Wednesday, November 15, 2023

November 14, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not

 

             On the growing retail crime front, large retailers like Costco and Walmart are responding to customer complaints of having to use self-service checkouts and the amount of five fingered discount occurring at self-service checkouts are revaluating their use to the joy of displaced checkout cashiers and shoppers who enjoy their brief interchange with cashiers as the checkout.
             On the Hamas Israeli War the IDF has surrounded GAZA’s largest hospital which is running on fumes with respect to fuel, food and medical supplies and is claiming Hamas has underground command centers under the hospital. Hamas to be expected has denied the existence of its forces underneath the hospital but has refused to allow inspection which would end any dispute. The IDF is going to great lengths to avoid Gazan civilian casualties but still receiving a host of complaints for the increasing number of civilians in Gaza being killed.
              On the SCOTUS ethics front after conservative justices like Thomas and Alioto have come under fire for accepting gifts such as free vacations, SCOTUS has promulgated a 14 page Code of Ethics which is something that should have been done years ago. It is not clear who will enforce violations or whether the other two coequal branches oof government will have that right.
             On the open border front as monthly crossing of illegals continue to increase to new levels and sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago are being overwhelmed by the costs of providing shelter, food, medical treatment and other necessities of life to illegal aliens, CNN has leaked plans of Trump to address the open border by executive order terminating the funding of shelter and transportation of illegals and rounding up illegal aliens to be placed in deportation centers before being deported. Although not in the leak it can be assumed that Mayorkas will be fired on day 1 of the Trump Administration.
             On the fire front, a fire that erupted under the an 1-10 underground storage has closed down an portion of the I-10 in the downtown area with new reports that the damage will not result in the need to replace certain sections such that the highway can be reopened in a 3-5 week time frame despite the holidays and winter rains.
            On the climate change front the national report required by law each 5  years on progress in meeting climate change goals shows that the U.S. is slowly meeting those goals but not fast enough. The problem remains since carbon emissions do not remain in place, whatever reductions we make here will be obliterated by China’s and India’s increase in carbon emissions.
            On the safety in food front, the CDC has alerted retailers in 14 states that unsafe levels of lead contamination have be found in cinnamon-flavored applesauce from WanaBana Schnucks and Weis.
             On the automaker’s EV front, Stellantis has announced it is offering early retirement severance packages to 6400 of its nonunion salaried personnel to better able it to increase its EV production.
             November 14, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
             Noted Holidays: World Diabetes Day: Created by the International Diabetes Foundation and the World Health Organization and first celebrated on the 14th day of November, 1991, the birthday of Sir Richard Banting, the cofounder, along with Charles Best, of insulin in 1922. The holiday was formed to create awareness of how to avoid Type II diabetes with proper diet and exercise,
              Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is bêtisewhich means a foolish act or stupidity.
              Song of the Day: The number 1 song on this day in 1943 was “Paper Doll”  by the Mills Brothers  on a run of 8 weeks non continuous sharing with 11  other songs achieving number 1 ranking. Here is a recording of The Mills Brothers  performing “Paper Doll:”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMeSrynug0
               November 14 Birthdays: “Waiting Till the End of Time” -Celebrating the birthday of King Charles III, born on this day in 1948 London to become the longest serving heir apparent and upon becoming king on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022 became the oldest person to accede to becoming King of England. 
               November 14 Historical Events in Rhyme
                1.      On this day in 2012 in response to increasing salvoes of Hamas rocket attacks/the IDF launched its 8 day Operation of Pillar Defense as a means of striking back/ for 8 days Israeli jets controlled the skies/for 8 days Israeli Iron Dome penetration by Hamas rockets denied/When the battle was over the IDF claimed it had struck 1500 sites while a United Nations High Commission on Refugees put the number of dead Palestinians at 146 with 100’s of wounded Palestinians from destroyed homes fleeing/With Hamas oblivious to the amount of loss their rockets had caused to the Gazans’ wellbeing/What is so tragic that Hamas may have learned to dig deeper and  to store more ammo and rockets underground/And that in the court of world using dead Gazans to be blamed on the IDF is quite sound.
                2.      On this day in 2001 the Taliban which had previously controlled almost 90 percent of Afghanistan/facing the Northern Alliance which before the events of 9/11 controlled some 10 percent of the land/Now faced the Northern Alliance backed by U.S. Air and troops trying desperately control of the capital Kabul remain/It seemed to easy but against U.S. support the Taliban were flushed down the drain.
                3.      On this day in 1979, in response to the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran/President Carter froze all Iranian assets located in this land/Carter was felt by the mullahs in Iran to be weak/Asset freezings failed to obtain the release of the hostages they were designed to seek/But Reagan had been elected and would on January 20 take power/Viewed as a commander in chief who  would not cower/Iran’s military was aging fast against Iraq was engaged in a war/Reagan was believed to have wanted to support Iraq to cause Iran’s casualties to soar/Freeing the hostages moments after Reagan’s inauguration the mullahs could not resist/Letting them go meant Iran would have better chances to continue to exist.
              4.      On this day in 1970 Marshal University’s Thundering Herd was flying back home after suffering to the East Carolina Pirates a 17-14 loss/Oblivious to the fact the team was facing a higher cost/In foul weather a mile away from the airport the plane was flying too low/If the visibility would have been better the tree tops along the side of the plane would show/Flight crashed into the trees and into flames burst/Killed all 75 aboard to claim as a sports related tragedy in U.S. history ranked as worst.
               5.      On this day in 1960 escorted by federal marshals Ruby Bridges became the first black elementary school student at William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans to attend/Angry white parents in protest over integration refused to their kids to the school send/All but one teacher refused to teach a black student/So Ruby had a classroom to herself with 1 on 1 teaching while marshals violence against her would prevent/She was as the marshals claimed a brave little trooper and hero/Looking back at 1960 it is hard to believe so many parents behaved like total zeros.
               Quote by Matthew McConaughey in his role as Coach Jack Lengyel of Marshall University’s Thundering Herd From the Movie We Are Marshall:  “For those of you who may not know, this is the final resting place for six members of the 1970 Thundering Herd. The plane crash that took their lives was so severe, so absolute, that their bodies were unable to be identified. So they were buried here. Together. Six players. Six teammates. Six Sons of Marshall. This is our past, gentlemen. This is where we have been. This is how we got here. This is who we are. Today, I want to talk about our opponent this afternoon. They’re bigger, faster, stronger, more experienced and on paper, they’re just better. And they know it too. But I want to tell you something that they don’t know. They don’t know your heart. I do. I’ve seen it. You have shown it to me. You have shown this coaching staff, your teammates. You have shown yourselves just exactly who you are in here.
              When you take that field today, you’ve got to lay that heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows. And if you do that, if you do that, we cannot lose. We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game but if you play like that we cannot be defeated. Now we came here today to remember six young men and sixty-nine others who will not be on the field with you today, but they will be watching. You can bet your ass that they’ll be gritting their teeth with every snap of that football. You understand me? How you play today, from this moment on is how you will be remembered. This is your opportunity to rise from these ashes and grab glory. We are…

Young Thundering Herd: Marshall!
Jack Lengyel: We are.
Young Thundering Herd: Marshall!
Jack Lengyel: We are!
Young Thundering Herd: Marshall!
Jack Lengyel: The funerals end today!

November 14, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet

www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
Poems on Events of the Day
Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events

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