AMERICA LOST

With the final Kavanaugh confirmation vote today, America will have lost. The wrong man elevated. The Supreme Court conservative for the next half century.

I am not going to waste time by going over the facts. They have been seared in all our minds.

A couple of admonitions.

First, a leopard never changes his spots. Known to God and man even back to the Old Testament: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” Jeremiah 13:23.

The second, what goes around comes around. Kavanaugh will get his. Other damaging matters will come out. Those who supported him will get theirs, also. Look for new faces in Washington. Enough people are disturbed.

Haircut with Lori yesterday. Back to being bald for a few days.

Last night, Blue Macaw. After hellos to Donna and Terri and John and Fiona, spent the evening with Mary and Doug. Interesting people. Mary a tour guide at the Little White House. An expert on Truman. Doug a guide at the Hemingway House. An expert on Hemingway.

We talked of Truman and Hemingway. Condolences offered re my friend David Wolkowsky. Politics consumed most of the evening. We were three unhappy campers re how the Kavanaugh vote had gone and will go today.

A wonderful afternoon ahead. Syracuse/Pitt. Louis in a comfortable easy chair, feet up on an ottoman and the TV set in front of me.

I am especially excited since Syracuse is having a decent season for the first time in 20 years. The spread is 5 points. I think it wrong. Should be 20 or more.

I have been reading How To Win A Fight With A Conservative. Figure I might as well get ready. They are taking over everything.

Interesting tid-bits.

A few shared.

Comedian George Carlin offered…..”Conservatives will do anything for the unborn. But once you’re born, you’re on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that, they don’t want to know about you. No nothing. No prenatal care, no day care, no Head Start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you’re preborn, you’re fine; if you’re preschool, you’re fucked.”

Russ Limbaugh is much like Donald Trump…..”Now, how can I be anti-woman? I even judged the Miss America pageant.”

The Missouri legislature was debating a program that feeds poor children. A Republican State Representative argued against the program. No free food for children. Suggested they should get jobs instead…..”Hunger can be a positive motivator.”

The Divinely inspired Pat Robertson had his say re females…..”The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.”

And they say Democrats are bad!

Enjoy your day!

 

ZIKA, OXITEC AND FDA

The long awaited FDA report concerning Oxitec safety re humans was received yesterday. The FDA said there was no significant impact re Oxitec use as regards an investigative field trial in the Florida Keys.

That means FDA says it is ok to test Oxitec over my little island of Key Haven. Pretty much covered with family homes.

Key Haven residents have opposed the testing. We do not want to be used as guinea pigs for a genetically modified mosquito. The outcry has made the local Mosquito Control Board agree to a vote by Key Haven residents as to whether they want the testing. The vote is in November.

The result is non binding on the Mosquito Control Board. The Board supports the Oxitec testing.

I do not trust the Board.

My sense is that this has become a personal battle for most board members. Their attitude appearing to be they know better than those who elected them.

None of us knows better. However some of us want to be certain we are going to be safe. Remember, DDT was for years considered safe. History repeats itself.

I have a gut feeling that certain Board members will try to engineer a vote by the Board to go ahead and forget the November election.

The Board being bolstered by the recent FDA announcement.

Were you aware? Did you know? Key West was the second largest city in Florida in 1860. Only 44 fewer residents than #1 Pensacola that had 2,876 residents.

I have decided on the subject for this week’s KONK column. Something along the lines…..Mommy, I’m Hungry.  Venezuela’s extreme food shortage.

I have commented briefly on the problem here and on my podcast show. The column will be more detailed. The world should know.

Research today. The column written tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

PETS FOR DINNER

When I started this blog oh so many years ago, the purpose was merely to share with the world what I had done the day before. My Key West life. As time progressed, I found I enjoyed pontificating. So I added some political/social commentary.

Understand, some days I do nothing. If so, there is nothing to report the next day. No one can go full blast every day.

Yesterday was a slow one for me. Hard working. However not in the bars and grills of Key West.

I started the day with an early morning walk at Home Depot. I continue to be a good boy. Walking and watching my food.

Returning home, I began fine tuning last night’s podcast. My blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

I found I had accumulated too much data. Too many topics. A busy week world wide. Needed to cut back the volume, organize the progression, and fine tune  the show.

Took longer than normal. A lot more. Maybe I was slow.

As reflected, a busy week. Much happened. Most of which was worthy of discussion. Only so much can be fit in a half hour show however.

One of the items I did comment upon involved Venezuela. I have been following, writing, and talking about Venezuela since the country ran out of toilet paper four years ago. They are still experiencing a toilet paper shortage.

A food shortage as well. Worse in its impact than the toilet paper shortage.

There is no food available for purchase. Assuming there was money to pay for the food.

The farmers stopped growing long ago since it cost more to raise the crops than they could get selling them. Store shelves are empty. Few working. Electricity scarce. Most businesses permitted to operate only one day a week because of the power scarcity.

It has come down to the following. Families are killing and eating their pets. Dogs and cats. Others are abandoning their pets along highways because they cannot afford to feed them. Hunters are going out and shooting the abandoned pets. Then returning home and using them for food.

There is another world out there. One not involving immigrants, ISIS, Trump or Clinton.

Thank God it is not our world. May it never be.

Trump’s numbers are up this week. Concerns me. I fear he may win. It would be destructive for America.

I feel Trump would drag us into a dark place. One none of us want. His moment in history comparable to Hitler’s in the 1930s.

Wednesday is hump day. For me, it is screw off day. I have nothing to do.

This week’s KONK Life column The New Prostitution hits the stands at 5 this afternoon. Read it. Surprising material..

Enjoy your day!

 

 

GI BILL

Live long enough and you become a part of history. I have. I will be 81 in two weeks. Many events reported today as historical occurrences are events I saw happening.

On this day in 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law the GI Bill. I have no specific recollection of that day.

The GI Bill made it possible for World War II returning veterans to purchase new homes and receive college educations. Those events I do recall. The years 1945-1950. I was 10-15 years old at the time.

The GI Bill provided low interest loans for home purchases. All of a sudden, new neighborhoods grew on the edges of Utica and out into the country. The birth of the suburbs. Homes generally small. Looked alike. Ranch or Cape Cod in style. A front yard. A good sized back yard.

The GI bill also funded college educations for returning veterans. It seemed like everyone was going to college. Men who might not otherwise have obtained a college education.

By 1947, veterans made up 50 percent of college enrollments.

There were not enough college campuses. Inner city neighborhoods suddenly became college buildings. Whole neighborhoods were purchased. Old buildings turned into college class rooms, libraries, etc.

In Utica, it occurred in the Oneida Square area. First, an old church became Utica College. Within a short time, a several block area had become Utica College.

I saw all this happening. I recall it distinctly.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon fine tuning last night’s podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Did the show at 9. I especially enjoyed doing last night’s show.

Two topics received emotional attention from me. Venezuela and the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass safe gun legislation.

Nicholas Maduro has been Venezuela’s President four years. An abomination! A failure! I have followed the man and his country ever since Venezuela ran out of toilet paper four years ago. Still do not have enough toilet paper.

They also do not have enough food today. It has come down to that. People are hungry. Starving a better description. Families eating every second or third day. And then only a piece of fat boiled in water. Soup of sorts. No bread.

Riots and fighting in the streets. People clashing to get food. The military and police guarding the minimum food supplies available. People being killed. One a four year old boy.

Why Venezuelans do not revolt, I do not understand.

The U.S. Senate failure speaks for itself. Four failed votes monday night. Mass gun killings will continue in our country.

The sad thing is that the NRA controls/owns our elected officials.

What sticks in my craw is that a person on a terrorist list cannot fly. Yet that same person can buy a gun. A gun that could subsequently be used in a mass killing.

Events can be exciting. One occurred yesterday in Key West. I missed it.

Several Cubans landed on the beach on South Roosevelt Boulevard. Across from the Best Western. Only one could speak a bit of English. Key Westers and Best Western staff went to work assisting our new neighbors. Food and water provided. Hands of welcome offered.

It was a dangerous three day trip Cuba to Key West. They made it. I hope they make it in the U.S. also. May their lives be rich and fulfilling.

Candidates announcing to run for the Key West Mosquito Control District board. I short cut the title and refer to it as the Mosquito Control Board.

Ollie Kofoid running. Ran the last time. Lost. Hope he wins this time. His type is needed.

Ollie has an environmental degree. He understands mosquito problems. Especially, the genetically modified mosquitoes the board is trying to shove down our throats.

Ollie is opposed. He has knocked on my door and other doors several times the past two year explaining the dangers involved in the testing of the genetically modified mosquitoes.

I am with you, Ollie!

Cocktail time tonight with Mark Watson at Aqua’s Back Door Bar. Fun time!

The cupboard is bare again. Nothing new. Need to shop today. My breakfast consisted of grapefruit and a cup of tea. Plus, a Chinese fortune cookie. Left over from my delivered Chinese dinner the other night.

The fortune: It’s not only important to add years to your life, but to add life to your years.

To add life to your years…..How true! I try!

Enjoy your day!