Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For August 17, 2017 Terrorism is alive and well in Europe as a van in
Barcelona drove on to a crowded pedestrian walkway killing 13 and injuring 100 pedestrians
but although police have in custody two suspects that may be linked the driver
of the van is still at lose (please capture him alive for intel purposes); on
the domestic terror front, Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle Nadal, an African American,
posted on her Facebook that she hopes Trump will be assassinated (when will
these rabid hatemongers tone down their dog whistle
rhetoric and when will the Secret Service pay this idiot a visit?); Trump
instead of letting the furor over his blaming both sides for the Charlottesville
riot subside cannot help himself and is tweeting about the loss of the beautiful
Confederate statues as more and more demands are coming forth to in essence air
brush history and remove them from public places; HRC’s new book What Happened is set to be released next
month and will tout her delusional claims that she lost the election because of
Russian meddling and Comey’s reopening the investigation (more and more
Democrats are coming out against her as an impediment to the party moving
forward and one would hope that no one is dumb enough to read her delusions);
on the healthcare insurance front while the three Benedict Senators Collins,
McCain, and Murkowski are soaking up the vacation sun with their other MIA
colleagues, if a mere mortal living in Iowa look for a premium increase from
the sole ACA insurer in that state of 57%; on the teacher sex scandal front
Melissa Bonkoski a high school science teacher in the Pottstown area of
Pennsylvania has been arrested for having sex multiple times with one of her
students; on the life is precious front, a man drowned on Lake Superior when
the boat he was in spreading his father’s ashes turned over; on the PC front it
appears that our English cousin is not immune from the curse as after the
conviction of 16 British-Pakistanis for rape and sexual abuse of girls, Sarah
Champion wrote an article condemning British-Pakistani men who sexually attack
or abuse white girls and was forced to resign from the British government; through
August 16, 2017 in Chicago the number of people being shot climbed to 2359, 411
of whom have died.
As always,
I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to LMFAO,
factoids of interest for this day in history, a relevant quote by Russell Brand
on addiction, looking forward to watching the jacks go by on the ocean or lake, secure in the knowledge
that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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. National Balloon Airmail Day—commemorating
the first attempt on this day in 1859 to use hot air balloons as a means of
delivering mail from Indiana to New York City, a attempt which failed as the
winds were not blowing in the right direction so after 30 miles John Wisewith
the 123 letters he was carrying was forced to land.
2. National
Black Cat Appreciation Day—celebrated
since 2011 to help pet owners with black cats to overcome the superstition
here in the U.S. that if a black cat
crosses your path misfortune will follow as opposed to in Japan and Great
Britain where black cats are prized; on another day in which holidays are few
and far between pleased that the holiday is not celebrated on Halloween.
3. 2011 Number One Song—the number one song in 2011
on a run of 6 weeks in that position was “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO
featuring Lauren Bennet and GoonRock. Here is the performance of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “jack” which
for you non nautical types means means a ship’s flag flown from the bow of a
ship from its jack-staff (twofer for words).
5. Nothing
Like A War To Cheat Death—celebrating the birth on this day in
1890 of Harry Hopkins one of FDR’s closest and trusted advisers who was instrumental
in creating many of the New Deal programs including the WPA; diagnosed with
stomach cancer in 1939 resulting in a surgery that removed 75% of his stomach
and was told several months later he had 4 weeks to live but World War II
galvanized him and his running the Lend Lease Program and attending conferences
with Allied leaders to the point that he proved the doctors wrong, dying on
January 29, 1946 some 9 months after FDR’s death.
On this day in:
a. 1907 Pike Place
Market, now a popular tourist attraction and historical site, opened (since the
first Starbucks is located there you now know why the coffee served after the
early morning hours is called Pikes).
b. 1953 the first
meeting of Narcotics Anonymous was held in Los Angeles.
c. 1958 the U.S.
launched Pioneer O on top a Thor-Able rocket in the first attempt by any nation
to put a satellite into a lunar orbit; unfortunately the attempt failed 73.6
seconds after liftoff sending the rocket back to the Atlantic Ocean.
d. 1970 we beat the
Soviets to the Moon but they launched Venera 7 which was a probe that later landed
on the surface of Venus and became the first man made object to transmit data
from another planet.
e. 1998 President
Clinton admitted in a taped interview that he had had an “improper physical relationship”
with Monica Lewinsky and later in the day on national TV he admitted to the
American people that he had “misled them” about that relationship (the thought
of Bill Clinton even if slowed down by surgery roaming the halls of the White
House in search of prey is certainly a frightening thought).
Reflections
that NA does work from a recovered addict “The mentality and behavior of drug
addicts and alcoholics is wholly irrational until you understand that they are
completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help,
they have no hope.” Russell Brand noted English actor and comedian who will hopefully
celebrate 15 years of sobriety on December 13th of this year. 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.
© August
17, 2017, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive Lasting Lift
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive Lasting Lift
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