SHAKESPEARE INCIDENTALS

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William Shakespeare…..The greatest writer in the English language. Bar none. No other held in similar esteem.

He was poet, playwright and actor. His accomplishments consisted of 36 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long version poems, and several verses not fitting into any type description.

I decided to write about Shakespeare because the 400th anniversary of his death is in a few days. April 23 to be exact. The year 1616.

It would be impossible to write a column outlining his many accomplishments. His works and life full and complex. I decided to limit myself to those things few might know about the great man. Ergo, INCIDENTALS in the title.

Confusion exists as to Shakespeare’s actual dates of birth and death. Most agree he died on April 23, 1616. They also agree that he was born on April 23, except in the year 1564.

At the time of Shakespeare’s death, no one compilation existed of all or a substantial amount of his work. Short compilations which did exist were incorrect, maimed, deformed, fraudulent, stolen, and/or in draft form only.

Around the time of Shakespeare’s death, two friends took it upon themselves to compile Shakespeare’s works. The friends were fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell. They were familiar with Shakespeare’s writings and knew the greatness of them. They feared if not published into one volume, the works would be lost for all time.

The sonnets and poems are all in the compilation. The thirty six plays are eight short. Shakespeare’s total number of plays was forty four. Interestingly, the existence of the eight plays was discovered after the compilation’s publication. They have followed Shakespeare’s popularity over the centuries and also are well known today.

The compilation totaled 630 pages.

It is referred to as First Folio. The actual title was Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.

First Folio is considered the only reliable text for Shakespeare’s writings. Of the 36 plays printed, 17 had not been published before. Were it not for First Folio, most or all of them might never have seen the light of day.

Seven hundred fifty copies of First Folio were printed. Two hundred thirty four are known to have survived.

First Folio is also considered the most valuable printed book in the world. Each of the 234 remaining copies have significant value. One copy was auctioned at Christie’s in New York in 2001 for $6.16 million.

Historians and literary critics delve into Shakespeare’s sexual life. Properly so. Certain of his writings were inspired by relationships.

It appears Shakespeare was a womanizer and bisexual.

When 18, he married 26 year old Anne Hathaway. Bans were required to be announced over three days before the marriage could take place. Shakespeare got the time period short circuited to two consecutive days. Anne was pregnant. She delivered six months later.

Shakespeare wrote 26 sonnets which have come to be known as the Dark Lady sonnets. Literary experts believe they were addressed to a married woman, not his wife.

There is also evidence of Shakespeare’s many additional heterosexual liaisons.

Some of the 154 sonnets are autobiographic and are considered evidence of Shakespeare’s love for a young man.

Many phrases/expressions common to our talk today found their birth place in Shakespeare’s plays. Overwhelming in number. A few are set forth herein.

I have always been under the impression Benjamin Franklin coined “Neither a borrower nor lender be.” It was not Franklin. It was Shakespeare in Hamlet.

Other commonly used phrases and their Shakespearean source include “Dead as a door nail” (Henry VI), “Devil incarnate” (Henry V), “Eat me out of house and home” (Henry IV), “Forever and a day” (As You Like It), and “Foregone conclusion” (Othello).

There are more.

“Heart of gold” (Henry V), “Give the devil his due” (Henry IV), “Jealousy is the green-eyed monster” (Othello), “Kill with kindness” (The Taming of the Shrew), “Knock, knock! Who’s there” (Macbeth), “Love is blind” (The Merchant of Venice), “Milk of human kindness” (Macbeth), and “Wild goose chase” (Romeo and Juliet).

Not done yet. And only a handful are being shared with you.

“Too much of a good thing” (As You like It), “A heart of gold” (Henry V), “It’s Greek to me” (Julius Caesar), “Fair play” (The Tempest), and “What the dickens” (The Merry Wives of Windsor).

A few more.

“Foregone conclusion” (Othello), “In stitches” (Twelfth Night), “Naked truth” (Love’s Labour’s Lost),

“Faint-hearted” (Henry VI), “Send him packing” (Henry IV), “Vanish into thin air” (Othello), and “There’s method in my madness” (Hamlet).

In my research, I came across an unauthored comment…..Barry Manilow may claim to write the songs, but it was William Shakespeare who coined the phrases.

So it is and so it was.

WHEN EDUCATION FAILS, A NATION FAILS

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When education fails, a nation fails. It is a slow eroding process. Eventually affecting the economic and social well being of a nation.

Satyendra Singh ‘Skyamal’ said, “Education is the future of a nation.” Richard Mitchell, “People who cannot put strings of sentences together in good order cannot think.”

American public schools are in a free fall. A 2014 study ranked the United states 29th in math, science and reading.

Student achievement is the best indicator of a nation’s future economic health. Applying that standard, the United States is on a downward economic trend. Definitely in the near future. Since the economy presently is not that great, the downward trend may already have begun.

One measure of educational success/failure is the high school dropout rate. 1.2 million every year. An average of 7,000 a day. Equates to 25 percent of the entire high school population.

Sixty percent of black men never graduate. Sixty percent of them will go to jail at some point in their lives.

The United States is becoming less competitive globally. Education in other industrialized nations has caught up or surpassed the United States. Failing schools lead to failing societies.

Grammar and high school teachers are professionals. They want to teach. However federally designed programs ill equip them. Instead of teaching the basics, teachers are compelled to teach students to pass national examinations. Teacher success is based on the results of these tests. Students are not taught to think. They are taught how to score highly on a given test.

Federal programs such as No Child Left Behind and Common Core have done more to hurt young students than help them.

Teachers are further burdened by lack of class room decorum. They are required first to maintain a degree of order in the class room.

Another problem involves the mental approach of students to learning. They have not been socialized at home or by society to understand they come to school to learn, that the teacher must be left to teaching and not acting as a disciplinarian.

Schools are overcrowded. Federal, state and local governments fail to provide adequate funding. Classes are too large.

School spending is stagnant. Thirty four States are contributing less today per student than prior to 2008.

The present system sends graduates into the working world ill equipped to compete. Half of high school graduating seniors are not ready for the real world. They have not mastered math or reading. Yet they are graduated because society today demands they not be held back. Move minorities and poor whites through school to graduation.

If they are not ready for high school graduation, they are not ready for college either. They have an increased chance of becoming college drop outs

Michael Snyder is one of the finest investigative reporters in the United States. He recently did a guest post for Blacklisted News. The article, How Extremely Stupid America Has Become: Depressing Survey Results Show. Much of what immediately follows has been garnered from Snyder’s article.

The United States has become a “dumbed down society.” 1950s and 1960s persons of average mentality are mental giants compared to those of average intellect today.

Why? One survey claims the following.

Criminals in some areas of the United States are paid today not to shoot or kill people. $1,000 a month. Washington, DC is in the process of adopting such a program. $500,000 a year is being set aside to finance it.

The highest paid public employee in most States is a football coach.

Few read books anymore. The average American spends 302 minutes (roughly 5 hours) each day watching television.

Seventy five percent of young adults cannot find Israel on a map. Yet know where to find smut on the internet.

Ten percent of college graduates think Judge Judy is on the U.S. Supreme Court.

More than 25 percent did not know FDR was President during World War II.

Another survey found the following.

Newsweek did a study several years ago. One thousand U.S. citizens were asked to answer questions taken from the Official Citizenship Test of the United States.

Twenty nine percent could not name the Vice-President. Seventy three percent could not say why the U.S. fought the Cold War. Forty three percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. Six percent could not circle Independence Day on a calendar.

An Educational Testing Service study revealed the following. The study included 22 industrialized nations.

Americans born after 1980 lagged behind their peers in most of the 22 countries. Americans were falling behind in early educational years and at the college level.

Young adults in Japan, Finland and the Netherlands with high school degrees scored on a par with American millenniums holding four year college degrees.

Of the 22 countries composing the study, the United States came in dead last in tech proficiency and numeracy proficiency. Third from last in literacy proficiency.

Snyder’s reasons why the preceding has occurred is that the United States become a “stupid nation.” He describes it as the “dumb – ification” of the American brain.

One reason is that college courses have been “dumbed down.” Even the most challenging.

Malcolm X said, “Just because you have colleges and a university doesn’t mean you have education.”

Today’s college students and college courses prove Malcolm X’s point.

Thirty five percent spend 5 or less hours a week studying alone. Fifty percent have never taken a class where they wrote more than 20 pages. Thirty two percent never read more than 40 pages a week.

College curriculums today contain courses such as What If Harry Potter Is Real, Lady Gaza and the Sociology of Fame, and How To Watch Television. Basket weaving 101 type courses.

Most college students cannot put two sentences together. They are not challenged. The quality of education received incredibly poor.

Move being challenged aside. Many college students do not obtain degrees within the customary four years. it is not money. It is pure laziness. Thirty six percent of full time students take six years to obtain a four year degree.

I have some personal observations/opinions to share. My experiences have included sitting on University boards, chairing national university fund raising drives, etc.

The college/university experience is screwed up. Colleges/universities are run like corporations. The bottom line, money is more important than the quality of the student being graduated.

Over the years, I have seen high course grades easier to obtain. Are the students of today smarter than those of yesterday? Of course not. However, the educations/degrees received are more costly.

Academic hierarchy decided years ago that parents were entitled to good grades for their children since the parents were generally paying the cost of the education. Better grades they got! An A today many times is the B or C of yesterday.

One function of a Chancellor or President is to build. Newer and bigger campus structures. Regardless of whether the anticipated number of students several years later would increase thereby requiring the new structure. New buildings represent success in the academic world.

College professors are overpaid. Most teach two or three hour courses. That means six or nine hours a week teaching. Not bad for a $100,000 plus a year salary. Of course, these professors will tell you in defense that they actually work 40 plus hours a week. They must be available for their students, they write books, etc. I do not buy it. Plumb .Few hours for big money.

Constructing buildings not needed and paying salaries out of whack for the number of hours worked are two reasons a college education costs what it does today. The same college education that is turning out poorly prepared persons for the marketplace.

Government does not have its head screwed on correctly. Whether federal or state. Republicans at the Presidential and Congressional levels always want to do away with the Department of Education. They say the States can do it better. Actually, they want to free up education dollars from the budget for other budget items. Wars, for example.

The States cannot afford to pay education costs. They do not have the money.

Amazing. No one wants to bear the burden of educating our children.

Proving once again, every area of our society is screwed up!

The bottom line is that if we do not improve the United States’ educational process, we will not be numero uno in the world in anything. We may not be already. We may only think we are.

Ma, Ma, Where’s My Pa?

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Inappropriate, immoral, improper sex has occurred in the lives of many modern day Presidents. Presidents of old not so much. They apparently were very virtuous or the press failed to investigate and reveal their sexual escapades. The latter true. Sexual play by Presidents of old were considered off base.

A sex scandal is claimed to have occurred the first time Grover Cleveland ran for President. One involving rape and violence. The year 1884.

Cleveland was named Stephen Grover Cleveland by his Presbyterian minister father. His upbringing religious.

Cleveland’s political career prior to running for President was distinguished. Sheriff of Erie County, Mayor of Buffalo, and Governor of New York.

He was known for his honesty, self reliance, integrity, courage, independence and common sense. A political reformer. He was referred to as “Grover the Good.”

Cleveland was running against James Blaine of Maine. A distinguished political leader. He had served in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. He was Speaker of the House. His career also included two terms as Secretary of State under three different Presidents.

The election a close one. Cleveland narrowly won.

It was reported during the campaign that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child ten years earlier. Mr. Clean suddenly dirty.

Those supporting Blaine came up with a political ditty. One which caught hold immediately.

Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?

Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!

A Buffalo newspaper broke the story. Either the Evening Telegraph or the Buffalo Evening Standard. The exact one difficult to identify. Whatever, the newspaper revealing the story was considered in those days a rag.

Cleveland’s political aides went crazy. How to cover/contain the story? Cleveland told them simply, “Whatever you say, tell the truth.”

The “Cleveland truth”  was Cleveland had had an affair with a Maria Halpin ten years earlier. Cleveland was a lawyer at the time. His law partner was Oscar Folsom. Many were having  an affair with Maria at the same time. Cleveland’s law partner Folsom as well as several of Cleveland’s political crony friends.

All those allegedly having sexual escapades at the time were married. Cleveland the only bachelor.

Maria was a 36 year old widow. Employed by the dry goods store Flint & Kent. A hard worker, she soon rose to head the cloak department. She spoke French. Known as a pleasant, soft spoken woman. A church goer.

She also was a slut based on the story told. Cleveland said he claimed to be the father to protect his married friends. He claimed to have supported the child for a year and then stopped. He stopped because paternity was questionable. He did not believe he was the father.

Maria claimed her life prior to the “Cleveland truth” was pure and spotless. There was no doubt in her mind as to paternity. The child was fathered by Cleveland, not the others. The incident described by Maria would today be considered date rape.

There was a court proceeding. A paternity suit. Maria’s position was Cleveland had sexually and violently assaulted her. The incident took took place in her room at a boarding house. Cleveland had earlier run into her while she was on her way home from work. He suggested dinner. They enjoyed a pleasant dinner at the Ocean Dining Hall & Oyster House.

Maria threatened to notify the authorities. Cleveland allegedly said he would destroy her, even if it cost him $10,000. He did not care. He would risk hanging by the neck to stop her.

She ordered him out of her room. He left.

Six weeks later, Maria realized she was pregnant.

Permit a momentary digression.

The “Cleveland truth” was printed in several newspapers at the time. Books were written thereafter that paid little attention to Maria’s claim of innocence.

The first novel supporting Maria’s position was published by Charles Lachman in 2011. The book took three years to research and write. A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland.

Lachman suggests Cleveland was a nasty man. Truth to Cleveland was what ever protected his political career. Same as today.

Lachman writes Cleveland was the only one who had sex with Maria at the time. His law partner Oscar Folsom and others lied to protect Cleveland. In those days, there was no blood test to determine paternity. The defense in a paternity case was to show several men had intercourse with the woman during a particular time ,period.. It was therefore difficult to determine who was the father. By inference, the woman was labeled a slut who would have sex with anyone.

It is difficult to determine if the paternity case resulted in a court decision. What is known is that Cleveland gave Maria $500 and told her to go elsewhere and start over.

The baby was a boy. He was born at a hospital for unwed mothers. Interestingly, the birth certificate names Oscar Folsom as the father. Cleveland arranged for Folsom’s name on the birth certificate. Not Maria. The baby was soon forcibly taken from Maria. Kidnapped. The child was placed in the Buffalo Orphan Asylum. Maria was thrown into the Providence Lunatic Asylum.

Big stuff.

The son was soon adopted by a respected western New York couple. He eventually became a well known New York City doctor. A gynecologist. His name, Dr. James E. King, Jr.

Maria never saw her child again. She never knew where he was initially placed, who adopted him, etc.

Maria was examined by the medical director of the Lunatic Asylum. He released Maria soon after examining her. He concluded she was not insane and her incarceration was the result of an abuse of political power.

What is the true story?

Difficult to ascertain. It appears Lachman dug into the matter more deeply than previous writers. He is a distinguished and reputable writer. He was acclaimed for an earlier work involving the Lincolns.

Lachman’s book was a best seller. Sold over one million copies.

What do I think?

I am inclined to believe the truth lies with Lachman’s version. Cleveland was the sole male who had sex with Maria. His friends lied for him. Remember, Cleveland was an active candidate for President of the United States. Grover the Good would not be so considered if Maria’s version was believed. Mr. Clean had dirtied himself. He had to bury Maria or his Presidential aspirations were buried. One or the other.

I suspect more books will follow. Others will analyze Lachman’s work ad infinitum, as well as the authors who came before him.

Presidential candidates and Presidents themselves have difficulty keeping their pants on or zippers up at the very least. What Cleveland covered up would not be possible in today’s media crazy world. In the end, everything hangs out.

Three earlier happenings in Cleveland’s life affect my judgement. I would be remiss if I did not mention them. Two definitely go to the character of the man, the third perhaps.

Cleveland did not fight in the Civil War. He was practicing law at the time. He was called to serve. He did not want to get into the fighting.

The Conscription Act became law in 1863. It permitted an individual called to serve to pay someone to fight in his place. Cleveland paid a Polish immigrant.

Another involves certain of Cleveland’s actions while Sheriff.

Erie County was without a hang man. A vacancy existed. No one had applied for the job. Three murderers sentenced to death awaited hanging. Sheriff Cleveland told the people of Erie County not to worry. He would do the job.

He pulled the lever opening the trap doors dropping  the men to their deaths.

The final involves Cleveland’s marriage. Soon after Cleveland election, he married Oscar Folsom’s daughter. Cleveland was 48, Frances Folsom 21.

“WOMEN, YOU HAVE TO TREAT THEM LIKE SHIT”

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“Women, you have to treat them like shit.”

Not my words. Donald Trump’s. In a 1992 New York Magazine interview, Trump was asked how he felt about women. His response as set forth.

Whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, male or female, keep in mind that we all have grandmothers, mothers, wives, daughters, and granddaughters. Do we want a President who says they should be treated as “shit?”

This column is similar to one I did several months ago. Sharing things generally not known.

Credit card debt recently received short rift in the news. The U.S. is approaching $1 trillion in credit card debt. The highest ever.

It appears that the American people have not learned a lesson from the 2008 recession. Running up debt a mistake.

Credit card debt has increased with stunning speed. The last quarter of 2015 added more to credit card debt than the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 combined. The average balance per family $15,700.

One reason for the dramatic increase is wages have been static for too many years. People are more and more forced to live off credit cards.

China is going to end up owning the U.S. The government keeps borrowing. The U.S. presently owes China $1.3 trillion.

China is quietly buying up America. China’s Anbang Insurance Group significantly involved.

Earlier this year, the Chinese Insurance Group paid $6.5 billion for the well known Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, the Fairmont Scottsdale in Arizona, and several other hotels, including a Westin, Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons.

Two weeks ago, the Chinese Insurance Group bought Starwood Hotels (Sheraton and Westins) for $13 billion. The sale being represented as the largest hotel deal ever.

Last year, the Chinese Insurance Group bought New York’s Waldorf Astoria for $1.95 billion.

One reason the Group is buying up lucrative U.S. hotels is China’s aging population. The insurance company has policy liabilities to many of the aged.

Putin is a man of many faces. He and Trump would probably get along well together. They are birds of a feather.

Putin is always full of surprises. The latest is his announcement ten days ago that

Russia was beginning to pull its military forces out of Syria. He claims the pull out was part of his exit strategy when he went into Syria.

Russia he claims has achieved its purpose.  Flew 9,000 sorties in five months. His objective was to free 400 populated areas. Such was accomplished. Time to get out.

The U.S. never seems to have an exit strategy. Recall how long we got stuck or are still stuck in Korea, Vietnam, Bush 2’s Iraqi War, Afghanistan and Syria. Why don’t we ever have an exit strategy?

The Lower Keys Mosquito Control wants to test the use of GMO mosquitoes in the lower keys. Resident of the area will serve as guinea pigs for a hopefully new way to eradicate mosquitoes causing Zika.

It is claimed the GMO approach has been tested in several other areas world wide. I know of only one. A certain area of Brazil. Since last October, 4,000 babies have been born with deformed heads and malformed brains in that area. For real. It has not yet been established that the GMO mosquitoes caused the problem.

My concern is that we have been told the hold up re testing in the keys was FDA approval. The FDA had been studying the safeness of the GMO chemicals.

Roughly three weeks ago, the FDA reported its decision. The FDA gave approval stating the genetic materials were safe and effective.

Beware! Things sometimes are not as they appear. The FDA was not testing to determine human safety. Its result was directed at the genetic material introduced into the mosquitoes. Such was safe and effective for mosquitoes. Humans had nothing to do with FDA’s four year study.

One of FDA’s responsibilities is to protect animals. Mosquitoes are animals within FDA definitions.

I am unaware of any study/testing determining GMO mosquitoes are safe for humans.

Some ISIS activities suggest its leaders are smarter than those of most other war mongering groups. I refer specifically to banking and sex/birth control.

ISIS has evidenced a knowledge as how to make money. It has banks within its structure. Money making important to ISIS. ISIS pays its fighters. Something not common among other groups.

It is common knowledge ISIS captures women and young girls by the hundreds. The ladies are used to keep ISIS fighters happy. Specifically, to provide them with sexual pleasure and relief.

The young girls are as young as 9. A permissible age for sexual relations in the Muslim world.

ISIS does not want the ladies to get pregnant. If pregnant, they cannot provide the sex pleasures required. Additionally, babies cost money to support and take up the mother’s time.

Birth control solves the problem. Birth control pills and injectable contraception are used. Urine tests to confirm pregnancy has not occurred.

ISIS goes a step further. There are certain ISIS members that daily watch the women and young girls take their birth control pills. The shots also when rendered. The urine tests are under watch. The women pee into the cup or on a devise in the presence of a male.

The system works.

The women and girls if lucky are forced to marry or live with one fighter. The great majority are not so lucky. They live and work in what might be described as a brothel atmosphere.

They function as sex objects/slaves during the evening hours. A bed in a small room. A bathroom at the end of a hall. Twenty plus men an evening accommodated. The fighters are not gentle. Remember, women are not respected in the Muslim world. The women and girls are literally raped each time they have sex.

Proof that the birth control system works is evident from a recent report by a UN backed clinic in the area. Seven hundred girls escaped. The clinic found that only 5 percent had gotten pregnant. Five percent equates to 35 out of the 700.

Flint has brought lead poisoning to everyone’s attention. The problem is greater than Flint, however. Few talk about it.

Excessive and harmful leaks of lead exist all over the U.S. Not just a Flint crisis. It is a national crisis.

Lead contaminated water is presently supplied/used by 6 million Americans. Three hundred fifty lead contaminated water systems provide drinking water to schools and day cares. One hundred eighty water systems failed to notify consumers that their water contained high levels of lead. Federal law requires such notice.

Further examples include a Maine elementary school where the lead content in the water is 42 times higher than the EPA limit. A Pennsylvania pre school has levels 14 times higher. An elementary school in Ithaca, New York had levels so high that the number reached the thresh hold for hazardous waste.

The Ithaca school has been supplied with bottled water since last year.

Again, not solely a Flint problem. A national one.

Congress conducted hearings last week re the Flint problem. Congress beat up witnesses who testified. Blamed most. Heaped abuse on them.

The joke is Congress is responsible first and foremost. Water pipes are part of infrastructure,. Congress for years, whether Democrat or Republican, have failed to provide money to correct the problem. Many other infrastructure problems such as roads, bridges and schools, also. Congress is responsible for providing money.. It has failed to correct lead problems for at least 50 years.

Oreo cookies! America loves Oreos! It appears Oreos does not love America as much.

Oreos has four plants in the U.S. The main plant is in Chicago. Been there for 100 years turning out Oreos.

Nabisco owns Oreos. The corporate conglomerate owning Nabisco is called Mondelez.

Nabisco recently announced that Oreo was moving 600 jobs from the Chicago plant to a new one in Mexico. Some jobs would remain in Chicago.

Reasons given include it would be cheaper to build a new plant in Mexico than remodel the Chicago plant at a cost of $130 million. The other reason is taxes. Corporate taxes are too high in the U.S.

The tax argument fails.

Although the corporate tax rate is 35 percent, Mondolez paid only 13.5 percent in 2014. 2013 was even better. They only paid 2.5 percent.

Six hundred men and women will be out of jobs. The corporation bullshits the public with the tax issue. No one challenges the corporation. The 1 percent wins again.

Venezuela. Why the people have not revolted against the Maduro government is beyond me. First, it was Venezuela was out of toilet paper four years ago. Still out of toilet paper. Followed by fewer and fewer groceries. Hundreds lining up in front of stores for entry. Only to find nothing on the shelves when they gain entry. Farmers no longer grow food products because the costs exceed any monies to be payed. A vicious cycle.

Last week, it was announced that the country was shutting down for a week. No electricity. Ergo, no work. A drought has cut the power generated at hydroelectric dams, Other reasons include poor maintenance and planning.

The preceding nothing. Last week, it was announced Venezuela was taking its last bars of gold and sending them to Switzerland and France. Banks have come up with a novel method for countries to meet their debt obligations. Called a gold swap.

Venezuela is going through a gold swap with its last bars of gold to pay interest on its debts. Debts primarily owed to banks.

Economists predict that Venezuela will not be able to meet its debt obligations in the fall and will default. A financial crisis getting worse. Inflation is predicted to be 720 percent by year end.

What I do not understand is why Venezuela is giving up its last bars of gold (estimated in the billions) to pay creditors. Screw them! Use the gold to feed and help the people. Buy some toilet paper along the way, also

The Republican Party is in a mess these days. One of the reasons is it has taken into its arms every social issue out there. And those that support such causes. Many of whom quite frankly are nuts.

Now comes a new social issue. One that is becoming increasingly popular among religious lawmakers.

The cry is pornography is a public health crisis. Porn is being likened to infectious diseases such as flu, cholera, diphtheria and polio. So say Utah legislators who recently passed a bill in both houses stating pornography is a public health crisis. The governor is expected to sign it.

The Utah legislators claim they do not want to ban porn. Their goal is to control it like tobacco. Put out evidence showing its harm.

This issue reminds me of when I was a fourth grader in a Catholic grammar school. A priest came into talk to the boys. About the evils of masturbation. Most of us did not even know what masturbation was. The priest told us if we did it, we would get hair on our hands and our brains would become defective.

The Supreme Court ruled years ago that pornography is entitled to First Amendment protection. Freedom of expression.

When does this type stuff stop. There are more important things for the national and state governments to concern themselves with. Like lead in the water, bad roads. poor bridges, jobs, the economy, etc.

I am sure I have offended some by the thoughts herein. My purpose was not to offend. It was to provide an awareness of what is going on in the world. Matters we do not hear much about.

DAVID WOLKOWSKY

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How would you like to be 96 years old, look around your home town and say…..I am responsible for all this!

Only one person. David Wolkowsky. Without him, the Key West of today would not have been.

He is the father of modern Key West.

Mentioned merely at this point to show a part of David’s contribution. The Pier House and Jimmy Buffett.

David was born in Key West. A for real Conch. His grandfather Albert Wolkowsky settled in Key West in the late 1800s. Opened a fine clothing store on Duval Street.

David grew up in Key West and Miami. Attended the University of Pennsylvania Remained in Philadelphia after graduation. He began restoring buildings. He is credited with the rejuvenation of Society Hill and Rittenhouse Square.

His successful efforts in Philadelphia made him a millionaire.

David returned to Key West in the early 1960s following the death of his father Issac Wolkowsky He was 40 at the time. Already financially secure.

David was not one to sit still. He was driven. He had to be busy.

The Wolkowsky family owned several properties in old town. He renovated them.

The original Sloppy Joe’s on Greene Street had been condemned. He bought the building and restored it. Today known as Captain Tony’s.

He developed property on Duval and Front Streets. The properties included Pirate’s Alley and the Original Cigar Factory.

Key West in the early 1960s was nowhere like it is today. Not even close. The island was neither Paradise nor a paradise setting.

David was a man of vision. He saw where others did/could not.

The gulf end of Duval Street a mess. Dirty and sloppy. No beach in sight.

David saw possibilities for the area. He purchased the old Cuban Ferry Dock for $106,000. A steal.

The Porterhouse Steamship office was located on the property. He removed it from its foundation and transported it 300 feet. Set the building on pilings in 40 feet of water. Turned it into Tony’s Fish Market. A cocktail lounge and restaurant. A successful undertaking. Guests able to watch shrimp boats moving along on the water.

David wanted to transform Key West into a funky tourist destination. Unconventional, he sought the offbeat.

In 1967, David began construction on a 50 room motel. It was constructed around Tony’s Fish Market. When the 50 rooms were completed, he quickly added 50 more. These facing the ocean. Demand was that good.

David called the motel the Pier House Resort Motel. From which today’s Pier House grew.

The motel had a bar called the Chart Room. Still there today. Never renovated since constructed. People drink and raise hell in the same atmosphere as when built.

David sold the Pier House in the late 1970s.

Jimmy Buffett came to town in 1971. Knew very few people. Buffett an unknown. Best described, he was a young man with a guitar who enjoyed his cocktails. His last stop prior to Key West was Austin, Texas. The Austin Buffett sat on his front porch drinking and singing tunes he had composed.

One of his Austin hangouts was Lung’s Cocina del Sar. A bar. Where Buffett met up with Margaritas. The beginning of his search for a casual new place with a who cares attitude. A tropical climate was required. A beach resort place.

Buffet and David met. David was taken by him. Permitted Buffett to play in the Chart Room for tips. Later, for pay. Buffett says David was the first to pay him.

The relationship continues to today. The two close friends and occasional business partners.

Buffett was searching for his Shangrila when first he came to Key West. He called it Margaritaville. He found it in Key West.

Bob Marley also got his start via David at the Pier House Motel.

The Pier House became a magnate for celebrities. David’s personality attracted them.

One was Truman Capote. He came to Key West to spend the winter. At David’s Pier House Motel.

David was living next to the Pier House in a 45 foot 2 bedroom trailer. Ten feet from the water. While having a drink with David in his luxurious trailer, Capote said he wanted to rent the trailer. David acquiesced after some back and forth banter. David moved to a suite in the Motel. Capote into the trailer.

During his three month stay, Capote wrote Answered Prayers.

Capote described the Pier House as “elegant inefficiency.”

The Pier House motel was the beginning of the new Key West. David is credited with putting Key West on the road to becoming a major tourist destination.

Along the way, David built the Reach Resort on the Atlantic side of Key West.

David kept a low profile. He possessed a sly humor. Drove around Key West in a golf cart or his his beloved 1926 Rolls Royce. Generally seen in a Panama hat. Several pair of sunglasses on the hat, some hanging from his neck.

David also did what only David could do. He built a house on an uninhabited private island 8 miles off Key West. Built it while building the Pier House. The island called Ballast Key.

David the visionary is exhibited in the construction of the house on Ballast Key.

There was a speakeasy on stilts which also marked the entrance to the North West Channel in Key West. It had burned down. David collected drawings and photographs of the speakeasy. He wanted his Ballast Key home to look precisely like the speakeasy.

He accomplished his aim.

David had a love for Key West history. What to name his Ballast Key home? Easy. Hemingway House.

The story is David fed his guests at Ballast Key hot dogs, wine and potato chips. The laborers working on the house, chocolate pudding and souffles from the Pier House kitchen. Transported on David’s private barge.

David was known worldwide. Many came to visit David and Key West. Better stated, they came to enjoy time with David while seeing Key West. David the attraction.

David entertained at Ballast Key. Major figures. Most if not all his friends. The likes of Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, British Prime Minister Edward Heath, Prince Michael of Greece, Gloria Estefan, Rudolph Nureyev and the Bee Gees. Last but not least, the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Mellons.

Again, all were fed hot dogs, wine and potato chips.

A  Kress Five and Dime was located on Duval Street. David and a small number of friends bought the building. Three stories. David had a penthouse apartment constructed for himself on the third floor. The Parole Board was on the second floor. Kress, the first. The Kress portion later became Fast Buck Freddie’s.

David’s fame brought him some not unpleasant notoriety.

The novel License To Kill has 007 calling David to say, “David, it’s James Bond…I’ve broken into your island. I hope you don’t mind.”

Town & Country magazine carried a Man Of The Month section. In 1955, David was the March Man of the Month. Cary Grant the April Man of the Month.

Grant was in good company.

David worked diligently to preserve the best of old Key West. He is primarily responsible for the lack of high rises. He worked vigorously to prevent high rise buildings.

Charity wise, David was a giver. A concerned individual. Teachers an example. In 2000, he set up a Teacher Merit Awards Fund. Each year, $25,000 is given to 1 teacher and $5,000 each to nine. Recognition of the outstanding teachers of the given year. David was of the opinion that teachers had to be nurtured and protected.

David Wolkowsky. A legend in his own time. Owed so much. Asked nothing in return. His goal to create a better Key West. He did. His stamp on everything.

GOODBYE HANDWRITING

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I was in the first grade. Miss Nichols my teacher. The class being taught handwriting by Miss Nicholas. Involved, the Palmer method of writing.

The Palmer method required the student to learn to write while balancing a nickel on the back side of the writing hand. The nickel could not fall off. If it did, you were not writing correctly.

I could not keep the nickel balanced. It kept falling off. Miss Nichols stood over me, worked with me. To no avail.

I was the only one in the class that failed. All others who wrote balancing the nickel received a Palmer method button. I did not.

The first major tragedy of my life. I felt inadequate. I was a failure. Even at a young age, such feelings can abound.

If I were in the first grade today, it would be impossible for the problem to confront me. Handwriting is no longer taught. By the Palmer method or any other. Keyboard efficiency is the name of the game. Computers, cell phones, etc.

Most young people today cannot hand write their names. They were never taught to write with letters joined together to make words. They do not know how to write. The wave of the future, already here, is that hitting keys is the way it is. Keyboard communication. Handwriting no more.

I recently discussed the problem with a retired school teacher. She told me her grandchildren cannot read cursive. She has to print for them to read. They do not have signatures. They cannot write their names.

She considers it appalling.

Cursive is the key word. Cursive handwriting.

Cursive handwriting uses letters. Written letters. Like a, b, c, etc. The letters are written cojoined in a flowing manner. The a, b, c’s being used to form words.

Man got into cursive writing because it made writing faster. Speed was desired. Quill pens were first used for the purpose. Inefficient. Broke and splattered. Steel pens followed. Better than quill, with limitations also.

The final pen developed was the ball point pen. A winner! Mass produced quickly. Cheap. Writing swift. Cursive writing easy.

Cursive writing began in England before the Norman conquest. From the 16th century forward, cursive writing was used both for personal correspondence and official documents.

Cursive writing as we know it evolved in the 17th century.

Now, Thomas Jefferson’s story. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. A brilliant document. However his penmanship was lacking. He could not write cursive sufficiently. Many of the words in the Declaration were not connected to make the words whole.

Ben Franklin and others were dismayed. Jefferson was approached and told of his shortcoming. Franklin advised that the group was bringing in the services of a Master Penman. Nothing would be changed. Except the words used would be all cursive.

Jefferson was not offended. He was aware of his shortcoming and agreed that such an important document should not appear slovenly written.

Tom Matlick was the Master Penman called in to fix the Declaration of Independence. He used a feather quill pen.

The handwriting on the Declaration of Independence is considered elegant. Not Jefferson’s however.

Eighty seven years later, Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address. It was a cursive masterpiece. Each word fully joined. Experts tell us that Lincoln’s handwriting is similar to that used today. The writing comparable to the excellent penmanship of today.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, professionals in Great Britain and the United States used cursive for correspondence. The handwriting on the documents was called “fair hand.”  Fair hand meaning the instrument’s finished product looked good.

Then came the typewriter. Better for professional and business purposes. Not adequate enough that handwriting be abolished.

During the mid 19th century, most U.S. children were taught the cursive method. In the second and third grades. The teaching and use remained the same till the mid 20th century.

U.S. colleges taught students cursive handwriting into the 1930s and 1940s. A credit course. The colleges stopped teaching cursive handwriting techniques at that time.  Cursive handwriting was deemed to be too slow.

Cursive handwriting since the mid 20th century has been on a downward slope. As time progressed and technology changed, teaching professionals viewed cursive writing as too slow. The move was to computers. Keyboard efficiency the aim.

Teachers today prepare students to use computers in their future lives. Cursive writing considered of little value.The largest teachers’ union in the United States is purported to be the FairFax Education Association. The Association considers computers the wave of the future. Cursive writing a dying art..

Common Core State Standards allows teachers to teach what is required and tested through various standardized tests. Cursive handwriting is non-essential for graduating high school students. There is no standardized test for it. So why teach it.

No Child Left Behind does not rate schools on cursive writing. Ergo, the schools do not teach cursive.

The bottom line is cursive handwriting is too tedious to learn and not useful in the long run for school rating purposes.

The proof in the pudding is the 2006 SAT exam. Only 15 percent of the students wrote essay answers in cursive. Eighty five percent used computers.

A 2008 survey revealed most elementary school teachers lack formal training in teaching handwriting to students. Only 12 percent had taken a course in how to teach cursive handwriting.

A 2011 study of the effects of Common Core were not surprising.  Common Core had not made cursive handwriting a part of the curriculum. The thought was why teach something that is not subjected to standardized testing. As mentioned, forty four states push keyboard efficiency rather than cursive writing.

The 2012 trend reflects cursive handwriting down and dying. Whereas, keyboard efficiency is spiraling upward.

Recall George Zimmerman’s trial for shooting and killing Trayvon Martin. Trayvon’s 19 year old friend Rachel Jeantel testified she was talking on the cellphone just before Trayvon’s death. A lawyer handed her a handwritten document and told her to read it. Rachel said she could not because it was written in cursive. The jury was shocked.

Though hard to believe, handwriting is a relic of the past. All critical writing today is done on a keyboard. Widespread use of computers is driving the written word to extinction.

The most shocking development is that your grandchildren or young children do not know how to write their own names.

Progress? I am not sure. On the other hand, I am 80 years old and buck change. I do know however that if I could not hand write notes of my research, outline my columns and stories, and play with words before entering them in the computer, I would be lost. I am married to pen and paper.

MIGHTIEST PIRATE OF ALL TIME…..A WOMAN

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Pirates of old are well known. Their names having come down to us through the ages.

On the male side are William Kidd, Blackbeard, Black Bart, Long Ben, and Sir Henry Morgan. All notorious.

The female side not neglected. Women like Anne Bonny, Mary Reed, Grace O’Malley, and Rachel Wall. Each as tough as their male counterparts.

There is one additional noteworthy female pirate. A woman whose name is unknown to most. Perhaps because she was Chinese and ruled the China Sea. As opposed to Caribbean, Atlantic and European shores.

Her name Cheng I Sao.

I discovered in researching Cheng I Sao that the names of Chinese women change during the course of a life time for various reasons. Cheng I Sao was known by different names at various times in her life.

Cheng I Sao was born Shi Xianggu. At a young age, she became a Cantonese prostitute. Her prostitute name Shih Yang. She worked in a brothel, never the streets.

In 1801 while a teenage beauty, she was captured by pirates. The leader of the pirates was the notorious Cheng I.

Cheng I was looking over the female captives which included Shih Yang. He was deciding which to keep for his men and which to sell into slavery. For whatever reason, Shih Yang attacked Cheng I. She tried to scratch his eyes out.

Shih Yang made an impression on Cheng I. He loved not only her beauty, but also her aggressiveness.

Shih Yang was one smart female, regardless of her age. Cheng I fell in love with her.  Wanted to marry her.  Shih Yang was hesitant. She had a price. Her terms were that she would share in his booty on an equal fifty/fifty basis. She would share similarly in authority.

Cheng I was in love. He agreed.

Shih Yang became known as Ching Sish.

Cheng I lived up to his part of the bargain. Ching Sish became a known and feared pirate leader.

Cheng I was strong and assertive. Rather than fight each other, he thought the pirates should unite. One fleet. The enemy henceforth being the Chinese, British, Portuguese, and Dutch.

Everyone agreed. An alliance was formed. Named the Red Flag Fleet. Instantaneously, the most powerful pirate fleet in China.

Cheung Po Tasi was the son of a fisherman. He was forced into piracy at 15 when captured by Cheng I. Cheng I liked him and adopted him. Cheung rose in the ranks. He was a detail man. Both Cheng I and Ching Sish left the everyday operations of the Red Flag Fleet to him.

Cheng I died in 1807. Of unknown causes.

 

The Red Flag Fleet pirates met to select a new leader. Ching Sish brazenly walked into the gathering. Dressed spectacularly. Brash and assertive. She convinced the pirates gathered that she should be leader.

Her leadership from that point forward was never questioned.

Her cunning and ruthless leadership resulted in the Red Flag Fleet growing to over 400 Chinese 20 gun junks. Pirates to 30,000.

She used intimacy to gain her ends. She and the adopted son Cheung Po Tsai became lovers. Subsequently married.

Along the way, Ching Sish’s name had become Cheng I Sao.

In the three years following her first husband’s death, Cheng I Sao became the most prominent and successful pirate in the China Sea. She whipped the ships of every nation. Never lost a battle.

In one fight against the Chinese, she captured 63 Chinese Navy vessels. She gave the captured Chinese sailors a choice. They could join her or die. Death was by being tied down on the deck and beaten with clubs.

China was controlled at the time by the Qing Dynasty. Also known as the Manchu Dynasty.

Cheng I Sao terrorized the China Sea. An armada of Chinese, British and Dutch ships was sent out to defeat her. She whipped their asses.

Commercial shipping was taking a beating. The Chinese, British, Portuguese and Dutch were suffering economically as a result. The Chinese government especially had to do something. Even if extreme.

They made Cheng I Sao an offer she could not refuse. She and her pirates would be given general amnesty. They would also be permitted to keep all the loot pirated.

Cheng I Sao was no fool. She accepted.

Cheng I Sao retired. Bought herself a brothel/casino. She was the madam.

She remarried. Gave birth to several children. Died of old age at 69. Not from a gallow as most pirates.

There are two reasons attributed for her success.

The first her cunning and ruthlessness fired by her desire to be the most feared pirate in history.

The second had to do with sex.

Cheng I Sao prepared a written set of laws to be followed by she and her pirates. Known as the Code. It covered the obligations and responsibilities of her to the pirates and vice versa. Distribution of booty and the treatment of captured women were included.

Cheng I Sao was a feminist. Probably the world’s first. Captive women not sold were either married or partnered with one of the pirates. A pirate could only have sex with his wife or partner. If otherwise, the pirate lost his head.

 

If a pirate had consensual sex with a captive, he was beheaded. The woman was not to be denied. She had cannonballs attached to her ankles and was thrown overboard.

Sensual deprivation was part and parcel of Cheng I Sao’s plan. She believed that sexual frustration made her men better fighters. Eager to take out their aggressions on the enemy. The harder they fought, the more successful she and they would be.

She appears to have been correct.

For various other offenses, the wrongdoer was flogged, quartered or had his ears chopped off.

In modern day, we have seen movies involving Blackbeard, William Kidd, Sir Henry Morgan, Anne Bonny, Mary Reed, Rachel Wall, and others. Never  Cheng I Sao. With one exception.

The film the popular Disney movie franchise Pirates of the Caribbean. Cheng I Sao is portrayed as the powerful pirate Mistress Ching, one of the nine Pirate Lords.

JOE BTFSPIK OF LI’L ABNER FAME

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Li’l Abner was a popular comic strip character from 1934-1977. A big muscular guy. Always clad in overalls. A naive, gullible, sweet natured hillbilly. A country bumpkin who lived in a log cabin.

Li’l Abner was the brain child of Al Capp. A comic strip author.

My generation remembers Li’l Abner. We read the comic strip every day. Today’s generation probably know him not. In between generations, perhaps.

Li’l Abner’s girl friend was Daisy Mae. A virtuous, voluptuous, barefoot damsel.

They lived in Dogpatch.

Joe Btfspik was a character in the comic strip. A poor lonely man. His life perpetually jinxed. Nothing ever went right for him. He did not have the ability to succeed at anything. At all times, a dark cloud over his head. Clapp drew the cloud in every time Btfspik appeared. Btfspik’s personal storm cloud.

Bad luck followed him everywhere. Instantaneous bad luck.

This column is not about Li’l Abner and his friends. I use Li’l Abner and his fellow comic strip characters to introduce Walter Hunt. The Joe Btfspik of his time.

Hunt was born in Lewis County, New York. As far north in the State as one could get. Extremely cold in winter. A short warm summer.

Born, 1796. Died, 1859.

He was the eldest of 13 children. Received a minimal education in a one room schoolhouse. Hunt eventually settled in Lowville, a community in the southern part of Lewis County.

Lowville was the site of a textile mill. Hunt worked in the textile mill where he impressed his employer with his ability to repair machinery and improve a machine’s efficiency.

Hunt was a prolific inventor. A genius at making things. During the course of his life time, he invented the fountain pen, sewing machine, safety pin, flax spinner, foot pedal street car bell, hard coal burning stove, a street sweeping machine, an early form bicycle, an ice plow, a knife sharpener, and the forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle.

Hunt should have died rich. He did not.

Hunt never made any money. He was a failure at making money. Whereas he was equal in genius to Thomas Edison, Hunt did not possess Edison’s money making vision. Edison died extremely rich. Hunt, poor.

Many of Hunt’s inventions remain in use today. Hunt failed to recognize their value.

The safety pin stands out. He took a piece of wire and in less than four hours twisted it into a spring on one end and a clasp on the other. His safety pin still in use today.

Hunt patented the safety pin. He owed someone $15. He sold the patent to W. R. Grace & Company for $100. The safety pin was a million dollar idea and made millions for the Grace Company and subsequent manufacturers.

The sewing machine. The design was that of a locksmith sewing machine. The machine did single needle stitching.

The sewing machine a winner to this day!

Hunt never patented the sewing machine. His reason helps give us insight into his thinking.

At the time, women worked at home sewing by hand things like a man’s dress shirt, women’s dresses, and summer pants. The ladies were known as seamstresses.

Hunt failed to obtain the sewing machine patent for fear it would create massive unemployment for the seamstress community.

Appreciate the difference a sewing machine made in the sewing of clothing. A man’s dress shirt took 14 hours to make. Using the sewing machine, 1 hour 15 minutes. A woman’s dress took 10 hours. A pair of summer pants 3 hours. The time for production of the last two items was also significantly reduced by use of the sewing machine.

Hunt’s sewing machine was reinvented several years later by Elias Howe. He patented it. M. Singer invented and patented a similar sewing machine around the same time. A lawsuit erupted. Howe and Singer arrived at an amicable settlement. Both became millionaires ten times over.

Hunt’s other mentioned inventions worked out the same way. Hunt never made any money. A genius at making things, he could not turn any of them into wealth for himself and his family.

No question. Walter Hunt sadly was a Joe Btfspik. The cloud followed them both.

THINGS THAT CONCERN ME

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There are things which give me concern. Worry. I feel a need to vent re some.

Let’s start with Donald Trump. A disaster in the making. A bully first class. He tells people what they want to hear. Not what is necessarily good for them.

Trump appeals to those sick and tired with the status quo. In this regard, I cannot blame those who support him. The status quo stinks.

He is the Pied Piper leading followers that can only see and hear him. To their detriment as with the children that followed the Pied Piper.

There was another in history who appealed to the masses. Told them what they wanted to hear.  Promised them anything and everything.  Promised to change their lives. Spoke loud and boldly.

He did change their lives.

His name was Adolph Hitler. On January 30, 1933 Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. It was the beginning of the end for Germany.

I worry Trump’s election will be the end of the United States as we have known and still know it.

The lead water problem in Flint, Michigan is inconceivable. Not possible in this day and age. This is 2016. Things like this just do not happen.

Money was the driving force that caused the problem to occur. The need in these difficult times to save a buck. Should not have been done blindly and carelessly.

Someone failed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s.

As a result, thousands of children will be affected. Brain damaged.

The tenor of the immigration problem has changed. Initially it was we have to take care of these poor people escaping Syria and North Africa. Germany’s Merkel led the charge. Germany will take one million!

Merkel speaks no longer. She is silent. Especially since the rapes of German women at a railroad station.

The immigrants must be sent back to where they came from. Their sheer numbers are overwhelming. Each country that opts to take them will see the fabric of their society change dramatically. Today, tomorrow, and forever.

One solution is to end the Syrian War. ISIS is projected to only have 35,000 troops at the most. Send 50,000 plus troops in and wipe them out. Stomp on them in one swift movement.

Instead, our government moves from one side to the other. Not certain what to do.

Zika.  A new word to most of us. A virus. A dangerous illness. For which there is no vaccine. It primarily affects the unborn. When born, the babies  will have small heads and small brains..

It is called microcephaly. The result is a child subject during the child’s lifetime to various type brain defects.

One of the causes is thought to be genetically modified mosquitoes. The kind that the Mosquito Control Board tried to foist on us a couple of years ago. Cheaper and purportedly did a better job of eradicating mosquitoes.

The genetically modified mosquitoes were to be tested in the Keys and in Brazil. They were not tested in the Keys. They were in Brazil. They were dumped in a certain area of Brazil in 2012.

Since last October, 4,000 babies have been born in that area of Brazil with microcephaly.

The problem is acute. Zika is popping up worldwide. Nowhere in the numbers as Brazil, however.

The World Health Organization met last Monday in emergency session to deal with the problem. President Obama has called for an immediate big time search for a vaccine.

When the Mosquito Control Board was pushing the genetically modified mosquito, I wrote the Keys should not be used as a testing ground for the unknown.

Tourists visiting Key West are becoming a problem.

The Tourist Development Council’s primary function is to market tourism. The organization has done an outstanding job. They have been highly successful. Too successful.

Key West is a small island. There have been more tourists this past year than ever before. I fear the island will sink under the sheer weight of them.

Hotels, motels, restaurants and bars are doing a big business. Rates and charges in most instances have gone up with the increased number of tourists. Traffic jams are horrendous. Too many people mean too many cars. The worst ever. Traffic has never been this bad. Included is US 1. It takes longer to travel up and down the Keys.

The sidewalks overflowing with visitors. Jammed. Bicyclists everywhere. Most not accustomed to bike riding. None caring about traffic, stop lights, stop signs, etc. Key West has the highest rate of bicycle fatalities in the State of Florida. Any wonder.

Tourists crossing streets pay little attention to anything.

Private home rentals for tourists have sky rocketed in price. Weekly and monthly rentals the highest ever.

It used to be anyone building or renovating a Key West property had to conform to the taste and flavor of the neighborhood. No more. New motels and restaurants have been approved that are ultra modern in design

I believe if the pace continues, Key West will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Tourists learn swiftly. They will perceive Key West as too busy and too expensive. They will look elsewhere to vacation.

Anti-government citizen groups are growing rapidly. Becoming more vocal. Making their presence known. They are anti-American.

Anti-American groups are hostile to the interests of the United States. They dislike and fear government.

There has been a resurgence of such groups since 2008. Fueling factors include changing demographics driven by immigration, a struggling economy, and the election of the first African-American President.

Examples of such groups include the present armed occupation by citizens in Oregon. Citizens who are ready to die for their beliefs.

In 2015, there were 1,274 anti-government groups in the United States. Three hundred thirty four were military.

There are what are called sovereign groups. We are better than you type. They are generally racist and anti-Semitic.

Many of the groups are concerned with what they perceive as impending government violence against the American people. They are preparing for the coming revolution.

Military spending. Fraught with waste. Washington cannot be depended upon to control the situation. Most elected Representatives are beholden to and owned by the corporations manufacturing military equipment.

What is needed in Washington is another Harry Truman.

In March 1942, the United States was heavy into lend lease. It was obvious war was coming. Military expenditures were zooming upward.

The Senate appointed a special committee to oversee government spending in the military area. Harry Truman was appointed Chairman. The committee became known as the Truman Committee.

Truman was not for sale. He took the job seriously. During World War II, he kept close watch on the spending. Truman’s committee exposed waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government’s wartime contracts. And prosecuted the bad guys!

We need another Harry Truman in Washington. The military is the biggest part of the U.S. budget.

Destruction of the middle class scares me. The middle class needs to be resurrected. American society cannot survive without a middle class. The 1 percent / 99 percent thing is poison.

Income inequality goes hand in hand with the destruction of the middle class.

Someone has to speak for workers. One thing is a return to strong unions.

Another is for the U.S. government to make the necessary changes in the tax structure so we get the billions in foreign tax havens back on our shores and taxed.

If the middle class is not resurrected, it will lead to the end of American society as we knew it and know it. The way things look now, I fear they can only get worse. Not better.

Wow!  A lot to worry about. We better worry about every item. Each is important to us and the society we live in.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

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Yankee Doodle went to town

Riding on a pony

He stuck a feather in his hat

And called it macaroni.

Yankee Doodle keep it up;

Yankee Doodle dandy,

Mind the music and the step,

And with the girls be randy.

Yankee Doodle Dandy is sung with pride and patriotism today in the United States. It is part and parcel of America and its history.

It was not always so.

Yankee Doodle was born during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The British and colonials were fighting the French and Indians. British officers were a gentlemanly sort. High society. Well mannered and cultured. The colonists they fought with disheveled and disorganized. Ill mannered. Without culture. Classless.

The colonists were known as Yankees. Of Dutch derivation. Jancke in Dutch. Pronounced Yankee. Even within the colonial body, there was discrimination. The Dutch colonists in New Amsterdam used Yankee as a dismissive word to describe New England’s English residents.

Dr. Richard Shuckburg was a British Army surgeon during the French and Indian War. A bit of a wit. He authored the original words to Yankee Doodle Dandy. The tune itself comes from an earlier nursery rhyme, Lucy Locket.

The song was one of insult and contempt for the colonials. British soldiers sang it mockingly in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. New verses were added. All intended to put the uncouth colonials in their place.

Snobbery.

The words obliviously have meaning. Their etymology interesting.

Yankee has already been described as a dismissive term.

Doodle is of German origin. Dudeltopf or dudelop. Means fool or simpleton.

Macaroni the worst of insults.

A men’s club existed in London known as the Macaroni Club. Its members fashionable in the extreme. Young men. They wore wigs. Unique. Described as foppishness by non-Macaronis. Attire extravagant. Striped silks and feathers in their hats.

They considered themselves the height of fashion. Especially the feather in the hat.

The members adopted feminine mannerisms. They were considered effeminate.

The group used Italian phrases to emphasize their culture. The name Macaroni derived the reform.

By comparing the colonists to Macaroni members, the British were insinuating the colonists were womanish, not very masculine.

Forget taxation without representation. The preceding was reason enough to have precipitated the Revolutionary War.

Then came Lexington and Concord. While marching from Boston to Lexington and Concord, the British fife and drum played the tune and the soldiers sang merrily along.

After the British had been defeated later in the day, Yankee Doodle could be heard again. However, this time played and sung by the colonists. An up yours sort of thing.

Colonists claimed Yankee Doodle as their own. It was especially aggravating to the British to hear when they surrendered at Saratoga and Yorktown.

From then to now, Yankee Doodle has been America’s song. The new country’s first national song.

Some things come back to bite a person in the ass. Yankee Doodle did.