Thurs, Sept 22

2003—“A year from now,” Richard Perle says, “I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush.” 1987—Navy Reserve Capt. Timothy J. Dorsey shoots down a Navy plane during a training exercise. Its crew survives with injuries. Dorsey’s career is unscathed: daddy’s an Admiral. 1975—’Nam vet Oliver Sipple deflects Sarah Jane Moore’s shot, saving Gerry Ford. Harvey Milk outs him, newspapers report he’s gay. He dies at 47, disowned, drunk, and alone. 1970—President Nixon requests more FBI spies for college campuses. 1959—Air-raid sirens celebrate the White Sox’s pennant win. Some Chicagoans mistakenly assume it’s signaling war …

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Wed, Sept 21

2014—A spokesman for the Islamic State  calls U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry an “uncircumcised old geezer.” 2001—CIA chief George Tenet tells the V.P. his claim that Iraq and al-Qaeda are linked is crap, but Dick “Dick” Cheney goes on repeating it. 1989—The Chase Manhattan Bank accepts for deposit a check sent as a prank by Spy Magazine. Endorsed by “short-fingered vulgarian” Donald J. Trump, it’s for $0.13. 1983—Defending the diversity of his staff, Reagan’s Sec. of the Interior, James G. Watt boasts, “I have a Black, a woman, two Jews, and a cripple.” 1982—Edward Lee Howard, a CIA agent suspected of spying for the …

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Tues, Sept 20

2006—“The devil came here yesterday,” says Hugo Chavez at the UN, “and it smells of sulfur still today.” 2001—George W.[MD] Bush declares a War on a noun, viz., Terror, before a joint session of Congress, which somehow takes him seriously. 1968—A U.S. military spokesman in Saigon says Agent Orange has no harmful effects on human health. 1958—A deranged woman stabs Martin Luther King, Jr. while he’s autographing books in Harlem. 1945—Ex-Nazi, former SS member, and rocket scientist Werner von Braun begins working for the U.S. 1830—In Philadelphia, 38 free Blacks form the National Negro Convention to abolish slavery. 1797—The frigate Constitution is launched in Boston. …

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Mon, Sept 19

2014—Iraq War veteran Omar J. Gonzalez jumps the White House fence and runs into the East Room. 2001—George W.[MD] Bush tells CIA chief George Tenet to look for links between S. Hussein and al-Qaeda. Lacking credible evidence, he suggests Dick “Dick” Cheney as a source. 2001—The U.S. goes to war against Afghanistan—what could go wrong? 1991—Alpine tourists discover 5,300 year-old Ötzi the Iceman. 1980—After eight hours of fire, a missile silo in Arkansas explodes, hurling a nuclear weapon 600 feet. Somehow only one person is killed. 1964—The first gay rights demonstration is held at the Whitehall Army Induction Center in New York City. 1961—Betty and …

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Sun, Sept 18

2001—Five journalists receive letters laced with anthrax. Five people die, the perps remain unknown. 2001—Complying with a White House request, EPA head Christine Todd Whitman says it’s safe to breathe the air at “Ground Zero.” It isn’t. 1987—The N.Y. Times reports the FBI’s been spying on public library patrons. 1980—Cuban Arnoldo Tamayo becomes the first Black person in space, thanks to the Soviet Union. 1980—A dropped 30-pound socket wrench hits a Titan II missile fuel tank in Damascus, Ark. The tank springs a leak; the leaking fuel catches fire. 1975—The FBI catches “Tanya,” press baron Wm. Randolph Hearst’s bank-robbing granddaughter. 1970—RIP Jimi Hendrix. 1961—UN Secretary …

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Sat, Sept 17

2011—Wall Street gets Occupied. 2002—President George W.[MD] Bush says, “…fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me…you can’t get fooled again.” 2001—President George W.[MD] Bush gives the CIA secret authority to do…secret stuff. It’s classified. 1980—“Operation Reptile:” in Paraguay, a team of Sandinistas whack Anastasio Somoza with an RPG. 1967—The Mount Washington Cog Railway train derails; eight die. 1955—A B-36 carrying a live nuclear reactor takes flight; a planeful of paratroopers follows, thus ensuring safety. 1948—In Jerusalem, the Zionist Stern Gang assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, the UN’s peace envoy. 1942—B-24 pilot J.D. Hardin sights and tries to sink U-506, but Laconia survivors on board …

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