CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE

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The sun is shining bright this morning in Key West. Nary a cloud in the sky. The temperature 59 degrees!

I am cold!

Today will go to 64. A heat wave!

Before my northern friends think I am crazy, please understand the following. When you live in a tropical climate all year long, your blood thins. When you enjoy the change of seasons as up north, your blood is thicker. Thinner blood means Key Westers feel the cold!

Key West is loaded with all kind of fun activities. This saturday night, the annual Lighted Boat Parade. Boats are decorated as people do the outside of their homes at Xmas time.

I have been on one of the boats several times. A fun event! It will be cold saturday night during the parade. Whatever the actual temperature is on land, it will be 20 degrees colder on the water. People will be wrapped in winter attire. Not a hard trip to experience, however. Drink and food available. Dancing on the larger boats. If you are with someone you like, a constant close embrace. Combined, these factors tend to warm.

I will miss the Boat Parade this year. The police have decided to have a traffic stop from 7 pm saturday to 2 am sunday. On US 1 and Cross Street. The only way home for me is up US 1 and across Cross Street. A gambler, I am not. I will play it safe and stay home. Perhaps have dinner at Roostica which is up from Cross Street.

Key Westers know how to play. I discovered there is a New Year’s Eve event I was not aware of. In its tenth consecutive year. It is called Dachshund Walk. Would you believe! People walk their dachshunds over a specific route. Dogs and owners playfully attired. The parade route is intentionally short to accommodate the participants’ short legs and long bodies.

There is a serious event of which I was unaware. A Homeless Persons Memorial Day. Roughly 50 homeless people died in Key West this year. A memorial service will be held at the Key West Cemetery on December 21. The remains of the 50 will be interred.

We are one human family.

Did my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Enjoyed doing it! I thought Pope Francis’ story re showers for the homeless in St. Peter’s Square interesting. The French not wanting anything to do with the new trade pact Obama is pushing because it would mean the introduction of GMOs into France revealing.

Then Greece. A last minute topic. Things were happening in Greece through radio time last night. Greece had riots in 6 major cities sunday. Not the orderly type. Police and protestors fighting. Tear gas smoke engulfing them. Yesterday, the Greek stock market faced its largest one day drop since 1987.

It is all tied into austerity. The Greeks borrowed too much from the European Union. They cannot pay it back. The Greek government has had Greece on an austerity program for several years to help pay the bill. Germany has been strangling Greece in its hard demands for repayment. Austerity has led to a loss of jobs. People cannot feed their families. Farmers cannot sell their produce because people do not have money to pay for them.

All this has led to a build up of the Greek Nazi party. Known as the Golden Dawn Party. They are anti-austerity and cater to the thinking of the suffering people. They are presently the third largest party in Greece.

Greece’s President yesterday announced he will be calling for new elections. There is no question in my mind that the Nazi party is a sure bet for a second place finish. Perhaps, a first. Their influence will be overwhelming.

I know Greece. I have written and talked about Greece the past three years. On my TV show, blog talk radio show, in my KONK columns. Even in my book published last year The World Upside Down. I suggested Greece was a tinderbox. I predicted if there was a third world war, it would not start in the Middle East. Greece was the place. Greeks hate Germans. The austerity Germany has imposed on them one reason. The abuse they were subjected to by the Germans during World War II another.

We live in dangerous times.

Tonight, dinner with Roger and Cheryl. We meet at the Chart Room for drinks and dinner later at the Hot Tin Roof.

I have hit 20 pounds lost on the diet. I am impressed. Only seven weeks.

Enjoy your day!

KEY WEST LOU TV / INTERNET SHOW

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Good morning!

A beautiful Key West morning. Everything as it should be. God is in His Heaven, all is right with the world.

This morning the Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten my time. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy the hour with me.

Since I spent a week in Washington, I had only yesterday to prepare. Generally, I spend a bit of time each day.

The show starts with the Snowden surveillance disclosures. Then some Washington stories. You will especially enjoy Connie Picciotto’s tale. Revealing college graduation figures. Some homeless background. Especially two Florida stories I doubt either you or I knew about.  Another unusual Catholic Church announcement. And more.

Join me. On television from Key West through Miami-Dade County. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. Via the internet world wide. www.weyw19.com.

Besides working on this morning’s show, I spent yesterday running errands.

I was out on the town later earlier than usual. Well before 5.

I started with my old friend the Chart Room. Jean Thornton, Sheila, and Peter at the bar. Emily bartending.

A Chart Room update. In my one week absence, things happened. Discouraging things. Free hot dogs are no more. The peanut barrel was empty. A different kernel was being used to make pop corn.

The bottom line. When you pay $90 million for something, you are entitled to do what you want. Including eliminating free hot dogs and peanuts and serving a cheaper pop corn. The problem is that eliminating each eats away at the Chart Room’s ambiance and character.

What next?

I was at the Hot Tin Roof before 6 for dinner. I chatted a while with congenial and able manager Joseph. Jean Thornton and a pack of women showed up. They enjoyed a drink at the bar and were off to Marquesa for dinner. An excellent restaurant.

There was  a madness to my early evening. I wanted to watch the Miami/San Antonio game at 9. I was in bed at 8:30 with the television on. The tv was still on when I woke at 3 this morning. I never saw any part of the game. I fell asleep before 9.

Such is life.

Enjoy your day!

 

THE TOUR

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Yesterday’s adventure was a tour of the Washington monuments. Six hours. Arduous. Comparable to climbing steps in Italy and the volcano. However, I made it! I am in better shape this year than I was last year at this time.

I took a formal tour. Included were 5 hours of monument viewing and a one hour luncheon cruise on the Potomac. The whole thing fantastic! I wish I had done it earlier in life. I wished I had taken my children when they were young. I cannot wait to take Robert and Ally.

It was a uplifting experience. Emotionally moving. I was proud to be an American.

Following are the Memorials visited. The Capitol Building, Washington Monument, World War II Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, White House, and Arlington Cemetery.

The ones that affected me the most were the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Korean Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial.

I want to share some bits of information I learned.

The Washington Monument is 551 feet high. Two years ago an earthquake damaged the Monument. A 4 foot 1 inch crack resulted. Roughly 1 inch wide.

The Monument is being repaired. It is almost totally covered in scaffolding. $9 million worth. Must be more involved than merely fixing the crack.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is the largest land wise. Several acres. Created this large in recognition of his 16 years as President. There are four separate memorial buildings. To recognize his four terms as President.

I learned about Concepcion “Connie” Picciotto. I met her and spoke with her.

Connie is a 77 year old woman. Short. Less than five feet. Weather scarred and browned skin. Very few teeth. A wig peeking out from beneath her cap.

Connie is a protestor. A long term one. The longest public political protestor in United States history. In 1981, she was concerned about nuclear weapons. She wanted universal disarmament. She pitched a small tent across from the White House on the Pennsylvania Avenue side. The tent and Connie are still there thirty two  years later. Her protests have grown. She expresses her concerns verbally and with signs every day.

Such is Connie’s life.

Think of it. She has been there through the Presidencies of Reagan, the two Bushes, Clinton and now Obama.

Arlington Cemetery stood in a class alone. Extremely moving. We did not stop. We drove by and around.

Arlington contains the bodies of over 400,000 persons. The white crosses covering each grave in perfect lines on neatly trimmed green grass.

Steps big time at some of the Memorials. I did not know if I would physically be able to handle them. Shades of Italy and Greece last year.

I did them all. With no difficulty, except sore legs on occasion from the knees down. My European trip this year should be no problem.

I did take pictures. Many. The trick now is for me to show them to you once I have separated, selected, etc. Later today or tomorrow. It will be a first for me!

Last Friday, I visited the Holocaust Museum. I was so moved by it that I wrote this week’s KONK Life column immediately upon returning to my room. The article obviously covered the Holocaust. I went a step further, however. The theme was man did not learn. He still kills. I spelled out all the genocides since World War II.

Yesterday Washington was the beginning of One Million Bones. A three day event. Paper machete, wood, and plastic bones have been created by adults and school children for three years. They were spread out yesterday on the Washington Mall. The purpose: To raise the awareness of people to genocide in today’s world.

John from Jersey will be happy. I made it to the Old Ebbitt Grill last night! Though you described it well John, the place defies description. I loved the ambiance! A piece of old Washington. I read it remains a virtual saloon Smithsonian. It is.

Washington is a lovely city. Majestic buildings, wide streets, clean. It does have a negative, however. The homeless.

I saw them everywhere. Especially yesterday morning when I left early to catch the tour bus. They were sleeping everywhere. On benches, in doorways, where ever. Most were women.

A disgrace.

Key West has homeless. They come to Key West in droves for the warm weather. We take care of our homeless. We took them off the streets. They sleep at night in a large tent on a cot with clean sheets. And get a shower. One every evening or no cot and sheets. Food is provided at a rescue mission.

Key West did not do this out of the goodness of its heart. Federal case law required it. Where is that same federal case law in our nation’s capital?

Tomorrow night my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine in the evening. A fast moving half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

What will I discuss tomorrow night? Probably my Washington trip. A lot to talk about.

Enjoy your day!