Dec. 9. 1952: Four white resisters arrested for using "non-European" booths in post office, Cape Town, South Africa. 1981: Black Philadelphia journalist and activist Mumia Abu-Jamal is arrested and charged with the shooting of a Philadelphia policeman. 1992: U.S. Marines wade ashore in Somalia at 2 A.M. (on live evening network TV, East Coast U.S.) in "Operation Restore Hope." U.S. forces would retreat in disarray and disgrace within the year.

Dec. 10. 1906: IWW sponsors first sit-down strike in U.S., at a General Electric plant in Schenectady, New York. 1992: Mayan activist Rigoberta Menchu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work opposing U.S.-sponsored military dictatorships and genocide in Guatemala.

Dec. 11. 1994: Russia invades Chechnya. No lines in sand, international mobilization, or massive U.S. bombings of Moscow follow.

Dec. 12. 1983: 70 people arrested in Boston outside a hotel where a "New Trends in Missiles" trade conference is being held. Inside the hotel, over 1,000 cockroaches are set loose to symbolize the likely survivors of nuclear war.

Dec. 14. 1973: United Nations affirms status of Puerto Rico as a U.S. colony and recognizes its right to independence. 1994: After eight years, U.S. finally agrees to honor New Zealand's ban on nuclear weapons in its territory.

Dec. 15. 1791: Bill of Rights, one of the most radical documents in Western history, ratified as first ten amendments to U.S. Constitution. Numerous modern polls have shown that, with questions couched in law and order terms, most U.S. citizens oppose the Bill of Rights. 1960: U.S. backs right-wing coup in Laos. 1966: Entertainer and fascist sympathizer Walt Disney dies. The little rodent lives on. 1969: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) reaffirms its Biblically ordained exclusion of blacks from its ministry. 1982: United Nations General Assembly calls for nuclear weapons freeze.