Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 31, 2019 DeWayne Craddock at long time employee of the city of Virginia Beach after losing his job entered a municipal building and shot and killed 12 people with a .45 pistol and wounded 6 others before being shot and killed in a gunfight with 4 officers responding to the shooting; the victims had not been identified and delivered to the morgue and Blue presidential candidates were beating the drum for more gun control (unknown whether the shooter purchased the gun legally and passed any background checks); Mt Everest that has claimed the lives of 11 climbers is experiencing a rush hour traffic jam of climbers that is reminiscent of the line of climbers leaving Skagway to head into the Yukon in search of gold during the Alaskan Gold Rush:
On the political correctness frenzy front First Coast Technical College is being sued by student Dia’mon Dallas for the college suspending her for posting a photo of her and her fiancé holding firearms with the caption “She’s my Bonnie and I’m her Clyde” (time to lighten up America); on the abortion front, Netflix and Disney are considering boycotting filming in Georgia due to passage of its anti-abortion law when a heartbeat is discovered (ironic that Disney founded on films and theme parks for children would not support a bill that increases the number of children who would be the company’s future customers); on the medical cost front, growing concerns that the U.S. is becoming too dependent on China for generic drugs and vitamins and other supplements; Trump has ended the ban on the fuel E15 being sold from June 1 to September 15 of each year, a move which should lower fuel prices; on the gratification front a Deloitte study has found that the average net worth of millennials between 18 and 35 is just $8,000, 35 % lower than in 1996 (one of the major reasons is that education costs have increased 65% in 10 years for many courses and majors that have dubious value in terms of the job market); CBD oils’ usage is surging and the FDA has finally announced it will hold hearings on possible adverse risks; through May 30, 2019 924 people have been shot in Chicago of whom 183 have died (what makes the Smollett case so frustrating is that it forced the city of Chicago to allocate scarce detective resources when in only 9% of the shootings resulting in murder have a suspect being charged this year).
1. World No Tobacco Day—created by the World Health Organization in 1987 to promote awareness of the adverse health effects of tobacco use including the roughly 7,000,000 annual deaths including, sadly, the 890,000 non smokers exposed to second hand smoke.
2. Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day—declared in 2017 by the governor of Michigan to promote awareness of a deadly bacterium that consumes flesh, muscle and organs and results in amputations or death if not treated quickly.
3. 2016 Number One Song—the number one song on this day in 2016 on a run of 1 week in that position was “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0K8uYEZWw
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “o” to words beginning with “p” is “pathopoeia” which means exciting passion through rhetoric or poetry which in our political system has too much rhetoric and not enough poetry.
5. If AOC Has Her Way End of a Song—celebrating the birth on this day in 1938 of Peter Yarrow noted singer of the trio Peter Paul and Mary best known for such hits as “Puff the Magic Dragon” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-7SnMnX78 and Leaving on a Jet Plane” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-7SnMnX78 and still going strong after recovering from alcoholism.
As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, music links to Justin Timberlake and Peter Paul and Mary, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you favor poetry as opposed to rhetoric in creating pathopoeia, and a relevant quote from Andrew Simon on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like college graduations, 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.
On this day in:
a. 1909 The National Negro Committee, the forerunner of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held its first convention.
b. 1927 after the production of 15,007,003 cars, the last Model T rolled off Ford’s assembly line. mph.
c. 1973 the U.S. Senate voted to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets in Cambodia hastening the end of the Cambodia Civil War.
d. 1977 the Trans Alaska Pipeline System was completed.
e. 2005 Vanity Fair revealed that FBI agent Mark Fell was Deep Throat in the Watergate Scandal.
Reflections on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System: “The pipeline has demonstrated how man can coexist with nature. In the past it has generally been man’s goal to conquer nature and to dominate the land. After NEPA that goal has changed. The goal today is to coexist with nature and preserve the environment. The pipeline has shown that large projects can be constructed without severe environamental consequences. Unfortunately those same standards were not applied to the tankers carrying the oil until after the tragic oil spill from the Exxon Valdez.” Andrew Simon The Trans Alaska Pipeline The Struggle for Balance.
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 for just This Day in History go to www.Alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com.
© May 31,, 2019 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
