strikes

TOPICS Newstalgia

In Search Of The Week Where Nothing Happened - October 29, 1949

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(Laying the Cornerstone for the UN Building October 24, 1949)

Further evidence it's impossible to find a week where nothing happened. I've tried. Sixty years ago this week we had deaths, inquiries, strikes, political aspirations and the laying of the cornerstone for construction of the United Nations building in New York. President Truman added his two cents.

Pres. Truman: “I should like to speak of one other problem, which is of major concern to the United Nations. That is the control of atomic energy. The establishment of the United Nations Atomic Energy Committee . . . Commission was one of the first acts of the first session of the General Assembly. That commission worked for three years on the problem. It developed a plan of control which reflected valuable contributions by almost every country represented on the commission. This is a good plan. We support this plan. And will continue to support it unless or until a better or more effective plan is put forward.”

All in all - just another week that wound up on October 29th. And we somehow survived.



TOPICS Newstalgia

Your Typical Average Friday October 16th . . .in 1964

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(Nikita Khruschev and friend - On this day he and the turkey had a lot in common)

On this typical average day in 1964 news came from Moscow that Premier Nikita Khruschev "needed a rest" and was quickly removed from office, sending more than the average shockwave around the world.

Sam Jaffe (ABC News Moscow): “From all outward appearances, the Soviet people responded calmly to the news that Nikita Khruschev has been replaced. Most Muscovites learned of the changes on their way to work today. All Soviet newspapers carried a brief announcement that Premier Khruschev had requested retirement because of his age and poor health”.

This newscast, via WXYZ in Detroit from Friday October 16, 1964 also mentions the ongoing Auto Plant and newspaper strikes and an ever-folksy Paul Harvey extolling the virtues of yet another life insurance policy.

All in all, a typical average day. Kind of like this one.

Or not.


TOPICS

You heard the one about Senator Ensign's affair involving hush money, right? And you're surprised he's still got a job, right? Well, this Senator Ensign story may finally mean the end for him.

The NY Times has a long piece about it.

Early last year, Senator John Ensign contacted a small circle of political and corporate supporters back home in Nevada — a casino designer, an airline executive, the head of a utility and several political consultants — seeking work for a close friend and top Washington aide, Douglas Hampton.

He’s a competent guy, and he’s looking to come back to Nevada. Do you know of anything?” one patron recalled Mr. Ensign asking.

The job pitch left out one salient fact: the senator was having an affair with Mr. Hampton’s wife, Cynthia, a campaign aide. The tumult that the liaison was causing both families prompted Mr. Ensign, a two-term Republican, to try to contain the damage and find a landing spot for Mr. Hampton.In the coming months, the senator arranged for Mr. Hampton to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients, according to interviews, e-mail messages and other records. Mr. Ensign and his staff then repeatedly intervened on the companies’ behalf with federal agencies, often after urging from Mr. Hampton.

While the affair made national news in June, the role that Mr. Ensign played in assisting Mr. Hampton and helping his clients has not been previously disclosed. Several experts say those activities may have violated an ethics law that bars senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts...read on