June 20, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Refugee Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 20, 2016. Unfortunately still 234 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; in a refreshing rebuke to Obama’s continuing delusion, over 50 senior Department of State officials signed and leaked a letter castigating Obama for his lack of military action against Assad whose brutal repression is the source of the refugee crisis swamping Europe; Apple probably still miffed at Trump’s call to boycott Apple after its refusal to assist FBI in unlocking the jihadists’ iPhone in a great display of patriotism announced it would not provide any technical support at the Republican Convention; HRC is dominating the ad wars as more and more Reds are becoming concerned that Trump’s campaign is stalled; Sanders is still in the race and costing taxpayers $38,000 a day for his Secret Service protection; and Trump made the observation that if a few people would have been packing at the Pulse, the fanatic might have been gunned down before killing 49 innocents—guns and alcohol at a bar—how serious is this candidate? Maybe the new wave; instead of designated drivers who drink soft drinks, designated shooters who do the same.   

On the nonpolitical front Cleveland came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors last night to win the NBA Championship; heat wave in the triple digits is devastating the Southwest and West with 4 deaths reported. Stay hydrated and in the shade today; Britain nears a historic vote on whether to exit from the EU.

On a light note, as always, I hope  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances,  music links to Lipps INC and the Beach Boys, factoids of interest, a  relevant quote from Richard Engel, while looking forward to enjoying a vanilla milkshake, 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. Summer Solstice—celebrating the solar beginning of summer, that great day in which we in the Northern Hemisphere experience the longest day in terms of sunlight.

2. World Refugee Day—created by the U.N. General Assembly on December 4, 2000 and observed on this day starting in 2001 to create awareness over the plight of refugees; as a result of Assad and ISIS and to some extent the feckless policies of this administration,  the world is facing an unprecedented flood of refugees the magnitude of which has not been seen since World War II and with ISIS vowing to infiltrate that flood facing even more jihadist attacks in Europe and North America.                     

3. 1980 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1980 on a run of four weeks in that position “Funky Town” by Lipps INC.  Here is a link to Lipps INC performing “Funky Town.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVO6tznEmk  Listening to it makes one want to put on the roller blades and go disco dancing.

4. National Vanilla Milkshake Day—celebrating the classic milkshake to cool down with on a hot summer day.    

5. Surf’s Up On Summer Solstice—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1942 of Brian Wilson, the iconic songwriter and singer for the Beach Boys the rock and roll band of the 60’s and 70’s that epitomized the surfing youth culture of California. Wilson successfully fought major addiction and depression problems and is still performing today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oRb9-mypxg to listen to one of my favorites “California Girls.”

On this day in:

a. 1756 146 British prisoners were placed overnight in the Black Hole of Calcutta, a jail designed to hold three men,  at Fort William; only 23 survived the nighttime ordeal.

b. 1877 Alexander Graham Bell installed the world’s first commercial telephone system in Hamilton, Ontario.    

c. 1963 in an attempt to defuse the prospects of accidental nuclear war, the “red telephone” link was established between Washington, D.C. and Moscow.  

d. 1972 an !8 ½ minute gap in the tape recording of conversations between Nixon and his advisers over the Watergate scandal was revealed. The gap accelerated the calls for his impeachment; today we have with respect to HRC a 30,000 plus gap on her private email server but sadly as of yet the FBI is still investigating and has not yet made a recommendation to have this potential felon indicted.  

e. 1975 the movie Jaws was released to become the highest grossing film at that time ($260,000,000 domestic and $470,700,000 worldwide—not bad for a movie that cost $12,000,000 to make) and ushered in the beginning of the “summer blockbuster” trend for movies.   

Reflections on the refugee problem and jihadist terrorism: “For years, Lebanese have known that Palestinian camps like Nahr al-Barid and Ain al-Helwe - hopeless slums crowded with generations of disenfranchised Palestinian refugees who can't go home because of Israel, and can't work because of Lebanese laws - are awash with gunmen, criminals and, since the war in Iraq, al-Qaida inspired jihadists.” Richard Engel, award winning journalist for NBC News who has covered the Middle East extensively. What makes the refugee problem so difficult to address in the Middle East is Russia’s support of Assad and other than  Jordan, none of the Arab countries are willing to admit refugees and integrate them into their societies.
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© June 20, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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