Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For March 31, 2020 the CV continues
unabated with 803,650 cases worldwide and 39,033 deaths while in the U.S. which
now ranks 1st in total number of cases, the number of cases has risen to 164,
785 and 3,173 deaths (as an example of how contagious the CV is, the USS Theodore Roosevelt which only days ago
had 3 positive tests now has 200 with its commander calling for the entire crew
to be quarantined) as the Dow closed the quarter on its worst loss in history
as businesses are furloughing workers faster than a man with a bad case of
psoriasis is trying to shed his dandruff, Trump is calling for a massive $2
trillion infrastructure calling solely to be focused on jobs and construction
(hope Pelosi and her Blues with all their social goodies they tried and failed
to get into the recent stimulus are listening as opposed to putting forth ideas
not related to job creation that will be DOA in the Senate); the NHS Comfort with its 1,000 beds has docked
in New York City and will beginning to take on board non CV patients (sadly
massive crowds of onlookers, violating all norms and rules of needed social
distancing, welcomed her and probably passed on additional cases which NYC does
not need); Amazon is in potential hot water in New York for firing the leader
of the walkout of its facility on Staten Island for alleged unsafe working
conditions prompting a call from the state’s AG to investigate; AOC is not
skipping a beat to extract political advantage out of the CV pandemic as she blasts
Cuomo for suspending mortgage payments for 90 days but not rent payments
although the governor has indicated no one will be evicted for 90 days due to
nonpayment of rent (not to be outdone she also blasted Trump for not giving
stimulus checks to illegal aliens); in a good news bad news segment for hard
hit Italy, the country posted the lowest increase in deaths in 2 weeks amid
news of riots and unrest in the South of the nation due to the economic
collapse; the lying “It’s the Video” Queen Susan Rice ranted against Trump that
he can’t stomach a strong black woman after a contentious exchange with Yamiche
Alcindor at yesterday’s CV status conference (problem is that Rice has zero
credibility); in Chicago, as of March 30, 2020, 522 people have been shot of
whom 89 have died but in a minor miracle no deaths in the last two days;
Baltimore with a fraction of Chicago’s population and hoping against all hopes
that 2020 will not be a record in terms of deaths is 20 behind Chicago with 69
murders (when will Chicago and Baltimore 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 and when will the
left focus on the problem of color on color shootings in Blue run cities which
have been more deadly and more numerous than random mass shootings?).
As always, I hope you enjoy today’s
holidays and observances, factoids of interest for this day in history, a
musical link to John Denver, the fact you do not suffer from oniomania, a
quote by Lyndon Johnson on a second term as president, secure
in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events
like Father’s Day, 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. International Day of Transgender Visibility—created
by activist Rachel Crandall in 2009 to promote awareness of the issues,
including discrimination, facing the LBGT community.
2. World Backup Day—celebrated on the 31st
of March to cause people to back up their computer data so they do not wake up
to April 1 as a fool with no stored data.
3. 1974
Number 1 Number One Song— the number one song in 1974 on
this day on a run of 1 week in the position was “Sunshine on My Shoulders” by John
Denver. Here is a recording of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diwuu_r6GJE.
The Sunshine turned into foul weather and he crashed his Rutan Long-EZ
experimental plane at the Monterrey Airport practicing touch and go landings on
October 12, 1997.
4. Word of the Day—today’s word of the day is “oniomania”
which means an uncontrollable urge to make purchases which is not a good trait
to have as we slide into a potential recession.
5. Big
Carbon—celebrating or bemoaning the birth on this day in 1948 of Al
Gore, former senator, vice president, failed presidential candidate, Nobel
Peace Prize winner, self-proclaimed inventor of the internet and hypocritical environmentalist
with one of the larger carbon footprints on the planet.
On this day
in:
a. 1951
Remington Rand delivered its first UNIVAC1 to the U.S. Census Bureau.
b. 1968 President Johnson after addressing the nation on TV on the
Vietnam War startled his audience by ending with “I chose not to run and if
nominated, I will not accept my party’s nomination for another term as your
president.”
c.
1992 the USS Missouri, the last
serving battleship in the U.S. Navy was decommissioned in Long Beach,
California and was later sent to Pearl Harbor where she is a floating museum.
d. 1995 up and coming singer
Selena was shot and killed by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, in
Corpus Christi, Texas after allegations she was embezzling money from the fan
club; Ms. Saldivar was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with
possibility of parole and will be eligible for parole on March 31, 2025.
e. 1998 Netscape released the
browser Mozilla source code under an open source license.
Reflections we would do well
to heed as we are in a war with an unseen enemy: “I have concluded that I
should not permit the presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions
that are developing in this political year. With America’s sons in the fields
far away, with America’s future under challenge right here at home, with our
hopes and the world’s hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not
believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal
partisan causes, or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office
— the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and will not
accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”
President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 31, 1968
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.
©
March 31, 2020 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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