AMERICA SLEEPS AGAIN

Once we were not concerned enough, did not care, did not believe what was happening in Europe was bad. The Atlantic would protect us from the evils of Germany. America slept. The result, we ended up in a World War.

It is happening again. A World War may not be the result. However, something bad inevitably will occur.

The problem is President Trump.

Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury published last week has aroused Trump and his troops to the heights. They have come out battling. Cabinet members and White House aides were on national TV talk shows yesterday morning. Denying the accuracy of Wolff’s comments and supporting the mental well being, etc. of their leader.

One was Steve Miller. He appeared on CNN.

Miller was a speech writer for Trump during the campaign. Thirty two. Maybe thirty three now. Knows everything. In reality, nothing. He is a nationalist, white supremacist. Student of Steve Banner, till Banner’s refutation by Trump last week.

I have compared Miller to Hitler’s Joseph Goebbels. Adolph’s propaganda minister. Lie, lie, lie. Eventually the people will believe.

During the interview, Miller was basically non-responsive to questions. Talked about that which he wanted. Finally, the interviewer called an end to the interview of Miller.

Amusingly or sadly, Miller had to be escorted out of the CNN building. Apparently he did not want to leave. What occurred specifically, I do not know. No one is talking about it in any detail as yet.

Our President is mentally incapable of being President. A nut case. He has turned his back on our friends and sucks up to those who have been our enemies for years. Wants to destroy the FBI. Wants Hillary Clinton in jail.

Addressing the last point. We have never thrown a political opponent in jail. Banana republics do it. Totalitarian states, also.

Wake up Republican legislators, wake up America! Trump is trouble. He is dramatically harming the nation.

Spent yesterday lounging around the house. Watched the Golden Globes last night.

Gary Oldman won for Best Actor. The Darkest Hour.

Kirk Douglas appeared. Ninety one. Looks it, unfortunately. In a wheel chair, the results of his stroke remain on his face, speech slurred.

Oprah Winfrey was honored. She won the Humanitarian Award. A special person. A special speaker.

Missed Chicken Dog Church and the Gardens yesterday by giving into my laziness. Tonight, I will be out. Definitely. Dueling Bartenders and then home to watch the Alabama/Georgia game. Alabama favored by four points. Going to be close. Never can tell who the winner will be in a national championship game.

Papua, New Guinea in trouble. The volcano on Kadovar Island is erupting for the first time in history. A tsunami and landslides feared. People evacuating.

I mention Papua because there are a few Papuans who read this blog. Almost from its inception.

I wish everyone on the island good luck.

Christmas is Christmas. However certain portions are celebrated differently in other places.

Italy, for example.

Christian. Roman in origin. Celebrate all of Christmas on December 25, except for gift giving. Gift giving occurs on January 6. January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany. The day the three Wise Men paid homage to baby Jesus.

The Italians do not celebrate the Epiphany as such. Rather the day belongs to pagan folklore. An old hag dressed in black with a black witch’s hat riding on a broom. Her name, Befana. She brings gifts during the night as Santa Claus does elsewhere at Christmas. If a person was bad, no gift. Coal in the stocking!

Accompanying the gifts are sweets. Cookies and candy.

I am not an economist. Nor would I consider myself a stock market expert. Except in one regard.

My eighty two years has taught me that when the market is flying high, as it has been for quite a while, it will crash. No question. What goes up, comes down. Faster. The crash dramatic. Unexpected. Assets diminished big time, fortunes wiped out.

I have been predicting a crash for more than a year. I suspect later this year or sometime next year.

The experts call the crash an “adjustment.” The market does it on its own. It regurgitates hundreds and thousand of points at a time.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

CATHERINE, THE SAINT, AND TROPIC CINEMA

Another good night in Key West!

Remaining in and early to bed New Year’s Eve lost me nothing. As I reported New Years Day, every evening in Key West is New Year’s Eve.

Started early yesterday. Four thirty. My companion Catherine.

Falling is common with seniors. Especially me. At 82, I seem to have it under control. I watch every step I take. Pay attention to how I am moving. There will be times though when it will happen again.

Catherine is ten years younger than me. She uses a cane. Wobbly on her feet. Walks carefully. Hers not a balance problem. She had hip replacement surgery in October. Still recovering.

She toppled last week at Berlin’s. Not at all last night.

We have a problem when we are together should she fall. I cannot help her up. My heart. I lift nothing. Additionally, when I bend down, I get dizzy and go completely down.

Catherine tends to drop things. Retrieval her headache. She understands.

We are a dangerous couple together.

The game plan was Happy Hour at the Saint and then across the street to the Tropic Cinema to see the Churchill film Darkest Hour.

Food and atmosphere at the Saint excellent.

Then to the movies.

I was anxious to see the Darkest Hour. Love World War II stories. The film is good, not excellent. Worth seeing. Gary Oldman may win an Academy Award for his performance.

I was taken with the woman who played Churchill’s wife. A difficult role. Perhaps a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

Our evening was over at 8:30 when I returned Catherine home. Still early. Decided to stop at the Chart Room.

Ollie there. We have not seen each other in months. An environmental genius. Takes nature seriously.

Ollie just returned from a two week vacation. Drove Key West to Washington, DC and back. Except for Washington, stayed a day or two in small communities. Enjoyed the trip tremendously.

The Chart Room was quiet. Shaun bartending. All of a sudden, Jean Thornton showed up. She and Joe had dinner at Berlin’s. Joe was tired. Went home to sleep. The evening still early. Jean stopped in.

We had a very good time. Jean, Ollie, Shaun and Louis. Lots of laughs.

Wounded Warriors Day yesterday in Key West. The Wounded Warrior Project is nationwide. Veterans bike long distances for 3-4 days. Yesterday, they came down from Boca Chica to Key West.

Cheering groups along the way greeted the veterans.

A couple of hours before the bikers arrived was tie a yellow ribbon time. Recalls the popular song of the mid 1970’s.

Local veterans tied 180 yellow ribbons and small American flags on palm trees on North Roosevelt Boulevard and elsewhere. A proud time for watchers and the riders themselves.

The weather still cold. In the 50’s last night. Supposed to hit 70 during the day. Then down to 64 during the evening. Tomorrow or the next day, the daytime temperature will rise to 75-76 degrees. Not for long. Another cold front is coming in Saturday or Sunday and it will be Key West cold for a week.

Syracuse disaster yesterday! My team lost to Notre Dame 51-49. I missed the game. My concern growing.

Attorney General Sessions a man of the past. Nineteen fiftyish. He advised this week that his attorneys would be pursuing marijuana use where States had already made its recreational use legal. There is a Federal law in conflict with State law. The Federal law makes marijuana use illegal.

A waste of time and money. If Sessions wants to pursue drug suppliers and users, he should make war on the opioid epidemic engulfing the U.S. More than 100 persons a day dying from opioid use.

Gallup and Pew are respected pollsters. Each came out with a poll this week showing more than 60 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana. Those not in favor primarily older citizens.

A subsequent article described those opposed as Neanderthals and self-righteous Evangelicals.

Trump made a big speech two months ago. Opioids an emergency situation. One problem, however. Trump did not put the money where his mouth was. He passed the buck to the States to make the war.

French President Macron accused the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia of desiring war with Iran. Claimed the three nations had a deliberate strategy to push war.

I agree. Look at who the U.S. has for partners. Israel and Saudi Arabia. Both great friends of Donald Trump. The old story that birds of a feather flock together.

I get the feeling Irma and Me is selling. People stop me to say they bought the book or ask me questions about it. People e-mail me to advise they ordered the book.

God bless!

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

VIRGINITY FOR SALE

My July 14, 2016 blog was limited to one subject. The New Prostitution. The story of college girls and young ladies selling their bodies for big dollars to wealthy men who were looking for smart educated women.

No pimp or escort service involved. The ladies independent contractors. Their fee generally $1,000 to $5,000 a night. Many had annual contracts with the men paying in the six figures.

The young women opted for the way of life for the money involved. Money required for tuition, college debt, clothes, and to replace wage stagnation. Very few in the life for the fun of it.

It is not uncommon for peripheral business to spin off successful ones. Millennial ladies selling their virginity. A one time big dollar maker. Attractive to a young lady whose virginity has been preserved.

A lottery generally involved. The men bid for the young lady’s virginal charms.

I find the sale of virginal vaginas difficult to believe. Not the money aspect. Some men have so much money, they can spend it foolishly. What I do wonder is how many women today have preserved their virginity into their late teens and early 20’s. It  does not fit into the promiscuous society we live in.

Bailey Gibson is 23. Still a virgin. She has decided to lose her virginity in the most profitable way. She had been saving it for marriage.

Her virginity is being auctioned off by the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Carson City, Nevada. She and Moonlite will share the proceeds equally.

Not the first time Moonlite has done such a thing. Last year, the virginity of a Katherine Stone was auctioned for $400,000.

There are other such reported cases world wide. An Abu Dhabi businessman paid $2.9 million for a virgin 19 year old model. A Hong Kong businessman $2.5 million for a virgin 18 year old Romanian model.

Why do the ladies do it? They are broke. They do it to service existing debt and/or setting themselves up for life financially.

Smart, dumb, non consequential? I don’t know.

My yesterday did not involve any ladies from the new prostitution or virgins for sale.

It started with a visit to Tammy for a pedicure and manicure. The salon was almost empty. Few customers. Friday generally busy.

I asked Tammy where the ladies were. She said most had called and cancelled saying they did not want to go out in the cold. Sixty degrees.

My first stop last night was the 7 Artists Gallery. Opening night of Andreas Franke’s exhibit. He paints humans in underwater scenarios.

Enjoyed the exhibit. Met the Gallery’s owner Jennifer Badry. Her business card amused me: Janitor, Jeweler, Proprietor.

Turned out we have a common friend. Jennifer brought June Hudson’s name into the conversation. I have not seen June in a couple of years.

I had an hour to kill before being due at Donna and Terri’s for dinner. Decided to stop in the Chart Room two blocks away.

John bartending. Sheila, Jean and Joe Thornton at the bar. The Thorntons having a drink before going over to the Red Barn for a show.

Sheila introduced me to Christina. A lovely person.

Christina works for KWAHS at the Custom House. The front desk person. Sheila, who once worked at the Custom House, said Christina was the go to person.

She bartended at one time in New Orleans. At a place called the Dungeon. John had been there. A bad place. In all my trips to New Orleans, never heard nor got to the Dungeon. A missed experience.

Christina has a Masters in Journalism. She claims her journalistic background makes it possible for her to enjoy her job and life. She views her existence as living history as it is occurring.

Always good company and good food at Donna and Terri’s. Love the ladies! The pot roast Donna prepared, also.

Another good day and night ahead for me. Syracuse/Notre Dame this afternoon. This evening, time with Catherine. Happy Hour at the Saint followed by the Churchill movie across the street at the Tropic Cinema.

I am a history freak. Especially two wars. The Civil and World War II. The Darkest Hour is going to be a real turn on.

Key West and other Keys communities are small town America. Medical specialties for serious illnesses unavailable. One has to get to a hospital in Miami or elsewhere on the mainland swiftly.

Monroe puts a portion of our tax dollars to good use. The County owns two helicopters. Medical personnel on board. The helicopters fly those needing critical care to Miami and elsewhere.

At no cost to Monroe County residents. One of the helicopters rests on the lawn of our local Key West hospital.

The numbers are out re flights for 2017. A record number. Nine hundred twenty three.

The weather. Still cold. Cold for Key West. I was out yesterday in long pants and a heavy winter jacket.

Last night, in the mid 50’s. Today, 69 and the evening 54.

One of the best people to have ever lived in Key West has returned for the season. Patrick “Paddy Cakes” Hayes. Loved by all. A good friend to all.

Enjoy your day!