Monday, October 2, 2017

October 2, 2017 International Day of Nonviolence

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For October 2, 2017 A record achieved from the Mandalay Hotel on the Vegas strip that no one would ever want to achieve as Stephen Paddock with fully automatic weapons last night at concert in Vegas let it rip; 58 dead and probably will climb, a horror that blows any sane person’s mind; the investigation has just begun to determine motive, where and how the weapons were obtained, and what signs might have been present that this very revenge seeking man was planning this heinous act that authorities, friends, family members and associates missed and more importantly from a security standpoint what con be learned from this tragedy; Trump has tweeted condolences and most likely later today inform us whether he will cancel his trip tomorrow to Puerto Rico to assess damage and the federal response to Maria (he does need to be there and there is nothing he can do in Vegas tomorrow other than to impede a very large crime scene); if in Southern California this weekend you would have had the chance to enjoy at Huntington Beach a spectacular as usual performance by the Blue Angels; don’t hold your breath but there is news that direct talks with North Korea are occurring with the U.S. even as Trump indicated it is a waste of time; Price resigned from DHHS over his use of private charter jets (more likely his failed and the failure of the Red leadership’s of the Congress attempt to pass Obamacare repeal and replacement was the real reason he had to step down); some sanity is returning to the NFL might be returning as the number of players taking a knee for the National Anthem was down for last week’s games; in Chicago the month of September ended with 57 dead (which when some of the critically wounded might die will barely less than the fatalities resulting from 8 minutes of shooting by Stephen Paddock in Vegas and through October 1, 2017, the number of people being shot climbed to 2882 and the death toll rising to 496 while the city seems to not be doing anything to prevent the killing and maiming of its minority residents—a real definition of racism which is deadly.
As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Rod Stewart, factoids of interest for this day in history, a relevant quote by Gandhi on the power of nonviolence, committed to the idea if you see a killcow today you will not be silent  and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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.
1International Day of Nonviolence—created by the UN in June of 2007 to promote nonviolence on this day to commemorate the birthday of Gandhi whose nonviolent movement ultimately forced the British government to grant independence to India and after last night in Las Vegas more so than ever we as a people need to adopt that concept.
2.  National Custodial Workers Day—not sure where this holiday or observance came from only that one’s office environment is much more pleasant and productive because of the efforts of custodial workers who appear after the work day has ended.
3. 1971 Number One Song— the number one song in 1971 on a run of 5 weeks in that position  was “Maggie Mae” by Rod Stewart. Here is a performance of the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek4cUOlxwgQ
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “killcow” which has been chosen as it means a bully and October is National Bullying Month and bullying is something we should never tolerate. 
5.  Its In The Name And The Place--celebrating the birth on this day in 1915 of Chuck Williams,  the founder of Williams Sonoma whose first store was in Sonoma, California and which quickly migrated from being a hardware store to a store selling culinary tools that were the envy of any professional or wanna-be chef;  Chuck Williams sold his last pan in 2015.     
On this day in:                       
a. 1950 the comic strip Peanuts was first published.
b. 1959 Rod Sterling’s The Twilight Zone debuted on CBS. 
c. 1967 Thurgood Marshall appointed by President Lyndon Johnson became the first black member of SCOTUS.   
d. 1980 Michael Myers, a Democratic member of the House, became the first member of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War for accepting a bribe on tape by a vote of 376-30 (sad state of affairs that 30 members most likely Democrats put party before nation and did not vote to oust him).
e. 2002 the Beltway Sniper attacks that were to terrify the Swamp for three weeks and kill 10 people and critically wound three commenced.  
Reflections on the power of nonviolence: “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.” Mahatma Gandhi.He was right back then and even more so in the era omnipresence of cell phone videos that can make a violent reaction to a peaced protest go viral. 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.

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