Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For December 31, 2018 Trump is
fighting the Blues tooth and nail over the need for a border wall and was helped by the hypocrisy of one Barack
Obama whose residence is well protected by a ten foot wall but the citizens of
this country have to without (what a flaming hypocrite); Lindsay Graham who was
a critic of Trump’s Syria withdrawal strategy emerged from a lunch with the
president indicating he feels much better; Louis C.K. a standup comedian who
faced allegations this year of sexual harassment is in the news unfavorably,
caught on audible mocking survivors of the Parkland school mass murder (good
way to ruin a career with a double whammy of sexual harassment and contempt for
shooting survivors); it’s going to be a cold, wet miserable night in Time’s
Square as a major storm is expected to hit the East Coast; Sanders campaign may
be in derail mode before even starting as former staffers on his 2016 have
written to him requesting a meeting to discuss the predatory nature of his campaign
(he needs a sexual predatory charge like the proverbial hole in the head); on
the sports front, the Colts with Andrew Luck humming on all cylinders came back
from a 1-5 start at the season to beat the Titans and make it into the playoffs,
only the second team in history to do that; on the space front NASA’s New
Horizons probe which was launched ten years ago is set to fly past Ultima Thule
a small planet 30 miles across that is a billion miles further past Pluto in
the Kuiper belt within 2,000 miles (amazing feat of navigation); the minimum
wage will rise in 20 states and 21 cities effective January 1 (it will be
interesting to see whether the increase is offset by people being laid off); a
federal district judge in Texas as issued a stay order while the decision
outlawing it because of the repeal of the individual mandate (another casualty
of the Republican Senate failing by one vote to repeal and replace); only one
day left to see if Chicago death toll cracks 500 in 2018 as through December 29, 2018, 2948 people
mostly of color have been shot by mostly people of color, of whom 493 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 Diana
Ross and the Supremes, factoids of interest for this day in history, the
fact that no dark clouds are obtenebrating over you and a relevant quote from Hahmet Murat Ildan on the New Year, 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. New Year's Eve—celebrating the end of the year, hopefully if driving to or from
a celebration in a safe and sane manor.
2. National Champagne Day—appropriate holiday as champagne is toasted when the clock strikes
midnight, “Auld Lang Syne” is sung and one’s date or spouse is kissed.
3. 1986 Number One Song— the number one song on this day in 1986 on a run of 1 week
in that position was “Someday We’ll Be Together” by Diana Ross and the
Supremes. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixEOMB6jyEE
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day as we move from words beginning with
“n” to words beginning with “o” is “obtenebrate” which means to cast
a shadow over which is exactly what a major trade war with China will do to our
economy.
5. Queen of Disco--celebrating the birth on this day in 1948 of noted and
successful singer LaDonna Adrian Gaines better known as Donna Summer who sold
over 100 million records and although a nonsmoker died at age 63 from lung
cancer that she believed was caused by the smoke and ash she was exposed to on
9/11.
On this day in:
a. 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease at £45 a year
and began to the delight of beer lovers brewing Guinness beer.
b. 1907 the first
New Year’s Eve celebration was held in Times Square (then known as Longacre
Square).
c. 1951 the Marshall Plan was disbanded after distributing $13.1
billion of foreign aid to the devastated countries of Western Europe (worth $128.45
billion in today’s dollars).
d. 1983 the AT&T
Bell System was broken up by the U.S. Department of Justice.
e. 2018 Valletta,
Malta and Leeuwarden, the Netherlands became the European Capitals for Culture
for 2018.
Reflections on New Year’s Eve: “The New Year is a
painting not yet painted; a path not yet stepped on; a wing not yet taken off!
Things haven’t happened as yet! Before the clock strikes twelve, remember that
you are blessed with the ability to reshape your life!” Mehmet Murat ildan,
noted contemporary playwright, author and thinker.
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.
© December 31, 2018, Michael P. Ridley aka the
Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
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