A news report this morning suggests Elton John might be the opening concert at the newly remodeled Carrier Dome at Syracuse University.

There was another first. October 22, 1980. The Carrier Dome brand new. Frank Sinatra!

I had purchased a box at the new Carrier Dome. It was perfect for the concert. It was just off to the side of the stage.

The box seated 16. I invited my closet friends.

It was a night!

Last night an embarrassment for the U.S. There was a procedural vote to determine whether a debate should take place re the proposed election bill. The Republicans filibustered. The vote was negative. The Republicans who generally permit nothing were consistent.

Continued results as last night indicate clearly the U.S. is sliding into authoritarianism. I fear within 10 years a despot will be running this country.

Unless Democrats  stop being nice and start KICKING ASS. In every respect. Beginning with an end to the filibuster.

Congratulation to Joe Manchin for the bipartisanship reflected last night in the election vote.

Manchin belongs in the hills of West Virginia. He is better suited to making moonshine than deciding what is good or bad for the American people.

That is the blog for today. Another test. I have to be at the hospital at 7:30 for a nuclear stress test.

Enjoy your day!

What will be occurring today in Congress is comparable to the Olympics. Let the games begin!

Congressional battles to this point have been a warm up. Time now for the main events.

The last such games involved the pandemic financial packages. Biden had it right. Turned out to be a winner for the American people.

Big time legislation on the table again.

Two main events at the moment. Today the serious part. Other than the financial packages, anything before merely a warm up.

The election reform bill on tap first. The beginning of a multi-day event.

The Republicans expected to win today’s skirmish. Those supporting election reform will fall far short. Sort of a test vote. One called by Schumer to embarrass the Republicans. A procedural vote on the issue.

The second event is Manchin. A nobody in the Senate for 10 years. Now enjoying his 15 minutes in the sun. The man either stupid or misguided. Fighting for bipartisanship.

A joke! He will never succeed. The Republicans will defeat him big time. They are dancing with him at the moment. Killing time till there will not be sufficient time left to deal with issues where his yes vote was needed.

Manchin is incapable of seeing how he is being used. He will end up a laughing stock.

These two events would be exciting were it not that the country desperately needs what Manchin is preventing from happening.

The U.S. has become a sick nation. Screwed up.

Yahoo News reported on a recent Monmouth University poll concerning the number of people who still believe Biden stole the election. One third. One third being the same number that believed in November Biden had won by voter fraud.

Was it Lincoln who said a house divided cannot stand?

Today, a significant one in American history. On this day in 1944, President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill. Its technical name the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944.

The substance of the bill unprecedented. What came to Roosevelt for his signature was legislation designed to compensate returning members of the armed forces – G.I.s – for their efforts in World War II.

It provided assistance in 3 areas: Unemployment compensation, low interest home and business loans, and funding for education. The education portion the most important.

The GI Bill drove economic expansion that lasted 30 years.

It is impossible for such a bill to come before a President today. Can you see Republicans supporting it? All that money, opened ended, etc.

In 1944, Congressmen were respectful of each other. They were legislators! Today’s group on the Republican side are no better than hyenas. Dispute, disrupt, destroy their cry.

Woe are we!

Tonight sit in your favorite chair, lean back, and enjoy 30 minutes of Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Whether you agree with me or not. The show hard hitting.

Nine my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Good friends Tom and Fran are due to arrive today for a one week stay. From Buffalo. Wonderful people! I will not be able to be with them tonight because of the show. Tomorrow night yes!

Enjoy your day!

Jim Boeheim calls them as he sees them. Straight from the shoulder. The good, bad or indifferent can be depended upon.

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim will have a good offensive team if he says so. Even with months to go before the season begins.

The Coach did not mention how good his team would be defensively, however. Which means he does not know.

I believe any problems a Boeheim defense has is attributable to his fabled “zone defense” having been around too long. A killer for many seasons. Its age is showing.

He has used the zone defense so many years that opposing coaches are aware of its slight of foot moves. Makes it difficult on many occasions to present a formidable defense.

Boeheim does frequently make his teams rise to the occasion defensively. Hopefully, the season coming. A solid marriage between the offense and defense would make for a hell of a season.

Jon Rahm distinguished himself by his play in the U.S. Open. Especially with the long birdie putts he made on holes 17 and 18. He deserved to win.

Professional golf winning prize money is in ascendancy.  Especially the money for the top 2 players in the Open. Rahm’s first place finish awarded him $2,250,000. Louis Oosthuizen’s second place finish had him taking home $1,350,000.

An excellent pay day!

The most recent The Week Magazine had an interesting article re millennials titled: “Millennials: The Generation That Can’t Catch Up.”

The article noted millennials have begun entering their 40s. Without much to show for it!

Millennials are those born 1981-1999. They are “doing worse than the generations that came before them.”

Home ownership an example. Millennials are at 61 percent, whereas baby boomers 66 percent.

The reasons obvious.

Millennials have fallen behind in terms of income and wealth. The 2008 financial crisis partially the blame. Millennials were just starting their careers. Jobs were significantly fewer. Good paying jobs even less.

The financial situation being faced caused many to put off having children, buying a house, getting married, investing in a car.

Sad!

The Western Conservative Summit was held this weekend. A Presidential straw poll was taken as to who should be the Republican candidate in 2024.

Florida’s Governor DeSantis came in first. A disgrace. The worst Governor Florida has ever had. He has been dressed up this past year to look like a star rising on the horizon.

A close second was Donald Trump. First time Trump has come in second in one of the polls. Generally, the situation is reversed. Trump first, DeSantis second. DeSantis has already let it be known that in the even the candidate is Trump, he would be happy to be #2 on the ticket.

Weekend mass shootings have become common place in the U.S. There were 10 this weekend. Seven were killed, more than 40 injured.

When will it stop?

The U.S. Bishops’ Conference concluded this weekend.

The President of the group is Los Angeles Archbishop Joe Gomex. Reports have it the Archbishop had difficulty controlling the Conference. He has been President for 20 years. Many believe Gomez has reached the point where he lacks the ability to lead.

The National Catholic Reporter’s political columnist Michael Sean Winters had much to write about the Conference. He described it “outrageous.” Bishops were openly questioning each other’s motives.

The #1 issue was “Eucharistic Communion.” Winters’ personal observations were the Conference was in “shambles…..lacking in leadership.”

The issue still is and will continue to be “Eucharistic Communion,” with the assault being primarily directed at President Biden.

Someone in a recent Comment asked where was Diane Millikan? She had not been heard from in quite a while.

Diane is alive and well. I have heard from her more than once in the past 6 months. She has written to me on my personal e-mail.

I suspect Diane’s “disappearance” is she no longer rents space in Key West and her uncertainty whether she will ever return.

The last e-mail I received from Diane was right after the blog where I mentioned Sahara sands. Diane was in Haiti recently. While there, a strong wind blew over. When it passed, her car was covered in sand. A native told her the sands were “sands from Africa.”

I am not sure how many if any are aware Diane is a world traveler. Always on the move.

The heat/humidity is heavy in Key West. As it is in many part of the U.S. June is not Key West’s heavy humidity season. Such is with us in August and September.

June heavy humidity another climate change quirk?

Enjoy your day!

First a personal reflection. It is Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to me and all you Dads out there.

The telephone call came early. Lisa and family. All talking at once. Even Jake getting into the act.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Love it!

Now for a difficult topic. Abortion. Abortion has been more prominently reported these days by the media. The reason involves the Catholic Church, the U.S. Conference of Bishops and President Biden.

I begin with “Let Him Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone.” John 8:7.

The Biblical reference will play into the theme of today’s blog as it develops.

The U.S. Conference of Bishops. There is a need to know who and what they are. A conglomeration of Catholic bishops in the United States. Its organization comparable to our Congress in that its members cannot agree. Most items a close vote.

The group is made up far right thinkers. Very few middle of the road liberals. The Bishops’ group dislikes Pope Francis I. They constantly work in the background trying to come up with a winning procedure to dump him.

The Vatican is a state and operates with the same scabs and boils as any other government.

Two lay confidants are Steve Bannon and Newt Gingrich. Their affiliation with the Bishops though informal says it all.

A certain group of the Bishops should have been politicians rather than clerics. They are deeply involved in U.S. politics.

Political influence began building in the Catholic Church in the 1960s. Along the way the Bishop Conference came into play. At some point, the Bishops Conference and far right Republicans married.

The Catholic Church is buried in the abortion issue. As is the Bishops Conference.

A very important meeting of the Bishops Conference was held friday. The world was aware before hand that abortion and President Biden would be the prime topic.

Biden, though Catholic, supports the right of a woman to choose. The Bishops group do not. The Group decided to go after Biden and embarrass him with his position. In a down and dirty manner.

The world was aware the Conference wanted to put forth a preliminary document, whose intent would be to rebuke Biden and other Catholic lawmakers from receiving Communion while supporting abortion.

The U.S. has only had two Catholic Presidents. Kennedy and Biden. Though abortion an issue in Kennedy’s time, it was not so much in the forefront as it has been the past 40 years.

Respectfully and with no intention of negating Kennedy in any fashion, Biden is not only the most Catholic person to be President, he wears his religion on his sleeve. Mass and Communion each week. What he does in private is for him alone to know.

The Bishops intended to submit a “draft” of a “teaching document” for approval. If in its final analysis it passes, technically it would prevent Biden from receiving Communion.

Note I earlier advised not everyone supports the Bishops position. The Bishop of Washington several weeks ago in no uncertain terms said no one was going to prevent Biden from receiving Communion in his Washington Diocese.

Francis I had a strong sent to the Bishops to cease and desist. Everyone thought that would end the problem. As you can see, it did not.

The Bishops group is like our present Congress. Most of the Republican Congress do not respect Biden. Most of the Bishops group do not support the Pope.

The vote approved the “draft.”

The cry by those not supporting the group’s position is “stop the partisan politics.” One prominent cleric described it as a “right wing hit job.”

We are at the let him without sin cast the first stone portion of this blog.

The Catholic Church has not been the most moral of organizations for centuries. The Church has either sinned all over the place or put its nose where it did not belong.

A wrong is the Church’s active efforts to influence political decisions. Centuries ago, it was wrong in promoting the Crusades. A sin as grave as the one to embarrass Biden.

Something rarely discussed is the Catholic Church’s involvement in the 20th century with nationalist states. Then there is financial corruption seemingly in an ongoing basis with the Vatican Bank.

In yesteryear, many bishops and archbishops in addition to being clerics were feudal lords equivalent to counts and dukes. They lived in opulence. treated their serfs badly.

The French Revolution was a direct shot at the Catholic Church. Louis XIV was not the prime reason the French government was overthrown. It was the Church philosophy that “monarchs rule by God’s will.”

In modern times, the Church in many instances supported or remained quiet when an autocratic leader took over a government. Pope Pius XII provided little assistance to the German people, those suffering at the hands of the Nazis in other countries, and Jews.

Spain’s Franco enjoyed the support of the Catholic Church.

The Church’s misdeeds in relative times involves the abuse of children (primarily young boys) and an issue receiving public attention since 2019: Nuns having sex with priests, becoming pregnant and then an abortion.

Priests have been forcing themselves on nuns for centuries. Or, enjoying consensual sex with nuns. Either way a no no.

An Irish saint whose name escapes me performed abortions on nuns by taking a cross and pushing the cross down with force on the nun’s stomach until the fetus evacuated the nun’s body.

“#metoo caused many nuns to go public. The nuns even have their own hashtag “#nunstoocarespeaking out.”

Francis I came forth also in 2019. He issued the First Remake on Sexual Abuse of Nuns by Priests.

Many nuns have spoken out, formed societies whose sole purpose is to reveal sex by priests with nuns. One of the nun leaders claims priests felt free to do what they wanted with nuns because their power was extremely strong when compared to the power a nun had. She said, “It was abuse of power, they climbed up a career staircase of evil.”

Enjoy your Sunday!

Victoria’s Secret is rebranding itself. A total make over in the works. Am image change.

The decision to rebrand occurred 2 years ago. Its image at the time snappy lingerie with enormous wings. I must have missed something. I recall the lingerie. The wings part eludes me.

Goodbye “Angels.” Hello “What Women Want.”

Notice the market sought will be all for the ladies, nothing for the men. A total reversal.

The new image is described as a group of Seven Ambassadors called the “U.S. Collective,” who are known for their advocacy work in gender equality and body positivity, and who represent a wider range of body types and a sexual gender identification.”

CEO Martin Williams in a short statement described the change as “a dramatic shift for our brand and it’s a shift that we embrace from our core.” The old Victoria’s Secret has been “promoting dated ideas of femininity and that its collections were made for a narrow range of body types.”

It’s all in the money.

In 2015, Victoria’s Secret had 32 percent of the U.S. women’s intimate apparel market. The number was down to 19 percent in 2020.

Last year, Victoria’s Secret was forced to close 25 percent of its stores. Already through 2021, it has closed a significant number of additional stores.

Victoria’s Secret believes there will be a new sexual acceptance regarding the change.

The decision to change came instantly in 2018. Ed Rizek, the Chef Marketing Officer for L Brands that owns Victoria’s Secret, committed a faux pas. He misspoke and brought the ladies tumbling down on him.

The issue was the use of the term “transsexuals.” He said he did not think transsexuals should be included in Victoria’s Secret annual show.

“Transsexual” is considered an outdated term  and deemed offensive by many in the LGBT community.

Victoria Secret’s last show was in 2018, the same year the comment was made. The show drew only 3 million viewers compared to 9.7 million five yeas earlier in 2013.

The handwriting was on the wall. Change or die! Hopefully the change would not be too late.

Victoria’s Secret is moving rapidly to effect the change. It is quick to point out it has hired its first transgender model Valentine Sampaio.

The issue/challenge facing Victoria’s Secret is whether what it is doing to effect the change is too little, too late. Will the new market of women it hopes to attract be there for them?

Time will tell.

I am totally unaware what the new lingerie will look like. I saw what is being abandoned, as I have for years. However no photos of the new.

Trump has had some pretty whacky attorneys along the way. Many times in the past two years, I made the observation Trump’s attorneys were way out of line in the voting ballot cases. They were using the law improperly. Even the facts. Breaking all kinds of judicial rules. Saying and writing things without legal foundation.

I mentioned each time that lawyers cannot get away with such actions. The federal law provides sanctions which can be imposed on recalcitrant attorneys.

The sanctions are in the form of money. The judge sets the amount. The bigger the sin, the higher the dollar penalty.

One of Trump’s leading attorneys was Sidney Powell.  A radical lawyer. Everything comes out of her mouth.

She and other  attorneys who defended Trump’s claims re the 2020 election have been summoned for a sanctions hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker in Detroit on July 6.

Finally!

I will be shocked if the sanctions are not huge. Shockingly so. I suspect in the six figures. Anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million.

The Arizona audit has taken another wild turn. Voter data has been transported to a “secret” laboratory in Montana “to be forensically valuated.”

Excuse the use of the vernacular, but what the hell  is going on? Ballots cannot be moved willy nilly from one state to another.

The Arizona audit continues to be pure insanity. Especially when no fraud/wrongdoing came to light in the previous Arizona audits.

Something has to be done to stop this charade. Other states seeing no steps being taken to stop the Arizona audit are going to believe they have the right to do it also. When no one has the right under the Arizona circumstances. No way anyone is going to legally remove Biden from the Presidency.

This is Key West Carnival weekend. Key West’s Juneteenth Celebration. Today’s events include a 4 pm costume parade through Old Town and a 7 pm concert at the Amphitheater.

I have already decided what I am doing this evening. Rather than say I am gong out and then stay in, I have resolved my evening situation this morning.

I will remain home, order a pizza in, and watch the U.S. Open.

Guaranteed.

Enjoy your day!

McConnell announced if the voting rights bill comes up in the Senate next week for a procedural vote, all 50 Republicans will vote against it.

Hear that Joe Manchin? You’ve been had.

The Republican side of the Senate has not been trustworthy for 10 years. No longer are true Republicans. What they are, I am not sure. But statesmen and legislative leaders they are not.

They possibly are barbarians. Seeking to destroy. Waiting to destroy. Doing everything to assure the gate falls.

The Republicans danced Manchin. I thought I read a few days ago he was sitting with 10 Republicans working on the voting bill compromise. Things looked good for a bi-partisanship result. The news was out.

Instead, they made Manchin look like an ass.

He has to learn he is being used. Why is he so blind? Does not make sense.

I hope Manchin wakes up and does the right things. Like kill the filibuster first and foremost. Permit him to retake some of the respect people had before he went on this bi-partisanship kick.

If he fails to so do, history will view him as an egomaniac who could not see beyond the tip of his nose.

New York Times columnist David Brooks in this morning’s Times wrote about trust.

He wrote, “Distrust is a cancer eating away at our society. It magnifies enmity, stifles cooperation and fuels conspiracy thinking. So the question is how do you build trust?”

So how can trust be rebuilt in today’s society? One conclusion is recognizing the answer is not easy to reach.

The more Matt Gaetz talks, the deeper the hole he digs for himself.

He asked yesterday if the FBI was instrumental with bringing on January 6. He appeared convinced the FBI might have had a role in “organizing and participating in the January 6 Capitol revolt.”

Gaetz said, He fears “a political weaponizing of the FBI and the Justice Department…..an agency that has a whole lot of swamp left in it and needs to be drained.”

In reality, Trump brought a swamp the size never conceived before into the Oval Office. A room where Gaetz sat many times conversing and planing diabolical schemes with his leader. Actually, his lord and master.

An interesting article on the internet this morning re coronavirus. Claimed the word is out that those vaccinated against COVID-19 are now “magnetic.” All one who has been vaccinated has to do is stick a key to his forehead and it will stick. Or, a spoon or fork on the chin with a similar result.

I tried it. Nothing would stick anywhere. The representation as good as Trump’s that an inoculation of bleach would cure a person’s body almost immediately of the virus.

This is the day! January 18. The U.S. Bishop’s Conference meets today. One of the items on the agenda is a preliminary vote to draft a divisive document on “Eucharistic worthiness.” Short for prohibiting any political leader who supports a woman’s freedom of choice to be denied Communion.

The Bishops’ effort is actually to embarrass President Biden. A man who appears to be an excellent Catholic. To demean him.

Note the U.S. Bishop’s Conference is a far right organization. It walks hand in hand with the Republican far right. The group also seeks the overthrow of Pope Francis I.

They’re nuts.

The Pope has advised against the action and told them to cease and desist. No one is sure what they will do.

To make the Bishop’s position more understandable, recognize that 2 persons exerting much influence over them are Steve Bannon and Newt Gingrich.

Need I say more?

Things are getting worse rather than better as far as California weather is concerned. The drought continues. More than normal hydroelectric power being used.

The strain on electric supplies has required California to warn blackouts may occur.

This is U.S. Open weekend. The tournament is being played at Torrey Pines in the San Diego area.

I have been fortunate to play Torrey Pines a couple of times. Natural beauty abounds. Cliffs. Roaring sea below. Heavy surf. Sea lions and seals.

The course is also next to La Jolla. One of the finest small communities in the world. Night time wondrous. Restaurants and bars top shelf. People dressing as we do in Key West, except their attire more classic. Everyone is dressed in sports clothes that appear to have been purchased that day.

I enjoyed the evenings as much as the days.

Did a double header last night. Dinner at Two Friends. A first for dinner. Dined with Sloan. All the yeas she has assisted me, I never took her out to dinner. We had a wonderful time!

Blog late today. I overslept by 2 1/2 hours. Something I never do. Then ran into some computer problems.

Better late than never.

Enjoy your day!

Oh, what a night it was!

I had not been in the Chart Room for roughly 14 months. Because of the Pandemic, the Chart Room was closed and I self-quarantined the entire time.

It was great seeing John the bartender again. Whereas I self-quarantined, John spent the time traveling though Mexico and Central America. Did not work at all. Nor did he get sick.

Jean and Joe came in. Love that woman! We chatted and drank.

Seated next to me were John and Carol. They have a Key West home.

John is a retired labor lawyer from Michigan. Carol a former health care administrator for 17 Michigan prisons.

I look forward to meeting them again.

The Chart Room was otherwise busy. Many tourists.

It was good to be back!

The U.S. Open begins today. Great golf ahead for the next 4 days.

I watched much of the Biden/Putin summit coverage yesterday. Putin left me with an odd feeling.

He looked like a man out of place. Different from former appearance.

Did anyone else notice? Am I wrong?

Malia Obama has grown up. She is a senior at Harvard. Graduates in June.

She has trained to be a writer. A TV writer.

She already has a multi-year Netflix deal with a Hollywood production company.

Texas Governor Abbott continues to be an ass. A Trump person in every respect.

I suspect Abbott wants to be the Vice-Presidential candidate in 2024.

He already has been on the attack against Biden. The wall! Claims immigrants coming in big time. Purportedly doing all of nasty things to Texans. Biden not caring and permitting the bad things to occur.

Abbott announced last week he was going to repair and finish the Texas portion of the wall. A few days later, he announced Trump was visiting on June 30. The wall the attraction.

Yesterday, Abbott announced he was going to have Texas throw in $250 million to start a fund to finish the wall. The money would come from public funds he would raise. First Texas money. Later turned into donated public funds.

One of the biggest mausoleums in the world is the Taj Mahal.

Many, many years ago, Mughal emperor Shah Johan I ordered the Taj Mahal built. His wife Mumatz Kahal had died during child birth.

He spent 20 yeas building the Taj Mahal. One of the world’s most beautiful buildings.

I wrote yesterday re North Korea being on the brink of a drastic food shortage. More news available today.

Farmers in part of North Korea are required to donate 2 liters of urine a day to be used as a raw material to produce fertilizer.

An early dinner tonight at 5 at Two Friends with Sloan. The purpose to chat about some development ideas I have for the blog.

Enjoy your day!

Strange as it may sound, dust clouds from the Sahara Desert in Africa may pass over Key West this weekend.

The wind whips up a dust cloud from the sand and carries it from Africa to the Caribbean. Same route as hurricanes that form off Africa and arrive somewhere off the coasts of North and Central America.

If any small hurricanes or tropical storms are developing, the dust clouds basically squash them down.The dust clouds even protect against thunderstorms.

A Sahara dust cloud is described as a “major storm outbreak.” As mentioned, destroys “infant hurricanes.”

A negative, however. Though the dust cloud will knock out a tropical storm or small hurricane, it is bad for air quality. Understandable. Breathing will be aggravated, especially for those with respiratory problems.

Save your face masks! You may need them this weekend.

What has been described is a normal or more than normal Sahara dust cloud. There are small ones. If this weekend’s is small, you may not even know it passed over. It will be high enough and lacking in density so as not to affect humans below.

Every day there is more news of Trump wrongdoings.

The most recent involves Trump pressing the DOJ to investigate a crackpot theory that Italian satellites changed Trump votes to Biden ones.

The DOJ paid no attention.

Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin wrote in a 6/15 article re the topic: “One of the things that makes Donald Trump a unique figure among U.S. Presidents is that, in addition to being basically illiterate, he’s a rare combination of both corrupt as all get-outs and batshit fucking crazy.”

Levin pulls no punches.

A COVID-19 update.

Deaths in the U.S. have passed 600,00. Bad. However the number of deaths per week has dropped to 330. Three hundred thirty was last that low on March 30 last year. Good.

What 600,000 means. One in every 550 persons in the U.S. has died from the virus. Scary.

One coronavirus danger replaces another, however. There is a relatively new COVID-19 variant out there. Called the Delta variant. Presently, 10 percent of the cases in the U.S. are Delta variant.

Vaccination creates a protection against the variant. A “full vaccination” (2 shots) has been found to be “highly effective” as far as hospitalization is concerned. Pfizer and Moderna have proven to provide the best protection so far.

Experts refer to the Delta as a “variant of concern.”

In the U.S., 43.9 percent have been fully vaccinated. Those who have received only 1 shot are 52.63 percent of the population.

There is a message in all this. If not vaccinated, get the 2 shots. If only one so far, get the other. Your life and the life of your loved ones may depend on it.

At the moment, Biden and Putin are meeting in Switzerland.

I am anxious to be made aware of the immediate news re the meeting.

Biden is different from Trump! Obviously and no question! Perhaps he can calm the beast. In this instance Putin, not Trump.

Kim Jung Un is facing a “tense food shortage.” He has told his people that food insecurity is “a top problem.”

Experts warn the worse will begin being felt between August and September. Experts claim it will be a “harsh lean period.

North Korea’s last famine was in the 1990s when millions died.

I guarantee those in the “camps” will be the first to go.

Kim says here are 3 causes: Extensive flooding, the coronavirus epidemic, and international sanctions.

Note Kim remains fat in recent photos. As does Trump. Guaranteed neither would suffer in any food shortage.

Someone mentioned in a Comment that I often refer to the past. Suggesting perhaps I live in the past.

Not so.

An admonition and the reason why I often refer to the past. History repeats itself. If you don’t recall yesterday, you will fail today.

My blog talk radio show was last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Half the show was devoted to  a history of the Chart Room.

Tonight, I shall be off to visit the Wizard of Oz. First however a visit with Dr. McIvor my heart physician. Followed by a short business meeting downtown. Then to the Chart Room! Excited I am!

Enjoy your day!

All is now well in Key West. The Chart Room has opened!

Friday night. No one told me. I got a call from Jean Thornton last night informing me.

The Chart Room will be open every evening, except for monday and tuesday. The reason for 2 closed days is help. John Holster is bartending the other 5 evenings. Welcome back, John! The Chart Room would not be the same without you.

David Wolkowsky is the father of modern Key West. His vision and effort awakened a dormant community.

David was a wonderful man. One of the best I have met in my life time. We were friends. David died a few yeas ago at the age of 99.

In 1967, David thought the Gulf end of Duval had the makings for a good hotel. There were none at that end at the time. He started with a 5o unit motel. Named it the Pier House Motel.

It is said big trees from little acorns grow. Such was the case with the Pier House. David is the person who grew the Pier House to what it is today.

Forty three years ago, some of David’s local friends talked to him about a bar for the Pier House. Something small and intimate.

David agreed. He took out one of the first floor rooms. Added booze and a mahogany bar. The Chart Room was born.

An instantaneous hit! Especially for the power brokers of Key West. Bankers, politicians, Judges, the Police Chief, the Fie Chief, the Deputy Fire Chief, pot smugglers, divers, etc. More business was done during cocktail hour at the Chart Room than anywhere else in Key West.

Mel Fisher was a regular. Fisher eventually found part of the Atocha and $400 million dollars in gold and emeralds.

Jimmy Buffett got his start in the Chart Room. Buffett first arrived in November 1971. He roared into Key West in a 1947 Packard sedan with Mr. Bojangles.

Wolkowsky gave him a job in the Chart Room singing and playing his small guitar. His pay tips and drinks from customers.

Wolkowsky had a smart eye for pending success. He eventually paid Buffett to perform in the Chart Room. Buffett will attest to the fact  the first one to pay him in actual money in Key West was Wolkowsky.

The two became friends and business partners. They purchased buildings in Key West and elsewhere in the U.S.

The Chart Room swiftly became a place for the visiting rich and famous. Men like Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, British Prime Minister Heath, Rockefellers, and Mellons. All guests of David Wolkowsky. David knew everyone and they knew him. They came to Key West to enjoy the Pier House, Chart Room and Wolkowsky’s company.

The locals who initially frequented the Chart Room included Steve and Cindy Thompson. Steve made his fortune with taco stands all over Key West and Florida. Cindy worked as Buffett’s assistant for 30 years.

Others included Hunter Thompson, Tom Cochran, Tom McGvane, Mr. Bojangles, Jerry Jeff and Jim Croce. This was a time when no one was famous yet and drinking was a sport.

Freebies available to this day. Hot dogs, popcorn and a huge barrel of peanuts.. All three go over big.

The bar rail has become the resting place for a handful of the original customers. Small holes were dug in the bar. One for each of the individuals involved. A small plaque with each’s name next to their hole. As they died, supposedly a small portion of their ashes were placed in the holes and sealed over. Only one hole remains unfilled today.

Jean and Joe Thornton regulars today. They are from Birmingham, Alabama. Years ago, Jean went diving with Mel Fisher. She found gold coins and emeralds.  A school teacher, she stopped working immediately. Jean is known as Key West’s Golden Girl.

Time moves on. Regulars come and go. Some move, some by death. New “regulars” come upon the scene. Today’s group includes Jean and Joe Thornton, Sheila Cullens, Steve and Cindy Thompson, Ollie, Kevin and Holly, Che, English Peter Bamberger, David Hecht, Ann Zaler, Valerie Chelley, and Marty Leshaw. Me too, of course.

A person senses history as he/she enter the Chart Room. It’s unavoidable.

Enjoy your day!

Men have fought and died for democracy forever. American democracy. Some still dying. Others however have joined a growing group of dissidents who want to destroy that which has made America great. Democracy.

More than one million have fought and died to guarantee that democracy. The same democracy others are seeking to destroy today.

One of the measures of those who fought and died for democracy are the number who actually gave up their lives in America’s various wars.

Numbers generally reflect truth. The number of persons who died to guarantee democracy is an indication of its value. The same value many today are seeking to destroy.

The wars and number of U.S. deaths: Revolution 4,435, War of 1812 2,260, Civil War 629,000, World War I 117,000, World War II 407,000, Korea 33,700, Vietnam 58,000, Two Gulf Wars with Iraq 8,000, Afghanistan to date 2,400.

Total war dead 1,249,811.

A lot of good people have died to preserve U.S. freedom. To guarantee democracy would be sustained.

Now a bunch of radical insurgents, terrorists to the core, have heard Donald Trump’s call and follow him as if he were the Pied Piper.

They cannot be permitted to succeed. If they do, the U.S. will become a Nazi Germany.

The friendly transfer of power was a trade mark of the U.S. democratic society.

Trump says no more. It is his way or the highway.

There are other dissidents world wide. A growing disease this desire to overthrow a democratic society.

Israel is on the verge of falling into an abyss similar to the one Trump is creating in the U.S.

After 12 years in power, Netanyahu was replaced yesterday. Via Israel’s democratic processes. As with Trump, Netanyahu does not agree with his being replaced. In his brief words yesterday he spoke of a “fraudulent” vote that caused his opposition to succeed. He claimed he would be soon back.

Sound familiar?

Israel’s transition of governments was till recent days a friendly one. A day of celebration. There were no such events yesterday. Netanyahu sat stone faced as Israel’s new Prime Minister took over.

Insurgency spreads. It is a cancer. What one nation can do, so can another.

Certain areas of Antarctica’s ice mass are breaking up faster than anticipated.

The Pine Island ice shelf the perfect example. It is spawning huge icebergs.

There is a bigger glacier behind the Pine Island shelf one. It too is breaking up. However not as fast as the Pine Island shelf. The importance of the shelf is that it keeps the melting huge glacier behind it from moving into the sea.

Damage beyond comprehension would occur if the glacier got out into open water.

Scientists claim climate change is the reason for the problems with the Pine Island shelf and the bigger glacier behind it. Nations speak of cause. They accept climate change as the cause. Many are willing to do something. None doing any where close to enough, however.

Key West and much of the lower Keys could disappear some time in the next 50 years. The ocean front and gulf front homes and hotels will be swept away. The same homes many today are spending from $3 million to $7 million for.

I have spent much of my time over the past 30 years in Key West. Stock Island adjoins Key West. Stock Island the other side of Cow Key Bridge.

Stock Island has primarily been the place where the working staff of Key West live. Housing much cheaper. It was at one time the home of fishing fleets now long gone.

There always has been a sense that Stock Island was saying “Watch us grow!” It didn’t grow till recent years. Now booming.

Class hotels, great food restaurants, first class marinas. etc.

Stock Island is shouting for every one to come and see what is happening. A “I Love Sock Island Festival” will be ongoing from June 16-20. Go and experience the transformation taking place!

I hope as part of the Department of Justice’s investigation it is following the money. Wealthy oligarchs are funding the terrorist groups and the insurgency they bring. Big money!

Think for a moment. January 6. Where did the insurgents get the money to pay for the buses and other type transportation to get them to Washington? Hotel rooms? Meals? Miscellaneous expenses?

Follow the money! Those who funded January 6 are as much responsible as those who actually charged up the Capitol steps.

Enjoy your day!