1 February 2020

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 1 February 12020 is Imbolc. In Bulgaria it is the Day of Remembrance and Respect to Victims of the Communist Regime. In Malaysia it is Federal Territory Day, in Mauritius it is Abolition of Slavery Day, in Nicaragua Air Force Day, in Rwanda National Heroes’ Day, and in the United States National Freedom Day. And it is the beginning of Black History Month.

Great Britain has become the first state to leave the European Union, with various details still to be worked out. Among these is the ultimate fate of Scotland; many of its residents wish to remain in the EU, so talk of divorce is once again in the air. Boris Johnson says no, they had their chance in 2014, but of course that was before the historic vote to leave the European Union, so it seems unlike that’s the last word.

With Mercury no longer in retrograde and all the other planets in direct motion as well we may expect to see some progress during the first part of the month, though I wouldn’t count on it, what with Mercury being about to enter Pisces and Venus on the verge of entering Aries and all. The times are out of joint.

On this day in history in 2002 a gang of befuddled goons who had kidnapped an inoffensive Wall Street Journal writer murdered him in cold blood to make an incompetent propaganda video. Daniel Pearl died a martyr to the concept of understanding and getting along with twisted people without either brains or empathy. As with Trump voters, there is nothing about them to understand. They just are. Put on display as object-lessons they may have some value, but otherwise, no. They are waste products of history. Pearl should have stuck with Persian rugs and lost violins; that sort of work has far more value to humanity.