Sun, Sept 5

2005—Barbara Bush says Hurricane Katrina was “working very well” for thousands of homeless refugees. 2002—Portsmouth loses Jay Smith, creator of the Press Room, Patron Saint of The Music Hall, &c. RIP. 1991—The D.C. home of Sen. Jesse Helms [R-N.C.] is covered by a giant condom, courtesy of ACT UP. 1990—L.A. Police Chief Darryl Gates tell the Senate Judiciary Committee that “casual drug users should be taken out and shot.” 1934—N.C. Gov. John Ehringhaus [Dem.] calls out the National Guard to break a textile strike. Other states follow with pro-plutocracy actions. 1931—Consolidated Edison worker George Metesky is injured on the job. Denied Workmen’s Compensation, “The Mad …

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Sat, Sept 4

2019—Showing proof that his Hurricane Dorian prediction was perfect, Donald J. Trump displays a fake map. 1992—Ex-South Vietnamese fighter pilot Ly Tong hijacks an Air Vietnam Airbus out of Bangkok. As it flies low and slow over Ho Chi Minh City, he drops revolutionary propaganda, then safely parachutes—but into captivity. 1976—George W.[MD] Bush is arrested for DUI in Kennebunk, Maine. 1973—R. Nixon’s flunkies John Ehrlichman and G. Gordon Liddy are indicted for felonious burgling. 1967—“I just had the greatest brainwashing … [in] Vietnam,” says Gov. George Romney (R-Mich.). 1957—Ford’s Edsel debuts. 1957—Gov. Orval Faubus [Dem.] orders the Alabama National Guard to keep nine Black children …

Read moreSat, Sept 4

Fri, Sept. 3

2003—Because life is sacred, Florida poisons Paul Hill, who shotgunned Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard because life is sacred. Rinse & repeat. 1991—Locked doors, dead phones, and a lack of fire alarms kill 25 workers in a North Carolina chicken plant. 1971—As Richard Nixon speaks at a Milk Producers’ convention in Chicago, an aide pockets his fee: a $5,000 bribe, which will pay the Plumbers who are, this day, breaking into the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist—at Nixon’s behest. 1955—Mamie Till Mobley holds an open-casket funeral for her murdered and mutilated son Emmett. 1950—American advisors arrive in Saigon to support NATO: France wants Vietnam, …

Read moreFri, Sept. 3

Thurs, Sept. 2

1983—Mississippi’s execution of Jimmy Lee Gray goes badly, possibly because executioner T. Berry Bruce is drunk. Eight minutes after the poison gas is released, officials clear the witness room because Gray is still gasping, moaning, and banging his head on a steel pole. 1945—VJ Day—Japan surrenders to General “Dugout Doug” MacArthur aboard a battleship named after Harry S Truman’s home state. 1945—Cribbing freely from the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam to be sovereign and independent. 1939—G-Man J. Edgar Hoover creates a “Custodial Detention Index,” a list of left wingers to detain without trial in case of “national emergency.” 1935—Recently rousted from …

Read moreThurs, Sept. 2

Wed, Sept. 1

2019—Meteorologist-in-Chief Donald J. Trump tweets that Hurricane Dorian will hit Alabama hard. 2005—New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls for George W.[MD] Bush and FEMA to “get off your asses and do something” about his flooded city. 1989—Narcs trying to score crack near the White House for a George H.[H.]W. Bush presidential photo-op get the drug on their third try but not the film—their camera operator gets mugged by a homeless person. 1983—The USSR shoots down KAL Flight 007. Among the victims: John Birch Society President and Congressman Larry McDonald (R-Ga.). 1982—The U.S. Air Force Space Command becomes operational. 1970—“This chamber reeks of blood,” charges George …

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Tues, August 31

2019—Portsmouth’s Daniel Street Post Office closes for good. Thanks a lot, Councilor, Congressman, Governor, and Senator Judd Gregg. 1973—The Gainesville Eight, antiwar veterans charged with conspiracy to riot at the 1972 Republican National Convention, are acquitted. 1965—President Johnson signs a bill making draft card burning illegal. 1963—Robert Bork publishes an article in The New Republic opposing the Civil Rights Act. 1954—Hurricane Carol slams New England; 65 die. 1948—An LAPD setup bears fruit: Robert Mitchum is busted for pot. 1939—German operatives conduct Operation Himmler, 21 false flag attacks along the Polish border, to justify the next day’s invasion. 1925—After an 11-year occupation, U.S. Marines depart from …

Read moreTues, August 31