Sunday, May 31, 2020

Pandemic and Floyd One Two Punch May Doom Ce Blasio


We are being hit with a massive one two punch that should cause us all to shiver
First the pandemic COVID-19 continues with over 100,000 dead and more deadly infectious arrows in the CV quiver
Second set off by the in custody death of George Floyd that has morphed into riots across the nation
Even as politicians and leader have uniformly leveled against the 4 officers universal condemnation
Even moving to fire as opposed to administrative leave and with murder Chauvin charged
But long simmering feelings of oppressive police action on blacks the protests have quickly enlarged
From peaceful condemnation of police racism to into anarchy metastasize
Looting, burning, destroying property and shots beginning to be heard as civilization begins its demise
Before our very eyes thanks to Cable TV and smart phones we see rioters like locusts surge into stores
Arms full or with carts loaded with goods until nothing worth taking is left any more
The chain stores looted have the ability to repair and restock and open their doors again
The small businesses already hammered by the CV pandemic shut downs, their reopening is more if not when
Businesses destroyed, jobs lost due to the rioting enjoyment thrill
How soon do the victims, rioters and police start having to pay the butcher’s bill
Always try to find a silver lining in the most horrific mess
Here in NYC there’s one that from the pandemic to the riots De Blasio has failed the test
Little wonder the NYPD feels he does not have their back
Already talking about reviewing confrontations implying excessive force they lacked
He can’t manage the city in the best of times and in crisis mode
Nor his 25 year old daughter arrested Saturday for blocking streets and roads
After a few more rioting nights
Voters will boot him out of office to get it right.
© May 31, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

Cremation of the Memory of a Gentle Giant George Floyd


What happened to George Floyd was a heinous disgrace
Perpetrated by a rogue cop who long ago from the force should have been replaced
The memory of George to his friends and parents was that of a quiet, gentle giant
Videos show him being walked to a police car cuffed and compliant
Then we see him on the ground face down cuffed and knee pressing on his neck
When it that position every police manual will instruct further force to reject
Chauvin did not and the cries of I can’t breathe were ignored
Doesn’t take a genius to know with carotid artery pinched off death is soon in store
From the 3 fellow officers who watched like immobile stone statutes
Not a word of protest to stop the knee pressing, standing only mute
After 8 or 9 minutes the damage had been done to no viewer’s surprise
This 46 year old unarmed, unresisting black man met a far too early demise
With a home invasion robbery sentence this man most likely was not a saint
And he had just been detained on a store owner’s forged $20 bill complaint
But serving your time years ago and allegedly passing a bogus bill
In no way gave the police especially Chauvin the right to him kill
Rightfully so whites and blacks were soon marching peacefully in protest to this death so tragic
But then as the evening arrived the numbers increased, and the anger morphed to rioting which appeared almost by magic
Minneapolis was soon burning, police cars damaged, stores damaged, looting unabashed
The barrier between peaceful protest and anarchy and violence soon crashed
The rioting with burning, destruction, looting, injuries, arrests and killings quickly spread
Even with curfews and National Guard troops across this land they could not stop the  violence that surged ahead
Each night the violence seemed to get worse
Cities hit with a growing  destructive violence curse
The memory of this victim in many cities has been cremated
With shops burned to the ground and areas devastated
The memory of George Floyd is like the ashes that stream up to the sky
Cremated by the wanton unrestrained violence that peaceful protests it denies
Racism may be present still after all these years
But burning down businesses, putting blacks and whites out of work will not make it disappear
Rather it will scorch portions of our cities leaving them economic black holes
Setting back for years equal justice, end to racism and chance for prosperity desired goals
If this gentle giant were able to speak down from above
“Time to the burning, looting and rioting into the trash can shove”
When the smoke cleared and ashes floated away
Working together we might have a chance to real racism’s evil allay
© May 31, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

May 31, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World No Tobacco Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 31, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 75,665 new cases  (a 1.23%  increase compared to a 2.65% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 6,224,516 cases, 3,073,654   of  which  are active, 3,150,862 of which have been closed with 2,778,361  recoveries (88.18 % compared to  yesterday’s 88.04%) and 372,501   deaths (11.82% compared to yesterday’s 11.96%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 12,544 have brought total cases to 1,828,308  (a .69% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.67% increase)  with 1,183,803   active cases and 644,505 closures, 105,918 of which have been deaths (16.43% compared to  yesterday’s 16.59%) and 530,477 of which  have been recoveries ( 83.57%  compared to yesterday’s 83.39%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die); the Crew Dragon capsule has been renamed Endeavor by its two astronauts in honor of the fact their first flight into space was on Space Shuttle Endeavor as Endeavor has successfully docked to the International Space Station; peaceful in orbit but the nation below is in riots and flames across it with 5,000 National Guard deployed, large numbers of cities in curfew, widespread looting and fires, total disregard of curfews imposed by Blue city run mayors, shootings and killings, 60 Secret Service officers injured while protecting the White House and to be expected on both sides massive blame finger pointing (Mayor Bottoms perhaps said it best that looting and rioting is destroying the memory of George Floyd); Trump has moved to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization; De Blasio is clearly inept with now no supporters on left or right as he defended NYPD officers for driving through a protesters’ barrier igniting social media trends to have him resign; the Minnesota Freedom Fund a group which seeks contributions to bail out people who have been arrested but cannot post bail had raised less than %$75,000 before George Floyd’s death has raised $20 million in 4 days following his death, and included in that group of donors, 13 staffers of Biden’s campaign (Biden opposes cash bail calling it debtors’ prison and has now blamed Charlemagne Tha God for baiting him which prompted his “you ain’t black” remark ( if he was baited  his handlers should be shuddering over what Trump will do to him in the debates if they cannot somehow prevent them from occurring); the it’s a video lying queen Susan Rice is back in the news claiming Russians are behind the violent protests over the death of George Floyd while still hanging on to her delusions that the Russians were conspiring with Trump to win the election; Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter believes in “Twitter fact checks thee but as CEO and founder of Twitter not me” as he retweets a blatantly false tweet from the Mayor of St. Paul claiming all of the agitators were from out of state when in fact 38 of the 45 people arrested lived in Minnesota; Trey Gowdy and the family lawyer for George Floyd’s family see eye to eye with both claiming Officer Chauvin should be charged with 1st degree murder; in Chicago, as of May 30, 2020, 1123 shootings of whom 206 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths is now 79 behind Chicago with 127 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore 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 and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than random mass shootings?).
       As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a musical link to Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, the fact that the weather allows you to store your palatot  and a quote from Tom Steyer not on politics but smoking, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’s Day, 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.
1. World No Tobacco Day—created by the World Health Organization in 1987 to promote awareness of the adverse health effects of the use of tobacco including second hand smoke which leads to 8 million painful ways to die and sadly includes 1.2 million nonsmokers exposed to this filthy and disgusting habit.
2. National Necrotizing Fasciitis Day—first declared by Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan to promote awareness of this bacterial caused disease that eats flesh, muscle and organs and if not treated quickly can lead to loss of life.
3. 1940 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1940 on this day on a run of 7 weeks in the position was “The Woodpecker Song” by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8BnLWFwq9I. Sadly, for music lovers this member of the Army Air Force Band on December 15, 1944 disappeared at the age of 40 over the English Channel in foul weather en route to France to entertain the troops.
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “palatot” which means a loose overcoat which with our warmer weather can be stored in the closet until the late fall.
5. Bang the Drums Quickly--celebrating the birth on this day in 1948 of John Bonham a self taught drummer starting at age 5 who became the drummer for Led Zepplin and with due regards to Ringo Starr was ranked by Rolling Stone as the number one drummer of all time but battled successfully heroin addiction only to consume 40 shots of vodka in 24 hours during and after a rehearsal before starting a North American tour and die in his sleep from asphyxiating on his own vomit on September 25, 1980.
 On this day in:               
 a. 1889 a private dam acquired by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club to create a private lake, Lake Cavanaugh, experienced a catastrophic collapse, sending a 60 foot high wall of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing some 2,200 people.
 b. 1977 to the joy of an oil hungry, foreign oil import dependent U.S. the Trans Alaska Pipeline was completed.
 c. 2005 Vanity Fair revealed that FBI agent Mark Felt was the “Deep Throat” in the Watergate Scandal that forced Nixon to resign rather than be impeached and then convicted.
 d. 2017 President Trump tweeted “Despite the constant negative press covfefe” and then stopped with the use of the word “covfefe” going viral and even though deleted 6 hours later became an internet meme.
 e. 2019 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, 40 year old DeWayne Craddock, a disgruntled city engineer who had tendered his resignation hours earlier, entered the city’s Municipal Building Complex armed with legally purchased weapons and shot and killed 11 city employees and one outside contractor and wounding 4 others before being shot and killed by police in a shootout on the premises.
 Reflections on smoking on World No Tobacco Day: “My mother, Marnie Fahr Steyer, was a lifelong smoker - up to three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day. I like to think that, if Mom were still with us today, she'd be happy with the strides we've made to protect our children from the ongoing health crisis of tobacco addiction.” — Tom Steyer, venture capitalist and failed Blue presidential candidate, who like Bloomberg, tried to buy his way into the nomination.
      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, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

Saturday, May 30, 2020

May 30, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World MS Day


Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 29, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 158,753 new cases  (a 2.65%  increase compared to a 2.14% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 6,148,851 cases, 3,050,059 2,992,616  of  which  are active, 3,098,312  of which have been closed with 2,727,833 2,632,351 recoveries (88.04% compared to  yesterday’s 87.82) and 370,479    deaths (11.96% compared to yesterday’s 12.18%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 29,881 have brought total cases to 1,815,764 (a 1.67% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.36% increase)  with 1,179,751  active cases and 636,113  closures, 105,536 of which have been deaths (16.59% compared to  yesterday’s 17.17%) and 530,477 of which  have been recoveries (83.39%  compared to yesterday’s 82.83%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 17,992,192; violent protests continue across the nation as rioters ignore the pleas of leaders like Mayor Bottoms of Atlanta who intoned that rioters burning buildings and looting stores are destroying the memory of George Floyd  and destroying the very places that many residents will be looking to find work as the nation reopens; Mayor Frey is hiding in the sand and pointing blame at “white supremacists and out of state agitators” and demonstrating total ineptness while of  the meager arrests of 36, 86% were from Minnesota; AG Barr has weighed in to remind potential rioters that crossing state lines to engage in such conduct is in violation of federal law and they will be arrested and prosecuted by the DOJ; Floyd’s death was tragic and he and his fellow officers will be accountable but not amount of riots, burning and looting will bring him back but for the small businesses with their goods, services and jobs destroyed in the riots may never come back; the official autopsy on Floyd found that Floyd’s death was not caused by strangulation but the cause of death was contributed by being restrained, potential intoxicants in his system, and underlying health conditions which prompted Floyd’s family to engage Doctor Baden of independent autopsy fame of Jeffrey Epstein to perform an independent autopsy; private enterprise for the first time has launched 2 human beings into orbit in Crew Dragon on top of a Falcon 9 for docking with the International Space Station 19 hours later; SCOTUS in a 5-4 majority with Chief Justice Roberts siding with the liberal minority  has ruled against a church seeking emergency relief against Newsom’s order limiting church services to 100 worshipers; Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the CV pandemic in New York is rapidly fading given his ineptness creating thousands of nursing home deaths and his brother’s ratings are sinking faster than a hot rock following his return to the Cack News Network; in Chicago, as of May 29, 2020, 1101 shootings of whom 201 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths is now 76 behind Chicago with 125 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore 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 and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than random mass shootings?).
       As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a musical link to Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, the fact that you rarely palaver  and a quote from Carmen Ambrosio issues like MS that people learn to cope with, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’s Day, 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.
1. World MS Day—created by the International Multiple Sclerosis Foundation in 2009 to create awareness of the disease and the issues faced by people suffering from the disease and to promote the raising of funds to find a cure for it.
2. National Creativity Day--created in 2018 by Hal Croasman and ScreenwriterU to promote creativity regardless of whether you can make a living doing so and perhaps appropriate as we celebrate the creativity that launched Crew Dragon today into orgit for docking with the International Space Station, 19 hours after launch.
3. 1939 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1939 on this day on a run of 4 weeks in the position was “And the Angels Sing” by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra with Martha Titon on the vocals. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heXQ-zgyfQY. The King of Swing dominated the big band airways for decades until the Swing finally stopped and came to and end at the age of 77 on June 13, 1986. Martha Tilton had a long career until the Angels called her to join their choir at the age of 91 on December 8, 2006.
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “palaver” which means to talk profusely or idly which is unfortunately a trait far too many politicians are cursed with.
5. Hard to Block a Train--celebrating the birth on this day in 1982 of Eddie Griffin who basketball for Seton Hall and was drafted after his freshman year to play 6 years in the NBA but sadly died while trying to beat a train across a crossing on August 17, 2007 with a blood alcohol limit of .26%
 On this day in:               
 a. 1937 striking steel workers marched on the Republic Steel Plant in Chicago to be met by police who opened fire on the demonstrators, shooting 50, 10 of whom died and clubbed brutally dozens in what would be termed a police riot for which no one was ever prosecuted on the Chicago Police Department.
 b. 1963 in what should have been a wake-up call that backing Catholic Diem as president was a bad idea in a predominantly Buddhist country, the first anti pro-Catholic demonstration was held in front of South Vietnam’s National Assembly..
 c. 1974 to the dismay of Boeing the Airbus 300 entered service.
 d. 1998 Pakistan conducted an underground plutonium bomb with a strength of 20 kilotons in the Kharan Desert of Pakistan.
 e. 2008 the Convention on Cluster Bombs  banning their production, ownership and use was signed to become effective on August 1, 2010, 6 months after 30 nations had signed and although the number of signatories has increased to 108, many nations like the U.S., China, India, Russia, North and South Korea have not.
 Reflections on MS: “I was inspired to write (Life Continues) to tell people dealing with MS or any other illness that if opening your eyes, or getting out of bed, or holding a spoon, or combing your hair is the daunting Mount Everest you climb today, that is okay.” Carmen Ambrosio, Life Continues: Facing the Challenges of MS, Menopause & Midlife with Hope, Courage and Humor
      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, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

May 29, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Day of the UN Peacekeepers0


Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 29, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 125,693  new cases  (a 2.14%  increase compared to a 2.16% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 5,990,098  cases, 2,992,616  of  which  are active, 2,997,482  of which have been closed with 2,632,351  recoveries (87.82% compared to  yesterday’s 87.7%) and 365,131   deaths (12.18% compared to yesterday’s 12.3%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 23,952 have brought total cases to 1,785,873 (a 1.36% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.53% increase)  with 1,179,433  active cases and 606,440  closures, 104,135  of which have been deaths (17.17% compared to  yesterday’s 17.22%) and 502,305 of which  have been recoveries (82.83%  compared to yesterday’s 82.78%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 16,672,107; Derek Chauvin the Minneapolis police officer shown in an 8 minute video with his knee of George Floyd’s neck has been charged with 3rd Degree Murder and the D.A. indicated the other 3 officers who did not intervene may soon face criminal charges (understandably but without justification Minneapolis has endured 3 days of riots, fires and looting which will be detrimental to the cities comeback and do nothing for the interests of justice but has forced the city to call in the National Guard and declare a curfew at 10:00 p.m.; we may be heading into a trade war with China but Beyond Meats has announced that it is partnering with KFC and Pizza Hut to market its product in China; Trump has announced that the U.S. will terminate its relationship with W.H.O.; on the stimulus wars Red House and Senate members have introduced legislation to bar states like California from making cash payments to illegal aliens from stimulus funds (will not be sent to Trump’s desk due to Blue House majority and Blue cloture proof number in the Senate but a good platform plank to run on against Biden);  in Chicago, as of May 28, 2020, 1084 shootings of whom 197 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths is now 77 behind Chicago with 120 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore 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 and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than random mass shootings?).
       As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a musical link to Swing and
Sway with Sammy Kaye, the fact that your meals are palative  and a quote from John F. Kennedy on the powers mankind possesses, 
secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’s Day, 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.
1. World Digestive Health Day—created by the World Gastroenterorology Organization to promote awareness of and the need to raise for the treatment and prevention of gastroenterologic diseases.
2. International Day of the UN Peacekeepers--created the General Assembly of the UN to honor the sacrifices made by the soldiers wearing the Blue Helmets of the UN Peacekeepers trying to keep the peace between warring factions.
3. 1938 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1938 on this day on a run of 4 weeks in the position was “Love Walked In” by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgQMw8UGtQs. The swing and sway came to and end at the age of 77 on June 2, 1987.
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “palative” which means pleasing to the taste or the palate which something we want all food to be.
5. Camelot Pennants to Fly at Half Mast--celebrating the birth on this day in 1917 of President John F. Kennedy who brought us Camelot, a pledge to reach the Moon, and the New Frontier but if alive today his ideas and platform would not get him a spot on the Blue ticket for president.
 On this day in:               
 a. 1985 in a testament of the human spirit to overcome adversity Canadian amputee Steven Fonyo ended his run across Canada at Victoria, British Columbia  that he had started 14 months earlier.
 b. 1988 President Reagan visited the Soviet Union for the first time to meet with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
 c. 1999 the Space Shuttle Discovery completed the first docking at the International Space Station a feat which the manned Crew Dragon will hopefully replicate 19 hours after its scheduled 3:22 p.m. launch on May 30, 2020.
 d. 2004 the World War Two Memorial was opened in Washington, D.C.
 e. 2015 One World Observatory opened at One World Trade Center.
 Reflections on the powers mankind possesses: “We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or make it the last."
- John F. Kennedy.
      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, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

May 30, 2020 3:22 p.m. World We're Back


After a hiatus far too long and paying Russians millions for each rocket ride
Americans have a private enterprise rocket on their astronauts’ side
At 12:22 pm PST on May 30, 2020  Americans on a Falcon 9 were orbited into space
Finally after the end of the Shuttle our dependence on Russia to be replaced
An historic moment thanks to the vision of a noted entrepreneur
Once again Elon Musk in these turbulent times a success of private enterprise to secure
Years ago with dissent raging and riots unchecked and Vietnam death and destruction continuing to soar
Apollo 11 launched into the heavens from a beautiful blue spec to a landing becoming part of exploration’s lore
On July 20, 1969 Aldrich and Armstrong landed on the Moon
Dreams ignited maybe that travel to Mars would come soon
Six more missions landing 12 more astronauts with the last 2 to leave on December 14, 1972
After $30 billion spent, the novelty of landing on the Moon no longer grew  
Not to be and December 14, 1972 Apollo missions would forever end
Semi reusable Shuttles continued a 135 missions orbiting astronauts trend
At cost of 2 Shuttles destroyed and 14 astronauts dead
But until Mars’ priorities and budget deficits reared their ugly heads
Putting Americans and often with other nationalities aboard continued ahead
Finally a moment came that we would over time learn to dread
On July 8, 2011 Shuttle Atlantis was launched in the 135th and final Shuttle mission flight
Landing 13 days later at its Kennedy Space Center launching site
Grounded forever in museums to herald what used to have been
Silently standing mute but wishing in space we as a nation would once again win
For 9 years, hat in hand with checkbook out, the only way for Americans to orbit in the International Space Station
Was to be launched as a paying passenger launched in a Russian spacecraft from the Russian nation
Today as the Falcon 9 climbed flawlessly into the sky to break gravity’s hold
Space X has allowed us to say to the Russians “no more, welcome America back as the land of the free and bold.”
© May 30, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift

Thursday, May 28, 2020

May 28, 2020 Ridley's Believe It Or Not International Hamburger Day


Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For May 28, 2020 The CV pandemic across the planet continues with 124,177 123,232  new cases  (a 2.16%  increase compared to a 2.19% increase yesterday) to bring the total to 5,864,505  cases, 2,936,020  of  which  are active, 2,928,485   of which have been closed with 2,568,160  recoveries (87.7% compared to  yesterday’s 87.44%) and 360,325     deaths (12.3% compared to yesterday’s 12.56%); in the U.S. which has the dubious distinction of leading the world in total cases with new cases of 26,598 have brought total cases to 1,761,921 (a 1.53% increase compared to yesterday’s 1.58% increase)  with 1,163,155  active cases and 598,766  closures, 103,117  of which have been deaths (17.22% compared to  yesterday’s 17.38%) and 495,649 of which  have been recoveries (82.78%  compared to yesterday’s 82.62%) (our death rate percentages continue to improve since Cuomo repealed his order sending CV positive patients on May 10 but remain higher than the world probably due to idiots like Cuomo sending positive CV patients into nursing homes to infect the residents and staff who then die) while total testing has increased to 16,231,514; Nevada Blue Senator Cortez-Masto who does not want to be tagged with being a running mate of someone looking more and more like a mental corpse has withdrawn her name from any consideration of being on the Biden ticket; protests in Minneapolis yesterday turned into a mini-riot as evidence surfaces that Derek Chauvin a police officer with 19 years on the force shown with his knee on a subdued and handcuffed Floyd’s neck that led to his death has a record of 10 conduct complaints and 3 shootings for which he has never been reprimanded and Tou Thao with 10 years on the force and  the other police officer shown on the video has had 2 complaints and a police brutality law suit which was settled (to defuse this situation the D.A. needs to pedal to the metal and determine whether facts merit arresting Chauvin and the other 3 officers before riots get out of hand); the chaos in Minneapolis is likely to get worse as complaints are pouring in over the death of Floyd as Colin Kaepernick weighs in by pronouncing “that when civility leads to death, revolting is the only answer”); Trump who has long castigated social media for bias against conservatives and censoring has just signed an executive order seeking to remove the liability protection against social media under Section 230 of the Communications Decency and an end to censorship (social media platforms have become like utilities and unless someone advocates violence and crime tweets and postings should not be banned); Twitter is in hot water for its “fact checking” of Trump’s tweets when its fact checker Yoel Roth has a history of rabid bias against him and his supporters who he claims are “actual Nazis’; Pompeo  after the attempt by the Chinese to stifle dissent in Hong Kong has stated that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China and put an end to waivers in 60 days of sanctions against countries continuing to work with Iran’s nuclear program; Julian  Castro, a failed Blue presidential candidate, has announced the formation of a progressive PAC but still has refused to endorse Hidin’ Biden;  in Chicago, as of May 27, 2020, 1071 shootings of whom 193 have died (so much for the effectiveness of Chicago’s stay at home order); Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths is now 73 behind Chicago with 120 murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore 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 and when will the left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which have been more deadly and more numerous than random mass shootings?).
       As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history,  a musical link to Billie Holiday with the Teddy Wilson  Orchestra, the fact that during the pandemic you will not be sitting on a pais and a quote from Julia Child on hamburgers, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like Father’s Day, 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.
1. International Hamburger Day—celebrating that great American meal, the hamburger which some people believe was created by Louis Lassen at Louis Lunch at New Haven. Connecticut on July 28, 1900 but its popularity soared during the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Easiest way to celebrate is to go to one of the many restaurants that serve them and given the CV pandemic shutdowns find one that offers take out.
2. Amnesty International Day—created Peter Benenson on this day in 1961 to promote the freeing of political prisoners and the ending of the death penalty.
3. 1937 Number One Song— the number 1 song in 1937 on this day on a run of 2 weeks in the position was “Carelessly” by Billie Holiday with the Teddy Wilson Orchestra. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofFRvGNmmC8. “Ladie Day” was a very popular jazz singer who battled drug and alcohol problems and died of complications from cirrhosis and died on July 17, 1959 at age 44 with $.70 in the bank. Teddy was one of the few black musicians to play with white and his Orchestra was formed for a short period of time in the 30’s. He died on July 31, 1986 at the age of 73.
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “pais” which means a panel from which a jury is chosen and while the pandemic is upon us is not being used because of the need for social distancing.
5. Seized Way Too Soon--celebrating the birth on this day in 1999 of noted up and coming young actor Cameroon Bryce who died as his acting career was taking off from an epileptic seizure in his sleep on July 6, 2019 at the age of 20.
 On this day in:               
 a. 1892 John Muir founded the Sierra Club in San Francisco.
 b. 1937 Volkswagen was established in Germany.
 c. 1996 President Bill Clinton’s former business partners Jim and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker were convicted of fraud in the Whitewater Scandal.
 d. 1999 after 20 years of restoration work, Leonardo’s masterpiece The Last Supper  was put back on public display.
 e. 2002 the last steel girder from the World Trade Center was removed from its site, marking the end of cleanup activities at the destroyed World Trade Center which collapsed on September 11, 2011.
 Reflections on the hamburger on the day we celebrate it: “It is the Americans who have managed to crown minced beef as hamburger, and to send it round the world so that even the fussy French have taken to le boeuf hache, le hambourgaire.” Julia Child, noted cooking teacher, author and television personality.
 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 28, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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