Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 14, 2018 After numerous
predecessors had campaigned on the promise to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem,
President Trump kept that promise and as Israel celebrates its 70th
anniversary of its founding, the American Embassy will open today even as
Israel girds for violence from Palestinians protesting the move (35,000 Palestinians
were protesting along the Gaza as 37 Palestinians were killed on the Gaza
border with Israel with Israel claiming they were armed terrorists trying to
plant bombs along the Gaza fence); on the Haspel nomination front, 100 former
ambassadors who had served under both Republican and Democratic Administrations
sent a letter to the Senate protesting her nomination while on the optics front
a former Green Beret had himself water boarded on camera to prove the practice
while uncomfortable was not torture but rather only the fear of
water with no injury https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/05/13/watch-former-green-beret-ufc-fighter-gets-waterboarded-on-live-video-to-prove-it-isnt-torture;
on the litigation lottery front a
manager at a Chipolte restaurant in Fresno who was fired for allegedly
stealing $626 from the restaurant’s safe was awarded almost $8 million in
damages in a wrongful termination lawsuit (evidently the defendant could not
produce the video relied upon to fire the manager); on the fleece the taxpayer
front a Blue Congressman has introduced a bill to convert a residence hall
located in an upscale neighborhood owned by the government formerly used by high
school pages but vacant since 2011 into residences for Congressmen earning $174,000
a year while the Swamp has over 6,000 homeless and paying $80,000 a night to
house some 600 families in hotels; lava flows in Hawaii are continuing forcing
thousands to evacuate as Trump declares the island of Hawaii to be a disaster; in
Chicago through May 12, 2018, 873 people mostly of color have been shot by
mostly people of color, of whom 143 have died with incomplete returns on Mother’s
Day showing that 7 mothers will have learned their child has been shot of whom
2 have died (when will Chicago get serious about this carnage or is this the
case of true racism as a Blue run city turns a deaf ear and a blind eye to the
slaughter of people of color by people of color?)
As always,
I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Paul
McCarthy and Wings, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact
that Trump is trying to drain the Swamp of malversation and a relevant quote by
Sofia Coppola, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any
memorable events like Father’s Day, 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. National Women’s Checkup Day—celebrated on the Monday of the
second full week in May and since it follows Mother’s Day a good reason for
women to have a physical checkup to stack the odds in favor of being here for another
Mother’s Day in the following year.
2. Underground American Day—created by architect Malcolm Wells in 1974 to commemorate the growing
trend to move underground to decrease energy costs, reclaim abandoned structures
like missile silos, public restrooms abandoned tunnels and escape the noise of
urban bustle above ground.
3. 1978 Number One Song— the number one song in 1978 on a run of 2 weeks in that
position was “With A Little Luck” by Paul McCartney and Wings. Here
is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzH-2NgtaZk
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “malversation” which means corruption
in office which sadly crosses the aisle and with the huge amount of federal,
state and local spending is a huge magnet for dishonest elected and
bureaucratic officials.
5. Like Father Like Daughter—celebrating the birthday on this day
in 1971 of Sofia Coppola, noted actress, director and producer who happens to
be the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola.
On this day in:
On this day in:
a. 1878 in a you have to be kidding me moment in the law, the
last witchcraft trial was held in Salem, Massachusetts to her the claim of
Lucretia Brown, a Christian Scientist, against Daniel Spofford whom she claimed
was trying to influence with his mental powers. This travesty ended with the
judge dismissing the case.
b. 1939 in a you are too young to be a mother moment, Lina
Medina at five years, seven months, seven days became the youngest mother ever
recorded by giving birth to a six pound boy delivered by Cesarean; she is
still alive in Lima today having survived her son born on that day who died in
1979.
c. 1961 in a dark moment of our history the Freedom Riders bus which had left Washington, D.C. to protest the
failure of the ICC to enforce its ruling banning segregation in interstate
commerce was fired bombed after leaving Anniston, Alabama and the riders
attacked by an angry mob which were only deterred from lynching the riders by shots
fired into the air.
d. 1973 the United States first space station Skylab was launched.
e. 1988 Larry Mahoney driving drunk on Interstate 71 the wrong
way hit a converted school bus carrying a church group near Carrollton,
Kentucky killing 27 and injuring 34; Mahoney was sentenced to 16 years, served
11 and the accident was instrumental in the formation of MADD.
Reflections on imagination from a director’s
eye: “It's always more intriguing to imagine what's happening, as opposed to
seeing everything, because then you can use your imagination.” Sophia Coppola
She is spot on as the mind is far more creative and not bound by the optics of what
the eyes see. 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 14, 2018 Michael P. Ridley aka
the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to
Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive Lasting Lift
No comments:
Post a Comment