KEY WEST ROYAL POINCIANA UNDER ATTACK

Key West’s beautiful, flamboyant, orange-red petaled Royal Poincianas are under attack. A plague. The culprit some type caterpillar.

The caterpillars just short of 2 inches long. Attack only by night. The Dracula of the vermin world. Eat the flamboyant flowers and foliage. Destroy the trees.

Major outbreaks occur every 10-15 years. This obviously is the year.

Treatments are available to protect against and/or control the caterpillars. Information is available through the County. Contact Michelle Leonard-Mularz. She is an Environmental Horticulture Agent. mularz-michelle@monroecounty-fl.gov.

There is a concern among some that the City of Key West itself may not be doing enough to help.

Yesterday another busy one. Began with lunch at Sandy’s Cafe. Followed by several errands.

A quick nap late in the afternoon.

An early evening start. Monday night so it was Dueling Bartenders at Aqua. Tom Luna and Rick Dery the best!

A decent crowd for August. Including Liz, Josefina, Mary, and Linda. Another Mary joined me. Mark Watson came hurrying through and gave a wave.

Dinner with Mary at Antonia’s bar afterwards.

Mary Lou Hoover and Charlie Waite at the bar, also. Good people. Mary Lou looked tired. She has been campaigning 9 months for election to the Key West City Commission. The battle over. Enjoying a late dinner.

We chatted a bit. As you are aware, I one hundred percent support Mary Lou. A more interested and concerned person I have never met.

Ran into an old friend I have not seen in years also at Antonia’s. Mary Ann Westerland.

Today is election day in Florida. For local races, today is the day. Not in November. If you are a Key Wester, please consider voting for Mary Lou.

Staying with the election for a moment, today is primary day for federal and state offices. I have been supporting Gwen Graham to be the candidate for Governor on the Democratic ticket. A member of Congress, she also is the daughter of Bob and Adele Graham. Bob the former Governor of Florida and a member of the U.S. Senate.

Politics is in Gwen’s blood.

Tuesday means podcast time for me. My podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine in the evening. A quick moving interesting half hour. I tend to rant and rave.

Join me. Guaranteed you will not be bored. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

A late night ahead. Being a political junkie, I will be glued to the TV for election results.

Love the Key West weatherman. Always a quip following his weather prediction. Today and tonight, showers. Following the report…..Free carwash.

I close with Trump. Not the disrespect and pettiness he exhibited with John McCain’s death. I did enough of that yesterday.

My concern at the moment is the redoing of the NAFTA agreement with Mexico. Yesterday, Trump in effect claimed victory. Similar to his announcement following the meeting with North Korea’s Kim. Not really a victory. Nothing finalized. Many items still to be covered.

Whatever, Trump got on the phone in the Oval Office. Seated behind his mammoth desk. Regal appearing. He called Mexico’s President. Reporters present.

I will not go into the details. They are all over TV and the newspapers today. Trump looked bad. Though a few points were generally agreed upon, it was obvious a deal was not yet close.

Typical Trump. There must always be a victory! A victory he made possible.

Trump already made a fool of the United States and himself re the Kim situation. I compare Kim and yesterday’s telephone call to Neville Brand when he got off the airplane in September 1938. He had rushed to Munich to have a face to face meeting with Hitler in a last ditch attempt to avoid war.

Chamberlain got off the plane waving a paper. “Peace in  our time,” he shouted.

World War II began soon after.

Chamberlain bullshitted as Trump has been. Sometimes Trump bullshits himself.

Enjoy your day!

 

KEY WEST…..WE’RE COOKING

 

It’s hot! No question about it. The hottest July ever. August will probably be hotter. Followed by historically the hottest of the hot…..September.

Yesterday, the weatherman said relief would be available. It was going to be breezy. It was. Learned something. Hot and no breeze,  hot. Hot with breeze, still hot. Perhaps worse.

As I was walking yesterday with the hot air blowing in my face, I was reminded of the 1940’s when our house was heated by a coal furnace. My job to keep the coal fire burning. Replace the burned out coal.

Every time I opened the furnace door, a blast of hot air hit me in the face. Yesterday, the same sensation.

Spent part of the afternoon reading. Still with Madeleine Albright’s Fascism. The primary fascists of almost a 100 years ago were Mussolini and Hitler. Trump so much like them.

Aqua for Dueling Bartenders at 6. Tom Luna and Rick Dery doing the entertaining.

Tom has not been present for 3 weeks. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis. Treated for it. Not diverticulitis. Kidney stones. Had surgery for the kidney stones a few days ago.

Liz and Josefina at the bar when I arrived. Liz looked lovely. She was happy to be there.

Jean Thornton came in. We sat together. She looked good and smelled good. Told her so. Love the lady!

Jean complained about the heat. Said she has begun staying in during the day to avoid it. Sounded familiar.

Normally, Jean and I would have had dinner together. I had to beg off. My podcast is tonight and I had to work on the show last night.

Join me at 9 tonight for the podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. A fast moving, interesting, and eye opening account of how I see things. You do not have to agree with me. It is good however to hear what might be a different set of thoughts. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

I am a poor sleeper. Leave the TV in the bedroom on all night so I can watch something during the hours sleep escapes me. The bedroom TV went kaput about 2 monday morning.

I called Comcast. Had to wait 30 minutes for a live person. We had a communication problem. I could not understand her. Probably from east Istanbul.

After another hour of her directing me to do this and that, TV still not working. Comcast needs to send a repair person over. No one available till thursday morning.

Can’t win!

The battle between the 2 Sandy Cafes has been resolved. Settled. Details of the settlement unavailable.

A significant election in Ohio today. A special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional district. Takes in Columbus and a wide suburban swath surrounding it.

Republican country. Thirty five years since a Democrat has held the seat. Trump won the district by 11 points.

Today’s election has become a testing ground for November. The Democratic candidate was far behind at the beginning. Today, a dead heat. Trump was in the area over the weekend campaigning for the Republican candidate.

Politicos believe suburban wives will decide the election. Most are Republicans. However, most are upset with Trump’s child separation policy.

If the Democrat wins, it foretells a blue November. If the Democrat loses by 3 points or less, the same.

We will know tonight.

A new national poll indicates Trump’s largest bloc of supporters are white persons without college degrees. Fifty four percent.

I believe the group supports Trump because they feel the country has left them behind. They believe they need governmental programs that will help them. Most are middle aged and older. They are disappointed with how life has treated them. There has been no American dream.

Dorothy Downs is an interesting woman. Among other things, an author. An expert regarding certain Indian tribes. She and her husband lived in Miami and had a second home in Key West. He has passed on.

Dorothy continues to inhabit the homes in both locales. A frequent Key West visitor.

Dorothy has a political streak in her. She is supporting Gwen Graham in the Democratic primary for Governor. Personal friends for years.

She recently wrote and asked how the race looked in Key West. I replied I did not know who was running, except for a fellow by the name of Green. His TV ads were excellent.

Dorothy made me feel ashamed that I was not paying attention and did not know of her friend.

Let me share with you what I have learned about Gwen Graham.

She is way ahead in the polls. Burying her opponents. Her father is former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. A distinguished statesman of the old school. Knew how to negotiate with the opposition and was not afraid to do so.

Dorothy wrote, “Being a public servant is born in Gwen’s DNA.”

Gwen is an attorney, was a stay at home Mom for 13 years, a PTA president, a school administrator, and a one term Congresswoman.

I will be paying close attention to Gwen. The primary is August 28.

They say this is the Year of the Woman. Probably so. I for one would like to see all women elected to every post. Men have done enough damage.

I close with a recent Trump tweet.

California is being devastated with fires. Trump indicated that the fires were ongoing due to a shortage of water. He claimed water that could be used to fight fires was “foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean.”

No one understands the statement. Water supply has been sufficient. No one has complained of a lack of water causing the fires to spread, etc.

Many believe climate change is the cause of more severe and destructive fires. This has been the hottest summer across the U.S.

Perhaps Trump does not wish to acknowledge climate change. He has consistently been on the side of those who deny it.

Enjoy your day!

 

EMILY

Emily was the Keys’ first dance partner of the season. There had been four others. However, of no consequence. Hurricane season is upon us.

Emily was a tropical depression yesterday morning in the Gulf 50 miles off Tampa. She hit as a tropical storm, however. A step up from a depression. Ran across the Florida peninsula. Dissipating as it left.

Brought with it 6-8 inches of rain and winds 45 miles per hour.

I assume the rain Key West received yesterday afternoon and last night represented the fringes of Emily. Rained extremely heavy in Key West. Hurricane rain without wind.

My podcast tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. Join me. Interesting material. A fast paced half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

I worked on the show yesterday afternoon. For some reason, I have a multitude of items to discuss. Will never cover all of them.

My plan is to open with a lengthy report re prison labor. Inmates are the new American slavery. Followed by a Venezuela update, a jury finding Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt, Trump writing son Don’s release re the famous meeting, Scaramucci gone crazy and gone.

Robots continue to be big. Expanding into all areas. Now, sex.

An Austrian company is selling robots for sex purposes. Spain has two brothels providing services only in the brothels. $80-100 per hour. Customer comments suggest the robots better than the real thing.

A bank in Sweden is using robots to deal with customer problems, opening new accounts, etc. Cheaper than paying a human being.

Both robot situations will be discussed this evening.

Time permitting, I want to touch on millennials still living at home with their parents. A study looked at 18-34 year olds. One third are living with their parents. A shocking number.

While I was preparing for tonight’s show, Terri was putting my new desk chair together. Terri is fantastic! Got right to it. Put the chair together step by step. I was impressed.

I am also impressed by the chair. Leather and huge. Made for an extra tall person. All kinds of special buttons. Cheaper to purchase than the one it replaced. I bought the previous one at Office Max. Fell apart in a year. The new one purchased over the internet through Amazon. Fifty dollars cheaper and much better quality.

A 5 o’clock visit with Dr. McIvor. The best of the best! A great staff supporting him. Heart good. No changes. Something else? More blood work next week.

I continue to be tired. Close to exhaustion on occasion. Climbing stairs leaves me breathless. My blood pressure at the Doctor’s top side was 186.

Oh, well!

I said screw it. Instead of going home went to Aqua for Dueling Bartenders. Bobby Nesbitt joined Tom Luna and Rick Dery. Terrific!

Yes, I had a couple of drinks.

Locals night at Aqua. Friend Liz and Josefina. Jean Thornton. Her husband Joe back in Birmingham having been diagnosed with shingles.

I periodically refer to Jean as the Golden Girl. Back around 1996, she discovered gold and emeralds while diving with Mel Fisher. A teacher friend from Birmingham was with her. Debbie. They discovered the booty at the same time.

Together, referred to as the Golden Girls.

Debbie visits Key West once a year. Her Key West visit this week.. We talked a while last night. Charming. Too bad she does not spend more time in Key West. She would be a welcome addition to our community.

A fellow at the bar stopped me. Reads the blog. Wanted to tell me he was from Utica. Utica, Illinois.

Stopped at Tavern ‘n Town for dinner on the way home.

Another alligator spotted in Key West. Off Northern Boulevard in the water in the Garrison Bight area. A picture of the alligator in this morning’s Key West Citizen. About 5 feet long.

Watch where you swim, friends!

Enjoy your day!