AMERICA’S SEXUAL RECESSION

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Would you believe…..America in the midst of a sex recession?

It is. Responsibility falls upon teenagers and young adults. Less sex apparently better.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Survey covering 1991-2017 startling. High school students having sex has dropped from 54 percent to 40 percent.

In other words in the space of a generation, sex has gone from something most high school students experienced to something most haven’t.

Oral sex has not been substituted. The rate for oral sex has remained steady.

Teen pregnancies down dramatically, also.  Dropped to a third of its modern high.

Two reasons why sex frequency if falling. One, the internet. Porn is being substituted by both sexes for sex with a partner. The other, young people are partnering less.

The pendulum has swung. The modern libido is down.

I am not a happy camper this morning. Two reasons. Syracuse lost and I did not sleep all night. The two unrelated.

Syracuse went down to Connecticut 83-76. It was Connecticut’s game all the way.

I don’t understand. Syracuse’s starting 5 has returned. New recruits terrific. The bench deep for the first time in years. Four players supposedly excellent 3 point shooters. Syracuse’s defense supposedly great.

Nothing helped last night.

Syracuse attempted few 3 pointers. Second game  a row. When the team did, the ball rarely went in. Connecticut could hardly miss a 3 pointer. If my recollection is correct, they made 12.

I fell asleep around 10. Woke just after midnight. No television. Comcast was down all the way. No internet e-mail, television or land line. The internet came back on at 6 this morning. TV at 8:30.

I need TV to sleep. I substituted it for book reading at bed time years ago. I leave the TV on all night. Sleep poorly. When I wake, I watch whatever is on for a while and fall back to sleep.

My crutch, the TV set, was not there.

In recent months, Comcast’s service has been sporadic. Pisses me off. We depend on its services. It should be reliable.

Comcast owns NBC. I do not see NBC suffering from glitches. Only we poor peasants who depend on Comcast for internet e-mail, TV and land lines.

I have vented!

My yesterday simple. Haircut with Lori and lunch at Sandy’s Cafe. Spent the afternoon home researching. My excitement level rising as the day reached 7 in the evening when the Syracuse/Connecticut game would begin.

Those of you who live up north laugh not. A cold spell is upon us today. The high will only be 75. That’s cold in Key West. Tonight, the temperature is expected to drop to 71. Really cold! Quilt time.

Key West has many pleasant experiences. One, its sunsets. Always a canvas. Different strokes each evening.

Water surrounds the Keys. Those living here develop a love and respect for those who live in the ocean.

Twin one year old manatees were in trouble. Their mother accidentally killed by a boat strike. Manatee calves stay with their mothers one to two years. The twins were not yet able to do well on their own.

They were found stressed out more than a year ago in waters off Key Largo. Weighed about 100 pounds each. Rescued by the Dolphin Research Center. Named Millennium and Falcon.

Transferred to the Miami Sea Aquarium. Subsequently sent to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio for rehabilitation.

All better, they were recently released back into the waters off Key Largo.

The musical Sound of Music opened this day in 1959 on Broadway. An instantaneous hit!

I saw the show the following July. Actually, July 4. My first musical.

I was in New York studying for the bar exam. Six weeks. I already had put 4 in. Seven hours a day of lecture, the rest of the time studying. Seven days a week.

We had 2 days off . The 4th and one day adjoining it.

My wife and I had not seen each other in 4 weeks. She came down for the 2 days. Our blood was boiling. Except for seeing Sound of Music, we basically stayed in bed.

Our daughter Beth was conceived over those 2 days.

Florida is one screwed up State when it comes to ballot counting. This year no different. Broward County handed in its recount numbers 2 minutes late. Election officials refused to accept them. Thousands of votes will not count if a court does not reverse the decision.

Recall 2000. Bush/Gore. It all came down to a recount in Florida. Chads!

Not the first time Florida was in such a position. The 1876 Rutherford Hayes and Samuel Tilden Presidential election ended in a mess. Tilden won the popular vote. Four States had election day problems. Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon.

Hayes Republican, Tilden Democrat.

Tilden was short one electoral vote.

The war was on!

Several months of bitter partisan wrangling. Finally, a special electoral commission was appointed to resolve the issue. Partisan politics here, also. Republicans picked the members. The commission ended up with one more Republican member than the Democrats.

Florida’s contested votes, together with those of the other three States, were awarded to Hayes.

The Democrats lost the first time. They lost again in the Bush/Gore dispute. It appears they will lose this time in the Governor and Senate races which are in dispute.

Trump an unhappy camper also today. The media tells us he has been so for several days. Deep anxiety has set in. The Democratic blue wave disheartens him. The Mueller investigation appears to be winding down. He has concern for not only himself, but also his family and friends.

He returned to tweeting about Mueller and his investigation yesterday. Trump says the Mueller investigation is a mess, there is no collusion, absolutely no collusion, Mueller and his people are shouting at each other. All a disgrace to the Nation.

Who truly is the disgrace?

Enjoy your day! Dress warm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHILDREN DIE

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Another school shooting. Yesterday, Parkland High School. Located in Broward County Florida. The 19th school shooting  this year in the United States. Today, only February 15. Means 19 school shootings in 46 days. Seventeen killed yesterday. More injured.

The blame lies primarily with the NRA and our elected politicians. The politicos are owned by the NRA.

Children die because politicians are interested in keeping their seats.

Sick!

The extremist NRA lobbies. Elected officials are subservient to them because of the power and money the NRA has. Both of which could be used to defeat them if they dared to oppose the NRA.

Our elected representatives today reflect man at his worst. Money being more important than lives.

The past year saw politicians with a new line following a mass shooting. A line I would guarantee has to have been formulated by the NRA. When asked what the politician thought, what could be done, etc.,  the response always is not the time to talk about it.

If not immediately following a mass shooting, when?

Appreciate the amount of NRA money being spent on Congressional people alone. The New York Times set forth such information on October 4, 2017. I take from the article the top three US Senators who received the most in contributions from the NRA.

John Mc Cain #1. $7,700,000. Richard Burr #2. $6,900,000. Ray Blunt #3. $4,500,000.

The numbers say it all. The truth lies within them.

Big night yesterday. Actually started in the afternoon.

The Custom House first for the St. Valentine’s Day mass kiss-in. My date was Catherine. The kiss-in scheduled precisely for 6pm. One thousand expected. Five hundred couples kissing.

We got there at 4:30. The crowd still small. We knew we could not stay till 6 because of another event. We sat on the steps and chatted till 5:15.

Free rum beginning at 5. We did not get any. By 5, the line was long. The Spectrelles singing. Couples kissing when ever they wanted. The woman slung over on the man’s arm.

We left, but not without kissing. Our first. Immediately turned into 3 or 4. Led to more kissing later in the evening. Made me wonder why we had not done this on previous dates.

Then to the Sons and Daughters of Italy St. Valentine’s day dinner and meeting.

The dinner outstanding. Lasagna! Followed by a huge heart shaped chocolate cake covered deep in frosting.

I cheated. Only the third time since November 27. The night before, I craved cake. Any kind. I am on a low carb diet. The craving was satisfied last night. The lasagna an added bonus.

A night cap was in order. We were off to the Chart Room. John bartending.

Lovely Nikki cried out…..Key West Lou! We had never met before. Nikki is from Atlanta. Reads this blog every day. Thank you, Nikki!

Nikki and her husband Russ are from Atlanta. Vacationing. Have been doing so in Key West annually for many years. They were married on Smathers Beach in 2007.

Nikki is a paralegal. Husband Russ, a marina manager.

They were enjoying Key West with Atlanta friends Tatiana and Doug.

Permit an observation. Both Nikki and Tatiana extremely beautiful women.

I found Tatiana’s name different. Special. She explained she was Brazilian. Tatiana however not Brazilian. Tatiana was born sometime around the 1980 Winter Olympics. There was a Russian skater named Tatiana that impressed her mother. Ergo, the name Tatiana.

Tatiana is a nurse practitioner. Proud of her work and the responsibility that goes with it.

Doug into transportation logistics.

Four wonderful people! Hope I run into them again.

There is a new musical in Key West. Undying Love. Tickets hard to come by.

Described as an off beat musical. It is the story of Key West’s Count Carl von Cosel whose love Elena Milagro de Hoyos had died. He stole her body from her grave. Kept Elena with him for several years till discovered. In his bed. Preserved with wax.

Sick!

Made into a musical, however. And from all I hear, a tremendous success.

The Battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbor this day in 1898. Two hundred sixty American sailors killed. Led to the Spanish American War.

Key West has two connections to the tragedy.

The first involves many of the sailors who died. They are interred in the Key West Cemetery. Duly honored every year.

The other is the location of the formal hearing to determine the cause of the explosion. The US Court of Naval Inquiry met at what is today’s Custom House. Then a newly constructed federal building.

The stock market crashed last week. I predicted it. Though not an economist, being 82 I have lived through several and could sense this one coming.

I am going to stick my neck out. The crash is not yet complete. There will be another this year, worse.

Enjoy your day!

 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE BROWARD…..HIS STATUE RELOCATED TO THE DARKNESS OF STORAGE

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Napoleon Bonaparte Broward. A formidable name.

Broward was Governor of Florida 1905-1908. A man of vision. Best remembered for draining the Everglades. He knew such had to be accomplished before south Florida could develop.

Today’s Broward County was incorporated in 1915. The new County was named after the former Governor. The man was held in esteem. So much so that a statue of Broward later erected in the lobby of the downtown courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.

On September 21, 2017, the JAABlog published an article setting forth Broward’s segregationist views. Unknown to recent generations. The views were in writing. The JAABlog reprinted portions of them.

All hell broke loose! The momentum to remove the statue was immediate.

Turned out Broward was an unapologetic segregationist. He wanted Congress to provide money to purchase the property of negroes and then transport them to a territory purchased by the United States. He envisioned an all black territory. The blacks would forever be prohibited from returning to the United States.

The County Mayor is black. The 17th Judicial Circuit housed in the building was ok with a removal/relocation if evidence of racial discrimination existed. The T. J. Reddick Bar Association, a Broward County black lawyers group, supported the statue’s removal.

Many supported removal and whatever might follow. The County ‘s black Mayor justified her position on the grounds that the statue was merely a piece of art.

Others opposed. Less than those who supported the removal. The reason being Broward was part of history and his statue should be left alone. A reminder of a time not to be repeated.

In the dark of night, October 18-19, 2017, the statue was removed and placed in storage.

My opinion remains as it did a year ago when the statue problem was rampant. History is history. It should not be removed or buried. It should not be forgotten. We learn from history.

What now of the name of the County? Broward. If the reasoning for its removal is valid, then the name of the County should be changed. An all or nothing situation.

Recall that last year, I pointed out on several occasions Washington was a slave holder. His name should be removed from our Capital, the spiral monument in Washington, and his face and name from the dollar bill. Jefferson likewise should receive similar treatment. Tear his magnificent statue in the Jefferson Memorial down. And so on.

Lets not pick and chose. All or nothing at all. Otherwise, a sort of hypocrisy exists.

Yesterday, a quiet saturday for me. I worked on Growing Up Italian in the afternoon. Planned on going out in the evening. Felt tired. Remained home watching television.

I had to make an adjustment re my drug coverage. Telephoned United Health Care. Spoke with Renee in the Philippines. We took cafe of my problem and enjoyed a short chat.

Renee had never heard of Key West. I filled her in. Told her of my blog. She wanted to read it. Gave her the site. Hopefully, a new follower.

Heard from Donna and Terri last night. They made it to Fort Myers. Two more days of traveling to go.

Donna said, “Lots of driving…..too much pain.” She had just taken a pain pill and was icing her shoulder.

I came across an interesting comment yesterday…..In North Korea, people are forced to listen to propaganda. In the USA, people do it willingly. The example given FOX News.

Robin Robinson writes gardening articles for the Key West Citizen. This week’s column titled “Botanical Paintings: More Than Pretty Flowers.”

The column provided food for thought. All artists paint/painted plants and flowers. Go back in time. There were no cameras. People drew pictures of the plants and flowers.

Brought back to mind movies of old. Mutiny on the Bounty, for example. There was always some one on board drawing pictures of the plants and flowers found on the new and strange islands.

Robinson writes well. She views herself as a writer and not a botanist. In her life before Key West, she was a syndicated columnist writing for the Chicago Daily News. She is also a novelist and active with the Key West Garden Club.

Refrigerators can be expensive. Some out of sight.

Trump is getting a new refrigerator on Air Force One. $24 million. You read correctly! Actually, $23, 657,671. Seventy cubic feet. One that can keep foods cold a long time. Justification is there are  situations where a President may end up flying around for several days because of a war or other disaster.

I smiled when I read the article. Recall when Trump became President, he claimed Boeing was ripping off the U.S. re a new Air Force One to be built. Cancelled the contract in effect. Boeing came hat in hand and told Trump they would reduce the price.

Enjoy your Sunday!