Dispatches from Vilnius

Aren't they sweet?  You would almost think it was a Fourth of July celebration if it wasn't for the MAGA handbags and the heavy black coats.  An estimated 20,000 persons are lining the streets of Washington for Trump's inauguration parade.  A much smaller number than he hoped for, but thanks to the Arctic chill few people are braving the cold on this winter day in the nation's capital.  Trump will take his inauguration indoors to avoid the cold, only the second time in recent decades. It was Ronald Reagan who coined the phrased " Morning again in America " during the 1984 campaign, and had his second inauguration in the Rotunda of the Capitol building.  It was only 7 degrees Fahrenheit then.  About 20 degrees colder than it is today in Washington.  At least there was a tone of optimism as the economy had started to improve in 1985.  Today, it is hard to view Trump's second inauguration as anything other than a negation of everything our country st...

I have to say I like that so many persons are looking into my blog.  However, these "persons" don't seem to be looking at any recent posts.  Did you just happen to click on the wrong blog site? This month has seen a major upsurge in visitors - 18,861 to be exact - and it is only January 14.  The greatest number of visitors is from Brazil.  It tapers down significantly to Turkiye, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Russia, and Venezuela.  United States, UK and Canada are not among the top locations, and this is an English-speaking blog, mostly about American-centered stories.  I have to think something else is afoot, so I consulted Quora. There is a list of possibilities, the most likely being spam traffic through bots.  I don't think any of my past posts have gone viral, although some of the older ones have had quite a few hits.  I just hope these posts weren't spammed.  Nothing in the comments to suggest that.  Maybe blogger is finally blocking spa...

To no one's surprise Donald Trump exploited his "friendly talk" with Barack Obama at the state funeral for Jimmy Carter.  I thought Barack knew better than engaging with Donald, especially after Jill Bidens' moment with Trump at the dedication to the restored Notre Dame cathedral became a  promo  for his $199 cologne. Sure, you say hello out of politeness but there he was " yukking it up " with Donald, making it so easy for anyone to put words in his mouth afterward. Words that Donald was all too glad to share on Truth Social. It seems that the principal target of this parody was Kamala Harris, who refused to acknowledge Trump.  Smart move on her part.  Who knows what her future plans are, but Governor of California seems the  most logical choice .  I don't think she wants to run again for President, assuming we have another election.  To hear Republicans talk these days, Trump will be President for Life as we move toward a more autocratic f...

What a set of overlapping stories!  As LA burns , Donald Trump Jr. flew to Nuuk to make his father's pitch to buy Greenland.  Daddy couldn't go because he had committed himself to the state funeral of Jimmy Carter, where he made small talk with Barack, whose wife Michelle was conspicuously absent.  I'm guessing she didn't want to sit next to Donald.  No one did, not even his wife .  Elon Musk used the opportunity to have a " friendly chat " with the newest leader of the ultra-right wing AfD party of Germany on his X chatbox.  The fetching Alice Weidel, which "Leon" mispronounced Veedle, is supposed to represent a moderating force for the neo-fascist party, but here they were talking about Hitler, saying he was a "communist and socialist," not a "conservative and libertarian" like themselves.  Nice dodge.  Meanwhile, unusually cold weather blankets much of the US with a freeze warning in Northwest Florida, which my old high school...

I found this meme on my timeline this morning, posted by one of my conservative "friends," wishing me a "Happy January 6."  There was little violence this time around as Democrats didn't make any attempt to block the certification of the electoral college.  Kamala Harris duly confirmed Trump as the winner, and so the MAGA movement has their president again.  Only a few peeps from former Congresspersons like Adam Kinzinger , who no longer identifies himself with today's Republican Party, calling it RINO.  I well imagine many past Republican presidents would feel the same way if they saw what their Grand Old Party had devolved into. Hard to believe this was once the Party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt or even Ronald Reagan.  As Kinzinger stated, it is a party driven by hate, making it even harder to understand how Trump managed to win 77 million votes.  Has our society become so filled with anger that it would give this contemptible man the most vote...

I was excited about the Netflix production of One Hundred Years of Solitude .  It was a Colombian production, so I figured it would have an air of authenticity unlike that blasphemous attempt to do The House of the Spirits some years back with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons.  No wonder, Marquez refused to let anyone make his fabulous novel into a movie during his lifetime.  I think he would have been just as disappointed with this production.  While it was in Spanish, this lavish production bore only a passing resemblance to the novel.  Just to be sure, I started reading it again.  I was stunned when I reached the 150-page mark and had come to the end of the serial.  Alex Lopez and Laura Mora had only covered one third of the epic novel in their 8 hours of screentime, basically turning it into a soap opera.   I was reminded of the scene in the novel where the town of Maconda witnessed its first movie.  Everyone was so excited.  The...