September 1987

9/1/87

The Br SPD has definitely split

ACLU will drop non-involvement in confirmation role to battle Bork

Jack Kemp escaped being called up w/the rest of his Army Reserve Unit 1961 because of medical exemption, for a shoulder, while he cont. play pro. football


9/3/87

Bork believes speech advocating overthrow of gov or violation of law “must be excluded” from 1st Amend protection

Military coup Burundi, the 1st fruit of the annual Conf of Fr-Speaking Nations. The president being in Canada for it

SA arms did indeed reach Pastora’s group in 1985

Portugal’s Soc Dems stop demanding autonomy for E Timor

The Nation of what I-C hearings missed: Ignored North recruitment of mercenaries. North hired a former SAS member for ops & he may have blown up a hospital by mistake. North had agreement, he said, not to discuss his involvement in pamphlets & radio broadcasts, & his control of military units. Cmte dealt w/Costa Rican involvement, but not El Salvador, like use of Ilopango Air Force Base. How & with what connections? No discussion of Contra finances. North & others may have diverted funds other than from arms profits. Meese not questioned on obstructing Justice investigations of Contra gun running. Nothing on Contras. “The debate wasn’t whether to conduct a black war in Central America, but how to go about it.” Robert Gates, depy director CIA not called


9/4/87

Why did Contras need cash to buy USG equipment?

Former ground troops in VN have high lung cancer rates


9/6/87

Ollie North had a 3-week psych. hospitalization 1974; shouldn’t have had clearance

Turkey is having a referendum to decide whether 2 ex-PMs can have pol rights restored. Military would prefer not. Ban is of 100 people. Ozal dec a gen election for November


9/7/87

Argentine elections: Alfonsin’s Rads lost majority in lower house


9/8/87

Japan is now SA’s largest trading partner

Nixon thinks the D’s (Cuomo), will win in 1988

The Libertarians, by convention, nominate ex-Repub. Rep Ron Paul of Texas (1979-84). Believes abortion wrong. Opposes all gov AIDS-testing, but corporate testing fine


9/9/87

Turks voted over 50% for lifting the ban. Actually >200 people

When trying to reinterpret the ABM Treaty to permit Star Wars, RR Admin said Sen. had been misled at approval hearings & negotiating record supported RR & then tried to keep record from Senate. Sam Nunn insisted & says the record confirms what Nixon said publicly. Now, Nunn says will insist on reading negotiating record of any deal RR makes
-Speaking of.... RR been bitching for yrs about the Krasnoyarsk radar site as a violation of ABM. The Soviets just opened it for US inspection & it isn’t much. Not completed & not hardened. 1,000 photos were taken


9/11/87

Shultz proposed $270m for Contras for 18 mos


9/13/87

Referendum on ind in New Caledonia as expected resulted in vote against, w/most Kanuks boycotting (Fr immigrants = majority)
-98.3% voted to remain Fr, w/58% turnout

Brazil is starting to enrich uranium, but no weapons, really


9/14/87

Joe Biden evidently lifted in entirety a speech from Neil Kinnock

Bork doesn’t believe in wide use of 14th Amend. “The bare concept of equality provides no guide for courts. All law discriminates and therefore creates inequality.” Wouldn’t mind poll tax. This is heating up. I got two pieces of junk mail today by groups against Bork


9/15/87

UNITA captured 2 ANCers. Some interesting dynamics here. They won’t, for the moment, hand them over SA gov

Bork: in OCAW v. American Cyanamid, 1984, a chemical comp ordered ♀ workers to be sterilized. Bork ruled in favor

PLO told to close its D.C. office


9/16/87

An internat agreement signed to protect ozone layer

Bork in 2nd day of hearings. Claimed that firing Watergate special prosecutor Cox didn’t hurt the investigation.
-He can only defend his decision that married couples could be denied contraceptives by saying it couldn’t be enforced; no judge would issue a warrant, ha ha.


9/17/87

Salvador Laurel resigned as Philippines foreign sec, breaking w/Aquino. Evidently thought he was supposed to run the country

Pope in SF, blocking traffic. Has been v. unconciliatory. Dissent incompatible w/being a good Cath

Bork on objection to ERA. Roles played by the sexes is complex & cultural & ERA would mean “that legislatures would have nothing to say about these complex cultural matters and had no chance to... express a judgement”. Wants a reasonable standard applied only

A former employee of Radio Martí claims its role was in intelligence gathering on Cuba. Its Dept of Research & Policy was larger than its news dept & not authorized to conduct broadcast interviews

Biden now accused of stealing from everyone’s best speeches, was accused of plagiarism in law school. Threw himself on mercy of whatever

Nicaragua will declare a unilateral cease fire

SA releases 133 Angolan soldiers + 3 for others inc Maj. Wynand du Toit. Interestingly, these soldiers were captured by UNITA. There is an interesting footnote. Jan86 Botha told Parl he would consider freeing Mandela if restrictions on 2 Soviet dissidents eased & du Toit released: Sharansky left for Israel, Sakharov is now back in Moscow

Hungary will intro a value-added tax & a progressive income tax. This in conjunction w/strict austerity.

House passed 243-141 an apology & $20,000 for each Japanese interned WW2


9/18/87

FBI asked NY libraries to report on users who might work for hostile powers

1978 Bork said that using a warrant requirement & criminal violation standard for intelligence “a bad idea and unconstitutional”

A Lebanese hijacker arrested in international waters by FBI on a charge of hijacking. This is a joke, surely?

There is a US-Soviet deal eliminating medium-range missiles


9/19/87

Senate fails to invoke War Powers Act & vote on Gulf escorts

Jesse Jackson evidently lectured a black lawyer who asked him if his relations w/Jews had improved. “Let the Jews speak for themselves,” he said.

Nation reading of I-C transcripts on SA says that a Latin Americanist was sent to SA on 3 matters, inc Contras. It has been suggested that one plan involved profits from sale of oil to SA. And SA’s quo is edited out of the transcript


9/20/87

Pope JP 2 in SF: “I am not the first against whom there was disagreement. There was Jesus Christ.”

Nicaragua has lifted ban on La Prensa


9/21/87

Furthermore, Biden lied in NH on finishing 1st yr in top ½ of law school class. Actually 76 of 85.

Bork thinks equal protection clause should have been restricted to race. When Sup Court decided that different drinking ages for men & ♀ was a violation this “was to trivialize the constitution” (Jun87)


9/22/87

La Prensa was asked to accept censorship. It refused. Evidently it can do that

Biden making an ass of himself. The same time when he told of his wonderful academic performance at Syracuse College of Law, gave himself 3 degrees when he meant 2 majors, etc etc. Also told one questioner “I think I have a much higher IQ than you do.”

There’s been fighting w/Iran in the Gulf. Iranian prez threatened retaliation, which Weinberger dismisses because they’re already all terrorists. Dismisses the War Powers Act as unconst. Says it gives Iran what it can’t win

9/23/87

Nicaragua ends ban on Cath radio station. US opposes Nicaragua’s unilateral cease-fire

Joe Biden dropped out


9/24/87

Yes, Harold Stassen will run for prez for 8th time

Salvadoran rebels will talk w/the gov

RR Admin calls Nicaraguan liberalization “cosmetic gestures of compliance”

“Spycatcher” will be allowed to pub in Oz

Nigeria banned thousands of former leaders, inc current military ones, everyone who held high office since ind. And no media coverage. Of course, the next elections are scheduled 5 yrs from now

Another coup Fiji by the same clowns. The general had not liked the caretaker gov, w/equal Fijian-Indian representation

Brazil, Mexico & Argentina united on debt front


9/25/87

Miskito rebels want a cease fire

Don Hodel, Energy Sec 1984 asked a utility executive to help his son’s rock & roll band’s touring expenses


9/26/87

USSR’s anti-AIDS program: test prisoners & foreigners. Sound familiar?


9/28/87

The Sunday Express (Eng.) says Nancy Reagan’s goal is to win RR a Nobel Peace Prize.

Pat Schroeder will not run for prez, dammit.

Anglo American Corp pulls out of Solomon Bros.


9/29/87

CA law requiring minors to get parental permission for abortion

Imports from Iran banned 96-0


9/30/87

It seems that Dukakis’s campaign manager gave reporters the tape of the Kinnock speech Biden stole. Duke publicly apologized.