| Year | Event
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|---|
| 1970 | "DISASTER RELIEF & EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE ACT", P.L. 91-606, enacted. The Disaster Relief Act authorized grants of up to 100 percent of the cost of repairing or replacing public facilities. The beginning of the "slippery slope" that ultimates leads to FEMA passing out $2,000 Debit Cards to hurricane victims and controlling state and local agencies. What's worse, the public demands it!
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| 1974 | US citizens were again allowed to own gold after over 40 years of prohibition.
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| 1974 | Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a, 88 Stat. 1896) -- Public Law 93-579, approved this date, was enacted to promote greater governmental respect for the privacy of citizens. [Sure.]
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| 1983 | American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) broken up by U.S. government and local service is divorced from long distance service. Phone bills go up, of course! But wait -- now you can once again buy all of your communications services from one company -- Bell, A,T&T, or others.
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| 1991 | President Bush (R) on December 25,1991 recognized the independence of all 12 former Soviet republics and proposed the establishment of full diplomatic relations with 6 of them, including Russia. Russian president Yeltsin responded formally and positively on this date and formal diplomatic relations with Russia were established.
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| 1999 | The United States Government handed Panama Canal control over to Panama. The U.S. officially boycotted the ceremony, so former President Carter had to do it.
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| 2011 | President Obama signs the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a law that grants the U.S. military the "legal" right to conduct secret kidnappings of U.S. citizens, followed by indefinite detention, interrogation, torture and even murder. This is all conducted completely outside the protection of law, with no jury, no trial, no legal representation and not even any requirement that the government produce evidence against the accused. The ACLU vows to fight it. Happy New Year!
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| -- | New Year's Eve
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