Several years ago, I received an email from a Cathy in Seattle. She had lived in Key West in the late 1980s and had come across my blog. Her email became the basis for a friendship.

Eventually, we were doing Cocktails at 7 on friday evenings on Zoom. Graduated to three trips by Cathy to Key West where we did the cocktails at 7 bit in person.

Cathy is back in town! She was visiting a girl friend in Fort Lauderdale and flew down here for a long weekend. She arrived yesterday.

We did Cocktails at 7 at La Te Da. What a night! Cathy good company!

As we were enjoying our reunion champagne cocktails at a table by the pool, it began to pour. We spent the rest of the evening inside. Made a night of it. Remained even for the entertainment.

Tonight special also. Cathy is an excellent cook. She knows I love lamb chops. Restaurants don’t carry lamb chops on their menus anymore in Key West. Too expensive I have been told. At the moment she is at the butcher shop on White Street purchasing them. She is cooking for me tonight!

Love the lady!

Trump finally indicted. Not the end. The beginning of the end. He is facing 3-4 more indictments. He will never be the Republican candidate for President in 2024. Each indictment blackens him more. Convictions an absolute disaster.

The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority could turn into a disaster for us.

Last night its Board voted to give 2 more top executives and their wives free health, vision and dental benefits for life.

Correct thing to do?

Problems with the water system being evidenced. Three recent breaks in the northern Keys caused Key West to be without water for a period of time.

My question a simple one: Were the water failures the result of a lack of attention and upgrades to the system? Have monies been spent other than where they should have been thereby causing the breakdowns?

One more water failure and those supporting the health benefits will find the public furor unbelievable. 

No one has a problem with employees being paid well. However, not to the detriment of customers!

The water failure and the outrageous payments being awarded certain employees is having mounting concern in Key West. Two comments in the Citizens’ Voice this morning reflect it.

The first: The FKAA “is now saying the feed from the mainland needs a billion-dollar upgrade that apparently was not planned for over time. Lower pressure, outages and pipeline failures are in customers’ futures. Including, of course, rate hikes, I would assume. Into this mix, FKAA wants to give executives with eight years of service, free medical for them and their spouses for life. I guess it’s easy to spend other people’s money.”

The other: “FKAA’s waterline from the mainland is holding on with a wing and a prayer, yet the board wants to give certain employees and their wives life-long benefits. Come on, folks!”

Manatee Appreciation Day!

I missed it. Last wednesday in March.

We love ’em! We encourage boaters to be observant of their existence. Be careful! They are not as smart as us humans.

Enjoy your day!

The Lincoln Memorial will in due course be getting an underground museum. A new one. There has never been an underground museum as part of the Lincoln Memorial. The cost $69 million. It is anticipated the underground museum will be finished by 2026.

While the Lincoln Memorial was being built between 1914 and 1922, a cavernous space was dug underneath the monument. The area 43,800 square feet. Called an undercroft. Built with rows of tall concrete columns to support the Memorial’s weight and create the illusion it was situated on top of a hill. 

The undercroft will serve a new purpose. After extensive renovation, it will become an immersive museum dedicated to the popular Monument on the surface above.

I had the opportunity many years ago to visit the Memorials. The two most impressive, and equally so, were those of Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. The word awesome best describes the two.

Vacation time for Congress. Tomorrow the last day in session for the House and Senate. Then home for a two week vacation. Not really so. Actually 18 days.

Why a vacation is needed, I do not know. My concern is with the House of Representatives for the moment. The House has accomplished nothing of significance so far this year. Except of course attacks on everything Democratic. The Republicans leave Washington with the debt ceiling problem not resolved.

Debt ceiling talks  require the Republicans to submit a proposed budget. The Democrats did theirs some time ago. Much cannot be accomplished without each side having proposed budgets which can be compared and argued, etc.

The manner in which the Republicans are fighting the debt ceiling battle  suggests it is one they will lose. They played a similar game years ago. Whether they force a government shut down or come close to one, the result will be a bad one for the U.S. economy. It was a disaster for the government and economy the last time. It would be again.

Mike Pence is spineless. He lacks “balls.” 

He stood firm on January 6 when the insurrectionists were chasing around the Capitol shouting “Hang him!” Yet he does not want to testify before a DOJ grand jury and answer questions involving Trump. 

A political whore.

Part of the American population is screwed up. Ok to ban books. Not ok to ban AR-15s or control their distribution.

Books don’t kill. AR-15s do.

Books don’t kill school children. AR-15s do.

Pope Francis was hospitalized yesterday. A respiratory problem. He was having difficulty breathing.

May God watch over him. Francis’ work not yet done.

I came across an interesting quote re love. Think about what you will read. A lot of truth in its words: “You don’t fall in love with someone because they’re perfect. You fall in love with someone in spite of the fact that they’re not.”

Enjoy your day!

The Nashville shootings are swiftly reflecting certain persons don’t get it. Many Congressional persons. Especially where school children are concerned.

Covenant has made it obvious that some Tennessee Congressmen are not open minded to finding a solution to the gun problem. Clearly indicating these Congresspersons are “owned” by gun manufacturers. It’s all about money! AR-15s are the biggest sellers in the industry.

The Covenant School sits in GOP Congressman Ogles district. His post shooting attitude re a 2021 Christmas card reflects a don’t care attitude. Recall in yesterday’s blog, I spelled out the Christmas photo situation with the Congressman and his family all holding AR-15s, or replicas thereof.

The Congressman should have regrets re the card following the shootings. He does not. When asked by a reporter if he did, he asked, “Why would I regret a photo exercising my rights to bear arms?” He added re the shootings that “mental health” was the issue.

Then there is Congressman Tim Burchett. Bess Levin nailed him to the wall. She wrote he won “the award for the most fucked up response to the Covenant School shooting…..criminal.” She added, “The most calloused.”

This Tennessee Congressman claimed on TV that gun safety and gun reform were not the issue. He did state the deaths were “a horrible, horrible situation.” However, “we’re not going to fix it…..Criminals are going to be criminals.”

He went on to suggest evil was involved and the U.S. needed a revival to correct the problem.

Lets move over to Trump and another issue. Attendance at the Waco Rally.

It is a given Trump exaggerates and lies.

The crowd was initially estimated at 15,000. No pics or TV indicating size of crowd shown however. On his plane after the rally, Trump told the press 25,000. On the Hannity show the following night, Trump said the press was indicating 25,000-30,000 people…..however that number can at least be doubled.

One way or another, he’ll goose it up to the 40,000-50,000 area.

A local problem of concern. Involves the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.

Water is suddenly a problem. Why?

Has the FKAA been spending in wrong areas? Excessively in some?

This morning’s Key West Citizen in a front page article advised that the FKAA Board will vote wednesday whether to give one of its top administrators and his spouse health benefits for life. Same benefits were recently given to their top attorneys and spouses, as well as two former executive directors and their spouses.

Then there is the new FKAA building. A lovely structure.

Who owns it? The FKAA or some third party with FKAA leasing it? If so, who is that third party? What are the lease details?

What are the salaries and bonuses being paid to top executives and Board members?

Water users have a right to know. A lot of money involved. Those paying their monthly water bills do not have guaranteed health benefits for themselves and their spouses for life. Nor based on recent experience, a reliable water system.

Enjoy your day!

Will it ever stop? Mass shootings? Children fired upon in schools?

Nashville’s pre-k through 6th grade Covenant School the most recent. Yesterday. Three 9 year olds and three adults killed. The shooter a 28 year old transgender female.

The problem is federal and state legislators. Owe their souls to lobbyists and the NRA. 

They have been immune from child loss and the pain attendant to the loss of one’s own child or grandchild. Rest assured if they suffered such pain, gun control would be a fait accompli.

Andy Ogles is the Republican Congressman who represents the Nashville Covenant School’s district where the six were shot and killed yesterday. His public statement was he was “devastated.” He sent to their loved ones his “thoughts and prayers.”

The man is a hypocrite. Also worthy of being labeled a whore. In 2021, his Christmas card photo was a gun toting one. The card make his words of sympathy meaningless. The Christmas card a photo of the Congressman, his wife and three children ALL HOLDING THE SAME WEAPON USED BY THE KILLER YESTERDAY.

Need more be said.

Words of wisdom from Steve Eierman in today’s Facebook: “Truth…..I have never once felt threatened by a drag queen, statue of a nude body or a book. I have, however, been terrified of Nazis, burning crosses and people who want to impose their will on others.”

Netanyahu went a step too far. People turned on him. His people.

Trump, whether a President or not, will experience a similar result. Let him learn he is not the “man” he was.

Yesterday’s blog Trump Rally Weird. Dan’s humorous comment: “Trump is weird! He kept the Queen waiting for over an hour. He’s always late except for…..well, we’ll have to wait for Stormy Daniels testimony to cover that.”

Sharks present in the Keys. Fifth person in a year attacked.

 Sixty seven year old Kevin was foiling, a form of kiteboarding when attacked.

His wounds significant: “Took all the meat off the front of my leg from the knee down and teeth punctured out the back of my calf and left the calf detached but hanging.”

Kevin was helicoptered to Miami.

Enjoy your day!

I watched Trump’s rally in Waco on TV saturday night. As much as was permitted.

The major networks did not carry the rally. I nevertheless wanted to watch it. I have always believed in viewing the enemy in action.

Two channels carried the show. RSBN and Trump’s YouTube. Good luck re RSBN. All I could get was repeated shots of people standing outside prior to Trump even appearing. Trump’s YouTube became it for me. First time I ever watched anything on it. 

The channel is Trump’s own. It was poorly shown, produced. Not typical of a Trump presentation.

The event took place at the Waco Regional Airport. Trump flew in on his private jet. Read somewhere it was a new one. Named Trump Force One.

The rally was scheduled for 6 pm ET. It did not begin timely. The plane was 45 minutes late in landing. Instead of landing, it circled while loudspeakers on the ground were blasting the theme song Danger Zone from the new Top Gun movie.

The rally an outdoor one. The plane landed right next to the seated crowd.

The door to the plane took forever to open. Way too long. When opened, Trump walked out. Waving his fist. Entered the seated crowd near the speaker’s platform. Trump stood there while a religious and democratic event took place. Alleluia was played like forever. The Star Spangled Banner sung. Interrupted several times while Trump spoke phrases from The Pledge of Allegiance.

Sounds well planned and organized. Was not. Nothing timely. Breaks too long in many instances. Not a Trump show!

I actually heard Trump speak for 1 hour 45 minutes. Then the rally was cut off. Trump was nowhere finished. He was on a roll. His speech to that point covered a multitude of what he perceived as wrongs. More was to come. How long and what I never heard. For example, I never heard anything about indictments. I am sure Trump had much to say about them.

I read Trump wrote the speech himself. Such would be why it covered a multitude of items.

The man appeared tired. His presentation not the usual Trump tirade. Soft spoken and calm. Ass dragging calm. It lacked enthusiasm.

What I did hear was an address permeated with violence and threats of violence. Also typical Trump exaggerations. He overdid/amplified much.

The Trump people reported prior to the rally that the crowd was expected to reach 15,000. Not an impressive number. However, I do not know if it did. The camera never played on the crowd. Ergo how many not recorded.

What follows has nothing to do with Trump or the rally. Confucius say: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

The Final Four has been decided. All four a surprise: UConn, Miami, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic. Next weekend going to be wild!

There is pending approximately $500 billion in lawsuits against John and Johnson Baby Powder. Claimed to cause ovarian cancer in women and mesothelioma. 

Sales have been stopped in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2022, a federal judge set aside a trust of $3 billion to cover the cases. The amount is on appeal by certain plaintiffs and their attorneys as being grossly inadequate.

The case huge. Dollar wise and numerically. Similar to the environmental cases I handled years ago.

The first environmental case I was involved in was the second “big one” in the U.S. I represented two companies that sued 603 companies and persons that my clients considered responsible persons for contaminating a landfill..

One of the two companies I represented was Chesebrough-Ponds. At the time of contamination, Chesebrough owned Johnson and Johnson. Johnson had a plant in upstate New York that made band aids. In those days, some of the band aids had mercurochrome in the gauze portion when sold. Fire engine red. The EPA had sued Chesebrough directly for the Johnson mercurochrome band aids on the grounds that the mercurochrome contained traces of a hazardous substance.

Defectively produced band aids were dumped by Johnson in a nearby landfill. The landfill had become contaminated over the years  purportedly by my two clients and the 603 companies and persons they sued.

A recent study suggests sniffing the sweat of other persons can help in treating social anxiety. Armpit sweat!

The study discovered a 39 percent reduction in social anxiety by those sucking in sweaty armpits.

The moral…..Help your friends! Stop bathing!

What a smelly world that would be!

Enjoy your day!

“Donald Trump is the anointed of God.”

The One upstairs or the one downstairs? My choice the one downstairs.

Mount Carmel is the long time home of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas. Its pastor is Charles Pace. He preaches about the coming apocalypse. His words involve Donald Trump: “Donald Trump is the anointed of God. He is the battering ram that God is using to bring down the Deep State of Babylon.”

Some confusion here.

Biblically, Babylon symbolized and symbolizes evil. God destroyed Babylon, a wicked city in the ancient world. Centuries before the birth of Christ. It has become the symbol for the evils of the world. It is considered the Devil’s Church.

Pastor Pace is confused. Trump is evil. He is the personification of Babylon. If such is the case, how can he be God’s instrument in bringing down the Deep State of Babylon?

Another bit of confusion. Trump recently claimed he is retribution. The Bible tells us the Lord is a God of retribution. Trump sits himself next to God by so speaking. His followers such as Pace similarly visualize him.

Trump’s first rally in his quest for the Republican nomination for President in 2024 takes place later today in Waco. Trump selected Waco for his opening rally because 30 years ago it was the setting of a weeklong standoff between federal agents and the then Branch Davidians. The weeklong time frame involved a gun fire and fire altercation which followed a 50 some odd day standoff between the two groups where no actual combat was involved. Eighty two Branch Davidians and 4 federal agents were left dead at the end of the week. Some 25 of the Branch Davidians were children.

Waco is considered by Branch Davidians to have been an overreach by the government 30 years ago. Similarly today. Trump has made it so with his claim that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is overreaching in his attempt to indict him.

Expect Trump today to rabble rouse the far right who are expected in large numbers to support him. Expect an extension of Trump’s words this past week that if Manhattan indicts him, there will be violence. Fighting in the streets.

Recall his words earlier this past week when he thought he was to be indicted tuesday: “Protest. Take our country back.”

Yesterday, Trump said there was “potential for death and destruction” if he were indicted.

Such is Trump the God announcing the apocalypse that his indictment will bring forth. The words of a sick, evil man. A sociopath.

A confrontation could occur. If so, a temporary one. Trump is evil. Good will prevail. The people of the U.S. are basically good people.

March Madness continues. No #1 seeds left. San Diego State knocked off #1 Alabama last night. Miami defeated #1 Houston.

The weather continues to beat us down. A massive tornado ran over Mississippi last night. So far, 23 reported killed. Based on the photos on TV this morning, the tornado did massive damage. The final death number will far exceed 23.

I am going to enjoy corned beef and cabbage tonight with Ted Kane. The venue is Sally O’Brien’s Irish Pub. Corned beef and cabbage on the menu every day. The meal Ted and I missed St. Patrick’s Day.

Enjoy your day!

Part of retirement is reverting mentally to days long gone by. Getting together with other seniors and living a bit as in younger days.

A boys’ night out is one way of returning to yesteryear. A bunch of old fucks getting together. Generally for dinner. Drinking a bit too much. Arguing amicably. Waking with a bit of a hangover the next day.

New York labor lawyer Fred Klein has been instrumental in putting such a group together. Fred a snowbird. His game plan dinner together once a month. 

The first time was a month ago at La Te Da. I attended. The next time was wednesday night at Tavern ‘n Town. I did not attend as I was recovering from my mentally fatal chest pains the night before. 

Fred brought together 6 men. Two new who I have not yet met.

They apparently had a big fun time! Read Fred’s once a week friday blog gothamcitynetworking.com for details. 

Fred wrote: “We are no longer Boys, but we like to think of ourselves as such and maybe act like it at times.”

The group consisted of 4 liberals and 2 conservatives. Politics was the primary item of discussion. Interesting. There was a time it would have been women. Fred wrote the talk was “pretty rough,” but “animated”…..”A well spoken group with diverse opinions which created thoughtful conversation.”

Fred crystalized the evening: “Good food and people when put in combination with a liberal dose of alcohol is good for the mind and soul.”

And I had to be sick!

Some Key West tidbits.

On this day in 1822, John Fleming arrived in Key West with workers and materials to erect the first house on Key West.

Here I go again: Harry Truman loved Key West and Key West loves Harry Truman.

On this day in 1952, Truman left the Little White House at 7:15 am for a 2 mile walk. He was interested that morning in the shrimp fleet and turtle kraals. He headed for Key West Bight.

A sadness to this story. Truman of course long gone. One of the U.S.’ finest Presidents. Shrimp and turtles long gone also. No longer Key West industries.

Twenty years ago, African bodies were discovered to have been buried on Higgs Beach.

My son in law Corey Malcom is the Lead Historian at the Florida Keys History Center. He was long time Director of Archeology at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum prior to his present position. Corey brought the Key West African cemetery on Higgs Beach to light. He was instrumental in protecting the graves and the Memorial monument work that followed.

Twenty years had taken its toll on the Memorial. The Memorial’s original artists recently returned and performed a much needed facelift. They are Carlos and Diana Delgado.

A remembrance of the refugees buried there will be hosted by Corey sunday at 3 pm. The Memorial is between the Edward B. Knight Pier and Higgs Beach. Attendance is free.

Though Republican by registration, my feeling is Key West is not a DeSantis community.

A Queer Keys Rally will be held at noon tomorrow – saturday – at Bayview Park. Its purpose to protest anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation coming out of Tallahassee and to demonstrate the Conch Republic believes in equity, justice and love for all members of One Human Family.

From Key West to the Mont Blanc Tunnel connecting Italy and France.

On this day in 1999, a fire ignited in the French portion of the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Burned for 2 days.

In my several visits to the area, I frequently traveled the Mont Blanc Tunnel. An experience. Like driving the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys. The tunnel is 7 miles long. It was opened to traffic in 1965. When opened, it was three times longer than any existing highway tunnel.

I always stayed in a friend’s Swiss chalet in northern Italy in Courmayeur, part way up Mont Blanc. The tunnel connected Courmayeur to Chamonix on the French side.

Both communities lovely. The Italian people in Courmayeur especially nice. I enjoyed them. Made many friends.

Chamonix was another story. I disliked the people greatly. They disliked me. They disliked everyone. The French were nowhere as nice as the Italians. The French attitude was obvious. Were it not that I enjoyed exploring the surrounding area, I would never have returned after the first visit.

Traveling through a 7 mile tunnel not fun. Carbon monoxide prevalent. Windows shut. Even the air conditioning. It sucked the carbon monoxide into the car so had to be turned off.

One thing I noticed in the area was how mountains were traversed. In the U.S., we generally go up and over. In northern Italy and France, under. Gigantic tunnels drilled. Made sense, however. Mont Blanc the highest peak in the Alps. Up and over probably impossible and/or more expensive.

Enjoy your day!

No blog yesterday. Sorry. Sick. Woke in the middle of the night with chest pain. Big time! Nitroglycerine wasn’t working. My panic was. As I was getting ready to press the button for an ambulance, the pain began receding. So I rode it out. Pain eventually dissipated. 

Sleep did not return however. 

My body caught up on sleep and rest it apparently needed at 3 yesterday afternoon. I fell asleep and did not wake till 5 this morning. The last time I had a sleep like that I was in college.

Feel fine today.

I enjoyed dinner tuesday night at La Te Da with Ted Kane. Kane a retired lawyer from upstate New York. The last time I saw him was pre-COVID. He is visiting Key West for a month.

We had an enjoyable two hours together. The evening was over at 8:30. I was home in bed and asleep by 9. It was later that night that my chest acted up.

TV has been advertising lately an aid to help those who suffer from sciatica. Another of my old age infirmities.

My right thigh hurts like hell if I walk too far. Too far is a block or half a long block. I saw an ad for a wrap around that claimed to prevent the pain. $19.95. I ordered it.

The brand Vive. I recommend it.

When I dine at La Te Da, I park in the County Office Building lot on Simonton. Walk up the side street. Half way up, the thigh pain kicks in. Not gradually. Hits.

I wore the Vive wrap around for the first time. My test for it. Buy it if you have the problem!!!!! It worked! No pain. Going or coming.

I was supposed to have dinner at Tavern ‘n Town wednesday evening. Never made it. Dinner was during my big sleep. However, I had already advised Fred Klein I would not be making it and why.

The team met. Six of them. Klein and Bunny Hyman Syracuse grads. David Berger we let join us. He’s a Colgate grad. Guy de Boer also. A fifth new person. Never met him. Have to wait till the next dinner. He owned a piece of a Kentucky Derby winner.

Fred will write about the dinner tomorrow in his weekly blog. Fred is a New York City labor lawyer. You should read tomorrow’s blog about the dinner and, assuming you enjoy, read it every friday. www.gothamnetworking.com.

I wrote last week how Trump dirties everyone around him, including his attorneys.

The attorneys are too blame, also. They know better. They know how to say “no” to things, but prefer representing a person of prominence like Trump. They forget the most valuable material thing in their lives is the license to practice law. It should never be jeopardized.

Evan Corcoran the most recent to be tainted. He should have known better.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are against transgender health care. The group, which is anti-Pope Francis also, has joined their evangelical brethren once again in playing politics.

What will God’s position be when they meet their Maker face to face? What will the Lord say re their refusal to provide gender-affirming care to those experiencing gender dysphoria?

The U.S. Bishops forget we are all God’s children.

March Madness kicks in again today. Sweet Sixteen. Eight matchups.

The road to the Final Four begins tonight!

It was announced yesterday that Rick Pitino will be coaching St. John’s in basketball in the Big East. He signed a $20 million six year contract.

Pitino spent the last 3 seasons coaching Iona. Brought the team to prominence. His 3 years at Iona were part of the penance he has been forced to pay since the “Louisville scandal” some years ago.

Pitino is top shelf. St. John’s will be a top basketball force nationally once again within 3-4 years.

The man has coached professional basketball also: The Knicks, Celtics and in Greece and Puerto Rico.

I know Pitino. Not through basketball. The horses/Saratoga.

Pitino is a horseman. Owns and runs them. He spent August in Saratoga each year. That is where I met and got to know him. I enjoyed each August watching him bid on horses at the auctions.

He sponsored a charity golf tournament each August in Saratoga. Five thousand dollars a head to play. My son and I would play. Game and banquet. A class event. Everyone attended.

I always distinguished myself. The player with the highest score always got a round of applause. That was me.

The course was tough. No matter how many balls I had in my bag, one year I ran out. They sent someone from the clubhouse with a box of a dozen. I needed them all.

Where did “OK” come from?

The initials were first published in The Boston Morning Post on 3/23/1839. It was an abbreviation for “oll korrect,” a popular misspelling of “all correct” at the time.

OK became a part of everyday American speech. It will still be a 100 years from now.

Monroe County Commissioners approved this week the purchase of 3 new Trauma Star Helicopters.

Three Leonardos. Total bill $52 million.

The County’s present helicopters are 22 years old and difficult to repair. Parts no longer made. It was time to purchase new ones.

Understand the value of the helicopters. Their use is free to residents and property owners of Monroe County. Any serious injury requiring surgery and/care  is beyond the care available in Key West. The helicopters are necessary to get our people to Miami and the major hospitals and specialists available there.

Though I no longer play and when I did played poorly, I love golf.

It was on this day in 1929 that the first 6 holes of the golf course on Stock Island opened for play.

The Key West Golf Course today is a well kept beautiful one. None better in the Keys. A course of which Key West can well be proud.

Enjoy your day!

Trump is worried about a New York City indictment. He knows it is coming.

He should be concerned about Georgia, also. Indictments next there. Though still a few weeks off.

The noose is getting tighter. Try as he may, nothing he can do about it. The time to pay the fiddler is swiftly arriving.

New York attorney Robert Costello the newest “Trump star.” A MAGA attorney. Though he denies representing Trump. Understandable. He represents Rudy Giuliani. In the past, Steve Bannon.

Disgusting how many lawyers have flocked to Trump who in due course leaves them dirty and tainted. To a degree, such is reflective of a downward trend in the legal profession. Bothers me. The rotten apples in the barrel soiling the entire basket.

Costello’s proclaimed “ethics” motivated him to speak out against his former client Michael Cohen. Cohen denied on TV last night he was ever Costello’s client. Claims “never.”

Time is a problem in the four criminal matters pending against Trump. The $130,000 porn star payoff item is 7 years old. Georgia, 3. The 2 Department of Justice matters victim of Merrick Garland’s ineptness as Attorney General. He has been pussy footing around when he should have assembled his cases and gone for the jugular.

Time kills. Justice delayed is justice denied in these cases. People get bored. Bored with the same old, same old.

Long delays have worked to Trump’s advantage. He is the master of court delay. The public suffers as a result. The people never get to see a wrongdoer brought to justice. Trump never gets his!

Trump considers himself a master of all. Expert in most things. A physician at heart.

It was on this day in 2020 that “Doctor President Donald Trump” in a White House briefing doubled down on his support for the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for COVID.  A lot less dangerous than injecting or drinking bleach!

I have to admire Rupert Murdoch in a certain respect. The man is 92 and still falls in love. His fifth marriage on the horizon.

He announced his engagement to 66 year old Ann Lesley Smith. They will marry this summer.

I was cold yesterday morning as I wrote the blog. When finished, I checked the temperature. It was 65 degrees. No wonder!

This morning better. Today’s high will be 79 and the evening low 71.

I am having dinner to night at 6:30 outside at La Te Da. My companion Ted Kane from Madison County, New York. Ted in his early 80’s. Has been visiting Key West for one month each year for 30 years. He is a retired County, Family and Surrogate Court Clerk. 

Madison County sits next to my home county Oneida. We never met till 10 years ago in Key West at the Chart Room. We never met when he was Court Clerk because my cases were all in Supreme Court, rather than the three courts he represented. 

For some reason, I developed a large following in Madison County. Most were farmers. Primarily dairy farmers.

I was trying a case for a dairy farmer client. He had a new Cadillac. We were going to lunch together in his car. It stunk of cow shit!

I admonished him. Asked how he could let such a beautiful expensive car have cow shit in it. He looked at me and quietly said, “Louis, the cow shit paid for the car.”

Marilyn Monroe is back on Eaton Street in front of the Tropic Cinema Theater. Skirt flaring!

When I first began visiting Key West in the late 1980’s, there was no Overseas Market aka Winn Dixie Market. A huge empty field.

On this day in 1991, the Winn Dixie Market opened in the new Overseas Market.

For many years, a Labrador Retriever was the dog to buy. Made the best pet.

No more.

The American Kennel Club has recommended the Lab for 31 years. Now, # 2. Replaced by the French bulldog. Described as “playful” and “adoptable.”

Enjoy your day!

Many evils taint Key West history. Seemingly more than affect other communities. Could be Key West’s location. Stuck out as the nation’s southern most point, isolated in ocean waters from two different huge bodies. Little attention paid to the community comparatively speaking.

Most are unaware of the negatives that have plagued Key West over the years. Two stick out. One, the Ku Klux Klan. The other, leprosy.

I have written often of the Ku Klux Klan and how Key West was Florida’s headquarters for the organization in the early 1920’s. Its President a Key West resident. Lynchings in the years before commonplace.

As to leprosy, I have written little. However ten years ago in 2013, I did write a somewhat lengthy piece about it. What follows is a portion of that blog.

There is good and bad to everything. Many times the bad is hidden/forgotten. Especially in the instance where the something bad has turned with the passage of time into a shining gem.

It is the story of leprosy and Key West.

The Biblical plague of all time is leprosy. Monroe County, and especially Key West, had a large number of leprosy victims residing here. It was another time, another century.

Once as many as 100. One of the largest numbers in the United States. None of the victims caught the dread disease here. It was brought from the outside into the Keys.

Leprosy is not contagious. One human to another. Don’t laugh. Leprosy is spread by armadillos. I do not recall armadillos inhabiting this area.

Today, leprosy is treatable. Persons affected are no longer isolated. Since 1942, a drug called Putome is available to cure leprosy.

The problem still exists. About ten cases a year in the United States. I do not know when the last case was reported in the Key West area. Note however that two Key West doctors list in their areas of expertise leprosy.

Moving to today’s news. One item sticks out like a sore thumb.

Absolutely amazing how Trump gets involved in matters where others do not or are not permitted to enter. Reference the Manhattan Grand Jury proceeding today. A fellow by the name of Costello may testify at the request of Trump’s attorneys. Cohen has been recalled for rebuttal purposes, if necessary.

I have never heard of such occurring.

Enjoy your day!