Ridley's
Believe It Or Not—May 4, 2014: As always, after some searching, I found
these holidays worthy of mention or celebrating in culinary fashion, to go with
the factoids and quotes to enjoy as you are getting ready to fire up the Hog after
orange juice and coffee.
1. International
Firefighters Day –started
in 1999 to honor the contributions of firefighters to public safety and
observed on this day as it is the day of St. Florian, the patron saint of
firefighters. If you see someone wearing a blue and red ribbon; it is not a
sign of a plea for bipartisanship but rather someone observing the day.
2. Star Wars Day—may the force be with you on this day,
May 4th to celebrate one of the great film franchises of all time,
totally revolutionizing special effects and creating millions of cult fans.
3.
Motorcycle Mass and Blessing of the Bikes Day—celebrated
always on the first Sunday in May; if you see a lot of Hogs in the church
parking lot before Mass, now you know why.
4. World
Laughter Day—first celebrated in 1998
in Mumbai, India by the founder of the Laughter Yoga movement. Laughter beats
weeping and crying any day of the week.
5. Candied
Orange Peel Day/ Orange Juice Day—a
great way to celebrate the orange, the whole orange and nothing but the orange
and to toast scurvy awareness day observed
on May 2.
On this day
in:
a. 1904 construction commenced on one of the great engineering feats in the
world, the Panama Canal.
b. 1970 National Guard troops sent to Kent State due to protests over the
Vietnam War, opened fire on the crowd of students, killing 4 and leaving us
with one of the iconic photos of the Vietnam War era. 
c. 1972 a fledgling environmental organization Don’t Make a Wave Committee founded in 1971 changed its name to Greenpeace Foundation.
Nixon News
Conference held days after the Kent State Shootings: “Mr.
President, do you believe that the use of the word "bums” to categorize
some of those who are engaged in dissent--and I know that you meant it to apply
to those who are destructive, but it has been used in a broader context--do you
believe that is in keeping with your suggestion that the rhetoric should be
kept cool?”
THE PRESIDENT. I would certainly regret that my use of the
word "bums" was interpreted to apply to those who dissent. All the
members of this press corps know that I have for years defended the right of
dissent. I have always opposed the use of violence. On university campuses the
rule of reason is supposed to prevail over the rule of force. And when students
on university campuses burn buildings, when they engage in violence, when they
break up furniture, when they terrorize their fellow students and terrorize the
faculty, then I think "bums" is perhaps too kind a word to apply to
that kind of person. Those are the kind I was referring to.
“Flowers are better than bullets.” Allison Krause two days
before she was shot
“My daughter was not a bum.” Arthur S. Krause, father of
Alison Krause, an honor student at Kent State and one of the four students
killed.
Please enjoy
the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if
you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers
and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and
entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
for poems on the 2014 Boston Marathon; on the Mustangs going to the Dance with
a losing record; to honor Cindy Abbott, a half blind 54 year old mother
suffering from a rare disease who competed in last year's Iditarod until forced
out with a broken pelvis after 600 miles; on Bode Miller and the human spirit;
to honor Cory Remsburg to join a great collection of my poems to inspire,
touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes
On The Newsworthy Times for poems on the just released nonredacted Benghazi
emails; Kerry’s apartheid characterization of Israel; Obama’s admission that he
does not know whether new “sanctions” will work against Putin; the scandal of
vets dying in Phoenix while waiting to see a doctor; Blues in Illinois caught
in questionable procedures and forced to rescind $100 million to Obama
Presidential Library; coffee as the new wonder drug to curtail Type II
Diabetes; the futility of aiding Ukraine
with MRE’s to join numerous other comments on news events always in rhyme of
course.
©May 4, 2014
Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
