Category Archives: Today in history

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism

Haymarket Riot executions

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

On May 4, 1886, a labor demonstration for an eight-hour workday at Haymarket Square in Chicago turned into a riot when an anarchist bomb exploded leaving more than 100 wounded and 8 police officers dead. After Chicago authorities arrested and detained nearly every anarchist and socialist in town, eight men, who were either speakers in or organizers of the protest, were charged with murder. On this date, November 11, 1886,  George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Albert Parsons and August Spies were executed; the date will be commemorated as “Black Friday” in radical circles.(Haymarket, see June 26, 1993; Anarchism, see “August – December 1889”)

World War I

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

November 11, 1918: World War I ends. (see April 30, 1919)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Voting Rights

November 11, 1909: Alice Paul arrested for throwing stones through a window at the Guildhall while the Lord Mayor’s banquet was in Progress. Inside the hall, Lucy Burns found Winston Churchill, waved a tiny banner in his face, and asked him, “How can you dine here while women are starving in prison?” (Feminism, see Nov 22; VR, see December 2010)

Women’s Health

November 11, 1921: the first national birth control conference in the U.S. was organized by birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger and held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The official list of sponsors included such notables as Winston Churchill, a member of the British Parliament and future Prime Minister, and the celebrated American novelist Theodore Dreiser. (Birth control conference) (see Nov 13)

Church of England

November 11, 1992: The Church of England voted to allow women to become priests. [UPI] (see March 11, 1993)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Fellowship of Reconciliation

November 11, 1915: The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) was a pacifist organization which became one of the leading advocates for the right of conscientious objection to participation in war during World War I. The FOR continues its mission today. (FOR site)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAYS

Poland

November 11 Peace Love Activism

 

November 11, 1918:  Poland independent after 123 years of partitions by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. (see Nov 18)

Rhodesia

November 11, 1965:  Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain. (see 1960s for full list)

Angola

November 11 Peace Love Activism

November 11, 1975: Angola independent of Portugal. [BBC article] (see Nov 25)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Anarchism and Wesley Everest
The bridge that Wesley Everest was lynched from for anarchism
November 11 Peace Love Art Activism
Grave of Wesley Everest

November 11, 1919: in Centralia, Washington International Workers of the World member and army veteran Wesley Everest was turned over to a lynch mob by jail guards and lynched. [libcome.org article] (see January 8, 1920)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBT

 Harry Hay, Mattachine Review
cover of the Mattachine Review

November 11, 1950 in Los Angeles, gay rights activist Harry Hay founded America’s first national gay rights organization. In an attempt to change public perception of homosexuality, the Mattachine Society aims to “eliminate discrimination, derision, prejudice and bigotry,” to assimilate homosexuals into mainstream society, and to cultivate the notion of an “ethical homosexual culture.”

The group’s name name was from a fictional jester who told truths to the king no one else dared to. [NYPL article] (see December 15, 1950)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

see November 11 Music et al for more

Lonnie Donegan

November 11, 1956: Paul McCartney saw skiffle king Lonnie Donegan perform at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre. The concert inspired McCartney to start playing the guitar. Shortly afterwards he traded the trumpet he had received four months previously on his 14th birthday for a guitar.(see July 6, 1957)

…seven years later…
Brian Epstein & Ed Sullivan

November 11 – 12, 1963: Beatles manager Brian Epstein traveled to New York and persuaded Ed Sullivan to book the Beatles for an unprecedented three consecutive appearances on Sullivan’s much-watched Sunday evening variety show – February 9th, 16th and 23rd, 1964.  CBS-TV got one year’s exclusive rights to the Beatles’ U.S. television appearances. (see Nov 15)

Sam Cooke

November 11, 1964, Sam Cooke recorded A Change Is Gonna Come. (see Change for more)

see Two Virgins for more

November 11, 1968: Two Virgins album released. It was composed of the experimental tapes of various sound effects made in May of 1968. The cover showed John and Yoko posing nude. The album released in a brown paper. (see John Yoko for more)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

November 11, 1960: Lieutenant Colonel Vương Văn Đông and Colonel Nguyễn Chánh Thi of the Airborne Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam led a failed coup attempt against President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam. (Vietnam, see Dec 20; SVL, see February 27, 1962)

POW release

November 11, 1967: in a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Viet Cong released three POWs: Charles Jackson, Edward Johnson, and Daniel Pitzer, two of them African American.

The three men were turned over to Tom Hayden, a “new left” antiwar activist. U.S. officials in Saigon said that the released prisoners had been “brainwashed,” but the State Department denied it. The Viet Cong said that the release was a response to antiwar protests in the U.S. and a gesture towards the “courageous struggle” of blacks in the United States.  (NYT article) (see Nov 20)

Long Binh

November 11, 1972: the U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese army, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. (see Nov 21)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

November 11 – 15, 1966: on the last Gemini flight, Jim Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin dock with an Agena and Aldrin makes three space walks, performing a number of physical tasks without undue effort. (see Dec 24)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Stop and Frisk Policy

November 11, 2014: NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said the NYC Police Department was on pace to stop, question, and/or frisk about 50,000 New Yorkers in 2014. “This year, as of today, we’ve done about 45,000, so we’ll probably end the year with about 50,000,” Bratton told The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin at the American Justice Summit at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, according to Capital New York. “It’ll be down about 75 percent from what it was last year.”  [Huff Post article] (see Dec 31)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

 Japanese Internment Camps

November 11, 2017:  Walmart removed the posters it was selling on its website of Japanese-American incarceration during World War II. Walmart took them down after author Jamie Ford tweeted the company asking why it was selling the posters and noting the offensive description of the products.

One particular poster featured a child waiting to be taken to an incarceration camp, and was advertised as “the perfect wall art for any home, bedroom, playroom, classroom, dorm room or office workspace.”

The commercial giant said, ““We are very sorry such a sensitive topic was handled in such an insensitive way. The description used for these products was beyond tone-deaf, and unfortunately it wasn’t caught by us or the marketplace seller who listed these products on our site. When we were contacted about these over the weekend, we quickly removed the items from our Marketplace. We apologize this wasn’t caught sooner.” (see Internment for expanded story) [Huff Post story]

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

National Native American Veterans Memorial, Harvey Pratt

November 11, 2022: the National Native American Veterans Memorial designed by Harvey Pratt on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. was dedicated.

Pratt said he chose concepts that he hoped would be universal to the nearly 600 recognized tribes of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, as well as Native Hawaiians.

“Unfortunately in American society, for the most part, American Indians are pretty invisible. The memorial is one way to represent, to make us visible,” said Cynthia Chavez Lamar, a member of the San Felipe Pueblo tribe and the first Native woman to head a Smithsonian museum, who directs the museum. [NPR article] (next NA, see Nov 30)

November 11 Peace Love Art Activism

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Nat Turner

November 10, 1831: Nat Turner hung. [PBS article] (see NT for expanded chronology)

Underground Railroad

From 1831–1862 the Underground Railroad helped approximately 75,000 slaves escape to the North and to freedom . The so-called railroad was a system in which free African American and white “conductors,” abolitionists and sympathizers helped guide and shelter the escapees. (Slave Revolts, see July 2, 1839)

Dred Scott

In 1832 Scott’s owner, Peter Blow, died. (Scott’s full story)

Jeremiah Reeves

November 10, 1952: Jeremiah Reeves, a 16-year-old black high school student and jazz drummer, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, and interrogated about the rape of Mabel Ann Crowder the previous July. Ms. Crowder, a white woman, had claimed rape after she and was discovered in her home having sex with Jeremiah – sex many in the black community suspected was part of a consensual, ongoing affair. Within minutes of his arrest, Jeremiah was taken to Kilby Prison where, during “questioning” by police, he was strapped into the electric chair and told that he would be electrocuted unless he admitted committing all of the rapes of white women reported that summer. The fearful boy soon confessed to the charges against him. Alabama executed him on March 8, 1958. [Black Then article] (BH, see Dec 18; JR, see December 6, 1954)

Marcus Garvey

November 10, 1964: Garvey’s body was returned to Jamaica. The following day he was declared the country’s first national hero. He is buried in the Marcus Garvey Memorial, National Heroes’ Park, Kingston, Jamaica. (see Garvey for expanded chronology)

Rainey Pool murder

November 10 – 13, 1999: James “Doc” Caston, Charles Ernie Caston, and Hal Spivey Crimm had a joint jury trial in the Circuit Court of Humphreys County, Mississippi, the Honorable Jannie M. Lewis, presiding, for the death of Pool. Doc, Charles and Crimm were convicted of manslaughter by an unanimous jury.

All three men were sentenced to serve a term of twenty (20) years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. (see Dec 9)

Murders of Three Civil Rights Workers

November 10, 2014: President Barack Obama announced 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, the three civil rights workers killed by the KKK, on June 21, 1964 in Mississippi.

From activists who fought for change to artists who explored the furthest reaches of our imagination; from scientists who kept America on the cutting edge to public servants who help write new chapters in our American story, these citizens have made extraordinary contributions to our country and the world,” he said. (next BH, see Dec 17; see Murders for expanded story)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Voting Rights
November 10 November 10

November 10, 1917: large picket demonstration held to protest treatment of Alice Paul and other suffrage prisoners. Thirty-one pickets arrested, including Dora Lewis and just-released-from-prison Lucy Burns. Pickets sentenced to varying terms at Occoquan Workhouse; Burns receives harshest penalty of six months. (see Nov 15)

Malala Yousafzai

November 10

November 10, 2013: in a decision announced by All Pakistan Private Schools Federation President Mirza Kashif, Malala Yousufzai’s recent book I am Malala will be banned in all schools across the country due to its ‘controversial’ content. In order to justify the decision, Mr. Kashif stated that the reason behind the ban is to avoid any confusion that the book may cause for students. It bears mentioning that the decision was taken by the private school owners; the government remained neutral toward the development. Furthermore, Mr. Kashif said that the book had little to do with the curriculum in schools and therefore should not be included in the syllabus. (see Nov 20)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Free Speech

November 10, 1919: the US Supreme Court ruled in Abrams v. United States that the federal government could criminalize free speech if it was of a type tending to bring about harmful results, in this case resistance to the United States war effort. In a powerful dissenting opinion, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes countered that even during wartime, free speech could only be curtailed when there was clear and “present danger of immediate evil or an intent to bring it about.” (Abrams v. United States)(see March 23, 1920)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

American Birth Control League

November 10, 1921: The American Birth Control League was created through a merger of the National Women’s Health League and the Voluntary Parenthood League. Led by Margaret Sanger, the new league became the leading Women’s Health advocacy group in the country. The American Women’s Health League eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (WH, see Nov 11; League, see January 18, 1939).

Estelle Griswold

November 10, 1961: New Haven, Connecticut police charged that Estelle Griswold (see October 2, 1961) “did assist, counsel, cause and command certain married women to use a drug, medicinal article and instrument for the purpose of preventing conception.” (next WH, see August 18, 1962; Estelle Griswold case, see June 7, 1965)

Defense Dept Report

November 10, 2021: a Defense Department inspector general report, titled Evaluation of Special Victim Investigation and Prosecution Capability within the Department of Defense, found that the criminal investigative organizations of the individual military services didn’t consistently assign certified lead investigators, or specially trained prosecutors, to cases that included sexual assault or domestic violence. As a result, investigations of those offenses were at times carried out “in a manner that was inconsistent with federal law and DoD policy.”

The report released showed that unrestricted reports of sexual assault had more than doubled in the last decade, but the Pentagon had not provided additional resources or training to its investigators to keep up with the growing case load.

“There’s a lot of empty words that have come out over the years about how they’re going to handle this,” said Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders and the former chief prosecutor of the Air Force. “And ultimately that falls back to the secretaries of defense, service secretaries, and service chiefs. They’re in charge.”  [Task & Purpose article] (next WH, see Dec 16)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Kate Smith, God Bless America

November 10, 1938: one day after Kristallnacht and the eve of Armistice Day, the radio and recording star Kate Smith, the “Songbird of the South,” spoke the following words on her weekly CBS show: “And now it’s going to be my very great privilege to sing for you a song that’s never been sung before by anybody … It’s something more than a song — I feel it’s one of the most beautiful compositions ever written, a song that will never die. The author, Mr. Irving Berlin. The title, ‘God Bless America.’”

And then Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on network radio.

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological and Cultural Milestone

Direct-dial phone call

November 10, 1951: direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service began with a call between the mayors of Englewood, N.J., and Alameda, Calif. (coast to coast telephone service) (see Dec 20)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Sesame Street

November 10, 1969: “Sesame Street” made its broadcast debut. The show was the brainchild of Joan Ganz Cooney, a former documentary producer for public television. Cooney’s goal was to create programming for preschoolers that was both entertaining and educational. She also wanted to use TV as a way to help underprivileged 3- to 5- year-olds prepare for kindergarten. (see January 1, 1970)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Robert McNamara

November 10, 1964: at a news conference, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara said that the US had no plans to send combat troops into Vietnam. When asked whether the US intended to increase its activities in Vietnam, he replied, “Wait and see.” (see Dec 19)

No combat fatalities

November 10, 1970: for the first time in five years, no U.S. combat fatalities in Southeast Asia were reported for the previous week. (see Nov 17)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

November 10, 1982: the newly finished Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to its first visitors in Washington, D.C. (see Nov 13)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

November 10, 1968: Zond 6 followed its predecessor’s trajectory around the moon and returns with a “skip” reentry, bouncing once off the Earth’s atmosphere to reduce the G-forces acting upon the contents. Two more Zond flights will follow in 1969 but they will all be unmanned. (see Dec 21 – 27)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

November 10, 1983: the 1944 challenge that Fred Korematsu brought regarding the Japanese internment and that the Supreme Court sided with the government in Korematsu v. United States ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional, in response to a petition of error coram nobis (“error before us”) by Fred Korematsu, the San Francisco Federal District Court reversed Korematsu’s 1942 conviction and rules that the internment was not justified. (NYT article) (see Internment for more)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Ken Kesey

November 10, 2001:  Ken Kesey died in a hospital in Eugene, Ore. He was 66 and lived in Pleasant Hill, Ore. The cause was complications after surgery for liver cancer late last month, said his friend and business associate, Ken Babbs. (see April 29, 2008)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

November 10, 2009:  The American Medical Association softened its position on medical marijuana. The statement read in part: “Our AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods. This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product.” (see January 11, 2010)

November 10 Peace Love Art Activism

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Matilda Josyln Gage

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

November 9, 1882: Gage’s daughter, Maud, married L. Frank Baum in the parlor of the Gage home. Under the influence of his wife and mother-in-law, Baum became an enthusiastic convert to feminism. He was, ”a secure man who did not worry about asserting his masculine authority,” and he was not bothered that Maud had the upper hand in the marriage; in fact he seemed to welcome her take-charge attitude. His feminist beliefs would have a profound effect on his fiction. Nearly all of his child heroes were girls, girls who rely on their own resources and not on the aid, or validation, of men. He thought men who did not support feminist aspirations ”selfish, opinionated, conceited or unjust — and perhaps all four combined,” as he wrote in a newspaper editorial. ”The tender husband, the considerate father, the loving brother, will be found invariably championing the cause of women.”(Feminism, see March 8, 1884; see Gage for expanded story)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

John L Lewis

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

November 9, 1935: United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.

Joe Hill

In 1936, based on a 1925 poem by Alfred Hayes (1911 – 1985), Earl Robinson (1910 – 1991) wrote the song “Joe Hill” in 1936. Joan Baez has sung the song throughout her career, most notably at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival [at the time of the concert, Baez’s husband, David Harris, was in prison for draft evasion]. (see Dec 30)

SAG-AFTRA Settles

November 9, 2023: the heads of major studios agreed to a tentative new three-year contract with SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, stunt performers, voiceover actors and dancers.

“We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. As of 12:01 a.m. PT on Nov. 9, our strike is officially suspended and all picket locations are closed,” the union said in a statement.

“In a contract valued at over one billion dollars,” it continued, “we have achieved a deal… that includes “above-pattern” minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establishes a streaming participation bonus.” [NPR article] (next LH, see March 5, 2024)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

November 9, 1953: Cambodia independent from France.  (see October 26, 1955)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Emmett Till

November 9, 1955:  returning to Mississippi one last time, Moses Wright and Willie Reed testified before a LeFlore County grand jury in Greenwood, Mississippi. The grand jury refused to indict Milam or Bryant for kidnapping. The two men go free. (BH, see Nov 17; see Emmett Till for expanded story)

PGA

November 9, 1961: the Professional Golfers Association eliminated the “Caucasian” clause from its constitution. (see Nov 17)

George Whitmore, Jr

November 9, 1964: Whitmore’s trial for the attempted rape and assault of Borrero opened in Brooklyn. (When a defendant faces trials for more than one crime, it is a common tactic of prosecutors to try the least serious case first so that, if convicted, the defendant will have a criminal record when he goes to trial for a more serious crime. This will discourage the defendant from taking the stand in the latter trial. If the defendant nonetheless chooses to testify, the prior conviction may be used for impeachment purposes on cross examination. It also may be used against the defendant at sentencing.) (see George Whitmore)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

November 9, 1976: The United Nations General Assembly approved 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa. (see April 27, 1977)

Timothy M. Wolfe resigns

November 9, 2015, Timothy M. Wolfe, the president of the University of Missouri system, announced that he was resigning amid a wave of student protests over the school’s handling of racial tensions. Wolfe announced his resignation as the university’s governing board met in Columbia, the centerpiece of the four-campus system. Wolfe took to the podium before a meeting of the Board of Curators and made the announcement before a room full of reporters and other spectators. The announcement seemed to jar the people in the room. [NYT article] (see January 8, 2016)

Autherine Lucy Foster

November 9, 2018: the University of Alabama announced that it would award an honorary degree to Autherine Lucy. [U of Alabama article] (next BH, see Dec 17; Lucy, see May 3, 2018)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

see November 9 Music et al for more

Beatles

November 9, 1961: The Beatles performed at the Cavern Club at lunchtime. That night they appeared at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool (their final performance at that venue).

This is a major day for The Beatles, although they are unaware of it at the time–in the audience at the Cavern Club show is Brian Epstein, dressed in his pin-stripe suit and seeing The Beatles for the first time. Accompanying Epstein is his assistant Alistair Taylor.

Epstein will recall his first impressions in a 1964 interview: “They were fresh and they were honest, and they had:star quality. Whatever that is, they had it, or I sensed that they had it.” Over the next few weeks, Epstein becomes more and more interested in possibly managing The Beatles and he does a lot of research into just exactly what that would entail. When he speaks with the group’s embittered ex-manager Allan Williams, he is told, “Brian, don’t touch ’em with a fucking barge pole.” Nonetheless, Epstein invites The Beatles to a meeting at his record store on December 3.

James Brown

November 9, 1968: James Brown gave support to the civil rights movement with his song, “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud (Part 1),” which hit number one on the R & B charts for a record sixth straight week.

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

War Protest

November 9, 1965: in New York City, 22-year-old Catholic Worker Movement member Roger Allen LaPorte set himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in protest of the war. Before dying the next day, LaPorte declared, “I’m against wars, all wars. I did this as a religious act.” (NYT article) (see Immolation for expanded story)

Massachusetts v. Laird

November 9, 1970: the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of Massachusetts’s anti-draft law. The state had passed a law which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The 1st Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law. (see Nov 17)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Alcatraz Takeover

 

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism
Richard Oakes on Alcatraz

November 9, 1969: Mohawk Indian Richard Oakes leads an attempt to occupy Alcatraz Island twice in one day. Fourteen Native Americans stay overnight and leave peacefully the following morning.  The video following is a report on the takeover. (see Nov 20)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Jones v. Hallahan

November 9, 1973: The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in Jones v. Hallahan that same-sex couples may not marry. The case came after Marjorie Jones and Tracy Knight applied for and were denied a marriage license in Jefferson County, KY. (see Dec 15)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

Fall of the Berlin Wall

November 9, 1989: East Germany’s communist government allowed all citizens direct passage to the west, rendering the Berlin Wall obsolete. (NYT article) (see USSR for expanded chronology)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

November 9, 1998: a House subcommittee heard from legal experts on whether President Clinton’s behavior in the Lewinsky affair rises to the level of an impeachable offense. (see Clinton for expanded story)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

November 9, 2006: Iraqi health minister reported that 150,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the war — “about three times previously accepted estimates.” (see Dec 2)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Arthur Bremer

November 9, 2007: after 35 years of incarceration, Arthur Bremer (shot George Wallace) was released from prison. His probation ends in 2025.

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Marijuana

November 9, 2015:NJ Governor Chris Christie signed into a law a bill permitting parents to give their sick and disabled children edible medical marijuana at school without putting themselves or educators at risk of arrest. (see March 21, 2016)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

November 9, 2016: Nebraskans voted overwhelmingly to restore the death penalty and nullify the historic 2015 vote by state lawmakers to repeal capital punishment. Rural voters voted to “repeal the repeal” by margins as large as 4-to-1 in counties outside Lincoln and Omaha. (see Dec 13)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

November 9, 2017: scientists across Europe had been puzzling about a concentration of radioactive pollution caused by a nuclide called ruthenium 106.

Official monitors in France and Germany concluded that, based on weather patterns, the contamination detected since late September had emanated from southern Russia or from Kazakhstan.

“The most plausible zone of release lies between the Volga and the Urals,” the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety said. Jean-Marc Peres, the institute’s director, told Reuters that the geographic area could indicate a spillage in Russia or in Kazakhstan. [OWH article]  (N/C, see Nov 13; leak, see Nov 21)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

November 9, 2018: President Trump proclaimed that the illegal entry of immigrants across the southern border of the United States was detrimental to the national interest, spurring tough changes that will deny asylum to all migrants who do not enter through official border crossings.

The proclamation suspended asylum rights for all immigrants who were trying to cross into the United States illegally, though officials said it was aimed primarily at several thousand migrants traveling north through Mexico in caravans.

“The continuing and threatened mass migration of aliens with no basis for admission into the United States through our southern border has precipitated a crisis and undermines the integrity of our borders,” Mr. Trump wrote in the proclamation. [NYT report] (see Nov 19)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism