biased much?

150-200 trumpsters show up at the capitol to show their support, and the AJC reports the event on the front page and in glowing terms and closely cropped images ---- thousands on the streets on saturday, and nary a word

the paper did not include this image of the entire gathering, although one of the local tv stations did

marching for social justice

i just realized that i never posted anything here on the huge march the day after the inauguration --- there were 63,000, give or take a few, here in atlanta, which was one of dozens all over the world, collectively the largest political demonstration in the nation's history --- it got very little local coverage at the time

this is what democracy looks like . . .

i went to the first, more or less spontaneous event of those freaked over the election --- turned out to be much larger and more vocal than i had expected --- so, too, what has followed the inauguration --- the world-wide marches the day after the inauguration were massive --- 63,000 on the streets of atlanta ---

there have been two or three other protest gatherings of one sort and another that i have missed, but friday noon at p'tree and ponce was an excellent demonstration in support of the EPA, the trashing of which is one of the stupidest of the many stupid things this administration has undertaken --- always see a couple of friends and more, including cousin jody here, unchanged since 1974

then yesterday there were several thousand of us on peachtree in support of the ACA, organized by georgia alliance for social justice, who organized the big march in january --- again, a little surprised at how many attended --- all of this public action is making a difference, too, besides making it clear there is no mandate for what the republicans are trying to do --- repeal of obamacare looks less and less likely

fun times

an excellent little event saturday night at a friend of patti's in candler park --- 65 xmas trees, burned one by one --- buncha drunken pyromaniacs

indian cave

i had heard about this cave, at east palisades unit of chattahoochee river nra; but today i saw it for the first time --- wonderful place that humans have been going in and out of for ten thousand years--- robert and guinness were also suitably impressed --- i need to see the archaeological report on this one

friday!

a productive morning at natl archives and afternoon typing --- then 106 club at georgia grill and one of the best chili rellenos i've ever had

with orchidaea in the background


today i realized i don't wake up every morning sick at the thought of trump --- it struck me today again how he is everything obama is not, right down to eating big macs off a silver tray ---

and this!

waiting on spring

too early for spring, but not for camellias and helleborus and apparently not for that artificially bred jonquil ---

the orchidian alliance

last week, i threw out all of the phalaenopsis and cattleya, since they were just not thriving under my care --- the oncidium, zygopetalum, and neostylis, on the other hand, are doing just fine ---

a lot more to open, including the one at left, which was given to me after it had stopped blooming, so i don't know what to expect --- the buds are purty impressive

escape

guinness and i checked out smithgall woods state park in white county yesterday -- 5+ mile, part of it through a weird landscape, the product of 19th-century gold mining --- wonderfully quiet and more or less to ourselves ---

i wish i could have been blogging what's happened just in the last two weeks, but it's just all too much --- trumpistan is all the horrible that i thought it would be, and then some --- the blatant corruption almost pales against the religious and racial antagonism that he is encouraging  and the overall ignorance, on so many levels, that he represents --- i hope we are not sliding into a dreadfully illiberal, if not outright fascist regime that will be the ruination of our republic ---- they say history repeats, or at least rhymes, and those of us who know a little bit of history are doomed to sit around and watch it happen --- i just wish i could really understand it --- observation is not understanding --- sometimes i think all i can do is take the dog for a long walk in the woods

a concrete ford on dukes creek

we're about the same in dog years --- but he can trudge along at a pace i can't keep sometimes

loudsville campground, not far from smithgall, is a purty great place, dating to the 1830s, although all of the buildings are  20th century i think

dealing with trumpistan

the last two months have been surreal, trying to deal with the reality of living in trumpistan --- it is not going well so far --- he remains the lying, narcissistic, thug he was in the campaign, and after yesterday's "press conference," since he already has his personal bodyguards, all he's lacking are epaulettes to be the american mussolini he's clearly destined to be --- again, he made the bald claim that a president cannot have a conflict of interest, which is true in terms of a single statute, but he clearly believes it applies across the board --- director of the office of govt ethics responded:

Common sense dictates that a President can, of course, have very real conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest is anything that creates an incentive to put your own interests before the interests of the people you serve. The Supreme Court has written that a conflict of interest is, and I’m quoting here, 'an evil which endangers the very fabric of a democratic society, for a democracy is effective only if the people have faith in those who govern, and that faith is bound to be shattered when high officials and their appointees engage in activities which arouse suspicions of corruption.

but that all may be the least of it, with bbc now reporting what cnn and buzzfeed reported yesterday about salacious trump sex tapes (that such a thing exists is a horrifying thought in and of itself) that the russians have --- if the fate of the republic did not hang in the balance, i would be joyfully mesmerized by the spectacle

but the fate of the republic does hang in the balance ----

losing an amenity, as it were

today, they moved the scaffold for the balcony rehab to my side of the building --- after tomorrow, i probably won't be able to use the balcony for a month --- dog and i will manage, but it will severely impact the quality of dex's life

coochee!

and today i sent off the penultimate draft of the coochee history --- nearly 120,000 words (lord god, it needs an editor)  in ten chapters ---    will probably get comments and what not which i will endeavor to incorporate into the final draft --- it's been an awesomely fun project for me

catching up

it's been a month since i last posted --- i gotta admit that waking up every morning and remembering that trump "won" the election has put me off my feed, as it were --- i blew off my genetic family this "holiday season" ---- i just couldn't deal with a trumpistanic christmas this year --- small of me, i know, but one does what one has to do --- two months now since the election, and i still think he is a disgrace to our country --- the utter hypocrisy of the christianists and cynicism of the republicans has brought us to a precipice and i'm not sure the republic will survive --- the historian in me is fascinated; the rest of me is terrified of what the low-information folks have brought us

the highlight of my xmas season was my fifth day of xmas soiree, which featured philadelphia fish house punch --- punch and soiree were excellent in every way -- i love having a bunch of people i care about in my house and feeding them and what not

that and eating thai  food with a cousin, actually a first cousin once removed, to be precise --- and her husband and two excellent, slightly squirmy young'uns --- she and hubby met as exchange students in thailand, and we sit down in the restaurant and buck is discussing the menu with the waitress, in thai! she is one of the few relatives with whom i might discuss anything other than the weather and not wind up wanting to strangle them

we should all wish to see the world as isaiah (left) is seeing it right now