Thursday, February 5, 2026

It's Time To Recognize It For What It Is: "Yes, It’s Fascism"

Late in January, I posted a blog entry about an article: "Yes, It’s Fascism" by Jonathan Rauch of The Atlantic:

More People Are Recognizing the Reality That What We Have Now in the United States Is Indeed Fascism, published Thursday, January 29, 2026:

https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2026/01/more-people-are-recognizing-reality.html

"The Charbor Chronicles": More People Are Recognizing the Reality That What We Have Now in the United States Is Indeed Fascism

Now, I did not have access to the full article. However, I did applaud Rauch for calling a spade a spade and calling what is happening with Trump and his mindless MAGA Moron cult fascism. At some point, we have to stop beating around the bush and be direct. Face the reality of the situation, and not split hairs or try to censor the term so as not to offend anybody.

Well in this video below, an interview with Sam Harris, Rauch goes into greater details. That helps, since I could not read the entirety of his article, much as I would like to.

To be sure, not everything fits neatly. And Rauch does say that the country itself is not quite fascist (yet) at this point.

Harris makes an interesting point. He says that, historically speaking, fascist figures tended to present themselves as almost comical, clownish figures. That certainly has been the case with Trump, but it also was true of Hitler. I remember hearing documentaries where people (before he took power) seemed almost to laughingly suggest that he looked like a hairstylist, or resembled Charlie Chaplin. Before Hitler took power, most people assumed that he would be a stooge, a mere puppet of the major businesses which really ran Germany.

Obviously, that's not how it actually worked out.

And Harris then made the related point that when people (like Harris and Rauch with this discussion) warn about the danger, people who buy into the comical aspects of a buffoon like Trump will dismiss it. How can such a clown actually pose any real danger?

Yet, look at the extent to which they have advanced the erosion of our American democracy.

Yes, the threat is real. If this is a battle, clearly opponents of what's going on are losing. Trump and MAGA are winning. Let's get real about that.

All of that said, I wanted to point one thing out. Rauch at one point suggests that Mussolini had been a socialist before he became a fascist, and suggested that there was no surprise there. Americans often tend to lump socialism and communism together, even though they are not the same thing. For example, what I see as at least versions of socialism, or socialist thinking, which have been working for western Europe or Australia or Canada or Japan and South Korea and on and on have. Identifying with that kind of socialism is not the same as fascism. Let's be clear on that point.

Otherwise, this was a pretty interesting discussion. Take a look and see for yourself. And please feel free to share your thoughts.

Below is the link to the article which I first wrote about in late January, and which one of the participants in this video discussion wrote:

Yes, It’s Fascism by Jonathan Rauch, January 25, 2026:

Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/america-fascism-trump-maga-ice/685751/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo

Yes, It’s Fascism - The Atlantic

Yes, It’s Fascism

February 5th: This Day in History

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

On this day in 816, Frankish Emperor Louis granted Archbishop Salzburg immunity. In 1428 on this day, King Alfonso V, ordered Sicily's Jews to attend conversion sermons. On this day in 1512, French troops under Gaston de Foix rescued Bologna. Henry of Navarre abjured Catholicism at Tours on this day in 1576. A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society on this day in 1597. On this day in 1631, Roger Williams, later to be the founder of Rhode Island and an important early religious figure in American history, arrived in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. The Articles of Confederation were ratified by the first state, South Carolina, on this day in 1778. Zealand, Netherlands, surrendered to French General Michaud on this day in 1795, during the days of the French Revolution. On this day in 1878, Andre Citroën, later referred to as the "French Henry Ford" for developing his country's first mass-produced automobiles, was born in Paris. In 1917 on this day, the present Mexican constitution was adopted. In 1941 on this day during World War II, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler urged Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini to fight harder. On this day in 1945 during the later stages of World War II, US troops under General Douglas MacArthur entered Manilla in the Philippines. In 1962 on this day, French President Charles de Gaulle called for Algeria's independence. On this day in 1975, the North Vietnamese began preparations for a final offensive to take over all of Vietnam. On this day in 1983, former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie was brought to trial. In 1994 on this day, Medgar Evers' murderer Byron De La Beckwith was sentenced to life, in Jackson Mississippi, 30 years after the crime was committed. On this day in 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence to the U.N. concerning Iraq's material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441, although it would be proven false later. Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the city of Gonaïves on this day in 2004, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

• On this day in 816, Frankish Emperor Louis granted Archbishop Salzburg immunity.

• In 1428 on this day, King Alfonso V, ordered Sicily's Jews to attend conversion sermons.

• Roman Catholic German Emperor Maximilian I was caught in Belgium on this day in 1488.

• On this day in 1512, French troops under Gaston de Foix rescued Bologna.

• Kings Henri I & Philip II signed the Treaty of Vaucelles on this day in 1556.

• Beggars assaulted Oisterwijk, Netherlands, on this day in 1572, driving nuns out.

• Henry of Navarre abjured Catholicism at Tours on this day in 1576.

• A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society on this day in 1597.

• On this day in 1631, Roger Williams, later to be the founder of Rhode Island and an important early religious figure in American history, arrived in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England.

Williams, a Puritan, worked as a teacher before serving briefly as a colorful pastor at Plymouth and then at Salem. Within a few years of his arrival, he alarmed the Puritan oligarchy of Massachusetts by speaking out against the right of civil authorities to punish religious dissension and to confiscate Indian land. In October 1635, he was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the General Court. After leaving Massachusetts, Williams, with the assistance of the Narragansett tribe, established a settlement at the junction of two rivers near Narragansett Bay, located in present-day Rhode Island. He declared the settlement open to all those seeking freedom of conscience and the removal of the church from civil matters, and many dissatisfied Puritans came. Taking the success of the venture as a sign from God, Williams named the community "Providence." Among those who found a haven in the religious and political refuge of the Rhode Island Colony were Anne Hutchinson, like Williams, exiled from Massachusetts for religious reasons; some of the first Jews to settle in North America; and the Quakers. In Providence, Roger Williams also founded the first Baptist church in America and edited the first dictionary of Native American languages.

• In 1644 on this day, the first livestock branding law of the American English colonies was passed in Connecticut. Prince of Wales became King Charles II on this day in 1649.

• There was an earthquake in Canada on this day in 1663.

• On this day in 1679, German Emperor Leopold I signed a peace treaty with France.

• Methodists John & Charles Wesley arrived in Savannah, Georgia, on this day in 1736.

• In 1777, Georgia became the first US state to abolish both entail & primogeniture.

• The Articles of Confederation were ratified by the first state, South Carolina, on this day in 1778.

• In 1782 on this day, the Spanish took Minorca (western Mediterranean) from the British.

• An earthquake ravaged Calabria, killing 30,000, on this day in 1783.

• Sweden officially recognized American independence on this day in 1783.

• Zealand, Netherlands, surrendered to French General Michaud on this day in 1795, during the days of the French Revolution.

1817 - 1st US gas co incorporated, Baltimore (coal gas for street lights)

1818 - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.

1825 - Hannah Lord Montague of NY creates 1st detachable shirt collar

1831 - Jan van Speijk blows up his gunboat in Antwerp, killing about 30

1846 - "Oregon Spectator" is 1st newspaper to be published on the West Coast

1850 - Adding machine employing depressible keys patented, New Paltz, NY

1855 - British government of Palmerston forms

1859 - Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza as the United Principalities.

1861 - 1st moving picture peep show machine is patented by Samuel Goodale

1861 - Kinematoscope patented by Coleman Sellers, Phila

1861 - Louisiana delegation except Mr Bouligny withdraws from Congress

1864 - Federals occupy Jackson, Mississippi

1865 - Battle of Hatcher's Run, VA (Armstrong's Mill, Dabney's Mill)

• 1870 - 1st motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia

The iconic Citroën 2CV, which was on display at Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris.

• On this day in 1878, Andre Citroën, later referred to as the "French Henry Ford" for developing his country's first mass-produced automobiles, was born in Paris. Citroen revolutionized the European auto industry by making vehicles that were affordable to average citizens. Before entering the auto business, Citroen studied engineering and later operated a gear manufacturing company. During World War I, he ran a munitions factory where he successfully implemented mass-production technology. Following the war, Citroen, who was inspired by the assembly-line innovations at Henry Ford's American auto plants, converted his munitions factory into a facility to make low-cost vehicles. At the time, only the wealthy in Europe had been able to afford automobiles. Citroen's first car, the Type A, debuted in 1919. The four-door, 10-horsepower vehicle featured an electric starter, lights and a spare tire and was capable of speeds of 40 mph. The Type A was a success, due in part to Citroen's talent as an innovative marketer. He allowed potential customers to take his vehicles for a test drive—then a new concept—and also let people buy on credit. He put the Citroen name in lights on the Eiffel Tower, launched skywriting ads to promote his products and masterminded attention-getting expeditions to Africa and Asia using Citroen vehicles. In 1934, Citroen launched the Traction Avant, the first mass-produced passenger car to feature front-wheel drive. The car proved enormously popular, and more than 750,000 were built during the 23-year production run. At the time of the Traction Avant's release, however, the Citroen company was on the verge of bankruptcy due to Andre Citroen's heavy investments in new concepts and technology, as well as his alleged gambling debts. In 1935, Citroen was taken over by its largest creditor, the Michelin Tire Company. Andre Citroen, who had been forced out of the business he founded, became ill and died on July 3, 1935. Citroen remained part of Michelin until the 1970s, when it was sold to the French automaker Peugeot. Today, Peugeot Citroen is one of Europe's leading auto manufacturers.

• 1879 - Joseph Swan demonstrates light bulb using carbon glow

1881 - Phoenix, Az incorporates

1885 - News of fall of Khartoum reaches London

• 1885 - Congo State was established under Leopold II of Belgium, as a personal possession.

• 1887 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premieres at La Scala in Italy

• 1887 - Snow falls on San Francisco

1893 - Alfred Naess skates world record 500m (49.4 sec)

1894 - Female suffrage organization in Amsterdam forms

1897 - Marcel Proust meets Jean Lorrain in a pistol duel

• 1900 - British troops under Gen Buller occupy Vaal Krantz, Natal

• 1900 - The United States and the United Kingdom sign treaty for Panama Canal

1901 - Loop-the-loop centrifugal RR (roller coaster) patented by Ed Prescot

1901 - Pierpont Morgan forms US Steel Corp

1904 - American occupation of Cuba ends

1907 - Arnold Schoenberg's 1st string quartet premieres in Vienna

1911 - Society of Dutch Composers forms in Amsterdam

1916 - Enrico Caruso recorded "O Solo Mio" for the Victor Talking Machine Co

1917 - Congress overrides Wilson's veto, curtailing Asian immigration

1917 - Morosco Theater opens at 217 W 45th St NYC (demolished 1982)

Flag of Mexico

• In 1917 on this day, the present Mexican constitution was adopted.

Feb 5, 1917: Mexican constitution proclaimed After seven years of revolution and civil upheaval, Mexican President Venustiano Carranza proclaims the modern Mexican constitution, which promises the restoration of lands to native peoples, the separation of church and state, and dramatic economic and educational reforms. The progressive political document, approved by an elected constitutional convention, combined revolutionary demands for land reform with advanced social theory. It would be decades, however, before most of the sweeping reforms promised by the constitution became reality. Carranza was deposed and killed in 1920, and lasting stability eluded Mexico until after World War II, when industrialism spurred by the war grew into a major part of the economy and Miguel Aleman became the first in an unbroken series of civilian presidents.

• 1918 - 1st US pilot to down an enemy airplane, Stephen W Thompson

• 1918 - Separation of church & state begins in USSR

1919 - NL pres John Heydler dismisses charges that Hal Chase bet against his team & threw games in collusion with gamblers

1921 - Yankees purchase 20 acres in Bronx for Yankee Stadium

1922 - Reader's Digest magazine 1st published

1923 - General mine strike against wage cuts in Saar

• 1923 - Mass arrests of socialists & communists in Italy

1924 - The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".

1927 - Buster Keaton's movie "The General" released & bombed

1929 - Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoon debuts in SF

1930 - 5th Aliyah to Israel begins

1931 - Maxine Dunlap becomes 1st US women to earn a glider pilot license

1933 - Marinus van der Lubbe passes Dutch/German boundary

1936 - National Wildlife Federation forms

Comedian/Actor/Filmaker Charlie ChaplinComedian/Actor/Filmaker Charlie Chaplin 1937 - 1st Charlie Chaplin talkie, "Modern Times," released

Statue of Franklin D. Roosevelt at his Memorial in Washington

• 1937 - FDR proposes enlarging Supreme Court, "court packing" plan failed

1938 - Hans Engnestangen skates world record 500m (41.8 sec)

1940 - Gen Winckelman replaces Gen Reijnders as Dutch supreme commander

1940 - Glenn Miller & his Orchestra record "Tuxedo Junction"

• 1941 - Dutch Premier De Geer returns from Lisbon to Netherlands

• In 1941 on this day during World War II, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler urged Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini to fight harder.

Feb 5, 1941: Hitler to Mussolini: Fight harder! On this day in 1941, Adolf Hitler scolds his Axis partner, Benito Mussolini, for his troops' retreat in the face of British advances in Libya, demanding that the Duce command his forces to resist. Since 1912, Italy had occupied Libya because of purely economic "expansion" motives. In 1935, Mussolini began sending tens of thousands of Italians to Libya, mostly farmers and other rural workers, in part to relieve overpopulation concerns in Italy. So by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, Italy had enjoyed a long-term presence in North Africa, and Mussolini began dreaming of expanding that presence--always with an eye toward the same territories that the old "Roman Empire" had counted among its conquests. Also sitting in North Africa were British troops, which, under a 1936 treaty, were garrisoned in Egypt to protect the Suez Canal and Royal Navy bases at Alexandria and Port Said. Hitler had offered to aid Mussolini early on in his North African expansion, to send German troops to help fend off a British counterattack. But Mussolini had been rebuffed when he had offered Italian assistance during the Battle of Britain. He now insisted that as a matter of national pride, Italy would have to create a Mediterranean sphere of influence on its own--or risk becoming a "junior" partner of Germany's. But despite expansion into parts of East Africa and Egypt, Mussolini's forces proved no match for the Brits in the long run. British troops pushed the Italians westward, inflicting extraordinary losses on the Axis forces in an attack at Beda Fomm. As Britain threatened to push the Italians out of Libya altogether and break through to Tunisia, Mussolini swallowed his pride and asked Hitler for assistance. Hitler reluctantly agreed (it would mean the first direct German-British encounter in the Mediterranean)--but only if Mussolini stopped the Italians' retreat and kept the British out of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. But the Italians continued to be overwhelmed; in three months, 20,000 men were wounded or killed and 130,000 were taken prisoner. Only with the arrival of German Gen. Erwin Rommel would the Italian resistance be strengthened against further British advances. Even with Germany's help, Italy was able to defend its North African territory only until early 1943.

1942 - "Woman of the Year," starring Hepburn & Tracy opens at Radio City

1942 - Braves get Tommy Holmes from Yanks for Buddy Hassett & Gene Moore

1943 - Amsterdam resistance group CS-6 shoots nazi general Seyffardt

1943 - Clandestine Radio Atlantiksender, Germany, 1st transmission

1944 - 358 RAF bombers attack Stettin

1945 - Big Racket becomes fastest race horse at 69t.6 kph (440 yd/20.8 s)

Statue of soldier, author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London

• 1945 - British premier Churchill arrives in Yalta, the Crimea

Statue of an American Soldier at the World War II Memorial in Trenton, New Jersey

• On this day in 1945 during the later stages of World War II, US troops under General Douglas MacArthur entered Manilla in the Philippines.

1946 - The Chondoist Chongu Party is founded in North Korea.

WW2 General Douglas MacArthurWW2 General Douglas MacArthur

• 1947 - Bolewet Beirut becomes president of Poland

1948 - "Nature of Things" science show premieres on NBC prime time

1948 - Dick Button becomes 1st US figure skating Olympic champion

1948 - Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympic slalom champion

1949 - Huaso sets official world equestrian high-jump record, 2.47 m, Chic

1953 - "Peter Pan" by Walt Disney opens at Roxy Theater, NYC

1953 - 5th Emmy Awards: I Love Lucy, Thomas Mitchell & Helen Hayes wins

1954 - WCDC TV channel 19 in Adams, MA (ABC) begins broadcasting

1956 - 7th Winter Olympic games close at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

1956 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Havana Golf Open

1956 - NY Mayor Robert Wagner & Bkln Boro Pres Frank Cashmore sponsor a bill to create a $30M Brooklyn Sports Center Authority to build

1957 - Dmitri Shostakovitch completes his 2nd Piano Concert

1958 - Clifton R Wharton confirmed as 1st US black foreign minister (Romania)

1958 - Gamel Abdel Nasser nominated 1st president of United Arab Republic

1958 - Test Cricket debut of Lance Gibbs, WI v Pakistan, Port-of-Spain

1958 - Vanguard TV-3 back-up launches into Earth orbit; reaches 6 km

French President Charles De Gaulle

Flag of Algeria

• In 1962 on this day, French President Charles de Gaulle called for Algeria's independence.

1962 - Suit to bar Englewood NJ from "racial segregated" schools, filed

1962 - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn within 16 degrees

1963 - Maarten Schmidt discovers enormous red shifts in quasars

1963 - Soviet lunar probe failure

1965 - Beursschouwburg opens in Brussels

1966 - BBC opens a relay radio station on Ascension Island

1967 - "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS (later ABC, NBC)

• 1967 - Anastasio Somoza elected president of Nicaragua

1967 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Robert Penn Warren

1968 - KDTV TV channel 39 in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (IND) begins broadcasting

1968 - Skater Kees Verkerk wins olympic gold in the 1500m

• 1968 - Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh begins.

1969 - "Turn-On," debuts & cancelled by ABC after flopping so badly

• 1969 - US population reaches 200 million

• 1969 - Vince Lombardi, becomes part owner, vp, gm & head coach of Redskins

1971 - Apollo 14, 3rd US manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro Alan Shepard & Edward Mitchell (Apollo 14) walk on Moon for 4 hrs

1972 - "Another Puff" by Jerry Reed peaks at #65

1972 - Bob Douglas is 1st black elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

1972 - US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage

1973 - Comic strip "Hagar The Horrible" debuted

1973 - Funeral for LC William Nolde, last US soldier killed in Vietnam War

• 1973 - Juan Corona sentenced to 25 consecutive life terms for 25 murders

1974 - British mine strike

1974 - Mats Wermelin, Sweden, scores all points in 272-0 basketball win

1974 - Maximum speed on Autobahn reduced to 100 kph

1974 - US Mariner 10 returns 1st close-up photos of Venus' cloud structure

• 1974 - John Murtha becomes the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the Congress of the United States.

• On this day in 1975, the North Vietnamese began preparations for a final offensive to take over all of Vietnam.

Feb 5, 1975: North Vietnamese begin preparations for offensive North Vietnamese Gen. Van Tien Dung departs for South Vietnam to take command of communist forces in preparation for a new offensive. In December 1974, the North Vietnamese 7th Division and the newly formed 3rd Division attacked Phuoc Long Province, north of Saigon. This attack represented an escalation in the "cease-fire war" that started shortly after the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973. The North Vietnamese wanted to see how Saigon and Washington would react to a major attack so close to Saigon. President Richard Nixon and his successor, Gerald Ford, had promised to come to the aid of South Vietnam if the North Vietnamese launched a major new offensive. With Nixon's Watergate resignation and Ford facing an increasingly hostile Congress, Hanoi was essentially conducting a "test" attack to see if the United States would honor its commitment to Saigon. The attack was much more successful than the North Vietnamese anticipated: the South Vietnamese soldiers fought poorly and the United States did nothing. Emboldened by their success, the North Vietnamese decided to launch a major offensive against the South Vietnamese. "Campaign 275" began on March 1, 1975. The North Vietnamese forces quickly overran the South Vietnamese and the United States failed to provide the promised support. Saigon fell on April 30 and the South Vietnamese government officially surrendered.

• 1980 - Egyptian parliament votes to end boycott of Israel

1981 - "Piaf" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 165 performances

1981 - Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane

1981 - Milt jury in NC convicts Robert Garwood of collaborating with enemy

• 1982 - Chin A Sen ends term as president of Suriname

1982 - DEA announces seizure of 3,192 tons of marijuana, 495 people

1982 - British airline Laker Airways collapses owing 270M pounds ($351M)

• 1982 - Suriname pres Chin A Sen resigns & flees to Neth

• On this day in 1983, former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie was brought to trial.

• 1986 - Corazon Aquino & Ferdinand Marcos appear on "Nightline"

1987 - Dow Jones avg closes above 2,200 for 1st time

1987 - Soyuz TM-2 launches

WWF Wrestler Hulk HoganWWF Wrestler Hulk Hogan 1988 - 1st prime-time wrestling match in 30 yrs-Andre beats Hulk Hogan

• 1988 - Arizona House of Reps vote to impeach Republican Gov Evan Mecham

• 1988 - Panamanian Gen Manuel Noriega indicted by US grand jury for drugs

1989 - Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes 1st NBA player to score 38,000 points

1990 - Notre Dame becomes 1st team to sell its game to a major network (NBC)

1991 - A Michigan court bars Dr Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides

1991 - All American Bowl ends after 14 years

1991 - Big East Football conference forms

1991 - Joni Mitchell inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame

1991 - LA King Dave Taylor becomes 29th NHler to score 1000 points

1991 - Howard Stern kisses NY Giant Leonard Marshall's ass over bet, Stern lost claiming the Giants would lose the Superbowl

1992 - Jury selection begins in the LA police beating Rodney King case

1992 - Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Dilip Vengsarkar

1992 - Mike Whitney career-best 7-27 at WACA in Test Cricket win v India

1993 - Grenade explodes in Sarajevo, killing 63 & injuring 160

Victim of Police Violence Rodney KingVictim of Police Violence Rodney King 1993 - R James Woolsey, becomes 16th director of CIA

1994 - "Where On Earth Is Carmen San Diego," debuts on Fox TV

• In 1994 on this day, Medgar Evers' murderer Byron De La Beckwith was sentenced to life, in Jackson Mississippi, 30 years after the crime was committed.

Feb 5, 1994: Beckwith convicted of killing Medgar Evers On this day in 1994, white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith is convicted in the murder of African-American civil rights leader Medgar Evers, over 30 years after the crime occurred. Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his Jackson, Mississippi, home on June 12, 1963, while his wife, Myrlie, and the couple's three small children were inside. Medgar Wiley Evers was born July 2, 1925, near Decatur, Mississippi, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After fighting for his country, he returned home to experience discrimination in the racially divided South, with its separate public facilities and services for blacks and whites. Evers graduated from Alcorn College in 1952 and began organizing local chapters of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). In 1954, after being rejected for admission to then-segregated University of Mississippi Law School, he became part of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the school. Later that year, Evers was named the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. He moved with his family to Jackson and worked to dismantle segregation, leading peaceful rallies, economic boycotts and voter registration drives around the state. In 1962, he helped James Meredith become the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, a watershed event in the civil rights movement. As a result of his work, Evers received numerous threats and several attempts were made on his life before he was murdered in 1963 at the age of 37. Beckwith, a fertilizer salesman and Ku Klux Klan member widely believed to be the killer, was prosecuted for murder in 1964. However, two all-white (and all-male) juries deadlocked and refused to convict him. A second trial held in the same year resulted in a hung jury. The matter was dropped when it appeared that a conviction would be impossible. Myrlie Evers, who later became the first woman to chair the NAACP, refused to give up, pressing authorities to re-open the case. In 1989, documents came to light showing that jurors in the case were illegally screened. Prosecutor Bobby DeLaughter worked with Myrlie Evers to force another prosecution of Beckwith. After four years of legal maneuvering, they were finally successful. At the third trial they produced a riflescope from the murder weapon with Beckwith's fingerprints, as well as new witnesses who testified that Beckwith had bragged about committing the crime. Justice was finally achieved when Beckwith was convicted and given a life sentence by a racially diverse jury in 1994. He died in prison in 2001 at the age of 80.

• 1995 - Japan's Shinshinto Party wins local elections

1997 - 3 Swiss banks create $70 million Holocaust fund

1997 - Brook Lee, Hawaii, crowned 46th Miss USA (en route to Miss Universe)

1998 - Alberto Acciarito convicted of harassing his ex-wife Ingrid Rossellini

1998 - Author Tom Clancy confirms he signed agreement to purchase Minnesota Vikings for slightly more than $200 million, an NFL franchise record

1998 - Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding talk on FOX (Taped Dec 22nd)

• On this day in 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence to the U.N. concerning Iraq's material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441, although it would be proven false later.

• 2004 - Twenty-three Chinese people drown when a group of 35 cockle-pickers are trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered.

Flag of Haiti

• Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the city of Gonaïves on this day in 2004, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.

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Pittsburgh Steelers

• Super Bowl XL was played on this day in 2006 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history, but the first in 26 years, by beating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10. Pittsburgh Wide Receiver Hines Ward was honored with the Super Bowl MVP award.

• 2008 - A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States leaves at least 58 dead, the most since the May 31, 1985 outbreak that killed 88.

• 2009 - The United States Navy guided missile cruiser Port Royal runs aground off Oahu, Hawaii, damaging the ship as well as a coral reef.

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New York Giants

• Super Bowl XLVI was played on this day in 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. In a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants once again narrowly defeated the New England Patriots, 21-17, for the fourth Super Bowl title in franchise history, and a second in four years. Giants Quarterback Eli Manning earned the MVP honors.

• 2013 - UK House of Commons votes in favour of same-sex marriage

2013 - The US Postal Service announces the cessation of Saturday first-class mail delivery from August 2013

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New England Patriots

• Super Bowl LI was played on this day in 2017 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The New England Patriots earned the fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history by coming back from a Super Bowl record 25-point deficit to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime. It was the first Super Bowl game to go into overtime. The Falcons had owned a 28-3 lead midway through the third quarter, but then largely collapsed the rest of the way. New England Quarterback Tim Brady earned a record-breaking 4th Super Bowl MVP award.

1782 - The Spanish captured Minorca from the British. 1783 - Sweden recognized the independence of the United States. 1846 - "The Oregon Spectator", based in Oregon City, became the first newspaper published on the Pacific coast. 1861 - Samuel Goodale patented the moving picture peep show machine. 1881 - Phoenix, AZ, was incorporated. 1917 - Mexico's constitution was adopted. 1917 - The U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 (Asiatic Barred Zone Act) with an overwhelming majority. The action overrode President Woodrow Wilson's December 14, 1916 veto. 1924 - The BBC time signals, or "pips", from Greenwich Observatory were heard for the first time. They are broadcast every hour. 1931 - Maxine Dunlap became the first woman licensed as a glider pilot. 1937 - U.S. President Roosevelt proposed enlarging the U.S. Supreme Court. The plan failed. 1940 - "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill" debuted on radio. 1952 - In New York City, four signs were installed at 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square that told pedestrians "don't walk." 1953 - The Walt Disney’s film "Peter Pan" opened at the Roxy Theatre in New York City. Disney movies, music and books 1958 - Gamel Abdel Nasser was formally nominated to become the first president of the United Arab Republic. 1961 - The first issue of the "Sunday Telegraph" was published. 1972 - Bob Douglas became the first black man elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. 1982 - Great Britain imposed economic sanctions against Poland and Russia in protest against martial law in Poland. 1987 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 2,200-point for the first time. The market closed at 2201.49. 1988 - A pair of indictments were unsealed in Florida, accusing Panama's military leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, of bribery and drug trafficking. 1994 - White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, MS, of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 1997 - Switzerland's "Big Three" banks announced they would create a $71 million fund for Holocaust victims and their families. 1997 - Investment bank Morgan Stanley announced a $10 billion merger with Dean Witter. 1999 - Mike Tyson was sentenced to a year in jail for assaulting two people after a car accident on August 31, 1998. Tyson was also fined $5,000, had to serve 2 years of probation, and had to perform 200 hours of community service upon release. 2001 - It was announced the Kelly Ripa would be Regis Philbin's cohost. The show was renamed to "Live! With Regis and Kelly." 2001 - Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman announced their separation.

1811 After George III was declared insane, the Prince of Wales became Prince Regent of England, and later George IV. 1917 Congress passed the Immigration Act, which restricted Asian immigration, over President Wilson's veto. 1917 Mexico adopted its present constitution. 1937 FDR proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices—"packing" the court. 1994 Byron De La Beckwith was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Medgar Evers, 30 years after the crime in Jackson, Mississippi. 1997 Under international pressure, three of Switzerland's biggest banks created a fund worth 100 million Swiss francs for Holocaust victims and their families.

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb05.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

An Evening With Our Favorite Writers at the Connecticut Forum, Hartford, CT, February 4, 2006 - 20th Anniversary (One Day Late)

An Evening With Our Favorite Writers at the Connecticut Forum, Hartford, CT, Feb. 4, 2006

This comes one day after the fact, admittedly. For whatever reason, I had it in my mind that this was on February 5th, not 4th, of 2006. But I was wrong.

Also, the last time that I posted or wrote about this event, I was really only familiar with one of the authors from the evening, having long been a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut. Since then, I have read several works from Joyce Carol Oates. I have reviewed some of those works, including Lovely, Dark, and Deep, Pursuit, DIS MEM BER, and a short piece which she wrote for another book I reviewed, New Jersey Noir. So while I was not particularly familiar with her on the day of this event, I have since come to appreciate her writing quite a bit.

Anyway, this is what I wrote about the event in the past:

One of my personal favorite authors is Kurt Vonnegut. I really got into him just after college, which is surprising, because my first exposure to Vonnegut maybe should have been in college. I can understand not reading him in high school, but often times, people do read Vonnegut in college. Somehow, that was not the case for me.

Yet, I did get into him, and there is a good reason for it. This was just after September 11th. The months immediately before and after that tragic event were not very good ones for me. For one, I was unemployed, and kept borrowing money from my credit cards just to be able to pay bills, as well as spend money more freely than I should have. In retrospect, it seems obvious that I was going through some form of depression. But there was also what was going on in the country and the world. The events of September 11th were tragic and depressing in their own right, of course. But so was the rightwing government of that time using that tragedy to takeover greater control. As Norman Mailer suggested, it is not likely that George W Bush and his administration were in on that tragedy, although the speed with which they used that tragedy and responded by increasing government power and surveillance on American citizens lent credibility to conspiracy theories that, in fact, the Bush administration was behind it all.

Indeed, it was a depressing time to be an American. Soon enough, we would squander the sympathy that the world felt for us following the 9/11 attacks by pursuing an unjustifiable and immoral war which was being fought, officially, over the immediate threat that Saddam's Iraq posed. Bush and Blair officials insisted that Saddam Hussein was building a huge arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's) and pursuing nuclear weapons, and that he had a 45-minute response time in using those weapons. Bush spoke of a mushroom cloud over American cities, and he used the words "Saddam" and "Iraq" in the same sentences as "terrorism" and "the 9/11 attacks." Before long, a majority of Americans believed that Saddam had played an active role in the terrorist attacks, according to polls at the time. Many felt that he was behind it, and that he would launch another attack. The fact that this never reflected the reality, and that the same officials who were propping Saddam up as some kind of immediate threat to world peace, and a tyrant on the level of Hitler or Stalin, were also simultaneously predicting an easy and quick victory for Americans in Iraq (Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld infamously predicted that the United States would win in six days or six weeks, but that it would not take as long as six months) never seemed to bother Americans much. And so, Americans launched a war that earned them condemnation around the world. It was a sign of what was to come, with much of the world increasingly viewing the United States with greater skepticism, and not trusting or liking American government. Bush was kind of a somewhat milder version of Trump before Trump entered the political arena.

It was just months after the September 11th attacks when I finally read Vonnegut's most famous book, "Slaughterhouse Five." So much did I enjoy it, that I began to pursue more of his books, and devoured these, too. Before long, I was trying to find anything that I could from this author, including online articles. At a time when I sometimes felt like Americans were collectively losing their minds and noticeably becoming more foolish, Vonnegut (and others, admittedly) were proving to be an exception.

Admittedly, I have a kind of obsessive trait, and yes, I became obsessed with Vonnegut's writings. I wanted to read and hear everything that this man had to say about what was going on. Before long, I really wanted to see him in person. There was a guy I knew who said that I had better hurry, because Vonnegut was not getting any younger, as if I was not already aware of that.

But see Vonnegut I did. He came to Lehigh University to deliver the commencement address in the spring of 2004. I took off from work and my then wife and I went to Lehigh, and saw him deliver his address. I was thrilled to finally have seen him in person.

The opportunity would arise yet again a few years later. Frankly, I am not sure how I even heard about this, although it must have been while I was specifically seeking out opportunities to see him. Yes, he was going to be making a rare public appearance at the Connecticut Forum in Hartford, with two other authors: Joyce Carol Oats and Jennifer Weiner. By now, it hardly needs to be stated that I got tickets.

The event took place the evening before Super Bowl XL between the Steelers and the Seahawks. I remember that not only because I have a particularly sharp memory when it comes to Super Bowls, but because it was mentioned at least once, and maybe twice, that evening. Vonnegut even asked at one point why people in Hartford would care about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Remember, this was right after the New England Patriots had established themselves as the new dynasty in the league, and Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were already being viewed among the all-time greats.

But I digress. Seeing Vonnegut was a thrill, and seeing him a second time was almost more than I could ask. Especially given that he would be gone not too much later than this.

Still, these are pleasant memories. It was one of the events that I was very pleased to have gone to and seen. And today, on the 15th anniversary of that last time that I would see Kurt Vonnegut, it felt necessary to do something to remember him, and that evening, by.

So here is this blog entry dedicated to his memory, and to the event where I was, once again, blessed to see him again, and hear him share his thoughts on the world at that time. Here is a video of that memorable evening:

An Evening With Our Favorite Writers at the Connecticut Forum, Hartford, CT, February 4, 2006

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1468288415/kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-in-time

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time documentary gets a Kickstarter by Will Robinson, February 10, 2015:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/10/kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-time-documentarys-kickstarter-launched

A Kurt Vonnegut documentary is a Kickstarter you might actually want to back By Jason Abbruzzese 2015-02-10:

http://mashable.com/2015/02/10/kurt-vonnegut-kickstarter/

NEW VIDEO: KURT VONNEGUT DISCOVERS TRALFAMADORE

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1468288415/kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-in-time/posts/1147508

Kurt Vonnegut graphed the world’s most popular stories By Ana Swanson February 9, 2015:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/09/kurt-vonnegut-graphed-the-worlds-most-popular-stories/