Plenty of older adults are enjoying sex and getting venereal diseases as a result thereof. Doctors are neither questioning nor testing the elderly for such diseases.

The elderly do have sex. Why not. Rightfully so. Such pleasure is not limited to the young. They need however to test for and practice safe sex. Proof is in the numbers. Gonorrhea among the 55 plus group, grew 600 percent since 2010. Chlamydia cases have quadrupled, while syphilis cases are now 700 percent higher than in 2010.

I have been fortunate to visit Italy many times. One of the things that impressed me were the food items available at gas station stops  on major highways. Especially the Autogrill chain.

Sandwiches hot and cold. Hot the most popular. All kinds of non-alcoholic drinks.

An experience! I have spoken of the sandwich pleasure many times. I write about it today because of an article in the Washington Post yesterday titled “The Case For Eating At Italian Gas Stations.”

Another Italian experience I have spoken and written about is Milan. What a city! The “best” of everything.

Unfortunately, I have not visited Milan in 15 years. Things have changed a bit.

Outdoor dining, daytime and nighttime, was the best. Not only the food. The ambiance also! It has changed. Dramatically.  Noise and overcrowding a huge bother. Even past midnight. Milan is passing ordinances to limit the out of control behavior.

Many American universities are having graduations today. Disruptions are anticipated. I hope not too badly. College graduations are a proud day for students and family. It should not be disrupted.

The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. is Linda Thomas-Greenfield. An intelligent black woman. She has reported Biden’s positions before the world government as she should.

Now she pays the penalty.

Thomas-Greenfield was scheduled to speak at Xavier University of Louisiana’s commencement ceremony today. She was scheduled to speak at the University of Vermont last week.

Both schools cancelled her visits. She became persona non grata because of her Gaza stances in the U.N.

Both universities claim she was cancelled to avoid “disruption.”

The U.S. continues to be out of control as a result of recent campus disruptions. I hope the scenario will calm down and cease with the summer season upon us. I continue to disapprove with that which has occurred in recent months.

You never know. Marilyn Birch, now 76, lost her engagement ring while feeding hay to cattle on the family farm in 1970. A “detectorist,” while searching for other things, found the ring recently. Fifty four years after it was lost. It had been buried on the farm 8 inches down in one of the fields.

Husband and wife are both thrilled.

I close with a poor and shameful American. Clarence Thomas, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

He pushed back yesterday after facing harsh questions about his Justice decisions and accepting lavish gifts from a millionaire. He said he and his wife Ginni have endured “nastiness” and “lies.”

He claimed Washington is a “hideous place.” He further added he “had no interest in public life,” but  felt called to it by God. He deceives himself by so thinking.

Thomas is one of the worst Justices to ever sit on the Supreme Court. Decision wise and personally with regard to accepting “freebies” in his personal life. He is an insult to his profession and race. He is not worthy of  the seat he holds and the “honors” it bestows upon him.

My yesterday activities were limited to a manicure and some grocery shopping.

Tammy is back. She returned from three weeks in Vietnam. Her grandmother is not well. 

My grocery shopping is limited. I cannot carry heavy things any longer. Want to personally shop, however. About 30 percent cheaper than ordering and having delivered. Plus, I enjoy the experience of being able to walk Publix aisles.

I cannot carry heavy things from my car to my apartment. Six packs of soda, water bottles, gallon jugs of diet iced tea, etc. I learned my lesson two weeks ago. I called Jackie and she stopped by to take them from my car to refrigerator. I am fortunate to have friends like her.

Cathy left for home in Seattle thursday morning. She had a bad wednesday night. Apparently a touch of food poisoning. Horrible! Too nice a person to have suffered as she did.

Enjoy your day!

College campus protests have aroused pro and con opinions. I believe the protests have been too much and abusive. Many have disagreed with me. I have received some heavy adverse comments to the effect.

On May 8, the New York Post published an article setting forth that Columbia Law students wanted their final exams called off. Basically in the name of Palestine. The protests took up too much of their time and they are not ready for final exams.

The students wish automatic passing grades based not on their final exams, but on work through the semester. Preferably, a simple pass or fail grade.

The students argue they are tired and distressed from their protestations and those of their fellow students. They describe the police actions as “violence” that “has irrevocably shaken many of them” and “the majority of their classmates.”

A letter supporting their position was prepared by the Law Review Board. The Board is compromised of the best and brightest law students of a law school. They claim they and their fellow students have been rendered “unable to focus” and “are highly emotional” due to recent campus events.

The bottom line is they want one of the most elite law schools to go easy on them.

Again, Law Review Editors are the elegante of the student body. The most intelligent. They will be the A students on final exams. However because most protested rather than going to class, doing their homework and preparing for final exams opted to hopefully resolve the Israeli/Palestinian problem, they are in a bind re approaching final exams. Their protests have failed. Many will fail their final exams also.

The student demand is absurd.

Nothing about exams is easy or equitable. The whole purpose of a final exam is to determine who retained knowledge and understood concepts and who did not. Egalitarian grades are no grades at all.

University colleges and schools have coddled students for nearly a generation. Easy work, pass them all, provide good grades even where not warranted, keep parents and students happy. Universities became huge business corporations. The bottom line economically became more important than educating the students.

Students expect to be coddled.

There is a danger to all this. Especially where law students are concerned. The day will come when they will be representing clients. Their abilities will be less than what they should be and the client will get screwed in the process. Guaranteed!

Columbia Law School should stand tall and refuse to give grades and dole out degrees to “feeble, flunking” Hamas supporters.

Bear with me a bit further.

Law school is not easy. A tough experience. Three arduous years. The law student studies 8 days a week, 25 hours a day. It is no easy task. Many times leaving the student feeling overwhelmed. The feeling exists for all law students. The As as well as the Cs.

A semester consists of 4-5 courses. A mix of two and three credit ones. The law student must read cases assigned, attend class, take diligent notes, work with a study team, prepare outlines and begin getting ready for final exams 2-3 months before they are given. Otherwise, failure is the ultimate achievement. The Columbia students let down the last two months of the present semester. Impossible to catch up and be ready for final examinations. Want a break, a favor.

No way. Jose!

These pseudo-adults made a decision. The wrong one it appears. Many will fail their final exams. Many will not timely graduate. They will have to do another semester or year. Some will not do it and never receive a legal degree.

Choices have consequences. A legal degree is not a free lunch situation.

Enjoy your day!

I introduced Cathy to a smoothie at Date & Thyme yesterday. She enjoyed. 

Last night, it was Happy Hour at The Grand. Good time! We were joined by Theos and Dina from Greece and Steve and Cindy.

It was good to be back to The Grand again. My last visit was in January before the heart problem hit. Unfortunately, I could only partake of tomato soup and diet Coke. Still having my teeth worked on. Difficult to chew. Actually, impossible. I must admit I do not enjoy watching other people eat. I have now lost 24 pounds due to the inability to chew. I have refrained from going out because of that. 

It was a no choice situation the last few days. Cathy was a surprise visit and how could I not go out with Theos and Dina who came to visit from Greece.

Then there is alcohol. Doctors say my drinking days are over. Ok. Still it is difficult to watch friends have a few and enjoy their time by getting a bit high. While I remain stoic and bored.

Such is my life now. I will adjust.

Cathy and I plan on doing Higgs Beach today and then dinner at Antonia’s tonight. It will be soup again for me. I will not begrudge Cathy a meat or fish entre and a few drinks. The good host I shall be.

Galileo was a scientist making discoveries. Discoveries true, however the timeliness of some too early to be accepted. One of Galileo’s specialties was astronomy. He believed the Earth revolved around the sun. Heresy back then! The popular concept was the sun revolved around the Earth.

Even the Catholic Church was involved. In an area that did not touch God. The Catholic Church labeled Galileo a heretic.

On this day in 1945, President Harry Truman announced Nazi Germany had surrendered.

Hitler was a Jew hater. The world knows that. The atrocities he heaped upon those of the Jewish faith will never be forgotten. 

An example of Hitler’s hatred of Jews was the Nazi order in 1942 to kill all pregnant Jewish women in Kovno Ghetto.

Hitler did not create nor discover anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism goes back centuries. On May 7, 1355, 1,200 Jews in a particular community in Spain were killed by a Count Henry of Trastamara.

Vietnam stood strong in saying don’t screw with us. The Vietnamese defeated two major powers in the process. France and the U.S.

The French in 1954, The U.S. in 1972-73.

President Johnson expanded U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Overall he was a good Presidnet. However, he failed where Vietnam was concerned. Johnson wanted to be a “successful wartime Presidnet” as Roosevelt had. He failed in that regard.

Vietnam turned into a major failure for the U.S. and disrupted American society drastically.

Is Trump embarrassed that his sex life is openly being disclosed in a public trial in New York City?  I suspect not, even though some things are private. Sex is a personal private matter. One does not go round bragging about his or her conquests.

Donald does.

Now he is stuck in the Stormy Daniels hush money case in New York. She says they did it together. Describes Trump personally and other factors that make it appear they did it. Trump has consistently denied sex with Stormy. Wonder if he will testify. If he does, would he perjure himself?

Judge Aileen Cannon decided another point in favor of Trump yesterday in the documents case. Her decision favored Trump once again. She ruled the documents case would not be ready for trial later this month and adjourned the trial date to some future time to be decided. 

A victory for Trump. Means the case will not be tried before the election nor this year at all.

The quality of judges is important. Trump appointed a lot of favorites and misfits. Cannon one of them. He is reaping the benefit of the appointment.

Not American justice!

Trump is not one to waste time. The Judge in the New York City hush money case agreed to give Trump a day off from the trial to attend his son Barron’s graduation. The graduation is at 10 am in South Florida.

It was announced yesterday that Trump will also be speaker at a fundraiser later that same day in St. Paul, Minnesota. A 3 and 3/4 hour flight from Palm Beach to St. Paul.

Trump wastes no time, especially when it comes to money.

“Organized anarchy.” Leon Cooperman is a billionaire and Columbia University graduate. He describes the campus student protest as “organized anarchy.”

I do not know if I would go that far in describing the protests. I openly admit I disagree with the present protests. College students may be getting a hell of an education. However their mental and judgmental development is not yet sufficient to handle the Gaza problem. Most are nothing more than smart asses thinking they are big shots by espousing various theories.

Many comment to my expressions of not believing we should be guided by the judgment of the young and inexperienced. They disagree with me. They’re right as mine is to disagree with them. My problem is I do not understand why young inexperienced persons should lead/guide us. 

Enjoy your day!

Yesterday…..What a day!

Terrible afternoon, wonderful evening.

I had a CAT scan angiogram at 3. To possibly discover the cause of the extreme heart pain I had last week. Did not make sense in view of three heart surgeries I had recently.

It turned into a torture. Not blaming the Key West Hospital personnel. The cause may perhaps go back to Mount Sinai. The first pacemaker surgery which failed and had to be redone left me with three blood clots. Two in my left arm. My left arm is still in rest mode. Use it little. No blood work advised.

So it was the right arm yesterday. Four professionals tried to grab a vein from the wrist to my armpit. Finally succeeded near the armpit. Had to bring in an ultra sound machine to find deeper veins that might be usable. The regular ones still too beat up to take. They have shrunk among other things.

Took 45 minutes, but finally succeeded. My right arm covered with six bandages, the last near the armpit large. The arm slightly swollen at midsection.

I was not a happy camper, but did not complain. Everyone was doing their best. The last opportunity was the ultra sound and armpit. Glad it finally worked.

Now for the good.

I rushed to the airport to pick up Cathy. She had to wait a bit for me. Did not complain.

Her luggage is in Fort Lauderdale. Everyone on her Key West plane had their luggage left in Fort Lauderdale.

Cathy took it like a good sport.

Checked her into Silver Palms. Great rooms. 

Then we were both hungry. I had neither drunk nor eaten since the night before. We enjoyed an early dinner at Pepe’s. Then a long walk along the water. Stopped at Schooner’s Wharf for a while. I’m being a good boy and drinking diet Pepsi all the time. More walking and talking. Took her back to her room early and went home.

We are meeting Theos and Dina from Greece and Steve and Cindy Thompson at 4 today at The Grand.

Cathy renting a scooter this morning to do her thing. No baggage till 11:30. She slept last night in one of my old Key West Lou tee shirts.

Israel does not know when enough is enough. The nation has gone too far in seeking retribution. Israel will pay 50-100 years for its miscarriage. The problem has wrongfully extended throughout much of the world. Even to U.S. college campuses. 

Enough is enough!

History is interesting. Takes time for the “full truth” to come to light. Genghis Khan an example. He is rightfully known as one of history’s greatest conquerors. He established the largest contiguous land empire known to man up to his time. By winning battles. He was a brutal diabolical killer. Murdered whole peoples on his road to success.

He did accomplish good to some degree. Most dictators do. Mussolini gave Italy a good water system and made the trains run on time. Even Hitler achieved a degree of good in his early years. He gave his followers pride and economic security.

What did Genghis Kahn do? He established a “postal system.” Known at the time  as the “Yam” and “Orboo.” Stations were placed 20-30 miles from one to another, each featuring food, lodging and horses.

It was limited, however. The postal system was only available to merchants and travelers who could afford it. Eventually as most dictators do, Kahn abused the system and lost it.

Trump fined again for violating the gag order. The Judge warned him he is forcing him to jail Trump if he does not stop so doing.

It appears Trump wants to be jailed. Believes it will assist him in attracting voters. After all, he claims he is permitting himself to be “persecuted” in order to protect his followers.

Jail him. Let’s see how it plays out. Everyone is equal under the law. Trump must be stopped from destroying our judicial system. His anti-gag postures are just one example.

There is talk that Florida schools may stop teaching cursive writing. Cursive is writing with letters that flow. As children are taught to write today. Years ago, cursive writing was set aside and replaced by block letter writing. 

The Citizens’ Voice had a comment directed to the issue in today’s paper: “If schools stop teaching cursive, then how will anyone be able to read our founding documents or the signatures affixed thereto? What about wartime letters between your great-grandparents? The world will be poorer if this skill disappears.”

Many years ago, I dwelled on the issue. I was shocked by the result. Many persons, friends and strangers, went out of their way to tell me they could only write by printing letters. They had never been taught cursive.

Let’s leave cursive alone this time around. Government should find more important things to disrupt. That need disrupting. Florida has been under a disruptive binge under DeSantis. Nothing to be proud of.

Enjoy your day!

Common events can be happy ones. I have two ahead of me today.

At 3, I will be receiving a CT Angiogram of my chest. Recall last week, I suffered extreme heart pain. The worst ever! Thought I was getting the big time heart attack. Strange since recently I had received 3 heart surgeries at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami over a 5 week period in February and March.

The CT scan today is to determine why the pain. Fortunately, no pain since last week.

I am upset it took this long to get scheduled for the test. Eight days. I am doing it at the Key West Hospital. Nevertheless, I am thrilled the day is finally here.

Happy #2 is Cathy Holka arrives at 4:30 today for a few days. My Cocktails at 7 friend from Seattle. She is stopping in Key West for a three days visit. 

Cathy is on her way home from a trip to Belize. While there, she decided to spend a few days in Key West. 

In Belize, she broke a bone in her foot while snorkeling. Walking with a boot now.

She will be my dinner companion for the next few nights. And my companion day wise also. 

Cathy loves Key West. She resided her for a few years in the late 1980’s. She rented an apartment at the former Mercedes Hospital building on Virginia Street.

From the teens to early 1940’s, the Mercedes Hospital was administered by nurse Maria Valdez de Gutsens. Since her death, rumor has it she continues to walk its corridors and rooms. Touching and otherwise helping the sick.

Cathy claims she was “touched” by Mother Gutsens.

Cathy says she was really sick. A bronchial condition. Fever, sweats, body wracked in pain. She was asleep. Felt someone raise her arm as if taking her pulse. She could not see who it was. Mother Maria was not visually visible. She could feel, however. There were lights flashing through her window from the outside also.

Cathy describes her experience as “totally peaceful.” Yet, no words spoken. 

She describes the happening in the words of the time. She claims it was a “blast” and “cool.

Cathy would like to meet another who has had a similar experience. To discuss their happenings and how each felt about it.

I believe the whole Gutsens/Cathy story. A nut Cathy is not.

By the way, she did not get any better soon as a result of Mother Maria’s visit.

Cathy will arrive this afternoon wearing a boot.

Keep shooting! Continue selling guns without adequate safe guards!

Ty’oh Settles a lovely 3 year old. Will never make 4.

She was riding in a car which was caught in a Washington, D.C. crossfire. The vehicle, driver and Ty not pat of the crossfire battle.

A bullet struck and killed Ty.

Some things are hard hard to do.

Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy last year. He since has been forced to live on a budget of $43,000 a month. He now says he cannot live on that amount. He requires an increase.

William Shakespeare’s words of centuries ago still commonplace today. Like “The course of true love never did run true…..Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once…..What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet….What’s love cannot be undone.”

Lunched yesterday with Theo and Dina at the Thai Light Restaurant at the foot of the Palm Street bridge. Sushi!

My friends loved it! Fortunately, I enjoyed their company. Thought I could handle a California roll without teeth. Could not. Theo ate my portion.

I pick up Cathy at 4:30 at the airport. My medical procedure should be over by that time. 

I am looking forward to her visit. She always cooks a meal for me. Lamb chops one of my favorites and she does them for me. Not this trip, however. No culinary efforts required of her. Cannot chew. Therefore cannot eat. Cathy will owe me two meals the next time she visits.

Enjoy your day!

Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5 to celebrate Mexico’s victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Mexico’s troops were led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

For some reason, Cinco de Mayo is not celebrated with any significance in Mexico. However, it is celebrated in Key West. Key Westers party with dancing, drinking and food. Margaritas the drink of choice.

Enjoy the special holiday today!

Mystik Dan, a long shot, won the Kentucky Derby. An 18-1 shot.

The finish thrilling. A three horse photo finish that took judges several minutes to decide. The victory by a nose.

Trump creates problems. He seeks to isolate a particular group to support him by so doing.

Trump’s recent is his pledge to fight “anti-white feeling.” He claims whites are downtrodden because of government and corporate programs created to battle racism and boost diversity in American life.

Trump continues attacking his prosecutors. Yesterday, he accused Democrats of ” running a Gestapo administration.” He called Jack Smith a “fucking asshole.”

Presidential language?

Especially the Gestapo charge from a man who has openly made statements he would run a boss driven government similar to those of autocratic authoritarian leaders.

Lunch today at Thai Island Restaurant on Palm Street with Theos and Dina Markos.

Sushi time!

An interesting Frank Sinatra observation on the internet re his eating habits. One of favorite dishes was stuffed artichokes. Mine, also, though I rarely get them these days.

A holiday favorite prepared by my grandmother, mother and former wife that I enjoyed. Rarely available in Key West restaurants.

Sinatra’s favorite stuffed artichoke was prepared similar to that I enjoyed. Fresh herbs, bread crumbs, cheese, oil, capers and chopped black olives.

Oh, the days of good meals!

An interesting little known Rory McIlroy fact. He left high school at 16, with the support of his parents, to focus on his dream of becoming the world’s top golfer.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Today’s the day. The most famous horse race in America. The Kentucky Derby!

The race solely for three year old thoroughbreds. One and a quarter miles.

It is the first leg of the Triple Crown.

The Derby known also as “The Run For The Roses.” The winning horse is draped in a blanket of roses.

The race lasts two minutes. Referred to as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

The Derby was first run in 1875. Today the 150th running of the event. It is the most watched and most attended horse race in the United States.

The father of the Kentucky Derby is Col. Meriwether Louis Clark Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1872, he organized the Louisville Jockey Club which raised the money to build the track known as Churchill Downs. The track is named after John and Henry Churchill who provided the land for the racetrack.

In 1875, the first Kentucky Derby was run before 10,000 people. Today’s attendees will be roughly 160,000. The betting handle will be in the area of $20 million for all of today’s Kentucky Derby races.

The Derby is wrapped in tradition. The mint julep the traditional drink of the race. Foodwise burgoo, a thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables. Spectators watch from everywhere. From the infield costing the price of a general admissions ticket. Poor viewing, but great partying. “Millionaires Row” are expensive box seats that attract the rich.

An infield ticket on the day of the race costs around $275. The ticket charge begins two weeks earlier at $135 and runs up as race day approaches. A Millionaire Box Seat is in the thousands. A bit cheaper is a “reserved seat” which will cost the day of the race $3,500 with a special fee added thereon. The additional fee in the area of $500 plus.

The Kentucky Derby not a race for pikers.

The purse this year is $5 million. The winner collects $3.1 million of that amount.

Partying begins two weeks prior to the race. The best!

I have never attended a Kentucky Derby in Louisville itself. I have attended other Louisville events, however. A great partying town anytime!

My Key West days have generally been spent at the Yacht Club, Don’s Place or the Chart Room watching and partying. Fun time all!

The race is at 6:57 this evening. If not in Louisville, watch on TV! A thrill!

Enjoy your day!

Sugar Ray Robinson was born this day in 1921. Considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound. Six times a world champion. Once as a welterweight, five times as a middleweight.

I got to see the man at least a dozen times. Not as a boxer, but as a fellow on his way to visit his Mom

I attended Manhattan College. Located at 246th Street, just off Broadway. His Mother lived on 238th Street, just off Broadway. Sugar Ray used to park his 1950 “pink” Cadillac convertible on Broadway when he visited. My friends and I would occasionally walk Broadway. Not to see the Champion. Merely to take a break from studies.

On those walks, we were fortunate a few times to see Sugar Ray getting in or out of his car. He always gave us a “Hi, guys!” We always returned with a “Hi, Champ!”

Later years I learned the color of his car was not pink. It was reported he would never drive a pink car! It was fuchsia.

On this day in 1765, the first North American medical college opened in Philadelphia.

Fires were difficult to control 100 plus years ago. In 1901, one fire alone destroyed 1,7000 buildings in Jacksonville, Florida.

For sports fans…..On this day in 1936, Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut. He got 3 hits.

On this day in 1937, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Gone With The Wind.”

An oldie movie favorite is Going My Way. Premiered this day in 1944 starring Bing Crosby.

American citizens sacrificed big time during World War II. Rationing, for example.

I remember. My Mother had a book of stamps which were to be used for certain purchases. One was meat. It was a rarity at meal time. Little was available. Pasta was the frequent meal of choice.

No one complained. It was one of the ways everyone contributed to the war effort.

Meat rationing finally ended in June 1947. Rationing of many items continued for a time after the War.

Fred Klein leaves Key West tomorrow to return to New York City. From being a Snowbird to a Metropolitan New Yorker. A good man. The best! Hopefully, I will be able to spend more time with him next year.

Janis Paige. Retired actress and singer. A beauty, a talent. Her career spread 60 years.

She is now 101 years old. God bless!

One of her hits was Pajama Game on Broadway.

Brittney Griner says she considered suicide while imprisoned in Russia. She said, “I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks.”

She described her time in the Russian corrective colony 300 miles southeast of Moscow as “really cold. It’s a work camp. You go there to work. There’s no rest.”

She added, “The mattress had a huge blood stain on it, and they gave you these two thin sheets, so you’re basically laying on bars.” She described conditions as “unsanitary…..prisoners using long-expired toothpaste…..to clean off mold in their cells.”

Glad Brittney is back and her life normal again. May all U.S. citizens imprisoned in Russia be returned to the U.S.

Enjoy your day!

Tons of items requiring comment. Some consequential, some not. All important to me at the moment, however.

Engelbert Humperdinck is 88 years old today. My age. His name alone is worthy of comment.

Engelbert was a great singer beginning in the 1960’s. British origin. Became popular world wide. The song that made him was Release Me. I recall dancing to the tune and many of his other love recordings back then.

His name strange. Not originally is. His for real name was Gerry Dorsey. He adopted the long Engelbert moniker with Release Me. Engelbert Humperdinck was the name of an older German composer.

Engelbert is still working today. He has 17 concerts arranged.

Another famous singer of love songs in the 1960’s and thereafter was Tom  Jones. Fierce competitors. Jones reportedly disliked Engelbert vehemently for some reason.

Both great performers.

I finally went out to dinner last night. My surgery recovery has kept me in.

Dined at A & B Lobster House with my dear Greek friends Theos and Dina Markos. They had arrived for their annual visit yesterday from Greece. They were Greeks bearing gifts. Brought me many.

I still am without teeth. My dinner consisted of Lobster Bisque. As usual, outstanding. No alcohol. My drinking days are over. It was a Diet Pepsi for me.

I watched Theos and Dina enjoy their meals. I complained not.

Great people! We frequently keep in touch during the year. Theos reads the blog every day. 

I have spent much time in Greece. Greek women are special in that they care for their men in strange ways. Most women do. Greek women show it. It impresses me that Dina cuts her food and shares it with Theos. Directly into his mouth and on his plate.

We plan on getting together more during their stay.

There is a line between civil disobedience and lawlessness. Campuses belong to the universities, not the students.

I am bothered that I hear no concern by the protesters for the Jews initially killed, brutally, and those taken hostage on October 7. Palestinians are not the only ones who have been victimized.

The students fail to take into account that Palestinians lets Hamas run Gaza for 20 years.

Let all the facts be discussed. Not selectively as the student protesters have been doing.

In the last 24 hours, police have become significantly involved on the campuses of Columbia, UCLA, Dartmouth, Texas University, Tulane, Fordham and City College of New York.

Properly so.

A new recommended cure for sciatica pain. A banana a day. Sort of like an apple a day to keep the doctor away.

Trump supports Presidential immunity. Covers his ass! On the other hand, he wants to prosecute Biden. Doesn’t make sense. But then not much Trump articulates does make sense.

Trump knocks Biden every opportunity he can. Even where the charges against Biden are false.

Trump forgets what he says today comes back to hit him in the face tomorrow.

Trump has difficulty pronouncing certain words. Like “America,” “Hamas,” and now ‘infrastructure.” He also mixes up Joe Biden with Barack Obama.

Dementia?

The Studios of Key West. A big evening tonight. The Studios’ Opening Thursday of the Month. Three floors of art. Followed by a drink at the rooftop bar to conclude a pleasant evening. Six to eight.

Abortion and limitations thereto resemble a scenario where women’s bodies increasingly belong to the State. Wrong! A no no! Women’s rights re being decimated! Wake up men!  You are contributing to a violent wrong! By permitting such legislation to pass! Time to protect the ladies again!

Key West Hospital updating. The Lower Keys Medical Center has completed renovations to its cardiac catherization lab.

I hope the renovation is well done. I recently had three heart surgeries  at Mount Saini in Miami. Spent five weeks there.

Sunday I had a bad chest pain experience. I am being scheduled for a heart catherization in Key West to see if something is amiss.

Time to call people what they are. Those who claim “voter fraud” are not skeptics. They are “ignorant.”

Trump is beginning it again. Says he will only accept 2024 election results “if everything is honest.”

Republican Senator Vance of Ohio is being considered to be Trump’s running mate. Amazing how a worm turns. Vance said in a TV interview recently that he is “skeptical” Vice Presidnet Pence’s life was endangered.

He wasn’t watching the same TV I was. Perhaps because he was right in the Capitol and heard and saw everything going on first hand. Now he is reflecting the typical political whore and Trump ring kisser by denying Pence was in danger of death.

Enjoy your day!

Marriage is and has been an evolving state.

Lets begin with the stone age. Couples existed, but not as we know them today. Males and females got together for sex, child sharing and life’s daily tasks. Respect was lacking. The male/husband dominant. The female/wife a slave of sorts.

Traditional marriage as known today difficult to pinpoint. Non-existent.

Marriage became a mix. All numbers and kinds as time moved on.

Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Men have taken multiple wives in various cultures. China and Africa the most common. American Mormons in the 19th century.

Polygamy is still common across much of the Muslim world.

The idea of marriage between one man and one woman is relatively recent. Two centuries ago, monogamous households were a very tiny portion of the world population. Existing in Western Europe and little settlements in North America.

The first recorded evidence of marriage contracts and ceremonies dates back some 4,000 years ago t0 2350 B.C. in Mesopotamia. Marriage at that time was primarily among the poor class. Its purpose to preserve power, forge alliances, acquire land and produce legitimate heirs. Marriage as described came into being as society moved from a hunter to agrarian one. Women had little say who they married and how they were treated once married.

Religion/the Church is involved today. It was not at the beginning, however.

In ancient Rome, marriage was a civil affair governed by imperial law. When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, Catholic Church courts took over and elevated marriage to a holy union. As the Church’s power grew through the Middle ages, so did its influence over marriage. The Catholic Church’s Council of Trent which existed from 1545 to 1563 elevated marriage to a Sacrament, decreed weddings be performed in public, by priests, and before witnesses.

Love was not part of the relationship. Love and marriage were widely regarded as incompatible. Public kissing between spouses was condemned by Plutarch as early as 200 B.C. who described it as “disgraceful.” In the 12th and 13th centuries, Europeans viewed extramarital affairs as the highest form of romance, not marriage. In the 18th century, the French philosopher Montesquiece wrote that any man who was in love with his wife was probably too daft to be loved by another woman.

Romance entered the picture in the 17th and 18th centuries. Enlightenment thinkers determined life was about the pursuit of happiness.

The Industrial Revolution contributed. It enabled middle class young men to select a spouse, pay for a wedding, with regard to parental approval of no consequence. Love blossomed!

Marriage changed in the 20th century. Women grew from subordinated objects to the equal of their husbands. They were no longer regarded as property. If unhappy, couples could divorce. Today divorce ends approximately 50 percent of U.S. marriages.

Whereas men had been “playboys” for centuries and cheated, women now joined the club as “playgirls.” By the end of the 20th century marriage stability had become endangered.

Gay marriage became acceptable further undermining traditional marriage.

What’s next? Who knows. Change is a gradual constant where marriage is concerned.

Enjoy your day!