October 20, 2018 Ridley's Believe It Or Not World Osteoporosis Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For October 20, 2018 Trump’s tough stand on immigration has gotten tougher as he is threatening to tear up the recently negotiated trade deal with Mexico if Mexico does not enforce its border to stop the caravan of thousands of Central American refugees seeking to flood our southern border (caravan has swollen to 4,000 as the southern border is awash with 41,000 illegals being apprehended by the Border Patrol in September); Senator McConnell was confronted by angry protestors while at a restaurant in Louisville but here supporters were shouting back at the protestors to “Leave him alone!”; diplomats from Cuba and Bolivia disrupted a U.S. sponsored event on the plight of political prisoners in Cuba prompting a demand from  Ambassador Haley that the Secretary General of the UN punish them for trying to shut down the event; Dean Cain has slammed Rosie O’Donnell for her demand that the U.S. military remove Trump from the White House for his threat to send the military to the border to stop the caravan from Central America from entering this country; Trump held a large rally in Arizona in support of McSally’s race against Taliban supporter Sinema and heads to Nevada today to support Heller in his races for the Senate; in a glaring rebuke of nationalism the European Court of Justice has blocked enforcement of Poland’s recently passed legislation that reduced the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 65 and ordered the reinstatement of 20 judges who had been removed due to age (wonder if this bodes well for a Polexit referendum); Saudi Arabia has finally fessed up to killing the Washington Post journalist in its consulate in Turkey but has not indicated where the body was disposed as Congress is clamoring for the truth and voicing the need for sanctions of some sort; Joe Scarborough who suffers big time from Trump Derangement Syndrome ignoring the fact that Trump enjoys being president and campaigning for Reds believes that Trump will not run in 2020; Emanuel’s announcement that he will not seek reelection has not curbed the gun violence as through October 19, 2018, 2462 people mostly of color have been shot by mostly people of color, of whom 407 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 mostly people of color by mostly people of color).

        As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Lorde, factoids of interest for this day in history, the fact that you are looking forward to enjoying a serving of kerka and a relevant quote from Harry S. Truman on how not to fight Communism, 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. World Osteoporosis Day—created by the United Kingdom in 1996 to promote awareness of osteoporosis, its prevention and treatment; a person with osteoporosis is at greater risk of falling and fracture which can be deadly for senior citizens.

2. International Day of the Air Traffic Controller—created by the Federation of Air Traffic Controllers in 1961 to honor the work of air traffic controllers who work to keep air travel safe.

3. 2012 Number One Song— the number one song in 2012 on a run of 9 weeks in that position was “Royals” by Lorde. Here is a recording of the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlcIKh6sBtc

4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with “m” to words beginning with “n” is “nerka” which means a sockeye salmon, a really tasty salmon perfect for grilling or poaching and high in fish oil.

5. You Cannot Run Down a Dream in a Pill Bottle—celebrating the birth on this day in 1950 of noted singer and songwriter Tom Petty who strummed his last chord too early from an overdose of opioids on October 2, 2017.

    On this day in: 

a. 1947 the House Un-American Activities Committee started to investigate Communist infiltration in the film business resulting in a blacklist that kept many performers and writers from working for many years.

b. 1972 Governor Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency Kenya and started arresting hundreds suspected in the Mau Mau uprising including the future president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.

c. 1973 the Sydney Opera House was opened for business by Queen Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.

d. 1977 Lynyrd Skinyrd’s plane crashed after running out of fuel in Mississippi killing Ronnie Van Sant and Peter Gaines and injuring several other band members.

e. 2011 in Libya National Transitional Forces captured Muammar Gaddafi in his home town of Sirte and killed him shortly thereafter.

Reflections on McCarthyism that allowed HUAC to thrive with its Hollywood anti-Communist witch-hunt: “[we are] going to continue to fight communism. Now I am going to tell you how we are not going to fight communism. We are not going to transform our fine FBI into a Gestapo secret police. That is what some people would like to do. We are not going to try to control what our people read and say and think. We are not going to turn the United States into a right-wing totalitarian country in order to deal with a left-wing

totalitarian threat.” Harry S. Truman.
  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 www.Alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com for just This Day in History.

© October 20, 2018 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

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