Sat, May 18

1992—The 27th Amendment, barring any Congress from raising its own pay, is ratified after a 202 year process. 1982—Sun Myung Moon, a Reverend, is now a convicted tax cheat, too. 1980—Korean students in Gwangju, protesting closure of their university, are beaten and shot by paratroopers. 1980—Mount St. Helens cuts loose for the first time in 123 years. 1974—Operation Smiling Buddha is a success: now India has a nuke. 1969—The commander at Hamburger Hill orders helicopters out of the area to hold down friendly fire deaths. 1958—CIA pilot Al Pope is shot down while strafing an Indonesian port. The U.S. Ambassador claims he’s a mere “soldier …

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Fri, May 17

2017—Learning his election will be investigated for Russian involvement, President Trump says, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m [bleeped].” Sadly, no. 1987—Its weapons officer away from his duty station, its Phalanx gun operator absent “on personal business,” and its radar countermeasure system unarmed, the frigate USS Stark is hit by two Exocets from an Iraqi plane; 37 sailors die on the Gipper’s watch. 1976—R. Reagan, in Time: “Fascism was really the basis of the New Deal.” 1974—Six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army armed with full-auto M-1 carbines, holed-up in a small house in L.A., fire 4,000 …

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Thurs, May 16

2017—President Erdoğan watches his goons bash protestors outside the Turkish embassy in D.C. Four are arrested, but charges are then dropped. 2001—Robert Hanssen, FBI agent, devout Catholic, patron of strippers, and exhibitionist, is indicted for selling secrets to Soviets, then Russians. 1974—Bill Harris, terrorist, is caught shoplifting socks from Mel’s Sporting Goods in L.A.; but he and wife Emily escape as heiress Patty Hearst blasts the storefront with a machine gun. 1969—AP finds that on Hamburger Hill, some grunts are disgruntled. 1965—Tons of bombs go off at Bien Hoa Air Base, then a million gallons of fuel burn; 28 die, 105 are hurt.. 1948—CBS correspondent …

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Wed, May 15

2002—The White House admits it knew before 9/11 that al-Qaeda had plans to hijack U.S. airliners. 2001—Two engineers, in a locomotive, chase & stop an unmanned train full of hazardous chemicals rolling at high speeds for 66 miles across Ohio. 1991—The Pentagon confirms: Manuel Noriega was on the CIA payroll. 1975—Some Marines retake the abandoned Mayaguez. Others, green, chopper to Koh Tang Island. Khmer Rouge, dug-in there, kill 15 and wound 50. Three are left on the beach. 1970—City and State cops shoot 14 protesting Black students, killing two, at Jackson State in Mississippi. 1969—Governor Reagan and his flunky Ed Meese send 800 cops into …

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Tues, May 14

2019—Joe Biden predicts that with Trump out of the White House, “You will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” 2015—The Union Leader’s editorial, in full: “Frank Guinta is a damned liar.” 1992—The George H.[H.]W. Bush administration opens up 1,400 acres of spotted owl habitat for logging. 1987—Robert “Bud” McFarlane tells Congress that if he’d objected to arming Central American terrorists, “Bill Casey, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and Cap Weinberger would have said I was some kind of commie.” 1975—The Khmer Rouge take the captive crew of the Mayagüez to mainland Cambodia. 1961—Klansmen in Anniston, Ala. celebrate Mother’s Day by torching a bus. The …

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Mon, May 13

2015—The day after eight die in a Philadelphia derailment, Congress votes to slash Amtrak’s budget. 1985—A Philadelphia police helicopter bombs MOVE headquarters, killing 11 and leaving 250 homeless. 1971—President Nixon tells his flunkies to get a new IRS head: “a ruthless son of a bitch … who will go after our enemies and not go after our friends.” 1962—After church, as cops watch, Anniston, Ala. Christians try to burn a busload of Freedom Riders to death. 1957—Ngo Dinh Diem is treated to a ticker tape parade in New York City. 1946— American military authorities in Germany order the destruction of 30,000 books. 1945—After a brief …

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