As is my custom, I’m writing this a few days ahead of publication date. It’s August 8th as I write, and I’ve just finished looking at today’s news headlines. Not surprisingly, they’re pretty grim, but let’s go through some of them anyway.

The item that immediately caught my eye has to do with the ongoing political and social turmoil in Russia, where all indications are of a rapidly accelerating return to a Stalinist regime and the elimination of any semblance of rule of law. Today’s article focused on a statement by the official Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, that an alleged “unified coalition” around President Putin “makes democratic elections unnecessary and irrelevant.” As if that weren’t enough to make me sit up straight, he went on to say that democratic elections have become a “costly bureaucracy” that serve no purpose. And continuing: “Elections are what a democracy demands and Putin himself decided to hold them, but theoretically, they don’t even have to be held . . . Because it’s clear that Putin will be elected. That’s completely my personal opinion.” (Does anyone honestly believe that he is allowed to have a “personal opinion” on political matters? Seriously?)

Furthermore, these statements were supposedly intended to clarify an earlier comment by Peskov, made to the New York Times and appearing in an article published on August 6th, that “Our presidential election is not really democracy. It is costly bureaucracy . . . Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90 percent of the vote.” I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds more like a foregone conclusion than a personal opinion.

And by the way, this is the same Dmitry Peskov who has repeatedly refused to rule out the use of nuclear weapons.

If you’ve been following the recent news out of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, this item shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. But it is still cause for concern, to put it mildly. It appears to be a case of history repeating itself — and, as usual, it’s bad . . . really bad . . . history. Happy August 8th.

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Next, there was a revelation that a Ukrainian woman had been arrested as an informant in connection with a Russian plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky. On the up-side, the plot was foiled; on the down-side, of course, is that it existed at all. Good news / bad news.

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And on a whole different level: Another celebrity — this time, “Let’s Make a Deal” host Wayne Brady — has come out today with an announcement of his sexual identity. And I say: “Who the hell cares?” Isn’t that — or shouldn’t it be — a personal thing? No need to hide it; but why do so many people suddenly feel this neurotic compulsion to advertise it? Let me repeat: I DON’T GIVE A DAMN! You’re a beautiful person, Wayne. Go . . . enjoy your life . . . be happy. I will never judge you. But if you keep broadcasting the most intimate aspects of your life, lots of other people will. Not good news, not bad news. Shouldn’t be news at all. Just sayin’ . . .

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That’s enough news items from this one day. Sadly, it’s been a fairly typical day in the year 2023. But the 20th Century wasn’t all sweetness and light either. For example:

On August 8, 1945, the US, USSR, UK and France signed the London Agreement, authorizing the now-famous Nurnberg Trials of former Nazi leaders accused of committing unspeakable crimes against humanity for the six long years of World War II. Good news about the end of something that was horrible news for so long.

Just two days earlier, on August 6th, upon the authorization of President Harry S Truman, an atomic bomb had been dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, followed by a second one on August 9th on the city of Nagasaki, thus bringing about the surrender of Japan and an end to the War in the Pacific six days later, on August 15th. Which crime was worse — the War itself, or the way it was finished? That debate has never ended, and President Truman wrestled with his conscience on that question for the remainder of his life.

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August 8th was memorable in other years as well. On that date in 1974, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon resigned on the heels of the Watergate scandal, thus avoiding the looming threat of impeachment.

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But there’s good stuff too. For reasons that remain totally mysterious to me, astrologers consider 8/8 to be a lucky day. And sometimes they’re right. Going all the way back to this date in 1899, the refrigerator was patented. And what would we do without that? Good news, indeed.

Also, on August 8, 1945 — the same day the London Agreement was signed — the United Nations Charter was signed by President Truman. Two good things. But remember — it was also just two days after Hiroshima had been wiped out by that American atomic bomb. Hmm . . . I wonder what the astrologers would have to say about that confluence of events? Well, regardless . . . all in all, it was certainly a busy week for Harry Truman.

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Though I’m writing this on August 8th as I said at the beginning, you’re actually reading it on August 11th — which, as it turns out, is a date with a bit of a history of its own. On that date in 1965, race riots began in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The flash point seemed to have been a traffic stop of a Black driver by a White police officer, resulting in a confrontation that exploded into five days of uncontrolled violence, including rioting, looting, assault, arson, protests, firefights, and major property damage. At the end, 34 people were dead, another 1,032 injured, and 3,438 arrested.

But to close on a happier note, August 11, 1929 saw the immortal Babe Ruth hit his 500th home run, making baseball history. Good work, Babe.

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History is an endlessly fascinating subject. But trying to relate past events to today’s world is futile — too much has changed. And putting excessive stock in numerology, I think, can just muddy an issue. So enjoy today, ignore the date (unless it’s your birthday), and tune in again tomorrow for more of my ramblings, when I try to figure out whatever happened to . . . well, you’ll see.

TTFN,
Brendochka
8/11/23