Yes, OGD lives! My thanks to David Grove and Andy Easton for that extremely well reasoned and well discussed....and, to confound the expectations of the naysayers, POLITE interchange regarding the AOS issues. I have not been following the AOS elections closely, not knowing enough about the people involved, but I have been following the discussion...and I have to commend both of these gentlemen for their enlightening and articulate explanations. It especially pleases me to see Andy Easton, whose writings and opinions on orchids I have followed for many years, not fall into the trap of intemperate comment. As I mention intemperance, my hat (if I only wore one...) also goes off to Bill Bergstrom for his impassioned defense of Guido...I have also had some chardonnay tonight...and I can relate well....but Guido, for all of his easily exploited faults, is a very knowledgable and talented...and qualified! member of the orchid community and intelligentsia. Let us not forget...activity on OGD triples whenever Guido is involved....some of it involves vultures and voyeurs and provacateurs, no doubt...and I certainly will not suggest that Guido is always the most innocent victim....but there is more to be gained than just the kind of entertainment that one expects from professional wrestling...Guido is one of the top Paph people around, and certainly knows his other orchids well...and can articulately explain a branch of traditional science that is increasingly overlooked in these molecular days...no, Guido is not a dinosaur...but he does work at reconciling modern methods with the traditional guidelines that provide the framework of taxonomy. Thank you David, Andy, and Bill (and Kenneth!) for providing me with an opportunity to add something else that is positive to this list. Take care, Eric Muehlbauer...temporarily in LI catching lots of bluefish, while paphs micranthum, concolor, delanatii bud up in Queens....
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