March 29, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Vietnam War Veterans Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT March 29, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues with cases still increasing but the increase slowing down with cases now passing 484 million at 484,827,400 cases,  60,002,702 of which are active, 424,824,698 closed with 418,669,491 recoveries (98.55%), and crossing the 6,000,000 barrier 6,155,207 deaths (1.45% )to continue the low trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
             CV USA Cases: Total cases now passing 81 million at 81,670,147 with 15,939,836 active cases  of which 2283 are serious or critical, (15,517 on 12/12) (back to steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant) to .0143% of active cases (back to back steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant  and to increase  the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 26,998 with 65,730,311 closures with 1,004,681 deaths (1.53%) and with 64,725,630  recoveries (98.47%). Our death rate percentage is .08%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slowing climb to 3005 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6283) 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; Bulgaria (5320), Hungary (4719), Romania (3416),  Brazil (3064), and Poland (3043) and slightly higher than Chile (2910), Argentina (2787), Columbia (2694), Italy (2637), Belgium (2633), Russia (2520), Mexico (2459), UK (2408),  Spain (2189), France (2167), Portugal (2124), Ecuador (1956),  Bolivia (1798),  Sweden (1768) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1560). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 03/28/22   559.5 million doses, 246,375 per day last week (76.1%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 30,759 per day  (which means at least 82.4% of the population of California has received at least one shot) which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 72,488,669 total doses have been given (83.2%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.0%), California has moved from 12^th to 11^th of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 71.0% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.8% and has  not moved from 12^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states (nothing like a recall election to get Newsom’s attention and performance).  
             Non  CV News: Day 34 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which around Kviv the Russians are redeploying troops from KVIV to continue attacks in Eastern Ukraine not withdrawing them as “negotiations” continue in Turkey and  Ukraine without enough missiles and planes stop or at least the decrease the quantity of missiles, bombs and shells being rained on its civilian is pleading with Biden and NATO for more than just supportive words and is demanding iron clad guarantees from “leading armies” 3 of whom possess nuclear weapons if it is attacked by Russia again in the future; n three e; Biden’s adlib to U.S. troops in Poland seemed to imply they would be going to Ukraine which they are not but later as what is becoming the Biden 2 step his announcement they were training Ukrainian troops in Poland disclosed a fact not already having been disclosed; Russia is claiming that 2 small villages in Russia near the border with Ukraine had to be evacuated due to being shelled from Ukraine;  Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski who was killed Ukraine covering the war was buried in Ireland today; the successful efforts of the MSM and social media giants to quash the Hunter Biden laptop scandal which probably helped immensely in electing Biden may be unraveling as Senators Grassley and Johnson on the Senate floor are alleging Hunter received $100,000 from Russian oligarchs and supposedly have the receipts to prove it; Jim Carrey blasted the Hollywood celebs at the Oscars who applauded Will Smith after he sucker slapped Chris Rock after his joke in poor taste about his wife; Walt Disney must be rolling in his grave as the “it’s a small world” company has morphed into “it’s a woke world” company as leaked videos show the company promoting the LBGT lifestyle and removing signs for “men” and “women” at its parks to avoid offending transgenders; in the dueling governors Newsom has attacked DeSantis for his COVID-19 policies and opposition to progressives’ ideologies in K-12 while DeSantis fired back that actions of people leaving California speak louder than words; Miranda Devine, journalist and author of Laptop from Hell, is predicting bombshells on Hunter Biden’s shady deals as the IRS tax evasion probe continues (wonder whether the “Big Guy” will be snared); Nielsen, the media data collecting group, is going to be acquired by a private equity group for $16 billion; the latest scam at universities are the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion “experts” who are raking in higher salaries than many full fledged professors while students are crushed with high student debt loads;  as Judge Jackson has been ridiculed on her inability to indicate what a woman is, leave it to the political cartoonist to suggest there is a lot more hidden leftist judicial baggage that meets the eye that may derail her nomination:
                                                                      

                            
               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through March 28,  2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 607 shot of whom 113 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording of “The Living Years” by Mike + The Mechanics; the fact that you are quick to see through smoke and mirrors; and 2 quotes by Lieutenant William Calley during trial and one 38 years later, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like St. Patrick’s Day, Mothers’ 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 Vietnam War Veterans  Day—created on March 28, 2017 when President Trump signed the National Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, to be observed on March 29^th  , the anniversary of the withdrawal of the last combat troops in 1973 from South Vietnam.
              2.  Smoke and Mirrors Day—celebrating an illusion first mentioned by Johann Georg Schrepfer in 1770 where an beam of light from a lantern would reflect off a mirror to appear or disappear in a plume of smoke. The term is now used to describe efforts by a person to hide things from the audience which is what politicians and bureaucrats are notorious for.
              3.  1989  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1989  on this day was  “The Living Years” by Mike + The Mechanics in that position  for 1 week to join 31 other number 1 songs and 11 other acts that  hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of Mike + The Mechanics performing “The Living Years”:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hr64MxYpgk The band was formed in Dover, England by Mike Rutherford and was disbanded in 2004 following the death of vocalist Paul Young from a heart attack and revived in 2010 by Rutherford with a new set of musicians.
              4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “spoliate” which means to despoil or plunder which describes what the Russians are doing to the civilian population of Ukraine.
              5.  The Last of His Kind—celebrating the birth on this day in 1895 of Ernst Jünger who served in the German Army in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite  for his service, achieved fame as an author and philosopher and served as a captain in the Wehrmacht in Paris until forced to resign due to being indirectly implicated in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. The Pour le Mérite for military service was discontinued after World War I, and  when he died on February 17, 1998 at the age of 102 he was  the last living recipient of the award for military service.
             On this day in:
              a. 1971 Lieutenant William Calley was convicted for the premeditated massacre of Vietnamese civilians at Mai Lai and sentenced to life in prison but had his sentenced reduced to 10 years and Nixon ordered him to serve under house arrest at Fort Benning and he ultimately was paroled after being under house arrest for 3 years 4 months.                                 b. 1999 at the height of the dot.com internet bubble the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 for the first time at 10,006.78.
              c. 2010 2 female Islamic terrorists from Dagestan detonated suicide vests at 2 Moscow Metro Stations, killing a total of 40 people and injuring some 100 others.
              d. 2014 same sex marriages were performed in Wales and England for the first time.
              e. 2017 UK Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 of the European Union Treaty beginning the process to withdraw from the European Union.
              Reflections on Mai Lai from Lieutenant William Calley:   “Well, I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy. That was my job on that day. That was the mission I was given. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women, and children. They were all classified the same, and that was the classification that we dealt with, just as enemy soldiers...I felt then and I still do that I acted as I was directed, and I carried out the orders that I was given, and I do not feel wrong in doing so, sir” On cross examination during his trial
              “There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in Mai Lai. I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.” While speaking to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus on August 19, 2009
              Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet, and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day in History,  poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance or go to  Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day in History.

              © March 29, 2022,  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

 
 
      

March 26, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Purple Day

 

RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT March 26, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues with cases still increasing but the increase slowing down with cases now passing 473 million at 478,924,735 cases,  59,196,689 of which are active, 419,728,046 closed with 413,591,449 recoveries (98.54%), and crossing the 6,000,000 barrier 6,136,597 deaths (1.46% )to continue the low trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
             CV USA Cases: Total cases now passing 81 million at 81,574,881 with 16,686,949 active cases  of which 2632 are serious or critical, (15,517 on 12/12) (back to steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant) to .0158% of active cases (back to back steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant  and to increase  the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 26,639 with 64,887,932 closures with 1,002,647 deaths (1.55%) and with 63,885,285  recoveries (98.45%). Our death rate percentage is .09%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slowing climb to 2999 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6280) 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; Bulgaria (5307), Hungary (4706), Romania (3411),  Brazil (3060), and Poland (3037) and slightly higher than Chile (2898), Argentina (2783), Columbia (2693), Italy (2630), Belgium (2626), Russia (2510), Mexico (2456), UK (2401),  Spain (2189), France (2159), Portugal (2110), Ecuador (1956),  Bolivia (1798),  Sweden (1765) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1557). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 03/26/22   559.5 million doses, 256,316 per day last week (76.1%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 35,165 per day  (which means at least 82.3% of the population of California has received at least one shot) which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 72,488,689 total doses have been given (83.3%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.0%), California has not moved from 12^th of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 71.0% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.8% and has  not moved from 12^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states (nothing like a recall election to get Newsom’s attention and performance).  
             Non  CV News: Day 32 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which around Kiviv seems stalled and likewise along the Black Sea and Aral; Sea coast as Ukraine without enough missiles and planes stop or at least the decrease the quantity of missiles, bombs and shells being rained on its civilian is pleading with Biden and NATO for more than just supportive words; Biden seems terrified of a Putin response and quickly walked back his comments that Russian use of chemical weapons would mean our chemical weapon response and bent over backwards that U.S. forces now in Poland would not be heading into Ukraine; all the social media and tech billionaires must be ruing their backing of Biden and censoring of Trump as it looks like the Biden administration wants to levy on taxpayers worth more than $100 million a 20 % tax rate on income and unrealized appreciation; Elon Musk is openly musing what many conservatives believe that another social media platform is need to compete with Twitter (many of his followers are urging him to buy Twitter and line the pockets of Jack Dempsey with even more millions instead of starting another social media platform); the toxicology report on the urine found in Taylor Hawkins body who died in Bogota this weekend revealed 10 psychoactive substances but no cause of death for the drummer of Foo Fighters has as of yet been released; Americans love underdogs and are enthralled with 15^th seeded St. Peters and its guard Doug Edart and his “stache” who are now in the Elite 8 to play UNC Sunday afternoon (wonder if the tournament committee is able to look itself in the face and justify its 15^th seed?); the Oscars which an increasing number of people refuse to watch because of its growing PC wokeness and leftist acceptance award slants has dropped 8 categories from the awards with ratings falling like a rock and program looking more and more like it’s on life support (with inflation killing American families and the Biden Administration’s let them eat cake response somewhat tone deaf nominees who are not hurting financially at all are looking at goody bags worth $130,000 this year); Blue Senator Warnock who is in a tight race with former Georgia football star Walker is having a fundraiser hosted by a leftist activist who has labelled Reds terrorists; as gas prices soar and the Biden Administration seems fully committed to go not increasing domestic production of oil, leave to the political cartoonist to reveal what the average Biden voter is probably feeling:
                                                                  

                              
               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through March 25,  2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 591 shot of whom 111 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording of “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson; the fact that you are not surrounded by splenetic individuals; and a quote by Jeffrey Toobin on gerrymandering, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like St. Patrick’s Day, Mothers’ 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.  Purple Day—created by a Nova Scotia 8 year old Cassidy Megan to promote awareness of epilepsy by revealing her struggles and successes in coping with epilepsy; on the 26^th if you see people wearing purple in the U.S. and Canada great chance that they are not calling for Reds and Blues to cross the aisle and go into bipartisan mode to solve our issues facing us but rather they support the fight against epilepsy.
              2.  Celebrate Exchange Day—celebrating exchange clubs, the first of which was created on this day in 1911 in Detroit, Michigan by local businessmen to meet and promote solutions to issues facing their community which led to the formation of 3 more in Michigan and Ohio in 1917 which resulted in the formation of the National Exchange Club which now has 600 local clubs and fortunately in a better late than never moment opened its membership to women in 1987. The Club focuses on Americanism, Youth Programs and Community Service and their national program to prevent child abuse.
              3.  1988  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1988  on this day was  “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson as his second number 1 song of the year and in that position  for 2 weeks to join 31 other number 1 songs while 17 acts  hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of Michael Jackson performing “Man in the Mirror”:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps Jackson was on his musical success role with 3 number 1 hits surpassed only my George Michael with 4.

              4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “splenetic” which means marked by bad temper or spite which describes to a tee the person that most people do not want to spend time with.
              5.  Classless New Strength Exercise—celebrating or bemoaning depending on your political affiliation the birth on this day in 1940 of Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Speaker of the House, third in line to the Presidency, and the only Speaker to be reelected to be Speaker of the House but will be best remember for her observation that “we had to pass the ACA to find out what’s in it;” and her truly disrespectful and classless act of ripping up Trump’s SOTUS in sections as not strong enough to rip up the speech in 1 rip. Not sure if she has ever held a private sector job but she and her husband have taken advantage of her political position to make millions in the stock market.
             On this day in:
              a. 1812 The Boston Gazette  on this day published a cartoon portraying a mythical salamander like beast with a body looking like an election district the Governor of Massachusetts Eldridge Gerry had created on a partisan basis and used the term “gerrymander” to describe the process.                                                                                                  
              b. 1939 the Nationalists under General Franco began their final offensive against Republican forces and quickly advanced as Republican forces either fled or surrendered in mass and by the 31^st all of Spain was in Franco’s hands.   
              c. 1975 the Biological Weapons Convention which was signed on April 10, 1972 became effective on this day as 22 nations including the 3 depositories for the treaty had ratified it and which now bans the manufacture, storing, selling or using biological and toxin weapons.
              d. 1982 a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Washington, D.C. the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
              e. 2017 anti-corruption protests were held in 99 cities in Russia which according to the Levada Association, a non-governmental polling and data analytical group which had in 2016 by classified by the Russian Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent, were approved by 38% of Russians and 67% held Putin personally responsible for such corruption (wonder what if any polling Levada has been able to do when calling Russia’s invasion anything other than a “special military operation” merits 15 years in prison).
              Reflections on the pervasive urge to gerrymander:  Even in Madison’s day, the practice of gerrymandering for partisan advantage was familiar. In the late seventeen-eighties, there were claims that Patrick Henry had tried to gerrymander Madison himself out of the First Congress. The term was coined during Madison’s Presidency, to mock Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, who in 1811 approved an election district that was said to look like a salamander.” Jeffrey Toobin, head legal analyst at CNN who was suspended for masturbating on an online Zoom call to be reinstated after 8 months.
              Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet, and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day in History,  poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance or go to  Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day in History.

              © March 26, 2022,  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

 

 

 

March 25, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Medal of Honor Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT March 25, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues with cases still increasing but the increase slowing down with cases now passing 473 million at 478,924,735 cases,  59,196,689 of which are active, 419,728,046 closed with 413,591,449 recoveries (98.54%), and crossing the 6,000,000 barrier 6,136,597 deaths (1.46% )to continue the low trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
             CV USA Cases: Total cases now passing 81 million at 81,574,881 with 16,686,949 active cases  of which 2632 are serious or critical, (15,517 on 12/12) (back to steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant) to .0158% of active cases (back to back steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant  and to increase  the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 26,639 with 64,887,932 closures with 1,002,647 deaths (1.55%) and with 63,885,285  recoveries (98.45%). Our death rate percentage is .09%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slowing climb to 2999 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6280) 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; Bulgaria (5307), Hungary (4706), Romania (3411),  Brazil (3060), and Poland (3037) and slightly higher than Chile (2898), Argentina (2783), Columbia (2693), Italy (2630), Belgium (2626), Russia (2510), Mexico (2456), UK (2401),  Spain (2189), France (2159), Portugal (2110), Ecuador (1956),  Bolivia (1798),  Sweden (1765) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1557). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 03/25/22   559.3 million doses, 267,983 per day last week (76.1%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 34,265 per day  (which means at least 82.3% of the population of California has received at least one shot) which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 72,454,298 total doses have been given (83.0%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.0%), California has moved from 10^th to 12^th tied with Nevada  of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 71.0% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.8% and has  not moved from 12^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states (nothing like a recall election to get Newsom’s attention and performance).  
             Non  CV News: Day 30 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as Biden visits Poland, ground zero for over 2.2 refugees fleeing from Russian barbarity with over half children with large numbers of women and men too old for military service, and promises $1 billion in humanitarian aid to the refugees there and a willingness to accept 100,000 Ukrainian immigrants (sadly a billion is a mere drop in the bucket and no news of further needed arms shipments to halt and declaw the Russian bear ( Iron Domes would protect cities and anti-aircraft missiles batteries would create no fly zones without any planes and would bolster Ukrainian counterattacks); Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev has earned the nickname "Butcher of Mariupol" for his role in the Russian bombing and missile attacks that have leveled the town with large numbers of civilians including children (rightly name as he learned his craft in leveling Aleppo in Syria and hopefully can be located to be killed by a drone strike piloted by Ukrainians); SCOTUS has ruled pending rulings in the lower courts that the Pentagon can limit service of unvaccinated members of the military; the White House has posted a declaration praising  activist Yuri Kochiyama, who was a public admirer of terrorist Usama bin Laden and Mao and his Great Leap Forward that led to massive starvation in Red China; as a result of tax credits and stimulus payments, 57% of all U.S. households paid no income taxes last year; Biden’s new Red Line against Putin using chemical weapons in Ukraine that would result in “an in kind response” lasted 1 day as Jake Sullivan clarified that under no circumstances would we use chemical weapons but solemnly intoned that Russia would suffer “a severe penalty ”; the Ukraine relief fund being raised by Fox for the Red Cross has now raised over $12 million (wonder how many millions have been raised if any by the MSM); with inflation soaring off the charts due to government spending and supply shortages which in gas of oil and gas are directly related to Biden’s war on fossil fuels, House Majority Leader has apprised Blues that another COVID Relief spending bill is heading their way; The Nation correspondent Elie Mystal was ranting that our Constitutions was “no good” and “actually trash” because no non-whites were allowed to participate  (wonder how many slaves or freed slaves in 1787 were educated but do know that a significant number of nonwhite delegates were troubled by slavery and were probably critical in having Northern states ban slavery before the Civil War; while many on the left on under the banner of transgender rights and protests against transgender phobia applaud transgender males competing in women’s sports, many do not, feeling that it is the end of Title IX and women’s sports but leave it to the political cartoonist to portray the effects of transgender males competing as women:

                                                        

                           
               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through March 24,  2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 585 shot of whom 111 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording of “Lean on Me” by Club Nouveau; the fact that your neighborhood unlike those of Feces City has not been overrun by spivs; and a quote by Marcel H. Van Herben on Russia’s ethnic cleansing past, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like St. Patrick’s Day, Mothers’ 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 Medal of Honor Day—created by legislation signed into law on November 15, 1990 and first celebrated on this day in 1991 to honor the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and to promote awareness of the importance of the recipients’ deeds and sacrifices to the wellbeing on this nation.
              2.  International Day of the Unborn Child—created by El Salvador in 1993 to coincide with the day of the Feast of Annunciation and observed by a large number of South American Countries promoting the right of the unborn child to be born.+
              3.  1987  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1987  on this day was  “Lean on Me” by Club Nouveau in that position for 2 weeks to join 29 other number 1 songs and 15 other acts that  hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of Club Nouveau performing “Lean On Me”:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyjaUJWWmk Club Nouveau was a 5 person band that started in 1986 and is still active today although it has not had a charted album since 1992 or a hit single since 1995.                           4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “spiv” is a petty criminal who deals in illicit goods usually drugs who police can arrest until the cows come home but not dent the flow of drugs like fentanyl that are killing young Americans by the thousands.                                   5.  Don’t Need to See to Play a Guitar—celebrating the birth on this day in 1966 Canadian born guitarist Jeff Healey who lost both eyes due to a cancer of the eye but overcame being blind to become a successful guitarist and singer, playing his guitar sitting down with it on his lap. An occasional smoker he was diagnosed with lung cancer of January 7, 2007 and died from it on March 2, 2008 at age 41, 1 month before the release of his first album Mess of Blues in 8 years.
             On this day in:
              a. 1911 a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Manhattan that killed 146 workers, all but 23 of whom were women and injured 76; the deaths were not in vain as legislature was soon passed to improve safety standards for factory workers and the tragedy spurred the creation of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union to fight for better workers’ conditions.
              b. 1949 in a move which appears to being duplicated in the Ukraine with families with children being abducted to Russia, 92,000 kulaks were deported from the Baltic Republics to Siberia.
              c. 1965 after the first march from Selma resulted in Bloody Sunday and the second in the death of a marcher, the third march which had started on March 21 and led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and protected by 1900 nationalized members of the Alabama National Guard arrived at the Alabama State Capitol on this day having been swelled along to the way to 25,000 to protest against blacks being denied the right to vote.
              d. 1995 to the lovers of knowledge and erroneous knowledge the first wiki WikiWikiWeb and part of the Portland Repository was made public by Ward Cunningham.                  e. 1996 the European Union banned the export of British beef due to the deadly pandemic of mad cow disease.
              Reflections on Russian ethnic cleansing past and present now in Ukraine: “We should, however, not forget that ethnic cleansing, especially of nonwhite Muslim peoples, has old historical roots in Russia. John Dunlop, for instance, reminds us that “in May 1856, Count Kiselev, minister of state domains, informed officials in the Crimea that Alexander [tsar Alexander II] was interested in ‘cleansing’ (Kiselev used the verb oshishchat’) Crimea of as many Tatars as possible.” That the tsarist empire was interested in annexing foreign lands, but not in annexing foreign peoples, was expressed by the famous remark of a tsarist diplomtat. “Russia needs Armenia but does not need Armenians.  ― Marcel H. Van Herpen, Putin's Wars: The Rise of Russia's New Imperialism.
              Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet, and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day in History,  poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance or go to  Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day in History.

              © March 25, 2022,  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

March 23, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Puppy Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT March 23, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues with cases still increasing but the increase slowing down with cases now passing 473 million at 475,377,335 cases,  58,425,912 of which are active, 416,951,423 closed with 410,826,614 recoveries (98.53%), and crossing the 6,000,000 barrier 6,124,609 deaths (1.47% )to continue the low trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
             CV USA Cases: Total cases now passing 81 million at 81,476,269 with 17,025,851 active cases  of which 2934 are serious or critical, (15,517 on 12/12) (back to steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant) to .0172% of active cases (back to back steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant  and to increase  the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 26,337 with 64,450,418 closures with 999,792 deaths (1.55%) and with 63,450,626  recoveries (98.45%). Our death rate percentage is .08%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slowing climb to 2990 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6278) 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; Bulgaria (5300), Hungary (4698), Romania (3407),  Brazil (3057), and Poland (3031) and slightly higher than Chile (2886), Argentina (2781), Columbia (2692), Belgium (2621), Italy (2624), Russia (2505), Mexico (2454), UK (2396),  Spain (2181), France (2155), Portugal (2110), Ecuador (1956),  Bolivia (1798),  Sweden (1765) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1552). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 03/23/22   558.7 million doses, 270,841 per day last week (76.1%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 49.298 per day  (which means at least 82.3% of the population of California has received at least one shot) which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 72,375,870 total doses have been given (83.3%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.1%), California has moved from 12^th to 10^th  of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 70.9% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.8% and has  not moved from 12^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states (nothing like a recall election to get Newsom’s attention and performance).  
             Non  CV News: Madeline Albright, the nation’s first female Secretary of State has died of cancer at age 84 and in addition to her accomplishments may be remembered for her admonition to women in the 2016 election that women who did not vote for HRC “deserve a special place in Hell” fortunately for posterity she quickly retracted the statement); Biden has just landed in Europe for emergency NATO meeting on the Ukraine invasion by Russia as Secretary of State Blinken is publicly claiming Russia is guilty of war crimes (Ukrainians fighting for their lives must be thrilled to hear that but would be more thrilled if Iron Domes and anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems were on their way to cities being leveled by the Russians); photos released of Putin’s near billion dollar yacht show opulence beyond belief while ordinary Russians must be really hurting due to sanctions and those with a sweet must be apoplectic over Nestle’s decision influenced by sanctions and the Russian Ukraine invasion to significantly end its chocolate product sales into the country; despite Russia’s abysmal performance thus far other than leveling civilian areas of cities, any country near Russia would probably want to be a member of NATO as Finland shows as support for joining NATO has risen from 26% to 60% in recent polls; Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson, whom the Blues and the MSM think that she walks on judicial water has drawn some harsh questioning on some of her decisions on child pornographers and being on the Board of a Georgetown private school that teaches CRT and has refused to provide a definition of what a woman is (as the controversy over transgender males competing as females rages) but at least indicated if confirmed she would recuse herself from the Asian students’ Harvard discrimination suit that is heading to SCOTUS; Jen Psaki has tested positive for COVID-19 and is home in quarantine but released her favorite shows to watch which included Netflix’s documentary “Inventing Anna” about convicted fraudster Anna Sorokin who from prison tweeted she was thrilled Psaki was enjoying the work; SUNY Brockport was going to host a speech by Jalil Muntaqim, one of the killers of two police officers in 1971 who was paroled in 2020 that would attract a large number of police officers in protest and announced that students “traumatized” by having cops on campus could skip classes (uproar over class cancellation caused university to convert event to a viral one); the reptilian brain is alive in well in Nevada, as Blue Rep Steven Horsford, married with 3 kids has admitted to a 10 year affair but is still running for reelection and being slammed by his wife who has not yet filed for divorce; while focused on Ukraine, Biden should pay some attention to Xi’s plans for Taiwan.                                                                                                                     

                                                       

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through March 22,  2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 567 shot of whom 110 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording of “These Dreams” by Heart; the fact that you avoid the spinosity of roses when picking them out at the florists; and a quote by Scott Gottlieb on promises made about the effects of the Affordable Care Act, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like St. Patrick’s Day, Mothers’ 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 Puppy Day—created Colleen Paige in 2006 to educate public about the poor conditions of puppy mills that sell to pet stores for resale of puppies to the general public which has led, along with the lack of spaying and neutering, to the over population of dogs, many of whom become unwanted and end up being euthanized.
              2.  World Meteorological Day—created by World Meteorological Organization which was formed by the United Nations in 1950 and first celebrated on this day in 1961 to promote the coordination of member nations’ efforts in meteorology, hydrology and Earth Science.
              3.  1986  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1986  on this day was  “These Dreams” by Heart in that position for 1 week to join 30 other number 1 songs and 19 other acts that  hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of Heart performing “These Dreams”:                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41P8UxneDJE Heart is a hard rock band formed in Seattle in 1967 under the name The Army to undergo several name changes to end up as Heart until disbanding in 1998 only to reform in 2002 to go on a performing run until 2016 and after a 3 year hiatus began playing again.

              4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “spinosity” which means thorniness which describes the stems of roses to a tee.
              5.  Mommie Undearest—celebrating the birth on this day in 1904-1908 of noted actress Lucille Fay LeSueur better known to her fans as Joan Crawford who for a good portion of her career was known as “Box Office Poison” as a star with great name recognition but little commercial draw but later on garnered 3 Academy Award Nominations for Best Actress that resulted in 1 Oscar. Married 4 times with 3 divorces and death of final husband, she adopted 5 children, 1 of whom was reclaimed by the birth mother and 2 of whom were in an acrimonious and disinheriting relationship with her as set forth in daughter Cristina’s book made into a movie Mommie Dearest. She died on May 10, 1977 of a heart attack.
             On this day in:
              a. 1868 the University of California was founded in Oakland, California where it would operate until moving to Berkeley in 1873 to become one of the nation’s top flight universities and later in sports an arch rival to Leland Stanford Junior University after its founding in 1891 in Palo Alto.
              b. 2021 after being launched on February 20, 1986 into low Earth orbit, the Soviet MIR Space Station reentered the Earth’s atmosphere and broke up over the Pacific Ocean near Fiji.    
              c. 2010 the Affordable Care Act or as derided by Reds Obamacare became law.
              d. 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson institutes a national lockdown of the UK due to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
              e. 2021 a container ship sailing through the Suez Canal grounded itself on its bank blocking shipping through the Canal for 6 days.
              Reflections on the Affordable Care Act: “ President Obama famously promised that the Affordable Care Act would not only slow the growth in health care costs, but would also reverse these trends, making the average health insurance plan cheaper. That isn't happening.” Scott Gottlieb, American physician and investor and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration 2017-2019
              Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet, and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day in History,  poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance or go to  Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day in History.

              © March 23, 2022,  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

 

 

 

March 22, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Water Day

 

RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT March 22, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues with cases still increasing but the increase slowing down with cases now passing 473 million at 473,334,154 cases,  57,757,995 of which are active, 415,576,159 closed with 409,467,625 recoveries (98.53%), and crossing the 6,000,000 barrier 6,108,534 deaths (1.47% )to continue the low trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentages with some plateaus, dips, and rises.
             CV USA Cases: Total cases now passing 81 million at 81,454,852 with 17,182,509 active cases  of which 3016 are serious or critical, (15,517 on 12/12) (back to steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant) to .0176% of active cases (back to back steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant  and to increase  the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 26,255 with 64,272,343 closures with 999,160 deaths (1.55%) and with 63,273,183  recoveries (98.45%). Our death rate percentage is .08%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slowing climb to 2989 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6277) 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; Bulgaria (5297), Hungary (4693), Romania (3405),  Brazil (3055), and Poland (3027) and slightly higher than Argentina (2780), Columbia (2692), Belgium (2619), Italy (2622), Russia (2502), Mexico (2454), UK (2393), Chile (2300), Spain (2181), France (2153), Portugal (2110), Ecuador (1956),  Bolivia (1798),  Sweden (1765) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1551). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 03/21/22   558.7 million doses, 245,845 per day last week (76.1%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 39,075 per day  (which means at least 82.3% of the population of California has received at least one shot) which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity (other than Flip Flop Fauci who may believe that 90% is required).  In California 72,375,870 total doses have been given (83.3%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.1%), California is still stuck at 12^th  of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 70.9% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.8% and has  moved from 13^th  to 12^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states (nothing like a recall election to get Newsom’s attention and performance).  
             Non  CV News: The war in Ukraine continues with Russians making little if any progress in advancing while Ukrainians are believed to be counterattacking as the Russian continue to wage deadly missile and air attacks and shelling on civilian targets (Secretary of Defense used the term “wood chipper” to describe what Putin was pushing his troops into); Judge Ketanji Jackson Brown is in her second day of testimony with Blues heaping praise and Reds grilling her over some of her sentencing decisions on child pornography and teaching CRT in elementary school but walking on egg shells to avoid being charged with racism; Russian dissident Alexi Navalny has been charging Putin with war crimes in Ukraine and has been sentenced to another 9 years in prison; in a possible explanation of Putin’s dissatisfaction of Russian performance, news out that Russian spies sent into Ukraine prior to the invasion to spy on Ukraine military dispositions have been put under house arrest; MSNBC co-host Mehdi Hasan slammed Blue Rep from New York Sean Maloney who is chair of the DCCC for wanting to end mask mandates (watch the Blues fearful of losing seats shed their proclivity for mask mandates like a person with a bad case of dandruff; HRC announced she has tested positive for COVID-19 as has Jen Psaki who will miss Biden’s trip to Europe to confer with NATO members; the public school Woke Warriors in Eau Claire, Wisconsin are requiring that parents have to “earn” the right to know their child’s sexual identity; NBC op-ed compared transgender Lia Thomas to Jackie Robinson as a trailblazer (transgender male competing against biological females is no different from person using performance enhancing drugs unfairly competing against someone who does not); 1619 Project warrior Nikole Hannah-Jones is off the wall again tweeting that tipping is a legacy of slavery and then realizing the idiocy of such claim deleting it but not before a screen shot was made to preserve her stupidity; Disney is in the cross hairs again for its complicity in genocide against the Uyghurs and for not taking a position against Florida’s ban on teaching sexual identity until after 3^rd grade; in a Britney Spears déjà vu actress Amanda Byne was successful in getting her conservatorship which was put in place in 2013 at age 28 ended; after 5 people were shoot in 2 separate incidents, Miami Beach has imposed a curfew for this weekend to try to curb the violence; it looks like Biden is hell bent to restart the Iran nuclear program with the political cartoonist portraying the dangers and the use of American money to aid Iran in its deadly endeavors:

                                                                     

        

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through March 21,  2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 564 shot of whom 109 have died.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording of “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon; the fact that you oppose speakers whose presentations are spinach; and a quote by William Shatner on his trip into space, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like St. Patrick’s Day, Mothers’ 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.  World Water Day—created by the UN in 1993 to promote awareness of the need for sustainable fresh water sources.
              2.  American Diabetes Association Alert Day—created by American Diabetes Association in 1988 and celebrated on the 4^th Tuesday in March to create awareness of the risk factors for Type II Diabetes and promote lifestyle changes to avoid the risk of the disease.
              3.  1985  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1985  on this day was  “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon in that position for 3 weeks to join 26 other number 1 songs while 17 acts hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of REO Speedwagon performing “Can’t Fight This Feeling”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpOULjyy-n8 REO Speedwagon is an American pop rock band formed in Champaign, Illinois that enjoyed commercial success in the 70’s and 80’s having 13 top 40 hits and selling some 40 million records and is still performing and touring today.

              4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “spinach” not the leafy green vegetable that Popeye the Sailor loved to eat but something spurious which describes too often the arguments we hear out of the Swamp.
              5.  Still Trekking—celebrating the birth on this day in 1931 of noted Canadian actor William Shatner best known as Captain Kirk in the Star Trek movies and television series  and a commercial pitchman for Priceline.com and who at over 90 years of age aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin became the oldest man to go into space.
             On this day in:
              a. 1972 SCOTUS ruled in the case of Eisenstadt v. Baird that unmarried couples could possess contraceptives to let the good times roll.
              b. 1993 Intel Corporation shipped its first Pentium chip featuring 60 MHz clock speed, 100+MIPS and a 64 bit data path.    
              c. 1997 American figure skater Tara Lipinski at 14 years 8 months of age became the youngest World Championship Figure Skater.
              d. 2016 3 Islamist suicide bombers killed 32 people and injured 316 at the Brussels Airport and the Maelbeek/Maalbeek Metro Station.
              e. 2019 the Special Counsel investigating the 2016 election aka The Russian Collusion Hoax Investigation concluded with Robert Mueller’s release of his report to the Attorney General.
              Reflections on going into space at 90+ years of age: “It was so moving to me. This experience; it was something unbelievable. Yeah, weightlessness, my stomach went out, this was so weird, but not as weird as the covering of blue – this is what I never expected. It’s one thing to say “oh the sky ... and it’s fragile,” it’s all true. But what isn’t true, what is unknown, until you do [go to space] is this pillow, there’s this soft blue. Look at the beauty of that color. And it’s so thin and you’re through it in an instant. How thick is it? Is it a mile?” William Shatner upon his return to Earth after a far too brief trip into space on Blue Origin.
              Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet, and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day in History,  poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance or go to  Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day in History.

              © March 22, 2022,  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