June,16 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Sea Turtle Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For June 16, 2016. Unfortunately still 238 days to go in President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term as he appears more petulant every day as his lack of any strategy against radical Islam and his delusional failure to identify it as a major problem to our way of life continues to pile up bodies; the head of the CIA testified that ISIS is not being destroyed contrary to Obama’s delusional comments to the contrary but rather jihadist attacks around the globe will intensify; the New York Times is blaming the Reds for the massacre in Orlando as opposed to the radical Islamist who during shooting breaks was texting and posting his praise of Allah as Obama and Biden are flying off to Orlando to visit the victims and the families of the deceased;  the Blues finally ended their filibuster in the Senate not to delay pending legislation but to protest the lack of any measures on more gun control even as Trump meets with the NRA with the expectation that he will support “No fly, no buy” which, make sure you are sitting down, is garnering some bi-partisan support assuming given the ineptness often seen in the federal government that someone placed on that list erroneously would have the ability to get off; and lastly HRC has opened up the campaign purse and launching an ad campaign in key states.

On the nonpolitical front a massive heat wave is striking a large part of the South and Southwest with temperatures up to 116 degrees; Venezuela continues to implode as a result of its socialist policies, and last but not least as a result of growing evidence of massive doping by Russian athletes in the London Olympics, there is a growing move to ban Russia from the Summer Olympics in Rio (given the threat of the Zika virus many Russian athletes may be saying  “Da, Da, Da!”

On a light note, as always, I hope  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances,  a music link to Paul McCartney and Wings, factoids of interest, a  relevant quote from Tupac Shakur, while looking forward to enjoying a few pieces of fudge (receipt below), blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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 Day of the African Child—honoring since 1991 the victims of the Soweto Uprising on this day in 1976 when over 10,000 black South African children marched to protest the lack of educational opportunities only to see a police response that killed over one hundred protestors. The observance also promotes awareness and efforts to provide today educational access to all Africans.

2. World Sea Turtle Day—created by the World Turtle Conservancy to promote awareness of the need to protect these creatures that have shared this planet with the dinosaurs and who can live, assuming they escaped the birds as they hatch from their eggs and waddle to the ocean, upwards of 150 years. Sadly due to human activity like poaching, stealing of eggs and destruction of habitat, of the 7 species of sea turtles, 6 are endangered including this poet’s namesakes, the Olive Ridley and the Kemp Ridley.                    

3. 1976 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1976 on a run of five weeks in that position “Silly Love Songs” by Paul McCartney and Wings. Here is a link to Paul McCartney and Wings performing “Silly Love Songs.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_9QooYDYtU

4. National Fudge Day—celebrating a confection unique to America, appearing  in 1886; obviously available in most grocery stored but if you want to make it, here is a recipe that dates back to 1886; http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/candy/old/history-of-fudge2.asp#recipes Bon appétit!   

5. You Can Move a Singer Out of the Ghetto but Not the Ghetto Out of the Singer—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1971 of rapper Tupac Shakur who sold over 75 million albums but could not escape the gang code of revenge and after Shakur assaulted a member of the Crips, it is believed the gang sought revenge and he was killed months later in September of 1966   in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.  

On this day in:

a. 1858 as this nation began its accelerating march to the deadliest war in our history, Abraham Lincoln gave his A House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.

b. 1897 in an Aloha moment a treaty was signed between Hawaii and the United States annexing Hawaii into the United States.   

c. 1933 in an attempt to lift this country out of the Great Depression the National Industrial Recovery Act was passed designed to regulate industries to end depression and create public works projects; although initially it enjoyed support, that support evaporated as regulations started coming out of Washington and the law was put out of its misery by SCOTUS that declared in unconstitutional in 1935.

d. 1967 in a musical concert not eclipsed until Woodstock in terms of impact, the three day Monterey Pop Festival opened, featuring the first major American appearance of Jimi Hendrix (later to die of an overdose), the Who (member Keith Moon later to die of an overdose), Janis Joplin (later to die of an overdose) and Otis Redding and the heralded as the kickoff to the “Summer of Love.”

e. 1977 Oracle Computer Corporation was incorporated in Redwood City, California as Software Development Laboratory by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.

Reflections from the grave by Tupac Shakur: “My mama always used to tell me, ‘If you can't find somethin’ to live for, you best find somethin’ to die for’.” Wise words but not sure what Tupac was dying for as a promising musical career and soon to be marriage  was cut short far too early.  
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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