MOSQUITO CONTROL BOARD OUT OF CONTROL

Local elected boards and the citizenry have one thing in common for sure. They are neighbors.

It appears the mosquito control board forgot that last night.

A meeting was held. Chaired by the board. Citizens welcome. A main issue the GM mosquito/Ozitec/Key Haven issue.

The board must have expected a Normandy invasion. Three sheriff deputies present. A first. The board defensive. The crowd respectful.

Guy de Boer is publisher of KONK Life. I write a weekly column that is run in KONK Life.

Until this morning, I was not aware that Guy had worked for 14 years for the mosquito control board.

He attended the meeting last night. Wrote a column that appears in this morning’s KONK Life E-Blast. Read the article. Interesting and shocking.

Guy’s article made mention of a FOIL request that has gone some time with the materials not provided. Barriers appear to have been set up to foil the FOIL request.

Money was first an issue. Cost of copying $20,000. Crazy! Last night announced to be $8,000. A check was offered in the amount. Payment refused.

The board says the District’s attorney must review the materials first to see if any “classified information” is contained.

Arrogance of the highest degree by a local elected board. Especially a mosquito one. The board is acting like a Federal Agency or Congressional Committee. An example of being out of control.

On the way to my car last night, I walked by the Chart Room. Saw Ollie inside. Stopped briefly to chat with him. Ollie is into the GM mosquito thing big time. He updated me on things happening from the Key Haven residents’ end.

My day yesterday started with a noon haircut with Lori at Blown Away. She was excited. Leaving on a three day Bahamas cruise today. A bachelorette party.

Lunch afterwards around the corner at the Cuban Coffee Queen. Ruby working the counter. Cheese toast and cold Cuban coffee.

Hot Tin Roof for dinner last night. Dined with Adam. Adam took care of my house for several years.

An interesting person. Adam born and raised in Poland. Lived a few years in Italy. Now in the U.S. many years.

My freezer is busted. Waiting to see if it can be fixed. Frozen food lost.

My freezer is in the garage. The room for a refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen has a large refrigerator.

The garage not a healthy place for a freezer. Garages not permitted to be air conditioned in the Keys. Only a window one. No matter the size, could never do the job.

Generally the heat only inflicts damage on the outside of the freezer. Paint cracks, peels, rusts and occasionally molds.

The freezer is 10 years old. Could be time for a new one.

My KONK column this week Mommy, I’m Hungry was linked to my Key West Lou website this morning. It is easily available there. I ask my far to the right and Republican friends to read it. You may be surprised  by what you read. www.keywestlou.com.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

BACK DOOR WITH DONNA AND TERRI

Three weeks since I had seen Donna and Terri. The drought ended last night. A Donna/Terri fix always good. Ran into them at Back Door.

Terri looked like Terri. Fine, except for a bit of strain showing on her face. It has only been three weeks since her heart attack.

Donna was Donna. Always looks good. Shared with me Terri’s strict diet. In detail. Terri eats nothing. What she does consume, Donna prepares.

Donna the good spouse.

Terri sings saturday night at Little Room Jazz Club.

Tim was part of our chat group. Tim of Joe’s Chicken Shack. Next door to Bourbon Street. He was outfitted in orange and blue. Also had an orange pen. Dressed Syracuse!

Todd and Katey at the bar also. Katey on vacation from Buffalo. A high school softball coach and English teacher.

Almost forgot. Mark Watson. One of Key West’s best.

Needed to eat something. Stopped at Submarine on the way home.

The Key West City Commission took another step re Truman Harbor last night. Not one that meets with my approval. Voted to investigate the Harbor problem further. Authorized the City Attorney to engage the services of a law firm familiar with such problems. Will probably end up being a Washington one.

A waste of money! Forget the Harbor! Get to work building. This project began 15 years ago and at best is only .00005 percent complete.

Sometimes, we have to be reminded. The United States is presently engaged in four ground wars. Boots on the ground! Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya. The United States can also be found in 100 other countries. Not fighting.

This week’s KONK Life column is on the stands. Mommy, I’m Hungry. The article was also linked to my Key West Lou website this morning.

Venezuela is now at the famine stage. People are raiding zoos, stealing animals and eating them. Last week, a group snuck into a zoo in the middle of the night. Went for a black stallion. In the morning when the zoo staff appeared for work, all that was left was its head and ribs.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

GROOVIEST EVENT IN MUSIC HISTORY

After three days, Woodstock ended. This date in 1969. The event described by many as the grooviest event in music history. I don’t know. I was not there. However, Larry Smith and Larry Flynn were. Two Larrys. Today, Smith lives in Key West and Flynn in the Utica, NY area. Contact them personally to get their thoughts.

I do have a recollection of Woodstock even though I was not there. It took forever to leave. To get out. One to three days. Woodstock was in the middle of no where.

A client’s son telephoned me. He was stuck in Woodstock. Asked if I could get him out. How? Helicopters were not even permitted in the area. I recommended patience.

Spent a bit of time yesterday afternoon fine tuning last night’s podcast show. Good show! In a quick half hour, I covered topics involving Libya, Wyoming, Iowa, Germany, Monsanto, Malia Obama, cannabis, Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, and more.

Roostica for a light dinner. Artichoke dip. I was not that hungry.

I stopped my beloved anti-gravity treadmill last week. It was making me tired. I had cut back from five days to three days. Still tired afterwards. Went at slower speeds. Tiredness lasted 4-5 hours.

I am not tired this week. Feel terrific. Wide awake. Me thinks the treadmill was too much for me. Got to figure it out. Has to be my heart. Enlarged problems. I get tired exerting myself. Even a little. The heart has to pump harder to move the blood through.

Exercise is a must. Some type. Not as much. I am walking, but not that far nor fast. Will be visiting with my doctors. We’ll work it out.

I mentioned the other day that Maine lobster was cheaper to buy in Key West than local lobster. Now, I learn that fish is being trucked in from outside the area. The reason claimed is that local catch have become too expensive. Does not surprise me. Everything else has shot up dramatically in Key West the past few years.

Greed part of the problem.

The Key West City Commission is jumping into the hospital problem with both feet. As I suspected. Not healthy for resolution of the problem. The Commission has authorized the City Attorney to explore several avenues. One, a lawsuit.

Local politicians have a propensity to screw everything up. Why should the hospital problem be any different.

Another example of political lunacy is what the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District board is doing. The board is elected.

The board announced a 45 percent increase in taxes. To pay for a new building they claim is needed. It was announced yesterday that Oxitec will lease space in the old building to rear genetically modified mosquitoes for other counties. At $25 a square foot.

I fear the board has already made up its mind re the referendum. Recall, it is non-binding. I see the board rejecting the referendum result and going ahead with the testing.

I call the residents of Key Haven guinea pigs. Someone recently referred to us as lab rats. Both fit.

Common Dreams published an excellent article on 8/16/16 re the problem. Florida Keys Residents Resist Controversial GMO Mosquito Trial. Interesting reading.

An item in the article involves profit. Oxitec is a subsidiary of Intrexon. It is estimated Intrexon will profit $400 million if tests are successful and the GMO mosquitoes can be sold nation wide. The only test scheduled in the United States is Key Haven.

Trump gets his first intelligence briefing today. I fear he will not be able to keep secret that which he learns. I visualize him at some future date spouting of during a speech something he learned at one of the briefings. The man is a loose cannon, not stable.

My column in this week’s KONK Life is Mommy, I’m Hungry. The story of starvation in Venezuela. Hits the stands later today. Recommended reading.

Enjoy your day!

 

WOODSTOCK

Today is the birthday of an event that has become part of American history. To be remembered for all time.

Woodstock!

On this day in 1969, Woodstock opened. A three day event. A half million in attendance. A musical counterculture.

The event was three days. For many, it took an additional three days to get out of the upstate New York area where Woodstock was held.

Larry Smith and Christine Cordone were there. Singing, sloshing through the mud, hungry, dirty, etc.

The half million attendees were known as hippies. Anti everything. Trying to change the face of America. Succeeded in many ways.

Larry is still playing and singing as is Christine. Christine is a school teacher by day. Also has developed into one of Key West’s premier water color artists.

Larry entertains tonight at The Little Room Jazz Club. Take his performance in. Recall as he plays that this is a man who played and sang at Woodstock. He is a part of the history. Fifty years ago.

I spent yesterday afternoon writing this week’s KONK Life column. Mommy, I’m Hungry. Starvation today in Venezuela.

I wrote the column last sunday, also. Lost it before I could send it out. It is somewhere in never never land. Redoing it this week provided the opportunity to reorganize the article. Not necessary. Did it for the hell of it. I like it better than last week’s. The content the same. the structure different.

A most interesting time at the Chart Room. One other guest. A professional employee at the local hospital. He provided insight. Big time. I learned many interesting things.

All he wants is for the hospital to reorganize so better care is afforded th patients. He conceded it was not the best. Everything should be on the table. From billing to staff attitude.

Will it happen? He was doubtful. Too many different forces at work. Each with their own ax to grind. Some seeking personal gain.

Then to Publix. There would have been no breakfast this morning had I not gone.

I was home by 9. CNN had advertised a sociopath show all week. A subject I am deeply interested in. The show was not run. Another in its place.

Tomorrow night, the Key West City Commission meets. On the table is Truman Waterfront Park. Specifically, Truman Harbor.

The Park has been in the development stage for 15 years. I think it is time something is done.

The Harbor problem is relatively new. Brought up by new City Commissioner Payne. Kaufman is another new Commissioner who comes up with impractical ideas

Payne is a retired Judge. Sounds like a cranky old Judge. Leave the Harbor issue alone. It is 15 years and still nothing done. Hiring a specialized law firm to study and if feasible sue will result in nothing but a waster of money. Will add more years of delay onto the already 15 years of nothing done. Move ahead as the plan is presently formulated.b

Kaufman, you are trying to do too many things. Take a step back. Pause for a moment. Prioritize. Be practical.

To the Commission as a whole, you think you are performing wonders. You are not. You think the community is behind you. They are not.

Here I am criticizing the City Commission. I would also be critical of the Wyoming State Legislature.

Wind power is a growing business in Wyoming. Or, was. Four years ago, Wyoming decided to tax the wind used. $1 per megawatt.

Tax wind?

The reason was not revenue. The fossil fuel industry was against wind power. They influenced the Legislature to pass the wind tax to discourage wind power development. The lobbyists succeeded. Only $15 million has been collected in four years.

No other State has opted to tax the wind used in wind power industries.

Enjoy your day!

 

FRUSTRATION SELF INDUCED

I was 95 percent finished with the rough draft of this week’s KONK Life column yesterday afternoon. Mommy, I’m Hungry. About Venezuela’s starving children. All of a sudden, the screen was blank.

I must have hit a wrong key. Went to retrieve the column. Good luck!
Nowhere to be found.

Called Sloan and had her search. No luck.

Frustrated I was. No question.

It took 3 hours to draft the material lost. It would take me another 3 hours to rewrite. Then edit. Another 1.5 hours. I already had 3 hours in. No way. I did not have it in me to do. I was already tired.

So…..There will be no KONK Life column this week. Mommy, I’m Hungry will appear the following week. My apologies.

I watched the Olympics off and on yesterday. Not long. I could not get into it.

Early evening drove to Walgreens. Out of my acid reflux pills. It was 6:10. Pharmacy closed. Now closes at 6 on saturdays and sundays.

Then to Hogfish. Sat at bar. Watched some Olympic basketball. Enjoyed fish and chips. Hogfish fish and chips.

The Hackley saga for today. Mrs. Hews can no longer breast feed the baby. She is drying up. Matilda cannot. The Havana goat was dry. What to do next? Starch. Hackley reported the baby was taking to it.

Starch mixed with water is what mothers are feeding their babies in Venezuela. Makes for a full stomach. Not healthy, however.

Think how lucky we are. How far we have come. If a mother cannot breast feed, there are all kinds of baby formulas on store shelves.

This weekend’s newspapers uniformly mentioned that the FDA had approved testing for Zika in the Florida keys. The whole world may be thrilled. I am not. My message: Stay out of my back yard!

I forgot all about Battle of the Bars.

Somewhere this weekend, I came across mention of John Keats. Poet supreme! He died at the age of 25 in 1821. In Rome.

Thirty five years ago, I accidentally came across his home/the place where he died. I was walking around Rome. In the area as the Spanish Steps. The first building on one side of the Steps had a small dated bronze sign. Home of John Keats. A two or three story building.

I went inside. Walked to the top floor. Saw Keats’ bedroom. The place where he died. The rest of the floor was a museum of sorts.

Among the observable items were a number of original Keats’ works. His poems handwritten on crumbled paper. Under glass, of course.

I found the experience exciting and moving.

Big talk on TV this morning re a third party candidate with Republican dissident backing. Morning Jo said it’s for real. He received two telephone calls. The announcement supposedly will be made at noon.

During these days in 1975, Vice President Spiro Agnew came under attack. It was claimed that he accepted kick backs from contractors while Maryland governor.

He subsequently resigned.

Agnew was a hard ass. I think that is why Nixon selected him to run as Vice President. These were the days of campus unrest. Agnew frequently spoke out against the demonstrations. In tough guy fashion.

I never liked Agnew. For two reasons.

He constantly used big words. His vocabulary excellent. Much better than mine. It was as if he was trying to impress people all the time.

The other reason is that out of law school he became an Allstate Insurance adjuster. Allstate was a rotten company back then. Despicable the manner in which they ran their claims department. No respect for anything or anyone.

To this day, I think of Agnew as an Allstate adjuster rather than Vice President or crook.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni had an interesting comment re Trump in a recent column. The thrust of the column was that the GOP was indulging Trump.

Bruni stated in his last paragraph that America “…..needs a grown-up who honors our values, not a brat who shreds them.”

Peggy Noonan wrote a column in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal re whether Trump was crazy. Her last paragraph introduced me to the word kakistocracy. Never had heard it before. From the Greek. Noonan said, “It means government by the worst persons, by the least qualified or most unprincipled.” Suggesting we might be on our way there if Trump were to be elected.

Enjoy your day!

TAVERN ‘n TOWN…..FRIENDS NIGHT

I spent yesterday afternoon researching this week’s KONK Life column that will publish wednesday. Mommy, I’m Hungry…..

Bad stuff! Starvation in Venezuela. Food supplies down 80-90 percent.

I have mentioned the problem in this blog and on my podcast show several times in recent years. The column is a more in depth study of the problem.

Last night was Tavern ‘n Town. Ran into a ton of people.

Before the friends, there was a disappointment. No Bobby Nesbitt. He is in Rochester with his elderly mother for two weeks.

First came my internest/primary care doctor Jackie Lefferts.
With her charming husband, Michael. Jackie looked terrific. Sexy. Told her so as she hugged and kissed me. We have become friends over the years.

Then a lovely young lady. At first, I did not recognize her. Sarah from Duffy’s. Sometimes a bartender. She was with lady friends. A girl’s night out.

Sarah said it was her first time at Tavern ‘n Town. She said she was there because I mention it so much in this blog.

Then a heart breaker. Dan Reynen stopped by to say hello. Owner/trainer at WeBeFit. I worked out with his staff a couple of years ago. Stopped when I popped two ribs.

He said…..You’ve gained some weight. I have. About 30 pounds since I last saw him. I like to think it doesn’t show. He reminded me it does. He left me feeling guilty.

Finally, Dan Talpasz. Had not seen him in two years.

Dan is a Key Marriott employee. At the top. He was Marriott’s 2014 Restaurateur of the Americas.

At the time, he was general manager of Tavern ‘n Town. A big job in itself.

The Spottswood family own Tavern ‘n Town and several other hotels and restaurants. Dan was promoted to Food and Beverage Director of the Spottswood Companies.

He was in Key West for the day. He has been spending a lot of time in Marathon. The Spottswoods have opened a Marriott there. He is working on the restaurant.

Dan is talented. He will someday be CEO of a major hotel chain.

Zika in a small trendy Miami neighborhood. An area one square mile. Sixteen cases so far. Panic setting in.

The CDC says Miami’s small case cluster is not considered a widespread transmission.

Genetically modified mosquitoes are a problem for me and my neighbors on the tiny island Key Haven we live on. Our local mosquito control board wants to test GM mosquitoes to kill off the mosquito causing Zika.

The GM mosquito is being touted as the end all cure all.

There was another once. DDT. An insecticidal discovered in 1939. By Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller. Muller received the Nobel prize for the discovery in 1948.

The United States banned DDT in 1972, except for some extremely limited uses.

Beware. All that glitters is not gold!

On this day in 1942, the United States invaded Guadalcanal. The Japanese were building an airfield. Eleven thousand Marines were landed the first day.

Guadalcanal was a long and bloody battle. The Japanese refused to surrender. Many lives lost on both sides.

Enjoy your Sunday!