PRIME STEAKHOUSE

I have enjoyed Key West one way or another for 26 years. There are still places I have not visited. One is the Prime Steakhouse. I did last night.

The Prime Steakhouse is located at the end of Caroline Street. It sits on the level above the Dante pool. Parking in the garage underneath.

I guess I never stopped by because it was a block out of the way. Amazing.

The place is absolutely fantastic! Go! One negative. The prices. Off the wall. Worth it, however.

The walls are dark wood. Atmosphere clubby.

I arrived at 7. Very few people. I thought off season. By 7:30, there was not an empty table. I knew no one. Tourists.

Lunch was at the Pier House Beach  Bar. Stayed a while. Read the newspapers. Ran some errands afterwards.

Pouring like hell at the moment. Has been all morning.

The Marathon Airport has always been a failure. Large and beautiful. No action. The airlines found they could not make money flying into Marathon.

The airport stands empty, except for some private planes.

Marathon has considerable political clout. The unused airport is always getting one thing or another. The most recent is a U.S. Customs facility. For the Florida Keys/Marathon Airport. The airport that commercial airplanes do not fly into.

Dollars spent unwisely once again. The money should go into the Key West Airport which needs, amongst other things, an expanded U.S. Customs facility. People in large numbers fly into the Key West Airport every day. Into Marathon, few.

Pearl Washington died yesterday. Age 52. A brain tumor. He fought to live for several years.

Pearl is one of the greatest players to ever don a Syracuse basketball uniform. I watched most of the home games during the three seasons he played. 1983-1986.

Syracuse loved Pearl. This year’s team wore a uniform emblem in his honor.

Things were a bit tough for Pearl. Syracuse University did not fail him. He had a home at the University.

May he rest in peace.

President Obama is in Saudi Arabia. Relations between the countries are strained. Beginning with whether Saudi Arabia had a hand in 9/11.

There have been economic and other threats the past few days coming from Saudi Arabia against the U.S.

An insult to Obama upon his arrival. No #1 or other high Saudi figure met Obama when his plane landed. Some governor from a province greeted him.

Screw these guys. Not a time to pussy foot around with them. Call their bluff. They need us more than we need them. The pendulum has swung. The U.S. no longer desperate for Saudi oil.

My KONK Life column this week Clarence Thomas / Anita Hill. KONK Life hit the stands yesterday. The column was linked to my Key West Lou website this morning. .keywestlou.com.

The article interesting. I wrote it from the perspective of the five key players in the confirmation hearings.

Enjoy your day!

CLARENCE THOMAS / ANITA HILL

In 1991, a vacancy existed on the U.S. Supreme Court. Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall had died. Marshall was the first person of African-American descent to sit on the Supreme Court.

President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to fill Marshall’s seat.

A contentious hearing was held before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee at the time was controlled by the Democrats. Senator Joe Biden, now Vice-President Biden, was Chairman of the Committee.

Anita Hill had worked as a legal adviser to Clarence Thomas when he was Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Later as Thomas’ legal adviser when he became Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hill worked for Thomas a total of two years. Following which Hill left public service. She became a law school professor. First at Oral Roberts University. Then at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

It was ten years after Hill left public service under Thomas that Thomas was nominated for the Supreme Court seat.

Hill claimed that Thomas had sexually assaulted her when she worked under him. Her testimony before the Judiciary Committee was required.

Thomas was neither approved nor disapproved by the Judiciary Committee. The vote was 7-7. Normally a tie vote would be considered a failure by the nominee to obtain approval to proceed to a vote by the full Senate.

For some reason, the Judiciary Committee referred the matter to the Senate for its advice and consent vote. The Senate approved Thomas’ nomination 52-48. The closest approval vote in more than 100 years.

Thomas’ approval might be considered a rejection/disbelief of Hill’s sexual harassment charge. Others believe Thomas only squeaked by because of it.

The story as told thus far is merely the bones of the situation. The meat/motivations of certain individuals more interesting and important.

I am approaching this column with the background of the five persons primarily involved in the battle over Thomas’ nomination. Much of what follows is generally unknown.

The five key players in the Senate Judiciary confirmation process were Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, Joe Biden, Arlen Specter, and John Danforth.

We start with Clarence Thomas.

In his youth, Thomas was a devout Catholic. He attended Conception Seminary College in Missouri. His goal to become a priest.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination intervened. Someone at the seminary made a racist comment re King. As a result, Thomas left the seminary.

Thereafter, he began attending Episcopal services.

Thomas was a product of affirmative action. Were it not for affirmative action, Thomas would not be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice today.

Interestingly, Thomas derided affirmative action during his professional career and in his votes/decisions as a Supreme Court Justice.

It was thought at the time of the Judiciary Committee hearings that Thomas was not a supporter of Roe v. Wade. His votes/decisions in the 25 years he has been a Justice reflect the same.

He is considered the most conservative member of the Court.

A Yale Law School graduate, his professional time has been primarily spent in federal public service. First as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil rights. Then as Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From 1990-1991, he was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Thomas during his time on the Court has not distinguished himself as a Thurgood Marshall. He is not a Thurgood Marshall.

An appellate judge asks questions. He probes counsel’s reasoning while searching for the proper decision. In his 25 years as a Justice, Thomas has asked 2 questions. In instances where he wants a question asked, he writes it on a note which he passes to Justice Stephen Breyer to ask.

Thomas claims to have been greatly influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand. Most, including this writer, consider her a nut. She wrote amongst other books The Fountainhead. The movie starred Gary Cooper as the strong willed person standing alone against society.

While heading the Washington departments, it is said he made the movie obligatory viewing for staff members.

Hill’s charges of sexual harassment involved words, comments, stories, date requests. No touching.

Thomas’ hearing was not going well because of the sexual harassment questioning by the Committee. The sexual questions were most embarrassing.

At one point in the proceedings, he expressed his deepest feelings to the Committee. He compared the Committee and Hill’s charges to a legal lynching: “…..it is a high-tech-lynching for uppity blacks…..it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order…..you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”

I watched most of the Committee hearings on TV. To a lawyer, this was edge of the seat drama. I felt up to the point of the lynching exclamation, Thomas was losing the battle. The lynching comments were dramatic. The comments turned the tide. They made Thomas appear greatly wronged.

I believe they were connived.

Thomas’ second wife Virginia Lamb is white. He married her in 1987.

Mrs. Thomas is a distinguished conservative in her own right. She worked as a lobbyist and aide to Congressman Dick Armey. The second most powerful man in the House of Representatives at the time. She has been a consultant to the Heritage Foundation. Founder and President of Liberty Central, a non-profit conservative political advocacy group. In 2011, she stepped down to open a conservative lobbying firm. She describes her participation in the lobbying firm as that of “an ambassador to the Tea Party.”

Anita Hill.

A Yale Law School graduate also. A product of affirmative action.

Following her work under Thomas, she became a law professor at two law schools. Today, she enjoys a full professorship at Brandeis University.

Her accusations came ten years after the events occurred. The delay in reporting them did not help her position. She did tell several other people at the time, however. They were not permitted to testify by Chairman Biden and the Judiciary Committee.

Prior to her testimony, she was asked to take a lie detector test. She did. She passed. Thomas was asked to take a lie detector test. He refused.

She was calm and straight forward in her responses during Committee questioning. Never  lost her composure. The Committee questioning was rough. Tough. Especially by Senator Arlen Specter.

Following her testimony, Hill returned to her teaching career. Rarely to be heard from again.

Joe Biden.

I know Joe Biden. I have watched his career for years. Then when I was Chairman of the Board of Visitors at the Syracuse University School of Law was privileged to know him personally. A nice guy. One of the best.

Not during these hearings.

Joe Biden has been a great public servant. He is a good man. Nevertheless, I disagree with his conduct during the hearings.

Biden handled the Anita Hill phase poorly. He was chauvinistic and condescending.

Biden had chaired the Committee four years earlier during the equally contentious hearings regarding Robert Bork. Perhaps he did not want such a war repeated in the Thomas hearings.

He refused to permit Angela Wright to testify. Wright’s testimony involved similar charges as Hill had made.

Nor would he permit expert testimony on the issue of sexual harassment.

Biden’s excuse was he was trying to preserve Thomas’ right to privacy and the decency of the hearings. I disagree with his motivations. His responsibility was to protect the rights of the American people. Additionally, where sex is charged, sexual testimony is a must in being permitted. Not avoided based on a decency argument. Today, the decency argument would not fly.

Biden was severely criticized following the hearings by legal groups and women’s groups. For mishandling the hearings and not having done enough to support Hill. The appearance was the deck was stacked against Hill.

Arlen Specter.

Arlen Specter was a member of the Judiciary Committee. A long time Republican Senator from Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming a Senator, he was the District Attorney of Philadelphia.

He was politically a centrist. Time Magazine considered him one of America’s Ten Best Senators.

His conduct during the hearings was not representative of the manner in which he was viewed by people generally. It was abnormal.

Specter started his questioning by saying, “I do not regard this as an adversary proceeding.” He then proceeded to conduct a most antagonistic and fierce examination of Hill. He was hostile and adversarial. He treated Hill as if she were a murder defendant and he the district attorney cross examining her at a criminal trial.

I considered his conduct disgusting.

At one point, he stated to reporters that Hill’s testimony was perjurious in its entirety. She lied.

Specter’s conduct was so awful that 1,000 telephone calls were received by his office in protest. The calls kept coming in. Specter’s Senatorial office was required to have 40 people on the telephones. Eventually, the calls became too heavy for the telephone system. It died.

Let me interject at this point that both Specter and Biden’s conduct were not what the public had come to expect from them. They stepped out of their normal roles and became bad guys in pursuit of Hill.

Last, John  Danforth.

Danforth was respected by all. Thirty years a U.S. Senator representing Missouri. A political moderate. A conciliator.

An ordained Episcopal priest, he officiated at Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

Danforth carried considerable political clout.

Danforth and Thomas were two of a kind in that they both had attended a seminary.

Early in Thomas’ legal career, he served in Danforth’s office when Danforth was the Attorney General of Missouri. When Danforth  became a U.S. Senator, Thomas worked as his aide in the Washington offices.

The two were close.

When a person is nominated for the Supreme Court, a Senator becomes his guide through the approval process.

Thomas could not have had a better and more respected person guiding him.

Conclusion.

Everything herein is how I view the Thomas / Hill events. My personal thoughts and conclusions. As I watched the Committee hearings on TV 25 years ago and supplemented by my readings over the years. How I felt about them then and feel about them today.

I believe Anita Hill took an undeserved beating. Come hell or high water, Thomas was going to get out of the Judiciary Committee and to the Senate floor for a full vote by the Senate. What had to be done was done to accomplish the result.

Not quite American. Perhaps I am wrong. The Thomas / Hill scenario is typical American politics.

Consider the games being played today with President Obama’s most recent nomination to the Supreme Court.

POLENTA

Enjoyed a quiet dinner last night at Roostica. Not very hungry. Ordered meatballs and polenta.

Polenta is cornmeal. Used by some with Italian cooking.

I rarely saw polenta back home in Utica. Definitely not a dish my family cooked.

I was confronted with polenta big time during my several trips to Courmayeur. One of the most beautiful places in the world. Courmayeur is a small village consisting of Swiss type chalets. Striking!

Courmayeur is located in northern Italy. A handful of miles from France and Switzerland. In the Aosta Valley. The village sits at the foot of Mont Blanc. Part of the Alps. The highest peak in Europe.

The area is the home of polenta. Every meal in every restaurant was accompanied with a large bowl of polenta. I tasted. Did not like. In fact, hated it.

Bobby Mongelli opens Roostica. He serves polenta. Generally comes with three meatballs in sauce. Resting on a bed of polenta.

I love it! Don’t know why in one place and not the other.

Did my blog talk radio show last night. Saudi Arabia prominent in my comments.

One of the Saudi issues began with the 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission Report that have never been released. Purported to deal with Saudi Arabia’s involvement in financing and otherwise being involved with the attack.

Victims and families have brought law suits against those deemed to be responsible for 9/11. U.S. law prohibits Saudi Arabia from being named in the lawsuits.

Recently, Congress announced it intended to pass a bill permitting law suits against Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia went crazy. Such lawsuits would involve prying into their involvement. It would also result in Saudi assets in the U.S. being frozen.

The Saudis are not our friends.They have always used us.

The Saudis retaliated to the news by announcing that if such occurred, it would dump all U.S. securities it holds immediately on the open market. U.S. Treasuries. Saudi Arabia is the third largest holder of the securities world wide.

Such would result in economic chaos. For the United States. Destruction of our financial systems.

I was disappointed to learn this morning that the President’s office announced late yesterday that Obama would veto any such bill were it to come before him.

I am disappointed in Obama. He blinked. The Saudis will squeeze us even harder the next time. They have our number!

Looks like Trump and Clinton. Disgraceful!

The Mosquito Control District has gone a step further in an attempt to calm Key Haven residents. It was announced a yes/no vote will take place on August 30 as part of primary elections the same day.

A report indicates gas prices have gone up almost 25 percent since mid February. The biggest short term rise since 2009. My Shell station has gone from $1.99 to $2.37 a gallon during that time.

Why?

The Saudis? They gave us $4 a gallon gasoline.

This day or April 21 in 1898, President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain. The primary reason the sinking of the Battleship Maine February 15. Congress declared war on April 25.

Historians mention either the 20th or 21st as the date for the request.

A question. Why did it take two months for McKinley to ask for the declaration of war following the sinking of the Maine?

Today, wednesday. Screw off day for me! Nothing to research or write today, except for this blog.

Enjoy your day! I will mine.

HARASSING ROOSTER GONE

Chickens have become part of Key West culture.

In 1998, Hurricane Georges blew down a number of chicken pens in the area. Chickens roamed free thereafter.

Chickens enjoy sex. Propagated. Gestation period 29 days. Suddenly, Key West had tons of chickens roaming about.

A present day rooster has been tormenting visitors to the County Library on Fleming. A Master-Trapper was called in. The rooster captured.

The rooster’s next stop is a chicken farm somewhere in south Florida. The rooster will spend his days roaming freely and enjoying life. Chasing a hen or two in the process.

Apparently, chickens are some sort of protected species. Cheaper to terminate the rooster’s life. However, the County will be required to pay. The expense of the capture and transport of the rooster to the chicken happy farm.

The GM mosquito controversy continues. It appears the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District has seen the error of its ways. It has been announced there will be a new inquiry to determine if a majority of Key Haven residents are for or against the experiment. An exercise that would release 3 million genetically modified male mosquitoes over a 22 month period.

No question in my mind. The residents of Key Haven, of which I am one,  will shoot the plan down.

What irritates me is the stupidity and wastefulness of government in this instance. The expense of a vote for a plan that should never have been. The cost should be deducted from the pay of employees and other paid personnel involved in the decision.

Don’t think such would be an imposition on the staff. They are extremely well paid. I believe the Director receives an annual salary in excess of $180,000. He himself should have known better.

From my perspective, any inquiry/vote is merely a face saving device. The District finds itself in a corner and needs a way out.

An exciting day ahead. Assuming you are a political junkie. The New York primaries.

My yesterday began with a bank visit. Followed by lunch and reading the newspapers at Cuban Coffee Queen. Spent the afternoon researching tonight’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

Topics will include the Jimmy Doolittle Tokyo raid, Paul Revere’s ride, Israel Bissell’s ride, Saudi Arabia threatening the U.S. with economic disaster, the claim that 15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists were at one time paid CIA agents.

My perspective re the Clarence Thomas / Anita Hill battle 25 years ago, IRS payments can now be made at 7-Elevens, couple fined $80,000 for refusing a gay couple to marry at their resort, the Warship Lexington, and more.

Interesting subject matters. Join me for a quick moving and half hour. Tonight at 9. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

My evening began with drinks at Sq. 1. Chatted a bit with Chef Jay. Jay plays bocce in the thursday night league. The conversation all bocce.

Then back to Duffy’s last night. Desired the prime rib dinner. I was not disappointed. Jennifer waited on me.

Yesterday, the Boston Marathon. Thousands ran.

The first Boston Marathon took place on this date in 1897. Fifteen participants. Ten finished.

Gender discrimination a part of the race. Women were not permitted to participate till 1972.

The American Revolution began on this day in 1775. The shot heard around the world took place at Lexington. Seven hundred British soldiers against 77 colonists. Eight colonials killed, 10 wounded.

The Brits then marched on to Concord. A different scenario. Hundreds of colonists opposing 700 Britains. The colonists routed the British. Their commander ordered them to retreat and return to Boston.

The colonists (now referred to as Patriots) harassed the Brits all the way back. The colonists adopted Indian tactics. Hid in the woods, shot from behind trees, etc. Three hundred Brits were killed, wounded, or missing. The colonists suffered less than 100 casualties.

The colonial message was loud and clear to the British: Don’t screw with us!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

TO ARMS, TO ARMS, THE BRITISH ARE COMING…..

Today marks the anniversary of two notable events in the history of the United States. I make mention of them in reverse order.

On this date in 1942, the Doolittle Raiders bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities. It was the U.S.’s  first retaliatory attack following December 7.

Doolittle represents a World War II happening. Next, a Revolutionary War one.

It was April 18, 1775. The British attacked Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere made his famous ride making colonists aware the British were coming. To arms, to arms, the British are coming.

Revere’s ride covered 20 miles.

His ride and words were made famous in a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

There was another rider. Lost to history. Few aware he even existed. His name, Israel Bissell.

Bissell was a 23 year old dispatch rider.His ride began the next day. He rode south spreading word of the Revolution. He started in Connecticut.  Then to New York. He kept going. Philadelphia next.

Bissell covered 350 miles in six days. He literally rode one of the horses to death.

Revere only rode 20 miles.

History remembers Revere and not Bissell because again Longfellow wrote of Revere.

No one wrote a poem about Bissell till moe than 200 years later. In 1995, a Massachusetts poet Clay Perry gave Bissell a poem of his own: Listen my children, to my epistle, of the long, long ride of Israel Bissell, who outrode Paul by miles and time, but didn’t rate a poet’s rhyme.

Spent most of my yesterday writing this week’s KONK Life column. Clarence Thomas / Anita Hill. The confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice which took place 25 years ago. From a personal and factual perspective. Insight into Thomas’ tainted victory.

Took a break. Went out on the deck for a few minutes. When I was going back into the house, I forgot about the screen door. I have a swollen nose and broken glasses.

I was beat in the evening. Took a shower. Intended to go to bed. Instead I stretched out in the recliner chair and watched Mutiny on the Bounty for the 200th time.

Key West has bicycle problems. Too many, failing to stop for lights and stop signs, etc. Marlin County in California has similar problems. Its concern is with speeding.

Speeders in Marlin County beware. Anything over 15 mph is considered speeding. Radar is being used. Tickets given.

Enjoy your day!

 

DONNA AND TERRI IN TOWN

Surprised last night at Tavern ‘n Town!

I was seated at the bar. All of a sudden, Terri’s face before me. Hugs and kisses.

A few minutes later, Donna appeared. More hugs and kisses.

The ladies are in Key West visiting. Plans are to return to Key West to live. In the very near future. It will be wonderful!

Both looked good. Vibrant, exquisite. I could not get enough of them.

Lynda and Bob Frechette at the other end of the bar. Donna and Terri were having dinner with them.

Lynda’s cousin Dee died. She and Bob are flying out this morning to be with family and attend services.

In between everything, I enjoyed Bobby Nesbitt. Terri sang a song. Her voice still mighty.

I finally decided on a subject for this week’s KONK Life column. Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. Spent almost six hours researching the topic.

I plan on approaching the writing with background information and my impressions of the five main persons involved. Their testimony and/or actions 25  years ago. I was sort of there. I was glued to the TV set in my office watching the proceedings.

Last night, HBO ran a made for TV movie called Confirmation. At 8. Re the Thomas confirmation hearing. I got home in time to watch it. Settled in my comfortable recliner chair. Fell asleep. Missed the whole show, except for Thomas’ blast that his was a “…..high tech lynching.”

Thomas verged on rage in the real life exclamation I recall. Disturbed. Blew his cool. I recall a more upset Thomas. He was mad! Last night, he was portrayed as upset, but not to the point of pure forceful anger.

Then it was back to sleep.

On this day in 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion commenced. Castro overwhelmed the invading Cubans. Kennedy had promised them air cover. At the last minute, he pulled it back. Without air cover, the Cubans were overwhelmed. A number died. A greater number, something in excess of 1,000, spent years in Cuban jails.

This one I do not understand. The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority participated in a contest to determine the best tasting water in Florida. Our Aqueduct Authority won.

If such is the case, why do I drink bottled water? As well as many other Key West area persons.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

GREED

Some people are stupidly greedy. Pennies in their pockets today leading to less money in the future.

This morning’s Key West Citizen reports front page that three exotic dancers at Bare Assets are suing Bare Assets. Exotic dancers is a nice way of referring to strippers as such. Perhaps more.

The three want to be employees, thereby entitling them to overtime or a minimum wage for time worked over 40 hours. Heretofore the ladies have been considered independent contractors, not entitled to employee benefits.

Exotic dancers make a ton of money. More a year than struggling fathers. Some into the six figures. The ladies are money driven. Whether a $1 bill, $20 bill or $100 or more dollars, their hands are always out. Pushing for money. They are like sharks. Always need to be fed.

They should be well compensated. They dance naked. Mingle with customers scantily attired. Subject to having their personal parts groped. Performing lap dances where the bodies are not permitted to touch, but sometime do. And more.

Some are of the opinion that the exotic dancers of today were the prostitutes of yesterday.

Beware of that which you seek! Today, a minimum wage. Tomorrow, health benefits. Then a pension plan. All provided by law. The law then takes the position that the ladies’ incomes should be taxed. To be taxed, the work performed has to be legal. No problem, it is legalized. The tax dollars are huge.

Eventually the government is involved big time. Minimum wage, health benefits are out the window. Forget pensions. More ladies get into the business. Competition lowers the price to be charged. The ladies earn less than before.

I wrote an article touching on some aspects of the situation two years ago for KONK Life. Titled: Berlin The Sex Capital of the World. Read it. Go to my Key West Lou website. .keywestlou.com. The bar at the top of the page has a KONK Wife Column heading. Click on it and scroll down till you find the column.

Yesterday, a bit busy.

Stopped at the Marriott Beachside for the newspapers.

Then to the Cuban Coffee Queen for lunch. Cuban cheese toast and a large cold Cuban coffee. Sat quite a while reading the newspapers.

I read somewhere recently that Cuban Coffee Queen ice cubes are made of coffee. I checked them out in my drink. Correct! They were dark brown!

Did Martin’s for Happy Hour at the bar. Still early when I was done. Went over to Louie’s Backyard for a couple of drinks. It had been overcast all day. A bit humid. The breeze off the ocean comforting.

Home early to bed. Sleep soon followed.

We all have heard of the Cold War. Those of us older recall vividly the 40 years of Cold War between the U.S. and Russia.

An admonishment first. Better a cold war than a hot one!

I always assumed some President early on described the conflict as a Cold War. I was wrong. It was Bernard Baruch on this day in 1947. Baruch was an adviser to several Presidents. He was addressing the South Carolina House of Representatives at the time.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

SCREW OFF DAY

Wednesday is my friday. First day of no writing, except for my daily blog. Ergo, I refer to it as my screw off day. This week thursday joined the club. I enjoyed a second simple day and evening.

Hogfish for lunch. Season over. Not crowded.

La Trattoria on the Ocean for dinner. At the bar. Stephanie bartending. First time I met her. A go getter.

She has been a bartender 30 years. Been in Key West 2 years. Originally from Long Island.

Stephanie is going into business. She is opening an organic fruit drink bar at Body Zone in the Winn-Dixie Shopping Center. Work underway. Should open in three weeks. Drinks will be available street side and inside.

I wish her well.

That takes care of lunch and dinner. Nothing else till 9 in the evening.

Last night watched the Clinton/Sanders Debate from the comfort of my bed. A boxing match. Both equally good. Hillary’s major fault is she can be evasive and fail to respond to a question.

I recently ate at Square Grouper. Discovered where the name came from.

In the 1970s, the lower Keys were the U.S. entrance for fisherman carrying bales of marijuana. A bale of marijuana was also known as a square grouper.

James Fenimore Cooper. An acknowledged and respected writer. Especially of Indian tales. Last of the Mohicans and Leatherstocking Tales. He also authored non Indian stories.

One was venued in the Florida Keys. The name Jack Tier, or, the Florida Reef. Set on a naval ship. Cooper early in his life had been a midshipman in the U.S. Navy.

The story involves a sailor and ship captain. The relationship appears to verge on a homoerotic relationship. At the end of the book, it is discovered the sailor is a woman. Not just a woman. The captain’s wife.

The book gathers dust to this day. Was not popular when written nor is it today.

Cooper’s home was Otsego Hall in Cooperstown. A 40 mile drive from my home town Utica. Cooperstown the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, also. Otsego Hall has been rebuilt. It is a tourist attraction. Also site of many cocktail parties. Several of which I was fortunate to attend.

This week’s KONK Life column is Shakespeare Incidentals. It was linked this morning to Key West Lou. .keywestlou.com. It also appears in todays KONK News E-Blast.

Enjoy your day!

SHAKESPEARE INCIDENTALS

William Shakespeare…..The greatest writer in the English language. Bar none. No other held in similar esteem.

He was poet, playwright and actor. His accomplishments consisted of 36 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long version poems, and several verses not fitting into any type description.

I decided to write about Shakespeare because the 400th anniversary of his death is in a few days. April 23 to be exact. The year 1616.

It would be impossible to write a column outlining his many accomplishments. His works and life full and complex. I decided to limit myself to those things few might know about the great man. Ergo, INCIDENTALS in the title.

Confusion exists as to Shakespeare’s actual dates of birth and death. Most agree he died on April 23, 1616. They also agree that he was born on April 23, except in the year 1564.

At the time of Shakespeare’s death, no one compilation existed of all or a substantial amount of his work. Short compilations which did exist were incorrect, maimed, deformed, fraudulent, stolen, and/or in draft form only.

Around the time of Shakespeare’s death, two friends took it upon themselves to compile Shakespeare’s works. The friends were fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell. They were familiar with Shakespeare’s writings and knew the greatness of them. They feared if not published into one volume, the works would be lost for all time.

The sonnets and poems are all in the compilation. The thirty six plays are eight short. Shakespeare’s total number of plays was forty four. Interestingly, the existence of the eight plays was discovered after the compilation’s publication. They have followed Shakespeare’s popularity over the centuries and also are well known today.

The compilation totaled 630 pages.

It is referred to as First Folio. The actual title was Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.

First Folio is considered the only reliable text for Shakespeare’s writings. Of the 36 plays printed, 17 had not been published before. Were it not for First Folio, most or all of them might never have seen the light of day.

Seven hundred fifty copies of First Folio were printed. Two hundred thirty four are known to have survived.

First Folio is also considered the most valuable printed book in the world. Each of the 234 remaining copies have significant value. One copy was auctioned at Christie’s in New York in 2001 for $6.16 million.

Historians and literary critics delve into Shakespeare’s sexual life. Properly so. Certain of his writings were inspired by relationships.

It appears Shakespeare was a womanizer and bisexual.

When 18, he married 26 year old Anne Hathaway. Bans were required to be announced over three days before the marriage could take place. Shakespeare got the time period short circuited to two consecutive days. Anne was pregnant. She delivered six months later.

Shakespeare wrote 26 sonnets which have come to be known as the Dark Lady sonnets. Literary experts believe they were addressed to a married woman, not his wife.

There is also evidence of Shakespeare’s many additional heterosexual liaisons.

Some of the 154 sonnets are autobiographic and are considered evidence of Shakespeare’s love for a young man.

Many phrases/expressions common to our talk today found their birth place in Shakespeare’s plays. Overwhelming in number. A few are set forth herein.

I have always been under the impression Benjamin Franklin coined “Neither a borrower nor lender be.” It was not Franklin. It was Shakespeare in Hamlet.

Other commonly used phrases and their Shakespearean source include “Dead as a door nail” (Henry VI), “Devil incarnate” (Henry V), “Eat me out of house and home” (Henry IV), “Forever and a day” (As You Like It), and “Foregone conclusion” (Othello).

There are more.

“Heart of gold” (Henry V), “Give the devil his due” (Henry IV), “Jealousy is the green-eyed monster” (Othello), “Kill with kindness” (The Taming of the Shrew), “Knock, knock! Who’s there” (Macbeth), “Love is blind” (The Merchant of Venice), “Milk of human kindness” (Macbeth), and “Wild goose chase” (Romeo and Juliet).

Not done yet. And only a handful are being shared with you.

“Too much of a good thing” (As You like It), “A heart of gold” (Henry V), “It’s Greek to me” (Julius Caesar), “Fair play” (The Tempest), and “What the dickens” (The Merry Wives of Windsor).

A few more.

“Foregone conclusion” (Othello), “In stitches” (Twelfth Night), “Naked truth” (Love’s Labour’s Lost),

“Faint-hearted” (Henry VI), “Send him packing” (Henry IV), “Vanish into thin air” (Othello), and “There’s method in my madness” (Hamlet).

In my research, I came across an unauthored comment…..Barry Manilow may claim to write the songs, but it was William Shakespeare who coined the phrases.

So it is and so it was.

OPERATION BABY LIFT

My opening comments today are not concerning Key West. Though Key West can lay claim to similar values. Like love, conscience and humanity.

It is the story of 2,600 orphaned Vietnamese children. Many babies.

On this day in 1975, ten days of airlifting children out of Vietnam concluded. Allied forces had been defeated. It would be only 16 days later that Saigon would fall effectively ending the war.

It was imperative orphaned children be removed from the country before opposing forces took over. Some of the children Asian-American.

The decision to airlift the children out of the war zone and to safe countries was immediate. No time to think. A yes or no situation. Once made, everyone worked swiftly and diligently to accomplish the removals.

President Ford was in support of the project 100 percent. Thirty flights were planned. Other allied nations in addition to the U.S. were involved. Though the planes and crews were exclusively American.

The children were ultimately adopted in the countries which were their final stop.

A picture is worth one thousand words. No question. Search out Operation Baby Lift on the internet. The photos immediately make you appreciate the effort involved and what was going on.

Photos many. Babies strapped into boxes on row after row of airplane seats. Rows eight across. Other pics of soldiers holding babies and bottle feeding them. Children sleeping on the floor of large planes that had no seats. Close together.

I raise the question. Could such an emergency evacuation take place today? With all the furor over immigration, etc. Remember , there was no time to think. Action had to be immediate.

My day yesterday began with an airport run. I played good neighbor.

My lunch was unusual. I returned to Mangrove Mama’s. I was one of two customers. The weather perfect. I sat where I had in my previous visits. The wind direction perfect. It blew over me.

A lobster reuben again.

Then I sat there for a couple of hours. I fell into deep thinking. Meditation.

Interesting.

Last night’s first stop was the outside Aqua bar. Mark Watson. All locals. More people than during the season.

Mark is an avid North Carolina fan. We talked about the Syracuse and Villanova games. Mark knows his basketball.

Had to eat. Did not want much. Ended up at La Te Da’s outside bar. Tonto bartending. My friend of 20 years.

I enjoyed a crab dip and a few crackers.

Such was my yesterday.

Enjoy your today!