Category Archives: Peace Love Art and Activism

Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

August 3, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

August 3, 1882: Congress passed a law regulating immigration. Under the statute, state-run boards under contract to the US Secretary of the Treasury were to inspect immigrants according to rules that were uniform in all ports. Boards were prohibited from admitting any immigrant found to be a “convict, lunatic, idiot or any person unable to take care of him or herself without becoming a public charge.” (see January 1, 1892)

DACA

August 3, 2018: a U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates in the District of Columbia ruled that the Obama-era program offering temporary protected status to a cohort of immigrants brought here illegally as children must remain in place despite efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle it.

Bates excoriated Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s arguments to end the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

” … The Nielsen Memo offers nothing even remotely approaching a considered legal assessment that this Court could subject to judicial review,” Bates wrote. He added, later, “The Nielsen Memo demonstrates no true cognizance of the serious reliance interests at issue here — indeed, it does not even identify what those interests are … ”

However, he ruled that the administration would have until August 23 to appeal the decision before the order to reanimate the program and allow new applications goes into effect. [NBC News story] (next IH, see Aug 16; next DACA, see Aug 31)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Richie “Blackie” Ford

August 3, 1913: fighting broke out when sheriff’s deputies attempted to arrest Wobbly leader Richie “Blackie” Ford as he addressed striking field workers at the Durst Ranch in Wheatland, Calif. Four persons died, including the local district attorney, a deputy and two workers. Despite the lack of evidence against them, Ford and another strike leader were found guilty of murder by a 12-member jury that included eight farmers (see Sept 23)

Philadelphia Transportation Company strike

August 3, 1944: the third day of the strike, President Roosevelt authorized the War Department to take control of the Philadelphia Transportation Company . Two days later, 5000 United States Army troops moved into Philadelphia to prevent uprisings and protect PTC employees who crossed the picket line. Despite the military presence, the strike sparked thirteen acts of racial violence, including several non-fatal shootings.

After more than a week, the strike ended and PTC employees returned to work after being threatened with termination, loss of draft deferments, and ineligibility for unemployment benefits. By September 1944, the PTC’s first black trolley drivers were on duty. [Temple U article] (see January 8, 1945)

Air controllers strike

August 3, 1981: some 15,000 air traffic controllers strike. President Reagan threatened to fire any who do not return to work within 48 hours, saying they “have forfeited their jobs” if they do not. Most stay out. [Politico article] (see Aug 5)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

August 3, 1922: John Sumner, head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, announced plans for a committee representing publishers and authors that would screen all literary manuscripts to ensure they were not immoral. The Authors League supported this voluntary censorship idea. The leaders were concerned that sexually oriented and other immoral works were bringing the book industry into “disrepute.” It was suggested that the effort would be led by a prominent “proconsul,” such as Will Hays, then the head to the movie industry’s self-censorship effort or Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was famous for his actions regarding the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal in professional baseball. The self-censorship idea never came to fruition, however. (see Aug 12)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

The Red Scare

August 3, 1948: after being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, Whittaker Chambers later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent. Chambers testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Alger Hiss—an important figure in Franklin Roosevelt’s State Department—as a Communist agent. [1961 NYT obit] (see August 5, 1948)

Technological Milestone

August 3, 1958: the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplished the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world’s first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe. [Nautilus dot org article] (see December 10, 1959)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

August 3, 1960: Niger independent from France. [SAHO article] (see ID for the many nations that became independent in the 1960s)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

August 3 Music et al

Dylan/Baez

August 3, 1963: Dylan and Joan Baez, a couple, begin a tour together. She is the headline name, but Dylan is the star. The tour provided a huge boost to Dylan’s career.

That same summer, manager Albert Grossman bought a house in Bearsville, NY near Woodstock. He converted space above the barn as a guest room for Dylan. Both he and Baez will be frequent visitors. (see Aug 17)

Cavern Club

August 3, 1963, The Beatles performed at The Cavern Club for the final time. (see Sept 16)

So Much In Love

August 3 – 9, 1963, “So Much In Love” by The Tymes #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

see Newport Pop Festival for more

August 3 & 4, 1968 – The first Newport Pop Festival started at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. It is believed to have been the first pop music concert attended by more than 100,000 paying concertgoers.

Doors

August 3 – 16, 1968: “”Hello, I Love You” by the Doors #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Bumpy Road to Bethel

August 3, 1969: from Dale Bell’s book Woodstock (quoting John Roberts): “Over the course of the spring and summer we had gone to several meetings with film makers like Pennebaker and the Maysles Brothers, and they had all expressed interest in making our movie. But talks had languished and then died when it became clear that we would have to finance their efforts ourselves. Bob Maurice and Mike Wadleigh had been latecomers to this process. I had seen some of Wadleigh’s work and thought it to be original and clever, but noting I had seen altered my fundamental view that financing a documentary was a sane use of my vanishing resources.

Sunday, August 3rd, 1969 was turning into another typical day at the office. …Around noon I decided to take a break and go someplace where the phones wouldn’t ring with Woodstock problems. I walked down to my dad’s apartment in mid-town. …The phone rang. It was Bob Maurice. …I said “What’s on your mind?” “About 90 grand,” he said. “That’s what it will take for you to own this movie.” I lectured him patiently on the economics of documentaries, concluding with a polite but firm refusal. “You’ll have to get it somewhere else, Bob, I’m pretty much tapped.

“…a week later…” (film, see Aug 10)

Elliot Tiber

August 3, 2016: Elliot Tiber died in Boca Raton, Fla. from complications of a stroke. Tiber had helped introduce Woodstock Ventures to the Bethel area when he found out that Wallkill had kicked out the festival. (NYT obit) (see Chronology for expanded Woodstock story)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Torching peasant homes

August 3, 1965: CBS-TV news showed pictures of men from the First Battalion, Ninth Marines setting fire to huts in the village of Cam Na, six miles west of Da Nang, despite reports that the Viet Cong (aka, National Liberation Front) had already fled the area. The film report sparked indignation and condemnation of the U.S. policy in Vietnam both at home and overseas. At the same time, the Department of Defense announced that it was increasing the monthly draft call from 17,000 in August to 27,400 in September and 36,000 in October. It also announced that the Navy would require 4,600 draftees, the first such action since 1956. (see Aug 12)

Troop increase

August 3, 1967: after weeks of internal discussions and disagreements, President Johnson agreed to send 45,000 to 50,000 troops to Vietnam which would bring up the total there to 525,000 by mid-1968. He also agreed to activate Reserve units, but kept them state-side fearing increased war protests. (see Aug 4)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Jersey City

August 3, 1964: local Black leaders presented Jersey City Mayor Whelan with a list of demands: accessible recreational areas for black youth; more black police officers; and better living conditions. NAACP and CORE leaders urged city officials to consider the demands, but Mayor Whelan was resistant and accused the leaders of bringing “hooligan youth” to meet with him. Held amidst continuing rioting, the meeting lasted just twenty-six minutes and made no progress. (see Aug 4)

Law Center for Constitutional Rights

August 3, 1967: William Kunstler and other lawyers formed the Law Center for Constitutional Rights, later known as the Center for Constitutional Rights. The group became one of the most important legal institutions for the civil rights movement. In 1961, Kunstler had traveled to Mississippi and began working in civil rights cases, helping to form the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee. [CCR site] (see Aug 25)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

August 3, 1982: police arrested Michael Hardwick for sodomy after they observed him having sex with another man in his own bedroom in Georgia. Although the district attorney eventually dropped the charges, Hardwick decided to challenge the constitutionality of Georgia’s law. (LGBTQ, see July 4, 1983; Hardwick, see July 30, 1986)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran–Contra Affair

August 3, 1987: the Iran-Contra congressional hearings ended with none of the 29 witnesses tying President Ronald Reagan directly to the diversion of arms-sales profits to Nicaraguan rebels. (see Nov 18)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

August 3, 2015: in the strongest action ever taken in the United States to combat climate change, President Obama unveiled a set of environmental regulations devised to sharply cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s power plants and ultimately transform America’s electricity industry.

The rules were the final, tougher versions of proposed regulations that the Environmental Protection Agency announced in 2012 and 2014. If they could withstand the expected legal challenges, the regulations would set in motion sweeping policy changes that could shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants, freeze construction of new coal plant,s and create a boom in the production of wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources. [NYT article] (see Aug 5)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

August 3, 2016: President Obama commuted the sentences of 214 more federal inmates, the largest single-day grant of commutations in the nation’s history.

With 562 total commutations during his presidency — most of which have come in 2016 —Obama had used his constitutional clemency power to shorten the sentences of more federal inmates than any president since Calvin Coolidge.

The early release of the 214 prisoners, mostly low-level drug offenders, was part of Obama’s effort to correct what he viewed as unreasonably long mandatory minimum sentences. Some date back decades, including 71-year-old Richard L. Reser of Sedgwick, Kan., who was given a 40-year sentence for dealing methamphatamine and firearm possession in 1989. [Atlantic article] (see Dec 19)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Terrorism

August 3, 2019: in an El Paso, TX Walmart and armed with a powerful rifle, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius killed 20 people and wounded 26 others.

Authorities took Crusius into custody after he surrendered to the police outside the Walmart. The authorities said they were investigating a manifesto Crusius posted before the shooting, which described an attack in response to “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” [NYT article] (next T, see Aug 5)

August 3 Peace Love Art Activism

Lynching, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

July 15, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

July 15, 1925: Judge Raulston overruled the defense’s motion to have the Butler law declared unconstitutional. Raulston says in his ruling that the law “gives no preference to any particular religion or mode of worship. Our public schools are not maintained as places of worship, but, on the contrary, were designed, instituted, and are maintained for the purpose of mental and moral development and discipline.”

In an afternoon session that day, a not guilty plea is entered on Scopes’ behalf. Each side presents its opening statements. The prosecution questioned the superintendent of schools and two of Scopes’ students, who testify that Scopes taught his class about evolution. The defense questioned zoologist Maynard Metcalf, who testified that evolution was a widely embraced theory in the scientific community. (see Scopes for expanded story)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Lynch law for blacks only

July 15, 1930: Senator Coleman L Blease advocated a lynch law for Blacks (only) who were guilty (more often not) of assaulting white women. “Whenever the Constitution comes between me and the virtue of the white women of South Carolina, I say ‘To hell with the Constitution.’ “ “Assaulting” could have a much broader interpretation and might simply mean “speaking to a white woman.” (next BH & Lunching, see Aug 7; see Blease for expanded story; see AL3 for expanded chronology of early 20th century lynching)

Croppers’ and Farm Workers Union

July 15, 1931: after leading fierce battles on behalf of sharecroppers and tenant farmers in Alabama, Ralph Gray, a leader of the Croppers’ and Farm Workers Union in Tallapoosa County, was brutally murdered July 15, 1931, by a heavily armed white mob, organized by the county’s sheriff. [Encyclopedia of Alabama article] (Labor, see March 7, 1932; BH, see April 2, 1933)

Scottsboro travesty

July 15 1937: Clarence Norris convicted of rape and sentenced to death. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

Birmingham, Alabama

July 15, 1963: firefighters turn their hoses full force on civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama. (see July 25)

George Whitmore, Jr

July 15, 1965: Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed legislation abolishing blue-ribbon juries. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

Church Burning

July 15, 2015: authorities responded to an early morning fire at Houston’s Fifth Ward Missionary Baptist Church, the latest in a rash of burnings at predominantly black religious institutions. Nobody was injured, but the Texas church was “significantly damaged,” KHOU reported. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish the flames. (BH, see Sept 8; CB, see Oct 30)

Fair Housing

July 15, 2019: analysis from the Center for American Progress uncovered numerous signs of persistent residential segregation among African American home mortgage borrowers.

“Although the Fair Housing Act has succeeded in eliminating the most blatant forms of discrimination that were common 50 years ago, the U.S. housing market is still highly segmented along racial lines,” said Michela Zonta, senior policy analyst at CAP. “The legacy of federal redlining and discriminatory housing policies and private practices is still visible today, as housing discrimination has taken different forms and African American neighborhoods continue to be devalued compared with white neighborhoods.” (next BH, see July 25; next FH, see In November)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

The Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the Cold War

Dixiecrats defect

July 15, 1948: the Democratic Party Convention nominated President Truman to run as its candidate for president. Northern liberals succeed in including a strong civil rights plank in the party platform, leading to the defection of conservative Southern Democrats to the segregationist States Rights (or Dixiecrat) Party. [text of Truman’s acceptance speech] (see July 17, 1948)

Ethel Rosenberg

July 15, 2015: the conviction and eventual execution of Ethel Rosenberg for joining in her husband Julius’s espionage conspiracy rested largely on trial testimony from her younger brother, but in private testimony to a grand jury seven months before the 1951 trial, Mrs. Rosenberg’s brother, David Greenglass, never mentioned involvement by his sister in Mr. Rosenberg’s delivery of atomic secrets to Soviet operatives, according to a grand jury transcript released on this day.

While not definitive proof that he lied at trial, Mr. Greenglass’s omission — and his assertion before the grand jury that he had never even discussed espionage with his sister — provided further evidence to Mrs. Rosenberg’s defenders who believe that she was unfairly convicted, and that her brother, under pressure from prosecutors, had doomed her with concocted testimony to spare his own wife from prosecution. [NYT article] (Cold War, see July 20; DP, see Aug 7; Nuclear, see Sept 2)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

American Housing Act of 1949

July 15, 1949: the American Housing Act of 1949 expanded the federal government’s role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman’s program of domestic legislation, the Fair Deal. Truman stated at the signing: This far-reaching measure is of great significance to the welfare of the American people. It opens up the prospect of decent homes in wholesome surroundings for low-income families now living in the squalor of the slums. It equips the Federal Government, for the first time, with effective means for aiding cities in the vital task of clearing slums and rebuilding blighted areas. It authorizes a comprehensive program of housing research aimed at reducing housing costs and raising housing standards. It initiates a program to help farmers obtain better homes. text of Truman’s statement when signing the bill into law[]

Pruitt-Igoe

In 1956: the St. Louis’s Pruitt-Igoe public housing project completed. It was touted as a model of urban planning. [movie history article] (FH, see December 5, 1957; Pruitt, see March 16, 1972)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

July 15 Music et al

Beatles Julia Lennon

July 15,1958: John Lennon’s mother, Julia was visiting her sister Mimi’s house where her John was living. Shortly after leaving Mimi’s house, while crossing the road to get to a bus stop, she was struck by a car driven by an off-duty policeman, 24-year-old Eric Clague. Contrary to some reports, Clague was not drunk at the time and he was driving under the 30mph speed limit. He was, however, a learner driver who was unaccompanied. “Julia,” “Mother,” and “My Mummy’s Dead.” are Lennon songs dedicated to or inspired by Julia.

First Beat Boys

In 1959 Tony Sheridan joined Vince Taylor and the Playboys in Hamburg, Germany where they would play. The band would eventually morph into the Beat Brothers with a line-up consisting of Tony Sheridan (vocals/guitar), Ken Packwood (drums), Rick Richards (guitar), Colin Melander (bass), Ian Hines (keyboards) and Jimmy Doyle (drums). Over the years the band’s line-up would continue to see many personnel changes. Some of the most notable inclusions were: Ringo Starr, Roy Young, Rikky Barnes, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best. (see August 1959)

The Road to Bethel

July 15, 1969: in a closed session at the town hall, the Wallkill Zoning Board of Appeals passed judgment on the status of Woodstock Venture’s application for a permit. The five-member board refused to allow the festival to build anything on the 200-acre site. (see Chronology for expanded story)

Dylan/Mariposa Folk Festival

July 15, 1972: Bob Dylan attended the Mariposa Folk Festival on Toronto Center Island. He tried to remain nondescript, but he was recognized and fans mobbed around him. Eventually, police had to escort him off the island. (see Nov 13)

Steve Earle – “John Walker’s Blues” (2002)

July 15, 2002: John Walker Lindh pleaded guilty to aiding the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.

Shortly afterwards, Steve Earle released “John Walker’s Blues” (next T, see Oct 4; JWL, see May 23, 2019)

I’m just an American boy raised on MTV

And I’ve seen all those kids in the soda pop ads

But none of ’em looked like me

So I started lookin’ around for a light out of the dim

And the first thing I heard that made sense was the word

Of Mohammed, peace be upon him

A shadu la ilaha illa Allah

There is no God but God

If my daddy could see me now – chains around my feet

He don’t understand that sometimes a man

Has got to fight for what he believes

And I believe God is great, all praise due to him

And if I should die, I’ll rise up to the sky

Just like Jesus, peace be upon him

We came to fight the Jihad and our hearts were pure and strong

As death filled the air, we all offered up prayers

And prepared for our martyrdom

But Allah had some other plan, some secret not revealed

Now they’re draggin’ me back with my head in a sack

To the land of the infidel

A shadu la ilaha illa Allah

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

July 15, 1969: Nixon sent a letter to Ho Chi Minh stating “I realize that it is difficult to communicate meaningfully across the gulf of four years of war,…but I wanted to take this opportunity to reaffirm in all solemnity my desire to work for a just peace.” Nixon warned, thought, that unless there was a breakthrough in negotiations by November, the would have no choice but to take “Measures of great consequence and force.” [full text] (see Aug 4)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

End of the Space Race

July 15 – 24, 1975: the last Apollo mission carried Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, Tom Stafford, and Vance Brand. Slayton was one of the original Mercury astronauts, but had not previously flown in space due to a heart fibrillation. In orbit, they docked with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The mission proved the compatibility of the two space programs and paved the way for future collaborations and rescue missions. [NASA article] (see Space, February 7, 1984)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Jimmy Carter nominated

July 15, 1976: Jimmy Carter nominated for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

“The Longest Walk”

July 15, 1978: “The Longest Walk” entered Washington, D.C., with several thousand Indians and a number of non-Indian supporters. The traditional elders led them to the Washington Monument, where the Pipe carried across the country was smoked. Over the following week, they held rallies at various sites to address issues: the 11 pieces of legislation, American Indian political prisoners, forced relocation at Big Mountain, the Navajo Nation, etc. Non-Indian supporters included the American boxer Muhammad Ali, US Senator Ted Kennedy and the actor Marlon Brando. The US Congress voted against a proposed bill to abrogate treaties with Indian Nations. During the week after the activists arrived, Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, which allowed them the use of peyote in worship. President Jimmy Carter refused to meet with representatives of The Longest Walk. (see Aug 11)

The Longest Walk 4

July 15, 2013: th return to Alcatraz begin in Washington D.C. to travel to Alcatraz by December 22, 2013. The stated purpose of this Walk was to reaffirm the heart of Traditional Tribal Sovereignty rooted in Ceremony and land based spiritual relationships. (see July 17)

Jim Thorpe

July 15, 2022: the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would display the name of Jim Thorpe as the sole gold medallist in pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games Stockholm 1912. This change comes on the very day of the 110th anniversary of Thorpe’s medal in decathlon.

Thorpe, a Native American track and field athlete whose original given name of Wa-Tho-Huk means “Bright Path”, won both events at the 1912 Games, but was stripped of his Olympic titles one year later. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the predecessor of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), deemed that he had infringed the rules regarding amateurism in place at the time. (Smithsonian article) (next NA, see July 25)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ War I

July 15, 1990: Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing oil from the Rumaylah, Iraq’s oil field near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border and warns of military action. (see July 22)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone

July 15, 1995: with great ambitions reflected by naming itself after the world’s largest river, Amazon officially opened for business as an online bookseller. Within a month, the retailer had shipped books to all 50 U.S. states and to 45 countries. (see February 13, 2000)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Student unions

July 15, 2004: the National Labor Relations Board reversed itself and ruled that students who worked as research and teaching assistants did not have the right to unionize. In a case involving Brown University, the labor board ruled 3 to 2 that graduate teaching and research assistants were essentially students, not workers, and thus should not have the right to unionize to negotiate over wages, benefits and other conditions of employment. [Brown University article] (see Sept 15)

Foxconn

July 15, 2013: Foxconn reportedly raised the age requirement for new workers being recruited for its factory in Zhengzhou, China, The contract manufacturing giant required new workers at the facility to be at least 23 years old, whereas 18 was previously the minimum age. A maximum age of 40 for new recruits remains the same, according to the Taiwanese tech journal. [PC Magazine article]

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

July 15, 2007: the Los Angeles Archdiocese settled 508 cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests for a record-breaking pay-out of $660m. The deal is reached just before the scheduled start of a series of trials into abuse claims dating back to the 1940s. [NYT article] (see Sept 7)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

July 15, 2010: BP test cuts off all oil pouring into the Gulf (see Aug 2)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

July 15, 2019: the Trump administration unveiled a new rule to bar almost all immigrants from applying for asylum at the southern border, requiring them to first pursue safe haven in a third country through which they had traveled on the way to the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a statement issued with the Department of Justice, said the rule would set a “new bar” for immigrants “by placing further restrictions or limitations on eligibility for aliens who seek asylum in the United States.” (see July 24)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

July 15, 2019: the Trump administration announced that family planning clinics that the federal government funded had to stop stop referring women for abortions, The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department formally notified clinics that it would begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions.

In addition to the rule on separate finances, another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof would take effect in 2020. [CBS News story] (see July 22)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

July 15, 2020: President Trump unilaterally weakened the National Environmental Policy Act by limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects to speed up the permitting of freeways, power plants and pipelines.

In doing so, the Trump administration will claim hundreds of millions of dollars of savings over almost a decade by significantly reducing the amount of time allowed to complete reviews of major infrastructure projects, according to two people familiar with the new policy.

Mr Trump made the case that lengthy permit processes held up major infrastructure projects across the country/

Revising the 50-year-old law through regulatory reinterpretation was one of the biggest deregulatory actions of the Trump administration, which had moved to rollback 100 rules protecting clean air and water, and others that aimed to reduce the threat of human-caused climate change. [NYT article] (next EI, see Aug 20)

July 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Lynching, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

July 14, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

Sedition Act

July 14, 1798: Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the U.S. government. [Our Documents text] (see February 23, 1915)

Free press

July 14, 2018: John Saro Balian, a Glendale, California narcotics detective had pleaded guilty on July 12 to federal charges that he had accepted a bribe, obstructed justice and lied to federal investigators about his involvement with organized crime. Judge John F. Walter of United States District Court for the Central District of California ordered the plea agreement sealed, but a reporter found it posted online on July 13 in a public database of federal court documents.

The Los Angeles Times published the article about the plea agreement on the same day and subsequently received a court order from Walter to remove the article.

The LA Times did so on this date, but said it would appeal the court order. (see July 19)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

The Great Uprising

July 14, 1877: The Great Uprising nationwide railway strike began in Martinsburg, W Va, after railroad workers were hit with their second pay cut in a year. In the following days, strike riots spread through 17 states. The next week, federal troops were called out to force an end to the strike. [2015 Politico article] (see July 23)

MLB umpire strike

July 14, 1999: major league baseball umpires voted to resign and not work the final month of the season. (see October 3, 2001)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Voting Rights

July 14, 1917: the National Women’s Party picketed in front of the White House to raise awareness about the suffrage movement. Police arrest protesters and some, including Lucy Burns, to go on hunger strikes while in jail. This level of militancy yields sympathy from some quarters but disdain from others. (see July 17)

Jean Westwood

July 14, 1972: Jean Westwood is elected the leader of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first woman to chair a major political party. [1997 NYT obit] (next Feminism see September 5, 1972)

Women’s Health

July 14, 2015: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th District ruled that Little Sisters of the Poor cannot receive a full exemption from the law’s contraception rules because they “do not substantially burden plaintiffs’ religious exercise or violate the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.”

Under the contraception mandate, nonprofit religious groups such as Little Sisters of the Poor were permitted to opt out of the requirement if they report their concerns to their insurance companies or the federal government. But that group and others had objected to any extra steps to obtain the exemption. Instead, they were seeking the same treatment as houses of worship, which were not required to fill out additional paperwork in order to avoid fines under the law. [Baltimore Sun article] (see Aug 10)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

July 14, 1925: the third day of the Scopes trial, attorney Clarence Darrow objected to the practice of opening the trial with a prayer. Judge Raulston overruled the objection, noting that he had instructed the ministers who offer the prayer to “make no reference to the issues involved in this case.” (see Scopes for expanded story)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

July 14, 1941: Japan demanded and received approval from the Vichy French government to establish military bases in southern Vietnam in addition to bases in northern Vietnam. (see July 25)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Anti-lynching law platform

July 14, 1948: President Harry Truman and the Democratic Party adopted a platform that called for a federal anti-lynching law, the abolition of poll taxes and the desegregation of armed forces. Three days later, Southern “Dixiecrats” held their own convention and nominated South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond for president. [text of platform] (next BH, see July 26); next Lynching, see April 28, 1951; for expanded chronology of lynching, see also AL4)

Black Models Removed

July 14, 1959: a New York committee organizing a fashion show for the American National Exhibition in Moscow, Russia, announced it would be removing three scenes that featured Black and white models together after dozens of fashion editors protested the representation of racial integration.

The fashion show, which was sponsored by the U.S. State Department and meant to illustrate daily American life, was to be exhibited in Moscow 10 days later. Before the exhibition opening, the organizing committee for the show hosted previews in New York, which dozens of American fashion editors were invited to attend.

Immediately after the previews, over 40 of the fashion editors in attendance signed and circulated a petition demanding that the committee remove three staged wedding scenes that showed racially-integrated groups interacting with one another, claiming the scenes were not “representative of the American way of life.”

Within a day, on July 14, the fashion show’s organizing committee announced that it would be removing each of the racially-integrated scenes, effectively eliminating the Black models from the show. A spokesman for the show added that the organizers had not yet decided what, if any, future role would exist for the Black models—who were only 3 of 47 total models involved in the show. [EJI article] (next BH, see Aug 16)

Plainfield, NJ

July 14 – 20, 1967: Plainfield, NJ race riot mirrored the Newark riot a few days before. [My Central Jersey article] (see July 17)

School Desegregation

July 14, 1999: race-based school busing in Boston ended after 25 years. (BH, see Aug 2; SD, see July 17, 2001)

Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner

July 14, 2006: Mississippi Circuit Court judge Marcus D. Gordon refused to let Edgar Ray Killen out of prison while he appealed his conviction in the killing of three civil rights workers in 1964. It was the second time that Mr. Killen, 81, had asked to be freed on bond because of poor health. (next BH, see July 25; see Murders for expanded story)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

July 14 Music et al

Bobby Vinton

July 14 – August 10, 1962: “Roses Are Red (My Love)” by Bobby Vinton #1 Billboard Hot 100.

see Easy Rider for more

July 14, 1969: the movie Easy Rider premiered.

The Band/Bob Dylan

July 14, 1969: Dylan made a guest appearance with The Band at the Mississippi River Festival. He came out for the Band’s encore and played four songs with them. This was his first concert performance since the Woody Guthrie concert on January 20, 1968. (see August 15)

The bumpy road to Bethel

July 14, 1969: THE meeting. Woodstock Ventures presented its application for the festival’s approval based on the new ordinance. The meeting lasted until 1 AM. (see Chronology for expanded story)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

July 14, 1965: American space probe Mariner 4 passed within 6,200 miles of Mars, capturing the first close-up images of the Martian surface. [NASA article] (see Dec 4 – 18)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

July 14, 1998: Ken Starr subpoenas Larry Cockell, head of the president’s security detail. The Justice Department, backed by the Secret Service, requests a full panel appeal of the Secret Service testimony decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals. (see Clinton for expanded story)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

July 14, 2004: the US Senate voted 50-48 against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (see Nov 2)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Terry Jones

July 14, 2010: the Web site EuroIslam.Info posted Jones’s announcement under the “Islamaphobia Observatory” section of its site. (see July 30)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Westboro Baptist Church

July 14, 2013: the Satanic Temple, a New York-based organization that seeks to foster “benevolence and empathy among all people” through Satan, performed a ritual called a “pink mass” at the Mississippi gravesite of Catherine Idalette Johnston, mother of WBC founder Fred Phelps Jr. “Upon completion of the pink mass ceremony, Catherine Johnston is now gay in the afterlife,” notes the Satanic Temple website. “Fred Phelps is obligated to believe that his mother is now gay … [and] if beliefs are inviolable rights, nobody has the right to challenge our right to believe that Fred Phelps believes that his mother is now gay.” The latter assertion appears to be a play on the WBC’s own stance that their beliefs are totally infallible. (see July 29)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

July 14, 2015: Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States agreed to an historic accord to significantly limit Tehran’s nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions against Iran. [NYT article](next N/C N, see July 15; next Iran, see Sept 2)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

ADA

July 14, 2015: the U.S. Department of Justice charged Georgia with illegally segregating thousands of students with behavioral disorders in schools that often were dirty, in poor repair and, in some cases, once served as blacks-only facilities before court-ordered integration.

In a strongly worded letter to Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens, the DOJ said the state was “unnecessarily segregating students with disabilities from their peers.” Further, the letter said, those students were receiving inferior instruction and had few if any opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities.

“Students with disabilities who have been inappropriately segregated from their peers without disabilities also face tremendous ongoing harms: they may become victims of unwanted stigma and may be deprived of essential opportunities to learn and to develop skills enabling them to effectively engage with their peers in ways that teach them to participate in mainstream society as they mature into adulthood,” the DOJ said.

The department said the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support, which operated in 24 locations around the state, was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. If Georgia did not make substantial changes, the department would take the state to court to force improvements. (see February 22, 2017)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Muslim Immigration Ban

July 14, 2017: federal judge Derrick K. Watson of Federal District Court in Honolulu in Hawaii ruled that the Trump administration’s temporary ban on travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries and on refugees should not prevent grandparents and other close relatives of residents from entering the United States. Watson also declared that refugees with ties to a resettlement agency that was committed to receiving them had a relationship that made them eligible to enter the country. [NYT article] (Immigration, see July 24; Trump policy, see Sept 7)

Swift rule reversal

July 14, 2020: NPR reported that in a swift reversal, the Trump administration agreed to rescind a directive that would have barred international college students from the U.S. if their colleges offered classes entirely online in the fall semester.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement July 6 rule change would have prohibited foreign students from entering or remaining in the country to take fully online course loads. A number of colleges and universities had already announced plans to offer online-only classes because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency’s announcement had been met with immediate backlash. (next IH, see July 28)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

July 14, 2020: hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal challenge on a 5-to-4 vote, the Justice Department put Daniel Lewis Lee to death for his role in the 1996 murder of a family of three, the first federal execution in more than 17 years.

Lewis, 47, a former white supremacist who renounced his ties to that movement, was executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., the Bureau of Prisons said. He is the first of three federal inmates scheduled for execution this week.

Lee’s death ended an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment. [NYT article] (next DP, see Sept 21)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

July 14, 2021: Senator Chuck Schumer of New York proposed legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, putting his weight as majority leader behind the growing movement to unwind the decades-old war on drugs.

The draft bill, called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and begin regulating and taxing it, placing federal rules on a burgeoning industry that has faced years of uncertainty. Though states would still be allowed to set their own marijuana laws, businesses and individuals in states that have legalized its use would be free for the first time to sell and consume it without the risk of federal punishment.

The proposal would also try to make recompense to communities of color and the poor for damage from years of restrictive federal drug policy. It calls for immediately expunging nonviolent marijuana-related arrests and convictions from federal records and would earmark new tax revenue for restorative justice programs intended to lift up communities affected by “the failed federal prohibition of cannabis.”

The bill aimed to “finally turn the page on this dark chapter in American history and begin righting these wrongs,” said Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, who wrote the bill with Mr. Schumer and Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and the chairman of the Finance Committee. [NYT article] (next Cannabis, see Aug 1, or see CAC for expanded contemporary chronology)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

July 14, 2021: the Justice Department’s inspector general released a long-awaited report that sharply criticized the F.B.I.’s handling of the sexual abuse case involving Lawrence G. Nassar, the former doctor for the U.S.A. Gymnastics national team and Michigan State sports, which led to Nassar’s continued abuse of girls and women.

The report, citing civil court documents, said that 70 or more young athletes had been sexually abused by Nassar between July 2015, when U.S.A. Gymnastics first reported allegations against him to the F.B.I.’s Indianapolis field office, and August 2016, when the Michigan State University Police Department received a separate complaint.

John Manly, a lawyer for many of the victims, said that number is likely even higher — about 120 patients, including one as young as 8 years old.

The inspector general’s report said senior F.B.I. officials in the Indianapolis field office failed to respond to the allegations “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required” and the investigation did not proceed until after a September 2016 report by The Indianapolis Star detailed Nassar’s abuse. [NYT article] (next SAC, see July 28)

July 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

July 14, 2021: according to a new study that the scientific journal Nature published, parts of the Amazon rain forest were emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, raising fears of the potentially devastating impact on its fragile ecosystems and a further worsening of the climate crisis,.

The research said that the Amazon’s vital role as a carbon sink — absorbing massive amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to cool the Earth –was under threat.

“This carbon sink seems to be in decline,” the study said. “Over the past 40 years, eastern Amazonia has been subjected to more deforestation, warming and moisture stress than the western part, especially during the dry season.”

Over nine years, researchers led by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research conducted close to 600 flights over four main sites in the Brazilian Amazon, collecting data on the amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. [CNN article] (next EI, see July 20)