POST WAR COSTS

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I spent an enjoyable morning yesterday doing the Key West Lou Legal Hour.

Viewers always attach to an issue or two. The topic garnering the most interest yesterday had to do with post war costs. We do not stop paying when a war ends. The costs are ongoing for many years. There are military pensions, disability pensions and ongoing medical for war inflicted wounds.

The United States spends $40 billion a year for such costs. Interestingly, we are still paying pensions to two descendants of Civil War veterans. $876 per month to each.

After the show, I visited with Lisa. I am beginning to wonder if it is Lisa I go to see or Jake.

Jake got in trouble yesterday. He got out of the fenced back yard. Today, Jake will experience his first long car ride. To Miami and back. Lisa says he will handle the car ride without any problem. We shall see.

It was friday afternoon. Time to write next week’s KONK Life column. Entitled it Our Enemy The Banks. Interesting reading. More of too big to fail and too big to prosecute tied into the Cyprus situation and how it could impact us. I was pleased with the final product. So I published it on Amazon Kindle, also.

Chart Room last night! Busy!

Chatted with Emily off and on. A smart woman. Then spent some time talking with Peter. Always a pleasure.

Ran into a couple I met a year ago. Al and Donna. We met in the Chart Room. They are Key West residents. Al works for the City of Key West as a welder/fabricator. Donna is in the State Attorney’s Office.

Nice people.

They are originally from Tampa. Wanted to live in Key West their whole lives. Finally made the move two years ago.

In came Cheryl and Roger with another couple. Cheryl and Roger. My friends from Kankakee, Illinois. Hope I spelled it right. If not, Cheryl will most assuredly correct me.

Cheryl and Roger are snow birds. Down here about 6 months a year. They have an RV. Park it at Boyd’s Campgrounds on Stock Island. Probably the nicest RV park in the lower keys.

The couple was Belinda and Ray from Michigan. They are snow birds. First time we have met, however. They reside during the season at Boyd’s. Belinda is the Social Director at Boyd’s. Ray is a retired body shop owner.

The four of them were having a drink before scooting across the street to Hot Tin Roof for dinner. The makings for a terrific evening.

I stopped at Don’s Place on the way home. Ran into Hershel. He told me of Erika’s flight yesterday with the Blue Angels. I thought it was to be a small pursuit plane. Not so. It was some kind of big plane. Hershel had a photo of Erika sitting in the cockpit. Looked the size of a bedroom.

Syracuse basketball again tonight. At 9:40. Play California. I make no prediction. It has been a tough season.

Enjoy your day!

 

JUST DONALD AND ME…..

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It was a Donald night last night!

I stopped into Don’s Place. I knew Don would be there. Wednesday is his golf day. He follows the game up with time at the bar.

Don and David were chatting. I joined them. One of the items discussed was bocce. This evening is league night. We are playing a team that has won only one game. Hopefully, we will win three. You never know, however. Bocce can be like the recent college basketball season.

Our team is in 4th place. Not bad. There are 14 teams. Fourth place is where we have been the past couple of years. Better than last place or way down in the rankings as we used to be.

The team won all 3 games last week. Without me. I could not make it. Perhaps I should stay away more often.

I said my good byes. Told Don and David I was off to the Chart Room. Don decided to join me.

As interesting as the Chart Room can be, it was more so last night with the presence of Don. He chatted away with Emily, met Peter. We  met Mary from Chicago. In Key West on vacation. She visits frequently. Knows Key West well.

Chicago Mary had been to Don’s Place before. We were returning there. She asked to join us. I took her in my car.

We chatted some more at Don’s Place. It was time for me to leave. Mary asked for a ride to Willy T’s on Duval. A tourist place. Across from La Trattoria. I drove her over.

I was home in bed early.

My morning began with a manicure. With Tammy at Lee Nails, of course. Tammy is the personification of Asian beauty. It is always a pleasure to be with her.

Then to Lisa’s. I am still bonding with Jake.

Lisa had taken Jake to the Vet’s for the first time earlier in the morning. She said he was very swell behaved. The Vet told Lisa that Jake is as big as he is going to get. He is a terrier mix of sorts. Stands about 15 inches tall and weighs 9.5 pounds. One year old.

It was a beautiful day. I have become pale. I do not spend enough time outside. I put the top down and drove US 1 to Sugarloaf and back. My sun lamp. Thirty minutes. It did some good. My cheeks are rosy red this morning.

I spent a couple of hours at home working on friday’s TV/internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Some interesting material has been accumulated. I will be speaking on the Iraqi War and its effect on the national debt, the Cyprus situation, the shame of Congress regarding its failure to entertain the assault weapons ban, a money strapped city that required male employees to bring their own toilet paper to work, the Gutenberg bible, a 1349 massacre of Jews, the early New York Yankees, and more.

Join me. Good stuff!

The show is at 10 in the morning my time. It is available on television via Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19 from Key West through Miami-Dade County. The show is available world wide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

All of a sudden, I was tired. I plopped on the bed and slept for 2 hours.

Sloan arrived. We worked on perfecting the blog talk radio show.

Emily told me last night another cold front was coming in today. Not a bad one, however. It is here this morning. It is a bit chilly. The high today will only be 73. Cool for us. Warm for you folks up north. I am not complaining. Merely sharing information.

The Florida keys are experiencing a manatee problem. Better stated, the manatees are experiencing a problem. An algae has developed out in the ocean that is not healthy for the manatees. Over 100 have died so far. I feel bad. I am sure most others in the keys do also. Manatees are big friendly hulks. Loved by all.

When I have bocce, I go out for lunch. Bocce starts early so I do not have time for dinner. Today my thought is Hogfish.

Enjoy your day!

SLOPPY JOE’S

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I did the unusual last night. I went to Sloppy Joe’s. A rarity for me.

The place was packed. The music blaring and good.

I ate bad. Sloppy fries. French fries covered with ground beef, tomato sauce and melted cheese. To die for!

It was the end of an era. I noticed no one was smoking. No ash trays on the tables. Sloppy’s has permitted smoking for 85 some odd years. It is against Florida law for any establishment that sells food to permit smoking. Sloppy Joe’s got away with it for many years. The only Key West food serving establishment that has.

I attribute the freedom to the fact that Sloppy Joe’s was and is Key West history personified.

One wall has pictures of Ernest Hemingway. One big one. All I could think was that Hemingway was looking out and saying…..What the hell is going on!

The waitress told me no smoking was 3 weeks old. The law said stop!

My day was spent running errands. Walgreens, Home Depot and Publix. Stopped at Lisa’s afterwards. Wanted to see the new family member Jake. He has it made!

Lisa constantly mothers him. The grandkids love him. While I was there, he was outside in the back yard. Chasing 2 inch geckos. They were too fast for  him. But he kept up the pursuit!

I lunched at Blossoms. My whole day was spent eating not so healthy food. I enjoyed a Cuban cheese toast with tomato and a cup of Cuban coffee. The Cuban toast dripped with hot butter. So good! Bad food from a health perspective, however.

My first stop last night was the Chart Room. At first it was just me and Mary. Then they started coming in. Including Peter. Peter and I had our usual enjoyable conversation. We are two old guys. We were into medical problems last night like colonoscopies, prostrate problems and the like.

Bridget came in. New to me. I had never seen her before. Though she has been to Key West before. She is a tour guide. A special tour guide. She travels with groups of 30-40. High end type people. She and the group are staying at the Hyatt.

Bridget has an interesting job. She does not solely do Key West. She travels to all sorts of interesting places. Like London and Australia.

Bridget has an even more interesting background. As we all seem to do. She is originally off a 175 acre Maine farm. Then a farm in New Hampshire. Now a world travel guide.

I enjoyed Bridget’s company. I hope we run in to each other again.

Today is Tuesday. Tuesday is Tuesday Talk With Key West Lou. Blog talk radio. Nine my time. One half hour of interesting chatter. Some call ins. Join me. I guarantee you will enjoy. Topics include all kind of current events and Syracuse basketball. Tomorrow night I hope to touch on the lack of truth in government as it relates to the deficit problem. You will be surprised at what I have to share with you. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

I have to hustle this morning. I have a doctor’s appointment at 8:30. The start of my annual physical. A two day venture.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

THERE IS JOY IN MUDVILLE…..

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Although relative to baseball, the line can be applied to any sport. There is joy in Mudville! There is joy for Syracuse fans world wide! Syracuse beat Georgetown last night 58-55.

We came back!

Tonight Louisville for the Big East Tournament championship. Another great game awaits!

I watched last night’s game with my friend Andrew at the Big Ten Sports Pub. Andew is my neighbor. He owns the MTV home across the water. He was supposed to be in Thailand. He telephoned me to say hello, I am here, let’s have dinner tonight. A business matter required a quick return to Key West. He left wife Jas and son Kai in Thailand. In a few days, Jas and Kai will be in Sweden with Jas’ mother. Thereafter, Key West.

This is St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Actually, tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. I love corned beef and cabbage. Once a year. Today or tomorrow is the time.

My mother made corned beef and cabbage frequently. It tasted better back then. Whatever my mother did. Plus, the meat was extra fatty which contributed to the great flavor. I do not recognize that taste anymore.

Schooner Wharf is big on corned beef and cabbage this holiday. They cook it special. I may stop to enjoy the meal.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour aired yesterday morning. Love doing it! Post show comments indicated the bank issue hit home. People understood. The thrust of the topic was that the same banks that were too big to fail several years ago, are now too big to prosecute. The shame of it all.

After the show, I went over to the Plantation Coffee House. Read the newspapers and enjoyed a cup of coffee.

The deadline for my KONK Life column is The article was entitled: New Pope and U.S. Catholic Social Issues…..Resolutions? I mentioned at length that I thought the new Pope was more inclined to deal with basic issues affecting the poor rather than the social issues confronting the U.S. Things like priests marrying, a woman eligible to be Pope, birth control, same sex marriage, pedophilia, etc.

The BBC this morning quoted Pope Francis as saying yesterday that he wanted “…a poor Church for the poor…I would like a Church that is poor working for the poor.”

I am sorry to say I called it correctly. I think it is time to deal with all issues. The Catholic Church has been floundering too long.

I published the KONK Life article to Amazon Kindle, also.

Jake has been part of the family all of five days. He seems to be doing well. He loves Robert, Ally, Corey and Lisa. They love him. He is out car riding this morning and walking Duval. What a life! I told lisa…..no green beer for him!

I was speaking with my friend Anna yesterday. I was complaining about Key West’s cold front. It was 68 degrees at the time. She told me not to complain. It is cold and snowy in Italy. A new storm had come down from Siberia. Siberia? Just the mention of it gives me a cold chill!

That’s it for this morning.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

TOO BIG TO PROSECUTE

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Remember back several years ago when the recession began. The banks were primarily at fault. They were even in danger of going under. The U.S. government bailed them out with our tax dollars.

The American public was told that the banks were too big to fail.

Interestingly, to date not one bank official has been indicted for wrongdoing during that period.

HSBC is a world wide British bank. Many HSBC banks are located in the United States. There was a report this week of a money laundering scheme involving HSBC. Amongst other things, drug cartel monies from Mexico and Columbia were laundered through its U.S. banks. $200 trillion worth of money.

The Attorney General negotiated a deal with HSBC whereby the bank admitted its wrongdoing and paid a $1.9 billion fine. The $1.9 billion represented one month’s profit from the money laundering to the bank. The Attorney General took the position that the bank had cooperated in the investigation and that the investigation was too broad and complex for criminal charges to be brought. In other words, the bank was too big to prosecute.

A topic I will be discussing on my TV/internet show this morning. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten this morning my time. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19 for television viewing through Miami-Dade County. World wide on the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

Join me, if you can. You will enjoy.

Yesterday began with a haircut with Lori. It was cold walking from the parking lot to her shop. Key West is suffering another cold front.

Then quickly to Lisa’s. I was babysitting. Robert and Ally were off from school.

I spent a bit of time bonding with Jake. A cute, quiet, small terrier. He gets along with the grandkids. They love him. Especially Ally. Lisa is like a mother to Jake. One happy family!

Jake never barks. Or so I thought. Ally had him outside on the leash so he could go. In the front yard. The property is fenced. A large dog walked by. Jake went crazy. Barked big time and loud! Strained on the leash. Ally had all she  could do to hold him.

Apparently Jake is territorial. If another reason exists, let me know.

Robert and Ally wanted to lunch at I-HOP. It has been a while since we were there. We enjoyed a long talkative time. Robert at times seems profound. Ally talks of silly things. Poppa sat back and enjoyed.

Then it was back to Lisa’s. Ally took Jake out of the cage and immediately walked him for potty purposes. That is when the situation earlier described occurred.

I was behind in preparation for this morning’s show. I worked the balance of the afternoon and into last night getting ready. Never made it to bocce. Called Captain David and told him the team would have to win without me.

Syracuse and Georgetown this evening. The third time in a month. Seven o’clock. Madison Square Garden. The quarter finals of the Big East Tournament. A Syracuse victory would be nice. It is definitely needed to help Syracuse’s seeding in the Big Tournament beginning next week.

Must move on. Need to shower and get to the TV studio for this morning’s show.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

TRAGEDY STRIKES HOME

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One thinks a gun tragedy will not occur where they live. Not us…..who would shoot any one around here.

It happens!

It happened yesterday 15 miles from my hometown, Utica, NY.

Herkimer is a small village 15 miles east of Utica. I have many friends living in the Herkimer area. I tried many lawsuits in Supreme Court there.

Yesterday, four persons were shot and killed. The assailant is hold up in a deserted building in Herkimer.

What will never happen, happened.

Juice is no longer Juice. He is now Jake. The family decided to change his name.

I met Jake for the first time yesterday. A quiet little dog. A terrier mixed breed. He sniffed me. I petted him. Gave him a treat.

Robert and Ally were home. No school in the afternoon. They were all over Jake.

The person who appears most enamoured with Jake was Lisa. She is like a mother with a new baby.

Lisa just telephoned. Jake did bad. He pooped and peed in the house. Her words were very tolerant. Jake has it made!

We have a new Pope. I will discuss Pope Francis in my TV/internet show tomorrow morning.

He appears to be a good man. He also carries a negative from my perspective. He was and is a Jesuit. A tough, adamant, fearless order of priests. They are doctrinaire. I fear things like birth control will not change while Francis is Pope.

The fact the new Pop took the name Francis is significant. St. Francis of Assisi gave his fortune away. He then dedicated his life to helping the poor. Uplifting the poor I suspect will be Pope Francis’ legacy.

I spent the afternoon working on tomorrow’s show. No where near done yet. And I have a busy day before me. Haircut at 10 and babysitting at noon. I question whether I will make bocce tonight.

Tomorrow’s show is at 10 in the morning my time. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Available via television from Key West through Miami-Dade County on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. Available world wide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

Join me.

In addition to further comment re the new Pope, I will be discussing usury from the Catholic Church’s perspective. I had been planning the usury discussion all week. The election of a new Pope is coincidental.

The Chart Rooom first last night. Lovely Emily tending bar. Peter there, as usual. I was supposed to meet Gordon and Charles. No Gordon and Charles. Instead a business card saying they could not make it. Sad. Perhaps next week.

I chatted with two ladies at the bar. Betty and Carolyn. Enjoying Key West for a few days.

Betty is from Fort Myers, Carolyn Taverna. Betty is a retired dental hygenist with a husband back in Fort Myers. Carolyn single. However, she was quick to point out she has a dog.

Two lovely women. Enjoyed my time with them.

I had dinner at Tavern ‘N Town with Dee. I hit 30 pounds lost yesterday. Decided to celebrate. Enjoyed a prime rib. The scale this morning tells me I should not have.

It is Lori and me at 10 for a haircut. Then I am babysitting Robert and All for a couple of hours at noon.

Enjoy your day!