1982

January 8 - AT&T agreed to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
January 11 to 17 - A brutal cold snap sent temperatures to all-time record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States.
January 13 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. Half an hour later, a Washington Metro train derails, killing 3. It is the system's first fatal accident.
Hama Uprising – a Sunni Muslim insurrection – the insurgents murdered whole families of Baath Party officials.
Islamist revolution in Hama in 1982 (February) – according to Fisk 10,000 were killed – and he was there.
It was crushed by Special Forces – Rifaat al-Assad’s Special forces – Syria / uncle of President Bashar al-Assad.
See Malik al-Abedeh, head of London-based movement for Justice and development in Syria.
The first muslim suicide bombers – girls – attacking Syrian troops. The Americans were quite happy that this insurgency had been crushed by Rifaat.
Sharon was ousted – left behind a government in severe crisis.

February 1982
February 5 - Laker Airways collapsed leaving 6000 passengers stranded and with debts of £270 million
February 19 - The DeLorean Car factory in Belfast was put into receivership

March 1982
March 1 - Jimmy Page's soundtrack album Death Wish II release; Legendary writer Philip K Dick, died from a stroke on March 2nd. March 10 -all 9 planets align on the same side of the Sun.
March 29 - Royal Assent in London to the Canada Act 1982 sets the stage for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution (see April 17 below). April 17 - By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada repatriates its constitution granting full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
March 19 - Falklands War: Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.
Falklands War takes place from Friday, April 2 to Sunday, June 20.
April 2 - Falklands War: Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands.

April 1982
April 23 - Mayor of Key West, Florida, Dennis Wardlow, declared independent Conch republic for a day;

May 1982
May 2 - The Weather Channel goes on the air;
May 2 - Falklands War: Nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano.
May 12 - Spanish priest Juan Hernandes tried to stab the Pope with a bayonet during the latter's pilgrimage to the Fatima shrine;
May 21 - Falklands War: Royal Marines and paratroopers from the British Task Force land at San Carlos Bay on the Falkland Islands and raise the Union Jack.
May 31 – Battle of Port Stanley in the Falklands

The US removed Iraq from its list of terrorist states in 1982, and sent Rumsfeld to Baghdad as Reagan’s envoy to meet Saddam in 83 and 84 to discuss economic cooperation. Iran Iraq war was raging. After removal from the list Iraq continued its support for radical Palestinian groups.
This led the way for the US to begin providing guarantees from the government-controlled Commodity Credit Corporation for Iraq’s purchases of US agricultural products in 1983 and extended Export-Import Bank credits to Iraq in 1984. This enabled Iraq to free up other funds that could be used formilitary purposes. By 1988 US subsidies to Iraq approached $1 billion a year.

May 24 - Iranian troops retake Khorramshar

June 1982
June 2- First bomb later attributed to Unabomber injures professor Diogenes Angelokos in the University of Berkeley in California; July 2 - Larry Walters uses 45 helium balloons and a lawnchair to propel himself to 16,000 feet;

6th June Israel invaded Lebanon
In 1982, an international commission investigated into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon. Chairman was Seán MacBride, the other members were Richard Falk, Kader Asmal, Brian Bercusson, Géraud de la Pradelle, and Stefan Wild. The commission's report[40] concluded that "the government of Israel has committed acts of aggression contrary to international law", that the government of Israel had no valid reasons under international law for its invasion of Lebanon, and that the Israeli authorities or forces were involved directly or indirectly in the massacres at Sabra and Shatila. Wikip.
Beginnings of Hezbollah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#cite_note-ISN_watch-211

June 14 - Falklands War ends: British forces reach the outskirts of Port Stanley after "yomping" across East Falkland from San Carlos Bay. They arrive to find the Argentine forces flying white flags of surrender. A formal surrender is agreed that day.
June 17 - The body of "God's Banker", Roberto Calvi is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London.

July 1982
July 1 - The Reverend Sun Myung Moon marries 4,150 of his followers at New York City's Madison Square Garden;
July 9 - A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 on board and eight on the ground;
July 16 - The Reverend Sun Myung Moon is sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $25,000 for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
July 20 - The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses.
July 21- HMS Hermes, the Royal Navy flagship during the Falklands War, returns home to Portsmouth to a hero's welcome.

August 1982
August 12 - A Japan Airlines passenger plane crashes near Tokyo - 520 dead

September 1982
September 15 - Princess Grace of Monaco dies from injuries sustained in a car crash the previous day September 29–October 1 - The Tylenol scare is sparked after seven people in the Chicago area die after ingesting capsules laced with potassium cyanide


October 1982
October 1 - Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a Constructive Vote of No Confidence.
October 28 - The Socialist Party win the election in Spain - Felipe Gonzales is elected Prime Minister
October 19 - John De Lorean is arrested for selling cocaine for undercover FBI agents. He was later found "not guilty", due to entrapment.

December 1982
December 4 - The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
December 26 - Time Magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human, a computer.

The beginning of the economic boom. WHEN?

December 3 - A final soil sample is taken from the site of Times Beach, Missouri. It was found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
December 17 - IRA's Harrods bomb kills 5 and injures 80
December 12 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km perimeter fence
December 23 - The Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination.

Cheers and Family Ties debut on NBC; February 2 - Late Night with David Letterman debuts on NBC at 12:30 A.M. after The Tonight Show.
July 28 - Comedian Andy Kaufman and professional wrestler Jerry Lawler get into a fight on-air during an interview on the Late Night with David Letterman show. (The event was later revealed to be a hoax.)

December 7 - First US execution by lethal injection is carried out in Texas.

Technology
First computer virus, written by Rich Skrenta, escapes into the wild.
The THX Sound System is developed for use in movie theaters.
Surround Sound is introduced for home use by Dolby.

December 2 - At the University of Utah, 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart (he lived for 112 days with the device)

November 28 - Representatives from 88 countries gather in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade

Trickle Down Economics
The academic mandarins who had worked to justify the status quo through the 60s now worked to justify increasing poverty and homelessness. They gave up on pluralism and started debating “trickle down” economics.

June 3rd in London Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to Britain, was shot and seriously wounded by Abu Nidal oranisation.
June 4th the Israeli government ordered bombing of PLO bases and ammunition dumps in Beirut. The PLO then shelled Northern Galilee. On Saturday night the cabinet met in emergency and decided to send IDF into Lebonan.
June 6th “operation peace for Galilee” began. Cabinet ministers thought it would be a quick op to create a buffer zone as did the public. Sharon received overwhelming support – 59.6% approval in a poll.
IDF and Syrian army fought outside Beirut. Some cabinet ministers began to wonder what Sharon was up to.
June 11th ceasefire immediately violated.
June 13th IDF attacking presidential palace in Beirut. Goal was to bring about election of Bashir Jemayel, leader of the Christian Phalangists as pres of Lebanon.
July 4th thousands demonstrate in Tel Aviv to end the attack.
August 13th Reagan’s stern message that Israel mustn’t put obstacles in way of talks.

Economic crisis in South and Central America
When panic over Third World debt hit, the World Bank moved into the breach with SAPs. To qualify, countries had to cut internal demand, slash public expenditure, boost exports and open borders to foreign capita l
Like the IMF’s famous ‘seal of approval’, SAPs are a signal to investors  of a poor country’s credit worthiness. SAPs have grown steadily since 1980.
SAPs allow countries to pay interest on their debts but they do not help the poor.
Brazil halts payment of its main foreign debt – among the world’s biggest.
Mexico refused to service its debt in 1982. The IMF jumped into the fray with the first of its ‘structural adjustment loans (SAPs)’. To pay foreign creditors, debtor countries were advised to boost exports and cut local consumption to increase foreign exchange earnings. As more countries were forced to take the IMF medicine, the World Bank also entered the structural adjustment business. Here World Bank and IMF policies dovetailed in an effort to keep deeply indebted countries on the rails. As a result the net flow of capital from north to south actually began to reverse in 1983.

Guatamalan terror war
The CIA asked for help from Adolfo Calero, the Contra leader a CIA informer since 1963, and a vocal critic of the Sandinista government. This led to him joining the political directorate of the FDN, and becoming its leader and chief spokesman. Calero helped restore the “freedom fighter” image to the FDN. See Nicaragua, 1981.

Paradoxical media reports on El salvador and the Nicaragua/ Honduras situation has made it virtually impossible to ascertain what is really going on. Much less is heard about Guatemala where the situation may be worse. “As the slaughter of the indigenous population by the Guatemalan military approached virtual genocide, Reagan and his officials, while lauding the assassins as forward looking democrats, informed congress that the USA would provide arms” to reinforce the improvement in the human rights situation following the [March 23rd] 1982 coup” that installed [General Efraim] Rios Montt [see 2003]. Vietnamisation of Guatemala was stepped up with pacification programs, fortified hamlets, search and destroy missions. Guatemala obtained US military equipment – commercial sales licensed by Department of Commerce.
A horrific massacre and murder of 767 women and children took place by US backed military forces in El Salvador. Abrams sought to discredit reporters and said they were stooges of the communists and denied the massacre.
The bodies were found 10 years later by the Salvadoran Truth Commision.

Chile
Eduardo Frei of the Christain Democrats died in January. Thousands marched in his funeral procession chanting anti-govenrment slogans. Tucapel Jiminez, a moderate union leader, in February called for a united union front. He was assassinated.
The Falklands War in April – and Chile declared itself neutral despite rumours of secret pacts with the UK.
In July the IMF stepped in to prevent the collapse of the banking system. Guerilla attacks blacks out Valparaiso for four hours.
Demonstrations in Santiago and Valpariso, September, 70 arrested. National debt  rises and talks begin for IMF loan of US$850m.
Massive demonstrations in December – Santiago. Against government economic policies.

Middle East
Carter’s policy was continued – April
June 13 - Fahd became King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid.

Israel honoured Camp David agreement by making their final withdrawal from Sinai. April 25th - Israel completed its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty; Another Camp David objective was of providing a homeland for the Palestinian Arabs on the West Bank.

Israel invades Lebanon
June 6 - 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
June 6 – United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon
August 20 - Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. French troops arrive August 21, US marines August 25
September 14 - Bomb kills President-elect of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel. His brother is elected president on September 23
August 4 - United Nations Security Council votes to censure Israel because its troops are still in Lebanon
September 18 - Lebanese Christian Militia kill hundreds in the Palestinians in Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in West Beirut
September 25 - 400,000 march in Israel demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Menachem Begin
October 23 – Bomb explodes in the barracks at Beirut International Airport – 241 US Marines dead

March 10 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports, alleging Libyan support of terrorist groups.

Sharon was the defence minister. Major General Yeshayahu Gavish had been talking about diplomatic options as alternatives to recent military ones, so he was removed after the defence minister attacked him on t.v. and replaced by Major General Aharon Yariv. Propaganda maintained that if Israel did not attack the PLO Israel was in danger. But there were only 15,000 PLO troops. The public bought it.
The notorious Sabra and Shatila massacres, maintaining the Lebanese Maronite militia and not Israel’s forces did the killing. Sharon’s forces surrounded the two camps whose fighters had already been evacuated and watched as their Maronite militia clients massacred and raped for more than two days. Sharon’s men even lit the night up with fires so the killers could see better.
20,000 killed during US backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Mostly civilians.
August – IDF had encircled Beirut and stepped up the pressure on the PLO to evacuate its personnel from the city. The American mediator Philip Habib made progress in the negotiations.
August 12th – The Air Force saturation bombed Beruit. Israel probably trying to torpedo the talks aimed at making PLO leave Lebanon peacefully. Washington and Jerusalem were outraged. Sharon was castigated.
August 13th – Reagan sent a message to p.m. Manachem Begin, the most sharply worded since the start of the crisis in Beruit. Reagan threatened a serious deterioration in relations if talks were blocked again.
Sharon was exerting influence on Begin, uncharacteristically. Sharon escaped being sacked.
August 19th – negotiations concluded and evacuation took some ten days. Complete by September 1st.
August 23rd – Bashir Jemayal was elected president of Lebanon by country’s parliament in accordance with Sharon’s game plan.
Sharon claims ‘Jordan is Palestine’. Claims that Israel’s real goal in Lebanon war was to bring about the expulsion of all the Palestinian refugees from Lebanon to Jordan in order to bring about the fall of King Hussein and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Jordan.   Who Yitzhak Berman?
September 1st – “in reaction to the repeated pronouncements by Sharon, the deputy spokesman of the Whitehouse stated that ‘the Reagan administration, like the previous administrations, reiterates its commitment to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Jordan.”
September 14th – Jemayel was killed by a bomb placed by Syrian intelligence.
The IDF entered West Beruit. Phalangists were permitted by Sharon to enter refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila in West Beirut to ‘avenge’ murder of their leader Jemayel. They massacred 800 Palestinians, men, women, children and the elderly.
September 25th – A huge demonstration in Tel Aviv against Begin and Sharon. Reagan asked for the removal of Sharon.
November 11th – Israel’s military government headquarters in Tyre, southern Lebanon was blown up. 76 IDF soldiers, border policemen and Shin Bet Secret agents were killed. An investigation found later that the explosion was due to poor construction and a mixture of gas and air collecting in part of the structure.

Late in the year Reagan paved way for increased governmental censorship and Bush continued the assault on 1st amendment. MORE?

February 2 - Hama Massacre begins in Syria

Cold War
Détente was abandoned.
November 29 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: The United Nations General Assembly passed United Nations Resolution 37/37, stating that the Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan. November 3 - A Gasoline tanker exploded in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing 2,000+ people.

May 30 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955

Yuri Andropov – who succeeded Brezhnev – took early steps in re-orienting Soviet spending away from foreign military outlays. In his first programmatic speech in November ’82, months before Reagan announced his Star Wars scheme, Andropov said that USSR’s strength and reputation depended on its successes at home.

November 12 - In the Soviet Union, former KGB head Yuri Andropov is selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Leonid I. Brezhnev.
October 8 - Poland bans Solidarity
November 14 - The leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, is released from 11 months of internment near the Soviet border

Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START )
Strategic Arms Reduction talks began in late June. The Soviet position looked like a continuation of the SALT process. Though disguised, the aim of the US proposals was to cut Soviet strategic strength whilst pressing on with the US strategic modernisation programme. CND REPORT. Brezhnev had frozen the deployment of SS20s west of the Urals, on 16th March.
Brezhnev died on 10th November, and was replaced by Andropov.

Reagan used the cold war to back up his propaganda outbursts – USSR was ready “to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat” had a “record of tyranny”. Reagan denounced Russia in front of the UN in 1982: “Soviet-sponsored guerrillas and terrorists were at work in Central and South America, in Africa, Middle East, the Caribbean and in Europe, violating human rights and unnerving the world with violence.” Russia was “the focus of evil in the modern world.”

Reagan implemented the 1979 decision to place 572 Pershing II and cruise missiles in western Europe within range of Moscow and other USSR cities. The USSR protested. Europeans opposed and protested. In November 1983 weapons went to GB and German bases – the USSR broke off disarmament talks in Geneva.

SDI, the anti-nuclear umbrella, was stepped up. Nicknamed Star Wars. USSR kept on deploying larger and more accurate ICBMs. SALT II was adhered to by both sides but there were now 50,000 warheads combined.

June 12 - 750,000 people rally against nuclear weapons in New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt are in attendance

Nixon popped up on CBS Morning News in june, interviewed by Diane Sawyer marking the 10th anniversary of the Watergate break in. Leon Jaworski, attorney and special prosecuter in Watergate died on December 9th.

The Vietnam Memorial is built in Washington D.C.
November 13 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
Meanwhile in Vientam…

Notes
Reagan’s state visit to Britain was the last by a US president for over 20 years.

See James Bamford and his NSA revelations “Body of Secrets”

In August Jesus Silva Herzog – finance minister of Mexico announced Mexico was bankrupt. “Thus began the ‘debt crisis’ and a series of US led policies and decisions which have defined the current global economy” Guyatt, page 8

Global economy on the edge of another crash. Governemtns took control in order to prevent any panic – kept money flowing from debtors to creditors. Loans rolled over . Interest payments postponed in part. “everything was done to deny the suggestion that the loans were bad.”

Austerity measures introduced
“structural adjustment”

George Stigler wins The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Eric Dammann / Future in Our Hands, Anwar Fazal / Consumer Interpol, Petra Kelly, Participatory Institute for Development Alternatives (PIDA) and Sir George Trevelyan / Wrekin Trust win the Right Livelihood Award.

Movies
January 11 - Production begins on the Star Wars sequel, Return of the Jedi; May 14 - Conan The Barbarian starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; May 28 - Rocky III Directed and written by Sylvester Stallone; June 11 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg; June 18 - Firefox starring and directed by Clint Eastwood; June 25 - Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford; October 22 - Rambo: First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone; December 17 - Tootsie starring Dustin Hoffman; Gandhi

Names
Tucapel Jimenez
Fernandez – in govt.
Montero Marx
General Danus - government
General Frez - government
ODEPLAN
CNS
Edwards
Rolf Luders, Chicago economist
Manuel Bustos – CNS leader
Hector Cuevas – construction workers leader
Carlos Podlech – right wing wheat growers union.

AIDS
AIDS in the USA is being called the gay plague. Dr. James Curron of the Centre for disease Control in Atlanta headed a national task force investigating AIDS epidemic. 413 cases were reported and 155 were dead in one year.

Up to 82 ‘naming names’ column tracked CIA officers under diplomatic cover by researching the state Department Biographic Register and the diplomatic lists issued by the US and other countries. Become illegal when Reagan signed the intelligence identities protection act.

San Francisco hosted the first international gay games. 10 countries participated.

INSIGHT MAGAZINE (page 480/481) published at the end of the 70s, “The next decade will see a remarkable new direction in American nuclear strategy as construction begins of an entirely new land-based missile system. Instead of sitting in one spot, special launchers will race the powerful MX missiles between thousands of dummy sites to dodge any pre-emptive enemy missile strike.”
The US claimed because of SALT, which limited the number of their and Soviet ICB launcher vehicles. – and increasing accuracy of independently-targeted warheads – it is theoretically possible for the USSR to destroy US land-based missiles in their silos by expending a mere fraction of their launcher vehicles.

Titan and Minutemen silos.

“American power is fairly evenly divided between land-based, sub-launched, air-launched ICBMs – so even with land-based knocked out the USA could respond to a surprise attack.”

MXs were being tested through 1980.

Pres Siles Zuazo sof Bolivia signed an agtreement with the US where Bolivia promised to eradicate 4,000 hecatares of Coca over a 3 year period for a $14.2 million aid package. US training an elite anti-narcotics force – the rural area police patrol unit. Zuaso failed however – 1982 – 1985 cultivated area doubled – flow of cocaine increased. CHECK YEAR