OUTLAWS IN ACTION

This past weekend the Poker Run. A Key West annual event. Ten thousand bikers roll into town. Everyone has a good time. Rarely a problem. Many of the bikers doctors, lawyers, and  CPA’s in disguise.

There was a bit of trouble this past weekend. The Outlaws came to town for Poker Run. I do not know if they were in Key West for the event in prior years.

Fifteen of them were at the Rumor Lounge on Greene Street. A fight began between the Outlaws and two men. 15-1. Then, 15-2. As soon as the police began arriving, the Outlaws were out the door hopping into cabs or running down the street.

No arrests were made.

The Outlaws are the original biker group formed in 1935. Logo, a small skull. The opening words of their motto, “God forgives.”

The Outlaws similar to the Marlon Brando bikers that roared into a small town in a long ago movie whose name I forget.

My blog talk radio show was last night. I spent the entire day preparing. I had let preparation slide.

Two things were hit big. Banks and police shooting blacks.

The people of the U.S. are disturbed by what they learned about Wells Fargo last week. Congress had a hearing yesterday. Wells Fargo’s CEO testified. Elizabeth Warren ripped him a new asshole. Only way to describe it. Warren is one tough cross-examiner.

Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for their wrongdoing. Plus, Wells Fargo paid the official who ran the bank unit involved a going away payout of $124.6 million when she retired in July.

I mentioned Wells Fargo briefly. It was not the thrust of my discussion. I brought Deutsche Bank to everyone’s attention. Our Department of Justice has recently fined Deutsche $14 billion for wrongdoing leading up to 2008.

Fourteen billion is a number to talk about!

The fine is negotiable. What bullshit! Fine them and let the number stand!

The U.S. has avoided jailing any banker for any significant wrongdoing. The too big to fail…..too big to prosecute thing. I disagree. Jail a few bankers and bank wrongdoing will become yesterday’s news.

Fine instead of prosecution is part of the bank/corporate America influence that permeates our government. The causes of the people set aside to accommodate the needs of the big guys.

Police shooting blacks. When does it stop? An unarmed 40 year old black pastor killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His arms over his head when shot.

Then yesterday, another shooting. In Charlotte, North Carolina. Another death. A question whether the deceased had a gun.

These shootings must stop! Both ways. Citizens should not be shooting police officers.

I do not know the solution.

October is National Bullying Protection Month. Tenth anniversary. Needed. Hopefully helpful.

Enjoy your day!

DUELING BARTENDERS OUTSTANDING LAST NIGHT

What a night at Aqua! The Dueling Bartenders are always good! Last night, spectacular.

Tom Luna, Goddess Galore and a drag star I did not know.

Joseph was there. Joseph of Hot Tin Roof fame. still recovering. down to two canes. Sweet Josey came over and gave me a big hug. New friends Liz and Mary sitting next to Joseph. Great people. Sheila came in. There were so many people, we never got together.

Enjoyed a leisurely afternoon reading a Battle of the Bulge story. Written by a soldier who lived it.

Later it was off to Dr. Mc Ivor. My heart doctor. Everything ok.

After Dueling Bartenders, headed over to Tavern ‘n Town for dinner. it was 9 when I got there. about 3 of us in the place. I enjoyed the quiet.

This morning’s Key West Citizen ran a major front page article od the Truman Waterfront amphitheater. With lay out. Story indicated the $4 million project will be completed by October 2017.

I do not like the lay out. This is Key west. we have boiling sun most of the year. Only the stage appears covered. People attending will sit in the open. Similar to sitting in the bleachers at a baseball game.

Something more is needed. Something to protect to some degree from the sun. Whoever the designer is should look at the amphitheater at Jones Beach on Long Island. Opposite the stage seats were created.  A semi-circular concrete edifice. Different levels of seating. The back of which faced the setting sun. Everyone seated  is shaded.

I fear the Key West design will result in many complaints if left as is. Knowing Key West, it will be left as is.

There is a comment in Citizens’ Voice re the hogfish supply. apparently the State says there is a diminishing supply of hogfish. Their capture will be limited. the comment suggests Key West will then be eating hogfish from Mexico.

My KONK Life column hits the stands tomorrow. An American Revolutionary War Hero Who Lost His Head. Part of the article reveals the atrocities perpetrated by the British against the colonials.

In a history this date column, I came across an article that further reflected on British brutality.

It was the night of September 20, 1777. Two hundred colonial troops were sleeping somewhere near Paoli, Pennsylvania. British General Charles Grey had 5,000 troops with him. He had his soldiers unload their muskets. The men were ordered to use only bayonets and swords.

The colonials were stabbed as they lie sleeping. Greys’ men took no prisoners. The colonials who tried to escape were stabbed or set on fire.

Paoli became the Alamo of the Revolutionary War. Remember Paoli became the cry.

Enjoy your day!

EDWARD HENRY

The Key West Citizen daily runs on page 3 its Citizen of the Day. Photo and biographical sketch.

Today’s honoree is Edward Henry.

I do not know him personally, yet feel I do know him personally. Edward works in the pharmacy department at Walgreens on the Boulevard. Always a smile, always helpful. Sometimes difficult I am sure. Prescription purchasers are not always happy campers.

Edward is a big guy. Reminds me of Shaquille O’Neal. Carries himself with the same humility.

Congratulations, Edward! You are much deserving of the recognition.

Spent my day time yesterday writing thus week’s KONK Life column. An American Revolutionary War Hero Who Lost His Head. The Joseph Warren story. Interesting. More revealing, the treatment of the colonists by the British during the war. The column hits the stands wednesday.

Intended to have dinner at Tavern ‘n Town. Thought the bar would be empty on a sunday night. Not so. No room.

Went to La Trattoria Oceanside. No room at the bar. However, I was able to get a well located table with a magnificent view of the water. Enjoyed spaghetti and oil. A dish I have not had in ages.

My waiter was CJ. I did not recall him. He did me. He worked years ago at La Trattoria on Duval when I was a regular customer. He recalled me by name.

His step mother is Erin. She was bartender at La Trattoria on Duval for years. Now bartends at Smokin’ Tuna.

CJ is getting married in November. He is all excited! Good luck to him and his bride.

I mentioned Berlin’s yesterday. I had been there friday evening. New singer, I thought. Was not sure of her name. An excellent entertainer.

A comment to the column corrected me. Devin. I thank him. Brie her name. Brie not new to Key West or singing. She has been here 10 years.

I have  mentioned a couple of times this past week that Helen Mirren was in Key West making a movie. Together with co-star Donald Sunderland. Shooting was taking place at Higgs Beach and the Hemingway House.

The movie is titled The Leisure Seeker. It is the story of an elderly couple. The wife a cancer patient. Her husband entering into Alzheimer’s. They decide to take a road trip to Key West in a Winnebago.

The weekend bombings. What can I say? What can we say? Eventually, the problem will be resolved. Could take a number of years. In the meantime, vigilance the key.

The problem will not be resolved here. It will be in the Middle East by the total destruction of ISIS.

President James Garfield died this date in 1881. An assassin’s bullet on July 2 started the sequence of events leading to Garfield’s death.

I wrote a lengthy KONK Life column on the subject five years ago.

Garfield was shot at the Washington Railroad Station. One bullet in his arm. The other on the right side of his back behind the pancreas.

Garfield laying on the filthy railroad station floor. Robert Todd Lincoln was with him. Lincoln called a Dr. D. Willard Bliss to care for the President. Bliss turned out to be an arrogant individual impressed with his own perceived self-importance. He cared for Garfield till his death some two and a half months later.

During that time, roughly 80 physicians also were called in. Bliss always in charge, however.

The problem was no one could find the bullet in the President’s back. Fingers and instruments prodded the hole searching for it. Dirty fingers and instruments. This was before the medical profession realized there were germs. Bacteria.

Infection set in. The President’s body became accessed big time internally.

The bullet had to be found and extracted. Bliss called in Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. Bell had invented a metal detector that was supposed to locate bullets in the body. It had been successfully tested on Civil War veterans.

The detector did not work on the President. A scratchy buzzing sound was constantly heard. Something was wrong.

Garfield lay on a mattress which lay on a metal coil bed spring. The metal bed spring had recently been invented. A patent pending. Not yet on the market for sale. One had been given Garfield for publicity purposes.

The metal bed spring mattress screwed up the metal detector. No one realized it at the time.

An autopsy showed that the prodding by fingers and instruments had moved the bullet from the President’s right side to his left. The bullet could not be located because it was not where it was supposed to be.

Charles Guiteau went on trial for the murder of the President. His defense was that medical malpractice had killed Garfield, not his shooting. The jury did not agree. He was found guilty and hung.

Guiteau made his own closing argument to the jury. “Yes, I shot him, but his doctors killed him.”

Enjoy your day!

 

 

NEW YORK CITY BOMBING

Another bombing. New York City. Chelsea neighborhood. Twenty nine injured.

Determined to be a home made dumpster bomb. A pressure cooker and cell phone combination.

There was another bombing. This one Saturday at Seaside, New Jersey. A pipe bomb. On the route of a 5K race. Fortunately, the start of the race was delayed for non related reasons. Otherwise, injuries might have been dramatic.

We must continue to be vigilant. What else can we do? The perpetrator in each instance was probably a local person who has become dedicated to ISIS principles.

Spent my daytime yesterday researching this week’s KONK Life column. An American Revolutionary War Hero Who Lost His Head. The story of Joseph Warren. A colonist who did much for the Patriot cause in the days leading up to and the Revolutionary War itself.

Chart Room first last night. Could not even get in. That is how jammed it was.

Headed over to Berlin’s. Intended to have dinner there. Bar empty. Emilie waiting to bartend. I was the first customer of the evening. Enjoyed a Maine lobster dish.

By the time I was ready to leave, the bar was packed. Every seat taken and people standing.

Berlin’s featured a singer last night. I think her name was Brie. Could not get it clearly. A lovely lady with an equally lovely voice. I never heard of her or saw her perform before last night. Assuming she is new to Key West, the folks here will love her.

Worked dinner off by walking Duval looking at the motorcycles. Magnificent. They seem to get bigger each year. They were all over the place. Even on the side streets.

Viewing the bikes and having some knowledge as to their cost, it was obvious a segment of our society is not suffering economically.

The first 2/3s of my Sunday is set. Meet the Press. Then the afternoon spent writing this week’s KONK column. Tonight, I am not sure what if anything.

Syracuse, my Syracuse! Defeated by South Florida 45-20 .

Should not have been.

At the end of the first quarter, Syracuse was ahead 17-0. Then the roof fell in.

Unusual, if the stats are examined. Syracuse ran 105 plays. Gained 549 yards. Controlled the ball 38 minutes. Converted half of its 3rd down conversions. Completed 65 percent of its passes. Key running back gained 127 yards.

The gods were not with Syracuse yesterday.

Enjoy your Sunday!

GREAT DINNER PARTY

Good time last night!

Donna and Terri threw a small dinner party in honor of Mark Watson’s 44th. The food outstanding. Donna is a terrific cook. The company good. Enjoyed myself!

Donna and Terri have done a magnificent job with the apartment. They have been in about two months. I saw the place when first rented. Terri’s heart attack slowed them down. The place is now completely decorated. Deserving of a Florida housing magazine spread.

Big afternoon ahead! Syracuse v. South Florida at 3:30. Hope not a repeat of last week’s debacle against Louisville.

Poker Run in full force and effect. Bikes driving down US 1 to Key West. Big time noise. Most of the ladies I saw this year were not riding seated behind the driver. They had their own bikes.

I plan on walking a bit of Duval tonight to see the bikes. Several blocks of Duval will be closed off. Only bikes will be permitted to park. Beautiful machines!

Jim Young’s Key West Codes Department has always impressed me. The group does a good job. Professional.

The cosmetic stores continue to be a Duval blight. The law does not permit closing them down. They can be fined however for failing to follow existing local guide lines.

There are seven cosmetic stores. The problem is overcharging, irregular bills, etc. The overcharging is by hundreds of dollars. Sometimes thousands. Credit cards misused.

Codes did an all at once investigation of the stores. Hit the seven stores at the same time. Five were handed violation warnings requiring them to correct their processes in 48 hours.

Too bad they cannot just be closed.

Key West High School has a group known as the Conchettes. An athletic dance group.

The Conchettes have been extremely good in recent years. They have twice appeared in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They have been asked to return this year for a third time. Sixteen will make the trip.

The school does not put up the money for the trip. The young ladies have to raise it. $45,000 needed. Each girl asked to raise $3,500.

Help the Conchettes. Make a contribution. Call the high school to do so.

Government departments and agencies keep getting hacked. High ranking officials, also. Disgraceful.

Could prove helpful, however.

Trump has not released his tax returns. I keep waiting for a hacker to get them and do so. Makes sense.

I grew up and worked in Utica, NY. Fifteen miles away from Herkimer, NY. A small upstate community. Many the case I tried in Herkimer Supreme Court.

Herkimer was previously known as German Flats. On this day in 1778, Mohawk Indian Chief Joseph Brant, 150 Iroquois Indians, and 300 British loyalists burned down German Flats. Only three residents killed. The residents had a warning and escaped to two nearby forts.

Sixty three houses, 57 barns, 3 gristmills, and 1 sawmill destroyed.

At the end of the Revolution, the Brant family and their Iroquois followers escaped to Canada where they remained the balance of their lives.

A poet for the ages left England this date in 1820 for Italy. John Keats. He had tuberculosis. He thought the Rome weather would help his condition. It did not. He died in less than six months at the age of 20.

Keats did not write poetry till the last three years of his life. His works amazing and multitudinous in that short period. Ode to Grecian Urn and Ode to a Nightingale two examples.

I mention Keats because I was fortunate to visit his home and place of  death some 35 years ago. I was in Rome. Wandering around while my wife and daughters were clothes shopping. I was at the foot of the Spanish Steps. Immediately to the right was a small 2 or 3 story building. A brass plate on the door was labeled John Keats. I went in.

Exciting! Saw Keats’ bedroom where he died. Another room had many of his transcripts. His poems hand written on pieces of paper. I was familiar with a few. Chilling to read the original product.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK WATSON

Mark Watson, Happy Birthday!

Mark is one of the most beloved persons in Key West. Drag queen at Aqua, a Dueling Bartender, wednesday night Back Door bartender, present King of Fantasy Fest. On and on.

A nice guy besides.

I shall be sharing this day with him at a dinner party tonight.

My yesterday began with a haircut at Blown Away with Lori. My haircutter and friend of 15 years.

Lori is moving Blown Away. To a new building on White Street. Across from Fausto’s and Sandy’s. Next door to the building where I did my first radio show 10 years ago.

Then lunch at the Cuban Coffee Queen. Lovely Ruby working. The lady is talented. Hard working. Her work ethic impresses me.

Jay. Former chef at Sq. 1. Sq. 1 bought out. Jay moving on. Going to be the owner of his own operation. A sandwich shop. On Southard next to Bank of America. Around the corner from Key Lime Square. Near the Cuban Coffee Queen. Five door’s from Lori’s Blown Away.

From gourmet chef to sandwich maker. The sandwiches should be terrific!

Across the street are two coffee houses, a veggie restaurant, and Mr. T’s. A couple hundred feet up Southard, a noodle restaurant. All have been in business in the immediate area for many years. Jay should do well.

Opening, September 26.

Bocce last night. Ran into Jay. He has played bocce for years. My team Don’s Place doing well. I am the cheerleader. The team won all 3 games last night. 16-3, 16-0, 16-15.

It always happens that way. You kill the opposing team in the first two games. Then complacency sets in. An extra drink. Joking around. Concentration disappears.

Don’s was winning 14-7 in the third game. Needed only 2 points to win. All of a sudden, the game was tied 14 all. Finally, a one point victory eked out.

Norm is one of the player’s on Don’s team. A nice guy. We have been friends for years. Better friends because of bocce. One of my partner’s when I played.

Norm’s wife is involved community wise. She is a Rotarian. As was her father and grandfather before her. Rotarians have their hands in many of the Key West charity fundraisers. The Brewfest last week. She was one of the ones running the event. This week, she is working hard on Poker Run.

Ten thousand bikes start roaring into Key West today. For Poker Run Weekend. Big, expensive bikes. Drivers in black leather and crazy helmets. Look dangerous. Their ladies similarly dressed. Breasts dramatic. Intentionally so.

The humor is that most are doctors, lawyers and CPAs having what they consider a wild weekend. No more wild than any other, however. They will drink a bit too much, dine at the finest restaurants and have a great time!

You and me and the federal government are not the only one’s being hacked. The Monroe County Tourist Development Council’s website has been hacked. Florida Keys & Key West Facebook page 1.

Pics of beautiful Key West deleted. Replaced with photos of scantily clad provocatively posed women.

The Tourist Council cannot remove/delete the photos. Nor can they reach anyone at Facebook for help. Nor can they post an explanation.

My suggestion is they get a computer geek immediately to work on the problem. There are several in Key West.

The Mayflower departed England this day in 1620. Sixty six days later, landed at Provincetown. Not Plymouth as most of us have learned. Several months later, a group departed and landed at Plymouth. Of Plymouth Rock fame.

The Mayflower gave us the Mayflower Compact, Plymouth Rock, and Capt. Myles Standish.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Selective Service and Training Act into law this day in 1940. A draft law.

It is time we had a draft law again. Our professional voluntary army has been pushed too hard. Several deployments. As many as seven for some. No wonder 20 veterans a day are committing suicide.

I would require two years military service following high school graduation.

Guaranteed, I am going to receive a lot of comment on the position.

Enjoy your day!

A Peek at the Truth

We are not always told the truth. Some things bald face lies, other half truths. Many the figment of someone’s imagination. Truth buried for selfish purposes by those keeping truth in the dark.

This week’s column covers a few such items. Very few. A book could be written re the deceptions practiced on the public. Not possible here because of space limitations.

I have always enjoyed reading Op-Eds. Editorial opinions by corporate CEOs, governmental officials, retired respected political figures, retired military, etc. Top-of-the-line persons.

I was distressed recently to learn that Op-Eds are not generally written by the person whose name appears as author. The Op-Eds are written by public relations firms.

The most prominent firm is Keybridge Communications. Named after Francis Scott Key. I find this amusing because of the recent furor involving the Star Spangled Banner.

Keybridge was founded and is run by a former Wall Street Journal writer. It specializes in writing and placing Op-Eds. Keybridge’s clients include influential trade groups and global corporations.

Keybridge places 3,000 Op-Eds a year. 500 to 800 words. Cost $5,000 each. Guarantee provided. Op-Ed will appear in one or more newspapers with readership no less than 50,000.

The client and/or Keybridge itself find the “author.” Now that I know, I consider Op-Eds a deceptive practice.

2. Facebook owns Facebook. Does what it wants. Understandable. He who pays the fiddler calls the tune.

The most famous photo coming out of the Vietnam War was of nine- year-old Kim Phuc. The picture of a young girl running and crying down a street. Screaming. She was nude. Her napalmed genitals visible to the world.

I thought it outstanding. One of the best ways to evidence the horror of war is to show those affected by it.

The photo was recently shown on someone’s Facebook site. Facebook pulled the picture and comment. Facebook said it violated its prohibition on “nudity.”

A bad call from my perspective. I do believe Facebook has the right to decide what gets run. It is their website.

Some called Facebook’s action in this instance an abuse of power. I further disagree. It is Facebook’s shop and can do what they want. However, I think it was a stupid move on Facebook’s part. They should reconsider.

3. Wells Fargo has been in the news this past week. One of the nation’s largest banks. One that needed bailing out during mortgage crisis.

No one from Wells Fargo or any other bank went to jail for mortgage wrongdoing. We were told at the time by our government that the banks …were too big too fail…too big to prosecute.

I thought it was bullshit then and think it bullshit now.

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay a $185 million fine for “widespread illegal” sales practices. 5,300 employees involved. Management down the ladder of responsibility. All discharged.

Wells Fargo had a program encouraging employees to increase the bank’s business. For several years. The employees opened millions of bank and credit card accounts for existing customers without telling them. Purpose: To meet sales goals. Customers were billed with fees.

The bank also transferred funds from customer’s legitimate account to the phony one without telling the customer.

The banks got away with financial murder in 2008. They continue to get away with wrongdoing. Always on a gigantic scale. When caught, the punishment is always a civil fine. No one ever goes to jail.

I say forget the fines. Charge devious bankers criminally. Convict them. Throw them in jail.

It won’t take long for banks to stop screwing around with personal funds and taxpayer dollars.

Let CEOs and other high-ranking officials spend some time in jail. The chicanery will end immediately.

No one wants to do jail time.

We do not do it. Probably because the banks and lobbyists own what is supposed to be our Congress.

It was just reported that the Wells Fargo employee running the unit to increase sales retired in July. After 27 years service. At a time when Wells Fargo was working on finalizing the investigation and civil consent order. Her name, Carrie Tolstedt. A top echelon person. She walked away with a $124.6 million pay out. Which proves wrongdoing has its benefits. Perpetrating a fraud pays well.

4. This one does not make sense: FDA recently banned the anti-bacterial chemical triclosan from soap. However, FDA said it was safe to use in toothpaste.

Colgate Total has been using triclosan in its toothpaste since 1997. Colgate feared the FDA was gong to come down on them following the FDA’s ruling re soap.

Colgate prepared a detailed report showing the chemical was safe and beneficial in its toothpaste. The triclosan is used by Colgate in conjunction with fluoride. The report indicated that after six to nine months use of Colgate Total, plaque was reduced 41 percent, gum inflammation 22 percent, gum bleeding 48 percent.

Rolf Haldren, director of Environmental Security at Arizona State University, has tracked triclosan for years. An expert. He finds FDA’s position hard to understand. Soap on hands results in only a very small amount getting into the body. Whereas through the gums “chemicals get rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream.”

FDA justified its decision re the soap by taking the position that long-time exposure to triclosan could lead to new strains of resistant bacteria. It could also disrupt normal development of the reproductive system and metabolism.

Soap, yes. Toothpaste, no. Hard to understand.

You should be aware. FDA is sensitive to big corporations and lobbyists. Like Congressmen. Influenced.

5.This is disgusting. I have been writing about the problem for five years. Recent news set forth the federal government was going to stop using private corporations to run its jails. The reasons simple. Poor quality service, brutality, money charging the prisoners, etc.

Private jail corporations also used for juvenile prisons in many states. 41 to be exact. Not good. The system is turning into a debtor’s prison for children. Poor families cannot pay the court costs and fines. They do not have the money. Children go to jail because the court costs and fines have not been paid.

Interest runs on the court costs and fines. The children’s confinement costs like room and board added to the unpaid court costs and fines. Medical, too.

Private jails are a business. Nothing for nothing. As a result, the children spend significantly more time in confinement than original sentence. No pay, no get out. The children are in effect punished for parents’ poverty.

This is America?

6. Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has kept track of employment in the public and private sectors since 1939. There was a time when manufacturing jobs out-numbered government workers.

Government workers grew in numbers. Eventually overtaking manufacturing jobs. Last time there were more employed in manufacturing than government work was 1989.

Employment gradually changed from 1989 to August this year. Government workers include federal, state and local governments. In August, government employees totaled 22,213,000; the manufacturing sector, 12,281,000. 9 million-plus difference.

An example of cost of government increasing at same time manufacturing jobs disappearing. One of the reasons for decrease in manufacturing jobs being NAFTA, jobs going to China and other countries.

7. Numbers can be manipulated. To arrive at any conclusion desired.

Let’s talk about unemployment.

The unemployment rate is low. Obama deserves the credit. He got it down from 10 percent to 4.9 percent—a respectable number.

The way unemployment is calculated however results in an erroneous result. Not a real one.

The labor pool used for calculation does not include the aged and those no longer looking for work. If so, the unemployment percentage would be significantly higher.

Obama is not playing with the numbers. Presidents and the federal government going back at least 50 years have used the same system. The one that comes up with a lower more favorable number.

Attention is directed to those unemployed and no longer looking for work. A classification in itself. They are referred to as prime age workers. Those between 25 and 54.

Eighty three percent of prime age workers did not work last year. Contrast last year with the early 1960s when nearly 100 percent of prime age workers had jobs.

Stated another way, nearly 100 percent of prime age workers were employed in the early 1960s. In 2015, only 17 percent.

Another way to look at it, one in six prime age workers employed.

Most prime age workers are not working because they have given up. After looking and looking and looking for work and not being able to be placed.

Trump is correct when he says the 4.9 percent number is not correct. Hillary knows it, but is silent. Understandable. Obama knows it. Everyone in government knows it. I suspect most of us know it, but do not think about it.

Enough for today.

As Porky Pig of old would say, that’s it folks!

CHICKENS DYING?

Someone commented in this morning’s Citizens’ Voice that the chickens are dying all over the island. The person asked why?

I have not noticed fewer chickens. Perhaps I have not paid attention. If someone agrees with the comment that the chickens are dying, please write and share what you know.

The Tropic Cinema is one of Key West’s gems. In front of the theater standing on the sidewalk is a life size statue of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt blowing upwards. A scene from a movie Marilyn made where she was standing over a subway grid.

The significance of the comment is that scene was filmed this day in 1954.

The Mosquito Control Board met last night. Voted not to proceed with the $4.5 million new building. Instead, voted to construct certain portions so the total cost would be less.

A garage and storage facility would be built. Together with the purchase of three work trailers. Total cost, $2, 995,000.

Sounds like a sales number.

Still don’t know if the number flies. Tax dollars pay for it all. Can the bucks be cut even further? As many people, I no longer have faith in the Board’s judgment.

I learn as I go along. Sometimes late.

There is a new diving experience in Key West. SNUBA. Not snorkeling, not scuba diving. Something between the two.

For those 8-80. Started 20 years ago in Hawaii. Described as an underwater guided tour. Dive certification not required. Ability to swim is. Instruction given before the dive.

My column in KONK Life is on the stands today. A Peek At The Truth.

Don’s Place first last night. No one, but Keith. Don, David, Larry, Boomer and others are in Miami on a golf trip. They will be back today. Eighteen holes the first day, 36 each of the next two days.

Tiring golf! Glad I set the game aside several years ago. We used to play hard, drink hard and stay up most of the night. I got too old for the trips. Could not handle all the fun.

Dinner at the outside bar at La Te Da with Keith. Tonto bartending.

Wednesday is prime rib night at La Te Da. George and Dillon had recommended it to me last week. I went specifically for the prime rib. We were there at 7. No prime rib. A popular wednesday special. Gone by 5.

Enjoyed wings instead.

The Battle of Britain effectively ended this date in 1940. The RAF shot down 56 German planes that day in two separate dogfights.

The next day, Hitler ended daytime air attacks on Britain. The move also postponed indefinitely Hitler’s invasion.

Winston Churchill said re Britain’s RAF pilots:  “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Bocce tonight. The last two weeks have been rained out. I hope to stop by and watch for a while.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

HELEN MIRREN FILMING MOVIE IN KEY WEST

The great English actress and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren filming parts of a movie in Key West. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The movie involves a retired couple taking a trip on their RV. Donald Sunderland plays Mirren’s husband.

The Key West Citizen ran a photo of Mirren being driven in an electric cart in this morning’s paper..

Mirren filmed in front of Salute’s yesterday. Today, she will be shooting at the Hemingway House. Tomorrow, I do not know.

My podcast last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. I enjoy doing the show. I assume people enjoy listening. I base the last sentence on the numbers and fact that I now have a few national advertisers. Like Geico and Walgreens.

I decided not to discuss politics. We are getting bombarded. I a political junkie am getting tired of listening. The worse Presidential campaign I have experienced. A lot of gutter snipping. Little policy discussion.

Ergo, I did not get into politics at all. Explained to the audience at the beginning I would not be and why.

Wells Fargo was the biggest item in my judgment. Especially with the news that the high echelon person responsible for the unit doing the bad deeds had retired in July. Her walk away payout $124.6 million. My point, crime pays.

A 4th case of Zika has been discovered in Monroe County. In Big Pine. Travel related.

Babe is now 3 months old. Daddy Hackley says she is “quite well.” Weighs 14 pounds.

Last year I fell many times. In one series, five times in seven days. All while going up or down stairs. I was sent to physiotherapy. Spent three months learning not only how to climb stairs, but also walk.

The key is to pay attention. Look where you are walking. Remember to lift your feet. Take your time.

It works. As simple as the instructions sound, I have only fallen once since. The reason I did fall was that I was not looking, not picking up my feet, and moving fast.

Falls Prevention Awareness Day is September 22. A notice re  the Day set forth facts with which I was not aware. The numbers apply to persons over 65. In 2014, 2,400 persons were fatally injured from falls. Fifty thousand hospitalized for non-fatal injuries.

Syracuse/South Florida saturday. South Florida a two touchdown favorite. After the beating Syracuse took from Louisville friday, I fear what might happen.

Enjoy your day!

WRONGDOING PAYS WELL

Wells Fargo. Can’t seem to get out of the news. First, the $185 million fine for illegal marketing practices. In addition to the fine, Wells Fargo discharged 5,300 employees claimed to have been involved..

Yesterday, it was reported that the head of the marketing unit retired in July. Her name, Carrie Tolstedt. A 27 year employee.

Her retirement payout, $124.6 million.

Wrongdoing pays.

An extremely busy day for me yesterday. I sometimes let things go. Then have to play catch up. Yesterday was catch up day.

Went well. In fact, I felt energized when I was done.

So energized, I put together tonight’s podcast. All done. Can relax today.

Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou is at 9. Topics include what I consider a Facebook error, the Wells Fargo fiasco, the FDA banning a specific chemical from soap and not toothpaste, debtor jails for children, government workers outnumber manufacturing jobs, only one in six primary age persons working, some Syracuse football, France and Israel with driverless vehicles, Joe Biden stepping in if Hillary cannot go ahead, police committing sex crimes, and more.

Dueling Bartenders at Aqua last night. Tom and Rick bartending. The three ladies I met at Tavern ‘n Town saturday night sitting at the bar. Mary, Lizabeth and Josefina. Plus a friend I have not seen in ages. Jim Wallace, together with his wife and mother in law. Jim was my art dealer at one time. He now is a manager at the Butterfly Conservatory.

I had a most enjoyable evening chatting with Lizabeth. Lizabeth Goody. Has had a Key West home for years. Lizabeth is a former Dean at two law schools. Stetson and Cleveland State. In spite of the overwhelming music noise, we talked law, mutual acquaintances, etc.

Farmer’s Market thursdays at Belleview Park. I am ashamed that I rarely go. The breads, cakes and honey outstanding. The City commission renewed the Market’s one year lease last night

Something strange in the news this morning. Not the local news.

The article stated the EPA had approved/permitted cutting edge technology re Zika carrying mosquitoes. University of Kentucky given the go ahead. Their solution somewhat similar to Oxitec’s, but different. Don’t ask how. It was not clearly spelled out.

Kentucky’s process has been tested in Fresno, California since May.

Is Kentucky’s process the end all solution/salvation to the Zika cause? Is Oxitec’s way alive?

The Star Spangled Banner does not leave us. All over the news the past few weeks. Today an anniversary. On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem which when put to music became the Star Spangled Banner.

Join me for my show this evening. A quick-moving half hour. Never boring. Sometimes controversial. Many topics eye openers. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!