The death count in Maui still stands
at 114 with 85% of the burn area having been searched by a plethora of first
responders aided by 41 cadaver dogs but the missing number is still hovering
around 1000. Power has largely been restored to the island. In terms of
recovery the good news is that in the resort areas of Ka’anapali and Wailea the resorts there were closed due to
power outages but not damaged by the wildfires. Witnesses are coming forward indicating
that at the start of the fire that destroyed Lahaina, it was extinguished by
firefighters who rather than staying to prevent a flareup left as the embers
from the winds reignited to quickly spread to destroy most of Lahaina.
42 million are in the path of Tropical Storm
Hilary which as of 8:00 A.M. this morning was 225 miles southeast of San Diego
moving at 25 m.p.h. with maximum sustained winds of 70 m.p.h. and which has
started to drop intermittent rain with the deluge expected later this afternoon
or early evening. Flash flood warnings for Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach
are in effect until 7:45 P.M. L.A. was pushing pedal to the metal to move L.A.’s
large homeless population into temporary shelters especially those living along
the dry riverbeds that will turn into deadly raging torrents.
In the World Cup Finals played between
Spain and England at 3:00 A.M. this
morning, Spain won its first World Cup title, overcoming a revolt by 18 players
protesting Coach Jorge Vilda’s lack of professionalism, requiring bus travel
when given the distances planes would have been appropriate and other
grievances documented in 15 identical e-mails sent to the Royal Spanish Soccer
Federation that sided with the coach. MLB fearing game cancellations due to
Hilary, canceled 3 games scheduled for Sunday and played them as part of a doubleheader
on Saturday but the Los Angeles Chargers playing the New Orleans Saints are
playing today at 4:00 P.M. in SoFi Stadium which is a 70,240 seat indoor
stadium free from Hilary’s rain although driving there and leaving there could
be a bit dicey.
On the crime front John Chachas,
the CEO of Gump’s, an iconic retailer in Feces City for 165 years posted a full
page ad in the form of an open letter to Governor Newsom, Mayor Breed and the
SFO Board of Supervisors blasting them for a
“…litany of destructive San Francisco strategies, including allowing the
homeless to occupy our sidewalks, to openly distribute and use illegal drugs,
to harass the public and to defile the city's streets. Such abject disregard for civilized
conduct makes San Francisco unlivable for its residents, unsafe for our
employees, and unwelcoming to visitors from around the world.” If not rectified
Gump’s will relocate outside of California. At Woody’s Smokehouse in
Centerville, Texas, Craig Anderson entered and began harassing customers and
then entered the restroom to assault and knock an elderly patron unconscious. A
Good Sam entered to try to stop the attacks on a unconscious senior and was
attacked causing him to draw his permitted concealed weapon and shoot him in
the arm causing him to flee to be picked up down the road and hospitalized with
charges pending.
On the political front, up and
coming presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy now could be careless whether Trump
skips early debates or not. Biden was being castigated by a NBC panel on Sunday
for having dismal polling records and beginning to look more like Hillary in
2016. Republicans have introduced the Finish It Act designed to transfer
millions of dollars of Wall material that has been stored since the day Biden took office and halted
construction to the stat
who will use it to complete unfinished sections but Biden has been quietly auctioning materials
off. August 20, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
Noted Holidays:
National Bacon Lovers Day: Savor the Sizzle on this day since October
20, 2020 by enjoying one of the world’s oldest processed meats since the
Chinese started salting pork bellies in 1500 B.C.
Word
of the Day: The word of the day is “astatic” which
means unsteady or unstable which might described the gait of someone who has
had one too many.
Song of the
Day: The number 1 song on this day in 2011 was “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO feat
Lauren Bennett and GoonRock on a run of 6 weeks to share number 1 status with 13
other songs achieving number 1 ranking while 9 acts, including LMFAO, Lauren
Bennett and GoonRock, achieved number one status for the first time. Here is a
music video of LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock performing “Party Rock Anthem”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8
August
20 Birthdays: “Selling Detergent”—Jacqueline Susann, Born on this day in 1918 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
was a noted actress and successful novelist with the distinction of having 3 of
her novels be consecutively on the New York Times Best Sellers List. A
heavy chain smoker who had a radical mastectomy for breast cancer at age 44 in
1962 and made a pact with God that if He would give her 10 good years she would
become a bestselling author which she became and dodged the Helter Skelter
bullet when she decided not to go to Sharon Tate’s dinner party the night she
was killed since Rex Reid was in town to visit. Relentlessly marketed her
novels with a motto that “A new book is like a new brand of detergent. You
have to let the public know about it. What's wrong with that?” Seeing a
doctor due to a persistent cough before embarking on a book sales tour, she
checked into a hospital on January 11, 1973 and was diagnosed as having lung cancer on January
18 and began cobalt and chemotherapy but despite that the cancer spread and she
was hospitalized again with her last words to her husband Irving Mansfield of
over 35 years before lapsing into a coma and dying on September 21, 1974 were “Hey
doll, let’s get the hell out of this place.”
August 20 Historical Events in Rhyme
1. On
this day in 2020 Joe Biden aping his reluctance on the campaign trail/From
personally appearing at the DNC National Convention bailed/The strategy when
applied after to the general campaign was a success/Away from the public tethered
to a teleprompter much easier to conceal his cognitive abilities becoming less.
2. On
this day in 1991 100,000 Russian citizens took to the streets/To the attempted
coup by Communist Party hard liners to a coup of Gorbachev defeat/As the Soviet
Union was shedding Socialist Soviets Republics like a bad case of dandruff/ The
attempted failed as outraged citizens and the military were saying enough
3. On this day in 1968/the
Soviet Bear and all Warsaw Pact Puppets other than Albania and Romania invaded Czechoslovakia
to the “Prague Spring” abate/ Alexander Dubček’s idea of socialism
with a kind face/With the force of Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces was quickly
effaced/The pain living under Soviet Communist rule was quickly revealed/As
70,000 quickly fled fearing the border would be sealed.
4. On
this day in 1940 in Mexico Leon Trotsky/Learned the awful truth that from the
wrath of Stalin you could not flee/Struck in the back of the head with an ice
ax by an agent of the KGB/ Ramón Mercader who would spend 20 years in
prison before the outside of a cell he would see.
5. On
this day in 1938 Lou Gehrig hit his 23rd home run with the bases
loaded/Only in 1939 to see his muscle functions by a disease that would bear
his name be eroded/Forced to retire as the “Luckiest Man on Earth” with a record
for longest number of consecutive games and grand slams would for years passing
attempts withstand/Both of which should be marked with “retired early from ALS ampersands”/
Cal Ripken, Jr. had more games in a season to play/Likewise A-Rod more games to
his 25 grand slams display.
Famous Quote on Prague’s Prague Spring
Agenda-Alexander Dubcek: “In the economic sphere, the program demanded
thorough decentralization and managerial independence of enterprises, as well
as legalization of small-scale private enterprise, especially in the service
sector.”
© August
20, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
Poems on Events of the Day
Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events
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