February 28, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Rare Disease Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 28, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 436 million at 436,565,699 cases,  63,329,229 of which are active, 373,236,470 closed with 367,265,172 recoveries (98.40%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,971,298 deaths (1.60% )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 80 million at 80,589,721 with 26,338,029 active cases  of which 8217  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 .031 % 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 21,054, 54,251,692 closures with 973,954 deaths (1.80%) and with 53,278,098 recoveries (98.20%). Our death rate percentage is .20%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slowing climb to 2913 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6242) 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 (5171), Hungary (4569), Romania (3333)),  Brazil (3019), and Poland (2947) and slightly higher than Argentina (2749), Columbia (2678), Belgium (2580), Italy (2566), Mexico (2425), Russia (2408), UK (2354), Chile (2185), Spain (2125), Portugal (2073), France (2009), Ecuador (1947),  Bolivia (1795),  Sweden (1678) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1510). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/28/22   551.9 million doses, 456,283 per day last week ( 75.6%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 56,330 per day  (which means at least 81.7% 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 71,306,336 total doses have been given (83.2%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.3%), California has  moved  from 11^th to 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 70.2%% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.2% and has not moved from 10^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:  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its 5^th day with ceasefire talks at the Polish Belarus ended without conclusion and reports that 400 mercenaries believed to be from Chechnya have been sent to Ukraine to assassinate Zelenskyy and street fighting in Kharkiv which should increase casualties; Ukraine Parliament pleading with Congress for more weapons to continue the fight against Russia; World Soccer Federations have banned Russia while the NYSE and NASDAQ have halted trading in Russian securities; as a wave of anti-sentiment sweeps the U.S., the company that makes Stoli vodka, is proclaiming that it is Latvian company not Russian; as a sign of desperation or commitment Ukraine announced that it would be releasing criminals from its prisons to join the fight against Russia; Biden is being castigated for his perceived weakness in closing down our Embassy before the invasion by Russia; the sanctions imposed by Biden which do not affect Russia’s economic Achilles Heel, its petroleum industry may be joined by a Red bill introduced to allow seizure of oligarchs’ planes and yachts which if passed and implemented with a vengeance will have Russian oligarchs seething; sadly in places like Kharkiv, civilians are fair game with residential areas being targeted by rockets and shells; 15 states have joined in a law suit against the EPA’s new regulations in its war on domestic energy production which has destroyed our energy independence that we need now more than ever; Maersk a large shipping container company is weighing in or banning containers to and from Russia; Netflix is defying a Russian edict for it to air Russian government channels inside Russia; Nicole-Hannah Jones, the founder of the idiotic 1619 Project, is being mocked for claiming Europe is not a continent and claiming that the alarm over the invasion of Ukraine is racist dog whistle because the Ukrainians are white; Alejandro Mayorkas, the head of DHS, has been a complete and utter complete failure on our southern border but we find that Biden is relying on him to address any threats arising out of the Russian Ukraine invasion (incredible! Just Incredible!); as Russia has invaded Ukraine and outrage over Russian behavior spreads across the world, leave it to the political cartoonist to reveal that Romney was right and Obama missed the mark in their debate over Russia:
                                                                            

                                                                        

                Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 27, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 391 shot of whom 84 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 of “Bridge Over Trouble Water” by Simon and Garfunkel; the fact that you are not  viewed as suffering from sophomania, and a quote by then Senator Biden on the Waco Branch Davidian siege, 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.  Global Scouse Day—created by Liverpool resident Graham Hughes on his birthday on February 28 to celebrate with scouse, a meat stew with beef chunks or lamb chunks along with onions, potatoes, and carrots in addition to what leftovers might be in the kitchen and after he left Liverpool in 2008, his friend Laura Worthington, owner of Laura’s Little Bakery continued the tradition but expanded in to include scouse being on a restaurant’s menu and a reason to visit Liverpool on this day each year.
             2.  Rare Disease  Day—created to promote awareness and research for those diseases that are rare (less than 200,000 in the U.S. affected by them which is reassuring to those not infected or suffering but very bad news as large amounts of research dollars may not be allocated due to the small number of people suffering.
            3.  1970  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1970  on this day was  “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” by Simon and Garfunkel  on a run in that position for 6 weeks  to join 23 other number 1 songs (2 of which were by the Beatles to equal the same number in 1969 and 4 of which were by the Jackson 5) and as 14 acts hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of Simon and Garfunkel performing “Bridge Over Troubled Water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcwRt6J32o. Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens and started harmonizing and writing songs to become one of the most popular duos in the 60’s.
            4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “sophomania” which means the delusion of one who thinks he or she is incredibly intelligent that far too many celebs suffer from since they can memorize a script and portray an intelligent person.
            5.  Don’t Mess with Mick—celebrating the birth on this day in 1942 of guitarist and singer Brian Jones who founded the Rolling Stones and brought Mick Jaggar and Keith Richards into the band but ended up in disagreements of where the band should be going musically and was dismissed from the band in June, 1969. Struggling with drugs and alcohol he drowned in his pool on July 3, 1969 at 27.
              On this day in:
              a. 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick announced to friends that they had determined the chemical structure of DNA which discovery would be made public on April 23, 1953 after the publication of their findings in Nature.
              b. 1983 the final episode of M*A*S*H aired which was watched by some 106 million viewers, an all-time record for viewers of the final episode of a series.
              c. 1993 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas to serve warrants on its leader David Koresh, resulting in the death of 4 ATF agents and 6 Branch Davidians which led to a 51 day stalemate which ended with the feds storming the compound as it caught on fire resulting in the deaths of 76 of the 85 Branch Davidians still in the compound.
              d. 2004 over one million Taiwanese held hands in a 300 mile human chain to commemorate the 228 incident in which Kuomintang forces on February 28, 1947 opened fire on fire on civilian protestors which over the weeks killed thousands of people and had the island under martial law for some 38 years.
              e. 2013 Pope Benedict XVI at age 85 resigned as Pope to become a Pope Emeritus and the first one since Pope Gregory X11 resigned on July 4, 1415 to end the Great Schism in the Church.
           Reflections on siege of the Branch Davidian Compound at Waco, Texas: The record of the Waco incident documents mistakes. What the record from Waco does not evidence, however, is any improper motive or intent on the part of law enforcement.” Senator Joseph Biden who was on the Senate Judiciary Committee that issued the Waco Investigation Report.
             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 28, 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 27, 2022 Ridley's Believe It or Not International NGO Day

RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 27, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 435 million at 435,758,977 cases,  63,670,751 of which are active, 372,088,226 closed with 366,120,660 recoveries (98.40%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,967,666 deaths (1.60% )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 80 million at 80,567,757 with 26,401,648 active cases  of which 8279  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 .031 % 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 20,992, 54,166,109 closures with 973,119 deaths (1.80%) and with 53,092,990 recoveries (98.20%). Our death rate percentage is .20%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2912 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6242) 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 (5171), Hungary (4548), Romania (3330),  Brazil (3019), and Poland (2947) and slightly higher than Argentina (2749), Columbia (2678), Belgium (2580), Italy (2563), Mexico (2424), Russia (2403), UK (2354), Chile (2177), Spain (2125), Portugal (2073), France (2019), Ecuador (1947),  Bolivia (1795),  Sweden (1678) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1508). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/27/22   551.9 million doses, 434,122 per day last week ( 75.6%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 55,426 per day  (which means at least 81.7% 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 71,306,336 total doses have been given (83.2%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.3%), 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 70.2%% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.2% and has moved from 12^th to 10^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:  Watching Putin’s outbursts is causing concern over hit mental state as he has ordered his nuclear arsenal to a “combat ready state” ( sure hop the Hot Line between Moscow and the Swamp is working 24/7 glitch free); the former Miss Ukraine is aping what many Russian women did in WWII—joined the armed forces to kill the invading Germans to join Ukraine’s armed forces vowing to kill all Russians who cross the border: Biden apparently despite soaring oil prices and the Russian invasion of Ukraine still has his head in the sand calling for more renewables, still buying oil from Russia and ignoring the obvious fix—increasing domestic oil production; while the world seems to be going in a Hell and a handbasket Biden is holed up in his Delaware home most likely resting; BP which has operated with Russian interests in Russia for 30 years is severing its relationship Rosneft, a large Russian oil company; Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has finally woken up Germany which is now increasing its defense spending above 2% of its GNP; maybe the ordinary Russian is fearful of the sanctions as Japan has joined countries blocking Russia for Swift as Russians are flocking ATM’s to withdraw cash; in Minnesota, the Blues are proposing a rate hike on taxes for upper income earners which is meeting resistance which the political cartoonist so aptly portrays while inflation rages:                                                                          

                                                        

                Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 25, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 383 shot of whom 83 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 of “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone; the fact that you are viewed as a sophic and a quote by George Washington on the advisability of term limits for presidents, 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.  International NGO Day—celebrating since this day in 2014, the great work performed by nongovernmental and nonprofit organization toward the betterment of society often far more effectively and efficiently than our often-bloated government bureaucracies.
             2.  No Brainer Day—created by Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith in August 1995 and first celebrated on the day in 1996 to promote the accomplishment of tasks that require little thought and are easy to perform.
            3.  1969  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1969  on this day was  “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone  on a run in that position for 4 weeks  to join 15 other number 1 songs (2 of which were by the Beatles to equal the same number in 1968) and 7  other acts that hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of Sly and the Family Stone performing “Everyday People”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUUhDoCx8zc. Sly and the Family Stone was a San Francisco funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic band from 1966 to 1983 and was the first major band to be racially and gender integrated.
            4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “sophic” which means full of wisdom which is a trait rarely found in most politicians.
            5.  Outrageous Luxury Is What Our Clients Want—celebrating the birth on this day in 1934 of noted French interior designer and business and life partner of Robert Denning, Vincent Fourcade who contracted AIDS and died on December 23, 1992 at age 58  while Robert lived on to die of natural causes on August 26, 2005 at age 78.
              On this day in:
              a. 1922 SCOTUS rejected a challenge to the 19^th Amendment granting women the right to vote in the case of Leser v. Garnet.
              b. 1951 The 22^nd  Amendment to the Constitution limiting the presidency to two terms was ratified.
              c. 1973 The American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee to protest federal actions against American Indians.
              d. 1991 President George H.W. Bush announced that “Kuwait is liberated.”
              e. 2015 Boris Nemtsov, a liberal politician and vociferous critic of Vladimir Putin was assassinated by walking on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow with his Ukrainian girlfriend by paid Checken assassins who failed to reveal who had hired them at a time he was criticizing Russian military involvement in Ukraine.
           Reflections on limitations on presidential terms:  “Under an extended view of this part of the subject, I can see no propriety in precluding ourselves from the service of any man who on some great emergency shall be deemed universally most capable of serving the public.” George Washington in a letter to Marquis de Lafayette, April 28, 1788.
             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 27, 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 25, 2025 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International STAND UP to Bullying Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 25, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 433 million at 431,288,784 cases,  64,461,686 of which are active, 368,827,098 closed with 362,870,970 recoveries (98.39%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,956,108 deaths (1.61% )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 80 million at 80,525,369 with 26,713,037 active cases  of which 9119  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 .034 % 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 20,152, 53,812,332 closures with 971,999 deaths (1.81%) and with 52,840,333 recoveries (98.19%). Our death rate percentage is .20%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2908 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6229) 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 (5164), Hungary (4548), Romania (3321),  Brazil (3014), and Poland (2940) and slightly higher than Argentina (2745), Columbia (2675), Belgium (2579), Italy (2557), Mexico (2419), Russia (2392), UK (2356), Chile (2162), Spain (2125), France (2006), Portugal (2067), Ecuador (1948),  Bolivia (1794),  Sweden (1677) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1508). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/25/22   551.9 million doses, 414,200 per day last week ( 75.6%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 93,551 per day  (which means at least 81.7% 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 71,306,336 total doses have been given (83.2%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.3%), California has  moved  from 13^th tied with Nevada to 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 70.2%% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.2% and has moved from 12^th to 11^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:  Zellenskyy warns Kyiv that Russia will try to storm Kyiv tonight and the U.S. has moved to sanction Putin individually while Putin has warned Finland and Sweden they would face severe consequences if they tried to join NATO; while Biden will spend yet another weekend in Delaware and if he can remember his comments in 2019 on imagining what would happen to Ukraine if Trump were to remain in office, he must be ruing the day he made those comments; in polling voters favor Reds to Blues in generic House battles 49% to 44% and in a sign that the luster of Trump may be fading along with Biden’s luster which is for sure fading, voters are favoring a candidate supported by Trump or Biden in the primaries; Biden true to has campaign promise has nominated 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, an female African American who was a clerk for Justice Breyer and a former public defender, to be his nomination to SCOTUS; Jennifer Rubin the ultra-leftist columnist for WAPO mocked Pope Francis’ peace mission to the Russian Embassy in Rome as a worthless gesture (she was soundly mocked for her rebuke); Joy Behar revealed her elitist bearing by ranting her concern over the invasion’s effect on her planned European vacation; the Bobbsey Twins on incompetence talking on the impact of sanctions seem to not be on the same page with Biden saying they would not deter and Harris saying they were designed to do just that as so far the sanctions seem not to be addressed at curbing Russian oil exports that are fueling the invasion of the Ukraine; Time Magazine rightfully mocked for its tough Biden look cover taking on Putin but today not a whisper about the pipedream of the cover that Biden could stand up to Putin:                                                                                                            

 A more realistic cover based on what is transpiring in Ukraine has been provided by the political cartoonist to reveal what both men are seeing in the other’s reflection in their eyes and it is not favorable to our president:                                                                                                 

                Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 24, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 377 shot of whom 82 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 of “Kind of a Drag” by The Buckinghams, the fact that Blues are sweat blood due to the latest

sondages, and quotes by Albert Einstein and a response to those by Christopher Hitchens, 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.   International STAND UP to Bullying Day—created by two Nova Scotia seniors, Travis Price and David Shephard, who witnessed a fellow student in 2007 being bullied because he was wearing a pink shirt and who then went out and purchased 50 pink shirts at a thrift shop to give to friends to wear any stand up to the bullying which they did surrounding the target in a sea of pink. It is celebrated on the last Friday in February and the third Friday in November.
             2.  National Skip the Straw Day—created by the Coral Keepers a group of 9 8^th grade students in Whitehall Middle School in Whitehall, Michigan and their advisor Susan Tate on February 8, 2017 and first celebrated on the last Friday of February, 2017 to not use plastic straws which foul the oceans and lakes for mammals and waterfowl or if a straw must be used make sure it is a paper one.
            3.  1967  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1967  on this day was  “Kind of a Drag” by The Buckinghams on a run at that position for 2 weeks  to join 18 other number 1 songs (3 of which were by the Beatles up from 2 in 1966) and 7 other acts that hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video recording of The Buckinghams performing “Kind of a Drag” :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq1fpN1qWv8  The Buckinghams were a 5 man sunshine pop band that despite their name was not from England but Chicago who recorded their only 5 top 40 hits in 1967 to disband in 1970 and then reform in 1980 to start performing again.
            4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “sondage” which means  a poll or survey where people are asked their opinions and if about the 2022 elections will probably be causing major concern and woe among Blues and pure joy and happiness among Reds.
            5.  Champagne Loses Its Fizzle When the Gas Runs Out—celebrating the birth on this day in 1934 of Tony Lema, who after serving as a Marine during the Korean War became a professional golfer and who gained his nickname “Champagne Tony” by joking with a group of sportswriters covering the Orange County Open Invitational at the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa that if he won champagne would be served which was as he won his first PGA Tournament. Unfortunately after playing in the PGA Open at Firestone in July 1966 he and his wife charter a Beechcraft Bonanza to fly them and another passenger to a charitable golf tournament only to have the plane run out of gas and crash into a water hazard at a golf course one half mile from its landing site, killing all aboard on July 24, 1966.
              On this day in:
              a. 1879 Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican, was elected to the Senate from Mississippi on straight party lines to become the first African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
              b. 1921 Red Army forces seize control of the Georgia capital of Tbilisi after heavy fighting and declare the birthplace of Joseph Stalin the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
              c. 1947 in Hungary, the Soviet NKVD kidnapped Bela Kovacs, the Secretary General of the majority Smallholders Party, and spirited him to Moscow and convicted him of conspiring against the Soviet Union and sentenced him to 30 years in prison to be released and returned to Hungary in 1956 where he served as Minister of Agriculture until the government was overthrown by the Soviet’s invasion in 1956.
              d. 1948 Clement Gottwald, leader of the Czech Communist Party, led a coup in Prague to overthrow the Third Czech Republic and install Communist Rule.
              e. 1956 in a moment of when the cat leaves the rats come out to play, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin in his Cult of Personality and It Consequences.
             Reflections on Stalin: “The Russians have proved that their only aim is really the improvement of the lot of the Russian people.”  –Albert Einstein on his refusal to sign a petition in 1934 condemning alleged (and false) claims of murders of prisoners by Joseph Stalin.
“There are increasing signs the Russian trials are not faked, but that there is a plot among those who look upon Stalin as a stupid reactionary who has betrayed the ideas of the revolution.”  Albert Einstein speaking against critics of the trials of traitors within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
 “Einstein’s only failing was an unfortunate [sic] fondness for Stalin and the Soviet Union.” — Christopher Hitchens, noted journalist and essayist who rightfully believed Einstein should have stayed in the lab of Relativity as opposed to politics.
              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 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

 

 

February 24, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Great American Spit Out

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 24, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 431 million at 431,654,563 cases,  64,974,666 of which are active, 366,679,597 closed with 360,732,753 recoveries (98.38%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,946,844 deaths (1.62% )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 80 million at 80,446,512 with 26,814,240 active cases  of which 9545  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 .036 % 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 19,726, 53,632,272 closures with 969,602 deaths (1.81%) and with 52,662,270 recoveries (98.19%). Our death rate percentage is .19%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2901 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6224) 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 (5159), Hungary (4539), Romania (3315),  Brazil (3011), and Poland (2934) and slightly higher than Argentina (2744), Columbia (2673), Belgium (2577), Italy (2553), Mexico (2416), Russia (2387), UK (2353), Chile (2156), Spain (2120), France (2003), Portugal (2064), Ecuador (1948),  Bolivia (1794),  Sweden (1656) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1507). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/24/22   551.9 million doses, 660,838 per day last week ( 75.6) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 93,551 per day  (which means at least 81.7% 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 71,306,636 total doses have been given (83.2%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.3%), California has  moved  from 13^th tied with Nevada to 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 70.2%% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.2% and has moved from 12^th to 11^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:  Russian planes are bombing Kyiv and President Zellenskyy has announced that he is Russia’s number 1 target and his family number 2; Russian militarized forces are only 20 miles from the capital of Kyiv; NATO will be meeting to discuss the invasion and the threat posed by it and the Security Council will do likewise where Russia and China both have veto powers; the only silver lining arising out of this mess and it is a thin one given the pain and suffering the Ukrainians will have to endure is that the realization that Putin will use his energy resources as a weapon and with oil prices over $100 dollars a barrel, he is in the catbird’s seat, is that Biden will end his war on domestic energy production to lower prices and lessen his energy stranglehold on Europe (in the process we might have the bonus having the idiots that call themselves the Squad be flushed down the political toilet); in what may be a reminder that one who lives by the hacking sword can die by it as the hacking group Anonymous may have declared cyber war on Russia as several of its government sites have been shut down; as Russia is threatening disastrous consequences the world have ever seen if outside powers intervene in Ukraine, in a chilling reminder how dangerous this invasion can lead to, the French are reminding Putin that NATO allies have nuclear weapons also; as Russian planes dominate and rule the skies Zellenskyy is slamming Biden for his leading from afar (i.e. from behind); Russian propaganda is spewing out lies 24/7 trying to make the world believe it is ‘denazifying’ Ukraine and that Ukraine is the aggressor because it has been fighting with Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine (shares of Hitler and his justification for the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia); social media tech giants have been quick in the past to ban and censor conservative outlets and thought but much slower to ban the flow of Russian propaganda lying about the ‘aggression’ of Ukraine; Kerry our Climate Change Czar is ranting that the Russian invasion is distracting us from confronting the far more important climate change; while Biden and his minions have been touting the sanctions imposed and that they will impose, leave it to the political cartoonist to expose their deterrence effect being next to squat which unfortunate does not have sound to play Harris’ inane over her head cackle:
                                                                     

              
                Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 23, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 375 shot of whom 85 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 of “Lightnin’ Strikes” by Lou Ritchie, the fact that you do not go through life in a somnolescent state; and quote on the Tet Offensive and why we lost the Vietnam War by Joe Barrera, 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.   The Great American Spit Out—not sure who or when the day to promote awareness of the deadly dangers of using smokeless tobacco and urge people to “drop the dip” but the only redeeming quality of this cancerous bullet is that it lacks the secondhand smoking effects that cigarettes, cigars and pipes have.
             2.  National Digital Learning Day—created by the Alliance for Education Excellence in 2012 and celebrated on the first Wednesday in February and since 2017 the third Thursday in February to promote and encourage digital learning in the classroom.
            3.  1966  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1966  on this day was  “Lightnin’ Strikes” by Lou Christie on a run at that position for 1 weeks  to join 26 other number 1 songs (2 of which were by the Beatles down from 5 in 1965) and 15 other acts that hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a recording of the Lou Christie performing “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyRqdzF8swY”  Luo kept performing and recording songs and albums but never achieved another number 1 hit record but is still with us at 79.
            4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “somnolescent” which means half-asleep which sadly describes our president far too often.
            5.  Comedy Found Not in Drugs—celebrating the birth on this day in 1968 of noted standup comedian Mitch Hedberg who fought stage fright, known for his one liners and admitted to recreational drug use which a mixture of heroin and cocaine killed him on March 30, 2005.
              On this day in:
              a. 1968 the Tet Offensive, which caught the Americans and South Vietnamese by surprise but ended up in a military disaster for the Viet Cong and NVA but a huge  political win as LBJ elected not to run for reelection and  support for the Vietnam War began to collapse in the U.S.,  finally came to an end when American and U.S. forces recaptured the citadel  of Hue captured in the early days of the Tet Offensive.
              b. 1983 in a better late than never moment a commission of the U.S. Congress released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
              c. 1991 U.S. led coalition forces began crossing the Iraq border in the ground war commencement of Desert Storm which would end in 4 days with a decisive defeat of Iraqi forces.
              d. 1996 2 out of the 3 Cessna 387 planes of Brothers to the Rescue flying toward Cuba to drop anti-Castro leaflets were shot down by Cuban jets in waters claimed by Cuba within its airspace and by the U.S. in international waters with the 4 aboard the 2 planes killed.
              e. 2008 Fidel Castro retires as President of Cuba and from the Council of Ministers after 32 years but remains as the head of the Communist Party for another 3 years.
             Reflections on the Tet Offensive: “  We won every battle in Vietnam, including Tet, but lost the war. There are reasons why we lost in Vietnam and are bogged down in our present wars: We have good motives, but our empire treads the path of older empires. We do not effectively engage the enemy. We are too road-bound, too inflexible. We build too many “mud forts.” We do not understand local cultures and alienate our friends. We dismiss nationalism, the impulse to throw out the foreign invader and recover past glories. Nationalism inspired by religion is what motivates our present enemies. It’s almost impossible to stamp out, and now it has terrible forms–the Taliban and the horribly twisted ISIS.” Joe Barrera, Ph.D., is the former director of the Ethnic Studies Program at UCCS, and a combat veteran of the Vietnam War.
              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 24, 2022,  Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
              Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
              Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
              A Unique Gift, Each Recipient to Receive a Lasting Lift

February 23, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Curling Is Cool Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 23, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 430 million at 430,113,015 cases,  65,658,070 of which are active, 364,454,945 closed with 358,518,510 recoveries (98.37%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,936,435 deaths (1.63% )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 80 million at 80,372,404 with 26,952,312 active cases  of which 10,011  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 .037 % 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 18,871, 53,420,092 closures with 966,530 deaths (1.81%) and with 52,453,562 recoveries (98.19%). Our death rate percentage is .18%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2892 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6221) 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 (5144), Hungary (4528), Romania (3309),  Brazil (3006), and Poland (2925) and slightly higher than Argentina (2742), Columbia (2672), Belgium (2574), Italy (2549), Mexico (2416), Russia (2382), UK (2351), Chile (2144), Spain (2115), France (2099), Portugal (2062), Ecuador (1945),  Bolivia (1794),  Sweden (1656) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1506). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/23/22   551.4 million doses, 623,307 per day last week ( 75.5%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 93,913 per day  (which means at least 81.6% 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 71,246,249 total doses have been given (83.2%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.3%), California has  moved  from 11^th tied will Illinois to 13^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 70.2%% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.2 and has moved from 11^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:  Russian troops and tanks have crossed into Ukraine with Russian Marines coming ashore in Odessa and missile explosions are being heard across the country ( Russian intentions of how far it intends to invade not yet known and the U.S. is supposedly rushing additional weapons to the  country); in response to the invasion Ukraine has declared martial law in the country; Russian media is promoting the narrative that occupation of the country is not the goal only its demilitarization; Biden has announced ‘crippling financial  sanctions’ against Russia, Putin and his oligarchs (jury is out on how effective of a deterrent this sanctions will be); although the support for Ukraine is widespread and bipartisan, Blue Rep. Ruben Gallego is blaming Obama’s sowing the seeds for this war on Obama for his indication during his term that we did not have a vital interest in protecting Ukraine (sounds very similar to our State Department indicating that South Korea was not in our sphere of influence which was quickly followed by a full scale invasion from North Korea, launching the Korean War); Trudeau after quelling the Freedom Convoy protests and freezing the bank accounts of those who contributed to the protests announced that he is cancelling the emergency powers granted to him under the Emergencies Act; NPR Political Podcast is looking less like National Public Radio but more like National Propaganda Radio as its podcast excoriated parents who were protesting mask mandates as “angry” and “not rational”; Joyless Reid has climbed to new heights of over the top rhetoric claiming the Reds want to install a Christian Autocracy without the need for elections; the two top prosecutors in Manhattan have resigned from their investigation of the business dealings of Trump; Colin Kaepernick is back in the spotlight offering free autopsies to families who have had a relative killed in a police involved shooting; Biden has often been accused by friend and foe alike of leading from behind but leave it to the political cartoonist to portray what happens when one embraces that strategy:                                                                                      
                                           

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 22, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 370 shot of whom 81 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 of “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis and the Players, the fact that to the best of your knowledge you do not suffer from somniloquence; and quote on the dioxin contamination of Times Beach by Marilyn Leistner, 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.   Curling Is Cool Day—celebrating the sport of curling which has been around since the 14^th Century and was an official Winter Olympic Sport in the first Winter Olympics in 1924 to be discontinued and become off and on a demonstration sport until it became an Official Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. Given the strategy of trying to shield  stones in scoring position from being knocked out of scoring position the game has been called “Chess of Ice.”
             2.  National Banana Nut Bread—bananas were introduced to the American palate in the 1870’s and quickly became popular and banana nut bread was a godsend way to use bananas that had stared to spoil by ripening—to liven up the bread, mix berries or honey in the batter.
            3.  1965  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1965  on this day was  “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys on a run at that position for 2 weeks  to join 26 other number 1 songs (5 of which were by the Beatles down from 6 in 1964) and 13 other acts that hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a recording of the group performing “This Diamond Ring”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKTOizdhan8 This 5-man 1960’s pop band led by the son of Jerry Lewis folded in 1970.

             4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “somniloquence” which means of or pertaining to talking in one’s sleep raising the question of whether a person who suffers from stuttering do so when talking in his or her sleep.
             5.  Comebacks Are a Two Edged Sword—celebrating the birth on this day in 1940 of Jackie Smith, 15 season Pro Bowl tight end with the St. Louis Cardinals who retired at the end of the 1977 season but was persuaded to comeback by the Dallas Cowboys in September, 1978 due to an injury to one of the team’s starting tight ends and play the entire regular season as a blocking tight end in goal line situations but showed his past reception skills by catching 3 passes, 1 of which was a touchdown to enable a comeback win and a trip to the Superbowl where he will be most remembered by with the Cowboys trailing he dropped a third down Roger Staubach touchdown pass in the end zone forcing the Cowboys to settle for a field goal and ultimately lose the game. Still alive today as one of the 16 gay players who have played in the NFL.
              On this day in:
              a. 1903 Cuba leased 45 square miles of land in Guantanamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity.” The site still hosts a a naval base which is the oldest base outside the United States and is the prison home to a dwindling number of foreign terrorists which Biden is vowing to close before he leaves office.
              b. 1954 to the joy of parents everywhere, the mass inoculations of children with the Salk Polio vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
              c. 1974 the Symbionese Liberation Army demanded the payment of a $4 million ransom for the release of Patty Hearst which was not paid and she was subsequently arrested 19 months later for crimes committed by her while she was with them.
              d. 1983 the Environmental Protection Agency announced its intention to buy out and remove the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
              e. 2020 African-American Ahmaud Arbery while jogging near Brunswick, Georgia was shot and killed by 3 white men of whom the father and son were convicted of murder and sentenced to life without possibility of parole plus 20 years and the third who recorded the shooting life with possibility of parole after 30 years. In the federal hate crime trial that followed has just resulted in the 3 being convicted and they are awaiting sentencing.
             Reflections on the dioxin contamination and Times Beach: “To say that dioxin has never caused anything—I saw it wipe out a whole community. I saw people that lived in the community lose their jobs, their churches, their homes, health problems. You can’t tell me dioxin has never caused anything.” Marilyn Leistner, last mayor of Times Beach who fought tooth and nail to get the EPA to investigate the contamination and force a buyout of the residents under the Superfund.
              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 23, 2022,  Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
              Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
              Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
       

February 22, 2022 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Supermarket Employees Day

 RIDLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT February 22, 2022

             CV World Cases: The planet continues on an increasing basis with cases now over 428 million at 428,281,074 cases,  66,039,924 of which are active, 362,241,150  closed with 356,315,667 recoveries (98.36%), and passing the 5,900,000 barrier 5,925,483 deaths (1.64% )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 80 million at 80,270,563 with 27,107,363 active cases  of which 10,400  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 .038 % 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 18,871, 53,163,200 closures with 963,371 deaths (1.81%) and with 52,199,829 recoveries (98.18%). Our death rate percentage is .17%  higher than the world’s death rate.
             Standing: On a deaths per million population measure on a steady but slow climb to 2883 the U.S. ranks behind Peru (6221) 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 (5136), Hungary (4515), Romania (3303),  Brazil (3002), and Poland (2916) and slightly higher than Argentina (2738), Columbia (2671), Belgium (2574), Italy (2545), Mexico (2413), Russia (2376), UK (2349), Chile (2142), Spain (2108), France (2095), Portugal (2059), Ecuador (1945),  Bolivia (1793),  Sweden (1656) that never closed its economy down like we did, and Switzerland (1504). 
             US Vaccinations: As of 02/22/22   551.0 million doses, 590,951 per day last week ( 75.5%) of population now vaccinated  with at least one shot)  and in California 91,866 per day  (which means at least 81.6% 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 71,204,664 total doses have been given (83.3%  of doses received to exceed the U.S. average of 80.3%), California has  moved  from 13^th tied with Nevada to 11^th tied with Illinois  of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 70.2%% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 64.1% and has not moved from 11^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:  Russian troops and tanks have crossed into Ukraine with the Russian intentions of how far it intends to invade not yet known and the U.S. is supposedly rushing additional weapons to the  country, a meeting between Russia’s foreign minister and Blinken has been canceled, the proposed summit meeting between Biden and Putin has been cancelled, and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kubela thanked the U.S. while stating the obvious who may be emboldened to take adverse actions; NATO is warning that Russia is planning a full scale invasion of Kyiv; the U.S. Embassy has evacuated to Poland; Biden announced its vaunted ‘sanctions’ that will block the Russian government and two large institutions from Western capital markets (sadly China may not be deterred and will become Russia’s best financial friend while its balance sheet improves as oil prices climb); bad luck for helicopters continue after a crash of one killed one person in Newport Harbor, injured others in a crash in the surf off of Miami, and finally 4 were killed in a crash off Kauai; James Clapper is now bemoaning the he wished we had been more aggressive when Russia invaded the Crimea in 2014 (Obama was best known for his Syria’s line in the sand which was ignored); no police at the turnstiles in the Big Apple and the riders who get on without paying are costing the city $300 million year; rising crime and decreasing police is the perfect recipe to increase gun sales which fell by 13% over 2020 but were still up 40% over 2019; the shares of Fat Brands fell after it was disclosed that the CEO is under investigation arising out of the merger of the company with the CEO’s investment banking firm; George Gascon already in deep second recall attempt problem is under fire for his lenient sentence proposal of 2 years in a juvenile facility for a transgender pedophile who was making threatening phone calls to victims while in jail awaiting sentencing which Gascon is being accused of lying about his lack of knowledge until after sentencing; as Biden’s polling approval numbers seem to be playing the limbo game of how low they can go, leave it to the political cartoonist to portray the political blood in the water to his presidency:                                                                                 
                                                               

               Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is alive and well to collect data to show that through February 21, 2022, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 366 shot of whom 81 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 of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles, the fact that you are free from somatasthenia, and quote on the Beatles by Mick Jaggar, 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 Supermarket Employees Day—created  by the Food Industry Association in November 2020 when the COVID pandemic was locking down and closing schools and businesses and first celebrated on this day in 2021, honoring the work of supermarket employees who masked and behind glass partitions went to work to ensure the shelves and counters were stocked and people could obtain needed food and supplies.
             2.  National Margarita Day—created by Todd McCalla in the mid 2000’s in response to the low-quality fructose laden margarita mixes on shelves with this day chosen as a dreary day in February most likely ideally spruced up with a refreshing margarita with or without salt on the rim.
            3.  1964  Number 1 Song—the number 1 song in 1964  on this day was  “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles in a run at that position for 7 weeks as their first number one song of the year in which 5 others by them became Number 1 hits to join 22 other number 1 songs and 10 other acts that hit the charts at Number 1 for the first time. Here is a video of the group performing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and kicking off Beatlemania:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jenWdylTtzs
             4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “somatasthenia” which means chronic physical weakness and fatigue which watching our president fears that he is struggling with the condition.
             5.  A Cat May Have Nine Lives But Its Creator Only One—celebrating the birth on this day in 1885 of noted animator Pat Sullivan, best remembered for creating Felix the Cat but who struggled with alcoholism and died at age 47 on February 15, 1933.
              On this day in:
              a. 1909 after departing under orders of President Teddy Roosevelt, 16 battleships known as the ”Great White Fleet” led by the USS Connecticut returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia after having left the United States on December 16, 1907.
              b. 1942 as Japanese forces were battling up the Bataan Peninsula to take Corregidor, President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur over his objections to leave the Philippines which he did on a perilous PT Boat escape to a B-17 sent to a southern island to pick him, his family and several officers and fly them to Australia.
              c. 1974 Samuel Byck who planned to hijack a commercial plane and have it flown into the White House to kill Richard Nixon,  after killing a policeman at Baltimore’s International Airport, stormed the cockpit of a Delta DC-9, and when the pilot and copilot did not immediately take off shot both of them, killing the co-pilot. Police tried to prevent take off by shooting the tires with their .38’s but the bullet bounced off. Finally the stand off ended with police firing at Byck through the airplane door with a .357 Magnum taken from the dead officer, wounding him and causing him to commit suicide.
              d. 1980 in what would be called the “Miracle on Ice”, the heavily favored Soviet Union Hockey Team was defeated in the semi-finals by the U.S. at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics to advance to the Gold Medal Game where they defeated Finland.
              e. 1994 Aldrich Ames, a CIA analyst, and his wife were charged by the DOJ with espionage for the Soviet Union in the then largest release of classified information until FBI agent Robert Hanssen’s arrest 7 years later. Aldrich raised suspicions by he and his wife having a life style far beyond his means and after arrest the two entered a plea bargain where his wife would serve 5 years for tax evasion and he would be imprisoned for life without possibility of parole and is rotting in a medium security federal prison now 80 years old.
             Reflections on the Beatles and Beatlemania: “The Beatles were so big that it’s hard for people not alive at the time to realize just how big they were. There isn’t a real comparison with anyone now. I suppose Michael Jackson at one point, but it still doesn’t seem quite the same. They were so big that to be competitive with them was impossible. I’m talking about in record sales and tours and all this. They were huge. They were bigger than Jesus!” Mick Jaggar in a December 14, 1995 interview for the Rolling Stone.
              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 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