May 11, 2021 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Ego Awareness Day

 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not May 11, 2021

        CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues the new year with cases now over  160 million at 160,239,675 cases (158,491,460 yesterday), 19,004,116 of which are active, 141,235,509 closed with 137,906,628 recoveries (97.64% and 97.64% yesterday ,and 3,328,881 deaths (2.36% and 2.36 % yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentage with some plateaus, dips, and rises (have no idea why the comparatively large improvement in deaths and recoveries yesterday).
      CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 33 million at 33,543,724 (33,500,575 yesterday) with 6,394,995 active cases of which 8,791 (8,890) yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now still at .14% of active cases and now another blip down to decrease the number of serious or critical cases to increase the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 20,480), 27,149,169 closed, with 596,874 deaths (2.20% and 2.20% yesterday) and with 26,552,295 recoveries (97.80% and 97.80% yesterday). Our death rate percentage continues to slowly improve and after many months is now .16% lower than the world rate after the world’s spike in improvement.
        Standing: On a deaths per million population measurement on a steady climb to 1794 the U.S. ranks behind Hungary the new number 1 which has had a huge surge in deaths (2987), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2469), Belgium (2113), Italy (2042), Brazil (1990) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us, Peru 1929, and the UK (1872) which had passed us despite leading world in testing),  and Poland (1860)  and slightly better than Spain (1691), Mexico (1684), Portugal (1671), France (1635), Romania (1523), Argentina (1489),  Sweden (1400) that never closed its economy down like we did but has recently been experiencing a steady rise in  deaths,  Chile (1421), Switzerland (1231), and Bolivia (1120).
         Tests: We have now conducted 460,268,873 tests (now at 1,383,583/M) compared to number 2 now France at 1,217,439/M) as we are conducting more tests in number and on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 2,448,143/M.
        CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has moved up to 11^th on my list of deaths from the pandemic at 1684/M and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported:

                   Guatemala:  Activecases:     12,930     425Deaths/M
                   Honduras:     Activecases:   133,648     568Deaths/M
                   El Salvador:   Active cases:     2,295     332 Deaths/M   

        US Vaccinations: As of 5/11/2021 263.1 million doses and finally after days of dropping a third day of increases to 2.20 million per day in the last week sounds impressive but if the rate does not increase it will take us now decreased to some 3 months to have 75% of the population vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity. In California 33,632,769 total doses have been given (78.2% of doses received now less than the U.S. average of 78.8%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has moved down from 25^th tied with Illinois to 27^th tied with Indiana out of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 35.8% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 35.1% has moved slight up  from 26^th  to 25^th among the 50 states.  A long way to go to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
        Non CV News: The cyber ransomware attack by the “Darkside” is causing prices to rise in states most affected, Virginia to join the list of states with a state of emergency declared and even a silver lining in Georgia with Governor Brian Kemp suspending the gas tax to give some relief (no word when Colonial will restore pipeline service or better yet where the FBI stands in finding and bringing these false “Robin Hoods” to justice; Biden rightfully so is being condemned in a rarity by Blues and Reds over the Hamas rocket attacks in Jerusalem as Israel called up 5,000 reservists and Egypt appears to be trying to broker a cease fire (wonder if Biden can shed the Obama like tendency to weaken its support for this ally and become more Trumpian and stand up to the jihadist like Omar and Tlaib); the “reporters” at the NYT must be on some strong hallucinogenic or blinding drugs when the rag was claiming the Colonial Pipeline shutdown was not leading to long lines or panic buying; if one were to choose one of the more level headed senators it would be Susan Collins who is outraged over the CDC’s confusing and conflicting advice on the pandemic and has lost confidence in the CDC (the line of fellow senators so outraged should grow with “Flip Flop” Fauci’s politicized advice and growing revelations over the activities of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases which he was the director of and still is since 1984 concerning the lab in Wuhan which to almost a person in the scientific community other than Fauci and political hacks believe was the source of the pandemic); Teodoro Macias has been named as the gunman who had dated the girl whose birthday party was being celebrated and was one of his 6 victims as police reveal the motive as anger over not being invited (unbelievable and so hard to detect such outburst other than he was reported to have controlled her during their relationship).
       In another example of the academic corruption that is occurring on our colleges and universities, as 600 rockets were shot by Hamas into Israel,  the student government of the University of Michigan is calling for students to boycott Israel for its apartheid and war crimes against the Palestinians; the 15 year old girl involved in the failed deadly carjacking of an Uber Eats driver, Mohammad Anwar’s car has pled guilty to felony murder and will be released when she turns 18 (not sure of the status of the 13 year old but she cannot serve time after age 18 also); the chutzpah of the teacher’s union in Feces City defies description and words of proper condemnation but it agreed to open 2 of its 15 schools for one day for seniors not to receive in person instruction but supervision for one day then close in order to extract  $12 million in school opening funds from the state (another reason to recall “let them get $600” Newsom facing recall); Bezos is building a $500 million yacht to ease his divorce and Gates to ease his has been hiding out at the exclusive golf club the Vintage Club in Indian Wells.
       As Blue states are losing seats as Reds move to tax and business friendlier Red states, leave it to the political cartoonist to point out the fear that these Blue migrants will be bringing their leftist voting ideas with them.                                                         

       Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is back to show that through May 10, 2021,  gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 1158 persons shot of whom 203 have died.
        As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video musical link to “Nothing Compares to U” by Sinéad O'Connor , the fact that you are not a reprobate by any means and a quote from Klaus Barbie justifying his barbarity to the Jews he had imprisoned,  secure in the knowledge that if you want to send 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. Please contact me for details on the pricing.
       1. Sex Differences in Health Awareness Day—created by the Society for  Women’s Health Research in 2005 to promote understanding on how biological sex has certain health issues across a person’s life regardless how that person wants to identify or be identified in the opposite biological gender.
         2. World Ego Awareness Day—created by the World Ego Awareness Movement in 2018 and celebrated on this day since 2018 to promote understanding of the difficulties created by an over aggressive ego and the damages done to the person with such egos and also to the persons around the person.
         3.  1990 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1990 was “Nothing Compares to U” by Sinéad O'Connor on a run of 4 weeks in that position to join 25 other songs reaching number 1 and join 11 other acts who achieved their first number 1 status. Here is a video recording by Sinéad O'Connor of “Nothing Compares to U”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-EF60neguk  This Roman Catholic Irish born singer has been performing since 1986, endured rehab to overcome a 30 year addiction to cannabis, forum shopped for second opinions to free herself from a diagnosis of bipolarism and converted to Islam but still singing strong at age 54.
         4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “reprobate” which means a reprehensible or immoral person which is a good word to describe the fake news spewing out the “journalists” mouths at the MSM.
         5.  Sad Way to Silence the Press—celebrating the birth on this day of Israeli American journalist who, while covering Syrian Civil in Aleppo, was abducted on August 4, 2013 and held for over a year while secret efforts were made to free him but to no avail and a video of his beheading was discovered on September 2, 2014. Obama who vowed to destroy ISIS failed, leaving Trump to accomplish that fact.
         On this day in
       a. 1846 President James Polk requested from the  Congress its declaration of war against Mexico, which by overwhelming majorities it passed 2 days later.
          b. 1960 Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped by Mossad in Argentina to be quickly spirited out of the country to face trial, conviction and execution for his crimes in the Holocaust.
         c.  1987 after hiding out for years in Bolivia under an assumed name, Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon”, went on trial after being extradited in 1983. He was convicted on July 4, 1987 and sentenced to life in prison where he died at age 77 on September 25, 1991 of leukemia and prostate cancer.
        d. 1987 IBM’s Deep Blue beat World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov in their final game of their match to become the first time a machine has beaten a human World Champion Chess player.
          e. 2010 David Cameron became the UK’s Prime Minister  after he had formed its first coalition government since World War II.
         Reflections to inspire the need for the death penalty as a means to rid ourselves of unrestrained evil: “What is there to regret? I'm a committed Nazi, and if I had to be born a thousand times over, I would be a thousand times what I have been.” Klaus Barbie.
           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.

© May 11, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients a Lasting Gift

May 10, 2021 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Lupus Day

 

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not May 10, 2021
        CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues the new year with cases now over  159 million at 159,491,460 cases (158,858,116 yesterday), 19,043,700 of which are active, 140,447,760 closed with 137,133,510 recoveries (97.64% and 97.63% yesterday ,and 3,314,250 deaths (2.36% and 2.37 % yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentage with some plateaus, dips, and rises (have no idea why the comparatively large improvement in deaths and recoveries yesterday).
      CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 33 million at 33,500,575 (33,464,425 yesterday) with 6,414,292 active cases of which 8,890 (9,002) yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now s14till at .14% of active cases and now another blip down to decrease the number of serious or critical cases to increase the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 20,381), 27,086,283 closed, with 596,049 deaths (2.20% and 2.21% yesterday) and with 26,490,234 recoveries (97.80% and 97.79% yesterday). Our death rate percentage continues to slowly improve and after many months is now .16% lower than the world rate after the world’s spike in improvement.
        Standing: On a deaths per million population measurement on a steady climb to 1792 the U.S. ranks behind Hungary the new number 1 which has had a huge surge in deaths (2977), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2452), Belgium (2111), Italy (2037), Brazil (1975) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us, Peru 1921, and the UK (1871) which had passed us despite leading world in testing),  and Poland (1852)  and slightly better than Spain (1687), Mexico (1683), Portugal (1671), France (1631), Romania (1518), Argentina (1478),  Sweden (1396) that never closed its economy down like we did but has recently been experiencing a steady rise in  deaths,  Chile (1419), Switzerland (1230), and Bolivia (1120).
        Tests: We have now conducted 458,781,576 tests (now at 1,379,134/M) compared to number 2 now France at 1,215,923/M) as we are conducting more tests in number and on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 2,432,745/M.
        CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has moved up to 11^th on my list of deaths from the pandemic at 1683/M and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported:

                   Guatemala:  Activecases:     12,967     425Deaths/M
                   Honduras:     Activecases:   133,138     564Deaths/M
                   El Salvador:   Active cases:     2,305     331 Deaths/M   

        US Vaccinations: As of 5/10/2021 261.6 million doses and finally after days of dropping a second day of increases to 2.12 million per day in the last week sounds impressive but if the rate does not increase it will take us now increased to some 4 months to have 75% of the population vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity. In California 33,438,134 total doses have been given (79.6% of doses received slightly more than the U.S. average of 79.3%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has only moved up from 26^th to 25^th tied with Illinois out of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 35.5% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 34.8% has moved down from  24^th tied with Kansas to 26^th  among the 50 states.  A long way to go to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.      
         Non CV News: North Carolina has declared a state of emergency of the shutdown of Colonial Pipeline’s pipelines as the company announced it was temporarily restarting the flow of natural gas through Pipeline 4; the FBI has named the “DarkSide” as the ransomware hackers of Colonial Pipeline that is still struggling to get natural gas permanently flowing through  its pipelines by weekend (hope the FBI with or without help of our vaunted Big Tech Giants are pedal to the metal trying to arrest these felons); Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, a lackey stooge of the DNC, is defending the critical race theory of Project 1619 the left is trying to shove down our throats (a moment of sanity in Oklahoma as the governor there has banned the teaching of it in public schools and universities as has the state assembly in Tennessee);  the FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 for children; NASA Osiris REx probe after retrieving samples from the asteroid Bannu has now begun its journey back to Earth; NBC using the excuse of lack of diversity of the Hollywood Foreign Press Club that determines the Golden Globe Awards announced it is not going to broadcast the 2022 ceremonies because of concern over corruption and the lack of diversity (good way to get Woke credits but ignoring the reason for the basement low ratings of this year’s 6.3 million viewers is the relentless politicization of the ceremony by the leftist elite featured); the latest revelation that “yes Virginia” Biden has gone progressive not moderate is the news coming out that his new deputy director of policy and outreach Natalie Montelongo was tweeting that people must look for the nearest ICE facility and shut it down.
        Hard to believe but Biden is saying after the abysmal job report that Americans must start accepting jobs offered or lose their expanded unemployment compensation benefits (encouraging moment but given his behind the scenes progressive handlers don’t hold your breath) ; in a rare display of bipartisan unity Blues and Reds, save Rep. Omar who was typically on an anti-Israeli rant, were condemning Hamas for launching dozens of rockets at Jerusalem; it looks like until Iran has some of its patrol boats sunk instead of just warning shots, it will continue to play a dangerous game of chicken with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf; Where’s Waldo continues to avoid the border knowing she will fail and does not want to damage her changes for a 25^th Amendment move into the Oval Office.
        As the surge of illegals streaming across our border continues unabated, leave it to the political cartoonist to point out the idiocy of the left’s charge of systematic racism as the newest targets of that racism are trying their best to get into this country:                                                                                                               

        Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is back to show that through May 9, 2021,  gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 1146 persons shot of whom 200 have died.
         As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video musical link to “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, the fact that you rarely merit a reprehend and a quote from Mark Salmon on the burden on small business,  secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Mother’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 the pricing.              1. National Small Business Day—created by the Small Business Administration in 1993 to commemorate the contribution of small businesses (less than 20 employees) that create most of the new jobs in America and who have been through a very challenging year with the effects of the COVID-19 being a disaster.
         2. World Lupus Day—observed since 2010 to promote awareness and seek a cure for lupus, an auto-immune disease that affects some 5,000,000 people, a large majority of which are women.
       3.  1989 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1989 was “Like a Prayer” by Madonna on a run of 3 weeks in that position to join 31 other songs reaching number 1 and while 12 acts achieved their first number 1 status. Here is a video recording by Madonna of “Like a Prayer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ Madonna, the “Queen of Pop” at 62 is still one of the highest grossing female artists of all time and shows no signs of slowing down or cutting back her concerts and records.
        4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “reprehend” which means to rebuke which is something we are not doing enough of over the Biden created chaos at the border.
         5.  Dumb to Drop a False Id—bemoaning the birth on this day in 1903 of Otto Bradfisch who joined the SS and rose to command Einsatzkommando (EK) 8, who were responsible for killing thousands of Jews in the Soviet Union following its invasion by the Wehrmacht on June 21, 1941. At wars end Bradfisch with the Red Army closing in managed to steal the paybook of a German officer Carl Evers and fled to the West to be captured by the Americans, then turned over to the British and released in August of 1945 and he wisely continued to use the name Carl Evers until he started working for an insurance company and reverted to his real name which resulted in his arrest and sentenced to 13 years in prison from which he was released on October 16, 1965 after serving 4 years, 2 months and 26 days or about 1 hour for each of 37,000  Jews killed by his command to finally die at age 91.
         On this day in
          a. 1837 banks in New York City suspended the payment of specie and would no longer redeem commercial paper at face value which led to a 5 year recession and decline in wages and output and was known as the Panic of 1837.
          b. 1940 in a real “oops” moment the Luftwaffe mistakenly dropped 60 bombs on the German city of Freiburg which was 146 kilometers from the nearest French city of Nancy that it might have been targeting, killing 57 German citizens.
          c.  1962 Marvel Comics published the first issue of The Incredible Hulk.
          d. 1975 Sony introduced the Betamax videocassette recorder which would ultimately lose in the VCR wars to the VHS format.
       e. 2013 1 World Trade Center in NYC became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
         Reflections on burdens on small business: “The federal government needs to get off  the backs of small businesses and let the private sector grow and create jobs instead of harnessing it with onerous regulations and a repressive tax code.” Matt Salmon, former Red Representative from Arizona and right on with his observations.
          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.

© May 10, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients a Lasting Gift

May 9, 2021 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Mother's Day

 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not May 9, 2021

        CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues the new year with cases now nearing  159 million at 158,858,116 cases (158,286,150 yesterday), 19,181,337 of which are active, 139,676,779 closed with 136,372,738 recoveries (97.63% and 97.63% yesterday ,and 3,304,041 deaths (2.37% and 2.37 % yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentage with some plateaus, dips, and rises (have no idea why the comparatively large improvement in deaths and recoveries yesterday).
      CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 33 million at 33,464,415 (33,451,356 yesterday) with 6,450,749 active cases of which 9,002 (9,099) yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now still at .14% of active cases and now another blip down to decrease the number of serious or critical cases to increase the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 20,269), 27,013,666 closed, with 595,698 deaths (2.21% and 2.21% yesterday) and with 26,417,968 recoveries (97.79% and 97.79% yesterday). Our death rate percentage continues to slowly improve and after many months is now .16% lower than the world rate after the world’s spike in improvement.
       Standing: On a deaths per million population measurement on a steady climb to 1791 the U.S. ranks behind Hungary the new number 1 which has had a huge surge in deaths (2967), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2448), Belgium (2107), Italy (2034), Brazil (1971) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us, Peru 1913, and the UK (1871) which had passed us despite leading world in testing),  and Poland (1852)  and slightly better than Spain (1685), Mexico (1683), Portugal (1671), France (1627), Romania new entry (1514), Argentina (1472),  Sweden (1396) that never closed its economy down like we did but has recently been experiencing a steady rise in  deaths,  Chile (1414), Switzerland (1229), and Bolivia (1118).
        Tests: We have now conducted 457,525,524 tests (now at 1,375,380/M) compared to number 2 now France at 1,208,249/M) as we are conducting more tests in number and on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 2,392,919/M.
        CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has moved up to 11^th on my list of deaths from the pandemic at 1683/M and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported:

                   Guatemala:  Activecases:     13,724     425Deaths/M
                   Honduras:     Activecases:   132,289     560Deaths/M
                   El Salvador:   Active cases:     2,331     329 Deaths/M   

       US Vaccinations: As of 5/9/2021 259.7 million finally after days of dropping a slight rise to 2.02 million per day in the last week sounds impressive but if the rate does not increase it will take us now increased to some 4 months to have 75% of the population vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity. In California 33,109,680 total doses have been given (78.8% of doses received slightly more than the U.S. average of 78.7%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has not moved from 26^th  out of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 34.9% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 34.3% has moved down from 23^rd tied with  Oregon and Montana to 24^th tied with Kansas among the 50 states.  A long way to go to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
         Non CV News: Hell hath no fury that the Woke left trying to remake the culture and traditions of this great nation as their latest push on Mothers’ Day is to replace “mom” and “mother” with “birthing people”; Epstein may be dead whether murdered as some believe to prevent disclosure of the identities of the powerful on his Lolita Island or committed suicide but his legacy is still casting shadows as talk of Melinda Gates being upset with Bill’s association with him since 2014 has surfaced (like all divorces that start out with amicable intentions do not be surprised if the family law piranha smell blood and turn it into a bloodbath; Chuck Todd had Flip Flop Fauci on “Meet the Press” but his role as a “journalist” looks like he suppressed he asked not a single question about U.S. taxpayer funding of the Wuhan Lab by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases where he has been a director since 1984 (a good hint as to why Fauci never claimed the CV was released by the lab?); the Sport of Kings practiced at the Kentucky Derby may be the Sport of Drug Cheaters as Medina Spirit, the winner, may be disqualified for failing a drug test and his trainer Baffert has been suspended (Medina Spirit the 5^th horse trained by him to fail a drug test this year); the Chinese once again thumbed their nose at the world for what NASA fumes at as being irresponsible behavior for allowing its rocket to make an uncontrolled descent and break up with pieces hitting Earth, fortunately in the waters of the Indian Ocean near the Maldives and not injuring people or property; NPR funded by taxpayer money has admitted the obvious that Big Tech has the ability to influence our elections and Twitter has shut down Trump’s new platform.
         Cuomo’s idiocy is beyond belief or his above the law ego is off the charts as while 84% of New York nursing home residents are vaccinated, only 58% of their staff are (given the deadly nature of CV to the elderly in nursing homes, no one should be allowed to work there without having been vaccinated); as Where’s Waldo continues to avoid the border like the plague, the sheriff of Texas Jackson County is blasting the Biden Administration for diverting scarce Border Patrol and National Guard to pick up the illegals’ mounds of discarded filth and trash (they can treat their own countries like a trash heap but time to show some hygiene habits here); just when you thought DeBlasio had run out of idiotic things do, his Administration allowed a parade of pot smokers to parade celebrating the use of cannabis and banned a parade of veterans to commemorate the 102^nd Memorial Day Parade on Staten Island.; the Colonial Pipeline Shutdown due to a ransomware  attack by a criminal organization called the Darkside is now in its third day (these terrorists are a threat to our national security and deserve the death penalty on an expedited basis if caught and convicted).  
         Wonder if BLM will be getting into Maxine Waters’ face if Chauvin gets a new trial as a political cartoonist points out the consequences of her acts:                                                                                                                                                

           Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is back to show that through May 8, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 1138 persons shot of whom 200 have died.
         As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video musical link to “Wishing Well” by Terrence Trent D’Arby, the fact that you are not renitent to new products and ideas and a quote from Charles Colson on Watergate,  secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Mother’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 the pricing.
         1. Mother’s Day—the first Mother’s Day was celebrated in Boston in 1872 but the push to make it a national observance was started by Anna Marie Jarvis who held a private ceremony on the anniversary of her mother’s death in 1907 to honor her and mothers everywhere which blossomed into a national movement until President Wilson in 1914 designated the 2^nd Sunday in May which quickly became the commercial success in terms of gifts like flowers, perfumes,  candies, jewelry and brunches it is today.
         2. Mother’s at the Wall Day—honoring those mothers on Mother’s Day who have lost a child while serving in the military during our wars.
         3.  1988 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1988 was “Wishing Well” by Terrence Trent D’Arby on a run of 1 week in that position to join 29 other songs reaching number 1 and 16 other acts who achieved their first number 1 status. Here is a video recording by Terrence Trent D’Arby of “(Wishing Well”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIHsHYaig0 D’Arby a singer songwriter and performer since 1984 changed his name to Sananda Maitreya on October 4, 2001 and is still going strong at 59 today.
         4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “renitent” which means recalcitrant which as the world changes at light speed is not a trait for new ideas or products to have.            5.  Dipping to Death—celebrating the birth on this day in 1960 of San Diego MLB player Tony Gwynn who played for the Padres for 20 years, winning 8 National League Batting Average Titles and barely missed one season at .400 but sadly could not break free of dipping chewing tobacco and died of salivary gland cancer on June 16, 2014 at age 54.              On this day in
          a. 1941 the Royal Navy captured the German submarine U-110 before it could be scuttled and retrieved an Enigma machine which would later be used to break the German codes to the Kriegsmarine and Wehrmacht to the Ally’s great advantage in determining German war intentions.
          b. 1960 in a let the good times roll moment the FDA announced it would approve Searle’s Enovid as the first oral female contraceptive.
          c. 1961 FCC Chairman Newton Minnow blasted TV programming in his TV Wasteland Speech.
          d. 1974 the House Judiciary Committee opened formal hearings on the impeachment of President Nixon.
          e. 1980 5 masked heavily armed gunmen tried to rob a Security Pacific Bank in Norco, California which resulted in a massive shootout and car chase that destroyed 33 civilian and police cars that ended with 2 dead gunmen and 1 dead deputy and 3 arrested gunmen wounded and who were convicted and are now serving life sentences without possibility of parole and police forces up gunning their forces after being totally outgunned by the 5 gunmen in the Norco shootout.
          Reflections on Watergate:  “I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior. You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.” Charles Colson, one of the Watergate conspirators who plead to a 7 month prison term. Watching the left, it is clear they have not adopted Colson’s advice on means versus ends.
          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.

© May 9, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients a Lasting Gift

 

May 8, 2021 Ridley's Believe It or Not Victory In Europe Day

 Ridley’s Believe It Or Not May 8, 2021

        CV World Cases: The CV pandemic across the planet continues the new year with cases now over 158 million at 158,286,150 cases (157,445,828 yesterday), 19,285,478 of which are active, 139,000,672 closed with 135,705,102 recoveries (97.63% and 97.62% yesterday ,and 3,295,570 deaths (2.37% and 2.38 % yesterday) to continue the slow trend of increased cases with increased recovery percentages and decreased death percentage with some plateaus, dips, and rises (have no idea why the comparatively large improvement in deaths and recoveries yesterday).
       CV USA Cases: Total cases now over 33 million at 33,451,356 (33,411,491 yesterday) with 6,495,054 active cases of which 9,099 (9,162) yesterday and 8,599 on 3/25/2021) (now still at .14% of active cases and now another blip down to decrease the number of serious or critical cases to increase the reduction from the 29,271 peak on 12/31/2020 to 20,172),  26,956,302 closed, with 595,557 deaths (2.21% and 2.22% yesterday) and with 26,360,745 recoveries (97.79% and 97.78% yesterday). Our death rate percentage continues to slowly improve and after many months is now .16% lower than the world rate after the world’s spike in improvement and now .17% higher than Canada which has the socialized type of medicine Biden may well want to implement here but has approved 4 vaccines as opposed to our 3, one of which J&J is now no longer on hold.
        Standing: On a deaths per million population measurement on a steady climb to 1790 the U.S. ranks behind Hungary the new number 1 which has had a huge surge in deaths (2957), aping Hungary in terms of increase in deaths Bulgaria (2448), Belgium (2101), Italy (2032), Brazil (1970) which has been hit with a rapid rise in deaths and cases and passed us, Peru 1904, and the UK (1871) which had passed us despite leading world in testing),  and Poland (1848)  and slightly better than Spain (1685), Mexico (1681), Portugal (1670), France (1625), Romania new entry (1511), Argentina (1472),  Sweden (1396) that never closed its economy down like we did but has recently been experiencing a steady rise in  deaths,  Chile (1411), Switzerland (1229) and Bolivia (1116).
       Tests: We have now conducted 457,290,093 tests (now at 1,374,433/M) compared to number 2 now France at 1,201,439/M) as we are conducting more tests in number and on a per capital basis for all nations (other than those nations that contain small populations like Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, Malta, Singapore and UAE) other than the U.K. which remains as king of the mountain with respect to tests at 2,392,953/M.
        CV Open Gate: Lost in the pronouncements by Biden and his lackeys that there is no crisis of illegals surging across the border is that fact that COVID-19 is alive and well and spreading in the Northern Triangle and Mexico which has moved up to 11^th on my list of deaths from the pandemic at 1681/M and the 3 countries in the Northern Triangle in terms of active cases and deaths per million are as follows even though the data may be suspect as underreported:

                   Guatemala:  Activecases:     14,429     423Deaths/M
                   Honduras:     Activecases:   131,585     556Deaths/M
                   El Salvador:   Active cases:     2,331     329 Deaths/M   

       US Vaccinations: As of 5/8/2021 257.3 million falling again to 1.98 million per day in the last week sounds impressive but if the rate does not increase it will take us now increased to some 4 months to have 75% of the population vaccinated which many believe is necessary to develop herd immunity. In California 32,759,885 total doses have been given (78.0% of doses received slightly more than the U.S. average of 78.0%), but even with the pressure of a recall to be scheduled this fall which hopefully end Newsom’s term, California has finally moved up from 30^th to 26^th  out of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of doses administered as a percentage of doses delivered to the states and at 34.3% of its population fully vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 33.9% has moved up from 28^th to 23^rd  tied with  Oregon and Montana among the 50 states.  A long way to go to get herd immunity in terms of getting vaccines received into arms and the percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to other states which means a great reason to recall this inept and hypocritical governor.
       Non CV News: In what if the cyberattack had happened in the winter would be chilling news. The 5500 miles of the Colonial Pipeline bring fuel from refineries in the Gulf Coast to the Eastern Seaboard has been shut down temporarily due to a cyberattack (wonder what our weak president is doing to discover the culprits and retaliate); the 100 foot long Chinese rocket used to launch its space station core is scheduled to reenter the atmosphere today in an uncontrolled descent but we still do not know where pieces will land (typical of the Chinese disregard for the rest of the world as most rockets launching objects into Earth orbits make controlled reentry back to Earth to land in the oceans but not this one); as shootings in NYC continue to soar, a 4 year old and 2 women were shot in Times Square with police looking for this person of interest caught on cameras:                                                         

CV cases in the U.S. may be dropping but colleges and universities are ramping up anti-CV restrictions and imposing sanctions on those students who are not following them; on the vaccine front there is growing concern that large numbers of the population will choose not to get vaccinated which means we may never achieve herd immunity and be exposed to continuing infections by mutations of the virus; in addition to the border crisis and unaccompanied minors on our southern border California is reeling under a growing homelessness crisis has residents up in arms over shootings, fires, drugs and filth in homeless encampment that defies our efforts to address it as a photo of a section of Venice Beach shows:                                                       

a federal judge has ordered L.A. to within 180 days find housing for all homeless on Skid Row as Garcetti has pledged $1 billion to address the problem and will be placing such funds in escrow shortly; in bad news for people with living mothers, florists have been increasing prices as the nation is suffering a shortage of flowers often given on Mothers’ Day; it appears that some of the leftist cast on SNL are having a woke fit protesting the appearance of Elon Musk as a host on SNL this Saturday (just another example of humor and comedy evaporating and being replaced by politicization;  the Biden Administration has sent DHS head Mayorkas to the border while Where’s Waldo remains MIA touting the need to send dollars we need here in the U.S. to the Northern Triangle and while it plays the shell game of moving minors from crammed Border Patrol facilities to holding centers across the nation as Mayorkas indicates what border state residents know that hundreds of unaccompanied minors are crossing daily; Teddy Roosevelt must be rolling in his grave as a political cartoonist spoofs his ”speak softly but carry a big stick” on Biden:                                                          

        Chicago Gun Violence: Hey Jackass.com is back to show that through May 7, 2021, gun violence involving mostly persons of color shooting mostly persons of color in Chicago is alive and well with 1124 persons shot of whom 196 have died.
        As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a video musical link to “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew, a rencounter and a poem from Denise Newman on VE-Day,  secure in the knowledge that if you want to send a gift for any memorable events like Mother’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 the pricing.
       1. Victory in Europe Day—celebrating the unconditional surrender by Germany to Allied forces in a surrender document signed by Field Marshal William Keitel, who would later be hanged as a war criminal, at Karlhorst, Berlin at 21:20 local time calling on all German forces to cease all hostilities at 23:01 Central European time (the surrender would be replicated the next day in Moscow).
      2. World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day—first celebrated as International Red Cross Day on this day in 1948, the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Henri Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross and the first winner of the Nobel Peace and then changed to its present designation in 1984.
      3.  1987 Number 1 Song USA—the number 1 song in 1987 was “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew on a run of 2 weeks in that position to join 28 other songs reaching number 1 and 15 other acts who achieved their first number 1 status. Here is a video recording by Cutting Crew of “(I Just) Died in Your Arms”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJky8YuTr4Palmer Cutting Crew was an English band that was form by Nick Van Eede and Kevin MacMichaels that recorded and performed until 1993 when MacMichaels died from lung cancer and later reformed in 2005 and is still performing today.
      4.  Word of the Day—the word of the day is “rencounter” which means a chance meeting which often describes how married couples have met their mate.
       5.  Back to L.A. to Die—celebrating the birth on this day in 1943 of Danny    Rae Whitten, a musician and songwriter best known for his time with Neil Young’s backup band Crazy Horse and his song “ I Don’t Want to Talk About It” which was a big Rod Stewart hit but sadly who used heroin to ameliorate the pain of rheumatoid arthritis and became addicted, was fired from Crazy Horse and later given a chance to rejoin but heroin had severely lessened his skills so Neil Young fired him on November 18, 1972, giving him $50 and a plane ticket back to L.A. where he went to die of an overdose that night at age 29.             On this day in
        a. 1902 Mont Pelée in Martinique erupted killing some 30,000 inhabitants and leaving very few survivors on the  island.
         b. 1946 Estonian schoolgirls  Aili Jõgi and  Ageeda Paavel blew up blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn which Estonia was finally able to relocate due to its Soviet repression connotations in 2007.
        c. 1972 in a what took us so long moment, President Nixon confirmed the intent of planting mines in the harbors of North Vietnam to prevent the delivery of weapons to North Vietnam.
          d. 1980 the World Health Organization confirmed the eradication of smallpox.                      e. 2019 17 year old patient Isabelle Holdaway became the first patient to be treated with a genetically altered phage therapy treat a drug-resistant infection.
          Reflection on V-E Day from appropriately the eyes of a poet  

          It's over, it's finished, the war has now been won,
           Thank God it's finally ended; finished; over; done!
           we'll no longer hear the sirens as the bombs come falling down, 
           no longer hear the aircraft as they fly above the town,
           no longer see the searchlights lighting up the darkened sky,
           or see the burning buildings of the terraces nearby.
           We can hear the people cheering as the bells peal out the news,
           and we gather, dancing in the road, dispelling wartime blues.
           It's victory in Europe - oh such a lovely sound,
           no bombs, no incendiary fires, no more sleeping underground!
           The roads are filled with happy people, celebrating victory, 
           the lights are on in every town, such a brilliant sight to see,
           there's bonfires and fireworks, a colourful display, 
           we'll sing and dance and drink with cheer until night turns to day. 
           We'll not forget the sacrifices made by others in our name, 
          they gave their lives so we might live in freedom's sweet domain.
          Their fighting now is ended, rejoice in victory,
          England and her allies will remain forever free.”
          Patricia Denise Newman, noted American poet and translator living in San                        Francisco

          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.

© May 8, 2021 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire, Beyond Compare
A Unique Gift, All Recipients a Lasting Gift