February 14, 2014 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Valentines Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 14, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 420 million at 420,962,050 cases,  81,191,988 of which are active, 339,770,052  closed with 333,868,375 recoveries (98.26%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,901,677 deaths (1.74% )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 exceeding 79 million at 79,341,465 with 28,545,280 active cases  of which 15,740  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 .055 % 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 13,531, 50,796,185 closures with 943,621 deaths (1.86%) and with 49,852,564 recoveries (98.14%). Our death rate percentage is .10% higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2824 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6181) 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 (5012), Hungary (4431), Spain (3412), Romania (3221),  Brazil (2969), and Poland (2862) and slightly higher than Argentina (2705),Columbia (2649), Belgium (2538),  Italy (2508), Mexico (2386), Russia (2335), UK (2331), Chile (2098), France (2058), Spain (2052), Portugal (2026), Ecuador newly added to list (1928),  Bolivia (1784),  Sweden (1614) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1492). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/14/22   547.2 million doses, 564,985 per day last week ( 75.2% of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 79,220 per day  (which means at least 81.2% 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 70,461,977 total doses have been given (83.5%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 81%), California has  moved  from 14th to 13th  of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 69.7% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 63.8% and has  moved from  11th to 10th in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states. 
             Non  CV News:  John Durham’s probe of the origin of the Russian influence in the 2016 has been moving forward slowly without publicity but gaining traction as reports surfaced that Clinton’s campaign paid hackers to hack into Trump Tower servers and later servers at the White House to create a narrative of Trump Russia collusion (would be amazing if more evidence of Clinton involvement in spreading the false narrative of Trump involvement with the Russian days before she is to speak before the New York Democratic Convention); the MSM which scoffed and ridiculed Trump’s allegations spying and hacking into his campaign as defuncted “conspiracy theories” has gone silent with respect to Durham’s revelations on Clinton’s hacking of servers and the White House has refused to respond to questions from the press; report that the judge in Sarah Palin’s defamation case against the New York Times for defamation in an editorial linking her to the mass shooting in Arizona that killed 6 people and wounded Rep. Gabby Gifford will dismiss the case after the jury returns a verdict (sounds like an Alice in Wonderland result); AOC is back in the news ranting that we will not be a democracy in 10 years and will return to the Jim Crow laws of the past (she may be close with revelations the CIA is snooping big time on the communications of Americans but the threat is from the left not the right); white players in the NBA are an endangered species who just got more endangered as Boston Celtics China critic Freedom Kanter who was just traded to the Houston Rockets to beat the NBA trading deadline was just released (a reflection on his skill or his views on Chinese human rights violations?); despite the cold and snow, shootings in NYC doubled last week raising doubt whether the former police captain mayor will be more successful than Bill DeBlasio in facing crime; the Rams won Super Bowl LVI in a thrilling game with the Bengals unable to score a tying field goal in the closing seconds (the commercials were second rate and the hip hop half time show criticized for having its once white performer Eminem kneel but no reference to Colin Kaepernick);  reading, writing and hypocrisy still reign in teachers unions including the California Teachers Union whose board member Jesse Aguilar was photo’d in the stands at SoFi Stadium during the NFC Championship Game; game; avian flu has been detected in Kentucky and Virginia after 29,000 turkeys infected in Indiana were culled out and slaughtered (just what we don’t need is another epidemic that would decimate poultry and add to inflation); with Americans suffering under higher inflation and a host of other problems leave it to the political cartoonist to portray the Biden’s empty promises and achievement on this Valentine’s Day:                                                                                                                               

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 13, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 311 shot of whom 70 have died while 2021 shootings numbers compared to 2020 are 4544 to 4248 and deaths are 846 compared to 797.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording link to “Don't" by Elvis Presley, the fact that your laundry section is well stocked with detergent to prevent soilure; and a quote on loss of social media privacy by Yuval Noah Harari, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, college graduations, birthdays, weddings or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. Please contact me for details on pricing.
             1.   Valentines Day—originally a Catholic feast day for St. Valentine, a Catholic priest in Rome who was martyred in 269 and was canonized in 469 to over time fade away from the feasts to him to become the day for romance it is today starting with the first reference to it as such by Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote a poem Parlement of Foules in 1382 to commemorate the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II to Ann of Bohemia with these words (modernized): “For this was on St. Valentine’s Day where every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”  By 1400 the day was being celebrated in the king’s palace in France and the first Valentines Day card appeared in 1415 and by the 1800’s on this day people were exchanging flowers, candy and cards and has grown today to become a very celebrated and costly event with all manner of gifts bestowed on valentines.
             2.  National Organ Donor Day—created by Saturn Corporation to promote the donation of life saving and quality of life improving organs from victims of accidents, diseases and crimes.
             3.  1958  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1958  on this day was  “Don’t” by Elvis Presley on a run of 5 weeks in that position to join 16 other songs that achieved number 1 status. Here’s a recording of Elvis Presley singing “Don’t”:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_IEho5uedM.
             4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “soilure” which means the condition of being soiled which small children while playing outsides with great proclivity.
             5.  Fast But Not Fast Enough for a Speeding Bullet—celebrating the birth on this day in 1973 of noted quarterback Stephen McNair who played for 13 years and missed a Superbowl ring in 1999 when a completed pass as time ran out against the Rams to a receiver who could not cross the goal line but whose life came to a tragic on July 4, 2009 when he was shot by Sahel "Jenni" Kazemi, in a condominium rented by McNair in downtown Nashville. who then committed suicide.
             On this day in:
              a. 1924 The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company was renamed IBM Corporation.
              b. 1929 on Saint Valentine’s Day in Chicago 7 men, 6 of whom are rivals of Al Capone, were murdered in a garage.
              c. 1989 Union Carbide agreed to pay India $489 million for the Bhopal chemical spill disaster that killed thousands and injured hundreds of thousands more.
              d. 1989 in an example of intolerance Iran‘s leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa i encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses.
              e. 2005 You Tube was launched by three college students to be  quickly acquired by Google to become the most viewed viral videos web site and the main source of viral videos.
              Reflections on the use of YouTube: “ There is a saying that if you get something for free, you should know that you're the product. It was never more true than in the case of Facebook and Gmail and YouTube. You get free social-media services, and you get free funny cat videos. In exchange, you give up the most valuable asset you have, which is your personal data.” Yuval Noah Harari
             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.

         © February 14, 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

 

February 12, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Lincoln's Birthday

RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 12, 2022
             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 410 million at 410,035,876 cases,  74,843,521 of which are active, 336,192,355  closed with 330,367,452 recoveries (98.27%), and passing the 5,800,000 barrier 5,824,903 deaths (1.73% )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 exceeding 79 million at 79,247,404 with 28,629,285 active cases  of which 16,787  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 .057 % 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 12,484, 50,618,119 closures with 942,381 deaths (1.86%) and with 49,575,738 recoveries (98.14%). Our death rate percentage is .13% higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2820 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6169) 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 (4999), Hungary (4403), Romania (3233),  Brazil (2964), and Poland (2861) and slightly better than Argentina (2701),  Columbia (2642), Belgium (2538),  Italy (2500), Mexico (2380),  UK (2330), Russia (2325), Chile (2088), France (2054), Spain (2052), Portugal (2019), Ecuador newly added to list (1928),  Bolivia (1780),  Sweden (1614) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1490). 
             Tests: No need to tally tests as testing programs are functioning well but the free rapid tests which the Biden Administration was caught flatfooted on the ease of transmission of the Omicron Variant and failed to order are not yet being produced.
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/12/22   546.0 million doses, 577,156 per day last week ( 75.1% of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 88,684 per day  (which means at least 81% 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 70,293,452 total doses have been given (83.4%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.9%), California has  moved  from 11^th  to 14^th of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 69.6% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 63.7% and has  moved from  10^th  to 11^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states.  
             Non  CV News:  Further evidence that Blues are leaving the sinking Biden ship as an anonymous Blue Senator in the Los Angeles Times has characterized Schumer’s and Klaine’s attack on Manchin for his refusal to support the Build Back Better plan as idiotic (do not be surprised if a few more points continue to drop from Biden’s approval ratings that Blue names start coming out of the disapproval closet); in what hopefully is not a warmup to riots we witnessed in Minneapolis following George Floyd’s death 50-100 protestors defied the cold to vandalize buildings in Minneapolis and block traffic over the police shooting death of Amir Locke who was sleeping with a gun in his hand and was shot and killed as police were executing a “no knock” warrant (debate really needs to had on what type of arrests merit such policy); Elon Musk has warned that the U.S. due to its soaring national debt is “living on borrowed time and something has got to give” (he is a man that denizens of the Swamp should really listen to); some 50 million Americans have recovered from COVID-19 some of whom continue to be plagued with an assortment of maladies known as Long COVID but hope has appeared in the form of studies linking antihistamines to management of such symptoms; the State Department is urging Americans in Ukraine to leave immediately due to increasing signs of an immediate Russian invasion; Canadian police are in the process of clearing the protestors blocking the Ambassador Bridge after the 7:00 P.M. deadline last night expired and a “Freedom Convoy” in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe was met by police with tear gas; Red Rep Rosendale of Montana has introduced a bill to ban military aid and assistance to Ukraine until we have operational control over our southern border (bill appeals to the millions of Americans frustrated by the daily surge of illegals but unlikely to pass and could embolden Russia not only to invade but also seek to conquer more of the country); the Nice Guy Restaurant in Los Angeles favored by celebrities may want to change its name after at a Justin Bieber after performance party 4 people were shot with the suspect at large; as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grows nearer each passing moment, leave it to the political cartoonist to portraying the president moving from one foreign policy disaster to another and wondering whether after the Beijing Olympics are over a Taiwan invasion by China is next:                                                          

                          

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 10, 2022, gun violence involving  mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 301 shot of whom 67 have died while 2021 shootings numbers compared to 2020 are 4544 to 4248 and deaths are 846 compared to 797.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video recording link to “Too Much” by Elvis Presley, the fact that if you have a sobriquet, you happy with it; and a quote on the NAACP by Rep. Burgess Owens, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day, college graduations, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. Please contact me for details on pricing.
             1.   Lincoln’s Birthday—celebrating the birth on this day in 1809 of Abraham Lincoln who is regarded by most historians as one the best presidents we have ever had, preserving the nation during the Civil War and emancipating the slaves in Confederate states and whose idea toward the states of the Confederacy of “With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds” was tragically doomed by John Wilkes Booth’s bullet on April 14, 1865 just 41 days after he expressed that vision in his 2^nd Inaugural Speech.
             2.  Red Hand Day—created by the UN General Assembly in 2002 to promote the prevention of using children as soldiers in war.
             3.  1957  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1957  on this day was  “Too Much” by Elvis Presley on a run of 3 weeks in that position to join 19 other songs that achieved number 1 status. Here’s a video recording of Elvis Presley singing “Too Much”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uieAO76nld4.  Martin was known as the ”King” and sold over 500 million records before after abuse of prescription drugs and an unhealthy diet died from a heart attack on August 17, 1977 at age 42.
             4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “sobriquet” which means a nickname like “Old Ironsides” for the USS Constitution which can be laudatory or demeaning like “Brandon” for President Biden.
            5.  Rope Is Stronger Than the Pen—bemoaning the birth on this day in 1885 of Julius Streicher, rabid anti-Semitic Nazi who founded Der Sturmer, an essential anti-Semitic tool for the Nazis and because of his influence in urging the “Final Solution” was convicted of War Crimes against Humanity and hanged as the first convicted Nuremberg  War Crimes Criminal on October 16, 1946 in a hanging that did not break his neck causing him to be slowly and painfully strangled to death.
              On this day in:
              a. 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People  (“NAACP”) was founded.
              b. 1974 Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970 was expelled from the Soviet Union.
              c. 1999 President Bill Clinton was acquitted along party lines in his impeachment trial.
              d. 2004 under the directions of Mayor Gavin Newsom, the City of San Francisco began issuing same sex marriage license.
              e. 2016 Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill signed an Ecumenical Declaration following the first meeting of the leaders of the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church since their split in 1053.
              Reflections on the formation of the NAACP: The NAACP was not a black-run, black-originated organization. It was run by 21 white, socialist, atheist, Marxist Democrats. It was the antithesis of Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.'s community at that time, which was capitalist, Christian, very pro-life, and pro-America.” Burgess Owens, former pro football player and Red Member of the House of Representatives from Utah.
                   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.

         © February 12, 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

February 11, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Pro Sports Wives Day

 

 

RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 11, 2022
             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 408 million at 406,153,073 cases,  74,237,168 of which are active, 333,915,905  closed with 328,100,652 recoveries (98.26%), and passing the 5,800,000 barrier 5,815,253 deaths (1.74% )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 exceeding 79 million at 79,106,782 with 28,661,760 active cases  of which 17,230  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 .060 % 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 12,041, 50,445,022 closures with 940,579 deaths (1.86%) and with 49,504,443 recoveries (98.14%). Our death rate percentage is .12% higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2805 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6156) 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 (4986), Hungary (4403), Romania (3210),  Brazil (2959), and Poland (2852) and slightly better than Argentina (2697), newly added to the list Columbia (2639), Belgium (2533),  Italy (2496), Mexico (2376),  UK (2328), Russia (2320), Chile (2083), France (2054), Spain (2052), Portugal (2014), Ecuador newly added to list (1998),  Bolivia (1779),  Sweden (1600) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1490). 
             Tests: No need to tally tests as testing programs are functioning well but the free rapid tests which the Biden Administration was caught flatfooted on the ease of transmission of the Omicron Variant and failed to order are not yet being produced.
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/11/22   545.5 million doses, 598,432 per day last week ( 75% of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 88,684 per day  (which means at least 81% 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 70,204,178 total doses have been given (83.4%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 81%), 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 69.6% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 63.6% and has  moved from  to 12^th to 10^th  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states.  
             Non  CV News:  It is looking more likely that not that Putin will not be deterred by the threat of economic sanctions and will massively invade Ukraine whose armed forces are totally outmatched in terms of numbers, technology and weapons and the hope that the Winter Olympics and the warming temperatures might delay is fading (Putin invaded the Crimea during the Winter Olympics held at Sochi, Russia); in what may be a Afghanistan déjà vu, Biden is warning Americans in the Ukraine to leave the country as most military experts believe while occupying the country may result in thousands of Russian body bags, conquering it up to its eastern borders will not; Reds have introduced legislation titled Halting the Use of Narcotics Through Effective Recovery Act which will be known as the Hunter Act to ban federal funds from being spent on crack pipes to be disbursed to addicts; Michelle Wu, the Blue Mayor of Boston in Instagram live streaming question and answer session of corona virus mandates unleashed a firestorm of very negative criticism from her constituents; more and more liberal members of the MSM are attacking Biden as he was pilloried for calling Lester Holt a “Wise guy” for asking him how temporary the inflation surge would be and saying that 14 Nobel Laureates (none of whom probably have been to the gas pump or supermarket isle recently) had advised him inflation would taper off; Pfizer wanting to assemble more data has asked the FDA for a pause in its request for authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5; Ottawa Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency due to the Freedom Convoy and a judge has issued a ruling demanding the disbanding of the trucker blockade of the Ambassador Bridge (our supply chain crisis is going to be worse given the number of goods that used  the bridge to come into this country); NYC residents hoping that a former NYPD Captain elected as NYC Mayor would help to decrease crime in their city were disappointed as in the last 5 days 23 people were shot with 10 homicides; as the second recall attempt of L.A. D.A. Gascon continues, news that high profile Blues are contributing to it may means this very liberal D.A’s days are number (concern for personal safety from crime has a tendency to cross the aisle); as Blue run cities and states are ending mask and vaccine mandates, leave it to the political cartoonists to explain the real reason behind the Blues’ actions:                                                                             

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 10, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 298 shot of whom 65 have died while 2021 shootings numbers compared to 2020 are 4544 to 4248 and deaths are 846 compared to 797.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a recording link to “Memories Are Made of This” by Dean Martin, the fact that you do not tolerate snobocracy; and opposing quotes by Ramzi Yousef and Judge Kevin Duffy on the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day, college graduations, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. Please contact me for details on pricing.
             1.   National Pro Sports Wives Day—created by the Pro Sports Wives Association and first celebrated on this day in 2006 to promote for the benefit of active and retired pro athletes, coaches, trainers, and sports executives mental health and wellness programs.
             2.  International Day of Women and Girls in Science—created by the UN General Assembly on December 22, 2015 to promote women and girls to enter the fields of science and honor the accomplishments of women and girls in those fields.
             3.  1956  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1956  on this day was  “Memories Are Made of This” by Dean Martin on a run of 5 weeks in that position to join 14 other songs that achieved number 1 status. Here’s a recording of Dean Martin singing “Memories Are Made of This”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv9PSkNkUfs.  Martin was known as the ”King of Cool” as a singer, comedian and member of the Rat Pack but sadly was also a heavy smoker whose genes dodged the lung cancer bullet until diagnosed with it in 1993 but refused surgery to prolong his life and died on Christmas Day 1995 at age 78.
             4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “snobocracy” which means a government of snobs which sadly describes too many of our politicians in the Swamp or state capitals who feel laws are for mere mortals but not for them.
            5.  You Don’t Need a Rifle to Be a Hero—celebrating the birth on this day of Desmond Doss, who became the first conscientious objector and only one to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II  for rescuing 75 soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa and whose exploits were memorialized in the movie Hacksaw Ridge in 2016 directed by Mel Gibson. Doss passed away on Mach23, 2006.
              On this day in:
              a. 1900 a Chinese immigrant falls ill to the bubonic plague, the first plague occurring in the continental United States.
              b. 1962 the U.S. bans all Cuban exports and imports.
              c. 1986 28 years of one family dictatorial rule Haiti ended when President Jean Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”) fled the country due to riots against his rule.
              d. 1995 Ramzi Yousef was arrested in Pakistan and returned to the U.S. for trial and conviction which resulted in a sentence of life without parole plus 240 years for the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing. He is rotting away in a Supermax federal prison showing no signs of remorse and defiant as ever that the true terrorists are the U.S. and Israel.
              e. 2013 in a better late than never the Mississippi Secretary of State certified the 1995 ratification of the 13^th Amendment banning slavery to complete the process of the last state to ratify the amendment.
              Reflections on terrorists’ justification for terrorist acts and response from the judge sentencing a terrorist:
              “The Government in its summations and opening statement said that I was a terrorist. Yes, I am a terrorist and I am proud of it. And I support terrorism so long as it was against the United States Government and against Israel, because you are more than terrorists; you are the one who invented terrorism and using it every day. You are liars, butchers, and hypocrites.” Ramzi Yousef at his sentencing hearing before sentence was handed out.
               “ Ramzi Yousef, you claim to be an Islamic militant. Of all the persons killed or harmed in some way by the World Trade Center bomb, you cannot name one who was against you or your cause. You did not care, just so long as you left dead bodies and people hurt.
               “ Ramzi Yousef, you are not fit to uphold Islam. Your God is death. Your God is not Allah ...”
               “ You weren't seeking conversions. The only thing you wanted to do was to cause death. Your God is not Allah. You worship death and destruction. What you do, you do not for Allah; you do it only to satisfy your own twisted sense of ego.”
               “ You, Ramzi Yousef, came to this country pretending to be an Islamic fundamentalist, but you cared little or nothing for Islam or the faith of the Muslims. Rather, you adored not Allah, but the evil that you yourself have become. And I must say that as an apostle of evil, you have been most effective.” U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy before sentencing Yousef to life imprisonment without possibility of parole plus 240 years.
                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.

         © February 11, 2022,  Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
              Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
              Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
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January 17, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT January 17, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 329 million at 329,863,894 cases,  56,056,896  of which are active, 273,806,998  closed with 268,246,568 recoveries (97.97%), and nearing the 5,600,000 barrier 5,560,430 deaths (2.03% )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 exceeding 67 million at 67,021,487 with 23,052,957 active cases  of which 25,779  are serious or critical, (8,599 on 3/25/2021) (back to steady decreases despite the increase in active cases due to the relative mildness of the Omicron variant) to .112% 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 decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 3,492, 43,968,580 closures with 873,635 deaths (1.99%) and with 43,094,945 recoveries (98.01%). Our death rate percentage is .04% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2616 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6039) 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 the new number 2 (4672), Hungary (4210), Romania (3112),  Brazil (2890) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths now slowing down passed by Romania, and Poland (2708) and slightly better than Argentina (2575), newly added to the list Columbia (2533), Belgium (2452),  Italy (2334), Mexico (2301),  UK (2222), Russia (2205), Chile (2036), Spain (1945), France (1939), Portugal (1905), Ecuador newly added to list (1895),  Bolivia (1698),  Sweden (1517) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1439). 
             Tests: No need to tally tests as testing programs are functioning well but the free rapid tests which the Biden Administration was caught flatfooted on the ease of transmission of the Omicron Variant and failed to order are not yet being produced.
             US Vaccinations: As of 01/17/22 515.16 million doses,  1.33 million per day over last week; my data from Bloomberg no longer available.
             Non  CV News:  The observes Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with the markets closed and Blues using it to promote passage of their misnamed Voters’ Rights Bills as King’s niece appeared on Fox to urge an end to the great divide in this country, promote the achievement of the American Dream by all based not on color of skin and call for a return to bringing God in our lives (if only Martin Luther King were alive today to address the folly of critical race theory and urge an end to divisiveness; the hostage situation created by Malik Faisal Akram by entering a Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, Texas was ended with their release by law enforcement killing him but the FBI is being castigated for claiming that Akram’s rationale for seizing the hostages was to obtain release of a jihadist terrorist serving 86 years in a nearby federal prison for killing American solders in Afghanistan was not directed against the Jewish community (déjà vu claim by the Obama Administration that the mass shooting  at Fort Hood by Army Major Nidal Hasan was caused by workplace violence not jihad); the NCAA is under great pressure to amend its rules governing competition by transgender females in women’s sporting events after scientific studies are showing that even with testosterone suppression, transgenders have an unfair advantage (if some common sense does not return to this issue to require transgenders compete in their biological class, say goodbye the Title IX and the progress made in the name of equality for women’s sports; Virginia has a Red governor largely due to the teachers’ unions and school boards insistence that parents should have no involvement in their kids’ education, a fact which the Blues in Michigan seem oblivious to as the party’s website posted a statement to that effect adding if parents didn’t like the curriculum they could send their kids to private schools (uproar quickly caused the post to be pulled but not before voters had another chance to realize the teachers’ unions have not been acting in the best interests of their kids); emails have revealed that although Education Secretary Cardona has denied, he was involved in encouraging the National Association of School Boards to write to the DOJ complaining that parents in Virginia appearing at school board meetings to protest the teaching of CRT were domestic terrorists which has caused 41 Red lawmakers to in a letter to Biden demand he be fired or resign;  as long as crime is confined to poor neighborhoods little if any lasting attention or MSM uproar but when it strikes the affluent the thugs and mentally ill homeless should be alarmed as Brianna Kupfer, a graduate student at UCLA was stabbed to death by a homeless black while working at a high end furniture store Croft House in L.A.; the move to use race as a criteria to determine who obtains scarce medical treatments has rightfully been hit with setbacks as a Midwestern Catholic hospital chain SSM after pushback has eliminated the criteria; Cuomo’s sex scandal claimed another victim as the Chancellor of SUNY resigned after harassing one of Cuomo’s sexual abuse accusers;  as more and more grocery shelves look like those of the Soviet Union before its collapse, leave it to the political cartoonist to portray the reality of shopping and the obliviousness of Biden to shoppers’ concerns:

                                                                                                                                                                                            

              Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through January 16, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 124 persons shot of whom 21 have died while 2021 shootings numbers compared to 2020 are 4544 to 4248 and deaths are 846 compared to 797.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a recording link to “Don’t Let the Stars Get Into Your Eyes” by Perry Como, the fact that you are not a slugabed, and quotes from Lance Armstrong denying and admitting doping, secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Valentine’s Day or Martin Luther King, Jr. 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.   Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—signed into law by Ronald Reagan on November 2, 1983 and first celebrated on January 20, 1986 to celebrate his birthday on January 15, 1929 and honor his accomplishments toward civil rights and peace and now celebrated on the third Monday of each January. The day is also honored as one of two National Days of Service to honor the work of Martin Luther King in less advantaged neighborhoods.
             2.  National Bootleggers Day—created by Infinium Spirits in June, 2015  and first celebrated on this day in 2016, the 86^th anniversary of the commencement of the failure experiment known as Prohibition to promote a bootleg rye whiskey produced in Templeton, Iowa and distributed throughout the Midwest and Chicago where it was one of Al Capone’s favorites. It is a small distillery which restarted in 2006 and distributed in the U.S. since 2013.
             3.  1953  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1953  on this day was  “Don’t Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes” by Perry Como on a run of 5 weeks in that position to join 9 other songs that achieved number 1 status. Here’s a recording of Perry Como singing “Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmkg_E2evbg  Perry Como or “Mr. C” as known was noted American singer and television personality who signed with RCA Records and recorded exclusively for them for 44 years, avid golfer, married to his only wife for 65 years before she died and his talent died 6 days before his 89^th birthday on May 12, 2001. Billboard Magazine’s epitaph summed up his life best: “50 years of music and a life well lived. An example to all.”
            4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “slugabed” which means someone who spends too much time in bed due to laziness” which might describe our president who seems to need more sleep and naps than Trump ever did.
            5.  Aping Sports Illustrated—celebrating the birth on this day in 1921 of “The First Lady of Television” comedian and actress Betty White who in addition to a 7 decade career was the first person to appear in front of and behind the camera. Definitely loved and admired by her fans and cohorts in the business. The reference to Sports Illustrated is that many times after an athlete was feature on its cover that athlete’s career or season went into the tank. People Magazine’s cover and lead story that hit the newsstand on December 29^th and started arriving in subscribers’ mailboxes on the 31^st celebrated her career and birthday, having no clue of the Sports Illustrated jinx as she died on the 31^st.

              On this day in:
              a. 1917 fearful that Germany would seize the Virgin Islands for submarine bases, the U.S. after several years of negotiations purchased the islands for the sum of $25 million.
              b. 1945 Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg was taken into Soviet custody in Hungary and never seen again.
              c. 1969 Bunch Carter, founder of the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party and John Huggins, another Black Panther Party member met with members of a rival black group the Organization Us at the Black Student Union at UCLA and were shot and killed. The alleged shooter was never found and three members of Organization U.S. were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder one of whom was sentenced to the Juvenile Authority while George and Larry Stiner were sentenced to life where both escaped with George never being caught and Larry a fugitive with his family in Surinam for 20 years before agreeing to turn himself in to allow his wife and 3 children to escape destitution in Surinam, an agreement which authorities reneged on after Steven returned. In view of the controversy over the presence of FBI agents present at the Capitol to urge protestors to attack Capitol police and enter, we should not be surprised to learn the FBI was planting false flags causing both organizations to believe  the other was plotting to violently attack them.                                                                        
              d. 1991 Coalition Air Forces led by the F-111 Stealth Bomber commenced air operations in Desert Storm against Iraq while Scott Spreicher in a F/A Hornet launched from the US Saratoga was shot down by a Mig-25 to become the first combat casualty of the Gulf War.
              e. 2013 U.S. Cyclist Lance Armstrong in a better late than never moment confessed to doping to win his Tour de France record number of wins on the Oprah Winfrey’s Oprah’s Next Chapter.
              Reflections on doping before and after from the doping king Lance Armstrong:
              Jan 2011: "If you're trying to hide something, you wouldn't keep getting away with it for 10 years. Nobody is that clever."
              Jan 2013: "All the fault and all the blame here falls on me. I viewed this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times. I made my decisions. They are my mistakes, and I am sitting here today to acknowledge that and to say I'm sorry for that.".

              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.

         © January 17, 2022, 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

 

          

 

 

 

 

January 7, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Programmers' Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT January 7,2022

             CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 301 million at 301,270,608,519 cases,  38,221,922 of which are active, 263,386,597  closed with 257,893,666 recoveries (97.91%), and nearing the 5,500,000 barrier 5,492,931 deaths (2.09% )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 nearing 60 million at 59,564,116 with 16,619,075 active cases  of which 21,457  are serious or critical, (8,599 on 3/25/2021) (back to steady decreases with upticks despite the  Delta and Omicron Variants to .129% of active cases and to decrease the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 7,814, (serious or critical cases now reported again), 42,945,041 closures with 855,843 deaths (1.99%) and with 42,089,198 recoveries (98.01%). Our death rate percentage is .10% lower than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2563 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6028) 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 the new number 2 (4564), Hungary (4134), Romania (3097), Brazil (2885) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths now slowing down passed by Romania, Argentina (2562), and newly added to the list Columbia (2518),  and slightly better than Belgium (2358), Poland (2631), Mexico (2290), Italy (2299),  UK (2188), Russia (2154), Chile (2026), Spain (1920), France (1909), Ecuador newly added to list (1867),  France (1909), Portugal (1838),  Bolivia (1669),  Sweden (1504) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1420). 
             Tests: No need to tally tests as testing programs are functioning well but the rapid tests which the Biden Administration was caught flatfooted on the ease of transmission of the Omicron Variant.
             US Vaccinations: As of 01/07/06 515.16 million doses,  1.13 million per day over last week (2 weeks left for 75% of population to be vaccinated  with at least one shot  and in California 273,904  per day  (which means at least 81% 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 62,900,191 total doses have been given (85.9%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 81.6%), California has not moved from 8^th of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 66.6% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 62.4% and has  moved from  to 12^th tied with Oregon  in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states.    
              Non  CV News:  Harris and Biden spoke the anniversary of the Capitol Protests which speeches were fawned over by the MSM predictably as the oration equivalent of the best thing as sliced bread but realistically represented another missed opportunity for the Biden Administration to fulfill on its promised on Inauguration Day to unify the country as Harris conflated January 6^th with Pearl Harbor and 9/11 and Biden unleashed scathing ad hominem attacks on Trump (Blue House members dressed in black and holding candles garnished the memorial);  job numbers came in for December missing expected increased job numbers of 400,000 by 201,000; Biden touted that  his Build Back Better program will solve inflation and allow more workers to return to the labor force; in another glaring example of the need to fine tune stimulus checks from the government,
it was revealed that Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the convicted Boston Marathon Bomber had received a stimulus check in June which a federal District Court Judge in Boston has ruled must be used to compensate his victims; SCOTUS heard over 3 hours of oral arguments on Biden’s vaccine mandate promulgated by OSHA for employers of more than 100 employees (our health care system is being hit by the perfect storm as 1000’s of health care workers have been laid off due to Biden’s vaccine mandate as infections of the Omicron virus are soaring which may have bearing on how the court rules); Seals who view themselves as immortal and unbeatable in dealing with 2 legged enemies found a District Court Judge who sided with them by invoking a stay on his vaccine mandate due to lack of religion exemption; in the Aubrey case in which the 3 defendants were convicted, the judge sentenced Greg and Travis McMichaels to life without possibility of parole and William Bryan who filmed the encounter and shooting to life with possibility of parole; not sure who Biden is listening to on COVID but he is not backing down on his claim that we can contain the virus (so far looks like the proverbial wing and a prayer); Cuomo dodged the bullet of sexual abuse as a judge in New York dismissed that case against leaving only a chance that the feds still investigating the nursing home scandals with elderly residents there being exposed to COVID and dying by the hundreds which deaths Cuomo has been alleged to have concealed; in Catskill, New York, a man who sprayed himself with a hand sanitizer and burst into flames after being tased in the police station house has died after a 6 week stay in a hospital burn unit; Harris has a proclivity for shedding staff but it looks like her new communications director Jamal Simmons is already self-destructing surfaced where he questioned why 2 illegals being interviewed on TV were not being deported by ICE (has to be a question that many Americans are asking also as the surge in illegals continues unabated); as the progressives with their armed guards continue to press to “defund the police” or “reimagine the police,” leave it to the political cartoonist to convey the terror and concern for safety many Americans, especially women, have over the reality of the effect of such movements: 
                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                  
              Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through January 6, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 47 persons shot of whom 9 have died while 2021 shootings numbers compared to 2020 are 4544 to 4248 and deaths are 846 compared to 797.
               As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a recording link to “Cry” by Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads, the fact that you have little tolerance for slipslop communications, and a quote from Hassan Chalghoumi, an imam of the Paris suburb of Drancy on the massacre at Charlie Hebdo , secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Valentine’s Day or Martin Luther King, Jr. 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 Programmers’ Day—created in 2007 and also celebrated on the 236^th day of the year which is September 12^th on leap years and the 13^th on non-leap years to celebrate the contributions of programmers to the economy and our lives and to no one surprise given their propensity to hack a holiday created on the 13^th in 2009 in Russia by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
             2.  Distaff Day—celebrating in preindustrial days the return of women to the workplace which involved the use of a spindle and distaff to create threads.
             3.  1952  Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1952 on this day was  “Cry” by Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads on a run of 10 weeks in that position to join 10 other songs that achieved number 1 status. Here’s a recording of Johnny Ray and the Four Lads “Cry”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db-b6lQnOdw Ray, born partially deaf, was a popular singer in the 50’s but struggled with alcohol abuse which he was successful in hiding it from the public and quit performing after being hospitalized for liver problems in 1989 and died from liver failure on February 24, 1990 at the age of 63.
            4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “slipslop” which means nonsensical talk which describes what we hear from far too many of our leaders.
            5.  Near Ground Zero Not a Place to Be—celebrating the birth on this day in 1943 of Sadako Sasaki who was 1 mile away from ground zero at Hiroshima, was blown out of her home’s window, heavily radiated who by virtue of crafting over 1000 origami  paper cranes after being hospitalized for radiation sickness on February 24,  1955 before she died on October 25, 1955 from leukemia induced by the radiation and was cremated with her over 1000 cranes in her casket to become one of the more well-known hibakusha from Hiroshima.
              On this day in:
              a. 1927 the world became a smaller place as transatlantic phone service began between New York and London.
              b. 1973 at a Howard Johnson’s in New Orleans, Mark Essex a former member of the Black Panthers and rabid anti-white hater, who on New Year’s Eve had shot 3 cops, wounding 1 and killing 2 but escaped and was still at large despite a massive manhunt entered a Howard Johnson’s and proceeded to wound 11 patrons, employees and cops while killing 7 to finally be cornered and then cut down in a hail of 200 bullets as he emerged from his hideout shooting.
              c. 1980 President Jimmy Carter signed legislation authorizing a $1.5 billion loan to  bail out Chrysler Corporation.                                                                        
              d. 1999 the impeachment trial for President Clinton began in the Senate; no Blues voted to convict so he was acquitted as far less than the 2/3 vote necessary to convict.
              e. 2015 2 jihadist terrorists in Paris attacked the newspaper headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 and wounding 11 others for their “crime” of publishing cartoons disrespectful of Mohammad; French authorities after a massive manhunt cornered the two who were shot and killed 2 days later.
              Reflections on the attack on Charlie Hebdo: "Their prophet is Satan. There is no connection between the Islamic faith and this minority." – Hassan Chalghoumi, an imam of the Paris suburb of Drancy, following the attack on Charlie Hebdo.

              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.

         © January 7, 2022, 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

 

           

2021 The Year in Review

 

 

2020 Father Time shorn of his scythe in a wheel chair could not hobble across the stage
The 2021 Babe was hopeful but anxious as the COVID-19 pandemic raged
Awaiting the man who promised to shut the virus down
To across the nation from the pandemic make it safe in all cities and towns
Vaccines developed in warp speed were finally being injected in waiting arms
Surely this would be the year finally we would be leaving the pandemic’s deadly harm
Days into the New Year Reds descended on the Capitol and aped the storming of the Bastille
With 14 days in his term left, Blues started impeachment to prevent Trump from going again to voters to their votes appeal
Only president impeached not one time but two
Only president impeached and acquitted twice when the trials were through
Biden sworn in as a unifier and the pandemic killer ranking high on the charts
Immediately on border security and energy production by Executive Orders Biden chose to depart
Quickly pushed through a Blue controlled Congress the inflation seeds of a massive stimulus bill
As national debt IOU’s were piling up in the nation’s till
The border became open and thousands upon thousands of illegals flooded across each day
Harris was named immigration czar but despite pleas for months from the border she stayed away
The combination of defund the police and leftist D.A.s releasing those arrested was the Perfect Storm
Homicides and assaults mostly in Blue run cities soared and victims’, mostly of color, safety was shorn
A new term of robbery was upon us the “smash and grab”
Mobs of thieves smashing display cases and fleeing knowing they would be released if nabbed
A promised infrastructure bill and cornerstone of Biden policy was stalled
And despite assurances to the contrary, to the Taliban Afghanistan quickly begin to fall
A botched withdrawal by our military that left American citizens, green card holders and allies behind
12 Americans guarding the airport killed, scenes of the helicopters dumped into the sea after Saigon evacuation coming to mind
Inflation caused by the Fed printing money to fuel Biden’s goals
Was beginning to surge and on American workers beginning to take its toll
Another COVID-19 variant hit us and for it Biden was unprepared
When test kit production should have ramped up, Biden’s test kit cupboard was somewhat bare
Omicron is more contagious but less likely to hospitalize or kill
But sheer weight of numbers infecting are crowding hospitals and adding to the butcher’s bill
The man who campaigned that no one with the number of deaths on his watch should be president
Has passed Trump’s death count with 18 days and counting left in his term in numbers of infected to the morgues sent
His Build Back Better in the trillions of money to be spent
Thanks to two courageous Blue Senators has for now to the trash can been sent
Vaccine mandates are adding to the shortage of truckers, first responders, medical personnel even those in restaurant work
Supply chain shortages adversely affecting business while the DOT Secretary his tasks seems to shirk
On the globe geopolitical crises with China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are ticking to explode
The verdicts in the trials of Rittenhouse, the murder of Aubery and the false reports of Jussee Smollett
Showed that our jury system works and is a winning take it to the bank bet
Sadly Biden is viewed by our foes as weak and frail unable to wear the mantle of leader of the free world and carry the load
Larry King, Colin Powell, John Madden and Betty White left us this year
While for Meghan Markle, Cardi B, Princess Beatrice and Rep. Stefanik welcomed babies to appear
But the America spirit was still front and center responded to this devastated natural disasters
We await tomorrow to see if Alabama will another national title in football against Georgia master
If only in 2022 an election year can the rabid partisan ad hominem attacks put into the trash
Take it to the bank that New Year’s Eve celebration will be a huge successful bash
© January 2, 2022 The Alaskanpoet