INSULT…..TRUMP FAILS TO LOWER FLAG SECOND DAY

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John McCain an American hero for the ages. His name will be long remembered. Similar to Senate greats of another day such as Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.

Another comparable figure in American history is Teddy Roosevelt. Both possessing that commanding go for it attitude. Both honest to the bone. Though McCain never became President, Roosevelt never was a Senator. The two can be equated, never the less.

Marc Anthony said following Julius Caesar’s death…..”The evil that men do lives after them; / The good is oft interred with their bones.”

Such will not be the case with McCain. He was too good. His shortcomings of no consequence. A man for the ages.

There is one however who apparently sees evil in McCain, has disdain for him. Donald Trump. Amusing on the one hand since Trump is no John McCain. Could never be. His evil diametrically opposite to McCain’s good.

In spite of personal feelings, people generally respect the dead. Not Trump in the case of John McCain. An outstanding example in the three days since McCain’s death is the President’s refusal to fly the American flag over the White House at half mast. Lowering of the flag a way of showing respect for a particular deceased.

There are rules/traditions governing flag lowering at such a time. Note again the lowering is a posthumous mark of respect.

Flags are normally lowered by Presidential Proclamation. With a noted exception. A Senator who dies in office. The flag lowering automatic at such time. The President’s approval not required. The flags are lowered from the Senator’s date of death till burial.

McCain will not be buried for several days.

The White House flag was lowered the day he died. It has not been lowered since. The pettiness of Trump. His disrespect obvious.

Sunday brunch yesterday at Hard Rock Cafe. Terri performing along with Larry Baeder. A smash! Hard Rock became packed as time progressed.

Blue Macaw with Mary last night. Paul and Ron back from Europe. Paul was My Man in Europe re the public urinals. Doug showed up. He is a tour guide at the Hemingway House. Mary is similarly employed. She is a tour guide at the Little White House.

Tuesday is election day. I voted early. Vote if you have not already.

I want to express my personal support for Mary Lou Hoover. She is a candidate for District 5 Commissioner. A better person does not exist. She has been involved in community efforts her entire life. She will make good things happen if she is permitted to sit on the Key West Commission.

I did not vote for Mary Lou. Amusing. I could not. I do not live in her district. No problem. I can still unequivocally recommend her to you.

Another Trump observation. In addition to the one where he insults McCain’s memory. Trump has the usually strong American dollar on the path to devaluation. If such occurs, recession inevitable.

The American dollar is strong and used in most world transactions. Sixty percent of global reserves and 80 percent of global payments are in dollars. Such gives the U.S. control over imports and exports. It also makes it possible for the U.S. to force countries into submission by the use of sanctions.

Oil transactions utilize the dollar. Referred to as petro-dollars.

Trump initiated the tariff wars. More countries will suffer. Russia suffering from sanctions, although Trump and Putin are buddies.

China is the U.S.’s major competing opponent. China wants to be top dog economically.

The world is sick of Trump’s tariff wars and the nervousness it is causing to the world wide economy. Russia has been goosing the rest of the world to abandon the dollar. Russia announced yesterday it was the direction it will be following. China, Iran and Venezuela are in bed with Russia.

China wants the yuan to be number one re oil transactions. The petro-yuan. Russia, Iran and Venezuela support the move. Pakistan recently jumped on board after Trump did some nasty thing to Pakistan a month ago.

The bottom line is that Trump is destroying our economy. Wars can be fought without guns. Economically one way. Another we have learned only too well is cyber war.

The U.S. is losing in both. Will apples being sold on street corners return?

Wake up America! Trump is hurting, no, destroying us.

Enjoy your day!

TRUMP VINDICTIVE AND MEAN

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The President is a vindictive and mean man. For a man in his 70’s, he appears not to have learned what goes around, comes around. All in due course.

Andrew McCabe has been an outstanding public servant with the FBI for 21 years. Achieved the number 3 position in the FBI hierarchy. Served as Acting Attorney General for a time.

For whatever reason, Trump does not like McCabe. Might have some doing with failing to fire Mueller.

Trump has been threatening to fire McCabe for several months. McCabe announced his retirement. It becomes effective sunday. The word is Trump may have McCabe fired today or tomorrow. So doing would result in McCabe losing all his retirement benefits.

The charge being alleged against McCabe a bullshit one.

Vindictive? Mean?

Mr. President, back off. You have beaten and tarnished the man and his reputation. Enough is enough.

I enjoy the Justice Building Blog. Today’s a spoof. Titled The Last Days of Rex Tillerson. One portion sub-titled White House Switchboard Operators Resign. An excerpt: “You’ve reached the best White House switchboard. A switchboard no one has ever seen one as good. If you are a Cabinet member seeking to resign, press one; if you represent a porn star and want to have your client give an interview, press two; if you are the Attorney General of the United States, you suck and your time is coming pal.”

Spent the whole day home with the air conditioning people. Three of them. Installed a completely new air conditioning/heating system.

Everything worked last night! I had heat! Even better, the purchase and installation cost me nothing. I am a tenant.

By the time the air conditioning people left, it was too late for me to make the Sons and Daughters of Italy dinner meeting. Called Catherine who is also a member and said let’s go to the Chart Room for drink.

We did.

Kevin and Holly at the round table. My Wampsville buddy Ted Kane at the bar.

I wanted to get home by 9 to watch the Syracuse/Arizona game. Catherine and I had dinner at the Pier House’s ONE Duval.  The Pier House’s fancy restaurant. Sits where the Wine Galley used to be.

Enjoyed a filet mignon. One of the best I have had in years!

Rushed Catherine home by 9. Hurried to my house in time for the start of the game.

Syracuse won 60-56. With 3 minutes to go, I did not think Syracuse would win. They had a great final 1.5 minutes.

Onward Syracuse! I do not know who we will be playing next and when.

The U.S. Navy maintains an air base 5 miles from where I live. Boca Chica. Huge. Busy at one time. Now not so busy. Used primarily for training.

Two U.S. Navy aviators died yesterday in the waters off Boca Chica.  They were the crew of a F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet attempting a landing at Boca Chica. The plane crashed in the ocean. The crew was able to eject beforehand. Rescued. However both were declared dead when they arrived at the hospital.

No further details  are available.

The National Students Walkout yesterday.

I am proud of these high school students. They may accomplish what adults have not.

Thousands walked. No disturbances. Those who spoke were articulate and intelligent.

The one word used which moved me was “hunted.” Many said they were not comfortable being “hunted.”

Today is March 15. Known also as the Ides of March. The day in 44 B.C. that Julius Caesar was assassinated. Shakespeare’s famous words recalled through the centuries: “Et tu, Brute.”

Those who deceive are thought of today as Brutus’. A close friend who performs a despicable act upon a friend.

Have to move my ass. A noon doctor’s visit.

Enjoy your day!

-16 DEGREES

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Happy New Year!

To most of the country freezing their butts off, Happy New Year! Hang in there. Warm weather will return. It always does.

I received an early morning Happy New Year from a Utica friend. Minus sixteen degrees! I remember those days. Brutal!

Chilly in Key West last night. I am ashamed to say got down to 65 degrees. I turned the heat on. You would too if you lived here all year long. Your blood thins. You are more susceptible to cold.

Key West very cold around the corner. Temperatures in the 50’s. Tomorrow night, low 62. Then a few days with the high in the mid 60’s and night times in the mid 50’s.

Key West style cold!

I remained in last night. The highlight of my evening the Syracuse/Virginia Tech game. Syracuse won 68-56. Syracuse played terrific!

Virginia Tech came into the game with the top field goal percentage in the nation. 54.5 percent. Fourth re 3 shooting percentage. 43.7. Syracuse kept Virginia Tech well below those numbers.

Syracuse’s defense outstanding! Shooting  much better. The team was making shots. Still need improvement in the shooting area, however.

A tough ACC schedule ahead.

Go ‘Cuse!

I wanted to be awake at midnight to watch the ball fall. Missed it. Woke at 12:15. Watched some blabbing from New York. Found New Orleans at 1 my time for their Happy New Year. Provided me with the thrill of it all.

CNN ran Key West 15 minutes after Sushi came down in the shoe. She was walking around by the time they got to her. Never the less, still good. An attractive Sushi in a bright red dress. She makes all her clothes herself. The crowd huge and noisy.

Key West has more than one person descending something or other at midnight. The pirate wench at the Waterfront always a hit. She (a for real one) comes down from the top of a tall ship’s mast. Other descents include a conch shell, Keys lime wedge, unicorn and a tuna.

Something for everyone!

New Year’s Day was not always celebrated January 1. The early calendar was a mess. Unreliable. Followed the lunar cycle. Changed a bit every year. The bits turned into a large number at some point and adjustments had to be made.

Julius Caesar said enough! In 45 B.C., the Julian calendar took effect. Caesar took a little glory from the event. Quintilis was the original name of July. Caesar changed it to July, naming the month after himself.

In the 1570’s, the calendar was still screwed up. By the year 1,000, the calendar had added 7 days. By the mid 1500’s, 10 days.

Pope Gregory III solved the problem by adding 1 day to the calendar every 4 years. Leap year! Still works today.

The new calendar became known as the Gregorian calendar.

Key West’s Dachshund Walk yesterday a success. More than 200 dachshunds participated.

I receive my daily Key West Citizen via the internet. No January 1 edition this morning. Why? I hope it was not because the Citizen gave its workers a day off because of the holiday. A lot of Key Westers worked yesterday. The Citizen should have also, if such was the reason.

Enjoy your day!

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! COLD! COLD! COLD!

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The northeast was hit big time by snow yesterday and last night. Barbara telephoned from Utica. Twenty four inches. Bridgewater 20 miles away more.

That takes care of the snow.

The cold applies to Key West. Yes, I complain. Whenever cold up north, cold here. Though significantly less. Low 60s during the night. Sixty six at the moment. High expected 69.

Anything under 74 cold to we locals. Our blood thin from living in warm weather.

I have not yet turned the heat on. Perhaps tonight when 59 degrees is projected.

Spring break time in Key West. Some brave college students will be on the beaches. Most will  spend the day in bars. Party time!

The snow up north cancelled Syracuse’s game in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse was to play UNC-Greensboro in the opener of the NIT.

My time out yesterday was a 2 hour lunch break. Cuban Coffee Queen. Cuban cheese toast, Cuban coffee and the newspapers. I love sitting at the Cuban Coffee Queen and reading. A  quiet peaceful place.

Watch my new video show on Facebook. Find it under Key West Lou. Yesterday’s topic was Make America Sick Again. Trumpcare.

I cannot take credit for the title. Heard Eugene Robinson mention it.

I will be doing today’s video in a couple of hours. No title yet. Subject matter involves the money the US has spent in Afghanistan over 15 years with no appreciable results. Moe than the U.S. spent with the Marshall Plan in rebuilding Europe following World War II.

My podcast last night at 9 concerned Trump’s tax returns. How legally Congress could subpoena them if it so desires. Rachel Maddow was on MSNBC at the same time. Her show concerned Trump’s tax returns. She had two pages of his 2005 return.

I caught Maddow’s show in the middle of the night on a rerun.

The Battleship Maine is part of Key West history. The vessel left Key West for Havana. Many of its Naval dead rest in our Key West Cemetery. A special monument erected in the cemetery, also. The monument dedication was attended by 10,000 persons.

Today’s Custom House was a recently constructed federal building in 1898. On this date in 1898, the Battleship Maine Court of Inquiry began.

William Hackley’s story continues. One item in today’s diary mentions that he spent some time reading Household Words. Curiosity struck me. What was Household Words?

In the 1850s, Charles Dickens edited Household Words. A literary magazine. Serialized novels amongst other things. The work provided Dickens with some income while he was working on his own novels.

The title Household Words comes from Shakespeare’s Henry V…..Familiar in his mouth as household words.

Staying with Shakespeare for a moment, today is March 15. The Ides of March. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. A soothsayer told Caesar as he was walking to the Forum…..Beware the Ides of March.

Caesar’s best friend was Marcus Brutus. He was the first to stab Caesar. In the back. Caesar looked over his shoulder and saw Brutus. Caesar uttered…..Et tu, Brute.

Only Shakespeare could write the lines. The power of simplicity.

One other item of significance occurred on this day. This time 1917. Russia’s Czar Nicholas II abdicated. Civil War followed. White Bolsheviks and Red Bolsheviks. The Reds communists. The Reds won.

I view Putin as the grandson of the Russian Revolution.

Enjoy your day!

 

10,000 AT KEY WEST CEMETERY

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It’s nice to be up and running!

Many of the sailors who died on the Battleship Maine are buried in the Key West Cemetery. On this day in 1900, a monument was dedicated in their honor at the Cemetery.

Ten thousand attended. An amazing number. Many had to be visitors from outside the Keys. Ten thousand a big number for Key West at that time.

I make mention of the 10,000 number to reflect the impact the sinking of the Maine had on the Nation.

Lunched at Mangrove Mama’s yesterday with June. Love the place! Enjoyed a lobster reuben sandwich again.

Spent the afternoon researching topics for tonight’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. One of the topics involves Trump. I hate bringing him up. My comments will be short and to the point. The man is dangerous!

Other topics include what the Presidential candidates are not talking about, ISIS and birth control, a California effort to help the drought problem, Count Victor Lustig selling the Eiffel Tower twice, Perry Como and the first gold record ever, and more.

The show is at 9 my time. A half hour of interesting and revealing facts. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Last night Tavern ‘n Town. Finally got a seat at the bar.

I enjoyed myself. An exceptional evening. Terrific people to chat with.

My evening began with Ed Toppino. A local. His grandfather built US 1.

Ed left and Jimmy took his place. First time meeting Jimmy. He owns and operates Jimmy’s Ocean Blue. A tiki hut behind the Hyatt timeshare near the end of US 1 on the backside of Tavern ‘n Town. Look for the beach house and there will be Jimmy’s. I intend to stop by soon for lunch.

Jimmy left to be replaced by three ladies. Interesting women. One vacationing for a month. The other two for shorter periods.

My evening was full. I was at the bar longer than normal.

I lost my eye glasses. Somewhere. Tavern ‘n Town to my home. Not in my house. Have searched home and car thoroughly. Called Marriott. They do not have them. My only hope is the bartender is holding them for me.

Fortunately, I have another pair so I can see.

If I fail to find the glasses, it will be a major calamity. I have had the frames for 30 years. Round horn rims. Merely replaced the lenses each time there was a new prescription.

GMO mosquitoes a problem for the Keys again. Especially my island, Key Haven.

The FDA approved their use. The FDA confirmed: “…..no significant threat to environment.” Confirmed and significant key words. I do not know what either means. Significant does not preclude something bad happening.

My other concern is that the GMO mosquitoes are relatively untested. Thus far, in a few places. One is a northern portion of Brazil. Since last October, 4,000 babies have been born with small heads and brains. For real. Tests being conducted to see if the GMO mosquitoes being tested responsible. The head/brain problem is mosquito caused.

A British company Oxitec manufactures and sells the GMO mosquitoes.

Our local Mosquito Board is hot to test Oxtec GMOs here. I think they are nuts. Jumping to soon for a new product. Forcing Key West citizens to be guinea pigs.

The purpose of the GMO mosquitoes is to help prevent Zika. A mosquito caused illness which could result in mental retardation and/or death.

There have been no reported cases of Zika in Key West, Key Haven, and the lower Florida Keys.

I screwed up yesterday re Syracuse and the NCAA tournament. I reported Syracuse failed to make the big tournament and was relegated to the NIT.

Syracuse did make the big show. It is a #10 seed and will play E#7 Dayton friday.

How did this happen?

I was dozing as the standings were announced. Half awake, my recollection is I did not hear Syracuse being selected. Slipped into sleep again. When I woke, four teams were on the screen. One, Syracuse. The announcer was talking about the teams on the bubble that did not make it. I erroneously assumed Syracuse was one of the teams he was talking about. I went back to sleep.

Sorry for the bad info.

Today is the Ides of March. The day of Caesar’s assassination. His closest friend Brutus was one of those participating. He stuck his knife into Caesar with others. “…..et te, Brute.”

An interesting lesson to be learned. Those closest to you can hurt you.

Primary Day in Florida. Vote!

I believe Trump has a lock on Florida. Bad. My other concern involves a local issue. The City of Key West wants to buy Peary Court for $55 million. Those who own it purchased the property last year for $35 million. A $20 million profit in one year. Not bad!

It is up to the people. It is on the ballot. Interestingly, there are a number who support the purchase. I find it hard to understand.

Enjoy your day!