Blog commutation today. Hospital tests. Return tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

The U.S.Supreme Court came down with 2 important decisions yesterday re Trump’s tax returns. Both not good for him.

His returns and other financials will definitely become part of the Manhattan District Attorney’s case. The other case involves subpoenaed Trump tax returns by Congress. Probably will be enforceable. However not as certain as the Manhattan D.A.’s case.

The specifics of the cases not of concern here. The information is already well known via media announcements since yesterday morning.

A significant portion of my practice involved federal court cases. Especially the environmental ones.

The federal courts are overloaded. Too many cases. In every federal court I appeared. The scene always the same.

Part of trial work involves motions. Legal arguments. No clients, no jury. Only the judge and attorneys involved. A point of law to be resolved. Generally important to the case. A successful motion could mean immediate victory then and there.

Judges never broke for lunch. They continued to hear legal arguments through the lunch hour. Eating a sandwich and drinking a can of soda while so doing.

The federal courts then and now overloaded and not enough judges.

The paper work involved in trying a federal case is overwhelming. More for the attorneys involved, rather than the judges. Reams of required responses to relatively unimportant items. Required several days to prepare at the attorney end and time later by the judge’s clerk to review.

The system requires more judges. Problem is the politics of it all. Takes forever, sometimes years, for a nominee to be approved to any of the federal courts.

Ergo. federal cases take on a life of their own. The Manhattan D.A. one around 4 years so far. The Congressional one almost 2 years.

One of the first things taught in law school is Justice delayed is Justice denied. The present federal system has too much delay built into it. The Rules of Court must change.

The paper work must be cut back dramatically. Judges need 1-2 more law clerks each. The law clerks are former brilliant law students who research the law and often prepare rough drafts of the judge’s decision.

The entire system must be looked at and changes made. All to accelerate the process.

What galled me when I was practicing and galls me even to day when I am a retired observer is the wasted years before a decision is rendered. Legal cases sitting for several years to be reached resolve no one’s problems. The pain is now, the resolution should be now. Not 4-5 years hence.

My other concern involves the number of Supreme Court Justices. Every year there is clamor anew for an expansion of the Court. Not because of the time factor. Rather, politics.

Politics will never be fully removed from the process. It is the way it is.

In order to make it possible for Supreme Court cases to move faster, two things are required.

More clerks. For the reasons set forth hereinbefore.

Additionally, the Supreme Court rules themselves must be adjusted to meet the expediency of the times. The Manhattan D.A. decision favors the D.A. However, it must first go back to the trial court for review and application. More delay.

Whether Trump lied on his taxes and financials will not be public knowledge before the election. Not right. The people should know whether their President is a thief before they vote on him again.

My solution again two fold. Redo the court rules to accelerate the process and add 1-2 law clerks to each judge at each level to assist in moving cases faster.

Even a federal judge has the right to a leisurely lunch hour.

The other thing that bothers me is the excitement because Gorsuch and Kavanaugh voted with the Court’s liberal block in both cases.

Judges are human. The black robes do not make them any less people. They are driven by the same motivations and desires as any one else.

I suspect the two may have voted as they did to show the Nation they are not die hard far right Republicans who blindly support Trump. They are cleansing themselves.

See how many times they vote with the liberal block over the next year.

Can’t wait to read Trump’s niece’s book concerning Uncle Donald. Too Much and Never Enough.

She claims Trump paid someone to take the SAT exam for him. Would not surprise me. This past year has seen several parents arrested who arranged the same for their children. I am familiar with a former judge who had a friend take his LSAT exam for admittance to law school so he would be sure to pass and get in.

Trump continues to threaten to cut school funding if schools do not reopen. A tyrannical way to govern. My way or the highway.

Trump has screwed up how the country should be dealing with coronavirus. Look at the numbers! Now he wants to set our children up to die. Merely to get parents back to work. The economy, economy, economy!

Some additional comments I have come across in response to Trump’s cry to reopen the schools.

“I feel fine. I paid somebody to take my coronavirus test.”

“Mr. President, you are a complete buffoon.”

“Who is he going to blame when the kids start getting sick?”

“There is no way that I am going to sacrifice my precious kids to the deadly pandemic! Never!!!”

“He allowed the enemy to murder our men and women who give their lives for our country. You really believe the narcissist psychopath cares about our little ones?”

“The poster child for the face of evil. He’s a bully, full of fear.”

Beginning today, this blog will also appear every day in KONK Life E-Blast.

I am excited.

The picture KONK publisher Guy de Boer picked out of his photo morgue is of me some years ago in Greece. I am on Amorgos and sitting under a overhang at my favorite Amorgos restaurant. I went over late morning each day to do my blog. Ate lunch while there. Spent several hours writing and taking in the scenery.

The restaurant was nothing fancy. Nothing on Amorgos was. Interesting, however.

Greek men sing and dance all the time. Without the ladies.

Frequently about a dozen Greek fishermen would appear at the restaurant for lunch. Joined by the village priest. They sang as a group for a couple of hours.

Me, my blog, some good Greek food, and them! What more could I ask for?

Key West is getting back on the ball in fighting the virus. We were doing well. Then the political leaders succumbed to the cries of the businessmen and reopened our community.

The numbers have gone up.

The writing is on the wall.

As of today, all bar service and bar counters is closed to seating and consumption.

Good! Will dissuade the mainland folks from coming to Key West weekends to party. They bring their germs with them. We do not need them to infect us.

Governor De Santis has done a wonderful job. He has Florida totally screwed up with the virus. Understandable why. He sucks up to and follow Trump’s dictates. Trump says De Santis is the best governor in the U.S. No wonder.

U.S.1 should be closed again. All non-residents banned from entering the Keys. I believe our County and City officials want to do so. De Santis has the final say. So far, no.

May Johnson’s heart continues throbbing for boy friend Ernest who lives and works in Miami. Her suffering appears minimal only. Most evenings she is at La Brisa dancing with everyone.

For this day in 1896, May wrote in her diary: “1 year ago tonight I met my darling. Oh! Happy thought.” A few lines later, May reported: “Went to La Brisa. I danced all dances but two.”

No blog tomorrow. I will be spending the morning at the hospital taking tests. Not for coronavirus.

I am upset. This is day 120 of my self-quarantine. I have left the house only 2 times. Each for less than an hour. To see the doctor. Now I have to go to one of the worst places to be at this time.

Enjoy your day!

KONK Life yesterday ran a 1962 photo of Newt Munson and friends standing on Munson Island.

Munson Island?

Today, Little Palm Island.

The island sits in the Atlantic close to shore. Big Pine a few miles away.

In between the two names, the John Kennedy story PT-109 was filmed there.

John Spottswood at some point bought Munson Island from Newt Munson. He did not rename the island.

Spottswood was a distinguished citizen of Key West. Sheriff and State Senator. Real estate entrepreneur. Fathered a wonderful family who carry on his good name today as well as numerous Key West investments.

President Kennedy was visiting. He and Spottswood were driving around in a convertible. Word was a movie was to be made about Kennedy’s World War II exploits. PT-109. Spottswood mentioned to the Presidnet he had an island that was perfect for filming the story.

PT-109 was filmed on Munson Island. Starred Cliff Robertson as John Kennedy.

At some point in time, others purchased the island. Renamed it and built Little Palm Island, the famous resort and restaurant.

Many years later, Cliff Robertson returned to Key West. As National Chairman of an international fund raising drive for the Mel Fisher Museum.

I met Robertson that evening. He was on in his years. Still good looking. A warm, affable man.

His attire from another era. Everything perfect. Sport jacket, shirt, and slacks. Accompanied by an ascot and white bucks!

The ascot and white bucks in no way detracted from his appearance and charm.

Coronavirus all over the world. Especially the U.S. The bubonic plague threatening to break out of Mongolia. Keys mosquitoes having a field day. For the first time in years, dengue fever has returned. Key Largo up to 11 cases.

Reminds me of the inflictions God imposed on the Pharaoh through Moses.

The Keys are a relatively safe place to live. Even Key West which many who do not live here believe the town is wrought with crime and danger.

Every few years, a strange crime occurs. The recent is not a Keys happening. Rather, St. Petersburg.

A woman was jogging along a road. Discovered a human head 7 in the morning in a grassy area between the sidewalk and road. The head badly decomposed.

Ugh!

The matter is under investigation.

Can’t argue with numbers. The U.S. has 4.2 percent of the world’s population, 25.3 percent of coronavirus cases, and 24.4 percent of coronavirus deaths.

The U.S. has handled the virus problem with gross negligence and incompetence. The blame lying solely with Trump

Due to the virus, many are unemployed in the U.S. Financial hurt covers the nation. Not with everyone, however.

A recent study revealed that in the past year the total wealth of U.S. billionaires swelled by $565 billion.

There is a point to be made. Americans cannot depend on their leadership to look after them. At least not the present leadership.

I am inclined to agree with Trump’s niece who labels him a sociopath. His most recent move evidence of the condition. He wants the children of America back in school.

At a time when the coronavirus numbers are off the wall in many states.

Trump’s concern is not the education of the children. It involves showing what he perceives as his success in handling the virus and providing parents with the ability to return to work.

The man is insane! A generation of our children could be lost.

The choice should be solely parental. Not the federal, state or local governments’. Another 6-12 months of virtual education as opposed to bricks and mortar will not hurt. Life is more important.

I want to share some comments re Trump’s push to get the kids back in school. His position not a popular one.

“Sorry, but all my kids have bone spurs. They won’t be going to school unless those spurs are cured.”

“What an unusual combination: mental retardation, sociopathy, and narcissism.”

“Where are the pro-life people?”

“My children’s health is more important than their education. Being a mother we have to protect our babies.”

“This is like being tied up and gagged in the back seat of a car with a drunken driver at the wheel.”

“It seems like he wants to kill everybody…..now even kids.”

The blind cannot see. Some of those not blind, cannot see.

Even I as a lay person I understand placing a large number of people together without face masks and social distancing is going to result in a coronavirus spike 2-3 weeks thereafter.

Recall the Tulsa rally some 2 weeks ago.

Tulsa is experiencing that spike!

The total number of new cases for monday and tuesday this week were just short of 500.

What will the remainder of the week bring?

Coronavirus continues to affect businesses as well as humans.

United Airlines announced it will furlough nearly 36,000 employees.

Bed Bath & Beyond is closing 20 stores. Sales are down 50 percent.

Brooks Brothers one of my favorite stores. Dressed me and my son for years.

The Company 202 years old.

Filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Intends to close 51 of its 250 North American stores. Brooks will also halt production at its factories in North Carolina and New York in mid-August.

Trump continues to avoid disclosing his personal financial information. I am not referring to his tax returns. Later today, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule if he must and to what extent.

Certain federal employees must annually file a financial disclosure form as to their previous year’s financial activities. Trump has failed to do so. His excuse he has been busy with coronavirus and the report is too “complicated.”

He has filed the report in previous years.

Trump obtained a 45 day extension. The extension ran out one week ago. Trump has still failed to file. Says he will file “as soon as possible.”

Good luck!

Enjoy your day!

Hemingway’s loves were many.

The first Agnes Hannah von Kurowsky.

Hemingway was 18. He wanted to participate in World War I. The U.S. was not yet in the War. He volunteered to be an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross in Italy.

It was on this day in 1918 that Hemingway was wounded. He was struck by an Austrian mortar shell. The two men sanding next to him were killed. Another nearby seriously wounded.

Hemingway had serious wounds to his right foot and knee. He had been rendered unconscious and was under a pile of dirt.

Unknowingly, his consciousness returned. He picked up the wounded soldier next to him, threw him over his shoulder, and carried him back to a first aid dugout.

Totally unaware what he was doing. Never recalled the soldier, never recalled that he carried him back to the first aid area.

The Italian government became aware, however. They considered him a hero. He was awarded the Croce de Guerra, the Italian medal of valor.

He was shipped to a hospital in Milan for surgery and care. His leg wounds serious. His recovery time in the hospital six months. His nurse an American. Her name Agnes Hannah von Kurowsky.

They fell in love. A flaming love. Hemingway a bit younger at 18. Agnes, 26.

Hemingway was permitted a few days away from the hospital. He and Agnes visited Lake Maggiore. They stayed at the Grand Hotel in Stresa.

Following Hemingway’s recovery, he was sent back to the U.S. He thought Agnes would follow soon thereafter and they would be married.

Agnes changed her mind. Wrote a Dear John letter to Hemingway.

He was destroyed.

A Farewell to Arms is based on his experience in the Italian war and his relationship with Agnes. Only the ending different. Instead of the Dear John letter, Agnes’s counterpart died after a terrible trip in a raging storm in a rowboat over Lake Maggiore in an attempt to reach Switzerland. She died in child birth.

Hemingway’s character Catherine Barkley is based on Agnes.

I have been fortunate to have visited Lake Maggiore and the Grand Hotel several times.The Lake magnificent. Strewn with tiny islands. Bright flowers on shore and covering the islands.

I visited the Grand. Thrilling! A step back in time. Hemingway had stayed there, drank there.

The Grand and other hotels in Stresa all from another era. I assume built before 1900. All majestic.

I inquired of the bartender about Hemingway. He never met him. However there was a very old waiter who knew him and had waited on him when he was a bartender back in the time Hemingway and Agnes had been there.

The bartender introduced me to the gentleman I respectfully describe as the old bartender.

He was delighted to share with me those few days he had spent with Hemingway and Agnes. The bar was in the rear of the hotel at the time. Not up front as it was when I was there. He took me to see it. It was a small room. Now used for storage. One window. He showed me where Hemingway sat so he could get a view out the window.

I dined in area restaurants. One was on a small island off shore. A boat ride away. Somewhat like dining these days at Latitudes on Sunset Key. Except the island held only one small building. I had the feeling it once was a chapel. Sat outside on a balcony overlooking the water. Brilliant red flowers all around me.

The preceding merely an interruption. There is more to the Hemingway/Agnes story.

Hemingway had long left Key West. He was living in Cuba when Agnes opted to move to Key West. It was 1951. She remained till 1966. Her purpose in coming to Key West was not to see Hemingway.

Hemingway revisited Key West on occasion. Historians doubt he even knew Agnes was living on the island. Agnes never attempted to meet him. The former lovers never saw each other after Hemingway left Italy.

Agnes lived in Key West 15 years. A librarian at the Monroe County Library.

Agnes never shared her Hemingway relationship with anyone in Key West. However after a number of years, the “trolley car” people discovered her. She finally left in 1966 after becoming upset with the trolley cars going by her home every day and announcing on a loudspeaker that hers was the house where Hemingway’s first girl friend lived, the heroine in A Farewell to Arms, etc.

While still living in Key West, Agnes became friends with Hemingway’s fourth wife Mary.

After Hemingway died, Mary visited Key West to go through some boxes Hemingway had left in a back room at Sloppy Joe’s. It was in one of the boxes that Mary discovered Agnes’ Dear John letter to Hemingway. She also discovered some love notes Hemingway received from Agnes.

Agnes discovered Mary was now living in Key West. She visited with her. Returned the Dear John letter and love notes to her.

Ironically, Mary and Agnes became the best of friends and remained so the rest of their lives.

Enjoy your day!

Man has two basic needs. Shelter and food.  Without, survival can be difficult.

Coronavorus has exposed society to worse shelter and food problems than existed before. An apocalypse is in the making.

In June, 30,000 Americans could not make rent. A federal eviction program exists which has protected many in recent months. However, it ends July 25.

Most are already 3 months behind in rent payments. B the end of July, it will be 4. How will the landlord be paid? Another $1,200 check won’t make things better, assuming another $1,200 check is even forthcoming.

Expect therefore a huge wave of evictions, homelessness, and hunger.

The eviction/homeless numbers are staggering. Experts project 15 percent over 2 months resulting in 17 million new persons on the streets.

Food banks have been doing the job so far. They will be overloaded. Some will go hungry.

The result will be more demonstrations. Actually, riots. Civil disorder as we have not known in recent times. People cannot be denied the basics for survival.

Bubonic plague can be the next pandemic.

This has not been an easy year thus far. First, coronavirus. Recently in Florida, 8 cases of dengue fever. The Fall is coming. Flu season will return .

The bubonic plague is the black death of the Middle Ages. Rarely occurs in modern times.

It occurred recently in Mongolia near the Russian border. Two cases initially. Bad at a time when there should be none.

The cases confirmed. Two brothers. The plague caused by eating marmot meat.

Marmot meat is the “native cuisine” of Mongolia. The relatively small animal is skinned and cleansed. Hot coals are sewed into the stomach of the animal. The marmot is left to cook.

Mongolia now has 146 confirmed cases of bubonic plague. Five hundred four second contact individuals.

The Mongolian government did not screw around. As is evident, they are already into tracing.

WHO is concerned. They have people on the ground in Mongolia.

A noteworthy observation. The Mongolians are paying attention. They are getting on top of the problem immediately. They are not dilly-dallying as the U.S. has with coronavirus.

The Alps are magnificent. Beautiful. Awesome.

I have had the opportunity to visit various parts several times. Snow and ice on the tops of the mountains even in the summer.

I recall a July when when I was staying in a chalet half way up Mont Blanc. Somewhere around the Italian/French border. It was hot.

Woke one morning to find snow everywhere. No green grass left to be seen. Strange as it was, it had snowed overnight. Locals told me not uncommon in the summer. By 11 in the morning, the snow had melted.

The white snow of the Alps is now pink in many places. Described as salmon tinted. Watermelon colored. A bad sign for the Earth’s climate.

The pink is caused by “snow algae.” The algae caused by warmer than normal weather. The effect on the glacier ice and snow is that both melt faster. Resulting in flooding below.

Coronavirus has a serious hold on the U.S. for 2 reasons. A President who has failed to lead by example and who has failed to accept coronavirus as a danger. Another is most people refuse to follow the simple rules required to bring the virus under control. Like mask wearing, social distancing, and washing hands. They also want to party when such is not recommended.

Key West is no different than most other parts of the country. Key West did well initially. Now it has succumbed to the desires of the business community to reopen.

Local coronavirus numbers have steadily been rising since June 1 when Key West and Monroe County reopened. They will increase further as a result of the July 4 weekend past.

Local leaders banned the Fourth fireworks. A wise move. They also have prohibited persons from buying alcohol inside bars where social distancing is being enforced and then taking the drinks outside to a crowded sidewalk to drink where there is no social distancing.

The beaches were closed also.

That’s it.

I would have closed the restaurants and bars. Even though the 6 foot rule in bars and 50 percent rule in restaurants was being enforced.

Tourist came to Key West for the Fourth. They partied.

My friends who were out reported 75 percent of those on Duval were without masks. Mostly tourists. Most young people.

The Town should have been shut down for the weekend. We do not need strangers bringing disease to Duval Sreet.

I was also told the boat business was good. Visitors filled the boats the whole weekend.

Most tourists are coming from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. They are the 2 highest numbered counties in the whole U.S. for coronavirus.

Miami-Dade closed down. Broward on the way to doing it.

No problem. U.S. 1 to Key West is open.

Monroe County made it easy. Took down the road block June 1. Succumbed to the pressure of local businessmen to reopen.

What will 2 weekends from now hold? An increase in coronavirus cases in Key West. Without question. The town may have to be closed down again and properly so.

Lets put this in perspective. The Key West hospital has only 10 ICU beds. Four already occupied. The rest of Monroe County 8. Where will our sick go? Out of town to be hospitalized and perhaps die.

Many believe we are experiencing the “second wave” of the virus. They’re wrong. Even Dr. Fauci says we have not finished the first yet. He claims the U.S. continues to be “knee deep” yet in the “first wave.”

The U.S. is presently just short of 3 million coronavirus cases.

The numbers keep rising dramatically. Coronavirus is like a meteor. It moves rapidly.

Last thursday represented the highest daily number of new cases in the U.S. Fifty five thousand plus. Up from the previous day’s 52 thousand plus.

On today’s date in 1896, May Johnson caught a chicken and prepared it for dinner: Lena and I “caught a chicken, Lena pulled, I picked, we cooked dinner.”

Reminded me of my youth. Like 4-5 years old. Chickens were bought in “chicken stores.” Not like today in super markets. In fact, no supper markets back then in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Big grocery stores at the most.

The chicken stores sold only chickens. The store a room filled with open cases of live chickens. The customer selected the chicken desired. A worker took it behind the counter. Killed and plucked the chicken. Plucking removing the feathers.

We were poor. Could not afford to buy a chicken.

No one who could pay wanted the feet. Bones with little meat and a lot of skin. The stores kept them for those who might have a need. For free. We had a need.

I used to go with my grandmother. The store always had a bag of legs waiting for her. She got enough for the whole family.

The legs were boiled. Made for excellent chicken soup. The bones and skin tasted good and provided the protein portion of a meal.

I do not know what happens to the chicken bones these days. Never have seen in a super market. Someone has to be eating them.

My thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday. The greetings are still coming in today. You are all wonderful people!

Tonight my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Trust me, there is much to discuss. I will be in all my glory ranting and raving.

Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

Today is my birthday. I am 85 years old.

Big number!

I want to share with you my thoughts re aging on this my 85th birthday.

Everything was just yesterday. Kindergarten, grammar school, first bike, first job, first girl friend, first kiss, high school, college, law school, early days practicing law, marriage, son being born, then 3 daughters, first trial, each step in the development of my practice, great victories, terrible defeats, a dying marriage, the women I loved, the women who loved me, first car, first new car, illnesses, my grandparents, my parents, grandchildren being born, purchase of Key West home, becoming a writer, the Chart Room, my many friends, death all around me in increasing numbers as time goes on.

Yesterday in the sense that all these things occurred time wise for me only yesterday. Not years ago.

Which means time moves fast. The years get shorter. Each succeeding year shorter than the previous. Here it is July and New Years was only yesterday.

You move towards death at a resounding speed.

Death itself does not concern me. I view it as one of two things. When you have had an operation, they inject you with something to put you under. Everything is black. Not even a dream. If there is no after life, such will be death.

On the other hand, I would prefer an afterlife. Not because I want to live forever. Rather I want to see those I loved so much who went before me. Especially my parents and grandparents.

My mind is locked at 35. The body ages, the mind does not. I still think 35.

The body unfortunately does not stay put. Its goal is total deterioration.

I have abused my body on occasion. Not badly, however. Overall took care of it. At 31, I got sick and spent 4 months in bed. I’ve been a hypochondriac since. Which means I go to the doctor frequently. Check every pain and discomfort.

The body is like a car. You have to bring the car to a garage to be tuned up. So too must the body. To the doctor’s office.

I have a number of physical ailments at 85. Take 16 prescription pills a day. Says it all. No need to detail each problem.

Except for one. My heart. My major defect.

We are our parents. My father had a heart problem. For years. He lived to 98, however.

I have the same problem. Hopefully, I will make it to 98.

Genetics are on my side. My grandfather lived to 94. One of my father’s sisters 102.

The mind gets smarter as one ages. It must be the accumulation of knowledge factor. When I was 50, it dawned on me how smart I was. As a lawyer. By 60, I knew everything I had to know in my specialty. I even impressed myself.

The brain has many cells. It seems to accumulate.

Caronavirus scares me. They say we who are 80 plus are most susceptible. Especially if there is an underlying malady involved. I have mine. The heart.

I watch my health. Today is not only my birthday, it is also the 117th day of self-quarantine. I have only left the house two times. For a doctor visit each time and then immediately home.

One thing very noticeable is that you have fewer friends as you age. They die or move away. I sometimes feel I am the grandfather of the Chart Room. I am one of the few long timers left.

My doctors bother me in one respect. I have a few minor problems that should be corrected. No one wants to operate on me. Anesthesia the problem. Seems to kill people at my age.

Another thing is what doctors tell me when I want answers to what is bothering me. They tell me the same thing that they told my father: You have outlived the books.

Should be encouraging. Not.

When abortion first became an issue, I was anti-abortion. My thoughts have since changed. Not the point, however.

One of my concerns then was if we permit the killing of the young (I believe a fetus is life) today, society will permit the killing of the old tomorrow. Tomorrow has arrived and I am one of the old. And society and medicine do occasionally talk about the elderly being expendable in certain cases.

I am not interested in taking a pill at a certain age so others can live.

Research and writing have kept me going. I am mentally alert and sharp. Every day in my 14 years of retirement, I research and write. The blog every day. A couple of books. Working on 3 others I never seem to finish.

I sincerely believe that were I not involved so much with reading and writing I might be sitting in a wheel chair in a nursing home with my tongue hanging out.

I have been a failure at exercise. I used to run and walk. Two to three miles a day for years. Cross country skied every evening after work for years.

Now, nothing. Not healthy I know. The desire, urge has left me over the years. Bothers me especially since my grandfather and father were big walkers for years. Three to five miles a day.

Time brings with it changes. I have tried to keep up. Believe I have done pretty good. The computer an example. I might add I consider the computer THE invention of my generation. The internet can only be described as wow! The biggest things since the industrial revolution.

I hope I bored you not!

Enjoy your day!

Trump’s Fourth of July speech yesterday a failure. Lies, misrepresentations, innuendos, and pure ordinary bullshit do not make for a patriotic endeavor.

The speech included a defense of “American heroes,” an attack on the Chinese, and an attack on the media. Trump tried to highlight what he views as the shared “great” heritage of Americans.

He called for “unity.” Claimed the country is defeating the “radical left.” He emphasized “protecting and defending” the American way of life.

Always quick to pass the buck, blame another, part of Trump’s China attack included blaming China for coronavirus. In addition, he blamed increased testing for the increased number of confirmed cases.

The speech was not very American. In fact, left me feeling a bit dirty by its end.

A July 4 Presidential Address should leave the citizenry feeling as if they were listening to the song America. Patriotic. The opening stanza a reflection of goodness: “My country, ’tis of thee, / Sweet land of liberty, / Of thee I sing; / Land where my fathers died, / Land of the pilgrims’ pride, / From every mountainside / Let freedom ring!”

An abolitionist version of America was written by A.G. Duncan in 1843. Its second stanza exemplary truth: “My native country, thee, / Where all men are born free, if white’s their skin; / I love thy hills and dales, / Thy mounts and pleasant vales; / But hate thy negro sales, as foulest sin.”

There was a July 4 White House celebration which resulted in the death of a President. President Zachary Taylor in 1850.

I am not sure of the significance, but the Washington Monument was under construction at the time. The celebration might have been held at the construction site rather than the White House.

President Taylor consumed water and raw fruit. Five days later, he died from a gastrointestinal illness that historians believe was cholera. Cholera the result of ingesting infected water and/or fruit.

Trump always needs a particular group of people to vilify. In fact, to ride to election victory.

In 2016, it was immigrants. This year, other Americans.

Trump claims the burning of the American flag before the White House this weekend was organized by radical leftists. Far right leftist. Two groups. The Revolutionary Communist Party and Refuse Fascism.

May be true. I don’t know. What I do know is whether true or not, it is Trump trying to improperly paint all liberals as radical leftists. In this case, communists and perhaps fascists.

A statue of Christopher Columbus was taken down and thrown into Baltimore Harbor saturday night. A statue of Jeffrey Epstein mysteriously appeared outside the Albuquerque City Hall over the weekend. It was removed within 24 hours.

When does this crap stop?

Florida is close to being #1 in coronavirus outbreaks. Presently #2.

The reason Florida’s numbers are increasing dramatically is the actions of our inept Governor De Santis. Trump’s lap dog. He does everything Trump wants or suggests. Ergo, De Santis has been as successful as Trump in fighting the virus.

Yesterday, Florida had 11,458 new coronavirus cases. A new one day high!

Things are moving swiftly. Florida is up to 190,052 confirmed cases, 3,803 which resulted in death.

I want to say something rarely mentioned. The last war the U.S. won was World War II. We have not won any wars in which the U.S. has been engaged since.

The ending of the Vietnam War especially bothered me. The world watched its last days on television.

The last day was April 30, 1975. We all watched the last group of Americans airlifted off the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. While on the ground, North Vietnamese forces were in effect reaching the gates of the Embassy.

Embarrassing. The most powerful nation on earth being brought to its knees by a tiny Asian country.

The last 18 hours found 81 helicopters landing on the Embassy roof and removing 6,000 civilians  and more than 1,000 Americans to safety.

Baby feeding not a major problem today. A mother can try breast feeding if she so desires. If she cannot produce sufficient milk, the solution is at the super market. Canned formula.

A baby is never left crying from hunger.

Not the way it was in 1855 in Key West.

William Hackley’s wife Matilda had given birth. Breast feeding was the mode of the day. She could not produce enough. The baby would cry half the day and night.

The solution in Hackley’s day was goat milk. Get your own goat and milk it.

By July 3, 1855, Hackley had bought or rented 2 different goats from 2 different sources.The goats were as barren as Matilda. Hackley was desperate. He sent to Havana for a goat. A few days between the order and receiving the goat.

The baby continued crying. William and Matilda continued walking the floor.

On July 4, Matilda’s nipples began suffering from the baby munching so hard on them. Hackley went to South Beach to get some Bay Cider for Matilda’s breasts.

Very sorrowful canned formula was not available back then.

May Johnson’s life remains in good stead in July 1896. The 20 year old Key West school teacher is living life. Respectfully.

July 3, 1896 must have been a day of rest. Very little done. May and her girl friends weighed themselves. May came in at 124 1/2 pounds.

July 4 was another story! Independence Day! America was celebrating. May and Key West were celebrating.

May has a strange relationship. Her “love” is Ernest. He rarely is in Key West. Works in Miami. They correspond. May’s last letter to Ernest 17 pages.

May goes dancing almost every day however at La Brisa. Never dances with one. Dances with many. For hours.

She began July 4 by writing to Ernest.

The Battleship Maine was in harbor. A reception was scheduled on the Maine. May and her friends were invited.

May wrote, “We went all over the ship.”

She claims she made a “dead smash” on Mr. Ward, claiming, “My! He is so handsome.”

I assume a “dead smash” is a kiss.

The Maine visit ended with May and her friends returning to shore by boat. The boys were “much drunk, Ugh!”

She described her Fourth as “gloriously grand, much Fourth, Ah!”

She concluded her diary entry advising “she came to bed at 12 o’clock.” Significant because I do not recall her ever mentioning such a late bed time before.

Key West cancelled its annual White Street Pier fireworks because of the virus. My neighborhood had its own.

Seems like my neighbors in every direction had fireworks. They went off constantly for 3 hours.

I never went out to watch. Too many people on the street.

Today, Sunday. Will be a typical one for me. As it has been for more than 3 months. Staying in to avoid the virus.

I am getting through this time with actually no difficulty. Thank God I enjoy researching and writing. Otherwise, I might be a basket case.

Enjoy your Sunday!

God bless America! Two hundred forty four years old today. It was on this day in 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was signed whereby we declared our independence from Great Britain.

Except for the Civil War era, July 4 was a happy day. Partying, parades, etc. Last year a relatively normal one, also.

Not this year.

The scab has fallen off, the wound is open again. Race relations.

My positions on the various issues are known. Set forth in detailed fashion in recent blogs. Today, I wish only to make 2 observations.

The blacks believe it is their time. To all appearances, it seems like they want to take over. Their time to run things.

The U.S. has a population approximately 76 percent white. Includes Hispanics who make up 12 percent of the white population. Remove the Hispanics, and the whites still are the major group with 64 percent.

Blacks constitute 13 percent.

How can a group decide it is their time to rule when they have no where near the numbers required to be the majority group? Equality, yes. Rule, no.

Observation two is the coronavirus epidemic. It is screwing everything up. Race a legitimate part of the issue from the virus perspective. The problems must be corrected. Blacks are entitled to the same assistance and concerns as whites. They have not been getting it.

Trump is not helping. He is screwing everything up by his lack of handling the pandemic in a proper fashion.

Today is the holiday! I wish you each a Happy Fourth knowing full well it cannot be because of the race and health problems confronting our nation.

Idiocy continues to reign supreme! The GOP is reportedly eyeing Tucker Carlson for the 2024 Presidential run. He is as bad as Trump, if not worse. Lies equally as well.

The reason Carlson is under serious consideration is that his FOX news show is the most watched cable news program in history.

Would you believe!

Donald was at Mount Rushmore yesterday. Probably thinking how great it would be if his face were sculptured on the side of the mountain.

He spoke to 7,500, all closely seated. Very few face masks.

Nearby Native Americans were upset Trump was to appear. They asked he not do so.

The tribes fear a coronavirus spike among its members. They had done well up to this time.

One of the tribal leaders said the “President is putting our tribal members at risk to stage a photo op at one of our most sacred sites.”

Trump spewed his usual poison during his speech. Like “the left wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American revolution.” Some on the political left hope to “defame out heroes, erase our values, and culture to be taken from them…..Our children are taught in school to hate their own country.” The left represents “far left fascism.”

This past week Trump questioned Biden’s mental capabilities. Claimed he would fail or not do as well as Trump did on the congenitive/dementia test given as part of a physical.

Trump claimed he “aced” it.

You would have to be an idiot not to. The test is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Tests for early signs of dementia. Part of most annual physicals. I have been taking it for years.

The test requires all of 10 minutes.

Simplicity permeates.

Things like identifying 3 animals in a picture, asked to relate why certain things are common, draw a clock with the hands at 11:10, repeat 5 words 3 different times, etc.

Glad you “aced” it  Mr. President. I would not expect less from you or any President.

Chechnya is a southern Russian republic. The scene of a horrifying humanitarian crisis. The site of a social cleansing. A place where terror reigns supreme for LGBTQ people.

Since 2017, the government has been trying to exterminate all gay people. A state sanctioned purge.

Putin is directing the human destruction.

Trump is fully aware. Trump has failed to speak about or criticize the situation.

Outright killings on the streets. Also, family honor killings of lesbian females.

Forget Trump for the moment. No one in Washington is talking about this slaughter either.

The blacks are deprecating John Wayne, also. He was known to speak strongly about problems similar to those confronting us today. His feelings anti-black in a sensitive fashion. Made his position clear, however.

Another part of Wayne to be shared are his religious beliefs.

He was born and raised a Presbyterian, believed in God, and occasionally taught the Bible.

Wayne was known to hand write letters to God as a way of praying. He refused to take part in movies he thought were immoral, even during the times film immorality was on the rise and acceptance.

He died on his deathbed at home from cancer. Two days before he died, he converted to Catholicism.

I don’t know what all this means. I am merely sharing another part of John Wayne with you.

A bit of Keys news and information.

The lobster mini season is the last wednesday and thursday of July. Islamorada is asking the County and State to cancel the event. To close all of the Keys. In an attempt to further protect against coronavirus.

A good idea. Visitors come to the Keys in droves to lobster fish those 2 days. I used to sit on my dock in Key Haven and watch them. Reminded me of that scene in Jaws where everyone went out to capture the shark. Big boats, little boats, in between size boats. Boats overloaded with people.

A bit of history. Monroe County was the sixth county established in Florida. June 3, 1823.

Way back when.

Florida not even a state. The county established by the territorial legislature, signed by Governor William P. Duval.

Dengue fever is on the rise in the Key Largo area. It comes around some where in the Keys every few years.

Someone recently asked in Citizens’ Voice: “Now that dengue fever is rising, will Key West require that we all wrap in mosquito netting when we go outside?”

A little humor never hurt!

Cocktails at 7 last night with Cathy in Seattle. Skype works wonders for a person like me quarantined now for over 100 days.

Made a friend over the internet early on. Cathy used to live in Key est in the 1980’s.

We now get together one night a week for 2 or 3 hours. Sort of like a date. We chat away. Cathy drinks alcohol, I diet soda.

She told me last night she was having a cook out at her house today with 2 friends. You are aware I have two lesbian wives. Donna and Terri. Cathy has gay husbands. Two, also. One colored and blind. Terri is colored and blind.

How very unusual! I would like to put together a Skype party for all of us.

A well liked and respected American died yesterday. Hugh Downs. Newscaster and announcer. Ninety nine years old. Died from natural causes.

One of the greats in television news casting.

Enjoy your holiday!

Busy morning ahead. Today #113 of my self-quarantine. Will be leaving the house for only the second time. Do not like it. However, I have no choice. The body is reacting to my normal pre-coronavirus problems. Need medical updating.

Ergo, a Morning Stew.

Tom Friedman had an excellent Opinion piece on 6/30/2020 in the New York Times: This Should Be Biden’s Bumper Sticker.

“Respect science, respect nature, respect each other.”

Fitting.

Friedman begins with “We’re not leading. We’re not following. We’re lost.”

Friedman wrote Trump has changed things dramatically. He has created a different pandemic. “A pandemic of incivility. You cannot exaggerate the impact on the whole civil cultures of having a President who has elevated name-calling, denigration and lying to a central feature of his Presidency, amplified by the White House.”

Friedman believes Biden “will need a simpler, clear message to counter Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”

Friedman’s idea for such a bumper sticker is a slogan that came to his attention when he recently read an article by the environmental innovator Hal Harvey. The one mentioned at the beginning…..Respect service, respect nature, respect each other.

I wrote a blog recently titled “I Don’t Get No Respect.” Featured was Rodney Dangerfield.

I received a comment yesterday from a Dale. He had read Friedman’s article of 6/30. He thought a proper Trump bumper sticker would be Dangerfield’s famous line as I had reported it: I Don’t Get No Respect.”

That is the way it has become. No one has done Trump in. He is doing it to himself.

The sign at the entrance to Bahama Village on Petronia Street is down. Under repair. Being sanded and repainted.

Ernest Hemingway purportedly killed himself this day in 1961 at his Idaho home. He is reported to have blown his brains out with a double-barreled 12 gauge shot gun.

Most thought a suicide. Some, not.

Bolstering the suicide theory was that Hemingway had become plagued with an inability to write. He lost it. Could not put even an acceptable sentence together.

He was also suffering at the time from acute depression.

It should be recalled that suicide ran in the family. His father, grandfather, brother, sister, and a granddaughter had committed suicide.

Key West has geared up this past week preparing for the July 4 weekend. Thirty six banners are being raised on Duval Street. The hanging will be complete today. Each reminding tourists to wear masks.

A thoughtful move. Every little bit helps. Add to it that the beaches and bars will be closed.

I hope that no tourists or visitors arrive for the weekend. Things are bad coronavirus wise in Florida. Key West numbers have had a dramatic increase to 88.

We do not need anyone. Our sole purpose should be to protect ourselves.

Yesterday was a bad day number wise for new coronavirus cases nationally Yesterday’s one day total the highest ever: In excess of 50,000. The fifth time in the last 8 days that the number has been the “highest ever.”

Florida a major contributor. Primarily because of our inept Governor DeSantis who blindly follows Trump.

On February 27, Trump said the virus would “disappear.” He said it again yesterday.

He doesn’t learn. Donald is doing real good. The U.S. is at the point of most infections and most deaths.

Even worse, Fauci announced yesterday that the number of new coronavirus cases could go as high as 100,000 per day if we continue to fail to test and wear masks.

Trump continues to lose ground in the election race. Biden moves ahead a bit more each day.

Trump and his followers do not understand. A prominent Republican said yesterday that it is being part of a “cult” to be wearing a mask.

Then there are other Republicans who see the light. Most Congressional leaders. All of a sudden, they were all over television yesterday. Their mantra…..Stay safe, wear masks!

The word this morning is the bounty paid by Russia for killing U.S. service men was $100,00 per. Sounds awful big! Hard to believe on first impression. I thought when the bounty news first broke maybe $100 or $200.

However $100,000 could be. Small change if Putin could make the U.S. look bad.

One reason coronavirus is beating us is that we have no national strategy to fight it. No battle plan. It was Trump and the federal government who should have led. Covid-19 a national calamity of major proportions.

Trump failed. Why, I cannot understand.

My notes next indicate that as of yesterday, Monroe County had 270 new confirmed cases of the virus, Key West 89. For each, the highest number thus far.

I expect the numbers to continue to rise. The fault lying with the barricades coming down and bar and business reopenings permitted. Blame it all on the greed of certain businessmen and merchants who valued money over health.

May Johnson’s day in 1896 interesting. This 20 year old school teacher lets no grass grow under her feet.

She wrote a 17 page letter to “her darling.” Then she was off to La Brisa to dance and party.

La Brisa had to be a big time fun place. May is there almost every day while her love is on the mainland working.

President James Garfield was shot this day in 1881 at the train station in Washington, D.C. He died more than 2 months later.

A “nut” by the name of Guiteau was the assassin. He was tried, convicted, and hung in 1882.

I wrote a lengthy article some time ago either in this blog or KONK Life. Garfield died because the doctors screwed up. They killed him.

A true story.

I will search for the article later today. If I can find it, will rerun it tomorrow. That interesting!

Enjoy your day!