Happy Sunday!

Four days to Christmas! 

Winter officially begins today.

Thus far this year, Trump has embraced the trappings of royalty in ways not seen in modern times. His a new audacious revision of the imperial Presidency. His placing of his name on the Kennedy Center an example. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Congress will correct the error of his ways in this regard. Democrats and Republicans together. Trump’s step too far will “will blow up in his face.”

More and more people are describing Trump as a “dictator.” One of the world’s worst.

Trump keeps pushing. Appears to be seeking a war. I refer to the Venezuela situation. Most recently, the U. S. Coast Guard boarded a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil. Where was the fentanyl?

Trump seems to close his eyes to the fact that major companies have agreed to support Venezuela in any conflict that might arise. What a war it would be! From the miniscule to an elaborate one. A war that could reach American shores.

Trump’s Venezuelan moves stupid and in error. As my grandchildren Robert and Ally are militarily age available, so too is Trump’s son Barron. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Also, forget not Melania who will be very unhappy.

Syracuse beat Northwestern yesterday in basketball 91-83.

The health insurance issue remains unresolved. Many Americans will be hit with high premiums after the first of the year. To an extent they will not be able to pay. They will go without.

Disaster awaits!

Things have different costs at different times in their history. For example, in 1915 a three minute long distance telephone call cost in the U.S. exceeded $600.

A long distance call 91 years later in 2006 was 6 cents a minute.

Number of telephone calls changed also. In 1915, average daily phone calls in the U.S. exceeded 44,000. In 1960, exceeded 285,000.

The first game of basketball was played on December 31, 1891. Thirty year old James Naismith introduced the game. He later became the first basketball coach at Kansas University. Coached there from 1898-1907.

General George Patton died this day in 1945.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde” in 3 days. His wife thought it needed reworking. He also was not happy with it. So he threw the manuscript in the fireplace and burned it. 

He then spent the next 3 days rewriting the book. The edition we all read today.

Florence Griffith Joyner: “I believe in the impossible because no one else does and that gives me an excellent chance to accomplish it.”

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered  1937. I was three ears old at the time. Recall watching the movie at the Rialto Theater in Utica with my older cousins Phil and Lois. A neighborhood theater. We enjoyed the movie so much we watched it run a second time.

I briefly went out yesterday. I find it difficult to eat. Actually, swallow. My throat has narrowed and I have a growth.

I have taken to drinking smoothies. Date & Thyme chocolate smoothies. Two to three a day. Date & Thyme is on Fleming Street. Purchased six. Will last me through Monday morning.

I am having a bad day so far. Woke at 3. Pain in left ankle and foot. Sometimes running up to the knee. Really hurts when it pulsates. It will go away at some point today. In the meantime, I suffer.

Forget not Mark Kelly. Hopefully our next President. Research him.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Trump moves swiftly when it comes to his name and other things such as making money. My concern today Trump’s concern that his name be on everything.

Yesterday it was announced that the Kennedy Center had been renamed. Its new name The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The White House announced the vote was unanimous. A lie. A typical misrepresentation by Trump and his White house lackies. The vote was not unanimous. Dissenting voice(s) were “muted” and not permitted to speak.

Another strange situation involved the fact that the vote was not even on the agenda. Sneaky!

The renaming will not stand. It requires a Congressional vote. Something Trump seeks to avoid where required.

I worry. Trump has two more years in office. The ultimate for him would be the United States of America being renamed the United States of Donald J. Trump. I would not put it past him to try.

The Epstein files were finally released. In total, yesterday. Apparently heavily redacted. Should not have been. The issue a sensitive one. Those named/involved in any fashion, good, bad or indifferent, should be revealed to the public. 

U.S. at war with Syria? Or merely a retaliatory strike? Two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian were killed last week.

Trump hit back hard. The retaliation described as “large scale.” Seventy targets attacked. Word is more strikes expected.

Hegseth described the attacks “not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance.”

Too much from my perspective.

Hard to believe! Humans ate popcorn at least 6,700 years ago. Makes sense. Corn has been around some 9,000 years.

I rarely eat popcorn. However statistics indicate 43 quarts of popcorn are consumed per person in the U.S. each year,

Ah, the movies! The first public movie theater in the U.S. opened in 1905.

The first woman to run for President was Victoria Woodhull. The year 1872.

She was a strange duck. Believed in free love. Spoke freely about it. Supported the free love movement. In 1871, she gave a speech in New York City called “The Truth Shall Set You Free” supporting free love.

Radio City Music Hall has over 6,000 seats.

Fred Klein is a dear friend. A New York City attorney. Writes one blog a week. Every Friday. Outstanding.

Fred returned to Key West 3 days ago for the season. He has a lovely home nearby.

We spoke on the phone yesterday. He asked why I do not discuss my illness more. Claims people want to know how I am doing.

Here goes.

I have been home from the hospital since Sunday after one week of hell. A cancer growth on my left ankle removed. The most painful injury/surgery I have ever experienced. A quarter sized cancer grew post surgery almost immediately to larger than a half dollar coin. Then became immediately infected.

The pain, which continues, the most horrendous I have ever experienced. Even now when home. 

I shall be receiving home nurse care by Sara, a sore wound expert. She is doing great, but hurts the hell out of me big time when she works on me. I yell and swear. The last bandage next to the wound medicated. It sticks to the wound. The removal a killer!

Sara sees me 3 times a week at home.

I am getting better however. I hurt and don’t hurt. Walking better. Left foot and ankle still swollen, though the swelling minimally reducing in size each day.

I can handle going out. Do not need cane. Take it however for mental support.

I require three months of treatment. That is the length of time I have been told it will take for total recovery.

Again, I now am getting a wee bit better each day. I will take it!

I close with Mark Kelly, U.S. Senator, former astronaut and 25 year Navy veteran. My choice for President. Search him out. Read about him. A Trump he is not.

Enjoy your day!

The two names do not belong together. Trump and Kennedy. One connotes evil, the other good.

Disgrace at the highest level is about to occur. In Washington. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center.

Sucks! The two men do not equate in any manner. Kennedy was a great! Trump is a shit! Got to say it that way. A way I suspect many Americans felt upon hearing the news.

The Center’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to effect the change. The Board was entirely appointed by Trump this year in February.

Typical of Trump moves, there are legal impediments involved. The U.S. Code states that no new “memorials or plaques in the  nature of memorials shall be designated or initiated in the public area of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

A Congressional vote for the same would be required.

Former Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a grandnephew of former President Kennedy said, “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen President and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”

I close with my usual give consideration to Mark Kelly for our next President. A U.S. Senator, former astronaut, and 25 year Navy veteran.

Enjoy your day!

Normally a Presidential address would take precedence the morning after. Not Trump’s from last night, however. It was that bad. So I begin with the more important. Christmas. Bearing down on us. Next week!

Clement Clarke Moore’s opening to A Visit from St. Nicholas: “‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

Fills one with the Christmas spirit!

Then there is Fredrich Austin’s The Twelve Days of Christmas: “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.”

Cindy Lou Who’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “No one should be alone on Christmas.”

I agree. I have had to spend a few alone in recent years. Sucks!

Now for Trump’s White House address last night. He made things up. Lies and misrepresentations. He used the address to insist he had the economy humming. Again, either intentional lies or he just doesn’t know what he is talking about.

His talk not worthy of any further comment by me this morning.

Christmas tree lights. From whence they came. 

Thomas Edison was pushing electricity. Lights part of it. Three years after Edison’s first light display, Edward Johnson, Vice President of Edison Electric Company, gave the public a possible use of Edison’s electricity. He wired up a Christmas tree and placed it with red, white and blue lights in a window in his New York City home.

The Christmas tree was born!

Thomas Edison’s brilliance reflected in the number of patents he held during his lifetime. Would you believe: 1,095!

Trump reclassifying marijuana later today. Claims a lot of people want it. Not a total reclassification. Will permit medical and certain social uses.

For a man who denies use of alcohol and drugs, he is helping the American people to walk around stoned. Any liberalization will find pot escaping legal boundaries even more than it does today.

I disagree with what he is doing. On the other hand, he is in a tough spot. He needs “help” from wherever and however he can get it. He is a drowning President seeking all resources to survive.

On this day in 1620, the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Harbor.

Gingerbread is purported to be America’s favorite cookie. Especially at Christmas time.

Maybe. However, I cannot recall the last time I ate one.

The pinky toe has a purpose. Small, yet effective. It provides balance and propulsion. Important in foot biomechanics.

Beware stubbing it!

Mark Kelly my candidate for our next President. He has the credentials. A 25 year Navy veteran, an astronaut and now U.S. Senator. We have had enough of businessmen. Trump alone was enough.

Enjoy your day!

How much does it cost Santa to park his sleigh? Interesting question. Worthy of consideration. Nothing, it’s on the house.

Love it!

The largest dinosaur is the Dreadnoughts. Eighty five feet long.

Eating cake on our birthday stretches back thousands of years. Back through ancient temples, Roman banquets and today American kitchens.

Cakes were baked in Mesopotamia four hundred thousand years ago. In ancient Rome, served at weddings and fertility rites.

Not merely food. Often sacred offerings. 

Today, for pleasure and enjoyment.

Big day in American history! In world history! The Wright Brothers on this day in 1903 flew the first airplane. Time and distance 12 seconds and 120 feet.

I’m not sure of the degree of discrimination or the why but on this day in 1862 General Ulysses S, Grant expelled Jews from his military district.

World War II was all of 10 days old on this day in 1941. Someone had to be blame at the U.S. end for Pearl Harbor. One was the U.S. Commander at Pearl Harbor. He was relieved of his duties.

A pretty penny! Valuable! The last U.S. pennies sold for $16.7 million at an auction last Thursday. The pennies were from the final minted stock. The pennies were sold in sets. Each brought a value of $72,000. The final set $800,000.

Marjorie Taylor Greene said Trump’s reaction to the death of Rob Reiner was “classless” and she did not see the GOP winning in midterms.

Trump has announced “complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers to and from Venezuela. It will devastate Venezuela’s struggling economy which depends on overseas oil sales.

Trump is destroying a country. Not the right of a U.S. President under circumstances existing. Trump is a diabolical tyrant. Shame on him. Shame on all who voted for him.

The George Washington portrait that helped inspire the $1 bill will soon go on auction sale.

The unemployment rate is rising. Signals a weakness in the economy. Trump’s economy. The one he says is “great.”

The Trump travel ban. One significant reason for raising the ban from 19 to 39 countries is the recent shooting in Washington, D.C. which killed one National Guard member and critically wounded another.

Overreaction? I suspect so. But odd ball and inappropriate reactions are to be expected from Trump.

Would you believe? Trump questioned Obama’s morals. Big time. The man is sick. Blind to a significant degree also.

Morality is something Trump lacks and whatever he has he does not understand.

Obama cut Trump’s balls off with his retaliatory comments to Trump’s sick tongue. Including a Biblical quote which destroyed Trump.

Please keep in mind Senator Mike Kelly. Research him a bit. He is my suggested choice for President in 2028. 

Enjoy your day!

Trump’s  criticism at the time of Rob Reiner’s death disgusting. What goes around, comes around. Trump will receive similar comments at the time of his demise. With one difference. They will not come from one person. Rather a multitude.

Trump and Hegseth planning to change/alter several U.S. major military headquarters and shift the balance of power among its top generals. Scares me! Any changes the two idiots make I fear will work to the detriment of the military. I wish it were 2028 and we had a new President.

Senator Mark Kelly calls them as he sees them. He has the right. He earned the right. A 25 year Navy veteran, an astronaut and a U.S. Senator. Recall also his wife was shot in the head years ago while campaigning for Congress. 

Kelly has recently been critical of Trump. Trump rebutting big time in typical Trump fashion. Most recently, has Hegseth “probing” Kelly.

My friends, Kelly is my candidate for President in the next election. He has earned the right. His credentials numerous and unique. And most importantly, a Trump he is not.

The U.S. has struck three alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific, killing 8. Keep it up Donald! You will get us in the middle of a war. One which the American people do not want.

Back in the early 1960s, I was a new young lawyer. At the time, I did a lot of criminal work. I represented a number of black persons. Soon noticed I never saw a black juror in courtroom pool. Checked into the overall pool of hundreds and found no black person.

Not fair, not Constitutional, not American.

Under New York law there was a provision for a special proceeding pre-trial to test to see if the overall panel had blacks.  I started doing them even though I knew it would do no good. I was looking for attention for the problem.

The proceedings took 1-2 days. The judges and prosecutors were pissed. From their perspective, I was wasting time and screwing up their schedules.

I never was successful. So much for justice.

Still a problem. Here it is some 55 years later and the issue of black jurors remains an issue in some states. Hopefully will finally be put to rest. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a Mississippi case on the illegal omission of black jurors. 

Donald Trump Jr. co-founded a private members club in Georgetown. Initiation fee $500,000. Annual dues $500,000. The club called Executive Branch. Members obviously not grocery shoppers.

American patriots would take no further abuse from the British. Ergo, the Boston Tea Party. This day in 1773.

Hitler thought German women were not having enough babies. So in 1938 he established the “Mother’s Cross” to encourage women to procreate. A blue cross was given to women who were working to increase the size of their families. Three classes. Bronze for 4-5 children. Silver for 6-7. Gold for 8 or more.

The medal had some success. From 1938 to 1944, more than three million German mothers received it.

Live and learn. Mark Twain was the first person to publish a book that was written on a typewriter. Twain also was the first person to have a telephone in his house.

Persons may have thought Twain lived in Key West at one time. He did not. However, he had 19 cats living in his home at one time.

Three Kareem Abdul-Jabbar observations. His writings are terrific.

One says a panel voted to stop recommending Hepatitis B shots at birth for most newborns. Jabbar responded: “It is now the national policy to put the health and lives of our children at risk just so the GOP can score political points with those ignorant of science.”

Another. The administration has cut free entry for MLK Day at a federal park, adding Trump’s birthday. Jabbar responded: “Trump’s birthday has just been declared more important than the end of slavery in this country. Yeah, live with that for a minute.”

Finally. Jabber’s Today Quote: “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”

One of the U.S.’s major World War II victories: The Battle of the Bulge which began this day in 1944. God bless General Patton and his men. The victory guaranteed success against Germany. A loss could have meant U.S. defeat in the war.

It’s nice to be home. Still a struggle. Pain remains a major issue.

Enjoy your day!

Santa Claus will NOT be coming to Key West this year for fear of deportation. Makes sense. He is NOT a U.S. citizen. Just the type of individual ICE is seeking.

I was released from the hospital yesterday after one week. A cancer removal from my left ankle became infected. Pain like you would not believe. Still hurts, though less, now that I am home.

I have had 3 major illnesses since I was 88. Now 90. The first three heart operations at 88. The next four abdominal bleed surgeries last year. Now this cancer problem.

I thought the cancer removal would be the easiest. Not so. A horrible recovery. Still horrible, though I am suffering at home now which is easier. 

An interesting Brown University result. The person of interest has been released. Not the shooter. The culprit still being sought.

Rob Reiner and his wife found dead yesterday. Described as murders. Our country is more and more screwed up.

Trump wants Venezuelan oil, not drugs. The drug story a phony. The usual to be expected from Trump and his administration these days. I wonder if we can survive two more years of the Donald, a liar and a warmonger.

Our health care system is in crisis. What is going to happen?

Trump is losing his MAGA base. It is slowly checking out.

Saturday’s Army-Navy game exciting! Navy won it 17-16. I enjoyed it from my hospital bed.

Trump appears to “be making money on the side” while President. Not right! We do not elect Presidents to become millionaires while on the job.

Chocolate Chips cheating. Third graders in a particular school counted them. The container said 1,000. The third graders only found 680.

The U.S. Bill of Rights became law in 1791.

Can’t win them all! Gustave Eiffel: “I ought to e jealous of the tower. She is more famous than I am.”

Glad to be back.

Enjoy your day!

Today is December 7. A day of historical significance for the United States. Eighty four years ago on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States. Devastated Pearl Harbor and other parts of Hawaii. Within days attacked and conquered many Pacific islands.

The United States was at war. Big time! Unexpectedly!

Washington was concerned Japan might attack. So the surprise attack was not much of a surprise in Washington. However to the rest of the country, to the American people, to the guy on the street, to the you and me, it was a surprise.

I was 6 years old at the time. Old enough to recall the events of the day. Everyone went crazy in a fashion. People seeking friends with radios to get the news moment by the moment. Not everyone had a radio back then. My parents did. The living rom was packed.

Though only 6, I was old enough to know a calamity had occurred. The next day, most of men went to sign up for the service. Even my 27 year old father. He was turned down because he was deaf in one ear. As a child, an incompetent doctor had pierced one of his eardrums.

Everyone was concerned. All men wanted to enter the fight.

The war was our life for the next four years. My youth did not prevent me from understanding what was going on.

I write this brief history because there is little reported in the media today about that day in 1941. Not a time to forget. Most nations are capable of initiating a war with the United States. One which this time would commence with an attack directly on U.S. people and soil. Our country itself would be Pearl Harbor.

My point a simple one. We all know the danger we are in. Trump has placed us in that danger. The peace monger is really a war monger. He knows not what he does. Friends have become enemies. Everyone appears to want to take a shot at us.

Such being the case, why has the media failed today to provide a rerun of December 7, 1941. The people of our nation should be reminded, recall and discuss that day to provide a necessary sense of what could be today. Discussion and concern would help us prepare for what many believe may be an inevitable war on our shores.

I repeat that which I have written in recent days That which I have discussed with friends. I believe our next President should be Mark Kelly. A 25 year Navy veteran, an astronaut and a U.S. Senator. Trump is the last business man I may want as President for a long time.

Enjoy your day!

Mark Kelly for President!

Enjoy your day!

Today a short blog. Tomorrow no blog.

Doctoring again. Will it ever end?

No big deal tomorrow. A cancer growth on my left ankle is being removed.

One topic I wish to address today. Trump and Hegseth and the Venezuelans killed. Trump will end up blaming Admiral Bradley or Hegseth. Hegseth will blame the Admiral.

Both whores. Trump and Hegseth.

Mark Kelly being blamed for things arising directly, indirectly or not at all out of the situation.

Kelly a 25 year Navy veteran. An astronaut. A U.S. Senator. Husband to a woman who was shot in the head while running for Congress. She came close to dying. Spent 6 months in the hospital.

Kelly my man for President on the Democratic ticket. I am sick of businessmen running. I want someone who has supported the U.S. for most or all of their life. Mark Kelly is that type. MY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT!

Enjoy your day!