January 1989

1/2/89

G. K. Chesterton: “Ideas are dangerous, but the man to whom they are least dangerous is the man of ideas. He is acquainted with ideas, and moves among them like a lion tamer. Ideas are dangerous, but the man to whom they are most dangerous is the man of no ideas.”

CA law on sex ed: required teaching abstinence “until they are ready for marriage” & to “honor & respect” monogamous, hetereo marriage


1/3/89

July87 RR appointed 13 members of AIDS commission. 1 was a sex therapist who said AIDS could be transmitted by toilets. Another ran AIDS-testing clinic out of a van. One said gays engage in “blood terrorism” by deliberately donating infected blood. None was a medical specialist w/any experience treating AIDS.


1/5/89

Key conspiracy & theft charges against Ollie North dropped due to his insistence on disclosing secrets.

Yesterday, US shot down Libyan planes. Claims our F-14s couldn’t get away from Libya’s old Mig’s and just had to shoot. All this after RR’s public musing about bombing a Libyan chemical plant.

Already, 200 indivs & corps provided the Bush inaugural cmte w/interest-free loans of $20m

An article New Republic Jan. 9/16 by Walter Dellinger challenges the conserv view that trial of North is “criminalization of a policy dispute.” Centering on the Boland Amend, but actually centers on embezzlement of US funds of, at $15m, the largest sum ever. And personal use of such funds. And that it doesn’t matter to whom the $ went, that came from Iran for missiles.


1/6/89

Emperor Hirohito d. at 87

W Bank lawyers to boycott military courts for 1 mo.

No out-of-town CA tv station has a bureau in Sacramento anymore.

The Libya incident occurred when US naval presence twice its normal size.


1/7/89

A federal prisoner in OK was kept in solitary & away from phones before the election because he claims to have sold grass to Quayle.

In UN talks on chemical weapons, Shultz proposes banning them in certain countries only (Libya).

Libya brought reporters to the chemical plant--didn’t get to inspect, though.


1/9/89

Russia says US’s “evidence” about Libyan chem weapons proves nothing.


1/10/89

Rr’s people said the thrift industry will need to be saved by tax money & lowering the $100,000 insurance of accounts to make customers scrutinize S&L’s.

The surgeon general said there is no evidence that abortions psychologically damaging.

North’s judge Gerhard Gessell did not dismiss the 2 charges, demanding atty gen certify that classified evidence can’t be used, to make it an action of the gov as a whole.

On Nov. 1 last, the White House proclaimed October to be Nat AIDS Awareness & Prevention Month.


1/11/89

USG is saying that the air defenses around Libya’s plant proves it’s for chem weapons.

Geoffrey Stokes gives his “What Me Worry?” award of 1988 to Larry Tisch, CEO of CBS, who heard Kissinger advise Israel to “throw out television a la SA” & went home w/out mentioning it to anyone in his news dept.


1/14/89

RR claims black leaders exaggerate prejudice to maintain their power. He wonders if they want what they say they want.. Said leaders inc Jesse Jackson, Benjamin Hooks & Coretta Scott King distort his record.

Leaders of Montenegro resigned.

Jesse Jackson pushing for blacks to be called African-Americans.

John Hull, who helped supply Contras, in jail in Costa Rica for drugs, arms smuggling, espionage.

USSR to put Ngorno-Karabach dir. under rule from Moscow. Will have a cmte, with total control, answerable to Central Cmte. Will officially remain part of Azerbaijan. Seems like it will be locally-run, only reporting to Moscow.

Bush chose Adm. James () to be sec of energy, no doubt now renamed Dept of Nuclear Energy. 1st military officer in the job since Gen Groves. Interestingly, he doesn’t know much about oil & gas.

And Wm Bennett to be Drug Czar. He had sent a memo to Justice that the military should do to drug traffickers “What our forces in the Persian Gulf did to Iran’s navy.”


1/15/89

RR cut Asian immigration quotas to accept more Soviet refugees. Mostly cut are SE Asians.

US is trying to cut UN forces in Namibia to watch SA pullout. Meantime, SA is forming paramilitary groups. Republican Senators, inc Deconcini, trying to tie funds to aid to UNITA.

“Freedom of the press consists primarily in its not being a trade.” Karl Marx.


1/17/89

Justice Dept says Meese did violate USG ethics standards. RR still considers him to have done nothing wrong. Thornburgh says Meese is entitled to some peace.

Israeli Army chief of staff said Arafat’s wing has not planned or carried out any guerilla acts in >2 mos. Shamir: “I believe his statements were superfluous.”

One of last holdouts from perestroika is Cuba. And last ¼ 1987, imports from USSR fell 8%, exports 14%. Also declining w/other E bloc

The US Navy “proved” that it did not intend to bomb Libya’s plant when it shot down the Libyan planes because, said Adm. Crowe, we wouldn’t have used the F-14, which is “not a bomber, and is designed to attack airborne targets.” Of course, when the US Vincennes shot down an Iranian civilian plane, it was claimed they thought it was an F-14.

As 3 ANC members being sentenced for 12-23 yrs, left singing anti-apartheid songs. The state prosecutor then shouted, “Long live the AWB!” a fascist organiz.

Idi Amin kicked out of Saudi Arabia. Now in Zaire--which sent him to Senegal, which sent him back to Zaire.

A judge rules that Salvation Army couldn’t fire someone for practicing witchcraft.

Voice says ind prosecutor Lawrence Walsh pursuing allegations that Justice officials inc Meese illegally blocked a fed probe of gun-running from Miami to Contras. FBI also failed to investigate in 1985--FBI then headed by Wm Webster, now at CIA. Several members of North’s network were FBI informants.--failed to follow up on charges of cocaine trafficking. Reports by one informant to FBI were given to Ollie North.

Justice is blond.


1/18/89

Rabin announces tougher measures against stone-throwers, inc closing schools, sealing houses of families. All w/out due process.

SWAPO calls for increase in UN peacekeeping force.

Since 1981, Justice has filed 31 cases challenging discriminatory voting practices, 15 to enforce Voting Rights Act. HUD estimates 2m instances of housing discrim annually, files 10 new fair housing cases/yr.

Gorbachev announces 14% defence cuts.

USG wants to use a defoliant on coca in Peru & beyond. Its Producer, Eli Lilly, refuses to supply it. Bypassed ERA. Would kill everything in the region.


1/19/89

Gen. Jaruzelski evidently threatened to resign to force legalization of Solidarity.

1988, the Fed Home Loan Bank Board pledged $38.6b to bail out thrifts w/out asking Congress

USSR will pull some of its tactical nukes from Eur.


1/21/89

Israeli Labor party may be splitting. Its sec gen resigned to protest joining Likud gov

US allowing oil comps resume work in Libya to protect assets.

Japan will become largest donor & lender of foreign aid.


1/22/89

<½ the states treat farmworkers lke any other workers, ¼ providing narrower coverage, 1/3 none. 27 states allow children to work younger, longer on farms. >½ states, min wage doesn’t apply. Not covered by workers’ comp in 19 states. 7 states apply health & safety standards on same terms to farmers.

RR will get $50,000/speech


1/24/89

Sakharov nominated for Soviet Congress of Deputies by Lebedev Institute of Physicists

Israel closes all schools Occupied, indefinitely.


1/25/89

Bush & friends say a deposit fee on bank deposits would not be a tax.

Bush: “The final lesson of Vietnam is that no great nation can long afford to be sundered by a memory.” (Inaugural address)

David Duke, ex-KKK, ran for State rep Louisiana, as a R. Placed 1st of 7, will compete in runoff.

Sakharov & Yeltsin have been nominated in Moscow districts.


1/26/89

E Ger will reduce armed forces by 10,000 from 120,000, cut tanks & planes, reduce budget 10%.

Salvadoran rebels proposed a voting plan--would join prez elections if postponed from March (with Duarte dying?) to Sep. without precondition of power-sharing.

Since 1982, there have been no R’s in House of Reps who were ever in majority.

HK practices flogging. And homosexuality can be punished by life imprisonment.

In US, there are 504,404 elected officials. 20% women, 2% black, 1% Hispanic. 137,688 serving 19,200 municipalities, 120,790 for townships, 86,722 school officials (down). 59,932 cty, 18,176 state, 542 federal. Women most on school boards, blacks muni.

Quayle was president for 3 minutes when Bush took his oath late.

Duarte rejects rebel formula.


1/27/89

John Tower, at confirmation, says an SDI for whole American pop. impossible. Tower has been paid >$1m. by defense firms since left Senate.

US said Duarte’s rejection of proposal as “a proposal of war” was actually an attempt to keep it alive for study.


1/28/89

1980, non-tariff restrictions applied to 12% US imports, 1984 to 21%, cost of protectionism rising from $30b to 50b


1/30/89

Bush won’t have to testify at North’s trial.

In Yugoslavia, it is possible that Milosevic has been forced to be calm by threat that military would dec martial law (perhaps justifiably) in Serbia alone.

New Nicaraguan budget inc public spending cut of 40%

Czech. to cut military budget 15%, cut 12,000 of 197,000 troops, Bulgaria 12% & 10,000


1/31/89

When Warren Burger stepped down, he officially became a senior judge, allegedly on ltd caseload, in fact on none at all since 1986. Nevertheless, the new salary/pension increases (50% for Congress, RR, etc) will give another $60,000/yr If he wasn’t still “working,” his pension would remain frozen. 56 of 271 senior cases handled no cases.

5 cigarette comps paid movie comps to use their brands. This will be investigated as circumventing the tv ad ban.

In W Berlin city parl elections, far right wing Republican Party got 7.5% of vote, 11 of 144 seats. Led by ex-SS officers. Unexpected even to them, not having put up 11 candidates. Claims not extremist but for traditional Ger values like “cleanliness and punctuality.” Anti-immigrant reaction, aliens 11% of city. Christ Dems dropped >9% to 37.8%, Free Dems failed to get 5%, SPD tied Christ Dems

Quayle says USSR’s problem is “hatred of God.”