Thurs, Sept 29

2008—The Dow drops 777 points. 2006—Anti child-porn crusader Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigns after his lurid e-mails to young males leak. 2002—George W.[MD] Bush claims Iraq has WMDs, al-Qaeda terrorists, and a nuke coming soon. 1980—The Washington Post publishes Janet Cook’s Pulitzer-winning story about a fictional eight year-old junkie. 1976—The Hyde Amendment gives Congress the power to make medical decisions for women. 1972—A short, bearded man in sneakers spontaneously grabs ex-Sec. of Defense Robert Strange McNamara and tries to throw him off the ferry into Vineyard Sound. 1969—The U.S. Army drops murder charges against Special Forces Col. Robert Rheault—the CIA won’t let its agents testify. …

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Wed, Sept 28

2014—Future President D.J. Trump tweets, “Every time I speak of the haters and losers I do so with great love and affection. They cannot help the fact that they were born fucked up!” 2001—To avoid further scorn in these pages, Fleet Bank removes its 18-foot tall green, illuminated sign from the middle of Pleasant Street’s sidewalk. 1964—U.C. Berkeley students protest free speech restrictions. 1960—Ted Williams takes the plate at Fenway for his last at bat. He hits his 521st home run. Most seats are empty. 1919—Ten thousand rioting whites storm the Omaha courthouse, drag out Will Brown, a Black man, and lynch him. From his …

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Tues, Sept 27

2018—Brett Kavanaugh whines, weeps, and shouts while badgering the Senate Judiciary Committee. 2002—Donald Rumsfeld says a made-up link between al-Qaeda and Iraq is “accurate and not debatable.” 2000—Frank Wills, the guard who discovered the Watergate burglary, dies at 52, of a brain tumor, in poverty. 1994—On the Capitol steps, 350 GOP candidates led by Newt Gingrich take out a Contract on America. 1989—To show kids there are more constructive things to do than take drugs, Jeffrey Petkovitch and Peter DeBernardi climb into a barrel and go over Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls. 1986—The United Way of Cleveland holds a fundraiser, releasing 1,429,643 helium balloons. Rain and a …

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Mon, Sept 26

2016—“We’ve got a couple things up our sleeve that should turn this thing around,” says Rudy Giuliani, two days before Jim Comey reveals the Clinton email investigation is on again. 2001—The CIA invasion of Afghanistan begins: six or eight spooks in a Soviet Mi-17 helicopter, toting 66 lbs of $100s in three cardboard boxes [$3M]. 1983—Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov disregards Red Army computers showing attacking American nuclear missiles. For thus averting World War III, Col. Petrov is reprimanded. 1955—As Franco visits Barcelona, Quico Sabaté roams the city in a cab, distributing anti-regime leaflets through the sun-roof with a mortar. 1950—A U.S. Navy minesweeper begins a …

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Sun, Sept 25

2008—Somali pirates capture the MV Faina, a 500-foot freighter whose cargo includes 33 Soviet tanks. 2007—Because Judge Sharon Keller refuses to work overtime, Texas kills Michael Richard on schedule. 2003—An early draft of an interim report from weapons inspectors in Iraq says no WMD have been found. 2002—Disregarding facts, George W.[MD] Bush says, “You can’t distinguish between al-Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror.” 1966—The White Sox beat the Yankees 4-1, at Yankee Stadium. Attendance is 413, the lowest ever. 1962—Vivian Stanshall and Rodey Slater form the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, while listening to the first Sonny Liston/Floyd Patterson fight. 1959—The …

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Sat, Sept 24

2007—A plane previously used for “rendition” flights carrying alleged terrorists to Gitmo crashes in the Yucatan carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine. 2006—The New York Times reports that our spies think the Iraq War makes Islamic terrorism more likely. 2006—George W.[MD] Bush says, “When the final history is written on Iraq, it will look just like a comma.” 1981—CIA boss Bill Casey says the Freedom of Information Act shouldn’t apply to intelligence agencies. 1978—On his yacht in Chesapeake Bay, right-handed CIA spook John Paisley takes a shotgun blast behind his left ear. It’s ruled suicide. 1968—Protestors destroy 10,000 draft files in Milwaukee, Wis. 1957—The 101st Airborne …

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