LOU HARRIS A PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY

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I enjoyed last evening’s talk by Lou Harris tremendously. He was the final speaker in the 2015 Friends of the Key West Library Speakers Series. Harris is 94. He has been a part of American history. He is respectfully known today as the Dean of American Pollsters.

Harris was an intimate of former Presidents. Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. He shared some Johnson quirks. Humorous. He knew Joe Kennedy very well.

He decried today’s pollsters. They give he who is paying the bill what they want. Not necessarily the truth. Romney being an example. He sees Hillary as the next President. However, the e mails will be a problem for her. He thought Elizabeth Warren would be a more exciting candidate.

Harris recognized the growing strength/power of women. They are rapidly become leaders. Simply because they are better equipped to handle problems.

Education a problem. Our children not getting a proper education. Unless remedied, it could lead to the United States becoming the biggest banana republic ever. Also, children cannot learn if 16 percent go to school hungry.

He was clear that racial problems must be fixed.

He damned corporate America.

The evening was a pleasurable experience for me.

I was with June hudson. We stopped at La Concha after the talk for a drink. Ran into Aaron and Karen. Then to the Hot Tin Roof for dinner. Did some sataki.

On the way to our cars, it started raining. Pouring a better description. We ducked into the Chart Room till the rain stopped. It poured all night also. It is still raining heavy as I write. Strange because we are no where close to the rainy season.

Met Louis Snow for the first time at the Chart Room. Snow is a retired attorney from Skaneateles, N.Y. Home also of my friends Dan and Lisa Reardon. He knows them.

Snow is a frequent visitor to Key West. His present trip for 6-8 weeks.

I hope we run into each other again this trip. I would enjoy sharing war stories with an attorney who practiced in some of the same court rooms as I did.

My blog talk radio show tonight at 9. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Join me. The topics interesting. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou..

Topics such as Russia giving Denmark a nuclear warning, Andorra becoming the new place for money to be laundered, a police impersonator who had the misfortune of pulling over a real cop, a woman who was convicted of killing her child and had served 20 plus years being released because the proof against her was grossly unreliable, the Phoenix Zoo discovering after two years that a two year old bear was a female and not male, and more.

Another morning where I have to hustle. I have a late morning appointment with my dermatologist. A routine six month check up.

Enjoy your day!

 

CUBA PLAYING HARD TO GET

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Raul Castro announced yesterday that a new relationship with the United States was conditioned on the U.S. giving back Guantanamo and paying reparations for 50 years of separation from the U.S. I think we should throw in the Empire State Building, also.

It appears Cuba may not want to dance.

Guantanamo actually belongs to Cuba. We were only leasing it. When trouble started, we kept it. A legal argument may exist. Reparations, forget.

Castro Cuba was and still is friends with Russia. The U.S. and Russia keep making moves against each other. Especially, economically. It could be Castro doing his friend Putin a favor.

A great evening last night! I was out with the Reardons. Dan and Lisa. They own a restaurant in Skaneateles, NY and are snowboards. They spend two months a year in Key West.

We started at the Chart Room with a drink. Then across the street to the Hot Tin Roof for dinner.

The Hot Tin Roof was packed. The streets loaded with tourists. Both signs the season has definitely arrived.

The elected officials who run Key West have a propensity to do stupid things. The season is upon us and two main blocks in downtown Key West are under repair. One on Duval, the other on Simonton. Both blocked off 24 hours a day. I had to make two different detours within four blocks of the Pier House. So did everyone else. Which added to the traffic and aggravation situation.

Termites have always been a problem in Key West. Homes are tented and bombed to do away with the little devils. They are called drywood termites.

This morning’s Key West Citizen reported another type termite in Key West and the lower keys. The Asian subterranean termite.

This termite does not get its beginnings in the wood of a building. It generally starts under the ground. It needs dirt. Then it moves up into a building. Tents are of no assistance. Pesticides must be injected into the dirt. The termite is reported to be more dangerous and damage causing than the dogwood.

The Asian subterranean termite arrived on Stock Island sometime in the 1990s via a boat. It has since traveled to New Town and up the keys as far as Big Coppitt.

One thing about living on a sub-tropical island is that we have a lot of bugs. All kinds. However and to the credit of those who deal with them, a good job is done keeping the bad guys under control.

Enjoy your day!