Today is my birthday. Ninety one years old!

Interesting. Wild in a sense.

My body feels it. My mind not. My mind is as sharp today as it was years ago. I suspect the blog has kept me mentally alert.

My day will be as all others in recent years. Quiet. I may buy myself a special dinner this evening. Depends how I feel.

A portion of yesterday was spent with Corey and Robert. They were helping with the assemblage of the art work I acquired over the years. Both extremely helpful.

I am concerned about the pending heat wave that is supposed to hit Wednesday. A bad one on an already bad one!

How does Trump see his place in history? Comparable to historical greats. The most powerful men who ever existed. Including the bad guys. I suspect persons such as Attila the Hun, Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler and Mao Tse Tung.

Power the key. As Trump recently said, power alone is not enough. Such a person must be willing to use it. Trump believes he is such a person as he is convinced he is willing to use power and has.

Ben Harrison’s latest musical wonder is around the corner.: Clouds Over the Sunshine Inn. July 14-18 at the Fringe Theater. Go! The worst thing that will happen is you will have a good time!

Interesting. In 2025, independent sellers on Amazon employed over 2 million people in the U.S. in the support of their businesses.

The Battle of Gettysburg ended on July 3, 1863. It was the most decisive battle of the Civil War.

George Washington took Command of the Continental Army on July 3, 1775. From there ultimately to first President of the United States. A long and dramatic career.

The Keys Publix Proposal adds 130,000 square feet to what presently exists. A City Commission is presently studying the Proposal. Area will be added for anchor tenants. However the plan does not contain any portion for residential housing. The Proposal in my opinion should not be approved unless it has some residential housing. Key West is desperate for housing.

Carmen Rodriguez has returned! She is singing at various locales about town. Visit one and sit down to an evening of pure joy listening to her sing. She is one of the best! 

George Washington, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were considered the most humorous of the Founding Fathers.

Venezuela had been warned its public housing towers might crumble in a quake. They did. Big time!

Enjoy your day! My day!

My cousin Maurice died two days ago. We had not talked in 19 years. He was two years younger than me. We grew up together, were close. He ended up living in Bowie, Maryland and I had settled in Key West.

We had an argument 19 years ago. The issues important to the both of us, but in the final analysis bullshit items. Nevertheless we never saw nor talked to each other for the past 19 years.

I cried instantaneously when told yesterday of his death. He has been in my mind since and the way we had drifted for 19 years. A waste! I am shedding tears as I share our relationship with you at this moment. Our separation a shame. The issues that we drifted over were not that important when reflected upon.

I missed the Washington fireworks and Trump’s speech last night. No way could I stay up that late for either. After having read this morning’s New York Times report re Trump’s address, I missed nothing. It was his usual deriding of others. This “communism” thing he should stop. He is creating an issue where there is none.

I found it interesting that over 400 “fascists” were permitted to march yesterday in Washington. Hitler’s people ok to Trump. Does not surprise me. He has read Hitler for years and I suspect admires him because he was a power person. Trump considers himself a power person.

Corey worked with me yesterday afternoon with my art collection. I am putting it together in hopes of selling some pieces. I acquired over 100 works in my lifetime. Roughly 50 are of value.

Yesterday, Pope Leo urged the U.S. to welcome, protect and assist immigrants. His message in effect that Trump should not treat immigrants as he does.

On Mount Rushmore, Trump moved from “patriotism” to “communism.” He’s playing an old game. Trying to make trouble.

He referred to his Democratic opponents as “evil communists.” Socialism and communism are not the same. Does not bother Trump, however.

Trump continues to believe his face should appear on Mount Rushmore. Difficult to understand. He in no fashion has traits consistent with those whose faces already appear.

While Trump, his family and friends make tons of money off the Crypto Coin, retail investors have lost $3.8 billion.

Today’s job market may be described a a “purgatory one.” For adults as well as recent college graduates.

The question has recently arisen as to what the cost is to take over Madison Square Garden for an event. The marriage of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce brought it to the forefront.

Rent alone is $600,000 to $800,000. For a 1,000 guest wedding with all the food, drink and frills, $10 to $12 million.

Had to be one hell of a wedding!

A stomach illness is spreading across the U.S. Cyclospena. More than 400 people have been infected in 18 states. It is caused by a parasite  which is transmitted through food and water contaminated with feces. It causes stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and severe diarrhea. No deaths have been reported yet. New York, Texas, Illinois and Michigan have the most cases.

The Abraham Lincoln penny entered circulation in 1909.

The first Farmer’s Almanac entered circulation in 1457 in Europe. It was first published in the colonies in 1639.This may be its last year. Publication is in September. The word is it will be no more thereafter.

There is always someone local who has fireworks and seems to blow them forever on July 4. Began a couple of blocks from me last night at 9. Ran loud for 2 hours.

What follows is interesting.

In 1776, Philadelphia was the largest city in the colonies. Thirty to forty thousand people. Some cobbled streets. Others dirt and gravel. Children dressed like miniature adults. Children’s clothes had not become common yet. By 1776, the Revolutionary War was almost one year old. Women fought in the war also. They were deeply involved in the day to day battles.

I expected that if there was to be a fireworks fire last night it would occur in Washington. I was wrong. One did occur in New York City, however. The Brooklyn Bridge. Caused by fireworks and garbage. Looked big time. It was not considered so. Nevertheless it did take 31 fire crews to put it out.

Robert and I will work on the art compilation again tomorrow. On my birthday unfortunately. However must do what has to be done when my help (Robert) is available.

Today will be a screw off Sunday for me. Not sure yet what it will amount to.

Enjoy your Sunday!

The opening passage to the Declaration of Independence. Adopted in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, signed on August 2, 1776. Both wickedly warm days. No air conditioning, of course Men wearing heavy wool waist coats. Only open windows for air. Grossly insufficient. Nevertheless, the United States of America was born.

 I fear today may be a “tinderbox Fourth.” Trump has planned the biggest fireworks display ever. A combination of fireworks and heat could start a fire on Washington grounds. A possible calamity in the making.

It only takes one small spark landing in dry vegetation under the right conditions to start a fast moving wildfire.

If so, it would be another Trump faux pas.

The fireworks plan is it will take 40 minutes and be seen for a mile across Washington. It will launch from eight barges on the Potomac River, with additional sites running the length of the Reflective Pool. The poor Reflective Pool!

The size of the fireworks will probably set a Guinness world record. It could also spike the pollution previously mentioned in the form of soot and heavy metals. Nothing Trump does would surprise me.

Lets hope none of the bad things occur.

I have been fortunate to have experienced two July Fourth  events in Washington. I stood with the crowd on grounds near the Reflective Pool. Exciting! Singing and music preceded the fireworks.

Some are paying big dollars this year to view the fireworks, etc. Must be Donald’s friends. Tickets were sold to watch the activities from the Kennedy Center rooftop. The cost $25,000 for 36 persons. Who pockets the money? The U.S. government, the Kennedy Center or Trump himself?

New York City will have a special event for the Fourth. A parade of “tall ships.” Old time sailing vessels from 20 nations.

My oldest daughter Beth and her husband Marc live in Wellesley. A Boston suburb in effect. They are also boating fanatics. They own a large motor vessel which is parked in a marina about two blocks from the huge shopping center in downtown Boston. Many the night I have slept on board and was out on the water with them. Marc an expert large boat handler.

A couple of times the “tall ships” came into Boston Harbor on a U.S. holiday. We were out to greet and share time with them, of course. “We” included the whole world! I never saw so many boats!

They were exiting days. One that those in the New York area will experience today. Lucky them! That good!

Elsewhere throughout the U.S. many will enjoy cookouts with family and friends. Great eats and company!

Trump spoke at Mount Rushmore yesterday to honor Teddy Roosevelt. Recall how Trump has “intimated” he belongs on Mount Rushmore. In a pig’s eye! The last place he belongs!

Enjoy your Fourth! God bless our Nation! It will survive Trump! Hang in there!

Trump’s 250 Event and things surrounding it are falling apart at the seams. I will not recite them all. You read and hear about them every day.

There are two new, however.

One involves the Freedom 250 Stage. It collapsed during rehearsal. 

The other even worse from my perspective. The food at Trump’s Great American State Fair was virtually inedible. There were overwhelming complaints about the food offered for sale. The failure quality wise. Prices on the high side also. Bad food, high prices…..a great combination!

The Donald knows how to throw a party!

Hard to believe, but Abraham Lincoln could have sent a fax. Or, perhaps received one. Japan also had fax capability in the early 1860s.

The first fax came upon the scene in 1843.  It was in existence while Lincoln was practicing law in Illinois.

The fax was “commercialized” in 1863. Lincoln may have used it in his last years in the White House.

On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. I consider Johnson one of our best Presidents. His Senate experience served him well as President.

Coca-Cola was originally called “Pemberton’s French Wine Cola. John Pemberton was a Civil War veteran who concocted the drink. At the time he was suffering from a saber wound and morphine addiction.

He formulated the “Pemberton drink” by copying the popular cocaine infused Vin Mariani wine that Popes and Presidents were drinking at the time. 

As Pemberton’s health decreased, Asa Candler stepped in and turned the company inro Coca-Cola in 1892.

I reported yesterday on the Texas nun ICE arrested. Further news reveals she is Black and has been a nun for 10 years. She did not have her papers on her, however. Nevertheless, ICE should not arrest the religious. Going a major step forward, ICE should arrest no one. They should be eliminated. A very unAmerican group!

Trump likes to do things in a big way. The fireworks at the White House on July 4 for example. The biggest ever. None in the past even compare. Over a 40 minutes time frame, 850,000 fireworks will be shot off. Figures out to be 354 every second. A real wow!

Hope it works that way! Most things Trump has worked on for the Fourth weekend have failed in one fashion or another.

Pope Leo XIV is having his problems. I give him credit, however. He is the boss and is running the Catholic Church as he believes it should be run. For years, the Papacy was intruded upon and tried to be run by power crazy wannabes. Those who wanted to exercise Papal authority. 

Under Leo, no more. 

A Church Society appointed four new bishops after Leo told them not to. Leo in effect has fired the Society and refused to recognize the bishops.

Congressional Republicans to a large degree support the high gasoline prices. They support Trump and the Iran War. Ergo, they have no choice but to support the elevated gasoline prices.

I suspect many will lose their seats in the midterm elections.

Euthanasia is legal in Canada. Since 2016. The law is called “Medical Assistance in Dying.” Requires the assistance of a trained medical practitioner who by law does it via injection.

Since 2016, 76,475 persons have died utilizing the law. The deaths represent 4.7 percent of all who died during that time.

New York City was hit by the heat wave yesterday. The temperature registered 100 degrees.

New York City has already projected to be “unhealthy” on Thursday. It is claimed the temperature will hit 111 degrees.

The heat wave has been ongoing in Europe for several weeks. It is causing Alp glaciers to melt. An uncommon occurrence. There is always ice at the top of the Alps!

I have spent many years in northern Italy and parts of France where the Alps are overwhelming and the glaciers in Summer remaining. Never hot enough for the Glaciers to melt.

My friend Anna had a home in northern Italy. It sat on the middle of the Alps. In Summer when the heat was horrible, we would leave her Novara home and go to the Alps accommodation. Cool!

What I share now I shall never forget. It was July 11 of some year 15 or 20 years ago. I rose at 7 and per my custom went out on the balcony to view the mountain and glaciers. What I saw blew my mind. Note again it was July 11. Everything was covered with snow! The balcony and the Alps all the way up to the glaciers. 

I could not believe it! Woke Anna immediately! She was surprised. A first for her also. She who had spent time in that house off and on for some 40 years.

Strange weather apparently does happen. By noon, the snow had all melted. I never saw it again in the Summer in all my trips to that house.

I reported yesterday that Trump’s earnings for 2025 based on his federal filing was $2.2 billion. A tidy sum!

I came across this morning Melania’s report. She did not do as well as husband Donald. Melania earnings were reported as a mere $17.3-18.2 million.

Poor Melania!

That’s it for today my friends.

Enjoy your day!

Will you marry me? Ho ho and a bottle of rum! However beware where the question is asked.

Two people climbed to the top of the Empire State Building this past week. The “needle.” The very top!

When they completed the climb, they unfurled a large black flag which appeared to be posted to an Instagram.

The couple Angela Nikolau age 33 and Ivan Beerkus age 32. They were arrested by police following the event.

Lovers! Beerkus proposed to Nikolau after reaching the top. The Instagram shows Beerkus getting down on one knee to propose.

Crazy! Stupid! Dangerous! No question, love is strange!

The Reflecting Pool might also be called “A Giant Duck Death Trap.”

The Pool’s present status is it is under “permanent repair.” So sayeth Trump. Trump further says the repair will come around July 4. Hope so! Doubtful, however. The National Park Service said in a court filing yesterday that it will “drain and repair the …..Reflective Pool after July Fourth celebrations…..conduct repairs, including assessing and repairing any damage to the lining.”

There is a Billionaires’ Vagina Club. Would you believe!

For women. High class monied ones. The physician specialist maintains her offices in the Silicon Valley. Whereas some doctors specialize in longevity, Dr. Sally Greenwald focuses on a woman’s “sexspan.”

Hers a booming business!

Putin faces increased pressure as Moscow is again attacked by drones.

When will the Russian people say they have had enough and dump Putin? Perhaps never. Fear a strange thing.

Russia’s death toll in the Ukraine War is 1.4 million. Ukraine has lost 600,000.

In most of the U.S., executions are a thing of the past. However, there is one State that has not slowed down. Executes at an increased pace. Our beloved Florida! Since January 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis has been signing death warrants at a record acceleration rate.

The number of Florida executions since that date is 32. In 2025 alone, Florida accounted for 40 percent of all executions in the U.S. A modern state record. Twenty seven in 2025, five thus far in 2026.

Does DeSantis and/or the people of Florida  have a “killing nature?” Something does not make sense here.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

ICE arrested a nun walking to Church. A massive bipartisan eruption occurred. Democrats and Republicans alike. 

You don’t arrest a nun!

The nun was attired as one. White from the top of head to her toes. No way to determine she was other than a nun.

Sister Leticia Ugboaja was released several hours after her arrest in South Texas. 

ICE is clamping down. Recently has been significantly increasing the number of arrests it makes. In the past five days alone, arrests have shot to 10,000. Double the number of arrests it usually makes.

“Extreme heat” will build across the country beginning Wednesday. Key West in the area of the “extreme heat.” All we need! More extreme heat piled on the extreme heat we have been experiencing this past month.

Trump and family reaped vast financial rewards from a “meme coin” that generated losses for hundreds of thousand s of investors. Proving once again Trump and his people take care of themselves with little to no regard for others.

Venezuela is overwhelmed with thousands of dead bodies following the earthquakes. What can be done with them?

A seaport is turning into a temporary morgue. The bodies at the seaport are being moved into refrigerated containers in preparation for the possibility of mass burials. Deaths to date number 2,295. A miniscule number. Many many more yet to be found and buried. The number could be as high as 10,000. Burial bags have been ordered to cover that number.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh stressed the central bank could “deliver price stability.” A point he has emphasized repeatedly since taking over in May.

Warsh’s representations re anything are questionable. He is a recent appointment who was appointed by Trump. So they sing the same tune. More aptly stated, Warsh sings Trump’s tune.

Recall that Trump has consistently claimed inflation is not a problem. Trump has reiterated several times re inflation: “I love the inflation.”

U.S. prices have risen at a faster rate in the past 3 years. The May Consumer Price Index noted the 3 year high  was 4.2 percent. A wow!

Trump claims rising costs are a temporary energy driven side effect of the war against Iran and predicts prices will “come down like a rock” as soon as the conflict ends.

The war never seems to end. Prices will not come down as fast as they went up. They never do. Trump wrong again.

Bob Marley: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

The Tennessee Williams Museum is moving. July 5 it will close at its Truman Avenue location. It will reopen in the Fall at 604 Whitehead Street.

The two Key West Publix locations will soon be redeveloped. The Sears one has already begun. Big changes ahead for all stores in the Center. The Fay’s one under review by the City at the moment as to its proposed changes.

Though difficult to accomplish, I hope some rental units could be added. One or two floors would be a big help to our community.

Nurse Valerie visits me at noon today. Paige later in the day hopefully.

I have been receiving a number of calls and messages wishing me a Happy Birthday! The day is July 6. Yesterday a call from Jean Thornton and a message from Lynda and Bob Frechette. A few days ago a gift from Fran and Tom Dixon. Others I cannot recall at the moment. The mind gets a bit weaker each year. 

Thank you one and all.

Enjoy your day!

Victor Willis has died. At age 74. A musical giant during his time and that of his group The Village People. Willis was the oft helmeted police officer leading the Village People. He wrote “YMCA” and “Macho Man.”

Never to be forgotten.

A bottle of Coke had a “fixed price” for years. From 1886 to 1959. Five cents a bottle.

Obviously no Donald Trumps during those days!

The largest floating structure is a Shell offshore natural gas facility. Its length 1,601 feet.

A miniature prune plant tree is a major producer of fruit. One hundred fifty to three hundred pounds each year.

A strange piece of information. Coke cans sink in water. Diet Coke cans float. Why the difference? It has to do with “sugar” content. 

Regular Coke contains 39 grams of sugar whereas Diet Coke none. Diet Coke contains artificial sweetener. Artificial sweetener weighs much less than sugar. Ergo, lighter as a result of which the can of Diet Coke floats. 

McDonald’s Big Mac sells 1.5 million per day. Totals 550 million per year.

There was a time whales were facing extinction. So the U.S. Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972 to save whales from extinction.

Assuming it were possible to walk to the moon, it would take 9 years.

There are an estimated 74 million fathers in the U.S. Of that number, 239,000 are stay at home dads.

The U.S. Mint produces tons of coins. Approximately 15 billion a year.

Canadian geese fly big time. Canadian geese can fly 1,500 miles per day. Wow!

The length of the Great Wall of China is 13,171 miles.

When you consider jean expense, understand it takes 1.5 pounds of clothe to make one pair.

Levi Strauss and Company’s income from jean products in 2025 was $6.3 billion.

The signing of the Declaration of Independence took place at the Pennsylvania State House. It was adopted on July 4, 1776 and officially signed on August 2, 1776. Both occurred in “the melting heat of a Philadelphia Summer.”

The Founding Fathers wore wool waistcoats and unclean clothing. Respectfully, they smelled. Open windows were not enough to deal with the body odors.

A dangerous heat will hit the U.S. around the holiday weekend. Temperatures in some areas will exceed 100 degrees.

The Tennessee Williams Museum is relocating to Whitehead Street.

Key West’s Key Lime Festival returns. July 1-5. Enjoy Key West’s native pie during those days!

A bit of the Trump. Only a bit. He warrants nothing more.

The Reflective Pool continues to be embarrassing. Only for Trump. His baby! He planned it. Trump is having a hell of a time trying to keep it “blue” and lacking in green algae.

Donald’s screw up.

I doubt it will be cured and ready for July 4.

It is reported the Trump family pulled in at least $2 billion in 2025. The White House a money maker for the Trump family. 

Conflicts of interest have always been prohibited. Not for Donald and his children, however!

Enough of Donald for today. He deserves no more.

Some Louis.

I was watching an old movie yesterday afternoon. Starred Gene Tierney. A lovely! An equally great actress. She was born 1920 and died 1991. Her life not easy. She had to deal with emotional problems.

I met her several times in Cooperstown, N.Y. at parties catered by Walter Rich at his Cooperstown home. Rich owned the Cooperstown & Susquehanna Valley Railroad which ran through Cooperstown. Tierney was a guest at Rich’s Cooperstown home. In addition to being a beauty and movie star, she was charming and kind. I considered my time with her special.

Last night, The Grand. Enjoyed Steve and Cindy. Ellen showed up for a while. A lovely person. Matt his usual kind self.

Steve and I ordered the broiled snapper. Blackened and buried in a white cream sauce scattered with tiny shrimp. Unusually good. A meal to die for!

Then home and early to bed. Slept fairly well.

Before falling to sleep, telephoned my dear friends Fran and Tom in Buffalo. Great people! There should be more like them!

A screw off day ahead for me. I have nothing to do.

Enjoy your day!