June 8, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Oceans Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 8, 2016 Finally only 226 more days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term which HRC wants to extend another four years. History was made last night on two fronts—the first time in our history a major political party will have a female running as its candidate and secondly for the first time in our history a major political party has as its candidate someone who should be indicted for breach of national security and for using the office of Secretary of State to enrich herself with speaking fees in the millions to the First Predator and millions upon millions in contributions to the Clinton Foundation. Trump rightfully fired the first salvo on what should prove to be the most vitriolic campaign in our lifetime by alleging that the Clintons have raised the idea of personal enrichment to an art form. Sanders gave it all but was defeated in California which this poet thought he would win but with the superdelegates in line like lap dogs for her, many of his supporters may have stayed home once prior to the primary, the media announced that she had won. Will be great theater if the Blues in Philadelphia feel the Bern. On the noncampaign front, California is set to become the first state to make illegal aliens eligible for Obamacare while the news at the border shows illegals are creating fake families in the hopes of being allowed to stay here once they cross; we have lost under Obama our sovereignty and will really lose it if we are dumb enough to elect HRC if she is not rightfully indicted.

As always I trust your Wednesday is off to a great start and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Aretha Franklin, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Bryon R. White,  while  looking forward to enjoying some jelly-filled donuts, blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. World Brain Tumor Day—created by the German Brain Tumor Association in 2000 to provide support for those suffering from brain tumors; in the U.S. some 78,000 brain tumors will be diagnosed, a third of which will be found to be malignant. Sadly no one is immune as Beau Biden, Joe Biden’s son proved. Had he not died last year, Joe would most likely have run, sparing us from having a felon potentially occupying the Oval Office.      

2. World Oceans Day—another UN observance observed since 2008 to promote awareness of the need to combat overfishing and to address the increasing pollution of our oceans.   

3. 1966 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1966 on a run of two weeks in that position “Respect” by Aretha Franklin.  Here’s a link to Aretha Franklin performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOUqQt3Kg0

4. National Jelly-Filled Donut Day—celebrating a great way to start your day at any donut shop with a jelly-filled donut to munch with your morning caffeine fix. 

5. Jocks Excel In The Legal World Too—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1917 of the Whizzer, Bryan White, who was an all American football player at the University of Colorado and played professional football but went on to serve on SCOTUS for 30 years. If HRC wins in November because she has not been indicted, one can only pray that she pays attention to a quote from him when she goes to appointing up to four judges during her Obama extension term.  

On this day in:

a. 1789 James Madison introduced 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the first ten of which were ratified and are known as the Bill of Rights and perhaps more than anything differentiates this country from the rest of the world in terms of respect for individual freedom.     

b. 1889 Herman Hollerith applied for a U.S. patent for his punched card calculator.    

c. 1906 President Teddy Roosevelt signed into law the Antiquity Act which authorized the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land having historic or conservation value.   

d. 1967 the USS Liberty a spy ship operating in international waters was attacked during the Six-Day War by Israeli fighter jets killing 34 American sailors and wounding 134.   

e. 1972 in a chilling reminder of the horrors of war, nine year old Phan Thi Kim Phuc was burned by napalm dropped by South Vietnamese planes on her village, an event memorialized by AP photographer Nick Ut in a photograph that became one of the iconic photographs coming out of the Vietnam War. 

                                                   

                                                      

Reflections on the judiciary which if Hillary Clinton wins in November and starts to appoint judges to SCOTUS, she really needs to heed the advice from a fellow alum from Yale Law School:  “The court is the most vulnerable and comes closest to illegitimacy when it deals with judge-made constitutional law having little or no cognizable roots in the language or design of the Constitution.” Byron R. White

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.

© June 8, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

June 7, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not VCR Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 7, 2016 Fortunately only 227 days to go in President Obama’s   pathetic lame duck term; political theater in high gear as the voters go to the polls today in California and five other states with a dead heat in  California; as a result of unelected superdelegates, HRC is the presumptive nominee but she will be wounded big time if Sanders beats her in California; unfortunately for her and the Blues the most important primary has not yet been held which will be the FBI recommending or not recommending prosecution due to her email and server and her blatant corruption involving contribution to the Foundation and the payment of millions to Bill for speaking fees; for the master of the Art of the Deal, Trump continues to make an ass of himself when dealing with the Hispanic community whose votes he really needs; and lastly already under fire for deleting a section of a video of a State Department briefing new allegations are surfacing that the Obama administration cooked the books on the May job report to forestall a rate hike by the Feds.

As always, I hope your Taco Tuesday is off to a great start and that  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to the Rolling Stones, factoids of interest, a  relevant quote from Prince, while looking forward to enjoying a bowl of chocolate ice cream, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. VCR Day—celebrating the release of its BetaMax VCR in 1975—as an indication of how quickly technology moves by 2006 movies were no longer be released in VCR format.  

2. Daniel Boone Day—celebrated by the Kentucky Historical Society to commemorate Daniel Boone’s arrival into Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap on this day in 1769.

3. 1966 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1966 on a run of two weeks in that position Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. Here’s a link to the Rolling Stones performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg

4. National Chocolate Ice Cream Day—celebrating another great way to stay cool on a hot summer day.  5. A Music Full Nelson—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1958 of Prince Rogers Nelson seven time Grammy Award winner superstar better known to his numerous fans as Prince who passed of an overdose on April 21 of this year. 

On this day in:

a. 1494 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the New World between them.

b. 1862 the United States and Great Britain agree to the Lyons-Seward Treaty to suppress the African Slave Trade. 

c. 1965 SCOTUS in the case of Griswald v. Connecticut finds a Constitutional right to privacy in the bedroom and strikes down a Connecticut statute banning the sale of contraceptives to married couples.                                                

d. 1971 SCOTUS in the case of Cohen v. California overturned the conviction of Paul Cohen was arrested and convicted of disturbing the peace by wearing a jacket in a courthouse that had the logo F* the Draft, advancing the proposition that vulgarity is protected by the First Amendment.

e. 2013 John Samir Zawarhi shot and killed five people at Santa Monica College, wounded five and before being killed by the police; what is amazing that he fired some 70 rounds in the school’s library without hitting anyone.  

Reflections on longevity: “The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can.” Prince Perhaps but only if one abstains from the use of drugs will longevity take hold, regardless of the knowledge of music.

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.

© June 7, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

June 5, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Cancer Survivors Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 5, 2016 Finally only 229 more days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. The tributes to Muhammad Ali are still flowing in http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2016/06/ali-could-no-longer-rope-dope-against.html but the hiatus in political theater is back with Sanders and Clinton scrambling in California in a very tight race; if Sanders beats her all the super-delegates in the world will not salvage this flawed candidate. Outside of political theater and a testament to the theory that Neolithic man domesticated plants not primarily for food but to have the ability to brew beer, the city of Bruges is raising money to build a pipeline to a bottling facility outside its medieval protected city landmark to enable the transport of beer without the need of thousands of trucks to despoil the ambience.

As always I trust your weekend is off to a great start with your weekend plans set and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to the Beach Boys, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Ryan White (very brave and courageous innocent victim of AIDS),  while  looking forward to enjoying some gingerbread (killer recipe below), blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. World Environment Day—another UN observance for worthwhile causes, this one being awareness for preserving the environment created by the General Assembly in 1976. Wonder how many trees were sacrificed to create publications extolling the goals of the event and how much carbon was spewed into the atmosphere to generate the emails to publicize the goals and on the dark side how many jobs might be lost promoting wars on fossil fuels under the mantra of climate change.      

2. National Cancer Survivors Day—celebrating for 29 years that with early detection and progress in medical treatment cancer is no longer the certain death sentence it once was and with a steady decline in smoking due to laws restricting the places where those bent on long term, slow suicide can smoke and campaigns creating awareness of the dangers and social ostracization due to smoking, lung cancer is no longer the grim reaper it once was.       

3. 1965 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1965 on a run of three weeks in that position “Help Me Rhonda” by the Beach Boys.  Here’s a link to some very young looking Beach Boys performing another one of their classic songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Te_lCF69Aw  

4. National Gingerbread Day—celebrating that today no need to run to try to impossibly catch the gingerbread man as you have here a failsafe recipe to create a great snack with the added bonus of cream cheese.   http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/MAIN/cookies/cookies2/gingerbread-cake-recipe.asp 

5. Hard to See the Invisible Hand—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1723 of the noted economist Adam Smith whose capitalist precepts have brought incredible prosperity to the world as opposed to the siren call of socialism which dooms those living under its yoke—look only to its latest failure Venezuela which despite incredible oil reserves faces starvation and even more critically a complete collapse of its beer industry due to socialism.

On this day in:

a. 1851 Harriet Beecher Stowe’s serial Uncle Tom’s Cabin started its 10 month serial run in National Era, an abolitionist newspaper.    

b. 1883 in a classic example of bringing luxury to train travel, the first Orient Express departed from Paris.    

c. 1947 in a speech at Harvard University proposed a massive economic aid program which became known as the “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Europe.  

d. 1968 after winning the California primary and congratulating Don Drysdale for his record of consecutive scoreless inning, Robert Kennedy leaves the podium at the Ambassador Hotel only to be shot by Sirhan Sirhan, moments later and then die the next day.   

e. 1981 the Center for Disease and Prevention Control reported that five people in Los Angeles had a rare pneumonia associated with persons of severely weakened immune systems; this was the first sign of AIDS in the United States.   

Reflections on AIDS which thanks to research and medical advance is no longer the death sentence it once was but given the cost of treatment should be a powerful inducement for all of us to practice safe sex in our lives. “Aids  can destroy a family if you let it, but luckily for my sister and me, Mom taught us to keep going. Don't give up, be proud of who you are, and never feel sorry for yourself.” Ryan White, one very brave child who after a blood transfusion contracted AIDS at 13 but with a tremendous amount of courage fought the disease before dying at the age of 18.

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.

© June 5, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

June 4, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Tiananmen Square Protest Of 1989 Memorial Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 4, 2016 Finally only 230 more days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. At great sacrifice, political theater has had its curtain temporarily closed as the nation and the world mourn the death of Muhammad Ali, dead at 74:

Float like a butterfly

Sting like a bee

I was The Greatest, I was Muhammad Ali

At 74 my soul from Parkinson’s now set free

A Great man, the greatest boxer of all time

His gloves off forever--RIP!

                                              © June 4, 2016 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Worst new jobs report in a long time as only 38,000 new jobs created as the participation in the labor market continues to free fall; judge indicates U.S. Women’s soccer have no right to strike over wages; in the French Open rumored to have been an ISIS terror target, Garbine Muguruza of Spain defeated defending champion Serena Williams, holder of 21 major championship titles; and in a final and sad note the missing bodies of 4 soldiers from Ft. Hood when, while on maneuvers, their truck flipped over have been recovered.

As always I trust your weekend is off to a great start with your weekend plans set and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to the Dixie Chicks, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Steve Pinker,  while  looking forward to enjoying some cognac, cheese and frozen yogurt, either together or separately during the day, blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression—created by the UN General Assembly on August 19, 1982 to create awareness of the fate befalling children in Lebanon due to Israel’s aggression which was in response to Palestinian rocket attacks from Lebanon against Israeli citizens and now expanded to protest violence by armed aggression in all parts of the globe.     

2. Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989 Memorial Day—commemorating and protesting the killing of approximately 1,000 pro democracy  Chinese supporters by the Chinese military by Chinese military on this day in 1989.      

3. 1964 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1964 on a run of three weeks in that position “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups.  Here’s a link to Lesley Gore performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMfrLFirGWc

4. Almost Trifecta Day, National Cheese Day, National Cognac Day and National Frozen Yogurt Day—celebrating three food holidays with the possible exception of frozen yogurt could be celebrated at the same meal.  

5. Can’t Have Cherries without Pits—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1975 of the daughter of Jon Voight, actress and now director of Unbroken Angelina Jolie Angelina, wife of Brad Pitts.

On this day in:

a. 1884 one year after the Montgolfier Brothers had demonstrated their hot air balloon, Elizabeth Thible became the first woman to go aloof in an untethered balloon in a flight that lasted 45 minutes, covered 4 kilometers and reached a height of 1500 meters.    

b. 1974 in a classic example, just like driving, that beer and baseball don’t mix during 10 Cent Beer Night which lowered the price from 65 cents and removed the six beer limit per fan, highly intoxicated Cleveland Indian fans rioted in the ninth resulting in the forfeiture of the game to the Texas Rangers.    

c. 1975 due in large part to the efforts of the Caesar Chavez, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act giving agricultural workers collective bargaining rights.

d. 1998 Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing; his fellow conspirator was executed.  

e. 2010 Falcon 9, produced by SpaceX made its first flight—SpaceX a company formed by PayPal and Tesla founder Elon Musk to lower space transportation costs and ultimately colonize Mars.  

Reflections on why as the Chinese continue to become more aggressive and militarize the South China Sea we must never use ear plugs: “We know about every massacre that has taken place close to the present, but the ones in the distant past are like trees falling in the forest with no one to hear them.”      Steven Pinker, noted Harvard professor and author on language, mind and human nature. I will bet a dime against a dollar that most Chinese in China have never known about Tiananmen Square, another casualty of a repressive regime and the lack of a free press. 
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.

© June 4, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

June 3, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Love Conquers All Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 3, 2016 Finally only 231 more  days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. Political theater in really high gear with Hillary’s “lead” over Sanders in California now having evaporated to two percent (a statistical dead heat) as her major foreign policy address of 42 minutes had very little to do with her foreign policy and instead consisted of vitriolic personal attacks against Trump (http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2016/06/foreign-policy-address-or-insults.html); Trump in San Jose really lit into her on her criminal conduct on the email server while empathizing with Bernie’s struggle with the Blue superdelegates; in what has to be a record, Hillary has not held a press conference since December 4, 2015; President Obama whose free world leadership skills are abysmal was slamming Trump on his “isolationism.” On the non political theater front, the Texas is once again being hit by torrential rain and flooding with 5 soldiers killed and 4 missing when while on maneuvers their truck flipped over.

As always I trust your Friday is off to a great start with your weekend plans set and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Lesley Gore, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Franklin P. Jones,  while  looking forward to enjoying  a few eggs prepared to your taste (recipe for egg drop soup below),  blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. Hug an Atheist Day— started by William Bermudez several years ago on the first Friday in June advance the proposition that religion should never determine who should merit a hug which given the stress in the world most of us could use.    

2. Love Conquers All Day—commemorating the power of love to turn foes into friends and friends into spouses, significant others and soul mates; probably one of the most human of all our emotions.      

3. 1963 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1963 on a run of two weeks in that position It’s My Party by Lesley Gore.  Here’s a link to Lesley Gore performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Uo1nNt6LU

4. National Egg Day—celebrating the incredible, edible egg whether boiled, poached, scrambles, fried or part of an omelet, quiche, egg drop soup or egg noodles. Here is a killer egg drop soup recipe which is easy to make if you don’t want to drive to a nearby Chinese restaurant: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/45515/restaurant-style-egg-drop-soup/  Bon appétit!   

5. The Beat Goes On—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1926 of Alan Ginsberg, one of the more influential American poets, founder of the Beat Movement and author of Howl.

On this day in:

a. 1939 in Humen, China, Lin Tse-Hsu destroyed 1.2 million kg of opium from English merchants, providing England with the excuse to commence hostilities in the First Opium War.   

b. 1889 the first long distance electric transmission power line was completed and ran 14 miles from a generator at Willamette Falls to Portland, Oregon.    

c. 1937 after earlier abdicating the throne, the Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson.

d. 2012 the pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II reign took place on the River Thames in London.  

e. 2013 the military trial of transgender Chelsea Manning for leaking some 750,000 classified and sensitive documents to WikiLeaks commenced; Chelsea was found guilty and sentenced to 35 years in July of the same year.  

Reflections on love: “Love does not make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride enjoyable.” Franklin P. Jones, noted 20^th Century Philadelphia reporter, PR executive and humorist How true that observation is.      

 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.

© June 32, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

June 2, 2016 Ridlley's Believe It Or Not American Indian Citizenship Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 2, 2016 Finally only 232 days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. Political theater in really high gear with Hillary’s “lead” over Sanders in California now having evaporated to two percent (a statistical dead heat) as she prepares to give a major foreign policy address claiming Trump is not fit to be commander in chief; Trump is already burning up the Twitter wires with preemptive attacks on her (needs to have spell check to spell “judgment” correctly) and is facing his equivalence of the Clinton email scandal with a fraud suit against him with respect to Trump University; in what has to be a record, Hillary has not held a press conference since December 4, 2015; President Obama was stuttering profusely as he compared Trump supporters to a bunch of “Okie Dokes” (people who fall for scams); we now find that ala Katie Couric’s deleting of 8 minutes of Under the Gun, the State Department admitted it deleted portions of a press conference video admitting that the administration had lied on a key point in the Iran nuclear deal. On the non political theater front, the media is in a frenzy over the killing of a gorilla to save a toddler who fell into the gorilla pit at the Cincinnati Zoo while giving almost no coverage to the 69 people shot, 6 of whom died, in Chicago over the Memorial Day Weekend.

As always I trust your Thursday is off to a great start and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Ray Charles, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from George Clooney,  while  looking forward to enjoying  a bowl of rocky road ice cream, blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. American Indian Citizenship Day—celebrating that on this day in 1924 all American Indians born here became American citizens, not just those who had served in the military or who had married an American citizen.    

2. International Sex Workers Day—commemorating the protest and occupation of a church in Lyons, France of some 100 prostitutes on this day in 1975 to protest working conditions and violence against them. If you see someone today walking with a red umbrella, there is a good chance that that person may be a member of the world’s oldest profession.     

3. 1962 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1962 on a run of five weeks in that position I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles.  Here’s a link to Ray Charles performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQXsM1l2wZ8

4. National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day—celebrating this poet’s favorite ice cream especially when served with some berries or fruits.    

5. Shades of Gray—noting the birthday on this day in 1740 in Paris of the author, philosopher, and playwright Marquis de Sade also best known for his acts of sexual cruelty and debauchery (to which he was introduced by his uncle, an abbot in the church, at the age of 6 and giving us the word “sadist.” His sadistic behavior practiced on prostitutes is exactly the sort of behavior that the ladies of the night would have marched against on this day in 1975. He spent the last years of his life in an insane asylum, in typical de Sade fashion having a relationship with a 14 year old daughter of one of the employees there.

On this day in:

a. 1662 in a dark day for religious tolerance Bridget Bishop’s trial for witchcraft began in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and hanged on June 10, 1662 the first of 20 people subsequently found guilty and hanged.   

b. 1774 the Quartering Act of 1974 was enacted which allowed the colonial governor to quarter British troops in unoccupied homes, barns and other structures if other accommodations were not available. The act was deeply resented and along with the Stamp Act and British attitudes toward the Colonies was a driving force to move the colonies to rebel against the Crown and its repeal in March of 1776 was a classic example of too little, too late but remains part of our history embodied in the Third Amendment. 

c. 1835 P.T. Barnum and his circus began its first tour of the United States.

d. 1886 President Grover Cleveland married Francis Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to marry in the White House.

e. 2004 Ken Jennings won the first of his 74 consecutive wins on Jeopardy, winning  $2,520,000 before being defeated by Nancy Zerg; his second place finish to her netted him a paltry $2,000.  

Reflections on the Salem Witch Trials from an actor’s perspective: “I believe in all the qualities of being a liberal. I keep going back to all the great social events in our country's history, starting with the Salem witch trials, where the conservative view was that they're witches and should be burned at the stake, and the liberal view was there's no such thing as witches.” George Clooney Unless of course they happen to be conservatives in which case they are witches as should be burned and the stake or at least hounded and ridiculed by the media.     

 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.

© June 2, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

June 1, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Parents' Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 1, 2016 Finally only 233 days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. Political theater in really high gear with Hillary watching Sanders surge leaves New Jersey in a panic mode but until holding two fund raising events raking in several million dollars in a and heads back to California and Sanders hot on the campaign trail with four events today; Trump blasts the media at his news conference and provided evidence of almost $6 million raised for veteran groups (Clinton and her Foundation $0) and heads to California to hold rallies and divert attention from Clinton and Sanders; in a you have to be kidding moment Billie Kristol is looking at National Review staff writer William French to run as an independent candidate (great way to sell subscriptions but a total waste of campaign donations if anyone would be dumb enough to contribute); Obama is chomping at the bit to campaign for Hillary which is good as it will keep him away from his job killing executive pen and remind voters that four years of Hillary is four more years of Obama and the worst recovery in modern times and finally the most troubling poll of all that was just released revealing that even if she is indicted which she should be, 71% of democratic voters would still vote for Hillary. 

As always I trust your Wednesday is off to a great start and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Ricky Nelson, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Azriel Johnson,  while  looking forward to enjoying  a slice of hazelnut cake (killer recipe below), blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, 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. You need only contact me for details.

1. International Parents’ Day—created by the UN to acknowledge the important contribution of parents to the welfare of children, who are recognized on the same day with International Children’s Day; for reasons that escape me in the U.S. Parents’ Day is observed since 1994 on the fourth Sunday in July. If your parents are still alive and you want to be more of a global citizen and don’t want to wait until July 24, call or visit them today and thank them for all they did for you in your upbringing and adult life.   

2. World Milk Day—created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN in 2001 to recognize the importance of and contribution to our nutritional well being of milk.   

3. 1961 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1961 on a run of two weeks in that position Travelin’ Man by the Ricky Nelson.  Here’s a link to Ricky Nelson looking very young and sporting a natty bow tie performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0janfcZ8LUw

4. National Hazelnut (Filbert) Cake Day—celebrating a cake that will disappear very quickly; here is a recipe for a chocolate hazelnut cake complete with a video of the instructions for those of you who might be culinary challenged: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-hazelnut-cakes-107559  Bon appétit!   

5. Never Let Youth Hold You Back—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1979 in Stockholm of Marcus Persson who starting writing computer code when he was 8, never finished high school but created a game Minecraft, and founded a company called Mojang which he sold to Microsoft for $2.8 billion—not bad for a high school drop out.

On this day in:

a. 1495 a monk, John Cor, to the joy of future lovers of Scotch, recorded the first distilled batch of Scotch.   

b. 1660 in what has to be a complete failure of tolerance and a reason why our First Amendment is so precious,  Mary Dyer, a Quaker, was hanged for violating numerous times Massachusetts’ law banning Quakers from entering the colony. 

c. 1916 Louis Brandeis became the first Jewish justice of SCOTUS.                    d. 2009 General Motors filed for bankruptcy under Chapter XI—the fourth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

e. 2012 President Obama ordered covert cyber attacks with Stuxnet, a computer virus, against computers at Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz aimed at disrupting the uranium enrichment program and deterring Israel from launching convention bombing attacks on the facility.  

    Reflections being a stepparent: “Step parents are not around to replace a biological parent, rather to augment a child’s life experience.” Azriel Johnson, noted author and poet and founder of Writing Knights Press As a person who was fortunate enough to have had his life augmented by a stepfather, I can affirm the veracity of that observation.    

 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.

© june 1, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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