 10^th  on my list of deaths from the pandemic  tied with the U.S. at 1950/M with a fatality rate of 8.94% of closed cases and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported (regardless of number we need no more cases):
                     Guatemala:  Active Cases:  51,158 Deaths/M 635
                     Honduras:    Active Cases: 216,871 Deaths/M 863
                     El Salvador:  Active cases:   11,457 Deaths/M 439   
             US Vaccinations: As of 8/24/2021 363.9 million doses, up from .854 million per day to .860  million per day (down to 4 months to go for 75% of population vaccinated) and in California 95,556  per day (99,029 yesterday) which means if the rate does not increase it will take us still some 3 months to have 75% of the population of California vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 47,304,100 total doses have been given (88.1%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 85.1%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has  moved   from  10^th tied with Virginia to 13^th tied with Minnesota and Virginia of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 55.1% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 51.6% has  not moved from 16^th  Place. A  long way to go still to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
              Non  CV News: Blinken admitted that the State Department does not have an exact number of Americans still in Afghanistan but believes it to be around 1000 and is warning Americans they must leave immediately while in a Catch 22 situation is advising Americans not to be outside the gates because of security threats (because the State Department closed the Embassy assembling there for chopper evacuation to the airport is probably not feasible); when asked by Peter Alexander of NBC what he would do if Americans were  still in Afghanistan after the 31^st , Biden partially aped Harris not with her characteristic idiotic laugh but a smirk and a “You’ll  be the first person I call” answer which the embarrassed WH staff  cut the audio so the American public would not hear (when will this failure realize his handling of the crisis is no laughing matter; Psaki is faced with an impossible job on the questions pertaining to the evacuation but on the issue of Americans being stranded she seems total ignorant of the fact and continues to deny it; adding to the misery of the spiking COVID-19 cases due to the Delta Variant, we now have a salmonella outbreak in 17 states linked to Italia meat (hold the salami on the pizzas and replace with anchovies); the world thinking of buying into the new spin that the Taliban is different needs to take a deep breath as a Taliban mouthpiece inanely ala Baghdad Bob that this is no proof that Osama Bin Laden was behind the 911 attacks; in an example of one bad apple contaminating the lot, the idiots who awarded Cuomo his Emmy must be sighing in relief that they rescinded it before the replacement governor added 12,000 new CV deaths as Fox report Janice Dean who lost her mother and father in-laws in a New York nursing home due to COVID are demanding the DOJ investigate the scandal of deaths Cuomo caused; a desperate Newsom is rolling the dice to have Chuckles Harris campaign with him in the Bay Area in a rally in which attendees have to remain in their cars but must be vaccinated or have negative test to attend (does the term overkill apply here?); mess Biden got us into in Afghanistan keeps getting worse but a political cartoonist graphically portrays the stench of his failure:                            

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through August 24, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 2977 persons shot of whom 515 have died.               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a  music video link to  “This Boy Is Mine”  by Monica and Brandy, that your semantemes are well chosen and quote by members of and beneficiaries of the Cajun Navy, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Labor 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. Please contact me for details on pricing.
           1.  Lamington Day—created by created by the National Trust of Queensland to celebrate a pastry to celebrate a pastry created by the chef of Lord Lamington, the governor of Queensland, Australia from 1896-1901 which consists of a sponge cake dipped in chocolate and coated with diced coconut.
           2.  National Second Hand Wardrobe Day—celebrating the efforts of charities to raise money for their causes by the sale of donated second hand clothing often designer quality which usually is in great shape and sold at a fraction of its cost in department stores.   
          3. 1998 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1998 on this day was “This Boy Is Mine” by Brandy and Monica for 13 weeks in that position to join 15 other songs that achieved number 1 status and 8 other  acts who achieved their first number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Here is a music video of “This Boy Is Mine by Monica and Brandy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSIOp_K5GMw   Monica is nearing her 41^st birthday and had to overcome the suicide of a boyfriend while the two of the were visiting his brother’s gravesite. Brandy like Monica comes from a musical family and has had a successful solo career and going strong releasing albums at age 42.
          4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “semanteme” which means a word expressing an idea like a noun, which too often in today’s politically charged neighborhood are not carefully chosen.
            5.  Man With a Golden Baton—celebrating the birth on this day in 1918 of Leonard Bernstein, the first American born conductor to head a major symphony and the first to bring classical music to the masses via television but a heavy smoker who suffered from emphysema in his 50’s and died from a heart attack on October 14, 1990, 5 days after putting down his baton for good and retiring from conducting.
         On this day in:
         a. 1916 the U.S. National Park Service was founded.
         b. 1950 in order to preempt a threatened strike on the nation’s railroads when the nation had just entered the Korean War, President Truman ordered the Secretary of the Army, Frank Pace, to seize control of the nation’s railroads.
         c. 1967 George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party, was assassinated by a former member of this right wing fringe group.
         d. 1997 Ergon Krenz, the last communist leader of East Germany, was convicted for his “shoot to kill” order to prevent East Germans from trying to escape from East Berlin and sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison.
         e. 2017 Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a CAT 4 Hurricane and causes massive flooding, kills 116 people, causes some $125 billion in damages and highlighted the rescue efforts of an ad hoc group of Louisiana boaters called the Cajun Navy. 
        Reflections on the work by the Cajun Navy in times of hurricane disasters: “And as it turned out, we couldn’t have done without those guys. They were a tremendous asset.” Livingston Parish President Layton on earlier concerns of having the Cajun Navy volunteering: “And as it turned out, we couldn’t have done without those guys. They were a tremendous asset.” Among the rescuers was Jere Delaune, an auto-body shop owner who helped ferry an estimated 200 people and their pets to higher ground. When a woman plucked into his boat asked if he had taken to the flood waters to help family, his reply was succinct: “All these people here, they’re humans. They’re all my family.” Jere Delaune, Cajun Navy volunteer who moved 200 some people and their pets to higher ground when asked if he was saving family. “God put us where we needed to be,” Cajun Navy volunteer Joey Bernard who rescued an injured sheriff’s deputy thrown from his boat and hanging on a tree limb for dear life.
         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.

© August 25 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients Receive a Lasting Lift

August 24, Ridley's Believe It Or Not William Wilburforce

 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 24, 2021       

            CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 212 million at  213,665,862 cases (212,864,443 yesterday); 17,980,784 of which are active, 195,675,078  closed with 191,215,378 recoveries (97.72% and 97.72% yesterday, and 4,459,700 deaths (2.28% and 2.28% yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
            CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 38 million at 38,818,980 (38,548,513 yesterday)  with 7,691,459 active cases of which 23,663 are serious or critical, (23,296 yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now on a serious upswing due to Delta virus to .314 % of active cases and to decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 5,608, 31,217,521 closed, with 646,704 deaths (2.07% and 2.07% yesterday) and with 30,570,817 recoveries (97.93% and 97.93% yesterday). Our death rate percentage is no longer stuck at 2.08% since July 12, 2021 and now .21% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady   but slow climb to 1941 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (5909 the new number 1 which has had a quantum leap in deaths previously unmatched which was a change in the classification to give Peru the a new method of reporting to have a fatality rate of 9.26% of total cases now; Hungary the new number 2 has had a huge continuing surge in deaths with the increase now slowing down and improving slightly to  3.77% of its closed cases have died (3120), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2690),   Brazil (2683) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us and Italy, Argentina (2422),  Columbia newly added to the list  (2414),   Belgium (2176), Italy (2135),  Poland (1993), and Mexico (1943) and slightly better than the UK which we just passed on the 18^th  (1931),  Chile (1901), Romania (1804), Ecuador newly added to list (1788), Spain (1782), Portugal (1738), France (1733), Bolivia (1545),  Sweden (1438) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1255). 
              Tests: We have now conducted 569,090,574 tests (1,707,574/M) just passed by France at 1,708,071 who is now 1^st  on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 3,864,101/M.
               CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys  that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has been passed by Argentina and newly added Columbia but passed the UK  to move up to 10^th  on my list of deaths from the pandemic  at 1943/M with a fatality rate of 9.09% of closed cases and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported (regardless of number we need no more cases):
                     Guatemala:  Active Cases:  48,656 Deaths/M 630
                     Honduras:    Active Cases: 215,436 Deaths/M 860
                     El Salvador:  Active cases:   10,802 Deaths/M 438   
             US Vaccinations: As of 8/23/2021 363.3 million doses, down from .889 million per day to .854  million per day (down to 4 months to go for 75% of population vaccinated) and in California 95,029  per day (99,555 yesterday) which means if the rate does not increase it will take us still some 3 months to have 75% of the population of California vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 47,250,789 total doses have been given (88.0%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 84.9%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has  moved  up from  13^th tied with Virginia to 10^th tied with Virginia of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 55.0% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 51.5% has  moved from 17^th to 16^th  Place. A  long way to go still to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
              Non  CV News: The humiliation of the U.S. with Biden keeps getting worse as a groveling Biden bowing to the Taliban’s demands will not extend our presence in Afghanistan even if Americans trying desperately to leave the country are trapped; the Biden Administration has frozen $7 billion of Afghanistan assets to prevent the Taliban from getting their hands on them; Afghan former president Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan with his hear and supposedly some $169 million in cash which has the Reds demanding he be brought to justice for embezzlement (will the U.A.E. turn him over to us or to the Taliban?); Harris’ anticipated trip to Vietnam from Singapore was delayed for 3 hours due to reports of Embassy personnel in Berlin exhibiting symptoms of the “Havana Syndrome” (like a well-trained VP Harris is praising Biden for his “courageous” stand on Afghanistan while our allies are ridiculing Biden); in a better late than never moment, the idiots who cheapened the Emmy Award have finally come to their senses and rescinded the award given to disgrace Governor Andrew Cuomo; words have consequences as AP refers to the launchers of balloon bombs into Israel from Gaza as “activists” not “terrorists”; Avenatti has dodged the bullet in his fraud trial as the federal judge hearing the case declared a mistrial as the prosecution withheld financial documents Avenatti was entitled to see in his defense; those trusty Taliban like the East Germans who put up the Berlin Wall to East Germans from crossing into West Berlin then fleeing into West Germany have announced intention to ban Afghans from Kabul Airport; WAPO’s ultra-left Jennifer Rubin has become a Taliban shill, reminds us of Tokyo Rose or Axis Sally; Oregon’s Blue Governor has lowered the boom and has issued at edict that masks in public places outdoors will be required regardless of vaccine status (watch for vaccine mandate to follow soon and wonder if the nightly rioters in Portland will comply which they probably will to hide their identity while committing criminal acts; the music of the Rolling Stones will last forever but their members will not as 80 year old Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has just died at home with his family and friends. 
                  Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through August 23, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 2966 persons shot of whom 512 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a  music video link to  “I'll Be Missing You"  by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans feat. 112, that you are not fearful of secouth situations and a quote by President Truman on how not to fight communism, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Labor 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. Please contact me for details on pricing.
              1.  William Wilburforce Day—created by Wilburforce University, a historically black college in Ohio, in 2011 to honor  William Wilburforce, a British 19^th Century member of Parliament and tireless abolitionist who tirelessly worked to end slavery in the British Empire.
              2.  Can Opener Day—in a real chicken and egg conundrum the Dutch started canning salmon by the end of the 18^th Century but opening the cans required a hammer and chisel and it was not until 1855 that the first primitive can opener was patented in Great Britain and not until 1870 that the rotating wheel can opener was patented and not until 1931 was there a can opener with 2 wheels and handles that when gripped together would hold the can while it the lid was opened to enable the diner to enjoy the canned contents therein.
              3. 1997 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1997 on this day was “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans feat. 112 for 12 weeks in that position to join 9 other songs that achieved number 1 status and 4 other  acts who achieved their first number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and one of which The Notorious B.I.G. who became the 5^th artist to reach that status posthumously . Here is a music video of “I’ll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans feat. 112:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKMtZm2YuBE  Puff Daddy is a singer, rapper and record producer with 6 children and going strong at 51 years old. Faith Evans was married to The Notorious B.I.G. until his murder in a drive by shooting which has never been solved and has sold 20 million records. 112 was a R&B quartet.
           4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “selcouth” which means strange or unusual a trait that causes people not curious or adventuresome to shy away from.

              5.  Iron Man Without a Bike, Swimsuit or Running Shoes—celebrating the birth on this day in 1960 of the man called the Iron Man, Cal Ripken, Jr. who played MLB for the Baltimore Orioles for 21 years and broke Lou Gehrig’s record for continuous games and continued to add games to end his own record at 2632 consecutive games a record that will stand most likely for a very long time and may never be broken.

              On this day in:
               a. 1954 the Communist Control Act outlawing the American Communist Party went into effect.
               b. 1967 Abbie Hoffman of the Youth International Party leads a group of protestors into the gallery of the New York Stock Exchange and disrupts trading when they start tossing onto the floor dollar bills which cause the traders to start scrambling to pick up the currency floating down to them.
          c. 1995 Microsoft released Windows 95 to the general public in North America.
               d. 1998 in a “big brother is tracking you moment” the first RFID was implanted in a test on a human being in the United Kingdom.
               e. 2006 the International Astronomical Unit redefines what constitutes a planet and Pluto is downgraded to a “dwarf planet”.
               Reflections on how not to fight communism: “[we are] going to continue to fight communism. Now I am going to tell you how we are not going to fight communism. We are not going to transform our fine FBI into a Gestapo secret police. That is what some people would like to do. We are not going to try to control what our people read and say and think. We are not going to turn the United States into a right-wing totalitarian country in order to deal with a left-wing totalitarian threat.” President Harry S. Truman Wise thoughts especially when your apply them to the threat of turning the nation into a left wing totalitarian country to deal with a perceived right wing white supremacist threat.
              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.

© August 24, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare

 

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 22, 2021       

            CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 212 million at  213,594,579 cases (212,103,181 yesterday); 17,938,958 of which are active, 194,655,521  closed with 190,210,934 recoveries (97.72% and 97.72% yesterday, and 4,444,587 deaths (2.28% and 2.28% yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
            CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 38 million at 38,545,144 (38,519,247 yesterday)  with 7,427,282 active cases of which 23,302 are serious or critical, (23,274 yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now on a serious upswing due to Delta virus to .314 % of active cases and now a steady increase in the number of serious or critical cases to an decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 5,969, 31,117,862 closed, with 645,058 deaths (2.07% and 2.07% yesterday) and with 30,472,804 recoveries (97.93% and 97.93% yesterday). Our death rate percentage is no longer stuck at 2.08% since July 12, 2021 and now .21% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady   but slow climb to 1936 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (5904 the new number 1 which has had a quantum leap in deaths previously unmatched which was a change in the classification to give Peru the a new method of reporting to have a fatality rate of 9.26% of total cases now; Hungary the new number 2 has had a huge continuing surge in deaths with the increase now slowing down and improving slightly to  3.77% of its closed cases have died (3119), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2681),   Brazil (2681) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us and Italy, Argentina (2416),  Columbia newly added to the list  (2412),   Belgium (2174), Italy (2133),  Poland (1993), and Mexico (1940) and slightly better than the UK which we just passed on the 18^th  (1928),  Chile (1899), Romania (1803), Ecuador newly added to list (1782), Spain (1777), Portugal (1736), France (1732), Bolivia (1544),  Sweden (1438) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1254). 
              Tests: We have now conducted 566,435,673 tests (1,699,911/M) just passed by France at 1,708,081 who is now 1^st  on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 3,820,808/M.
               CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys  that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has been passed by Argentina and newly added Columbia but passed the UK  to move up to 10^th  on my list of deaths from the pandemic  at 1940/M with a fatality rate of 9.09% of closed cases and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported (regardless of number we need no more cases):
                     Guatemala:  Active Cases:  50,199 Deaths/M 629
                     Honduras:    Active Cases: 213,083 Deaths/M 852
                     El Salvador:  Active cases:   10,817 Deaths/M 435   
             US Vaccinations: As of 8/22/2021 362.7 million doses, up from .845 million per day to .889  million per day (down to 4 months to go for 75% of population vaccinated) and in California 99,555  per day (94,540 yesterday) which means if the rate does not increase it will take us still some 3 months to have 75% of the population of California vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 47,163,521 total doses have been given (87.8%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 84.8%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has not moved  up from  13^th tied with Virginia of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 54.8% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 51.3% has  moved from 16^th  to 17^th  Place. Along way to go still to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.

              Non  CV News: Biden without his Austin, Blinken and Harris props updated us on number of those evacuated but not breaking down number of Americans and assuring us all Afghans who before they would arrive in the U.S. would be thoroughly vetted (unlike the chaos on our Southern border of thousands of Blue prized deemed future Blue voters illegally coming here); a recent CBS Poll which Biden claimed he had not seen (or maybe more likely saw and forgot) should be ringing the alarm bells as he is being slammed for his handling of the withdrawal and views of his job performance on competence, focus and effectiveness that were above the mid 50% in April have plummeted 49%,48% and 47% https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-troop-removal-biden-approval-opinion-poll/; Harris is racking up the Air Force Two miles in Singapore to go to then Vietnam probably chuckling all the way to avoid having to have been seen masked and silent of the stage with him bumbling and stumbling; NPR Michael Martin is defending Biden on the withdrawal chaos in Afghanistan as the blame should land on his subordinates (looks like the buck stops here has been replaced with Monopoly money) and has the sheer inanity to claim concern is diverting our attention to the nation’s real problem “white nationalism” (and to think taxpayers pay to put such worthless dribble on the air and pay the salaries of idiots like this); Biden has to be between a Rock and an Afghanistan as the MSM including CNN is coming out of the cave of sycophant hibernation to attack his distorted views of reality and question his isolation insulation (welcome to the world of a free press that questions not cheerleads and hope you stay here awhile); in another chilling reminder that COVID-19 respects no political bounds, conservative host praised by many Phil Valentine has died from the virus after a month long struggle at age 61; Tropical Storm Henri ashore in New England and Tennessee devasted by deadly flooding; “Wake Up Little Susie” has come to an eternal rest as Don Everly died at 84; as businesses have great difficulty finding workers look to the political cartoonist to portray the myth of free money to those not working in Minnesota:

          Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through August 21, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 2951 persons shot of whom 512 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a  music video link to  “Waterfalls”  by TLC, that although we may shake and bake in California our building codes free us from some fear from seismicity and a quote by Clint Eastwood on Ruby Ridge shootings, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Labor 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. Please contact me for details on pricing.
              1.  International Day Commemorating the Victims of Violence Based on Religion and Belief—created by the UN in 2019 to promote awareness of the scourge of violence on victims due to their religion and belief which once we finally leave Afghanistan we will see from the Taliban in spades.
              2.  World Plant Milk Day—created by Robbie Lockie of Plant Based News in 2017 to promote the vegan alternative of plant based milk instead of milk produced by methane producing cows.
              3. 1995 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1995 on this day was “Waterfalls” by TLC for 7 weeks in that position to join 11 other songs that achieved number 1 status and 4 acts who achieved their first number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Here is a music video of “Waterfalls” by TLC:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WEtxJ4-sh4

TLC was an American all African-American trio formed in Atlanta in 1990 with great success even after they lost one of their members Lisa “Left Eyes Lopes in a car accident in Honduras.
              4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “seismicity” which describes a degree of vulnerability to earthquakes which we have in California to occurrence but not necessarily to effects given out building codes.
              5.  Winds of Freedom Blow Dollars—celebrating the birth on this day in 1973 of Sergey Brin who emigrated with his family from the Soviet Union at the age of six and while getting his Ph.D. in computer science at Stanford met Larry Page to co-found Google and is now worth some $100 billion.
              On this day in:
               a. 1851 the first America’s Cup was won by the United States in the yacht America.
               b. 1962 the OAS a French paramilitary organization trying to prevent the independence of Algeria from France tried and failed to assassinate Charles de Gaulle.
              c. 1978 the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was passed by Congress but never received enough votes from the states to be ratified into the Constitution.
               d. 1992 FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot and killed Vicki Weaver who was holding her 10 month old child at Ruby Ridge in Idaho whose death during the standoff was one of the triggering factors of the Oklahoma City Federal Bombing later.
               e. 2003 Alabama Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court was suspended for failing to obey a federal District Court Order to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse.
              Reflections on Ruby Ridge and Waco (peas in a pod): “At Waco, was there really an urgency to get those people out of the compound at that particular time? Was the press going to make it look heroic for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms? At Ruby Ridge, there was one guy in a cabin at the top of the mountain. Was it necessary for federal agents to go up there and shoot a 14-year-old in the back and shoot a woman with a child in her arms? What kind of mentality does that?” — Clint Eastwood 

              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.

© August 22, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients a Lasting Gift

 

August 21, 2021 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Poetry Day

 

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 21, 2021       

            CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 212 million at  212, 103,181 cases (211,481,696 yesterday); 17,934,067 of which are active, 194,169,114  closed with 189,733,602 recoveries (97.72% and 97.71% yesterday, and 4,435,512 deaths (2.28% and 2.29% yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
            CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 38 million at 38,519,247 (38,383,135 yesterday)  with 7,411,400 active cases of which 23,274 are serious or critical, (21,492 yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now on a serious upswing due to Delta virus to .314 % of active cases and now a steady increase in the number of serious or critical cases to an decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 7,779, 31,107,847 closed, with 644,838 deaths (2.07% and 2.07% yesterday) and with 30,463,009 recoveries (97.93% and 97.93% yesterday). Our death rate percentage is no longer stuck at 2.08% since July 12, 2021 and now .21% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady   but slow climb to 1935 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (5904 the new number 1 which has had a quantum leap in deaths previously unmatched which was a change in the classification to give Peru the a new method of reporting to have a fatality rate of 9.26% of total cases now; Hungary the new number 2 has had a huge continuing surge in deaths with the increase now slowing down and improving slightly to  3.77% of its closed cases have died (3119), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2681),   Brazil (2680) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us and Italy, Argentina (2413),  Columbia newly added to the list  (2410),   Belgium (2174), Italy (2133), and Poland (1993), and slightly better than Mexico (1932),  the UK which we just passed on the 18^th  (1927),  Chile (1896), Romania (1802), Ecuador newly added to list (1782), Spain (1777), Portugal (1735), France (1731), Bolivia (1541),  Sweden (1438) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1254). 
              Tests: We have now conducted 565,682,911 tests (1,697,679/M) just passed by France at 1,708,091 who is now 1^st  on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 3,820,862/M.
               CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys  that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has been passed by Argentina and newly added Columbia but passed the UK  to move up to 11^th  on my list of deaths from the pandemic  at 1932/M with a fatality rate of 9.18% of closed cases and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported (regardless of number we need no more cases):
                     Guatemala:  Active Cases:  50,978 Deaths/M 626
                     Honduras:    Active Cases: 213,083 Deaths/M 852
                     El Salvador:  Active cases:   10,826 Deaths/M 434   
             US Vaccinations: As of 8/21/2021 361.7 million doses, up from .837 million per day to .845  million per day (down to 5 months to go for 75% of population vaccinated) and in California 94,540  per day (92,536 yesterday) which means if the rate does not increase it will take us still some 3 months to have 75% of the population of California vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 47,039,961 total doses have been given (87.6%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 84.5%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has now moved up from 14^th   to 13^th tied with Virginia of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 54.8% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 51.3% has not moved from 16^th . A long way to go still to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
              Non  CV News: Another day another cyber-attack on our State Department which although details were not released we were assured that the rescue operations of the Americans in Kabul was not impacted; Greece fearful of a surge of refugees from Afghanistan has extended its border wall with Turkey halt such feared exodus; an ISIS threat against American citizens in Kabul has prompted the State Department to issue a warning to Americans in Kabul not to come to the airport gates unless requested by State personnel (the Pentagon has confirmed that 17,000 have been evacuated from Kabul of whom only 2500 are Americans); Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan is safe and sound in the U.A.E. that has granted him asylum ( with so little time to plan his exit wonder how much cash he was able to bring with him which given the corruption in that nation good bet would be in the millions); U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Lewis in her first meet after being suspended due to a positive marijuana test finished in last place; the U of VA has suspended 200 students for failing to meet its vaccine mandate but left open their chance to reenroll if they subsequently were vaccinated; a fully vaccinate Governor Abbot who tested positive for CV 4 days ago, after taking Regeneron has now tested negative; an elite group of Taliban fighters now outfitted in U.S. uniforms and military hardware is mocking the U.S. by aping one of the iconic photos of WWII, the planting of the flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima:                                                                          

The Treasury Department was quick to freeze Afghanistan assets but the Taliban sadly should be able to still raise millions through its various criminal activities; Mississippi which has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country has now ordered people who test positive for CV to self-quarantine at home for 10 days or face $5,000 fines and up to 5 years in prison;  with concern over the fallout of Biden’s poorly executed withdrawal plan feared to have dire consequences for us on the world stage, leave it to the political cartoonist to portray fears that Biden’s betrayal of the Afghans who helped our forces and were critical to their success and well being represented an immoral stab in the back:     

            Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through August 20, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 2936 persons shot of whom 508 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a  music video link to  “Stay (I Missed You)”  by Lisa Loeb, that seiners are still able to catch sustainable salmon to enjoyed in canned salmon meals and a quote by Arthur L. Herman on how to prevent war in the ICBM Age, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Labor 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. Please contact me for details on pricing.
           1.  National Brazilian Blowout Day—created by BrazilianBlowout.com on July 29, 2014 and celebrated on this day in 2014 to commemorate a hair styling process that straightens hair especially hair that is frizzy.
           2.  Poet’s Day—created by William Sieghart in 1994 to promote poets and the appreciation for poetry and obviously a needed counterweight to Bad Poetry Day we endured several days ago.
                3. 1994 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1994 on this day was “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories for 3 weeks in that position to join 9 other songs that achieved number 1 status and 6 acts who achieved their first number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Here is a music video of “Stay (I Missed You”) by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9HGwRbMiVY   Lisa Loeb is the first artist to have a song achieve number 1 status before having a record contract and is also known for singing in a Geico ad.
           4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “seine” which is a 300-fathom long net 3 ½ fathoms deep to catch commercially fish like salmon and for this Alaskanpoet was used for 6 summers in Alaska to fund a car, college and law school education.
           5.  Winds of Freedom Blow Dollars—celebrating the birth on this day in 1973 of Sergey Brin who emigrated with his family from the Soviet Union at the age of six and while getting his Ph.D. in computer science at Stanford met Larry Page to co-found Google and is now worth some $100 billion.
              On this day in:
            a. 1957 the Earth became a smaller place and more dangerous one as the Soviet Union successfully tested its R-7 Semyorka, the world’s first intercontinental missile.
            b. 1968 Nicolae Ceaușescu, the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party condemned the Soviet and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia which Romania did not participate in and urged Romanians to arm themselves resist Soviet invasions. His popularity given the corruption in the country and economic policies led to his overthrow and execution of him and his wife after a summary trial on December 25^th almost immediately after the guilty verdict was rendered. 
         c. 1968 James Anderson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for service in South Vietnam on February 28, 1967 for jumping on a grenade shielding his fellow Marines from death and serious injury to become the first African American to win the medal.    
           d. 2000 Tiger Woods won the PGA Tournament the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win 3 majors in a single year.
           e. 2017 a total solar eclipse came ashore near Newport, Oregon to traverse the United States to be awed by millions including the Alaskanpoet who watched i7 at the Salem airport.

               Reflections on the impact of ICBM’s: “The lesson of the Cuban Missile Crisis is plain: Strength prevents war; weakness invites it. We need a commander-in-chief who understands that - and who won't leave us facing a foe who thinks he doesn't.” Arthur L. Herman, noted popular historian and fellow at the Hudson Institute.
           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.

© August 21, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients a Lasting Gift