News for this day in 1982 was preoccupied with military action.

From Lebanon came reports that the Israeli Army was making huge advances against the PLO. While PLO leader Yassar Arafat made an appeal to the Soviet Union and other Arab nations for aid in the wake of swift action by the Israeli's. As of this report, 25 Israeli soldiers were dead, and some 7 were missing.

From Capitol Hill came word there would be no sanctions placed on Israel. The U.S. Navy was re-deploying to other parts of the Mediterranean as a precaution against direct involvement.

Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands crisis was continuing with British and Argentine troops waiting to see who blinks first,

President Reagan was visiting the UK and called for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, but no such call for withdrawal for The Falkands.

On Capitol Hill - the fight was continuing over the 1983 Fiscal Spending Plan with some calling the same old problem with the same old answers. Others called it the continuing Economic Mess.

And Kermit the Frog made the Commencement Address to the graduating class of Harvard.

All that and a lot more for this day in June, 1982 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup, the 8:00 network news and the 9:00 network news.

This day in 1982 was about shooting wars. British troops landed on The Falkland Islands and the shooting war started. Amid reports of casualties and both sides claiming the upper hand, the propaganda wheels were in motion. The diplomatic wheels however were not, and even though Pope John Paul II appealed to Britain to show restraint and seek a peaceful solution, Margaret Thatcher said "thanks, but no thanks". And the war was on.

Likewise in the Middle East, only this time it was Iran who boasted major gains in territory over the Iraqi's, but it didn't look as though this thing would be over anytime soon. Terrorist bombs went off in Beirut, this time at the French Embassy and with scores of casualties.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world. Successor to the ailing Leonid Brezhnev was looking more and more like Yuri Andropov, head of the Secret Police.

On Capitol Hill - Pres. Reagan's Fiscal spending plan for 1983 goes to battle at the House. Reagan also pushed for The Department of Energy to be merged with the Department of Commerce. The Supreme Court ruled people on Nixon's Enemies list did not need to be revealed. The Abortion question was also back on the docket, this time via State's rulings on abortions.

The DeLorean Auto plant in Ireland was ordered closed by the Irish government, citing no buyers in the foreseeable future.

All that, and a lot more on this May 24th in 1982 from the CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (PDT) network news.

This day in May 1982 had a lot to do with negotiations - some successful and some not.

On the Cold War front - Soviet President Brezhnev proposed a series talks with the U.S. aimed at limiting the number of nuclear weapons in either country's arsenal. Brezhnev also called for a nuclear freeze, but Alexander Haig balked, saying the Russians already had more weapons than we did.

At home - debate in the Senate was heating up over Fiscal '83 with a proposed $40 billion in unspecified Budget cuts, including Social Security. But since that was such a hot-button issue, especially during an election year, it was recommended it all go no the backburner until after the election.

And the Senate was als getting ready to vote on anohter controversial piece of legislation. This time over an FTC requirement for Used Car dealers to state if a car has major known defects before it's sold. The Auto Dealer's Lobby went insane, spending vast amounts of money just to kill it.

And overseas, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin lost his majority in the Knesset as two members of Begin's Likud party bolted and joined the opposition Labour Party.

And that's how it went this May 18, 1982 as reported over The CBS World News Roundup.

The grumblings from Argentina over a disputed series of Islands under British possession boiled over on this day in 1982.

But that wasn't all that was going on, as was reported on this wrapup of the week. No, far from it. News from the elections in El Salvador gave the U.S. and most of Central America pause, since it was the largest turnout for an election in El Salvador's history. The counting was underway.

But news of the Falklands crisis was swift and plentiful. With Britain immediately sending a Naval taskforce, bringing promises of a shooting war within weeks. Calls for the Military government of Argentina to withdraw were rejected and diplomatic missions were running off the hook.

Meanwhile, it was noted that the Iran-Iraq War was lumbering into its 18th month with reports of an Iranian victory in the latest battle and some 8,000 Iraqi dead as the result

Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev was admitted to the hospital amidst rumors and speculation his health was deteriorating. Moscow's lips were sealed.

Back in the States - latest fears of Social Security running out of money by July of 1983 were echoing all over Capitol Hill. And we were still up to our eyeballs in Recession with a reported 9% unemployment rate looming. Closer inspection revealed the unemployment rate for Blacks was 18% with unemployed Black Youth up to 42%. No rosy picture anywhere for the Shining City On The Hill.

The big Oscar winners during the Academy Awards earlier in the week were Chariots of Fire and On Golden Pond.

And Irish extremist Ian Paisley was barred from coming to the U.S. to deliver an address to Bob Jones University. The move prompted Bob Jones Jr. to publicly call for Divine intervention and life-termination for Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who rejected the visa. East of the Suez they call 'em Fatwahs but here they call 'em Goofy Evangelists. Take your choice.

And that was our little slice of Paradise, this 2nd day of April 1982 as presented by CBS Radio and The World This Week.

May 1982, in case you forgot, was the month things heated up between Argentina and Great Britain over the disputed Falkland Islands. The shooting war had begun. Argentina had invaded the small islands in April of 1982 and renamed them The Malvinas. With considerable diplomatic wrangling afoot, the U.S. landed somewhere in the middle and on this segment of Face The Nation, Chairman of the House Latin-America Sub-committee Congressman Michael Barnes (D-Maryland) fielded questions from the panel of journalists over just how bad was this contretemps was going to get.

Congressman Michael Barnes: “We can’t underestimate, I think, the dangers that are inherent in this kind of just tragically crazy international activity. I think the Argentines did underestimate what was involved when they took this initial aggressive action. And now both sides are in a position where it’s very difficult for them to just get out of this situation. And if a major military action breaks out, and it could break out at any moment, it’s easy to see that escalating to the point where, say the British started to lose, they might feel that they had to attack Argentine positions on the mainland in order to offset the advantage that the Argentines have of having only three hundred miles distance there whereas the British have eight thousand miles or thirty-five hundred to Asuncion Islands. So it’s easy to see this escalating, I’m not suggesting any imminent possibility of anybody using nuclear weapons. But the Argentines do have an advanced nuclear weapons program.”

One of the interesting aspects of, not only this, but most Cold-War era disputes is the natural assumption the Nuclear Option will be employed by either one or both of the belligerent parties to settle a dispute that gets out of hand. Whether this was mainstream media's attempt at entertaining fear or the Cold War mentality had become so ingrained in our Press corps that even a somewhat benign dispute could erupt into nuclear war seems strange now.

In any event, Congressman Barnes' assessment is rather gloomy and it's fascinating to listen to in retrospect.

That thing called the Fear Card even when we don't get to play it.

(Overheard singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" as they sailed off)

From April 2 to June 13, 1982 Britain and Argentina had something of a face-off over a tiny group of islands off the Argentine coast. Argentina, under the recently installed Military government of Leopoldo Galtieri, claimed it belonged to them, while Britain maintained it was part of the British Empire for the past 149 years. On the morning of April 2nd, Argentine troops invaded the islands and overran the 84 British Marines stationed there. The political storm that followed saw the resignation of Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington and an effort on the part of the U.S. to broker some peace settlement. In the end, Thatcher rejected a peace initiative and sent troops to force a confrontation. As of April 24th, the British fleet was 1,000 miles away from The Falklands and in a matter of days a full-on shooting war would break out.

Here is a BBC World Service news report on the days activities. Before the advent of streaming audio and 24 hour satellite broadcasts, most overseas radio came by way of Shortwave - distant voices that faded in and out and sounded ominous.

Maybe it added to the drama, but it kept a lot of fingers glued to the dial during that month.