Sat, July 16

2018—V. Putin gets Dolt #45 alone for two hours in Helsinki. 2013—Jimmy Carter says, “America has no functioning democracy.” 1991—The Trump Taj Mahal files for bankruptcy 467 days after opening. 1979—A dam, badly built on shaky ground, collapses in Church Rock, N.M. It spills 1,100 tons of radioactive mill waste, 93 million gallons of effluent, releasing as much radioactivity as the Three Mile Island meltdown. 1973—Nixon aide Al Butterfield reveals he’s been bugging the Oval Office at the behest of The Man himself. 1964—A white cop shoots James Powell—15, 112 lbs., and Black—dead. The Harlem riots begin. 1963—In NYC, Tom Cornell and Chris Kearns stage …

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Fri, July 15

1995—A derecho sends hurricane force winds through New York and New England, toppling thousands of trees and killing three people. 1979—President Carter delivers his infamous “malaise” speech, which does not include the word “malaise.” 1974—In Florida, on live TV, newsreader Christine Chubbuck pulls a loaded pistol from a shopping bag and shoots herself dead. 1971—Nixon says he’ll go to China. 1964—The Republican Party saddles itself with candidate Barry Goldwater. 1919—The War Department—accurately named, at least—says 337,000 Americans dodged the recent draft. 1877—John W. Garrett, President of the B & O Railroad, gives his shareholders a 10% dividend and his workers a 10% pay cut. 1835—The …

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Thurs, July 14

2004—The GOP tries to ban gay marriage but can’t rise to the occasion. 2000—Five tobacco companies are ordered to pay $145 billion in damages, but they wiggle off the hook. 1989—Alabama tries twice, 19 minutes apart, to electrocute Horace F. Dunkins, who’s Black and developmentally-disabled. The first try fails because the chair is wired wrong. 1981—New Hampshire businessman Max Hugel’s stint as Deputy Director of Operations at the CIA ends after 64 days due to revelations of unseemly stock market shenanigans. 1976—Persons unknown in Traves, France celebrate Bastille Day by burning the home of Nazi war criminal Joachim Peiper—while he’s in it. 1975—Boss Clarence Kelley …

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Wed, July 13

1999—Senator Bob Smith [R-N.H.] drops out of the Republican Presidential primary race—and the Party, to boot. In delusion, he’ll run for President as an Independent. 1987—Senator Warren B. Rudman [R-N.H] sets Ollie North straight during the Iran-Contra hearings: “The American people have the constitutional right to be wrong.” 1977—During a heat wave and a financial crisis, with Son of Sam on the loose, lightning strikes cause a blackout in New York City. Chaos ensues. 1959—A sodium-cooled nuclear reactor in Simi Valley, Calif. has a partial meltdown, releasing 300 times more radiation than Three Mile Island—a fact kept secret for 20 years. 1950—A B-50 Superfortress crashes …

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Tues, July 12

2020—A fire, likely arson, turns the billion-dollar U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard into a $3.6 million heap of scrap. 1982—FEMA pledges that even in a nuclear war, the mail will get through. 1979—The White Sox are forced to forfeit on Disco Demolition Night: the field was damaged by explosives.  1973—A fire in St. Louis, Mo. destroys the service records of 16 to 18 million Army and Air Force veterans. 1917—After 30 hours in cattle cars without food or water, 1,286 striking copper miners are left stranded in the New Mexico desert. 1892—The Pennsylvania militia arrives at Homestead, Pa. to protect Andrew Carnegie’s right to make a buck. …

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Mon, July 11

2003—Condi Rice lies about White House knowledge of Joe Wilson’s Niger investigation; Ari Fleischer outs Valerie Plame as a CIA officer; Karl Rove lies to Time about Wilson’s wife, Plame; and CIA head George Tenet takes the rap for the White House’s lies about Iraq buying uranium. 1991—A defective heater sets a loaded ammunition carrier afire at Camp Doha in Kuwait. It explodes, scattering bomblets; blasts and fires consume 102 other vehicles, including four M1A1 Abrams tanks. The fires injure 49, three die cleaning up the mess. 1958—Mildred and Richard Loving are rousted out of bed in Central Point, Virginia and arrested for being married …

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