December 18, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not UN Arabic Language Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For December 18, 2016 The chickens of another failed Obama foreign policy come home to roost as Aleppo falls as Russians have replaced us as the new sheriff and power in the Middle East; Michelle Obama in a classless anti Trump snit that America is now without hope (what a crock of you know what from her garden-- http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2016/12/michelle-is-out-unhealthy-non-accepting.html; don’t hold your breath but our feckless CinC is pledging a cyber counterattack on Russia for its hacking of the DNC and Hillary’s campaign (what should outrage us more that fact that Podesta was hacked or what the hacks revealed?); Podesta remains out to lunch asserting that Russians hacked the DNC because they wanted Trump to win so he could by Putin’s lap dog (the only dog on the campaign was Hillary arfing like one); in a 20/20 is always better AG Lynch admitted that she regretted her secret meeting with Bill Clinton aboard her private plane in Phoenix (did she regret because it raised valid questions of impartiality or because it was another bale of straw loaded onto a heavily loaded camel’s back?); 769 homicides in Chicago as of December 17, 2016 when 4 people in Chicago’s South Side were added to the butchers bill (the only slim silver lining in this storm cloud of death is that if the daily murder rate average for this year of 2.2 continues, Chicago will by only 2 additional victims not reach 800 homicides); in another chilling reminder of why a wall must be built with sensors to detect the construction of tunnels, the head of the CDC warned that we are facing an pandemic of fatal overdoses from opiods (one of the reasons perhaps why our life expectancy was flat or slightly declined as overdose victims are more likely than not teens or young adults.

          As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances,  a music link to the Supremes, factoids of interest for this day in history, a relevant quote from Richard Flanagan, while trying to banish the image of a young piglet taken from its mother so you can enjoy a roast suckling pig dinner, 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 Migrants Day—created by the UN General Assembly in 2000 to highlight the problems facing migrants fleeing civil war, religious persecution and poverty more visible that ever before in the Middle East as millions are fleeing to escape the carnage in Syria and Iraq caused by the Syrian Civil War and ISIS.

 2. UN Arabic Language Day—celebrating since 1973 the adoption by the UN of Arabic as one of its official languages (regardless of what language used it seems that a lot of what you hear at the UN comes from the Tower of Babel.

3. 1964 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1964 on a run of 4 weeks in that position “Come See About Me” by the Supremes.  Here is a recording of the Supremes performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW0FzANIAyk

4. National Suckling Pig Day—celebrating what would help push people into becoming vegetarians—the practice of slaughtering a piglet between the age of 2 to 6 weeks and roasting it whole.  

5. Always a Man behind a Camera from an Early Age—celebrating the birth on this day in 1946 of iconic director and producer Steven Spielberg noted for such award winning films as Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List and Jaws who was shooting movies with an 8 millimeter camera at the age of 12. 

On this day in:                                                                                   

a. 1958 the United States successfully launched into orbit Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite which broadcasted this tape recorded message from space by President Eisenhower: “This is the President of the United States speaking. Through the marvels of scientific advance, my voice is coming to you from a satellite circling in outer space. My message is a simple one: Through this unique means I convey to you and to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill toward men everywhere."

b. 1972 in what we should have years ago to force the North Vietnamese to come to the table, Richard Nixon announced the recommencement of B-52 bombing raids on North Vietnam which lasted for 11 days called Linebacker II after the Paris Peace Talks had collapsed.
c. 1990 the UN Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Their Families was adopted. d. 1978 Cleveland became the first major American city since the Great Depression to default on its bond obligations.   

d. 2002 Governor Gray Davis announced that the budget deficit for California would be $35 billion almost double what had been projected over a month prior during his reelection campaign; recall petitions were circulated and in a special recall election on October 7, 2003, Gray Davis became the first governor in California to be recalled and replaced with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

e. 2015 marking an end of an era of industrialization the Kellingley Colliery, England’s last deep coal mine was closed.

Reflections on migrants: “We're a migrant nation made up of people who've been torn out of other worlds, and you'd think we would have some compassion.” Richard Flanagan noted Australian author 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.

© December 18, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 

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