July 9, 2018 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Martyrdom of the Bab

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For July 9, 2018 Four more boys have been pulled from the cave in Thailand as impending monsoon rains threaten relief effort for remaining four boys and their coach; nation will be riveted tonight on Trump’s pick of a justice to replace Kennedy as conservative groups are prepping millions in ads to support his nominee; Boris Johnson the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary became the third government official to resign in protest over Prime Minister May’s handling of Brexit; it looks like Facebook has caved in to Wes Cook being banned from promoting its song “We Stand For The Flag” (the power of Facebook and Twitter and other social media giants to suppress free speech under algorithms is mindboggling); Starbucks has announced plans to end the use of plastic straws by 2020 at its 28,000 stores worldwide and replace them with recyclable lids that allow sipping; California is moving forward with a bill to require a semester of ethnic studies as a graduation requirement; in a Evel Knievel déjà vu Travis Pastrana repeated three of Knievel’s famous stunts in Las Vegas—jumping over 52 crushed cars, jumping over 16 buses and jumping over the Caesars World Fountains (Evel crashed on this one and almost died); in Chicago which witnessed a march protesting gun violence in neighborhoods of color on Saturday, through July 8, 2018, 1457 people mostly of color have been shot by mostly people of color, of whom 226 have died (when will Chicago 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?).

        As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Carly Jepsen,  factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact you are not mephitic; a relevant quote from Billy Graham on homosexuality, secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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. Martyrdom of the Bab—commemorating the execution of a 30 year old Bahai merchant who was charged with apostasy and executed on July 9, 1850 at Tabriz.       

2. National No Bra Day—not sure where this came from or who sponsored it but guarantee it is not Victoria Secret.

3. 2012 Number One Song— the number one song in 2012 on a run of 12 weeks in that position was “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-rxAic

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “mephitic” which means foul smelling which describes to a tee the corruption at the top level of the FBI concerning its bias against Trump.

5. Still Searching for the Killer?—celebrating or bemoaning depending on your view of life the the birth on this day in 1947 of Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson who was acquitted in the “Trial of the Century” for the murder of his ex wife Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman and is now on parole for a conviction of armed robbery in Las Vegas.

         On this day in: 

a. 1896 William Jennings Bryant at the Democratic National Convention gave his “Cross of Gold” speech which advocated bimetallism.

b. 1922 Johnny Weissmuller broke the record of thee 100 yard freestyle, recording a time of 58.6 seconds.

c. 1944 American forces took the island of Saipan from Japan thereby putting Japanese cities within range of B-29 bombers and causing the fall of the Tojo government.  

d. 1955 the Russell-Einstein Manifesto called for the reduction of the risk of nuclear war.

 e. 1976 the New Zealand Parliament Homosexual Law Reform Act legalizing homosexuality.

    Reflections on the homosexuality: “I think that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, but the Bible also teaches that pride is a sin, jealousy is a sin, and hate is a sin, evil thoughts are a sin. So I don't think that homosexuality should be chosen as the overwhelming sin that we are doing today.” Billy Graham
    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.             

© July 9, 2018 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

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