June 19, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Fathers' Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 19, 2016. Unfortunately still 235 days to go in President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term as he appears more petulant every day as his complete lack of any strategy against radical Islam and his delusional failure to identify it as a major problem to our way of life continues to pile up bodies; five people were burnt to death by a fire in L.A. set by an Illegal alien from Honduras who like so many illegals under this open door no border administration was not deported; the new attack dog for the Blues Elizabeth Warren, ignoring the most prominent thin skin of all time Barack Obama, attacked Trump as a thin skinned bully; Sanders is still in the race to the discomfort of Hillary who has orchestrated the departure of the most rabid ideologue Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the head of the DNC; Obama on vacation while with Air Force I and his entourage is probably creating the largest carbon footprint known to any vacationer took a breather to sound another warning about climate change.  

On the nonpolitical front California is still beset by raging wildfires in the Santa Barbara area that have grown to over 7,000 acres with only 45% containment; Russian track and field team is thoroughly pissed about being caught doping and barred from the Olympics in Rio this summer; Belgium remains on high terrorist alert after raids of suspect jihadists and closed its central train station in Brussels.

On a light note, as always, I hope  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Donna Summer, factoids of interest, a  relevant quote from Naveen Jain, while looking forward to enjoying your favorite martini, blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events 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. World Sickle Cell Day—creating awareness and calling for research dollars for a genetic blood disorder that affects millions and kills almost 200,000 yearly.  African Americans are particularly at risk.

2. World Sauntering Day—created by W.T. Rabe in 1979 on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel’s 600 foot long porch in protest to the growing popularity of jogging. Slow down and saunter to smell the roses as opposed to jogging by under a full head of steam and missing the experience.                    

3. 1979 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1979 on a run of three weeks in that position “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer. Here is a link to Donna Summer performing “Hot Stuff.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDkCn1iEIac  Sadly the Queen of Disco died way too early of lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 63.

4. National Dry Martini Day—celebrating the classic cocktail whether shaken or stirred.   

5. Pen Is Mightier Than A Fatwa—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1947 of British Indian author Salman Rushdie who wrote the book Satanic Verses and for many years lived under a fatwa threat of death issued by Ayatollah Khomeini. In a rare case of regaining tolerance Iran announced after 9 years that it had withdrawn its support for a fatwa.

On this day in:

a. 1862 the U.S. Congress abolished slavery in all U.S. territories, overturning one of SCOTUS’ worst decisions, Dredd v. Scott.

b. 1865 two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas learned of their freedom; the day is celebrated in Texas and 41 other states as Juneteenth.    

c. 1910 the first Fathers’ Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington thanks to the efforts of Sonora Dodd; however the holiday languished and did not take of until Ms. Dodd returned to Spokane in the 30’s to promote the holiday with some success with help from manufacturers of products typically given to fathers on this day; the holiday was resisted by many and not until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation naming the third Sunday in June as Fathers’ Day did the holiday firmly establish itself with the retailing success it has become today.

d. 1949 the first NASCAR race was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3/4 mile dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina.

e. 1978 the holder of the Guiness Book of World Records for the most widely syndicated comic strip, Garfield made its debut. 

Reflections on fatherhood on this Fathers’ Day: “Being a father has been, without a doubt, my greatest source of achievement, pride and inspiration. Fatherhood has taught me about unconditional love, reinforced the importance of giving back and taught me how to be a better person. Naveen Jain, noted internet entrepreneur who founded InfoSpace which before its crash when the dot.com bubble broke was one of the largest internet companies. Like all entrepreneurs he never let business failure stop and he is now running Moon Express, a company seeking to mine minerals on the moon and in outer space.   
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© June 19, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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