TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES COME WITH GLITCHES

I am not technologically adept. A generational thing.

During my Holly wood trip, I purchased a computer monitor. Thirty two inch screen! A few days before in Key West, a new keyboard. All put together on 11/24. My guru TV person Tim Reynolds working with me from Tampa. He hooks up and can operate my computer from Tampa.

I have noticed minor problems the past two days. Need Sloan to correct. She will be here Wednesday.

A major problem today. It may have encumbered your ability to read this blog on Facebook.

I have two Facebook accounts. Key West Lou and Louis Petrone. The blog is supposed to come up on Key West Lou when I direct it from WordPress. The past two days, it has shown on Louis Petrone instead.

Sloan told me on the phone how to temporarily correct it. I hope it works this morning. Whatever, everything will be fine by Wednesday evening.

There is nothing for you to do at your end. I have to perform at mine.

If I fail and it does not come up for you, merely enter www.keywestlou.com.

An excellent weekend food wise. Important because I start a major diet tomorrow.

Dinner Friday night with Barbara at Berlin’s. Sean and Gage bartending. The wonderful Bria singing.

I continue to live and learn. A conversation at the bar involved hurricanes. Turkey vultures have returned to Key West. All over our skies. Someone mentioned that the return of the turkey vultures is an indication the hurricane season is over.

I hope so. We have had a few post hurricane season storms over the years.

Thanksgiving dinner last night at Donna and Terri’s. My second Thanksgiving dinner in as few days. I need the diet!

Donna is a superior cook. The meal magnificent! The company as good.

George and Art joined the festive occasion. Their business strange. They make what they describe as self sculptured art. Stuffed animals. Bears, dogs, octopuses, etc. Anywhere from 6 inches to 26.

Not cheap. A world-wide market. George just returned from a sales trip to Beijing and Taipei. He described their product as having a niche market.

Considered one of the best if not the best movies ever is Casablanca. Starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. A touching weepy love story.

Casablanca premiered in New York City this date 1942.

My recently published book Irma and Me mentions a day at the Thornton’s in Birmingham when my other evacuees and I watched Casablanca.

I was stunned. The women all cried throughout. Two knew the lines perfectly and said them at  appropriate moments.

Definitely a woman’s picture. I have seen it many times. Enjoyed. Never cried.

December 7, 1941 a despicable day. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

On this day in 1941, the Japanese aircraft carrier strike force left Japan for Pearl Harbor. A 12 day trip to Pearl Harbor. Too bad no cyclone/hurricane arose during the trip.

Another live and learn item. One which took too many years to become evident.

MIT released the results of a recent study. Electric cars are not green. Pollute more than petrol and diesel cars. The reason being that a majority of the energy which charges the batteries of electric cars comes from national grids. Many grids use fossil fuels such as gas and coal. All at an environmental cost.

A similar study was released last year in Norway. The study did not receive as much attention as I assume the MIT one will.

Donald, oh Donald. I know not where you come up with things.

Yesterday, Trump announced that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was bad for the banks: “Financial institutions have been devastated.”

So wrong. The Consumer Bureau works to reign the banks in from wrong doing. They oversee such things as mortgages, credit cards, bank accounts, and student loans.

Never forget banks are whores. They gave us the 2oo8 recession. Millions lost their homes because of devious and improper mortgage dealings.

Most recently, a major bank such as Wells Fargo devised another illegal approach to increasing profits.

In each event, the banks paid huge fines. Nothing compared to the money the banks made far in excess of the fines paid.

Since 2008, I have been consistent in saying send the CEO’s of these banks to jail. It will only take a few incarcerations to stop the improprieties. There is a problem, however. Our government refrains from arresting and charging any higher-ups.

The failure to arrest/jail will continue under Trump. One way will be to do away with the Consumer Bureau that oversees the banks.

My recent book Irma and Me is available. The story of how Irma chased me through several States. The book is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and KoboBooks.

Enjoy your Sunday!

A BAGEL RESEARCH AFTERNOON

One week prostitution. The next bagels. Love it!

Bagels is the title of this week’s KONK Life column which publishes Wednesday. From whence they came, those responsible for their discovery/invention, leading types, dollar sales, etc.

Boring, not. Interesting, yes.

I spent yesterday afternoon researching. Took longer than anticipated. Sufficiently long that I missed the Running of the Bulls at 1 and Hemingway Look A-Likes at 5:30.

The game plan was to start researching earlier than normal. Which I did. then sneak downtown for the running of the bulls. Return home and work the rest of the afternoon on bagels. Assumed I would finish in time to get back into town for the Look A-Like contest. I attended neither event.

Watched Hillary introduce VP candidate Tim Kaine. A great choice! Straight forward, honest, caring, Spanish speaking, humorous, etc. Going to make a hell of a candidate!

Last night was Tavern ‘n Town. Looked forward to listening to Bobby Nesbitt sing.

I parked in the hotel garage. Nearby, the Marriott has four electric cables hooked up to charge electric vehicles. Seldom are any parked there.

Last night, four. Brand new. Shiny. No license plates.

I could not figure out the make. The emblems meant nothing to me.

Bob Frechette having dinner with friends. Exchanged hellos and a brief conversation. He and Lynda are in Cleveland for the summer. He is back for a few days to take care of some business matters. We agreed to get together for dinner this week.

Two political observations.

Again, Tim Kaine impressed me. He will be a great asset to the campaign. His values and Spence’s are diametrically opposed. Will make for an interesting campaign.

The Wikileak of 20,000 DNC e-mails evidenced shocking information. The DNC was working in Hillary’s best interests and not Sanders. Disgusting!

I listened to Sanders this morning re the revelation. He basically says I told you so several months ago. He went on to add he supports Clinton and will be working to defeat Trump.

Sanders could cause all kinds of trouble for Hillary at the moment. He has opted not to be a Ted Cruz.  He is a class act.

Experts are saying Russia is behind the hacking. Putin in the past has said kind words about Trump. Perhaps Putin is working behind the scenes to help Trump win. Probably because he believes he can handle Trump easily.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY

What a beautiful place Key West is! Waking up mornings especially lovely. Sun, sky and water. Combined. Brightness everywhere. A God is in His Heaven, all is right with the world time.

Key West may be a little spot on the map. A tiny island. It tries to keep up with the times. I noticed something new in the Marriott Beachside parking garage yesterday. Three parking places for electric cars. A power cord hanging on the wall for each spot.

Observed something else that seems to be commonplace of late. Electric cars on the roads.

By electric cars, I am not referring to a regular sized vehicle that uses electricity in place of fossil fuel. The small open air electric cars. Ones that look like golf carts. A bit larger.

I have recently seen two.

The house next to mine is presently rented to vacationers. They have rented an electric cart. Apparently for the length of their stay. Every day I see them coming out of the driveway, driving up to US 1, and proceeding into the Boulevard in Key West. The other day, I observed it turning north on US 1.

There is also another vacationing family out there that has rented an electric cart. I see them riding up and down the Boulevard.

Generally, each car has an extra passenger. One too many. Sitting on someone’s lap or hanging on the back.

Disasters in the making! Dangerous! For other drivers on the road as well as themselves.

It was saturday night at Tavern ‘n Town. Went to enjoy Bobby Nesbitt. No Bobby Nesbitt. Michael Thomas sitting in for him. Another of Key West’s premier singers.

Thomas’ New York, New York outstanding!

I saw something unusual also. Three couples dancing in the bar area by the piano while Thomas sang.

It was a happy group of vacationers at the bar.

Omar Sharif died. Sad. I enjoyed watching him. He loomed large on the movie screen. Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and Fanny three of his best performances.

I spent yesterday afternoon pondering what  my KONK Life column will be this week. I have to get it out today. I played around on the internet and did some thinking. Came up with nothing. I have about four more hours before I must have a subject. I will. I came across three items that are interesting. Not sufficient for a column information wise. Worthy of sharing, however.

One has to do with Jews. Anti-Semitism. Something which continues to grow world wide.

There was mention in my search of a World News July 30, 2015 article of anti-Semitism. Titled “Where Jews Assaulted in Europe, Anti-Semitism Drops.” Sometimes to a significant degree.

Is this type assault a cure for anti-Semitism? Can it be made to work effectively? At what rate are Jews to be killed to keep anti-Semitism at bay?

The world never learns.

Peggy Noonan had an interesting article in the Wall St. Journal yesterday. Prompted by Donald Trump’s recent comments re immigration. She said illegal immigration is a tragedy. An admission by a nation that it has lost control not only of its borders but of itself.

I close with decapitation. Someone losing his head. Not in the Middle East. In Tampa.

Police problems grow. Not only with blacks. Also with whites. Though more frequently with blacks. Whitewashing has accompanied many of the situations. The police held not responsible.

On June 28, a Tampa detective was driving an unmarked police car. The detective was responding to a robbery call. He hit a 60 year old white man.

He took the man’s head off. Decapitated him.

The detective never stopped. Rendered no aid. Kept going. Did not report the accident to his superiors nor make a record of it. Eleven days after the accident, the man’s blood was found to match droplets of blood on the police vehicle.

The detective is on administrative leave. No charges filed yet. Authorities claiming they are making a detailed investigation.

Two observations.

One is that if the driver of the vehicle was other than a detective, the individual driving the car would have been arrested immediately upon discovery of the blood match.

The other is that there has been little national news re the event. Sounds newsworthy to me. Why has it not received the media attention it deserves?

Enjoy your Sunday!