The Most Fiery Consequence of Who is now President

 The blog article just before this answered the question Does it Matter Who the President Is?

It listed many consequences to the Trump Presidency, but I inadvertently left off the biggest one of all.

That's climate change. Global warming. It's not a myth. It's a scientific fact. And it's rapidly changing the viability and livability of our planet.

It's not happening as fast as originally projected. It's happening faster. Scientists are constantly having to accelerate the timetable for the deterioration of our climate.  

Extreme weather is becoming more and more common. Global average temperatures continue to soar. And, in the near future, climate refugees will even dwarf political refugees.

Our time to effect this is dwindling. Even if we had the right leadership, at this point, we can only mitigate rather than achieve a complete reversal.

The Orange Conman and his billionaire cronies are putting in policies that put us at the very top of this temperature pathway chart. Rather than embrace new technologies, they firmly embrace fossil fuels and all the devastation that their continued use will cause.

We are galloping, GALLOPING in the complete opposite direction we need to go.

The only way we could bring a quicker demise is if Trump's warmongering leads to nuclear war. Sadly, I can't rule that out.

It Makes No Difference Who Is President? Are You Serious?

 

The following is a Facebook post I posted on February 28th:

Shortly after Trump was announced the winner of the 24 election, someone told me not to worry. It really didn't matter who the President was. After one year of this madman, and especially this morning when the "Peace Presdient" has taken us to an unecessary war that will very likely result in the loss of lives of ourr sons and daughters (and the slauglter of countless Iranian citizens), I have to ask him, "Do you still think it makes no difference who is President of the United States?" But I can't. It might cause a rift in the organization we both attend.

He thinks himself neutral. He is not. He is very conservative, but with so much extremism around here, relative silence stands out as middle of the road.

For the last ten years, I have felt pent up and angry. It has been everything I can do to hold my temper in check.

I had an opportunity to ask him this about a week ago. I passed. Call me a coward if you want. But I have to constantly measure the collateral damage a remark can cause. And I decided it wasn't worth it.

But the question remains. Do you still think it doesn't matter who the President is?

Would we be currently engulfing the world in flames due to a war of choice? Would a school filled with young girls still be with us? Would any other President be stupid enough to be sucked in by Netanyahu's idea of obliterating Iran? The answer is no. No other president would have done this, especially without explanation or preparation. Bush and Cheney propagandized for a year or more before invading Iraq.

Would any other President been stupid enough to think that blanket-level tariffs were good economic policy? All that it has done has raised prices for average Americans and turned many of our allies against us. The big lesson for other countries is to build up their markets by excluding the United States. And hey, let's give 40 billion dollars to newly fascist Argentina, and prop up their beeef market over the Uniyted States! And hey, American farmers, don't worry! We'll bail you out with billionsmore of US taxpayer money!

Would Renee Good and Alex Pretti still be alive if we had a different President? Of course they would! And countless others who have been killed and/or dragged away by ICE. They're not going after the worst of the worst. They're dragging off and kidnapping US citizens, and that's bad. But they're not targeting the worst of the worst - those undocumented who have committed violent felonies. No, they're persecuting even those playing by the rules, people showing up for immigration hearings, trying to follow procedure. They're arresting people at workplaces - going after individuals - not the businesses that hire and exploit them. People are going to detention centers and then disappearing - no one knows where they've gone -deported, moved to another camp, murdered? We just don't know.* There is no exemption in Christianity where you get to treat people like they're less than human.

Would we have a President who, along with his cronies, is making billions off of corruption? No, there has never been anything like it. This is at a level we have never seen before and would never see with any other President.

Would the lgbtq+ community be made to feel less safe with any other President? I don't think so. The trans community, less than 1% of us, is being scapegoated and villainized. This is a trend in Republican politics, to attack and persecute minority communities, but the focus on trans people has been vicious and dangerous. Of course, hatred is not just reserved for them; they are just the most vulnerable. Somalis, Mexicans, Muslims - anything to make the blood boil in reich-wing America.

We elected someone who WEKNEW was a close associate of Jeffrey Epstein, the most notorious pedophile of modern times, who appears in the Epstein files more often than God and Jesus do in the bible. We have those in this country who close their eyes and pretend Trump wasn't involved. Trump wasn't a client. Trump was IN on it, part of the small inner circle planning and perpetuating this monstrosity. He owned teen beauty pageants and "modeling" agencies. He bragged about how his celebrity allowed him to get away with sexually assaulting women. They have tried to censor his name from what is released, but enough has slipped through that you have to know in your heart that he is every bit the monster that Epstein was.

I could go on and on. There are some things that are only happening, or happening at such an intense level, because we have a narcissistic, adjudicated sexual assaulter, adjudicated fraudster, convicted felon, racist, dementia-riddled, body-disintegrating, mad conman as President of the United States.

Of course, it matters who is President of the United States. Sometimes the differences are subtle. And sometimes they are apocalyptically crushing.

Guess which one Trump is?

Great Moments in Olympic History

 Please do not interpret this as a comprehensive list.  These are just moments that have stood out to me and had some impact beyond the sporting event.  They are not ranked; instead, they are listed in chronological order.

Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin (Nazi) Olympics

The 1936 Berlin Olympics were designed to be a showcase for Nazi ideology and demonstrate Aryan athletic superiority.  Hitler's racist statement was clouded by Jesse Owens winning FOUR Olympic gold medals in track and field.

Not all was golden memories, however.  Jesse Owens did not come home to a glorious welcome.  He was mistreated and ignored. He had great difficulty earning a living.  No advertisements.  No endorsements. Most of what he achieved was through the African American community.

We tend to forget that the Nazis were inspired by how historically Americans had treated blacks and native Americans, and helped develop some of their policies in persecuting the Jewish community.

Protest at the 68 Olympics

At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, two American athletes, Tommie Smith, who won gold, and John Carlos, who won bronze, raised their fists during the playing of the national anthem during their award ceremony.  It was to call attention to human rights and the racial injustices faced by Black Americans.  Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated earlier that year.  

The two athletes experienced much criticism and ostracization after that.  Nevertheless, it was an important moment in demonstrating the influence that athletes could have on important social issues, and the salute they gave has lived on as an important symbol in black communities and others that have been repressed.

The Perfect 10

It was a breathtaking moment.  Young Nadia Comaneci, a Romanian gymnast, was all of 14 years old, scored the first perfect ten on the uneven bars at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

It was spectacular, heartstopping.  It was also a bit dangerous. 

It took a while, but it did bring up age concerns.  Is 14 too young? The current age to participate is now 16.  I believe it raised some safety concerns, but I'm still researching that.  

Miracle on Ice

At the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, what is considered one of the greatest miracles in sports occurred.  A team of amateur athletes from the US defeated a team of professionals from the Soviet Union. 4 to 3.  The Soviet Union had long dominated the sport at the Olympics, and no one anywhere was expecting this outcome.  

It also marked the beginning of the end of the Olympics as a contest for amateurs.  Always an iffy proposition, with authoritarian countries doing things like placing their athletes in the military, and making it the only job they do. 

Eventually, pro athletes, including NBA and NHL stars, competed in the Olympics.  The effect in some events, like basketball, was to weigh heavily in favor of countries like the USA.  

Yes, it's kind of a recognition of reality.  It's also kind of sad, in that it was one of the last places to let amateurs shine.

Simone Biles and Mature Judgment

Gymnast Simone Biles is one of the most accomplished athletes of our time. Her 11 medals are the most won by an American gymnast.  Even those who watched little Olympics would seek out her performances.

But it is not just what she did that made her such an important sports figure.  It's having the maturity to know her limits and make wise judgments.  Gymnastic performances require and incerdible balance between the mind and the body. And she was wise enough to know when those were out of synch, and going forward would put her at considerable physical risk.

She brought that balance into sharper focus and encouraged people to respect their mental health as well as their physical health.

I admire her greatly.

The Incredible Spirit of Freedom and Joy

What an amazing breath of fresh air!

A performance not only memorable for its physical and athletic accomplishments, but for the sheer joy and explosion of optimism it encircled us with.

I'm not sure I've ever been as captivated by a performance and story as I have by Alysa Liu.  Everything in this post about the greatest moments of the Olympics is represented in her.

Her family story is captivating.  His father was a Chinese dissident who challenged the authoritarian government in Tiananmen Square. He came here to find freedom in America. She is a first-generation American, and her family shows the VITAL contributions made by our immigrants.

She is not shy about her political beliefs, standing up against ICE and other progressive causes, including her support for the LGBTQ community.

She treats her fellow competitors with support, hugs, and love.

She's a freaking nerd, into anime.  She and Amber Glenn remind me so much of my son, Benjamin.  If Earth moved in that direction, I think they would be great pals.

Where some of our other athletes were getting too far into their own heads, stressing out and making mistakes they normally wouldn't, Alysa had a carefree attitude, where the most important thing was just to skate and have fun.

She broke the stranglehold that coaching has on many of our athletes.  They are overcoached and overtrained, limited in what they can eat, do, or even think.  They've surrendered their identity to the machine, which is more concerned with promoting itself than with their athletes.  

She left the sport at 16 because it was no longer fun with everyone overcoaching and controlling her.  When she came back in 2024, it was on her own terms, and the idea that whatever happened, she was going to have FUN!

And so have we all!  In these dark days, as America gets swallowed whole by a brutal and growing fascism, she has let back in the joy of being who you are.

Whether she retires or goes on to the greatest achievements in sports, I will never forget this moment in time.

She has lit up the world for all of us.

Ice Hits Close to Home

 

Linda Davis, beloved teacher.

As terrible as some things are, we fool ourselves into thinking that they are too distant from us to impact us. Minneapolis is many hours and states away from where I live. They are mainly targeting Democratic cities, and I live in one of the reddest counties on the planet. Nothing has happened to jar loose any of the 90% who voted for Trump and pals in elections here.

But a terrible tragedy has struck close to home. The madness that is ICE struck in Savannah.   Rather than me stumbling trying to describe what happened, I will let this news story written by Margaret Coker in The Current Ga outline it for you.

"A Chatham County elementary school teacher en route to work early Monday was killed after a man trying to flee federal immigration agents rammed her vehicle on Whitefield Avenue near the Truman Parkway, according to county police.

Linda Davis, a longtime teacher at Herman W. Hesse K-8 School was pulled from her crushed Lexus sedan by emergency personnel but later pronounced dead at the hospital. The driver who allegedly hit her, 38-year-old Oscar Vasquez-Lopez, was arrested by Chatham County Police and charged with homicide and reckless driving, police said.  

The fatal collision occurred around 7:20 a.m. less than a half mile from Hesse after agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tried to pull over the vehicle driven by Vasquez-Lopez, according to police and eyewitnesses. 

Although Monday was a school holiday, Davis was due to attend teacher training that morning at the elementary school that serves a large number of Spanish-speaking children. Vasquez-Lopez appears to have driven through the red light on Whitefield on the east side of the Truman at such speed that the front and side of Davis' vehicle was crushed, witnesses told The Current GA. 

Around 7:30 a.m., before emergency workers arrived at the scene, two masked immigration agents dressed in tactical gear detained one person and ushered him to one of their two vehicles parked along Whitefield Avenue, according to two eyewitnesses. It is unclear if that person was Vasquez-Lopez or someone else. 

It is unclear whether federal agents offered any emergency assistance to the special needs teacher. Three eyewitnesses told The Current that they did not see anyone attending the mangled black Lexus before Chatham emergency services arrived at 7:45 a.m. and pried Davis from her vehicle.

Chatham County police said that they had not been aware of any planned immigration enforcement operations on Monday and were not involved in any when the collision occurred."

END Article inclusion

ICE, looking for suspects, apparently decided to harass around an elementary school, began a car chase in an area where they put others at risk. This led to a crash that took Linda Davis's life. The so-called criminal, Vasquez-Lopez, had NO criminal record.* The chase was dangerous and unwarranted.

But this hits even closer to home for us than even Savannah. Two of the witnesses were people we know. I haven't seen their names in print, so I won't name them. One is a lifelong friend of Alison's who grew up in Pierce County. The other is a close friend of one of our church family, and I believe grew up in Ware County. They are both good friends and good people, ones we still see several times a year. They escorted us around Savannah a few years ago and were great hosts, hitting up a lot of the foodie spots.

One of them worked at the school system with Linda Davis. Both of them adored her. Both of them were horrified by what ICE had done.

No one is safe. The horrors of the Trump administration will affect us all.

Even if you think the undocumented are a problem that needs to be dealt with, I think you have to agree that this is not the way to go about it. Too many innocents are being killed or wounded, many others are having their lives and families disrupted, and some are just disappearing to God knows where.

Remember, being undocumented is a civil offense, not a criminal one. THE UNDOCUMENTED ARE NOT CRIMINALS.

If you live in Southeast Georgia, you should be looking at The Current GA. Please search for it or link it to your social media. There are few truly independent, investigative news sources left. We should cherish those that we can find.

Until next time.

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

A Look Out the Window

 I let Scout have some screened-in porch time.

I drifted to other things and had forgotten I had let her out.

I came back to the kitchen to look out the window to see where she might be, and...oops, there he is!

Scout can climb up anywhere. And does. This morning he was on our fireplace mantel. There's not really much room for him there, what with all the knick-knacks. To make room, he knocked off a plastic cow figure.

We don't leave anything on the kitchen counter that he can get into anymore. Even food in a plastic bag - he will try to get at it, even if he doesn't like the food. The fun is in the destruction, not the food inside.

----------------------------------------

I was going to post a story about the OHC Book Festival I attended. I was hoping to find some pictures online to head up the post, but alas, I could not find any.

So, how did it go?

Pretty darn good! There was a good-sized crowd, with vendors, activities, seminars, and costume contests.

I sold a few books. I was surprised that Crowley Stories was a bestseller. I love that book, but I've had a hard time promoting it. Even though fictional, it is set in the Okefenokee Swamp region. And although it was written almost a decade ago, some of the plot lines have proven prophetic. Things have become os much worse down here since the emergence of Trump and MAGA. I'm sorry if that upsets some of you, but it's the truth.

The experience has reenergized me and made me want to return to writing. I have a completed book that I have not published, The Extra Credit Club. I found a new Beta reader for it and potentially a book editor to review it. In the long run, I will probably still self-publish, mostly because at my age I don't want to wait the one to three years it would take to get it accepted and published.

--------------------------------

My health is pretty good. Most of my blood pressure readings are good (at least in my world). I monitor my blood glucose with a Dexcom monitor; most of the time, I am within the normal range. I've found some things that spike my numbers and others that have less of an effect. Dark chocolate, nuts, even some whole wheat and homemade sourdough bread don't cause much of a rise. Potatoes? Whoa, Katy, bar the door!

This morning, my weight was the lowest it's been this century!

I still have periodic bouts with arthritis pains, particularly in my legs (foot, knee, lower leg).

----------------------------

I watched the Bad Bunny halftime show. It was fantastic! Did I understand what was being said? No, but I don't always catch what English-speaking singers say* (Dylan? Anyone? Anyone?). I did get the message loud and clear - a celebration of diversity and love. 

----------------------

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

* Maybe one of the reasons I like Johnny Cash so much is that I can understand what he says.

Your Presence Is Requested!

 

I am very excited to announce my participation in this groundbreaking event. I will have an aauthor'stable. I am trying to get back into promoting myself as a writer. I'm nervous, but I need to break through my introversion and get back into it.

As you can see from the flyer above, this is so much more than an author's presentation. There will be readings, contests, workshops, and so much more!

My good friend, Greg O'Driscoll, will be there, promoting his comic book. Both the Waycross/Ware County AND Pierce County Libraries will be there, with super information, giveaways, and contests!  

Fun for every reader of every age!

From Elizabeth Pond, Event Coordinator

We have a great chichildren'sea planned for the OHC We Love Literacy Book Festival on Saturday, February 7 from 10-4. Special thanks to the Waycross Ware County Library and the Pierce County Library!

Big Fun on the Big Front Porch

Join us on the porch for a full day of crafts, coloring, and free book giveaways!

DonDon'tss story time and visits with our favorite friends, Bluey and Pogo.

Story time: 10:15

Visit with Bluey: 10:30

Story time: 11:15

Book Character Costume Judging: 12:00

Visit with Pogo: 12:30

Story time: 1:15

Visit with Bluey: 1:30

Story time: 2:15

Visit with Pogo: 2:30

Story time: 3:15

Please come! You'll have a blast!

Sunny Bays: Flash Fiction

Look out your window.

What do you see?

I see sunny bays.  

I have a very comfortable lift chair.

One that faces my sliding glass door. Each morning, the nurses settle me there.

I wish they would do it in time for me to see the sun rise. That would be so beautiful. But they usually don't set me until after 8 AM.

Nevertheless, it is still beautiful. Much better than TV. I do have my tablet with me, with fifty ways to play solitaire. But most of the time, I just love to stare and let my mind float away.

The palm trees are gently swaying. The beach is pristine, the sand reflecting golden in the morning sunlight. When the tide is low, a strip of sand juts out and separates the bay into two.

There are a few beach umbrellas, striped red and white, with the logo for the Bay Resort splashed at the top. In the distance, I can see a lifeguard station. He is not yet on duty.  

The beach is empty, at least at first. A young family sets out camp, with beach towels and not much else. Mama has sunglasses and a paperback, the young children have shovels and pails, and the father has a Frisbee. I'm surprised they don't have a dog -but then, as if on cue, a teenager appears, a hyper cocker spaniel at his heels.

Others arrive, the beach filling out.  

The waves are modest. Still, I could hear the rhythmic motion of the ocean even through my closed glass door.

The tablet lay unopened on my lap. I don't need it. I'm somewhere else. I'm on the beach, Melinda holding my hand. Before we settle down, we race to the ocean. It is not as warm as I hoped, but it is bracing, and we quickly adjust. The water is up to our shoulders. I hold her close, and we kiss.

The current pulls at us, wanting to take us further out to sea.

This time, we do not resist.

The tablet drops from my lap.