Sun, Feb 1

1974—Richard Nixon meets for twenty minutes with the Messiah, aka Reverend Sun Myung Moon. 1972—Reverend Billy Graham to Pres. R. Nixon: Jewish bankers and media, the “synagogue of Satan,” have the U.S. in a “stranglehold.” Nixon: “I can’t ever say it, but I believe it.” 1971—“The President is aware of what is going on in Southeast Asia,” Ron Ziegler tells reporters. “That is not to say anything is going on in Southeast Asia.” Certainly not an invasion of Laos one week later. 1968—In Saigon, AP photographer and former Marine Eddie Adams snaps the anti-Iwo Jima Flag Raising photo of the Vietnam War: General Nguyen Ngoc …

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Sat, Jan 31

2003—At the White House, George W.[MD] Bush tells Tony Blair he’s going to invade Iraq, whether it’s got WMDs or not. Diplomacy will have to fit around the military strategy. 1984—President Reagan alleges the U.S. has a problem with “people who are sleeping on the grates… homeless… you might say, by choice.” 1971—In Detroit, Vietnam Veterans Against the War testify about U.S. policies in Vietnam. Few listen. 1968—Tet happens: the VC and NVA go on the attack from the Delta to the DMZ. There’s a gun battle at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. Gen. Wm. “Clueless” Westmoreland claims Hue’s been retaken; he’s off by a …

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Fri, Jan 30

2005—A U.S. official reports that $9,000,000,000 is… well… sort of… let’s say “unaccounted for” in Iraq. 1981—An FB-111A “Aardvark” based at Pease AFB crashes near homes at Mariner’s Village, about 1.25 miles northwest of Market Square. Though one apartment building is destroyed, no one is injured. 1976—The Supreme Court decides that limiting campaign contributions would unfairly restrict the speech of a privileged minority group: people with unlimited amounts of money. 1972—“Bloody Sunday” in Northern Ireland: British soldiers gun down 14 Catholic civil-rights marchers. 1968—Two hundred colonels in the U.S. MACV staff attend a pool party in Saigon. “Not one… knew Tet was coming” the next …

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Thurs, Jan 29

2025—A straying Army helicopter collides with an airliner over the Potomac; 67 die. There are no survivors. 2002—George W.[MD] Bush talks “Axis of Evil;” Iran’s Qassem Suleimani nixes any rapprochement. Bush also asks the Senate Majority Leader to limit investigations into 9/11. 1991—“Our forces in the Gulf will not stay there one day longer than is necessary,” says George Herbert [Hoover] Walker Bush. 1979—“I don’t like Mondays,” replies Brenda Spencer, 16, when asked why she shot eleven people, killing two, at a San Diego elementary school. 1976—The House, under Speaker Carl Albert [D–Okla.], votes to cover up the Pike Committee’s report on the crimes of …

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Wed, Jan 28

2008—In his last (yay!) State of the Union speech, George W.[MD] Bush promises his budget will keep the U.S. “on track for a surplus in 2012.” Ha! 2004—U.S. weapons inspector David Kay tells the Senate pre-war WMD intelligence was “almost all wrong.” 2003—In his State of the Union, George W.[MD] Bush lies about tubes, viruses, alliances, and uranium to justify his next war. 1998—Lawyer John Morton-Finney, son of a formerly-enslaved man, dies two years after retiring. He’s 108. 1986—Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union is rescheduled; his Challenger applause line turned into a tragedy. 1969—Unocal drillers using sub-standard pipe cause a 100,000-barrel oil spill off …

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Tues, Jan 27

2015—It snows so hard in Portsmouth that mail carriers fail to make their appointed rounds. 2008—The NSA warns that a malfunctioning satellite as big as a bus is about to fall out of orbit. 2005—Veep Dick “Dick” Cheney wears a down parka and ski cap to a memorial ceremony at Auschwitz. 2005—Salon reveals thathack writer Michael McManus has been paid $10,000 to promote Bush programs. 1973—The Paris Peace Accord “ends” the Vietnam War. An NVA artillery shell makes U.S. Army Col. William B. Nolde its last combat casualty, 11 hours before the cease fire. 1972—White house “plumber” G. Gordon Liddy presents Attorney General John Mitchell …

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