Volume 268 | No. 16

Mon, April 22

2018—Nearly naked, fully schizophrenic, Travis Reinking kills four and injures two at a Nashville Waffle House with an AR-15 police had seized but his father had returned. 2004—U.S. Army Spec. and ex-NFL star Pat Tillman is shot by his own side in Afghanistan; a cover-up ensues. 2002—Dick “Dick” Cheney, fundraising in Florida, says “The Taliban is out of business permanently.” 1987—The Supreme Court rules in McCleskey vs. Kemp that just because the death penalty is applied in a racially biased manner, that’s no reason for states to stop killing Black convicts. 1983—The first two jolts from Alabama’s electric chair set John Louis Evans on fire. …

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Sun, April 21

1999—NRA president Charlton Heston says that to honor those massacred at Columbine the day before, the gun lobby’s Denver convention will be shortened by one whole day. 1992—Robert Alton Harris is strapped into San Quentin’s gas chamber at 3:00 a.m. Twelve minutes later he’s taken back out amid legal wrangling. At 6:00 a.m., he’s put back in and successfully gassed to death. 1980—Newsweek quotes Ronald Reagan saying that Vietnam vets aren’t eligible for the GI Bill because their war wasn’t declared. It’s not true. 1975—South Vietnam’s last president, Nguyen Van Thieu, calls it quits. 1972—General Wm. Westmoreland, ex-U.S. commander in Vietnam, is pelted with tomatoes …

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N.H. Jews say “Not in My Name”

To the Editor: A letter signed by 67 Jewish residents of New Hampshire calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was delivered to the state’s U.S. Senators and Representatives today. The statement also calls for halting U.S military aid to Israel, release of hostages, and allowing humanitarian aid to be delivered in Gaza. “We, as New Hampshire Jews, are horrified by the atrocities Israel is committing in Gaza, backed by U.S. military aid. Incessant Israeli bombing and military action has killed more than 30,000 people, the majority of them women and children, and wounded tens of thousands more,” the letter begins. “These numbers don’t count many …

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Bombs Away!

by W.D. Ehrhart I turned on my computer this morning and was greeted by this headline in the Washington Post: “Six months into Gaza war, Biden confronts the limits of U.S. leverage.” It was all I could do to keep from shouting at the top of my lungs, “Are you freakin’ kidding me?” Can Joe Biden really pretend that he’s run up against “the limits of U.S. leverage”? Can an editor of the Washington Post write such a headline with a straight face, or the publisher print it without either gagging or laughing? According to Axios, in 2022, the U.S. government gave $3,300,000,000 to Israel, …

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Last Year, You Spent More Than a Month’s Rent on Pentagon Contractors

A dollar by dollar look at how our taxes enrich military contractors — at the expense of things that actually make us secure. By Lindsay Koshgarian Ever wonder where your taxes go? Each year, the Institute for Policy Studies releases a tax receipt so you can find out. One item always stands out: the Pentagon—and the contractors who profit off it. In 2023, the average taxpayer spent $2,974 on the Pentagon. Of that, just $705 went to salaries for the troops, who often have to rely on programs like food stamps. A much larger sum—$1,748—went to corporate Pentagon contractors. That’s more than the average American’s …

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Justice at a Glacial Pace

“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.” — Anon No newspaper could arrive at our advanced age without having a deep respect for tradition. By extension, then, the ancient bit of wisdom quoted above should help us calmly accept the pace of a certain trial in Manhattan. Alas, it does not. The case itself seems solid enough. But will the jury have time to find the defendant guilty? Or will his apparent mental deterioration result in a compassionate release, on grounds of advanced senility? The first day of the trial saw the accused—who calls the incumbent President “Sleepy Joe”—nodding off at the …

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