Thursday, May 8, 2008

May 8 (6)

May 8, 2008—You may have heard, by the way, that residents of St. Mary’s Convent in South Bend, all in their 80s and 90s, showed up to vote on Tuesday and were turned away because of Indiana’s strict new voter ID laws. The laws are supposed to keep people from voting under assumed names, and while nobody seems able to demonstrate that ever really happens, they are demonstrably good at protecting the public from a 98-year-old ballot-wielding nun.—Gail Collins, NYT A31

--May 6, 2008—The Pentagon concluded it can’t send additional troops to Afghanistan until a sizable number withdraw from Iraq, a senior military official said.—WSJ A1

--May 8, 1968—20,000 demonstrate in Paris .;.. A student demonstration in Marseilles is supported by workers in large numbers. The demonstrators are cheered in the streets ... “where there are no police present there is no disorder.” ...Many demonstrations in Rennes, Lorient, Brest, Le Mans, St-Brieuc and Nantes are joined by both workers and students. ... The first comites d’action (action committees) are formed. Their aim is to establish grassroots democracy outside the existing political structure and to serve as counter-institutions. –REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE, ed., Posner, pp 69-70

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