WOE IS SYRACUSE

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Immigration, Ferguson, Ebola, bocce, nudity…..all take a back seat to the Syracuse basketball story. I mentioned recently I was concerned about this year’s basketball team. Concern being a rare occurrence. It has been many years since Syracuse has had a team not up to snuff. This may be the season.

I watched the Syracuse/California game last night. Not since Pearl Washington’s days have I seen  a Syracuse team that had neither a defense nor offense. The fabled Syracuse zone was not working. California was penetrating at will. As to the offense, there was none. Most of the time, Syracuse looked like a bunch of guys playing pick up ball. Everyone shooting. Shots forced. The ball not going in the hole.

Can Boeheim weave the team together? I think not. The talent is there. If he does, it will be the miracle of miracles.

The Syracuse basketball team is my team. Right or wrong. Good or bad. I am with them to the bitter end!

I spent much of yesterday writing next week’s KONK Life column. Why Decapitation. The story of what is behind the ISIS beheadings.

I only stayed for the first bocce game last night. I left early to watch the Syracuse/California game. We won the first game 16-15. A squeaker. Tom is back from New Jersey. He won the game for us. His last shot a bocce one. The opposing team could not knock the shot out.

My cell phone is dead. I do not know how we fared in the next two games.

Last evening was the last night of the season. Playoffs are saturday. We were on the bubble to make the playoffs. I do not know how we and the other teams on the bubble fared.

I am excited about tonight. I cannot wait. I will be attending an evening of Cole Porter music at the Waterfront Playhouse. Porter’s music thrills me.

Jenna is joining me. We will probably have dinner first at the Hot Tin Roof.

The President has spoken. An executive order is forthcoming re immigration. I think he was correct in doing what he did.

What concerns me is how off the track the Republicans are. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma was one of the worst. I have always admired Coburn. Yesterday, he had it wrong however. He said on television before Obama’s talk that what the President was going to do would cause or was anarchy and that violence could result. Violence by the people.

I think some Republicans sit in a small smoked filled room with their glasses of bourbon in hand beating the drums about what a bad person Obama is. They do it so much, they start believing themselves. Lunacy.

Gail Collins, the syndicated writer for the New York Times, had an interesting observation in a recent column. It had to do with Republicans and Democrats. I do not share it with you in that vein. I share the following as an odd ball happening in today’s world.

Collins reported that a recent South African study revealed an off the wall happening in the Antarctic. Fur seals are having sex with penguins.

I wonder if someone will blame this relatively new development on global warming.

Enjoy your day!

 

FRIDAY NIGHT BABYSITTING

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This morning is not just spectacular, it is glorious! Perfect. Even the birds are chirping.

I worry it is a prelude to what might be coming. Hurricanes. The season begins soon.

Babysat last night. Lisa and Corey went out to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

Where to go for dinner? The grandkids and I talked about it for a half hour. They are knowledgeable and experienced. We went from IHop to Turtle Crawl to the Half Moon Raw Bar to Matthesson’s to Harpoon Harry’s.

Harpoon Harry’s won out.

Dinner was great. Robert and Ally ate their usual. Cheeseburgers and french fries. I was in a breakfast mood. Ham and eggs.

We walked the waterfront afterwards. Robert is easy to deal with. Ally can be a problem. She is a free spirit. She climbs and walks on anything she can find. A mound of dirt, a concrete abutment, a raised curb. I am in constant fear she is going to fall and break an ankle.

We decided on ice cream. Dairy Queen. A gold mine! We had to wait 15 minutes in line before being able to order. Robert spoke right up. He wanted a double fudge chocolate shake small with a cherry on top. Got it out all in one breath! Ally ordered some crazy colored ice cream with chunks of chocolate. Poppa settled for a small cone of chocolate.

All night we talked. Constantly. About everything. The most exciting from their perspective was that Robert is going to get Cameron’s bedroom. Cameron is off to college in August. Robert and Ally presently sleep in a bunk bed in the same room. Robert is thrilled. So is Ally. This means she will have her own room, also. She told me Mom and Dad were getting her a new bed and desk.

Yesterday morning’s Key West Lou Legal Hour went well. Post show comments indicated Senator Coburn and Venezuela garnered the most interest.

Venezuela has a shortage problem. Toilet paper. A serious one. I read a story of a woman who looked for two weeks before she was able to buy some. Venezuela uses 125 million rolls a month.

The number by the way staggered me. How much do we use in the USA monthly?

I commented in yesterday’s blog regarding the crocodile who was recently shot in the head and killed in the Keys. A big deal. Crocs are an endangered species by law. I thought much ado was being made. They even had a beach front service at which the crocodile was eulogized by the Vice Mayor. He described the croc as having been assasinated.

The comments received yesterday and this morning are the most I have received on any subject. Amazing! Most disagreed with me. Protect crocodiles was the cry!

I wrote my column for next week’s KONK Life in the afternoon. Titled it Three Disgraces.

The first was Major Nidal Hasan. He shot and killed 13 soldiers and wounded 30 others at Fort Hood in 2009. While shouting God is Great! He is still in jail waiting trial. He is receiving full pay. $70,000 a year. Total so far $278,000.

The second was the Republican House of Representatives voting 37 times to repeal Obamacare. One vote was enough. The process costly. $1.5 million wasted so far.

The third involved tax avoidance. Apple’s CEO appeared before a Congressional committee this week investigating tax avoidance. Apple saves $102 billion a year with off shore accounts. All legal. My thrust was Congress should not be putting the CEO on the hot seat. They belonged there! They were the ones who listened to corporate America’s lobbyists over the years and passed the necessary legislation permitting tax avoidance.

You may find the entire article interesting when it is published next week.

Yesterday’s Key West Lou Legal Hour was recorded and is being rerun this afternoon at 4:30. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19.

Enjoy your day!

 

HURRICANE SEASON ALMOST HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

You never know.

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

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

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

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

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

Two issues hit sensitive spots and/or interested listeners.

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

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

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

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

Enjoy your day!