BOCCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

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Bocce and Social Security. The two are related. Sort of.

Tonight the new bocce season begins. August 14, 2014. Exciting!

On this same day August 14 in 1935, President Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. Exciting, also! Without the law, there would be no Social Security and Medicare today.

A point of information. People are always saying Social Security is broke. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If the United States honored its obligations.

President Johnson needed money for the Vietnam War. He looked at all the money sitting idle in the Social Security Fund. He legally devised a method by which the government could take the unused funds for its own purposes. The government keeps taking and never pays back.

The United States owes the Social Security Fund $2.7 trillion. Social Security is the government’s biggest creditor. Number 2 China is owed less than $1 trillion.

When people yell Social Security is broke, they either intentionally forget or do not know what I have set forth. Even today the government continues to  borrow money from the Social Security Fund. Your money and mine.

My yesterday began with a manicure at Lee Nails. Love Tammy!

I spent the afternoon researching further next week’s KONK Life column. Glory and Disgrace. About Great Britain in the early days of World War II. I plan on writing the column this afternoon.

Don’s Place was my first stop last night. Don is back. I was glad to see him.

I chatted a while with Stan and Clare and Hershel and Erika. Bocce, of course. Said hello to Grant.

Then to the Chart Room. Buffalo’s Tom Dixon is back in town! A rabid Syracuse fan. A Buffalo Bills fan, also. I asked Tom how the football team was going to be this year. He said terrific. I could not understand. Syracuse football has not distinguished itself in years. Turned out he was talking about the Buffalo Bills.

Tom’s wife Fran joined us. A charming lady.

We were together quite a while. We agreed to dine monday night at the Hot Tin Roof.

I had dinner at the outside bar at La Te Da. Always an interesting venue.

The people of the Keys and the turtles who live in its waters are lucky to have the Marathon Turtle Hospital.

Pine Tyme is an 80 pound loggerhead. In June, some fisherman found him in the ocean off Big Pine unable to dive. They got him on their boat and brought the turtle to the Turtle Hospital. Where he was named Pine Tyme.

Pine Tyme’s problem was gas in his intestines. He was not expelling it. He was full of air. No wonder he could not dive.

Pine Tyme has been treated and cured with antibiotics. He will be returned to the ocean friday.

I have been discussing on my various shows and in writing the past two years what I describe as the militarization of our police. Police departments across the country are receiving left over war machinery from the government. Police have also become cocky since 9/11. An item I discussed on my blog talk radio show this past tuesday.

Validity for my remarks is what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri at the moment. People are demonstrating. Some looting. The police have prohibited protesting in groups. Last night, the police were out in military gear. Armored vehicles. Repeating guns on top of them. The police used smoke bombs and tear gas to stop the demonstrators. At this point the demonstrators were merely walking down the street in group fashion.

You cannot defecate on a people. The demonstrators retaliated with molotov cocktails.

See the pictures and videos on television and the internet. Decide for yourself whether the police went too far, whether the police incited the retaliatory violence by the crowd.

Enjoy your day!

 

SHIRREL RHOADES…..MAN OF THE YEAR

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My publisher received a big time award! Shirrel Rhoades was honored recently at a gathering in Montreal, Canada. He received the 2014 Professional Man of the Year Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Shirrel is a full time Key West resident and an owner of Absolutely Amazing E Books, the publishing house.

Congratulations, Shirrel! Keep up the good work!

North Roosevelt Boulevard. Grand opening yesterday. Don’t know why all the politicians were taking bows. It took 2.5 years to complete a 1.5 year job.

Yesterday technically was the first day for 5 lane traffic. It existed Monday, also. Monday must have been a practice day.

I drove the Boulevard twice yesterday, in and out. It is lovely! The palm trees in perfect order. Reminded me of the flags at the United Nations. All the same height in perfect line.

Traffic was moving well. Moving along. No slow downs or one way traffic. To a point. I was driving with the palm trees and water to my right. All of a sudden, traffic slowed down to a snail’s pace. All cars moving into the left lane. The problem. Two police officers on bikes had pulled a speeder over. Same thing again a quarter of a mile down the road. Crazy! All I could think was what the hell good is this new road if we are going to be faced with new delays!

I recalled reading in the Citizen earlier in the day that the speed limit was still 25 mph  because of some final work being done. There is a regular and higher speed. I cannot remember it, however. It has been that long!

Did an MRI of my right shoulder in the morning. I was concerned because the doctor had told me the MRI was closed. Those of you who have had MRI’s will understand.

My age came into play. My first MRI has to have been 30 plus years ago. When the machine first came out. It was a closed box all the way around. Smaller and tighter than a casket. The top of the box inches from my face. I panicked for a moment. A bad feeling!

Several years later, they came out with an open MRI. Much better, depending which part of your body was being observed. If the stomach, your head and legs were not covered. If a shoulder, as mine was yesterday, then the head and shoulder covered. More room, however.

Now they have what is described as a truly open MRI machine. Space all around. No chance of claustrophobia coming into play.

The MRI machine I was subjected to yesterday was described as a closed one. Obviously the medical people were a generation or two behind me. I was in the middle one. The original I had my first MRI in was for real closed!

Time different, also. My first MRI took one hour and a half. Yesterday, 20 minutes.

Spent the afternoon fine tuning last night’s blog talk radio show. I thought the atrocities being committed on Mount Sinjar would garner the most response. I was wrong. It was the story of the man who went into a hospital for a circumcision and left with his penis having been amputated. The penis comments were all from men.

Dinner at Roostica. Megan bartends and was bar tending last night. I was sitting at a table. She generally comes over to get me started. Not her job. Just a real nice person. Bobby is blessed with a good staff.

The Islamic religion is the fastest growing religion in the world. Over two billion members. Many kill non-believers. Especially Christians. Convert or die. They believe the killings will get them into heaven. If such is the case, how can we ever hope to stop the killings? Our enemy is religious fanaticism.

Enjoy your day!

ROBIN WILLIAMS RIP

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A man who brought so much joy to others apparently was not happy within himself. Robin Williams passed away yesterday by his own hand.

Everyone knows of his major accomplishments. Permit me to share one less known with you.

In the late 1960’s and through the 1970’s, I spent much time in New York both on business and pleasure. I have always had a fanatical interest in art. I stole at least an hour a day on most trips to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heaven to me!

Many times after the visit, I would sit on the steps in front of the Museum. wWth hundreds of other people. On occasion, I would enjoy a hot dog and can of soda while sitting there. Generally there was a mime performing. Always enjoyable to watch.

Twenty years later, I was watching a talk show on TV. Robin Williams was being interviewed. It was there I learned that he had spent several years performing as a mime on tghe sidewalk in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Let the band play, the canons roar! Northern Roosevelt Boulevard was open yesterday. aAl five lanes! The official opening is at 2 today. I was able to drive into town and out on the Boulevard with no holdup or difficulty. I was at the point where I thought the time to do so would never return.

My yesterday began with a business meeting, then lunch with the grandkids, and dinner at Geiger Key.

The afternoon was spent working on tonight’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk With Key West Lou. Join me at 9. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. Interesting topics include the chamber of horrors occurring on Mt. Sinjar, police brutality, Saudi Arabians being anti-Christmas, an Indianapolis man who won two separate $1 million lotteries within 3 months, a man whose penis was amputated by mistake, and more.

I have to move fast this morning. I have an MRI scheduled at 10:30 of my right shoulder.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

MOUNT SINJAR REVISITED

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My Sunday began with Meet The Press. Then lunch at Lisa’s with the family. They had just returned from swimming at Fort Zach.

On the way home, I stopped at Don’s Place to watch the PGA. No PGA when I arrived. It had been shut down for an hour due to rain. Chatted instead with Jimmy and John. Bocce one of the topics. Bocce season begins Thursday night.

I was not in the mood to return home yet. Went downtown to look over Lobsterfest. Lower Duval a zoo. Jam packed. Everyone enjoying the lobster brunch I detailed yesterday. Not just lobster alone. Things like lobster lasagna, paella, and mac cheese. I was stuffed from lunch and tried none of the items.

Watched most of the PGA after returning home. Fantastic outstanding golf! Five hundred plus yards and these guys are on in 2. No way could Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer have done it. It is the clubs and balls. All manufactured to go farther and straighter. Plus these guys are all physically conditioned. Did you ever see Nicklaus without a belly?

I thought playing the last two holes in semi dark and dark was wrong. An insult to the players and the PGA.

I would be remiss if I failed to comment once again on Mount Sinjar.

The number seeking safety on the mountain has gone from 30,000 to 150,000. Who really knows. The situation is being described as a Chamber of Horrors and Mountain of Death.

ISIS has changed its name. It is now IS. Islamic State.

Bad people.

They are beheading Yazidis. A soldier will grab someone and slice their head off with a hunting knife. This is also being done to children, In addition to beheading, children are crucified and amputated. IS has a thing about cutting off a person’s hands and feet.

Women and girls are raped. Wives and daughters are raped in front of the husband/father and then the husband/father is killed. The women and girls not killed are taken to be sold outside Iraq as slaves. Women and children are being buried alive.

Some corpses are beheaded and then hung on a cross. In addition to those crucified alive.

Yazidi men are lined up, made to kneel, and then shot in the head from behind. IS members not shooting watch, laugh and some take pictures.

The internet is rampant with photos and videos of the carnage. Many taken by IS members themselves and placed on the internet via social media.

Whole villages are given the option of converting from their religion to the Islamic faith. If they refuse, they die. Agreeing alone is not sufficient. A person converting must prove the conversion is sincere. Such is generally accomplished by forcing the person converting to kill non converting family members.

Sick. Wrong. Perverted.

All so bad that I cannot in good faith end this blog as I generally do. I am left speechless.

SPIT IN BABY’S MOUTH

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I was enjoying a quiet Saturday evening meal last night at Roostica’s. A large bottle of water was on the table. A drink, of course. My meal. Braised short ribs over a bed of brown rice covered with some greenery. Delicious! The ribs especially. No bones. Small chunks of meat that had fallen away from the bones during the cooking process.

My date was a tablet. I was reading yesterday’s New York Times.

An article on the Iraqi/ISIS/Mount Sinjar situation caught my attention. Heavy stuff!

There are 30,000 people on Mount Sinjar. They have been there for a week or two. No water, no food. The article reported that parents are spitting into their children’s mouths to provide them with some liquid.

Most of the 30,000 are Yazidis. A religious group. Neither Muslim nor Christian. ISIS is grabbing women and young girls off the mountain. They are offered a choice. Convert to Muslimism and immediately marry a jihadist. Or die. Most convert. Some prefer death.

Mount Sinjar is a humanitarian crisis.  As is the Mexican border crisis in the United States where some 70,000 children have come into the United States this year alone. Congress has failed to act to help these kids. Obama has reacted to Mount Sinjar and is having food and water dropped.

There is another aspect to the numbers. Kurdistan is part of Iraq. Technically. However it acts independently and governs itself. ISIS is causing havoc in Syria also which is next to Kurdistan. Between refugees from Syria and those who are trying to escape the Iraqi war itself, 580,000 refugees have arrived in Kurdistan. Two hundred thousand since last Monday.

Some in the U.S. complain about 70,000 children. Look at what Kurdistan is dealing with!

I spent most of yesterday laying in bed watching the PGA. Great golf! Some of the finest I have seen. Most of the players are on in 2 and regularly sinking long putts. Today’s final round is going to be some contest. Any one of a dozen players can win.

This weekend has been Lobsterfest time. Today is the last day. Featured is what has been described as a decadent lobster brunch. Included are lobster tails, lobster ravioli, lobster benedict, lobster paella, lobster lasagna, lobster mac and cheese, and more.

Plus water.

I started this blog with 30,000 people on Mount Sinjar without food and water. Now a lavish Key West spread. Hard to relate the two. Life goes on.

Today is Captain Tony’s birthday. He was born August 10, 1916. There will be a birthday party tonight at 8 at Captain Tony’s.

What a life the Captain had. Four wives, 13 children, a saloon keeper, booze runner, boat captain, gambler and who knows what else. Even mayor of Key West. One of his campaign managers was Jimmy Buffett.

Enjoy your Sunday!

VIETNAM AND IRAQ

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The major similarity between Vietnam and Iraq is that we were misled into each war. President Johnson with regard to Vietnam and Bush 2 with regard to Iraq.

We all know the Iraq lies. Some may not be aware of the Vietnam ones. Johnson wanted to expand the Vietnam war. He wanted to be viewed in the same light as Roosevelt and World War II. He misinformed the American people. He claimed that on August 2 and 4 1964, North Vietnamese ships shot at American vessels.

The August 2 engagement was not as described, although something did happen. The more serious event was August 4. The problem was it never happened.

Two Presidents, two lies, two long term conflicts.

What I find sad, besides a President lying, is that in both instances the Congress voted almost unanimously in providing the Congressional authority to proceed. Does anyone seek truth in the halls of government?

Obama has sent planes this past week to bomb certain areas of Iraq. Congress is not involved in the process as yet. I am not passing judgment on what Obama has done. I do not know enough at this time. There does however appear to be humanitarian interests to support his intercession.

Vian Dakhil is a member of the Iraqi Parliament. She spoke to the problem two days ago before her Parliament.

“For the past 48 hours, 30,000 families have been besieged on Mount Sinjar, without food or water. They are dying. Seventy children have died so far of thirst and suffocation. Fifty elderly people have died because of the deteriorating conditions. Our women are being taken captive and sold on the slave market.”

My yesterday started with a quick visit to the dentist, Dr. Linder. An implant required adjusting.

I spent several hours writing my KONK Life column which will be published this week. It concerns an issue I briefly wrote about several days ago here and spoke of at length on my blog talk radio show tuesday night. The column is one of the most revealing I have written. Be sure to read it. An eye opener!

The title of the article is Abortion, Sterilization, Contraception, Female Discrimination…..Tools For Population Control.

Tavern ‘n Town last night. A delicious prime rib. Chatted with manager Judy. Ran into Jenna and her Boston intern. They were attending a 40th birthday party for Ruben Gabriel Navarro, the singer. Ruben came over and joined the conversation. He invited me to join the party. I begged off. It was time to go home.

Mike Emerson provided the entertainment. It was a big night for him. His grandkids are visiting and watched him perform.

Met Susie yesterday. Susie Puskedra. Susie does estate sales. Short for she cleans your house out by selling everything. A good person to know. Her business name is Susie’s Key West Estate Sales.

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal carried an interesting piece of information. The article represented that doctors misdiagnose 5 percent of patients a year. Does not sound like much in and of itself. However, the 5 percent amounts to 12 million persons a year. That is a problem!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

KEY WEST OFF BROADWAY

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A new off Broadway show opened recently. Drop Dead Perfect. Key West and a drag queen.

The show stars Everett Quinton. He plays an eccentric Key West matron.

The show itself has been described as a tropical hotbed of heathens.

All a perfect Key West fit!

Quinton plays Idris Seabright. Who is/was Idris Seabright? I do not know if there is a connection. However there was an authoress of some renown by that name. A bit eccentric in her day. She and her husband frequented nudist camps and were members of Wicca. Idris’ real name was Margaret St. Clair. Under the name Idris Seabright, she wrote science fiction..

Stopped at Joy Gallery again yesterday. Visited a bit. You should stop in. Jim is good company. Sit and enjoy a cup of coffee with him.

The Chart Room first last night. Emily bartending. Fred from Louisville there again. Fred is the gentleman I met last week. A nice guy. He owns a parking lot at Churchill Downs just a few yards from the main gate.

Jean Thornton stopped in. Looked fantastic in her new short hair style.

I only stayed for one drink. Decided to walk over to Kelley’s for wings. On the way, I realized it was not yet 7. Kelley’s happy hour lasts till 7. Happy hours are not my thing. I was on Duval at the moment. Burger Fi was just across the street. I crossed.

The very lovely Alex bartending. I had not been in burger Fi for a month. She remembered me and what I drank immediately. Alex has been a Burger Fi main stay for quite a while now. She is the single mother of six year old girl.

I like Alex.

While I was enjoying a double cheeseburger and onion rings (to die for), I was leafing through this week’s Conch Color. Christopher Rounds was featured.

Chris is one of the new owners of La Te Da. Previously, he owned Antonia’s. Chris is renovating La Te Da. Business is ongoing while the work is being done.

I have been a visitor and resident of Key West for 26 years. La Te Da has always been a part of my life during those years. It is that kind of place. It has gone through several owners and several renovations. I have a feeling Chris will make it the best ever.

Chris is originally from Boonville, New York. Fifteen miles from my hometown Utica. He comes from good stock!

Enjoy your day!

 

FAST BUCK FREDDIE’S

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All good things come to an end. Nothing is forever.

Fast Buck Freddie’s closed down three years ago. Support for a store of its quality no longer existed.

I loved Fast Buck Freddie’s! Great stuff! Expensive prices! Nothing cheap. It was not a place you shopped in often. Anything purchased there was a treat.

I recall 15 years ago buying my wife a mask for Fantasy Fest. A gold eye mask with big green feathers. Looked terrific! It should have. Cost me $125. The mask sits to this day on my bedroom dresser on top of a glass head. I got it in the divorce.

Whenever I made a Fast Buck purchase, it was based on impulse. I walked in one day and saw this elephant chair. Short. Heavy. I could never have lifted it. With a pair of two foot tusks. I knew immediately where it would look good in my living room. $1,000.

My Boston granddaughter Samantha was visiting. She was 12 at the time. Grandpa offered to buy her a tee shirt. Why or who or what directed us to Fast Buck Freddie’s for the tee shirt, I cannot recall. I remember however that the tee shirt for my 12 year old granddaughter cost $60.

I am not listing complaints. I loved every minute I spent in Fast Buck Freddie’s and every penny I spent. The place was the Taj Mahal of Key West!

Its street windows were long and huge. The best window displays in Key West! I doubt anyone would dispute the representation.

Over the years, the building housing Fast Bucks was owned individually or jointly or whatever by Tony Falcone, Jimmy Buffet, and David Wolkowsky.

Tony Falcone operated Fast Buck Freddie’s for 37 years. The store has been empty for three years. Falcone has done everything possible to get a Key West type occupant in the store. To no avail. CVS is going to open a drug store in place of Fast Buck Freddie’s. Falcone feels bad. However, he had no choice. No one can blame him. Money is money. He hung onto an empty store way too long.

CVS in its new location will be blight on Duval Street. Such is progress!

My house was shown two times yesterday. No one bought it.

There were two highlights in my day yesterday. A visit with Jim Wallace at Joy Gallery. He has my Jack Baron’s for sale. The other was dinner with Lisa and the family last night.

Cameron is back from Turkey. He brought Robert and Ally each a fez. Bright red with a tassel. Robert wears his all the time, except when sleeping. He looks Turkish. Ally was not thrilled. She never wears her fez.

After dinner, I did something I never do. I was driving home. Suddenly had a desire for a soft chocolate ice cream cone. Dairy Queen! Oh, so good!

Enjoy your day!

BREAST FEEDING

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Good morning! I am at Lisa’s this morning doing the blog. The realtor is showing my house.

There was a breast feeding event saturday in Key West. I was unaware of it till this morning. Not that I would have gone. My involvement with breast feeding is a thing of the past. One of my daughters did it. If ever I will observe the activity again, it will be with one the grandchildren.

There is a national organization known as Big Latch On. A fitting name! A world wide event takes place each year. The day was this past saturday. Forty five babies breast fed publically at Higgs Beach. The purpose obviously to promote breast feeding. No question, the right thing to do. Healthy. Great for the baby. Comforting to the mother.

Respect for Peter Anderson is ongoing. It does not seem to fade into the sunset.

Last April, Renier Rodriguez visited Key West from Cuba. He joined the Conch Republic, received a passport and obtained a Conch Republic flag. All from Peter Anderson himself.

Rodriguez lives in Candelaria, Cuba. This past week the Conch Republic flag flew over his home in memory of Peter Anderson.

Yesterday afternoon was spent in final preparation for last night’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Did the show at 9.

One of the topics involved the OPA. Not the OPA of World War II. The OPA of today. The Office of Population Affairs. A federal agency. It is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The OPA has been in business as a federal agency since 1970.

The OPA’s purpose is to control/limit population growth. The thought is that some day there will be too many people and not enough to feed them all.

The agency is pro-abortion, pro-sterilization, and pro-contraceptive use. It also has a Family Planning Clinic, one of whose purposes is to get rid of unintended pregnancies.

Plans contemplated are extremely discriminatory as regards women. Additionally, the agency has researched the legality of its proposed programs. The programs are referred to as they would be at an appropriate time. Compulsory Population-Control Laws. The suggested laws are claimed to have been legally researched. The agency’s conclusion is they can be constitutionally sustained if over population becomes sufficiently severe so as to endanger society.

The agency has a budget. In the past several years, it has averaged between $280 million and $298 million. Recall, the House of Representatives controls the budget. They decide what agency of government gets what and how much.

I find it difficult to understand how the Republicans in the House who are anti-abortion and anti-contraception can vote yearly to fund this agency and at the same time fight like hell against abortion and contraception

It does not make sense to me. Gross inconsistency.

OPA was the topic last night that garnered the most interest.

In between preparation and the doing of the show, I had dinner at Roostica. The lovely Megan took care of me.

A public official in  Ankara, Turkey is as anti-female as some of our legislators. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister wants to prohibit women from laughing in public. He claims women who laugh cannot be honorable women. Turkish women are aroused. They have filed a discrimination complaint against him.

My column in this week’s KONK Life is titled Black Jesus. It will be available at 5 today. Read it. You will find the article interesting.

The San Antonio Spurs announced yesterday that they had hired Becky Hammon as an assistant coach. Becky is female, as her name connotes. A terrific move. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.

Enjoy your day!

LA LA BELLE

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Another Key West luminary passed on. First, Peter Anderson. Now, La La Belle. La La Belle was L. A. Meyer’s professional name. Meyer was a female impersonator. One of Key West’s best and most popular.

Meyer was a community activist, one of the first public supporters for gay rights, and very active in charitable fundraising. Meyer at one time also hosted a popular TV talk show, The Southernmost Queen.

Meyer had the distinction of being both Queen and King of Fantasy Fest. Different years, of course. He was Queen in 1997 and King in 2000. The Key West Citizen this morning referred to Meyer’s death in the following fashion…..Key West lost a member of its own royal family.

I am going to be critical for a moment. My complaint is aimed at both the Key West Citizen and KONK Life. Peter Anderson was as big as life! A Key West icon. So popular that two separate celebrations of his life were held. The second celebration was the parade down Duval and party thereafter saturday night.

Neither paper reported on the parade to any significance. The Citizen published a photo of it yesterday. KONK Life did likewise today. Hey guys…..You both missed the boat!

Both papers did print lavish reports following Anderson’s death. Especially, KONK Life. Never the less, the parade deserved more recognition than it got.

I lost my gold star! The air conditioning broke down again. I went two nights without air. Water was leaking. I had two big pans and a huge towel catching the leak. All fixed now. Not major. A pipe plugged somewhere and a minor thermostat problem. Not fun during the two nights I slept without air. Fortunately, I had a ceiling fan which helped.

Tuesday again! My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. A quick half hour of political and social commentary. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Tonight’s discussion will include commentary re the net worth of Americans having dropped 43 percent since 2007, the fact that the recovery claimed is not a recovery for most, the U.S. Office of Population Affairs support of abortion and sterilization to stem population growth, an example of police arrogance.

Join me.

Jim Brady died. May he rest in peace.

Brady was President Reagan’s Press Secretary in 1981 when Reagan was shot. Reagan almost died. Brady was hit by a bullet, also. The bullets used were the type which would explode when in its target. Of the several shots fired, only one exploded. The one that entered Brady’s head. He was never the same again.

Brady and his family became big time advocates for gun control. In 1993, Clinton signed into law the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act. Probably the last time there has been any significant gun control legislation in the United States.

Spent last night enjoying food and drink at the Hot Tin Roof. Enjoyed good company, also. Andrea.

Enjoy your day!