Today is Thursday, August 1, 2024. A new month, a new beginning. Today marks a historic prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia in which former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Reporter Evan Gershkovich were released as part of a sweeping deal that involved at least seven countries. This deal did involve complicated, behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the U.S., Russia, Belarus, and Germany, ultimately leading Berlin to agree to Moscow’s key demand – releasing convicted Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov. This major development serves as the crux for an online CNN article by Jennifer Handler, Kylie Atwood, and Ivana Kottasova entitled “Russia releases Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in historic prisoner swap with West.”

A total of eight people, including Krasikov, were swapped back to Russia in exchange for the release of 16 people who were held in Russian detention, including four Americans.

In addition to Whelan and Gershkovich, prominent Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is a permanent resident, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were also freed.

Speaking to reporters today, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way and there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, so many close U.S. partners and allies working together.”

By midday, Whelan, Gershkovich, and Kurmasheva were on their way back to the country, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

President Joe Biden called the historic deal “a feat of diplomacy.”

In a statement, Biden indicated, “Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.”

Biden also made it a point to mention that the swap was made possible thanks to cooperation with multiple countries. “They joined a difficult, complex negotiation at my request.” Raising his voice, Biden said, “Anyone who questions if allies matter: They do.” This obviously was in response to his once-Orange Turd opponent who has indicated his disapproval of maintaining alliances with European nations if – God forbid! – he ever regained the White House in November.

The president was joined in the White House by family members of Whelan, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Kara-Murza. They included Kurmasheva’s daughter Miriam Butorin, who is celebrating her 13th birthday on Friday. At one moment during the press conference, Biden led families and the assembled press in singing “Happy Birthday” to her.

The president gathered the families earlier to relay the news that their loved ones were heading home, Sullivan said.

Inside offices of The Wall Street Journal champagne bottles popped open as staffers celebrated the release of their colleague Gershkovich.

Emma Tucker, the paper’s editor in chief, delivered the official news of Gershkovich’s freedom to the newsroom just before noon today, calling it “a historic day” for the paper.

In a statement, Tucker and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latou said, “Evan and his family have displayed unrivaled courage, resilience, and poise during this ordeal, which came to an end because of broad advice for his release around the world.”

The country owes a debt of gratitude to Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in bringing home these innocent Americans who were detained by Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin unnecessarily. Of course, this historic deal flies in the face of Donald Duck’s empty promise that he alone could bring home Gershkovich and other prisoners because of his close relationship with Putin. Well, it happened without him at all! The lying son of a bitch actually falsely claimed, “Vladimir Putin, President of Russia [as if we didn’t know that already!] will do that [release Gershkovich] for me, but not for anyone else.” Again, this didn’t happen with his intervention at all.

During my absence yesterday, I missed commenting on Dump’s disastrous appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago the other day in which the former twice-impeached, sexual predator ex-president embarrassed himself to no end with his pugnacious, juvenile behavior and insulting comments made about the current vice president who seems poised to take the White House if the momentum she started continues to gain traction all the way until November.

The comments he made about Harris were so offensive and insulting that one long-time acquaintance of Dump, the Reverend Al Sharpton, said that his “act is getting past old” in comments he made on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, in which he said that Dump has just gotten too old and that the culture has just passed him by. Sharpton said, “He is playing old school politics that has always worked for him: hate, envy, resentment, fear of the other.” Sharpton added, “But the culture we live in today is so accelerated that you can measure it by a stopwatch.”

Even though I seriously questioned why the association even invited this racist and buffoon to their convention in the first place, I now realize that his abominable performance there was necessary to show who he really is to swing voters and independents. We should also ask, “Why in God’s name did Dump accept the invitation?” Sharpton had this to say about that, “He accepted to go to do exactly what he did, he wanted to go and say, ‘I will stand up to these Blacks. I will put them in line.'” Which never happened, even though Dump put out a ridiculous statement saying that it went well.

Anyway, the less said about this bumbling fool, the better.

Last night Elliot and I attended a performance of dance troupe Pilobolus at the Joyce Theater at 7:30. We attended Program B called “Memory” which has been performed on July 30, July 31, and will be performed on August 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Since we will be out of the country, we had just a few days in which to see this 50-year-old dance troupe strut their stuff, so we decided to go on the last day of July.

Before the performance, we left somewhat earlier to have dinner at an old-fashioned deli, Sarge’s, on 37th Street and 3rd Avenue. I have no memory of ever dining there, so I was looking forward to it.

We made this a quintessential New York experience in that we took a crosstown bus after dining at Sarge’s and then taking the E train to 14th Street, where we walked to the theater on 18th Street and Eighth Avenue. The bus was so crowded that we had to stand all the way to Eighth Avenue.

Before entering the theater, we had coffee at some outside espresso stand that only accepted credit cards for payment. Of course, the price paid for two coffees was quite steep.

Then we walked to the theater and waited in the lobby before being told to walk to our seats, which were located in Orchestra O. In the interim, Elliot engaged in a conversation with a woman wearing a “Kamala for president” button in the hallway. We certainly knew where her politics lay with that button, that’s for sure. But in a moment’s time, an elderly man came up in an elevator walking with a walker and took her hand. We surmised that he was this woman’s husband, but we were struck by the fact that the man resembled a much older Dick Cavett, the former television personality and talk show host. We weren’t sure this was Cavett because he glided out of our view very quickly. However, after Googling him, I discovered that he is indeed 87 years young, so it’s a possibility that it was him. He was first married to actress Carrie Nye who died, I believe, in 2006. She was married to Cavett since 1964.

Enough of our supposed celebrity sighting. The ultra-talented dancers in this troupe include Connor Chaparro, Quincy Ellis, Marlon Felix, Hannah Klinkman, Sean Langford, and Derion Loman. There are four men and two women. The program consisted of five dances over a two-hour performance. All I can say about the dancing is that everyone was phenomenal; you have to see this brilliant dance team in order to believe your eyes. The kinds of movements done on stage will take your breath away. If you are offended by full frontal male nudity, too bad. The first program does include two nude male dancers on stage. Why do you think we waited to see the second program?

Anyway, you still have a few days to buy tickets to this outstanding modern dance troupe. You won’t be disappointed.

Stay safe and be well.

Here is Atticus hanging out over the refrigerator this time.

Here is the program from the Joyce Theater. Here it says the last performance is August 11, so I’m not sure what is the last day then. You can easily check this out when you go on their website to purchase tickets.