Volume 267 | No. 4

Mon, Nov 7

2020—The Wall Street Journal runs an op-ed by Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney under the headline, “If he loses, Trump will concede gracefully.” 2020—Dolt 45’s cracked legal team holds a press conference at the Four Seasons…Total Landscaping garage. 2007—Private Jessica Lynch accuses the Pentagon of exploiting her capture for propaganda purposes. 2000—Mel Carnahan defeats incumbent Sen. John Ashcroft [R-Mo.], despite being three weeks dead. 1961—Under Sec. of State George Ball warns JFK, “Within five years, we’ll have 300,000 men in the paddies and jungles and you’ll never find them again.” JFK tells Ball he’s “crazier than hell. That just isn’t going to happen.” 1957—Ike tells …

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All Black People are Not the Same

To the Editor: In the lobby of the movie theater last weekend—Oct 22nd—A woman came up to me and said “Are you Viola Davis?! I can’t believe that Viola is here in Newington!” I was somewhat stunned, but not surprised. Although I don’t look a thing like Viola Davis aside from my skin color I have been somehow been mistaken for; Oprah, Whoopi and Halle Berry to name a few. Later, as I was discussing the movie we had just seen with my family the same woman came up to me again insisting that I was Viola Davis. Both times my attitude was conciliatory, but …

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When A Thing of Beauty May Not Be a Joy

by W.D. Ehrhart I’ve been writing poetry since I was 15 years old. I’ve written hundreds of poems over more than a half century. That’s a lot of poems and a long time. But no poem of mine has ever troubled me more or caused me more difficulty than this one: Old Men Eating Lunch for Paige Once a month my pals and I eat lunch at the Amish Market in Mullica Hill. We chose that place because the food is cheap. And good. But we keep coming back to see the waitress. She’s always there, month after month, and such a lovely girl, always …

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Nation Spared Colossal Tragedy

Judging from the news reports, it could have been tragic: “Rainbow fentanyl,” produced by evil drug lords, handed out like candy to unsuspecting children from coast to coast. Halloween, 2022 was threatening to become the most tragic holiday since…. Well, since New Years Day, 2000, when, after months of breathless reporting and endless speculation about civilization grinding to a halt. When 1999 ended and 2000 began, as cable TV anchors held their breath…computers kept running and the world kept spinning. It turns out the programmers running the mainframes knew their jobs and how to do them. The true catastrophe of the year 2000 came in …

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Sun, Nov 6

2018—Nevada’s 36th district elects brothel-owner Dennis Hoff to the State Assembly by a huge margin. He’s been dead for three weeks. 2016—FBI Director James Comey says never mind about those emails. 2012—Trump tweets, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.” 2000—Saddam Hussein stops accepting dollars for oil, thus undermining U.S. hegemony and possibly shortening his own life. 1998—Newt Gingrich says he’s resigning as Speaker of the House because he’s “not willing to preside over people who are cannibals.” 1984—Reagan defeats Mondale—it’s mourning in America. 1971—The AEC detonates a 5-megaton nuke—the largest ever exploded in the U.S.—one mile below Amchitka Island, 87 miles from …

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