June 11, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not King Kamehameha Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 11, 2016 Finally only 223 more days to endure President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term which HRC wants to extend another four years and will be helped by Obama who will be leaving his pen in Washington and moving to the campaign trail to try to deceive the American public on the absolute worst economic recovery in our history under his failed policies. On the political theater front new revelations that despite her consistent lies that nothing on her server contained material that was marked classified (not the test but for HRC makes a good sound bite not the case); HRC and Trump already dueling; fortunately the nation had some relief from the campaign nonsense as Muhammad Ali was eulogized yesterday in a very moving ceremony and the Gates Foundation announced it was joining in the fight against the Zika virus.

As always I trust your Saturday is off to a great start with your weekend plans set and that you will enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to the Beatles, factoids of interest, a relevant quote from Theodore H. White,  while  looking forward to enjoying a large slice of German chocolate cake (killer recipe below), blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that, if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like FATHERS’ DAY, GRADUATIONS, birthdays, weddings, or  anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem  at a great price  tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.

1. Kamehameha Day—celebrating in Hawaii the king who united the Hawaiian Islands into one nation.        

2. Cousteau Day—celebrating the accomplishments of Jacques Cousteau to marine biology and the preservation of the ocean environment on his birthday on this day in 1910.         

3. 1970 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1970 on a run of two weeks in that position “The Long and Winding Road” by the Beatles.  Here’s a link to the Beatles performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIHEuYfDypg

4. National German Chocolate Cake Day—celebrating a layered chocolate cake with pecan and coconut filing and covered in a chocolate frosting with coconuts; the cake is so named not because it originated in Germany but rather because it uses German chocolate, a milder form of chocolate invented by Sam German, an Englishman, in 1852 (how is that for a Trivial Pursuit nugget?). Here is a link to a delicious looking recipe for those who are culinary challenged when it comes to cooking: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cookies/cakes/german-chocolate-cake-recipe.asp

5. What Goes Around Comes Around—bemoaning the birthday on this day in 1905 of Richard Loeb, a child prodigy who entered the University of Chicago at the age of 14 but along with Nathan Leopold became infamous for murdering Loeb’s 14 year old in Bobby Franks. The pair were caught in a week, tried and convicted in a sensational trial with Clarence Darrow as their counsel and sentenced to life in prison which for Loeb proved to be a short one as another inmate killed him.

On this day in

a. 1919 Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown.

b. 1920 Republican party leaders after nine ballots at the Republican National Convention  in Chicago adjourned to the Blackstone  Hotel to select a candidate who was Warren G. Harding, prompting the Associated Press to coin the phrase “smoke-filled room.”

c. 1935 to the joy of music lovers, Edwin Armstrong demonstrated FM radio at Alpine, New Jersey.

d. 1963 a defiant governor of Alabama, George Wallace, stood in the door at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama to block the registration of two African-American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood. Later in the day accompanied by federalized Alabama National Guard soldiers they were able to register.

e. 1998 Compaq acquired Digital Equipment  Corporation for $8 billion which was dwarfed when Hewlett Packard acquired Compaq  in a deal valued at $25 billion.  

Reflections on the use of “smoke-filled rooms” as a means of selecting candidates:

“The reality of a ‘smoke-filled room’ in the political process is now as dead as Prohibition.” Theodore H. White, author of The Making of a President 1960 If Hillary had lost California given the number of superdelegates White’s observation would have been very wrong.

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

© June 11, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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