Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Tiger By the Opioid Tail

Poor Tiger’s mug shot for a DUI makes him look like the poster child
Of the prescribed opioid epidemic creating havoc and running wild
With numerous surgeries on his back
We can only cringe when pain rears its head and attacks
For a Tiger now hobbled with pain a lesson to learn on a DUI offense
Asleep at the wheel from opioid pain killers is not in any state a DUI defense
Passed out in the car with no blood alcohol is not a get out of jail free pass
Thank God so close to home he killed or wounded no one as a complete jackass
Tiger you used to be a hero to all,  grab the mike
Take your dose but if you drive, the results you may not like
Become a spokesman for the dangers of these ever stronger killers of pain
Take them if you must, but from driving then refrain
Doctors are far too ready to prescribe drugs in the excess
To the pain no one can endure they will try to suppress
But opioids are a deadly addictive two edged sword
Not careful and the use will have soared
And Tiger will no longer be the man holding a tiger by the tail
But rather a Tiger held by his ass by an addiction that will his life and dreams derail.
© may 31, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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May 31, 2017 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World No Tobacco Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 31, 2017   Kathy Griffin apologized for her tasteless over the top photo holding a bloody Donald Trump head,  the acceptance of which by the mere mortals outside the Swamp will depend on how quickly she reverts to her sick sense of “humor” in attacking this president (the Clinton News Network finally showed some class as outrage over her sick and tasteless video continues to grow by firing her as a co host of its New Years Eve Show); morale among the Border Patrol seems to be sinking as top leadership positions are not being filled (McConnell is MIA on this dereliction of duty); Connecticut must have money to burn as the legislature is considering a $175 million financial aid package to illegal aliens in its public universities (push may have hit a snag as one of the leading students proposing the aid has been arrested and has admitted to a hundred cases of anti-Trump graffiti vandalism); the former white head of  the Spokane chapter of the NAACP who passed herself off as black has been disinvited from a Baltimore Book Faire; finally CBS has taken the right step albeit small to reclaim its journalistic integrity it had with Walter Cronkite by doing an anchors away with one of the most biased and anti Trumpers, Scott Pelley, by eliminating him as anchor on CBS Evening News (only a small step as instead of firing his biased self only moved him to 60 Minutes); Kabul hit by a wave of bombings; on the climate front it is looking more likely than not that Trump will pull out of the Paris Climate Accords; in the real world away from the delusion of PC academia in the University of Chicago, almost a stuck record or a remake of Groundhog Day, Chicago style,  the carnage in Chicago continued unabated in May with total shootings in 2017 through May 30 increasing to 1367 and the death toll increasing to 233, a major tragedy that the powers to be in Chicago seem to completely ignore.
    As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Vaughn Monroe, factoids of interest for this day in history, thankful when the temperature drops that you are idiothermous, a relevant quote from the Brooke Shieldssecure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Fathers’ Day, 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 No Tobacco Day—mourning the loss of some 6 million people each year to smoking, including some 600,000 whose only fault was to be exposed to second hand smoke and promoting efforts to curtail the use of tobacco.   
2. Save Your Hearing Day—creating awareness of the causes of hearing loss or impairment such as prolonged exposure to high noise like rock concerts or construction equipment, airplanes, auto racing, etc.    
3. 1949 Number One Song—the number one song in 1949 on a run of 11 weeks in that position was “Ghost Riders in the Sky” by Vaughn Monroe. Here is a recording of him performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHo6ug6yAmw 
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “idiothermous” which means warm blooded which dinosaurs and family law lawyers are not.          
5. Nothing Comes Between Me and My Calvins—celebrating the birth on this day in 1965 of Brooke Shields, noted model and actress, who started modeling at 11 months and appeared in such films as Pretty Baby and Blue Lagoon.  
On this day in:                                                                                   
a. 1790 to the joy of authors present and future, the United States enacted its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
b. 1859 the Clock Tower in the Houses of Parliament which houses Big Ben started keeping time.     
c. 1889 over 2,200 people died when a private dam upriver of Johnstown, Pennsylvania bursts sending a wall of water 60 feet high into the town.        
d. 1977 in a great day for Alaska and a bad day for OPEC, the Trans Alaska Pipeline was finally completed.       
e. 2005 former Deputy Director of the FBI Mark Felt admitted to Vanity Fair that he was the “Deep Throat” who leaked details of the Watergate Scandal to Woodward and Bernstein.      
Reflections on how to sleep at night from the birthday girl: “Being nice to everybody, saying hello to everyone in the room, signing every autograph; it was instilled in me at a very young age that this was what I was suppose to do. But I don't think it helps at all. I see more people who are rude or arrogant being rewarded - but, this way, I can put my head on the pillow at night.” Brooke Shields Wise advice on how to make the world a better place.   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.            © May 31, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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May 30, 2017 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Mint Julep Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 30, 2017   The good news for Tiger is that no alcohol was found in his blood but the bad news is that a prescription for pain pills is no defense to a DUI (highlights the epidemic problem faced in medicine with overprescriptions of pain pills); great news of a successful test by US of an anti ICBM missile but before the applause ends, the insane leader of North Korea needs to be replaced and if China will not do it we may need to nuke his nuclear and ICBM program back to the stone age;  Kathy Griffin who tries to sell herself as a “comedian” is attracting a lot of well deserved scorn for her video of imitating an ISIS thug and holding up a bloody, realistic looking  beheaded head of Donald Trump (when does this insane rhetoric end?); the impeachment queen who has long overstayed her tenure and is a poster child for the need for term limits in Congress was confronted by a voter in her plantation safe district in California who argued that by attacking Trump’s pro growth agenda she was not representing her; the Russia collusion witch hunt probe continues while the Trump pro growth agenda appears to be dead in the water (special place in Hell for Schumer and Pelosi and their lackeys who are working to damage this country so Trump will fail and they will return to controlling the Senate and the House); in the real world away from the delusion of PC academia in the University of Chicago, almost a stuck record or a remake of Groundhog Day, Chicago style,  the carnage in Chicago continued unabated in May with total shootings in 2017 through May 29 increasing to 1356 and the death toll increasing to 232, a major tragedy that the powers to be in Chicago seem to completely ignore.
    As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Wynonna Judd, factoids of interest for this day in history, know knowing a word to explain why you don’t understand what your kids are saying, a relevant quote from the Cluster Munitions Coalitionsecure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Fathers’ Day, 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. Loomis Day—celebrating the accomplishment of a humble dentist Mahlon Loomis in the Swamp who filed a patent to transmit information through the atmosphere by using kites flying at the same height and may have been the inspiration for the wireless telegraph that ultimately followed.  
2. National Mint Julep Day—another observance in which the creator and the rationale for celebrating it today as opposed to on the day of the Kentucky Derby are forever lost.   
3. 1948 Number One Song—the number one song in 1948 on a run of 7 weeks in that position was “Nature Boy” by Nat King Cole. Here is a recording of him performing the song: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=nat+king+cole+nature+boy#id=1&vid=9628667ce584e2b361150a22f44bdb04&action=click
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “idioglossia” which means a private language developed by children to communicate with other children or could be used to describe the Swamp speak found in Washington where a cut in spending is used to describe a decrease in the rate of growth of spending.          
5. See the Light—celebrating the birth on this day in 1964 of Wyonna Judd, noted country singer who has released many number one country songs, including “I Saw the Light.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un9mqRA-2ys  
 On this day in:                                                                                   
a. 1431 at Rouen, France 19 year old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy after being condemned by an English dominated tribunal.
b. 1868 Decoration Day, the predecessor to Memorial Day, was observed for the first time. c. 1911 Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp won the first Indy 500 in a blistering average speed of 74.6 mph.      
d. 1972 three members of the Japanese Red Army at Lod Airport in Israel attacked the terminal and killed 24 innocents and wounded 78 others before two were killed and the other wounded.       
e. 2008 the Convention on Cluster Weapons, banning the use of cluster bombs, was adopted and ultimately signed by 108 nations excluding the United States.      
Reflections on the barbarity of cluster bombs which 108 nations have agreed to ban: “Not only are these cluster bomb attacks killing civilians, including Syrian children, right now, the unreliability of this weapon means that years, even decades after the conflict in Syria has ended, unexploded submunitions will put lives and livelihoods under threat. This leaves a deadly legacy as we have seen in Lebanon, Laos, Serbia, Iraq and other countries." Cluster Munitions Coalition 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.
© May 30, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Kathy Griffin The Latest ISIS Warrior

Just when you thought the left could not stoop any lower into the gutter of slime
Along comes Kathy Griffin looking like she wants to incite an assassination crime
Holding up like a proud ISIS fanatic a blood stained Donald Trump head
Message clear without any words needing to be said
If a canine I would hear the dog whistles calling the “martyrs” on the left to behead
Trump is an infidel to the left and must not remain alive he needs to be dead
What has this world come to with the left proclaiming death to the chief of the Reds?
Rather than unrestrained, unchecked hate and bias what ever happened to civility and debate instead?
No wonder the mere mortals outside the Swamp and the Beltway politicians and bureaucrats dread
This is a great country due to its freedom of speech but this time this “comedian” has crossed the line and should have the riot act read
Before people start getting injured it is time to tone down the rhetoric and this bias, hate and potential violence by the left shed


© May 30, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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Regent Pigs At Dinner Trough

When it comes to the idea of frugality and watching out for the taxpayer, politicians and bureaucrats are without a clue
Another example coming to light in the UC System latest spending news
First we had the multi-million slush fund that Napolitano from legislators chose to conceal
While pleading for more state funding  and raising tuition with unabashed zeal
Brown to his credit took an unusual step
By a governor of a state awash in unfunded pension liability debt
Holding back 50 million dollars until an audit is complete
Now he must be embarrassed by lavish spending for Regents for dinner seats
The Board of Regents have been wined and dined like kings
While parents and students have struggled what collection notice the mail will bring
Tuition increasing like a proverbial rocket
While the Regents for meals never reached into their own pockets
Fortunately a member of the press was not asleep at the switch
Broke the story forcing Napolitano to the policy of lavish dinners switch
Same old story the Beltway culture of elitist thought and troughs for the bureaucrats and political gluttons so porcine
Sadly as accountability fades and greed and disconnect from us mere mortals grow is not to just the Swamp confined
Thriving and growing in California’s one party almost dictatorial state
Also in a University system in which the suppression of free speech is an all too common trait
© May 30, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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Hillary Commencement Delusion

Hillary is back at her alma mater with another commencement speech
Not sure what she spoke of in 69 but suspect it had to do with goals to reach
Today in the fog of delusion and inability to accept
No message of hope of jobs and the voters reject
The first step in recovery of a loss that must affect her to her inner core
Is acceptance and then a real examination of what caused the score
She has done neither and sticks to the delusional Russian/FBI blame
Ignoring her failures of a failed message and a campaign completely lame
In delusion she even blames  sexism and the press
Who like the Clinton News Network did everything to Trump suppress
It is tragic to see a smart women at a commencement address surrounded after 9 months of delusional fog
Unprepared to accept reality and begin the back to reality hard slog
© May 27, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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May 29, 2017 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Memorial Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 29, 2017   On this Memorial Day, great speech by Trump at Arlington honoring those who have fallen as Pence led a bike ride fund raiser for vets suffering from PTDS; California’s f*bombing junior Senator has finally tweeted something positive about veterans while blasting Trump’s defense budget which restores years of cutting under Obama’s misguided policies; Texas governor has signed into law SB4 which bans Santuary Cities and levies jail time for officials and law enforcement who do not cooperate with ICE (ironic you have to pass a law requiring law enforcement to enforce the law); Tiger is not out of the Woods after being arrested for a DUI  at 3:00 a.m. today; we all know that police work is dangerous but the story out of Pennsylvania adds a new twist as an officer searching a DUI’s suspect car was exposed to a white powdery substance and almost passed out; sad news out of the VA where every dollar needs to count, the number of criminal investigations involving theft of opioids and other drugs by VA employees  has risen to 108; in the real world away from the delusion of PC academia in the University of Chicago, almost a stuck record or a remake of Groundhog Day, Chicago style,  the carnage in Chicago continued unabated in May with total shootings in 2017 through May 28 increasing to 1336 and the death toll increasing to 228, a major tragedy that the powers to be in Chicago seem to completely ignore.
    As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to the Ted Weems, factoids of interest for this day in history, hoping your paintings are all idiochromatic, a relevant quote from Pete Hegsethsecure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Fathers’ Day, 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 Day of United Nations Peacekeepers—celebrated since 2002 to honor the sacrifice of those over the years who have worn the blue helmet trying to act as a buffer between warring sides.
2. World Digestive Health Day—another UN observance; this one designed to promote sanitary food habits and awareness of digestive diseases. 
3. 1947 Number One Song—the number one song in 1947 on a run of 12 weeks in that position was “Heartaches” by Ted Weems. Here is a recording of him performing the song: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=weems+heartches#id=3&vid=476648c587e89ef677e3752442fe2c0b&action=click
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “idiochromatic” which means to possess a distinctive color pattern or design.         
5. Camelot RIP—celebrating the birth on this day in 1917 of John Kennedy who had he not been assassinated in Dallas in 1963 would have been 100 today leaving us to wonder how different the world might have been had his life not been cut short.
 On this day in:                                                                                   
a. 1852 the Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind departed from New York City after a two year singing tour of the United States.
b. 1914 the RMS Empress of Ireland after colliding with another ship in the fog in the Gulf of St. Lawrence sank with the loss of 1,012 (less than 20 percent of the passengers in 2nd and 3rd class survived as opposed to 70 percent in 1st class and 59 percent of the crew).  
c. 1932 veterans of WWI began assembling to march on Washington, D.C. to demand payment of bonuses promised to them for their service but deferred to 1945.      
d. 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest.       
e. 2001 SCOTUS ruled that disabled pro golfer Casey Martin could utilize a golf cart when competing in PGA golf tournaments.    
Reflections on Memorial Day: “Memorial Day isn't just about honoring veterans, it’s honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that's a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It's a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it." 
Pete Hegseth, army veteran and Fox News contributor  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.   © May 29, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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Monday, May 29, 2017

Memorial Day Tribute to Marines at Khe Sahn 2017

Enjoying the freedoms our brave vets have secured for us over the years and decades from my father's generation to those today on the front line against ISIS, i stopped into a Barnes and Noble to feed my bibliophile craving to buy a Nook and the latest Baldachi release. In checking out I asked the young woman if her grandfather had served in WWII. She said no but he had served in Vietnam, which makes an aging poet realize how old he is becoming. I told her i had written a poem about Marines and Vietnam and in her honor would post it. Semper Fi and God bless each and everyone of my generation that served in such a godforsaken war in which we were doomed to lose way too many brave men and women who answered the call and on this day dear God hear our prayers that due to our strength never again will we have to send thousands upon thousands into harm"s way.  
Tribute to the Marines at Khe Sanh on this Veterans’ Day 2016
We had no choice
We had no voice
No control over where we were sent
And yet into harm’s way we went
Billions wasted, billions spent
Lives lost, minds ruined, bodies maimed and bent
Only elders voted, only elders spoke
Release the dogs of war, images of glory to evoke
All sense of why and of caution to revoke
The flags waving, the canons roar to invoke
Release the dogs of war
The body bags to soar
No cheers and no welcome home parades
Only the light at the end of the tunnel charade
Hold Khe Sanh a worthless piece of terrain
Dig deeper to escape the shells falling like monsoon rains
Unlike the French we Marines will beat Nguyen
But like the French this is a war we cannot win
Despite all the Pentagon spin
Will God punish the elders for their sins?
We held Khe Sanh but for us no poems of Flanders Fields
Semper Fi to those who lived, to those who did not yield
To those whose names are etched on a granite wall
A sacred monument in the Washington Mall
Come close, come near
Put next to it your ear
Through the granite you will hear
The voices, do not hold back your tears
We had no voice
We had no choice
But we answered the call
Instead of poppies in a field we remain etched forever on this granite wall
© November 7, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com

Sunday, May 28, 2017

BIAS at MSM

At the Times and the Washington Post
Objective journalism is completely toast
All the news that’s fit to print only true if fits the leftist slant
No wonder Main Street is tuning out the MSM rants
It is impossible to find even with a lantern an objective MSM piece
In the bias of advocacy journalism against Trump that never seems to cease
The MSM plays lip service to the idea of a free press
Yet with its “unnamed sources” that goal completely suppress
Search far and wide for an objective story on Trump or a headline for a story correct
You will come up empty handed for the truth and objectivity the MSM rejects  
Worse the filters that rule whatever makes it to the news page
Will put any rational objective person in a complete rage.
May 28,2017 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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Hooked on Fish Not Drugs

An opioid wave of addiction is sweeping across this land
Our youth getting hooked on drugs in numbers out of hand
No place is safe from this addiction surge
How can we ever these ODs try to purge/
If the youth are to get hooked perhaps a better choice to be on their plate
Fish not drugs from Catalina Fish Kitchens await
T-shirts proclaiming the servers are on fish hooked
This is a restaurant that you should book
Great prices, better service and a chance to slip into the outdoors away
Into the Library or when the Sun fades Bermuda to into you fish special wade
If you are lucky to pick a Taco Thursday or Tuesday night
To welcome the $3  seared ahi mini tostada sight
You will be greeted with a Helen like smile to launch a 1000  ships
A Leesha coming to Bermuda with ahi and your beverage to sip
May 28,2017 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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General Old Age Memorial Day 2017

On this Memorial Day, a special tribute to the Greatest Generation who wiped the evils of Germany, Italy, and Japan off the face of the earth. While their sacrifices and deeds may even in the revisionist history of the left remain immortal they who survived are in their 90's and are not. Until the last vet of World War II no longer breathes the air of his or her amazing deeds, I will post this poem in their honor.
General Old Age
Memorial Day
They answered the call by the millions, regardless of inner doubts or parents' fears,
Whether by draft notice or marching to recruitment, some even lying to be able to volunteer.
This was a war not for gold, honor or to occupy another's land,
No, this was a war to not let the gains of tyranny gel and stand,
Dropping plow, lathe, apron, even books and all manner of tools of trade,
A river of men and women to don khaki and join in the Great Crusade,
Ours was not a warrior nation, in standing armies we stood among the world almost last,
In every prior struggle once done, our armies and navies faded quietly into the peaceful past,
Our navy was our oceans that made Europe and Asia distant and remote,
Deeper and wider and more protected than any fortress moat,
No planes no matter how fast or how high they could soar,
Never, ever could they bring the horsemen of war upon our shore,
Our army was 3000 miles of land any foe would have to cross,
Behind each tree and wall, a citizen armed to cause deadly loss,
Or so it seemed, until that early, peaceful December Sunday morn,
In two hours our fathers' and grandfathers' generation in an instant was reborn,
From the sleep of isolation, a nation island in restful and secure peace,
To now chain the dogs of war others saw fit to unleash,
16 million Americans in the colors soldiered and served,
Over 400,000 never reaped the long life they so richly deserved,
These Crusaders lost a few battles and suffered a few defeats,
From time to time either orderly or in disarray they were forced to retreat
But the best generals the Axis could ever put upon the field,
In the long run each and every one died or had to yield,
The oceans soon became guarded American lakes.
No enemy admiral would ever survive in our seamen's wake,
Our airmen drowned out the sun with deadly, lethal planes,
Our foes fell from the skies like the monsoon rains,
There was not a general or admiral they could not best, their deeds fill many a page,
Save one general with forces all would wish never to have to engage,
Yet the battle has at last been joined and throughout this land it will rage,
This general takes no quarter, there are no prisoners and the war is in its final stage,
The men and Crusaders of summer in the winter of their lives are meeting General Age,
More leave the field of battle daily than the carnage of their blackest days,
We have hindered his march, but soon we will no longer be able to delay.
Armies reducing to Corps and then to Divisions and then to Brigades,
The numbers of the Greatest Generation slowly continue to fade,
Regiments to Battalions, then to Companies and then to Platoons and then to Squads.
While we still have the time, it is they we should honor and laud,
For sadly, soon there will only be empty reunion halls,
Full only of the memories of heroes who answered the call.
And the prayer that this General will soon never, ever have to fight again such a war,
There will be no combat veterans aging and waiting their turn to storm an eternal peaceful shore.


                                                 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
                                                 www.Alaskanpoet.blogspot.com

                                                             © September 16, 2007