“I’LL PROBABLY GO THE SAME WAY”

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Fifty seven years ago today. July 2, 1961. A sad day.

Ernest Hemingway committed suicide. At his then home in Sun Valley, Idaho.

One of the greats in the annals of literary history. A favorite son of Key West.

Hemingway’s father Dr. Clarence Hemingway committed suicide many years earlier. Hemingway said at the time: “I’ll probably go the same way.”

A quiet evening last night. A drink at the Chart Room and grocery shopping at Publix. The refrigerator was empty again.

BOB returns. The Bum Farto saga continued.

Authorities did not initially pay attention to drug dealing in Key West. Farto and friends became aware. He and some Bubba friends decided to make some easy money.

Farto fixed up El Jefe and his personal appearance. What he was doing became open and notorious. El Jefe was lime green to begin and carried a sign with El Jefe on it. Farto added a bright gold eagle to the hood, together with reflective glass and two sawed off shotguns.

He uniformed himself. He wore a shocking pink uniform, rose colored glasses, and a generous helping of gold jewelry.

Farto was on the way! His new career took off! Drug dealer!

Ssles and deliveries were made from El Jefe. The drugs secreted in McDonald lunch bags and pizza boxes.

Dealing drugs did not interfere with Farto continuing his regular job as Fire Chief.

The operation expanded. Thirty some odd fellow Key West citizens became involved. None, including Farto, were Mafia types. They merely happened upon an easy way to make money and said why not. Never seriously considering the consequences.

Federal authorities became aware. No one sure how. The flamboyant manner in which Farto was doing business? Someone squealed? The answer not known.

There was a massive arrest by authorities. Thirty in all. Farto included. Referred to as the Big Bubba Bust.

The timing had one inconvenient factor. Key West’s primary bail bondsman was among those arrested. The only other bondsman was out of town on vacation.

Who was going to bail these good citizens of Key West out of jail?

The bonding company Bankers Casualty Insurance Company became involved. Probably because they did not want to lose all the money they could make bonding thirty good and true men out of jail. The Company arranged for the release of the bondsman who in turn bailed out the remaining 29 defendants.

The best is yet to come.

To be continued…..

ICE is going to become well known to the American people. Some have begun referring to ICE as Trump’s private army. A scary thought.

My immediate concern is where are the babies and girls? Yesterday, photos of some of the girls were shown. Where are they? Where are the babies? What is going on? Time to open the doors and let the media and public in. I fear something bad has occurred.

On this day in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act. A monumental moment!

Color would no longer be an issue. Did not work out that way. Things are better. However, race still an issue in our country. Trump I suspect a racist.

We have a long way to go.

On this day in 1881, President James Garfield was shot. He died some 80 days later. His doctors killed him, not the assassin who shot him.

A few yeas ago, I wrote a KONK Life column on the topic. I asked Sloan this morning to dig it out. If she finds it, I plan on running the column as tomorrow’s blog adding only a brief introduction.

The moment of truth is upon us. The truth re Trump’s use of tariffs to enhance the U.S. economically.

Yesterday, Canada began adding new tariffs totaling $12.6 billion on U.S. products. China begins friday when it will add new tariffs totaling $34 billion. U.S. soybean farmers are going to be hit big time. China’s tariffs are being imposed on the same day the U.S. is adding $34 billion on Chinese goods.

Harley-Davidson has already said it is moving a significant number of its production lines out of the U.S. because of the tariffs. Nine thousand jobs will be gone.

General Motors and Polaris warned in recent days that they may have to take certain of their businesses overseas.

The largest U.S. nail manufacturer, Mid-Continental Nail, announced it has laid off 60 employees already because of the tariffs. The Company further advised that if something is not done to correct the situation, it will be out of business by Labor Day.

Helicopter assisted escapes from jails becoming commonplace. Forty nine since 1971. Thirty successful, nineteen failed.

Yesterday at a jail outside Paris, Redoine Fain successfully escaped. A stolen helicopter landed inside jail walls, picked up Fain, and were up and away in less than a minute.

Since 1971, seven movies, a number of TV shows, and several books have been written re the “art” of jail helicopter escapes.

Tonight, one of my Key West favorites. Aqua’s Dueling Bartenders. I find it relaxing to sit, have a couple of drinks, and sing along with the bartenders.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

BOB…..RECOLLECTIONS OF BUM FARTO

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On this lovely Sunday morning, no better way to begin than with a Jimmy Buffett quote. A profound one. “I’d rather die while I’m living then live while I’m dead.”

BOB is back. The Afro Sheen Caper is next in the book. Only problem is I do not quite understand what BOB wrote. Nor did research provide any help.

Anyone who has knowledge, please forward to me.

In the meanwhile, it becomes Bum Farto time. BOB gives a history of Farto leading up to…..Bum Farto where are you? Interesting. A bit lengthy. I have added some info I discovered to BOB’s rendition. Ergo, the Bum Farto portion may take 3-4 days to report.

Hang on! The ride is good!

BOB titles the chapter Bum Farto And The Lime Green “Jefe” Car.

Farto was born in 1919 in Key West. A for real Conch. He grew up across the street from a fire station. He was constantly charming the firemen to give them their loose change. Resulted in Farto being nicknamed “Bum.”

Farto became a fireman. Started as a nozzleman. Eventually became Fire Chief.

Along the way, he supplemented his income by driving a hearse for a local funeral home.

Farto became Chief in 1964. His first run in with the law occurred two years later in 1966. He was charged with multiple counts of having misused Fire Department funds. The claim was he signed the names of various firefighters on their checks and cashed them.

Farto lucked out. The bubba system saved his ass. His nephew headed the Civil Service Review Board. Farto was tried by his nephew. He was found not guilty of all counts, except for one. That he had threatened to fire one of his employees. He received a 30 day suspension.

As Chief, Farto drove a lime green vehicle. On the side was a sign which read “El Jefe.” El Jefe is Spanish for Chief.

Tomorrow, Farto and the drug trade.

Spent yesterday afternoon writing this week’s KONK Life column. Got it out to the publisher last night. Hits the stands Wednesday evening.

I initially was going to write a history of the Key West Cemetery. As I researched further, It became obvious there was more to the story than merely a history of today’s cemetery. The hurricane that hit Key West as a 5 on November 11, 1846  definitely a part of the tale.

My column went from A History of the Key West Cemetery to Hurricanes and Key West Cemeteries.

You will enjoy!

Ocasio-Cortez’s name in the headlines the past few days. She is the Democrat Socialist who defeated 20 year House of Representative member Joseph Crowley in a Democratic primary.

The lady is 28. Makes an excellent appearance. Appears intelligent. She may represent the wave of the future for Democrats. Liberals tending beyond progressivism to socialism. A mouthful.

Ocasio-Cortez is described as a radical. I question the label. The reason is that she stands for things I do. Such as free tuition, true universal health care, reinstating Glass-Steagall, and describing Israeli shooting of Palestinians a massacre.

I believe that the Trump tariffs will destroy our economy and that of the world within 1-2 years. The tariffs  seed for another recession. A big one.

A recent study indicates Trump intends to impose a 20 percent tariff on EU cars. Recognize many are made in the U.S. today. Regardless, the price increases are startling.

Luxury cars will suffer the biggest increase. A 2018 Mercedes SL Roadster’s starting price will increase $17, 640. From $88,200 to $105,840. A lower priced car now costing $34,600 will suffer an increase of $6,920 to $41,520.

These increases will appear about 2 months after the tariff goes into effect.

The tariff war coming is senseless. The brainchild of Trump. A man who knows not what he does.

Enjoy your Sunday!