Thursday, November 30, 2023

November 28, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not

 

                On  the antisemitism front which has exploded on college campuses since the brutal slaughter invasion coupled with rape, kidnapping, killing and mutilation of Jews starting on October 7, Jews on campus are finally saying enough and filing suit against UC Berkeley for its rising tide of antisemitism and failure to protect Jewish students from hate crimes on campus
               On the Hamas Israeli ceasefire front that was to have expired, Hamas has indicated it will release 10 more hostages which if it occurs will mean 79 hostages have been released and it appears that the ceasefire will be extended another 2 more days raising questions of how long Israel can have so many reservists called up and basically  standing down before the economy starts suffering and the IDF starts losing its combat efficiency.
               On Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo front after taking a leave of absence to combat depression that may be induced due to her be revealed as a Blue biased hack, she is back in the hot seat for using the bench for political purposes and a complaint with the Texas Rangers against her has be filed;
               On the Austin crime front, carjacking increases and defunding the police go hand in hand raising the question of how long will Austin residents be willing to leave their homes in the cars to go to work or shopping without packing to protect themselves from armed carjacking.
                In Godley, Texas when it comes to vetting teachers and school personnel,  the School District is behaving in an unGodley manner with egg on their face for failing to discover the person hired to help determine which books are age appropriate was a convicted prostitute even though she is posted as such on line. Should make parents wonder what if any background checks School Districts in Texas conduct.
              On the Christmas Tree Front, the National Christmas Tree has been blown over in what should be the classic sign of ineptness of the Biden Administration which will probably drag Kerry out to rant again and again that the blowing over the tree is yet another sign of climate change at a time when most of the nation is under cold weather advisory alerts and the toppling has nothing to do with climate change only the total ineptness of the Biden Administration.
              This weekend will see the top 4 undefeated teams playing in their conference championship games with perhaps the best matchup being undefeated Number 3 Washington playing 10-1 number 5 Oregon with the winner being most likely one of the 4 slotted for the Championship Series (Would be nice if either Washington or Oregon playing their last game as PAC12 teams won the National Championship in their new conferences).
              All former First Ladies were in attendance at Rosalind Carter’s funeral in Atlanta including Melania whose attire was blasted by some in the MSM; President Jimmy Carter in ill health was also present although it looked like he was reclining in a hospital type bed.
               In a “use it or lose it moment” Google is moving ahead to delete accounts that have been inactive for 2 years of more in an effort to upgrade security.        
              November 28,  2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
              Noted Holidays: Giving Tuesday: Created in 2012  by the Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact at the NYC 92nd Street Y with assistance from the United Nations Foundation and such wealthy donors as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving to after sating your spending on yourself and loved ones to replicate those activities for those less fortunate..
              Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is “blague” which means pretentious nonsense which describes to a tee what we too often hear from our elected officials especially when they are looking for your vote during election season.
              Song of the Day: Leaving the number 1 songs  on this day in 1940’s to come back to the number song in 2019 in the U.S.A.  was  “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi on a run of 3 weeks noncontinuous to share number 1 status with 15 other songs, while 10 acts, including Lewis Capaldi, had their 1st number 1 single. Here is a music video with lyrics of Lewis Capaldi performed “Someone You Loved”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=zABLecsR5UE
              November 28 Birthdays: “Monkeys See No Evil But the Press Does” celebrating the birth on this day in 1936 in Ottawa, Kansas of Gary Hart a leading candidate to the Democratic Presidential nomination before his reptilian brain and his proclivity for Donna Rice torpedoed his campaign.
               November 28 Historical Events in Rhyme
               1.      On this day in 2002 in Mombasa, Kenya at the Paradise Hotel so misnamed/3 terrorists drove their SUV through a barrier to detonated a suicide bomb to have the SUV explode in flames/To wound 80 and 13 to kill/While accomplices were firing surface to air missiles at a chartered plane taking off to add to the butchers’ bill/The missiles missed and the pilots still shaking to Israel returned/The identity of the jihadist group was never learned.
                2.      On this day in 1972, Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems, after being found guilty of killing a prison warden and a prison nurse/After taking them hostage, had the dubious distinction of being the last convicts to be executed in Paris by the guillotine’s curse.
                3.      On this day in 1965, after Lyndon B. Johnson called for more troops from our allies to be sent to South Vietnam/President Marcos pledge he would send troops to be in the way of harm/Some 10,450 Filipinos served to support medical endeavors and pacification attempts/At a cost of only 9 dead Filipinos that never sparked Filipino contempt.
                4.      On this day in 1942 in Boston a nightclub known as the Cocoanut Grove was packed to the gills/Almost 1000 patrons looking for drinks, dinner and dancing with live entertainment to thrill/The first Thanksgiving of WWII when a fire broke out to quickly 490 patrons kill/From a fire that looked like with water from seltzer bottle would quickly be put out/The sounds heard were the panic of “Fire” screams and shouts/Little did the patrons know they were in a fire trap the evening celebrating/Locked exit and revolving exit doors and  flammable decorations  would merit the fire trap rating/The owner who ignored codes to expand the Grove was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 13-15 years/Only served 4 after soon to be fatal stage 4 cancer had appeared.
                5.      On this day in 1925 The Grand Old Opry then known as the WSM Barn Dance/Started a 1 hour program to country music and its history advance/Soon the radio powers that be realized an hour was not enough time for this genre unique in our music history/Quickly expanded to 4 hours as millions of radios tuned in for its country, bluegrass and gospel tunes deliveries/The Ole Opry broadcast is its shows from Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and finally was showing its age and too small size/In 1974 a new larger facility with more parking and better facilities for TV marked Ryman’s demise/In a little know known fact the Nixon’s attended the grand opening on March 16, 1974/With Watergate closing in to on his presidency open the impeachment door/Nixon to thunderous applause went to the piano to play “America the Beautiful” by Irving Berlin/On August 8, 1974 a resigned Richard Nixon was on the steps of Marine 1 on the White House lawn waving goodbye preparing for the last time  to step in.
                 Quote on Jeannie Seely who has appeared more times on the Grand Ole Opry  than any other artist best known as the singer who broke the “Gingham Curtain” by wearing a mini skirt by Richard Nixon before playing the piano at the grand opening of the new Grand Ole Opry on March 16, 1974: “Some girls have looks but can’t sing. Others can sing but don’t have looks. Jeannie Seely’s got them both.

             © November 29; 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
              www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
              Poems on Events of the Day
              Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

November 27, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not

 

            On the “Go Woke Go Broke” Front Disney’s iconic brands are in a losing value crisis as Disney’s movies and parks seem to have ventured into the political woke world big time as its recent SEC filling alludes to: “we face risks relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment, travel and consumer products.” Evidently not stated but should become blatantly apparent that admission to a Disney park for a family out is more like having to take out a mortgage rather than enjoying a family friendly outing.
            On Biden’s gaffe front it would appear the proclivity to gaffes has transcended Biden’s failing cognitive state to members of his cabinet as the Peter Principle Poster Child Education Secretary Miguel Cardona touted at the Western Governors Association Boondoggle at Jackson Hole, “As, I think it was President Reagan said, ‘We’re from the government. We're here to help.’” What Reagan said was,“
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.The quote was to highlight the inherent inefficiency in government that creates more problems than it solves.
           On the growing antisemitism font, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 facing intense backlash for its resolution calling for a repeal of anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation on the grounds it interferes with the free speech rights of Palestinian parent and is holding a closed member meeting on how the perceived are threatening Jewish families and students.
            On the destruction of faith in our military due in part to its woke mandates, it what is really outrageous news if there is any shred of human trafficking in federal schools run by the military, in sting operation  operated in Georgia by the Coweta County Sheriff’s Department, arrests of 26 people, including Stephen Hovanic, former chief of staff for the Americas education who was arrested for soliciting sex.
             On the Grinch Front Joe Biden and Jill Biden win the prize for being the biggest Grinches  after denying the existence of a 7th Grandchild being forced to admit it but instead of adding a 7th stocking which would be the right thing to do, Scrooge Jill had all the grandchildren’s stocking removed, so they would not have to face their self-induced embarrassment of having to welcome her to the White House—what a pair of small minded creeps.
             November 27,  2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
             Noted Holidays: Cyber Monday: Created by Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation while working with Scott Silberman and others at Shop.Org after looking at data showing growing online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving created the day first celebrated on the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2005 and is now the day on which the largest amount of online sales occur which should come as no surprise after being bruised and battered on Black Friday and lured into couch mode with the traces of tryptophan and the plethora of college and pro football what better way to go gift shopping than to use your fingers on the keyboards to go shopping without leaving the comfort of one’s house, assuming your credit cards are not near the max out mode.
             Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is “blackmaster” which means an undertaker.
              Song of the Day: Leaving the number 1 songs  on this day in 1940’s to come back to the number song in 2020 in the U.S.A.  was  “Mood” by 24KGoldn feat Iann Dior on a run of 6 weeks noncontinuous to share number 1 status with 19 other songs, while 25 acts reached number one status while 13, including 24KGoldn and Inna Dior had their 1st number 1 single. Here is a recording with lyrics of 24KGoldn feat Inna Dior performing  Mood with lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrAchTdepsU
              November 27 Birthdays: “The game's in the refrigerator, the door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard and the Jello’s jiggling. celebrating the birth on this day in 1916 in Buda, Illinois of Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn who became the “Voice of the Lakers” who called 3338 Laker games and who sadly fell and hit his head at his Encino home on August 2, 2005, causing serious injury that killed on August 5, 2002 at age 85.
                November 27 Historical Events in Rhyme
                1.      On this day in 2020, Iran’s top scientist involved in the development of an atomic bomb for Iran/Was assassinated by a team of assassins believed to be from Mossad as he was returning to Tehran/His 3 armored car convoy failed to the assassination deter/The proof will be in the pudding to see if his death will a long delay in becoming a nuke power insure.
                2.      On this day in 2009 once again/the threat of Jihadist attacks is never a question of if/But rather a question of knowing when/On a Nevsky Express high speed train between St. Petersburg and Moscow an explosion would it off the tracks lift/96 would be injured/and 28 would die/By a second bomb to try to the investigators’ death or injuries insure/Exploded by remote control but further deaths and injuries denied/
                3.      On this day in 1989 in Columbia we learned/An Avianca bird during a drug cartel war if targeted would crash and burn/Avianca Flight 203 with a bomb aboard planted by the Medellin Cartel on orders from Pablo Escobar/Who thought Presidential Candidate
César Gaviria Trujillo would be aboard and would plummet to his death like a flaming star/He was not and worse for the Medellin Cartel he would go on to win/2 years later Escobar would turn himself in/In a plea deal he agreed to 5 years/But with no extradition and in a private cell to be constructed by him where all  of luxuries would appear/Later in 1992 when authorities wanted to transfer him from the Life of Riley to a standard prison cell/ He escaped not wanting to endure confinement in a setting beneath the status of the head of the Medellin Cartel/ He went into hiding as his cartel collapsed/Discovered and a day after his birthday after a shootout, the Columbian Army National Band was playing “Taps”.
               4.      On this day in 1978 SFO Mayor Moscone and openly gay supervisor Harvey Milk was shot and killed by Supervisor Dan White/Who dodged a first degree murder conviction with the “Twinkie Defense” that diminished his capacity to know wrong from right/Convicted of manslaughter to serve 5 of 7 sentenced years/The murders launched Diane Feinstein’s mayoral then long term U.S. Senate career/ After serving a year of parole in L.A,/He returned to SFO to on October 21, 1985 in his garage allow carbon monoxide to him slay.
               5.      On this day in 1968, 5’3” Penny Early broke in the world of athletics the 1st  class ceiling/To have the sports world reeling/She became the first female jockey to be licensed as a parimutuel jockey but when she tried to race/All the male jockeys at Churchill Downs boycotted her three races to merit only disgrace/Horse racing is not a question of strength but of weight, reflexes and with one’s mount being able to bond and anticipate/No wonder the male jockeys must have felt threatened and refused to in their economic suicide participate/The second glass ceiling was more of a joke akin the Bill Veeck’s having 3’7” midget Eddie Gaedel lead off  to be walked on 4 pitches and by a pinch runner replaced/Early was signed to a short term contract by the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association to in a game against the Los Angeles Stars to inbound the ball to a player who called time out as she was subbed out to gain a glass ceiling breaking place. Frustrated over maintaining her weight she became a trainer in 1974 but trying for a comeback as a jockey she suffered several injuries and maybe frustrated that she was too early for the equine sport she adored, committed suicide this year on June 23, at age 80.
               Quotes on the shootings of Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk by Diane Feinstein that several weeks earlier had indicated she would not run for reelection on the SFO Board of Supervisors: “As president of the Board of Supervisors, it’s my duty to make this announcement: Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. Look, I couldn’t sit in George Moscone’s chair for seven years, and some of it, I think, is that I became mayor as a product of assassination. I had run, and I had not won, and that was a very difficult thing for me to reconcile in my own mind.”
               
I still believe that if I could have been there for that three weeks, I could have stopped it,” Feinstein said, her eyes reddening. “Now, who knows? Who knows? ”
               © November 27; 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
               
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
               Poems on Events of the Day
               Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events

 

November 26, 2023 Ridley" Believe If Of Not

 

              On the Hamas Israeli War the first casualty of the war is truth with Hamas almost certainly exaggerating the number of Gazan’s killed by IDF air strikes and deny the existence of weapons of war in tunnels underneath hospital grounds. We now learn our commander in chief is pointing the finger of blame at himself for questioning the casualty figures Hamas as claims. Heavy Palestinian casualties is what Hamas needs to win the genocide label even as Hamas uses Gazans as shields to see citizen deaths soar.
             On Hamas has released 58 hostages and it would appear they have not be physically abused but all have been losing weight as they are on near starvation levels with in some cases the guards eating the same minimal rations as the captives.
              On the 21st Century piracy front, a Israeli owned tanker carrying chemicals was boarded by pirates from Yema and quickly summoned a  U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer assisted by a Japanese destroyed who interdicted the 5 boarders who fled from the scene to be pursued by armed helicopters and arrested (do not be surprised to find the pirates are sponsored by Iran).
             On Russia Ukraine War front, Russia is claiming that it shot down 20 Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow and launched in response to the massive drone attack launched a say earlier against Kviv. Putin has rattled long and loud that Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory will be met be the full range of Russian weapons which unfortunately could include nukes.  
             On prison is a dangerous place to be if you are a white inmate minority, Attorney General Keith Ellison has confirmed that convicted police officer Derek Chauvin has been stabbed in prison and is in stable condition. Wonder when for his own protection he will be removed from the general population and placed in solitary confinement or in a restricted housing unit.  
             On the parole front, Oscar Pistorius , the “Blade Runner” who has been in prison since 2013 for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp will be released on parole on January 5, 2024 which has caused Reeva’s mother great outrage due to her beliefs Pistorius has not been rehabilitated.
             On the climate change front the world’s largest iceberg A23a which has an area of 1500 square miles when it broke off the Antarctica ice shelf and has remained stationary since then is reported to be on the move and moving past the northern edge of Antarctica.
             November 26,  2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
             Noted Holidays: Small Brewery Sunday: Created by the Brewers’ Association on November 18, 2019 and celebrated on the first Sunday following Thanksgiving since 2019. If you wore yourself out yesterday putting your credit cards through a great shopping workout, what better way to celebrate than visit a brewpub to quaff your favorite brew and watch some football on their big screens.
             Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is “blackguard” which means a person who behaves in a contemptible or dishonorable way which would define most politicians to a tee when they go off the rails to assail their political opponents with ad hominem attacks.
              Song of the Day: Leaving the number 1 songs  on this day in 1940’s to come back to the number song in 2021 in the U.S.A.  was  “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version” by Taylor Swift on a run of 1 week to share number 1 status with 18 other songs, 9 of which were performed by artists for the first time. Here is a recording with lyrics of Taylor Swift performing with lyrics the song lap dancers hated to hear and listeners lover to hear as it broke Don McClean’s 46 year old record of “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie”  to become the longest song of all time at 10 minutes 13 seconds : All Too Well (Taylor’s Version”). 
              November 26 Birthdays: “Not One More For the Road”—celebrating the birth on this day in 1895 in East Dorset, Vermont, who with Doctor Bob co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron, Ohio on June 10, 1935, 12 step self-help group that has helped millions of alcoholics to regain sobriety and live a productive life.
                November 26 Historical Events in Rhyme
                1.      In the afternoon of this day in 2021 after the world is developing a prevention and treatment option on getting a prevention and treatment, including the development of a vaccine for COVID-19/WHO identified the Omicron (B.1.1.529),s a variant  of  SARS-Co-V-2 which resulted in a less fatal infections/But the body was less successful in having successful rejections/By January 6, 2022 the now named variant “Omicron” to 146 countries had 5 had spread/fewer and fewer infected were in ICU’s or were dead/Slowly but surely it seemed that survival odds opposed to death odds were moving into first place/Medical treatments were winning the survival race. 
                2.      On this day in 2008 the QE2 docked at Dubai/As her days as a luxury liner on the world’s oceans it was no longer able to ply/to be converted into a floating museum and opulent hotel rooms/Were the opulent could gamble their way into success or if Lady Lucky deserted them head quickly to impoverished doom.
                3.      On this day in 2008 the first of 12 jihadist  coordinated attacks that would last for 4 days/Started in Mumbai, India that would before they came to an end wounded 300 and 175 mostly innocents slay/8 of the attacks would come in South Mumbai attacking soft targets like a hospital, a theater, a café and luxury hotels that usually do not possess the security to a jihadist attack deny/ Easily overcome by Jihadists with automatic weapons, rpgs and grenades to their killing in the assaults rely/ After 4 days the Indian Security Forces overcame the Jihadist’ attacks from Pakistanis’ shock/Were able to further killings by the Jihadists block.
               4.      On this day in 2003 the Concorde an era of supersonic commercial jet flight would come to an end/ After the last commercial flight with paying passengers from JFK in NYC to Heathrow on October 24, 2003 and before a flight to Bristol 100 passengers would send/All employees of Concorde for a short 1 hour and a half flight/ With a loop over the Atlantic to show one last time its sonic boom might/ To paraphrase Mark Twain on the death of Supersonic commercial jet travel—“The reports on the death of supersonic jet travel are exaggerated—not right/NASA is working on a Mach 3-4 X-59/That will not have sonic booms over the U.S. this time.
               5.      On this day in the battle of counting the impressions a voter’s chad / Secretary of State Harris ruled that a majority of the votes Bush had/Blues were able to argue to no avail the election was stolen by the Florida Supreme Court/ Despite winning the popular vote Gore and Lieberman in the Electoral College came up short.
               Quotes on the SCOTUS decision that stopped the recount and award the election to Bush by Judge Scalia: “My court didn’t bring the case into the courts, it was brought into the courts by Al Gore. He is the one who wanted courts to decide the question. The only question in Bush versus Gore was whether the presidency would be decided by the Florida Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court. That was the only question and that’s not a hard one.”

               November 26 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
               www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
               Poems on Events of the Day
                Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events

Sunday, November 26, 2023

November 25, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not

 

               On the Hamas Israeli Ceasefire front, on the second day of the ceasefire, after some earlier charges that the IDF was not observing the cease fire on the issue of allowing aid trucks with humanitarian aid to enter Gaza although 50 have been admitted since Friday, 20  more hostages, 13 Israelis and 7 non-Israelis in exchange for 39 Israeli held prisoners are being released with the parties to the conflict still wondering what will occur when the limited ceasefire is terminated.
             On Hamas Israeli War Protest front pro-Palestinian protests in London have occurred to the 7th week with tens of thousands joining the protests. In Nantucket where Biden was hoping to escape for Thanksgiving pro-Palestinian protestors have found him these last two days demanding a cease fire and accusing him and his polices of supporting genocide of Palestinians. In Atlanta pro-Palestinian protestors refused to disburse and were arrested.
              On the presidential election from, the Blues are continuing to hear the alarms go off on the issue of Biden’s age which is also a code word for concern over his cognitive competency and the NYT continues to warn Blues that black and Hispanic support for Biden is eroding and growing for Trump.
             On the worker safety front in Northern India 41 workers have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel for 13 days but today received the bad news that the drilling machine being used to try to reach them has broken down and cannot be repaired.  
             On the college football sports front, highly touted Texas freshman Archie Manning the nephew of Payton and Eli Manning made his debut with Texas leading Texas Tech  50-7 to play the entire 4th quarter with the Texas fans in 7th heaven as the phenom complete 2 of 5 passes for 30 yards and ran for 13 yards.
             On the horses should not fly front a Air Icelandic Charter Flight enroute to Europe carrying 15 horses had to turn around and return after one of the horses became terrified due to turbulence. Sadly, the plane managed to land but the terrified horse was so injured that the horse had to be euthanized.                    On the potential schism front facing the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has warned a Synod of German Bishops that doctrines that oppose teachings of the Church like homosexual relationships or female priest must be abandoned.a

              On Saturday Stanford and Cal played their last football games as members of the PAC12 before joining the ACC in 2024 saw Stanford being crushed by Notre Dame at Stanford Stadium 56-23 while Cal upset favored UCLA 33-7 to end their season at 6-6 and become bowl eligible—Go Bears!
             November 25,  2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
             Noted Holidays: Small Business Saturday: Created by American Express in conjunction with the National Historic Preservation Trust in 2010 and first celebrated on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, 2010  as the economy was coming out of the Great Recession to promote shoppers’ shopping at small businesses which are the backbone of our economy.
             Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is “bismer” which means a person worthy of scorn which describes too many of our rabid partisans on both sides of the aisle who put gridlock above solving issues important to voters.
              Song of the Day: Leaving the number 1 songs  on this day in 1940’s to come back to the number song in 2022 in the U.S.A.  was  “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift on a run of 6 weeks to share number 1 status with 13 other songs, 12 of which were performed by artists for the first time. Here is a recording with lyrics of Taylor Swift performing “Anti-Hero”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1kbLwvqugk     
              November 25 Birthdays: “Take Five Means a Rest Not Packs”—celebrating the birth on this day in 1924 of Paul Emil Breitenfeld, better known to his fans as Paul Desmond, in San Francisco who went on to become a note member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet but was a heavy drinker and chain smoker who died of lung cancer on May 30, 1977.
                November 25 Historical Events in Rhyme
                1.      In the afternoon of this day in 1984 at the Notting Hills Recording Studio 36 artists gathering to end famine grief/Recorded “Do They Know It’s Christmas” raising funds for Ethiopian Famine Relief/Record was well received and 24 million were given to famine prevent/Aid to starving Ethiopians which was like manna from heaven sent:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3fSknbR7Y4
                2.      On this day in 1963 at Arlington National Cemetery President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is laid to rest/The eternal flame was lit to the eternity of his goals to suggest/A mournful nation awash in grief/No more Camelot with flags flying to bring relief.
                3.      On this day in 1960 Patria, Minerva and Maria Terresa, 3 of the 4 Mirabal Sisters who were active in the opposition to Dominican Republic dictator Trujillo were assassinated on his orders/An act that outraged the general population and led to his assassination May 30, 1961 following widespread disorder/El Jefe will go down as a bismer tyrant/ While Patria, Minerva and Maria Terresa are honored with a UN created International Day for the Prevention of Violence solemn event.
               4.      On this day in 1926 just when in late November you thought it was time to leave the tornado shelter/27 tornadoes hit the South with victims fleeing helter skelter/And when the funnels no longer touched the ground, 107 dead and from 451 injured, moaning and groaning cries and sounds.
               5.      On this day in 1864 8 Confederate Operatives as the Confederate Army of Manhattan known/tried to set 21 fires including 19 hotel in Manhattan hoping that they would spread quickly windblown/Effort failed as fires failed to start or were quickly put out/7 managed to flee NYC by well-planned escape routes/Except for Robert Cobb Kennedy who after fleeing tried to return to Richmond from Canada as was caught/Made some incriminating statements and was hanged in a noose with the hangman’s knot.
                  Quotes on famine and the efforts of Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas.” Michael Buerk, the BBC journalist whose report so moved Geldof on that chilly October night in 1984 to produce the song: “The great Ethiopian famine changed everything and nothing. It fundamentally altered the rich world’s sense of its responsibility to the hungry and the poor, but didn’t solve anything,” A quarter of a century on, we’re still arguing about the roots of the problem, let alone the solution, and—though there has been progress—Ethiopia’s food insecurity gets worse, not better.”
             Bono: “Aid is just a stopgap. Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism take more people out of poverty than aid. We need Africa to become an economic powerhouse.”

November 25 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
Poems on Events of the Day
Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events

Saturday, November 25, 2023

November 24, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Ri

 

             On the Hamas Israeli War front, the first day of the 4 day cease fire unlike so many in the past is holding and at the Rafah Crossing at the Egyptian border the Red Cross delivered 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and 1 Filipino with some consideration by Israel for extending the cease fire for another day in exchange for 10 more hostages. Do not be surprised that the MSM and the antisemitic zealots heap all manner of praise on Hamas while continuing to lambast Israel for its “wanton” disregard of Palestinian lives. With 200 + hostages still in captivity and  Hamas not destroyed what happens when the cease fire expires and with a ceasefire in place is the urgency for the military aid to Israel relegated to the back burner.
             On Thanksgiving Day, the pro-Palestinian, antisemitics protestors were on the streets of NYC trying to disrupt the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade by coating themselves with fake blood and then gluing themselves to the streets prompting their removal and loud and long choruses of boos. The protest makes about as much sense as the climate change warriors defacing classic works of art.
              On the TG front of men identifying as women and wanting to play with women, Riley Gaines remains in the forefront of confronting that trend arguing that if male transgenders are allowed to compete, the women should not dive into the pool when the whistle blows but remain standing on their starting blocks and let the transgender swim alone in the pool.
           On the be careful what you eat front if you from T-Day Staples Stray, a $1 burrito meal at Northwestern University is suspected of being the cause or a norovirus outbreak.
            On the was it a terrorist attack front?, police have identified the two who crashed into the median at the Rainbow Bridge Crossing near Niagara Falls
as Kurt P. Villani, 53, and Monica Villani, 53, of Grand Island, New York but have not come to any conclusion whether the fiery collision was terrorist motivated.
             On the cramming the Green New Deal down resisting Americans’ throats like his relentless attempts to ignore SCOTUS’s ruling that Biden’s student debt forgiveness is illegal and his frustrated attempt to ban gas ranges and stoves, Biden’s proclivity for playing Whack-A-Mo is alive and well as his minions have unearthed wartime procedures to aid in the production of electric heat pumps to replace gas heaters ignoring the fact that with the planned shutdown of some coal fired power plants in the Northeast, there is a real risk of rolling blackouts leaving homes warmed by electric power unhealthy, frigid abodes this winter.
            Thanksgiving may have been a day to OD on tryptophan but it was also a day of NFL football with the 49’ers crushing the Seahawks, 31-13, the Packers beating the Lions 29-22 and the Cowboys who have been playing on T-Day for many years crushing the Commanders who looked more like a bunch of PFC’s 45-10 but the real star of the game was 77 year old Dolly Parton dressed as a Dallas cheerleader belting out some of her famous hits. Today, on Black Friday a day which retailers sale prices are a powerful magnet luring in shoppers, for the first time in NFL history a NFL football game will be played between the Dolphins and the Jets.  
           On the sanctuary city illegal aliens coming home to roost, Blue run cities in colder climes of this nation are facing a real nightmare of thousands of illegals pouring into their cities with no places to shelter them and little if any funds to feed, clothe and provided basic social safety net services to them as the border remains literally wide open thanks to Biden’s disastrous policies.
            On blatant hypocrisy of our out of touch Blue leaders like the Word Salad Queen Kamala Harris, the Happy Thanksgiving Greetings sent by her and her second husband show them in their kitchen next to a gas range that Biden is pedal to the metal trying to ban for Americans—“onerous Green New Deal Policies that throw you under the bus are only for you but in no way for us.”
           On the political censorship front, Actor John Leguizamo must believe that Hispanics are not smart enough to hear non Blue positions on issues as in an extended over the top rant blasted  Univision’s The Daily Show for having the audacity of interviewing former President Donald Trump.
             November 24 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
             Noted Holidays: Black Friday: This holiday marks the Holy Grail for retailers as it marks the day when all losses incurred prior to this date are wiped out and the businesses have climbed back into the land of black ink. Given the number of brawls and stampedes that have occurred on this day in the past, it might better be called “Black and Blue Friday.”
              Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is “birl” which means to walk on a log to make it spins and if during a contest the spinning to  throw a log spinner into the water.
              Song of the Day: Leaving the number 1 songs  on this day in 1940’s to come back to the number song in 2023 in the U.S.A.  was as “Long Night”  by  Morgan Wallen on a run of 16 weeks noncontinuous to share number 1 status with 15 other songs, 10 which were incurred by artists, including Morgan Wallen for the first time. Here is a recording with lyrics of Morgan Wallen performing “Long Night”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ls6jTloA-g     


              November 24 Birthdays: “Let’s Roll”—
celebrating the birth on this day in 1968 of Todd Beamer born in Flint, Michigan who was a top account manager for Wilson Sporting Goods who had just returned on the 10th with his pregnant wife from a 5 day trip to Italy he had been awarded for performance  and who delayed his scheduled business trip to California the evening with his wife, departing on UA Flight 93 the next morning from Newark, which was hijacked shortly after departure. After being herded to the back of the plane and from phone calls to loved ones having  learned was happening in NYC and the Pentagon and noting the plane had turned around and was heading back East, he and his other passengers and flight attendants managed to breach the cockpit door and tried unsuccessfully to retake the plane which crashed, killing all, in a field near Sharpsville, Pennsylvania but saving the lives of those in the hijackers’ intended target, the Capitol or White House. His last words heard on a cell phone monitored by GTE Supervisor and several FBI Agents were he and with Jefferson and others reciting the Lord’s Prayer and 23rd Psalm followed by “If I don’t make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them” followed by his clear response to muffled voices, "Are you ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”                              

                November 24 Historical Events in Rhyme
                1.      In the afternoon of this day in 2024, some 40 terrorist gunmen attacked the al-Radwa mosque in the Sinai/after the gun smoke and grenade bursts had cleared, 128 were wounded and 311, including 26 children had died/2 minutes after the prayers began, kneeling and facing Mecca most were shot in the head/Any myths that Islam is a religion of peace were forever shed/No terrorist group had the courage to take credit for the killings/Even in the Muslim world the innocents to fight terror must be alert and willing. 
                2.      On this day in 1989 after a week of expanding  protests/after decades of Communist rule that failed all improvement of living standards and personal freedoms tests/with the Warsaw Pact Nations crumbling under Communist rule/Communist Party General Secretary Miloš Jakeš realized his Communist Party no longer had the suppression tools/He and the entire Politburo then resigned /4 days later Czechoslovakia was no longer a one party Communist state defined.
                3.      On this day in 1974 Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discovered 40% of a fossilized skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis  in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia’s Afar Depression/Who walked the Earth some 2.9 to 3.2 million years ago as a homo sapiens ancestor leaving her footprint impression/Although fragments of skeletons had earlier been found/The completeness of this skeletons would paleontologists astound/No wonder she was nicknamed Lucy after the Beatles’ song/Truly a jewel of knowledge of the homo sapiens’ that clearly belongs.
               4.      On this day in 1971  Northwest Airlines Flight 305 727 with a rear ramp exit after taking off from Portland to Seattle was hijacked by a passenger forever to be known as “D.B. Cooper” who informed the crew he had 4 bombs aboard the plane and demanded $200,000 in ransom and 4 parachutes. The plane landed in Seattle, $200,000 and 4 parachutes were brought aboard and the passengers departed and the plane took off heading south. Cooper instructed the crew to lower the exit ramp, slow the plane down after which he walked down the rear ramp and parachuted into the dark night never to be seen again or properly identified although a small portion of the ransom money  was discovered along the banks of the Columbia River in 1980. The FBI closed its investigation in 2016 and it remains the only unsolved case of air piracy although the smart bet is that “Cooper” died after his exit by landing in the Columbia River and being swept out into the Pacific Ocean and ultimately consumed as fish fool. In a classic example of the barn door being finally closed after all the horses had fled, the 727 ramp was modified such that it could not be opened while the plane was in flight in the air.

              
 5.      On this day in the basement of a Dallas PD station in 1963/Jack Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald in the stomach on live national TV/Ironically the Dallas PD claimed to be moving him to a more secured jail place/A Pulitzer Prize winning photo shows Oswald’s painful grimace on this face/Ruby was defended by noted criminal defense lawyer Marvin Belli but was convicted and a death sentence received/Only to have the conviction overturned and a new trial to achieve/2 weeks before the retrial he was diagnosed with his lung having the dreaded “Big C”/S thereafter before his retrial a pulmonary embolism ended his mortality.                                               

                  Quotes by Hugh Aynesworth, noted author and journalist who was in Dallas at the time of the JFK assassination and a noted critic of conspiracy theories concerning JFK’s assassination: “"We can't accept very comfortably that two nobodies, two nothings - Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby - were able to change the course of world history."
                 Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and Jack Ruby was in no way connected with him. Moreover, and contrary to what you have heard or read or believe, there is nothing anywhere—no assertion, no alleged proof—that conclusively indicates otherwise.”
                “I have never disputed the possibility of a conspiracy, or conspiracies, behind the Kennedy assassination. Do not doubt that’s a story I would love to break. However the proof of such a plot continues to elude us. Like it or not, that leaves us with the record as it stands.”

November 24, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
Poems on Events of the Day
Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events

 

Thursday, November 23, 2023

November 23, 2023 Ridley's Beleive It Or Not

 

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade has been a well enjoyed NYC tradition since 250,000 spectators first lined the parade route in 1924
The only time not held was from 1942-1944 when wartime demands for helium Macy’s had to demands for the parade ignore
Even when NYC due to COVID-19 was in strict almost city wide quarantine
In 2020 the Parade was held watched not in person but only by millions glued to TV screens
For the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade the Show must always go on
The antisemitic pro-Palestinians trying to disrupt the Parade must be total morons
Like the climate change warrior zealots who in the name of their climate change fight
Think that destroying works of art is a higher calling and totally right
Covering themselves with fake blood and gluing themselves to the street to the parade block
The theater of the absurd to hopefully dim the Hamas October 7 civilians slaughter world outrage and shock
Chants of “From the River to the sea, Palestine will be free”
Leaving out their intent “When there are no more live Jews to see”
The slogan which reveals Hamas’ true intent
“Intifada revolution is the only solution” is their blueprint not just an anger vent
Spectators on the parade route who booed long and loud hoped these morons used super glue
Such that when painfully pulled off they would had on the street lots of their skin sticking to.

© 11/23/2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet

Thanksgving Is a Time For Thanks and a Time For Giving

 

One of the powers a president has is the power to pardons grant
Usually before he leaves office to escape any soft on criminal rants
Harry S. Truman was the first president to receive a Turkey for Thanksgiving Day
In 1948 he issued not a pardon but only until Christmas dinner a stay
President George H.W. Bush on November 17, 1989 started the tradition
Of granting a full pardon to a pair of turkeys to escape the oven perdition
Since then the pardon is a well press covered event
Two lucky turkeys back to a farm for the rest of their lives sent
This year on November 20, Liberty at 42.5 pounds and at 42.1 pounds Bell
Were the lucky birds who would live another year doing quite well

Only in America this cornucopia of plenty where on Thanksgiving millions a feast enjoy
Where celebrities and politicians volunteer at food lines are deployed
To in food lines to the less fortunate a sumptuous meal serve
Then off to their banquet tables of never ending dishes they after serving they feel they now deserve
And for those at the food lines and missions with the empty stomachs now sated
Already the worries of finding enough to eat in coming days now await
The Hunger Games were only a movie but hunger in this nation is very real
With inflation making it harder than ever to many to find a complete meal
Hunger in children is a barricade to be able to open the achievement door
It is a stain that this great nation to remain the city of lights on a hill must not ignore
Thanksgiving is the only bookend holiday we celebrate
On one end to give thanks for the food and fortune heaped on our plates
And on the other to give time and money to hunger abate
Not right for millions with barely enough calories to survive
While millions upon millions more only concern is what diet to fight obesity to revive
If you only gave thanks and missed the giving
God on such absence can be forgiving
Instead of on Black Friday maxing out your credit cards for purchases you barely need
Seeing a Salvation Army Bell Ringer his or her message seeking help try to heed
We are by nature a generous nation and giving to the less fortunate may help close the growing partisan divide that will destroy this nation
Reaching out to help someone in need hanging on by a slender thread is a proven way to find inner peace and salvation
Enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving and to our two lucky fowl— Liberty and Bell
Enjoy your reprieve on the farm and we wish them both well
© November 23, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet

 

November 22, 2023 Ridley's Believe It Or Not

 

             On our open border fronts, both northern and southern, a car traveling north on the Rainbow Bridge at Canada, a car exploded, killing its occupants giving rise to fear that this was a terrorist attack, but so far no evidence of terror. In the north, there were 189,402 illegal crossing in FY 23, a sharp increase from the just 27,000 seen in FY 21 and 109,535 in FY22. While the elitest left are supporting the chants “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free”, more astute scholars are warning that Hamas is a jihadist movement whose purpose is establish a globe under Islam with sharia law which is direct threat to this and any other non-Islamic nation.
            On the gun control front being waged by the Blues, the increasing crime wave, terrorist threats and hate crimes have resulted in a continuing surge of gun purchases with new polls suggesting more than half of all households possess a firearm. When will the left start focusing on the issue of gun control the qualifications and mental issues of the person pulling the trigger not the characteristics of the gun or its magazines?
             On the retail crime front, Nike’s motto “Just Do It” has new meaning for the smash and grab mob of 17 masked individuals who arrived in 5 cars to attack a Nike Store in Watts and make off with $12,000 of Nikes which are probably very easy to fence on the street.
             On the perverted sex with minors front, 38 year old former gym teacher Lydia Pinto at Raritan-Bridgewater High School in Somerset County New Jersey has been arrested for sexual abuse of a former student that lasted for 4 years through his senior year.
             On the transgender front it looks like another institution other than Title IX has been corrupted by the TG mob as all female St. Mary’s College in Indiana announced it will consider starting in 2024 admitting transgenders who have consistently lived as the sex they identify with not necessarily the one born. To be determined by the “wise” deans that will determine how a male qualifies as a female especially if his male tools are still intact. The alums of this school should be up in arms demanding any contributions to endowment be returned and cheering when this school due to such inanity closes its doors.
            On the Iran proxy war front with its proxy Yemen, a U.S. destroyer shot down multiple drones believed to be headed for U.S. targets. Iran must be laughing as it thumbs its nose at us over our warnings that we would respond if American military have been attack which has occurred almost 70 times with only a few feckless Biden responses.                                  
             On the Hamas Israel War front although the details are not crystal clear, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 4 day ceasefire to allow some hostages believed to be 50, mostly women and children, including 3 Americans to be released in exchange for some prisoners held by Israel and an unknown number of truckloads of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza with the world wondering what happens next.
             November 22, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet 
             Noted Holidays: Blackout Wednesday: Clueless who or what alcohol beverage company created this observance but it traces itself to the tradition of college students coming home for T-Day and celebration with friends not seen since leaving for college and definitely not a night to drive after one to many and police looking for DUI’s will be out in great numbers this evening.
              Word of the Day: The word of the day as we continue with words starting with “b” is billingsgatewhich means coarsely or abusive language which one might expect to hear on Blackout Wednesday.
              Song of the Day: The number 1 song on this day in 1940 before we come back to the present  was as “Only Forever”  by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra on a run of 9 weeks sharing with 11  other songs achieving number 1 ranking. Here is a video of Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra performing “Only Forever”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJiwnx7-jhM
               November 22 Birthdays: “Grand Slamming Into Fame and Fortune”—celebrating the birth on this day in 1943 of Billie Jean King who became one of the most successful and dominating woman’s tennis player in her times but perhaps despite all her singles and doubles win perhaps best remembered for her sweep at age 29, after he had destroyed Margaret Court in an exhibition match, in a match hyped as the “Battle of the Sexes” of 56 year old Bobby Riggs.
               November 22 Historical Events in Rhyme
               1.      On this day in 2022, Andre Marcus Bing, a 12 year employee with Walmart at its Chesapeake facility who had risen to a night supervisor be/Entered the building to commence a killing spree/Targeting those who against him he felt were bullies he shot and killed 6 and shot and wounded 4/Full of rage he pumped more bullets into to the dead lying on the floor/Met a female worker he had hired 5 days ago/Didn’t shoot just told her to quickly go/Shot himself in the head/By the time police he was by his own hand dead.
               2.      On this day in 2003 a DHL plane took off from Baghdad International Airport enroute to Bahrain/When a surface to air missile hit the left wing of the plane/Full of fuel no vapors in the fuel tanks to explode into flames/With great skill from many hours in the cockpit the ability to land the plane remained/Close call that would have meant the jet going into a stall/With 3 crew members incinerated in a massive fireball.
                3.      On this day in 1990 the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher withdrew from her party’s leadership election/Meaning after 15 years as Prime Minister she could no longer be their Prime Minister Selection/Longest serving Prime Minister in Modern Times/When Argentina invaded the Falklands she would not let the invasion stand-There will always be an England revealing her steel spine/When Hussein invaded and occupied Kuwait/She warned H.W. not to go “wobbly” as she and we poured arms and men into Saudi Arabia to Hussein’s expanded invasion await.
               4.      On this day in 1963 soon the flags of Camelot would fly at half- mast/As JFK in the back seat of an open car was hit several times as by the Texas Book Depository it sped past/JFK soon died and VP LBJ would be sworn in to as president him replace/While the alleged shooter Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby on live national TV a mortal shot to the stomach faced.
               5.      On this day in 1942 at Stalingrad the 6th Army Commander informed Hitler his army had been surrounded and he needed to break out/Hitler refused and with Goering promising air supply ordered him to form a fortress redoubt/The air supply could only provide a fraction of the needed food, fuel and ammo  supplies The relief forces were too weak and their access to the pocket was denied/Over 250,000 Germans starving as rations were reduced/along with ammo to guarantee a surrender to produce/250,000 scarecrows hobbled into captivity to years there spend/Only 5,000 would survive for the Soviets to back to Germany send.

               Quote by from the diary of a Wehrmacht soldier Wilhelm Hoffman at Stalingrad: “Three questions are obsessing every soldier and officer: When will the Russians stop firing and let us sleep in peace, if only for one night? How and with what are we going to fill our empty stomachs, which, apart from 3%-7 ozs of bread, receive virtually nothing at all? And when will Hitler take any decisive steps to free our armies from encirclement.”
November 22, 2023 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
                  www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
                  Poems on Events of the Day
                  Unique Commissioned Poems for Special Events