Hi everyone!

Welcome to Sunday!

Another great Key West day in the making!

Yesterday I did my thing for God and country. Babysat!

Robert and Ally were getting haircuts. Following their haircuts, Lisa was getting hers cut and colored. Lori doing the work, of course.

Lisa asked if I would pick the grandkids up and babysit them till she was done. Absolutely!

I took them to breakfast. Harpoon Harrys. They have been there before and like it.

A full crowd. But we got a booth. They were handed coloring books and crayons. They colored. We chatted. About everything. A lot about golf. They are on my back to take them on the course. They have had lessons, putted, but never actually played. They fool me not. They really want to ride in the golf cart!

Robert devoured an order of pancakes. Ally scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast. Louis ham and eggs.

It was a first for Ally. She loves ketchup. Whether home or out, she had never poured the ketchup out of the bottle herself. I told her to do it. She said I never did. Go for it, I said. And she did! Covered half the plate in one gush! She laughed! She was proud!

Afterwards we took a walk over to the Turtle Museum. Corey’s duties at Mel Fisher include the Turtle Museum. So the grandkids had been there many times before and were familiar with the place. They headed straight for a sit down game involving fish, the ocean and magnets. I even played with them a bit.

Corey’s picture is on the wall. They proudly showed it to me.

A gent by the name of Ranger Rick was overseeing the Museum. A nice guy. A Key West character of sorts.

He played 3 different guitars for Robert and Alley and sang songs for them. Songs he made up as he went along. He had them laughing.

Rick also had his dog with him. A big guy. Heavy hair. Not a warm weather animal. Rick had just iced him down.

Ally enjoyed the dog. Petted him several times. Robert was a bit reticent. Kept his distance.

Rick said there had been a manatee in the water next to the Turtle Museum earlier. I was disappointed we missed the manatee. The grandkids would have gotten a thrill touching and rubbing the manatee while feeding the gigantic fish fresh water from a hose.

Rick was a reservoir of knowledge about ocean and fish. He advised he had worked for a time as a Ranger. Ergo, the Ranger Rick monicker.

We got into a discussion about manatees and fresh water. He said they do not need to come close to shore and into marinas to get their supply of fresh waster. There are three different types of grass growing in the water which provide fresh water when eaten.

We live and learn!

I spent most of the latter part of the day home. Reading and TV.

I am one who thinks our government is screwed up. Nothing seems to work correctly. Part of the government is the judicial system. The courts. Some decisions are out of whack from my perspective.

I read about one of those decisions yesterday. The decision was only one day old.

It involved an Xavier Alvarez. He was running for some local election in California in 2007. He claimed he had won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Turns out he had not. He lied.

There is a law against such lies. The Stolen Valor Act.

Alvarez plead guilty, but reserved his right to appeal his plea on constitutional grounds. He appealed. To the Federal Ninth Circuit Court. The Court decided in a 2-1 decision that Alvarez’s First Amendment rights had been violated. False statements which hurt no one are constitutionally protected.

A bad decision from my perspective.

I believe in free speech. The right to free expression of thoughts and ideas. For example, I subscribe to the right of an individual to burn the American flag. Burning the flag is different from what Alvarez did, however.

Burning the flag is a statement of honest belief. The individual so doing is saying I do not believe in what my government is doing in a certain respect. To claim the award of the Medal of Honor is not based on a belief. Rather it is bedded in a lie. Simple and straight forward. An intentional falsehood. Better labled once more for what it was. A lie.

When have lies ever been Constitutionally protected?

The entirety of our government is slipping into some sort of abyss.

The Ninth Circuit that decided Alvarez is the same federal appellate court that will be deciding the California Proposition 8 case.

Alvarez was the highlight of yesterday’s readings. TV was good also. Turner Classic Channel did 24 hours of Paul Newman films.

I always thought Newman a pretty face. His smile and blue eyes brought him his success.

I was wrong. Newman was one terrific actor besides!

I was up most of the night watching his many films. What a talent! Played many different roles. All well.

Sunday is upon us. I am having a late morning breakfast with friends. Should be fun.

Enjoy your day!