Update: We passed the half-way mark late this morning and things are looking a lot better than they were 24 hours ago. My most heartfelt thanks and admiration to all of you who have donated so far, including my colleagues at Crooks and Liars, you are all amazing. We're not out of the woods yet, and there is still a ways to go - not as far as yesterday at this time, but we still need to get the other half in order to save the Archive from destruction and Newstalgia from becoming extinct. Any amount you can afford to give will be appreciated beyond words. The donation amounts so far have run from between $1.00 to $100.00 and they are ALL gratefully appreciated. Any amount of money is money desperately needed at this point. I cannot thank you enough, to those who have donated so far. I cannot tell you how much your support means, to those who haven't yet. We're a lot closer to making this happen, and with your continued support we will succeed!

If you've just run across Newstalgia for the first time, please take some time to scroll down the page and check out the some 3,000+ posts, running the gamut from historic speeches (like this one) and historic events (like 3-Mile Island) to weekly Jazz, Rock and Classical concerts and everything in-between. It's all about history, all about information and all about our world.

I ran across an article about Eugene Debs the other day. Considered by many to be the first Socialist leader four-time candidate for President in the early 20th Century, firebrand labor leader and one of the more notable figures on the political scene from the 1890's until his death in 1926.

Here is an address, which has been attributed to an actor (Len Spencer) at the time, recorded shortly after he originally gave it in 1904.

Debs was renown for his public speaking, and his dramatic addresses were legendary. Although this is most likely not the real voice of Debs, Len Spencer was well aware of Debs' oratorical skills and was said to have captured the spirit of a Debs address quite accurately. Obviously, that isn't anything anyone can actually verify in 2012, so we'll have to take their word for it.

Here is the transcript of that address, as the original cylinder and recording techniques make it hard to understand at times:

Continue reading »

Update: We still haven't been able to crack 30% in our desperate attempt to save Newstalgia from going away and the archive (from which everything you hear comes) from being destroyed. It's serious. I am completely in gratitude and sincere appreciation to those who have donated so far to keep us alive, but we still need a lot more help. With some 8 days to go before eviction and signing off for good, we need your help. Please keep Newstalgia going and offering history as you probably won't hear anywhere else. Anything you can do to help out is more than gratefully appreciated. No matter how much you're willing to give - it all makes a difference. Please consider making a donation, for whatever amount - large or small. We can get there but only if you help. Please help save Newstalgia from extinction.

A busy day in the world, this April 24th in 1998. Fourteen years ago on this day you probably woke up and heard the news that Boris Yeltsin, after a month of political wrangling and arm-twisting, finally succeeded in installing his pick for Prime Minister, Sergei Kiriyenko. Opposed by the Communist minority in the Russian Parliament, Kiriyenko was touted by Yeltsin as part of his plan for economic rejuvenation of the sagging Russian economy.

In other parts of the world. A festive atmosphere greeted the public execution of the first four convicted of perpetrators of the horrific genocide in Rwanda. The Soccer Stadium in Kigali filled to capacity to witness the firing squad take aim at the three men and one woman who were part of wave of mass killings that had gone on for so long in the beleaguered African nation.

With the recent death of James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, plans were still underway to open an investigation on the murder of the Civil Rights leader. Despite a 1978 Senate Subcommittee hearing that concluded Ray acted alone, there was pressing evidence that Ray had been funded by a group of St. Louis bigots who reportedly offered Ray $50,000.00 for the assassination.

Mergers and Unions in the Airline Industry were big news on this day. With talk of a merger between United and Delta Airlines, promises of a potential windfall, similar to the promises of a windfall from the previous days merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways had many expressing doubts about how much of a windfall this really was and an investigation of this new merger was called for.

Meanwhile, over at Northwest Airlines - The labor dispute was deepening with Northwest reportedly firing two mechanics, one for wearing a clown costume to work, and suspending four others for a reported work slowdown at its Minneapolis hub. Six other unions were prepping for a confrontation with stockholders and NWO's annuan meeting in New York. A federal mediator called for resumption of talks before the ugliness got started.

Whitewater figure Susan McDougal was sitting it out in a Little Rock jail on this day, as the result of refusing to answer questions for the Grand Jury hearing.

The cost of Health Insurance premiums were going to be going up, with a reported increase of as much as 15% in some cases.

The Senate narrowly approved legislation on Tax-free savings accounts for school expenses. President Clinton threatened a veto.

And daughter of OJ Simpson, Arnell was arrested for Drunk Driving in Beverly Hills.

Some day.

That and lots more via the CBS World News Roundup for a Friday, April 24th, 1998.

We tend to forget what a crucial role railroads played in our society during the 20th century. It was the main source of transportation over long distances for passengers (or medium distances for commuters) and for freight and raw materials. Air travel was still considered a luxury and our highway system was still evolving.

In 1946 the country was crippled from a strike by Railroad workers. Essentially, the entire nation was stranded, and the strike quickly escalated to crisis stage where President Truman addressed the country to declare a national emergency in an effort to bring the warring parties back to the bargaining table.

On May 24th he made a radio address and on May 25th he addressed an emergency session of Congress.

Here is that May 24th address by President Truman from the White House as broadcast over all networks.

Ironically, the strike was settled the next day as Truman addressed Congress. But until then, it was a nail-biter.

It's interesting to draw parallels between the state of the Labor Movement in 1969 and the state of the Labor Movement now. For one thing, the rank-and-file numbers have changed. For another, in 1969 there wasn't the concept of "outsourcing", and multi-national corporations were only just beginning to creep into the picture. China was knee-deep in the Cultural Revolution, India was pretty much isolated and the tag "made in Japan" still had a certain drawback, except in electronics.

But the similarities are still the same - struggling to get a piece of the American Dream, fighting for a decent wage and, in the case of the Farm Workers, a struggle to get recognition at all.

Cesar Chavez: “Certainly as a laboring man in America, he (the Mexican American) has been totally and completely been forgotten. He’s the only working man in America that’s not been included under the Beneficial Labor legislation that this country has offered other working men. He’s the only working man in America who does not have a union. The American farm workers excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, you have to resort to the same kind of struggle that unions had to fifty years ago. Ours is the beginning and all we’re asking for at this point really is recognition. And any good union guy, any trade unionist will understand that, when you’re fighting for recognition, it’s a long fight.”

So the playing field and the rules have changed. The basic concept of earning a decent wage and achieving a level of dignity hasn't. Some things are just universal and timeless.

In October of 1969, NBC Radio as part of their Second Sunday series, ran this documentary on the State Of The Unions as they existed some 42 years ago.

First day of Spring, this March 20th in 1964, and the news was only slightly skewed.

Beginning with word that Soviet Foreign Minister Andre Gromyko informed interested parties that the three U.S. fliers shot down over East Germany were something for the East Germans and the U.S. to work out, Russia was sitting this dance out.

Meanwhile, in Cambodia - reports that a Cambodian fighter plane shot down a Vietnamese Spotter plane was running the risk of damaging U.S.-Cambodian relations, even though Cambodia was adamant the plane was over their territory. The fun and games in South East Asia were continuing.

President Johnson, while stumping for campaign support, offered the "Better Deal" promise at a DNC fundraiser - a sort of echo of the FDR New Deal. Meanwhile, Republican front runner Barry Goldwater kept blasting away at LBJ at an RNC fundraiser with heaping helpings of paranoia to go along with dinner.

White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, resigned his post in order to toss his hat in the ring for the Senate from California where he set up shop on this day.

The news switches from the ABC Radio Network to WXYZ in Detroit to offer some local tidbits. The Detroit Teachers Union was up in arms over a City Council proposal for an Anti-Strike clause in their upcoming contract. The UAW Convention was getting underway with talk about upcoming Union contracts with Detroit. The Minimum Wage law passed in Michigan. Governor Romney (yes, the one responsible for the fruit falling very far from the tree, son-wise) proposed May 1st as the deadline to set up 6 half-way houses in the Detroit area for troubled youth. This in addition to many others proposed around Michigan for the same purpose. And Governor Romney blasted his Lieutenant Governor for poo-poo'ing the Governor's proposal to strengthen the Chemical test law for Drunk Drivers.

And despite the fact there were three major winter-type storms milling around, it was the first day of Spring!

All this and a lot more via ABC Radio News and WXYZ radio in Detroit Michigan for this March 20th, 1964.

(Upton Sinclair - did not endear himself to corporate interests)

Probably the most famous (or infamous, depending on which side of the fence you're on) muckrakers and whistle blowers of the late 19th and early 20th century was Upton Sinclair. His books, exposing conditions in the Meat Packing industry and corruption in other parts of society did much to change the kind of lives most Americans led during those years. It was his novel The Jungle that brought about the introduction of the Pure Food and Drug Act and established the FDA during the Teddy Roosevelt administration.

Sinclair was active all the way until his death in 1968 at the age of 90. He railed against the Corporate takeover of America and how Big Business had influenced much of what was going on with society for the worst. This interview, given in 1962, Sinclair is asked about the current state of Newspaper publishing in America and how it changed from the way it was in the early part of the 20th Century.

Upton Sinclair: “When I went out to Colorado during the Colorado coal strike . . I’ve forgotten the year, I called up the Denver Post, published some perfectly . . .fantastic falsehoods about me, made up out of the whole cloth. And I called up one of the proprietors and protested. And he cursed me, and he said “we say what we . .’ and I won’t repeat his language but ‘we are gonna say what we please about you and we don’t care a blankety-blank-blank what you think about us or what you say about us’ and that’s the way they talked.”

Even in 1962 Sinclair was wary of the amount of influence corporate interests were holding over America. It would be fascinating to get his take on how much it's changed today. And how much it's gone back to the late 19th Century.