We are in the third day of winter and the climate warning bells are
going off as at least 26 states are beginning to face monstrous winter storms
of below zero falling temps with blizzards of snow many inches deep cancelling
flights like falling dominos and closing airports like those in NYC. If you are
trudging through the snow and cold from parked car to the Mall stores searching
for last minute Christmas gifts, a time to envy the Humanists who believe in cherished
values like morality, tolerance, freedom, critical reason, and science, but
don't believe in gods to celebrate and promote humanist values, ideals, and
ideas of tolerance, compassion, empathy, honesty, free inquiry, reason, and
rationality with HumanLight, a holiday celebrated today that believes that
humans can create a peaceful, ethical, and enlightened world without any
guidance from deities and is best known for gathering with fellow humanists
over diner, games, and musicxt to impossible to keep. I hope you enjoy today’s Ridley's Believe It
Or Not and find it worthy to read and if not reply “Unsubscribe” to
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Ridley’s Believe It Or Not December 23, 2022
Noted Holiday: National Pfeffernüsse
Day, not sure who created this day and when but it celebrates a small
hard holiday cookie made with spices and a pinch of pepper and often dusted
with sugar and originating in Central Europe.
Word of the Day: The
word of the day is “acroamatic” which means knowledge delivered orally to a
small group of disciples like Christ’s parables spoken to his Disciples.
Number 1 Song of the Day: The
number 1 song on this day in 1996 was “Un-Break My Heart” by Toni Braxton on a run
of 4 weeks to share with 8 other songs achieving number 1 status while 8 acts,
including Toni Braxton, achieved their first number 1 song, Here is a music
video with lyrics of Toni Braxton performing “Un-Break My Heart.”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Rch6WvPJE
Noted
Birthdays: Jim Harbaugh, born on this day in 1963, who played quarterback
for Michigan and 6 NFL teams for 14 seasons before becoming a college coach who
turned around Stanford’s football program and then the 49’ers before returning
as head coach for Michigan where he will lead the undefeated Number 2 Wolverines
in the NCAA Championship Playoffs against Number 3 TCU.
Notable Events that occurred on
December 23
1. 1968—The
82 man officers and crew of the USS Pueblo after being captured in International Waters and
then interned in North Korea were released but the ship still remains in North
Korea as a museum.
2. 1971—Bernard Kouchner and a group of
journalists founded the international aid group Doctors Without Borders in
Paris, France.
3. 1972—The
last of 16 survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 carrying 45 passengers,
including the Old Christians Rugby Union team, and a crew of 5 on a flight from
Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile which had crashed into the Andes
Mountains on October 13, killing 2 of the crew and 9 passengers on impact. An
additional 17 would die from an avalanche, freezing and injuries while
survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism before 2 survivors hiked without
any climbing gear over a 15,360 foot mountain in ten days to reach help who
arrived in two shifts of helicopters on
the 22nd and 23rd to rescue the survivors.
4. 1986—Voyager,
a propeller driven aircraft piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager landed
at Edwards Air Force Base 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds after taking off
from there on December 14, 1986 after a round the world flight without
refueling on the ground or in the air to set a flight endurance record of
26,266 miles.
5. 2002—A U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone
patrolling the no fly zone over Iraq seeking to entice Iraqi warplanes to enter
was shot down by an Iraqi Mig-25 in the first aerial combat between a manned
fighter and a drone when its air to air missile was distracted by the heat seeking
missile fired by the Iraqi Mig-25.
Quote
of the Day: Craig Hosmer, 10 term Red Congressman from California on
the seizure of the USS Pueblo and the interment of its sailors: “…We
went through all the motions of a bluff. We sent the U.S.S. Enterprise, one of
the mightiest warships in the world, steaming toward North Korea. We
called out part of the National Guard. Our Ivy League diplomats and all the
appropriate administration officials made all the appropriate noises in the
appropriate diplomatic language. It was quite possibly the biggest threat
the United States had made since the War of 1812.
If we had threatened
the Soviet Union or the Red Chinese in such terms, there would have
been little doubt that we meant what we were saying. But I guess that the North
Koreans and the world just did not believe that the big, powerful United
States of America would turn the muscle on North Korea. And the bluff
fell flat on its face. Then we stuck our four aces in our pocket and let the
North Koreans keep the pot.
The penny ante gambler beat the billionaire without even openers. The U.S. chickened out. It
is that simple. When the crew of the Pueblo is finally. returned home-and
I pray they will be returned soon-we will have to admit to them that we could
not take the pressure…
Now that the time for
force has long since passed, let us take any steps necessary to effect the
return of those men. We keep hearing about secret negotiations between
the United States and North Korea, but I have difficulty understanding
what is being negotiated. They hold all the cards now, and we are going to have
to get the crew returned on their terms."
Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
Poems on events of the day
Commissioned unique poems
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