Saturday, May 31, 2014

Rhymes On The Newworthy Times Alan Barron Suspended For Teaching About Jim Crow/Blackface Musicals uy

 Jim Crow and Blackface in Munroe Mean Suspension
The PC wave that engulfs us in all aspects of our lives
Is growing stronger making rational discussion of issues hard to survive
At Munroe Middle School a teacher about as non racist as one could be
Is teaching 8th grade history about the effects of Jim Crow and is “lynched” from the PC tree.
So a teacher, Alan Barron, shows a video about white singers with faces black
Here's a news flash, Al Jolson performing in blackface is a historical fact
Al Jolson, a Lithuanian Jew, was one of the first to discrimination on Broadway fight
One of the best teachers about to retire now on paid leave, a victim of the "racist" PC bite
You cannot avoid the lessons of history if history somehow must be changed to be PC correct
Monroe Middle School near Detroit needs to chill out and reflect
You cannot the cause of nondiscrimination advance
If history must be ignored or coated in PC rants
If this teacher Barron had taught a class about Shakespeare
Showing that on stage even for Juliet only men could appear
Would he be suspended to a NOW protest prevented?
The PC assault on history in Monroe needs to be relented!
© May 31, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Ridley's Believe It Or Not May 31 History World No Tobacco Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not—May 31, 2014:  Slow day for holidays again but hope you  will enjoy these holidays, along with a fresh baked macaroon, found for today along with the factoids and quote.
            1. World No Tobacco Day—celebrating the efforts to end the use of one of most lethal killing substances known to humanity-killing an estimated 5,000,000 people worldwide. Lung cancer caused by smoking is not a very pleasant way to die.
            2. National Save Your Hearing Day—promoting awareness of the need to prevent hearing loss and the means, like ear plugs, to prevent. Hearing is a gift too precious to lose, even if, in the case of listening to politicians, most of which is heard is not worth listening to.
            3. Speak In Complete Sentences Day—celebrating the often lost art of speaking in complete sentences, especially to those who have saved their hearing and can then understand and appreciate what you are saying.
            4. National Macaroon Day---celebrating a tasty flour less cookie usually made with nuts and egg white, even more so if you observed National Fasting Day yesterday.
On this day in:
            a. 1790 to the joy of present and future writers, including poets like me, Congress passed the first copyright act in the United States.  
            b. 1977 moving the United States toward energy independence, the Trans Alaska Pipeline was completed, a date which should spur the approval of the Keystone Pipeline XL now held hostage by President Obama for years and years.
            c. 2005  Vanity Fair  revealed that FBI agent Mark Felt was the “Deep Throat” for Woodward and Bernstein in their reporting on the Watergate Scandal which lead to Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
Looking for a permanent and effective way to stop smoking? “One thousand Americans each day quit smoking—by dying Anon Sadly, how true it is.
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest.
© May 31, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Friday, May 30, 2014

Hard Choices Benghazi Like Jihad Will Not Die

The Benghazi Chapter in Hard Choices by Politico has been released
Not sure whether the contents are to spur sales or to make the attacks on her cease
But with all due respect
Hillary's claims on Benghazi we should reject
Especially when made by a "potential" candidate who to the parents of those dead
Flat out lied, vowing that the US would get the video maker instead
The simple way to avoid a political slug-fest
Is for her and this administration’s efforts to block the truth arrest
If we do not learn what we did wrong in our failure to protect
Our embassies and consulates are sitting ducks for another attack by another Islamic sect
Bin Laden may have be the poster child for Al Qaeda’s terror run wild
But killing him did not kill the ideology and terror by humanity reviled
Look around the world to see Islamic Jihadists multiplying faster than deadly staph
To assume that the Jihadist ideology is now weak or dead should make us laugh
Like Pearl Harbor, Korea, or 911, we were caught with our proverbial pants down
But at least there our leadership did not play the role of the deceiving clowns
Watching our President and Hillary in foreign policy resets and red lines is an exercise in frustration beyond belief
As a child of the 60’s who marched to protest the Vietnam War that caused us such grief
Hillary hopefully remembers why the U.S. despite the cost in lives could not just cut and run
If she becomes our Commander in Chief and does not, our problems will really just have begun
I will not buy the book but to read to the library go
Will be interesting to see how she masks or justifies her attempts to snow
But one thing is certain— you can deceive and lie to your country’s enemies and foes
But to your own citizens, that is not a place where a potential president should ever go. 
© May 30, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Rhymes on the Newsworthy Times--Shenseki and Carney Resign Holder Should Be Next

Shenseki and Carney Resign--Holder Should Be Next
An honorable man, a patriot, a wounded vet, a general has resigned
Finally after 6 years a glimpse of accountability has entered Obama's mind
Another, a press secretary who seemed as the scandal brewed up,
Resigned as the truth his misstatements and dodging continued to interrupt
The VA scandal was growing each day
Cooking the books while care delayed
A deputy VA secretary on an interim basis has been named
From Obama's perspective problem solved, issue tamed
But the systemic failures in the VA system still remain
Worse, the vast bureaucracy overseeing care still reigns
As interim secretary we wish Sloan Gibson well
As he steps into the bookends of a failed design and bureaucratic hell
A former banker and West Point grad one can only hope
He specialized in healthcare banking as he tries to cope
If heads are going to roll other than being put on paid administrative leave
While vets die and wait for care while they and families grieve
Handcuffed by Reid and Sanders failure to allow into the Senate a three page bill
Making it easier for the VA to fire, which was passed by huge Red and Blue votes on the Hill
A turnaround management team with healthcare experience needs to be immediately involved
Failing that, it may be very difficult for these core systemic problems to be resolved
Waiting for a completed IG report or ad hoc committee reports with recommendations the problems will not fix
At its core of the single server of care, the VA is on life support; it is very sick
If the VA cannot provide care in a timely period of time
Vouchers need to be issued for private care to reduce the number waiting in line.
While the VA under a promoted deputy perhaps flounders in its typical bureaucratic way
When will the most political AG weigh into these potential criminal acts without delay?
Or will this be another example of Holder protecting Obama's back
Especially as the targets of investigation seeing the FBI testify the Administration knew these sordid facts.
But there is an old saying that some believe followed will keep one from harm
In life’s efforts like marriage and preservation of reputation, the third time is the charm
So, Eric Holder, there is an over the line team needing a member to be complete
Time for you to resign and on the beach, bat in hand Shinseki and Carney to meet
© May 30, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Ridley's Believe It Or Not-May 30 History Mint Julep Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not—May 30, 2014:  Slow day for holidays but hope you and will enjoy these holidays, found for today along with the factoids and quote.
            1. Mint Julep Daywhy this day is not celebrated on the running of the Kentucky Derby won this year by California Chrome is beyond me; but take advantage of the confusion to enjoy this delicious mint drink.
            2. What’s Up Doc Day—not a question from Congress to a V.A. doctor over the delay in health care for vets but celebrating the birthday of one of the great voice actors of his time, Mel Blanc on this day in 1908.
            3. My Bucket Has a Hole in It Day—here is a holiday to inspire greater savings for retirement since with a hole in your bucket, you will not be able to do all the things on your bucket list.
            4. National Fasting Day---since there are no food holidays today, today is a good day to in protest make up your own or fast.
On this day in:
            a. 1911 Roy Harroun in his Marmon Wasp won the first Indy 500.
            b. 1922 the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated.
            c. 1972 in an act of terror and cowardice, the Japanese Red Army carried out a massacre at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, killing 24 civilians and wounding 78 others.
 If you think the war on terror is over, you do not have a sense for the ideology and hatred of radical Islam:  "This agreement I am not considering it more than the agreement which had been signed between our prophet Muhammed and Koraish." Yasser Arafat on his signing of the Oslo Accords n.b.: Two years later forces under Muhammed attacked the Koraish tribe and destroyed it.
 Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest.
© May 30, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com  Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Rhymes on the Newsworthy Times-Fortress Wantagh High Skool [sic] Lockers Sealed



 Fortress Wantagh High School
“Blowing The Skool [sic] up today no joke I’ve had it.”
It looks like grammar and spelling at Wantagh High School has quit
Sadly our schools from elementary to universities have become potential killing zones
A gun culture layered over a collapse of mental health becoming way too violence prone
Sealing lockers, banning purses, banning backpacks, books in plastic bags
While lurking within or without guns with high capacity mags
If a troubled teen somehow does not have access to a gun
A knife will kill almost as quickly if one cannot away from the threat quickly run
While some pounce on the excuse of white privilege to violence explain
Others quickly condemn the culture of music and film violence distorting reality in a teen's brain.
There was a time almost eons ago when during recess running free
You would hear "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"
But words today can feelings definitely hurt 
Planting the revenge seed that may sprout in violence gone berserk 
Or not heard or ignored cries for help are omens of violence to waiting to explode  
Victims of the social mores against killing and violence continuing to erode 
We cannot put an armed deputy with bomb sniffing dogs in every school
Nor can we keep all kids at home isolated to learn online education's tools
An easy answer might be to inculcate in the youth the need for the Golden Rule
Teens shorn of childhood innocence would laugh at us as fools
But we can our mental health system try to restore
To learn the signs of mental illness and no longer ignore
© My 29, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Rhymes on Newsworthy Times Pilot Hill with Bags in Stomach Jailed



12 O’clock High
 Hill's arrest gives a new meaning to the phrase 12 O' Clock High
Stomach loaded with cocaine bags 30,000 feet into the sky
At least he was not in the cockpit but in uniform en route from Columbia to U.S.
One bag bursts and surprise he is under great medical stress
Pilots are not paid even at regional carriers only the minimum wage
Why he would risk death of bursting bags is hard to gauge?
I would liked to have known the carrier's name
If this pilot Hill had a drug problem he could not tame
His carrier's drug testing program needs an overhaul
How high on cocaine does a pilot need to be before he loses control and plane stalls?
This could be a carrier one needs to not fly
If any risk any of the flight crew might be during the flight high.
Another example of how the war on drugs is a war in which we may fail
 Risking a career, life for $4,000 of cocaine and facing felonies and 500 grand bail
 
© May 29, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Rhymes on the Newsworthy Time 82 Years of Shame for Vets



Bonus Army Shame Deju Vu after 82 Years of Shame
 Ironic that the scandal over the VA explodes into high gear on this day
Outrage over deaths, cooking the books, negligence and long delays
Sadly, looking out for our Vets are empty promises of shallow patriotic Congressional display
The Commander in Chief has on this yet another scandal been MIA
A good speech from a teleprompter is not a way to illness cure
How could he for years be so clueless on the agonies the Vets have had to endure?
Replacing Shinseki needs to immediately occur
But finding a health care super star to replace him will be merely a sinecure
As long as the VA is for care for a Vet the only place
The system will be always in disgrace
Any Vet should be able to seek care in the private sector if the VA cannot timely provide
Then and only then do we have a chance for this scandal to be solved and subside
It would also help if for the first time our AG is not a lackey to protect Obama's back
Those administrators guilty should be tried, put in jail and immediately sacked
Why there is irony on this day one might ask?
That waves of disclosure the VA is failing its most basic tasks
On this day in 1932, 17,000 WWI Vets began the Bonus Army march on D.C.
Out of the trenches of the Great Depression to make to Congress a desperate plea
Pay the bonuses enacted in 1924 as opposed to waiting till 1945
Out of work, no safety net, money needed to survive
After two months of camping on D.C. lawns, a "grateful" nation chose how to respond
Fixed bayonets, a Patton led cavalry charge Vets killed, wounded and their camp razed to the grounds
Hoover like McCain in 2008 would have had to walk on water to avoid the Great Depression's out of office fate
But the treatment of the Bonus Army certainly helped to elect FDR as President of the United States
Obama cannot run but a simple three page bill to enable the VA to fire is blocked by two top Senate Blues
One more reason for all voters to retire Reid by all Blue candidates to eschew
© May 29, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Ridley's Believe It Or Not May 29 History National Coq Au Vin Day



Ridley's Believe It Or Not—May 29, 2014:  Slow day for holidays but hope you will enjoy these holidays, or celebrate in a culinary fashion, found for today along with the factoids and quote.
            1. International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers—honoring the men and women of United Nations peacekeepers wearing the blue helmet who have served to keep the peace in global conflicts and if our President reduces military adventurism, hopefully there will be a lot more to fill the vacuum created.
            2. End of the Middle Ages Day--celebrating the May 29, 1453 a date considered by most historians to be the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.
            3. Learn More About Composting Day—here is an enriching holiday if you are a plant.
            4. National Coq Au Vin Day---definitely a favorite French dish and a good way to make chicken interesting from a culinary perspective, if you don’t drink most of the wine before starting the meal..
 On this day in:
            a. 1932 World War I Veterans began to assemble in Washington, D.C. in the Bonus Army to request cash bonuses promised to them to be paid in 1945 to be paid immediately; troops were called in to disburse and four Veterans were killed—not a stellar moment in the treatment of our Veterans.
            b. 1942 Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra recorded Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the best-selling Christmas single in history.
            c. 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that disabled golfer Casey Martin could use a cart in PGA tournaments.
Why this nation needs to lead as opposed to abstaining or leading from behind: "The fundamental cause of one failure after another of the UN has been the unwillingness of the United States to take the lead in the UN, make tough decisions and provide the resources for success. The result is an imperate institution where the usefulness to the United States has been jeopardized largely by the United States.  Ambassador Charles Hill, former Special Assistant to former UN Security General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest.
©May 29, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet