A Reminder That Things Could Always Be Worse
Sure the insurgency rages on in Iraq with no solution in sight, yes the price of oil his a new record high today, true no progress is being made to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program, and granted Iran is about to have nukes of its own. But the Times's "Today's Headlines" email over the last week has been using its on-this-day blurb to considerately remind us of all the other shitty stuff that can happen.
Since Saturday:
On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare.
On Aug. 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on United States forces.
On Aug. 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon announced he would resign following damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal.
On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people.
On Aug. 10, 1977, postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, N.Y., accused of being the "Son of Sam" gunman responsible for six random slayings and seven woundings. Berkowitz is serving six consecutive terms of 25 years to life in state prison.
On Aug. 11, 1965, rioting and looting broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles. In the week that followed, 34 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
See, at least we don't have atomic warfare, serial killers, race riots, constitutional crises, or cover stories for unwinnable wars in faraway places.
Or, rather: At least we don't have most of them.
