Ridley's Believe It Or Not April 2 History World Autism Awareness Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—April 2, 2015 Trust your Thursday is proving to be a great one and you dodged any pranks on April Fools’ Day and you are preparing to cheer for Stanford in the in the finals of the NIT against Miami tonight. As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances albeit somewhat meager today, factoids of interest, music video of Santana, and a relevant quote by Paul Collins, reliving your childhood by enjoying a peanut butter and  jelly sandwich, blessed  with a positive attitude even though you know you will have to wade through tons of spam in your inbox, and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.
       1. International Children’s Books Day—celebrating since 2000 the unbeatable joy of reading to a small child and then watching him or her picking up a book to read.
       2. World Autism Awareness Day—an observance promulgated by the UN General Assembly and observed since April 2, 2008. If you see someone wearing blue today, it may not be because they are a Duke fan rooting for them in the NCAA finals or a rabid democrat but rather because they are observing World Autism Awareness Day. 
      3.  National Ferret Day—celebrate a very intelligent pet legal to own in 48 states but not California by going to a web site to promote efforts to put on the ballot a referendum to ferret out the problem and make it easier to own these adorable pets: http://igg.me/at/CLIFF/x/292522
      4. 2000 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 2000, as part of a long 10 week run, Maria Maria by Santana, a Latin rock band formed in San Francisco which has sold more than 90 million records. Here is a video link to Santana performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPLV7lGbmT4
      5. National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day—celebrating a kid’s favorite sandwich but more likely that not on Michelle Obama’s hit list.
      6.  Can We All Get Along Day—observing the birthday in 1965 of Rodney King, whose brutal beating by the LAPD following a traffic stop which was caught on video spawned the 1992 LA riots after the officers charged were acquitted.
On this day in
     a. 1900 the U.S. Congress passed the Foraker Act, granting limited self rule to Puerto Rico.
     b. 1917 Woodrow Wilson who ran on a campaign of keeping the U.S. out of World War I asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany due to its sinking by submarines or U.S. ships in the Atlantic and the interception of the Zimmerman telegram enlisting Mexican support for attacking the U.S.
     c. 1972 Lexis Nexus the computerized legal search service was launched which made the search for legal precedence much easier but did little to lower legal fees incurred.                                                               
     d. 1982 Argentina invaded the Falklands, British possessions some 7,000 miles from Great Britain; its troops were soundly defeated in 74 days.
     e. 1976 George Wallace, governor of Alabama, infamous for his attempts to block integration of public schools in Alabama announced that he would not seek a fifth term as governor, probably due to the fact that he had been paralyzed in a 1972 assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer while running for president.

Reflections on Autism:  “Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique.” Paul Collins, author of Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism and the parent of an autistic child      Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 155 growing followers and please 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. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times © April 2, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare Rhymes for the Memorable Times The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift