Ridley's Believe It Or Not--This Day In History

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

August 4. 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Coast Guard Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 4, 2020

CV World: The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 225,653 new cases (a 1.23% increase compared to a 1.21% increase yesterday) to bring the total nearing 19 million to 18,588,106 cases, 6,092,239 of which are active, 12,495,867 of which have been closed with 11,795,113 recoveries (94.39% compared to yesterday’s 94.33%) and 700,754 deaths (5.61% compared to yesterday’s 5.67%) to continue the trend of increased recovery percentages and decreased mortality percentages.

CV USA: New cases of 159,480 with total cases nearing 5 million at 4,736,011 (a 3.37% increase compared to yesterday’s 2.11% increase) with 2,273,176 active cases of which 18,713 (18,694 yesterday) are in serious or critical condition, and 2,622,315 closures, 159,773 of which have been deaths (6.09% compared to yesterday’s 6.22%) and 2,462,542 of which have been recoveries (93.91% compared to yesterday’s 93.78%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve and are finally in single digits since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die and accounted for some 40% of our deaths. We have now conducted with 61,593,415 tests (over 655,874 more than yesterday).

Non CV News: Senator Hirano showed herself to be hack without any class as she walked out of a hearing chaired by Senator Cruz on the terror attacks practiced by Antifa; the once Paris of the Middle East, Beirut, was rocked with a huge explosion that has killed at least 60 and injured some 2700 with some believing it was caused by explosive material previously confiscated from a ship; add Iran to the list of countries like Russia and North Korea where reporting of CV data is suspect as data leaked to the BBC shows the death rate triple of what has been reported and the case rate double; Hurricane Isaias now downgraded to a tropical storm has caused massive flooding, killed 4 and left over 2 million people without power as it moves slowly up the East Coast (if the Confederate Navy apes their past role in saving stranded flood victim, question of the day is whether the PC Counter Culture warriors allow them to fly Confederate flags); Facebook is back to its despicable trait of censorship, banning anti-Biden ads on Facebook and Twitter is using an executive Yoel Roth, who has a history of anti-Trump tweets and has mocked Trump supporters and called McConnell as “bag of farts, as its fact checker on Trump tweets (we have a new Iron Curtain that has descended on the 1^st Amendment not from government but from the leftist headed social media companies that should be subject to a reissued “fairness doctrine” to prevent censorship); Condoleezza Rice who is a mental and integrity giant compared to the journalistic dwarfs on the MSM has rightfully blasted the left acting like plantation owners telling their black voter slaves how to think; the Minneapolis Police Department which has been shedding officers since the death of George Floyd and ensuing riots faster than a man with a bad case of dandruff has seen 10 percent of its force resign, be in the process of leaving, taking medical leave or being fired (when will the light bulbs go on in the City Council to come to the realization that there might not be any way to staff the police no matter how it is reimaged); the Mayor of Minneapolis has slammed the state’s Democratic Governor for his pathetic response to his calling for the National Guard; the Washington Post emboldened by Senator Di-Fi’s idiocy of China being a “respectable nation” has posted a glowing editorial about the Chi-Com Party created by its Beijing Bureau Chief that reads like a press release that Goebbels would have envied.

Chicago/Baltimore Gun Violence: In Chicago as of August 3, 2020, the number of shootings increased by 14 to 2,359, of whom 417 have died ( miracle of bad shooting so no more deaths but with 417 so much for the defund the police movement and for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order and a complete dereliction of duty by Mayor Lightfoot other than swearing at people outraged over the killings); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths but now seems to be shooting less and killing less and is now 221 behind Chicago now at 196 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore get serious about this carnage or is this the case of true racism as a Blue run city turns a deaf ear and a blind eye to the slaughter of people of color by people of color and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than shootings by police or random mass shootings?).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a musical link to Beyonce feat. Jay-Z, the fact that you are not pelasgic, and a quote Rita Bender on the murders of her husband Michael Schwerner, James Cheney, and Andrew Goodman, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’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. You need only contact me for details.

1. Coast Guard Day—celebrating the formation of the Coast Guard to enforce tariffs on this day in 1790 of a service that expanded that role to go to war and in times of peace to be known as our first line of defense against the marine smuggling of illegals both drugs and humans and where to go for maritime safety and rescues.

2. National Night Out—created by the National Association of Town Watch in 1984 and celebrated on the first Tuesday of the month to promote people to leave their porch lights on and to take back the streets and parks by gathering after dark. The observance has grown from 4 million celebrants in 1984 to 38 million in 2016 but maybe somewhat curtailed tonight due to the pandemic.

3. 2003 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 2003 on this day on a run of 8 weeks was “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce feat Jay-Z in her first number 1 song as a lead singer. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwtNLUqkMY . Beyonce and Jay-Z have become a very successful husband and wife duo selling millions of records but have the misfortune of having her sister attacking Jay-Z in an elevator and being shown to the world.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “pelasgic” which means nomadic which sadly describes the growing number of homeless moving from city to city or from tent city to tent city with a city.

5. Wrap That Legacy As a Gift Joe—celebrating or bemoaning depending on your political point of view the birth on this day in 1961 of former and first black president Barack Obama whose most wished for gift would be a win by Hidin’ Biden so his legacy can be preserved as opposed to being lowered in the grave for good.

On this day in:

a. 1889 the Great Spokane Fire started at 6:00 p.m. and burned 30 blocks of Spokane’s business and commercial district but caused the death of only 1 person. The cause of the fire was never determined.

b. 1964 Civil Rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman who were last seen on June 21 were found dead on this day 44 days later near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

c. 1964 in an erroneous account that would lead to the passage of the Tonkin Resolution and the disaster better known as the Vietnam War, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy reported that they were under attack by North Vietnamese PT boats. If ever in the Puget Sound area, the USS Turner Joy is a museum today.

d. 1977 President Jimmy Carter signed legislation creating the Department of Energy to respond to the crisis of imported oil and disruptions of supplies which it did not do a stellar job until Trump was sworn in.

e. 1987 in what would prove to be a disaster in the eyes of Conservatives being banned from social media, the FCC abolished the “Fairness Doctrine” which required a balanced presentation of controversial issues.

Reflections on the killing of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney: “My husband, Michael Schwerner, did not die in vain. If he and Andrew Goodman had been Negroes, the world would have taken little notice of their deaths. After all, the slaying of a Negro in Mississippi is not news. It is only because my husband and Andrew Goodman were white that the national alarm has been sounded.” Rita Bender, Michael Schwerner. How prophetic and how troubling it is that blacks are killed daily in urban cities by blacks and that is not news, only when the shooter is a cop regardless of color is it news.

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.

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Monday, August 3, 2020

August 3, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Watermelon Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 3, 2020

CV World: The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 219,068 new cases (a 1.21% increase compared to a 1.35% increase yesterday) to bring the total past 18 million to 18,362,453 cases, 6,113,044 of which are active, 12,249,409 of which have been closed with 11,554,404 recoveries (94.33% compared to yesterday’s 94.29%) and 695,005 deaths (5.67% compared to yesterday’s 5.71%) to continue the trend of increased recovery percentages and decreased mortality percentages.

CV USA: New cases of 100,118 with total cases nearing 5 million at 4,736,011 (a 2.11% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.16% increase) with 2,285,414 active cases of which 18,694 (18,720 yesterday) are in serious or critical condition hopefully the start of a decreasing trend, and 2,550,715 closures, 158,596 of which have been deaths (6.22% compared to yesterday’s 6.25%) and 2,392,119 of which have been recoveries (93.78% compared to yesterday’s 93.75%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve and are finally in single digits since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die and accounted for some 40% of our deaths. We have now conducted with 60,937,541 tests (over a million more than yesterday).

Non CV News: In Bowser land in the Swamp you can with indelible graffiti deface to your hearts end but if the message is protect unborn black lives, your freedom comes to an end; the Cack stench is blowing strong from CNN who is touting the latest leftist anti-Trump line that he will refuse to vacate the office if he loses to Biden as April Ryan who oozes bias from every pore is spouting that she can hardly wait to see armed soldiers remove him; the NYT is not stupid and knows that Trump will destroy the mental corpse masquerading as a viable presidential candidate so they are calling for the end of presidential debates to prevent Biden’s destruction; the “get in their faces” seeds sown by leftist and biased Maxine Waters are sprouting as BLM protesters are now starting to descend on the homes of lawmakers demanding they face them and explain their actions on alleged racism (harassment must in their minds trump trespassing); the Marxist City Council in Seattle is unveiling a plan for layoffs in the SPD in its SWAT teams, encampment removal and mounted units as a $3 million down payment on the plan to reduce the SPD budget by $170 million (an unintended consequence will be the rule of LIFO and the fact that a larger portion of officer hires would have been officers of color or indigenous people); meritocracy no longer exists in Biden’s world as he has pledged to pick a black woman as his VP running mate (sadly the top five include the illegal alien supporter queen Harris, the lying it’s a video queen Rice, Fidel is my hero Bass, former police chief Orlando men in blue can do no wrong and Swamp Mayor Bottoms who Trump has called “incompetent”; in a maybe Obama has seen the light and moved to the center, it was revealed that he has not endorsed AOC; Lori Lightfoot on color on color shooting remains totally MIA as Chicago through July 24 has seen the number of victims under the age of 10 triple from last year to 24; Trump has signed off on Microsoft’s acquisition of Tik-Tok’s U.S. operations but has indicated it will be banned on September 15, 2020 if the acquisition does not close.

Chicago/Baltimore Gun Violence: In Chicago as of August 2, 2020, the number of shootings increased by 10 to 2,345, of whom 417 have died ( with 3 more deaths so much for the defund the police movement and for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order and a complete dereliction of duty by Mayor Lightfoot other than swearing at people outraged over the killings); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths but now seems to be shooting less and killing less and is now 222 behind Chicago now at 195 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore get serious about this carnage or is this the case of true racism as a Blue run city turns a deaf ear and a blind eye to the slaughter of people of color by people of color and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than shootings by police or random mass shootings?).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a musical link to Nelly, the fact that you are unwilling to allow people to pejorate situations, and a quote from Jesse Owens on winning the godls in the 1936 Olympics, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’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. You need only contact me for details.

1. National Watermelon Day—celebrating that refreshing summer treat seedless or not that is 92 % water.

2. Grab Some Nuts Day—celebrating not pulling in of mentally disturbed people for treatment but the wide variety of delicious nuts loaded with good things and used for snacking, garnishing, oil and butter.

3. 2002 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 2002 on this day on a run of 7 weeks was “Not in Here” by Nelly in his first number 1 song. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRAuQM3pl-Y. This hip hop rapper has won 2 Grammys and has had some brushes with the law but has not seen the inside of a jail.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “pejorate” which means to worsen which seems to describe the ability for bipartisanship to flourish and survive in this highly charged political season.

5. The Pen May Be Mightier Than the Sword But Not the Mosquito—celebrating the birth on this day in 1887 of English poet Rupert Brooke, best known for his sonnets about WWI like ”The Soldier” but who sadly sailed with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on February 28, 1915 and was bitten by a mosquito whose bite became infected with sepsis and he died on April 23, 1915 aboard a hospital ship offshore from the Island of Skyros in Greece.

On this day in:

a. 1936 at Hitler’s failed attempt to prove Aryan Supremacy at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens beat fellow American Ralph Metcalfe in the 100 yard dash.

b. 1959 the world’s first nuclear submarine USS Nautillus became the first submarine to transit under the ice of the North Pole.

c. 1977 in a being first does not always guarantee success moment Tandy Corporation introduced the first commercially successful personal computer the TRS-80.

d. 2004 the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was opened to the public after being closed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

e. 2019 Patrick Crusis drove to a Wal-Mart in El Paso, started shooting in the parking lot and then went into the store, ending up killing 23 and wounding 23 in what police said was a hate crime against Latinos; the shooter returned to his car and drove away to surrender to police where after his trial if he does not cop a plea to escape the death penalty, he will rot in prison for the rest of his life.

Reflections on winning 4 medals at the 1936 Olympics: Although I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.” Jesse Owens

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Sunday, August 2, 2020

August 2, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Family Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 2, 2020

CV World: The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 240,877 new cases (a 1.35% increase compared to a 2.06% increase yesterday) to bring the total past 18 million to 18,143,385 cases, 6,040,886 of which are active, 12,102,499 of which have been closed with 11,411,596 recoveries (94.29% compared to yesterday’s 94.26%) and 690,903 deaths (5.71% compared to yesterday’s 5.74%) to continue the trend of increased recovery percentages and decreased mortality percentages.

CV USA: New cases of 54,868 with total cases nearing 5 million at 4,736,011 (a 1.16% increase compared to yesterday’s 7.68% increase) with 2,260,966 active cases of which 18,720 (18,685 yesterday) are in serious or critical condition ending a decreasing trend over the last week, and 2,529,913 closures, 158,180 of which have been deaths (6.25% compared to yesterday’s 6.30%) and 2,371,733 of which have been recoveries (93.75% compared to yesterday’s 93.70%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve and are finally in single digits since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die and accounted for some 40% of our deaths. We have now conducted with 59,935,538 tests (over a million more than yesterday).

Non CV News: Pelosi, who is clueless on the pandemic as she encouraged everyone to eat and mingle on Chinese New Year, is on a full on anti Dr. Birx rant over her handling the CV pandemic; Pelosi and the WH are far apart on coming up with another stimulus bill as the $600 a week extra unemployment benefits have expired with Pelosi not willing to contemplate any reduction or make any counter proposals while making noises to the effect that until virus is defeated the economy must continue to be shut down (the longer we wait the deeper the disaster will become and if Biden wins watch any concerns over the virus spread to disappear); Airbnb has removed 35 listings in New Jersey as police raided a 700 person mansion party in violation of the state’s anti-CV restrictions; SpaceX astronauts Hurley and Behnken splashed down successfully in the Gulf of Mexico after 2 months in the ISS; in Portland on Friday 150 rounds were fired at an occupied apartment building as the city incurred its 64^th night of riots; 25 year old Vincent Sessler now an ex Chicago Dunkin Donut employee is now the new poster child for anti-sentiment after he was arrested for handing a large coffee bought by a police officer after he spit into it; on the world wide drug front, a private Cessna taking off from Papua New Guinea on a return flight to Australia was overburdened with over 1,000 pounds of cocaine and crashed shortly after takeoff; in 106 degree temperature the Apple Fire near Beaumont in Southern California, totally uncontained, has surged to 30 square miles and forced the evacuation of 8,000 persons, some 250,000 Hog riders will be soon descending on Sturgis amidst fears the gathering will lead to a spike off the charts of COVID-19 cases.

Chicago/Baltimore Gun Violence: In Chicago as of August 1, 2020, the number of shootings increased by 9 to 2,335, of whom 414 have died ( with 2 more deaths so much for the defund the police movement and for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order and a complete dereliction of duty by Mayor Lightfoot other than swearing at people outraged over the killings); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths but now seems to be shooting less and killing less and is now 219 behind Chicago now at 195 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore get serious about this carnage or is this the case of true racism as a Blue run city turns a deaf ear and a blind eye to the slaughter of people of color by people of color and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than shootings by police or random mass shootings?).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a musical link to Usher, the fact that you are willing to try peirastic products, and a quote from Elie Wiesel on the Holocaust, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’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. You need only contact me for details.

1. National CAD Day—celebrating introduction of computer aided design into the design of products which have given a larger variety of products at cheaper cost.

2. American Family Day--created by John Makkai in 1978 to promote the strengthening of the family unit which is under assault by the rising number of fatherless homes and unwed mothers as more and more studies reveal that the best way to avoid poverty, graduate and avoid jail is to grow up in a functional two parent family.

3. 2001 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 2001 on this day on a run of 4 weeks was “U Remind Me” by Usher in a year in which he had 2 number 1 songs. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxau9B3jOHM.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “peirastic” which means experimental which by splashing down today in the Gulf Mexico, SpaceX proved its DragonX coming back from ISS is not.

5. All In the Family—celebrating since today is National Family Day, the birth on this day in 1924 of noted TV and big screen actor Carroll O’Connor best remembered for his starring role as Archie Bunker in All in the Family and the death of his son Hugh from suicide caused by drug addiction made him a tireless advocate against drug addiction to the point of getting a law passed allowing loved ones of addiction victims to sue drug dealers which was also passed in 17 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands but sadly he was a long time cigar smoker who died from a heart attack on June 21, 2001.

On this day in:

a. 1839 Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt claiming an atomic bomb was possible and urged him to cause it to be constructed which letter plus the fear that the Germans would develop one first led to the Manhattan Project and the nuclear world we live in today.

b. 1943 700 Jews armed with a small amount of captured German weapons rioted in the death camp at Treblinka where some 900,000 Jews were executed; sadly most were killed in the assault on the main gate or captured and killed after they had escaped but 70 managed not to get caught and survived the war to tell of the atrocities committed by the Germans there.

c. 1944 in a clear signal that the War in the Atlantic had been won by the Allies Convoy HX 300, the largest convoy of the war with 166 merchant ships and 32 escorts, arrived in the Western Approaches of Great Britain without a single casualty.

d. 1980 a terrorist bomb, believed to have been planted by a neo-fascist group, Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari, was detonated at the Bologna Central Train Station in Italy which killed 85 and injured some 200 others.

e. 1990 Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait an act of aggression that would lead to the Gulf War and a decisive and quick victory over Iraqi forces.

Reflections on the Holocaust: “How is one to explain that neither Hitler nor Himmler was ever excommunicated by the church? That Pius XII never thought it necessary, not to say indispensable, to condemn Auschwitz and Treblinka? That among the S.S. a large proportion were believers who remained faithful to their Christian ties to the end? That there were killers who went to confession between massacres? And that they all came from Christian families and had received a Christian education?” Elie Wiesel, A Jew Today

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Saturday, August 1, 2020

August 1, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Mead Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not August 1, 2020

CV World: The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 360,884 new cases (a 2.06% increase compared to a 1.10% increase yesterday) to bring the total nearing over 18 million to 17,902,508 cases, 5,952,417 of which are active, 11,950,091 of which have been closed with 11,264,292 recoveries (94.26% compared to yesterday’s 94.19%) and 685,790 deaths (5.74% compared to yesterday’s 5.81%) to continue the trend of increased recovery percentages and decreased mortality percentages.

CV USA: New cases of 337,827 with total cases surging to near 5 million at 4,736,011 (a 7.68% increase compared to yesterday’s 5.40% increase) with 2,240,121 active cases of which 18,685 (18,783 yesterday) are in serious or critical condition continuing a decreasing trend over the last week, and 2,495,790 closures, 157,278 of which have been deaths (6.30% compared to yesterday’s 6.36%) and 2,338,612 of which have been recoveries (93.70% compared to yesterday’s 93.64%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve and are finally in single digits since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die and accounted for some 40% of our deaths). Total test have increased to 58,909,717.

Non CV News: Governor Murphy of New Jersey is waging a holy war against the Atilis Gym but appears to be ready to sign a bill passed by the Open Borders Blue dominated legislature that would allow illegal aliens the right to get professional license (totally insane to add more entrants to fight with citizens for good paying jobs; one of the leading contenders for Biden’s VP slot, Karen Bass who demanded that Trump remain silent on the death of John Lewis, is taking flack for her speaking a Scientology building dedication and her praising Fidel Castro as a great leader for the Cuban people; as cyber security experts raise the alarm that there is nothing to prevent China from accessing personal data on Tik-Tok, Trump appears ready to ban it in the U.S. very soon; in New Jersey the clash between “Shutdown Murphy” and the Atilis Gym continues as the owner cheered on by onlookers tore down the boards the state had covered the entrance with (doubt there is any data supporting a finding that the gym is a CV spreading hotspot); Witless Whitmer must be fuming as federal agents as part of Operation Legend are coming to Detroit, but the police chief of Detroit is jumping for joy (note that Detroit has been largely spared of the rioting and looting following George Floyd’s death because the DPD has not backed down or stood clear if that activity looked like it was to occur); Blue Representative from Arizona Raúl Grijalva has just joined the select group of 12 U.S. Representatives that have tested positive for COVID-19; Hurricane Isiasis at only CAT 1 is bearing down on Florida then to run up the East Coast, bringing lots of rain and potential for flooding.

Chicago/Baltimore Gun Violence: In Chicago as of July 31, 2020, the number of shootings increased by 19 to 2,326, of whom 412 have died ( with 7 more deaths so much for the defund the police movement and for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order and a complete dereliction of duty by Mayor Lightfoot other than swearing at people outraged over the killings); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths but now seems to be shooting less and killing less and is now 217 behind Chicago now at 195 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore get serious about this carnage or is this the case of true racism as a Blue run city turns a deaf ear and a blind eye to the slaughter of people of color by people of color and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than shootings by police or random mass shootings?).

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a musical link to NSYNC, the fact that your life is not pediculous, and a quote from Bill Helmer on Charles Whitman being shot back at, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’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. You need only contact me for details.

1. World Scout Day—celebrating the week long opening on this day in 1907 of the first Scout Camp on Brownsea Island.

2. Mead Day—created by the American Homebrewers’ Association in 2002 and celebrated on the first Saturday in August to promote the brewing of mead, an alcoholic beverage that has been around for millenniums and whose main base to be fermented is honey.

3. 2000 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 2000 on this day on a run of 2 weeks was “It’s Gonna Be Me” by NSYNC in their first number 1 song. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQMlWwIXg3M. This 5 person boy band started in 1995 and played until 2002 when its members including Justin Timberlake pursued solo careers. The name was picked as Justin Timberlake’s mother thought their voices were in sync and the name is created from the letter of the first name of each member.

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “pediculous” which means lousy which probably describes Biden’s candidacy and the amount of enthusiasm for him to a tee.

5. Not Grateful to Be Dead--celebrating the birth on this day in 1942 of noted guitar player and singer and founder of the Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia, who smoked heavily, used drugs heavily and suffered from diabetes and after checking into to a rehab facility following his release from Betty Ford died from a heart attack on August 9, 1995.

On this day in:

a. 1883 to the joy of breakfast lovers everywhere, Henry Perky patented shredded wheat.

b. 1966 Charles Whitman after stabbing his wife and mother to death went to the Texas Tower at the University of Texas, killing 3 in the tower and then going to the observation deck, barricading himself in and in the next 96 minutes shot and killed 11 and wounded 31, before being shot and killed by an Austin policeman as police and civilians were firing from the ground to distract Whitman.

c. 1981 MTV began broadcasting.

d. 1993 the Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 peaked after flooding some 30,000 square miles, killing some 32 people and causing some $15 billion in property damage.

e. 2007 the 8 lane I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River at Minneapolis, one of 75,000 bridges in the nation that had been rated “structurally deficient” collapsed during rush hour, killing 13 and injuring 145 others.

Reflections on the Texas Tower Shootings and the civilians’ response: “These guys were pretty good shots. There was a lot of lead flying up there at him.” Bill Helmer, a graduate student was there witnessing the shootings.

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