Season's Greetings from St. Augustine, Florida

Best Wishes for Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year.

Israel & Palestinians

I have been a supporter of the Jewish people all my life. My step-dad was Jewish. I have known and loved many American Jews. Nonetheless I believe the Israelis are wrong, very wrong in their handling of the situation in Gaza and their treatment of Palestinians.The US govt. should demand that the Israelis allow the UN to deal with the problem of controlling the Palestinians and stopping the launching of rockets into Israel. If Israel will not agree we should withhold all support until they do. ☮☯✌

BONSAI BY DORI, COTTONDALE, FLORIDA

TRAVELING BACK IN TIME for our 38th wedding anniversary Feb. 22, we went to Cottonwood, Alabama to see the remains of Sealy's Hot Water Springs where we got married in 1972. On the trip back we took our time and the back roads through the old South. We passed again through COTTONDALE, FLORIDA and found a wonderful place called BONSAI BY DORI. 

As an erstwhile bonsai enthusiast and grower, I had to stop. We pulled in and saw a large fenced yard lined with dozens of the nicest, most developed and artfully displayed bonsai trees I've seen anywhere. There was a lady watering them and I asked her if I could take a few pictures. She graciously said I could and I quickly got out my Canon and began shooting. Wow! I was overwhelmed. I just shot rapid fire snapshots of as many as I could before someone threw me out.

After a few minutes I looked up to see a guy who looked a lot like Santa Claus watching me. I shot a couple more then asked him if it was okay, if he minded. He smiled and said he didn't mind a bit. We shook hands and I was honored to meet Maxwell Hayes, Bonsai Master.

 He was very accommodating and showed me around the place, a large nursery with workstations, potting sheds, a yard busy with plants in various stages of culture and even a small shooting room with lights and backdrop for shooting pictures of the plants.

We were pressed to be home before dark so we were unable to stay long enough to do a better job of photographing the bonsai or talking to the other people of Bonsai by Dori but we are determined to go back with a little more time and find out more about the place, the people and their farm. 

Meantime if you are anywhere near the Florida Panhandle a trip to COTTONDALE, FLORIDA is worthwhile if only to visit

Bonsai by Dori 3089 Main St, Cottondale, FL 32431

• (850) 352-4390

Here's a link to a map:

http://local.yahoo.com/info-14015496-bonsai-by-dori-cottondale

Second Annual SOUTHERN EXPOSURE FESTIVAL

The Second Annual SOUTHERN EXPOSURE FESTIVAL on March i4 featured artists and performers including Lonesome Bert and Skinny Lizard,

 Willie Green,

 Anne Feeney, 

Arlo Guthrie and the Guthrie Family,

and of course , Guest of Honor Stetson Kennedy,

 appearing with Frank Thomas and special guest Doug Gauss,

 all on the main stage and all allowed us to videotape and photograph them. There was one guy, Jack Elliot who chose not to be taped and stated he hated cameras and people who used them so of course he's not shown here or on my video.

There were many other artists performing at the barn but we had to hold our great camera position in front of a tree near the stage and so missed the other acts. So sorry.

Video coming soon on YouTube

TRIP BACK IN TIME - COTTONWOOD,ALABAMA

LAST WEEKEND WE CELEBRATED OUR 38TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.

While we ate breakfast Saturday morning Pat asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate. I had been thinking long and hard about this and I said, with some trepidation, "I'm almost afraid to say because you might want to go for it." Then I told her I had been thinking that we should go back at last to Cottonwood, Alabama; back to where we got married in 1972 at a place called Sealy's Hot Mineral Springs in Cottonwood, near Dothan, Alabama.

She brightened and smiled real big and I knew we were going to do it. Finally. We had made plans a few times in recent years to go back there, even though the place was destroyed by fire several years ago. We wanted to see what remained and look across the small lake to the very place where Dave, Dana and the other nine folks who were traveling with us made a large peace sign out of pine-cones on the ground and stood around it while we exchanged our vows and rings.

But each time we made plans to go there something went awry. One time I had a heart attack and had bypass surgery. This time, after having a third heart attack,  I was six weeks post-op from having a defibrillator implanted to prevent further heart attacks. I felt great!
Within an hour we had our SUV loaded with everything we needed for two days, including our seven-month-old dachshund, Doxie and her carrier and supplies. I packed some 'road-rations' including two of my home-made super-muffins and a cooler full of healthy munchies. By 12:30 we were out the driveway and headed west. Only 300 miles to Cottonwood.

We took the road less traveled and went through Stark, Lake city, and Lulu avoiding the interstate as much as possible. Pat drove, making great time, so we wound up in Dothan by 6:00 PM. We checked in at the HoJo's express and went to Cracker Barrel for a quick but wholesome dinner. Then back to the motel and to bed so we could get an early start in the morning.

After a quick breakfast Sunday morning we headed on to Cottonwood.

When we found The Hot Springs, not named Sealy's anymore, it was a bittersweet sight. The big iron gate out front was chained and locked, the big building was a burned-out hulk and the place was deserted, overgrown. Closed for good.

With some misgivings I stepped over the fence and slowly made my way around to the rear of the burned out building. I could see the lake that we rowed across and the opposite shore where we exchanged our vows. It was still there. Still the same.
As I rounded the corner at the back of the building and walked behind it, I saw the old swimming pool, still full of water. When I got to where I could see through the weeds, I stopped short and saw that the huge pipe was still spewing out hot water exactly as it did 38 years ago. I shouted to Pat to come around and join me. Then we both stood there and watched the springwater flow with a mixed bag of emotions from joy to saddened reverie, realizing what was and what is gone.

What a rush it was to stand there watching the warm water flow and flash back on the moments we shared there with our friends and each other 38 years ago. It brought tears to our eyes. We kissed. I took a few more pictures of the place and of Pat standing there.

Then we turned and left, reversing our trip to head home, 300 miles back to St. Augustine. On the way home we stopped at two very interesting places and I'll report on those in the next post.

Sometimes things are so bad they could only get worse if someone was whining about it. You listening Joe Lieberman? ☁☂☠

MAC OR PC?

It's New Years Day 2010. I start this decade in a quandary. I'm a computer user, have been for 15 years, since I bought my IBM PS1 and learned to use a pirated copy of Powerpoint. I did a fax newsletter before we had the internet. I graduated through 3 PCs, became an internet junkie with 3 websites, dozens of YouTube videos and this blog. I have about 50 friends on Facebook, all I can keep up with on a daily basis.

Exactly 3½ years ago I listened to my son-in-law, made the big plunge and bought a Mac. A nice new iMac with that great intel dual-core drive and a Superdrive with iMovie and I was in the video editing business at last.

Everything I had been told about the Apple computers came true. Unfailing software that never crashed. Smooth, sleek hardware that operated flawlessly and all as user friendly as a TV. I thought I died and went to techno-heaven. I even talked my best friend, an artist, into buying an identical iMac 3 months after I did. We celebrated and exchanged emails with photos regularly.

All this hummed along smoothly until about three months ago when I noticed a vertical line near the center of my LCD screen. It wouldn't go away and when I called the geniuses at the Apple store they weren't much help. All that could be done would be to replace the entire screen at a cost of about $350. Or live with it. I decided I could live with it, work around it.

Then I found out that my friend the artist had a similar line on his screen. Oh no! A flaw. LCD screens that die after only 3 years! We were both really bummed out but, considering how well the computer worked... we both just overlooked it.

Then just a few weeks before Christmas two more lines appeared on my screen. At the same time my friend's iMac crashed and the geniuses said he needed a new hard drive. He opted for a local geek and paid $250. to get his hard drive replaced and all his data saved. I thought that wasn't so bad.

Then on Dec. 4, my superdrive malfunctioned and wouldn't eject a DVD I had burned. I called the geniuses at the Apple store and they said to bring it in. I did so the next day and left it overnight with the geniuses.

When I went back the next day they said they had gotten the DVD out but that my Superdrive was shot and it would cost $250. to replace it. Or I could go to Best-Buy and get an external drive for about $150.

I had to think about all this especially considering my LCD screen which now had 3 lines in it with perhaps worse to come. I brought my iMac home and bought, online, an external Super Writemaster DVD/CD burner by Kanguru. I can't get the iMac to recognize it or its software disc.

So I can't burn CDs or DVDs. I'm essentially out of business. All I can do is create videos and save them to memory sticks or post videos to YouTube.

This was something I feared would happen, having the monitor, computer and CD/DVD drive all together in one slick compact package like a laptop. If one thing dies your whole unit is out of commission.

My wonderful, infallible iMac is dying rapidly after only 3½ years. With all the extras and some added software I have invested about $2,000. in this computer and I don't know if I can afford another $2,000. every few years.

Then too I'm stuck trying to decide whether more reliable hardware with rather clumsy and very fallible software such as Windows whatever would be a better investment.

I guess I'm back to the original question; Mac or PC?

Any suggestions?

I posted the following as a comment on a friend's Facebook post about the true meaning of Christmas:

But... but, the true meaning of Christmas IS Santa and Rudolph and Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchet and Ebenezer Scrooge even. Also lotsa gifts under a richly embellished, fresh-cut pine tree and tinsel and old movies like "Miracle on 32nd St." and Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" and cheesy cards from all our friends and relatives and stockings (of all things) filled with treats and gifties hanging from the mantle (real or faux) and a zillion lights strung all over the outside of every house and bell-ringing beggars at every door of every store and junk mail from stores you never go to and 'adorable' little Holiday programs in school gymnasiums that you have to go to 'cause you know a kid who will be crushed if you don't show up and also buy them a toy for Christmas. That's a little of what I know as the meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all. ☺☺☺☃☃♡♡

St. Augustine Street Saga II, 2-23-98

By popular request I have posted a short (10 minute) segment from my archived video documentary "St. Augustine Street Saga" on YouTube. The description follows: City of St. Augustine bans artists and performers from the historic district. Protests on the streets and at City Commission meeting. City Manager Joe Pomar crowns self "King" Joe in meeting while Ruth Hunter draws caricatures of him and Mayor Len Weeks, Roger Jolley addresses Comm:ission in protest.

Click on link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl503onlCKU to view the video, rate it, and please comment.

St. Augustine City Commission meeting of 9-14-09

The St. Augustine City Commission meeting of 9-14-09 with their hired gun, out of town attorney trying desperately to make his latest plan to ban Constitutionally protected activity in the historic Plaza de La Constitucion was like watching a spastic middle schooler build a Rube Goldberg machine while covered with honey and tormented by Africanized bees.

Nobody was buying it with even Earoil Jones pointing out how crazy it was to expect to rent six of twelve little 8'x10' spaces (cells) to street performers all of whom would be performing their own music, less than ten ft. away from other performers doing their own act, with different music, different tempo, disharmoniously trying to stand out from the others, and all while six vendors would be selling their wares to passing tourists in The Slave Market.

Could anything be less likely to succeed?

Of course no one even hopes for the program to succeed, this being all one more attempt to ban the artists and performers from the Plaza in a manner that could pass Constitutional muster, be accepted on review by an appeals court judge after the local county court Judge (probably Tinlin) approves the city's enforcement of this outlandish ordinance.

It seems that someone who has control over the SACC and their City Mismanager William B. Harris (locally known as 'Will Harass') has only one true interest and that is to write a true story about the Stinkiest little tourist trap in Florida with the craziest, quirkiest laws since the frontier towns of the old wild west.

Anyone with six hours to spend on really amusing, if confusing and contorted, municipal shenanigans should obtain a DVD copy of the recorded meeting from the City's records clerk, make a huge batch of popcorn and watch this circus. Maybe with a few cold beers to make it go down a little smoother.

Stay tuned for further developments as this farce makes its way through the inevitable battles sure to ensue.

St. Augustine City Attorney & City Manager, City Commission

Artists' and Performers' freedom of Expression

Do you care about the freedom of expression of other artists?

The city of St. Augustine, Florida is trying again to deprive artists and performers of their Constitutionally protected rights of expression by denying them access to the public forum in, of all places, The Plaza de La Constitucion, the oldest free open-air public market place in the United States. For over twenty years and consistently since 1995 the St. Augustine City Commission has repeatedly written and passed ordinances banning or restricting artists and performers in order to impede or eliminate their activities in the historic section of "The Nation's Oldest City." Despite having each ordinance declared unconstitutional and unenforceable in Federal Court they keep coming back with new laws crafted under the guidance of their hired out-of town attorney Michael Kahn, locally called the "Kahn Man" because he continues to misadvise the commission that this time the new ordinance will pass constitutional muster.

In the year 2000 they finally succeeded on one level, getting the 11th Circuit Court to agree that they could set "Time, Place and Manner" restrictions on the activities on a limited portion of historic Saint George Street. Performers were banned from several blocks of the street and for a short while artists were restricted from working or selling there. Later artists were permitted to produce but not sell artworks on Saint George Street. As an attempt at appeasement artists and performers were promised that they could operate freely in the nearby Plaza de La Constitucion. The city even promised that they would 'spend money to advertise their presence there and with signage and advertising make tourists aware of the alternate venue'.

Instead the city began almost immediately to curtail artists' and performers' activities in The Plaza, charging permit fees which they were later made to refund; allocating unfit spaces and limiting hours of operation. Then last year they passed an ordinance to ban all sales and First Amendment protected activity in The Plaza. Four artists sued and were granted an injunction by the Federal Court in Jacksonville. The city was ordered to pay attorney's fees and pay compensation to the artists.

Now the City Commission, again under the advise of their hired gun Michael Kahn, is trying once again to circumvent the court's order, write a new unconstitutional ordinance severely limiting freedom of expression, even protected activity, in The Plaza and wasting more tax-payer dollars in another twisted attempt to control, limit and ultimately eliminate freedom of expression in the historic Plaza de La Constitucion. They believe eventually they will prevail as they have plenty of taxpayer money to waste while the artists have very little resources to fight in court.

Will you just ignore this government interference in the Constitutionally protected rights of free Americans or can you help? Will you join the fight?

If you can volunteer to appear at a fundraising event or donate an article to be auctioned off to benefit the legal war-chest of the struggling artists and performers of St. Augustine, please contact this writer,

J.D. Pleasant

PO Box 788

St. Augustine, Florida 32085

(Phone number will accompany letters)

WARNING - STAY OUT OF ST. AUGUSTINE!

WARNING - If you go to St. Augustine and are assaulted, robbed, abused or threatened by a St. Augustine resident or merchant you better not call the police. They will likely cite you and/or warn you against trespassing. If you push it you might be arrested.

Before going to St. Augustine, please read my statement below and refer to the previous blog post dated 7-2-09. (Note the photos at the end of the post. I will be updating them soon with new photos of my injuries)

Regarding the assault at 32 Spanish Street on 7-01-09:

I have read the complaint affidavit filed by Officer Davis of the SAPD and wish to add the following statement for clarification and to correct some false statements made by the perpetrator and his accomplices.

At the meeting were myself, my wife Patricia Pleasant, Ed Slavin, Jamin Rubenstein, Molly Hammond, Casey Leydon, Marsha McNabb (at her home) and Terry Buckenmeyer (who left before the end of the meeting and did not see what ensued). Also present, not participating was a young man who was unknown to us who apparently lived in the house in the front.

As stated in the original affidavit I had a polite disagreement with Mr. Leydon. Actually he had claimed (twice) to be able to lay a check for $500. on the table to cover our costs for printing the next issue of The Collective Press. Having heard this at a previous meeting, I asked Mr. Leydon to do it. He instead took a plastic card out of his wallet and threw it down on the table. I said that's not a check and, standing to leave I said to my wife, "I've heard enough of this, let"s go." I turned and walked toward the door. As my wife gathered her notes and a balloon she had been given by Mr. Slavin for her birthday, I opened the door and stepped out onto the stoop outside the door.

Mr. Leydon had rushed around my wife and slammed the door shut behind me yelling loudly, "Git the fuck out of my house!" The door opened and I turned, expecting my wife to join me and instead Mr. Leydon had gotten in front of her and stepped past her into the doorway. He immediately yelled again, "Git the fuck out of my house!" and struck me hard on the chest with both hands, pushing me forcefully backwards down the steps. I fell backwards, turning and falling over a large crockery plant pot that was on the stoop and I spun and landed on my right forearm, both knees and my chin on the brick walkway four steps below. My wife dashed past Mr. Leydon yelling, "What did you do? Why did you push him?" and she came to help me up. As she tried to look at my profusely bleeding injuries (see photos) I walked painfully to the street and called 911, asking for the police.

Before the police came I saw a neighbor from across the street come and speak to Mr. Leydon. I believe he also went inside and spoke to Marsha McNabb. This is the person who claims to have seen me going back up the steps and trying to get back in. This is a total lie and a fabrication. It is a conspiracy to give credence to Mr. Leydon's claim that I was the aggressor.

The lies are self evident. The person across the street could not possibly have seen the doorway or what happened there. It was 9:00PM and there was tree foliage and the corner of the front house obscuring any view from his vantage point.

Furthermore there was no noise or yelling until Mr. Leydon yelled at me and slammed the door. And of course my wife yelling, "What did you do? Why did you push him?" It was after that when the neighbor came to see what was happening. And then he spoke to my assailant only.

As to Mr. Leydon's claim that I resisted leaving, everyone present knows I was already leaving, anxious to be gone actually, and had no desire to go back in. I never did go down the steps and back up. Why would I? Also I am known to be polite at all times and while I am often confrontational, even with government officials and police when they act wrongly, I never use force. I have never been arrested nor even had a moving violation in over fifty years of driving.

My experience with the St. Augustine Police Department has been limited to one other time when I called to report an assault on me and my news gathering tool (Camcorder belonging to Fox News Jax) Officer Barry Fox had me write a long description of the assault and then issued a trespass warning against me banning me from ever walking on the sidewalk next to The Spanish Garden (a public walkway) and did not cite the merchant for the assault.

This seems to be a similar case of the police failing to act and hiding the misdeeds of a downtown merchant. (The assailant in this case, Mr. Leydon, is an artist with a studio in front of the house at 32 Spanish St.

There is ample evidence to refute the claims of Mr. Leydon, his girlfriend, Marsh McNabb and their neighbor, false witness Mr. Bucella. There are also witnesses who were inside the residence who, although reluctant to come forward because of the publicity involved, could be subpoenaed and presumably would not lie in court.

All of this matters because:

1. Assaulting a senior citizen is a serious felony in Florida. A person who would purposely, violently push a 68-year-old, known heart surgery survivor, down a flight of stairs onto the pavement below is a serious threat to others. He could go off on someone else and do even greater harm.

2. The pain of torn flesh, as visible in the photos. will be with me for months. Every time I rest my right arm on something or bend either knee, I am reminded painfully of this incident. All Mr. Leydon has to live with is his shame and I'm sure he is shameless. He does have a record of wrongdoing and criminal acts. (Google him)

2. The lies told by Mr. Leydon, his girlfriend Marsha McNabb and the neighbor are false statements in a police report. I believe they amount to conspiracy and collusion.

3. The failure of the police to arrest Mr. Leydon and lending credence to his lies in the police report, even supported by a false witness, is a grave injustice. Not only does Mr. Leydon get away with the assault but he is allowed to continue believing he is above the law. And others are endangered by his violent temper.

4. The SAPD can continue to settle disputes on the spot as they see fit, issuing conflicting reports and taking no action. It should be noted that Officer Davis was heard inside the residence trying to convince Mr. Leydon to file charges against me (his victim) which at that time Mr. Leydon declined to do. Apparently the officer later succeeded.

Now I am in a dilemma. I am afraid to go downtown lest I be again assaulted by Mr. Leydon for trying to get the truth out. The personal injury attornay I called said it's a criminal matter. The only criminal attorney I know said I must wait and sue for damages in a lawsuit. I cannot afford to hire an attorney.

I am a retired, 68-year-old heart patient being kept broke by pharmaceutical costs and medical expenses which are not fully covered by Medicare.

And I need help.

Thank you for reading this.

THE KING IS DEAD - LONG LIVE THE KING (Kinda)

The King Is Dead, Long Live The King (Kinda)

With the passing of Michael Jackson and his universal popularity, added to the many opportunities for various people to acquire some of his dna, body fluids or tissue, it is logical to assume that efforts are going forward to clone the pop idol. Perhaps multiple times.

Their work could determine the direction of the future of Pop Music. Maybe even of the human condition.

Imagine a song & dance routine by a group of identical MJs. HOW ABOUT A CHORAL GROUP OF IDENTICAL MJS? Can you see the video?

How about a Global Concert Webcast around the world with MJ clones performing kinda live in arenas all over the globe?

Imagine a population of forever young, always talented, rhythmic and collectively unique, adorable little MJs.

But now in this age of genetic engineering perhaps the cloners would want to tinker with MJ's genetic makeup. As nearly perfect as The King of Pop was, they might think of altering certain traits or emphasizing a particular feature. For example a whiter face on a blacker body? Maybe a smaller nose that he would be satisfied with. Perhaps larger sex organs.

What about neurological or mental factors? Could they perhaps preclude any tendency towards drug or pharmaceutical abuse? Maybe a strong heterosexual libido and a natural propensity to age in reverse like Benjamin Button.

I don't want to seem ghoulish but if I have any money left over after the ongoing financial revolution, I'm investing heavily in Michael Jackson Clones and maybe a little in Portuguese Water Dog puppies.

BREAING NEWS FLASH!!: IN A HASTILY CALLED PRESS CONFERENCE SARAH PALIN ANNOUNCED HER RESIGNATION AS ALASKA'S GOVERNOR on the eve of the three-day fourth of July holiday!!

FREAKING NEWS FLASHFORWARD: IN A HASTILY CALLED PRESS CONFERENCE SARAH PALIN ANNOUNCED SHE IS GOING INTO ISOLATION FOR SEVERAL MONTHS IN AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION.

FREAKING NEWS FLASHFORWARD 2: IN A HASTILY CALLED PRESS CONFERENCE SARAH PALIN ANNOUNCED SHE HAS VOLUNTEERED TO SERVE AS THE SURROGATE MOTHER FOR ONE OF "SEVERAL" MICHAEL JACKSON CLONES being carried (hopefull to term) by volunteers from all over the world. MORE SOON.

COMING NEXT: Are Farah and Michael dancing in Heaven? And is Ed McMahon slapping his knee and roariing with laughter?

Assault on jdp 7-1-09

Last evening, 7-1-09 my wife Pat and I went to a meeting of people interested in The Collective Press. This was the third such meeting we attended in the last three weeks and the second on held at 32 Spanish St. By 7:20 or so we had in attendance my wife Pat and I, Jamin, Ed, Molly, Casey, Marsha (who's home we were meeting in) a new guy friend of theirs we didn't know and Terry who stayed for the important stuff but left before the end of the meeting.We talked about organizing, proposed duties for various members, etc.

Casey spoke about advertising with some of the others adding their opinions about potential ads. Casey showed us his sketch for the David T. Queen cover story he was going to write and illustrate. He also mentioned the $500. he said he could come up with to cover the cost of next issue, including color. The meeting was winding down after about 2 hours so I stood up and said I'd heard enough and was leaving. Casey said he could throw $500. down on the table tonight for the next issue. He reiterated that he could write a check for it "tonight" and I, having heard this before said, "go ahead do it." He got out his wallet and threw down some kind of plastic card. I said, walking to the door, "That's not a check."

At this point Casey jumped up and yelled "Get out of my house!" which I gladly did as I opened the door and stepped out.

Casey then slammed the door shut behind me and I turned to wait on the stoop for my wife to come out.

Instead Casey yanked the door open and reached out with both hands hitting me on my chest and pushing me down the 4 steps onto the paved walk. Luckily I was able to turn and land on my knees and forearms. (see photos following) Otherwise I would have landed on the back of my head and probably would not have gotten up.

By now Pat came out the door yelling at Casey, "What did you do? Why did you push him?"

I had landed on a crock plant pot and broke it and smashed down hard onto the walk. I was bleeding from large lacerations and contusions on both legs, knees, entire right forearm and my chin. Pat helped me up and started checking my injuries. I stumbled to the street and called 911 on my cell phone. I asked for police and said I didn't want medical care as my wife, a nurse, was with me and we could clean up my wounds.

After several minutes Officer Andy Davis (badge #2706) arrived and took statements from Pat and I, then went inside to talk to the people in there.

At some time Officer Anthony Cuthbert arrived and asked a few more questions. He said that he was very familiar with me, "Mr. Pleasant" for the last 12 years. I asked him if he remembered when he and Barry Fox were sent to respond to my call (the only other time I've every called the SAPD in 22 years living here) because an enraged merchant had assaulted me and my video camera on the sidewalk north of the Spanish Garden at St. George & Hypolita as the city workers were closing it off to the public. I was documenting the occasion. Instead of citing the merchant for pushing my camera and it hitting my eye, the police made me write a lengthy statement describing the assault and then gave me a trespass warning forever forbidding me to set foot on that public walkway. The usual SAPD response to complaints against the merchant class. I think Officer Anthony remembered me pretty well. He also appears frequently in my video documentary, "St. Augustine Street Saga" about the banning of the artists and performers from St. George Street.

All of this only matters because last night they did about the same thing. They refused to arrest the assailant, Casey, saying they would file the report with the State's Attorney for any further action. Or not.

And so it stands. All my lacerations and contusions still hurt like hell. The one on my knee will be painful for 6 months or more. I'm on Coumadin so I bleed freely and heal slowly. I have requested the Incident Report from the police and will be posting it on my blog.

I'm still seeking a good personal injury attorney and I think I've found one. I hope to pursue damages for my pain and suffering, punitive damages for assaulting a Senior Citizen and more. The important thing, actually 2 things, about all this is that anyone who would push an aging peace freak survivor of open heart surgery down the steps onto hard pavement is a danger to society as a whole and needs at least to learn something about anger management. The other thing is the SAPD must learn not to choose which cases to act on based on their own prejudices and dislikes and stop always defending the actions of their downtown business click.

Incidentally I just learned that the 2 houses at 32 Spanish St. have been owned by Martha & Ronald Mickler since 1996. Those sound like deep pockets.

I hope someone is listening.

Thanks for your attention. The pictures follow:

Justice Clarence Thomas

Am I the only one who's not surprised that Clarence Thomas is the only Supreme Court Justice who thinks it's okay for school officials to search inside the underwear of middle school students. LMAO

Clarence you're still a lecher.

Plaza de La Constitucion Public or Private?

As the controversy over the Artists in St. Augustine's historic Plaza de La Constitucion rages on after an appeals court judge threw out the city's latest ben on art sales in the Plaza, a rich property owner and political power broker named Henry Whestone wrote an op-ed piece in the St. Augustine Raggard complaining about these no-rent merchants setting up in the Plaza that is surrounded by the Potemkin Village he and his associates have created.

I wrote a reasoned response to his letter and I am posting my response here:

Mr. Whetstone, you, your family and associates began back in the sixties a campaign or a conspiracy to construct a Potemkin Village out of a bunch of rundown tourist traps and convert and privatize downtown St. Augustine to a design of your own making. You all did commendable work in creating a very interesting tourist experience that was in fact educational even if somewhat pseudo-historic. So much so that I've heard every 4th grader in Florida is required to come to see the Fort and The Oldest City. The biggest mistake you folks made was creating your theme park in what was in fact public property. You succeeded in closing a public street to traffic but it still remains a public street in a city in The United States. Similarly the Plaza de La Constitucion is and has been from ancient times, a public place in a city in The United States. This fact confers certain rights on the citizens and certain responsibilities on the government to provide free and equal access to all citizens (even including alien visitors) as well as the constitutional rights of Free Speech, Freedom from government interference and the right to peaceably assemble. Those of you who richly benefit from the public support you receive in the form of advertising and marketing, the city's historical significance, the tolerance of a local populace who suffer much inconvenience and financial burden to allow your enterprises to thrive and prosper in our lovely little community and the natural resources with which St. Augustine is so richly endowed, should perhaps shut up, take the money and quietly thank the humble folk who support you. Have you no conscience? What of appreciation and where is the soul of charity?
J.D. Pleasant

Let me know what you think.