8/3/2025

 Sunday, August 3, 2025

D+268/196/1265

1492 Christopher Columbus set sail on his first voyage with three ships: Santa María, Pinta, and Niña from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, for the "Indies"

1882 Congress passed the first law restricting immigration

1934 Adolf Hitler merged the offices of German Chancellor and President, declaring himself "Führer" (leader)

1943 General George S. Patton slapped a US GI in a hospital, accusing him of cowardice

1967 45,000 more US soldiers were ordered to Vietnam

1981 13,000 air traffic controllers (PATCO) began their strike; US President Ronald Reagan stated during a press conference, "If they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated."

1940 My mother and father wed at St. Bernard's Church at 66th and Stewart in Englewood.

2023 Trump pleaded not guilty to subverting the 2020 election

In bed at 9, up at 5:30.  57°, high of 77°, AQI=157 Unhealthy.  

Meds, etc.  Morning meds at 7:20 a.m.  

Scattered thoughts. (1) It was 85 years ago that my mother and father wed.  She was 18; he was still 19, each of them still a virgin.  They were in love, full of hormones, and wanting to live and sleep together, and, as practicing Catholics, they had to be married to do that.  I was born one year and three weeks later.  What was to become the Second World War was already raging in Europe and Asia, but America wouldn't become a combatant participant until 4 months later, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan, and Hitler declared war on the U.S.  My Dad was drafted into the Marines in February 1944, when I was 2 and 1/2 and my Mom was 3 months pregnant with my sister Kitty.  The government released him in November 1945, wrecked by the war.  My Mom, my sister, and I lived with the effects of the war on him and the effects of him on us for the rest of our lives.   I think of the four of us now, and of the few years we all lived together, with love and sadness, and with some sense of reverence.  I am the sole survivor, left with memories, photos, thoughts and emotions, and not a few regrets, some of which haunt me.  Mostly today I am grateful, especially to and for my mother and sister for all the love they gave me throughout their lives, but also to and for my Dad, who struggled to love even himself, probably especially himself, after his 27 days on Iwo Jima in 1945.

The priest who officiated their wedding was Father William Cousins, later to become Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1958 to 1977.  Throughout his life, he was admired and loved.  Milwaukee's diocesan center was named after him.  After his retirement, it became known that, while archbishop, he had participated in the cover-up of some clerical sex abuse cases.  In 2019, Milwaukee's Archbishop Listecki had Cousins' name removed from all Milwaukee buildings and institutions.  I think of my Mom and Dad and then-Father Cousins on August 3, 1940, what the world looked like to them then, and what lay in store for them.  There is a point to be made about that now, but I'm not sure what it is.

 (2) The sun rose today at 5:45, shortly after I crawled out of bed.  It rose at 65° East and is now sufficiently south that it doesn't shine on me on my recliner.  As it moves south, its morning beams move north in our eastside rooms, the TV room, and the lovely, inviting living room that we rarely use.

(3)  It's a very busy morning at the feeding station.  This morning, our visitors include two cottontail bunnies.  I mounted two naval oranges on the shepherd's crooks yesterday afternoon and am a bit surprised that they are not receiving more attention this morning.  The expensive, shelled sunflower seeds, on the other hand, are a big hit.

(4)  There is still much attention on Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Trump is reportedly furious about the attention.  Why?  During the very times when Epstein was preying on teenage schoolgirls, Trump told New York Magazine that they had been friends for 25 years, that Epstein was 'a terrific guy,' and that he liked beautiful women "on the younger side."  In a deposition, Epstein described the two of them not merely as friends, but as "best friends" for 10 years.  How can any rational human being believe that Trump did not at least know of, if not participate in, Epstein's crimes against the girls?

(5)  I find myself wondering whether I am indeed suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, thinking that Donald Trump and his apparatchiks are creating great danger to the United States and to the world.  Am I catastrophizing?  Suffering from some paranoia?  (a) Climate change.  The dangers associated with climate change are mammoth, food shortages, mass migrations, destructive fires, floods, and storms, etc.  Yet Trump's people are actively working to destroy the EPA's ability to moderate climate change.  (b) Dictatorship.  It took Adolph Hitler only 53 days to destroy democracy in Germany in 1933.  Today is the anniversary of his declaring himself "Führer" or leader of the nation.  Trump has worked tirelessly to undermine the concept of separation of powers, of free and fair elections, of faith in American institutions (government agencies, the press, the legal profession, the courts, indeed any authority other than himself). (c) The economy.  Where to begin: tariff policy?  taxation?  deficits and debt? independence of the central bank?  What am I, nuts?  I think we are heading towards disasters, real catastrophes, but you wouldn't know it from the way life is going on largely as usual throughout the country. The nation acts as if "this too shall pass."  I don't think so.  He has already caused great damage throughout the federal government, to the news media, to the legal profession, to higher education, to scientific research and development, and what else?  He has another 3 and 1/2 years in power.  So far, no person or entity has been effective in protecting against his power grabs  It appears he has a completely servile Republican Congress and a very friendly Supreme Court.  Major media companies line up to seek his favor and many have already paid him millions of dollars in bribes (as have major law firms  and universities.)  Am I mistaken (nuts?) thinking we are heading toward climate, economic, and democratic disasters?  That things are not going to get better with the passage of time, but only worse?  Much, much worse?