STAY OUT OF MY BEDROOM!

 

Two years ago, I wrote a KONK Life column entitled Stay Out Of My Bedroom! It had to do with the morning after pill and politicians who were against it.

I find the need to write a brief bit bearing the same title. Stay Out Of My Bedroom! This time regarding the Catholic Church.

One of the topics discussed last night on my blog talk radio show involved Bishops and birth control. It was revealed monday that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had written a letter to the House of Representatives requesting THE GOVERNMENT BE SHUT DOWN, unless religious employers were given a special right to deny birth control coverage to their employees. In effect, an alteration of certain provisions of Obamacare.

I was confused. I am confused. Just two weeks ago, Pope Francis said the Church had been too obsessed with gays, birth control and abortion. Too doctrinaire. The issue required a new look.  The Bishops apparently did not hear the Pope. The U.S. Bishops are involved once again politically with regard to the birth control issue.

The Good Book says…..render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, to God the things that are God’s. Sounds like separation of Church and State to me as set forth by Jesus himself centuries ago.

I am willing to listen to my priests preach whatever they like from the pulpit. That is their venue. I am adamantly opposed to the Church becoming involved in the political arena, however.

Another part of this whole thing that bothers me involves food. The House of Representatives recently passed a bill removing $40 billion from the food stamp program. A program that helps feed the poor, old and young alike. Free breakfasts for children are on the way out. Milk for babies  whose mothers cannot afford the sustenance is being denied to babies at this very moment because of the government shutdown.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York is the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. A very humorous man. A very fat man. Extremely. His body structure suggests he is eating. And eating well. Though many in his flock are not.

Somewhere along the way, Cardinal Dolan forgot two things. First, the Pope is his boss. How can he come out so forcefully against an item that the Pope recently said was subject to review? Second, how can he support a government shutdown that is contributing to the poor having less food available, especially milk fed babies?

Cardinal Dolan and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are wrong, wrong, wrong! They are the Tea Party of the Catholic Church.

Enjoy your day!

HURRICANE SEASON ALMOST HERE

 

What a beautiful morning! The kind that tells us to worry not, a good day is ahead.

This morning’s Key West Citizen had an article on hurricanes. Specifically about shelters available on the mainland for Keys people.

What struck me as interesting was the mention that hurricane season starts June 1 and runs through November 30. When I purchased my Key West home 15 years ago, the hurricane season started  August 1 and ended October 31.

In 15 years, the starting date has moved up 2 months and the closing date extended 1 month.

The reason simple. Hurricanes have come earlier and later over the years.

June 1 we will start worrying. We do every year. The dread is always there. The question. Will it happen this year?

You never know.

I do not walk enough. Not even close. Yesterday, I decided to. I picked the right day. It was 92 degrees! I did walk. In home Depot.

Spent yesterday afternoon working on last night’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

Enjoyed an early dinner alone at Hogfish. Me and the newspapers. A lobster role.

Last night’s blog talk radio show was wild and wooly. I may have stepped on some toes.

Normally, I receive 0-3 calls after the show commenting on something I said. Last night there appeared to be a deluge.

Two issues hit sensitive spots and/or interested listeners.

The first involved Oklahoma’s Senator Tom Coburn. No one was on his side. The Senator said yesterday that he was opposed to federal aid for Oklahoma if there were not corresponding federal budget cuts. I stated Coburn was speaking for his ideology rather than his constituents. Not proper, I thought.

The other topic involved the new Vermont death law. Suicide is permissible by those suffering and dying. A doctor may now prescribe the drug to cause death and teach the sick person how to administer it to himself or herself.

I was opposed to the new law. I stood almost alone. I received telephone calls from those approving of death in such a manner. There are many Hemlock SSociety supporters out there.

I look forward to this evening. I am having dinner with Keith and Jen. We are going to Bobby’s new pizza/pasta restaurant on Stock Island.

Enjoy your day!

BURNED PANCAKES

 

As you are aware, I have been on a diet. In 4.5 weeks, I have lost 20 pounds. The diet is Nutrisystem. It obviously works. It should. I am taking in less than 1,000 calories a day.

The food comes prepackaged. One of the items is a mix for pancakes. Total calories 140. I made the pancakes this morning. The mix resulted in four pancakes, each two inches in diameter.

Not much.

I left them in the frying pan on the stove cooking. Returned to my computer which is about five feet from the stove. I work with the doors to the ocean open behind me.

After a while, I started to smell something burning. Who is cooking out at this hour of the morning, I thought. I kept working. The smell became more pronounced. Finally, it dawned on me! The pancakes! Burned to a crisp. Stuck hard to the pan.

A bad start to the day. Food is the most important thing when a person is dieting.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour was yesterday morning. Just me and Krystal. No Jenna. Jenna went back home to Indiana for Christmas. She was supposed to leave Wednesday. The snow storm hit. The storm continued through thursday. Today is the first day she could fly out.

Krystal and I made do. Though the inconvenience was more on her shoulders than mine.

The show went well. I was surprised what interested viewers the most. I thought it would have been the fiscal cliff. Instead, it was Germany from various perspectives.

I discussed four  German related items. The Neo-Nazi party in Greece which is now Greece’s third largest political party, a statue of Hitler recently placed in front of the Warsaw Ghetto, Germany in effect now deporting its elderly to Eastern Europe and Asian nursing and assisted care homes, and a German cabinet minister who insists God is a woman.

After the show, I walked. Since it was warm, I walked inside Home Depot. Comfortably air conditioned.

I would term myself a floor walker at Home Depot. Many think I work there. I am constantly asked questions like where is this or that, what do I need to do a particuar job, etc. Me, who never even owned a screwdriver his whole life!

Home Depot takes care of its property. Sometime in the last 48 hours, the floors were polished. They sparkled.

I wrote next week’s column for KONK Life. Titled Term Limits. The thrust was that it  is not that easy to invoke term limits on our Senators and Congressman. People should be aware. Term limits might not be the solution.

KONK Life hits the streets wednesday. Read the article. It is an eye opener.

Key West weather continues to be excellent. We are blessed!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

FIRST BLOG TALK RADIO SHOW OVER

 

I did it! My first blog talk radio show. This morning at 7. I was nervous and excited.

One problem. No one called in. Hard to do a talk show without someone to talk with. I know people listened. Blog Talk Radio provides a list of callers after the show. One listener was from as far away as Italy.

PLEASE…..Listen and CALL IN to chat with me next week! As the saying goes, I was all alone by the telephone.

Jerry Gapinski is a loyal Key West Lou blog reader. He suggested an easier way to get into the blog talk radio site. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. It eliminates one or two steps. You still have to go to the Search Bar, delete it, and type in Current Events. From that point follow the specific instructions I provided in my 12/16/12 Key West Lou blog.

Thank you, Jerry!

One final thought. Several of you who read my daily blog periodically write to me to disagree with a position I might have taken. Some strongly. Where were you this morning? Lets have a dialogue. Call in!

Yesterday, I walked Home Depot again. I notice my legs get tired within the first 10 minutes. I cannot understand why. Fat or skinny, my legs look terrific. They are muscular. Appear to be the legs of an athlete.

Ran some errands.

Worked on this morning’s radio show and friday’s TV/Internet show.

I am getting despondent with the diet. I need to see success. Success to me is the scale. I have been stalemated at 16 pounds for a week. I am beginning to feel sorry for myself. Not good. Soon I will say what the hell and have a drink!

My thanks to those who listened to today’s blog radio show. To those who did not, I still love you. I bear you no ill will. Please however listen in next week.

Enjoy your day!

 

BLOG RADIO TALK SHOW/ TV-INTERNET SHOW…..BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

 

Blog talk radio not the easiest thing to put together. Wow!

Making progress, however.

For anyone to call in / find the web page – two different ways to gain access.

The first is www.blogtalkradio.com. On the bottom of the page is a SEARCH box. Runs the length of the page. Enter: Key West Lou or Key West Lou Blog Talk Radio. That will bring you to my page. There you can hit the appropriate button to listen and, if you so desire, to call in.

The other method is more simple. Facebook carries a Blog Talk Radio Show link. Click on it and follow the instructions.

If you have problems, let me know. It will not be the site’s fault. It will be mine. It make take a week or two to get the mechanical kinks out of the way.

If you wish to call in…..I went over this a couple of days ago. I do it again.

Two ways.

www.blogtalkradio.com  to the web site. SEARCH Key West Lou or Key West Lou Blog Talk Radio. Then telephone 646-478-56731. Your call will be placed in order as received. I will respond to the calls in the same order.

The other is to use Skype. Those outside the U.S. will probably go this route. It is free. There will be on my page a “Skype to Talk” button. Click on it. Of course, you need Skype installed on your computer in order to use it. Skype is free. Download and register a Skype account at www.skype.com.

Sorry to bore you with all the detail. Necessary, however.

Friday, I do old hat! The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten in the morning my time. On television from  Key West through Miami-Dade County via Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. For internet viewing world wide, www.channel19.com.

In addition to the topics set forth during the week, I am also going to talk about Putin and Russian  people who put money in off shore accounts so as not to pay taxes. Putin is after the off shore people. Putin claims $1 trillion is involved. I am confident that Putin and the Russian way of getting things done will remedy the situation a lot faster than we ever will in the United States.

Amazing. None of the big guys anywhere in the world want to pay taxes. From the United States to Russia to Greece to Italy and many more countries. It is difficult to run a government with out cash flow. No different than a business.

I walked yesterday. Home Depot, again. It was muggy. Muggy this morning also. Key West is enjoying unbelievably good weather for this time of year.

The diet is going well. Lost another pound. That makes 15 in 18 days.

I intended to go out last night. I needed to go out. I never made it.

Sloan came over at 5. We worked on  blog talk radio till 7. I was shot. Went to bed!

That’s it for today.

Enjoy your day!

 

DIET AFFECTING MY LIFE

 

Dieting has its shortcomings. Really no fun. Gluttony must be corrected, however. Dieting becomes a necessity.

Success is keeping me going! I have been on the diet 17 days. Lost 14 pounds! Big! Easy to do. I eat next to nothing.

The diet affects my social life. Which in turn affects what I write here. Difficult to go out when dieting. At least for me. Temptation all around. I am weak and easily succumb. Which means…..I have little to report about exciting Key West. Sorry. I shall return.

Yesterday was hotter than normal. I believe the temperature hit 80 degrees. I needed to turn on the air conditioning for a while. The heat also affected my walking. I walked inside. Home Depot. Cool.

Home Depot was my only excursion out of the house yesterday.

I need to get out. I am starting to feel confined. Need people…..socialization. Maybe tonight.

I spent a good portion of my inside yesterday working on Friday’s TV/Internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Came up with some interesting topics for discussion. Such as the Florida python hunt, Congressman Darrell Issa the richest man in Congress / like $450 million, Italy’s Mario Monti to resign / will Silvio Berlusconi return?, the 73 year old man finally sentenced for killing a 7 year old in 1957, the Elizabeth Rudavsky story, the European Nation winning the Noble Peace Prize, Google legitimately avoiding $2 billion in taxes with a Bermuda banking account, a burglar who called 911 to save himself from a gun totting homeowner, and more.

The movie Lincoln has or soon will be opening in Key West. Key West is one of the last communities to get it.

I started last night reading a bit about the movie. All of a sudden I was deep into Lincoln and the Civil War. Too interesting to stop reading. Lincoln was wily crafty politician.  I spent four hours reading the article.

Enjoy your day!

WOODWARD’S THE PRICE OF POLITICS

No question. This is the rainy season!

It rained big time twice yesterday. Heavy. In between, sunshine! Hard to believe it had rained.

I needed to walk. Normally, I walk in Home Depot to avoid the heat. Yesterday, to avoid the rain.

Lunched at Hogfish. Read the newspapers. It had been a few weeks since I last was at Hogfish. There is something magical about sitting under Hogfish’s thatched roof while it is pouring outside.

I spent the afternoon at home reading. No place to go what with the rain.

I recently started reading Bob woodward’s latest book. The Price of Politics. The story of how President Obama and Congress tried to save the economy. The time frame is just before Obama took office through this past summer.

I am not deeply into the book yet. Let me share some initial impressions with you, however.

President Obama appears to be a person too much within himself. He is President. He has fixed opinions. He does not listen. Many conversations with him are one sided.

Biden is the master of compromise. Much like Lyndon Johnson. The result of many years of Senatorial experience. He would make an excellent President.

Eric Cantor. A worm.

Sloan came over at 5. We continued working on the trip pics. Hopefully next week I shall start publishing them. The next time I do a trip, the photos will be placed in the blog as that day’s blog is done. The reason I did not was that I did not know how. Still do not know how. Soon will be learning, however. Some things I am slow at.

Tonight, the first Presidential debate! I can’t wait! Love politics!

Enjoy your day!

STORMY RAIN

Walked Home Depot again yesterday. Don asked me why I walk inside Home Depot. It’s air conditioned, I replied. Brilliant, he said. He never thought of it.

The rains came twice yesterday. Big time each time. A good two hours in the afternoon. Briefly but heavy in the evening.

I thought bocce would have been cancelled. No. The courts were dry when I arrived to play.

We lost the first game. Close till 10-10. Then the other team broke away and beat us 16-10.

My time to play came in the second game. Only two rolls. A dark black noisy storm came in from the Atlantic. That was it for bocce. Everyone ran to their cars and scooters.

Don’s Place was like New Year’s Eve. 7:45 and no where to go! A spirited gathering.

The rain was strange last night. It did not pour every where. Rained heavy at the bocce courts. A mere sprinkle while at Don’s Place. I was home before 9. My street was unusally flooded. More extensively and deeper.

The diet is over! I decided to put it to rest this morning. Eighteen days and only 7 pounds lost. Insufficient reward/result. Depressing.

Show time this morning! The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Another terrific show! Join me at 10 my time. World wide on the internet. www.konkbroadcasting.com.

While jumping around on the computer this morning, I came across an interesting item. Today is a baseball day of note. On this day in 1941, Ted Williams ended the baseball season with a .406 batting average. No one has achieved that level of performance since.

Have to hustle to get to the broadcast studio on time.

Enjoy your day!