Wednesday, August 23, 2023

August 23, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not

 

               On the disaster front, Hilary has been downgraded to a post cyclone and has left California and Nevada in cleanup mode removing debris from flash flooded streets and road and dousing Oregon and Idaho with 1-2” of torrential rainfall. As one tropical storm has left, another one Harold has made landfall in Texas bringing with it 3 -5” rain and power outages due to the wind as it weakens and moves to Mexico where it is expected to dump 10” of rain. The death count in Maui remains at 115 but with searchers aided by cadaver dogs ridiculed with Biden’s  classless joke on their boots now searching multi-story structures, look for the death count to grow higher as searchers face the difficult issue of determining human remains from victims burned to ashes.
               On the political front 8 candidates excluding Trump will be on the stage for the first Red Presidential Primary debates with Governor Doug Burgum aping former President Obama and injuring his leg in a pickup basketball game on Tuesday appearing on crutches and Niki Haley blasting Vivek Ramaswamy for his ending support of Taiwan after 2028 and Rick Scott for not stepping up to the plate on banning TikTok. On an issue that deeply divides this nation, Nikki Haley seems to be an outlier as she supports a federal ban on abortion which an overwhelming majority of Americans support in the first trimester. Question of the day will be when will the indictment baggage causes candidates to dump supporting Trump.
              On the crime front, students starting classes at Yale in crime ridden New Haven are receiving warning pamphlets that New Haven is a high crime dangerous place and advising them to stay off the streets after 8:00 p.m. and never walk alone, warnings which the Blue Mayor of New Haven ridiculed. 53 year old Kimberly Coates a third grade elementary school teacher in Perkins, Oklahoma was arrested on the first day of school for TUI, teaching under the influence. In Pittsburgh, police trying to serve an eviction notice were met by gunfire by a suspect who barricaded himself in his house and was shooting down police drones. No word on police or civilian casualties but the subject is now deceased. In Pittsburgh, carjacking is dangerous for both victim and thankfully the carjacker as an armed carjacker tried to steal and off duty corrections officer’s BMW only to have her draw her service revolver and shoot the carjacker while being wounded.
             On the climate change front BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, true to its fiduciary obligations and explaining the low quality of the shareholder resolutions voted on, voted no on 93% of the social and climate shareholder resolutions.
             On the Ukraine War, news out of Russia which can be taken with a grain of salt is that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head the Wagner Group, a mercenary army, has died in a private jet crash. If the news is true it enhances the idea that any one who fights or disagrees with Putin, does so at great risk to his life. The Ukraine counteroffensive that the West placed such great hope is still advancing albeit slowed down significantly given the depth and lethality of Russian defenses.
               Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North Of Richmond” continues to rein in thousands of viewers to the point he is now making $40,000 a day and may have to come out with a sequel “Rich Men South Of Richmond.” He has just released another song that also appeals to the generations of the non-elites who feal abandoned and despised by their government led by college educated in elite schools: “I Want to Go Home.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQe7gtjoCw8 The song has already received one million views and lavish praise by Ted Cruz.
               On the Blue primary front, the DNC has already proclaimed before a single vote has been cast that Biden linked to his campaign corpse Kamala Harris has won the nomination ignoring the disturbing fact that a majority of his party believe he is mentally and physically not up to the task.
              August 23, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
              Noted Holidays: National Cuban Sandwich Day: Created on this day in 2016 by Christopher Spata, a culture reporter for the Tampa Bay Times to promote the Cuban Sandwich aka the Cubano which is  a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich with Cuban bread, hot pressed and sliced to 8 or 12 inches in length, then cut in half horizontally. The outside crust is often buttered or brushed with olive oil, and yellow mustard is spread on the inside. Sliced roast pork—sometimes marinated in mojo—glazed ham, Swiss cheese, and thinly sliced dill pickles are layered on the mustard. Genoa salami is sometimes added too. It can be served hot or cold.
              Word of the Day: The word of the day is “astrobolism” which means sunstroke, which in triple digit weather in large parts of the U.S. are cursed to have, can be deadly if the victim is not hydrated and cooled down.
              Song of the Day: The number 1 song on this day in 2008 was  “Disturbia” by Rihanna on a run of 2 weeks to share number 1 status with 13 other songs achieving number 1 ranking while 7 acts, including Static Major posthumously, who achieved  number one status for the first time. Here is a music video with lyrics of Rihanna  performing “Disturbia”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC2nSSK6LY0
              August 23 Birthdays: “The Phoenix Does Not Rise From Speedball Ashes”—River Phoenix, Born on this day in 1970 in Madras, Oregon was a noted childhood actor and pitchman and bridged the gap to be moving upward on his acting career and starting songwriting. Sadly he was fighting addiction and overdosed on a speedball at the Viper Room, a Hollywood Night Club on October 30, 1993 to be rushed to the hospital by paramedics to die there at 1:51 A.M. on October 31, 1993.
              August 23  Historical Events in Rhyme
              1.     On this day in 2011 the anti-Khadafi forces with NATO air strikes/ Attacking his base of operations at Tripoli at  Bab al-Azizia were forcing him to take a hike/The base in Tripoli on this day would fall/Khadafi on his removal must have seen the writing on the wall/Fleeing to his home of Sirte from the rebel forces and NATO he could not hide/On October 20, 2011 he was captured and quickly died.
               2.     On this day in 1994 in an act of what took us so long?/The only African-American pilot was commissioned an Air Force Lieutenant though to that force he could not belong/ Eugene Bullard was serving with the Layfette Flying Corps/Flew 20 combat missions shot down 2 German planes but when the U.S. entered the war/ To fight in WWI they needed not fewer pilots but many more/But because he was black the Army Air Force closed the admission door.
              3.     On this day in 1991 the World Wide Web was opened royalty free on the internet/Which created an explosion of communications, data exchange and commerce never seen yet/Social media would explode and the world in terms of communications would become very small/Sadly at the price of tearing down much of our privacy walls.
              4.      On this day in 1990 Saddam Hussein thumbed his nose at the UN and the Geneva Convention/Had 800 foreign citizens held hostage around military installations in Baghdad to prevent air craft strike intervention/The world was outraged and he took the hint/Knew he would face being a war criminal and his punishment would not be limited to a prison stint/His gambit failed and the hostages were released/The bombs and missiles on Iraqi targets would start raining on January 17 and not until February 28 would they cease.
              5.      On this day in 1942 the battle for Stalingrad commenced/The blitzkrieg of the 6th Army slowed to a halt in the Soviet stubborn from the rubble defense/In house to house fighting the Germans were bled white/Ignorant that Zhukov was bringing massive reinforcements to the fight/Von Paulus ignored the danger on his flanks/With weak allied forces not strong enough to ward off the encircling Soviet tanks/Refused permission to break out of the encirclement/On February 3, 1943 the Germans surrendered and 91,000 prisoner to the prisoner of war camps were sent.
             Famous Quotes on the Battle of Stalingrad Vasily Chuikov, Commander of Soviet Forces in Stalingrad: The heavy casualties, the constant retreat, the shortage of food and munitions, the difficulty of receiving reinforcements... all this had a very bad effect on morale. Many longed to get across the Volga, to escape the Hell of Stalingrad”
             Adolf Hitler in response to Von Paulus’ request to surrender: “Surrender is forbidden. Sixth Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution toward the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world.”
© August 23, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
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