News stories from Thursday October 21, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The American Bar Association said that it finds two of President Nixon's Supreme Court candidates to be unqualified; the President will announce his choices at 7:30 p.m. EST. Attorney General John Mitchell is reportedly shocked and livid at the ABA's rejection of Judge Mildred Lillie and attorney Herschel Friday. Some feel that the President will push for their appointments anyway. Lillie got a lower mark than Friday.
Other possible candidates include Pennsylvania judge Arlin Adams, Maine judge Edward Gianoux and Senator Robert Byrd. Senator Hugh Scott said that he hoped that critics would hold off at least until the nominees are known.
[CBS] - Senator Birch Bayh and AFL-CIO president George Meany are criticizing the President's choices already. Bayh said that America needs the best minds and the best qualified candidates for the Court. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman James Eastland feels that Herschel Friday would make a great Supreme Court justice; Eastland noted that the American Bar Association is dominated by the liberal Eastern establishment and he added that the organization has low ethics. He urged the President to fight for his nominees. [CBS]
- An American truck was involved in an accident near Danang, South Vietnam, and held for ransom. The family of the child who was hit by the truck got $900.
Cam Ranh Bay now has a wall like Berlin and China. The village, which is near a military base, has been declared off-limits to soldiers and is separated from the base by a barbed wire fence a mile long which forms a semi-circle around the village; a tunnel has already been dug under it.
[CBS] - A spokesman for the Nixon administration said that the U.S. will continue its support of Cambodia, and that Premier Lon Nol is not setting up a dictatorship as has been reported, but rule by decree. Nol's announcement was called ill-advised. [CBS]
- Vice President Spiro Agnew said he is certain that Greek Premier George Papadopoulos plans to restore a representative government; Agnew announced that President Nixon will restore funds to Greece if Congress cuts off military aid there, because Greece is essential to the defense of the West. [CBS]
- Conservatives in Northern Ireland say that Senator Edward Kennedy is pandering to Irish-American moneybags in the Democrat party machine, and they believe that Kennedy is totally unfit for the White House. [CBS]
- A congressional committee agreed to limit anti-ballistic missile deployment to two sites, pending Strategic Arms Limitation Talks results. [CBS]
- Senator Mike Gravel and two members of the Canadian Parliament picketed the White House in protest of the Amchitka Island, Alaska, nuclear test scheduled for later in the month. Gravel has sent two letters to the President demanding that the test be canceled. [CBS]
- The U.S. Navy suddenly has competition in the Mediterranean. The U.S. 6th fleet includes 45 surface ships, four submarines, 200 planes and 25,000 men. Soviet ships in the Mediterranean in 1969 numbered 25-30; in 1970 the number grew to 40-50; now their fleet is more than 60 ships, and the Soviets have potential for expansion. [CBS]
- Air Force Sgt. Walter Perkins was arrested in Florida on charges of espionage. The Associated Press reported that the Soviets are involved. [CBS]
- The FBI joined New York City police in investigating a sniper attack on the Soviet mission to the United Nations; U.S. Ambassador George Bush called it a hostile and cowardly act. The State Department has asked Congress to make such attacks a federal crime. In a separate incident, two teenagers claiming to be members of the Jewish Defense League broke a glass door and sprayed paint in the Soviet mission. [CBS]
- The State Department told the Soviets that they can't buy 26 acres of land outside of Washington, DC because the land once belonged to George Washington. Secretary of State Rogers will help them look elsewhere. [CBS]
- Interior Secretary Rogers Morton called his predecessor Walter Hickel a wild man who couldn't get anything done. [CBS]
- Personal income rose slightly in September. The Commerce Department is unsure of any link between that rise and the wage and price freeze.
The First National City Bank of New York City and the Irving Trust Company are doing away with a fixed prime lending rate; they will start at 5.75%.
[CBS] - New cars that have been designed for safety were unveiled. The front and back of the new GM car is built to withstand impacts. Heavy padding and an air bag inflation system are installed inside. The models are only experimental, however. [CBS]
- A commuter airline en route from Chicago to Peoria, Illinois crashed. 16 people were killed. [CBS]
- The last of those who were involved in the Tate-La Bianca murders has been sentenced. Charles "Tex" Watson was sentenced to death, like Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 854.05 (-1.60, -0.19%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| October 20, 1971 | 855.65 | 95.65 | 16.34 |
| October 19, 1971 | 868.43 | 97.00 | 13.04 |
| October 18, 1971 | 872.44 | 97.35 | 10.42 |
| October 15, 1971 | 874.85 | 97.79 | 13.12 |
| October 14, 1971 | 878.36 | 98.13 | 12.87 |
| October 13, 1971 | 888.80 | 99.03 | 13.54 |
| October 12, 1971 | 893.55 | 99.57 | 14.34 |
| October 11, 1971 | 891.94 | 99.16 | 7.80 |
| October 8, 1971 | 893.91 | 99.36 | 13.87 |
| October 7, 1971 | 901.80 | 100.02 | 17.78 |